Taking A Pulse On The IC Biz


It’s been a difficult period for the semiconductor industry. The coronavirus outbreak has put a damper on what was supposed to be a strong year in the semiconductor industry in 2020. Many are holding out hopes for a rebound in the second half of the year. That’s still a big unknown. The forecasts are gloomy. For example, VLSI Research has three different scenarios for the semiconduc... » read more

Gradual Rebound Or Slight Dip


Uncertainty has gripped the silicon wafer market as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to upend growth projections for 2020. Declines in both shipments and revenue plagued the silicon wafer market in 2019, a downturn that had given way to optimism for 2020 with rising expectations for normalizing inventory levels, memory market improvements, data center market growth and the 5G market takeoff. ... » read more

Covid-19 Tech Bits: April 14


Modeling coronavirus spread Four teams of Finnish researchers have modeled the coughing spread of COVID-19 in tight indoor areas, such as grocery stores and public transportation systems, using a supercomputer and 3D visualization. “The aerosol cloud spreads outside the immediate vicinity of the coughing person and dilutes in the process," said Aalto University Assistant Professor Ville V... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


COVID-19/Medical Mentor's parent company Siemens is making its Additive Manufacturing (AM) Network, along with its 3D printers, available to the global medical community. MEMS is at the forefront of SARS-CoV-2 testing, writes Alissa M. Fitzgerald, founder of AMFitzgerald in a blog on SEMI.org. Fitzgerald points out a MEMS silicon PCR chip, developed by Northrup et. al. at Lawrence Livermore... » read more

COVID-19 Tech Bits


Tech companies, consortiums and universities are jumping in to help fight COVID-19, deploying everything from massive computing capabilities to developing new technologies that can protect medical workers and first responders. Nearly all of these have ramped up over the past several weeks, as the tech world begins to take on a global challenge to combat the deadly virus. Compute resources... » read more

The IoT Of COVID-19


Data from the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile devices is providing a surprising view on the COVID-19 pandemic. Like an invisible hurricane churning over us, the pandemic’s effects are huge, but the tiny virus that causes it is very difficult to see directly. Data can save lives. Early detection, isolating those who are positive, contact tracing and isolating those who had contact are k... » read more

What’s Changing, What Isn’t


The global pandemic is creating economic chaos on a global scale. The big question now is when the coronavirus is brought under control, and just how long its effects will extend beyond the current health crisis. For the semiconductor industry, which has weathered many long and deep financial swings, this one at least is finite. When the virus stops spreading, or when treatments are availabl... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


The coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to have an impact on most, if not all, industries. This includes the electronics, semiconductor and related segments. International Data Corp. (IDC) has released a report on the company’s view on the impact the COVID-19 virus will have on the semiconductor market. The report provides a framework to evaluate the market impact through four scenarios. "... » read more

Auto Outlook: Down But Not Out


For years, automotive has been an engine of growth in the semiconductor industry, although the market is expected to decline in 2020. Several types of chips are used in automobiles, such as analog, memory, microcontrollers, processors and RF. But the automotive IC business still represents a small percentage of the overall semiconductor market. It pales in comparison to the smartphone chip m... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


AI, machine learning Cadence says it has optimized its Tensilica HiFi digital signal processor IP to efficiently execute TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers, which are used in Google’s machine learning platform for edge. This means developers of AI/ML on the edge systems can now put better audio processing on edge devices with ML applications like keyword detection, audio scene detection, n... » read more

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