Cryogenic CMOS Becomes Cool


Cryogenic CMOS is a technology on the cusp, promising higher performance and lower power with no change in fabrication technology. The question now is whether it becomes viable and mainstream. Technologies often appear to be just on the horizon, not quite making it, but never too far out of sight. That's usually because some issue plagues it, and the incentive is not big enough to solve the ... » read more

Seven Hardware Advances We Need to Enable The AI Revolution


The potential, positive impact AI will have on society at large is impossible to overestimate. Pervasive AI, however, remains a challenge. Training algorithms can take inordinate amounts of power, time, and computing capacity. Inference will also become more taxing with applications such as medical imaging and robotics. Applied Materials estimates that AI could consume up to 25% of global elect... » read more

Do Superconducting Processors Really Need Cryogenic Memories? The Case For Cold DRAM


Cryogenic, superconducting digital processors offer the promise of greatly reduced operating power for server-class computing systems. This is due to the exceptionally low energy per operation of Single Flux Quantum circuits built from Josephson junction devices operating at the temperature of 4 Kelvin. Unfortunately, no suitable same-temperature memory technology yet exists to complement thes... » read more

Huge Performance Gains Ahead


Rambus Chief Scientist Craig Hampel talks about what will drive the next big performance gains after Moore’s Law, from the data center to the edge. https://youtu.be/ItHCsei7YTc » read more

Do Superconducting Processors Really Need Cryogenic Memories?


Cryogenic, superconducting digital processors offer the promise of greatly reduced operating power for server-class computing systems. This is due to the exceptionally low energy per operation of Single Flux Quantum circuits built from Josephson junction devices operating at the temperature of 4 Kelvin. Unfortunately, no suitable same-temperature memory technology yet exists to complement these... » read more

Tech Talk: Cryogenic DRAM


Rambus Chief Scientist Craig Hampel talks with Semiconductor Engineering about quantum computing and the power/performance benefits of running DRAM at extremely low temperatures. https://youtu.be/3qu2mspJeM0 » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Tools Mentor unveiled new formal-based technologies in the Questa Verification Solution. It offers formal-based RTL-to-RTL equivalence checking flows optimized for verification of manual low-power clock gating, bug fix and ECO validation, and ISO 26262 safety mechanism verification, which the company says which can reduce verification turnaround time by 10X. The app also offers expanded cloc... » read more