The Problem With Post-Silicon Debug


Semiconductor engineers traditionally have focused on trying to create 'perfect' GDSII at tape-out, but factors such as hardware-software interactions, increasingly heterogeneous designs, and the introduction of AI are forcing companies to rethink that approach. In the past, chipmakers typically banked on longer product cycles and multiple iterations of silicon to identify problems. This no ... » read more

A Conference For The Ages


The International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) was held recently in its permanent location at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. eSilicon had the honor of both presenting our SerDes capabilities and demonstrating the technology as well. More about that later. First, I’d like to examine the institution called ISSCC. The first ISSCC was held in 1954 in Philadelphia. Yes, 1954, that�... » read more

Why 56Gb/s And 112Gb/s SerDes Matter In Our Daily Social-Media-Driven Lives


Hyper-scalers and service providers are moving from 100GbE to 400GbE Ethernet rates and beyond. Wireline and wireless networks are driving new architectures to support the move from 4G LTE to 5G infrastructure. These transitions are driven by the increasing global IP traffic as the world becomes more connected and digital. At the same time, the decentralization of the cloud and data centers are... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools & IP OneSpin revealed its latest formal app, Connectivity XL, providing formal connectivity checking to 7nm, multi-billion gate SoC designs. The app generates detailed connectivity specification tables from abstract connectivity specs through a dedicated checking engine that integrates structural and formal analysis to perform on-the-fly, automated abstractions. It supports verificat... » read more

Pushing AI Into The Mainstream


Artificial intelligence is emerging as the driving force behind many advancements in technology, even though the industry has merely scratched the surface of what may be possible. But how deeply AI penetrates different market segments and technologies, and how quickly it pushes into the mainstream, depend on a variety of issues that still must be resolved. In addition to a plethora of techni... » read more

Using Memory Differently


Chip architects are beginning to rewrite the rules on how to choose, configure and use different types of memory, particularly for chips with AI and some advanced SoCs. Chipmakers now have a number of options and tradeoffs to consider when choosing memories, based on factors such as the application and the characteristics of the memory workload, because different memory types work better tha... » read more

Realizing the Benefits of 14/16nm Technologies


The scaling benefits of Moore’s Law are challenging below 28nm. It is no longer a given that the cost per gate will go down at process nodes below 28nm, e.g., 20nm though 14nm and 7nm. Rising design and manufacturing costs are contributing factors to this trend. Meanwhile, the competing trend of fewer but more complex system-on-chip (SoC) designs is reducing the knowledge base of many chip... » read more

High-Speed Communication Takes A Village


Supply chain, partner network, ecosystem. There are a lot of ways to describe the collection of companies needed to get something done. We’ve all discussed the extensive ecosystem needed to get an advanced chip designed and built. Without a doubt, that is a formidable problem addressed by a sophisticated team of companies. I’d like to take it up a notch in this discussion, however. What abo... » read more

Reducing Advanced Packaging Costs


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with Chenglin Liu, director of package engineering at Marvell; John Hunt, senior director of engineering at ASE; Eric Tosaya, senior director of package manufacturing at eSilicon; and Juan Rey, vice president of engineering for Calibre at Mentor, a Siemens Business. What follows are excerpts of that discussion, which was held in front of a live audience at MEP... » read more

Week In Review: Design


Deals eSilicon teamed up with Sunflower Mission once again to present 59 university scholarships for engineering and technology students in Vietnam. Foxconn, the huge Taiwanese contract manufacturer (aka Hon Hai Precision Industry), already announced plans to build a chip plant in Zhuhai, outside of Hong Kong. Now it has developed plans to assemble high-end iPhones in India next year. What'... » read more

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