Chip Industry Week In Review


Analog Devices acquired Flex Logix's technology assets, along with its technical team. Semiconductor global sales increased 23% in Q3 2024 $166B, up almost 11% versus the same period in 2023, according to SIA. Notable regional year-to-year sales in September: Americas up 46%, China up 23%, Europe down 8%. Fig.1: Worldwide Semiconductor Revenues, year-to-year % change. Source: Semiconduc... » read more

Balancing Programmability And Performance In Cars


The rate of change in the automotive industry is accelerating with the shift toward software-defined vehicles and ongoing advancements in algorithms and chip architectures. The challenge now is to figure out the best way to prevent rapid obsolescence, improve safety, and keep the cost of these changes to a minimum. Today, updatable automotive hardware is typically achieved through FPGAs, but... » read more

Prevent AI Hardware Obsolescence And Optimize Efficiency With eFPGA Adaptability


Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI are driving up memory requirements, presenting a significant challenge. Modern LLMs can have billions of parameters, demanding many gigabytes of memory. To address this issue, AI architects have devised clever solutions that dramatically reduce memory needs. Evolving techniques like lossless weight compression, structured sparsity, and new numer... » read more

Post-Quantum Computing Threatens Fundamental Transport Protocols


The Transport Level Security (TLS) protocol is one of the few rock-steady spots in the rapidly changing computing industry, but that's about to change as quantum computers threaten traditional encryption schemes. Because TLS is fundamental to network communications, including allowing Internet of Things (IoT) devices to function properly, researchers already are exploring both hardware and s... » read more

Easing EV Range Anxiety Through Faster Charging


The automotive industry is developing new ways to boost the range of electric vehicles and the speed at which they are charged, overcoming buyer hesitation that has limited the total percentage of EVs to 18% of vehicles being sold.[1] Work is underway to improve how batteries are engineered and manufactured, and how they are managed while they are in use or being charged. This extends well b... » read more

New Embedded FPGA Compiler Maximizes IP Implementation Efficiency


When designing IP for system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) implementations, IP designers strive for perfection. Optimal engineering often yields the smallest die area, thereby reducing both cost and power consumption while maximizing performance. Similarly, when incorporating embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP into a SoC, designers prioritize these critical factors. ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Early version due to U.S. holiday. The U.S. government announced a new $504 million funding round for 12 Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) for semiconductors, clean energy, biotechnology, AI, quantum computing, and more. Among the recipients: NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub (New York): $40 million for semiconductor manufacturing; Headwaters Hub (Montana): $41 million f... » read more

Thermal Challenges Multiply In Automotive, Embedded Devices


Embedding chips into stacked-die assemblies is creating thermal dissipation challenges that can reduce the reliability and lifespan of these devices, a growing problem as chipmakers begin cramming chiplets into advanced packages with thinner substrates between them. In the past, nearly all of these complex designs were used in tightly controlled environments, such as a large data center, whe... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Samsung unveiled its latest 2nm and 4nm process nodes, plus its AI solutions during the Samsung Foundry Forum. The company also introduced an aggressive roadmap for the next few years that includes 3D-ICs with logic-on-logic, starting in 2025; custom HBM with built-in logic; backside power delivery on 2nm technology in 2027; and co-packaged optics. In presentations at the event, the company als... » read more

Secure Your SoC From Side Channel Attacks With Adaptable Security


Many SoC and ASIC manufacturers rely heavily on cryptographic solutions to safeguard sensitive IP and data transmission within their devices. In a dynamic landscape where threats from attackers continue to evolve, encryption algorithms play a crucial role in fortifying defenses. Hackers today are leveraging advanced physical tactics that extend beyond traditional data interception, posing signi... » read more

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