Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Design Ansys has signed a definitive agreement to acquire EDA tool company Diakopto. Diakopto specializes in software tools that find the cause of layout parasitics. Its products are ParagonX, for analyzing and debugging IC designs and layout parasitics, and EM/IR analysis/verification tool PrimeX. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023. SEMI’s FlexTech community issu... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive, mobility The head of Tesla’s Autopilot division — Andrej Karpathy — resigned from the company after Tesla laid off 200 people in its Autopilot division and the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration broadened its safety investigation of Tesla’s Autopilot. The NHTSA last month broadened its August 2021 investigation, which was looking at why Tesla cars on... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive, mobility U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) release its first crash reports from ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems, i.e., SAE Level 2) and ADS (automated driving systems, i.e., SAE Levels 3-5).  The systems had to be in use at least 30 seconds before the crash in order for it to be reportable. The car may have had the system turned off at the time ... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive, mobility Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving car company, obtained a permit to charge for rides in San Francisco, according to a story in Reuters. The California Public Utilities Commission, the regulatory board that can approve permits, voted 4-0 to issue “the first Phase I Driverless Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Passenger Service Deployment permit in California to Cruise LLC to a... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


The American Foundries Act, a bipartisan initiative to revive U.S. leadership in the global microelectronics sector, was announced by U.S. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer from New York. “The economic and national security risks posed by relying too heavily on foreign semiconductor suppliers cannot be ignored, and Upstate New York, which has a robust semiconductor sector, is the perfect place... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers Intel has announced the resignation of Brian Krzanich as chief executive and a member of the board. The board has named Chief Financial Officer Robert Swan as interim chief executive, effective immediately. Intel was recently informed that Krzanich had a “past consensual relationship” with an Intel employee. This is a violation of Intel’s non-fraternization policy, which ap... » read more

Non-Traditional Chips Gaining Steam


Flexible hybrid electronics are beginning to roll out in the form of medical devices, wearable electronics and even near-field communications tags in retail, setting the stage for a whole new wave of circuit design, manufacturing and packaging that reaches well beyond traditional chips. FHE devices begin with substrates made of ceramics, glass, plastic, polyimide, polymers, polysilicon, stai... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers Bloomberg has reported that Broadcom is in talks to acquire Qualcomm for $70 per share or about $90 billion. Qualcomm is attempting to acquire NXP, but Broadcom has its sights on Qualcomm, not NXP. “We think AVGO would want to acquire QCOM assets not NXP,” said Amit Daryanani, an analyst with RBC. Samsung continues to reshuffle its management amid a plethora of changes at t... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Market research IC Insights has released its capital spending forecast by company. In total, there are 15 companies that are forecast to have semiconductor capital expenditures of $1.0 billion or more in 2017, up from 11 in 2016, according to IC Insights. Four companies—Intel, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, and SK Hynix—are expected to represent the bulk of the increase in spending, accord... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Manufacturing Veeco Instruments has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ultratech. With the deal, Veeco will enter into the lithography market for chip-packaging as well as the laser spike anneal business. Veeco is a supplier of MOCVD tools. The implied total transaction value is approximately $815 million and the implied enterprise value is approximately $550 million. FlexTech, a SE... » read more

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