Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs IBM has unveiled what the company says is the world’s first 2nm chip. The device is based on a next-generation transistor architecture called a nanosheet FET. The nanosheet FET is an evolutionary step from finFETs, which is today’s state-of-the-art transistor technology. Targeted for 2024, IBM’s 2nm chip features a novel multi-Vt scheme, a 12nm gate length, and a n... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Pervasive computing — IoT, edge, cloud, data center, and back Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai Technology Group) is forming a joint venture (JV) with Yageo Group, a component production and process management company for EVs and other high-end electronics, to focus on the development of semiconductors under $2 USD, which they call “small ICs.” Through the JV, a new company called XSemi wil... » read more

Developers Turn To Analog For Neural Nets


Machine-learning (ML) solutions are proliferating across a wide variety of industries, but the overwhelming majority of the commercial implementations still rely on digital logic for their solution. With the exception of in-memory computing, analog solutions mostly have been restricted to universities and attempts at neuromorphic computing. However, that’s starting to change. “Everyon... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs Intel wants $9.7 billion in subsidies for use in building a leading-edge fab in Europe, according to a report from Reuters. As reported, in March, Intel re-entered the foundry business, positioning itself against Samsung and TSMC at the leading edge, and against a multitude of foundries working at older nodes. Eighteen members of the European Union recently launched an ... » read more

Foundry Wars Begin


Leading-edge foundry vendors are gearing up for a new, high-stakes spending and technology race, setting the stage for a possible shakeup across the semiconductor manufacturing landscape. In March, Intel re-entered the foundry business, positioning itself against Samsung and TSMC at the leading edge, and against a multitude of foundries working at older nodes. Intel announced plans to build ... » read more

3D Stacking For Performance And Efficiency


Moore’s Law scaling is slowing down and limited improvements in performance, power, area, and cost are available from one process node to the next. As a result, advanced packaging and 3D stacking technologies are taking a front seat as the key drivers for next-generation high-performance energy-efficient designs. These types of system-in-package (SiP) technologies require designers to reima... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers Intel has re-entered the foundry business after a failed attempt several years ago. In its new efforts, Intel is establishing a new standalone business unit called Intel Foundry Services. As part of those efforts, Intel has announced plans to build two new fabs in Arizona. This build-out represents an investment of approximately $20 billion. “INTC hosted a strategy update with ... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive A fire at a Renesas fab may put a further squeeze on the supply of automotive chips, according to an Associated Press story. The fire in Naka Factory (located in Japan in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture) was caused by plating equipment igniting within the first floor of the N3 Building and was extinguished the same day it started on March 19th, according to a press release. “The c... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Companies Pearl Semiconductor launched to provide low and ultra-low noise timing products. “Pearl is a timing company developing resonator-agnostic solutions. We work with quartz crystals, MEMS resonators or whatever achieves superior performance,” said Ayman Ahmed, CEO of Pearl Semiconductor. “Current and future automotive applications demand low noise and a wide operating temperatur... » read more

Aging Analysis Common Model Interface Gains Momentum


By Greg Curtis, Ahmed Ramadan, Ninad Pimparkar, and Jung-Suk Goo In February 2019, Siemens EDA wrote an article1 entitled “The Time Is Now for a Common Model Interface”. Since that time, we have continued to see increasing demand for aging analysis, not only in the traditional automotive space, but also in other areas of technology design, such as mobile communication and IoT application... » read more

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