Multiple Hurdles In The Race To 6G


The rollout of 6G will open the door to significant changes and possibilities, but whether this technology lives up to the hype will require massive collaborative efforts, huge investments in infrastructure, and solving some problems for which there are no precedents. Multiple companies are already working on 6G technology, aiming for a maximum download speed of one terabit per second (Tb/s)... » read more

Chips Can Boost Malware Immunity


Security is becoming an increasingly important design element, fueled by increasingly sophisticated attacks, the growing use of technology in safety-critical applications, and the rising value of data nearly everywhere. Hackers can unlock automobiles, phones, and smart locks by exploiting system design soft spots. They even can hack some mobile phones through always-on circuits when they are... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 21


Memristors reappear The University of Massachusetts Amherst has taken a step towards of the realization of neuromorphic computing--it has devised bio-voltage memristors based on protein nanowires. In neuromorphic computing, the idea is to bring the memory closer to the processing tasks to speed up a system. For this, the industry is attempting to replicate the brain in silicon. The goal is ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 23


Looking inside memristors E-beam inspection is gaining steam. Using this type of technology, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been able to see the inner workings of the memristor. The memristor is a type of ReRAM, which works by changing the resistance of materials. In a memristor, an electric current is applied to a material, changing the resistance of that mat... » read more

The Future of Testing


In our previous test blog posts, we looked at the history of automated test equipment for semiconductors and for printed circuit boards. This month, we look ahead to the test technologies that are emerging. The chip ATE field has essentially boiled down to Advantest, Teradyne, and Xcerra (LTX-Credence), while the board test market is dominated by Teradyne and Keysight Technologies (formerly ... » read more

Looking Back at Board Test


Printed circuit board testing has been around as long as printed circuit boards, also known as printed circuit assemblies and printed wiring boards. PCB technology started in the early 20th century with Thomas Edison and other inventors. As boards shrink to fit inside wearable gadgets and other products with compact form factors, PCB test equipment vendors are addressing new challenges. Boar... » read more

A Brief History of Test


The history of semiconductor test systems is the subject of this blog post. We’ll turn to printed circuit board testing at another time. Boston-based Teradyne sold its D133 diode tester to Raytheon in 1961. Five years later, it introduced the J259 integrated circuit tester, which had a minicomputer to run the test programs. For many, this marks the beginning of automatic (or automated) tes... » read more

Logic Analyzers Never Die


Logic analyzers, long a mainstay of chip design, are finding new demand for IoT devices—and frequently in different forms than in the past. Once associated with big, bulky benchtop instruments, this technology has evolved significantly over the past 40 years. In some cases it has been moved into software, where the measurement results are more likely to be viewed upon a laptop screen or a ... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Numbers EDA sales dropped 1.9% in Q4 of 2015, following a spectacular run of 23 consecutive quarters of solid growth, according to EDAC. For the year, the EDA and IP industry posted 5% growth. At the same time, IP revenue grew 9.2% to $702.2 million, making it the first time ever that IP surpassed CAE revenue. Services revenue also grew 5.4% year over year to 107.1 million. A new report f... » read more

3 Ways To Reload Moore’s Law


The electronics revolution has been enabled because the cost and power per transistor has decreased 30% per year for the last 30 years — a fact usually associated with Moore's Law. This has been accomplished by simply reducing the transistor size while offsetting increased costs of equipment and mask levels, and by increased productivity from improved yield, throughput and wafer size. This... » read more

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