Steep Spike For Chip Complexity And Unknowns


Cramming more and different kinds of processors and memories onto a die or into a package is causing the number of unknowns and the complexity of those designs to skyrocket. There are good reasons for combining all of these different devices into an SoC or advanced package. They increase functionality and can offer big improvements in performance and power that are no longer available just b... » read more

Security Concerns Rise For Connected Autos


The auto industry is transforming itself toward a future in which the automobile increasingly will be connected using V2X and 5G. Driver assistance will improve, and ultimately cars will be guided by AI and machine learning. But all of this will be closely watched by hackers, looking for an opening and a potentially large and untraceable payout. The replacement of mechanical functionality wi... » read more

Putting Limits On What AI Systems Can Do


New techniques and approaches are starting to be applied to AI and machine learning to ensure they function within acceptable parameters, only doing what they're supposed to do. Getting AI/ML/DL systems to work has been one of the biggest leaps in technology in recent years, but understanding how to control and optimize them as they adapt isn't nearly as far along. These systems are generall... » read more

Energy Harvesting Shows New Signs of Life


Energy harvesting is seeing renewed activity in select markets, years after some high-profile attempts to build this into consumer electronics stalled out. Costs, manufacturing challenges, and market resistance kept this technology from moving forward, more than a decade after it was being touted as the best way forward for consumer electronics and devices that were hard to access. While sol... » read more

More Data Drives Focus On IC Energy Efficiency


Computing workloads are becoming increasingly interdependent, raising the complexity level for chip architects as they work out exactly where that computing should be done and how to optimize it for shrinking energy margins. At a fundamental level, there is now more data to compute and more urgency in getting results. This situation has forced a rethinking of how much data should be moved, w... » read more

Benefits Of Multilevel Topologies In Power-Efficient Energy Storage Systems (ESS)


In this paper, we discuss the adaption of efficient energy storage systems (ESS) in residential solar and utility-scale applications. System requirements and possible topologies are looked into. For utility-scale, we introduce a multilevel converter topology concept. Click here to read more.   » read more

New Uses For AI


AI is being embedded into an increasing number of technologies that are commonly found inside most chips, and initial results show dramatic improvements in both power and performance. Unlike high-profile AI implementations, such as self-driving cars or natural language processing, much of this work flies well under the radar for most people. It generally takes the path of least disruption, b... » 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

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Security Infineon announced it has a Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0), called OPTIGA TPM 2.0, used to secure remote software updates, disc encryption, and user authentication on Linux-based systems. OPTIGA is an open software stack for securing comprehensive TSS* host software implementing the latest FAPI standard. Infineon developed the open-source software with Intel Corporation and Fraunho... » read more

Tradeoffs To Improve Performance, Lower Power


Generic chips are no longer acceptable in competitive markets, and the trend is growing as designs become increasingly heterogeneous and targeted to specific workloads and applications. From the edge to the cloud, including everything from vehicles, smartphones, to commercial and industrial machinery, the trend increasingly is on maximizing performance using the least amount of energy. This ... » read more

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