Chip Industry Week in Review


Qualcomm announced plans to buy Alphawave Semi for ~$2.4 billion in a deal expected to close in Q1 2026. Qualcomm plans to leverage Alphawave Semi's connectivity products, including chiplets, to develop high-performance, low-power solutions for AI inferencing and customized CPUs in data centers. Qualcomm's traditional targets were mobile phones and edge computing. [Updated 6/9.] Global semic... » read more

Blog Review: June 4


In a podcast, Siemens’ Conor Peick, Dale Tutt, and Mike Ellow chat about the implications of the software-defined transition, how it affects semiconductor development, and why it seems to be leading more companies towards developing their own silicon. Cadence’s Vinod Khera shows off a Linux-based audio development platform for prototyping AI audio applications with support for real-time ... » read more

Connecting AI Accelerators


Experts At The Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the various ways that AI accelerators are being applied today with Marc Meunier, director of ecosystem development at Arm; Jason Lawley, director of product marketing for AI IP at Cadence; Paul Karazuba, vice president of marketing at Expedera; Alexander Petr, senior director at Keysight; Steve Roddy, chief marketing office... » read more

Mastering Chiplet Design


The semiconductor industry is undergoing a fundamental shift from monolithic chip designs to chiplet-based architectures. This modular approach promises enhanced performance, cost efficiency, and scalability, but it also brings unique system-level verification challenges that design teams must overcome. Chiplet systems break different functions into smaller, separate dies, improving yield an... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


The U.S. Commerce Department is tightening controls on EDA software sold to China by imposing additional license requirements. EDA companies are assessing the impact. Details on how broad the restrictions will be are still pending. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will require Synopsys and Ansys to divest key software assets — including optical, photonic, and RTL power analysis tool... » read more

A Balanced Approach To Verification


First-time chip success rates are dropping, primarily due to increased complexity and attempts to cut costs. That means management must take a close look at their verification strategies to determine if they are maximizing the potential of their tools and staff. Using simulation to demonstrate that a design exhibits a required behavior has been the cornerstone of functional verification sinc... » read more

Executive Outlook: Chiplets, 3D-ICs, and AI


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss chiplets and the challenges of moving to 3D-ICs with Bill Mullen, Ansys fellow; John Ferguson, senior director of product management at Siemens EDA; Chris Mueth, senior director of new markets and strategic initiatives at Keysight; Albert Zeng, senior engineering group director at Cadence; Anand Thiruvengadam, senior director and head of AI product ... » read more

AI Infrastructure: Optimized For Model Training


This white paper discusses the critical infrastructure needed for efficient AI model training, emphasizing the role of network capabilities in handling vast data flows and minimizing delays. It outlines challenges in model training and innovative solutions that can enhance performance. AI Revolution: The increasing complexity of AI applications, such as autonomous vehicles and personalized m... » read more

Blog Review: May 28


Siemens’ Patrick Hope considers how to fully perform post-route signal integrity verification on PCB designs while maintaining the project’s timeline by implementing a progressive verification methodology that enables signal integrity experts to focus on issues that demand their expertise rather than simple errors. Cadence’s Vanessa Do checks out how CXL addresses the constant demand f... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Podcast: imec's roadmap and a one-on-one interview with the European research house's chief strategy officer. China's Xiaomi debuted an in-house-designed 10-core mobile SoC built on a 3nm process. The company did not identify the foundry. It also announced plans to invest 50 billion yuan (~$7B) over the next decade to develop high-end smartphone chips, as part of a 200 billion yuan (~$28B) c... » read more

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