Blog Review: July 20


Synopsys' Ron Lowman examines the various neural networks used in camera applications, the balancing act between camera lens choice and neural networks implemented, and how IP and embedded vision processors help optimize the designs. Siemens' Katie Tormala considers the importance of acoustic performance in consumer electronics and why it's important to understand the relationships between t... » read more

Week in Review: Manufacturing, Test


Fab capacity STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries inked a deal to build a new jointly-operated 300mm fab adjacent to ST’s existing 300mm facility in Crolles, France. This facility is targeted to ramp at full capacity by 2026, with up to 620,000 300mm wafer per year production at full build-out (~42% ST and ~58% GF). The new facility will support several technologies, with a special focus... » 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

Research Bits: July 11


Modeling ALE Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), in coordination with Lam Research, modeled atomic layer etching (ALE) for semiconductor fabrication. “This would be one little piece in the whole process,” said David Graves, associate laboratory director for low-temperature plasma surface interactions at PPPL and a professor in th... » read more

Week In Review, Manufacturing, Test


Samsung announced initial production of its 3nm process node, which uses a gate-all-around (nanosheet) transistor structure that the company calls Multi-Bridge-Channel FET (MBCFET). The first-generation 3nm process can reduce power consumption by up to 45% compared with a 5nm process, as well as improve performance by 23% and reduce area by 16%, according to the company. The second-generation 3... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Node scaling wars are revving up, although much of the action is happening where most people can't see it — inside of research labs. This is difficult stuff, which makes delivery dates difficult to pinpoint, and no one wants to give away their competitive position or commit to a timeline they can't keep. Billions of dollars of leading-edge research — funded by pure-play foundry TSMC, IDM... » 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

Ways To Address The Materials Crunch


Stellar growth over the last two years and the seemingly insatiable demand for chips, at least through 2025, is sparking massive investment by chip firms — as much as $500B over the next five years. But without significant boosts in raw materials, parts for tools, and silicon to fuel facilities, such numbers are unlikely to be met. Materials are the Achilles heel to the rapidly expanding c... » read more

Variation Making Trouble In Advanced Packages


Variation is becoming increasingly problematic as chip designs become more heterogeneous and targeted by application, making it difficult to identify the root cause of problems or predict what can go wrong and when. Concerns about variation traditionally have been confined to the most advanced nodes, where transistor density is highest and where manufacturing processes are still being fine-t... » read more

Chipmaking In The Third Dimension


Every few months, new and improved electronics are introduced. They’re typically smaller, smarter, faster, have more bandwidth, are more power-efficient, etc. — all thanks to a new generation of advanced chips and processors. Our digital society has come to expect this steady drip of new devices as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. Behind the scenes, however, engineers are working feve... » read more

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