Hardware Attack Surface Widening


An expanding attack surface in hardware, coupled with increasing complexity inside and outside of chips, is making it far more difficult to secure systems against a variety of new and existing types of attacks. Security experts have been warning about the growing threat for some time, but it is being made worse by the need to gather data from more places and to process it with AI/ML/DL. So e... » read more

Software Is At Least As Important As Hardware For Inference Accelerators


In articles and conference presentations on Inference Accelerators, the focus is primarily on TOPS (frequency times number of MACs), a little bit on memory (DRAM interfaces and on chip SRAM), very little on interconnect (also very important, but that’s another story) and almost nothing on the software! Without software, the inference accelerator is a rock that does nothing. Software is wha... » read more

Startup Funding: January 2020


A dozen tech startup companies started 2020 with new funding, raising +$500 million between them. Three companies received an impressive amount of investment. Stanford spinout Skylo launched from stealth with $116M in total funding and a bold plan to connect IoT devices, particularly sensors in remote or difficult-to-access environments, with hubs that link them to a network of satellites. ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 4


Non-targeted analysis Using a technology called machine learning, the Southwest Research Institute has introduced a software tool that detects known and unknown chemical components in food, air and drugs. It detects compounds in products we are exposed to every day using both machine learning and metrology techniques. A subset of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning uses advanced ... » read more

Going On the Edge


Emmanuel Sabonnadière, chief executive of Leti, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), edge computing and chip technologies. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: Where is AI going in the future? Sabonnadière: I am a strong believer that edge AI will change our lives. Today’s microelectronics are organized with 80% of things i... » read more

Accelerating AI And ML Applications With PCIe 5


The rapid adoption of sophisticated artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) applications and the shift to cloud-based workloads has significantly increased network traffic in recent years. Historically, the intensive use of virtualization ensured that server compute capacity adequately met the need of heavy workloads. This was achieved by dividing or partitioning a single (physical) se... » read more

Uses And Limitations Of AI In Chip Design


Raik Brinkmann, president and CEO of OneSpin Solutions, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about AI changes and challenges, new opportunities for using existing technology to improve AI, and vice versa. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: What's changing in AI? Brinkmann: There are a couple of big changes underway. One involves AI in functional safety, where y... » read more

Big Growth Areas: Connectivity, AI, Reliability


Connectivity and artificial intelligence (AI) will be the biggest drivers for 2020, with an emphasis on improved reliability across all areas. New standards, new applications, and new pressures being placed on old technology will created boundless opportunities for those ready to fill the need. Of course, there will also be a lot of carnage along the way, and we can expect to see a lot of that ... » read more

Bridging Math And Engineering In ML


Steve Roddy, vice president of products for Arm’s Machine Learning Group, examines the intersection of high-level mathematics in the data science used in machine learning within area, speed, and power limitations, and how to bring these two worlds together with the least amount of disruption. » read more

CEO Outlook: 2020 Vision


The start of 2020 is looking very different than the start of 2019. Markets that looked hazy at the start of 2019, such as 5G, are suddenly very much in focus. The glut of memory chips that dragged down the overall chip industry in 2019 has subsided. And a finely tuned supply chain that took decades to develop is splintering. A survey of CEOs from across the industry points to several common... » read more

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