Power/Performance Bits: June 12


AI for solar materials In the search for better organic photovoltaic materials, researchers at Osaka University turned to machine learning to help identify candidates. While organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are promising on a cost basis, they do not yet have the required power conversion efficiency (PCE) necessary for commercialization. A key element in this is the semiconducting polymer layer. ... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Tools & IP Synopsys added machine learning capabilities to its Design Platform. The company highlighted benefits to the PrimeTime signoff tool, which saw 5X faster power recovery in customer designs at leading-edge geometries. Renesas is using the tool, noting a 4X power ECO speed-up. ArterisIP unveiled a standalone last level cache (LLC) for high-performance SoCs. CodaCache can be adde... » read more

Machine Learning’s Limits (Part 1)


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with Rob Aitken, an Arm fellow; Raik Brinkmann, CEO of OneSpin Solutions; Patrick Soheili, vice president of business and corporate development at eSilicon; and Chris Rowen, CEO of Babblelabs. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: Where are we with machine learning? What problems still have to be resolved? Aitken: We're in a state where thi... » read more

System Bits: June 5


The right squeeze for quantum computing In an effort to bring quantum computers closer to development, Hokkaido University and Kyoto University researchers have developed a theoretical approach to quantum computing that is 10 billion times more tolerant to errors than current theoretical models. The team said their method may lead to quantum computers that use the diverse properties of sub... » read more

CEO Outlook On Chip Industry (Part 2)


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with Wally Rhines, president and CEO of Mentor, a Siemens Business; Simon Segars, CEO of Arm; Grant Pierce, CEO of Sonics; and Dean Drako, CEO of IC Manage. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. To view part one, click here. L-R: Dean Drako, Grant Pierce, Wally Rhines, Simon Segars. Photo: Paul Cohen/ESD Alliance SE: AI, deep learning and mac... » read more

The Week in Review: IoT


Finance SenseTime of Beijing, China, received $620 million in Series C+ funding, valuing the company at more than $4.5 billion. Alibaba Group led the new funding, as it did with last month’s Series C round of $600 million. Qualcomm, an existing investor, participated in the latest round, along with new investors Fidelity International, Hopu Capital, Silver Lake Partners, and Tiger Global. Se... » read more

IIoT And Predictive Maintenance


It’s every production line manager’s nightmare—some machinery breaks down, stopping production on the factory floor. In a fab, if just one piece of semiconductor manufacturing equipment goes down and is out of service for hours, wafer fabrication can grind to a halt. Such shutdowns are expensive, especially if the plant is operating on a 24-hour schedule to meet demand. One selling poi... » read more

System Bits: May 29


Ultra-low-power sensors carrying genetically engineered bacteria to detect gastric bleeding In order to diagnose bleeding in the stomach or other gastrointestinal problems, MIT researchers have built an ingestible sensor equipped with genetically engineered bacteria. [caption id="attachment_24134598" align="alignleft" width="300"] MIT engineers have designed an ingestible sensor equipped with... » read more

The Week in Review: IoT


Finance Orbbec of Shenzhen, China, a developer of motion sensing technology, raised more than $200 million in Series D funding led by Ant Financial. Also participating in the new round were SAIF Financial, Green Pine Capital Partners, R-Z Capital, and Tianlangxing Capital Partners. Established in 2013, Orbbec develops 3D sensors for applications in facial recognition, gesture recognition, robo... » read more

CEO Outlook On Chip Industry (Part 1)


Semiconductor Engineering sat down with Wally Rhines, president and CEO of Mentor, a Siemens Business; Simon Segars, CEO of Arm; Grant Pierce, CEO of Sonics; and Dean Drako, CEO of IC Manage. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. L-R: Dean Drako, Grant Pierce, Wally Rhines, Simon Segars. Photo: Paul Cohen/ESD Alliance SE: What are the big changes ahead, and where do you see th... » read more

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