Changes In Chip Design


We all know that sub-10nm is coming. But is that really what will define the next generation of semiconductors? Progress in semiconductor technology increasingly is not just about advancements in the hardware. It also involves advancements in applications and technologies peripheral to the devices themselves. That may sound counterintuitive, but going forward the technology, applications and... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Tools, IP, & IoT Mentor Graphics updated its general purpose computational fluid dynamics product, adding improved mesh handling, an enhanced transient solver, a robust EDA interface, and an interface to Abaqus Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for stress analysis. Arasan uncorked MIPI DSI v1.3 controller IP with support for Display Stream Compression, Sub links, Deskew, and Chec... » read more

Innovation Matters


Innovation is not something that just happens. It requires a culture that rewards innovation, and the only way to make that happen is with buy-in at every level. What's needed is a climate for building, inventing and designing ICs and systems that push technology boundaries and help move the industry forward. This is a key ingredient for innovation that has been used across the globe to brin... » read more

How To Model Cars


The most technologically advanced and comprehensive consumer product in the world today is not the smartphone. It's the automobile. This is easier to see once the hood is up and you can take a peek around. Today’s cars contain sophisticated motion systems, crash safety systems, climate control systems, driver assistance, and infotainment, to name a few. In semiconductor design, one of the ... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Mergers & Acquisitions On Semiconductor signed a definitive agreement to buy Fairchild Semiconductor for $2.4 billion in cash, combining forces in the power semiconductor market. The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions and combinations as companies position themselves for the IoT/IoE/IIoT, a world of connected devices that spans from industrial to automotive to smartphones. Comp... » read more

Why Packaging Matters


The semiconductor package is changing. What was until very recently considered an afterthought is now becoming a key part of the design process at all major chipmakers, and a critical factor in the extension of Moore's Law. This is a sharp reversal of what was almost universally an afterthought in planar silicon design and manufacturing. Rarely was the package an integral part of the archite... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Predictions Wally Rhines, Mentor Graphics' chairman and CEO, was presented with the Kaufman Award last night for outstanding achievement in electronic design. In his acceptance speech, he plotted the growth of the EDA industry at a consistent 2% of the semiconductor industry for the past couple decades. But he noted that with a shift to system design automation, that number would rise from t... » read more

Security Improvements Ahead


After nearly two years of talking about how security is one of the biggest problems facing the IoE, progress is being made on a number of fronts. The changes involve many companies, both individually and collaboratively through standards groups. And while none of this will stop the kind of high-profile breaches that affected Target or Home Depot or JPMorgan Chase or a long list of other gian... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Mentor Graphics began selling infrastructure hardware this week, including an end-to-end IoT solution that includes a reference design for a customizable gateway, a cloud backend, and runtime solutions on which to build a wide array of IoT edge devices. Mentor also released virtual platforms for Altera's Arria 10 SoC FPGA, and updated its Valor PCB manufacturing process to focus on Industry 4.0... » read more

The Great IoE Race Begins


Nobody knows how many tens of billions of semiconductors will be used in the IoE, but it's a sure bet it won't be a few chips replicated billions of times. Most IoE devices will need to be customized for specific applications. Many will need to be highly reliable for many years. And all of them will need to be secure and power-efficient. Yet they also will need to connect to heterogeneous ne... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →