Whither Xcerra?


Trade tensions between the People’s Republic of China and the Trump Administration could sink a big transaction in the automatic test equipment business. Xcerra, a supplier of semiconductor test systems, board testers, and electronic interconnects, announced in April that it had accepted an offer from Unic Capital Management, an affiliate of Sino IC Capital, to acquire the company for $10.... » read more

How To Build An IoT Chip


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss IoT chip design issues with Jeff Miller, product marketing manager for electronic design systems in the Deep Submicron Division of [getentity id="22017" e_name="Mentor, a Siemens Business"]; Mike Eftimakis, IoT product manager in [getentity id="22186" comment="ARM"]'s Systems and Software Group; and John Tinson, vice president of sales at Sondrel Lt... » read more

Combining CMOS IC And MEMS Design For IoT Edge Devices


Creating a sensor-based IoT edge device is challenging, due to the multiple design domains involved. But, creating an edge device that combines the electronics using the traditional CMOS IC flow and a MEMS sensor on the same silicon die can seem impossible. For many years, Tanner has provided customers the ability to interweave MEMS design into this flow, supporting a top-down MEMS IC fl... » read more

Lam Research Acquires Coventor


In a move to expand its product portfolio, Lam Research has acquired Coventor, a provider of simulation and modeling solutions for the semiconductor and MEMS industries. With the acquisition of Coventor, fab tool vendor Lam enters the simulation and modeling technology market. Coventor sells the so-called SEMulator3D modeling and analysis platform, which simulates a fab process flow. The “... » read more

The 200mm Equipment Scramble


An explosion in 200mm demand has set off a frenzied search for used semiconductor manufacturing equipment that can be used at older process nodes. The problem is there is not enough used equipment available, and not all of the new or expanding 200mm fabs can afford to pay the premium for refurbished or new equipment. This may sound like a straightforward supply and demand issue, but behind t... » read more

Is Design Innovation Slowing?


Paul Teich, principal analyst for Tirias Research, gave a provocative talk at the recent DAC conference entitled, "Is Integration Leaving Less Room for Design Innovation?" The answer isn't as simple as the question might suggest. "Integration used to be a driver for increasing the functionality of silicon," Teich said. "Increasingly, it will be used to incorporate more features of an entire ... » read more

IP Challenges Ahead


The revenue from semiconductor [getkc id="43" kc_name="IP"] has risen steadily to become the largest segment of the EDA industry. Industry forecasts expect it to keep growing at a CAGR of more than 10% for the next decade. Part one of this article examined the possibility those forecasts are wrong and that large semiconductor companies are likely to start bringing IP development back in hous... » read more

The Future Of MEMS Design: Making MEMS Design More Like CMOS Design


MEMS-based component suppliers want to rapidly ramp their designs into high-volume production. This demand is driving MEMS suppliers to focus on ways to more efficiently re-use established process steps, stacks or technology platforms. To meet this need, we see the emergence of standard MEMS technology and design platforms similar to those used in CMOS design. The semiconductor industry and ... » read more

What Does An IoT Chip Look Like?


By Ed Sperling and Jeff Dorsch Internet of Things chip design sounds like a simple topic on the face of it. Look deeper, though, and it becomes clear there is no single IoT, and certainly no type of chip that will work across the ever-expanding number of applications and markets that collectively make up the IoT. Included under this umbrella term are sensors, various types of processors, ... » read more

Funding China’s 200mm Fabs


China’s ambitious plans to build a world-class semiconductor manufacturing supply chain domestically certainly has the industry’s attention. With over a dozen new 300mm fab announcements lately from Foundries, DRAM, 3D NAND, and as well as CMOS image sensor companies (either from international semiconductor makers or from indigenous players), China has launched a huge investment in wafer fa... » read more

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