The Week In Review: Manufacturing


For years, Altera’s sole foundry was TSMC. Then, not long ago, Altera selected Intel as its foundry partner for 14nm. TSMC still handles 20nm and above work for Altera. Now, Altera will soon select a foundry partner for 10nm. “Altera will make a decision on which foundry partner it will choose for 10nm finFET at the end of 1Q15, noting it will decide between Intel and TSMC,” said John Vin... » read more

Challenges For IC Security


Keeping chips secure is really a foot race between the good guys and the bad guys. Going forward, expect heavily funded, grouped efforts to place tremendous pressure on security envelopes. This includes everything from simple home devices, such as routers, to the most critical infrastructures, such as power, telecom, transportation, and soon, the IoT. Fig. 1: Courtesy of Blade Genexis I... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Mergers/Acquisitions Lattice Semiconductor agreed to pay $600 million for Silicon Image, which makes connectivity solutions for high-definition content for mobile and consumer electronics. Lattice already makes programmable connectivity solutions, so the combined IP portfolio is expected to strengthen its position in wired and wireless markets. Tools Cadence expanded the tool portfolio it ... » read more

New Market Expectations For 2015


This year more than 26 people provided predictions for 2015. Most of these came from the EDA industry, so the results may be rather biased. However, ecosystems are coming closer together in many parts of the semiconductor food chain, meaning that the EDA companies often can see what is happening in dependent industries and in the system design houses. Thus their predictions may have already res... » read more

Tools And Flows In 2015


This year more than 26 people provided predictions for 2015. Most of these came from the EDA industry, so the results may be rather biased. However, ecosystems are coming closer together in many parts of the semiconductor food chain, meaning that the EDA companies often can see what is happening in dependent industries and in the system design houses. Thus their predictions may have already res... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Front-end fab equipment spending is projected to increase by 20% in 2015 to $42 billion, according to SEMI. In 2015, equipment spending could mark a historical record high, surpassing the previous peak years of 2007 ($39 billion) and 2011 ($40 billion). In 2014, the report predicts growth of approximately 21% for front-end fab equipment spending, for total spending of $34.9 billion. SEMI rep... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Tools Cadence rolled out a custom power integrity tool for dealing with transistor-level electromigration and IR drop with SPICE-level accuracy. It works in conjunction with the company’s existing power integrity tool for cell-level power signoff. Open-Silicon established a high-speed SerDes technology center of excellence to speed design and production of ASICs using high-speed serial co... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing & Design


Don’t look now, but Intel is expanding its foundry business. Previously, Intel garnered a small collection of foundry customers. But Intel would not entertain foundry customers that had competitive products based on ARM chips. Apparently, Intel is having a change of heart. “I think they’ve changed their position,” said Nathan Brookwood, a research fellow at Insight 64. “They will do A... » read more

On-Chip MCUs Excel At Power Management


By Ann Steffora Mutschler When it comes to supplying power to an SoC, there is an increasing trend to make it more intelligent—how to control it more accurately, how it is monitored and how it communicates with different aspects of the chip. Traditional power supply models with analog supplies have less of this control, so a number of engineering teams are considering the use of on-chip m... » read more

Case Study: Microsemi Memory Interface


Microsemi qualified a structured approach to mixed-signal SoC verification using Questa ADMS, systematic pre-planning, and the OVM. To view this white paper, click here. » read more

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