tag: Moore’s Law

Virtualization Revisited
By Ernest Worthman - 05 May, 2016 - Comments: 0

Virtual instruction set computing (VISC) is getting a second look as power and performance improvements begin to slow and [getkc id="74" comment="Moore's Law"] is supplanted by [getkc id="279" comment="Koomey's Law"]. While the current crop of [getkc id="185" kc_name="finFETs"] will likely be extended for at least one more process node, there is some debate about what comes next, whether tha... » read more

Rethinking Processor Architectures
By Ed Sperling - 05 May, 2016 - Comments: 2

The semiconductor industry's obsession with clock speeds, cores and how many transistors fit on a piece of silicon may be nearing an end for real this time. The [getentity id="22048" comment="IEEE"] said it will develop the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS), effectively setting the industry agenda for future silicon benchmarking and adding metrics that are relevant to specifi... » read more

Automating System Design
By Ann Mutschler - 02 May, 2016 - Comments: 1

Change is underway in the chip design world, creating opportunities and challenges that reach far beyond questions about whether Moore’s Law is slowing or stopping. Never before in the history of semiconductors has design been so complex and sophisticated, and never has it touched so many lives in so many interesting ways. This is all happening as a result of the chip’s enabling role in ... » read more

Foundries Expand Their Scope
By Ed Sperling - 21 Apr, 2016 - Comments: 0

By Ed Sperling & Mark LaPedus Major foundries are stepping up their offerings across a wide swath of technology nodes, specialty processes and advanced packaging—a recognition that end markets are fragmenting and that the path forward includes a mix of new and established processes. As the smart phone market flattens, there is no single "next big thing" to drive volume at the most ... » read more

Rightsizing Challenges Grow
By Ed Sperling - 20 Apr, 2016 - Comments: 0

Rightsizing chip architectures is getting much more complicated. There are more options to choose from, more potential bottlenecks, and many more choices about what process to use at what process node and for which markets and price points. Rightsizing is a way of targeting chips to specific application needs, supplying sufficient performance while minimizing power and cost. It has been a to... » read more

GPU-Based Computing In Photomask Manufacturing
By Aki Fujimura - 28 Mar, 2016 - Comments: 0

Graphical-processing unit (GPU)-accelerated computing has reached maturity for professional, scientific computing applications. One example of this is the recent GPU-accelerated thermal application for semiconductor photomask manufacturing, which is used in 24/7 manufacturing environments. GPU-accelerated computing won’t be a universal panacea for the semiconductor industry’s “need for sp... » read more

It’s Transition Time
By Ed Sperling - 24 Mar, 2016 - Comments: 1

For the past couple of years we've been hearing about the coming onslaught of the IoT, difficulties in scaling device features and a shift left that will redefine verification, debug and software prototyping. It's all happening. Taken individually, these are noteworthy changes. Taken as a whole, they represent a massive repositioning of the semiconductor industry, from architectural explorat... » read more

Timing Is Everything
By Ed Sperling - 17 Mar, 2016 - Comments: 0

It's easy to look back on companies or products that missed the market because they were too early. Remember the Eo? The brick-like personal digital assistant that AT&T introduced in 1993 had an antenna that hinted at 4G connectivity. Unfortunately, there was no 4G available at the time, so it was just an extra wire. (Check out the video of the tablet version here.) The EO 440 Personal... » read more

Multi-Beam Market Heats Up
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Mar, 2016 - Comments: 3

The multi-beam e-beam mask writer business is heating up, as Intel and NuFlare have separately entered the emerging market. In one surprising move, [getentity id="22846" e_name="Intel"] is in the process of acquiring IMS Nanofabrication, a [gettech id="31058" t_name="multi-beam e-beam"] equipment vendor. And separately, e-beam giant NuFlare recently disclosed its new multi-beam mask writer t... » read more

Running Out Of Energy?
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Mar, 2016 - Comments: 1

The anticipated and growing energy requirements for future computing needs will hit a wall in the next 24 years if the current trajectory is correct. At that point, the world will not produce enough energy for all of the devices that are expected to be drawing power. A report issued by the Semiconductor Industry Association and Semiconductor Research Corp., bases its conclusions on system-le... » read more

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