Chip Industry Week In Review


CSIS issued a new report that says Intel is "not too big to fail, but too good to lose." The report noted that Intel is needed for national security, and that it must be viewed in a geopolitical context rather than from a purely business standpoint when it comes to funding the company. Japan's government is creating a 10 trillion yen (~$65 billion) fund for next-gen technologies, including A... » read more

EMEA Investments Driving Technology Specialization


Government programs across Europe and the UK are seeing a surge of investments in leading edge technology, materials, and packaging. Industry and academia are coalescing around specialty areas, drawing on established relationships to foster innovation and fill gaps in regional supply chains while also maintaining international bonds. Government initiatives also are picking up in Israel, Saudi A... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Three Fraunhofer Institutes (IIS/EAS, IZM, and ENAS) launched the Chiplet Center of Excellence, a research initiative to support the commercial introduction of chiplet technology. The center initially will focus on automotive electronics, developing workflows and methods for electronics design, demonstrator construction, and the evaluation of reliability. The UCIe Consortium published the Un... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


BAE Systems and GlobalFoundries are teaming up to strengthen the supply of chips for national security programs, aligning technology roadmaps and collaborating on innovation and manufacturing. Focus areas include advanced packaging, GaN-on-silicon chips, silicon photonics, and advanced technology process development. Onsemi plans to build a $2 billion silicon carbide production plant in the ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Gregory Haley, and Liz Allan Synopsys will acquire Ansys for about $35 billion in cash and stock. The deal will boost Synopsys' multi-physics simulation capabilities, which are essential for complex 3D-IC designs, where thermal density can have significant repercussions. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2025. Worldwide semiconductor revenue ... » read more

Research Bits: May 30


Improving qubits Researchers from QuTech say they have improved the ‘Andreev spin qubit’ by taking the two most promising qubits — the spin qubits in semiconductors and transmon qubits in superconducting circuits — and finding a hybrid way that uses the best of both qubit types. “Spin qubits are small and compatible with current industrial technology, but they struggle with interact... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Public USB phone charging stations are now another vector that bad actors can use to plant malware and steal data on devices — known as "juice jacking," according to the United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC is encouraging people to stay away from these public charging stations, found in airports and hotels, because of bad actors can install malware on the charging... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


U.S. President Joe Biden appears ready to increase pressure on Japan and the Netherlands to help block the flow of advanced chip technology to China, where it can be used to develop cutting-edge weapons. "You will see Japan and Netherlands follow our lead," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CNBC. Japan plans to budget ¥350 billion ($2.38 billion) in a research collaboration with th... » read more

The Week in Review: IoT


Networks The Netherlands and South Korea are both laying claim to installing the first nationwide Internet of Things networks in the world. In the Netherlands, KPN has connected the country with a low-power, wide-area network optimized for IoT. SK Telecom is serving Korea with coast-to-coast IoT coverage, and the Korean carrier plans to spend up to $86.8 million through the end of 2017 on upg... » read more