Much Ado About Memory


New semiconductor applications are ever changing and improving our lives, from new smartphones and wearables to healthcare, factory automation, and artificial intelligence. The humble memory chip working in the background plays a critical role in enabling these technologies. For example, that awesome picture you just took would be lost forever without memory. Your computer can’t perform the i... » read more

The Case For Antifuse OTP NVM For Secure & Reliable SoCs


Non-volatile memory (NVM) is used for persistent data and secure code storage in a wide range of electronic systems in automotive, mil-aero, power management IC (PMIC), mobile, and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. NVM comes in different flavors including multiple-time programmable (MTP), few-time programmable (FTP), and one-time programmable (OTP). When determining the ideal NVM solution, desi... » read more

New Opportunities For OTP NVM


By 2020 more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet, according to Cisco’s latest forecast. Smartphone traffic will exceed PC traffic and broadband speeds will nearly double by 2021. And by the next Winter Olympics (Beijing 2022), 1 trillion networked sensors could be embedded in the world around us. While tech experts offer slightly different projections of actual numbers,... » read more

Tech Talk: MCU Memory Options


David Eggleston, vice president of embedded memory at GlobalFoundries, talks about the pros and cons of embedded non-volatile memory versus system in package. https://youtu.be/6KoQTFbFVCo » read more

The Black Box In Auto Vehicles


Driving a modern car or truck today is like driving a complex computer system which has the scope to take people and freight from one geographic point to another through the infrastructure and, to do so, it just happens it has an engine and wheels. Among the most significant developments in automotive electronics in the last several years is the inclusion of an EDR (Event Data Recorder) in e... » read more

The Benefits Of Antifuse OTP


One-time programmable (OTP) memory is a type of non-volatile memory (NVM) that commonly comprises of electrical fuse (eFuse) and antifuse. The advantages of OTP memory over multi-time programmable (MTP) memory, such as EEPROM or flash memory, are smaller area and no additional wafer processing steps. Therefore, for many low-cost applications, the OTP memory is used to replace the MTP memory. ... » read more

One-On-One: Dave Hemker


Dave Hemker, CTO at [getentity id="22820" comment="Lam Research"], sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to look at some of the key issues on the process and manufacturing side, and some of the key developments that will reshape the semiconductor industry in the future. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: One of the big discussion topics these days is [getkc id="208" commen... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: April 19


Ferroelectric non-volatile memory Scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), the University of Nebraska, and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland succeeded in growing ultra-thin (2.5-nanometer) ferroelectric films based on hafnium oxide that could potentially be used to develop non-volatile memory elements called ferroelectric tunnel junctions. The film was g... » read more

A Closer Look At One-Time Programmable Embedded Memory


Being the first month of the year, chip designers have probably reflected on 2015 and are thinking ahead to upcoming projects this year. They want to produce a product that reflects tomorrow’s needs for electronic devices that include low power, high performance and high security. Now, they’re thinking about embedded memory, a requirement for all electronic devices. It’s captured the atte... » read more

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

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