The Next Big Things


Progress in electronics has always been about combining more functions into devices and making access to information more convenient. This is what drove the PC revolution in the 1980s, when centralized data was made available on desktops, and it's what drove the notebook PC revolution in the 1990s as computers became untethered from the desktop, as long as you could find an Ethernet connecti... » read more

Consolidation Creates Confusion


Consolidation in any industry is a sign of maturation. Diverse business models converge to the ones that really work. Supply and demand find equilibrium with a right-sized supply base. And generally, the fittest survive. The semiconductor industry is somewhere around a half-century old, so consolidation in this industry is to be expected, and we have certainly seen some consolidation of late. ... » read more

Tech Talk: USB Type-C


NXP's Ravi Shah explains how to design in the new USB standard, what to watch out for and why it's going to be so important for mobile and connected devices. [youtube vid=iPCwpaPy1pw] » read more

Blog Review: July 29


NASA estimates they could reduce the cost of colonizing the moon to $10 billion, with mining fuel from the lunar surface potentially making the satellite a gas station on the way to Mars or beyond. This week's top five articles from Ansys' Bill Vandermark are mostly out of this world, but there's a down-to-earth aspect as airless tires roll closer to inclusion in consumer vehicles. How will ... » read more

Blog Review: July 22


It's been a hot summer for high-level synthesis, says Cadence's Dave Pursley in a collection of the season's HLS highlights spanning DAC to SystemC Japan. Mentor's Harry Foster continues his survey of functional verification with a look at the adoption trends of various verification technologies, and the reasons one-third of projects use emulation or FPGA prototyping. Synopsys' Navraj Nan... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


Acquisitions Synopsys acquired all low power wireless IP assets of Silicon Vision. The Egyptian company, which provided Bluetooth Smart, ISM Radio, Zigbee Radio, and Z-wave IP, is now working exclusively with Synopsys. The acquisition expands Synopsys' portfolio of IP for the Internet of Things, which includes security IP recently obtained through the acquisition of Elliptic Technologies. ... » read more

Blog Review: July 8


In this week's picks for his top five technology articles, Ansys' Justin Nescott rolls in with two ways for cyclists to improve safety, the development of the wheelchair and the advancement of fingerprint scanners for healthcare and security. With the launch of the BBC Micro:bit, one part of a program to inspire young people to get into coding and digital creation, ARM's Gary Atkinson shows ... » read more

More Than Just Plastic


The magnetic strip credit card era is coming to an end. The technology is antiquated, prone to security vulnerabilities, and has no self-destruct capability if lost or stolen. In its place are near-field technologies coupled with smart devices—think Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, digital wallets, MasterCard's PayPass—and now near-field communication (NFC) chips inside of cards. But... » read more

How Much Security Is Enough?


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the current state of [getkc id="223" kc_name="security"] and what must be done in the future, with Denis Noël, head of cyber security solutions at [getentity id="22499" e_name="NXP"]; Serge Leef, vice president of new ventures at [getentity id="22017" e_name="Mentor Graphics"]; Andreas Kuehlman, senior vice president and general manager of the soft... » read more

Tech Talk: Mesh Networks


Yifeng Zhang, director of systems at NXP, discusses problems in connecting home networks and how that's about to change with Bluetooth Low Energy and mesh networking approaches. [youtube vid=zcET06J2Z2k] » read more

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