Why Curvy Design Now? Less Change Than You Think And Manufacturable Today


A curvilinear (curvy) chip, if magically made possible, would be smaller, faster, and use less power. Magic is no longer needed on the manufacturing side, as companies like Micron Technology are making photomasks with curvy shapes using state-of-the-art multi-beam mask writers today. Yet the entire chip-design infrastructure is based on the Manhattan assumption of 90-degree turns, even though i... » read more

Why Curvy Design Now? Manufacturing Is Possible And Scaling Needs It


Have you ever seen roots or tree branches take a 90-degree turn? Have you ever seen a river that takes a 90-degree turn? Nature doesn’t do 90-degree turns, or for that matter any sharp angle turns – not even 135 degrees. Yet the entire chip-design infrastructure is based on the Manhattan assumption of 90-degree turns. While it would take time to change, is there any doubt that a curvilinea... » read more

High-NA Lithography Starting To Take Shape


The future of semiconductor technology is often viewed through the lenses of photolithography equipment, which continues to offer better resolution for future process nodes despite an almost perpetual barrage of highly challenging technological issues. For years, lithography was viewed as the primary manufacturing-related gating factor to continued device scaling, beset by multiple delays th... » read more

DAC/Semicon West Addresses Top Issues, Trends For Chips


The Design Automation Conference (DAC) 2023 and Semicon West returned in full force this week, drawing in more attendees and sponsor companies than since before the pandemic. At times, booth traffic was four to five deep, blocking aisles, and standing room only was common at presentations. Hot topics included generative AI and the underlying semiconductor technology, data security, reliabili... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Rambus will begin selling Arm's CryptoCell embedded security platform and CryptoIsland root-of-trust cores, setting the stage for a much broader push by Rambus into security for a wide range of connected devices, and ultimately into security as a service. Under the terms of the deal, Rambus' customers will be able to license Arm IP directly from Rambus. For Arm's existing customers, there will ... » read more

Safety, Security, And Reliability Of AI In Autos


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to talk about security, aging, and safety in automotive AI systems, with Geoff Tate, CEO of Flex Logix; Veerbhan Kheterpal, CEO of Quadric; Steve Teig, CEO of Perceive; and Kurt Busch, CEO of Syntiant. What follows are excerpts of that conversation, which was held in front of a live audience at DesignCon. Part one of this discussion is he... » read more

AI’s Impact In Automobiles Remains Uncertain


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to talk about software updates in cars, where AI makes sense, and why there's a growing sense of optimism, with Geoff Tate, CEO of Flex Logix; Veerbhan Kheterpal, CEO of Quadric; Steve Teig, CEO of Perceive; and Kurt Busch, CEO of Syntiant. What follows are excerpts of that conversation, which were held in front of a live audience at Desi... » read more

Where And Why AI Makes Sense In Cars


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to talk about where AI makes sense in automotive and what are the main challenges, with Geoff Tate, CEO of Flex Logix; Veerbhan Kheterpal, CEO of Quadric; Steve Teig, CEO of Perceive; and Kurt Busch, CEO of Syntiant. What follows are excerpts of that conversation, which were held in front of a live audience at DesignCon. Part two of this... » read more

Complex Tradeoffs In Inferencing Chips


Designing AI/ML inferencing chips is emerging as a huge challenge due to the variety of applications and the highly specific power and performance needs for each of them. Put simply, one size does not fit all, and not all applications can afford a custom design. For example, in retail store tracking, it's acceptable to have a 5% or 10% margin of error for customers passing by a certain aisle... » read more

AI Power Consumption Exploding


Machine learning is on track to consume all the energy being supplied, a model that is costly, inefficient, and unsustainable. To a large extent, this is because the field is new, exciting, and rapidly growing. It is being designed to break new ground in terms of accuracy or capability. Today, that means bigger models and larger training sets, which require exponential increases in processin... » read more

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