The Coming NPU Population Collapse


At some point in everyone’s teenage years of schooling we were all taught in a nature or biology class about cycles of population surges and then inevitable population collapses. Whether the example was an animal, plant, insect or even bacteria, some external event triggers a rapid surge in the population of a species which leads to overpopulation and competition for resources (food, space, s... » read more

RISC-V’s Increasing Influence


The industry is increasingly talking about benefits brought by the RISC-V architecture, but is it even the right starting point? While it may not be perfect, it may provide the flexibility necessary to move forward gradually. Computer architectures and software have followed in the footsteps of processors developed 80 years ago. They aimed to solve sequential, scalar arithmetic problems usin... » read more

The Best DRAMs For Artificial Intelligence


Artificial intelligence (AI) involves intense computing and tons of data. The computing may be performed by CPUs, GPUs, or dedicated accelerators, and while the data travels through DRAM on its way to the processor, the best DRAM type for this purpose depends on the type of system that is performing the training or inference. The memory challenge facing engineering teams today is how to keep... » read more

Connecting AI Accelerators


Experts At The Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the various ways that AI accelerators are being applied today with Marc Meunier, director of ecosystem development at Arm; Jason Lawley, director of product marketing for AI IP at Cadence; Paul Karazuba, vice president of marketing at Expedera; Alexander Petr, senior director at Keysight; Steve Roddy, chief marketing office... » read more

Future-proofing AI Models


Experts At The Table: Making sure AI accelerators can be updated for future requirements is becoming essential due to the rapid introduction of new models. Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the challenges of future-proofing these designs with Marc Meunier, director of ecosystem development at Arm; Jason Lawley, director of product marketing for AI IP at Cadence; Paul Karazuba, vic... » read more

Trapped By Legacy


At Quadric, we do a lot of first-time introductory visits with prospective new customers. As a rapidly expanding processor IP licensing company that is starting to get noticed (even winning IP Product of the Year!) such meetings are part of the territory. Which means we hear a lot of similar-sounding questions from appropriately skeptical listeners who hear our story for the very first time. Th... » read more

AI Accelerators Moving Out From Data Centers


Experts At The Table: The explosion in AI data is driving chipmakers to look beyond a single planar SoC. Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the need for more computing and the expanding role of chiplets with Marc Meunier, director of ecosystem development at Arm; Jason Lawley, director of product marketing for AI IP at Cadence; Paul Karazuba, vice president of marketing at Expedera; ... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Check out the Inside Chips podcast for our behind-the-scenes analysis. The U.S. government is rescinding a Biden-era AI export rule that would have imposed complex restrictions on how U.S. chip and AI technology is sold abroad, a move welcomed by companies like Nvidia, reports Bloomberg. While new, simpler guidelines are expected in the coming months, the decision introduces short-term uncer... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


To listen to the podcast version, click here. TSMC unveiled an unusually detailed roadmap at this week's North America Technology Symposium, including future architectures for 3D-ICs for high-performance computing and small, extremely low-power chips for AR/VR glasses, and two implementations of system-on-wafer. Fig. 1: TSMC's future packaging and stacking roadmap. Source: TSMC The ... » read more

AI Drives Re-Engineering Of Nearly Everything In Chips


AI's ability to mine patterns across massive quantities of data is causing fundamental changes in how chips are used, how they are designed, and how they are packaged and built. These shifts are especially apparent in high-performance AI architectures being used inside of large data centers, where chiplets are being deployed to process, move, and store massive amounts of data. But they also ... » read more

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