New Plasma Power Technologies For Next-Gen Semiconductor Manufacturing


As chip designs push the limits of speed, size and complexity, the semiconductor industry has set its sights on angstrom-scale device features. High-speed, precise and repeatable plasma power delivery with sophisticated controls is fundamental to process and device improvements. These factors support inflection points in technologies from chip-scale packaging through advanced front-end technolo... » read more

Blog Review: September 20


Siemens' Patrick Hope considers the unique attributes of materials used in flex and rigid-flex PCB designs and how they are constructed. Synopsys' Kenneth Larsen and Shekhar Kapoor find that the increased impact of thermal, signal integrity, and other multi-physics effects on multi-die systems calls for looking at the whole system, from technology to dies and package together. Cadence's V... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Gregory Haley, Jesse Allen, and Liz Allan TSMC told equipment vendors to delay deliveries of the most advanced tools due to uncertain demand, according to Reuters. The news drove down stock prices of all the major equipment providers. On the other hand, TSMC said advanced packaging shortages will constrain AI chip shipments for the next 18 months, according to NikkeiAsia. The United St... » read more

Blog Review: September 13


Siemens' Todd Westerhoff highlights the importance of signal integrity analysis in PCB design, challenges as simulation tools have become more sophisticated and difficult to use, and best practices like starting with a simple analysis problem. Synopsys' Rita Horner, Shekhar Kapoor, and William Ruby note that the power and thermal profiles of multi-die systems for HPC and the data center shou... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Liz Allan, Jesse Allen, and Karen Heyman Global semiconductor equipment billings dipped 2% year-over-year to US$25.8 billion in Q2, and slipped 4% compared with Q1, according to SEMI. Similarly, the top 10 semiconductor foundries reported a 1.1% quarterly-over-quarter revenue decline in Q2. A rebound is anticipated in Q3, according to TrendForce. Synopsys extended its AI-driven EDA ... » read more

Blog Review: September 6


Cadence's Reela Samuel listens in as industry experts discuss whether generative AI-powered tools could facilitate the creation of diverse chip types and address talent shortages by creating  a more accessible entry point for those interested in circuit, chip, or system design. Synopsys' Ian Land, Jigesh Patel, and Kenneth Larsen find that the way that today’s government, aerospace, and d... » read more

Blog Review: August 30


Siemens' Dan Yu examines hallucinations in large language models, the Universal Approximation Theorem, and the role they play in applying LLMs to EDA. Cadence's Mamta Rana introduces shared flow control in PCIe 6.0, which enables the reduced cost implementation of multiple virtual channels by allowing common sets of resources to be shared. Synopsys' Arturo Salz and Johannes Stahl note tha... » read more

Blog Review: Aug. 23


Siemens' Stephen Chavez discusses best practices when it comes to thermal analysis for PCB design, including component placement and close collaboration between mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines. Synopsys' Gary Ruggles, Richard Solomon, and Varun Agrawal introduce the Compute Express Link (CXL) specification and how it could help improve latency through computational offloadi... » read more

Securing Chip Manufacturing Against Growing Cyber Threats


Semiconductor manufacturers are wrestling with how to secure a highly specialized and diverse global supply chain, particularly as the value of their IP and their dependence upon software increases — along with the sophistication and resources of the attackers. Where methodologies and standards do exist for security, they often are confusing, cumbersome, and incomplete. There are plenty of... » read more

FLEX 2023 Takeaways: Flexible And Printed Electronics Move Into Electronics Manufacturing


By Gity Samadi and Paul Semenza The FLEX Conference, held again this year in conjunction with SEMICON West 2023, provided numerous examples of continued developments in flexible, printed, and flexible hybrid electronics technologies applied to sensing, robotics, communications, and other applications. At the same time, there is growing focus on applying various additive manufacturing equipme... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →