Blog Review: Feb. 16

By Jesse Allen - 16 Feb, 2022 - Comments: 0

Arm's Mark Nicholson explains the software side of the Morello project to implement a prototype security-focused architecture, presenting a high-level view of the software stacks and discussing the status and roadmap of a range of activities. Synopsys' Ron Lowman finds that as IoT technology and capabilities of portable devices expand, the deployment of 5G networks and interest in AI and aut... » read more

Chip Shortages Grow For Mature Nodes

By Mark LaPedus - 22 Jul, 2021 - Comments: 0

The current wave of chip shortages is expected to last for the foreseeable future, particularly for a growing list of critical devices produced in mature process nodes. Chips manufactured at mature nodes typically fall under the radar, but they are used in nearly every electronic device, including appliances, cars, computers, displays, industrial equipment, smartphones, and TVs. Many of thes... » read more

Automotive IC Shortage Drags On

By Patrick Waurzyniak - 20 May, 2021 - Comments: 1

The current automotive semiconductor shortages won’t end anytime soon. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, it wreaked havoc on the worldwide supply chain, but it especially caught automakers flat-footed. When the auto OEMs canceled chip orders during a roughly eight-week period of plant shutdowns, they later found their supplies of critical ICs had evaporated. To make it an ev... » read more

Blog Review: May 5

By Jesse Allen - 05 May, 2021 - Comments: 0

Arm's William Wang considers how to increase the performance and programmability of persistent applications through using battery to protect the on-chip volatile cache hierarchy. Cadence's Paul McLellan finds that ransomware is getting more sophisticated, and more difficult to eradicate and defend against, with potentially life-threatening consequences. Synopsys' Jonathan Knudsen digs int... » read more

Semiconductor CapEx To Grow 13.0% In 2021

By Adrienne Downey - 23 Mar, 2021 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor capital expenditures grew 9.2% in 2020 to US$112.1 billion. This is $14.1 billion higher than our spring 2020 forecast, and $3.2 billion higher than our fall 2020 forecast. As shown in the graph below, the total 2020 CapEx was $9.4 billion larger than the $102.7 billion spent in 2019. Semico is forecasting 2021 CapEx to reach $127 billion, an increase of 13.0%. Source: Semico... » read more

The Growing Market For Specialized Artificial Intelligence IP In SoCs

By Synopsys - 23 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

Over the past decade, designers have developed silicon technologies that run advanced deep learning mathematics fast enough to explore and implement artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as object identification, voice and facial recognition, and more. Machine vision applications, which are now often more accurate than a human, are one of the key functions driving new system-on-chip (S... » read more

Blog Review: Sept. 16

By Jesse Allen - 16 Sep, 2020 - Comments: 0

Cadence's Paul McLellan checks out what's new for TSMC's advanced packaging solutions and the ultra-low power, RF, eNVM, and CMOS image sensor specialty processes. Mentor's Ron Press points to an automated solution to measuring pattern value that provides a consistent, “apples to apples” assessment of patterns detecting defects based on the likelihood the physical defects occurring. S... » read more

What’s Next For Semis?

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Aug, 2020 - Comments: 0

It’s been a turbulent year in the semiconductor industry. 2020 was supposed to be a strong year. Then, the coronavirus outbreak hit. Suddenly, a large percentage of countries implemented various measures to mitigate the outbreak, such as stay-at-home orders as well as business and store closures. Economic turmoil and job losses soon followed, not to mention the human tragedy involved. M... » read more

Making Sure RISC-V Designs Work As Expected

By Ann Mutschler - 30 Jan, 2020 - Comments: 0

The RISC-V instruction set architecture is attracting attention across a wide swath of markets, but making sure devices based on the RISC-V ISA work as expected is proving as hard, if not harder, than other commercially available ISA-based chips. The general consensus is that open source lacks the safety net of commercially available IP and tools. Characterization tends to be generalized, ra... » read more

A Promising Future For Interconnect IP

By Rich Wawrzyniak - 17 Dec, 2019 - Comments: 0

Complexity of SoC designs continues to increase primarily due to increased demand for functionality and performance in all electronic devices. Studies that Semico Research has conducted on the SoC design landscape shows the number of discrete SIP blocks has continued to rise in response to increased market requirements from new applications and richer feature sets. Table 1: Comparison of 1st... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
Entities, people and technologies explored

Shift Left Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

A transformative change is underway for semiconductor design and EDA. New languages, models, and abstractions will need to be created.

by Brian Bailey

Partitioning In The Chiplet Era

Understanding how chiplets interact under different workloads is critical to ensuring signal integrity and optimal performance in heterogeneous designs.

by Ann Mutschler

3.5D: The Great Compromise

Pros and cons of a middle-ground chiplet assembly that combines 2.5D and 3D-IC.

by Ed Sperling

AI’s Role In Chip Design Widens, Drawing In New Startups

Focus is on letting engineers do much more with the same or fewer resources — and less drudgery.

by Karen Heyman

Key Technologies To Extend EUV To 14 Angstroms

Alongside high-NA EUV will be better-performing photoresists, reduced roughness using passivation and etch, and lateral etching to reduce tip-to-tip dimensions.

by Laura Peters

Memory Fundamentals For Engineers

eBook: Nearly everything you need to know about memory, including detailed explanations of the different types of memory; how and where these are used today; what's changing, which memories are successful and which ones might be in the future; and the limitations of each memory type.

by The SE Staff

What Comes After HBM For Chiplets

The standard for high-bandwidth memory limits design freedom at many levels, but that is required for interoperability. What freedoms can be taken from other functions to make chiplets possible?