2011: Crash and Burn or Return to Normalcy?


By Jim Feldhan Seasonally, the first half of most typical years, semiconductor sales are weak and not necessarily indicative of a downturn. This year however, the first half will be up over 2%, a healthy growth rate after the 31.8% increase in revenues the industry experienced in 2010. 2011 represents a return to the "normal" semiconductor cycle, averaging an 8% increase in revenue YOY. The... » read more

Wafer Demand Grows Despite Supply Chain Jitters


By Joanne Itow Semiconductor revenue growth broke records in 2010 increasing almost 32% over 2009.  Units grew an equally impressive 25% forcing manufacturers to increase productivity and ramp up additional capacity as quickly as possible. Increased use of leading edge process technology was evident as products processed at 45nm and smaller grew to 16.8% of the total silicon demand in 2010... » read more

The FPGA Alternative


By Geoffrey James Until a few years ago, SoC designers focused almost exclusively on ASICs. While it was theoretically possible to create an SoC design for an FPGA, the programmable chips were too bulky and pricey to be useful for much more than prototyping. Today, however, designers are increasingly turning to FPGAs for their SOC targets for production systems. Why the sudden upsurge in So... » read more

First Down On The 40nm Line


The race to 40nm is over. Some chipmakers are already there, taping out designs and implementing IP that has already been qualified at the 40nm process. When exactly volume production begins and when yields improve is a matter of conjecture. TSMC so far is the only major foundry actively using the 40nm process, which is a half-node beyond 45nm. But the Common Platform already has briefed a... » read more

Newer posts →