Hyperconnectivity, Hyperscale Computing, And Moving Edges


As described in “The Four Pillars of Hyperscale Computing” last year, the four core components that development teams consider for data centers are computing, storage, memory, and networking. Over the previous decade, requirements for programmability have fundamentally changed data centers. Just over a decade ago, in 2010, virtual machines would compute user workloads on CPU-centric archite... » read more

In-Chip Sensing And PVT Monitoring: Not Just An Insurance Policy


You wouldn’t drive an expensive car without insurance or take a flight in an aircraft without performing instrument and control surface checks. So why would you take the risk of designing a multi-million dollar advanced node semiconductor device without making sure you are aware of, and able to manage, the dynamic conditions that had the potential to make or break a silicon product? Advanced... » read more

Testing Analog Circuits Becoming More Difficult


Foundries and packaging houses are wrestling how to control heat in the testing phase, particularly as devices continue to shrink and as thermally sensitive analog circuits are added into SoCs and advanced packages to support everything from RF to AI. The overriding problem is that heat can damage chips or devices under test. That's certainly true for digital chips developed at advanced node... » read more

Shifting Auto Architectures


Domain controllers and gateways are being replaced by central processing modules and zonal gateways to handle all of the data traffic in a vehicle. Ron DiGiuseppe, automotive IP segment manager at Synopsys, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about how automotive applications are changing, what that means for engineering teams, and how they will shift as AI is increasingly deployed. » read more

Cross Spectrum Video Processing


While immunization vaccines are rolling out at an impressive pace, and as society slowly reopens, our best defense against the Coronavirus continues to be early detection and rapid response (such as self-isolation). An early symptom of having the virus is an increased body temperature, which can be easily measured using contactless methods such as thermal sensors or cameras sensitive to IR r... » read more

Demand for IC Resilience Drives Methodology Changes


Applications that demand safety, security, and resilience are driving new ways of thinking about design, verification, and the long-term reliability of chips on a mass scale. The need is growing for chips that can process more data faster, over longer periods of time, and often within a shrinking power budget. That, in turn, is forcing changes at multiple levels, at the architecture, design,... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Feb. 8


Transparent sensor Researchers at Osaka University created a thin, flexible, transparent sensor using silver nanowire networks. High-resolution printing was used to fabricate the centimeter-scale cross-aligned silver nanowire arrays, with reproducible feature sizes from 20 to 250 micrometers. As a proof-of-concept for functionality, they used their arrays to detect electrophysiological signals... » read more

A Look Inside ADAS Modules


You glance down at your phone while rolling in slow-moving traffic. Against your better judgment, you proceed to read your latest email, oblivious to the fact that the car in front of you has braked. In the nick of time, your car starts beeping and flashing. You look up and slam the brakes. Whew! That was close. If this has happened to you, don't forget to thank the radar and camera modules in ... » read more

Enabling “Triple Vision” – LiDAR Technology For Safe Driving


Cars are becoming safer, thanks to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) features such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) and driver monitoring systems. These features are becoming ever more sophisticated, making automated driving robust. For instance, AEB began with merely watching cars in front. Now, it detects pedestrians, weaving traffic, cyclists, and objects in the road. Realizin... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 5


Quiet qubits Researchers at the University of New South Wales Sydney recorded the lowest noise levels yet for a semiconductor qubit. Charge noise caused by material imperfections interferes with the information encoded on qubits, reducing accuracy. "The level of charge noise in semiconductor qubits has been a critical obstacle to achieving the accuracy levels we need for large-scale error-c... » read more

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