Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


Global semiconductor sales reached $574 billion in 2022, and U.S. semiconductor companies accounted for sales totaling $275 billion, or 48% of the global market, according to the 2023 Factbook released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). DRAM and NAND prices likely will continue to fall further this quarter because production cuts have not kept pace with weakening demand, accord... » read more

Making Tradeoffs With AI/ML/DL


Machine learning, deep learning, and AI increasingly are being used in chip design, and they are being used to design chips that are optimized for ML/DL/AI. The challenge is understanding the tradeoffs on both sides, both of which are becoming increasingly complex and intertwined. On the design side, machine learning has been viewed as just another tool in the design team's toolbox. That's s... » read more

Blog Review: May 10


Synopsys' Alessandra Nardi and Uyen Tran explain how to meet quality, reliability, functional safety, and security requirements of automotive chips through thorough test programs, path-margin monitoring, and design failure mode and effect analysis (DFMEA). Cadence's Veena Parthan explores how computational fluid dynamics can help predict and model the generation, propagation, and mitigation ... » read more

Blog Review: May 3


Synopsys' Thomas Andersen considers the requirements of AI-optimized chips that are resulting in exploration of different memory configurations, different types of memory, and different types of processor technologies and software components. Cadence's Girish Vaidyanathan considers the role of hierarchy and partitioning in custom design and looks at how a virtual hierarchy allows layout desi... » read more

AI Adoption Slow For Design Tools


A lot of excitement, and a fair amount of hype, surrounds what artificial intelligence (AI) can do for the EDA industry. But many challenges must be overcome before AI can start designing, verifying, and implementing chips for us. Should AI replace the algorithms in use today, or does it have a different role to play? At the end of the day, AI is a technique that has strengths and weaknesses... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Pervasive computing Renesas introduced a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) chipset and dev kit for the Indian market. The LTE NB-IoT modem chipset, the RH1NS200, was designed for Indian telecommunications carriers by targeting bands 1,3, 5 and 8 and by following India’s carrier-approved LTE protocol stack and software suite. Low power usage is built in — it has a low Power Saving Mode... » read more

Designing For In-Circuit Monitors


In every application space the semiconductor ecosystem touches, in-circuit monitors and sensors are playing an increasing role in silicon lifecycle management and concepts around reliability and resiliency — both during design as well as in the field. The combination of true system-level design, in/on-chip monitors, and improved data analysis are expected to drastically improve reliability... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Cadence rolled out a slew of new products at this week’s CDNLive Silicon Valley, including: A new generative AI-powered tool for analog, mixed-signal, RF and photonics design; An extended collaboration with TSMC and Microsoft to advance giga-scale physical verification system in the cloud; A multi-year partnership with the San Francisco 49ers football organization, focused on sust... » read more

Blog Review: April 19


Synopsys' Soren Smidstrup and Kerim Genc explore how materials modeling helps battery designers explore the wide playing field for new battery materials and optimize performance by co-designing the structure and chemistry of new batteries, ultimately shortening development time and cost. Siemens' Stephen Chavez finds that enabling multiple engineers to work simultaneously within the same PCB... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Public USB phone charging stations are now another vector that bad actors can use to plant malware and steal data on devices — known as "juice jacking," according to the United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC is encouraging people to stay away from these public charging stations, found in airports and hotels, because of bad actors can install malware on the charging... » read more

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