Uncovering Unintended Behavior


Very few companies ever had to worry about security until recently. Over the past couple of years, we have seen increasing evidence that our connected systems are vulnerable. The recent distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which made many Internet sites unavailable, has focused attention on Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as digital video recorders and cameras that have Internet a... » read more

2017: Tool And Methodology Shifts


As the markets for semiconductor products evolve, so do the tools that enable automation, optimization and verification. While tools rarely go away, they do bend like plants toward light. Today, it is no longer the mobile phone industry that is defining the direction, but automotive and the Internet of Things (IoT). Both of these markets have very different requirements and each creates their o... » read more

New Techniques To Analyze And Reduce Etch Variation


Time division multiplex (TDM) plasma etch processes (commonly referred to as Deep Reactive ION Etching [“DRIE”]) use alternating deposition and etch steps cyclically to produce high aspect ratio structures on a silicon substrate. These etch processes have been widely applied in the manufacturing of silicon MEMS devices, and more recently in creating through silicon vias in 3D silicon struct... » read more

Power-Aware Analysis Solution


By reviewing the classic (or traditional) SI methodology, analyzing high-speed design flow, and examining what is employed in Cadence Sigrity power and signal simulations using the SPEED2000, PowerSI, Transistor-to-Behavioral Model Conversion (T2BTM), and SystemSI tools, this paper explains how a general power-aware SI solution not only should be capable of performing SSN simulations, but also ... » read more

Integrating Process Models With TCAD Simulation…


Novel semiconductor technologies are creating complex process flows, which are needed to support the manufacturing of advanced 3D semiconductor structures. It can be helpful to model process flows, and their effect on a novel device, prior to physical fabrication. Process modeling is a technique that can predict the 3D structure of a device using an understanding of unit process steps. Durin... » read more

7nm Design Success Necessitates A Multi-Physics Approach


Whether you are designing an energy efficient mobile device, or an ADAS platform with stringent reliability requirements, or a high performance enterprise networking system, chips fabricated on advanced technologies such as 7-nanometer (nm) process and 2.5/3D or wafer level packaging can provide several advantages. Designs using these technologies consume less power while delivering higher thro... » read more

2017: Manufacturing And Markets


While the industry is busy chatting about the end of Moore's Law and a maturing of the semiconductor industry, the top minds of many companies are having none of it. A slowdown in one area is just an opportunity, in another and that is reflected in the predictions for this year. As in previous years, Semiconductor Engineering will look back on these predictions at the end of the year to see ... » read more

The Best Of Both Worlds


Fidelity and accuracy are critical in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. After all, physical prototyping and testing can only be reduced if one can expect accurate simulation results. But up to now, high fidelity, high accuracy results have come with a price. Complex, realistic geometries have required hours of manual effort to clean up the model and prepare the mesh. Users have bee... » read more

Top 7 Verification Trends For 2017—Changes In The Game Of Ecosystems


As the year 2016 comes to a close, how did my predictions from last year hold up to reality? They were all about horizontal and vertical integration. Spoiler alert—they almost all have moved closer to reality. Going forward into 2017, some of the trends will intensify, but the most interesting trend to watch will be how the game of ecosystems in the areas of mobile, server, and intelligent sy... » read more

Reflecting Back On 2016


Anyone can make a prediction, and sometimes the more outlandish they are the more they get noticed. But at the end of the year some people hit the mark while others may have been way off. Many people simply make projections based on the current trajectory of trends, while others look for the potential discontinuities that may lie ahead. Semiconductor Engineering examines the projections made... » read more

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