Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced $238 million in awards toward establishing eight regional innovation hubs under the CHIPS and Science Act. The hubs aim to accelerate hardware prototyping and "lab-to-fab" transition of semiconductor technologies for secure edge/IoT, 5G/6G, AI hardware, quantum technology, electromagnetic warfare, and ... » read more

Memory-Based Cyberattacks Become More Complex, Difficult To Detect


Memories are becoming entry points for cyber attacks, raising concerns about system-level security because memories are nearly ubiquitous in electronics and breaches are difficult to detect. There is no end in sight with hackers taking aim at almost every consumer, industrial, and commercial segment, and a growing number of those devices connected to the internet and to each other. According... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools and IP Renesas introduced a new microprocessor that enables artificial intelligence to process image data from multiple cameras. "One of the challenges for embedded systems developers who want to implement machine learning is to keep up with the latest AI models that are constantly evolving,” said Shigeki Kato, Vice President of Renesas' Enterprise Infrastructure Business Division. �... » read more

Week in Review – IoT, Security, Autos


Products/Services Cadence Design Systems is working with Adesto Technologies to grow the Expanded Serial Peripheral Interface (xSPI) communication protocol ecosystem, for use in Internet of Things devices. The Cadence Memory Model for xSPI allows customers to ensure optimal use of the octal NOR flash with the host processor in an xSPI system, including support for Adesto’s EcoXiP octal xSPI ... » read more

Over $7 Billion Raised In Mega-Rounds By 27 Firms


It was also a good month for private equity firms and venture capitalists to raise their own rounds, with the money to be invested in early-stage companies and more mature ventures. A semiconductor company led the month. Nexperia, once the Standard Products business unit of NXP Semiconductors, took in $1.5 billion of senior credit facilities. The money will go toward refinancing debt and par... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Autos


Products/Services Huawei Technologies is again delaying the public introduction of its Mate X foldable smartphone. It is unlikely the product will be marketed in the U.S., given the ongoing trade war. The official rollout now seems likely to come in November, in time for the holiday shopping season. Samsung Electronics has had its problems with foldable phones, yet those were due to manufactur... » read more

May’19 Startup Funding: Mega-Funding Rounds Continue


In May, 20 startups enjoyed the distinction of getting a mega-round of $100 million or more in private funding. Those 20 companies together took in more than $6.65 billion. There were two billion-dollar investments in recent weeks. GM Cruise, the autonomous vehicle startup, received $1.15 billion in new funding from General Motors, Honda Motor, the SoftBank Vision Fund, T. Rowe Price Asso... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Dialog Semiconductor is shifting its product portfolio away from smartphones following its pending $600 million deal with Apple. The chip company is looking toward connected-health products and video-game consoles for future growth. The connected-health devices, developed in collaboration with pharmaceutical firms, would monitor blood pressure and check glucose levels, accor... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Lowe’s, the home improvement retailer, is giving up on the smart home market. The company is putting its Iris Smart Home business up for sale as part of a reorganization. The retailer made a big splash at CES 2015 with its Innovation Lab offerings, which included retail service robots and the Holoroom “home improvement simulator.” The Iris product line includes multipl... » read more

Using Machine Learning In EDA


Machine learning is beginning to have an impact on the EDA tools business, cutting the cost of designs by allowing tools to suggest solutions to common problems that would take design teams weeks or even months to work through. This reduces the cost of designs. It also potentially expands the market for EDA tools, opening the door to even new design starts and more chips from more compan... » read more

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