Unraveling Power Methodologies


When working on articles, the editors at Semiconductor Engineering sometimes hear things that make them stand back and question what seems to be an industry truth. One such statement happened last month while researching a different article. The statement was: Most designs are not top-down, but in fact bottom-up when it comes to power management. The most used methodology today is that the RTL... » read more

Image Sensor And Display Enhancements Drive Low-Cost Smartphone Growth


The low-cost smartphone segment is fueling the growth of the overall smartphone market. Smartphones are being adopted in emerging markets and are displacing feature or basic phones in developed markets. Mobile phone device manufacturers are closing the leadership gap with the No. 1 vendor – Samsung – by competing in both the high-end and low-end smartphone segments. See Table 1. Table ... » read more

Important Changes Ahead


Two of Si2's important industry standards efforts will be featured later this month at DesignCon, a popular Silicon Valley event that is now in its 20th year. In the panel entitled, "System-Level Power Modeling—What's the Big Deal?", leading industry experts from AMD, Avago Technologies, Cadence, Docea Power, Qualcomm, and Si2 will focus on the growing need to take a higher level and more... » read more

Security Risks Grow Worse


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss security issues for connected devices with Marc Canel, vice president of security at [getentity id="22186" comment="ARM"]; Paul Kocher, president and chief scientist for the Cryptography Research division of [getentity id="22671" e_name="Rambus"]; Michael Poitner, global segment marketing manager at [getentity id="22499" e_name="NXP"]; Felix Baum, h... » read more

See The Internet Of Things…In 3D


No, you don’t need 3D glasses to experience two of the hottest emerging technology trends in electronics — just take advantage of the longest running conference series on the topic of 3-D integrated circuits. Now in its 11th year, the 3D Architectures for Semiconductor Integration and Packaging conference will take place in San Francisco next week. The event will feature two pre-conference ... » read more

Designing For Energy Efficiency


Swiss watchmakers have nothing to worry about for the moment. As top-name companies crowd into the wearable market with full-featured watches, limits on battery life and frequent charges undoubtedly will limit their popularity. Smart watches look cool or clunky, depending upon your perspective, but none of them lasts long enough between charges to be a serious market contender. That's certai... » read more

IoT Standards Needed


The promise of the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"] is effortless communication between devices, all of which are smart enough to transmit data to the Internet directly, or through connecting hubs, and to ad hoc devices that are authorized to be added to a personal or industrial network. What's not yet clear is how that promise will be realized. Even though many devices are desig... » read more

Why Multi-Die Integration Really Is On Its Way


Admit it. You’ve heard a lot about 3D IC’s for years now, and it’s starting to get old. Lots of talk but not much action, you say? Maybe it will never happen, you say? Well, perhaps it’s time to reassess the current situation, reevaluate emerging needs, and reset our “3D” paradigm for the coming multi-die imperative. The problems associated with 3D IC (stacked die) are real and v... » read more

Different Approaches Emerge For Stacking Die


The concept of stacking die to shorten wires, improve performance, and reduce the amount of energy required to drive signals has been in research for at least the past dozen years at both IBM and Intel. And depending upon whom you ask, it could be another 2 to 10 years before it becomes a mainstream packaging approach—if it happens at all. At least part of the confusion stems from how you ... » read more

More People Use Phones Than Toothbrushes…


“Business Has Only Two Functions – Marketing and Innovation” — Milan Kundera There may be more to running a successful business than marketing and innovation, but these two functions were front-and-center at SEMICON West 2014. This year’s industry gathering was an important, and positive, step forward together. Because of the gravity of the challenges facing our industry – funda... » read more

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