Flexible ICs, MEMS, Metal Oxides Solve Fresh Problems


Key Takeaways: Flexible ICs are durable and form-fitting, but they add manufacturing challenges to already complex processes, while printed flex sensors lack infrastructure. MEMS are finding new popularity in massively parallel systems, on one device, or in many devices distributed across a network. Metal oxide-based sensors are more scalable than those relying on photonic crystals, ... » read more

Blog Review: Feb. 4


Siemens' Tova Levy examines thermal management in 3D-IC, including why heat behaves differently in vertical stacks and how to analyze and manage thermal risk earlier and more predictably to ensure a design can meet performance, reliability, and time-to-market targets. Cadence's Reela Samuel finds that known-good-die strategies, standardized die-to-die test access, and vertical reliability mo... » read more

Why Move To 2nm?


Key Takeaways: Scaling digital logic still provides significant benefits, especially lower power. Multi-die assemblies will be the predominant approach, and most of the circuitry will not be 2nm or below. While these systems are inherently more flexible, the number and complexity of tradeoffs required for optimizing PPA/C are increasing. The rollout of 2nm process nodes and ... » read more

Chiplet Fundamentals For Engineers: eBook


Multi-die assemblies are the next phase of Moore's Law, scaling up and out  to improve performance and add flexibility into designs. By decomposing SoCs into building blocks, yield improves for the individual dies and overall performance increases because a chip is no longer bound by reticle limits. But this is much harder than it sounds. Chiplets don't just snap together like LEGOs, and so... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Big deals and fundings Teradyne and MultiLane are forming a joint venture, MultiLane Test Products (MLTP), to accelerate the development of test solutions for high speed data connections.  Teradyne will be the majority owner. Ricursive Intelligence raised $300M Series A for AI-driven IC design. IonQ plans to acquire SkyWater for ~$1.8B, creating a "vertically integrated full-stack q... » read more

Does Your RISC-V Core Meet The Standard?


Key Takeaways Architectural conformance and implementation verification are necessary but different for RISC-V designs, yet few verification engineers have experience on the conformance side. While RISC-V enables flexibility, there is a potential for ecosystem fragmentation. It is mathematically impossible to test every instruction combination, so engineers are moving beyond just "bl... » read more

Building Trust At The Silicon Level: Secure Storage Solution For OTP IP


As semiconductor designs advance into cutting-edge nodes, the complexity of integrated IP blocks from diverse sources is expanding the attack surface. Traditional software-only security measures are increasingly inadequate, as attackers exploit vulnerabilities beneath the software layer. To counter these risks, designers of AI accelerators, automotive domain controllers, aerospace systems, a... » read more

Multi-Die Assemblies Require More Detailed Test Plan Earlier


Key Takeaways Design for test takes on new urgency in complex multi-die assemblies, where it can be used to minimize downstream errors and the cost of fixing them. DFT needs to be increasingly detailed due to more connections and the inability to access some components. DFT strategies need to be developed earlier and may require multiple testing approaches. Multi-die assembl... » read more

AI’s Impact On Engineering Jobs May Be Different Than Expected


Key Takeaways: AI is expected to eliminate many repetitive, entry-level tasks, but that may allow engineering students trained on the latest tools to start in more senior positions. AI is a force multiplier. It can accelerate the learning curve for junior engineers. While AI is very good at solving multi-dimensional problems, domain expertise, critical thinking, and sanity checks wil... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 28


Synopsys' Dana Neustadter and Vincent van der Leest argue that a hardware-based approach to security is required to fully address the risks introduced by modern AI architectures and the distributed workloads they support. Siemens EDA's Tova Levy examines multiphysics challenges in 3D-IC designs and outlines three design imperatives to identify risks earlier and support PPA, reliability, and ... » read more

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