Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Cadence unveiled a big data analytics infrastructure to unify massive data sets across all Cadence computational software. The Joint Enterprise Data and AI (JedAI) Platform aims to optimize multiple runs of multiple engines across an entire SoC design and verification flow. It combines data from its AI-driven Cerebrus implementation and Optimality system optimization solutions, along with the n... » read more

Technical Paper Round-Up: June 28


New technical papers added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library this week. [table id=35 /] Semiconductor Engineering is in the process of building this library of research papers. Please send suggestions (via comments section below) for what else you’d like us to incorporate. If you have research papers you are trying to promote, we will review them to see if they are a good fit f... » read more

Coverage-Directed Test Selection Method for Automatic Test Biasing During Simulation-Based Verification


New research paper titled "Supervised Learning for Coverage-Directed Test Selection in Simulation-Based Verification" from researchers at University of Bristol and Infineon Technologies. Abstract: "Constrained random test generation is one the most widely adopted methods for generating stimuli for simulation-based verification. Randomness leads to test diversity, but tests tend to repeate... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 2


Next-gen AFM At the recent SPIE Advanced Lithography conference, Imec, Infinitesima and others described a new metrology tool technology called a Rapid Probe Microscope (RPM). Infinitesima has shipped its first RPM 3D system, enabling three-dimensional (3D) metrology applications for leading-edge chips. The system was jointly developed with Imec. In the IEDM paper, Imec and Infinitesima... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: May 21


World’s loudest underwater sound A group of researchers hit tiny jets of water with a high-power X-ray laser, creating a record for the world’s loudest underwater sound. The intensity of the blast resulted in an underwater sound with an intensity greater than 270 decibels (dB). That’s greater than the intensity of a rocket launch or equivalent of creating electrical power for a city o... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Mar. 11


Reading qubits faster Researchers at Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland propose a faster way to read information from qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers. Currently, they are extremely sensitive to disruption even in cryogenic environments, holding quantum information for less than a millisecond. In the method now used to read information from a qubit... » read more

Improving 5G


The Challenge: By 2020, Cisco forecasts that 5.5 billion people will own mobile phones. In the United Kingdom alone, tens of millions of these mobile users will each consume 20 GB of data per month and use more than 25 different smart devices in their daily routines. Factor in data-hungry applications like 4K video, driverless vehicles, smart factories, and broadband access expanding to the mos... » read more

What’s Missing From Machine Learning


Machine learning is everywhere. It's being used to optimize complex chips, balance power and performance inside of data centers, program robots, and to keep expensive electronics updated and operating. What's less obvious, though, is there are no commercially available tools to validate, verify and debug these systems once machines evolve beyond the final specification. The expectation is th... » read more

Preparing For 5G


If you like 4G LTE, you’re going to love 5G. The next-generation wireless communications technology will offer faster data transmission speeds and lower latency, providing the processing power to drive augmented-reality and virtual-reality applications for mobile devices and dedicated headsets. There is a caveat, though. The world needs to develop a consensus on what the 5G spectrum wil... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 23


GaN building blocks A team of engineers from Cornell University, the University of Notre Dame, and the semiconductor company IQE created gallium nitride (GaN) power diodes capable of serving as the building blocks for future GaN power switches. In spite of having many desirable features as a material, GaN is notorious for its defects and reliability issues. So the team zeroed in on device... » read more

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