Week In Review: Design, Low Power

Tools and IP

Cadence announced that its IP for GDDR6 is now silicon-proven for TSMC’s N5 process technology. The IP consists of Cadence PHY,  controller design IP, and verification IP (VIP), and is targeted for very high-bandwidth memory applications. “The improved PHY and controller design IP for GDDR6 with DRAM data rates at 22Gbps in the TSMC N5 process is the fastest of the GDDR6 family of IP in advanced TSMC nodes,” said Sanjive Agarwala, corporate vice president and general manager of the IP Group at Cadence.

Infineon has a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to supply automaker Stellantis with CoolSiC “bare die” chips by reserving manufacturing capacity in the second half of the decade to the direct Tier 1 suppliers of Stellantis. CoolSiCs are Infineon’s silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors.

Keysight licensed advanced electromagnetic simulation technology to Altium to develop power analysis solutions for PCB designers. “This technology integration partnership is about democratizing simulation technology and digitally transforming the workflow for a large hardware engineering audience,” said Niels Faché, vice president and general manager of PathWave Software Solutions at Keysight. “It gives designers easy access to proven simulation algorithms that identify critical power distribution network issues early in the design process. Power Analyzer puts Keysight’s simulation directly into the hands of PCB designers to enable intelligent tradeoffs as well as faster development cycles.”

Synopsys said it found vulnerabilities in 95% of applications. Of those, 20% had high-risk vulnerabilities, which was an improvement over last year, and another 4.5% had critical vulnerabilities, down 1.5% from last year.

Networking and Connectivity

The global 6G market is estimated to reach $52.5 billion by 2032, according to a report from Quince Market Insights. According to the report, “the growth and revolution of wireless network technology will alter businesses by providing wireless services at hundreds of gigabits per second speeds, sub-millisecond latencies, support for a diverse variety of unique applications linking billions of devices and objects, and adaptability through virtualization, enabling creative business models across different sectors.”

Renesas launched a 4×4-channel, 76-81GHz radar transceiver and a NB-IoT-capable wireless module. The company was part of another type of launch as well — the Artemis I mission, for which Renesas supplied hundreds of rad-hard ICs, including more than 50 different part numbers. Additionally, Renesas outlined its Wi-Fi plans based on the technology the company gained by acquiring Celeno. Those plans include Wi-Fi 6/6E and 7 chipsets for client and access point solutions, including doppler imaging technology that combines connectivity and sensing. “With Wi-Fi solutions from Celeno, low-power connectivity solutions from Dialog, and embedded AI solutions from Reality AI added to our industry-leading embedded computing, analog and sensor portfolio, Renesas now offers customers complete, end-to-end solutions that are second to none,” said Sailesh Chittipeddi, executive vice president and general manager of the IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit of Renesas.

Batteries and Power

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $74 million in funding for 10 projects aimed at electric vehicle battery recycling and reuse. The DOE also recently announced a $12 million funding opportunity for research aimed at securing the country’s supply of battery-grade lithium by harvesting the material from geothermal brines.

For chips below 7nm, modeling power distribution becomes increasingly important as more current gets pushed into a smaller area. Read more here.

Financial Results

Arm reported total revenue of $656 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022. Both automotive and IoT lines of business reported record revenue, with ADAS adoption powering the growth in the automotive area. “As we continue to diversify, our investment across all lines of business continues to pay off, with impressive growth in automotive and IoT in particular,” said Arm CEO Rene Haas.

Upcoming Events

Nov. 13-18, Supercomputing SC22, Dallas, TX

Nov. 15-18, Semicon Europa, Munich, Germany (co-located with electronica)

Nov. 21-22, CadenceLive Europe 2022, Munich, Germany

Nov. 27-Dec. 8, Materials Research Society Meeting, Boston, MA and virtual

Nov. 29-30, Synopsys Memory Technology Symposium, virtual

Dec. 3-Dec. 7, IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), San Francisco, CA with on-demand component

Dec. 6-Dec. 7, DVCon Europe 2022, Munich, Germany

Find more events here.

In Case You Missed It

Check out the Systems & Design newsletter as well as the Low Power, High Performance newsletter for these highlights and more:

• Chip design shifts as fundamental laws run out of steam
• Raising IP integration up a level
• Taking power much more seriously
• Solving thermal coupling issues in complex chips

If you’d like to receive Semiconductor Engineering newsletters and alerts via email, please subscribe here.