What’s next in test compression?

What’s next in test compression?
by Beth Martin on 10-10-2014 at 4:45 pm

If you’ll be at ITC TestWeek in Seattle (Oct 20-23), here’s one event you don’t want to miss: a technology reception hosted by Mentor, with Janusz Rajski and Nilanjan Mukherjee as the featured speakers. It is free to ITC attendees and you can register here. [If for some crazy reason you haven’t registered for ITC yet, do that… Read More


Mentor at TSMC OIP, 16nm, and 10nm

Mentor at TSMC OIP, 16nm, and 10nm
by Beth Martin on 09-26-2014 at 4:46 pm

On Tuesday, September 30, TSMC hosts another Open Innovation Platform Ecosystem forum at the San Jose Convention Center. Have you registered? This year includes 30 technical sessions from TSMC’s ecosystem partners, divided into three separate tracks. I’ll be hanging out in the EDA track, listening to various takes on 16nm FinFET… Read More


Managing Stress in 3D

Managing Stress in 3D
by Beth Martin on 09-02-2014 at 1:32 pm

A new publication on mechanical stress in integrated circuits, co-edited by Valeriy Sukharev, Principal Engineer for Calibre R&D at Mentor Graphics, has just been released by AIP Publishing. “Stress-Induced Phenomena and Reliability in 3D Microelectronics” includes 14 key papers from four international workshops … Read More


The Matrix, your ultimate OPC

The Matrix, your ultimate OPC
by Beth Martin on 05-06-2014 at 12:47 pm

One of the many consequences of shrinking process nodes is that traditional OPC can no longer achieve good pattern fidelity with reasonable turn-around-time. But there is a solution; we made it ourselves and call it matrix OPC.

First, let’s explore the problems with traditional optical proximity correction (OPC) when applied… Read More


One SPIE session not to miss

One SPIE session not to miss
by Beth Martin on 02-19-2014 at 4:19 pm

The time is nigh for another meeting of the practitioners of the lithographic arts, dark and otherwise, at the SPIE Advanced Lithography symposium.

I love this conference for the engagement you see, both in the sessions and in the hallways. People actually meet and talk and argue. There’s always interesting gossip, exciting technologies,… Read More


Will Google Design Server SoCs?

Will Google Design Server SoCs?
by Beth Martin on 02-13-2014 at 12:22 pm

Google is search, of course, but it is also OS (Android), systems (Glass) and increasingly, maybe, hardware. Rumors are swirling that through careful acquisitions and focused internal development, Google is set to make its own server SoCs.

Google’s Larry Page has stated that they are in the hardware business. They’ve been making… Read More


Did Google make a huge mistake with Motorola?

Did Google make a huge mistake with Motorola?
by Beth Martin on 01-30-2014 at 4:33 pm

The news wires are alive today with the story that Google sold their Motorola mobility division to Chinese tech giant Lenovo for $2.9 billion. Google bought Motorola in 2011 for $12.5 billion. Did Larry Page make a $9.6 billion mistake? Probably not.

Although Motorola came with $3 billion in cash, and Google already sold the Motorola… Read More


TSMC OIP presentations available!

TSMC OIP presentations available!
by Beth Martin on 01-27-2014 at 6:27 pm

Are you a TSMC customer or partner? If so, you’ll want to take a look at these presentations from the 2013 TSMC Open Innovation Platform conference:

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The hottest real estate? Your wrist!

The hottest real estate? Your wrist!
by Beth Martin on 12-19-2013 at 3:28 pm

I first read about the Pebble smartwatch earlier this year and thought “I don’t need yet another electronic device, and certainly not one that’s attached to my body.” Then I felt bad. Am I a troglodyte? It’s true, I do still have an iPhone 4, which is a little embarrassing in Silicon Valley. I have also never worn a wrist watch of any kind,… Read More


Diagnosing Double Patterning Violations

Diagnosing Double Patterning Violations
by Beth Martin on 10-28-2013 at 5:16 pm

I’ll bet you’ve read a bunch of stuff about double patterning, and you’re probably hoping that the design tools will make all your double patterning issues just go away. Well, the truth is that the foundries and EDA vendors have worked really hard to make that true.

However, for some critical portions of your design, there … Read More