Apps Before there were Apps

Apps Before there were Apps
by Daniel Nenni on 08-31-2018 at 7:00 am

This is the thirteenth in the series of “20 Questions with Wally Rhines”

My development of a calculator program to determine the Black Scholes value for an option was not the only application that attracted financial people to programmable calculators. As the SR-52, and later TI 59, grew in popularity, and took market… Read More


GLOBALFOUNDRIES Pivoting away from Bleeding Edge Technologies

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Pivoting away from Bleeding Edge Technologies
by Daniel Nenni on 08-27-2018 at 3:00 pm

It’s no secret that I have been a big fan of GLOBALFOUNDRIES since they came about in March of 2009. We even included them in our first book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry” right next to TSMC. I am also a big fan of pivoting which is the term we use here in Silicon Valley to describe some of the most innovative… Read More


Semiconductors Become a Worldwide Business

Semiconductors Become a Worldwide Business
by Daniel Nenni on 08-24-2018 at 7:00 am

This is the twelfth in the series of “20 Questions with Wally Rhines”

Among the companies that bought a license from AT&T to produce the transistor was Sony. While the U.S. maintained its lead in technology, other countries like Japan emerged as competitors. Semiconductor manufacturing was both labor intensive… Read More


TSMC GlobalFoundries and Samsung Updates from 55DAC

TSMC GlobalFoundries and Samsung Updates from 55DAC
by Daniel Nenni on 08-20-2018 at 7:00 am

One of my favorite traditions at the Design Automation Conference is the Synopsys foundry events (the videos are now available). I learned a long time ago that the foundries are the foundation of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem and your relationships with the foundries can make or break you, absolutely. I also appreciate … Read More


Measuring Up 7nm IP

Measuring Up 7nm IP
by Daniel Nenni on 08-17-2018 at 12:00 pm

The Linley Group is an industry-leading source for independent technology analysis of semiconductors for networking, communications, mobile, and data-center applications. Their Microprocessor Report is widely read as a source of un-biased, no-nonsense analysis of technologies and trends. So, when they dig into something… Read More


Why Do Brilliant People Like to Work Together?

Why Do Brilliant People Like to Work Together?
by Daniel Nenni on 08-17-2018 at 7:00 am

This is the eleventh in the series of “20 Questions with Wally Rhines”

In high technology, there are numerous instances of highly productive groups coming together and generating game-changing ideas and products. This happened at Shockley Semiconductor in the 1960s when Gordon Moore, Bob Noyce, Jean Hoerni and… Read More


eSilicon and SiFive partner for Next-Generation SerDes IP

eSilicon and SiFive partner for Next-Generation SerDes IP
by Daniel Nenni on 08-10-2018 at 12:00 pm

While writing “Mobile Unleashed: The Origin and Evolution of ARM Processors In Our Devices” it was very clear to me that ARM was an IP phenomenon that I did not believe would ever be repeated. Clearly I was wrong as we now have RISC-V with an incredible adoption rate, a full fledged ecosystem, and top tier implementers… Read More


Desperation Drives Inspiration

Desperation Drives Inspiration
by Daniel Nenni on 08-10-2018 at 7:00 am

This is the tenth in the series of “20 Questions with Wally Rhines”

1978 was a bad year for TI. In April, Intel announced the 8086 followed by disclosures of 16-bit microprocessors from Motorola, the 68000, and Zilog, the Z8000. TI had tried to leapfrog the microprocessor business by introducing the TMS 9900 16-bit … Read More


Synopsys Offers First Single-Vendor Comprehensive Photonic IC Design Flow

Synopsys Offers First Single-Vendor Comprehensive Photonic IC Design Flow
by Daniel Nenni on 08-06-2018 at 7:00 am

Synopsys has a long history of being a thought leader and it’s not surprising to see the company jumping into the forefront of new technologies. For decades, I’ve been steeped in electronic IC design and it caught me by surprise to find that Synopsys had been quietly working on filling out their portfolio in the optical design solutions… Read More


Speak N Spell

Speak N Spell
by Daniel Nenni on 08-03-2018 at 7:00 am

This is the ninth in the series of “20 Questions with Wally Rhines”

Success has many authors and the Speak & Spell product from Texas Instruments generated lots of write-ups to demonstrate this. For most of the semiconductor industry, results of innovation were not apparent to the masses but, for the consumer … Read More