CEO Interview: Michel Villemain of Presto Engineering, Inc.

CEO Interview: Michel Villemain of Presto Engineering, Inc.
by Daniel Nenni on 09-04-2017 at 7:00 am

One of the many advantages of being part of SemiWiki is the interesting people we get to meet. As I have mentioned before, the semiconductor industry is home to many brilliant and successful people and Dr. Michel Villemain is certainly one of them. Michel is the founder and CEO of Presto Engineering and it is interesting to note that… Read More


Apple iPhone Super Cycle Update!

Apple iPhone Super Cycle Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-01-2017 at 7:00 am

In 2014 Apple released the iPhone 6 which included the first SoC built on a TSMC (20nm) process. This phone started what many call a “Super Cycle” of people upgrading. According to Apple, they now have more than 1 billion activated devices so this super cycle could be seriously super, absolutely.… Read More


High Bandwidth Memory ASIC SiPs for Advanced Products!

High Bandwidth Memory ASIC SiPs for Advanced Products!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-30-2017 at 7:00 am

When someone says, “2.5D packaging” my first thought is TSMC and my second thought is Herb Reiter. Herb has more than 40 years of semiconductor experience and he has been a tireless promoter of 2.5D packaging for many years. Herb writes for and works with industry organizations on 2.5D work groups and events at conferences… Read More


Oracle is out of the Chip Business!

Oracle is out of the Chip Business!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-26-2017 at 7:00 am

This is a story I have been tracking for some time now. Oracle is one of the companies I was enamored with early in my career, Sun microsystems as well. They are both legacies here in Silicon Valley, absolutely. I can now confirm that Oracle is getting out of the chip business. Oracle got into the chip business with the $7.4B acquisition… Read More


Semiconductor Reliability and Product Qualification

Semiconductor Reliability and Product Qualification
by Daniel Nenni on 08-25-2017 at 7:00 am

This week, we are continuing our discussion of various topics that Semitracks addresses in their training activities. One area that they focus on quite a bit is Semiconductor Reliability and Product Qualification.

One of the key activities that a Product Engineer will coordinate is the qualification of new products before they… Read More


TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum 2017 Preview!

TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum 2017 Preview!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-23-2017 at 12:00 pm

The TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum is upon us again. I have yet to meet a disappointed attendee so it is definitely worth your time: Networking with more than 1,000 semiconductor professionals, the food, mingling with the 50+ EDA, IP, and Services Companies, the food, and of course the content. The 7nm and 7nm EUV updates alone are worth… Read More


SiFive RISC-V and the Future of Computing!

SiFive RISC-V and the Future of Computing!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-17-2017 at 12:00 pm

Having started my career during the mini computer revolution it has been an incredible journey from using computers that consumed entire rooms – to the desktop – and now we have supercomputers in our pockets. It makes me chuckle when I hear people complaining about their smartphones when they should be jumping up and… Read More


EDA Machine Learning from the Experts!

EDA Machine Learning from the Experts!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-16-2017 at 7:00 am

Traditionally, EDA has been a brute force methodology where we buy more software licenses and more CPUs and keep running endless jobs to keep up with the increasing design and process complexities. SPICE simulation for example; when I meet chip designers (which I do quite frequently) I ask them how many simulations they do for a … Read More


CEO Interview: Jim Gobes of Intrinsix

CEO Interview: Jim Gobes of Intrinsix
by Daniel Nenni on 08-14-2017 at 7:00 am

Experience gives us the ability to make better decisions and in a fast moving industry like semiconductors, experience is critical. As chips get more integrated and complex the number of design decisions that must be made increases at a dramatic rate. Process technologies for example, never in the history of semiconductors have… Read More


Introduction to Semiconductor Processing

Introduction to Semiconductor Processing
by Daniel Nenni on 08-09-2017 at 7:00 am

We introduced you to Semitracks last week with an interview of their CEO, Chris Henderson. This week, we thought it might be worthwhile to continue that introduction with an overview of one of their more popular online and in-houses courses:

Introduction to Semiconductor Processing.

One of the big challenges in our industry for… Read More