The need for ever-connected devices is skyrocketing. As I fiddle with my myriad of electronic devices that seem to power my life, I usually end up wishing that all of them could be interconnected and controlled through the Internet. The truth is, only a handful of my devices are able to fulfill that wish, but the need is there and developers… Read More
Author: Daniel Nenni
After Five Years, 28nm Future Remains Bright!
Five years ago TSMC started 28nm mass production and it went on to become one of the most versatile and successful process technologies in history. The first wave was triggered by an unprecedented demand for application processors from smartphone and tablet vendors. Today it’s widely assumed that 28nm demand will continue growing… Read More
eSilicon ♥ ARM!
The things I enjoy the most at conferences are presentations by customers, the companies that solve the problems we face every day with modern semiconductor design. We all have access to the same tools and IP and use the same foundries so it’s the actual design and implementation that separates the wheat from the chaff, absolutely.… Read More
The First Book on Smartphones!
Now that we all have smartphones you may be interested in how this all came about. There are quite a few books about the smartphone technology and business but one of the first books that emerged after the iPhone era is by SemiWiki blogger and former EETimes Editor Majeed Ahmad:
Smartphone: Mobile Revolution at the Crossroads of Communications,
… Read More
UMC and SMIC 14nm, Too Little Too Late?
Pretty much out of nowhere UMC let fly a press release about taping out a 14nm test chip with ARM and Synopsys IP which was quickly followed by an SMIC 14nm press release about a joint venture with Huawei, Qualcomm, and imec. It caught me a bit by surprise since I spent time with both UMC and SMIC at #52DAC and nothing was mentioned. Of course… Read More
GlobalFoundries IBM Deal to Close July 1st!
Probably one of the most awaited semiconductor events is coming next week if the Poughkeepsie Journal is correct, which from what I’m told by my Albany friends, they are. The official announcement was made last October using the slide deck which can be found HERE. It was originally thought that the approval process would take a year… Read More
Solido Has Perfected the Emerging EDA Company Business Model!
Last year at #51DAC we gave away more than a thousand printed versions of our book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor industry.” This year we gave away pens with a light and stylus. My friends at Solido Design gave away 600 pens in their booth and we gave away another 400 at our DAC reception on Wednesday night. Solido… Read More
The Best Conversations You Missed at #52DAC!
The CEO Fireside Chats were my very favorite part of #52DAC. Dr. Walden Rhines, Lip-Bu Tan, and Dr. Aart de Geus are heroes of the EDA industry, absolutely. I saw all three Fireside Chats and the one word that I’m left with is INSPIRED! … Read More
TSMC Shows 10nm Wafer!
If you really want to know why I write about TSMC it is all about ego, my massive ego, absolutely. Blogs about TSMC and the foundries have always driven the most traffic and they most likely always will. Semiconductor IP is second, Semiconductor Design is third, and I don’t think that is going to change anytime soon:
SemiWiki BI: Daniel… Read More
Vacationing with the Fabless Semiconductor Ecosystem!
The Design Automation Conference is the largest and most diverse event in the fabless semiconductor ecosystem. Next week in San Francisco you will see technology and people you have never seen before. You will benefit from the efforts of hundreds of thousands of semiconductor professionals like myself who have dedicated their… Read More
MediaTek Develops Chip Utilizing TSMC’s 2nm Process, Achieving Milestones in Performance and Power Efficiency