The EDAC Wally Rhines Roast (video)

The EDAC Wally Rhines Roast (video)
by Daniel Nenni on 11-17-2015 at 7:00 am

Last week was the EDAC Phil Kaufman award dinner. It was much more like a roast, probably because Wally has a great sense of humor and as Aart de Geus said, “Wally is a cool cat to have a beer with…” Aart is right of course, hanging with Wally is one of my favorite work things to do.

The place was lousy with media people so I will try and add some… Read More


The Reason ARM Will Win IoT!

The Reason ARM Will Win IoT!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-15-2015 at 7:00 am

After spending the week in Silicon Valley at ARM TechCon and related meetings, there was one common thread amongst the presentations and conversations and that was security. No matter what the topic was, mobile, consumer or industrial IoT, wearables, automotive, etc… security always came up. The question I had was how will companies… Read More


HiSilicon’s Experience with Synopsys ICC2

HiSilicon’s Experience with Synopsys ICC2
by Daniel Nenni on 11-11-2015 at 4:00 pm

At TSMC’s OIP Symposium last month, Zhe (Jared) Lui of HiSilicon presented their experiences with Synopsys’ ICC2 physical design suite.

Jared started by giving an overview of Huawei and HiSilicon. HiSilicon is the semiconductor arm of Huawei. I assume everyone knows who Huawei is. To a first approximation they … Read More


What do Rockets and GF Fab 8 Have in Common?

What do Rockets and GF Fab 8 Have in Common?
by Daniel Nenni on 11-08-2015 at 7:00 am

An interesting thing happened during the driving tour of the GlobalFoundries Fab 8 in Malta, NY. We happened by an old structure with quite a bit of history. As it turns out, the “Malta Test Station”, a former US Army fuel and explosives testing facility, was the actual birthplace of the United States’ Space & Missile programs.… Read More


Silicon Valley USPTO is Open for Business!

Silicon Valley USPTO is Open for Business!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-01-2015 at 4:00 pm

Probably the best and most attended EDAC Emerging Companies event happened last week so congratulations to Bob Smith and staff. The premise was to develop, strengthen, and protect your intellectual property which is paramount to all emerging technology companies. Many people in this industry, including myself, have learned… Read More


Are FinFETs too Expensive for Mainstream Chips?

Are FinFETs too Expensive for Mainstream Chips?
by Daniel Nenni on 10-27-2015 at 7:00 am

One of the most common things I hear now is that the majority of the fabless semiconductor business will stay at 28nm due to the high cost of FinFETs. I wholeheartedly disagree, mainly because I have been hearing that for many years and it has yet to be proven true. The same was said about 40nm since 28nm HKMG was more expensive, which … Read More


Free Copy of EDAgraffiti!

Free Copy of EDAgraffiti!
by Daniel Nenni on 10-25-2015 at 12:00 pm

Last month we offered a free PDF version of our book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry”, for the greater good. More than thirteen thousand people have downloaded it thus far so we would like to keep the momentum going with another book giveaway. Paul McLellan has graciously offered his book… Read More


Our Own Cadence Amongst the Best Multinational Workplaces!

Our Own Cadence Amongst the Best Multinational Workplaces!
by Daniel Nenni on 10-15-2015 at 12:00 pm

There were some very happy faces around MemCon this week for a variety of reasons. Paul McLellan was smiling because he now works full time for Cadence and has the best medical benefits ever and of course I was smiling because there was free food! … Read More