ARM ♥ Xilinx!

ARM ♥ Xilinx!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-28-2014 at 7:00 am

The good news is that as a part of SemiWiki we get free media passes to all of the cool conferences. The bad news is that our inboxes get flooded with announcements. ARM TechCon is next week and my delete button is on overtime but it is interesting to see who is active in conferences and who is not. In this case Xilinx is very active and Altera… Read More


TSMC Delivers First FinFET ARM Based SoC!

TSMC Delivers First FinFET ARM Based SoC!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-25-2014 at 9:00 am

Right on cue, TSMC announces 16nm FinFET production silicon. I believe this is the original version of FinFET versus 16FF+ which is due out in 1H 2015. I will confirm this next week at the TSMC OIP event in San Jose, absolutely. Either way this is excellent news for the fabless semiconductor ecosystem and I look forward to the first … Read More


The TSMC iPhone 6!

The TSMC iPhone 6!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-23-2014 at 7:00 am

Fortunately Paul McLellan and I missed IDF. Paul was atop Mt. Kilimanjaro and I was in Taiwan signing books. After reviewing the materials and watching the videos we really didn’t miss much in regards to mobile so no regrets. The Apple event would have been fun even though I won’t be buying an iPhone6 or an iWatch and I will tell you why.… Read More


Is Number of Signoff Corners an Issue?

Is Number of Signoff Corners an Issue?
by Daniel Nenni on 09-22-2014 at 12:00 am

Semiconductor companies continue to use the traditional corner-based signoff approach that has been developed more than 40+ years ago and has since remained mainly unchanged as an industry paradigm. Initially it had 2 corners, namely Worst Case (WC) and Best Case (BC) with the maximum and minimum cell delay respectively. Note… Read More


Intel’s 35% Density Advantage Claim Explored

Intel’s 35% Density Advantage Claim Explored
by Daniel Nenni on 09-20-2014 at 1:00 pm

The previous blog I did on the density difference between Intel 14nm and TSMC 20nm caused quite a stir and many interesting comments which I would like to address. After writing thousands of blogs on a wide variety of topics I have found that playing the devil’s advocate stimulates the most productive conversations and in this case… Read More


The SUN will NOT set on Oracle!

The SUN will NOT set on Oracle!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-19-2014 at 7:00 am

Larry Ellison resigning as CEO of Oracle caught me by surprise. I definitely did not see that one coming. Talk about the end of an era, as a 30+ year Silicon Valley veteran there have been quite a few industry icons that stand out amongst the others: Dave Packard, Bill Hewlett, Gordon Moore, Andy Grove, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Larry… Read More


Ultra low light CMOS biosensor helps tackle infectious diseases

Ultra low light CMOS biosensor helps tackle infectious diseases
by Daniel Nenni on 09-18-2014 at 9:00 am

The recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa underscores the urgent need for globally affordable tools to help fight infectious diseases. Among these, a method to rapidly and accurately identify the infectious pathogen is of particular importance.

In recent years, researchers have tried many ways to achieve easily portable … Read More


GLOBALFOUNDRIES Acquires IBM Semiconductor Unit!

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Acquires IBM Semiconductor Unit!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-17-2014 at 9:01 am

I have it on pretty good authority that IBM has in fact come to terms with GLOBALFOUNDRIES on the sale of their semiconductor business. For those of you who have been following the story, especially the IBM semiconductor people, it has been a real roller coaster ride. If in fact this handshake deal goes through (expect a public announcement… Read More


Taiwan Trip Report: The Coming Simulation Crisis!

Taiwan Trip Report: The Coming Simulation Crisis!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-15-2014 at 7:00 am

Even though the flight to Taiwan is somewhat difficult, I really do enjoy my trips to Hsinchu. In addition to the top two pure-play foundries being there, one of the top SoC companies (MediaTek) and many of the leading semiconductor design companies are there as well. All are a quick taxi ride from my home away from home, the Hotel Royal.… Read More


Intel Core M vs Apple A8!

Intel Core M vs Apple A8!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-14-2014 at 10:00 am

There were two big announcements last week right in my backyard and I missed them both! Instead, I was in Taiwan investigating yet another big development and all three of these events will intersect next year, absolutely.

At IDF in San Francisco Intel outlined the new 14nm Core M. This is an impressive CPU, one that will fill the now… Read More