Samsung versus Apple and TSMC!

Samsung versus Apple and TSMC!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-28-2011 at 6:56 am

Apple will purchase close to eightBILLION dollars in parts from Samsung for the iSeries of products this year alone, making Apple Samsung’s largest customer. Samsung is also Apple’s largest competitor and TSMC’s most viable competitive foundry threat so it was no surprise to see Apple and TSMC team up on the next generations of… Read More


Nanometer Circuit Verification: The Catch-22 of Layout!

Nanometer Circuit Verification: The Catch-22 of Layout!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-19-2011 at 8:00 pm

As analog and mixed-signal designers move to very advanced geometries, they must grapple with more and more complex considerations of the silicon. Not only do nanometer CMOS devices have limitations in terms of analog-relevant characteristics such gain and noise performance, but they also introduce new sources of variation… Read More


PVT and Statistical Design in Nanometer Process Geometries

PVT and Statistical Design in Nanometer Process Geometries
by Daniel Nenni on 09-18-2011 at 9:00 am

On Sept 22, 2011, the nm Circuit Verification Forumwill be held in Silicon Valley, hosted by Berkeley Design Automation. At this forum, Trent McConaghy of Solido DA will present a case study on the TSMC Reference Flow 2.0 VCO circuit, to showcase Fast PVT in the steps of extracting PVT corners, verifying PVT, and doing post-layout… Read More


When analog/RF/mixed-signal IC design meets nanometer CMOS geometries!

When analog/RF/mixed-signal IC design meets nanometer CMOS geometries!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-13-2011 at 9:22 am

In working with TSMC and GlobalFoundries on AMS design reference flows I have experienced first hand the increasing verification challenges of nanometer analog, RF, and mixed-signal circuits. Tools in this area have to be both silicon accurate and blindingly fast! Berkeley Design Automation is one of the key vendors in this … Read More


TSMC and Dr. Morris Chang!

TSMC and Dr. Morris Chang!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-05-2011 at 6:14 pm

While I was in Taiwan last month battling a Super Typhoon, Morris Chang was in Silicon Valley picking up his IEEE Medal of Honor. Gordon Moore, Andrew Grove, and Robert Noyce all have medals. The other winners, including 10 Nobel prize recipients, are listed HERE. An updated wiki on Dr. Morris Chang is located HERE.

The 12+ hour plane… Read More


Nanometer Circuit Verification Forum

Nanometer Circuit Verification Forum
by Daniel Nenni on 08-29-2011 at 2:33 pm

Verifying circuits on advanced process nodes has always been difficult, and it’s no easier with today’s nanometer CMOS processes. There’s a great paradox in nanometer circuit design and verification. Designers achieve their greatest differentiation when they implement analog, mixed-signal, RF and custom … Read More


Semiconductor Yield @ 28nm HKMG!

Semiconductor Yield @ 28nm HKMG!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-28-2011 at 4:00 pm

Whether you use a gate-first or gate-last High-k Metal Gate implementation, yield will be your #1 concern at 28nm, which makes variation analysis and verification a big challenge. One of the consulting projects I have been working on with the foundries and top fabless semiconductor companies is High-Sigma Monte Carlo (HSMC) … Read More


Cadence Verification IP Technical Seminar!

Cadence Verification IP Technical Seminar!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-22-2011 at 11:43 am

According to trusted sources it costs upwards of $50M to design a 40nm SoC down to the GDS. Semiconductor IP is a fast growing part of that equation and functional verification of that IP is critical. Hardware complexity growth continues to follow Moore’s Law but verification complexity is even more challenging. In fact, IP verification… Read More


WikiLeaks: Methodics vs IC Manage

WikiLeaks: Methodics vs IC Manage
by Daniel Nenni on 08-21-2011 at 4:00 pm

Human nature never ceases to amaze me. I understand the recent economic turmoil and looming National Debt has thrown us for a loop but please, let us all get some perspective here and in the words of Rodney King, “Can we all get along?”

A clever little scumbag recently registered the domain danielnenni.com and is now hawking event … Read More


TSMC 28nm and 20nm Update!

TSMC 28nm and 20nm Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-15-2011 at 3:00 pm

First, I would like to congratulate Samsung on their first 20nm test chip press release. Some will say it is a foundry rookie mistake since real foundries do not discuss test chip information openly. I like it because it tells us that Samsung is 6-9 months BEHIND the number one foundry in the world on the 20nm (gate-last HKMG) process… Read More