Tablets are hot items these days. There is exuberance about the speed of application processors, size of the internal memory, capabilities of the operating systems, WiFi or 3G/4G connectivity, quality of the display, cameras megapixels, battery life, tablet weight, etc. All of these features are very important, no question… Read More
Author: Daniel Nenni
Reducing SoC Power Consumption using Integrated Voltage Regulators
Last month I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Wonyoung Kim, a PhD candidate from Harvard University. Like many candidates, Wonyoung is shopping his thesis for capital in hopes of starting a semiconductor IP company. Here is a brief summary of the technology, please provide appropriate feedback and let’s see if we can get him… Read More
Samsung to Acquire AMD?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of AMD, I buy AMD based products whenever possible to prevent an innovation stifling Intel monopoly. Unfortunately Silicon Valley coffee house conversations continue to paint a bleak picture for AMD, even with a recent stock surge on better than expected revenue guidance for the rest of 2011. I’m… Read More
CDNS EDA360 is DEAD!
Hard to believe EDA360, the Cadence Blueprint toBattle ‘Profitability Gap’; Counters Semiconductor Industry’s Greatest Threat!, is DEAD at the ripe old age of one. As you may have already read John Bruggeman left Cadence after the company conference call last week. The formal announcement should go out on Monday after the SEC… Read More
Global Technology Conference 2011
Competition is what made the semiconductor industry and semiconductors themselves what they are today! Competition is what drives innovation and keeps costs down. Not destructive competition, where the success of one depends on the failure of another, but constructive competition that promotes mutual survival and growth… Read More
Intel Briefing: Tri-Gate Technology and Atom SoC
Sorry to disappoint but my 2 hours at the Intel RNB was a very positive experience. It is much more fun writing negative things about industry leaders because I enjoy the resulting hate mail and personal attacks, but the candor and transparency of the Intel guys won me over. They even asked ME questions which was a bit telling. I also… Read More
Intel Twisting ARM?
Intel’s new Tri-Gate technology is causing quite a stir on the stock chat groups. Some have even said if Intel uses its Tri-Gate technology on only Intel processors ARM will be in deep deep trouble. These guys are “Intel Longs” of course and they are battling “Intel Shorts” with cut and paste news clips.
“ARM is in trouble & this… Read More
TSMC Financial Status Plus OIP Update!
Interesting notes from my most recent Taiwan trip: Taiwan unemployment is at a record low. Scooters once again fill the streets of Hsinchu! TSMC will be passing out record bonuses to a record amount of people. TSMC Fab expansions are ahead of schedule. The new Fab 15 in Taichung went up amazingly fast with equipment moving in later… Read More
TSMC Versus Intel: The Race to Semiconductors in 3D!
While Intel is doing victory laps in the race to a 3D transistor (FinFet) @ 22nm, TSMC is in production with 3D IC technology. A 3D IC is a chip in which two or more layers of active electronic components are integrated both vertically and horizontally into a single circuit. The question is which 3D race is more important to the semiconductor… Read More
Semiconductor IP State of the Union
After the mega IP acquisitions last year by Cadence (Denali) and Synopsys (Virage) a lot of people are wondering what is next for the commercial Semiconductor IP market. Let me offer my opinion as a person who works closely with foundries and their top customers and the opinion of Dr. Eric Esteve, an expert on interface IP.
The commercial… Read More
Unlocking the cloud: A new era for post-tapeout flow for semiconductor manufacturing