On SemiWiki we often talk about bleeding-edge technology like 7nm, 5nm or even 3nm, but for analog IC designs there’s a low-cost alternative to getting your ideas validated and prototyped without taking out a multi-million dollar loan, and that’s through the use of Multi-Project Wafers (MPW). Starting with a mature… Read More
Author: Daniel Payne
Data Centers and AI Chips Benefit from Embedded In-Chip Monitoring
Webinars are a quick way to come up to speed with emerging trends in our semiconductor world, so I just finished watching an interesting one from Moortec about the benefits of embedded in-chip monitoring for Data Center and AIchip design. My first exposure to a data center was back in the 1960s during an elementary school class where… Read More
How Well Did Methodics do in 2018?
In January I read from the ESDA Allianceabout EDA and Semiconductor IP revenues increasing 6.7% for Q3 2018, reaching $2,435.6 million, which is decent growth for our maturing industry. In stark contrast there’s a company called Methodicsthat specializes in Intellectual Property Lifecycle Management (IPLM) and traceability… Read More
Verifying Software Defined Networking
I’ve designed hardware and written software for decades now, so it comes as no surprise to see industry trends like Software Defined Radio (SDR) and Software Defined Networking (SDN) growing in importance. Instead of designing a switch with fixed logic you can use an SDN approach to allow for greatest flexibility, even … Read More
AI, Deep Learning, SystemC, UVM, PSS – DVCon Has it All
Today I had the pleasure to speak with Tom Fitzpatrick, TPC Chair for the DVCon conferenceand exhibition slated for February 25-28 in the heart of Silicon Valley – San Jose. Tom lives in Massachusetts, a place where I used to live and work at Wang Labs, back in the day before the PC and WordPerfect software ended Wang’s… Read More
Where Circuit Simulation Model Files Come From
I started out my engineering career by doing transistor-level circuit design and we used a proprietary SPICE circuit simulator. One thing that I quickly realized was that the accuracy of my circuit simulations depended entirely on the model files and parasitics. Here we are 40 years later and the accuracy of SPICE circuit simulations… Read More
The 50th Year of Intel, What Happened in 2018
2018 was the 50th year for Intel in the semiconductor business, and their Q4 2018 conference call just happened last week, so I’ll get you all caught up on what they talked about. Bob Swan is the CFO and interim CEO, as the company continues to search for a new CEO after Brian K. was ousted for misconduct. Here’s a quick financial… Read More
Accuracy of In-Chip Monitoring for Thermal Guard-banding
I remember working at Intel and viewing my first SPICE netlist for a DRAM chip, because there was this temperature statement with a number after it, so being a new college graduate I asked lots of questions, like, “What is that temperature value?”
My co-worker answered, “Oh, that’s the estimated junction… Read More
Intel Swaggers at CES
Intel started out as a DRAM company using planar NMOS technology, then later on added EPROM and Microprocessors to the product mix. Their CPU technology enabled the dynamic growth of the PC industry starting with the IBM PC back in 1981 and continuing all of the way to this day. They long ago dropped out of the DRAM marketplace and began… Read More
Applying Generative Design to Automotive Electrical Systems
Scanning headlines of technology news every day I was somewhat familiar with the phrase “Generative Design” and even browsed the Wikipedia page to find this informative flow-chart that shows the practice of generative design.
Generative design is an iterative design process that involves a program that will generate… Read More
Memory Innovation at the Edge: Power Efficiency Meets Green Manufacturing