Prediction is very difficult… is it a reason for writing down everything that springs to mind?

Prediction is very difficult… is it a reason for writing down everything that springs to mind?
by Eric Esteve on 04-18-2013 at 10:20 am

Smartphone and Media tablet markets are exploding, generating huge level of profit for the Apple, Samsung or Qualcomm, and we don’t see yet when the growth will stop. That’s a point. But is it a reason for analyst to write down everything that springs to mind, including obvious insanity? Let’s have a look at the diagram below, and … Read More


Kilopass Sidense Legal Battle

Kilopass Sidense Legal Battle
by Eric Esteve on 04-17-2013 at 4:12 am

The decision made by United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, “Affirming” the District Court for the Northern District of California’s summary judgment of non-infringement on Kilopass’ patent claims and its dismissal, with prejudice, of all remaining claims against Sidense, is certainly a good news for IP and… Read More


PCI Express IP vendor Cascade acquisition by Synopsys…

PCI Express IP vendor Cascade acquisition by Synopsys…
by Eric Esteve on 04-08-2013 at 9:42 am

… is now 8 years old, and the money paid for this 10 engineers start-up was considered, at that time, as a “bingo” for Cascade’s funders: “In October 2004, the Company completed the acquisition of Cascade Semiconductor Solutions, Inc. (Cascade) for total upfront consideration of $15.8 million and contingent consideration of … Read More


Rare earth syndrome: PHY IP analogy

Rare earth syndrome: PHY IP analogy
by Eric Esteve on 04-03-2013 at 10:34 am

If you ask to IP vendors selling functions, PHY or Controller, supporting Interface based protocols which part is the master piece, the controller IP only vendors will answer: certainly my digital block, look how complex it has to be to support the transport and logical part of the protocol! Just think about the PCI Express gen-3Read More


What really means high reliability for OTP NVM?

What really means high reliability for OTP NVM?
by Eric Esteve on 04-02-2013 at 4:04 am

Normal operation range for a Semiconductor device is not made equal for systems… If you consider a CPU running inside an aircraft engine control system, this device should operate at temperature ranged between -55°C and +125°C, when an Application Processor for smartphone is only required to operate in the 0°C to +70°C range. … Read More


Create Beyond the NoC Solutions!

Create Beyond the NoC Solutions!
by Eric Esteve on 03-18-2013 at 9:09 am

The Network On Chip (NoC) concept is recent, about 10 years old, and the first implementation of commercially available NoC IP has happened in 2006. Should we drop the concept so quickly after it has been introduced? In fact, I don’t think so… But we could brain storm and imagine the new functions that could be implemented within or… Read More


Can “Less than Moore” FDSOI provides better ROI for Mobile IC?

Can “Less than Moore” FDSOI provides better ROI for Mobile IC?
by Eric Esteve on 03-15-2013 at 10:00 am

In this previous article, I was suggesting that certain chip makers may take a serious look at a disruptive way to look at Moore’s law, as they may get better ROI, profit and even better revenue. The idea is to select technology node and packaging technique in order to optimize the Price, Performance, Power triptych and manage chip… Read More


Will next generation Mobile Devices support PCI Express? M-PCIe is coming fast!

Will next generation Mobile Devices support PCI Express? M-PCIe is coming fast!
by Eric Esteve on 03-14-2013 at 6:22 am

Those who have read the numerous articles I have written about MIPI, or PCIe, or the fusion of both named “Mobile Express” know my position: the question is not “Will Mobile devices support PCI Express?” but “When will we see Mobile devices integrating Mobile Express?” I was not really surprised by the Press Release that Cadence … Read More


Multiprotocol 10G-KR and PCIe Gen-3 PHY IP will support big data and smartphone explosion

Multiprotocol 10G-KR and PCIe Gen-3 PHY IP will support big data and smartphone explosion
by Eric Esteve on 03-07-2013 at 7:47 am

We have frequently said in Semiwiki how crucial is it for the SC industry to benefit from high quality PHY IP… even if, from a pure business point of view (MBA minded), PHY IP business does not look so attractive. In fact, to be able to design on-the-edge SerDes and PLL (the two key pieces), you need to build and maintain a highly skilled… Read More


OTP based Analog Trimming and Calibration

OTP based Analog Trimming and Calibration
by Eric Esteve on 03-01-2013 at 10:16 am

Embedded NVM technology based functions can be implemented in large SoC designed in advanced technology nodes down to 28nm, as there is no requirement for extra mask levels, like when integrating Nand Flash, negatively impacting the final cost. And it is also possible to integrate One Time Programmable (OTP) to store trim and … Read More