While writing on infotainment and ADAS I sometimes wonder about the devices that make an EV run. These have nothing to do with digital or software wizardry. While logic and software play a role, the real heart of EV power is in power electronics driving motors, regenerative braking and charger options at home and on the road. Technologies… Read More
FD-SOI, the technology shaping the future of automotive radars
By Philippe Flatresse, Bich-Yen Nguyen, Rainer Lutz of SOITEC
I. Introduction
Automotive radar is a key enabler for the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles. The use of radar allows vehicles to sense their environment and make decisions based on that information, enhancing… Read More
Long-standing Roadblock to Viable L4/L5 Autonomous Driving and Generative AI Inference at the Edge
Two recent software-based algorithmic technologies –– autonomous driving (ADAS/AD) and generative AI (GenAI) –– are keeping the semiconductor engineering community up at night.
While ADAS at Level 2 and Level 3 are on track, AD at Levels 4 and 5 are far from reality, causing a drop in venture capital enthusiasm and money. Today,… Read More
Synopsys – TSMC Collaboration Unleashes Innovation for TSMC OIP Ecosystem
As the focal point of the TSMC OIP ecosystem, TSMC has been driving important initiatives over the last few years to bring multi-die systems to the mainstream. As the world is moving quickly toward Generative AI technology and AI-based systems, multi-die and chiplet-based implementations are becoming essential. TSMC recently… Read More
Soitec is Engineering the Future of the Semiconductor Industry
The crystalline structure of silicon delivers the incredible capabilities that have fueled the exponential increases defined by Moore’s Law. It turns out that silicon in its purest form will fall short at times – power handling and speed are examples. In these cases, adding additional materials to the silicon can enhance its … Read More
ISO 21434 for Cybersecurity-Aware SoC Development
The automotive industry is undergoing a remarkable transformation, with vehicles becoming more connected, automated, and reliant on software. While these advancements promise convenience, comfort and efficiency to the consumers, the nature and complexity of the technologies also raise concerns for functional safety … Read More
Predictive Maintenance in the Context of Automotive Functional Safety
The automotive industry is undergoing a major transformation. The convergence of electrification, connectivity, driver-assistance technologies, and software-defined vehicles has led to the rise of use of advanced System-on-Chips (SoCs) that drive unprecedented levels of functionality and performance. However, this… Read More
Bluetooth Based Positioning, More Accurate, More Reliable, Safer
Using Bluetooth for positioning is a topic I have touched on before, for location services, keyless entry, and asset tracking among other applications. Earlier implementations depended on measures of received signal strength and angle-of-arrival / angle-of-departure, but these have limited accuracy in environments with… Read More
How Do You Future-Proof Security?
If you are designing electronics to go into a satellite or a military drone, it better have a useful lifetime of 15-20 years or more. Ditto for the grid or other critical infrastructure, your car, medical devices, anything where we demand absolute reliability. Reliability also requires countermeasures against hacking by anyone… Read More
Elon Musk is Self-Aware
“I think we’ll be better than human by the end of the year.” – Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla
Parsing the impact of the latest Tesla earnings call featuring CEO Elon Musk has become an eerie out-of-body experience. The comments of the CEO are simultaneously assessed in real time and in retrospect as they are being spoken. It is automotive… Read More
IEDM 2025 – TSMC 2nm Process Disclosure – How Does it Measure Up?