Discussions of chiplets has been on the rise, ever since the slowdown of Moore’s law benefits. Gartner Research projects semiconductor revenue from systems using chiplets to grow from $3.3 billion in 2020, to $50.5 billion in 2024. With any market opportunity, there are always challenges to overcome in order to realize the full… Read More
Intel Embraces the RISC-V Ecosystem: Implications as the Other Shoe Drops
On Monday, February 7, 2022, Intel Foundry Services (IFS), made a series of major announcements regarding the RISC-V architecture and ecosystem:
- Intel will be joining the RISC-V International association with a Premier Membership, and Bob Brennan, Vice President of Customer Solutions Engineering for Intel Foundry Services,
A 2021 Summary of OpenFive
Building a better mousetrap plays a key role in achieving market success in any industry. Of course, building one requires differentiating the product from the others already in the market. A differentiated product can even lead to creating demand for new products in adjacent markets. All of this is great but how do you implement… Read More
More Than Moore and Charting the Path Beyond 3nm
The incredible growth that the semiconductor industry has enjoyed over the last several decades is attributed to Moore’s Law. While no one argues that point, there is also industry wide acknowledgment that Moore’s Law started slowing down around the 7nm process node. While die-size reductions still scale, performance jumps… Read More
Is Ansys Reviving the Collaborative Business Model in EDA?
The Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry used to be a bustling bazaar of scrappy startups, along with medium sized companies that dominated a technology space, and big main-line vendors. The annual Design Automation Conference was noisy, hectic, and sprawled over multiple large convention halls. This diversity meant… Read More
CEO Interview: Mo Faisal of Movellus
Prior to founding Movellus, Dr. Faisal held positions at semiconductor companies such as Intel and PMC Sierra. Faisal received his B.S. from the University of Waterloo, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and holds several patents. Dr. Faisal was named a “Top 20 Entrepreneur” by the University of Michigan Zell… Read More
System Technology Co-Optimization (STCO)
My first exposure to seeing multiple die inside of a single package in order to get greater storage was way back in 1978 at Intel, when they combined two 4K bit DRAM die in one package, creating an 8K DRAM chip, called the 2109. Even Apple used two 16K bit DRAM chips from Mostek to form a 32K bit DRAM, included in the Apple III computer, circa… Read More
Alchip Reveals How to Extend Moore’s Law at TSMC OIP Ecosystem Forum
The TSMC Open Innovation Platform (OIP) event brings together a wide array of companies reporting cutting edge work that are part of TSMC’s rather substantial ecosystem. The event covers everything from high-performance computing to mobile, automotive, IoT, RF and 3D IC design. Of particular interest for this post is a presentation… Read More
Update on TSMC’s 3D Fabric Technology
TSMC recently held their 10th annual Open Innovation Platform (OIP) Ecosystem Forum. An earlier article summarized the highlights of the keynote presentation from L.C. Lu, TSMC Fellow and Vice-President, Design and Technology Platform, entitled “TSMC and Its Ecosystem for Innovation” (link).
Overview of 3D Fabric
The TSMC… Read More
Optical I/O Solutions for Next-Generation Computing Systems
According to DARPA the fraction of total power consumed in semiconductors for I/O purposes as been growing rapidly and is creating an I/O power bottleneck. It has reached the point where it needs to be addressed with new technologies and approaches. Interestingly, while the energy density, as measured by pJ/bit for short reach… Read More
Tools for Chips and Dips an Overview of the Semiconductor Tools Market