Before chiplets arrived, it seemed like designing an electronic system was a bit simpler, as a system on chip (SoC) methodology was well understood, and each SoC was mounted inside a package, then the packages for each component were interconnected on a printed circuit board (PCB). The emerging trend to design a 3D IC using chiplets… Read More
TSMC Expands the OIP Ecosystem!
This was the 12th TSMC OIP and it did not disappoint. The attendance was back to pre pandemic levels, there was interesting news and great presentations. We will cover the presentations in more depth after the virtual event which is on November 10th. You can register HERE.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the Jim Keller Keynote … Read More
Moore’s Law is Dead – Long-live the Chiplet!
Author: Paul McWilliams
Dr. Gordon Moore was the Director of Research and Development at Fairchild when he wrote the paper, “Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits” that was published in the April 19, 1965 issue of Electronics. Following this publication, Dr. Carver Mead of Caltech declared Dr. Moore’s… Read More
UCIe Specification Streamlines Multi-Die System Design with Chiplets
Over the last few years, the design of application-specific ICs as well as high-performance CPUs and other complex ICs has hit a proverbial wall. This wall is built from several issues: first, chip sizes have grown so large that they can fill the entire mask reticle and that could limit future growth. Second, the large chip size impacts… Read More
Ansys’ Emergence as a Tier 1 EDA Player— and What That Means for 3D-IC
Over its 40+ year history, electronic design automation (EDA) has seen many companies rise, fall, and merge. In the beginning, in the 1980s, the industry was dominated by what came to be known as the big three — Daisy Systems, Mentor Graphics, and Valid Logic (the infamous “DMV”). The Big 3 has morphed over the years, eventually settling… Read More
Five Key Workflows For 3D IC Packaging Success
An earlier blog started with the topic of delivering 3D IC innovations faster. The blog covered the following foundational enablers for successful heterogeneous 3D IC implementation.
- System Co-Optimization (STCO) approach
- Transition from design-based to systems-based optimization
- Expanding the supply chain and tool
Chiplets at the Design Automation Conference with OpenFive
SemiWiki has been tracking the popularity of chiplets for two years now so it was not surprising to see that they played a key role at DAC. The other trend we foresaw was that the ASIC companies would be early chiplet adopters and that has proven true. One of the more vocal proponents of chiplets at DAC#59 was OpenFive, a 17+ year spec-to-silicon… Read More
OpenFive Joins Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) Consortium
Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) is an open specification that defines the interconnect between chiplets within a package. The objective is to enable an open chiplet ecosystem. Although the initial specification for UCIe was developed by Intel, a consortium was announced in March with Intel, AMD, Arm, Google,… Read More
Verifying Inter-Chiplet Communication
Chiplets are hot now as a way to extend Moore’s Law, dividing functionality across multiple die within a single package. It’s no longer practical to jam all functionality onto a single die in the very latest processes, exceeding reticle limits in some cases and in others straining cost/yield. This is not an academic concern. Already… Read More
Stop-For-Top IP Model to Replace One-Stop-Shop by 2025
…and support the creation of successful Chiplet business
The One-Stop-Shop model has allowed IP vendors of the 2000’s to create a successful IP business, mostly driven by consumer application, smartphone or Set-Top-Box. The industry has dramatically changed, and in 2020 is now driven by data-centric application (datacenter,… Read More


Intel to Compete with Broadcom and Marvell in the Lucrative ASIC Business