The 32nd VLSI Design/CAD Symposium just occurred in a virtual setting. The theme of the event this year was “ICs Powering Smart Life Innovation”. There were many excellent presentations across analog & RF, EDA & testing, digital & system, and emerging technology. There were also some excellent keynotes, and this… Read More
Musk’s Massive Mobile Gambit
A few weeks ago Mobile World Congress included among its keynotes a live interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk moderated by Mobile World Live Publisher Justin Springham. The subject was Starlink, the low earth orbit (LEO) constellation intended to deliver global Internet access.
Mobile World Congress Musk keynote interview
Tongue-in-cheek… Read More
Highlights of the “Intel Accelerated” Roadmap Presentation
Introduction
Intel recently provided a detailed silicon process and advanced packaging technology roadmap presentation, entitled “Intel Accelerated”. The roadmap timeline extended out to 2024, with discussions of Intel client, data center, and GPU product releases, and especially, the underlying technologies to be … Read More
Intel Accelerated
Intel presented yesterday on their plans for process technology and packaging over the next several years. This was the most detailed roadmap Intel has ever laid out. In this write up I will analyze Intel’s process announcement and how they match up with their competitors.
10nm Super Fin (SF)
10nm is now in volume production in three… Read More
WEBINAR: Architecture Exploration of System-on-chip using VisualSim Hybrid RISC-V and ARM Processor library
80% of specification optimization and almost 100% of the performance/power trade-offs can be achieved during architecture exploration of product design. RISC-V offers a huge opportunity with lots of pipeline and instruction set enhancement opportunities. Can it really attain the utopian success that people are looking… Read More
Magnetic Immunity for Embedded Magnetoresistive RAM (eMRAM)
Previous SemiWiki articles have discussed the introduction of embedded Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetoresistive RAM IP from GLOBALFOUNDRIES, as an evolution replacement for non-volatile embedded flash memory. (link, link)
Those articles described the key features of STT-MRAM technology, but didn’t delve into a key reliability… Read More
WEBINAR: Maximizing Exit Valuations for Technology Companies
I had the opportunity to speak with Pete Rodriguez and Alain Labat in regards to the upcoming webinar on M&A. I have worked with both Pete and Alain in the past so I can tell you personally that this event will be well worth your time. This is truly an all star cast with a collective experience base with billions of dollars worth of … Read More
EDA Flows for 3D Die Integration
Background
The emergence of 2.5D heterogeneous die integration using a silicon (or organic) interposer has enabled unique system architectures. The term “More than Moore” has been used to describe the circuit density and cost advantages of leveraging multiple die in the package, the die potentially in different process technologies. … Read More
How can Semiconductor Manufacturers add new Capacity to Meet Demand as Quickly as Possible?
The causes of the chip shortage crisis have been widely discussed, but what about specific solutions? How can semiconductor manufacturers add new capacity to meet demand as quickly as possible?
While there is a lot of talk about investment in building new chip plants, these traditional methods of manufacturing capacity growth… Read More
VLSI Technology Symposium – Imec Alternate 3D NAND Word Line Materials
At the 2021 VLSI Technology Symposium, Imec presented on Ruthenium (Ru) and Molybdenum (Mo) as alternate Word Line (WL) materials for 3D NAND Flash “First Demonstration of Ruthenium and Molybdenum Word lines Integrated into 40nm Pitch 3D NAND Memory Devices”. I had an opportunity to interview one of the authors: Maarten Rosmeulen.… Read More
MediaTek Develops Chip Utilizing TSMC’s 2nm Process, Achieving Milestones in Performance and Power Efficiency