Successful ASIC providers offer top-notch infrastructure and methodologies that can accommodate varied demands from a multitude of customers. Such ASIC providers also need access to best-in-class IP portfolio, advanced packaging and test capabilities, and heterogeneous chiplet integration capability among other things.… Read More
Intel Lands Top TSMC Customer
Most people will be surprised by this but after working in Taiwan for many years I quite expected it. Intel Announced that MediaTek will use Intel Foundry Services for FinFET based smart edge device chips. MediaTek will start with Intel 16nm technology which originated from the legendary 22nm, the first commercial FinFET process.… Read More
Can Intel Catch TSMC in 2025?
At the ISS conference held from April 4th through 6th I presented on who I thought would have the leading logic technology in 2025. The following is a write up of that presentation.
ISS was a virtual conference in 2021 and I presented on who currently had logic leadership and declared TSMC the clear leader. Following that conference,… Read More
CEO Interview: Harald Neubauer of MunEDA
It has been my pleasure to interview Harald Neubauer, CEO of MunEDA. A veteran of the EDA industry, Harald cofounded MunEDA in 2001.
What brought you to the EDA industry?
Well, I always wanted to found a tech startup and was developing and evaluating various business ideas together with my later cofounder Andreas. Soon after we got… Read More
TSMC and the FinFET Era!
While there is a lot of excitement around the semiconductor shortage narrative and the fabs all being full, both 200mm and 300mm, there is one big plot hole and that is the FinFET era.
Intel ushered in the FinFET era only to lose FinFET dominance to the foundries shortly thereafter. In 2009 Intel brought out a 22nm FinFET wafer at the… Read More
CEO Interview: Kush Gulati of Omni Design Technologies
Kush Gulati is the CEO of Omni Design Technologies, a company he co-founded in 2015 to lead a transformation in how high-performance analog IP is developed and integrated into SoCs in advanced process nodes. With a PhD from MIT, he is a renowned expert in data converters, and a serial entrepreneur. His first startup was a detective… Read More
How Intel Stumbled: A Perspective from the Trenches
Bloomberg did an interview with my favorite semiconductor analyst Stacy Rasgon on “How the Number One U.S. Semiconductor Company Stumbled” that I found interesting. Coupled with the Q&A Bob Swan did at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference I thought it would be good content for a viral blog.
Analog Bits is Supplying Analog Foundation IP on the Industry’s Most Advanced FinFET Processes
The industry recently concluded a series of technology events for the all the major foundries. Done as virtual events this year, each one provided a significant update on technology platforms, roadmaps and ecosystem partnerships. These events are quite valuable to chip design teams who need to be aware of the latest in process,… Read More
No Intel and Samsung are not passing TSMC
Seeking Alpha just published an article about Intel and Samsung passing TSMC for process leadership. The Intel part seems to be a theme with them, they have talked in the past about how Intel does bigger density improvements with each generation than the foundries but forget that the foundries are doing 5 nodes in the time it takes… Read More
Cadence is Making Floorplanning Easier by Changing the Rules
SoC designs are getting more complex, resulting in a higher level of difficulty to get anything done. This trend is well-known. What I want to focus on here is how to deal with the issue of complexity. There are many approaches to taming this problem — faster algorithms for one, and improved algorithm efficiency or the ability to run… Read More
Securing Memory Interfaces