The media landscape is changing faster than ever before. I don’t really think we have more news to cover but there sure are more people covering it and even more news outlets are coming. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, SnapChat, etc… news will be coming at us faster and from more directions than ever before. It’s not a bad thing but there… Read More
DAC, IP, Parties and Philanthropy
My typical DACtrip is a blur of non-stop interviews with EDA, IP and Semiconductor vendors followed by a few dozen blogs to share what I’ve learned. I just became aware of something a bit different at DAC this year by talking with Jill Jacobs, an organizer for an event dubbed Heart of Technology (HoT) where they raise money for… Read More
TSV Modeling Key for Next Generation SOC Module Performance
The use of silicon interposers is growing. Several years ago Xilinx broke new ground by employing interposers in their Virtex®-7 H580T FPGA. Last August Samsung announced what they say is the first DDR4 module to use 3D TSV’s for enterprise servers. Their 64GB double data rate-4 modules will be used for high end computing where … Read More
Networking at 52nd DAC in SFO
Yes, the 52nd DAC(Design Automation Conference) is a technical conference plus exhibition with wonderful keynote speakers and agenda, however there is a certain serendipity that occurs by just meeting people, face to face at the many networking opportunities. The best way to kick off your DAC experience is by attending the Sunday… Read More
Silicon Valley, It’s About Culture
Spreading the culture of Silicon Valley is the best way to take the US and the world to a better place. This culture is already spreading, but many organizations and especially governments are doing everything possible to hold on to the past to the detriment of all. Silicon Valley/US businesses have made the strongest statement … Read More
Sidense NVM Scores Qualification on GLOBALFOUNDRIES 28nm SLP and HPP
A tremendous number of chips being designed for today’s products require some sort of onboard data storage. The size of these needs range from a handful of bytes, for trim and calibration storage, to something much more substantial like boot code storage. In both of these examples the storage ideally should be nonvolatile, with… Read More
Apple Watch Announcement
Rock music, invitation only tickets, hollywood lighting, journalists from around the world, live streaming on the web, yes, another typical Apple-orchestrated product launch on Monday, March 9th at the Yerba Buena Center in California.
Up first was a video about Apple’s store opening in West Lake China with superb cinematography.… Read More
Blogging for Consultants
Paul McLellan wrote about how he stumbled into blogging and it inspired me to share my story as well. I grew up in Minnesota and attended the U of Minnesota earning a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering so that I could design computer chips. After interviewing in 1978 with HP, IBM, Intel and Motorola I decided to join… Read More
Blogging for Dummies
I am often asked how I became a blogger (or a journalist if you want to make it sound more professional). I think people assume that I planned it in some way but I never did. Life is what happens while you are making other plans. To see how unlikely it is, you need to know a bit of my background.
I have a PhD in computer science so I’m actually… Read More
All things being unequal for NXP and Freescale
When I read the news that NXP was buying Freescale, it felt like a part of me – and a big part of the history of high tech industry in Arizona – died. There was a time not that long ago where Motorola was the biggest employer in this state, way before Freescale and ON Semi separated from the mothership. Somehow, even with moving headquarters… Read More
TSMC N3 Process Technology Wiki