The smartphone segment is certainly the most competitive market for chip makers today and the yearly product launch cadence puts a lot of pressure on the application processor design cycle. End-users expect to benefit from higher image definition, better sound quality, ever faster and more complex applications which push the… Read More
Semiconductor Intellectual Property
ARM and FD-SOI are like Peanut Butter and Jelly!
When I first heard about a foundry possibly licensing FD-SOI I would have bet it was SMIC in China. What better market for a low cost, low power, easy to manufacture alternative to FinFETs? The foundry of course was Samsung which also made complete sense since they have 28nm gate-first capacity that matches up nicely to 28nm FD-SOI.… Read More
Get ready for hypergrade in automotive
With use cases expanding, the meaning of “automotive qualified” semiconductors is changing. What we’re now hearing about now is beyond the AEC-Q100 Grade 0 upper end of 150°C, while still meeting other reliability, retention, and security requirements. What does hypergrade mean for complex digital chip… Read More
EDAC Name Changing for ESDA, but what about IP ?
The EDA Consortium (EDAC) has changed name for Electronic Systems Design Alliance (ESD Alliance). That’s a good reminder that IC are developed (thanks to Design Automation) to be integrated into a System. A wide design ecosystem support system development, including embedded software, design intellectual property (IP), … Read More
Self-contained low power Wi-Fi IP for IoT apps
The emerging theme of fit-for-purpose IoT parts gained yet another perspective, this time with ARM and CEVA chiming in on a low-power Wi-Fi approach outlined in a new webinar. It was a rather unique event with an abbreviated 25-minute presentation and an extended 35-minute Q&A that added a lot of insight.… Read More
Book Review Mobile Unleashed The History of ARM
After having taken a closer look at x86 processor with “Inside The Machine” I came across “Mobile Unleashed“, a book about the history of a non-Silicon Valley company and technology for a change that has significantly shaped the world of computing as we know it today: ARM.
Written by Daniel Nenni and Don Dingee the book tells the story… Read More
Webinar alert – Smart homes demanding low power Wi-Fi
There are two camps of thinking on the IoT: those who believe Bluetooth and Wi-Fi rule the edge, and those who support any of dozens of other wireless networking specifications for their various technical advantages. The ubiquity of Wi-Fi in homes helps devices connect in a few clicks – so why don’t more IoT designers use it?… Read More
Mobile Unleashed…Reviewed
I finished reading Don Dingee and Dan Nenni’s book, Mobile Unleashed, the Origin and Evolution of ARM Processors in Our Devices. I guess by way of disclosure I should say that Don and Dan both blogged with me here on SemiWiki for several years before I joined Cadence, and Dan’s last book Fabless was co-authored with me… Read More
Fit-for-purpose IoT ASICs are about more than cost
We’ve been saying for a while that it looks like there is a resurgence in design starts for ASICs targeting the IoT. A recent webinar featuring speakers from ARM and Open Silicon (and moderated by Daniel Nenni) affirms this trend, and provides some insight on how these designs may differ from typical microcontrollers.
One of my first… Read More
Optimizing memory scheduling at integration-level
In our previous post on SoC memory resource planning, we shared 4 goals for a solution: optimize utilization and QoS, balance traffic across consumers and channels, eliminate performance loss from ordering dependencies, and analyze and understand tradeoffs. Let’s look at details on how Sonics is achieving this.… Read More
Rapidus, IBM, and the Billion-Dollar Silicon Sovereignty Bet