The “MIPI Beyond Mobile” paper has been presented during the 52th DAC in San Francisco and I can share the key findings with Semiwiki readers. This paper has been written to synthesize certain results of the “MIPI Ecosystem Survey-2015” and evaluate the impact on the MIPI IP sales in the future. At first the MIPI Ecosystem has really… Read More
Semiconductor Intellectual Property
Synopsy Eats Their Own Dogfood
One of the most interesting presentations that I went to was the last presentation at the Synopsys Custom Lunch (no, the lunch wasn’t custom, we all got the same, but the presentations were about custom design). Since the last presentation was by Synopsys themselves and not by a customer, it wouldn’t seem promising that it could … Read More
Is Interconnect Ready for the Post-mobile SoCs?
The interconnect technology is one of the unsung heroes of the system-on-chip (SoC) revolution. It’s the on-chip networking fabric that is used to link various IP cores on an SoC floorplan. The technology facilitates links between multiple processors, on-chip memories, hardware accelerators and more. In other words,… Read More
Sonics’ New NoC
Today Sonics announced the latest version of their network-on-chip (NoC) technology, SonicsGN-3.0. As with any new release there are lots of improvements that are of interest mainly to existing users, but the big area with increased capability is the expanded interleaved memory technology (IMT). This was first introduced … Read More
Apple Watch Design Revisit with a Wi-Fi Twist
Apple Watch is the world’s most celebrated gadget in 2015. At the same time, however, early product reviews highlight some issues about slow apps, less than impressive user experience, and short battery life.
Apple, the master of artful integration, has done well for its reputation of elite hardware and has been able to … Read More
New Tool Suite to Accelerate SoC Integration
Today, an SoC is seen in the context of an optimized assembly of IPs; it’s no more a single monolithic chip design. It’s very common to see an ARM processor IP along with an interconnect IP, a memory IP, and couple of buses and interfaces IP in an SoC. Although the SoC seems to be an integrated collection of IPs, it can be very complex and… Read More
Design Data Management: An Analog IP Porting Case Study
IQ-Analog Corp. offers “off-the-shelf” data converter intellectual property (IP) for multiple foundries. The San Diego, California–based semiconductor design firm also provides analog front-end (AFE) technology that it tailors according to customer needs. And that’s where the dilemma begins.
IQ-Analog’s… Read More
ARM and frog Team up with UNICEF to Foster Creation of Wearables for the Developing World
When the term wearables is mentioned most people’s first thoughts go to devices like the Apple Watch, Fitbit Flex, or Nike Fuel Band. Wearables such as these solve first-world problems like how much exercise am I getting, or what is my heart rate. The developed world drives the development of new technology in most cases, and wearables… Read More
Vacationing with the Fabless Semiconductor Ecosystem!
The Design Automation Conference is the largest and most diverse event in the fabless semiconductor ecosystem. Next week in San Francisco you will see technology and people you have never seen before. You will benefit from the efforts of hundreds of thousands of semiconductor professionals like myself who have dedicated their… Read More
MIPI Beyond Mobile, Semiwiki Blogger Paper at #52DAC!
IoT or wearable: it’s fascinating to see how many articles, blogs, and comments have been posted about them during the last two years! IoT business potential is huge as are the number of possible applications. If we summarize the functions within a wearable system we can count:
[LIST=1]


ASML High-NA EUV is Not Ready for High-Volume Production