Synopsys Foundation IP for Intel 18A is a portfolio of semiconductor building blocks designed to help system-on-chip developers build advanced chips with better power, performance, and area, often called PPA. The offering includes embedded memory compilers, standard-cell logic libraries, and input/output libraries for… Read More
Intel 18A vs Intel 18A-P: What Is the Difference and Why Does It Matter?
Intel’s 18A process technology has become one of the most scrutinized semiconductor manufacturing nodes in the industry. It represents Intel’s introduction of two major innovations: RibbonFET gate-all-around (GAA) transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery (BSPD). These technologies are intended to improve transistor… Read More
The Yield Partnership: Intel and PDF Solutions Tackle Advanced Nodes
One of the most difficult things to do in life is ask for help. This is inherently a big problem in the semiconductor industry dating back to the IDM days where silos of secrecy were established. As a result Intel has struggled with yield since the 14nm FinFET process nodes.
On the outside PDF Solutions is a publicly traded semiconductor… Read More
Intel Foundry Expands the 18A Platform with 18A-P and Demonstrates Long-Term Technology Leadership at VLSI 2026
At the 2026 VLSI Symposium, Intel Foundry provided a detailed update on its process technology roadmap, highlighting the continued maturation of Intel 18A, the introduction of Intel 18A-P, and several advanced research initiatives that extend beyond current gate-all-around (GAA) transistor architectures. The presentation… Read More
Intel: Pushing EMIB Forward: Design Methodology Insights with Synopsys Tools
As advanced packaging becomes a critical enabler for next-generation semiconductor products, Intel continues to drive innovation through its Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology. EMIB has emerged as a foundational packaging solution for heterogeneous integration, allowing multiple chiplets and… Read More
Re-Spins Get You Fired, Says Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s statement that “re-spins get you fired” reflects the enormous pressure facing semiconductor companies as chip complexity, manufacturing costs, and competitive demands continue to rise. In the semiconductor industry, a “re-spin” occurs when a chip design must be revised and manufactured again because… Read More
ASML High-NA EUV is Not Ready for High-Volume Production
Contrary to the popular press, ASML High-NA EUV is not ready for logic production yet—and it may never be, at least not in the form originally envisioned. If you remember how long it took conventional EUV to become production-worthy—arguably 5–10 years—this should not come as a surprise. More importantly, this is no longer just… Read More
Elon Musk Needs to Put His Fab Money Where his Mouth is!
To me this is going to be one of the bigger Chicken Little moments in the history of semiconductors. Mostly because we are now a click driven society and the media is plagued by so called influencers that live and die by clicks. In my 40+ years as a semiconductor professional I have witnessed many of these Chicken Little moments with … Read More
Is Intel About to Take Flight?
The Pan Am–Boeing playbook and what Musk’s Terafab order could mean for Intel Foundry
“We either build the Terafab or we don’t have the chips.” That’s Elon Musk, speaking to Reuters, stating a supply constraint as plainly as anyone has stated one. TSMC is sold out. Samsung is committed. The existing supply chain can’t expand fast… Read More
Disaggregating LLM Inference: Inside the SambaNova Intel Heterogeneous Compute Blueprint
SambaNova Systems and Intel have introduced a blueprint for heterogeneous inference that reflects a significant shift in how modern large language model (LLM) workloads are deployed. Instead of relying on a single accelerator type, the proposed architecture assigns different phases of inference to specialized hardware:… Read More

