When USB initially came out it revolutionized how peripherals connect to host systems. We all remember when Apple did away with many separate connections for mouse, keyboard, audio and more with their first computers supporting USB. USB has continued to develop more flexibility and more throughput. In 2015 Apple again introduced… Read More
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Goes Virtual with 2020 Global Technology Conference Series!
GlobalFoundries is one of the more interesting semiconductor stories of this decade. They started as a spinout of the AMD fabs then acquired Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing in 2009 and the IBM Microelectronics business in 2014.
Now that events are virtual it is a great time for my fellow semiconductor professionals to
Highlights of the TSMC Technology Symposium – Part 3
Recently, TSMC held their 26th annual Technology Symposium, which was conducted virtually for the first time. This article is the last of three that attempts to summarize the highlights of the presentations. This article focuses on the technology design enablement roadmap, as described by Cliff Hou, SVP, R&D.
Key Takeaways… Read More
Dolphin Design – Delivering High-Performance Audio Processing with TSMC’s 22ULL Process
TSMC held their very popular Open Innovation Platform event (OIP) on August 25. The event was virtual of course and was packed with great presentations from TSMC’s vast ecosystem. One very interesting and relevant presentation was from Dolphin Design, discussing the delivery of high-performance audio processing using TSMC’s… Read More
Highlights of the TSMC Technology Symposium – Part 2
Recently, TSMC held their 26th annual Technology Symposium, which was conducted virtually for the first time. This article is the second of three that attempts to summarize the highlights of the presentations. This article focuses on the TSMC advanced packaging technology roadmap, as described by Doug Yu, VP, R&D.
Key… Read More
In-Chip Monitoring Helps Manage Data Center Power
Designers spend plenty of time analyzing the effects of process, voltage and temperature. But everyone knows it’s not enough to simply stop there. Operating environments are tough and have lots of limitations, especially when it comes to power consumption and thermal issues. Thermal protection and even over-voltage protections… Read More
Highlights of the TSMC Technology Symposium – Part 1
Recently, TSMC held their 26th annual Technology Symposium, which was conducted virtually for the first time. This article is the first of three that attempts to summarize the highlights of the presentations.
This article focuses on the TSMC process technology roadmap, as described by the following executives:
- Y.J. Mii, SVP,
Smartphone Processor Trends and Process Differences down through 7nm
This comparison of smartphone processors from different companies and fab processes was originally going to be a post, but with the growing information content, I had to put it into an article. Here, due to information availability, Apple, Huawei, and Samsung Exynos processors will get the most coverage, but a few Qualcomm Snapdragon
Inside a Counterfeit 8086 Processor
Intel introduced the 8086 processor in 1978, leading to the x86 architecture in use today. I’m currently reverse-engineering the circuitry of the 8086 so I’ve been purchasing vintage 8086 chips off eBay. One chip I received is shown below. From the outside, it looks like a typical Intel 8086.
A “Super” Technology Mid-life Kicker for Intel
Summary
At the recent Intel Architecture Day 2020 symposium, a number of technology enhancements to the Intel 10nm process node were introduced. The cumulative effect of these enhancements would provide designs with a performance boost (at iso-power) approaching 20% – a significant intra-node enhancement, to be sure. The… Read More


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