In 2014 worries about security went from a simple “meh” to “WTF!” Not only did high-profile attacks get sensational media coverage, but those incidents led to a pivotal judicial ruling that corporations can be sued for data breaches. And as hard as it is to believe, 2015 will only get worse because attack surfaces are expanding as… Read More
Intel to Launch 10nm Chips in Early 2017?
As I have mentioned before, Intel and the foundries approach process development from different starting points. Intel is committed to Moore’s law in reducing the transistor cost by increasing the process density in a near linear fashion. The foundries on the other hand work closely with partners and customers to determine the… Read More
STMicroelectronics and SoCs
What does system on chip (SoC) actually mean? How this tech moniker came into being? There is quite a bit of enigma about SoC in the technology press and what this term really stands for. Roger Shepherd, consultant at Parallel Computer Systems, shares on Quora his version of the SoC story. He says that he first heard about SoCs when … Read More
Apple’s Implications for Semiconductor
Apple’s iPhone 6 alone represents at least 50K wafer starts/month plus the iPad (A8X). What could the Iphone 6S/7 & A9 mean? What about the iWatch? Apple is the technology and volume driver of the semiconductor industry so lets take a look at the broader implications.
If we do the math the A8 is 89mm2 and 8.47 X 10.5mm. Using… Read More
Translating Intel
Some of Intel’s technology posts make some pretty specific statements and I have seen a number of posts where people seem to have misinterpreted what Intel was actually saying.
Multi Patterning
I have seen a lot of confusion on this one with some people saying Intel didn’t use multi patterning at 22nm and others saying Intel used … Read More
Opto-Electronics to Take Care of Data Explosion
As we come nearer to an intelligent IoT world, one of the major concerns we talk every day is about data explosion, its storage, and access and so on. In the beginning of the year, I had blogged about some facts that indicated successful emergence of IoT in very near future. My faith gets further strengthened when I envision the semiconductor… Read More
Qualcomm versus Samsung?
There is an interesting reality show playing in the media featuring Qualcomm and Samsung with supporting actors TSMC, LG, Xaomi, and Apple. As I’m sure we all have read, Samsung is losing massive amounts of money on mobile which was once a very profitable business unit. Let’s take a look at the current landscape and some of the recent… Read More
30+ Years of Semiconductors – The base matters!
Although CMOS technology in semiconductors was patented in 1960s, commercial ICs and electronic systems based on CMOS ICs started picking up in 1970s, and the real growth with personal computer (PC) market took place in 1980s. Then Intelmicroprocessors started dominating the semiconductor market with increasing processing… Read More
Will the Apple A9 Fall Flat?
Several months ago we had suggested that we were concerned that Apple’s A9 processor would wind up being 20nm planar (maybe 14nm planar) rather than the expected 14nm FinFET. As we are now under 9 months from a likely launch time for Apple’s next gen IPhone the timing for getting a 14nm FinFET processor on board the phone… Read More
Windows on a TV
This month I upgraded my TV at home with a 40″ LED set from Samsung, Denon AV receiver and Samsung Blu-ray player. Also being a Google fan I bought a Chromecast device.
At CES there were multiple announcements from Intel, and one that caught my eye was the Intel Compute Stick because it reminded me of the Google Chromecast device… Read More
Flynn Was Right: How a 2003 Warning Foretold Today’s Architectural Pivot