The success of our semiconductor eco-system depends on collaboration, so the annual TSMC OIP Event just held on September 30 at the San Jose Convention Center was a prime example of that. I didn’t attend this year, but I did follow up with Amit Nandaof Silvaco this week to hear about what they presented. As a consultant I’ve… Read More
Viva the New Industrial Revolution! What Etsy, 3D Printing, and Kickstarter Means to Semiconductor Companies?
The world is changing and IC companies need to adapt to this to stay competitive — moving to systems (hardware and software) vs. just product (hardware). Three key trends that are underway that change the way IC vendors need to think about their customer and the customer’s customer:
- Markets are Fragmenting: We are moving away from
IBM leaves semiconductors – end of an era
IBM last week agreed to transfer its semiconductor business to GlobalFoundries. GlobalFoundries will acquire wafer fabs in East Fishkill, New York and Essex Junction, Vermont; IBM’s commercial microelectronics business, which includes ASIC and foundry; over 10,000 IBM patents related to semiconductor manufacturing;… Read More
The GF IBM Deal Explained!
I have it on pretty good authority that IBM has in fact come to terms with GlobalFoundries on the sale of their semiconductor business, or so I blogged last month. Did I mention that my grandparents and their many siblings settled in Upstate NY in the early 1900s from Italy via Ellis Island? So yes, I do qualify as an insider:
ECDH Key Exchange is Practical Magic
What if you and I want to exchange encrypted messages? It seems like something that will increasingly be desired given all the NSA/Snowden revelations and all the other snooping shenanigans. The joke going around is that the motto of the NSA is really “Yes We Scan,” which sort of sums it up.
Encryption is essentially scrambling a … Read More
Cliff Hou at TSMC OIP
I attended Cliff Hou’s keynote at TSMC OIP Forum earlier this month. OIP is a huge undertaking. It currently has over 100 ecosystem partners, 10 technology generations, 7600+ IPs, 60+ EDA tools, 7000+ tech files and 150+ PDKs.
Most of Cliff’s presentation gave details on where TSMC are with the various processes. … Read More
There’s good news about BadUSB
The good news about the recently-revealed BadUSB is that there actually is a cure: Hardware crypto engines were invented to protect software, firmware and hardware from exactly these types of attacks, among many others. These uber-tiny, ultra secure hardware devices can be easily and cost-effectively added to USB sticks (and… Read More
GlobalFoundries and IBM
So it’s true. IBM is selling its semiconductor division to GlobalFoundries. Actually, selling is a sort of euphemism for paying them $1.5B to take it off their hands. At least according to Bloomberg. There have been rumors for weeks that IBM wanted to pay $1B to get rid of the division, but GF wanted $2B. Looks like they split… Read More
Recap of the Apple iPad Announcement
I watched the live stream product announcements yesterday from Apple and will give you a quick recap of what I gleaned. First off, Apple live stream requires that you use the Safari browser, so that meant that I couldn’t use Google Chrome, so much for adopting web standards.
Apple Products Talked about
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
This… Read More
Atmel’s New Microcontrollers and IoT, Wearables
More and more companies, regardless of their vertical, are trying to get closer to their customers and see various aspects of the internet of things (IoT) as the way to do so. For a good example, here is Salesforce Wear Developer Pack which, as they say:..is a collection of open-source starter apps that let you quickly design and build… Read More


AI RTL Generation versus AI RTL Verification