Security is a slippery topic. We all agree that “something should be done”, but most of us are waiting for someone else to lead the way. There’s no shortage of proprietary solutions, though given the distributed nature of the problem it’s difficult to see how those separately or collectively can rise to the occasion. What we really… Read More
How can Semiconductor Manufacturers add new Capacity to Meet Demand as Quickly as Possible?
The causes of the chip shortage crisis have been widely discussed, but what about specific solutions? How can semiconductor manufacturers add new capacity to meet demand as quickly as possible?
While there is a lot of talk about investment in building new chip plants, these traditional methods of manufacturing capacity growth… Read More
VLSI Technology Symposium – Imec Alternate 3D NAND Word Line Materials
At the 2021 VLSI Technology Symposium, Imec presented on Ruthenium (Ru) and Molybdenum (Mo) as alternate Word Line (WL) materials for 3D NAND Flash “First Demonstration of Ruthenium and Molybdenum Word lines Integrated into 40nm Pitch 3D NAND Memory Devices”. I had an opportunity to interview one of the authors: Maarten Rosmeulen.… Read More
GloFo inside Intel? Foundry Foothold and Fixerupper- Good Synergies
Intel reportedly talking to Abu Dhabi to buy GloFo for $30B
Would jumpstart Intel Foundry but require investment & repair
Avoids IPO risk – Allows Abu Dhabi escape- NY benefits
Doesn’t impact near term shortage or market share
Reported by WSJ- Intel in talks to buy GloFo
The Wall Street Journal reported that Intel… Read More
CEO Interview: Pete Rodriguez of Silicon Catalyst
Pete Rodriguez has over 35 years of experience in the Semiconductor industry. Pete is currently CEO of Silicon Catalyst and on the board of Hysai, advisory board of Harvest Management Partners and an observer on the boards of Mentium Technologies, Espre Technologies and Owl AI. Pete was formerly VP & GM of Interface and Power… Read More
Is EDA Growth Unstoppable?
SemiWiki has covered the Q2, Q3 and Q4 ESD Alliance quarterly revenue reports previously. The Q2 2020 report suggested that EDA had COVID immunity. The Q3 2020 report inspired an Up and to the Right comment. The Q4 2020 report demanded a Juggernaut label. And now the Q1 2021 report posts yet more record-breaking growth. This is … Read More
Get a Jump-Start on Your Next IoT Design with Sondrel’s SFA 100
The concept of platform-based design has been around a long time. I can recall Nokia’s early cell phone products used the strategy very effectively. They were able to turn out new phones quickly by leveraging their existing chip design as a baseline on which to add features. This is commonplace today but was innovative at that time.… Read More
When Implementing 112G PAM4 Channels, Getting There is Half the Fun
The slogan in the title of this post originated with the cruise ship industry in the 1950s. The comment resonated then, and it continues to do so now. In a different context of course. Consider the substantial pressure for higher bandwidth channels. 5G has lit the fuse on a massive increase in wireless data volumes. IoT, autonomous… Read More
VLSI Technology Symposium – Imec Forksheet
FinFETs devices are reaching their limits for scaling. Horizontal Nanosheets (HNS) are a type of Gate All Around (GAA) device that offers better scaling and performance per unit area. HNS is the logical next step from FinFETs because HNS processing is similar to FinFETs with a limited number of process changes required.
At the … Read More
IPnest Forecast Interface IP Category Growth to $2.5B in 2025
Why should the interface IP category see such a high growth rate until 2025? IP vendors revenues totaled $1068 million in 2020, compared with $872 in 2019. That is 22.4% YoY growth rate and confirm that last year YoY value of 18% was the sign for a long-term growth, as IPnest shows in “Interface IP Survey 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2025”,… Read More


PDF Solutions Charts a Course for the Future at Its User Conference and Analyst Day