One of the interesting rumors in Taiwan last week was the possibility that UMC and GF will do a deal to merge or UMC will buy some GF fabs. I have talked to quite a few industry experts about it and will talk to more this week at the GSA US Executive Forum (more at the end). The US Executive Forum is what they call a C Level event which means it… Read More
2018 Semiconductor Winners and Losers
This is an ongoing conversation inside the semiconductor ecosystem, especially when I am traveling. Everyone wants to know what is going on here or there and since I just returned from Taiwan I will post my thoughts. Last week was also my birthday which was cut short due to the time change but I did get preferential treatment on the … Read More
TSMC GlobalFoundries and Samsung Updates from 55DAC
One of my favorite traditions at the Design Automation Conference is the Synopsys foundry events (the videos are now available). I learned a long time ago that the foundries are the foundation of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem and your relationships with the foundries can make or break you, absolutely. I also appreciate … Read More
AMAT down 10% as expected Foundry spending slow down unexpected
Applied reported a more or less in line quarter, slightly beating weaker expectations. As we had projected, the October quarter is expected to have revenues down 10% which is at the low end of our expected 10-15% drop in business. Applied services helped partially make up for some of the equipment sales weakness. Revenue came in … Read More
Keeping Pace With 5nm Heartbeat
A Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) gives design a heartbeat. Despite its minute footprint, it has many purposes such as being part of the clock generation circuits, on-chip digital temperature sensor, process control monitoring in the scribe-line or as baseline circuitry to facilitate an effective measurement of the design’s power… Read More
Morris Chang and Me
Legend has it that in 1984, Morris Chang was approached by a friend who was looking for money to buy equipment for manufacturing his electronic chip designs. Morris told him to do more homework. When his friend did not return, Morris reached out to him. His friend, it turned out, did not need the money after all. He had found another … Read More
7nm, 5nm and 3nm Logic, current and projected processes
There has been a lot of new information available about the leading-edge logic processes lately. Papers from IEDM in December 2017, VLSIT this month, the TSMC and Samsung Foundry forums, etc. have all filled in a lot of information. In this article I will summarize what is currently known.… Read More
TSMC OIP DAC Theater Schedule 2018
The TSMC OIP DAC Theater schedule is finalized and ready to go. It kicks off Monday at 10:15 am in booth #1629 and ends with a raffle at 5:45 pm each day (Mon-Tue-Wed) TSMC gives out some very nice prizes so check in with the TSMC booth staff when you arrive. There are 66 coveted presentation spots representing the top ecosystem partners… Read More
Welcome DDR5 and Thanks to Cadence IP and Test Chip
Will we see DDR5 memory (device) and memory controller (IP) in the near future? According with Cadence who has released the first test chip in the industry integrating DDR5 memory controller IP, fabricated in TSMC’s 7nm process and achieving a 4400 megatransfers per second (MT/sec) data rate, the answer is clearly YES !
Let’s come… Read More
TSMC Technologies for IoT and Automotive
At TSMC 2018 Silcon Valley Technology Symposium, Dr Kevin Zhang, TSMC VP of Business Development covered technology updates for IoT platform. The three growth drivers in this segment namely TSMC low power, RF enhancement and embedded memory technology (MRAM/RRAM) reinforced both progress and growth in global semiconductor… Read More