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Raptor Image Signal Processor

Raptor Image Signal Processor
by Paul McLellan on 11-18-2013 at 9:00 am

This fall there seems to be a bumper harvest of cores. Today Imagination Technologies announced their latest core for image signal processing. Like all of their cores, it is designed to be part of an SoC and is designed to work with other Imagination cores to build a complete image processing system. In particular, it is designed … Read More


TowerJazz and Silvaco BFF

TowerJazz and Silvaco BFF
by Paul McLellan on 11-15-2013 at 1:04 pm

Last week was the TowerJazz Technology Fair 2013. TowerJazz is the fourth biggest foundry in the world after TSMC, GF and UMC. They have fabs in Newport Beach (the old Jazz, itself with roots in Rockwell), two in Israel (the old Tower, with roots in National Semiconductor) and one in Japan (acquired from Micron). The technology fair… Read More


Is FD-SOI Really Faster, Cooler, Simpler?

Is FD-SOI Really Faster, Cooler, Simpler?
by Eric Esteve on 11-12-2013 at 5:17 am

I love the slogan associated with FD-SOI: the technology is supposed to be Faster, Cooler, Simpler. Does this slogan reflect the reality? Let’s start with Simpler. We (the semiconductor industry) have the perception that Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technology is something complex and exotic. Why? Because SOI has been used to … Read More


Semiconductor Fabrication Module Optimization

Semiconductor Fabrication Module Optimization
by Pawan Fangaria on 11-11-2013 at 9:00 am

The growing process integration complexity at each technology node has increased development time and cost, and this trend looks to continue. There is a looming risk of delivering unrepeatable critical unit processes (or process modules) that would require revisiting development and manufacturing requalification or in … Read More


GSA Award Nominees Announced

GSA Award Nominees Announced
by Paul McLellan on 11-04-2013 at 4:32 pm

Today GSA announced the award nominees for the 2013 awards. They will be presented at the GSA Award Dinner on Thursday December 12th at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The keynote will be given by Steve Forbes.

Recently it was announced that the 2013 Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award winners are CEO and Chairman, Dr.… Read More


Using OTP Memories for High-performance Video

Using OTP Memories for High-performance Video
by Paul McLellan on 11-01-2013 at 4:15 pm

One of the most demanding applications where semiconductors are used is in the various applications of digital video from tablet computers, to home entertainment. iPad with a retina display is already at high-definition (HD) resolution (2048×1536) and all indications are that video is racing towards what is known as 4K… Read More


What you compress may not be all you get

What you compress may not be all you get
by Don Dingee on 10-30-2013 at 4:00 pm

Now that we’ve looked at the basics, we wrap up this three-part series exploring PVRTC texture compression. We’ll take a brief look at PVRTC2, the latest version of the technology, and then explore the issues behind visual quality from several different angles.

PVRTC2 is supported on the newest Series5XT or Series6 GPU cores from… Read More


The Alternative to FinFET: FD-SOI

The Alternative to FinFET: FD-SOI
by Paul McLellan on 10-30-2013 at 11:00 am

Everywhere you turn these days you find FinFETs. Intel has had them since 22nm (they use the word Tri-gate but it is the same as what the world calls FinFET) and TSMC will have them at 16nm. So why FinFET? And is there an alternative?

The reason that regular bulk planar transistors have run out of steam is that the channel area underneath… Read More


Correct by Construction Semiconductor IP

Correct by Construction Semiconductor IP
by Daniel Payne on 10-29-2013 at 11:23 am

Semiconductor IP re-use enables modern SoC designs to be realized in a timely fashion, yet with hundreds of IP blocks in a chip the chances are higher that an error in any IP block could cause the entire system to fail. At advanced nodes like 28nm and smaller, the number of Process, Voltage and Temperature (PVT) corners is increasing… Read More


MEMS in The World of ICs – How to Quickly Verify?

MEMS in The World of ICs – How to Quickly Verify?
by Pawan Fangaria on 10-29-2013 at 10:00 am

In the modern electronic world, it’s difficult to imagine any system working as a whole without MEMS (Micro-electromechanical Systems) such as pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones etc. working in sync with other ICs. Specifically in AMS (Analog Mixed-Signal) semiconductor designs, there can be significant… Read More