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The End of Mobility as We Know It

The End of Mobility as We Know It
by Roger C. Lanctot on 03-22-2020 at 8:00 am

The End of Mobility as We Know It

The hideous reality of the coronavirus has exposed the hideous realities of the mobility industry with sobering implications for all. At its core, mobility is about moving people in the safest, most efficient, and cost effective ways and suddenly citizens around the world are being told to stop moving and stop congregating.… Read More


TSMC 32Mb Embedded STT-MRAM at ISSCC2020

TSMC 32Mb Embedded STT-MRAM at ISSCC2020
by Don Draper on 03-20-2020 at 6:00 am

Fig. 1. Cross section of the STT MRAM bit cell in BEOL metallization layers between M1 and M5.

32Mb Embedded STT-MRAM in ULL 22nm CMOS Achieves 10ns Read Speed, 1M Cycle Write Endurance, 10 Years Retention at 150C and High Immunity to Magnetic Field Interference presented at ISSCC2020

1.  Motivation for STT-MRAM in Ultra-Low-Leakage 22nm Process

TSMC’s embedded Spin-Torque Transfer Magnetic Random Access Memory (STT-MRAM)… Read More


Hyper-Scaling Of Data Centers – Environmental Impact Of The Carbon ‘Cloud’

Hyper-Scaling Of Data Centers – Environmental Impact Of The Carbon ‘Cloud’
by Stephen Crosher on 03-19-2020 at 10:00 am

Stephen Crosher Moortec CEO Square High Res

It is predicted that by 2030 energy consumption attributable to data centers will make up a staggering 8% of the world’s total usage!

As we move in to 2020 it’s clear that every sector of industry, including the semiconductor industry, will have a responsibility to address growing environmental concerns. We should be aware that… Read More


5G Infrastructure Opens Up

5G Infrastructure Opens Up
by Bernard Murphy on 03-19-2020 at 6:00 am

5G network

It seemed we were more or less resigned to Huawei owning 5G infrastructure worldwide. Then questions about security came to the fore, Huawei purchases were put on hold (though that position is being tested outside the US) and opportunity for other infrastructure suppliers (Ericsson, Nokia, etc) has opened up again.

Building … Read More


COVID-19 and Semiconductors

COVID-19 and Semiconductors
by Bill Jewell on 03-18-2020 at 10:00 am

COVID 19 and semiconductors SemiWiki

The threat of COVID-19 (coronavirus) is continuing to spread. As of March 17, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 179,111 confirmed cases and 7,426 deaths. WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic as of March 11. Many countries have imposed severe restrictions to slow the spread of the disease, ranging from banning of large … Read More


Machine Learning for EDA – Inside, Outside and Everywhere Else

Machine Learning for EDA – Inside, Outside and Everywhere Else
by Mike Gianfagna on 03-18-2020 at 6:00 am

Paul Cunningham

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. The rise of the machines is upon us in case you haven’t noticed. Machine learning (ML) and its associated inference abilities promise to revolutionize everything from driving your car to making breakfast. We hear a lot about the macro, end-product impact of this technology, but there… Read More


Webinar on Tools and Solutions for Analog IP Migration

Webinar on Tools and Solutions for Analog IP Migration
by Tom Simon on 03-17-2020 at 10:00 am

MunEDA flow for analog design porting

The commonly advanced reason for IP reuse is lower cost and shorter development time. However, IP reuse presents its own challenges, especially for analog designs. In the case of digital designs, once a new standard cell library is available, it is usually not too hard to resynthesize RTL to create new working silicon. For analog… Read More


Innovation in Verification March 2020

Innovation in Verification March 2020
by Bernard Murphy on 03-17-2020 at 6:00 am

Innovation

This blog is the next in a series in which Paul Cunningham (GM of the Verification Group at Cadence), Jim Hogan and I pick a paper on a novel idea we appreciated and suggest opportunities to further build on that idea.

We welcome comments on our blogs and suggestions for new topics if they’re based on published work.

The Innovation

Our… Read More


5G SoCs Demand New Verification Approaches

5G SoCs Demand New Verification Approaches
by Mike Gianfagna on 03-16-2020 at 10:00 am

Simplified 4G network

Lately, I’ve been cataloging the number of impossible-to-verify technologies we face. All forms of machine learning and inference applications fall into this category. I’ve yet to see a regression test to prove a chip for an autonomous driving system will do the right thing in all cases. Training data bias is another interesting… Read More


Will the Q1 Haircut become Covid-19 Crew Cut in Q2?

Will the Q1 Haircut become Covid-19 Crew Cut in Q2?
by Robert Maire on 03-16-2020 at 5:00 am

Corvid 19 Crew Cut Semiwiki
  • Corona impact growing exponentially in chip food chain
  • YMTC in Wuhan may be “patient zero”
  • Q1 revenue haircuts may turn into Q2 crewcuts
  • Working from home really doesn’t work

When does a haircut become a crew cut in revenues?
All the major semiconductor equipment makers took a significant haircut to their Q1… Read More