The first annual Chiplet Summit was held last week in San Jose and I must say it exceeded my expectations, but I have some advice for the participating speakers and sponsoring companies. A good portion of the content was on WHY chiplets and not HOW. I think we have progressed passed this point and if we keep dwelling on it we will delay… Read More




Samsung- full capex speed ahead, damn the downturn- Has Micron in its crosshairs
-Samsung said its not reducing its capex despite downturn
-A clear indication they want to take share/kill Micron & others
-Is the US government subsidizing predatory chip behavior?
-The last US memory chip maker is clearly threatened
Samsung announces worst results in 8 years
Samsung released its earnings which were the… Read More
Trends and Challenges in Quantum Computing
Quantum Computing is the area of study focused on developing computer technology based on the principles of quantum theory. Tens of billions of public and private capitals are being invested in Quantum technologies. Countries across the world have realized that quantum technologies can be a major disruptor of existing businesses… Read More
Careful Who You Work for
When one is looking for a job and that hunt extends from weeks into months or even years one is inclined to default to an any-port-in-a-storm mindset. Some recent experiences suggest to me that that mentality may need a reevaluation.
I was surprised to learn recently, from conversations with industry acquaintances, that one’s… Read More
U.S., Japan & Dutch versus China Chips & Memory looks to be in a long downturn
-US, Japan & Dutch agree to embargo some China chip equip
-Goes beyond just leading edge & will increase negative impact
-China might catch up in decades or invade Taiwan tomorrow
-Why the memory downturn could be longer than expected
Ganging up on China
It appears that the US has put together a coalition of the US, Japan and… Read More
Achieving Faster Design Verification Closure
On big chip design projects the logic verification effort can be larger than the design effort, taking up to 70% of the project time based on data from the 2022 Wilson Research Group findings. Sadly, the first silicon success rate has gone downwards from 31 percent to just 24 percent in the past 8 years, causing another spin to correct… Read More
Multiple Monopole Exposures: The Correct Way to Tame Aberrations in EUV Lithography?
For a leading-edge lithography technology, EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography is still plagued by some fundamental issues. While stochastically occurring defects probably have been the most often discussed, other issues, such as image shifts and fading [1-5], are an intrinsic part of using reflective EUV optics. However,… Read More
Lam chops guidance, outlook, headcount- an ugly, long downturn- memory plunges
-Lam Research chops guidance, outlook & headcount sharply
-Further declines as 2023 will be H1 weighted- No end in sight
-System sales cut by more than half as even service is cut
-Memory is the culprit as expected-Forcing business “reset”
A sad sounding conference call….
While Lam reported a good December,… Read More
Weebit ReRAM: NVM that’s better for the planet
Together with our R&D partner CEA-Leti, we recently completed an environmental initiative in which we analyzed the environmental impact of Weebit’s Resistive Random-Access Memory (ReRAM / RRAM) technology compared to Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) – another emerging non-volatile memory (NVM) technology.… Read More
Model-Based Design Courses for Students
Amid the tumult of SoC design advances and accompanying verification and implementation demands, it can be easy to forget that all this activity is preceded by architecture design. At the architecture stage the usual SoC verification infrastructure is far too cumbersome for quick turnaround modeling. Such platforms also tend… Read More
Musk’s new job as Samsung Fab Manager – Can he disrupt chip making? Intel outside