News of hackers breaking into systems is becoming common place these days. While many of the breaches reported to date may have been due to security flaws in software, vulnerabilities exist in hardware too. As a result, the topic of security is getting increased attention within the semiconductor industry around system-on-chip… Read More




Adaptive Clock Technology for Real-Time Droop Response
In integrated circuit terminology, a droop is the voltage drop that happens in a circuit. This is a well-known phenomenon and can happen due to the following reasons. The power supply falls below the operating range for which a chip was designed for, resulting in a droop. More current is drawn by the conductive elements than they … Read More
Automotive Lone Bright Spot
Automotive appears to be about the only bright spot in the semiconductor market for 2023. Forecasts for the overall semiconductor market range from a decline of 4% to a decline of 20%. Semiconductor companies generally have bleak outlooks for the start of 2023, citing excess inventories ad weak end market demand. The chart below… Read More
Advanced electro-thermal simulation sees deeper inside chips
Heat and semiconductor reliability exist in an inversely proportional relationship. Before the breaking point at the thermal junction temperature rating, every 10°C rise in steady-state temperature cuts predicted MOSFET life in half. Yet, heat densities rise as devices plunge into harsher environments like smartphones,… Read More
The Rise of the Chiplet
The emergence of chiplets as a technology is an inflection point in the semiconductor industry. The potential benefits of adopting a chiplets-based approach to implementing electronic systems are not a debate. Chiplets, which are smaller, pre-manufactured components can be combined to create larger systems, offering benefits… Read More
Speculation for Simulation. Innovation in Verification
This is an interesting idea, using hardware-supported speculative parallelism to accelerate simulation, with a twist requiring custom hardware. Paul Cunningham (Senior VP/GM, Verification at Cadence), Raúl Camposano (Silicon Catalyst, entrepreneur, former Synopsys CTO and now Silvaco CTO) and I continue our series on… Read More
Power Delivery Network Analysis in DRAM Design
My IC design career started out with DRAM design back in 1978, so I’ve kept an eye on the developments in this area of memory design to note the design challenges, process updates and innovations along the way. Synopsys hosted a memory technology symposium in November 2022, and I had a chance to watch a presentation from SK hynix… Read More
Siemens Keynote Stresses Global Priorities
Dirk Didascalou, Siemens CTO, gave a keynote at DVCon, raising our perspective on why we do what we do. Yes, our work in semiconductor design enables the cloud and 5G and smart everything, but these technologies push progress for a select few. What about the big global concerns that affect us all: carbon, climate, COVID and conflict?… Read More
Gordon Moore’s legacy will live on through new paths & incarnations
-Gordon Moore’s passing reminds us of how far we have come
-One of many pioneers of chip industry-but most remembered
-The most exponential & ubiquitous industry of all times
-“No exponential is forever”- Gordon Moore was an exponential
Remembering Gordon Moore
He will be remembered most for his observation… Read More
Podcast EP149: The Corporate Culture of Axiomise with Laura Long
Dan is joined by Laura Long, Director of Business Development at Axiomise. She has over 15 years of experience in business development and has built a strong expertise working with clients with a presence and/or residence in various countries of the European Union, in the UK and in the Americas.
Dan explores the corporate culture… Read More
Intel’s Pearl Harbor Moment