Whether it is the stock market or the semiconductor market, the name of the game is yield. In semiconductors, yield has to do with minimizing scrap costs in all phases of manufacturing. This means squeezing as many good dies from a wafer as well as maximizing the number of good assembled/packaged chips that pass system level testing.… Read More



Podcast EP122: IMEC’s Unique Imaging Technology for Medical Apllications
Dan is joined by Dr. Xavier Rottenberg, who has been at IMEC Leuven since 2000, where he contributes to research in the field of RF, RF-MEMS, photonics and microsystems modelling integration.
Dan explores some of the unique imaging technology being developed at IMEC. Manufacturing methods to implement large sensors cost effectively… Read More
Configurable Processors. The Why and How
Configurable processors are hot now, in no small part thanks to RISC-V. Which is an ISA rather than a processor, but let’s not quibble. Arm followed with configurability in Cortex-X. Both were considerably preceded (a couple of decades) by Synopsys ARC® RISC CPUs and CEVA DSPs. Each stressed configurability as a differentiator… Read More
Architectural Planning of 3D IC
Before chiplets arrived, it seemed like designing an electronic system was a bit simpler, as a system on chip (SoC) methodology was well understood, and each SoC was mounted inside a package, then the packages for each component were interconnected on a printed circuit board (PCB). The emerging trend to design a 3D IC using chiplets… Read More
proteanTecs Technology Helps GUC Characterize Its GLink™ High-Speed Interface
An earlier post on SemiWiki discussed how deep data analytics helps accelerate SoC product development. The post presented insights into proteanTecs’ technology and quantified the benefits that can be derived by leveraging the software platform for SoC product development. You can review that earlier blog here. The power … Read More
Selecting a flash controller for storage reliability
Flash memory cards and solid-state drives (SSDs) provide high-performance storage in many devices and systems today. While the flash chips inside cards and SSDs provide raw capacity and performance, they must be combined with an intelligent flash controller to achieve the reliability system designers and consumers need. … Read More
Why Intel may be the first casualty if Beijing retaliates over Biden’s export controls
After the Biden administration upped the ante in the tech war by restricting China’s access to advanced US semiconductor technology, the $64,000 question was “How might Beijing respond?”
Punishing American companies in China (like Apple and Tesla) was not considered likely given the employment they generate – Apple… Read More
Requiem for a Self-Driving Prophet
In a few short years, self-driving tech enfant terrible George Hotz managed to get a rebuff from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a brush back from both the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) while single-handedly inventing the aftermarket for autonomous vehicle technology. … Read More
Podcast EP121: Managing Design Flows and EDA Resources with Innova
Dan is joined by Chouki Aktouf, founder & CEO of Defacto Technologies and co-founder of Innova Advanced Technologies. Prior to founding Defacto in 2003, Dr. Aktouf was an associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Grenoble – France and leader of a dependability research group. He holds a PhD in Electric Engineering… Read More
Blockchain 4.0
The simple and best definition of Blockchain technology is to think about it as electricity , you only see it’s applications but you understand how important it’s and know there are many applications and products that can run on it . But like any other technology it went through stages and evolved as it progressed and matured. We started… Read More
Should Intel be Split in Half?