Whether we realize it or not, everyday applications we use depend on data gathered by sensors. We can bet that pretty much every application uses at least a couple of different types of sensors, if not more. That is because different types of sensors are better suited to collect data depending on the application, the environment … Read More





SEMICON West 2022 and the Imec Roadmap
SEMICON West 2022 was held from July 12th to 14th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
On Monday the 11th before the show, Imec held a technology forum at the Marriott Marquee right around the corner from the Moscone center. In recent years the Imec forums have shifted away from the process technology I cover to more of a system and… Read More
Podcast EP97: Unlocking the Future of Innovation with Graphene
Dan is joined by Paul Hedges, CEO and co-founder of graphene and 2D materials specialists, Applied Nanolayers. Paul explains how wafer-scale integration of materials like graphene can be accomplished, unlocking new “more than Moore” applications such as biosensing and photonics. The applications Paul describes… Read More
NoC-Based SoC Design. A Sondrel Perspective
Why are NoCs important in modern SoCs and what are best design practices for using NoC? As always, a great place to start is the perspective of an SoC design organization which depends on pumping out high performance designs. Sondrel is a turnkey ASIC service provider, covering the spectrum from system design to silicon supply. … Read More
Chiplets at the Design Automation Conference with OpenFive
SemiWiki has been tracking the popularity of chiplets for two years now so it was not surprising to see that they played a key role at DAC. The other trend we foresaw was that the ASIC companies would be early chiplet adopters and that has proven true. One of the more vocal proponents of chiplets at DAC#59 was OpenFive, a 17+ year spec-to-silicon… Read More
A Solid Methodology is the Margin of Victory
Designing complex systems is difficult. It seems to me that the difficulty has increased at a rate that is more exponential than linear with design complexity. Some version of Moore’s law for design is at work. The challenges for advanced designs just seem to keep mounting. A new item that is top of mind for many executives is the talent… Read More
EDA in the Cloud with Siemens EDA at #59DAC
Tuesday at DAC I had the pleasure of attending the Design on Cloud Theatre where experts from Siemens EDA gave an update on what they’ve been offering to IC and systems designers. I remember attending a cloud presentation from Craig Johnson in 2021, so I was keen to note what had changed in the past 12 months.
Industry Trends,
… Read MorePost-quantum cryptography steps on the field
In cybersecurity circles, the elephant in the room is a quantum computer in the hands of nefarious actors. A day is coming, soon, when well-funded organizations will be able to rent time on, or maybe even build or buy a quantum machine. Then, if data is valuable enough, people will hunt for it. Two or three months of compute time on a … Read More
Intel & Chips Act Passage Juxtaposition
-Need more/less spend & more/fewer chips
-The irony of chips act passage & Intel stumble on same day
-Due to excess supply of chips, Intel cuts spending
-Due to shortage of chips, the government increases spending
-How did this happen on the same day? Cosmic Coincidence?
Timing is everything
The irony of intel cutting spending… Read More
Podcast EP96: The History, Reach and Impact of Accellera with Lynn Garibaldi
Dan is joined by Lynn Garibaldi, Executive Director, Accellera Systems Initiative. Lynn is the recipient of the Accellera 2022 Leadership Award. Dan and Lynn explore the history of Accellera, its beginnings and growth to a multi-standard organization and the impact of DVCon events around the world.
The views, thoughts, and … Read More
Rapidus, IBM, and the Billion-Dollar Silicon Sovereignty Bet