Synopsys IP Designs Edge AI 800x100

Flex Logix Expands Its eFPGA Footprint with a Low Power Comms Design Win from OpenFive

Flex Logix Expands Its eFPGA Footprint with a Low Power Comms Design Win from OpenFive
by Mike Gianfagna on 12-21-2020 at 10:00 am

Flex Logix Expands Its eFPGA Footprint with a Low Power Comms Design Win from OpenFive

Embedded FPGA use is on the rise. The programmability offered by this kind of IP finds many applications in complex SoCs. There was a recent announcement that OpenFive had licensed Flex Logix’s eFPGA to develop a low power communications SoC. The part required a large eFPGA. The news was reported on SemiWiki here. This announcement… Read More


Does IDE Stand for Integrated Design Environment?

Does IDE Stand for Integrated Design Environment?
by Daniel Nenni on 12-21-2020 at 6:00 am

SemiWiki2 design 1

As regular readers may know, every few months I check in with Cristian Amitroaie, CEO of AMIQ EDA, to see what’s new with the company and their products. In our posts so far this year we’ve focused on verification, and now I’m wondering how an integrated development environment (IDE) provides benefits to designers. They work on huge… Read More


3DIC Design, Implementation, and (especially) Test

3DIC Design, Implementation, and (especially) Test
by Tom Dillinger on 12-20-2020 at 8:00 am

IO cell

The introduction of direct die-to-die bonding technology into high volume production has the potential to substantially affect the evolution of the microelectronics industry.  The concerns relative to the “end of Moore’s Law”, the diminishing returns of continued (monolithic) CMOS process scaling, and the disruptive effect… Read More


SMIC Blacklist puts ASML in Jam

SMIC Blacklist puts ASML in Jam
by Robert Maire on 12-20-2020 at 6:00 am

SMIC Blacklisted US

US BIS confirms our prediction of “blacklisting” SMIC
SMIC embargoed from 10NM or better technology
Likely related to ASML pressure & WH scorched earth

Not just the stock

We had received a lot of feedback on our Nov 30th note regarding blacklisting of SMIC suggesting that we were wrong and the only thing blacklisted… Read More


Webinar: Increase Layout Team Productivity with SkillCAD

Webinar: Increase Layout Team Productivity with SkillCAD
by Daniel Nenni on 12-18-2020 at 10:00 am

Header Webinar 1

The Cadence Virtuoso Design System has been one of the premier Integrated Circuit design systems for many years and is used by most major semiconductor companies.  While it is powerful and versatile, it is often not optimized for certain complex, repetitive and time-consuming layout design tasks.

The founder and president … Read More


Silicon Catalyst’s Semi Industry Forum – All-Star Cast Didn’t Disappoint

Silicon Catalyst’s Semi Industry Forum – All-Star Cast Didn’t Disappoint
by Mike Gianfagna on 12-18-2020 at 10:00 am

Silicon Catalysts Semi Industry Forum – All Star Cast Didnt Disappoint

A few weeks ago I wrote about an upcoming event Silicon Catalyst was hosting, the Semiconductor Industry Forum – A View to the Future. I mentioned a high-profile group of presenters: Don Clark, Contributing Journalist, New York Times as moderator;  Mark Edelstone, Chairman of Global Semiconductor Investment Banking, Morgan… Read More


Sensor Fusion Brings Earbuds into the Modern Age

Sensor Fusion Brings Earbuds into the Modern Age
by Tom Simon on 12-18-2020 at 6:00 am

CEVA Sensor Fusion

Ten years ago, earbuds might have seemed like a mundane product area with little room for exciting developments. Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) has coincided with an avalanche of innovations that have moved earbuds from a simple transducer for creating sound into being a sophisticated device capable of accepting user commands … Read More


Synopsys is Extending CXL Applications with New IP

Synopsys is Extending CXL Applications with New IP
by Mike Gianfagna on 12-17-2020 at 10:00 am

CXLs busy timeline

Compute Express Link (CXL), a new open interconnect standard, targets intensive workloads for CPUs and purpose-built accelerators where efficient, coherent memory access between a host and device is required. A consortium to enable this new standard is in place, and a lot of heavy hitters are behind the standard, including … Read More


An Accellera Update. COVID Accelerates Progress

An Accellera Update. COVID Accelerates Progress
by Bernard Murphy on 12-17-2020 at 6:00 am

logo accellera min

Normally I would post this Accellera update during DVCon US but, no surprise, this year is weird. Particularly in conferences going virtual. The last DVCon was in early March of this year, right on the cusp of the shutdown. I was there in person, as was Lu Dai (Chairman of Accellera). Both Synopsys and Cadence had dropped out, citing… Read More


Advanced Process Development is Much More than just Litho

Advanced Process Development is Much More than just Litho
by Tom Dillinger on 12-16-2020 at 10:00 am

Vt distribution

The vast majority of the attention given to the introduction of each new advanced process node focuses on lithographic updates.  The common metrics quoted are the transistors per mm**2 or the (high-density) SRAM bit cell area.  Alternatively, detailed decomposition analysis may be applied using transmission electron microscopy… Read More