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The Future of FPGAs

The Future of FPGAs
by Kris Kachris on 11-08-2020 at 10:00 am

The Future of FPGAs

On June 1, 2015 Intel and Altera announced , that they had entered into a definitive agreement under which Intel would acquire Altera for $16.7 billions. That was a major milestone for the FPGA community as Xilinx and Altera were the main FPGA vendors.

After the official announcement of AMD to acquire Xilinx, there is a huge… Read More


Intel’s Secret Key to Decrypt Microcode Patches is Exposed

Intel’s Secret Key to Decrypt Microcode Patches is Exposed
by Matthew Rosenquist on 11-07-2020 at 8:00 am

Intels Secret Key to Decrypt Microcode Patches is Exposed

A group of security vulnerability researchers, after many months of work, were able to figure out the update process and secret key used to decrypt Intel microcode updates for the Goldmont architecture product lines.

This is an important finding as it peels back yet another layer of the onion that protects the core CPU from malicious

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What the Hell is C-V2X and Should I Care?

What the Hell is C-V2X and Should I Care?
by Roger C. Lanctot on 11-07-2020 at 6:00 am

What the Hell is C V2X Should I Care

Automotive innovations have the greatest impact when they create what can only be described as magical experiences. The most magical experience of all is the car that avoids hitting things, or the car that parks itself.

I feel pretty strongly that cars should not hit things – that this is a product defect. The introduction… Read More


AMD and Intel Update with Xilinx

AMD and Intel Update with Xilinx
by Daniel Nenni on 11-06-2020 at 10:00 am

AMD Xilinx Acquisition

The AMD acquisition of Xilinx is certainly big news but as an insider looking at the media coverage I think there are a few more points to consider. While most of the coverage has been positive there will always be negatives and we can look at that as well.

Intel acquired Altera in 2015 for $16.7B at a 50% premium which was a major disruption… Read More


Leading Edge Foundry Wafer Prices

Leading Edge Foundry Wafer Prices
by Scotten Jones on 11-06-2020 at 6:00 am

Slide1

I have seen several articles recently discussing foundry wafer selling prices for leading edge wafers, these articles all quote estimates from a paper by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). The paper is available here.

My company IC Knowledge LLC is the world leader in cost and price modeling of semiconductors… Read More


Creating Workflows for HCL Compass Just Got Easier

Creating Workflows for HCL Compass Just Got Easier
by Mike Gianfagna on 11-05-2020 at 10:00 am

Creating Workflows for HCL Compass Just Got Easier

Workflows allow the world to function. The orderly process of sequencing tasks and automating handoffs creates tremendous potential for efficiency and error avoidance. As they say, time is money and workflows can save a lot of time. The principle applies in all kinds of industries. If you design chips for a living, you’re very … Read More


Verification IP for Systems? It’s Not What You Think.

Verification IP for Systems? It’s Not What You Think.
by Bernard Murphy on 11-05-2020 at 6:00 am

System VIP2 min

When I think of verification IP (VIP), I think of something closely tied to a protocol standard – AMBA, MIPI or DDR for example. Something that will generate traffic and run protocol compliance checks, to verify correct operation of an IP or as a model to use in SoC verification. What would a VIP for systems be? Systems support multiple… Read More


What’s Driving This New Wave of Semiconductor Merger Mania?

What’s Driving This New Wave of Semiconductor Merger Mania?
by Wally Rhines on 11-04-2020 at 10:00 am

Predicting Semiconductor Business Trends SemiWiki

Nvidia/ARM $40B. AMD/Xilinx $35B. Marvell/Inphi $10B. Despite the disruption of COVID, a wave of high value semiconductor acquisitions is sweeping the industry. Why? Did something happen that stimulated this consolidation? Until 2015, the industry was experiencing continuous “de-consolidation” that started in 1965. … Read More


The Gold Standard for Electromagnetic Analysis

The Gold Standard for Electromagnetic Analysis
by Daniel Nenni on 11-04-2020 at 6:00 am

Example of a multi level board analyzed by HFSS

Ansys HFSS has been the world’s trusted gold standard for  electromagnetic analysis for many years. As chip designs get bigger and more complex many users report that they’re extremely happy with the gold standard accuracy of HFSS but wish it would run faster. Fortunately Ansys has introduced many capabilities to HFSS over the… Read More


I Have Seen the Future – Cornami’s TruStream Computational Fabric Changes Computing

I Have Seen the Future – Cornami’s TruStream Computational Fabric Changes Computing
by Mike Gianfagna on 11-03-2020 at 10:00 am

Cornami The Next Mega Trend in Computing

Here is another installment regarding presentations at the Linley Fall Processor Conference. Every now and again, you see a presentation at an event like this that shakes you up.  Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not so much. I attended the Cornami presentation on its new TruStream computational fabric and I was definitely shaken… Read More