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Major Hardware Security Initiative Adds Tortuga Logic

Major Hardware Security Initiative Adds Tortuga Logic
by Bernard Murphy on 08-20-2020 at 6:00 am

cybersecurity 2 min

You can update ..Generally, I’m a fan of letting market forces figure out best solutions to whatever evolving needs we may have, but I’m enough of a realist to accept that’s not a workable answer to every need. Some problems need a top-down fix. However, we can’t expect policymakers or industry consortia to create compliance demands… Read More


Inside a Counterfeit 8086 Processor

Inside a Counterfeit 8086 Processor
by Ken Shirriff on 08-19-2020 at 2:00 pm

Fake Intel 8086 CPU

Intel introduced the 8086 processor in 1978, leading to the x86 architecture in use today. I’m currently reverse-engineering the circuitry of the 8086 so I’ve been purchasing vintage 8086 chips off eBay. One chip I received is shown below. From the outside, it looks like a typical Intel 8086.

The package of the fake
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White Paper – Mixed Signal Verification for Nanometer SOCs

White Paper – Mixed Signal Verification for Nanometer SOCs
by Tom Simon on 08-19-2020 at 10:00 am

Mixed signal SOCs

The number of touchpoints between analog and digital circuits in high performance SoCs is increasing. This is not a problem because it is possible to implement critical analog blocks directly on nanometer scale digital ICs. However, in many cases digital interfaces or digital feedback circuitry configures these analog blocks… Read More


CEO Interview: Anna Fontanelli of Monozukuri

CEO Interview: Anna Fontanelli of Monozukuri
by Daniel Nenni on 08-19-2020 at 6:00 am

ANNA

Anna has more than 25 years of expertise in managing complex R&D organizations and programs, giving birth to a number of innovative EDA technologies. She has pioneered the study and development of several generations of IC and package co-design environments and has held senior positions at leading semiconductor and EDA … Read More


The Big Three Weigh in on Emulation Best Practices

The Big Three Weigh in on Emulation Best Practices
by Mike Gianfagna on 08-18-2020 at 10:00 am

Emulation Best Practices

As software content increases in system-on-chip and system-in-package designs, emulation has become a critical enabling technology for the software team. This technology offers software developers the opportunity to verify their code in against a high-fidelity model of the target system that actually executes fast enough… Read More


Interconnect Basics: Wires to Crossbar to NoC

Interconnect Basics: Wires to Crossbar to NoC
by Bernard Murphy on 08-18-2020 at 6:00 am

rats nest min

To many of us, if we ever think about interconnect on an SoC, we may think delay, power consumption, congestion, that sort of thing. All important points from an implementation point of view, but what about the functional and system implications? In the early days, interconnect was very democratic, all wires more or less equal, … Read More


SEMICON West – Applied Materials Selective Gap Fill Announcement

SEMICON West – Applied Materials Selective Gap Fill Announcement
by Scotten Jones on 08-17-2020 at 5:00 pm

Applied Materials Selective Gapfill July 2020 Page 02

At SEMICON West, Applied Materials announced a new selective gap fill tool to address the growing resistance issues in interconnect at small dimensions. I had the opportunity to discuss this new tool and the applications for it with Zhebo Chen global product manager in the Metal Deposition Products group at Applied Materials.… Read More


A “Super” Technology Mid-life Kicker for Intel

A “Super” Technology Mid-life Kicker for Intel
by Tom Dillinger on 08-17-2020 at 10:00 am

TigerLake WillowCove

Summary
At the recent Intel Architecture Day 2020 symposium, a number of technology enhancements to the Intel 10nm process node were introduced.  The cumulative effect of these enhancements would provide designs with a performance boost (at iso-power) approaching 20% – a significant intra-node enhancement, to be sure.  The… Read More


Intel 10nm SuperFin Technology!

Intel 10nm SuperFin Technology!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-17-2020 at 6:00 am

Refining FinFet Intel SuperFin

I made it through the Virtual Intel Architecture Day last week and much to my surprise it was very well done. Virtual events have been hit and miss but this one was definitely a hit. Great content, approachable experts, a glitch-free experience. The mainstream media has been redundantly covering it so let me add my many years of experience,… Read More


AMAT- Solid QTR & Great Guide- Share gains- Memory?

AMAT- Solid QTR & Great Guide- Share gains- Memory?
by Robert Maire on 08-16-2020 at 10:00 am

Applied Materials AMAT

Higher Foundry/logic exposure helps-
Little or no Covid or China trade impact-
Nice quarter but even better guide-

Applied reported revenues of $4.4B and NonGAAP EPS of $1.06, nicely above street estimates of $4.2B and $0.95 in EPS. Guidance is for revenues $4.6B +-$200M and EPS of $1.17+- $0.06, versus current expectations of… Read More