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Time for Chip Diplomacy

Time for Chip Diplomacy
by Terry Daly on 05-29-2020 at 10:00 am

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An industry caught in the crosshairs of geopolitics needs global emeritus leadership

The semiconductor industry is at the epicenter of great power politics. An ascendant China is on a quest for a unified global system with China as the leading power. The United States seeks to maintain its position as leader of the liberal democratic… Read More


Minimizing Power Consumption in Ultra Low Power MCU Based SoCs

Minimizing Power Consumption in Ultra Low Power MCU Based SoCs
by Tom Simon on 05-29-2020 at 6:00 am

ULP SoC Demand

When it comes to extremely power sensitive applications such as IoT and edge devices, there is literally an arsenal of power saving techniques that could be used. The tricky part is figuring out which ones to use and how to use them for maximum benefit. This is coupled with the need to not hamper device performance or functionality.… Read More


PLDA Expands Data Interconnect IP Solutions with CXL and Gen-Z Protocol Support

PLDA Expands Data Interconnect IP Solutions with CXL and Gen-Z Protocol Support
by Mike Gianfagna on 05-28-2020 at 10:00 am

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A couple of months ago I introduced PLDA, a new member of the SemiWiki community, with a post about PLDA’s switch IP and its support for PCIe and NVMe solid state disks. Working in the area of high-performance data interconnects requires support for a growing list of standards, standards that continually evolve. The trick is to stay… Read More


What a Difference an Architecture Makes: Optimizing AI for IoT

What a Difference an Architecture Makes: Optimizing AI for IoT
by Bernard Murphy on 05-28-2020 at 6:00 am

HLS PPA results

Last week Mentor hosted a virtual event on designing an AI accelerator with HLS, integrating it together with an Arm Corstone SSE-200 platform and characterizing/optimizing for performance and power. Though in some ways a recap of earlier presentations, there were some added insights in this session, particularly in characterizing… Read More


The Growing Relevance of IP-XACT in Today’s Complex Designs

The Growing Relevance of IP-XACT in Today’s Complex Designs
by Ranjit Adhikary on 05-27-2020 at 10:00 am

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The life of a SoC designer is an unenviable one. Not only does he have to work in a landscape where competition is intense but he also has to collaborate effectively with globally dispersed teams to ensure the design meets the project timeline.  Then there are also the risks, more so in the current pandemic! There is the constant fear… Read More


Is the Worst Over for Semiconductors?

Is the Worst Over for Semiconductors?
by Bill Jewell on 05-27-2020 at 6:00 am

Top Semiconductor Company Revenue 2020

The worldwide economic outlook is chaotic due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The outlook for the semiconductor market is also very uncertain. 1Q 2020 revenue versus 4Q 2019 was mixed for major semiconductor companies, ranging from a 19% decline for STMicroelectronics to 9.9% growth from Kioxia (previously Toshiba Semiconductor).

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Effect of Design on Transistor Density

Effect of Design on Transistor Density
by Scotten Jones on 05-26-2020 at 10:00 am

TSMC N7 Density Analysis SemiWiki

I have written a lot of articles looking at leading edge processes and comparing the process density. One comment I often get are that the process density numbers I present do not correlate with the actual transistor density on released products. A lot of people want to draw conclusions an Intel’s processes versus TSMC’s processes… Read More


Design in the Time of COVID

Design in the Time of COVID
by Bernard Murphy on 05-26-2020 at 6:00 am

Fortune teller

There’s a lot of debate about how and when we are going to emerge from the worldwide economic downturn triggered by the pandemic. Everyone agrees we will emerge. This isn’t humanity’s first pandemic, nor will it be our last. But do we come out quickly or slowly? And what does the economy look like on the other side, particularly for … Read More


CEO Interview: Robert Blake of Achronix

CEO Interview: Robert Blake of Achronix
by Daniel Nenni on 05-25-2020 at 10:00 am

Robert Blake Achronix CEO SemiWiki

Achronix came to SemiWiki in 2017 and we added a chapter on the history of Achronix in our update version of “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry”. So yes we know quite a bit about Achronix and the FPGA business so it was a pleasure to do a CEO Q&A with Robert Blake. First lets take a look at his … Read More


China’s Position in the Global Semiconductor Value Chain

China’s Position in the Global Semiconductor Value Chain
by Bart van Hezewijk on 05-25-2020 at 6:00 am

China Semiconductor SemiWiki

In this third article about China’s role in the global semiconductor industry I analyse the current state of affairs of the Chinese semiconductor industry in different segments. In the previous articles, I looked at the possible effects of a US-China decoupling in the semiconductor industry and the impact of the Big Read More