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Webinar on eNVM Choices at 28nm and below by Globalfoundries

Webinar on eNVM Choices at 28nm and below by Globalfoundries
by Tom Simon on 03-31-2020 at 10:00 am

eFLASH Replacement MRAM

Embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM) plays an essential role in most systems and SoCs. eFLASH has found its way into a wide range of devices, including automotive, industrial, IoT and those in a mixture of other markets. NAND Flash has proven to be a workhorse in all of these areas. For instance, MCUs use them for code and data storage… Read More


PSS, Test Realization and Reuse

PSS, Test Realization and Reuse
by Bernard Murphy on 03-31-2020 at 6:00 am

Generating tests from PSS

Mentor just released a white paper on this topic which I confess has taxed my abilities to blog the topic. It’s not that the white paper is not worthy – I’m sure it is. I’m less sure that I’m worthy to blog on such a detailed technical paper. But I’m always up for a challenge, so let’s see what I can make of this, extracting a quick and not very… Read More


Mixed-Signal Debugging Gets a Boost

Mixed-Signal Debugging Gets a Boost
by Daniel Payne on 03-30-2020 at 6:00 am

starvision pro

Having the right tool for the job at hand is always a joy, and when your IC project involves RTL code, gates, transistors and even parasitic interconnect, then you need some EDA tool help for debugging and finding out why your design behaves the way it is. An FAE named Sujit Roy did a conference call with me last week to show what StarVisionRead More


Newsflash Chip Equip Blockade Back on!

Newsflash Chip Equip Blockade Back on!
by Robert Maire on 03-29-2020 at 2:00 pm

US China Blockade


Blocking chip sales to Huawei back on front burner
Covid19 & China Trade are equally bad
Long lived Uncertainty could “plague” industry sales going forward
Political Predictability worse than Disease Predictability

Reuters broke a story today that the proposed licensing of chip equipment to prevent “bad… Read More


Shut Uber Down Now

Shut Uber Down Now
by Roger C. Lanctot on 03-29-2020 at 12:00 pm

Shut Uber Down Now

By now it is pretty clear that everywhere outside of China and South Korea human beings are doing a lousy job of “social distancing,” locking down, and sheltering in place. This is unfortunate because experts agree that only a complete lockdown will stop COVID-19 from infecting millions, continuing to kill thousands,

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Tesla’s 2019 Turning Point

Tesla’s 2019 Turning Point
by Roger C. Lanctot on 03-29-2020 at 10:00 am

Tesla’s 2019 Turning Point

2019 will be remembered as the year the automotive industry decided to right-size its autonomous vehicle ambitions. Multiple auto makers tempered their vaunted claims for delivering fully autonomous cars within a few years and Daimler Chairman of the Board Ola Kälenius declared in December that the pursuit of autonomous “robotaxis”

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Filling the ASIC Void – Part 1

Filling the ASIC Void – Part 1
by Mike Gianfagna on 03-27-2020 at 6:00 am

shutterstock 235025512

It started slowly at first.  Then it began picking up steam. I’m referring to consolidation in the semiconductor sector. I had a front-row seat for what consolidation did to the ASIC part of semiconductor and that is the topic of this discussion. I was the VP of marketing at eSilicon, the company that invented the fabless ASIC model.… Read More


COVID-19 Chip Cycle – How deep, long and what shape?

COVID-19 Chip Cycle – How deep, long and what shape?
by Robert Maire on 03-26-2020 at 10:00 am

Covid 19 Semiconductors SemiWiki 1

It is a demand driven downturn – harder to predict
It may not be “business as usual” after this virus
What systemic changes could the industry face?

Trying to figure out another cycle-driven by inorganic catalyst

Investors and industry participants in the semiconductor industry who are used to normal cyclical… Read More


SpyGlass Gets its VC

SpyGlass Gets its VC
by Bernard Murphy on 03-26-2020 at 6:00 am

VC SpyGlass Lint

It’s a matter of pride to me and many others from Atrenta days that the brand we built in SpyGlass has been so enduring. It seems that pretty much anyone who thinks of static RTL checking thinks SpyGlass. Even after Synopsys acquired Atrenta, they kept the name as-is, I’m sure because the brand recognition was so valuable.

Even good… Read More


Security in I/O Interconnects

Security in I/O Interconnects
by Mike Gianfagna on 03-25-2020 at 10:00 am

shutterstock 1221815029

I got a chance to chat with Richard Solomon at Synopsys recently about a very real threat for all of us and what Synopsys is doing about it. No, the topic isn’t the Coronavirus, it’s one that has been around a lot longer and will continue to be a very real threat – data and interconnect security.

First, a bit about Richard. He is the technical… Read More