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Full Solution for eMRAM Coming in 2020

Full Solution for eMRAM Coming in 2020
by Tom Simon on 12-19-2019 at 6:00 am

Trimming for eMRAM in Tessent

It’s amazing to think that Apollo moon mission used computers that were based on magnetic core memories. Of course, CMOS memories superseded them rapidly. However, over the decades since, memory technologies have advanced significantly, in terms of density, power and new types of technologies, e.g NAND Flash. Ever since the… Read More


Ultra-Short Reach PHY IP Optimized for Advanced Packaging Technology

Ultra-Short Reach PHY IP Optimized for Advanced Packaging Technology
by Tom Dillinger on 12-18-2019 at 10:00 am

Frequent Semiwiki readers are no doubt familiar with the rapid advances in 2.5D heterogeneous multi-die packaging technology.  A relatively well-established product sector utilizing this technology is the 2.5D integration of logic die with a high-bandwidth memory (HBM) DRAM die stack on a silicon interposer;  the interposer… Read More


A VIP to Accelerate Verification for Hyperscalar Caching

A VIP to Accelerate Verification for Hyperscalar Caching
by Bernard Murphy on 12-18-2019 at 6:00 am

NVMe

Non-volatile memory (NVM) is finding new roles in datacenters, not currently so much in “cold storage” as a replacement for hard disk drives, but definitely in “warm storage”. Warm storage applications target an increasing number of functions requiring access to databases with much lower latency than is possible through paths… Read More


Cadence Continues Photonics Industry Engagement

Cadence Continues Photonics Industry Engagement
by Daniel Nenni on 12-17-2019 at 10:00 am

On November 13, Cadence held its annual Photonics Summit. Cadence has been hosting this event for several years with the intention of advancing the photonics industry. With this event, Cadence has been a catalyst in furthering photonic product development. It’s quite remarkable that Cadence hosts such an event in a field where… Read More


IP to SoC Flow Critical for ISO 26262

IP to SoC Flow Critical for ISO 26262
by Tom Simon on 12-17-2019 at 6:00 am

IP integration flow for functional safety

In thinking about automotive electronics safety standards, such as ISO 26262, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that they are in reference to systems such as autonomous driving, which are entering the marketplace. In reality, functional safety in automotive electronics plays a significant role in many well-established automotive… Read More


IEDM 2019 – TSMC 5nm Process

IEDM 2019 – TSMC 5nm Process
by Scotten Jones on 12-16-2019 at 10:00 am

IEDM is in my opinion the premiere conference for information on state-of-the-art semiconductor processes. In “My Top Three Reasons to Attend IEDM 2019” article I singled out the TSMC 5nm paper as a key reason to attend.

IEDM is one of the best organized conferences I attend and as soon as you pick up your badge you are handed a memory… Read More


Why is the Press Giving AMD a Free Pass?

Why is the Press Giving AMD a Free Pass?
by Daniel Nenni on 12-16-2019 at 6:00 am

The Intel versus AMD rivalry is legendary amongst us Silicon Valley AARP members and is one of the reasons why the semiconductor industry is as competitive as it is today, absolutely.

AMD’s boisterous corporate culture started with AMD’s co-founder and long time CEO Jerry Sanders. Jerry was the ultimate showman but his credo “People… Read More


The Tech Week that was December 9th 2019

The Tech Week that was December 9th 2019
by Mark Dyson on 12-15-2019 at 6:00 am

In a week that finally saw some good news in the trade war between US & China, here is a summary of all the key semiconductor and technical news from around the world that you may have missed.

On Friday, US and China announced agreement on the so called phase one agreement, as a result the extra tariffs due to be imposed on S180billion… Read More


Useful Skew in Production Flows

Useful Skew in Production Flows
by Tom Dillinger on 12-13-2019 at 6:00 am

The concept of applying useful clock skew to the design of synchronous systems is not new.  To date, the application of this design technique has been somewhat limited, as the related methodologies have been rather ad hoc, to be discussed shortly.  More recently, the ability to leverage useful skew has seen a major improvement,… Read More


Another Smart EDA Merger Adds RF Tools

Another Smart EDA Merger Adds RF Tools
by Daniel Payne on 12-12-2019 at 10:00 am

Cadence acquires AWR

Mergers and acquisitions are just a fact of modern business life, so the semiconductor, IP and EDA industries all can benefit, but only when the two companies have complementary products with some actual synergy. Cadence acquired OrCAD back in 1999, adding a Windows-based PCB tool to their product lineup, and here in 2019 some … Read More