Nice numbers despite the cycle bottom
KLA put up EPS of $1.80 versus street of $1.67 on revenues of $1.097B versus street of $1.08B. However guidance was weaker than the street was hoping for with a range of $1.21B to $1.29B in revenues generating between $1.55 and $1.85 in non GAAP EPS. This is compared to current street estimates … Read More



Meeting Automotive IC Design Challenges for Safety using On-Chip Sensors
I’ve been driving cars since 1978 and have even done a few DIY repairs in the garage, so I know how warm the engine compartment, transmission or exhaust system can become which makes automotive IC design rather unique in terms of the high temperature and voltage ranges that an electronic component is subjected to. Our safety… Read More
eSilicon ASICs all in the Google Cloud
Having just completed a cloud evaluation for SemiWiki I can tell you why eSilicon chose Google. Simply put, they are working harder to get cloud business. Google ($4B) is the number five cloud provider behind Microsoft ($21.2B), Amazon ($20.4B), IBM ($10.3B) and Oracle ($6.08B). There is a lot of money in the cloud and a lot more … Read More
Anirudh Keynote at CDNLive 2019
Anirudh Devgan (President of Cadence), gave the third keynote at CDNLive Silicon Valley this year. He has clearly become adept in this role. He has a big, but supportable vision for Cadence across markets and technologies and he’s become a master of the annual tech reveals that I usually associate with keynotes.
Anirudh opened … Read More
When Artificial Intelligence Becomes Emotionally Intelligent
“AI is the biggest risk we face as a civilization.” Words from the visionary Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. After each iteration of innovation, artificial intelligence edges closer to replicating the human brain; people fear that AI would soon steal their jobs, which has already started happening in some parts of the world. Yet, humans … Read More
Design IP in 2018: Synopsys and Cadence Increase Market Share…
…but ARM, Imagination, MIPS or Ceva have declined and lose market share. Semiconductor design IP market is still doing good in 2018, with 6% growth year over year. It’s half the growth rate seen in 2017, 2016 and 2015 and the growth decline is imputable to bad results from ARM, the market leader, but also from Imagination (#4), MIPS… Read More
Blockchain and AI A Perfect Match?
Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence are two of the hottest technology trends right now. Even though the two technologies have highly different developing parties and applications, researchers have been discussing and exploring their combination [6].
PwC predicts that by 2030 AI will add up to $15.7 trillion to the world… Read More
The Evolution of the Extension Implant Part III
The problem of traditional FinFET Extension Implant doping concerns the awkward 3-dimensional structure of the fin. Because the Extension Implant defines the conductive electrical pathway between the Source/Drains and the undoped channel portion of the fin, it is essential that the fin be uniformly doped all three of its surfaces… Read More
Tesla: The Day the Industry Stood Still
Tesla Motors held an investor event at its Palo Alto headquarters. CEO Elon Musk and a series of Tesla executives announced a new in-house developed microprocessor (already in production and being deployed in Tesla vehicles) and its plans and progress toward autonomous vehicle operation.
Tesla Autonomy Day Live Stream
To be … Read More
TSMC and Samsung 5nm Comparison
Samsung and TSMC have both made recent disclosures about their 5nm process and I though it would be a good time to look at what we know about them and compare the two processes.
A lot of what has been announced about 5nm is in comparison to 7nm so we will first review 7nm.
7nm
Figure 1 compares Samsung’s 7LPP process to TSMC’s 7FF and 7FFP… Read More
Should Intel be Split in Half?