Daniel’s #55DAC Trip Report

Daniel’s #55DAC Trip Report
by Daniel Payne on 07-29-2018 at 7:00 am

Another year, another DAC, and last month it was #55DAC in SFO and the first thing that I noticed was that the event was no longer located in the traditional North or South Halls, rather we were in the smaller, Moscone West on two floors, almost like a 3D FinFET. Checkin to get my badge was highly automated and oh so fast, well done.… Read More


Optimization and Reliability for FinFET designs at #55DAC

Optimization and Reliability for FinFET designs at #55DAC
by Daniel Payne on 07-25-2018 at 7:00 am

TSMC is the leading foundry worldwide and they make a big splash each year at the DAC exhibit and conference, so I stopped by their theatre area during the presentation from IP vendor Moortec to see what’s new this year. Stephen Crosher was the presenter from Moortec and we had exchanged emails before, so this was the first time… Read More


TSMC OIP DAC Theater Schedule 2018

TSMC OIP DAC Theater Schedule 2018
by Daniel Nenni on 06-20-2018 at 6:00 am

The TSMC OIP DAC Theater schedule is finalized and ready to go. It kicks off Monday at 10:15 am in booth #1629 and ends with a raffle at 5:45 pm each day (Mon-Tue-Wed) TSMC gives out some very nice prizes so check in with the TSMC booth staff when you arrive. There are 66 coveted presentation spots representing the top ecosystem partners… Read More


Monitoring Process, Voltage and Temperature in SoCs, webinar recap

Monitoring Process, Voltage and Temperature in SoCs, webinar recap
by Daniel Payne on 04-26-2018 at 4:00 pm

Have you ever wondered how process variation, thermal self-heating and Vdd levels affect the timing and yield of your SoC design? If you’re clock specification calls for 3GHz, while your silicon is only yielding at 2.4GHz, then you have a big problem on your hands. Such are the concerns of many modern day chip designers. To… Read More


Webinar Alert – Embedded Monitoring of Process and Voltage in SoCs

Webinar Alert – Embedded Monitoring of Process and Voltage in SoCs
by Daniel Payne on 03-13-2018 at 12:00 pm

In the old days to learn about new semiconductor IP you would have to schedule a sales call, listen to the pitch, then decide if the IP was promising or not. Today we have webinars which offer a lot less drama than a sales call, plus you get to ask your questions by typing away at the comfort of your desk, hopefully wearing headphones as … Read More


Why It’s A Good Idea to Embed PVT Monitoring IP in SoCs

Why It’s A Good Idea to Embed PVT Monitoring IP in SoCs
by Daniel Payne on 02-16-2018 at 7:00 am

At Intel back in the late 1970’s we wanted to know what process corner each DRAM chip and wafer was trending at so we included a handful of test transistors in the scribe lines between the active die. Having test transistors meant that we could do a quick electrical test at wafer probe time to measure the P and N channel transistor… Read More


Moore’s Law Drives Foundries and IP Providers

Moore’s Law Drives Foundries and IP Providers
by Daniel Payne on 01-19-2018 at 7:00 am

2017 was a banner year for semiconductor sales as they topped $400B for the first time, an increase of some 20%, there is happiness in Silicon Valley, Taiwan, South Korea, and well, everywhere. With the foundries pushing to ever-smaller process dimensions and even going back to mature nodes and offering more variations that are… Read More


Embedded In-chip Monitoring, Webinar Recap

Embedded In-chip Monitoring, Webinar Recap
by Daniel Payne on 12-21-2017 at 12:00 pm

Six years ago I first interviewed Stephen Crosher, CEO and Co-founder of Moortecas they were in startup mode with some new semiconductor IP for temperature sensing, and earlier this month I attended their webinar all about embedded in-chip monitoring to get caught up with their technology and growing success. Ramsay Allen is … Read More


Self-Monitoring SoCs – An Idea Coming of Age

Self-Monitoring SoCs – An Idea Coming of Age
by Mitch Heins on 12-15-2017 at 12:00 pm

In a former life I was the GM of a business where we built specialized structures used for semiconductor process bring-up, characterization and monitoring. These monitoring structures were placed in wafer scribe-lines and were used to monitor key parameters during wafer processing. The structures provided feedback to automated… Read More


35 Semiconductor IP Companies Hold 2nd Annual Conference

35 Semiconductor IP Companies Hold 2nd Annual Conference
by Daniel Payne on 12-04-2017 at 12:00 pm

Our smart phone driven semiconductor economy consumes a lot of IP blocks to enable quick product development cycles, often annually updating with new models to choose from. So where do you find all of the best semiconductor IP, verification IP and embedded software? Well, one place is at the 2nd annual REUSE conference, scheduled… Read More