I recently watched a webinar given by eSilicon about its project to enhance its licensable solution for 56 and 112 Gigabit per second PAM4 & NRZ DSP-based SerDes family in 7nm. I am sure it was complicated enough to coordinate a webinar with a host, a moderator, and three different technical presenters – however when we are talking… Read More
TSMC’s CoWoS® Sustainability Drive: Turning Waste into WealthIn a significant example of how high-tech manufacturing…Read More
Taming Advanced Node Clock Network Challenges: Duty CycleAs process nodes advance, circuit behavior becomes progressively…Read MoreFairchild’s Death March
The “20 Questions with John East” series continues
How did it end for Fairchild? Badly!!!
In 1966 Fairch was the number one supplier of integrated circuits. That was as it should have been. After all, Fairch had invented the IC. But in 1967 TI passed them. Still, Fairch remained a strong #2. By the time that the mid-seventies… Read More
Great, early signs of a recovery in logic, not memory
A “Logic Lead” recovery confirmed- Memory still mired, 3400C = “Third times a charm”. EUV finally accelerates as all ducks now in a row.
ASML posted a good quarter with great orders and capped off with a strong outlook for the current quarter. Logic demand is sparking a recovery while memory remains essentially… Read More
Could Trump Slump Give Mobility a Bump?
Reports from Reuters last week suggested that the European Union member states “should brace for U.S. tariffs on several fronts in the coming months,” based on the comments of a senior German official who had met with “U.S. officials and lawmakers” in Washington. Among other sectors in the Trump Administration’s… Read More
5G Faith & the Automotive Industry
As the automotive industry slowly comes to terms with the implications of 5G connections in cars there are few outside the industry that understand the significance of this technology transition. It isn’t just a technology turning point. It is an emotional turning point for the industry as well.
Announcements are beginning… Read More
Chapter 2 – Constants of the Semiconductor Industry
In the mid 1980’s, Tommy George, then President of Motorola’s Semiconductor Sector, pointed out to me that the semiconductor revenue per unit area had been a constant throughout the history of the industry including the period when germanium transistors made up a large share of semiconductor revenue. I began tracking the numbers… Read More
Semicon West 2019 – Day 2
Tuesday July 9th was the first day the show floor was open at Semicon. The following is a summary of some announcements I attended and general observations.
AMAT Announcement
My day started with an Applied Materials (AMAT) briefing for press and analysts where they announced “the most sophisticated system they have ever released”.… Read More
Location Indoors: Bluetooth 5.1 Advances Accuracy
OK, so you’re in a giant mall, you want to find a store that sells gloves and you want to know how to get there. Or you’re in a supermarket and you need some obscure item, say capers, that doesn’t really fall under any of the main headings they post over the aisles. If you’re like most of us, certainly like me, this can be a frustrating experience.… Read More
Silvaco Talks Atoms to Systems – Where to Next?
At the ES Design West event in San Francisco last week Silvaco’s CTO and EVP of Products, Babak Taheri, gave a presentation titled, “Next Generation SoC Design: From Atoms to Systems”. The time slot for the talk was only 30-minutes which is simply not enough to discuss all the technology Silvaco is providing now. I had not looked closely… Read More
Semicon West was sluggish with hopes of 2020 recovery
Bouncing along a not too bad bottom
Given that we have followed the semiconductor industry through many down cycles, we can safely say that this one isn’t all that bad by comparison. Everyone, big & small, is still safely profitable and in relatively good shape. Though we are seeing the normal week long holiday shut downs





Weebit Nano Reports on 2025 Targets