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CES 2019 Robotaxis vs. Micro Transit

CES 2019 Robotaxis vs. Micro Transit
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-06-2019 at 7:00 am

Attendees of CES 2019 arriving at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport next week will have four options for getting to their hotels: a shuttle offering two rides for the price of one (out and back for about $15); a taxi offering one ride for the price of two (about $30), a Lyft or Uber offering one ride for the price of one ride (about… Read More


2018 Semiconductor Year in Review

2018 Semiconductor Year in Review
by Scotten Jones on 01-04-2019 at 12:00 pm

Strong Overall Market Growth but a Slowdown Looms
After six years of single digit percentage growth in the overall semiconductor market, 2017 saw almost 22% growth and 2018 year-to-date is up roughly 17% (based on numbers published by the world semiconductor trade statistics). The big growth driver the last two years has been … Read More


Apple as Apex of chip industry portends weaker 2019

Apple as Apex of chip industry portends weaker 2019
by Robert Maire on 01-04-2019 at 7:00 am

On the first day of trading in the new year Apple just announced, after the close, that revenues will be lower than previously expected coming in at $84B versus the expected range of $89B to $93B and analyst estimates of the current quarter at $91.5B. Ugly….. The blame was laid squarely on China as slowing sales and trade tensions… Read More


Disturbances in the AI Force

Disturbances in the AI Force
by Bernard Murphy on 01-03-2019 at 7:00 am

In the normal evolution of specialized hardware IP functions, initial implementations start in academic research or R&D in big semiconductor companies, motivating new ventures specializing in functions of that type, who then either build critical mass to make it as a chip or IP supplier (such as Mobileye – intially)… Read More


Samsung vs TSMC 7nm Update

Samsung vs TSMC 7nm Update
by Daniel Nenni on 01-02-2019 at 7:00 am

The semiconductor foundry business has gone through a dynamic transformation over the last 30 years. In the beginning the foundries were several process nodes behind the IDMs with little hope of catching up. Today the foundries are leading the process development race at 10nm – 7nm, and will continue to do so, absolutely.… Read More


Let The AI Benchmark Wars Begin!

Let The AI Benchmark Wars Begin!
by Michael Gschwind on 01-01-2019 at 7:00 am

Why benchmark competition enables breakthrough innovation in AI. Two years ago I inadvertently started a war. And I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. While wars fought on the battle field of human misery and death never have winners, this “war” is different. It is a competition of human ingenuity to create new technologies … Read More


The 7 Most Dangerous Digital Technology Trends

The 7 Most Dangerous Digital Technology Trends
by Matthew Rosenquist on 01-01-2019 at 6:00 am

The 7 Most Dangerous Digital Technology Trends

As our world embraces a digital transformation, innovative technologies bring greater opportunities, cost efficiencies, abilities to scale globally, and entirely new service capabilities to enrich the lives of people globally. But there is a catch. For every opportunity, there is a risk. The more dependent and entrenched… Read More


Semiconductor Metrology Inspection Outpacing Overall Equipment Market in 2018

Semiconductor Metrology Inspection Outpacing Overall Equipment Market in 2018
by Robert Castellano on 12-31-2018 at 7:00 am

As uncertainties mount about the near-term semiconductor industry from companies in Apple’s supply chain and the significant drop in memory chip prices, the semiconductor industry has consistently grown each year since the great recession of 2009. Semiconductor revenues have consistently outpaced semiconductor equipment… Read More


Designing a fully digitally controlled DC-DC buck converter

Designing a fully digitally controlled DC-DC buck converter
by Tom Simon on 12-31-2018 at 7:00 am

One of the unsung heroes of our digital world is the modest voltage converter. Batteries and wired power sources rarely match up with the supply needs for advanced ICs. Leading edge ICs have multiple voltage domains and very often, as in the case of processors, use dynamic voltage scaling to help conserve power. Looking at where … Read More


2019 the Year of Electrification

2019 the Year of Electrification
by Roger C. Lanctot on 12-31-2018 at 7:00 am

After two years of wrestling with and at least partially resolving fraud charges over its “defeat device” to manipulate emissions testing results, Volkswagen emerged in 2018 as the flag-bearer for electrification in the U.S. The company also concluded 2018 as the largest producer of passenger cars in the world.

In spite of or … Read More