Reliability of ICs isn’t a new thing, because back in 1980 I was investigating why a DRAM chip using 6um technology was having yield loss due to electromigration effects. I recall looking through a microscope at a DRAM layout and slowly ramping up the Vdd level then suddenly the shiny aluminum interconnect started to change… Read More
WEBINAR: Is Agentic AI the Future of EDA?The semiconductor industry is entering a transformative era,…Read More
FPGA Prototyping in Practice: Addressing Peripheral Connectivity ChallengesModern chip design verification often encounters challenges when…Read More
An Insight into Building Quantum ComputersGiven my physics background I’m ashamed to admit…Read More
I Have Seen the Future with ChipAgents Autonomous Root Cause AnalysisI have seen a lot of EDA tool…Read MoreWebinar: Multicycle Vectorless Dynamic IR Signoff for Near 100 Percent Coverage
Check this webinar out – Mediatek will share a novel approach to early IR drop estimation. Competition in system design has become even more intense because potential markets are huge and there are more players with deep pockets chasing those markets. Wherever you are in those value chains, you want to shift everything left to accelerate… Read More
Facebook and WhatsApp are not just flawed they are downright dangerous
Facebook’s woes are spreading globally, first from the U.S., then to Europe and now in Asia. A study by researchers at the University of Warwick in the U.K. has conclusively established that Facebook has been fanning the flames of hatred in Germany. The study found that the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, and those… Read More
UMC and GF or Samsung and GF?
One of the interesting rumors in Taiwan last week was the possibility that UMC and GF will do a deal to merge or UMC will buy some GF fabs. I have talked to quite a few industry experts about it and will talk to more this week at the GSA US Executive Forum (more at the end). The US Executive Forum is what they call a C Level event which means it… Read More
Mentor Rise and Fall
This is the fifteenth in the series of “20 Questions with Wally Rhines”
During 1980 and 1981, three companies, Daisy, Mentor and Valid were founded. Daisy and Valid attacked the computer automated design business with custom hardware workstations plus software to provide the unique capabilities required by engineers.… Read More
OnStar Missing the Florence Boat
Here we go again. A hurricane is closing in on the U.S. East Coast and General Motors’ OnStar connected car team – now part of something called Global Connected Consumer Experience – is AWOL.
While mandatory evacuations have been ordered and two-way highway connections to the coast have been switched to single… Read More
Easing Your Way into Portable Stimulus
The Portable Stimulus Standard (PSS) was officially released at DAC this year. While it will no doubt continue to evolve, for those who were waiting on the sidelines, it is officially safe to start testing the water. In fact it’s probably been pretty safe for a while; vendors have had solutions out for some time and each is happy to … Read More
Fuzzing on Automotive Security
The ECU. That was the service department prognosis on the root cause of thealways-on air bag safety light on my immaculate car. Ten years ago the cost for its replacement with after market part was at par with getting a new iPhone 8. Today, we could get four units for the same price and according to data from several research companies,… Read More
2018 Semiconductor Winners and Losers
This is an ongoing conversation inside the semiconductor ecosystem, especially when I am traveling. Everyone wants to know what is going on here or there and since I just returned from Taiwan I will post my thoughts. Last week was also my birthday which was cut short due to the time change but I did get preferential treatment on the … Read More
What the world should not learn from Silicon Valley
Learn all you can from the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley but don’t become like them. This was my advice to a group of 91 Indian students who are visiting here on a program sponsored by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. In a talk I gave this weekend, I encouraged them to take home the Valley’s optimism and culture of openness… Read More


TSMC Formally Sues Ex-SVP Over Alleged Transfer of Trade Secrets to Intel