There is an emerging set of advanced packaging technologies that enables unique product designs, with the capability to integrate multiple die, from potentially heterogeneous technologies. These “system-in-package” (SiP) offerings provide architects with the opportunity to optimize product performance, power, cost,… Read More




An InFormal Chat
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as the saying goes. Which is all very well when the purpose is entertainment or serving the arcane skills of a select priesthood, but it’s not a good way to grow a market. Then you want to dispel the magic aura, make the basic mechanics more accessible to a wider… Read More
Margin Call
A year ago, I wrote about Ansys’ intro of Big Data methods into the world of power integrity analysis. The motivation behind this advance was introduced in another blog, questioning how far margin-based approaches to complex multi-dimensional analyses could go. An accurate analysis of power integrity in a complex chip should… Read More
Memory drives semiconductor boom in 2017
The semiconductor market was down 0.4% in first quarter 2017 from 4Q 2016 and up 18.1% from a year ago, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). The 0.4% decline in 1Q 2017 versus 4Q 2016 is strong compared to an average 4% decline from 4Q to 1Q over the previous five years. The relative strength in 1Q 2017 was driven… Read More
Is ARC HS4xD Family More a CPU or DSP IP Core?
When I had to define the various IP categories (processor, analog & mixed-signal, wired interfaces, etc.) to build the Design IP Report, I scratched my head for a while about the processor main category: how to define the sub-categories? Not that long ago, it was easy to identify a CPU IP core and a DSP IP core. As of today, if a DSP… Read More
AIM Photonics Catching Its Stride as They Move into 2nd Year
AIM Photonics held its 2017 Proposers Meetings on May 24[SUP]th[/SUP] in Rochester, NY. The meetings included a review of AIM’s progress and strategic direction by their TRB (technical review board) and a session targeted at PIC (photonic integrated circuit) design for multi-project wafer (MPW) runs. While these discussions… Read More
TCAD for TFT, LCD and OLED Displays
As I write there are multiple displays in front of me that use TFT, LCD or OLED displays:
- ViewSonic Monitors with 24″ display
- MacBook Pro with 15″ display
- iPad Air
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4
- Nexus 7 tablet
- Garmin Edge 820
Getting to IP Functional Signoff
In the early days of IP reuse and platform-based design there was a widely-shared vision of in-house IP development teams churning out libraries of reusable IP, which could then be leveraged in many different SoC applications. This vision was enthusiastically pursued for a while; this is what drove reusability standards and … Read More
Embedded FPGA IP update — 2nd generation architecture, TSMC 16FFC, and a growing customer base
Regular Semiwiki readers are aware that embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP development is a rapidly growing (and evolving) technical area. The applications for customizable and upgradeable logic in the field are many and diverse — as a result, improved performance, greater configurable logic capacity/density, and comprehensive… Read More
RTL Correct by Construction
Themes in EDA come in waves and a popular theme from time to time is RTL signoff. That’s a tricky concept; you can’t signoff RTL in the sense of never having to go back and change the RTL. But the intent is still valuable – to get the top-level or subsystem-level RTL as well tested as possible, together with collateral data (SDC, UPF, etc)… Read More
Should the US Government Invest in Intel?