Frequent Semiwiki readers are familiar with the importance of close collaboration between the foundries and EDA tool developers, to provide the crucial features required by new process nodes. Perhaps the best illustration of the significance of this collaboration is the technical evolution of layout parasitic extraction.… 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 MoreBig Data and Power Integrity: Drilling Down
I’ve written before about how Ansys applies big data analytics and elastic compute in support of power integrity and other types of analysis. A good example of the need follows this reasoning: Advanced designs today require advanced semiconductor processes – 16nm and below. Designs at these processes run at low voltages, much… Read More
Tuning in to Tesla Radio
The rumor is spreading far and wide that Tesla Motors’ CEO Elon Musk is talking with major record labels about creating a streaming audio service dedicated to Tesla vehicles. The widespread industry reaction is head scratching and eye rolling at what is seen as the latest chapter in the Musk follies – Solar City, Model 3, Autopilot,… Read More
Why I remain optimistic about Tesla
Tesla’s stock price recently took a hit because of concerns about its delivery capabilities and about increasing competition from carmakers who are switching their product lines to electric. With a market cap still exceeding $50 billion, it can be easy to argue that Tesla’s price remains severely inflated, especially when you… Read More
SiFive RISC-V and the Future of Computing!
Having started my career during the mini computer revolution it has been an incredible journey from using computers that consumed entire rooms – to the desktop – and now we have supercomputers in our pockets. It makes me chuckle when I hear people complaining about their smartphones when they should be jumping up and… Read More
Smart Speakers: The Next Big Thing, Right Now
There are many “next big thing” possibilities these days in tech but mostly behind the scenes; few are front and center for us as consumers. That is until smart speakers started taking off, led by Amazon Echo/Dot and Google Home. The intriguing thing about this technology is our ability to control stuff without needing to type/tap/click… Read More
Five Challenges to IoT Analytics Success
The Internet of Things (IoT) is an ecosystem of ever-increasing complexity; it’s the next wave of innovation that will humanize every object in our life. IoT is bringing more and more devices (things) into the digital fold every day, which will likely make IoT a multi-trillion dollars’ industry in the near future. To understand… Read More
EDA Machine Learning from the Experts!
Traditionally, EDA has been a brute force methodology where we buy more software licenses and more CPUs and keep running endless jobs to keep up with the increasing design and process complexities. SPICE simulation for example; when I meet chip designers (which I do quite frequently) I ask them how many simulations they do for a … Read More
Making Sensors of the World
How many sensors do you think you own? Let’s start with your thermostat. It’s simple, right? You might guess one or two, and if you owned a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] generation Nest you’d be wrong. It comes with a light sensor, heat sensor (in addition to temp), microphone, carbon monoxide sensor, smoke sensor, and occupancy sensor. Also, … Read More
Prototyping GPUs, Step by Step
FPGA-based prototyping has provided a major advance in verification and validation for complex hardware/software systems but even its most fervent proponents would admit that setup is not exactly push-button. It’s not uncommon to hear of weeks to setup a prototype or of the prototype finally being ready after you tape-out. … Read More


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