I remember the days of the IDM (integrated device manufacturer). For me, it was RCA, where I worked for 15 years as the company changed from RCA to GE and then ultimately to Harris Semiconductor. It’s a bit of a cliché, but life was simpler then, from a customer point of view at least. RCA did it all. We designed all the IP, did the physical… Read More
Ceva’s next NeuPro generation opens new possibilities across AICeva is broadening the possibilities for AI silicon…Read More
How Allegro MicroSystems Increased OEE by Several Percentage Points with yieldHUB LiveAllegro MicroSystems’ experience with yieldHUB Live shows how…Read More
Interview with Sweta Gupta, VP of Engineering of Analog BitsSweta Gupta is the Vice President of Engineering…Read More
Using AI for Root Cause Analysis of Simulation FailuresI’ve been working with AMIQ EDA for almost…Read More
Agentic AI accelerates 3D IC engineering for the AI factory eraBy Sudarshan Deo, software R&D Manager for 3D…Read MoreWorldwide Interface IP Revenue Grew by 13.5% in 2016 (Source: IPnest)
IPnest has released the 9[SUP]th[/SUP] version of the Interface IP Survey, ranking by protocol the IP vendors addressing the Interface segments: USB, PCI Express, (LP)DDRn, MIPI, Ethernet & SerDes, HDMI/DP and SATA. When the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] version has been issued in 2009, the IP segment was weighting $225 million and the… Read More
Seeking Solution for Saving Schematics?
Schematics are still the lynchpin of analog design. In the time that HDL’s have revolutionized digital design, schematics have remained drawn and used much as they have been for decades. While the abstraction of HDL based designs has made process and foundry porting relatively straightforward, porting schematic based designs… Read More
Big Data Analytics and Power Signoff at NVIDIA
While it’s interesting to hear a tool-vendor’s point of view on the capabilities of their product, it’s always more compelling to hear a customer/user point of view, especially when that customer is NVIDIA, a company known for making monster chips.
A quick recap on the concept. At 7nm, operating voltages are getting much closer… Read More
7nm SERDES Design and Qualification Challenges!
Semiconductor IP is the fastest growing market inside the fabless ecosystem, it always has been and always will be, especially now that non-traditional chip companies are quickly entering the mix. Towards the end of the year I always talk to the ecosystem to see what next year has in store for us and 2018 looks to be another year of … Read More
Japan Inc. on the Brink
Japan has had an incredible run in technology, but the past decade has seen a reversal of fortune. Consumer electronics powerhouses such as Pioneer, Panasonic, Sharp and many others have been humbled by the commoditization of their hardware and a shift in market share to Asian competitors.
… Read More
The Elephant in the Autonomous Car
I was driving recently on highway 87 (San Jose) and wanted to merge left. I checked my side-mirror, checked the blind-spot detector, saw no problems and started to move over – and quickly swerved back when a car shot by on my left. What went wrong? My blind-spot detection, a primary feature in ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems,… Read More
Mentor FINALLY Acquires Solido Design
I say finally because it was a long time coming… almost ten years to be exact. I started doing business development work for both Solido and Berkeley Design Automation about ten years ago and have been trying to put them together ever since. The synergy was obvious, like peanut butter and jelly. In fact, this is my third time … Read More
Electronics Production Rising in 2017
Production of electronic equipment is continuing healthy growth. China, the world’s largest producer of electronics, had a three-month-average increase of 14% in October 2017 versus a year ago. Year-to-date through October, China’s electronic production has gained 13.8% compared to 10.0% for the year 2016, putting China… Read More
ASIC and TSMC are the AI Chip Unsung Heroes
One of the more exciting design start market segments that we track is Artificial Intelligence related ASICs. With NVIDIA making billions upon billions of dollars repurposing GPUs as AI engines in the cloud, the Application Specific Integrated Circuit business was sure to follow. Google now has its Tensor Processing Unit, Intel… Read More


The $725 Million Chip Development: Why Execution Risk, Not IP Cost, Now Dictates Advanced-Node Survival