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Calibre in the Middle of Semiconductor Ecosystem

Calibre in the Middle of Semiconductor Ecosystem
by Pawan Fangaria on 12-20-2015 at 12:00 pm

Albert Einsteinhad said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”. In today’s world dominated by technology, or I must say internet which has initiated collaborative information sharing, “leading from the middle” is the new mantra of life.… Read More


The Cult of IoT! (FitBit)

The Cult of IoT! (FitBit)
by Daniel Nenni on 12-20-2015 at 7:00 am

Granted the word “cult” can have a negative connotation, especially when applied to small religious groups but cult can also mean a great devotion to a movement or intellectual fad. Some people call Apple a cult with Apple Stores being their Churches. If you look at the lines around the block or down the mall for new product… Read More


Variation Aware FinFETs are Critical!

Variation Aware FinFETs are Critical!
by Daniel Nenni on 12-18-2015 at 4:00 pm

As I mentioned in “EDA Dead Pool” acquisitions in our industry will continue at a rapid pace. The latest victim is 10 year old French company Infiniscale who was recently purchased by Silvaco. This was more of a “let’s put your product through our massive sales and support channel” kind of deal so it will be 1 + 1 = 3 accretive for sure.… Read More


IEDM Blogs – Part 3 – Global Foundries 22FDX Briefing

IEDM Blogs – Part 3 – Global Foundries 22FDX Briefing
by Scotten Jones on 12-18-2015 at 12:00 pm

While I was at IEDM I had an opportunity to sit down with Subramani (Subi) Kengeri, the Vice President, General Management, CMOS Platforms Business Unit and Jason Gorss from corporate marketing at Global Foundries (GF) for a briefing on GF’s new 22FDX process technology.

Subi told me his background was in design but that he is now… Read More


Mass customization coming to MEMS?

Mass customization coming to MEMS?
by Don Dingee on 12-18-2015 at 10:00 am

With the industry abuzz about the Apple purchase of a Maxim Integrated fab as a potential R&D facility for MEMS design, it begs the question: is creating a MEMS device that easy?

MEMS technology is approaching the same fork in the road where digital design encountered LSI four decades earlier. … Read More


Slinging Stones at the Data Center Semi Goliaths

Slinging Stones at the Data Center Semi Goliaths
by Maury Wood on 12-18-2015 at 7:00 am

For those not aware, there is quite a battle brewing in data center wired communication segment (across which most wireless data traffic traverses). A primary impetus driving the competitive positioning is the recent commercial availability of single lane 25 Gbps serdes (serializer / deserializer) channels in 28 nm CMOS from… Read More


Hyperloop: Faster Than the Shinkansen

Hyperloop: Faster Than the Shinkansen
by Daniel Payne on 12-17-2015 at 4:00 pm

In 1987 I made my first trip to Japan for business, then rode in my first high-speed train on the fabled Shinkansen (aka bullet train) traveling up to 200 mph on the way from Tokyo to Kyoto. Compared to the USA, our engineering friends in Japan have the most futuristic high-speed trains in the world. Today there’ s talk about another… Read More


What’s Driving Real Medical Tech

What’s Driving Real Medical Tech
by Bernard Murphy on 12-17-2015 at 12:00 pm

I just watched a webinar on non-invasive bio-imaging as a way to detect and track disease, which gave me a sense of the way tech progresses in the medical field and makes for a positive counterpoint to my views on medical IoT, at least as envisioned in much of our industry. The webinar, on new approaches to in-vivo imaging was hosted … Read More


Challenges in IP Qualification with Rising Physical Data

Challenges in IP Qualification with Rising Physical Data
by Pawan Fangaria on 12-17-2015 at 7:00 am

With every new technology node, there are newer physical effects that need to be taken into account. And every new physical effect brings with itself several new formats to model them. Often a format is also associated with several of its derivatives, sometimes an standard reincarnation of a proprietary format further evolved… Read More


Why Did Apple Buy a Fab?

Why Did Apple Buy a Fab?
by Scotten Jones on 12-16-2015 at 4:00 pm

It was announced today that Apple has purchased a 200mm fab located in San Jose from Maxim Integrated Products for $18.2 million dollars. My initial reaction to this announcement was shock but then I started thinking through what Apple might use the fab for and I concluded this announcement is less significant and surprising than… Read More