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Is Cadence the Best EDA Company to Work for?

Is Cadence the Best EDA Company to Work for?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-08-2015 at 7:00 am

Apparently that is the case. Honestly my choice would have been Mentor but I can easily make an argument for Cadence based on my discussions with the foundries and their top customers but more on that later.

Fortune Magazine last week added Cadence to the 2015 list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” citing a cultural transformation… Read More


Semiconductor in China: Is 3rd Time a Charm?

Semiconductor in China: Is 3rd Time a Charm?
by Paul McLellan on 03-07-2015 at 7:00 am

China has recently announced extremely ambitious plans for becoming more self-sufficient in semiconductors. Today China is about 1/3 of the worldwide IC market but about 90% of that is imported. Think of something like the iPhone assembled in Shenzen with chips from TSMC, Samsung, Hynix, Toshiba/Sandisk , Micron and more (Taiwan,… Read More


Is Semiconductor Technology a Strategic Industry?

Is Semiconductor Technology a Strategic Industry?
by admin on 03-06-2015 at 7:00 pm

Dependence on electronics is acute in all fields today. This includes both civilian and military use. Whether the technology used is state of the art or classic in nature, importance is pointed to the necessity of solid state electronic hardware in everyday life. In such an environment the need to ensure the availability of semiconductors… Read More


Intel and Samsung in Barcelona

Intel and Samsung in Barcelona
by Paul McLellan on 03-06-2015 at 7:00 am

This week it was Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Everyone who is anyone in mobile is there. Unfortunately I’m not since Barcelona is one of my favorite cities to visit. Two companies that set high expectations before the show were Samsung and Intel.

Samsung announced the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones on Sunday.… Read More


Blogging for Consultants

Blogging for Consultants
by Daniel Payne on 03-05-2015 at 9:00 pm

Paul McLellan wrote about how he stumbled into blogging and it inspired me to share my story as well. I grew up in Minnesota and attended the U of Minnesota earning a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering so that I could design computer chips. After interviewing in 1978 with HP, IBM, Intel and Motorola I decided to join… Read More


Intel NOT Inside Sematech?

Intel NOT Inside Sematech?
by Robert Maire on 03-05-2015 at 1:00 pm

Rumor that Intel has quit Sematech confirmed by website?
Potential industry impact-
Is this a consolidation by-product?
Do we need a trade group?
Does it benefit Intel?

We have heard from several sources over the last few days that Intel has quit Sematech, the semiconductor industry trade group focused on technology development… Read More


Blogging for Dummies

Blogging for Dummies
by Paul McLellan on 03-05-2015 at 7:00 am

I am often asked how I became a blogger (or a journalist if you want to make it sound more professional). I think people assume that I planned it in some way but I never did. Life is what happens while you are making other plans. To see how unlikely it is, you need to know a bit of my background.

I have a PhD in computer science so I’m actually… Read More


Three Colorful Bytes from the NXP History

Three Colorful Bytes from the NXP History
by Majeed Ahmad on 03-04-2015 at 7:00 pm

The proposed merger of NXP and Freescale, which creates a bigger semiconductor outfit, also brings forth some fascinating history bytes from the technology heritage that these two spin-offs carry from their respective corporate parents. In 2006, Philips Electronics sold its chip business division Philips Semiconductors… Read More


Synflow and Cx

Synflow and Cx
by Paul McLellan on 03-04-2015 at 9:00 am

When hardware designers hear about a new language their heart sinks. We already have Verilog, SystemVerilog and VHDL. And if you go up a level, we have C, C++ and SystemC. Isn’t that enough? However, if you tell a software engineer about a new language they are interested, there are hundreds of programming language and hundreds… Read More


CDN is Live in Silicon Valley!

CDN is Live in Silicon Valley!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-03-2015 at 10:00 pm

As big of a fan as I am of Social Media there is still nothing like getting up close and personal when collaborating with the fabless semiconductor ecosystem. After 30+ years in Silicon Valley if there is one thing I have learned it’s that “showing up” is the #1 key to success, absolutely.

Speaking of showing up, each year there are three… Read More