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GlobalFoundries and IBM

GlobalFoundries and IBM
by Paul McLellan on 10-19-2014 at 9:12 pm

So it’s true. IBM is selling its semiconductor division to GlobalFoundries. Actually, selling is a sort of euphemism for paying them $1.5B to take it off their hands. At least according to Bloomberg. There have been rumors for weeks that IBM wanted to pay $1B to get rid of the division, but GF wanted $2B. Looks like they split… Read More


Semiconductor Startups on Kickstarter!

Semiconductor Startups on Kickstarter!
by Daniel Nenni on 10-19-2014 at 4:00 pm

One of the challenges for the fabless semiconductor ecosystem is raising funds for new ventures. Of the things I do as a consultant, working with entrepreneurs on business and funding plans is by far the most interesting. Raising money is a big challenge since venture capitalists have largely ignored our industry of late. Kickstarter… Read More


Xilinx: Revenue on Target, Profit Above

Xilinx: Revenue on Target, Profit Above
by Paul McLellan on 10-19-2014 at 7:00 am

Xilinx announced their quarterly results a couple of days ago. Technically it is their Q2 2015. Sales were $604M and profitability was significantly higher than expected at $0.62/share. But that is not the most interesting thing about these calls. There is the Xilinx vs Altera story. And then there are tealeaves to be read about… Read More


MIPI Soundwire IP Sounds Innovative

MIPI Soundwire IP Sounds Innovative
by Eric Esteve on 10-19-2014 at 3:07 am

MIPI SoundWire specification will be integrated into mobiles systems, like smartphone or media tablet. In fact some of the well-known chip makers have already decided to integrate MIPI SoundWire into their last application processor release. MIPI SoundWire is also the type of specification which could be used in many other … Read More


Linux and the ARC of the Coherent

Linux and the ARC of the Coherent
by Don Dingee on 10-18-2014 at 7:00 am

Remember that thing called “real-time Linux”? Yeah, nobody else does either. As builds became configurable and clock speeds increased, embedded Linux manifested itself as fast enough for many applications – if a few other SoC details are addressed.

Most obvious for SoCs to run Linux is the need for a fully integrated MMU implementation.… Read More


Recap of the Apple iPad Announcement

Recap of the Apple iPad Announcement
by Daniel Payne on 10-17-2014 at 2:00 pm

I watched the live stream product announcements yesterday from Apple and will give you a quick recap of what I gleaned. First off, Apple live stream requires that you use the Safari browser, so that meant that I couldn’t use Google Chrome, so much for adopting web standards.


Apple Products Talked about

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
This… Read More


Atmel’s New Microcontrollers and IoT, Wearables

Atmel’s New Microcontrollers and IoT, Wearables
by Paul McLellan on 10-17-2014 at 7:00 am

More and more companies, regardless of their vertical, are trying to get closer to their customers and see various aspects of the internet of things (IoT) as the way to do so. For a good example, here is Salesforce Wear Developer Pack which, as they say:..is a collection of open-source starter apps that let you quickly design and buildRead More


TSMC Breaks More Records in Q3 2014!

TSMC Breaks More Records in Q3 2014!
by Daniel Nenni on 10-16-2014 at 4:00 pm

As previously predicted TSMC is having another record breaking SoC quarter. TSMC is my favorite economic bellwether and from what I can see the semiconductor industry will continue to grow this year and next at a rapid rate thanks to TSMC and the fabless semiconductor ecosystem:

We have set a new record of revenue and profitabilityRead More


Finding Logic Issues Early that Impact Physical Implementation

Finding Logic Issues Early that Impact Physical Implementation
by Daniel Payne on 10-16-2014 at 7:00 am

Complex SoC project teams typically use a divide and conquer approach where specialized engineers work in separate domains, like front-end or back-end. The five major engineering tasks for IC design can be described as: RTL design, synthesis, floor planning, place and route, then finally design analysis.

What if you could detect… Read More


Demler: Quad Core is Just For Marketing; Intel Will Not Succeed in Mobile

Demler: Quad Core is Just For Marketing; Intel Will Not Succeed in Mobile
by Paul McLellan on 10-15-2014 at 9:00 pm

At Memcon today Mike Demler of the Linley Group (and coincidentally someone who used to work for me back at Cadence and who now run Memcon, small world) gave an interesting presentation on Trends in Mobile Processors. A mobile application processor (AP) is a highly integrated SoC to run the applications in a mobile device. Mostly… Read More