800x100 static WP 3

A de-parallel universe for Windows 10

A de-parallel universe for Windows 10
by Don Dingee on 10-03-2014 at 7:00 am

It was CES 2011 when Steve Ballmer sweatered up and pitched the coming universe according to Microsoft, where the same Windows base would run on everything – PC, phone, tablet, and game console. Getting from that visionary statement to Windows 10 hasn’t been a smooth ride.… Read More


ARM ♥ TSMC!

ARM ♥ TSMC!
by Daniel Nenni on 10-02-2014 at 4:00 pm

This week is the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] annual ARM Technical Conference in Silicon Valley. In regards to size, content, and relevance, I believe ARM TechCon is the #1 event for the fabless semiconductor ecosystem for sure. I attended keynotes, sessions, and walked the hallways on Wednesday and Thursday. I wish I could write about everything… Read More


What’s Behind Carbon System Exchange – How Will it Scale?

What’s Behind Carbon System Exchange – How Will it Scale?
by Pawan Fangaria on 10-01-2014 at 4:00 pm

Earlier this year, when I was looking at Carbon’spast year performance which provided record breaking revenue with whopping jump in bookings, one thing was certain that Carbon Performance Analysis Kits (CPAKs) would drive major growth in future, not only for Carbon, but also for the semiconductor industry. It will initiate … Read More


Agile IC Development

Agile IC Development
by Paul McLellan on 10-01-2014 at 7:00 am

If you have been involved in software development you have probably heard of the “waterfall” development methodology. This is the approach whereby a complete specification of the software is developed before a single line of code is written. Nowadays, few people develop software that way since it is too slow. And… Read More


Semiconductor double digit growth in 2014 & 2015

Semiconductor double digit growth in 2014 & 2015
by Bill Jewell on 09-30-2014 at 10:00 pm

The global semiconductor market was US$82.2 billion in the second quarter of 2014 according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). 2Q 2014 was up 4.8% from 1Q 2014 up 10.1% from 2Q 2013. Healthy growth should continue into 3Q 2014. The table below shows initial revenue growth guidance for 2Q 2014, final reported revenue… Read More


IP and Design Management Done Right

IP and Design Management Done Right
by Daniel Payne on 09-30-2014 at 4:30 pm

At DACin San Francisco this past June I was able to visit and blog about two dozen EDA companies, however there were so many more products and events to see that I couldn’t possibly have enough time to enjoy them all. Fortunately for me there were plenty of videos made of vendor presentations, so this week I got caught up a bit by… Read More


ANSYS Tools Shine at FinFET Nodes!

ANSYS Tools Shine at FinFET Nodes!
by Pawan Fangaria on 09-30-2014 at 4:00 pm

In the modern semiconductor ecosystem we are seeing rapid advancement in technology breaking past once perceived limits; 28nm, 20nm, 16-14nm, 10nm and we are foreseeing 7nm now. Double and multi-patterning are already being seen along with complex FinFET structures in transistors to gain the ultimate advantages in PPA from… Read More


Cortex-M7: 6-stage, cached, 400 MHz MCU

Cortex-M7: 6-stage, cached, 400 MHz MCU
by Don Dingee on 09-30-2014 at 7:00 am

“Who needs a 32-bit MCU?” It was a question asked a million times in the press when ARM introduced the Cortex-M family back in 2004. In fairness, that question predates the Internet of Things, with wireless sensor networks, open source code, encryption, and more needs for connected devices.… Read More


Designing SmartCar ICs

Designing SmartCar ICs
by Daniel Payne on 09-30-2014 at 7:00 am

When I upgraded cars from a 1988 to 1998 Acura it seemed like my car had become much smarter with a security chip in the key, security codes in the radio and a connector for computer diagnosis, however in today’s modern auto there’s a lot more mixed-signal design content. Micronasand Synopsysgot together and hosted … Read More


Who Will Lead at 10nm?

Who Will Lead at 10nm?
by Scotten Jones on 09-29-2014 at 4:00 pm

There has been a lot of discussion on SemiWiki lately around 14nm FinFET technology and who really leads and by how much. I thought it would be interesting to review some process metrics for previous technology generation and then make some forecasts around 10nm.

The focus of this article will be Intel, TSMC and Global Foundries/Samsung… Read More