Ceva webinar AI Arch SEMI 800X100 250625

Intel to Skip 10nm to Stay Ahead of TSMC and Samsung?

Intel to Skip 10nm to Stay Ahead of TSMC and Samsung?
by Daniel Nenni on 07-23-2015 at 12:00 pm

Quarterly earning calls are a great source of information but they can also be a source of confusion and generally it is an unhealthy combination of the two. On one hand these earning calls are to appease the financial community. On the other hand, in my opinion, these calls are also used to generate fear, uncertainty, and doubt amongst… Read More


Thomas Skotnicki: FD-SOI 26 Years in the Making

Thomas Skotnicki: FD-SOI 26 Years in the Making
by Paul McLellan on 07-23-2015 at 7:00 am

It seems to be FD-SOI week yet again. I talked to Thomas Skotnicki this morning. He is the father of thin-box FD-SOI and its birth is an interesting story. The story began 26 years ago (so not quite as far back as the photo!).

Thomas is of Polish origins (he is actually Tomeczek) and grew up in Warsaw where he earned his PhD. In 1983 in Canterbury,… Read More


Taking prototyping beyond prototypes

Taking prototyping beyond prototypes
by Don Dingee on 07-22-2015 at 12:00 pm

Everyone has heard the expression, “Half the job is having the right tool.” In the case of FPGA-based prototyping, however, the right tool for the job is only the beginning. What teams really need to think through is what exactly should be done with an FPGA-based prototyping tool?

The obvious answer is prototyping an SoC, pre-silicon.… Read More


Synopsys Buys Bluetooth IP

Synopsys Buys Bluetooth IP
by Paul McLellan on 07-22-2015 at 7:00 am

There is obviously a broad spectrum of semiconductor IP but broadly speaking it seems to fall into three buckets:

  • foundation IP: standard cells, memories
  • microprocessors and associated peripherals
  • interface IP

Foundation IP is where it all started. When I was at Compass Design Automation in the 1990s that was pretty much what… Read More


GPS Chronicle: The Beginning of the Commercial Era

GPS Chronicle: The Beginning of the Commercial Era
by Majeed Ahmad on 07-22-2015 at 4:00 am

Although primarily developed for military operations, this cutting-edge satellite technology was eventually allowed for civilian applications. The first interagency testing of GPS receivers was conducted in California in 1984. By July 1995, using Navstar constellation, GPS was fully operational across the country. Automotive… Read More


SEMICON West 2015 Recap – Day 1 – Softening Markets, Sub 14nm and 3D NAND

SEMICON West 2015 Recap – Day 1 – Softening Markets, Sub 14nm and 3D NAND
by Scotten Jones on 07-21-2015 at 6:00 pm

Tuesday morning press briefing
The show started for me Tuesday morning with the SEMI press briefing. SEMI said there are 1,200 booths this year, 629 exhibiting companies and over 180 hours of programming. They also said pre-registration was up from last year and they expect 26,000 visitors.

Dan Tracy then gave an update on the markets.… Read More


See What’s Pushing up IoT Revenues

See What’s Pushing up IoT Revenues
by Pawan Fangaria on 07-21-2015 at 12:00 pm

The whole world’s eyes are at Internet of Things (IoT) market in various segments. The overall semiconductor ecosystem, starting from best suited technology nodes for IoT up to the final end products including sensors, microcontrollers, wireless chipsets, analog ICs, and so on are geared to avail the best opportunities from… Read More


Starvision and SOS, a Perfect Match

Starvision and SOS, a Perfect Match
by Paul McLellan on 07-21-2015 at 7:00 am

SoC design these days is largely about assembling externally developed semiconductor IP with a small amount of differentiated content. Only companies who have to adopt new processes instantly develop a lot of their own IP. It makes more sense to license it. Partially because there is not a lot of differentiation in standards-based… Read More


NetSpeed NoC IP or Architectural Synthesis Company?

NetSpeed NoC IP or Architectural Synthesis Company?
by Eric Esteve on 07-21-2015 at 12:00 am

When you look at NetSpeed’s NocStudio design tool, you first think “I see, NetSpeed is a new Network-on-Chip (NoC) IP company”. Are you wrong? Yes and no… No because NocStudio indeed generates a NoC. Yes, because the company objectives are going much farther than simply deliver a new NoC solution. According with Sundari Mitra, … Read More


Apple Took All the Money

Apple Took All the Money
by Paul McLellan on 07-20-2015 at 4:00 pm

Apple has roughly 20% market share of the smartphone unit shipments. Android has pretty much all the rest with a tiny sliver for Microsoft Windows Phone, Blackberry, and Samsung’s Tizen. By any standard, Android is the highest volume operating system ever created. Famously, Microsoft makes more money on patent licenses… Read More