This news in May 2014 that Samsung had licensed FD-SOI Technology from ST-Microelectronics was really amazing, as most of the industry was expecting this kind of agreement, but not with the #2 SC Company. But since May 2014 the news flow has been quite reduced, we can imagine that both SC companies had a lot work to do for transforming… Read More




Wireless Charging: Magnetic Induction or Magnetic Resonance?
Standard wars are no stranger to technology business. In fact, they are the norm. Take, for instance, the rock star technology of 2015—wireless charging. Magnetic induction or magnetic resonance: which standard will dominate the wireless power ecosystem?
That’s the crucial question while wireless charging continues to win… Read More
Tracing methods to multicore gladness
Multiple processor cores are now a given in SoCs. Grabbing IP blocks and laying them in a multicore design may be the easy part. While verification is extremely important, it is only the start – obtaining real-world performance depends on the combination of multicore hardware and actual application software. What should engineers… Read More
Johan Peeters on quick IP check through Cdiff
On the face of it, if we consider a simple ‘diff’ utility, it doesn’t need any explanation; almost everyone in our community would have used it. But imagine the CTO of a company investing his time in explaining how beneficial a specialized ‘Cdiff’ function can be in evaluating IP. Today’s SoC design world can’t live without IP and … Read More
Intel Q4 and 2014 Results
Intel announced their results yesterday for last quarter (and the year). And they were good financially. As Brian Krzanich said:The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to a great year. We began 2014 expecting roughly flat year-over-year revenue and operating income. Instead the company’s full year revenue grew 6% touching… Read More
Google Glass is Dead, ARA Phone is Prototyped
These two products are linked because they have been invented by Google and both are disruptive technologies. Like was the Apple’s Newton tablet launched in CES Chicago in 1992 and finally stopped in 1998, due to the lack of success. To born again in 2010 as the well-known and best seller iPad in 2010, creating a new market segment … Read More
ASE and Brewer Science Win SEMI Award
Tuesday night was the SEMI awards banquet at ISS in Half Moon Bay. The SEMI Award was established in 1979 to recognize outstanding technical achievement and meritorious contribution in the areas of Semiconductor Materials, Wafer Fabrication, Assembly and Packaging, Process Control, Test and Inspection, Robotics and Automation,… Read More
TSMC Finishes 2014 with the Chairman on the Call!
I’m not a financial guy, as I have mentioned before, so let me just make some comments on the technology discussed on today’s conference call. Please note that the Chairman Dr. Morris Chang was on the call which is probably why the TSM stock went up more than 8% immediately after. Of course there was plenty of good news to go along with… Read More
Verification of Wireless RFIC Designs
Wireless technology is all around as I use cellular on an Android phone, WiFi to connect my MacBook Pro to the internet, Bluetooth for a headset, ANT+ for my cycling computer, and NFC to speed up electronic payments on the Android phone. Here’s a big picture look at some of the modern wireless standards available to choose from:… Read More
eSilicon Try IP Before You Buy
I’ve written before about eSilicon’s IP Marketplace. This is the latest in several steps to automate more and more of the interface between eSilicon and its customers: MPW quotes, production quotes, tracking orders through manufacturing, and now IP quotes. There is a phrase in software development called “eating… Read More
Facing the Quantum Nature of EUV Lithography