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SmartConnect goes five by five for the IoT

SmartConnect goes five by five for the IoT
by Don Dingee on 02-27-2014 at 8:45 pm

OK, enough with octa-core mobile monstrosities for now. Let’s shift gears to Embedded World 2014 and the lower end of the spectrum, one that will make up the vast majority of devices on the Internet of Things: tiny, low power microcontrollers with integrated wireless connectivity.

There still seems to be some stigma about putting… Read More


Celebrating 50 Billion ARM Powered Chips!

Celebrating 50 Billion ARM Powered Chips!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-27-2014 at 12:00 pm

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In case you have not seen it yet there is a website named 50BillionChips where you can follow the journey of ARM. This goes quite well with the brief history of ARM we wrote last year in preparation for our bookFabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry. ARM was a big part of that transformation of course.… Read More


A Brief History of STMicroelectronics

A Brief History of STMicroelectronics
by Daniel Nenni on 02-27-2014 at 10:00 am

STMicroelectronics is the result of the 1987 marriage between famed semiconductor companies SGS Microelettronica of Italy and Thomson-CSF Semiconductor of France. You may recognize the name SGS-Thomson which was replaced by STMicroelectronics in 1998. After the merger SGS-Thomson was ranked as number 14 in the top 20 semiconductor… Read More


Yamaha Selecting Audio/Voice DSP Architecture?

Yamaha Selecting Audio/Voice DSP Architecture?
by Eric Esteve on 02-27-2014 at 3:51 am

…or Chongquing CYIT Communication Technology Co Ltd. Both of them have recently licensed the CEVA-TeakLite-4 DSP, the latest for its multi-mode wireless baseband chips targeting 4G terminals, including smartphones and tablets (CYIT) and Yamaha to address the need to run increasingly complex voice pre-processing algorithms,… Read More


IoT: the sum of all technology opportunities

IoT: the sum of all technology opportunities
by Don Dingee on 02-26-2014 at 5:00 pm

There was a time not that long ago, before smartphones arrived on the scene, where Mentor Embedded Nucleus RTOS was dominant in non-Nokia feature phones – Mentor is part of the “Billion Unit Mobile Club”. Since then, Mentor has been searching to recreate that type of success, and like so many other software firms, they are now aiming… Read More


TI’s Way of Strategies – Formation & Execution

TI’s Way of Strategies – Formation & Execution
by Pawan Fangaria on 02-26-2014 at 8:30 am

For a company to stand still and continually prosper even after facing several downturns in its career of 80+ years, and still move swiftly with strong commitment and confidence, its strategy has to be right and rock solid possessing sustainable competitive advantage, and of course it has to be an early mover in everything it does… Read More


A Brief History of Chip Design at Apple Computer

A Brief History of Chip Design at Apple Computer
by Daniel Payne on 02-25-2014 at 9:36 pm

Steve Wozniak in 1976 designed the Apple 1 while working at HP during the daytime, and he used standard parts to keep costs low, like:

  • 6502 CPU from MOS Technology
  • 8K of DRAM
  • TTL logic for driving video and random logic
  • PROM to hold the BASIC language and primitive OS
Read More

Getting an MPW Quote on My iPhone

Getting an MPW Quote on My iPhone
by Paul McLellan on 02-25-2014 at 12:00 pm

As I blogged about recently, eSilicon have completely automated the quote process for their MPW shuttle service. You can use an online interface that runs in the browser but there is also an app that you can download from the App Store.

So I decided I had a few million dollars to burn and I’d get myself my very own TSMC 20nm parts.… Read More


Skate to where the mobile puck is headed, Intel

Skate to where the mobile puck is headed, Intel
by Don Dingee on 02-24-2014 at 5:00 pm

Mobile World Congress 2014 has already showcased two very different mobile SoC machines in high gear. After watching one big US moment and Canada otherwise dominate everything involving ice and a stick at the Sochi Olympics, I’m reaching into the Wayne Gretzky pile of quotes for a metaphor to examine Intel’s move – and why they are… Read More


SoC Functional Verification Planning and Management Goes Big

SoC Functional Verification Planning and Management Goes Big
by Daniel Payne on 02-24-2014 at 10:01 am

Big SoC designs typically break existing EDA tools and old methodologies, which then give rise to new EDA tools and methodologies out of necessity. Such is the case with the daunting task of verification planning and management where terabytes of data have simply swamped older EDA tools, making them unpleasant and ineffective… Read More