My first chip design at Intel was a DRAM and we had a 5% yield problem caused by electromigration issues, yes, you can have EM issues even with 6um NMOS technology. We had lots of questions but precious few answers on how to pinpoint and eliminate the source of yield loss. Fortunately, with the next generation of DRAM quickly introduced… Read More
Computer Architecture and the Wall
There is a new edition of Hennessy and Patterson’s book Computer Architecture: A Quantative Approach out. The 5th edition.
There is lots of fascinating stuff in it but what is especially interesting to those of us who are not actually computer architects, is the big picture stuff about what they choose to cover. Previous … Read More
3D-IC Physical Design
When process nodes reached 28 nm and below, it appeared that design density is reaching a saturation point, hitting the limits of Moore’s law. I was of the opinion that the future of microelectronic physical design was limited to 20 and 14 nm being addressed by technological advances such as FinFETs, double patterning, HKMG (High-k… Read More
Don’t go to Mobile World Congress without “MIPI IP Forecast 2011-2016”!
And if, like me, you don’t go to MWC, that’s the right time to get your version of the MIPI IP survey, the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] version since the first launch in 2010, because IPNEST will give you a good reason to buy it during MWC: you will get it at a lower price. That will apply now and during the event, but only from today, and up to the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP]… Read More
Custom Processors: Webinar
What is a custom processor? Or Application Specific Instruction-set Processor (ASIP) which is the buzzword which may or may not catch on.
Most programming is done on a processor with a fixed instruction set: think Intel x86 or ARM. Intel or ARM decided on what instructions to include, based on a lot of benchmarking across a wide range… Read More
Will the last 8051 please turn out the lights?
The words no engineer or supply chain professional wants to hear: end-of-life. It’s a reality of the semiconductor business, however – even the cheapest parts reach the point, eventually, where producing and selling them becomes inefficient. Is it reasonable that a microcontroller architecture outlive the people… Read More
LTE-Advanced Handsets for 4G
Due to a lot of somewhat aggressive marketing by carriers, you might think that 4G wireless is already here. After all, wasn’t 3G ages ago? But in fact true 4G handsets won’t really be available until 2015/6. But to make that schedule, first silicon needs to be available late this year or early next, to allow one or two … Read More
Apple’s MAC Air at the Eye of the Storm
Will they or won’t they convert the MAC Air to the A6 processor this year? That is the question that intrigues many analysts and prognosticators who want to see if a competitive ARM ecosystem… Read More
Pinpoint: Getting Control of Design Data
Back in the Napoleonic era it was possible to manage a battle with very ad hoc methods. Sit on a horse on top of the highest hill and watch the battle unfold, send messengers out with instructions. By the First World War, never mind the second, that approach was hopelessly outdated and a much more structured way of managing a battle was… Read More
PLL Design Challenges for Integrated Circuit Designs
Nandu Bhagwan is CEO of GHz Circuits and has been designing PLL circuits used in ICs for the past 12 years. Mr. Bhagwan did a video interview with John Pierce of Cadence to talk about the challenges of PLL design.… Read More
More Headwinds – CHIPS Act Chop? – Chip Equip Re-Shore? Orders Canceled & Fab Delay