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TSMC 2011 Technology Symposium Theme Explained

TSMC 2011 Technology Symposium Theme Explained
by Daniel Nenni on 03-09-2011 at 6:49 pm

The 17[SUP]th[/SUP] Annual TSMC Technology Symposium will be held in San Jose California on April 5[SUP]th[/SUP], 2011. Dr. Morris Chang will again be the keynote speaker. The theme this year is “Trusted Technology and Capacity Provider”and I think it’s important to not only hear what people are saying but also understand why… Read More


Essential signal data and Siloti

Essential signal data and Siloti
by Paul McLellan on 03-05-2011 at 3:24 pm

One of the challenges with verifying today’s large chips is deciding which signals to record during simulation so that you can work out the root cause when you detect something anomalous in the results. If you record too few signals, then you risk having to re-run the entire simulation when you omitted to record a signal that… Read More


Mentor Graphics 1 : Carl Icahn 0!

Mentor Graphics 1 : Carl Icahn 0!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-04-2011 at 10:03 pm

This is just another blog about Carl Icahn and his quest to conquer EDA, when in fact EDA is conquering him. It includes highlights from my dinner with Mentor Graphics and Physicist Brian Greene, the Mentor Q4 conference call, and meeting Mentor CEO Wally Rhines at DvCon 2011.

It wasn’t just the free food this time, dinner with BrianRead More


Clock Domain Crossing, a potted history

Clock Domain Crossing, a potted history
by Paul McLellan on 03-03-2011 at 11:23 am

Yesterday I talked to Shaker Sarwary, the senior product director for Atrenta’s clock-domain crossing (CDC) product SpyGlass-CDC. I asked him how it came about. The product was originally started nearly 8 years ago, around the time Atrenta itself got going. Shaker got involved about 5 years ago.

Originally this was a small… Read More


All you want to know about MIPI IP… don’t be shy, just ask IPnest

All you want to know about MIPI IP… don’t be shy, just ask IPnest
by Eric Esteve on 03-03-2011 at 10:14 am

According with the MIPI Alliance, the year 2009 has been the time for MIPI specification to be developed, when 2010 was dedicated to Marketing and Communication effort to popularize MIPI technologies within the SC industry, finally the year 2011 is expected to see MIPI deployment in the mass market, at least in the Wireless (Handset)Read More


Semiconductor Power Crisis and TSMC!

Semiconductor Power Crisis and TSMC!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-02-2011 at 8:48 pm

Power grids all over the world are already overloaded even without the slew of new electronic gadgets and cars coming out this year. At ISSCC, Dr. Jack Sun, TSMC Vice President of R&D and Chief Technology Officer made the comparison of a human brain to the closest thing available in silicon, a graphical processing unit (GPU).… Read More


With EUVL, Expect No Holiday

With EUVL, Expect No Holiday
by Beth Martin on 03-02-2011 at 1:12 pm

For a brief time in the 1990s, when 4X magnification steppers suddenly made mask features 4X larger, there was a period in the industry referred to as the “mask vendor’s holiday.” The party ended before it got started with the arrival of sub-wavelength lithography, and we all trudged back to the OPC/RET mines. Since then, the demands… Read More


Semiconductor Design Flows: Paranoia or Prudence

Semiconductor Design Flows: Paranoia or Prudence
by Steve Moran on 02-28-2011 at 11:34 am

I was recently talking to a friend who works for a semiconductor company (I can’t tell you which one or how big it is. I am not even sure I can tell you that he/she works for a semiconductor company.) I was describing Semiwiki.com to him/her and this person thought it was a great concept but wondered how much of the site would be focused Read More


Will Thunderbolt kill SuperSpeed USB?

Will Thunderbolt kill SuperSpeed USB?
by Eric Esteve on 02-28-2011 at 11:09 am

And probably more protocols, like: Firewire, eSATA, HDMI …
Some of you probably know it as Light Peak, as it was the code name for the just announced (last week) Thunderbolt Intel proprietary interface, supporting copper (or optical) interconnect when Light Peak was optical only. This will make Thunderbolt easier to implement,Read More


Intel Sandy Bridge Fiasco and EDA

Intel Sandy Bridge Fiasco and EDA
by Daniel Nenni on 02-27-2011 at 6:49 am

I purchased two Toyotas last year and both have since been recalled. Why has Toyota spent $1B+ on recalls in recent years? Same reason why it will cost Intel $700M (which does not include reputation damage) to recall Sandy Bridge chip sets, because someone did not do their job! The WHAT has been discussed, lets talk about HOW it happened.… Read More