Memories for the Internet

Memories for the Internet
by Tom Simon on 06-29-2017 at 12:00 pm

In 1969 the Internet was born at UCLA when a computer there sent a message to a computer at Stanford. By 1975, there were 57 computers on the ‘internet’. Interestingly in the early seventies I actually used the original Xerox Sigma 7 connected to the internet in Boelter Hall at UCLA. A similar vintage computer is now in this room commemorating… Read More


Samsung Should Just Buy eSilicon Already!

Samsung Should Just Buy eSilicon Already!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-22-2017 at 12:00 pm

As you all know I’m a big fan of the ASIC business dating back to the start of the fabless semiconductor transformation where anybody could send a design spec to an ASIC company and get a chip back. The ASIC business model also started the smart phone revolution when Samsung built the first Apple SoCs for the iPhones and iPads.

Today … Read More


Another Live Event at Samsung!

Another Live Event at Samsung!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-25-2017 at 7:00 am

Last week Samsung hosted the GSA Silicon Valley “State of the Industry” Meet-up which was well attended by the semiconductor elite, myself included. The agenda started with an update on the semiconductor industry outlook followed by deep dives into Automotive, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and Cybersecurity all of which areRead More


“Thinking Outside the Chip”

“Thinking Outside the Chip”
by Students@olemiss.edu on 04-13-2016 at 7:00 am

While pushing Moore’s Law’s boundaries in the world of 2D packaging, companies are starting to explore nontraditional approaches towards designing integrated circuit chips. 2D packaging is currently the most used method in designing chips in the industry, and while it leads in efficiency of power and performance, it lacks … Read More


Pathfinding to an Optimal Chip/Package/Board Implementation

Pathfinding to an Optimal Chip/Package/Board Implementation
by Tom Dillinger on 02-04-2016 at 4:00 pm

A new term has entered the vernacular of electronic design engineering — pathfinding. The complexity of the functionality to be integrated and the myriad of chip, package, and board technologies available make the implementation decision a daunting task. Pathfinding refers to the method by which the design space of technology… Read More


GlobalFoundries and ARM

GlobalFoundries and ARM
by Paul McLellan on 11-04-2013 at 4:56 pm

GlobalFoundries had several interesting things at the ARM TechCon last week. Firstly, GlobalFoundries won the best in show award in the chip design category recognizing the best-in-class technologies introduced since the last TechCon.

Earlier in the summer GlobalFoundries and ARM announced the ARM Cortex-A12 processor,… Read More


Emerging Trend – Choose DRAM as per Your Design Need

Emerging Trend – Choose DRAM as per Your Design Need
by Pawan Fangaria on 09-11-2013 at 7:00 pm

Lately I was studying about new innovations in memory world such as ReRAM and Memristor. As DRAM (although it has become a commodity) has found its extensive use in mobile, PC, tablet and so on, that was an inclination too to know more about. While reviewing Cadence’s offering in memory subsystems, I came across this whitepaperwhich… Read More


Testing an IC Sandwich

Testing an IC Sandwich
by Beth Martin on 07-12-2013 at 3:10 pm

At a lovely, but chilly, 3DIncites awards breakfast during SEMICON West, I saw Mentor Graphics win in two of five categories (Calibre 3DSTACK was the other winner). Afterwards, I talked to Steve Pateras, the product marketing director of Mentor’s test solutions about Tessent Memory BIST, which was one of the winners. I asked Pateras… Read More


Moore, or More Than Moore?

Moore, or More Than Moore?
by Paul McLellan on 04-19-2013 at 12:05 pm

Yesterday was the 2013 GSA Silicon Summit, which was largely focused on contrasting what advances in delivering systems will depend on marching down the ladder of process nodes, and which will depend on innovations in packaging technology. So essentially contrasting Moore’s Law with what has come to be known as More Than… Read More


3D IC: Are We There Yet?

3D IC: Are We There Yet?
by Paul McLellan on 04-13-2013 at 4:42 pm

For the last few years, thru silicon via (TSV) based ICs have been looming in the mist of the future. Just how far ahead are they? Xiliinx famously has a high-end gate-array in production on a 2.5D interposer, Micron has a memory cube, TSMC has done various things in 3D that it calls CoWoS (chip on wafer on substrate), Qualcomm have been… Read More