Rest in Peace Randy Smith (1959-2020)

Rest in Peace Randy Smith (1959-2020)
by Daniel Nenni on 02-08-2020 at 8:00 pm

Randy Smith Memorial

The semiconductor industry lost another good one last week, my friend, co-worker, and longtime SemiWiki contributor, Randy Smith. Randy published sixty blogs on SemiWiki over the last eight years that have been viewed more than a half million times. That is quite a digital legacy, absolutely.

Like myself, and many other semiconductor… Read More


GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Arm Showcase Broad Range of Partnership

GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Arm Showcase Broad Range of Partnership
by Randy Smith on 10-21-2019 at 10:00 am

I previously blogged on the GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GF) Technology Conference (GTC) held in Santa Clara, CA. The main takeaway that I shared in that blog was that GF’s announced “pivot” to a specialty foundry announced over a year ago, including its decision not to pursue 7nm and smaller nodes, appears to be working and GF is gaining momentum.… Read More


Webinar: RISC-V IoT Security IP

Webinar: RISC-V IoT Security IP
by Daniel Nenni on 05-23-2018 at 7:00 am

Disruptive technology and disruptive business models are the lifeblood of the semiconductor industry. My first disruptive experience was with Artisan Components in 1998. The semiconductor industry started cutting IP groups which resulted in a bubble of start-up IP companies including Artisan, Virage Logic, Aspec Technologies,… Read More


ARM POPs Another One!

ARM POPs Another One!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-11-2016 at 4:00 pm

ARM announced a new POP deal with UMC 28nm last week. POP stands for Processor Optimized Package meaning physical IP libraries (logic and memory) are customized for ARM processor cores and mainstream EDA tools creating a platform for optimized chip design. POP is a much bigger deal than most people realize so let’s get into a little… Read More


A Brief History of Semiconductor IP

A Brief History of Semiconductor IP
by Daniel Nenni on 08-12-2012 at 7:00 pm

It is important to note that the System On Chip (SoC) revolution that is currently driving mobile electronics has one very important enabling technology and that is Semiconductor Intellectual Property. Where would we be without the $6B+ commercial semiconductor IP market segment? Computers and phones would still be on our desks… Read More