A vexing chip design issue is how to achieve (or improve) performance and power dissipation targets, allowing for a wide range of manufacturing process variation (P) and dynamic operation voltage and temperature fluctuations (VT). One design method is to analyze the operation across a set of PVT corners, and ensure sufficient… Read More
Silicon on insulator (SOI) technology has been around a very long time. I recall five-inch wafers full of SoS (silicon on sapphire) devices while working at the RCA Solid State Technology Center back in the dawn of time. Today, the concept of silicon on insulator is alive and well. Companies like GLOBALFOUNDRIES offer a special … Read More
There is a famous scene in the 1976 movie Taxi Driver when Robert De Niro’s character Travis is pretending to have a conversation looking in the mirror and repeatedly saying “Are you talking to me?”. I think about this scene every time I use a voice active device – Hey, are you talking to me? Yes, I am, but are you listening?
Voice command,… Read More
When it comes to extremely power sensitive applications such as IoT and edge devices, there is literally an arsenal of power saving techniques that could be used. The tricky part is figuring out which ones to use and how to use them for maximum benefit. This is coupled with the need to not hamper device performance or functionality.… Read More
