ARM ♥ Xilinx!

ARM ♥ Xilinx!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-28-2014 at 7:00 am

The good news is that as a part of SemiWiki we get free media passes to all of the cool conferences. The bad news is that our inboxes get flooded with announcements. ARM TechCon is next week and my delete button is on overtime but it is interesting to see who is active in conferences and who is not. In this case Xilinx is very active and Altera… Read More


Who will be “lucky dog” in 4G LTE basebands?

Who will be “lucky dog” in 4G LTE basebands?
by Don Dingee on 09-19-2014 at 5:00 pm

The official term is “beneficiary rule”, but among colorful racing broadcasters, drivers, and fans it is more commonly referred to as the “lucky dog”: the driver who is down a lap, but gets to advance to the lead lap by virtue of being farthest ahead when a caution flag is raised.

Qualcomm has lapped the entire field when it comes to … Read More


Intel Core M vs Apple A8!

Intel Core M vs Apple A8!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-14-2014 at 10:00 am

There were two big announcements last week right in my backyard and I missed them both! Instead, I was in Taiwan investigating yet another big development and all three of these events will intersect next year, absolutely.

At IDF in San Francisco Intel outlined the new 14nm Core M. This is an impressive CPU, one that will fill the now… Read More


What Does Intel Look Like 10 Years From Now?

What Does Intel Look Like 10 Years From Now?
by Daniel Nenni on 09-08-2014 at 7:00 am

Intel (INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich keynoted the Citi Global Technology Conference last week. This was a precursor to the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week. Normally these types of events are scripted dog and pony shows but sometimes interesting information comes out. The first question for example:

What does IntelRead More


Intel Versus TSMC 14nm Processes

Intel Versus TSMC 14nm Processes
by Scotten Jones on 08-13-2014 at 5:00 pm

Intel has begun to release some details on their 14nm process. I thought it would be interesting to contrast what Intel has disclosed to TSMC’s 16nm process disclosure from last year’s IEDM (TSMC calls their 14nm process 16nm).

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Who will Manufacture Apple’s Next SoC?

Who will Manufacture Apple’s Next SoC?
by Daniel Nenni on 08-07-2014 at 8:00 pm

Just to review: The brain inside the current Apple iPhone 5s is the A7 SoC manufactured by Samsung using a 28nm process. The A6 (iPhone 5) and A5 (iPhone 4s) are based on Samsung 32nm. The rest of the Apple SoCs also used Samsung processes. I think we can all now agree that the coming Apple A8 SoC (iPhone 6) will use the TSMC 20nm process.… Read More


FDSOI Target Applications Are…

FDSOI Target Applications Are…
by Eric Esteve on 08-01-2014 at 12:05 pm

Not PC segment, not necessarily Application Processor for Mobile, despite the power efficiency advantage versus a bulk technology. After several weeks filled by very animated and controversial discussion about FD-SOI cost, thanks to Semiwiki bloggers and readers, it seems interesting to elevate the debate and try to figure… Read More


The Two Biggest Misses in Mobile

The Two Biggest Misses in Mobile
by Paul McLellan on 07-23-2014 at 9:50 am

There are some interesting parallels between Intel and Microsoft. Both of them missed mobile. Actually they didn’t completely miss mobile, both of them had programs from early days. But clearly they both regarded mobile as a much lower priority: the PC was where all the money was and where it would continue to be forever.… Read More


Intel vs AMD

Intel vs AMD
by Daniel Nenni on 07-21-2014 at 6:00 pm

While listening to the Intel and AMD conference calls last week I was reminded of the ATI acquisition by AMD and the painfully long cultural assimilation that ensued. The title of this blog could just as easily have been “Custom vs Synthesizable Design Cultures” or “The Real Reason Why AMD is Fabless” because that is closer to how … Read More


Intel Second Quarter Results

Intel Second Quarter Results
by Paul McLellan on 07-16-2014 at 4:03 pm

Intel announced their quarterly results earlier this week. Their mainline microprocessor business is doing well, especially the highest performance segments for servers, datacenters and cloud computing. Broken down by segment the numbers come out like this:

  • PC Client Group revenue of $8.7 billion, up 9 percent sequentially
Read More