Podcast EP157: The Differentiated Role Andes Plays in the US with Charlie Cheng

Podcast EP157: The Differentiated Role Andes Plays in the US with Charlie Cheng
by Daniel Nenni on 04-26-2023 at 10:00 am

Dan is joined by Charlie Cheng, Managing Director of Polyhedron. Prior to that, Charlie was the CEO of Kilopass Technology, where he grew the core memory business into a successful acquisition by Synopsys. Before that, Charlie was an Entrepreneur in Residence at US Venture Partners and a Corporate VP at Faraday Technology, a Taiwanese… Read More


Synopsys Offers Smooth Sailing for OTP NVM

Synopsys Offers Smooth Sailing for OTP NVM
by Tom Simon on 12-20-2018 at 12:00 pm

Nobody likes drama. Wait, let me narrow that down a bit. Chip designers really hate drama. They live in a world of risk and uncertainty, a world that tool and IP vendors spend considerable resources trying to make safer and more rational. It’s notable just how ironic that Sidense and Kilopass were duking out patent litigation in the… Read More


ClioSoft Crushes it in 2016!

ClioSoft Crushes it in 2016!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-09-2017 at 7:00 am

If you are designing chips in a competitive market with multiple design teams and IP reuse is a high priority then you probably already know about the ClioSoft SOS Platform. What you probably did not know however is how well they are doing with the re-architected version of their integrated design and IP management software.


We have… Read More


New Sensing Scheme for OTP Memories

New Sensing Scheme for OTP Memories
by Paul McLellan on 09-22-2015 at 7:00 am

Last week at TSMC’s OIP symposium, Jen-Tai Hsu, Kilopass’s VP R&D, presented A New Solution to Sensing Scheme Issues Revealed.

See also Jen-Tai Hsu Joins Kilopass and Looks to the Future of Memories

He started with giving some statistics about Kilopass:

  • 50+ employees
  • 10X growth 2008 to 1015
  • over 80 patents (including
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Jen-Tai Hsu Joins Kilopass and Looks to the Future of Memories

Jen-Tai Hsu Joins Kilopass and Looks to the Future of Memories
by Paul McLellan on 08-18-2015 at 7:00 am

Kilopass has a new VP of engineering, Jen-Tai Hsu. I sat down with him last week to find out where he came from and where he and Kilopass are going.

He grew up in Taiwan and went to National Taiwan University where he studied electrical engineering. Then he came to the US and went to Case Western Reserve University to get a masters degree,… Read More


VC For Semiconductor: Dead or Alive?

VC For Semiconductor: Dead or Alive?
by Paul McLellan on 07-14-2015 at 7:00 am

By Charlie Cheng, CEO of Kilopass.

Six years ago, I left my Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) role at a venture capital firm to join Kilopass as an “interim CEO”, thinking the venture world will eventually forget about semiconductor as an industry as it matures. So it’s interesting to me how, six years later, the venture investment… Read More


The Trojan Horse Was Free Too

The Trojan Horse Was Free Too
by Paul McLellan on 06-01-2015 at 7:00 am

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. I fear the Greeks especially when bearing gifts. In Virgil’s Aeneid these words are spoken by the Trojan priest Laocoön warning about the wooden horse that the Greeks have offered Troy. But to no avail, Laocoön is slain by serpents and the Trojans bring the horse inside the walls of Troy. Since… Read More


Antifuse is the New Foundation of NVM Below 16nm

Antifuse is the New Foundation of NVM Below 16nm
by Paul McLellan on 05-08-2015 at 7:00 am

Today the non-volatile memory (NVM) foundation is the eFuse. It is typically available for free from the foundry and is the default choice because, like Mount Everest, it is there. However, like Mount Everest it is big. It is also power hungry and slow. eFuse solutions blow the silicide on the poly line creating a change in resistance.… Read More


IoT Security: Your Refrigerator Attacks!

IoT Security: Your Refrigerator Attacks!
by Paul McLellan on 04-15-2015 at 7:00 am

Every time I see a presentation on IoT the forecast for the number of devices in 2020 seems to go up by a few billion. But behind the hype there are clearly going to be a large number of devices on (and even in) our bodies, our homes and cars. Not to mention in factories and workplaces. IoT devices cover a wide spectrum. Realtors like to expand… Read More


A Brief History of Kilopass

A Brief History of Kilopass
by Paul McLellan on 03-24-2015 at 7:00 am

Kilopass was founded back in 2001 by Jack Peng, whose background was in FPGAs with his most recent position being manager of technology development at Actel (now part of Microsemi). The idea was to build a company making one-time-programmable (OTP) memories using anti-fuse technology. Fuses in home-wiring (OK, I know, we all … Read More