Using ML Acceleration Hardware for Improved DSP Performance

Using ML Acceleration Hardware for Improved DSP Performance
by Tom Simon on 04-24-2020 at 6:00 am

nnMAX Flex Logix Tile

Some amazing hardware is being designed to accelerate AI/ML, most of which features large numbers of MAC units. Given that MAC units are like the lego blocks of digital math, they are also useful for a number of other applications. System designers are waking up to the idea of repurposing AI accelerators for DSP functions such as … Read More


SiFive Extends Portfolio with 7 Series RISC-V Cores

SiFive Extends Portfolio with 7 Series RISC-V Cores
by Camille Kokozaki on 11-16-2018 at 7:00 am

At the recent Linley Fall Processor Conference in Santa Clara, Jack Kang, SiFive’s VP of Product Marketing introduced SiFive’s Core IP 7 Series.Designed to power devices requiring Embedded IntelligenceandIntelligence Everywhere,the cores allow scalability, efficient performance and customization. The Core IP 7 Series… Read More


Artificial Intelligence calls for Smart Interconnect

Artificial Intelligence calls for Smart Interconnect
by Tom Simon on 04-18-2018 at 7:00 am

Artificial Intelligence based systems are driving a metamorphosis in computing, and consequently precipitating a large shift in SOC design. AI training is often done in the cloud and has requirements for handling huge amounts of data with forward and backward data connections. Inference usually occurs at the edge and must be… Read More


Linley Mobile and Wearable Conference Drills into Rapidly Evolving Markets

Linley Mobile and Wearable Conference Drills into Rapidly Evolving Markets
by Tom Simon on 08-04-2016 at 7:00 am

Last week the Linley conference on mobile and wearables started with an overview and keynote address by the event’s namesake Linley Gwennap. His talk offered a few surprises and was informative all around. As you have seen recently reported here on SemiWiki, he sees smartphone shipments continuing to rise, but with a declining… Read More


Filling out the rest of the mobile device

Filling out the rest of the mobile device
by Don Dingee on 08-01-2016 at 4:00 pm

We spend an inordinate amount of energy tracking the big chip – the application processor – in a mobile device. As we’ve seen this space is coming down to a handful of players. A more interesting competition is heating up around the APU for the rest of chips needed to make a phone.… Read More


A Chinese smartphone drill in progress

A Chinese smartphone drill in progress
by Don Dingee on 07-27-2016 at 4:00 pm

One of our astute readers caught what looks like a major gaffe in the Linley Group mobile conference presentations from this week. It’s another indication of the speed of change in mobile markets and the instability that is giving Apple and others heartburn.

Here’s the chart in question:


The point of contention is who, exactly, … Read More


Processors Rule the Day

Processors Rule the Day
by Tom Simon on 10-09-2015 at 7:00 pm

It used to be that if you went to a processor conference, you could expect to spend hours listening to talks about pipelining, cache schemes and processor architecture. Well, I went to the Linley Processor Conference this week in Santa Clara and found the topics pretty compelling. Processors are in just about everything. It is easier… Read More


We’re Number Two, We Try Harder

We’re Number Two, We Try Harder
by Paul McLellan on 09-19-2015 at 7:00 am

One of the big surprises I got at Synopsys’ ARC conference is that ARC is #2 in terms of share of licensed microprocessor shipments. I think most readers of Semiwiki would know ARM is #1 but would guess that MIPS (now owned by Imagination Technologies) is #2. But you’d be wrong, ARC is over twice as big.

Last week Synopsys… Read More


Linley Mobile Microprocessor Conference

Linley Mobile Microprocessor Conference
by Paul McLellan on 03-31-2015 at 7:00 am

As The Who sang on Who’s Next:Keep me movin’, groovin’, groovin’, yeah
Movin’, Yeah
Mobile, mobile, mobile, mobile, …

On April 22nd and 23rd the place to be moving (or movin’) to will be the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara. Because What’s Next is this year’s Linley Mobile ConferenceRead More


Qualcomm Enters Server CPU Market

Qualcomm Enters Server CPU Market
by Paul McLellan on 11-19-2014 at 6:00 pm

Fresh from the leaked memo that Intel is merging its mobile business into its PC client group, Qualcomm is going the other way and has confirmed that it is entering the ARM server CPU market, an announcement made at its analyst day earlier today.

This is a major trend that less than a month ago I reported from the Linley microprocessor… Read More