Semiconductor Device Physics, Lab in a Box

Semiconductor Device Physics, Lab in a Box
by Daniel Payne on 09-13-2017 at 12:00 pm

One of my favorite classes in college was the lab exercise, mostly because we actually got to use real electronics and then measure something, finally writing it up in our lab notebooks. The issue today is that a college student taking Electrical Engineering probably doesn’t have much access to 10nm FinFET silicon for use… Read More


Something New for Semiconductor Parametric Testing

Something New for Semiconductor Parametric Testing
by Daniel Payne on 03-01-2017 at 7:00 am

The familiar maxim that “time is money” certainly typifies our semiconductor industry where the mass production of chips, boards and systems helps to power our global economy and ever-increasing standard of living. The foundries that manufacture chips have to ensure that the process technology is in fact producing… Read More


CEO Interview: Albert Li of Platform DA

CEO Interview: Albert Li of Platform DA
by Daniel Nenni on 11-27-2016 at 7:00 am

Platform Design Automation, Inc (PDA). recently closed a US$6 million pre Series A investment round, and the company has shifted its focus from providing SPICE modeling related software and services to forming a complete AI-driven ecosystem from probing to simulation. Albert Li was the GM of Accelicon, a leading EDA tool and … Read More


Are Your Transistor Models Good Enough?

Are Your Transistor Models Good Enough?
by Daniel Payne on 08-16-2016 at 12:00 pm

SoC designers can now capture their design ideas with high-level languages like C and SystemC, then synthesize those abstractions down into RTL code or gates, however in the end the physical IC is implemented using cell libraries made up of transistors. Circuit designers use simulation tools like SPICE on these transistor-level… Read More


A Brief History of Platform Design Automation

A Brief History of Platform Design Automation
by Daniel Payne on 07-01-2016 at 12:00 pm

Two weeks ago I spoke on the phone with Albert Li, Founder and CEO of Platform DA about his EDA company. Prior to founding Platform DA in Beijing, Li worked at Accelicon which was acquired by Agilent in December 2011. Mr. Li graduated from Tsinghua University and Vanderbilt University, both in Electrical Engineering, and has written… Read More