With the uncertainties around timing of 450mm wafers, EUV (whether it works at all and when) and new transistor architectures it is unclear whether Moore’s law as we know it is going to continue, and in particular whether the cost per transistor is going to remain economically attractive especially for consumer markets … Read More
OK. I was wrong. Microsoft did buy Nokia’s handset business. For $7.2B, which for a company that just wrote off nearly $1B on tablets isn’t that much. Nokia is a company that had a peak valuation of $110B although it is not clear how much of that is in the deal versus out of the deal.
Details from Reuters here.
Elop is expected… Read More
One of the challenges in doing a complex analog or mixed signal design is that things get out of step. One designer is tweaking the schematic and re-simulating, another is tweaking the layout of transistors, another is changing the routing. This is not because the design flow is messed up, but rather it reflects reality. If you wait… Read More
The history of TSMC and its Open Innovation Platform (OIP) is, like almost everything in semiconductors, driven by the economics of semiconductor manufacturing. Of course ICs started 50 years ago at Fairchild (very close to where Google is headquartered today, these things go in circles). The planarization approach, whereby… Read More
All chips have critical power management requirements, often with multiple supply voltages. Digital power management ICs (PMICs) are commonplace to convert unregulated voltages from batteries and noisy power supplies to fully regulated accurate power to keep even the most sensitive chips performing.
Powervation is a company… Read More
The worldwide semiconductor market is back to a healthy level of growth. WSTS data shows the 2Q 2013 global semiconductor market was up 6.0% from 1Q 2013 – the strongest quarter-to-quarter growth since 6.6% growth in 2Q 2011. Recent forecasts for 2013 market growth range from a conservative 2.1% from WSTS to an optimistic… Read More
Imagination seems to be well known for a couple of things. Firstly, everyone knows that it is the graphics processor used in the iPhone and the iPad and lots of other phones. And they know that Imagination acquired MIPS at the start of this year.
But what people don’t seem to really appreciate is just what a huge portfolio of IP… Read More
LSI is an early adopter of Formality Ultra, Synopsys’s tool for improving the entire ECO flow. I already wrote about the basic capability of the tool here. ECOs are changes that come very late in the design cycle, after place and route has already been “nearly” completed. They occur either due to last minute spec… Read More
I attended the semi-annual SEMI Silicon Valley Lunch meeting last week. The semiconductor equipment people are the ones that really know what is going on. People can talk about capex numbers on conference calls but it is the equipment vendors who either do or do not get orders for particular types of equipment. In turn, the analysts… Read More
Did you know that Jasper’s Corner Tap in San Francisco serves Negronis on tap? It’s true. They also have Hanky Panky on tap, which is a Negroni with the Campari replaced with Fernet (which everyone pronounces as Frenet despite it being…well…wrong). And here’s another thing you probably didn’t… Read More
