Podcast EP24: ASIC Design at the Leading Edge

Podcast EP24: ASIC Design at the Leading Edge
by Daniel Nenni on 06-11-2021 at 10:00 am

Dan and Mike are joined by Graham Curren, founder and CEO of ASIC specialist Sondrel. Graham discusses the challenges of designing ASICs at the leading edge from a technology, design team and customer perspective. He explores where the real challenges are in building these types of chips and how Sondrel meets those challenges.… Read More


You know you have a problem when 60 Minutes covers it!

You know you have a problem when 60 Minutes covers it!
by Robert Maire on 05-03-2021 at 2:00 pm

60 Minutes Chip Shortage

-Chip shortage on 60 Minutes- Average Joe now aware of chip issue
-Intel sprinkling fairy dust (money) on New Mexico & Israel
-Give up on buy backs and dividends
-Could Uncle Sam give a handout to Intel?

You normally don’t want to answer the door if 60 Minutes TV crew is outside as it likely doesn’t mean good things.… Read More


Lam Research performing like a Lion – Chip equip on steroids

Lam Research performing like a Lion – Chip equip on steroids
by Robert Maire on 04-29-2021 at 10:00 am

NASDAQ LRCX LAM

– Business is about as good as it gets- $75B WFE in 2021?
– China remains strong at 32% despite SMIC lack of license
– NAND remains 48% of revs versus 31% foundry
– DRAM steady @ 14% – Service was record $1.3B

Strong results in a strong market

Lam reported revenues of $3.85B and EPS of $7.49 for the March… Read More


Certitude: Tool that can help to catch DV Environment Gaps

Certitude: Tool that can help to catch DV Environment Gaps
by eInfochips on 04-13-2021 at 2:00 pm

Certitude 9

Design verification (DV) is still one of the biggest challenges in the ASIC based product world. In last two decades, we have seen many changes in terms of HVLs and methodologies used for design verification. System Verilog is the most popular HVL these days and UVM is the most popular verification methodology.

Even after such an… Read More


Semiconductor Startups – Are they back?

Semiconductor Startups – Are they back?
by Karthee Madasamy on 04-02-2021 at 6:00 am

Semiconductor Startups – Are they back

Semiconductor startups used to rule the roost in Silicon Valley. The very name, Silicon Valley, comes from the birth of the semiconductor industry in the San Francisco bay area 60+ years ago. Large percentage of venture financing used to go to semiconductor startups, even as recently as 15 years ago. As a chip designer doing startups… Read More


SALELE Double Patterning for 7nm and 5nm Nodes

SALELE Double Patterning for 7nm and 5nm Nodes
by Fred Chen on 03-28-2021 at 6:00 am

SALELE Double Patterning for 7nm and 5nm Nodes 4

In this article, we will explore the use of self-aligned litho-etch-litho-etch (SALELE) double patterning for BEOL metal layers in the 7nm node (40 nm minimum metal pitch [1]) with DUV, and 5nm node (28 nm minimum metal pitch [2]) with EUV. First, we mention the evidence that this technique is being used; Xilinx [3] disclosed the… Read More


Podcast EP11: Semiconductor Shortages and the CHIPS Act Explained

Podcast EP11: Semiconductor Shortages and the CHIPS Act Explained
by Daniel Nenni on 03-12-2021 at 10:00 am

Dan and Mike are joined by Terry Daly for a thoughtful and informative overview of global semiconductor supply challenges and an excellent overview of the CHIPS for America Act, an ambitious piece of US legislation aimed at establishing investments and incentives to support U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development,… Read More


Semiconductors up 6.5% in 2020, >10% in 2021?

Semiconductors up 6.5% in 2020, >10% in 2021?
by Bill Jewell on 02-14-2021 at 6:00 am

Feb 2021 co revised 9

Semiconductor sales in 2020 were $439.0 billion, up 6.5% from $412.3 billion in 2019, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS).

We at Semiconductor Intelligence have been tracking the accuracy of semiconductor market forecasts from various sources for several years. We look at publicly available projections… Read More


Need Electromagnetic Simulations for ICs?

Need Electromagnetic Simulations for ICs?
by Daniel Nenni on 02-11-2021 at 6:00 am

RaptorH in Virtuoso

Electromagnetic (EM) simulations have been performed on die metal structures since the 1990s. Originally, the analysis was restricted to a single device (e.g., a spiral inductor). The number of on-die devices simulated simultaneously grew with the increasing capabilities of the computers performing the computations. This… Read More


Podcast EP5: Verification, Evolution and Revolution

Podcast EP5: Verification, Evolution and Revolution
by Daniel Nenni on 01-29-2021 at 10:00 am

Dan and Mike are joined by Dr. Bernard Murphy. Bernard has recently published a book on entrepreneurship and the importance of storytelling. In this podcast, Bernard talks about his journey from a PhD in Nuclear Physics at Oxford University to a storied career in EDA and verification. Bernard discusses a fundamental shift in… Read More