I’m an avid cyclist that rode some 6,744.3 miles in 2014, according to www.strava.com, a free web site and popular app for road bikers like me. At CES this week I’ve read about many creative devices and apps to make your cycling experience better, so here’s my take on all of it.… Read More
Tag: semiconductors
Make Semiconductor IP Reuse Successful?
As I have mentioned before, Apple has changed the way we live on many different levels (iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, etc…) and the Apple Ax SoC series is no different. You have to ask yourself how is Apple able to churn out a new industry leading SoC EVERY year? I can assure you design reuse is a big part of that answer.
One of the companies… Read More
Who is Using Samsung 14nm?
As I have mentioned before, there are very few secrets in Silicon Valley. Just last week I was minding my own business at a Starbucks when I overheard two engineers complaining about Samsung 14nm shuttles being delayed. They had badges on but I won’t out them because it could have easily been any of the fabless companies in Silicon … Read More
What does the Ford Mustang and Intel’s Gordon Moore Have in Common with Local Motors?
1964 Vision, Volume and Moore’s Law
The 1964 New York World’s Fair saw Lee Iacocca, then a young 40 year old General Manager, introduce a car that inspired “total performance” and was for a “young America out to have a good time.” This young America would become the baby boomer generation. The Mustang was revolutionary in its affordability,… Read More
GlobalFoundries and IBM
So it’s true. IBM is selling its semiconductor division to GlobalFoundries. Actually, selling is a sort of euphemism for paying them $1.5B to take it off their hands. At least according to Bloomberg. There have been rumors for weeks that IBM wanted to pay $1B to get rid of the division, but GF wanted $2B. Looks like they split… Read More
Is Number of Signoff Corners an Issue?
Semiconductor companies continue to use the traditional corner-based signoff approach that has been developed more than 40+ years ago and has since remained mainly unchanged as an industry paradigm. Initially it had 2 corners, namely Worst Case (WC) and Best Case (BC) with the maximum and minimum cell delay respectively. Note… Read More
GlobalFoundries on the Road
Every year in the fall GlobalFoundries has a series of technical seminars they take on the road around the US. This year it kicks off on Tuesday, October 21 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose. Two days later it is at Dana Point (southern CA) and on the 30th it goes to Austin (you don’t need me to tell you where Austin is, I’m… Read More
EDA Plus ARM Equals Big Views!
In looking at the SemiWiki analytics, one of the top search terms that brings traffic to our site is ARM, just about anything ARM. In fact, that’s what the next SemiWiki book will be about. Yes, ARM is that interesting. While EDA is also one of our top search terms, EDA+ARM will get the most views, absolutely. And let’s face it, bloggers… Read More
How to detect weak nodes in a power-off analog circuit?
Most analog cells have a power off mode intended to reduce power consumption. In this mode, all the circuit branches between the supply lines are set in a high impedance mode by driving MOS gates to a blocking voltage. This is a somewhat similar situation to that in tri-state digital circuits.
When a branch is set in that high impedance… Read More
Do you check your circuit DC stability?
Most analog designers are aware of loops stability. In most cases, stability is understood as AC stability, the goal is ensuring enough phase (gain) margin so as to avoid the loop to enter oscillation. But prior to studying AC stability, DC stability should be questioned. What is that DC stability only few people think of?… Read More