I just read the press release from TowerJazz and Tanner EDA about how an AMS designer can use schematic symbols and layout generators in Tanner EDA tools for the TowerJazz 0.18um node. This is made possible because of the growing iPDK (Interoperable Process Design Kits) movement.
In the old days each foundry would have to staff up… Read More
I met Ian Getreu in Oregon at a monthly EDA networking luncheon several years ago and have kept in touch with him. Ian co-founded Analogy which was later acquired by Avant! (now Synopsys). One thing that Ian noticed over the years was that smaller EDA companies were constantly getting acquired by the bigger and publicly traded EDA… Read More
Unlike the last CES, this year I saw compelling technology, technology that will definitely drive the semiconductor industry and make the analyst fortunetellers look bad yet again. Anyone who thinks semiconductor growth next year will be in single digits is absolutely wrong, TSMC will grow even more, 20%+. First and foremost… Read More
First, lets review the business model transitions EDA has seen. We started with perpetual licensing which is a software license for the life of the product. EDA companies did their best to change product names to get incremental revenue above and beyond the yearly 15% maintenance fee but that is a dead end business model for a confined… Read More
In celebrating the 10th anniversary of SMIC, CEO David Wang ushers in a new era of China semiconductor manufacturing with triumphs versus promises. By triumphs David means profits, which SMIC saw for the first time in Q2 2010. The future looks even brighter for SMIC as the China semiconductor demand versus supply gap is an estimated… Read More
It’s that time of the quarter again, where the semiconductor analysts revise forecasts, passing off glorified guesstimates as valid financial planning data. They aren’t forecasts! They are observations! I blame these hacks for the 12.5% Silicon Valley unemployment rate! I blame these hacks for the dwindling available capitol… Read More
