Attending DAC in Austin for Free

Attending DAC in Austin for Free
by Daniel Payne on 04-23-2017 at 7:00 am

I’ve been attending DAC since the late 1980’s and can tell you that it’s an annual highlight for me and anyone else interested in the EDA, IP and semiconductor industries. Where else can you see most of the big and little vendors of EDA software, semiconductor IP and foundries in one place? I recently blogged aboutRead More


eFabless Design Challenge Results!

eFabless Design Challenge Results!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-28-2017 at 7:00 am

Will community engineering work for semiconductors? Will anyone show up? Well, the efabless design challenge is complete and the results are both interesting and encouraging, absolutely!

Efabless completed its low power voltage reference IP design challenge on Monday, March 13. This was a very interesting event that we followed… Read More


Open-Silicon Update: 125M ASICs shipped!

Open-Silicon Update: 125M ASICs shipped!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-03-2017 at 12:00 pm

As you all know I am a big fan of the ASIC business model. It was critical in the transformation of the fabless semiconductor industry and still plays a critical part in our success. In fact, the ASIC business model is leading the way for systems companies to make their own chips. Remember, Apple started with the ASIC business model … Read More


Another Interesting Thing From TSMC!

Another Interesting Thing From TSMC!
by Daniel Nenni on 01-21-2017 at 7:00 am

As I mentioned in my previous post, the TSMC investor call this month was very interesting and Morris Chang was in fine form during the Q&A. As a semiconductor professional I think some of the questions are ridiculous but maybe they have value to the financial people. This one question from Randy, who I think is very astute, is … Read More


Free Webinar: Designing Low-Power IoT Systems

Free Webinar: Designing Low-Power IoT Systems
by Daniel Nenni on 06-05-2016 at 7:00 am

As I have written before, IoT looks to be a key driver for design starts and future semiconductor revenue growth which is why we wrote “PROTOTYPICAL” and included a field guide to FPGA Prototyping. If you want to get funding for your new IoT chip project, having a working prototype is a good thing, absolutely. If you want to take a look… Read More


What Does an MPW and a Pizza Have in Common?

What Does an MPW and a Pizza Have in Common?
by Daniel Nenni on 05-23-2016 at 12:00 pm

Design starts are critical to the growth of the semiconductor industry so enabling them is a common theme on SemiWiki. One thing we have not covered in detail is multi-project wafer services (MPW) which is the equivalent of ride sharing through the initial mask and wafer process. Larger semiconductor companies already do this … Read More


Where is the Money in IoT?

Where is the Money in IoT?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-12-2016 at 7:00 am

As we all know IoT (Internet of Things) is the “next big thing” across many different industries including the fabless semiconductor ecosystem. The first recorded IoT blog on SemiWiki was in 2014 and currently we have 173 IoT blogs posted that have earned more than 600,000 views and counting. So yes, IoT is the next big thing, absolutely.… Read More