As the traditional ASIC business disappears before our eyes with the recent divestitures and acquisitions, I have been asking questions amongst the fabless semiconductor ecosystem and am getting few answers.
Who or what is going to step in to enable start-ups and new to silicon systems companies with application specific chips?… Read More
The trade dispute between the U.S. and China continues to drag on. According to Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened to raise tariffs further on Chinese imports if no deal is reached. Tariffs affecting most consumer electronics imports from China are scheduled to go into effect on December 15, according to… Read More
We covered the ASIC business in Chapter 2 of our book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry” using VLSI Technology and eSilicon as shining examples. Neither of which now exist. The ASIC business model was a critical steppingstone in the transformation of the semiconductor industry. Many systems companies… Read More
Minimizing ASIC production costs is the goal of every company. The problem is that this requires extensive knowledge. You must understand the technical intricacies and the financial implications of multiple activities like wafer production, packaging and QA activities such as electrical tests.
Generally, the more your company… Read More
Samsung is a complicated company with a VERY long history. We attempted to capture the Samsung Experience in chapter 8 of our book “Mobile Unleashed: The Origin and Evolution of ARM Processors In Our Devices”. If you are a registered SemiWiki member you can download a free PDF copy in our Books section.
Here is the chapter 8 … Read More
One of the reasons I founded SemiWiki nine years ago was the lack of EDA, IP and Foundry content in the media. The problem is that unless you work in the industry it is very difficult to write about it in competent technical detail. Most media outlets only know what vendors tell them which is how the semiconductor industry worked before… Read More
A directed approach to reduce Risk and improve Quality
Safety and reliability are critical for most applications of integrated circuits (ICs) today. Even more so when they serve markets like ADAS, autonomous driving, healthcare and aeronautics where they are paramount. Safety and reliability transcend all levels of an integrated… Read More
With every process node and every SOC design, engineering and IT teams are experiencing an unprecedented data explosion. User workspaces routinely exceed 10’s of GB and sometimes even 100’s of GB. Regression runs, characterization runs, design and debug of workspaces, building verification environments – all of these… Read More
If you are considering an FPGA prototype for an ASIC or SoC as part of your verification strategy, which more and more chip designers today are doing to enhance verification coverage of complex designs, please take advantage of this webinar replay:
How ASIC/SoC Prototyping Solutions Can Help You!
Or to get a quick quote from S2C … Read More
The old adage that “Time is Money” certainly rings true in the semiconductor world where IC designers are being challenged with getting their new designs to market quickly, and correctly in the first spin of silicon. Circuit designers work at the transistor-level, and circuit simulation is one of the most time-consuming… Read More
