Safety qualification for leading edge IP elements – presentation at REUSE 2017 in Santa Clara

Safety qualification for leading edge IP elements – presentation at REUSE 2017 in Santa Clara
by Tom Simon on 12-06-2017 at 12:00 pm

To ensure the reliability of automotive electronics, standards like AEC-Q100 and ISO 26262 have helped tremendously. They have created rational and explicit steps for developing and testing the electronic systems that go into our cars. These are not some abstract future requirement for fully autonomous cars, rather they are… Read More


Advanced ASICs – It Takes an Ecosystem

Advanced ASICs – It Takes an Ecosystem
by Mike Gianfagna on 11-26-2017 at 2:00 pm

I remember the days of the IDM (integrated device manufacturer). For me, it was RCA, where I worked for 15 years as the company changed from RCA to GE and then ultimately to Harris Semiconductor. It’s a bit of a cliché, but life was simpler then, from a customer point of view at least. RCA did it all. We designed all the IP, did the physical… Read More


Worldwide Interface IP Revenue Grew by 13.5% in 2016 (Source: IPnest)

Worldwide Interface IP Revenue Grew by 13.5% in 2016 (Source: IPnest)
by Eric Esteve on 11-26-2017 at 2:59 am

IPnest has released the 9[SUP]th[/SUP] version of the Interface IP Survey, ranking by protocol the IP vendors addressing the Interface segments: USB, PCI Express, (LP)DDRn, MIPI, Ethernet & SerDes, HDMI/DP and SATA. When the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] version has been issued in 2009, the IP segment was weighting $225 million and the… Read More


7nm SERDES Design and Qualification Challenges!

7nm SERDES Design and Qualification Challenges!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-22-2017 at 7:00 am

Semiconductor IP is the fastest growing market inside the fabless ecosystem, it always has been and always will be, especially now that non-traditional chip companies are quickly entering the mix. Towards the end of the year I always talk to the ecosystem to see what next year has in store for us and 2018 looks to be another year of … Read More


The Interface IP Market has Grown to $530 Million!

The Interface IP Market has Grown to $530 Million!
by Eric Esteve on 10-22-2017 at 7:00 am

According with IPnest, the Interface IP market, including USB, PCI Express, (LP)DDRn, HDMI, MIPI and Ethernet IP segments, has reached $532 million in 2016, growing from $472 million in 2015. This is an impressive 13% Year-over-Year growth rate, and 12% CAGR since 2012!



Who integrate functions to interface a chip with others Read More


AI ASICs Exposed!

AI ASICs Exposed!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-01-2017 at 12:00 pm

Artificial intelligence, or AI is really heating up these days. The technology has been around for decades, but of late it is becoming quite a focus for applications such as data center analytics, autonomous vehicles and augmented reality. Why the rebirth? The trend appears to be driven by two forces – availability of data to train… Read More


Open-Silicon SerDes TCoE Enables Successful Delivery of ASICs for Next-generation, High-Speed Systems

Open-Silicon SerDes TCoE Enables Successful Delivery of ASICs for Next-generation, High-Speed Systems
by Mitch Heins on 06-26-2017 at 12:00 pm

With 5G cellular networks just around the corner, there is an ever-increasing number of companies working to bring faster communications chips to the market. Data centers are now deploying 100G to handle the increased bandwidth requirements, typically in the form of four 28Gbps channels and that means ASIC designers are looking… Read More


Data Center Explosion Push for Fast Adoption of 25G

Data Center Explosion Push for Fast Adoption of 25G
by Eric Esteve on 05-04-2017 at 12:00 pm

The data center rack server market is estimated to growat a high Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20% to reach $90 billion by 2021. Such growth is due to the significantly rise in the number of connected devices, the growth in the volume of data per device and theneed for quick processing of high-volume data. Much of these data … Read More


It’s Time to Stop Thinking in Two Dimensions

It’s Time to Stop Thinking in Two Dimensions
by Tom Simon on 05-03-2017 at 12:00 pm

The first transistor was made of two electrodes, held in place by plastic, making contact with a piece of doped germanium. Ever since then, devices and their packaging have been performing a complicated and oftentimes intricate dance. Single transistor devices became integrated circuits, and along the way separate IC’s were… Read More


Who knew designing PLL’s was so complicated?

Who knew designing PLL’s was so complicated?
by Tom Simon on 03-27-2017 at 12:00 pm

Well it comes as no surprise to those that use and design them, that PLL’s are a world unto themselves and very complicated indeed. With PLL’s we are talking about analog designs that rely on ring oscillators or LC tanks. They are needed on legacy nodes, like the ones that IoT chips are based on, and they are crucial for high speed advanced… Read More