Open-Silicon Embraces the Latest ISO 9001 Specification with Certification by SGS

Open-Silicon Embraces the Latest ISO 9001 Specification with Certification by SGS
by Tom Simon on 11-07-2018 at 7:00 am

A quality standard that stays static and is not itself targeted for continuous improvement, is a standard that is breaking one of the first tenets of quality. This is why the ISO 9001 specification has been updated several times since its introduction in 1987. The first version was fairly modest. The most recent version was released… Read More


eSilicon and SiFive partner for Next-Generation SerDes IP

eSilicon and SiFive partner for Next-Generation SerDes IP
by Daniel Nenni on 08-10-2018 at 12:00 pm

While writing “Mobile Unleashed: The Origin and Evolution of ARM Processors In Our Devices” it was very clear to me that ARM was an IP phenomenon that I did not believe would ever be repeated. Clearly I was wrong as we now have RISC-V with an incredible adoption rate, a full fledged ecosystem, and top tier implementers… Read More


SiFive Unveils E2 Core IP Series for Smallest, Lowest Power RISC-V Designs

SiFive Unveils E2 Core IP Series for Smallest, Lowest Power RISC-V Designs
by Camille Kokozaki on 07-06-2018 at 12:00 pm

Fully configurable with advanced feature sets allows for broad applications, including microcontrollers, IoT, wearables, and smart cards

The E20 and E21 add to the growing list of SiFive RISC-V cores addressing the embedded controller, IoT, wearables, smart toys. On June 25, DAC opening day, SiFive announced the availability… Read More


RISC-V Ready (Tools) Set (Security) Go (Build)

RISC-V Ready (Tools) Set (Security) Go (Build)
by Camille Kokozaki on 06-26-2018 at 12:00 pm

The second Bay Area RISC-V Meetup event was held at the DoubleTree Hilton in Burlingame on June 19 with about 150 attendees. This event was hosted by SiFive and started with a networking session. The topics and speakers for the evening were:

  • Commercial Software Tools – Larry Lapides, Imperas
  • Securing RISC-V Processors
Read More

The Rise and Fall of ARM Holdings

The Rise and Fall of ARM Holdings
by Daniel Nenni on 05-16-2018 at 7:00 am

Publishing a book on the history of ARM was an incredible experience. In business it is always important to remember how you got to where you are today to better prepare for where you are going tomorrow. The book “Mobile Unleashed” started at the beginning of ARM (Acorn Computer) where a company went from a crazy idea a couple of engineers… Read More


SiFive’s Design Democratization Drive

SiFive’s Design Democratization Drive
by Camille Kokozaki on 04-25-2018 at 7:00 am

There is something endearing and refreshing in seeing a novel approach unfold in our Semi-IP-EDA ecosystem currently settled in its efficient yet, let us say it, unexciting ‘going through the motions’, constantly comparing, matching, competitively and selfishly sub-optimizing what the art of the possible can be.

Enter a new… Read More


Getting Started with RISC-V

Getting Started with RISC-V
by Daniel Nenni on 01-06-2018 at 4:00 pm

As I mentioned before, SiFive and RISC-V are trending topics on SemiWiki.com which makes complete sense since we have been covering semiconductor IP and ARM since we first went online in January of 2011.

In total we have published 707 IP related blogs that earned 3,565,140 views (5043 views per blog average). Out of that, 254 are … Read More


DesignShare is all About Enabling Design Wins!

DesignShare is all About Enabling Design Wins!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-08-2017 at 7:00 am

One of the barriers to silicon success has always been design costs, especially if you are an emerging company or targeting an emerging market such as IoT. Today design start costs are dominated by IP which is paid at the start of the project and that is after costly IP evaluations and other IP verification and integration challenges.… Read More


Open source RISC-V ISA brings a new wrinkle to the processor market

Open source RISC-V ISA brings a new wrinkle to the processor market
by Tom Simon on 10-25-2017 at 12:00 pm

By now most people are quite comfortable with the idea of using an open source operating system for many computing tasks. It speaks volumes that Unix, and Linux in particular, is used in the vast majority of engineering, financial, data base, machine learning, data center, telecommunications and many other applications. It was… Read More


SiFive RISC-V and the Future of Computing!

SiFive RISC-V and the Future of Computing!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-17-2017 at 12:00 pm

Having started my career during the mini computer revolution it has been an incredible journey from using computers that consumed entire rooms – to the desktop – and now we have supercomputers in our pockets. It makes me chuckle when I hear people complaining about their smartphones when they should be jumping up and… Read More