The never ending appetite for higher bandwidths, faster data interfaces and lower latencies are bringing about changes in how data is processed at data centers. The expansion of cloud to the network edge has introduced broad use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for extracting meaning from data. Cloud supercomputing… Read More
Design IP Sales reached $5.45B in 2021, or 19.4% YoY after 16% in 2020, on-sync with semiconductor growth of 26.2% in 2021 according to WSTS. IPnest has released the “Design IP Report” in May 2022, ranking IP vendors by category (CPU, DSP, GPU & ISP, Wired Interface, SRAM Memory Compiler, Flash Memory Compiler, Library and I/O,… Read More
AI-based applications are fast advancing with evolving neural network (NN) models, pushing aggressive performance envelopes. Just a few years ago, performance requirements of NN driven applications were at 1 TOPS and less. Current and future applications in the areas of augmented reality (AR), surveillance, high-end smartphones,… Read More
You may have noticed that I have been writing a lot more about analog design lately. This is no accident. Analog and custom blocks are increasingly important because of the critical role they play in enabling many classes of systems, such as automotive, networking, wireless, mobile, cloud, etc. Many of the SoCs needed for these… Read More
When talking about today’s sophisticated advanced node designs it’s easy to first think about the digital challenges. Yet, the effort to design the needed analog and mixed signal blocks for them should not be underestimated. The need for high speed clocks, high frequency RF circuits and high bit rate IOs makes the analog portions,… Read More
There’s been a lot of discussion and hype regarding use of the cloud for chip design for quite a while, more than ten years I would say. I spoke with Synopsys to better understand their recent Synopsys Cloud announcement to determine if it is different. Briefly, it is different, and here is why:
If you’re trying to design a complex SoC,… Read More
The growth of complexity for silicon test as it relates to test data volume and test times is driven by multiple concurrent factors. One dimension is simply the increase in silicon complexity. However, other factors are playing a role as well. These include higher reliability requirements for new applications such as automotive,… Read More
Power Management ICs are a vitally important part of system design. Evidence of this is cited by a Synopsys white paper that mentions how Apple acquired a portion of PMIC developer Dialog Semiconductor that was previously their exclusive PMIC supplier. Clearly Apple had decided that PMIC design was a strategic differentiating… Read More
Exciting times for the semiconductor industry! Last week Intel announced a billion dollar fund to build a foundry ecosystem and today Intel announced they are acquiring foundry Tower Semiconductor for $5.6 billion dollars, WOW! Some people doubted Intel’s commitment to the foundry market this time. I think we can now put that… Read More
The last year has seen a ton written about the semiconductor industry: chip shortages, the CHIPS Act, our dependence on Taiwan and TSMC, China, etc.
But despite all this talk about chips and semiconductors, few understand how the industry is structured. I’ve found the best way to understand something complicated is to diagram… Read More
