GDS II Online for TSMC

GDS II Online for TSMC
by Paul McLellan on 06-12-2014 at 4:00 pm

I just watched an interesting video of a demonstration at DAC of the eSilicon GDS II online quote for TSMC. Actually, it wasn’t so much as a demonstration as an interactive use of the quote tool using data supplied by a member of the audience.

The quote system works for TSMC processes from 28nm up to 350nm. The design the audience… Read More


TSMC vs Intel vs Samsung FinFETs

TSMC vs Intel vs Samsung FinFETs
by Daniel Nenni on 06-08-2014 at 10:50 am

By definition the pure-play foundry business model separates the design and manufacturing of a semiconductor device. TSMC was the first dedicated (pure-play) foundry which enabled the incredible fabless semiconductor ecosystem we have today. If not for the fabless business model we would not have the supercomputer class … Read More


Xilinx’s 16nm vs. Altera 14nm

Xilinx’s 16nm vs. Altera 14nm
by Luke Miller on 06-04-2014 at 8:00 pm

You will not believe this, but the family was picking me up Friday evening from the airport and on the way home… Get this, for real, the wife asks me to cut her hair tomorrow. Now the three of you that read my stuff, know what happened before. I resisted, and firmly said ‘No’…The wife seeing my macho stance began appealing to my engineer’s… Read More


TSMC: Keynote, OIP, 20nm, 16nm, panels, and more #51DAC

TSMC: Keynote, OIP, 20nm, 16nm, panels, and more #51DAC
by Paul McLellan on 05-28-2014 at 8:11 pm

What is TSMC doing at DAC?

The biggest event is presumably Cliff Hou’s DAC keynote on Monday at 3.25pm Industry Opportunities in the Sub-10nm Era. And he also wrote the foreword to Fabless, the book that Dan Nenni and I have written and where you can get a signed copy on Tuesday evening at the reception.

There is an IP workshop … Read More


RedHawk Excels – Customers Endorse

RedHawk Excels – Customers Endorse
by Pawan Fangaria on 05-28-2014 at 11:00 am

Since a few years, I have been following up Ansys Apachetools for semiconductor design, verification and sign-off. RedHawk is the most prominent platform of tools from Ansys, specifically for Power, Noise and Reliability Sign-off. It has witnessed many open endorsements from several of Ansyscustomers through open presentations,… Read More


IBM and GLOBALFOUNDRIES Deal!

IBM and GLOBALFOUNDRIES Deal!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-25-2014 at 10:10 am

An interesting deal was announced last week, another piece in the What is Next for GlobalFoundries? puzzle. IBM is sending up to 200 employees from their East Fishkill R&D facility to GF’s Malta R&D center in Saratoga County. The first thing that comes to my mind is 10nm! Considering GF is licensing Samsung 14nm, what else… Read More


EUV Will Never Happen

EUV Will Never Happen
by Paul McLellan on 05-23-2014 at 9:21 pm

ASML SMIC TSMC EUV DUV

I had lunch today with a guy who has to remain nameless. But he is on the edge of the semiconductor lithography thing. He told me EUV will never happen. Of course lots of people have said that. Me for one. But he said everyone knows it. The investment community, the foundries, everyone. Intel put money into ASML in the hopes that it would… Read More


Motley Fools Intel Investors Again!

Motley Fools Intel Investors Again!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-22-2014 at 12:00 pm

It really is quite a racket. Investor bloggers spread semiconductor disinformation for $.01 per click, that coincidentally covers their stock positions, and I get paid $300 per hour to explain it to Wall Street. While I appreciate the opportunity to bond with the financial people, I do wonder how these bloggers sleep at night.… Read More


Variation-Aware Custom IC Design Best Practices

Variation-Aware Custom IC Design Best Practices
by Daniel Nenni on 05-21-2014 at 1:00 pm

I’ve worked with Solido for 5 years, and it’s been a pleasure to watch the world’s top semiconductor companies and foundries adopt Solido software for their SPICE simulation flows.

Sub-28nm design starts are accelerating, growing from 150 in 2012 to 900 this year. The move to sub-28nm design nodes is being driven by consumer electronic… Read More


Can Intel be a Leading Semiconductor Foundry?

Can Intel be a Leading Semiconductor Foundry?
by Daniel Nenni on 05-21-2014 at 6:00 am

This is the third part of a series answering the most frequently asked questions I get from Wall Street. Please read the previous two articles on Intel’s Manufacturing Lead and Intel’s SoC Challenge before flaming me in the comment section. First let’s look at why there is a foundry business and go from there.

The big… Read More