What is inside the iPhone5s? Samsung or TSMC?

What is inside the iPhone5s? Samsung or TSMC?
by Daniel Nenni on 06-26-2013 at 6:00 pm

As a semiconductor professional and an Apple customer I’m very interested to see what is inside the iPhone5s. Rumors are spreading, photos are leaking, creating a nice build up to the next release of the mobile device that changed the world.

Honestly, last year I was a bit disappointed with the iPhone5. Inside is the A6 SoC which uses… Read More


TSMC and Xilinx on the FinFAST Track!

TSMC and Xilinx on the FinFAST Track!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-23-2013 at 2:00 am

The power of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem never ceases to amaze me. On one hand you have the Intel backed press crowing about Intel stealing Altera from TSMC. On the other hand you have Xilinx and TSMC crowing about a new ‘one-team’ approach. If you are interested in the real story you’ve come to the right place.

“Altera’sRead More


Taiwan Semiconductor Tries To Pull A FinFAST One!

Taiwan Semiconductor Tries To Pull A FinFAST One!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-16-2013 at 7:00 pm


This completely misleading title is from a Seeking Alpha (SA) article, a stock investment version of the National Enquirer. As I mentioned inA Call to ARMs, fame and fortune seeking SA Authors make a penny per click so sensationalism sells. The article is not worth your time so I will save you the click and skip to the misguided conclusion:… Read More


A Call to ARMs!

A Call to ARMs!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-12-2013 at 7:00 pm

It sure has been an interesting experience watching Intel enter the semiconductor foundry business! While I credit Intel for increasing the exposure of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem to the financial markets, the attention from the Intel biased press is a bit overwhelming. The TSMC and ARM bashing is reaching new levels… Read More


Meeting with Sidense at TSMC Technology Symposium

Meeting with Sidense at TSMC Technology Symposium
by Eric Esteve on 06-10-2013 at 11:34 am

If you have attended DAC in Austin (June 2-5), you probably have missed the first TSMC Technology Symposium. It was held on June 6 in Shanghai. Considering my own experience of a 29 hours trip to come back home (in France), I doubt that it was any possible to leave Austin on June 5 to attend TSMC Technology Symposium in Shanghai on June… Read More


DAC IP Workshop: Are You Ready For Quality Control?

DAC IP Workshop: Are You Ready For Quality Control?
by Paul McLellan on 06-07-2013 at 3:08 am

On Sunday I attended an IP workshop which was presented by TSMC, Atrenta, Sonics and IPextreme. It turns out that the leitmotiv of the afternoon was SpyGlass.

Dan Kochpatcharin of TSMC was first up and gave a little bit of history of the company. They built up their capacity over the years, as I’ve written about before, and last… Read More


TSMC ♥ Berkeley Design Automation

TSMC ♥ Berkeley Design Automation
by Daniel Nenni on 05-30-2013 at 11:00 am

As I mentioned in BDA Takes on FinFET Based Memories with AFS Mega:

Is AFS Mega real? Of course it is, I’m an SRAM guy and I worked with BDA on this product so I know. But don’t take my word for it, stay tuned for endorsements from the top SRAM suppliers around the world.

Here is the first customer endorsement from the #1 foundry.… Read More


BDA Takes on FinFET-based Memories with AFS Mega

BDA Takes on FinFET-based Memories with AFS Mega
by Daniel Nenni on 05-29-2013 at 12:00 pm

Berkeley Design Automation today announced the first silicon-accurate circuit simulation for mega-scale arrays like memories and CMOS image sensors. If this tool lives up to its claims, it is going to be a big deal for FinFET-based circuits, Memory designers are rightly worried about having the accuracy necessary to include… Read More


Avoiding layout related variability issues

Avoiding layout related variability issues
by Daniel Nenni on 05-26-2013 at 7:55 am

In advanced process technologies, electrical and timing problems due to variability can become a big issue. Due to various processing effects, a circuit performance (both speed and power) is dependent on specific layout attributes and can vary a lot from instance to instance. The accumulated effects can be severe to the point… Read More