Intel Discontinues the Custom Foundry Business!

Intel Discontinues the Custom Foundry Business!
by Daniel Nenni on 12-17-2018 at 7:00 am

After mentioning what I heard at IEDM 2018, that Intel was officially closing the merchant foundry business as an aside in a SemiWiki forum discussion, I got a lot of email responses so let me clarify. Honestly I did not think it was a big surprise. Intel Custom Foundry was an ill conceived idea (my opinion) from the very start and was… Read More


DAC 2019 to Host the Second System Design Contest!

DAC 2019 to Host the Second System Design Contest!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-13-2018 at 7:00 am

Interested in showing off your talent in developing deep learning algorithms on embedded hardware platforms for solving real-world problems? Join the second System Design Contest (SDC) at the 56[SUP]th[/SUP] Design Automation Conference in 2019!… Read More


Webinar: ASIC and FPGA Functional Verification Study

Webinar: ASIC and FPGA Functional Verification Study
by Alex Tan on 10-23-2018 at 12:00 pm

ASIC or FPGA? Each design style has earned designers’ votes depending on the level of urgency, application complexity and funding of their assigned projects. While it is feasible to transition from ASIC to FPGA design or vice versa, such a move is usually done across project refresh instead of midcourse.

Both Xilinx and … Read More


One Less Reason to Delay that Venture

One Less Reason to Delay that Venture
by Bernard Murphy on 10-11-2018 at 7:00 am

Many of us dream about the wonderful widget we could build that would revolutionize our homes, parking, health, gaming, factories or whatever domain gets our creative juices surging, but how many of us take it the next step? Even when you’re ready to live on your savings, prototypes can be expensive and royalties add to the pain. … Read More


Cloud FPGA Optimal Design Closure, Synthesis, and Timing Using Plunify’s AI Strategies

Cloud FPGA Optimal Design Closure, Synthesis, and Timing Using Plunify’s AI Strategies
by Camille Kokozaki on 09-25-2018 at 12:00 pm

Plunify, powered by machine learning and the cloud, delivers cloud-based solutions and optimization software to enable a better quality of results, higher productivity and better efficiency for design. Plunify is a software company in the Electronic Design Market with a focus on FPGA. It was founded in 2009, has its HQ in Singapore… Read More


SEMICON West Intel 10nm and GF 7nm Update

SEMICON West Intel 10nm and GF 7nm Update
by Daniel Nenni on 07-18-2018 at 7:00 am

SEMICON West seemed a little slow last week but maybe it was just me. I’m sure SEMI will come out with record breaking numbers but I did not see it in the exhibit hall (see the video). What I did see was hundreds of exhibitors but I had no idea what they did. San Francisco again was very congested and smelly. I talked to a friend who is in public… Read More


Samsung is Starting 7nm Production with EUV in June

Samsung is Starting 7nm Production with EUV in June
by Scotten Jones on 04-16-2018 at 12:00 pm

There is a report in the Seoul Economic Daily that Samsung has completed development of their 7nm process using EUV and that production will begin in June. What is claimed in the report is:

  • The process is installed in the Hwaseong S3 Fab
  • Samsung has more than 10 EUV systems installed
  • Production starts in June with Qualcomm, Xilinx,
Read More

FPGA, Data and CASPA: Spring into AI

FPGA, Data and CASPA: Spring into AI
by Alex Tan on 03-21-2018 at 12:00 pm

Just like good ideas percolate longer, we have seen AI adoption pace picking-up speed, propelled by faster GPUs. Some recent data points provide good indication that FPGA making a comeback to bridge chip-design needs to keep-up with AI’s ML applications.

According to the Deloitte research firm there is a projected increase of… Read More


Webinar: Achieve High-performance and High-throughput with Intel based FPGA Prototyping

Webinar: Achieve High-performance and High-throughput with Intel based FPGA Prototyping
by Daniel Nenni on 03-19-2018 at 12:00 pm

FPGAs have been used for ASIC prototyping since the beginning of FPGAs (1980s) allowing hardware and software designers to work in harmony developing, testing, and optimizing their products. We covered the history of FPGAs in Chapter 3 of our book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry”, which includes … Read More


2017 in Review and 2018 Forecast

2017 in Review and 2018 Forecast
by Daniel Nenni on 12-30-2017 at 7:00 am

This has been an amazing year for me both personally and professionally. Personally we are now empty nest and have our first grandchild. SemiWiki is prospering, a company that I have been involved with for ten years (Solido Design) had a very nice exit, and my time promoting semiconductor stocks to Wall Street paid off with the PHLXRead More