ST rolls a new FD-SOI microcontroller with phase-change memory (PCM) for automotive applications

Like a battered and bruised prizefighter, phase-change memory (PCM) refuses to stay down or give up the fight. Although it got a black eye and bloody nose from its Micron 3D XPoint and Intel Optane misadventures, PCM has found its way into microcontrollers, thanks to a collaboration between STMicroelectronics (ST) and Samsung. Back in 2018, STRead More → "ST rolls a new FD-SOI microcontroller with phase-change memory (PCM) for automotive applications"

A Brief and Personal History of EDA Part 8: The Big DA Era

For the last two decades or so, the EDA industry has grown at the same rate as the overall semiconductor industry. Mentor Graphics CEO Wally Rhines explained the situation to Magdy Abadir in the January/February 2017 edition of IEEE Design and Test magazine:

“EDA revenue is very stable at 2% of semiconductor revenue, and if the semiconductor industry doesn’t grow, it’ … Read More → "A Brief and Personal History of EDA Part 8: The Big DA Era"

Space According to LEO: How Low Earth Orbit Satellite Technology Is Opening Up New Space Applications

Low Earth Orbit satellite communication takes center stage in this week’s Fish Fry podcast! Mike McLernon from MathWorks joins me to chat all about the advantages of Low Earth Orbit satellites versus traditional Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, the challenges of this kind of satellite technology, and the tools and practices that engineers can use to overcome these challenges. Also this week, I investigate new research from the … Read More → "Space According to LEO: How Low Earth Orbit Satellite Technology Is Opening Up New Space Applications"

Issuing a Challenge to Edge AI Processor Manufacturers

Recently (by which I mean over the course of the past year or two), with respect to artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge (where the “internet rubber” meets the “real-world road”), I’ve been bemused and bewildered, flabbergasted and dumbfounded, and entranced and enthralled. To cut a long story short (which is opposite to the way I usually like to do things), I’ve been captivated by … Read More → "Issuing a Challenge to Edge AI Processor Manufacturers"

A Brief and Personal History of EDA Part 7: EDA’s 60-Layer Cake

The first six articles in this series described the history of the EDA industry from its earliest beginnings to becoming the multi-billion-dollar heart of the semiconductor industry. Starting with one-off tools developed by various systems companies for their R&D departments developing circuit boards and ICs, the commercial EDA industry was ignited by the spark that was the Design Automation Conference. It then progressed through various … Read More → "A Brief and Personal History of EDA Part 7: EDA’s 60-Layer Cake"

SPOT Platform Gives Ambiq’s Apollo510 MCU an Unfair Low Power Advantage

I hail from the days of 5V transistor-transistor level (TTL) logic, like the SN7400-series of integrated circuits (ICs) from Texas Instruments (TI) that leapt onto the centerstage circa the mid-1960s with a hullabaloo of heckelphones, which isn’t something you can hope to hear very often (thank goodness). 

As an aside, I’d like to give a shout-out … Read More → "SPOT Platform Gives Ambiq’s Apollo510 MCU an Unfair Low Power Advantage"

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AI/ML System Architecture Connectivity Solutions
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Samtec
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Matthew Burns from Samtec investigate a variety of crucial design considerations for AI and ML designs, the role that AI chipsets play in the development of these systems, and why the right connectivity solution can make all the difference when it comes to your machine learning or artificial intelligence design.
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Designing Robust 5G Power Amplifiers for the Real World

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Simulating 5G power amplifier (PA) designs at the component and system levels with authentic modulation and high-fidelity behavioral models increases predictability, lowers risk, and shrinks schedules. Simulation software enables multi-technology layout and multi-domain analysis, evaluating the impacts of 5G PA design choices while delivering accurate results in a single virtual workspace. This application note delves into how authentic modulation enhances predictability and performance in 5G millimeter-wave systems.

Download now to revolutionize your design process.

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discussion
Posted on May 8 at 12:42pm by Max Maxfield
Hi Henrik -- your Vision AppKit is perfect -- just what I'm looking for -- I wrote about your Ensemble AI-MCU family a few weeks ago https://www.eejournal.com/article/new-mcus-provide-102-the-performance-at-10-2-the-power/ The combination of your chip and the miniature camera on that tiny Vision AppKit board ...
Posted on May 8 at 12:36pm by Henrik
Hi Max, I think we here at Alif semiconductor can help you with this! I have an application that detects faces running on our tiny Vision AppKit, if you think that would work I'd be happy to send you one :-) Demo here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
Posted on Apr 22 at 11:49am by arnim
A subset of this EDA acquisition game has been the development of FPGA tools. NeoCAD did the tools for AT&T's clones of Xilinx FPGAs, doing it so well it embarrassed Xilinx, so they acquired them. I still have the NeoCAD coffee cup.
Posted on Apr 22 at 11:26am by Daniel Payne
A walk down EDA memory lane, we also have a list of mergers at SemiWiki, https://semiwiki.com/wikis/industry-wikis/eda-mergers-and-acquisitions-wiki/
Posted on Apr 10 at 7:53am by Max Maxfield
Hi Tom -- thanks for sharing -- I'm hoping to meet up with Ben when I visit the UK this summer to see my dear old mom :-)
Posted on Apr 9 at 5:56am by Steven Leibson
Thank you for the compliment, metasequoia. I hope you find the series useful. There are five more articles to go in this EDA history, with a few things that surprised me, and I was there!
Posted on Apr 8 at 9:21pm by metasequoia
Steve, You do an absolutely outstanding job researching and writing your articles! Thank you.
Posted on Apr 6 at 4:19pm by Tom Kaneko
I followed a similar train of thought as you after the invasion of Ukraine. I was moved enough to try to deal with this drone problem. I found Ben Cook and spoke in depth to discuss an idea that I couldn’t get out of my head - a way ...
Posted on Apr 4 at 1:12pm by Karl Stevens
This all sounds good ... if they are making paper weights or boat anchors. They are totally ignoring the fact that electronics must do more than consume power and dissipate heat. Space heaters are much less expensive. There once was a dream of Intel developing some kind of language/tool to ...
Posted on Apr 3 at 5:57pm by Steven Leibson
Indeed, a funny story. I'd have to ask you to cite references to Calma's being the "most popular IC layout platform" in the 1980s. If you're referring to custom IC layout, especially analog, especially at Datel where you worked (I used Datel parts as a design engineer), then sure. If ...
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May 8, 2024
Learn how artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) applications at the edge rely on TSMC's N12e manufacturing processes and specialized semiconductor IP.The post How Synopsys IP and TSMC’s N12e Process are Driving AIoT appeared first on Chip Design....
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It’s the little things that get you; Light to Voltage Converters
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Ed Mullins from Analog Devices chat about the what, where, and how of photodiode amplifiers. They discuss the challenges involved in designing these kinds of components, the best practices for analyzing the stability of photodiode amplifiers, and how Analog Devices can help you with your next photodiode amplifier design.
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