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16 March 2007
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News & Analysis
The unraveling of the Crolles2 Alliance, coupled with Texas Instruments' decision to use foundry partners for its future process technology, had observers wondering whether the entire semiconductor industry was about to go fabless.
Engineers want a new bag of tricks to manage signal integrity as data rates soar into multigigahertz territory.
Prices for NAND flash memory chips are projected to crater this year, tumbling by a whopping 65 percent and prompting whispers that this once high-margin technology could soon become a nearly free commodity.
A hard-fought battle for MEMS business looms on the horizon as IDMs bang heads with specialized automotive MEMS makers. Meanwhile, fabless MEMS startups are entering the picture with devices for consumer products.
Motorola and TI recently inked a deal to expand their 3G and WiMAX collaborations—a move that should resuscitate TI's Omap baseband processor family.
Analysts don't see a big take-off for .11n, insisting that the 100Mbps link will not prove very useful for some time, either in public hotspots or home networks.
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Startup Grandis will work to develop embedded and standalone devices based on STT-RAM's method for data writes in a bold attempt to commercialize the technology.
Testing of China's 3G standard has been extended into Q4, dashing handset chipmakers' hopes of cashing in on 3G phones this year.
The strong possibility that DVB-T would eclipse DVB-H has compelled chip vendors to repurpose their products and shift their targets for end-system and geographical markets.
RDA Microelectronics and Comlent are challenging market leaders with their own CMOS-based offerings. The two are also expected to collide in the emerging RF CMOS-based 3G transceiver market.
Cadence has made most of its existing digital IC design and verification tools CPF-compliant. These tools now make up the company's Low Power Solution flow.
CoreABC, an RTL-programmable, soft micro core, and the Core8051s, an 8bit controller IP core based on the venerable 8051 architecture, come free for embedded-systems designers.
Virage Logic's latest version of its non-volatile memory core enables a new class of chips for consumer, RFID and other embedded apps, while requiring 50 percent less space and 30 percent less power.
Insisting there is a market for GPS for the blind, Sendero Group is keen on extending the software that powers talking GPS to cellphones and other mobile platforms.
Broadcom's ContentAware sets policies through seven layers of packet-header information, while BroadShield controls endpoint authentication and access through detailed content inspection.
A free downloadable version of Encirq's DeviceSQL software development framework should help embedded designers gain familiarity with data management and its underlying concepts.
The BOS 6K miniature photoelectric sensor from Balluff Inc. can reliably identify transparent objects, regardless of their shape, color or composition.
The infrastructure needed to make trade-offs among techniques, such as critical-feature analysis and litho-friendly design, should be one in which the actual software considers the implications of other DFM issues.
Today, 'electrical DFM' solutions offer the greatest potential, with opportunities for double-digit percentage gains in parametric yield.
A new class of CDC tools combines functional and structural analysis to identify and verify FIFO and handshake synchronizers, while weeding out false violations.
Verification management requires good analysis of the specification, an awareness of the scope of the job at hand, and a firm decision on what coverage models and metrics to track.
Through the Open Compression Interface, the four largest EDA vendors show they could set politics aside and work together to come up with a common solution.
Technical Features
ODMs designing IP-STBs for Asian markets would do well to use a platform that is flexible enough to accommodate fundamental shifts in market dynamics. (PDF file)
Designers must choose FPGA transceivers based on criteria determined by aggregate bandwidth requirements, protocols and type of media along with EMC and interoperability considerations. (PDF file)
The development of inductive sensing technology offers solutions to the technical challenges and needs of today's demanding automotive electronics. (PDF file)
The buck-boost topology combines the best features of all the other solutions for generating 3.3V from a Li-ion battery, providing both buck and boost functionalities, and using 100 percent of battery capacity. (PDF file)
Companies looking to maximize yield must deploy more effective methods to account for manufacturing effects early in IC development. (PDF file)
Increased usage of white LEDs as a primary lighting source is expected in the future, thus fueling the demand for the LED driver ICs required to power them. (PDF file)
System designers responsible for testing automotive electronics require architectures that can maximize performance, minimize cost and plan for the future. (PDF file)
A virtual system prototype provides a software simulation-based model of the system that allows design teams to improve design productivity, reduce time-to-market and decrease risk. (PDF file)
Opinion
Expect to see this year a furious search for engineering developments that VCs can bet on.
The use of OTP memory could help chip developers handle content protection and post-process analog cost cutting more effectively.
Interview
Richard Goering spoke with Hooman Moshar about Broadcom's distinctive approach to IC verification.
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