#chetanpatil – Chetan Arvind Patil
4o How DFT Evolved Beyond Test To Impact Reliability In the early years of integrated circuit (IC) design, Design-for-Testability (DFT) was primarily introduced to improve manufacturing fault coverage and lower production test costs. Techniques such as scan chains, Built-In Self-Test (BIST), and boundary scans were developed to
4o How Large Is The Mature Node Economy The focus immediately shifts to cutting-edge nodes such as 3nm or 5nm when discussing semiconductors. However, the economic and technological importance of mature semiconductor processes, typically those at or above the 28nm (or 40nm in many cases) node, remains
4o What Is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)? In the semiconductor industry, the cost of a tool, IP block, or software license is rarely limited to what appears on the purchase order. That figure is only the beginning of the financial story. Total Cost of Ownership, or
4o What Is A Semiconductor Smart Factory? If you have spent time reading developments in the semiconductor industry, you have probably heard about the “Semiconductor Smart Factory” term. But what exactly does that mean? In simple terms, a Semiconductor Smart Factory is like your regular manufacturing site,
DALL-E The Rise Of Open-Source Semiconductor Design Traditionally, semiconductor design has been a highly proprietary field dominated by closed ecosystems and tightly controlled intellectual property frameworks. Major industry players have historically maintained strict control over processor architectures, electronic design automation (EDA) tools, design methodologies, and fabrication processes.
DALL-E The AI Debate Artificial Intelligence (AI) often sparks divided opinions as a groundbreaking innovation or technological hype. At the same time, in semiconductor manufacturing, where billions of dollars depend on minuscule yield and efficiency gains, the industry must critically evaluate whether AI delivers transformative results or
DALL-E Fundamental Concepts of Semiconductor Thermography Semiconductor thermography is a non-destructive measurement technique that quantifies and visualizes temperature variations within semiconductor devices, particularly Integrated Circuits (ICs). It primarily operates by detecting infrared (IR) emissions or other temperature-dependent physical changes at the device’s surface, allowing precise characterization of
DALL-E Simulation In Semiconductor Development The semiconductor industry constantly evolves, increasing design complexity and high manufacturing costs. Traditional methods relied on physical prototyping and manual calculations, but as chips now contain billions of transistors, advanced simulation tools have become essential. Simulation allows engineers to test designs, predict
DALL-E Semiconductor Reliability Matters The semiconductor industry thrives on precision, performance, and longevity, from microcontrollers to processors, semiconductors power nearly every aspect of modern life. However, their reliability is not guaranteed, making rigorous testing essential. Reliability testing thus plays a crucial role in ensuring that semiconductors can
DALL-E Importance Of Semiconductor Node Selection Choosing the right technology node is among the most critical engineering and business decisions in semiconductor design, especially for ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) and SoC (System-on-Chip) development. The selection impacts performance, power efficiency, area, cost, design complexity, and market viability. As
DALL-E Continuous Package-Level Scaling Moore’s Law, which predicted the doubling of transistors every two years, is slowing down due to atomic-scale limitations. The industry is adapting by shifting towards advanced packaging solutions that enable continued performance scaling without the need for extreme lithography advancements, such as EUV
DALL-E Semiconductor Defect Pattern Analysis The relentless drive for higher performance, lower power consumption, and increased functionality in semiconductor devices has led to unprecedented complexity in semiconductor manufacturing processes. As technology nodes shrink below 3nm and the adoption of 3D structures, such as GAAFETs, becomes widespread, the
DALL-E The Growing Need For High-Speed Interconnects As AI workloads grow exponentially, the demand for faster, more efficient interconnects between accelerators has become critical. High-performance computing (HPC), data centers, and hyperscale AI clusters are pushing the limits of existing technologies, leading to new interconnect standards. This rapid
DALL-E Specialized Process The semiconductor industry is no longer defined solely by the race for smaller nodes, such as 7nm, 5nm, or 3nm. Instead, its true strength lies in the versatility of specialized process flavors within each node. These process variations are engineered to cater to specific
DALL-E What Is Hybrid AI? Hybrid AI represents a paradigm shift in AI architecture. Instead of relying solely on the cloud for processing, hybrid AI distributes computational workloads between cloud servers and edge devices. Such an architecture offers numerous benefits: This approach mirrors the historical evolution of
DALL-E Renewable Energy And Semiconductor The global push toward renewable energy is redefining how we generate, store, and distribute power, and semiconductor technology is at the core of this transformation. Silicon components enable renewable energy systems, ensuring that solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage operate with
DALL-E What Is Semiconductor Metrology Semiconductor Metrology is the science and technology of measurement explicitly applied to semiconductor manufacturing processes. It encompasses the tools, techniques, and methodologies used to measure and analyze various aspects of semiconductor materials, components, and devices. The primary goal is to ensure that
DALL-E Semiconductor Business The semiconductor industry is often synonymous with cutting-edge technology, intricate chip designs, and high-stakes manufacturing. Yet, beyond the labs and fabrication facilities lies an equally critical dimension: the business side. Careers in the semiconductor business domain are as pivotal as technical roles. They shape
DALL-E Integration Of AI In FAB The semiconductor industry has long been constantly pushing the boundaries of what technology can achieve. As it nears the physical limits of what is possible, the next transformative leap is not surprising but inevitable: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Semiconductor manufacturing is inherently
DALL-E What Is Semiconductor Product Development? Semiconductor product development is the intricate process of transforming innovative semiconductor designs into fully functional, market-ready products. It bridges the gap between conceptual ideas and real-world applications by integrating critical disciplines such as design, testing, validation, manufacturing, and packaging. This multifaceted
DALL-E AI Chatbot And Semiconductor Product Development Semiconductor product development will continue at the forefront of technological innovation, driving advancements in countless industries. As the demand for smaller, faster, and more efficient devices grows, the complexity of designing and manufacturing semiconductors will also escalate. Traditional methods, though
DALL-E AI And Semiconductor The relentless pursuit of miniaturization, speed, and complexity has long defined the semiconductor industry. Driven by Moore’s Law, which predicts that the number of transistors on a chip doubles approximately every two years, this principle has been the cornerstone of semiconductor innovation for
DALL-E The Role Of AI In Key Areas Of Chip Design The increasing complexity of semiconductor chips, with billions of transistors densely packed, poses challenges in performance, efficiency, and design time. AI is now a powerful assistive tool, automating many aspects of chip design. In placement optimization,
DALL-E Why New Materials Are Needed The semiconductor industry has been built on the backbone of silicon for decades. While silicon has served us well, its physical limitations are becoming more apparent as we push the boundaries of device miniaturization and performance. The demand for higher speed,
DALL-E The Surge In Fab Construction It is no secret that the semiconductor industry is seeing an unprecedented boom in FAB construction. We are not talking about incremental growth. We are witnessing a monumental shift in how and where these crucial facilities are built. Over 80 new
DALL-E FAB And Yield Yield in semiconductor manufacturing is a complex concept that measures the efficiency and effectiveness of the production process. It is usually expressed as the ratio of the number of good dies (functional chips) to the total number of dies made on a wafer.
DALL-E Precision And Semiconductors Precision is not just a technical term in semiconductor manufacturing. It is the foundation on which everything is built. As the FET devices get smaller, faster, and more advanced, the margin for error becomes razor-thin. That is where metrology comes in. It is
DALL-E Understanding LLM And AI Agents LLM-based models like GPT have been developed to comprehend, create, and interact with human language on a large scale. Trained on extensive text data, these models can produce coherent and contextually relevant information, making them valuable across various applications. LLMs’ full
DALL-E The Importance Of IP In Semiconductors Semiconductors are powering everything from smartphones to advanced AI systems. The IP associated with these technologies, such as patents, trade secrets, and proprietary designs, represents a company’s competitive edge and billions of dollars in investment. For example, in 2021, the
DALL-E Semiconductors And PCB Semiconductors play a crucial role in modern electronic devices by providing processing, memory, and logic functions within microprocessors, memory chips, and integrated circuits. Their precise control of electrical current is essential for today’s complex technology. However, semiconductors require robust support and interconnection infrastructure
DALL-E The Dual Imperative Of Innovation And Sustainability In Semiconductor Manufacturing Semiconductors are the backbone of countless technologies, from smartphones and computers to medical devices and renewable energy systems. As the demand for more powerful and efficient devices grows, the semiconductor industry faces the dual imperative of
DALL-E Yield, Cost Efficiency And Product Quality Understanding the various types of semiconductor yield is essential for optimizing production processes, leading to significant cost savings. Higher yield rates result in more functional chips per wafer, reducing the cost per chip and ensuring efficient use of materials and
DALL-E COGS And Semiconductor The semiconductor industry is a complex and highly competitive market, with companies constantly striving to reduce costs and improve efficiency. One key metric that semiconductor companies use to measure their performance is the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), which represents the direct costs
DALL-E The Value And Cost Of Semiconductor Data Semiconductor data is a vital yet costly resource. Unlike other data types, it requires significant financial investments to generate and maintain. Today, let us explore the economic impact of semiconductor data generation, supported by real-world examples and statistics. What
DALL-E Importance Of Semiconductor Yield Semiconductor yield, the percentage of functional chips produced from a wafer, is a critical factor in the semiconductor industry. Yield influences production’s cost efficiency and determines manufacturing operations’ overall economic viability. High yield directly impacts various economic aspects, including cost per chip,
DALL-E Semiconductor Product Development And Yield Correlation The semiconductor industry continually innovates and introduces new products to meet the growing demands for more powerful and efficient electronic devices. The successful launch of these new semiconductor products always hinges critically on yield. As such, yields are not just a
DALL-E Understanding The Semiconductor Industry Landscape: A Workforce Perspective The semiconductor industry is dynamic and rapidly evolving, offering a wide array of career opportunities for a skilled workforce. With the global market projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, the demand for talent is growing, particularly in
DALL-E Why Semiconductor Manufacturing The semiconductor industry is the backbone of modern technology, powering everything from smartphones to advanced computing systems. In 2022 alone, the global semiconductor market was valued at over $500 billion and projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, driven by advancements in artificial
DALL-E India And Semiconductor India’s semiconductor industry is on the cusp of a significant transformation, driven by a huge demand for talent and rapid technological advancements. With 2.55 million STEM graduates yearly, India ranks second globally in producing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics graduates. As the world
DALL-E Semiconductor Node Race The semiconductor industry has long been dedicated to achieving exceptional performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, primarily by advancing smaller process nodes. However, the increasing physical and economic challenges of further node shrinking have prompted a strategic shift in focus. This exciting shift, known as
DALL-E Semiconductor And Virtualization In the ever-evolving landscape of semiconductor manufacturing, staying ahead of technological advancements and maintaining a highly skilled workforce is critical for success. While effective, traditional training methods often have significant costs, safety concerns, and accessibility limitations. Enter virtualization – a transformative approach that
DALL-E What Is A Semiconductor Corridor A Semiconductor Corridor refers to a strategic network of regions and countries collaborating closely to enhance and optimize the semiconductor supply chain. This corridor involves interconnected semiconductor manufacturing hubs, research, development, and logistics to create a more resilient and efficient semiconductor
DALL-E Semiconductor And Economy: The semiconductor industry is a cornerstone, powering everything from smartphones to supercomputers. As this industry further grows, understanding the economic dimensions of it becomes increasingly critical. To capture this essence, introducing Seminometrics, an interdisciplinary field that combines the intricate technology of semiconductors with the
DALL-E Semiconductor And India In recent years, the semiconductor industry has emerged as a cornerstone of modern technology, underpinning advancements in everything from consumer electronics to automotive and healthcare systems. India, recognizing the strategic importance of this sector, has embarked on a significant push to cultivate a
DALL-E Yield And Wafer Excursions: In the complex world of semiconductor manufacturing, maintaining a high yield – the percentage of functional devices from a batch of wafers – is the ultimate goal. However, various challenges, including wafer excursions, can impede this process. These wafer-level deviations from the
DALL-E Premier On Semiconductor FAB And OSAT A semiconductor FAB is a production plant where devices such as integrated circuits are manufactured. These facilities are equipped with clean rooms and sophisticated equipment to precisely control environmental conditions, ensuring the high quality and purity required for semiconductor manufacturing. Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test
DALL-E The State Of Semiconductor Career In an era of rapid technological advancements, the semiconductor industry is a critical pillar, driving innovation in nearly every sector, from automotive to healthcare. As this industry continues to grow, fueled by the relentless demand for more innovative, faster technology, the
DALL-E What Is Semiconductor Education The landscape of semiconductor education is pivotal to the continued innovation and growth in the tech industry, especially when designing and manufacturing digital and analog circuits, which play a critical role in various sectors, including computing, telecommunications, automotive, and consumer electronics. Semiconductor
DALL-E AI And Semiconductor Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into semiconductor product development is a burgeoning frontier, pushing the limits of what is possible in computation, data processing, and automation. One of the primary fears surrounding the use of AI in semiconductor development is the potential disruption of
DALL-E AI Ushering New Era Of Data Centers As artificial intelligence (AI) incorporates itself into various industries, the demand for more sophisticated computing power is rising. At the core of this technological evolution is the development of semiconductor AI centers, a concept that promises to redefine the
DALL-E General Purpose GPU General Purpose GPUs (GPGPUs) represent a significant evolution in computing, transforming GPUs from specialized hardware focused solely on graphics processing to versatile computing units capable of handling a broad range of tasks. This shift has enabled GPUs to play a crucial role in
DALL-E Semiconductor Testing Semiconductor testing, also known as integrated circuit (IC) testing or chip testing, is a critical process in the semiconductor manufacturing cycle. It verifies that ICs function before being deployed in various applications, ranging from consumer electronics to critical automotive systems. This testing phase ensures
DALL-E Semiconductor And India In 2020, I wrote an article titled “The Status Of Semiconductor Manufacturing In India,” focusing on the status of India’s semiconductor ecosystem at the time. Since then, India has seen substantial developments and strategic shifts toward establishing a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem. India’s journey
DALL-E Semiconductors In Everyday Life The dominance of semiconductor giants like NVIDIA, with a market capitalization exceeding $3 trillion, and TSMC, valued at nearly $700 billion, among the top 10 largest companies globally, underscores the seismic shift towards a semiconductor-driven economy. These (and many other) firms, pivotal
DALL-E The World Of AI SoC Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a cornerstone in the rapidly evolving computing technology landscape, driving innovation across various sectors. At the core of AI’s transformative power are specialized silicon chips, AI Systems on Chips (SoCs), designed to process AI algorithms
DALL-E Post-Tape Out Validation Types The post-silicon tape-out phase in semiconductor product development involves rigorous testing to ensure that the manufactured devices meet their intended specifications and perform reliably in real-world applications. This phase is critical because it represents the first opportunity to evaluate the physical samples
DALL-E What Are Semiconductor Custom Chip Semiconductor custom chips, also known as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), represent a specialized category of electronic components designed to perform specific functions or tasks within electronic devices. Unlike general-purpose chips that can run a wide range of applications, custom chips are
DALL-E Students And Computational Lithography I recently wrote about computational lithography. Several students asked, apart from mathematics skills, what more is required to align educational training so one has a better chance of joining semiconductors as a computational lithography engineer. I thought a lot about this, and outlined
DALL-E Data To AI Centers Data centers have been essential for storing, managing, and processing data for several decades. However, we are now on the brink of a new era of technology, and a significant shift is imminent. Traditional data centers will be replaced by AI Centers,
DALL-E Semiconductor, Students, Functions And Skills In the last blog post, I wrote about a guide students can use to select a major with a focus of joining the semiconductor industry as an engineer. As an extension to that blog, I am now writing about another guide that
DALL-E India And Semiconductor Talent I have been getting a lot of emails and messages (on social media) regarding how a student (mainly in India) can wisely decide which specific undergraduate engineering majors to select to ensure the coursework-based training aligns with the semiconductor industry’s requirements. Thus,
DALL-E The research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has unveiled a novel use of coal in microelectronics. It leads to the question of whether coal (a resource that is widely available
DALL-E The semiconductor industry is driven not just by innovation but also by the economics of production. At the core of this economic landscape is yield – a term that might seem technical at first glance but also drives the financial realities of semiconductor manufacturing. Understanding this
DALL-E Introduction To PCIe: Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X, and AGP bus standards. It connects high-speed components in a computer, such as graphics cards, SSDs, and network cards. Unlike its predecessors, PCIe
DALL-E An AI Accelerator is specialized hardware designed to process artificial intelligence (AI) tasks efficiently. These accelerators are specifically optimized to handle computations related to machine learning and deep learning algorithms, which are the core of most modern AI applications. Key features and purposes of AI Accelerators
DALL-E In the fast-paced world of semiconductor product development, two metrics stand out as pivotal to the success and efficiency of manufacturing: yield and test time. Yield, the percentage of functional chips in a production batch, directly influences the cost-effectiveness and viability of semiconductor products. Simultaneously, test
DALL-E The semiconductor industry, often termed the backbone of modern technology, is crucial for advancing and sustaining almost all major sectors, from telecommunications to automotive. As the world rapidly transitions towards a more digitized future, the significance of semiconductors has escalated, leading to a global race in
DALL-E OpenAI’s involvement in semiconductor chip development could mark a significant shift in the industry, bringing about advancements in silicon design, silicon software stack development, R&D investment, and the application of GenAI in chip design. However, the complexity and cost of chip development have escalated, posing significant
Adobe Firefly Several companies have established themselves as prominent mobile System-On-A-Chip (SoC) technology players. The landscape is characterized by intense competition and rapid innovation, leading to the continuous evolution of SoC capabilities. Some of the leading SoC vendors that are competing to capture a share of the
Adobe Firefly In semiconductor manufacturing, lithography is a pivotal process. It involves transferring circuit patterns onto a silicon wafer, a foundational step in creating integrated circuits (ICs). Two of the most advanced lithography techniques currently at the forefront of this industry are Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) and Nanoimprint
Adobe Firefly Graphics Processor Units (GPUs) have become the default go-to architecture whenever the requirement is for faster throughput. The primary reason is the massively parallel processing with the help of many cores and how the memories get organized around them. Due to the benefits of such
Adobe Firefly What Is Semiconductor Yield Management: The manufacturing of semiconductor devices is a highly intricate process that involves multiple steps. Even minor deviations in these steps can result in defects that render the device non-functional. Semiconductor yield management is a process that aims to identify and
Adobe Firefly The realm of artificial intelligence (AI) is experiencing a transformative shift, primarily driven by innovative AI chips developed by startups. These enterprises are challenging the status quo, bringing cutting-edge chip architectures tailored to optimize deep learning, neural networks, and other AI tasks. By pushing the
Adobe Firefly Semiconductor test engineering is a specialized domain within the semiconductor industry that ensures integrated circuits (ICs) function correctly and meet industry standards before delivery. The progression from matured nodes (above 40nm) to advanced nodes (at and below 40nm) has brought about profound changes in the
Adobe Firefly Semiconductor wafer processing is an intricate series of steps to produce integrated circuits on silicon wafers. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has proven to be a powerful tool in refining and enhancing these processes. AI offers a range of applications in semiconductor wafer processing. Leveraging AI technologies
Adobe Firefly Semiconductor packaging is one of the last steps in semiconductor manufacturing and a crucial one. Protecting the silicon die from physical, mechanical, and thermal damage is only possible with a packaging solution. Silicon package technologies are also vital in developing interfaces that enable new architectures,
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash Chiplet is undoubtedly the most suitable semiconductor design and manufacturing solution to scale complex chips reaching the reticle limit. Several silicon products have already adopted chiplet, mainly processors. These products have showcased that using multiple chiplet can significantly improve performance. All while not worrying
Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash Congress passed the CHIPS And Science Act a year ago. Since then, many positive activities have rightly shaped the future of the U.S. semiconductor industry. It is valid for all the critical pillars of the semiconductor industry. Right from an increase in semiconductor-focused research,
Photo by Mayer Tawfik on Unsplash It has been one year since the US passed the CHIPS And Science Act. Ever since then, the American semiconductor ecosystem has seen a lot of activities and ground progress. It is evident from the expansion of Intel’s network of FABs in the US
Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash India is betting on end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing, which is the right step to meet the growing demand for the country’s semiconductor requirements. If executed as planned, the import of silicon chips will drastically decrease and will remove the dependency on the other countries. The
Photo by David Schultz on Unsplash Electronic Design Automation (EDA) is integral to semiconductor product development. Over the last four decades, the EDA industry has revolutionized how chips get designed, verified, simulated, and validated. During this time, EDA vendors have also adapted to different changing computing landscapes. For example, the
Photo by Brecht Corbeel on Unsplash Generative AI (GenAI) is creating new ideas and the market for the software industry. Software developers are using GenAI to develop tools to revolutionize the digital world. Per experts, we are only getting started with GenAI. And, at some point, the semiconductor industry will
Photo by Pascal Swier on Unsplash Coopetition is a business strategy that combines competition and cooperation. In the semiconductor industry, coopetition can take many forms, such as: Joint Ventures: Collaborate to develop a new product or technology. Alliance: Resources or expertise sharing to achieve a common goal. Open Source: Contribute to
Photo by Thufeil M on Unsplash Semiconductor Design for X (DFX) is a set of principles that can be applied to any product to improve its manufacturability, testability, reliability, and other critical technical aspects. With the ever-increasing complexity of semiconductor products, it has become crucial to ensure the DFX methodologies
Photo by Google DeepMind on Unsplash Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is a hypothetical type of artificial intelligence that can understand or learn any intellectual task a human can. AGI is still a long way off, but if achieved, it could profoundly impact several technological areas, including the design of silicon
Photo by Trnava University on Unsplash Semiconductor engineering is a field that distinguishes basic and applied science. On the one hand, it relies on a deep understanding of fundamental physics, such as the behavior of electrons in solids. On the other hand, it also requires the ability to apply this
Photo by Bill Fairs on Unsplash Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing field revolutionizing many industries. However, AI highly depends on semiconductors, the electronic components that power computers and other devices. Semiconductors are essential for AI because they provide the processing power and memory needed to run AI algorithms.
Photo by Raphael GB on Unsplash The semiconductor manufacturing business model is changing from FATE to FAST. FATE stands for Fabrication, Assembly, and TEesting, while FAST covers full-flow, i.e., Fabrication, ASsembly, and Testing. In the FATE model, the fabrication of semiconductor chips is with one specific company, while a different
Photo by Dan Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash Computational lithography is a specialized field in the semiconductor manufacturing domain. It is used during lithography when advanced algorithmic models optimize the patterning and masking process. It is done by deforming the patterns to compensate for the physical and chemical effects naturally occurring
Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash The semiconductor industry continually faces challenges as it shrinks transistor sizes to increase performance. One promising solution to achieve this goal is the use of chiplets. Chiplet is small; independent silicon dies that can be interconnected to create a larger, more powerful chip –
Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash These latest trends in semiconductor manufacturing are significantly impacting the industry. These trends lead to faster, more powerful, and more efficient semiconductor chips. It drives demand for semiconductors in various applications, from smartphones and computers to cars and medical devices. Thus, it is critical
Photo by D koi on Unsplash Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving as a critical application enabler. However, the high computational requirements of AI algorithms pose a challenge for semiconductor design and manufacturing. It is where the AI chip stack comes into the picture and will undoubtedly change AI-focused hardware,
Photo by Cristiano Firmani on Unsplash In 2010, Intel launched a new architecture-based solution for the high-end workstations. Codenamed Intel Xeon Phi Knights Ferry. It was a co-processor that would allow faster processing and training due to the massively parallel thread and memory level optimization with the help of multiple
Photo by Artiom Vallat on Unsplash In computer architecture, computing (compute), memory, and interconnect are the three main components of a computer system and are thus critical in CPU, GPU, and XPU design. These three pillars determine the speed and efficiency of the system. The faster these three blocks are,
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash The semiconductor industry is constantly evolving, and one of the most promising new technologies is the semiconductor processor-in-memory (PIM). PIM is a new approach to computing that integrates processing units directly into memory chips. It can significantly improve performance and efficiency, especially for applications
Photo by Vasilis Chatzopoulos on Unsplash The automotive industry is increasingly using semiconductor XPUs to power advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving features. XPUs perform specific tasks, such as image processing, object detection, and machine learning, much faster than traditional CPUs. Making them ideal for use in ADAS
Photo by Mihai on Unsplash Semiconductor fabrication is a complex process of designing and manufacturing electronic components such as microchips and transistors. It is a critical component of the electronics industry, providing the backbone for numerous devices such as computers, smartphones, and televisions. Despite its importance, the semiconductor fabrication process
Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash The semiconductor product finds applications in various solutions, from smartphones to autonomous vehicles. To continually achieve the application requirements, the industry relies on high-tech talent and thus has a strong connection with academia. Academia, therefore, plays a crucial role in training the semiconductor workforce.
Photo by Carlos Irineu da Costa on Unsplash The semiconductor industry has been at the forefront of technological innovation for decades, driving progress in computing, communications, and consumer electronics. In recent years, the industry has seen significant advancements in materials science, with the development of new materials and processes that
Photo by Elly Brian on Unsplash The semiconductor manufacturing industry is highly complex, requiring a well-planned and managed resource allocation, product flow, and supply chain. Effective management of the factories and other resources is also essential to ensure high-quality semiconductor goods. It includes carefully considering capacity, material planning, logistics, and
Photo by Dan Lohmar on Unsplash Neural processing units (NPUs) are specialized neural copilot processors designed to accelerate data flow through neural networks. They are used to process large amounts of data quickly and accurately, allowing for faster and more efficient machine learning. NPUs differ from CPUs, GPUs, XPUs, and
Photo by DeepMind on Unsplash The semiconductor industry has significantly contributed to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Semiconductors have enabled software developers to create AI-ready applications by providing the necessary hardware components. It has allowed for faster and more efficient processing of data, as well as improved accuracy in
Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash Modular supercomputing semiconductor is a type of architecture that enables the use of multiple processors in a single system. It provides high speed, low latency, and high throughput for applications that require large amounts of data processing. This type of architecture allows for the
Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash The future of semiconductor capacity is uncertain due to the increasing demand for chips and the limited availability of production facilities. It has led to a situation where certain countries, regions, and companies monopolize producing semiconductors. The distribution of semiconductor capacity across different countries
Photo by Alex wong on Unsplash The applications that run on silicon architecture are constantly evolving. Today, these architectures are more compute and memory intensive than ever before. It also means that the users of these applications are processing more data and thus demand the lowest latency possible. In reality,
Photo by Mathieu Turle on Unsplash The semiconductor value chain is a global hub of design, manufacturing, and business activities that significantly impact the economy. The semiconductor industry is estimated to contribute more than $400 billion in annual revenue to the global economy, which is possible only due to the
Photo by Vishnu Mohanan on Unsplash The semiconductor market has evolved rapidly and will grow significantly in the coming years. The emergence of new areas, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous vehicles, will drive this growth. However, this growth will also bring challenges, such as increased competition and
Photo by Minku Kang on Unsplash Semiconductor production is a complex process requiring much precision and accuracy. It has been an integral part of the electronics industry for decades, and its importance only increases as technology advances. The production of semiconductors involves many steps and requires highly specialized equipment and
Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash The semiconductor wall is a term used to describe the limits of silicon devices due to the challenges faced by different types of constraints of current semiconductor technology. This wall has become increasingly apparent in recent years as processor speeds have plateaued, leading
Photo by DeepMind on Unsplash Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an increasingly important role in semiconductor fabrication. AI is being used to automate the semiconductor process of designing and manufacturing semiconductors and optimize the process for maximum efficiency. Additionally, AI detects and diagnoses problems in the fabrication process, allowing for faster
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash Semiconductor capacity is a critical factor in the future of the electronics industry. Thus, it is essential to ensure a balance between the demand and supply of semiconductors, as well as cost-effectiveness and capital expenditure (CapEx). Also, the semiconductor industry has seen tremendous growth
Photo by Javier Miranda on Unsplash The use of semiconductor technology in sports is becoming increasingly popular. With the help of data collected from sensors, athletes can now track their performance and improve their game. This data also allows coaches to make better decisions. Semiconductor technology has also enabled sports
Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash The use cases of Artificial Intelligence are increasing year after year. To deliver the much-required performance, the silicon technology platform is critical. The computing industry has developed different types of AI-inspired applications and is now looking for a perfect silicon architecture that can cater
Photo by DeepMind on Unsplash System-On-A-Chip (SoC) has been in the market for decades. The core-level features have provided the much-needed processing capabilities to drive data-driven applications. However, the capabilities provided by the underlying architecture of SoC are not suitable for applications that are always crunching and training the data.
Photo by Oleg Gospodarec on Unsplash There are thousands of different types of semiconductor chips in the market. Year after year, the number is only increasing. Thus, creating a large pool of options to choose from while also enabling customers with different feature sets. Ideally, this should be positive news
Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash The semiconductor node is the most vital technical topic in the semiconductor industry. Technology node forms the basis for developing different types of silicon products. Over the last decade, top semiconductor manufacturers have invested a lot of time and capital to bring new semiconductor
Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash The semiconductor ecosystem comprises distributed end-to-end semiconductor processes. These processes cover a different aspects of silicon development. It ranges from the market requirement, then moves to design, validation and if all goes as planned, then eventually mass manufacturing. However, these steps are not guaranteed
Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash Adaptive, specialized, and the balance of power and performance have become a central point for designing different types of efficient processing units. To help with this vision, FPGAs have become an integral part. Mainly due to the features FPGA architecture provides. Currently, the market
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash Data has become more relevant than ever for semiconductor product development. More so when the applications of silicon devices are increasing year after year and touching every aspect of day-to-day life. As the semiconductor data complexity increase This increase in the importance of semiconductor
Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash The semiconductor market has always followed the seesaw mode. With a seesaw, there are time intervals when the market has high demand followed by low demand. This trend impacts the semiconductor in different possible ways, and one of them is the long-term product development
Photo by Farai Gandiya on Unsplash Semiconductor speed is dependent on performance characteristics. These characteristics define the operating states and how fast or slow the silicon-based system will operate. Over the last five decades, the semiconductor speed has only increased exponentially. Consider the example of the CPU core. Today, the
Photo by Christophe Hautier on Unsplash Semiconductor manufacturing relies heavily on the semiconductor FAB and OSAT. Semiconductor FAB turns the design into fabricated wafers. On another side, OSATs convert fabricated wafers into finished goods. End customers to develop consumer and enterprise solutions using the finished goods. Semiconductor FAB and OSAT
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash The semiconductor supply chain ensures that the fabricated, assembled, and the tested product reaches customers on time. Achieving this goal requires eliminating all the bottlenecks that might impact the supply process. The standard process to mitigate bottlenecks is to capture the end-to-end supply chain requirements
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash In the coming few years, several new semiconductor FABs will start production. Several of these were part of long-term semiconductor requirements. Few started construction based on the semiconductor shortages and the push to mitigate such a scenario in the future. These new FAB required
Photo by Thomas Jensen on Unsplash Data centers are vital for modern-day computing and have also evolved based on the requirements of different types of computing. Today, there are different types of data centers. However, of all, hyperscale data centers are on the rise. Hyperscale data centers house several connected
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash The design and development of an AI Chip is not an easy process. More so when the cost is high while the use cases are limited. It thus makes the process of selecting requirements for an AI Chip a critical one. These requirements for
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash Lately, several AI-driven silicon chip solutions have showcased the benefits of utilizing the semiconductor chips designed and manufactured for the AI application. It is also evident based on the several new XPUs being AI-compatible, which is possible only by combining the best features of
Photo by John Jemison on Unsplash Developing new consumer and enterprise technology requires a new type of semiconductor technology, ranging from design, raw materials, equipment, packaging, fabrication, manufacturing, and many more segments of semiconductors. These technologies developed are called semiconductor enabling technology. Enabling technology brings a new type of semiconductor
Photo by Robert Ruggiero on Unsplash The development of new technology always leads to new types of data. Processing varying and vast amounts of data require computer architecture. These architectures balance the latency and throughput to ensure the user experience is not compromised. And to enhance the user experience, the
Photo by Harrison Broadbent on Unsplash Semiconductor companies not only design silicon devices but also (directly and indirectly) power different types of embedded systems. These systems (smart devices, laptops, servers, etc.) cater to consumer and enterprise electronics. And to validate new ideas or prototypes, embedded systems play a crucial role.
Photo by Dan Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash The semiconductor industry is all about value creation for the business dependent on it. This value is primarily due to Moore’s first law-driven semiconductor product that brought several generations of computing solutions. And, to ensure the value creation process continues forever, More-Than-Moore solutions
Photo by Andrew Gook on Unsplash The semiconductor market is highly volatile. Positive or negative demand significantly impacts the end-to-end supply chain. Avoiding scenarios requires equilibrium of supply and demand, which is difficult to achieve due to the several variables of the semiconductor supply system. Even with several variables like
Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash New silicon-powered products should have advanced features. These features also have to differentiate from the existing ones. Otherwise, the probability of success in the market will be very low. On the opposite side, the new semiconductor technology development is slowing down due to the
Photo by Luan Gjokaj on Unsplash Semiconductor products are struggling to meet the demand to balance power, performance, and area requirements. The challenge to enable efficiency is increasing while there is also a need to meet new technological requirements without adding bottlenecks. Such challenges are slowly becoming impossible tasks whereby
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash The government of several countries has realized the need to establish a semiconductor ecosystem that can cater to computing needs for decades to come without relying on external factors. In doing so, several new policies and acts are getting approved with the sole purpose
Photo by Andrés Dallimonti on Unsplash Building blocks of semiconductor products are shrinking and providing more area to pack new features. It has enabled the industry with options that are eventually powering billions of devices around the globe. Such proliferation is positive news for the semiconductor industry and industries that
Photo by Robert V. Ruggiero on Unsplash Advanced manufacturing is one of the most important development and is pushing manufacturing (across industries) towards a new era. Several criteria decide whether a given manufacturing industry stands to call itself an advanced one. These criteria (not set) have been around for a
Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash The semiconductor fabrication process is complex and costly, and it takes a lot of time to fabricate advanced solutions. Apart from the technical and business hurdles, the ability to develop one specific type of semiconductor device node is not resource-friendly. It also drives
Photo by Vishnu Mohanan on Unsplash Several semiconductor industry-wide roadmaps are planned and released by semiconductor companies and also different technical semiconductor groups. These semiconductor roadmaps are vital in providing glimpses of future semiconductor technologies and how they will shape silicon products. Out of all the semiconductor roadmaps, the two
Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash Chiplets are changing the way complex products like XPUs getting designed and manufactured. Its impact is how modular the new XPU solutions are becoming. This modularity is paving the way for new-age IP-driven XPU design and manufacturing and opening up features that were not
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash The complexity of semiconductor devices is increasing at a rapid pace. The reason is the demand for new features, which requires novel design and manufacturing approaches, which come at a higher cost due to the time, resources, and investment needed to enable new semiconductor
Photo by Christopher Bill on Unsplash Advancements in package technology are as vital as advancements in technology nodes. These two semiconductor solutions enable silicon products to work per the required specifications. Technology node innovation has occurred more rapidly than package technology. Given that now the technology node is going to
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash Data has become a vital commodity in today’s market. The same is valid for the semiconductor industry. More so when the cost to capture the semiconductor data is rising. The semiconductor data capturing is directly tied to the process level solution that demands high-cost
Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash The technology roadmap for the semiconductor device level scaling is updated yearly. However, implementation demands several years of continuous effort. It is also why only a few semiconductor manufacturing firms can follow the technology scaling roadmap accurately. For semiconductor design and manufacturing companies to
Photo by Liam Briese on Unsplash In the last two years, the semiconductor manufacturing capacity has seen all the ups and downs it could have. From rising silicon demand to overflowing orders to capacity crunch to building new futurist capacity, all of these in a short period. In the end,
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash More than 50% of the semiconductor FAB (fabrication) cost is due to equipment and tools. Any given FAB has hundred different types of these, and without the required tools and equipment, the FAB cannot work efficiently. One piece of equipment that drives the semiconductor
Photo by Lukas on Unsplash Processors are an integral part of any computing device. For the last few years, the importance of providing efficient and high-performance processors has only grown over the decade. It has thus shifted the design and manufacturing aspect of processing units, thus enabling the transition towards
Photo by Daniel Pantu on Unsplash The race to create computer architecture that mimics the human brain has led to the creation of neuromorphic architectures, and there is not a single computer architecture-focused semiconductor company that has not launched neuro-inspired silicon chips. However, creating a very large-scale neuromorphic XPU is
Photo by Emma Francis on Unsplash The semiconductor industry is going through one of the most exciting phases. Worldwide the demand for semiconductor-powered products is increasing and driving very high silicon demand that the semiconductor industry has never seen before. It has also re-ignited the debate to build more semiconductor
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven by Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) has found its way into several industrial and consumer products. There is not a single high-tech solution that is not getting pitched as being AI-powered. AI also requires a silicon platform that
Photo by Skye Studios on Unsplash Industries and companies worldwide are focused on creating value, without which it is not possible to survive the customer-driven market. The semiconductor industry is no different and has consistently added value over the last four decades. The value created by the semiconductor industry has
Photo by Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash Semiconductor end-to-end product development is a highly complex process. The majority of these processes are also proprietary. Developing a proprietary process is vital as it allows companies to bring innovation and never-seen-before products and solutions, which in the long term drive market position and
Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash The end-to-end semiconductor design and manufacturing are dependent on the ecosystem. It is evident from the regions that have become a pillar of the semiconductor industry. These regions have grown steadily for decades while creating business and employment opportunities. Developing a semiconductor ecosystem is
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash Automotive has always been an integral part of day-to-day life. Worldwide, billions of people drive vehicles, and the goal is the same: reaching the next destination safely and on time. Achieving this goal is only possible due to the different features and components that come together to
Photo by Taylor Hammersla on Unsplash Semiconductor capacity has been the most talked-about topic due to the semiconductor shortage. Companies and countries are upgrading or building semiconductor manufacturing to cater to ever-increasing demand. However, simply increasing the semiconductor capacity is not the answer and often comes with several techniques to
Photo by L N on Unsplash Semiconductor products often fail, and finding the root cause thus becomes a critical process. More so, when the product is already in production. Failure and root cause analysis are vital steps towards finding issues with the semiconductor product. Doing so requires an inspection process
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash There are several parts to semiconductor product development, and without cross-industry collaboration and standardization, it is impossible to move forward (next-gen solutions). Collaboration and standardization have triggered several innovative solutions that have only taken the semiconductor industry forward. These strategic approaches come in different
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash Software is the backbone of several industries, including semiconductor. Several (maybe all) semiconductor activities cannot work without a software solution and are valid for several key stages like design, manufacturing, supply chain, and many more. This growing reliance on several stages is the primary
Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash There is not a single industry that does not rely on strategic partnerships. The semiconductor industry is no different, and semiconductor companies have to rely on a strategic partnership to achieve the goal of a successful product launch. The semiconductor industry has several different
Photo by Justin Luebke on Unsplash The semiconductor industry is going through a wave of consolidation. It is not the first time the semiconductor industry is marching through such a wave. However, everyone time it does, it often has positive and negative impacts. The reduction in the number of companies
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash The key factors to gauge the impact of any industry are by capturing: economic activity and employment generation. These two factors also apply to the semiconductor industry and are evident from year-on-year impact and growth. The economic impact is dependent on job creation. Thus,
Photo by gustavo Campos on Unsplash 73rd Formula One World Championship has started. Ten teams and twenty drivers will compete for the next ten months by running high-speed cars across twenty-two different types of racing circuits located in several parts of the world. The team with consistent results, flawless drivers,
Photo by Vishnu Mohanan on Unsplash Since the semiconductor shortage started, private semiconductor players and public bodies have focused on semiconductor manufacturing. The primary reason impact semiconductor shortage had on all other industries that heavily rely on semiconductor solutions. One of the positive impacts of semiconductor shortage (which ideally should
Photo by Chris Ried on Unsplash The shrinking size of semiconductor nodes has led to better performance, which is beneficial from a features point of view, but not from the cost point of view. The cost to design and manufacture highly complex chips (to provide better performance) is increasing year
Photo by Nenad Grujic on Unsplash Heterogeneous Integration (HI) has become one of the most focused topics in the last decade. From academia to industry, everyone is publishing and launching innovative solutions to scale transistors per area out of the die. HI is also one of the paths (that soon)
Photo by ShareGrid on Unsplash Semiconductor testing is one of the most critical steps in ensuring that the product meets all the required specifications and quality standards. Thus semiconductor testing has also become a major driving factor for defect-free products. Every chip manufactured has to go through testing processes to
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash Advanced semiconductor package technologies have always played a crucial role in transistor scaling. It is also the primary reason these two scaling methods complement each other to enable customers (and industry) with innovative solutions. Die and package level innovation have always provided the industry
Photo by Stefan Kunze on Unsplash The semiconductor industry is entering a new era where all high-tech solutions will demand new and advanced semiconductor product-driven solutions. These solutions range from wireless to automotive. In this massive market (upward of $2 Trillion), there will be a need to re-invent different segments
Photo by Testalize.me on Unsplash Semiconductor manufacturing cost is increasing year on year. The reasons are the high cost to develop new semiconductor manufacturing processes, which often requires constant up-gradation of facilities. As semiconductor manufacturers expand to new regions, the most critical piece will be the push for innovation. The
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash Logic devices (FETs) are the building blocks of semiconductor products. Today’s silicon chip can easily have billions of these logic devices. It is also in line with Moore’s law, and today’s semiconductor technology allows the possibility of packing more logic devices without impacting the total
Photo by Alex Motoc on Unsplash The computing industry relies on semiconductor products to enable faster processing. And, to drive real-time processing semiconductor industry has to keep innovating. This two-way hand-shake reliance has grown over the last decade (due to new software demand) and will only grow more in the
Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash The semiconductor industry in 2020 grew at the rate of ~11% and is on its way to almost doubling it to ~18% in 2021. This growth is mainly due to the increasing share of semiconductor products in day-to-day life. Several high-tech solutions are running
Photo by Testalize.me on Unsplash Moore’s second law, or Rock’s law, states that the cost of a semiconductor manufacturing plant doubles every four years. It is in line with the increase in transistor density, which demands high-tech and advanced solutions which directly contribute to the cost of semiconductor manufacturing plant
Photo by samarth shirke on Unsplash Countries all over the world are coming up with policies and incentives targeted towards semiconductor manufacturers. It is due to the dependence countries will have on semiconductors which are the backbone of the digital economy. In the same line, India has also come up
Photo by Harrison Broadbent on Unsplash THE POSITIVES OF SEMICONDUCTOR POWERED FPGA Year on year, for decades, Moore’s law has inspired semiconductor designers and manufacturers to pack more devices in the same silicon area. It has thus provided the computing world with different types of semiconductor products to process the
Photo by Tyler Lastovich on Unsplash THE REASONS FOR BUILDING SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING IN INDIA By 2025, India will be one of the top electronics markets with an expected market size of over $500 Billion. The foundation of this market will be laid by the building blocks of electronics products: the
Photo by Thomas Jensen on Unsplash THE IMPACT OF SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPLETS ON DESIGN The process of developing chiplets based silicon chips (mainly XPUs) demands new semiconductor design and manufacturing methods. These methods are not drastically different than what the semiconductor industry developed in the last few decades. Still, the product
Photo by Patrick Lindenberg on Unsplash THE REASONS TO ADOPT IN-MEMORY SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING Over the last decades, both industry and academia have spent numerous hours to enable different types of semiconductor design and manufacturing methodology to drive next-gen processing units. These processing units today power the computing world and often
Photo by Suganth on Unsplash THE COMPLEXITY OF SINGLE-TECHNOLOGY-NODE ARCHITECTURE To ensure high-speed processing, one active component in a computer system – the Central Processing Unit (CPU) – has seen numerous technological advancements. The CPU advancements have been distributed equally on the design and the manufacturing aspect of the semiconductor
Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash THE NEED FOR SEMICONDUCTOR DEVELOPMENT BOARD Semiconductor wafers are fabricated and assembled to produce packaged semiconductor products before it gets shipped to customers. In the production, silicon product then gets mounted onto a system platform. However, before the production line can use a semiconductor
Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash THE FEATURES DRIVING SEMICONDUCTOR COMPUTING The computing world is heavily reliant on semiconductor products. To implement target features, it is important to look into the low-level hardware characteristics. These characteristics over the years have become key driving factors and are not defining how future
Photo by Vishnu Mohanan on Unsplash THE REASONS TO ADOPT SEMICONDUCTOR COOPETITION The semiconductor design and manufacturing business are highly competitive. As semiconductor design and manufacturing companies compete to increase their market share, a flawless strategy is required. However, achieving perfection in the semiconductor business requires several different factors to
Photo by Lars Kienle on Unsplash THE REASONS TO BENCHMARK SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTS Benchmarking a product is one of the most common evaluation processes, and from software to hardware, benchmarking is extensively used. In the semiconductor industry, benchmarking is mainly used to evaluate products against their predecessors and also competitors. CPU
Photo by Jaromír Kavan on Unsplash THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SEMICONDUCTOR LOGIC TECHNOLOGY MAP The transistor is one of the building blocks of the semiconductor industry. It has also gone through drastic transformation led by very high activity of research and development. These transformational changes, year on year, have empowered
Photo by Ryan Quintal on Unsplash THE REASONS TO USE SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPLETS FOR MANY-CORE ARCHITECTURES Computer architecture is a set of design steps that drives the manufacturing of innovative processing units, worldwide known as the processor. These processors follow the rules as defined by the computer architects and the end
Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash THE IMPORTANCE OF SEMICONDUCTOR DATA INTEGRITY The semiconductor industry has been utilizing data to drive design and manufacturing for a very long time. The reason is the high cost and penalty of manufacturing a product without thoroughly reviewing the semiconductor data. The growing importance
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash THE FINITE SEMICONDUCTOR GAME The semiconductor industry consists of different players (companies) playing one of the two games: Finite Or Infinite. The technical and business planning laid out by any semiconductor company can enable classification of whether they are playing the long-term infinite game
Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash THE MAJOR BLOCKS OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR FOUNDRY ROADMAP RACE Semiconductor foundries across the globe are focused on providing solutions to retain existing customers and attract new customers. To achieve these two goals, semiconductor foundry companies have to keep innovating. Innovations are critical to ensure
Photo by L N on Unsplash THE KNOWN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING STRUGGLES The cost of semiconductor manufacturing is doubling every four years. The major driving factor for the rising cost is the product complexity due to the introduction of new technology-node and packaging technologies. Electrical testing also has played a role
Photo by Matt Duncan on Unsplash THE HURDLES FOR THE SHRINKING SEMICONDUCTOR ROADMAP Several roadmaps get initiated by different semiconductor companies and also semiconductor technical bodies. These roadmaps provided a path of where semiconductor technologies were, where it is today and where it will be tomorrow. In many cases, roadmaps
Photo by Brian Kostiuk on Unsplash THE REQUIREMENTS OF NEW SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The semiconductor industry is driving on top of the products that different companies introduce. These semiconductor products have to go through complex product development procedures to fulfill strict technical and business requirements. That makes the planning and
Photo by L N on Unsplash THE REASONS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION Automation is part of all advanced manufacturing industries. As the computing world has progressed, the high-tech software-hardware interaction now allows manufacturers all over the world to make the most of automation techniques to accurately run their production line.
Photo by Barrett Ward on Unsplash THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SEMICONDUCTOR SUPPLY CHAIN Supply Chain Management (SCM) is part of every manufacturing industry. It enables the movement and management of finished goods and all those components that drive the development of the final product. As the world became more connected,
Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash THE REASONS TO DEVELOP SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CLUSTER Developing a dedicated semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure from scratch is a billion-dollar risk and the cost of doing so is also increasing year on year. As the semiconductor industry marches towards a new era of capacity creation, it
Photo by Yogesh Phuyal on Unsplash THE IMPACT OF SEMICONDUCTOR FAT OUTSOURCING The process of developing a semiconductor product requires several business and technical components to work together. Depending upon the business model of the semiconductor company, these development activities (mainly design and manufacturing) can be insourced or outsourced. The
Photo by Firdouss Ross on Unsplash THE REASONS FOR THE OVERLAPPING OF SEMICONDUCTOR PURE-PLAY FAB AND OSAT BUSINESS Semiconductor manufacturing is heavily dependent on external vendors. This is more true for semiconductor companies that do not have any internal manufacturing capability and have to rely heavily on outsourcing. This has
Photo by Lenny Kuhne on Unsplash THE IMPACT OF SEMICONDUCTOR SHORTAGE ON AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY Automotive is one of the several industries that heavily rely on semiconductor products to provide different features. These features range from infotainment to sensors to wireless communication. Over the last few decades, the need to drive
Photo by Devin Spell on Unsplash THE IMPORTANCE OF OUTSOURCED SEMICONDUCTOR ASSEMBLY AND TEST Outsourcing is one of the several ways to optimize in-house business activities, and that is why the majority of the industry heavily takes advantage of outsourcing. In the long run, hiring an external vendor to outsource
Photo by Taylor Vick on Unsplash THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS FOR DATA CENTERS The connected world is leading to real-time information exchange, and this is why consumers to enterprises expect the request to be processed in the fastest time possible. The devices used to send such requests can
Photo by Maxence Pira on Unsplash THE IMPACT OF WAFER SIZE ON SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY The semiconductor industry is built on the platform laid by silicon wafers that form the base of fabricating different types of advanced semiconductor products. The silicon wafers have gone through an incremental change in size/diameter over
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash THE REASONS TO DEVELOP CUSTOM SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP IN-HOUSE As technology is progressing and touching every aspect of day-to-day life, the dependence on semiconductor solutions is also growing. These solutions are often made by semiconductor companies and can power several things from sensors to a
Photo by Jeremy Zero on Unsplash THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SEMICONDUCTOR ROADMAP The semiconductor industry has enjoyed the success of doubling (every two years) the number of transistors in a silicon chip, which has allowed semiconductor companies worldwide, to offer novel semiconductor products and solutions. This is exactly what Moore’s
Photo by Marc PEZIN on Unsplash THE REASONS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR SHORTAGE In today’s market, the majority of the consumer and enterprise products are heavily equipped with semiconductor products (silicon chips). Over the last few years, the share of semiconductors in modern products has increased steadily. From automotive to smartphone to
Photo by Jorge Salvador on Unsplash THE COSTLY LIFE CYCLE OF SEMICONDUCTOR DATA The importance of data in different industries has only grown over the last few decades. This has in turn given rise to different new techniques and tools that enable enterprises to capture and analyze data on the
Photo by Stef Westheim on Unsplash THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY In the world of computing, memory is a vital piece of silicon that can either make or break the computer system. It is nearly impossible to perform any computing task without the help of computer memory. Memory
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash THE IMPORTANCE OF PPA IN SEMICONDUCTOR Semiconductor products are designed and manufactured for different conditions with varying requirements. These conditions and requirements are often a combination of several technical criteria. One such important criteria are Power, Performance, And Area (PPA). In the end, the goal of
Photo by Patrik Kernstock on Unsplash THE ROLE OF OSFAB In the majority of the industry, outsourcing enables a way to operate efficiently. The efficiency is achieved both from a technical and business point of view. In the software industry, outsourcing is primarily focused on providing the right tools and
Photo by Kvistholt Photography on Unsplash THE IMPACT OF CLOUD IN SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY In the high-tech industry, software plays a crucial role. The ability to manage the task with a click of a button has a profound effect on different day-to-day activities. Software-driven digitization is also a key enabler in
Photo by Tanner Boriack on Unsplash THE IMPORTANCE OF PILLARS IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY There are numerous industries worldwide catering to different markets. Company from a specific industry will rarely provide all end-to-end in-house solutions to develop products. Almost all of the companies within a given industry rely heavily on
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash THE IMPACT OF SEMICONDUCTOR ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS Delivering high-grade products is the ultimate goal of every manufacturer. To do so, different industry-specific standards and processes are used. The same applies to the semiconductor manufacturing industry. In semiconductors, as the technology-node shrinks, the cost to
Photo by Carlos Irineu da Costa on Unsplash THE IMPORTANCE OF SEMICONDUCTOR FET Cells are the building blocks of life. Similarly, transistors are the building blocks of the semiconductor industry. In the computing world, transistors lay the foundation for any type of processing solution. Transistor performs the basic function of
Photo by Ryan on Unsplash THE MOVE TOWARDS THE NEXT-GEN SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE TECHNOLOGY Packaging plays an important role in almost all the industry. From cars to rovers, packaging the product before shipping is vital. Doing so cost-effectively is critical to ensure the product cost is not affected. The same story
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash THE REASON WHY COUNTRIES ARE PUSHING IN-COUNTRY SEMICONDUCTOR GROWTH The basic and the applied science form the base for any technological advancement. Countries globally have always focused on the importance of these two aspects of science. That is why countries race against each other
Photo by L N on Unsplash THE NEED OF ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT High-Tech manufacturing is not possible without the use of equipment. The equipment ensures that the product being manufactured is defect-free and also meets the quality requirement for the target market. The same fundamentals apply to the semiconductor industry,
Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash THE GROWTH OF HETEROGENEOUS INTEGRATION The computer architecture design to cater the personal computing to data center needs has seen many changes over the last four decades. Computer architects have pushed the boundaries of designing novel ways to process data, which has lead to
Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash THE NEED FOR WAFER VIRTUALIZATION The use of virtualization techniques in the software and the hardware industry has enabled several technology developments. Virtualization provides developers the infrastructure to develop, test and deploy solutions catering both to the consumers and enterprises. The three major types
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash THE CHANGING SEMICONDUCTOR BUSINESS MODEL The semiconductor product development requires many businesses (from materials to logistics) to work in harmony. The complex process of fabricating semiconductor devices has also given rise to the cost of development. To lower the expenditure and to survive the
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash THE NEED FOR SEMICONDUCTOR POWERED XPU Every software application eventually has to get executed on a hardware system. Whether the software application is running on a smartphone or a data center, the data processing request has to get decoded (binary instructions) before the hardware
Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash THE NEED FOR SEMICONDUCTORS IN AUTOMOTIVE The automotive industry is going through a significant transformation. Countries all over the world are pressing for greener and eco-friendly vehicles. Government policies are getting stricter and demand vehicular technologies that require smarter software and hardware. The de-facto
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash THE GROWING NEED FOR HETEROGENEITY IN SEMICONDUCTOR The computing world today is all about processing data in real-time. Developers expect their code to compile in milliseconds. Consumers expect applications to respond with zero-delay. All of this requires a seamless communication of different computing components
Photo by david latorre romero on Unsplash THE NEED FOR AI SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS Multi-Core Processor (MCP) or Chip Multi-Processor (CMP) revolutionized the computing industry. MCP/CMP came up with advanced execution and parallelism techniques. Software took the opportunity provided by the multiple processors fused into the single System-On-A-Chip (SoC). MCP also
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash THE SEMICONDUCTOR AS A SERVICE The software industry has adapted to the demand of business and consumers by changing the licensing and product delivery model over the last three decades. The post-1990 saw standalone one-time fee-based software with no incremental feature updates except security-related and termed
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash THE END-TO-END SEMICONDUCTOR CLUSTER ECOSYSTEM The semiconductor industry is vital for high-tech advancement. From smartphones to satellites, a small piece of silicon forms the base for millions to trillions of data points. It is why worldwide, the semiconductor industry is a Key Enabling Technology
Photo by İsmail Enes Ayhan on Unsplash THE NEED TO PROCESS DATA Internet usage is growing. Every new user generates a new type of data. The technology companies are always eager to process and understand new consumer behavior. It requires continuous research and development of both the software and the
Photo by Luan Gjokaj on Unsplash OVERVIEW Computers are designed to provide real-time feedback to all user requests. To enable such real-time feedback, Central Processing Unit (CPU) is vital. CPU is also referred to as processing units or simply processors. These incredibly small semiconductor units are the brain of the computer and
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash THE SEMICONDUCTOR STATUS IN INDIA In 2020, the semiconductor industry got a lot of attention. From geo-politics to manufacturing advancement to mergers and acquisitions, the semiconductor industry has been all over the news. This showed the world the growing need and dependency on semiconductor technology. This caught attention of
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY STATUS In 2020, the semiconductor industry has seen both negative and positive trends. The first half of 2020 showed mostly the negative trend driven by the COVID-19 restrictions, as it lead to slower semiconductor production and increased inventory due to decreasing sales. The second
Photo by Amin Khorsand on Unsplash India’s automotive industry is the world’s largest two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and tractor manufacturer. It is also the world’s second-largest bus manufacturer, third-largest heavy truck manufacturer, and fourth-largest car manufacturer. With the advancement in automotive solutions that will enable sensor-based safe assisted driving, the demand for smart Electronic Component
Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash THE SMART As technology is progressing, the world is becoming smarter. The decision making is becoming more data-driven rather than experience-driven. People around the globe rely more on smart systems to find solutions to their daily problems. With the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence and
Photo by Taylor Vick on Unsplash The software business delivery model has been constantly changing. It has adapted the need of the market by leveraging all the possible ways to deliver the software solution hassle-free. From installing software using a CD-ROM or USB Flash Drive to installing over the internet, the ease of accessing
Photo by Tony Stoddard on Unsplash In the hardware systems, the cache is used by Central Processing Units (CPU) to reduce the time which is required to access the data from the lower level memory like RAM. It does so by bringing the data beforehand (depending on the policy used) in the cache, which
Photo by asoggetti on Unsplash DRONE Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have been in use since 1849. Several countries around the world have invested in massive research and development activities to make use of UAV for surveillance activities by the armed forces. All the military-grade UAVs are distinctly complex and wide-body machines. In
Photo by Yogendra Singh on Unsplash THE HEARABLES The hearables are the smart technology-enabled over-the-ear or in-the-ear devices that are mainly used for music listening. The natural language assistant has equipped the hearables with the ability to talk. These smart assistant can interactively talk to the user using the inbuilt speakers, and
Photo by Reginar on Unsplash An ecosystem requires synchronized interaction of a Producer, Environment, and a Consumer. The inter-dependency and synchronous working leads to a perfect ecosystem on which life survives. In the last few decades, the definition of the ecosystem has been applied to the technology world. Ecosystem development
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash Over the last half-century, vehicles have played an important role in everyone’s life. It has enabled point-to-point commute a faster and an efficient process. Whether one is traveling on a public bus or a private car, each of these vehicle types play a very crucial
Photo by Proxyclick Visitor Management System on Unsplash Identity is the backbone of Know Your Customer (KYC) process. Every country and company has its process and technology to ensure that the correct people have access to the correct resources. In the digital world, the Know Your Customer is moving to
Photo by Lucian Alexe on Unsplash The major reason smart devices, mainly smartphones, are immensely useful is due to the portability they provide with the help of the battery management system. This allows consumers to make use of the device without direct supply for an extended period. Even though every new
Photo by Peerapon Chantharainthron on Unsplash When smart systems are deployed at every location, it leads to the creation of Smart Spaces. These Smart Spaces can be a residential area, a business zone, an educational institute, or a parking lot. As long as, day to day activities are tracked by the
Photo by Andrea Caramello on Unsplash Work From Anywhere Workplace is becoming the standard mode of working. Many of the top companies have started providing Work From Anywhere Workplace as an option to the employees. According to the survey by Buffer, 98% of the respondents will prefer remote working if
Photo by Thimo Pedersen on Unsplash The next decade is going to be all about enhanced digital experience built on top of the most advanced wireless data communications technologies ever: 5G and Wi-Fi 6. These two wireless technologies are not only going to increases the data throughput but also provide much better connectivity
Photo by David Becker on Unsplash India has over 500 million mobile telecom subscribers. The average data usage in India on mobile devices is 10 GB per month. With stiff competition and more remote work, the demand for faster data is going to increase. With 500 million more mobile subscribers
Photo by Phix Nguyen on Unsplash The most critical piece of the global village is the information exchange. In the last few decades, it has moved from wired telephones to wireless and then today runs on top of an interconnected network of computers called the internet. The exchange of information during pre-COVID-19 was
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN INDIA India has set an ambitious goal of 30% electric vehicle (EV) adoption by 2030. The adoption is expected to be driven majorly by two/three-wheelers and commercial vehicles. This is a daunting task and there are many challenges on way to ensuring
Photo by Changbok Ko on Unsplash Education is the key to learning various aspects of life and different career options. It enables the development of skills. There have been different way to learn in order to enable individuals with wider thoughts and options from career point of view. Many prefer
Photo by Vishnu Mohanan on Unsplash THE GROWTH OF DATA IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING The growth of digitization has led to the generation of massive amounts of data on day to day basis. The data explosion has pushed several industries to adapt to data-driven analysis and decision-making processes. The same
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash HealthCare has always been data-driven. Doctors always evaluate patients based on pointers like temperature, heart rate, and past health history that might have contributed to patient’s health. There are many critical data points that the human body generates every second. Each of these data points if
Photo by Laurel and Michael Evans on Unsplash Industry 1.0 was all about the transfer of manufacturing from humans to machines. Industry 2.0 increased productivity by using technology-enabled information and faster transfer of goods. With Industry 3.0, computers took over machines and allowed efficient manufacturing compared to Industry 2.0. Today, we are in
Photo by PCBWay Developing an electronic product requires a lot of iteration. A hardware electronic device has to go through a detailed design process which is followed by numerous prototyping and evaluation. It is often a time-consuming and cost-intensive process. Not all the development processes happen in the house. The majority
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash Monitoring of activities is not a new concept. Pre-computer era too human activities used to get monitored. With advent of high speed connectivity, monitoring has taken remote approach. Remote Patient Monitoring System alone is expected to be worth $1.8 Billion by 2026. Considering all possible areas which
Photo by Patrick Assalé on Unsplash In 2011, March Andreessen rightly pitched Why Software Is Eating The World. In 2018, I wrote a small note on Hardware Is Running The World. In 2020, algorithms play a crucial role in understanding and thereby catering to the needs of the world for many decades to
Photo by Avi Richards on Unsplash There is no denying that COVID-19 is testing businesses based on how prepared they were to enable employees to Work From Anywhere. One of the key factors that drives Work From Anywhere culture is the resources an employee gets that allows him/her to be as productive (in
Photo by ev on Unsplash There is no denying that all online activities are being tracked. Either by the governments, or by companies. Data is the future oil, and the more companies have it the better their chances of survival. There are several factors as to why it is so easy for companies
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash In 2018, Uber self-driving car under test in Tempe, Arizona was involved in a crash which unfortunately leads to the killing of a pedestrian. Last week, National Transport Safety Board concluded that it was Uber’s self-driving software’s fault (apart from various non-technical valid issues), as the autonomous
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash Crowd sourcing is not a new concept and the term was coined around 2005. In nutshell, it allows individuals to participate and complete tasks that are part of a bigger project. Contributing crowd may do it voluntarily or get paid for it. The concept of crowd sourcing
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash. Samsung’s technical blog has series of articles on semiconductor fabrication. It covers majors steps from tape out to packaging. All nine parts of the series are not linked together, so I thought of creating a list that may help those interested in learning about semiconductor manufacturing. All
Photo by CMDR Shane on Unsplash Microsoft has massive plans to let user access its services without having the need to use passwords. In the latest preview build of Windows 10 they have taken giant step towards doing so. As internet user and usage grows year on year, many companies are following the
Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash The answer to above question is straight forward, it’s China. In this article, I want to summarize how China is doing by separating it into three categories: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The Good: China uses the facial recognition tech to provide citizen with services.
Photo by Paul Esch-Laurent on Unsplash Hardware plays crucial role in product success as much as software does. Smart speakers are getting lot of traction and every big tech giant with smart assistant is fighting to get hold of this market share. Part of the reason is to get the services delivered using
Photo by Alexandre Debiève on Unsplash If you are looking to keep track of semiconductor industry then here I am listing few resources that provide good insight into this industry. Top Semiconductor Resources: The Linley Group: Linley Group is the best resource to get 360 degree view of semiconductor industry. They publish semiconductor focused
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash Two factor authentication (2FA) is a type of multi-factor authentication that allows users to secure any type of account using a second authentication apart from the regular password protection. 2FA has been around for a long time and received mixed reaction from security researchers. With growing number of
Photo by Elijah O’Donell on Unsplash World population has reached 7.5 billion. In 2017 about 3.5 billion users were active on internet, that is approximately 50% of world population. If internet was a country, it will be twice the size of the most populated country in the world. Anyone who is on internet can
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash Since the time Edward Snowden leaked classified information, the focus has been on how governments across the world use surveillance to keep tap on digital activities. Lately, I have been reading about it and have come to the conclusion that there is no way around it. However, precautions can be
Photo by Devin Avery on Unsplash Since last one month, I started logging the websites I visit and use, mostly those which require user to login. To my surprise I have account at over 50+ different websites. The number may be much more, considering I wasn’t able to recall all those websites where I created
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash India is home to billion dollar IT industry, numerous e-Governance projects, world’s largest bio metric database and many tech driven services. The single major problem with all these technological projects at national and state levels is the danger of theft and fraud. Government of India (GoI) did realize this and as they
I started NagpurTech – Technology. Events. Companies. People., an initiative to bring together all the information about technology, events, companies, people in & around Nagpur in 2015. It has been inactive for a while. Hopefully starting today, I will be able to keep it more active. If you are a student in
Photo by Fancycrave on Unsplash In 2011, Marc Andreessen wrote widely read article Why Software Is Eating The World. Last few years saw similar trend to what he projected, but 2016 was special and showed a new trend which not many would have expected in the year 2011. Year 2016: Hardware is running the world.
Photo by Caspar Rubin on Unsplash On June 29, 2007, Apple introduced iPhone and with that it reinvented three markets: Mobile Hardware, Mobile Operating System and Mobile Apps, together called as Mobile Ecosystem. Almost one year after iPhone’s launch similar ecosystem was created by Google‘s Android. Since then, with combined market share of more
Launched ElecPad – Find The Best Development Board. It is an initiative to bring together all the information about different development boards that are vital in making any kind of hardware that is either embedded, mobile or IoT. Easily browse different types of hardware that can turn ideas into reality.
Launched StartupList – Find Indian Startups. It is an initiative to bring together all the information about startups in India. One can easily browse startups from different cities and states in India. Also, get to know what the startups do, who founded it and many other details.
Photo by UIDAI Over last few years there set of terms are being widely used to simplify Indian government’s service delivery the citizens. It started with One Rank, One Pension, then came One Nation, One Tax (GST) and the latest buzz One Nation, One Election. The argument provided by the Government of India
In 2011, I started writing blogs at www.ChetanPatil.info. It taught me not only about blogging but also helped me learn few web technologies and in process allowed me to connect to people from different parts of the world. I haven’t been actively blogging as I had decided when I started
Hi, I am Chetan Arvind Patil (chay-tun – how to pronounce), a semiconductor professional whose job is turning data into products for the semiconductor industry that powers billions of devices around the world. And while I like what I do, I also enjoy biking, working on few ideas, apart from writing, and talking about interesting developments in hardware, software, semiconductor and technology.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. In other words, share generously but provide attribution.
Opinions expressed here are my own and may not reflect those of others. Unless I am quoting someone, they are just my own views.
4o How DFT Evolved Beyond Test To Impact Reliability In the early years of integrated circuit (IC) design, Design-for-Testability
4o How Large Is The Mature Node Economy The focus immediately shifts to cutting-edge nodes such as 3nm or
4o What Is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)? In the semiconductor industry, the cost of a tool, IP block,
4o What Is A Semiconductor Smart Factory? If you have spent time reading developments in the semiconductor industry, you
DALL-E The Rise Of Open-Source Semiconductor Design Traditionally, semiconductor design has been a highly proprietary field dominated by closed
