Design Lines
PCB Designline
Chinese Firm to Buy NXP Spinoff
PCB Designline
Wingtech Technology said it has struck deals to acquire a controlling stake in Netherlands-based Nexperia for about $3.6 billion.
By Dylan McGrath, October 26, 2018
PERSPECTIVES
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Dylan McGrath EDA's Surprise Revenue Bump
Blog
With the semiconductor industry mired in a downturn and the world's two largest economies embroiled in a trade war, it came as a bit of a shock that EDA revenue had one of its strongest-ever ...
By  Dylan McGrath 07.31.19
PCIe a Battlefield for Intel, Rivals
Blog
A veteran analyst surveys the landscape of competing positions Intel, IBM, Nvidia, Xilinx and others have staked out on top of the fast-moving PCI Express (PCIe).
AC Adapters: GaN, SiC or Si?
Blog
Effective high-power, compact AC adapters can be built using SiC, GaN, and Si super junction devices, according to an analysis by TechInsights of three key products.
Brian Santo Craven High-Tech CEOs Mum on Trade War Depradation
Blog
[UPDATED: Secret meetings!] 600 companies sent a letter to President Donald Trump deploring his tariffs. There's a nearly complete lack of technology companies among the signatories.
By  Brian Santo 06.14.19
News & Analysis
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Senseg unveils breakthrough flexible actuator technology
News & Analysis  
Senseg claims the industry's first flexible actuators manufactured on roll-to-roll technology, opening up new opportunities and applications for haptic interfaces.
By  Gina Roos 08.27.19 0
Flexible Design Pursues PDK, Power
News & Analysis  
Flexible electronics is advancing but still needs a guide to process steps and better batteries, said experts at a NextFlex event.
By  Rick Merritt 08.14.19 0
Flash Stacks Sloooowly Rise
News & Analysis  
Samsung and SK Hynix announced 100+ layer 3D NAND and Toshiba discussed a low latency part at the Flash Memory Summit.
By  Rick Merritt 08.07.19 5
Intel CEO Finds the Shoe Fit, After All
News & Analysis  
Bob Swan talks with EE Times about having a job he initially didn't want and what it's like for finance guy to lead a company with 70,000 engineers.
By  Dylan McGrath 08.01.19 4
Tech Titans Beginning to Drive Process Technology Roadmap
News & Analysis  
Locked in an AI arms race and sitting on piles of cash, hyperscalers are beginning to set the agenda in semiconductor process technology.
By  Dylan McGrath 07.25.19 0
Chip Stacks Hit Semicon Spotlight
News & Analysis  
Chipmakers are turning to packaging to pick up some performance slack as traditional silicon scaling slows.
By  Rick Merritt 07.12.19 1
Top 10 Design Outsource Services
News & Analysis  
With hundreds of service providers for product production cycle outsourcing, how do you choose? Here are ten -- vetted and in use by well-known customers.
By  Cabe Atwell 06.24.19 1
Olin College is Shaking Up Engineering Education
News & Analysis  
The undergraduate program emphasizes hands-on courses, with a heavy dose of engineering ethics.
By  George Leopold 06.12.19 9
STEM: It�s Time to Add an �A�
News & Analysis  
The desire to foster STEM skills risks becoming monomaniacal, to the detriment of liberal arts skills. That's not what the technology industry needs; it needs STEAM.
By  Brian Santo 06.12.19 11
Embedded Benchmark Calls for Support
News & Analysis  
A handful of mainly academic researchers aim to create EmBench, a free benchmark for embedded processors based on real-world applications.
By  Rick Merritt 06.11.19 0
EEs Join the Gig Economy
News & Analysis  
Consider advanced logic design: that's a category undergoing some fundamental changes. What does that mean for EE training?
By  Loring Wirbel 06.11.19 2
Huawei Ban Could Come Back to Bite U.S.
News & Analysis  
Huawei will be crippled by Trump, but in the long term his actions might end up hurting U.S. component suppliers even more.
By  Dylan McGrath and Barb Jorgenson 06.10.19 19
US Grants 90-Day Reprieve for Huawei Suppliers
News & Analysis  
Temporary license grants suppliers ability to continue selling to Huawei through August 20.
By  Dylan McGrath 05.21.19 1
GlobalFoundries Selling ASIC Business to Marvell
News & Analysis  
The deal, worth up to $740 million, is the last and largest in foundry's three-phase restructuring plan.
By  Dylan McGrath 05.20.19 1
China Trade War Detours Supply Chain
News & Analysis  
President Trump's tariffs were blunt instruments to force other countries to drop their trade barriers. What if they're permanent?
By  Barbara Jorgensen 05.20.19 0
New Round of Tariffs Cast a Pall
News & Analysis  
Electronics vendors were feeling less concerned about a recession this year - and then the President raised tariffs again.
By  Barbara Jorgensen 05.14.19 0
EDA Vendors Spread Wings as Market Softens
News & Analysis  
Tool firms' diversification efforts starting to pay dividends as market enters downturn.
By  Dylan McGrath 05.14.19 1
P30 Pro Teardown Proves Huawei's Flash Catch-up
News & Analysis  
Huawei launched in China its P30 and P30 Pro smartphones in a flash sale that was reportedly over in ten seconds. EE Times tapped System Plus Consulting and asked the analysts to reveal any surprises they encountered.
By  Junko Yoshida 04.12.19 3
U.K. Company Claims Longest Multilayer Flex Circuit
News & Analysis  
Trackwise has shipped a 26-m circuit for aircraft use.
By  Martin Rowe 04.11.19 0
Qorvo to Acquire Active-Semi
News & Analysis  
Opportunities for growth in 5G, industrial, data center, automotive and smart home should open by exploiting Active-Semi's expertise in power management.
By  Brian Santo 04.10.19 0
Chip Sales Slid Further in February
News & Analysis  
All major categories of chips are experiencing both sequential and year-over-year declines.
By  Dylan McGrath 04.09.19 0
SIA Calls for More Research Funding, Green Cards
News & Analysis  
The organization considers its report, written for policymakers, to be a blueprint for sustaining U.S. leadership in semiconductors.
By  Dylan McGrath 04.03.19 0
Chiplet Effort Plays First Proposals
News & Analysis  
A group of mainly small- and medium-sized vendors took its first steps toward building a standard for semiconductors assembled from chiplets.
By  Rick Merritt 03.29.19 0
Samsung Doubles HBM Density with Flashbolt
News & Analysis  
Artificial intelligence continues to grow as a use case for HBM, which otherwise remains a premium product for graphics cards and high-performance computing
By  Gary Hilson 03.27.19 0
Intel CPU Shortage Opens Door for AMD
News & Analysis  
An ongoing shortage of Intel PC processors is opening the door for AMD, setting the stage for a battle between the two longtime rivals in the second half of the year, according to one market watcher.
By  Dylan McGrath 03.26.19 0
Top Accessories and Add-Ons for the BBC Micro:Bit Microcontroller
News & Analysis  
A look at some of the add-ons and accessories that can be had for Micro:Bit single-board microcontroller.
By  Cabe Atwell 03.26.19 0
In Shift, Asia Grabs Lead in International Patent Applications
News & Analysis  
China's Huawei was the top filer for international patents last year, underscoring the rise in the number of patents originating in Asia, according to the UN's patent agency.
By  Dylan McGrath 03.19.19 2
PC, Tablet Shipments Forecast to Continue Falling
News & Analysis  
Combined shipments of PCs and tablets are projected to continue falling through 2023, perpetuating a steady decline amid a changing personal computing landscape, according to market research firm IDC.
By  Dylan McGrath 03.12.19 4
Intel Expected to Regain Top Chipseller Ranking
News & Analysis  
Thanks to a steep plunge in memory market that is expected to drag Samsung's sales down by 20% compared to last year, Intel is expected to return to position it held for more than two decades as the world's leading chipseller.
By  Dylan McGrath 03.08.19 3
10 Shields That Get the Most Out of the Arduino
News & Analysis  
Arduino is an excellent tool for any project, but pairing it with a Shield expands its capabilities and raises the platform to a new level. Let's take a look at some of the more useful Shields that can turn an ordinary project into an excellent one.
By  Cabe Atwell 03.08.19 4
Mathworks, SiSoft Announce First Products Following Acquisition
News & Analysis  
SerDes Toolbox and Mixed-Signal Blockset, the first products resulting from Mathworks' recent acquisition of SiSoft, were revealed at DesignCon 2019.
By  Martin Rowe 02.06.19 0
Smartphone Shipments Poised to Fall for 3rd Straight Year
News & Analysis  
After declining for the second straight year in 2018, smartphone sales appear to be poised to fall again this year amid a global trade war and macroeconomic uncertainty. Analysts say shipments may decline again this year.
By  Dylan McGrath 02.06.19 1
Heterogeneous Integration Needs Tools, Models
News & Analysis  
The semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem met last week in Germany to explore how new packaging technologies, design tools and business models could drive the use of more 3D technologies and heterogeneous integration.
By  Nitin Dahad 02.05.19 0
Top DIY Valentine's Day Projects
News & Analysis  
Valentine's Day approaches. Luckily, there's still time for engineers to build something special for that someone special. Here are just a few project build ideas.
By  Cabe Atwell 02.04.19 0
10 Great BeagleBone Development Board Capes
News & Analysis  
Just as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino can be outfitted with HATs/Shields for increased functionality, the BeagleBone uses Capes, giving it new capabilities like driving motors, providing different power options and relays for home automation.
By  Cabe Atwell 01.22.19 1
Updated HBM Standard Geared for HPC, Networking
News & Analysis  
Jedec's HBM2 DRAM standard focuses on extending the support and the design from an 8-Gb-per-layer definition to 16 Gb per layer.
By  Gary Hilson 01.18.19 0
NXP Cuts BoM, Latency with Single-Chip Immersive Audio
News & Analysis  
NXP has developed a single-chip solution for high-end immersive audio, including support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, cutting the bill of materials by up to 20% and addressing latency issues typically experienced with high-performance sound bars.
By  Nitin Dahad 01.08.19 0
Startup Debuts 2.5D Design Service
News & Analysis  
zGlue launched at CES a beta program for designing prototype volumes of low-end 2.5D chip stacks using a new online tool.
By  Rick Merritt 01.07.19 0
On Semi Launches Plug-and-Play Design Portal
News & Analysis  
Chip vendor says portal will help designers challenge for designers deal with the amount of documentation and information that they have to wade through before even starting a design.
By  Nitin Dahad 01.03.19 0
Apple Looks to India to Stem Decline in iPhone Sales
News & Analysis  
Apple is looking to India to reinvigorate iPhone sales, with plans to begin assembling its high end handsets at a Foxconn plant in the south of the country.
By  Nitin Dahad 12.31.18 3
Creating Consumer Trust in Autonomous Driving
News & Analysis  
Three months after taking the wraps off its "Arm Safety Ready" program for ecosystem partners, IP vendor Arm introduced its first ever multithreaded processor, an automotive enhanced CPU designed to improve automotive safety.
By  Dylan McGrath 12.31.18 1
Fab Tool Billings Fall for First Time in 2 Years
News & Analysis  
The three-month average for semiconductor equipment billings among North American vendors declined in November for the first time since May 2016.
By  Dylan McGrath 12.19.18 0
Arm Releases IoT Predictions for 2019
News & Analysis  
IP vendor shares what it thinks will happen in Io in 2019 as well as results of a consumer survey about IoT, machine learning, artificial intelligence and 5G.
By  Nitin Dahad 12.10.18 1
Canadian Startups Tap Xerox Advanced Materials Expertise
News & Analysis  
Southern Ontario has a strong advanced materials footprint for IoT hardware companies thanks to university research, Xerox Research Centre of Canada, and government-funded agencies.
By  Gary Hilson 12.05.18 0
WSTS Bumps Up Chip Sales Forecast
News & Analysis  
The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization revised upward its forecast for 2018 revenue after sales again grew on both a sequential and annual basis in October.
By  Dylan McGrath 12.05.18 2
Fab Tool Sales Slip to $15.8 Billion in Q3
News & Analysis  
Total billings decline for second straight quarter; down 7% from peak quarter.
By  EE Times 12.04.18 1
Keyssa Turns on TV, Virtual I/O
News & Analysis  
Startup Keyssa described a half-dozen design wins shipping in 2019 as well as a new virtual I/O capability for its 60-GHz wireless connector.
By  Rick Merritt 11.20.18 0
Silicon 60 Class of 2018
News & Analysis  
Our updated list of 60 startups worth watching.
By  Peter Clarke 11.16.18 1
Vanguard of the Machine Learning Revolution
News & Analysis  
EE Times' 19th revision of the Silicon 60, our annual list of startups to watch, documents the definitive rise of machine learning as a form of hardware-supported computing. The development atmosphere is feverish, and the technology market has the same air of dynamic, fast-paced change that it had when the first microprocessors launched in the 1970s.
By  Peter Clarke 11.16.18 0
Infineon Buys Cold Split Tech Startup Siltectra for $139M
News & Analysis  
Infineon Technologies has acquired Dresden, Germany-based startup Siltectra to use its cold split technology to split silicon-carbide (SiC) wafers, doubling the number of chips on a wafer.
By  Nitin Dahad 11.13.18 0
Podcast
This week: the AI Hardware Summit had some great technology presentations, but little new silicon and also some prominent no-shows. We take a look at India's ambition to build a thriving semiconductor industry. And we visit the Frankfurt Motor Show, which revealed some fundamental shifts in the industry's technology roadmap.