The Front Page

The keynotes at CDNLive today were very interesting, but rather than cover the slides and bullet points let me share with you my personal view of Samsung and how they are changing the semiconductor industry. Before I continue remember I’m just a blogger who shares observations, experiences, and opinions. This blog is for entertainment purposes and ...

As failure analysis engineers for companies, our job is to find the root cause of failure and recommend changes in design, process, tests, etc. to fix the problem. This type of analysis has become an important part of semiconductor mass production, which makes electronics cheaper and affordable for consumers. At the same time, mass production helps the manufacturer / producer of parts by increasing their profits. ...

I recently blogged about the actions filed by Tela Innovations at both the US International Trade Commission (USITC) and in federal district court. Those actions allege that five mobile phone manufacturers -HTC, LG, Motorola Mobility, Pantech, and Nokia - were importing handsets into the US which infringed on seven of Tela’s patents. ...

A few years ago I was having breakfast with Jim Hogan at our favorite place to meet in Los Gatos. I was CEO of Polyteda and Jim was Chairman so we always had plenty to talk about. This time, however, the talk had turned to protecting a company’s intellectual property (IP). Jim had brought up the topic in the context of the looming legal battle ...

This article tries to bring out the advantages of having a functional check list. The objective is to make verification as robust as possible. Functional check list ensures the complete coverage of hardware block that is designed. This may to an extent help software developers. Creation of test plan with functional check list as the base will result in creating a test plan which covers end to end of hardware block. Functional check list might already be existing in some of verification process as on today but some sections audience might have missed out.

First ...

Any article or blog on mobile phones talks about the ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung or the never ending struggle of Nokia and Blackberry. These reports are primarily based on the US market that hosts close to 322 million mobile subscriptions as per report in DEC 2012 by mobiThinking. With 81% (256 million) of the US population on 3G/4G i.e. Smart phones, ...

An attorney from the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission contacted me in regards to activity on SemiWiki. Not a great way to start a Monday! Given the parameters of the discussion and the type of questions it is undoubtedly (in my humble opinion) concerning the Synopsys acquisition of Magma.

This conversation and the resulting heart palpitations give ...

The wreckage that is Apple’s stock is a surprise to many including yours truly but it appears to mark the beginnings of a transition period that will result in freeing the company from the demands of Wall St as it appeals to the broader population of mainsteam America. I call it the Ma Bell Strategy. Unlike Microsoft or Intel, Apple sustained ...

When I started in this business, we were at 3 micron HMOS. A few other things are close to that size. A red blood cells is about 9 microns, a human hair is about 100 microns. And in a bizarre "only in Japan" video, people compete to plane the thinnest shaving off a plank of wood. ...