English
SoC design's new normalPlatform push roils business models
Rick Merritt, EE Times
(10/08/2007 9:00 AM EDT)
Santa Clara, Calif. -- A group at Microsoft Corp. is co-developing a media chip and is even investigating new on-chip bus structures. The activity is occurring at a time when semiconductor companies say they are increasingly delivering full software stacks with their chips, although they are not always compensated for the code.
Welcome to the next phase of the system-on-chip era, in which system, software and semiconductor companies are struggling to find new technology and business models. All sides see the promise for using multicore devices to open up fresh markets. The big question is how to define chip-level platforms.
That dilemma lies at the intersection of two developments. Designers increasingly start their work by defining the end-user scenarios or experiences they want to create. As they move to implement those concepts in silicon, they find an increasing diversity of hardware and software components integrated in complex, off-the-shelf chips with varying degrees of programmability, but not always optimized for the chosen tasks.
"We brought a value proposition for a system to a fabless company but found that no [chips] met our requirements, so we had to ask them if we could develop something together," said Robert Rossi, group program manger for core media processing technologies at Microsoft. "We had conversations with their CEO and found out we could do it."
(10/08/2007 9:00 AM EDT)
Santa Clara, Calif. -- A group at Microsoft Corp. is co-developing a media chip and is even investigating new on-chip bus structures. The activity is occurring at a time when semiconductor companies say they are increasingly delivering full software stacks with their chips, although they are not always compensated for the code.
Welcome to the next phase of the system-on-chip era, in which system, software and semiconductor companies are struggling to find new technology and business models. All sides see the promise for using multicore devices to open up fresh markets. The big question is how to define chip-level platforms.
That dilemma lies at the intersection of two developments. Designers increasingly start their work by defining the end-user scenarios or experiences they want to create. As they move to implement those concepts in silicon, they find an increasing diversity of hardware and software components integrated in complex, off-the-shelf chips with varying degrees of programmability, but not always optimized for the chosen tasks.
"We brought a value proposition for a system to a fabless company but found that no [chips] met our requirements, so we had to ask them if we could develop something together," said Robert Rossi, group program manger for core media processing technologies at Microsoft. "We had conversations with their CEO and found out we could do it."
|
E-mail This Article | 
|
|
Printer-Friendly Page |
Related News
- Algotochip Industry's First Company to Deliver Complete SoC GDSII From C Models of Algorithms
- Renesas Unveils Industry's First Automotive Multi-Domain SoC Built with 3-nm Process Technology
- NanoXplore acquires Dolphin Design's ASIC business and strengthens its strategic position in aerospace
- DeepComputing and Andes Technology Partner to Develop the World's First RISC-V AI PC with 7nm QiLai SoC, Featuring Ubuntu Desktop
- SiliconAuto adopts Siemens' PAVE360 to accelerate pre-silicon ADAS SoC development
Breaking News
- Frontgrade Gaisler Unveils GR716B, a New Standard in Space-Grade Microcontrollers
- Blueshift Memory launches BlueFive processor, accelerating computation by up to 50 times and saving up to 65% energy
- Eliyan Ports Industry's Highest Performing PHY to Samsung Foundry SF4X Process Node, Achieving up to 40 Gbps Bandwidth at Unprecedented Power Levels with UCIe-Compliant Chiplet Interconnect Technology
- CXL Fabless Startup Panmnesia Secures Over $60M in Series A Funding, Aiming to Lead the CXL Switch Silicon Chip and CXL IP
- Cadence Unveils Arm-Based System Chiplet
Most Popular
- Cadence Unveils Arm-Based System Chiplet
- CXL Fabless Startup Panmnesia Secures Over $60M in Series A Funding, Aiming to Lead the CXL Switch Silicon Chip and CXL IP
- Esperanto Technologies and NEC Cooperate on Initiative to Advance Next Generation RISC-V Chips and Software Solutions for HPC
- Eliyan Ports Industry's Highest Performing PHY to Samsung Foundry SF4X Process Node, Achieving up to 40 Gbps Bandwidth at Unprecedented Power Levels with UCIe-Compliant Chiplet Interconnect Technology
- Arteris Selected by GigaDevice for Development in Next-Generation Automotive SoC With Enhanced FuSa Standards