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Commentary / Analysis

• Comment: Is Abu Dhabi targeting Intel rather than TSMC? (Monday Nov. 09, 2009)
  With Waleed Al Muhairi, chief operating officer of Abu Dhabi government investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co., predicting Abu Dhabi would be making chips at home within four years, we are reminded that the Gulf states' aspirations to get into the chip business are long-enduring. But when Al Muhairi said Abu Dhabi wants to compete with Intel was that hubris?
  
  
• Top ten Chinese chip design houses ranked (Thursday Nov. 05, 2009)
  The Chinese IC design sector was worth 23.52 billion yuan (about $3.44 billion) in 2008, up 4.2 percent compared with 2007, according a report by Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (Taipei, Taiwan)
  
  
• Exec details ST's ARM Cortex-A9 licensing choice for HDTVs (Thursday Oct. 29, 2009)
  In an interview with EE Times, Laurent Remont, director, R&D/Architecture Group, Home Entertainment and Displays Group at STMicroelectronics NV (Geneva, Switzerland), provided details on ST's decision to build its next-generation HDTV consumer device around the high-performance ARM architecture.
  
  
• Viewpoint: IP cores are in their own world (Tuesday Oct. 27, 2009)
  A recent, informal survey of several sellers, buyers and users of semiconductor IP cores produced an interesting view of current business conditions and what the future might bring.
  
  
• MIPS in handsets: Why not? (Monday Oct. 26, 2009)
  ISA in PCs is due to Microsoft Windows' exclusive support. MIPS lost a great opportunity when Microsoft dropped MIPS support from early versions of Windows NT.
  
  
• Analysis: Inside the ARM-Xilinx deal (Friday Oct. 23, 2009)
  There's a lot that's not being said about the deal announced earlier this week by ARM and Xilinx. What is known is that Xilinx has licensed ARM's Cortex processor IP, and that the two companies are developing next-generation AMBA interconnect technology. But if you read between the lines, you can see where the partnership is likely headed.
  
  
• ARM CTO: power surge could create 'dark silicon' (Thursday Oct. 22, 2009)
  Without fresh innovations, designers could find themselves by 2020 in an era of "dark silicon," able to build dense devices they cannot afford to power, according to the chief technology officer of ARM Ltd. at the company's annual tech conference where FPGAs and netbooks were also hot topics.
  
  
• ARM stretches out with A5 core, graphics, FPGAs (Thursday Oct. 22, 2009)
  Just a mile down the road from the headquarters of archrival Intel Corp., ARM Ltd. opens its annual Silicon Valley technical conference today announcing a new core to anchor its high-end line of mobile and embedded processors. The move represents one of several directions in which ARM is flexing its muscle to address new and old competitors and opportunities.
  
  
• Round-table split on future of semiconductor startups (Thursday Oct. 22, 2009)
  A discussion panel organized here by Cadence Design Systems Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) revealed some of the dynamic tension between the fabless chip startup community and their key suppliers — the EDA companies and the foundries. Held immediately before an evening meeting intended to put hopeful startups in front of venture capitalists, the round-table aired a number of issues facing startups but drew few conclusions.
  
  
• PC maker sees slow road for USB 3.0 (Wednesday Oct. 21, 2009)
  Intel's decision to wait until 2011 to support USB 3.0 in PC chip sets will put mainstream adoption of the interconnect on hold for a year, said a senior technology manager at a top tier PC maker who also called for separate 60 GHz industry groups to unite in the wake of the failure of wireless USB.
  
  
• Comment: ARM, Xilinx and the future of programmable platforms (Monday Oct. 19, 2009)
  The information provided to me so far about the ARM-Xilinx programmable systems collaboration was long on canned quotes and short on detail which of course leads to all sorts of questions and speculations.
  
  
• What worries exec from ARM? (Wednesday Oct. 14, 2009)
  What worries ARM Holdings plc in terms of next-generation chip design?
  
  
• Counterpoint: Synergies could trigger a Synopsys-ARM merger (Tuesday Oct. 13, 2009)
  Semiconductor intellectual property (IP) is a way for chip makers to share the cost of developing standard designs so that they can invest more in the differentiating features of their chips. For ARM to be controlled by any one of its customers or even a small group of its customers would break the IP business model.
  
  
• ARM success could trigger takeover bid, says analyst (Monday Oct. 12, 2009)
  Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) is set to outperform Intel in the netbook and smartbook markets over the next two and three years, but that success could trigger a takeover bid for the company, according to Didier Scemama, semiconductor analyst with ABN AMRO Bank NV.
  
  
• Analysis: NXP's Clemmer keeps cutting (Monday Oct. 12, 2009)
  How much smaller can NXP go in an industry where scale and critical mass has always been significant? How much more can be chopped off the once-great company before the whole thing flies apart?
  
  
• Counterpoint: MIPS in handsets -- why not? (Monday Oct. 12, 2009)
  Android is the only platform capable of garnering enough support from app developers to challenge the iPhone. As a result, Android support is the best bet for handset makers to avoid losing market share to Apple. So, for MIPS in handsets, why not?
  
  
• Analysis: What it takes to build 18-Mpixel basic phones (Monday Oct. 12, 2009)
  Silicon Image, Inc. has introduced an 18-Megapixel image signal processor Intellectual Property (IP) core, designed to effectively place high-performance digital still camera features in mobile phones.
  
  
• MIPS to go after the cellphone market -- really (Wednesday Oct. 07, 2009)
  ARM currently dominates -- hands down -- the global cellphone market, and many industry observers scoff at MIPS as a viable competitor for future of mobile phone designs. But MIPS insists that they're all wrong.
  
  
• Analysis: Is Altera building a MIPS-based CPU core? (Wednesday Oct. 07, 2009)
  Altera Corp. isn't talking about its plans for the 32-bit architecture it licensed Tuesday (Oct. 6) from MIPS Technologies Inc., leaving analysts to speculate that the company may be planning to market its own MIPS-based CPU core.
  
  
• What is the cost of fabs and R&D at 22-nm? (Friday Oct. 02, 2009)
  The biggest challenge facing the IC industry is not the current downturn or a dearth of killer applications, but simple economics.
  
  
• Which chip makers will rule in 2018? (Thursday Oct. 01, 2009)
  There have been a number of changes in the top 10 chip rankings over the last 30 years. Which companies will be in the top 10 in 2018? Not the broadline suppliers, according to an analyst.
  
  
• ARM in talks with GlobalFoundries, say reports (Thursday Oct. 01, 2009)
  Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) is holding talks with the foundry chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.), according to reports.
  
  
• Analysis: Behind the downfall of Silicon Image's CEO (Thursday Oct. 01, 2009)
  The sudden resignation of Silicon Image CEO Steve Tirado earlier this week may not have surprised those following the company's recent financial results. Still, questions remain about whether Silicon Image's business model, which the company has always insisted is "unique," may have caused Triado's downfall.
  
  
• EDA Consortium Reports Industry Revenue Declined in the Second Quarter, 2009 (Thursday Oct. 01, 2009)
  The EDA Consortium (EDAC) Market Statistics Service (MSS) today announced that the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry revenue for Q2 2009 is $1,125.5 million. On a Q2/Q2 basis, EDA industry revenue declined 15.8 percent. The four-quarter moving average declined 13.9 percent.
  
  
• ARM gets to sit beside Intel inside Dell laptop (Tuesday Sep. 29, 2009)
  Dell has unveiled a range of laptops that, for the first time, use a microprocessor based on one of ARM plc's low power cores, sitting side-by-side an Intel Core Duo.
  
  
• ARM will overtake Intel in netbooks, smartbooks, says analyst (Monday Sep. 28, 2009)
  Intel Corp. will claim 94 percent of the netbook/smartbook market in 2009 but ARM Holdings plc and its processor licensees with take the lead in 2012, according to Robert Castellano of market research company The Information Network (New Tripoli, Pennsylvania).
  
  
• For notebooks, Light Peak is in, USB 3.0 is out? Join the conversation (Friday Sep. 25, 2009)
  At IDF, Intel said zip about its plan to support USB 3.0 for its PC chip set. Instead, the company heavily promoted Light Peak, which could be thought of as USB 4.0. Is this a bait and switch?
  
  
• Fast interfaces overlap at IDF (Friday Sep. 25, 2009)
  The buzz in fast interconnects at Intel Developer Forum was supposed to be around SuperSpeed USB, the 3.0 version of the omnipresent interface coming to systems in 2010, but somewhere on the road to San Francisco's Moscone Center, Intel decided to roll out Light Peak, the next next big thing in fast interconnects.
  
  
• Analysis: Intel and SoC -- try, try again (Thursday Sep. 24, 2009)
  Intel Corp. faces plenty of challenges ahead in its efforts to be a major SoC supplier, but chief executive Paul Otellini is pumping plenty of money and talent into the initiative.
  
  
• Wipro France CEO discusses Sophia Antipolis site viability (Thursday Sep. 24, 2009)
  Wipro announced recently that it is exploring options for the closure of its development center in Sophia Antipolis, France, including relocation of some employees to other Wipro centers. EE Times has interviewed Christophe Martinoli, CEO of Wipro Technologies France, to discuss the ins and outs of the situation.