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Commentary / Analysis

• FSA Reports First Half 2007 Semiconductor Industry Revenue Totaled $129.3B (Tuesday Oct. 23, 2007)
  263 fabless and IDM companies reported $63.9 billion in revenue in Q2 2007, an increase of nine percent year-over-year (YoY) and a 2.4 percent decrease quarter-over-quarter (QoQ).
  
  
• Is fab lite on analog's diet? (Tuesday Oct. 23, 2007)
  As digital integrated-device manufacturers increasingly turn to foundries for their production needs, with some announcing they will no longer build fabs, an inevitable question arises: Will the big analog IDMs follow the same path and move toward fab-lite or even fabless strategies?
  
  
• Tensilica plans IPO, CEO says (Monday Oct. 22, 2007)
  Configurable processor specialist Tensilica Inc. said it is planning an initial public offering
  
  
• Uncovering hidden chip costs (Monday Oct. 22, 2007)
  For some large manufacturers of consumer electronics, semiconductors are the single largest contributor to finished-goods costs. A clear understanding of the chip supplier's cost structures can bolster the OEM's negotiating position.
  
  
• CEVA's bright future (Tuesday Oct. 16, 2007)
  Your next cell phone just might be powered by a CEVA DSP. Here's why.
  
  
• Multicore gives more bang for the buck (Monday Oct. 15, 2007)
  It has been clear for some time that a law of diminishing returns applies to the advancement of conventional processor architectures. Each new process geometry and microarchitecture delivers successively less in terms of performance gains: It is simply no longer possible to deliver Moore's Law by going faster.
  
  
• March to programmability inexorable, says Tensilica CEO (Wednesday Oct. 10, 2007)
  Tensilica chief executive Chris Rowen tells India Semiconductor Association members that while the insatiable appetite for multimedia is driving the development of new silicon platforms.
  
  
• ARM gets serious in physical IP at 32 nm (Monday Oct. 08, 2007)
  Looking to get a jump on rivals like TSMC and Virage Logic, ARM Holdings plc last week pulled back the curtain on its 32-nanometer initiative for physical-intellectual property (IP).
  
  
• SoC design's new normalPlatform push roils business models (Monday Oct. 08, 2007)
  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.
  
  
• Viewpoint: Wanted -- an IP manager (Tuesday Oct. 02, 2007)
  Whenever certain SoC design tasks take on a high level of importance (for example, being on the critical path of design completion), design teams usually add a task-specific manager.
  
  
• Silicon in autos stirs patent plans (Monday Sep. 24, 2007)
  Customers are demanding more electronic value in automobiles as part of their driving experience. As a result, automotive manufacturers must consider carefully the intellectual property (IP) culture of the semiconductor industry, where patent licensing strategies are considerably different. In this case, IP refers to patent and trademark rights.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: Darwin's theory on IP (Kalar Rajendiran, eSilicon) (Monday Sep. 24, 2007)
  eSilicon is a user of IP. As a value chain producer we must understand not only how to evaluate IP for quality but also understands the nuances of chip level integration involving IP blocks from multiple IP companies. eSilicon does this in the context of the foundry's process and manufacturing rules and quality standards with the prime objective of getting its customers' chips into volume production.
  
  
• X86 war cuts to the cores (Monday Sep. 24, 2007)
  SoC dynamics could decide the endgame as Intel, AMD converge on similar architectures
  
  
• ARM project prepares to fight mobile Internet battle (Monday Sep. 17, 2007)
  Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc has been running a project for 18 months with select partners to try and define a product category to sit in the gap between the smart phone and the portable computer.
  
  
• Patent litigation on the rise in semi sector (Wednesday Sep. 12, 2007)
  Many executives and engineers, who know and understand the ever-changing patent landscape of the semiconductor industry, are in a unique position. They sit atop it all, able to see their company in relation to others, aware of what everybody is doing and where best to go to protect and enhance the value of their company.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: MIPS talks IP (Tuesday Sep. 11, 2007)
  One of the biggest design challenges is the increased need for software in today's devices. For most designs at 90nm, 65nm and below, software functionality represents more than 50 percent of the design cost both for SoC semiconductor suppliers and OEM system designers. The software cost of SoCs will continue to increase with the constant demand for greater functionality.
  
  
• MIPS-Chipidea merger's goal: 'virtual' SoCs (Monday Sep. 03, 2007)
  MIPS Technologies Inc.'s $147 million acquisition last week of Chipidea Microelectronica S.A., a privately held supplier of analog and mixed-signal intellectual property, advances both companies' ambitions for transforming system-on-chip design.
  
  
• Next acquisition target for MIPS: DSP core? (Friday Aug. 31, 2007)
  While keeping his cards close to the vest, MIPS CEO John Bourgoin hinted in an interview with EE Times this week that a DSP core company may be next.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP, cars share common ground (C. Paul Slaby, Kaben Wireless Silicon) (Thursday Aug. 30, 2007)
  About 10 years ago I started up and ran a small design company developing and selling what we would call "commodity" SIP products such as 8-bit processors, I2C, USB interfaces, etc. Later on I was the CEO of ATMOS Corporation, a venture capital funded embedded memory company, which was in "star" IP business.
  
  
• Dolphin Integration -- Silicon IP Amidst a Drastic Reorientation (Thursday Aug. 30, 2007)
  In two of the domains the company occupies on the sector of Silicon Intellectual Property, namely that of Memory and Cell Libraries and that of High Resolution Peripheral Components, its competitors continue their series of Mergers through Acquisitions by providers of microprocessors for Systems-on-Chip.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP worth its weight (Jim Gobes, CEO, Intrinsix) (Thursday Aug. 30, 2007)
  What is interesting is how this IP is viewed by the industry. It is Everything and it is Nothing. It is the green luscious grass on the other side of the fence until you are in its midst (pay at the gate please) and then it is choked with weeds, unmanageable, and -- in some cases -- worth abandoning for the next field over.
  
  
• Chip makers' dependence on software, IP growing (Thursday Aug. 30, 2007)
  Software and IP solutions took center stage at this year's Embedded System Conference-Taiwan and EDA & Test-Taiwan.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: Turley speaks out (Patriot Scientific) (Thursday Aug. 23, 2007)
  Far from being a lost cause, the IP-licensing business is a permanent part of our industry. It's not always the sexiest part of the computer or chip-making business but it's vital nevertheless. It's part of the lubricant that keeps the wheels of progress turning.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP holds the SoC key (Bob Tait, S3) (Tuesday Aug. 21, 2007)
  IP is the bedrock of the SoC industry. Who can imagine designing a SoC on a leading-edge process, such as 90nm, 65nm or below, without using IP in the form of processors, memories, standard cells, I/Os, application-specific function blocks and mixed-signal converters?
  
  
• Letter to the editor: Foundry vs. IP (Les Wilson) (Tuesday Aug. 21, 2007)
  I agree that the silicon IP market is in a tragic state. I think the often cited quality issue is an out of date stereotype. I have witnessed plenty of high quality IPs.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP vendors must unite (Susan Cain, Previous VSIA Executive Director) (Tuesday Aug. 21, 2007)
  Every company I've worked with agrees that IP from independent vendors is a necessity in order to develop mega chips and reduce time to market. What they can't figure out is how to make sure the IP industry not only exists but thrives beyond the few larger suppliers that exist today.
  
  
• Synopsys was not invited to join SystemVerilog OVM initiative (Friday Aug. 17, 2007)
  Synopsys Inc., a leading supplier of EDA tools, intellectual property, and design services, was not invited to join the Open Verification Methodology (OVM) initiative recently announced by Cadence Design Systems Inc. and Mentor Graphics Corp.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: Semico's insights on IP (Richard Wawrzyniak) (Thursday Aug. 16, 2007)
  Simply stated, the IP industry has got to be one of the most exciting, vibrant industries on the face of the planet! Nowhere else can you find the combination of dynamic growth, innovation, competitive pressure, market evolution, lightning-fast product evolution and creativity besides the IP market. Arguably, the entire SoC market depends on the IP industry to deliver competitive, cutting edge, best-in-class solutions and at extremely competitive prices too.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: IP model a mess (Timothy Llewellynn, Anagram Technologies) (Thursday Aug. 16, 2007)
  If you look at IP it has a nice story. Moore's Law creates the designer productivity gap and drives a need to license in order to build new products. This can be seen in a 15-25 percent CAGR over the last 10 years. Secondly if you amortize IP development costs over many licensees, the price to access specific technologies is greatly reduced, spurring innovative new applications and designs.
  
  
• Letter to the editor: One IP vendor rocks (David Almagor) (Thursday Aug. 16, 2007)
  I agree in general with your observation regarding semi IP vendors. But, one should note that there is one very large and successful IP vendor delivering lots of IP to semiconductor companies.