Intel, Tower, and the diary of a failed acquisition bid

The termination of Intel’s bid to acquire Tower Semiconductor seems to be the latest fallout from semiconductor business-related tensions between China and the United States. It could also be seen as a heavy blow to Intel’s foundry ambitions…

Blue screen of deterioration

The song “Love Is Blue” has been recorded by many artists. One version I really like is by Marty Robbins and can be watched here while an instrumental version by Paul Mauriat can be watched here  but the issue below takes the concept of…

Cutting into a conventional USB-C charger

Back in March, EDN published my teardown of a 30W USB-C output gallium nitride (GaN) transistor-based charger from a company called VOLTME. At the time, I told you, and I even showed you: that I’d also recently acquired a conventional (non-GaN)…

Generative AI and memory wall: A wakeup call for IC industry

Judged by the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies at 2023 Design Automation Conference (DAC), the premiere event for semiconductor designers, computing hardware for accelerating AI/ML software workloads…

Fast(er) frequency doubler with square wave output

Whenever I find myself harboring a constantly nagging thought, I know I will eventually have to get busy and find a way to put it to rest. When I read EDN’s Design Ideas, I look for the range of frequencies over which the circuit will operate,…

Why MCU suppliers are teaming up with TinyML platforms

Infineon’s recent acquisition of Imagimob, a Stockholm, Sweden-based supplier of TinyML platforms, raises a fundamental question: where the chip industry stands in adopting and accelerating this artificial intelligence (AI) technology used…

PCIe 5.0 SSDs store up to 30 terabytes

Architected for server and cloud applications, Kioxia CD8P SSDs offer storage capacities ranging from 1.92 TB to 30.72 TB in EDSFF E3.S and 2.5-in. (U.2) form factors. These read-intensive NVMe solid-state drives leverage a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface…

Memory module promotes CXL 2.0 adoption

Micron is sampling its CZ120 memory expansion module, which features a PCIe 5.0 x8 interface and supports the Compute Express Link (CXL) 2.0 standard. The CXL Type 3 module provides storage capacities of 128 Gbytes and 256 Gbytes in an EDSFF…

Neural processor IP tackles generative AI workloads

Ceva has enhanced its NeuPro-M NPU IP family to bring the power of generative AI to infrastructure, industrial, automotive, consumer, and mobile markets. The redesigned NeuPro-M architecture and development tools support transformer networks,…

Power ICs embed MCU and CAN FD interface

Infineon’s TLE988x and TLE989x series of ICs combine a gate driver, microcontroller, communication interface, and power supply on a single chip. Devices in the TLE988x series are H-bridge drivers for 2-phase brushed DC motor control, while…

Storage accelerator board handles 200 Gbps

Panther III from MaxLinear is an OCP 3.0 form factor storage accelerator that delivers a throughput of 200 Gbps, scalable to 3.2 Tbps when cascaded. Panther’s 12:1 data reduction intelligently offloads the CPU by providing multiple independent…

Reducing noise in oscilloscope and digitizer measurements

Electrical noise, like taxes, is always with us. Most of the time noise is small and we can ignore it, but there are some measurement circumstances where noise must be dealt with. What can be done to minimize the effects of noise on the accuracy…