May 7, 2011

π Raspberry Pi Foundation

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK registered charity (Registration Number 1129409) which exists to promote the study of computer science and related topics, especially at school level, and to put the fun back into learning computing [read more...]

May 6, 2011

Reflections from ISSCC 2011

Sotiris Bantas, VP Technology, Helic Inc., has posted his reflections from ISSCC 2011. Surly you will enjoy reading this: http://goo.gl/HB0ka

TSMC not following Intel to Finfets at 22nm - waiting till 20nm

Nearly a decade ago, TSMC demo-ed a 25nm Finfet - what Intel calls a Tri-Gate - transistor [more at Mannerisms]

Celebrating engineering: EDN names 2010 Innovation Award winners

Celebrating engineering: EDN names 2010 Innovation Award winners: "San Jose, CA—In aceremony here Monday evening, EDN bestowed its 2..."

Category: EDA Tools and ASIC TechnologiesThe finalists in this category—Apache Design Solutions, GateRocket Inc, GlobalFoundries, and Mentor Graphic—are recognized for innovations in design automation tools that reduce cycle time, increase manufacturability, and improve the reliability of integrated circuits. "Tonight's winner has achieved two of the most difficult feats in the EDA industry," Technical Editor Mike Demler said. "First, it has a history of developing innovative, differentiated products. This latest innovation addresses the problem of simulating electro-static discharge that has challenged designers for many years. The second distinction is to leverage that success into a proposed IPO."

Winner: Apache Design Solutions

Intel And Seagate: Silicon Transistor And Magnetic Storage Density Maintain An Impressively Steady Improvement Rate - Brian's Brain | Blog on EDN

Intel And Seagate: Silicon Transistor And Magnetic Storage Density Maintain An Impressively Steady Improvement Rate - Brian's Brain Blog on EDN


Two fundamental technology breakthroughs in two days; these are the times that tech editors dream of! I’ve in the past drawn a correlation between Moore’s Law (named for Intel’s Gordon), a forecast of the pace of single-chip transistor integration increase over time first made in 1965, and the rate of capacity growth over time (said another way, cost-per-capacity) for both magnetic and semiconductor storage. Solid-state drives, of course, are direct beneficiaries of Moore’s prescience, but areal density increases in magnetic storage are at least as impressive if not more so.