TSMC Fabs Operating Close to Capacity after Earthquake
TSMC’s disaster recovery plans helped with the quick restoration of production at its fabs after Taiwan was hit with a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
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Time for Templeton of TI to Make a Graceful Exit
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake:
By staying on as board chairman at Texas Instruments after stepping aside for a new CEO, Rich Templeton will still be involved in decision making. His continued presence could prove difficult for TI in the long term.
Texas Instruments Inc.’s decision in 2018 asking Richard Templeton to reassume the titles of president and CEO scrubbed plans for his gradual separation from the analog IC and embedded processor supplier. With the appointment of a new CEO, Templeton and TI’s board should seize the opportunity to cut that cord immediately and permanently, for the sake of everyone involved.
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Intel Seeks to Lessen Cash Squeeze With Brookfield Deal
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake?
Intel needs far more money than it can generate from operations or receive from governments to fund its massive fab construction program. A partnership with investor Brookfield may help ease the pains.
Intel Should Adopt Pure-Play Foundry Model
To succeed as a viable manufacturer of semiconductors, a supply chain expert argues Intel Corp. should redirect resources from its chip R&D and design operations to instead focus on its foundry operations.
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Podcast: Can AV Bill Do Right by People?
Guests: Phil Koopman, associate professor with the Carnegie Mellon University; Computer Engineering (top left)Bill Widen, professor at the University of Miami School of Law (top right) We discuss the autonomous vehicle bill, just voted out of the Pennsylvania Senate’s Transportation Committee last week and is now heading to the Senate floor. What’s in the bill? What’s not in the bill? What should be in the bill? Our conversation pierces to the crux of the issues posed by the autonomous vehicle bill: safety, transparency, insurance and social justice. Listen to the podcast… Abbreviations mentioned during the podcast, and what they mean: AV: Autonomous vehicle SB 965: Pennsylvania State Senate bill developed to eliminate human drivers from testing of highly automated vehicles on public roads SAE J3016: Taxonomy and definition of motor vehicles with automation systems. The standard does not define “safety.” It defines the level of autonomy. SAE J3018: Safety-relevant guidance for on-road testing of system-operated autonomous vehicle… Read More »Podcast: Can AV Bill Do Right by People?
This Week
Straight From the Heart: Startup Celtro Eyes Self-Powered PacemakersWho Does the Plumbing for IoT?Imaging Radar Gets a Second Look for AVs Straight From the Heart: Startup Celtro Eyes Self-Powered Pacemakers By Adele HarsGerman company’s implantable chip to run on energy harvested from cardiac cells. What’s at stake?The pacemaker envisioned by Celtro is both leadless and battery-free. The company sees a big market opportunity, but there are miles to go to get there. A prototype is three years away. Read more… Who Does the Plumbing for IoT? By Junko YoshidaMatter, the new IoT application layer spec, is coming to save the smart home, with Amazon, Google, Apple and Samsung joining the bandwagon. But really, who are going to do the plumbing for Matter? What’s at stake?At CES 2022, the IoT community… Read More »This Week
This Week
Prepare for Unknown Unknowns in This Year’s Chip MarketMobileye Consumer AV Push: Facts Behind the Math?The Inscrutability of Black IcePodcast: What’s the State of Phase-change Memory? Prepare for Unknown Unknowns in This Year’s Chip Market By Bolaji Ojo Analysts expect moderate growth in 2022, but forecasts are tough to pin down due to the market’s opacity and factors beyond the control of chipmakers and their customers. What’s at stakePositive momentum from 2021 will push the semiconductor market into year-over-year growth. But unforeseen developments from the Covid pandemic, among other factors, call the strength of that upturn into question. Read more… Mobileye Consumer AV Push: Facts Behind the Math? By Junko Yoshida Mobileye insists consumer and industrial AV development must proceed in tandem if both sectors are to succeed. What’s at stakeThe AV… Read More »This Week
This Week
Automotive Chip Drought Alters OEM/Supplier Balance of PowerInfineon: The Case for a More Aggressive StrategyIC Aging and Self-Driving CarTOPS Priorities Shift for ‘Datacenter on Wheels’DMS: The Experts’ View Automotive Chip Drought Alters OEM/Supplier Balance of Power By Junko Yoshida The automotive chip shortage has put semiconductor suppliers in the driver’s seat — at least for now. But automakers are wising up. They are rethinking relationships with semiconductor suppliers, while redrawing their next-generation vehicle architectures. What’s at stake?With last year’s chip shortage expected to linger well into 2022, any quick fix is fantasy. Automotive OEMs’ dramatic rethink of next-gen architectures extends to their IC partners, which face new expectations for interchangeable platforms and improved visibility into their business. OEMs are spending massively, and chip designers want that money. The questions come… Read More »This Week
This Week
Intel/Mobileye: Not All Mergers Create EqualsIntel: Time to Break up the MothershipSilicon Labs’ CTO on IoT ‘Catalyst Moments’Podcast: Road to 5-Star DMS RatingThe Letting-Go Dilemma Intel/Mobileye: Not All Mergers Create Equals By Junko Yoshida What’s at stake?Intel acquired Mobileye in 2017 — nearly a year into the two companies’ joint AV development partnership with BMW — with great expectations for the autonomous-vehicle revolution. But a lot has changed in four years. Today, BMW is hitching a ride with Qualcomm on ADAS/AV development. Next year, Intel will take Mobileye public. At stake is whether Intel can chart an automotive roadmap for Intel-branded products, independent of its high-flying subsidiary. When Intel Corp. CEO Pat Gelsinger recently announced Intel’s plans for a public offering of Mobileye in 2022, it was an implicit admission… Read More »This Week
This Week
‘AV Problem’ Is Real, ‘Trolley Problem’ Isn’t Immigration Is America’s Superpower Podcast: Nvidia’s Declining Prospects Betting Big on SiC, Wolfspeed Aims to Power a ‘Revolution’ ‘AV Problem’ Is Real, ‘Trolley Problem’ Isn’t By Junko Yoshida What’s at stake?Public trust in the safety of air travel marked a quantum leap in transportation. The planned transition from human-driven cars to autonomous vehicles is an equally radical change that likewise will hinge on the public’s trust in machines and the ability of machine intelligence to make sound decisions that don’t compromise ethics or safety. Given that AVs will make good, bad, and ugly driving decisions without human input or intervention, society’s tolerance for AV machine errors can be expected to be vanishingly small. Read more… Immigration Is America’s Superpower By Girish Mhatre What’s… Read More »This Week