While Lattice Semiconductor's main play in FPGAs has been the ice40 architecture it gained from the acquisition of SiliconBlue Technologies, the company's own MachXO family has been an important player in the low-end programmable market, where devices often still are referred to as PLDs. The MachXO3, introduced at the end of September, deserves more scrutiny…
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Was beer really the last great innovation in civilization? Of course the answer is “not really,” but Wade McDaniel and I share a good laugh when he brings it up. We've seen tons of innovation since the Sumerians figured out how to craft a fermented elixir that wouldn't kill whoever consumed it. But the argument's…
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OpenCL has found more support among Altera partners, but has needed another major FPGA vendor to support this open language, originally developed by Apple Inc. In mid-September, Xilinx announced it would work with partners MathWorks and National Instruments on OpenCL, as part of a new All Programmable Abstractions initiative. Critics might see Xilinx as adding…
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It’s not often that a CEO admits his company’s sales strategy needs a complete overhaul because it has “stalled” but that was the blunt message Dean Foate had for Plexus Corp. shareholders recently. Foate, president, chairman and CEO of the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, then launched into a detailed outline of how he expects…
DetailsMicrosoft Corp. has a growing Elop problem and it may be time for the two to say goodbye. The appearance of impropriety surrounding Microsoft’s relationship with Stephen Elop, the former Nokia CEO and now head of mobile business at the software vendor, is bad and neither party needs the headache that will result from any…
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Flash is winning a major portion of the storage market, but its success is bringing supply issues. With the performance boost that flash and solid state drives (SSDs) give to computer systems, the takeup of the new technology has been slower than expected. For that, we can blame the recession and a fear of wear-out…
DetailsThere are myriad business metrics that can tell you important things about your business and how it's doing. That can be confusing and time-consuming. Fortunately, there are only a handful that you need to measure weekly. Business metrics provide you with key information about your company's performance. Identifying the right business metrics to track, and…
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The message to consumers from the European Microelectronics Summit held in Paris on Thursday, Sept. 26, is this: Expect the emergence of vehicle-to-vehicle requirements and the buildout of vehicle-to-infrastructure requirements. Drivers can also depend on their cars to help them avoid crises on the road. But the emphasis is more on the advanced driver assistance…
DetailsGlobal revenue in the power semiconductor business dropped by nearly 16 percent in 2012 as sluggish consumer demand, falling pricing and other factors conspired to undercut the market, according to a upcoming report from the Power Management and Analog IC Service at IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). Following healthy growth during the previous year, market revenue…
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