Semiconductor Fabrication

Nightly newscasts feature stories about counterfeit jeans and pharmaceuticals. But now, counterfeit versions of advanced semiconductors are beginning to infiltrate the pipeline. How can you ensure that nobody is offering unauthorized clones of your products? How can you spot the copies? The situation is serious enough that the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) is holding a conference in early September to explore it. Have you been affected? What can you do to prevent this IP fraud?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Semiconductor Fabrication, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Semiconductor Fabrication today.

How do you decide whether to manufacture your own semiconductors or spend your efforts in perfecting the designs and then outsourcing the actual fabrication to companies that specialize in that activity? How do you determine and then develop your areas of expertise? Investors prefer outsourcing because it lowers the barriers of entry into a particular market niche and improves return on assets. Engineers want control over production processes and often maintain a healthy skepticism for anything 'not invented here'. Where does your company draw that line? How do you decide what to build yourself and what to outsource? Who makes that decision? Are the issues technical? Financial? Political?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Semiconductor Fabrication, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Semiconductor Fabrication today.

Reducing carbon emissions and dependence on petroleum-based energy have become high-priority goals for companies. The expansion of biofuels, recycling, and high-efficiency photovoltaics promises that the number of possible solutions will expand rapidly in coming years. How does your company plan to participate in this effort? What are you doing to increase your output per unit energy? To reduce your carbon footprint? Use of toxic chemicals and other pollutants? Does your new-product planning consider these issues before making final design decisions?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Semiconductor Fabrication, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Semiconductor Fabrication today.

A number of recent industry articles describe how engineers should occupy the real estate freed by the shrinking of semiconductor circuits. One touts the benefits and pitfalls of combining analog and digital circuits on the same chip. Another piece recommends embedding measurement circuitry on SOCs to improve the ability to test them. How do you plan to take advantage of the smaller geometries? Will you simply shrink your devices? How much real estate do your new designs free up? Will you add functionality? Do you have a better idea?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Semiconductor Fabrication, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Semiconductor Fabrication today.

Testing device function is no longer the ultimate goal in semiconductor manufacturing. Systems makers want to ensure that devices bought from different vendors will interact correctly. This white paper examines the RapidIO interoperability standard — what it is, where it comes from, and how it works. How do you control interoperability?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Semiconductor Fabrication, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Semiconductor Fabrication today.