Ben Harper

Ashling today announced full debug and trace support for Tenstorrent’s Ascalon RISC-V CPU within its RiscFree SDK. TT-Ascalon is Tenstorrent’s high-performance RISC-V CPU, built on open standards to provide maximum flexibility and architectural control. It is based on the open RISC-V ISA and is RVA23 compliant. A central focus of the Ashling–Tenstorrent collaboration is comprehensive trace support, built on the RISC-V standard N-Trace architecture. RiscFree integrates with Tenstorrent’s Ascalon CPUs to capture detailed trace data across multi-core systems, enabling real-time visibility into instruction execution, memory transactions, and key system events. In addition to N-Trace, Tenstorrent’s Debug Signal Trace (DST) infrastructure has been fully implemented in its Ascalon CPUs, providing access to critical micro-architectural signals alongside standard trace data during post-silicon validation. DST enhances debugging, performance analysis, and coverage, and is fully supported by Ashling’s RiscFree tools—enabling deep trace visibility with minimal integration overhead. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gthF_9uj #RISCVEverwhere #DEBUG #Tenstorrent

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What does it take to design a market-leading processor? I visited Arm's headquarters in Cambridge recently to meet the team and find out how it comes together. It's clear that chip design is no easy task. In an industry often focused on raw specifications like performance and power at any cost, the true secret to CPU leadership goes beyond the silicon itself. It's a sophisticated, data-driven philosophy. Instead of relying solely on traditional metrics like SPEC and synthetics alone, Arm's approach is to build for tomorrow's workloads today. They do this by leveraging collective data from their extensive network of partners and using advanced tools to predict how software will behave in the future. This unique insight allows them to design and simulate hardware at a level such that customers can start writing software before it's even ready. This ensures the design is perfectly aligned with the real-world demands of upcoming applications. It was a fascinating look into the process behind the world's most pervasive computing architecture. For the full story, I invite you to watch my deep dive into how Arm's approach goes beyond the numbers. https://lnkd.in/ePAM_7gZ #ad #Arm #ProcessorDesign #AI #TechLeadership #Innovation #Semiconductors

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🤝 STMicroelectronics and Morse Micro will be hosting a live joint webinar on 17 September 2025 on how to unlock #IoT 2.0 with Wi-Fi #HaLow and #STM32. 💡 In this webinar, ST and Morse Micro will deep dive into the MM6108-EKH05-05US, a powerful Wi-Fi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) development board purpose-built for a wide range of IoT applications. Combining Morse Micro’s #MM6108 Wi-Fi HaLow chip with ST’s advanced components, including the #STM32U5 ultra-low-power MCU, BlueNRG-M2 Bluetooth® module, and the #IIS328DQ 3-axis accelerometer, this development board is ready to power smart cities, industrial monitoring, building automation, and more. Key topics/learnings: ----------------------- 🌟 What defines IoT 2.0 and, more importantly, why traditional wireless tech is no longer enough 🌟 Why Wi-Fi HaLow is the key to long-range, high-throughput IoT 2.0 applications 🌟 ST's role is supporting next gen IoT development and platforming 🌟 How to get started with the MM6108-EKH05-05US dev board for rapid prototyping (whether you’re designing a next-gen asset tracker or a connected environmental sensor) 🌟 Application examples across industrial, smart building, and urban IoT use cases (e.g. camera) Register today via https://lnkd.in/gDksyUxq

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MAJOR ADVANCES IN (AI) TESTING DEMONSTRATED AT ECOC Exhibition 2025. I enjoyed a fascinating 3-way discussion about testing on the exhibition floor this week. Photonic integrated circuits operate at very high frequencies. We see InP and TFLN operating up to 110 GHz. Manufacturing is done at the wafer level, so we need to find partners who can test at such high frequencies, preferably automatically. In the video below, we discussed first with Lawrence van der Vegt, Head of Photonics at MPI Corporation. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, MPI Corporation is a global technology leader in the testing of Semiconductors, Light Emitting Diodes, Photo Detectors, Lasers, Materials Research, and more. In September 2025, they announced the release of a fully integrated 250 GHz broadband test solution for the new Keysight Technologies NA5305A/7A PNA-X Frequency Extender. It builds on their deep expertise in sub-terahertz probing and on-wafer measurements. We explored why this is needed now. We also hear from Amir H. Ghadimi, CEO of Lightium based in Zurich, Switzerland. He explains what they need from an end-user perspective.  He also comments on a partnership between MPI Corporation and Axiomatic_AI. Design Engineer Mahdi Safari explains how their AI-driven SmartMeasure system utilises natural language to configure the probe station, select devices, and optimise the measurement order to maximise information retrieval. MPI tell me they have a lot of new developments on their roadmap to share at the OFC Conference 2026 and in Malaga next year. Onward to meet other Optica Corporate Members exhibiting this year and with a powerful deep-tech story to share! Does that apply to your company too? Join Optica and let's discuss.

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What Companies Behind iPhone Chips? — Top Chipmakers and Their Focus It’s not just Apple. There is a global network of semiconductor suppliers building the components that power it—from the logic board to memory to RF. This teardown of the iPhone 15 Pro reveals the key chip suppliers: -> Logic Board Broadcom – Wireless charging receiver Texas Instruments – USB interface & PMIC SK hynix – 8GB DRAM Cirrus Logic – Audio codec & amplifier Apple (in-house) – A17 Pro processor Renesas – Power management ICs STMicroelectronics – Power management ICs Bosch – MEMS accelerometer & gyroscope -> Memory Board Kioxia – 256GB NAND flash memory Texas Instruments – AMOLED display power supply Cirrus Logic – Audio amplifier NXP – NFC controller & secure element -> Radio Frequency Board Qualcomm – 5G modem & RF transceivers Broadcom – RF front-end modules Skyworks & Qorvo – RF filters and amplifiers NXP – NFC controller STMicroelectronics – Secure MCU Key takeaway: No smartphone is truly built by one company. Your iPhone 15 is a collaboration between over 10 global chip suppliers, each specializing in RF, memory, power management, or logic. From Broadcom’s wireless chips to SK hynix’s memory and Qualcomm’s modems, it’s a complex supply chain that makes the device work. P.S. For simple, visual explainers about the chip industry, check out our blog The Semiconductor World. Link in comments. #Semiconductors #iPhone15 #ChipDesign #SupplyChain #Broadcom #Qualcomm #SKHynix #Kioxia #CirrusLogic #TexasInstruments #RFchips #MemoryChips #AppleSilicon #TestFlow #ATOMS

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Arm to explore designing its own chips, chief executive says : https://lnkd.in/eHQkM2-r UK chip company Arm confirmed it was exploring the idea of launching its own chips on Wednesday in a move that would represent a significant shake-up in its relationship with big customers such as NVIDIA. Arm chief executive Rene Haas said the company, which offers the designs that other companies base their chips on, was accelerating its research and development spending as it considers offering “full end solutions” — suggesting it wants to design complete chips. SoftBank Group Corp.-owned Arm’s designs dominate the smartphone chip ecosystem, with Apple and Samsung Electronics using Arm-based chips in their products. Nvidia also incorporates them into its artificial intelligence data centre products. #semiconductor #manufacturing #technology #innovation #chips  #semiconductormanufacturing #advancedtechnology #engineering #lithography #nanometer #research #development #AI #EUV #DUV #mobileprocessors

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