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Key Takeaway: From 1947’s magnetic core memory to the forthcoming HBM4 and compute-in-memory architectures, advances in semiconductor memory have continuously reshaped computing performance, capacity, and architecture. Understanding detailed memory types—from on-chip SRAM variants to emerging non-volatile memories—is essential for engineering high-performance, cost-effective systems. 1. Fundamental Principles of
![[STA] Synchronous Clocks vs. Asynchronous Clocks](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1533749047139-189de3cf06d3?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fGNsb2NrfGVufDB8fHx8MTc1NTQzMzg1OHww&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=600)
In the world of digital design, you often hear the terms synchronous clock and asynchronous clock. While simple designs with a single module might use just one clock, modern Systems-on-a-Chip (SoCs) are typically designed with a variety of asynchronous clocks. For example, let's look at the Qualcomm Snapdragon
Physical Design Rule Checking (DRC) is the cornerstone of semiconductor physical verification, ensuring that an integrated circuit’s layout adheres to the foundry’s manufacturing constraints. By automating the validation of geometric and spacing requirements in chip layouts, DRC prevents catastrophic defects—shorts, opens, misalignments—and secures high yields, manufacturability,
The continuous scaling of semiconductor process nodes improves transistor density, but it disproportionately amplifies interconnect parasitics, necessitating a "shift-left" approach where the interconnect effect, particularly resistance, must be considered much earlier and more stringently throughout the design flow. The transition to advanced process nodes signifies a shift from