After text activity

I. Reading Exercises:

Exercise 1. Read and memorize using a dictionary:

predictable rate, concomitant decrease, spur, revenue curve, financial burden, exponential trends, Solid-State Circuits Conference, leakage currents, wring performance, lattice silicon, depleted silicon-on-insulator, formidable obstacles, foundries, inherent advantage.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions:

1) What does Moore’s Law postulate?

2) What will an emerging market spur?

3) What has the industry had to face?

4) Haw have the industry’s technology leaders reacted to the

situation?

5) What are “boosters” that wring incremental performance out of

current technologies?

Exercise 3. Match the left part with the right:

1. The industry’s technology leaders have reacted	a) with products from a number of designers.
2. Business as usual will certainly bump up against	b) RD and manufacturing efforts.
3. Some companies are resorting to joint	c) predictably to the situation.
4. Foundries can full their fabs	d) barriers in the next decade or so.

Exercise 4. Open brackets choosing the right words:

The semiconductor industry ,for the most part, has a (ten-years/decades-long) and therefore unshakable belief in Moore’s Law, which (says/postulates) that integrated circuits will(increase/double) in (intricacy/complexity) at a predictable rate with a (attendant/concomitant) decrease in (fabricating/manufacturing) costs.

II. Speaking Exercises:

Exercise 1. Describe lattice; solid-state; foundry; leakage; dielectric using the suggested words and expressions as in example:

lattice

framework; consisting of; an ornamental design; made of; strips of wood; or; metal.

example:

The lattice is framework consisting of an ornamental design made of strips of wood or metal.

solid-state

consisting of; semiconductor materials; and; components; and; related devices.

foundry

factory; where; metal castings; are produced.

leakage

unwanted discharge; of; a fluid; from; some container.

dielectric

material; such as; glass; or; porcelain; with; negligible; electrical or thermal; conductivity.

Exercise 2.Ask questions to the given answers:

1. Question: ___________________________________________?

Answer: If demands drops then reduce the manufacturing costs by increasing complexity: smaller, denser, more capable circuits on larger wafers.

2. Question: ___________________________________________?

Answer: They fall into two categories: increasing device speeds and controlling leakage currents.

3. Question: ___________________________________________?

Answer: A tighter, more iterative integration of design and manufacturing may present new challenges to the foundries their fables customers and the EDA industry.