The Hub's semiconductor glossary in 23 topics. Each topic page lists its terms by group with a short definition, and links to the lifecycles, engineering tools, standards and news that use them.
112 terms
Analog, RF and mixed-signal terms explained: amplifiers, data converters, oscillators, radio front ends and the noise and linearity measures that judge them.
99 terms
Automotive semiconductor terms explained: vehicle chips, in-vehicle networks, AEC-Q100 qualification and ISO 26262 functional safety, each with its own page.
139 terms
Semiconductor business terms explained: fabless, foundry and IDM models, design wins, pricing, inventory cycles and how analysts size a chip market.
100 terms
Compute and AI hardware terms explained: CPUs, GPUs and accelerators, their memory and interconnects, and the figures used to compare them fairly.
94 terms
Chip design and architecture terms explained: specifications, instruction sets, buses, clocking, power domains and RTL, from the Hub's glossary.
117 terms
EDA terms explained: simulation, synthesis, place and route, timing and power analysis, physical verification and the formats that join a design flow.
237 terms
Embedded software terms explained: boot loaders, firmware, drivers, real-time operating systems, debuggers and secure updates for chips in the field.
100 terms
Fab operations, yield and metrology terms explained: wafer starts, cycle time, equipment uptime, process control, inspection and the cost of lost die.
221 terms
Everyday semiconductor terms explained in plain words: wafer, die, node, foundry, tape-out and the other names used across chip news and job adverts.
98 terms
Interface and SerDes terms explained: serial links, equalisation, clock recovery, die-to-die links and the PCIe, CXL, UCIe, USB and MIPI standards.
96 terms
Lithography and materials terms explained: photomasks, DUV and EUV light sources, resists, overlay, and the films, gases and substrates a fab uses.
99 terms
Memory and storage terms explained: DRAM, LPDDR, GDDR and HBM, flash and solid state storage, newer non-volatile memories and cost per bit.
111 terms
Chip packaging terms explained: dicing, bonding, substrates, interposers, fan-out, 3D stacking, chiplets and how packages carry signals and heat.
246 terms
Photonics, MEMS and sensor terms explained: lasers, modulators, silicon photonics, accelerometers, microphones and image sensors, with their limits.
90 terms
Physical design and signoff terms explained: floorplanning, placement, clock trees, routing and the timing, power and physical checks before tape-out.
86 terms
Semiconductor policy and trade terms explained: export controls, tariffs, subsidy programmes, national chip strategies and supply chain disputes.
95 terms
Power semiconductor terms explained: diodes, MOSFETs, IGBTs, silicon carbide and gallium nitride devices, power modules and their voltage and heat ratings.
117 terms
Process technology terms explained: process nodes, planar, FinFET and gate-all-around transistors, front-end and back-end steps, and the PDK.
103 terms
Semiconductor reliability and quality terms explained: failure rates, stress tests, acceleration models, qualification, failure analysis and quality systems.
94 terms
Chip safety and security terms explained: safety levels and metrics, fault detection, threat analysis, secure boot, roots of trust and side channels.
167 terms
Semiconductor standards bodies and terms explained: JEDEC, IEEE, SEMI, ISO, the interface consortia and the trade groups that set shared rules.
94 terms
Test and DFT terms explained: scan chains, built-in self test, fault models and coverage, wafer probe, final test, test programs and binning.
109 terms
Verification and validation terms explained: simulation, testbenches, coverage, formal methods, emulation, prototyping and post-silicon validation.
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