Machine Learning Popularity Grows

Machine learning and deep learning are showing a sharp growth trajectory in many industries. Even the semiconductor industry, which generally has resisted this technology, is starting to changing its tune. Both machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have been successfully used for image recognition in autonomous driving, speech recognition in natural language processing applications, and for multiple uses in the health care industry. The general consensus is that it can be similarly applied to semiconductor design. "We called it'metrics' in 1998-1999," said Andrew Kahng, a professor of computer science and engineering at UC San Diego. "The main principle was measure everything, data-mine the log files, predict tool sweet spots and failures, and figure out how to tune specific tool options for a specific design instance."