Category Archives: 3D Integration

Embedded die in substrate platform has its own history and adoption scheme compared to other advanced packaging platforms, explains Yole Développement (Yole). Indeed while the first significant volume of embedded die in IC package substrate came from DC/DC converters in smartphones, penetration in other market segments of interest to embedded die such as automotive, medical or aerospace was simply delayed due to much longer qualification times and regulatory approval cycles.

embedded die revenue

Furthermore, embedded die platforms are showing different drivers compared to competing solutions.

The embedded die platform has been incubated and brewed for years patiently waiting for the right moment to appear on the scene in considerable volume. It seems we are finally nearing the point of inflection – from incubation to volume, comments Yole’s Advanced Packaging & Semiconductor Manufacturing team.

Embedded Die Packaging: Technology& Market Trends 2017 report contains a full segmentation of the embedded die platform including embedded die in IC package substrate, rigid board and flexible board and the related drivers. This report proposes a detailed analysis of market revenue and unit forecasts per segments such as mobile, automotive, medical, consumer, ICT and industrial. Yole’s analysts review detailed splits per product within each market segment. These estimations are based on industry developments and likelihood of further success of the embedded die platform.

“In 2015, an estimated 94% of the US$23.5 million embedded die packaging market was recorded in the highly competitive mobile segment,” said Emilie Jolivet, Technology & Market Analyst within Advanced Packaging & Semiconductor Manufacturing team at Yole.

2016 exhibited a revenue decline, expected to last through 2017, due to production decline of camera modules in mobile phones utilizing the embedded die packaging platform. Going forward, the embedded die market is expected to drastically change with product launches in the automotive, medical, ICT, consumer and industrial segments. By 2021 non-mobile share of the US$ 49.7 million embedded die packaging market will rise from 6% to 36% of the total revenue. Automotive and medical markets offer a promising opportunity for the embedded die technology rising from scratch to a combined US$15.5 million packaging revenue. Certain products in the medical domains are in the final stages of long awaited regulatory approvals while the automotive market could be more disruptive with 5-10 times higher revenues, depending on big player adoption rates.

For the first time, in a dedicated technology & market report, the “More than Moore” market research & strategy consulting company Yole treats the embedded die in PCB platform as a standalone topic covering both embedding in an IC package substrate, rigid boards and flexible boards. In addition, Yole’s analysts detail the advanced embedded interconnects such as MCeP developed by Shinko or Intel’s solution named EMIB. When advanced embedded interconnects are included, the embedded die packaging revenue rises an order of magnitude.

As announced, in terms of applications, the limited products/one market image is expected to change significantly. The embedded die technology has been known to the high reliability markets such as medical, aerospace and automotive for years. However cycle times and especially regulatory approvals follow much different and longer schemes than in the consumer sector. A variety of products is expected to arrive on the market in the near future. A trend from low cost to high value embedded die packaging is on the horizon.

•  The automotive sector is forecasted with highest revenue and unit growth with CAGR values from 2015 to 2021 of 246% and 239%, respectively and first volumes expected already in 2017. The high growth is expected from the adoption of embedded die in 48V power converters, motor control units, camera modules, distance sensors and lighting modules.
•  Following the automotive market, the high value lower unit count medical market is forecasted to exhibit a CAGR of 84%. The products associated include hearing aids, pacemakers, neurostimulation and endoscopic cameras.

In combination with products from other market segments, the overall embedded die packaging revenue CAGR is estimated at 13% and unit CAGR at 25% by 2021. However, although non-mobile products are expected to gain speed, the mobile segment is likely to maintain leadership by 2021 due to several RF and power management units adopting embedded die resulting in a mobile segment revenue CAGR of 9%.

Looking ahead, the adoption of embedded die in new markets is expected to propel the embedded die platform from 2018 onwards to the long awaited higher volumes and growth slopes.

Amkor Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMKR) today announced completion of product qualification for its innovative new Silicon Wafer Integrated Fan-Out Technology (SWIFT). SWIFT is designed to handle the demanding requirements of today’s advanced mobile, networking and system-in-package (SiP) applications.

With its fine-feature photolithography and thin film dielectrics, SWIFT bridges the gap between through silicon via (TSV) and traditional wafer level fan-out (WLFO) packages. Compared to laminate-based substrate technologies, SWIFT offers dramatic improvements in form factor, signal integrity, power distribution and thermal performance. SWIFT incorporates an “RDL first” process that allows SWIFT wafers to be built and yielded ahead of the assembly process – accelerating production cycles and optimizing overall assembly yield.

“The semiconductor industry requires much higher levels of integration in a significantly reduced form factor,” said Ron Huemoeller, Amkor’s corporate vice president, Research & Development. “Completing the product qualification stage of SWIFT is an important milestone. We achieved success by leveraging our significant fan-out development experience and using our existing cutting-edge equipment. Our package and board-level reliability results demonstrate that SWIFT is ready for sampling by customers.”

SWIFT was named the “Device of the Year” at the 3D InCites Awards ceremony earlier this year. It was recognized for being “uniquely developed to deliver a high yielding, high-performance package with the thinnest profile in the industry.” SWIFT was also noted for its ability to deliver 2µm line/space lithography (with up to four layers of RDL) and a very dense network of memory interface vias at a very competitive price.

SWIFT is targeted for production in the second half of 2017 at K5, Amkor’s manufacturing, research and development center in Incheon, South Korea.

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) is proud to announce the award recipients honored at the 2016 GSA Awards Dinner Celebration that took place in Santa Clara, California. Over the past 22 years the awards program has recognized the achievements of semiconductor companies in several categories ranging from outstanding leadership to financial accomplishments, as well as overall respect within the industry.

The GSA’s most prestigious award, the Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, was presented to Mr. Lip-Bu Tan, President and CEO of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and Founder and Chairman of Walden International.

GSA members identified the Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award winners by casting ballots for the industry’s most respected companies judging by their products, vision and future opportunities. Winners included the “Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $100 Million to $500 Million in Annual Sales Award” presented to Nordic Semiconductor; “Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $500 Million to $1 Billion in Annual Sales Award” awarded to Silicon Labs; “Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $1 Billion to $5 Billion in Annual Sales Award” awarded to Analog Devices, Inc.; and “Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving Greater than $5 Billion in Annual Sales Award” received by NVIDIA Corporation.

The “Most Respected Private Company Award” was voted on by GSA membership and presented to Quantenna Communications, Inc. Other winners include “Best Financially Managed Company Achieving up to $1 Billion in Annual Sales Award” presented to Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (Silicon Motion, Inc.) and “Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Company Achieving Greater than $1 Billion in Annual Sales Award” earned by NVIDIA Corporation. Both companies were recognized based on their continued demonstration of the best overall financial performance according to specific financial metrics.

GSA’s Private Awards Committee, comprised of venture capitalists and select industry entrepreneurs, chose the “Start-Up to Watch Award” winner by identifying a company that has demonstrated the potential to positively change its market or the industry through the innovative use of semiconductor technology or a new application for semiconductor technology. This year’s winner is Innovium, Inc.

As a global organization, the GSA recognizes outstanding companies headquartered in the Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Chosen by the leadership council of each respective region, award winners are semiconductor companies that demonstrate the most strength when measuring products, vision, leadership and success in the marketplace. The recipient of this year’s “Outstanding Asia-Pacific Semiconductor Company Award” is MediaTek Inc. and the recipient of this year’s “Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company Award” is Movidius.

Semiconductor financial analyst Quinn Bolton from Needham & Company presented this year’s “Favorite Analyst Semiconductor Company Award” to Microsemi Corporation. The criteria used in selecting this year’s winner included historical, as well as projected data, such as stock price, earnings per share, revenue forecasts and product performance.

ClassOne Technology, manufacturer of cost-efficient wet processing equipment for ≤200mm substrates, has reported its best-ever sales quarter and is currently doubling its Kalispell manufacturing capacity to meet the demand.

“We’ve been seeing a steady increase in market interest and sales,” said ClassOne Technology President, Kevin Witt. “Most of these users are now focusing on capabilities they couldn’t get before, like wafer-level packaging and More than Moore technologies.”

Witt explained that wafer-level packaging (WLP) has been used for some time with 300mm and larger substrates — but the equipment has not been available for 200mm. “Fortunately, ClassOne focuses specifically on the smaller-wafer markets,” said Witt. “At a very affordable price, we deliver the new technology and advanced 3D features they’re looking for. For example, our Solstice® line of multifunctional electroplating systems enables high-efficiency Cu Through Silicon Via (TSV), Pillar, Bump and Barrier Plating and other capabilities that WLP requires. And that’s one major reason they’re coming to us.”

ClassOne reports that many of the new buyers are keenly interested in More than Moore (MtM) technologies to increase functionality while reducing cost per device. They are producing compound semiconductors, LEDs, MEMS, RF, Wi-Fi and a range of IoT-related sensors and other devices. ClassOne cites the combination of ≤200mm-specific tools, advanced capabilities and affordable pricing as the primary driver behind the current equipment-buying surge in emerging markets.

ClassOne Technology offers a selection of new-technology wet processing tools designed for 75mm to 200mm wafer users. These include three different models of Solstice electroplating systems for production and development as well as the Trident families of Spin-Rinse-Dryers and Spray Solvent Tools. All are priced at less than half of what similarly configured systems from the larger manufacturers would cost — which is why the ClassOne lines are often described as delivering “Advanced Wet Processing for the Rest of Us.”

Vigorous M&A activity in 2015 and 2016 has reshaped the landscape of the semiconductor industry, with the top companies now controlling a much greater percentage of marketshare.  Not including foundries, IC Insights forecasts to top five semiconductor suppliers—Intel, Samsung, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and SK Hynix— will account for 41% marketshare in 2016 (Figure 1).  This represents a nine-point increase from the 32% marketshare held by the top five suppliers ten years ago. Furthermore, the top 10 semiconductor suppliers are forecast to account for 56% marketshare in 2016, an 11-point swing from 45% in 2006, and the top 25 companies are forecast to account for more than three-quarters of all semiconductor sales this year.

semiconductor sales leaders

Figure 1

Following an historic surge in semiconductor merger and acquisition agreements in 2015, the torrid pace of transactions eased a bit in the first half of 2016.  However, 2016 is now forecast to be the second-largest year ever for chip industry M&A announcements, thanks to three major deals struck in 3Q16 that have a combined total value of $51.0 billion.  These deals were SoftBank’s purchase of ARM, Analog Devices’ intended purchase of Linear Technology, and Renesas’ potential acquisition of Intersil. With the surge in mergers and acquisitions expected to continue over the next few years, IC Insights believes that the consolidation will raise the shares of the top suppliers to even loftier levels.

Tessera Holding Corporation today announced it has completed the acquisition of DTS, Inc. Tessera Technologies, Inc. and DTS are now combined under Tessera Holding Corporation and the shares of the combined company will continue to trade on the NASDAQ under Tessera’s ticker symbol TSRA. The Company plans to introduce a new corporate name, stock ticker, brand and logo during the first quarter of 2017.

The Company’s combined portfolio of products and technologies uniquely positions it to deliver smart sight and sound solutions and next-generation 3D semiconductor interconnect solutions for mobile devices, consumer electronics, and automotive markets – while also addressing the growing potential of emerging technologies such as IoT and AR/VR. The Company’s team of world-class engineers will focus on the vision of creating core technologies that power intelligent, immersive and personalized digital experiences.

“The combination of DTS and Tessera ushers in a new era for the company,” said Tom Lacey, CEO of Tessera Holding Corporation. “By uniting DTS’ industry-leading portfolio of premium audio technology solutions with Tessera’s best-in-class portfolio of imaging and semiconductor packaging and interconnect technologies, we will be able to execute on our vision of an integrated platform of smart enabled technologies.”

“DTS has always been a leading innovator in the audio space,” said Jon Kirchner, president of Tessera Holding Corporation. “We are proud to unite with Tessera to innovate a new generation of smart sight and sound solutions that will power the next wave of content delivery and electronic devices. These solutions will help deliver ever more immersive experiences and help transform how we interact with the rapidly growing number of connected devices at home, in the car and on the go.”

QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), a developer of ultra-low power programmable sensor processing, display bridge and programmable logic solutions, today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator Partner Program, a collaborative ecosystem that facilitates 22FDX system-on-chip (SoC) design and reduces time-to-market for customers.

“QuickLogic’s partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES adds a unique dimension to the FDX program by offering customers ultra-low power embedded FPGA (eFPGA) Intellectual Property, complete software tools and a compiler,” said Brian Faith, president and CEO at QuickLogic Corporation. “This new capability provides users with a high level of design and product flexibility which will help lower costs and allow products to be easily customized to meet various and evolving market requirements.”

“GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator program is a comprehensive design ecosystem that provides customers with the support and resources they need to get FDX FD-SOI technologies to market as quickly as possible,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of Product Management at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. “Leveraging QuickLogic’s FPGA expertise will provide inherent hardware flexibility for FDX-based SoC designs and gain a critical time-to-market advantage for a broad range of embedded, battery powered and IoT applications.”

The FDXcelerator Partner Program builds upon GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ industry-first FD-SOI roadmap, a lower-cost migration path for designers on advanced nodes that is optimized for low power applications. By participating, FDXcelerator Partners commit to provide specific resources, including EDA tools, IP, silicon platforms, reference designs, design services and packaging and test solutions. The program is based on an open framework which enables members to minimize development time and cost while simultaneously leveraging the inherent power and performance advantages of FDX technology.

Current members of the FDXcelerator Partner Program also include Synopsys, Cadence, INVECAS, VeriSilicon, CEA Leti, Dream Chip, and Encore Semi.

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. and Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. (“Tsinghua Unigroup”) today announced an agreement to form a joint-venture and to mutually terminate Tsinghua Unigroup’s earlier private placement plan.

Under the joint-venture agreement, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (BVI) LTD., a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, will sell 54.98% of the equity interests of its wholly owned subsidiary, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Shanghai) LTD., to a group led by Tsinghua Unigroup, for approximately RMB 498.4 million (approximately NT$2,437 million or US$77 million). After the consummation of such equity interest transfer, ChipMOS BVI will own 45.02% of the equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, Tsinghua Unigroup through its subsidiary, Tibet Unigroup Guowei Investment Co., Ltd. (“Unigroup Guowei”) will own 48%, and other strategic investors, including a limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees will own 6.98%. The investment will be used to expand the capacity of and services offered by ChipMOS Shanghai. The joint-venture agreement has been approved by the Board of Directors of ChipMOS Taiwan.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman of ChipMOS, commented, “We are pleased to reach this joint-venture agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup, which has been at the forefront of the rapidly evolving global semiconductor value chain. As a leader of the semiconductor assembly and test segment, ChipMOS will be able to leverage our extensive expertise and relationships, R&D resources and technology roadmap to meet a critical need within the Tsinghua Unigroup portfolio as it works to meet expanding domestic China market. The joint-venture will allow us accelerate the planned expansion of ChipMOS Shanghai, while adding on new lines to given the higher demand we are seeing for our LCD driver ICs, touch driver, AMOLED, OLED and memory testing, assembly and bumping services. Tsinghua Unigroup is committed to actively supporting the company across its comprehensive semiconductor supply chain investment portfolio, as we work to mutually grow the sustainable revenue and profit of ChipMOS Shanghai over the long-term, while promoting the interests of all shareholders and employees.”

Details of Joint-Venture Agreement and Termination Agreement: 

  1. A mutual agreement was reached between ChipMOS and Tsinghua Unigroup to terminate Tsinghua Unigroup’s participation in a planned private placement of ChipMOS Taiwan:On December 11, 2015, the Board of Directors of ChipMOS Taiwan adopted a resolution to approve a private placement of common shares in which 299,252,000 private placement shares issued by ChipMOS Taiwan would be subscribed by a controlled entity of Tsinghua Unigroup at NT$ 40 per share, and ChipMOS Taiwan and Tsinghua Unigroup entered into the Share Subscription Agreement with other transaction documents on the same date. The aforementioned private placement was subsequently approved by a resolution of ChipMOS Taiwan’s shareholders meeting on January 28, 2016, and the subscriber, Tibet MaoYeChuangXin Investment LTD., also entered into another Share Subscription Agreement and other transaction documents with ChipMOS Taiwan.All parties have agreed to mutually terminate the Share Subscription Agreement and other transaction documents. ChipMOS Taiwan held a Board meeting to terminate the aforementioned private placement, and entered into the Termination Agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup and the subscriber, respectively.
  2. Under the joint-venture agreement announced today, ChipMOS BVI, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, will sell 54.98% of the equity interests of its China subsidiary, ChipMOS Shanghai, to strategic investors led by Tsinghua Unigroup, and will further increase the capital of ChipMOS Shanghai with such strategic investors according to their respective shareholding ratio. The sale of the 54.98% equity interest is expected to result in a gain to ChipMOS Taiwan of approximately NT$2,288 million(approximately NT$2.67 per ChipMOS Taiwan share) upon the transaction’s close primarily due to a gain on the appreciation of fixed assets and land use rights.ChipMOS BVI, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS Taiwan, originally owned 100% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS and ChipMOS BVI entered into the Equity Interest Purchase Agreement and the Agreement for China-Foreign Joint Venture with each strategic investor respectively, such as Unigroup Guowei, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of Tsinghua Unigroup, and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees, selling 54.98% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai at the price of around RMB 498.4 million to strategic investors including Unigroup Guowei and others, and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees (hereinafter collectively as “Purchasers”). After the consummation of such equity interest transfer, ChipMOS BVI will own 45.02% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, Unigroup Guowei will own 48% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, and other strategic investors and the limited partnership owned by ChipMOS Shanghai’s employees will own 6.98% of equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS BVI will increase capital to ChipMOS Shanghai, by the funds obtained from selling equity interests of ChipMOS Shanghai, with the Purchasers according to their respective shareholding ratio, and except the foregoing funds, ChipMOS BVI does not inject any additional funds to ChipMOS Shanghai. ChipMOS Shanghai is expected to gain additional cash of approximately RMB 1,074.0 million from a capital increase after the deal closes.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman of ChipMOS, added, “We have been steadily ramping production at ChipMOS Shanghai as part of a three-year capacity expansion plan, which is aligned with the increasing customer demand levels for semiconductor testing and assembly services in Mainland China and our goal of achieving sustainable profitability at ChipMOS Shanghai. Other than the US$42 millioncapital contribution invested and US$33 million bank loan facility secured formerly, the additional RMB 1,074.0 million capital contribution will help us achieve our targeted economies of scale and our long-term goals. We are also pleased as the joint-venture structure brings powerful strategic partners to ChipMOS Shanghai in a structure that will benefit all shareholders.”

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM)  today announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI),  and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., have extended their decade-long strategic foundry collaboration to manufacture Qualcomm Technologies’ latest Snapdragon premium processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, with Samsung’s 10-nanometer (nm) FinFET process technology.

The decision to use Samsung’s cutting edge process in the next generation premium processor highlights Qualcomm Technologies’ continued dedication in being the technology leader in mobile platforms.

“We are excited to continue working together with Samsung in developing products that lead the mobile industry,” said Keith Kressin, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies. Inc. “Using the new 10nm process node is expected to allow our premium tier Snapdragon 835 processor to deliver greater power efficiency and increase performance while also allowing us to add a number of new capabilities that can improve the user experience of tomorrow’s mobile devices.”

In October, Samsung announced they are the first in the industry to enter mass production of 10nm FinFET technology. Compared to its 14nm FinFET predecessors, Samsung’s 10nm technology allows up to a 30% increase in area efficiency with 27% higher performance or up to 40% lower power consumption. Using 10nm FinFET, the Snapdragon 835 processor will offer a smaller chip footprint, giving OEMs more usable space inside upcoming products to support larger batteries or slimmer designs. Process improvements, combined with a more advanced chip design, are expected to bring significant improvements in battery life.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to work closely with Qualcomm Technologies in producing the Snapdragon 835 using our 10nm FinFET technology,” said Jong Shik Yoon, executive vice president and head of foundry business, Samsung. “This collaboration is an important milestone for our foundry business as it signifies confidence in Samsung’s leading chip process technology.”

Snapdragon 835 is in production now and expected to ship in commercial devices in the first half of 2017. Snapdragon 835 follows the Snapdragon 820/21 processor, which has over 200 designs in development.

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:  SNPS) today announced it expanded its test and yield analysis solution targeting FinFET-specific defects to enable higher quality testing, repair, diagnostics and yield analysis of advanced 7-nanometer (nm) SoCs. To improve defect coverage, Synopsys has been collaborating with several semiconductor companies to advance testing and diagnostics methods for logic, memory and high-speed mixed-signal circuits targeted for manufacture with 7nm processes. These collaborations are enabling rapid deployment of new functionality within Synopsys’ synthesis-based test solution, featuring TetraMAX II ATPG, DesignWare STAR Memory System, and DesignWare STAR Hierarchical System.

Leading semiconductor companies ramping up design capabilities for emerging 7nm processes are facing increasing test quality and yield management challenges. To address these challenges, Synopsys’ test solution delivers several innovative technologies that target defects occurring more frequently at emerging process nodes. For logic circuits, new modeling techniques, such as resistance sweeping, improve the ability of slack-based cell-aware tests to detect defects such as intra-cell partial bridges that are more prevalent with advanced FinFET processes. For embedded memory test and repair, the STAR Memory System solution incorporates custom algorithms based on silicon learning at the industry’s top silicon foundries to detect and repair defects exemplified by resistive fin shorts, fin opens and gate-fin shorts. Furthermore, the DesignWare STAR Hierarchical System enables high coverage manufacturing and characterization test patterns for the 7nm DesignWare PHY IP to be efficiently applied through the SoC hierarchy.

To accelerate diagnosis of 7nm yield issues, defect isolation to specific areas within design cells is possible through new support of cell-aware descriptions in the database shared between TetraMAX II ATPG and Yield Explorer solutions. The combination of test and diagnostic advances increase 7nm defect detection and speed up failure analysis and yield ramp in production manufacturing environments.

“The growing complexity and process variation found with advanced 7nm FinFET processes requires improved test and yield technologies,” said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP and prototyping at Synopsys.  “Our IP design teams are leveraging TetraMAX ATPG as well as STAR Memory System and STAR Hierarchical System test, repair and diagnostic solutions to help multiple customers designing with 7nm IP improve their product quality and yield, while accelerating their time to market.”

“As a leading provider of comprehensive test and yield solutions, Synopsys is committed to helping designers meet their growing challenges of higher quality and faster yield ramp,” said Bijan Kiani, vice president of product marketing for the Design Group at Synopsys. “Through our on-going collaborations with leading semiconductor companies worldwide, we are delivering innovative solutions to address the specific requirements for advanced FinFET processes. These innovations will enable our customers to rapidly adopt 7nm technologies to meet their goals for high-performance SoC products.”