Category Archives: Semiconductors

Semiconductor industry growth drivers artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and automotive take center stage as more than 45,000 visitors gather at SEMICON Taiwan starting today. Showcasing the latest developments and innovations in the microelectronics supply chain, SEMICON Taiwan – September 5-7, at the Taipei Nanang Convention Center – is the largest semiconductor supply chain event in Taiwan. The event opens with Taiwan’s semiconductor industry revenue poised to grow 6 percent to $84.76 billion U.S. dollars ($2.6 trillion NT dollars) in 2018.

Taiwan leads the world in semiconductor foundry, package and test services and is second in chip design. SEMICON Taiwan features more than 2,000 booths and 680 exhibitors from around the world.

SEMICON Taiwan 2018’s IC 60 – Master Forum, a special event co-organized by SEMI and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), celebrates the 60th anniversary of the birth of the integrated circuit. With their sights set on emerging opportunities, Taiwan semiconductor industry luminaries will highlight the pioneering spirit and tenacious pursuit of smaller, faster, lower-power devices that gave rise to today’s ICs and are the heart of the digital economy.

Premier of Executive Yuan, Ching-de Lai will speak at today’s opening ceremony to highlight the administration’s support for the sustainable growth of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Semiconductor heavyweights, academic professionals, and other officials – all key players in Taiwan’s semiconductor industry – are also expected at the ceremony.

With semiconductor processes ramping to the 5nm technology and below and novel techniques such as heterogeneous integration ushering in improvements to chip functionality, SEMICON Taiwan is the ideal platform for connecting, collaborating and innovating to take advantage of future opportunities.

New show floor features at SEMICON Taiwan include the Smart Manufacturing Journey to highlight future trends and opportunities in smart semiconductor manufacturing and the Smart Workforce Pavilion, which promotes the development of the semiconductor industry talent pipeline. In addition, 22 theme and regional pavilions and a series of forums and networking events spotlight market trends and cutting-edge technologies and open opportunities for cross-field and cross-region collaboration.

“Semiconductors are the backbone of the Taiwan’s economic growth and its leadership position in the global semiconductor industry,” said Terry Tsao, president of SEMI Taiwan. “As critical partners, Taiwan policy makers continue to work closely with the industry and will propose a series of reforms across tax, trade, talent, and technology to enrich the region’s investment climate and encourage industry upgrades.”

“Taiwan is in a strong position to help power future semiconductor industry growth with its highly specialized, fully integrated supply chains and years of management experience,” Tsao said. “Taiwan will long remain a key strategic player in the global semiconductor industry.”

For more event information, please visit SEMICON Taiwan. For a SEMICON Taiwan 2018 overview including featured speakers and the list of international forums, please click here.

NXP acquires OmniPHY


September 4, 2018

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI), the world’s largest supplier of automotive semiconductors, has acquired OmniPHY, a provider of automotive Ethernet subsystem technology. The company’s expertise includes automotive Ethernet, a technology that enables the rapid data transfer required for autonomous driving. OmniPHY’s advanced high-speed technology, combined with NXP’s leading portfolio and heritage in vehicle networks, uniquely positions NXP to deliver the next-generation of data transfer solutions to carmakers. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

An automotive networking revolution is underway, driven by the need for higher data capacity and speed to meet the requirements of increasingly autonomous and connected vehicles. New advanced autonomous driving systems will require gigabit data speeds and beyond. Current plans for next-generation vehicles call for eight or more cameras, high definition radar, lidar and V2X capability, all of which generate steep data challenges for current car networks. These requirements, combined with the modern vehicle’s need to offload data to enable the new business opportunities of the connected car, will soon make terabyte levels of data processing commonplace.

“One of the vexing questions of the Autonomous Age is how to move data around the car as fast as possible,” said Ian Riches, executive director in the Strategy Analytics Global Automotive Practice. “Cameras and displays will ramp the number of high-speed links in the car to 150 million by 2020 and by 2030 autonomous car systems will aggressively drive that number to 1.1 billion high-speed links.”

As the self-driving ecosystem works to deliver on emerging automotive data requirements, many have turned to enterprise networking solutions as a stopgap measure for testing. Yet long-term solutions will need to be automotive grade and of a size and weight that make their implementation feasible. NXP’s acquisition of OmniPHY, which has already begun to translate 1000BASE-T1 Ethernet for the automotive space, will give NXP a significant position in this rapidly evolving area.

“Our heritage in vehicle networks is rich and with our leadership positions in CAN, LIN, and FlexRay, we hold a unique viewpoint on automotive networks,” said Alexander E. Tan, vice president and general manager of Automotive Ethernet Solutions, NXP. “The team and technology from OmniPHY give us the missing piece in an extensive high-bandwidth networking portfolio.”

OmniPHY is a pioneer in high-speed automotive Ethernet IP and automotive qualified IP for 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 standards. Over its six-year history, it has worked with some of the largest consumer companies in the world and has developed competitive 1st-silicon-right solutions for emerging markets like automotive and industrial Ethernet. OmniPHY interface IP and communication technology along with NXP’s automotive portfolio will form a “one-stop shop” for automotive Ethernet. The companies’ technology synergies will center on 1.25-28Gbps PHY designs and 10-, 100- and 1000BASE-T1 Ethernet in advanced processes.

“We are very excited to join NXP – a leader in automotive electronics, for a front-row seat to the autonomous driving revolution, one that will deliver profound change to the way people live,” said Ritesh Saraf, CEO of OmniPHY. “The combination of our teams and technology will accelerate and advance the delivery of automotive Ethernet solutions providing our customers with high quality and world-class automotive Ethernet innovation.”

The China IC Ecosystem Report, a comprehensive report for the IC manufacturing supply chain, reveals that front-end fab capacity in China will grow to account for 16 percent of the world’s semiconductor fab capacity this year, a share that will increase to 20 percent by the end of 2020. With the rapid growth, China will top the rest of the world in fab investment in 2020 with more than $20 billion in spending, driven by memory and foundry projects funded by both multinational and domestic companies, according to the new report released today by SEMI.

The report also shows that IC Design remained the largest semiconductor sector in China for the second year in a row with $31.9 billion in revenue in 2017, widening its lead over the long-dominant IC Packaging and Test sector. The ascent of China’s IC Design sector comes as the region’s equipment market is expected to claim the top spot in 2020 for the first time on the strength of the continuing development of its domestic manufacturing capability. China’s maturing domestic fab sector is also benefiting domestic equipment and materials suppliers. Both groups continue to see gains in their product offerings and capabilities, particularly in silicon wafer production. The China IC Ecosystem Report is produced by SEMI, the global industry association and provider of independent electronics market research.

The more than RMB140 billion (US$21.5 billion) accumulated by the National IC Fund, a critical component of the 2014 National Guideline to address China’s semiconductor trade deficit, has spurred rapid gains throughout the region’s IC supply chain. Semiconductors are China’s largest import by revenue. Phase 2 of funding aims to raise another RMB150-200 billion ($23.0-$30.0 billion).

Encouraged by the National Guideline and favorable policies, skilled overseas talent is returning to China, triggering an explosion of domestic IC Design start-ups that are benefiting from access to investment and favorable policies, the report shows.

Other highlights from The China IC Ecosystem Report include:

  • Currently 25 new fab construction projects are underway or planned in China. 17 – 300 mm fabs are being tracked as part of this investment and expansion activity. Foundry, DRAM and 3D NAND are the leading segments for fab investment and new capacity in China.
  • China’s IC Packaging and Test industry is also moving up the value chain by enhancing its technology offerings through mergers and acquisitions and building advanced capabilities to entice international integrated device manufacturers.
  • China’s IC materials market, currently dominated by Packaging materials, became the second largest regional market for materials in 2016, a position it solidified in 2017. China’s materials market is expected to grow at a 10 percent CAGR from 2015 to 2019, driven primarily by the region’s new fab capacity ramp in the coming years. Fab capacity will expand at a 14 percent CAGR during that period.

The China IC Ecosystem Report covers the latest semiconductor supply chain and market developments including the rise of China’s IC industry, national and local government policies, public and private funding, and their implications for China’s IC supply chain. The report also compares key domestic companies and their international peers segment by segment. To learn more and get a sample of the report, visit http://www.semi.org/en/china-ic-ecosystem-report.

Eugenia is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SEMI. 

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

ON Semiconductor is collaborating with Optimal Plus to gather, analyze and build actionable insights out of the company’s manufacturing data. As a supplier to the automotive industry, ON Semiconductor is pioneering innovative technologies that enable all aspects of automated driving and vehicle electrification. The company is also committed to developing the semiconductor technology capable of supporting the rigors of IoT and empowering businesses to capitalize on their investments to drive profitability and ultimately success.

Following an initial pilot project that demonstrated new levels of control and visibility into the company’s manufacturing operations, ON Semiconductor and Optimal Plus will further leverage their solutions to connect the ON Semiconductor global manufacturing footprint as demand continues to grow for the company’s complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors and other technologies that are powering disruptive applications in strategic growth markets.

“Demand for power products for automotive applications continues to grow. With an expansive portfolio for power and automotive applications, we continue to see strong growth in our power related revenue for automotive applications,” said Mark Goranson, ON Semiconductor senior vice president manufacturing. “With a broad range of power products for a complete spectrum of voltages starting from low voltage to high voltage, we also have one of the most comprehensive portfolios of power devices and modules. Partnering with Optimal Plus is a key element to enable the shift from detect to predict and eventually prevent.”

“The Intelligent Sensing Group within ON Semiconductor is innovating vision beyond the human eye and holds imaging and technology leadership in automotive, space, industrial and medical mission-critical market segments,” said Mitch Mooney, general manager of ON Semiconductor Nampa, Idaho operations. “Optimal Plus provides advanced analytics with real-time visibility of our test operations through their leading-edge software that enables big data analysis of all our test parameters. We expect significant benefits in capital efficiency, yield enhancements and quality improvements.”

ON Semiconductor is deploying Optimal Plus solutions to provide increased visibility into their manufacturing processes, from e-test to wafer sort, and final test including communication between geographically-dispersed semiconductor teams. The solution includes deep, multi-stage product analytics for near real-time response capabilities. A core element of the deployment will be enabling ON Semiconductor to lower their Defective Parts Per Million (DPPM) rates to the single digit range.

“The Optimal Plus platform was designed to deliver the actionable insights that ON Semiconductor requires to intelligently adapt operations to increase product yield, quality and productivity,” said Dan Glotter, Optimal Plus Founder and CEO. “Together, ON Semiconductor and Optimal Plus are demonstrating how operations optimization is keeping manufacturers ahead of an increased adoption of Industrial IoT, electric vehicles, machine vision and other disruptive applications in automotive and industrial end markets.”

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) today announced that its full-flow digital tool suite has achieved certification for the GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GF) 22FDX® process technology. The GF certification process was completed using the Cadence® Tensilica® Fusion F1 DSP, which targets internet of things (IoT) and wearables applications. Through the certification process, the Cadence tools have been confirmed to meet all of GF’s accuracy criteria for its fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) architecture, and customers using the Cadence digital tool suite on the GF 22FDX process technology can optimize power, performance and area (PPA) and reduce time-to-market.

For more information on the GF-certified Cadence digital tool suite, please visit www.cadence.com/go/dandsgfcert22fdx. For more information on the Tensilica Fusion F1 DSP, visit www.cadence.com/go/tensilicafusiongf22fdx.

To facilitate the adoption of GF’s 22FDX process technology, the following Cadence tools that offer 22FDX body bias support are supported in the GF design flow:

  • Innovus™ Implementation System: An advanced physical implementation tool, incorporating a massively parallel architecture that helps designers deliver high-quality SoCs in less time with best-in-class PPA
  • Genus™ Synthesis Solution: An RTL synthesis and physical synthesis engine that improves productivity challenges faced by RTL designers, delivering up to 5X faster synthesis turnaround times
  • Tempus™ Timing Signoff Solution: A complete timing analysis tool that improves signoff timing closure via massively parallel processing and physically aware timing optimization
  • Voltus™ IC Power Integrity Solution: A cell-level power integrity solution that supports comprehensive electromigration and IR drop (EM/IR) design rules and requirements while providing full-chip SoC power signoff accuracy
  • Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution: A transistor-level power integrity solution that supports comprehensive EM/IR design rules and requirements while providing SPICE-level power signoff accuracy for analog, memory and custom digital IP blocks
  • Quantus™ Extraction Solution: A single, unified parasitic extraction tool that supports cell-level and transistor-level extractions during design implementation and signoff and provides best-in-class accuracy versus foundry golden
  • Physical Verification System: Includes advanced technologies and rule decks to support design rule checks (DRCs), layout versus schematic (LVS), advanced metal fill, voltage-dependent checks and in-design verification
  • Litho Physical Analyzer: Signoff solution that enables designers to detect and automatically fix process hotspots to improve design manufacturability and yield of digital, custom and mixed-signal designs, libraries and IP
  • Litho Electrical Analyzer: Allows layout-dependent effect- (LDE-) aware re-simulation, layout analysis, matching constraint checking, reporting on LDE contributions and the generation of fixing guidelines from partial layout to accelerate analog design convergence

GF chose the Fusion F1 DSP to demonstrate the compelling PPA results with the 22FDX node, which is designed for low-cost, low-energy IoT sensing and connectivity applications. The Fusion F1 DSP provides the power-efficient control and signal processing demanded by emerging IoT applications like NB-IoT-based modems and other battery-powered products.

“Through our collaboration with Cadence, we’ve verified that the Cadence methodology meets our accuracy, frequency, power and cell utilization requirements,” said Richard Trihy, senior director, design enablement at GF. “The certification of the Cadence digital tool suite allows our mutual customers to reach their PPA targets and to experience the benefits associated with the GF 22FDX body bias techniques that are key differentiators with our process technology.”

“Through the integration and innovation offered by our full-flow digital tool suite that was certified using the Tensilica Fusion F1 DSP, customers designing with the GF 22FDX process technology can converge on PPA targets faster,” said KT Moore, vice president, product management in the Digital & Signoff Group at Cadence. “GF performed thorough correlation checks on the Cadence flow, thereby giving users added confidence that they can successfully implement robust designs quickly and stay ahead of the competition in their respective markets.”

The Micron Foundation announced that it will commit $1 million to higher education institutions in Virginia as it invests in the next generation of technicians, scientists and engineers with a focus on women and underrepresented minorities in these fields. The investment will provide grants and funding at select community colleges and universities for several types of programs, organizations and individuals that inspire and enable future innovators.

“Today we are proud to expand our commitment with education partners across Virginia, which share our focus on developing a strong, vibrant and talented workforce,” said Micron Foundation Executive Director Dee Mooney. “These efforts reflect our company’s focus on investing in students and embracing diversity, as well as our long-term commitment to our Manassas facility and its team members. We look forward to working with community and education leaders to identify and support programs that will make a difference for decades to come.”

The $1 million fund will support programs in the area of cleanroom and nanotechnology labs, unmanned and autonomous automotive systems, robotics, big data, embedded systems and networking applications. Faculty members, program directors and student groups from universities and community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia will be eligible. With a focus on women and underrepresented minorities, programs that support low income and first-time college student programs will also receive special consideration.

IC Insights forecasts total semiconductor capital expenditures will rise to $102.0 billion this year, marking the first time that the industry has spent more than $100 billion on capital expenditures in one year.  The $102.0 billion spending level represents a 9% increase over $93.3 billion spent in 2017, which was a 38% surge over 2016.

Figure 1 shows that more than half of industry capital spending is forecast for memory production—primarily DRAM and flash memory—including upgrades to existing wafer fab lines and brand new manufacturing facilities. Collectively, memory is forecast to account for 53% of semiconductor capital expenditures this year. The share of capital spending for memory devices has increase substantially in six years, nearly doubling from 27% ($14.7 billion) in 2013 to a forecast of 53% ($54.0 billion) of total industry capex in 2018, which amounts to a 2013-2018 CAGR of 30%.

Figure 1

Of the major product categories shown, DRAM/SRAM is forecast to show the largest increase in spending, but flash memory is expected to account for the largest share of capex spending this year (Figure 2).  Capital spending for the DRAM/SRAM segment is forecast to show a 41% surge in 2018 after a strong 82% increase in 2017.  Capital spending for flash memory is forecast to rise 13% in 2018 after a 91% increase in 2017.

Figure 2

After two years of big increases in capital expenditures, a major question looming is whether high levels of spending will lead to overcapacity and a softening of prices.  Historical precedent in the memory market shows that too much spending usually leads to overcapacity and subsequent pricing weakness.  With Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Intel, Toshiba/Western Digital/SanDisk, and XMC/Yangtze River Storage Technology all planning to significantly ramp up 3D NAND flash capacity over the next couple of years (and new Chinese memory startup companies entering the market), IC Insights believes that the future risk for overshooting 3D NAND flash market demand is high and growing.

Roger Carpenter, a Google hardware engineer with 30 years of experience in electronic design automation and chip design, has been elected to the Silicon Integration Initiative board of directors. Si2 is a research and development joint venture that provides standard interoperability solutions for integrated circuit design tools.

Before joining Google, Carpenter held executive roles at three EDA firms: Magma Design Automation, Javelin Design Automation and Envis. His design experience includes positions at Wave Computing, Broadcom, Chromatic Research and Xilinx. A holder of more than a dozen patents, Carpenter received a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Ellis, Si2 president and CEO, said that Google’s membership on the Si2 board reflects the increasing impact of vertical integration in the electronics industry.  “A recent Si2 industry survey showed that over 80 percent of our end users develop some specialized, internal design tools. This proprietary software meets their unique needs and performance requirements,” Ellis said.

“Directly accessing the Si2 OpenAccess data base by making use of our Application Programming Interface, designers and integrators have greater control over their bottom line by optimizing their design flow and, in turn, shortening product time-to-market. It’s critical that system houses like Google, along with their unique semiconductor design software needs, are now represented on the Si2 board.”

The twelve members of the Si2 board represent leading semiconductor manufacturers and foundries, fabless companies, and EDA software providers.

Micron Technology, Inc., (NASDAQ:MU) today announced plans to invest $3 billion by 2030 to increase memory production at its plant in Manassas, Virginia, creating 1,100 new jobs roughly over the next decade. These investments are contemplated in Micron’s long-term model to invest capital expenditure in the low thirties as a percent of revenue. The expansion will position the Manassas site — located about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. — to support Micron’s leadership in the rapidly growing market for high quality, high reliability memory products.

Source: Micron

“Micron’s Manassas site manufactures our long-lifecycle products that are built using our mature process technologies, and primarily sold into the automotive, networking and industrial markets,” said Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “These products support a diverse set of applications such as industrial automation, drones, the IoT (Internet of Things) and in-vehicle experience applications for automotive. This business delivers strong profitability and stable, growing free cash flow. Micron is grateful for the extensive engagement of state and local officials since early this year to help bring our Manassas expansion to fruition. We are excited to increase our commitment to the community through the creation of new highly skilled jobs, expanded facilities and education initiatives.”

“Micron’s expansion in the City of Manassas represents one of the largest manufacturing investments in the history of Virginia and will position the Commonwealth as a leader in unmanned systems and Internet of Things,” said Governor Northam. “This $3 billion investment will have a tremendous impact on our economy by creating 1,100 high-demand jobs, and solidifies Micron as one of the Commonwealth’s largest exporters. We thank Micron for choosing to deepen their roots in Virginia and look forward to partnering in their next chapter of major growth.”

The initial clean room expansion is expected to be completed in the fall of 2019 with production ramp in the first half of 2020. This expansion will add less than 5% to Micron’s global clean room space footprint and will primarily support enablement of DRAM and NAND technology transitions as well as modest capacity increase at the site, in-line with growing customer demand for Micron’s long-lifecycle products.

“As a leading global supplier of automotive electronics systems and components, ZF appreciates the long-standing support of Micron to our business,” said Karsten Mueller, vice president, Corporate Materials Management, Global Commodity Electronics at ZF Friedrichshafen AG. “Meeting the ever-increasing demands for automotive applications will require significantly greater memory as the dual trends of advanced safety and autonomy drive the industry forward. Micron’s decision to expand the manufacturing and R&D capabilities at this IATF-certified facility is another indication that this growth should only accelerate in the future.”

As part of this expansion, Micron will also establish a global research development center in Manassas for the development of memory and storage solutions focused mainly on the automotive, industrial and networking markets. The research and development center will include laboratories, test equipment and a staff of approximately 100 engineers.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with the City of Manassas and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment (MEI) Project Approval Commission to secure the project for Virginia. Micron will be eligible to receive an MEI custom performance grant of $70 million for site preparation and facility costs, subject to approval by the Virginia General Assembly. Additionally, the City of Manassas and utility partners are providing a broader, comprehensive support package to enable the expansion, including substantial infrastructure upgrades and additional incentives.

Atlas Copco Group has announced its agreement to acquire the cryogenic business of Brooks Automation, Inc through its wholly owned US entity Edwards Vacuum LLC. Once the deal is complete, which is expected to be in the first quarter of 2019, it will significantly expand Edwards’ offering to the global semiconductor industry.

Brooks Automation, headquartered in Chelmsford, USA is a market leader in the provision of advanced cryopumps and associated products for the semiconductor industry through its CTI-Cryogenics and Polycold brands.

The acquisition includes cryopump operations in Chelmsford, MA and Monterrey, Mexico as well as a worldwide network of sales and service centres. Brooks Automation’s 50% shareholding in Japan-based joint venture company Ulvac Cryogenics Inc is also part of the deal.

The acquired business will become part of the Semiconductor and Semiconductor Service divisions within Atlas Copco’s Vacuum Technique business area and will significantly expand Edwards’ chamber solutions offering to customers in the semiconductor industry.

Paul Rawlings, President of the Semiconductor division, said: “The acquisition of Brooks Automation’s cryogenic business will help us cement our position as a trusted partner to the world’s leading semiconductor OEMs by enabling the expansion of our current chamber solutions offering through the addition of new technologies and products.”  The planned acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

Further information about Edwards can be found at www.edwardsvacuum.com