Category Archives: MEMS

The ConFab preview


April 1, 2017

BY PETE SINGER, Editor-in-Chief

The agenda is set for The ConFab, to be held May 14-17, 2017 in San Diego at the iconic Hotel del Coronado. While reviewing the abstracts for just the Monday morning session, it struck me how well our speakers will cover the complex opportunities and challenges facing the semiconductor industry.

In the opening keynote, for example, Hans Stork, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, ON Semiconductor we will discuss the challenge to realize high signal to noise ratio in small (read inexpensive) and efficient form factors, using examples of image sensors and power conversion in automotive applications. “It seems that at last, after many decades of exponential progress in logic and memory technologies, the “real world” devices of power handling and sensor functions are jointly enabling another wave of electronics progress in autonomously operating and interacting Things,” he said.

Next, Subramani Kengeri, Vice President of CMOS Platforms Business Unit, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, will describe how the rapid growth of applications in the consumer, auto and mobile space coupled with the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving the need for differentiated design and technology solutions. “While die-cost scaling is slowing down and power density is emerging as a major challenge, fabless semiconductor companies are hungry for innovation using application optimized technology solutions. Specifically, emerging SoC innovations are driving the need for low-power, performance, cost, and time-to-volume that solves the issues of voltage scaling and integration of “user-experience” functions,” he notes.

Islam Salama, a Director with Intel Corporation responsible for packaging substrate Pathfinding of the high-density interconnect across all Intel products, looks at it from a connectivity perspective. “The pervasive nature of computing drives a need for connecting billions of people and tens of billions of devices/things via cloud computing. Such connectivity effect will generate tremendous amounts of data and would require a revolutionary change in the technology infrastructures being used to transmit, store and analyze data,” he said.

Next-generation electronics will require several new packaging solutions, he adds. Smaller form factors, lower power consumption, flexible designs, increased memory performance, and-more than ever, a closely managed silicon package, co-optimization and architectural innovations. Heterogeneous integration through package with technologies such as system in package (SIP), on package integration (OPI) and fan-out (WLFO and PLFO) are poised to change the packaging industry and play a disruptive role in enabling next generation devices.

Heterogeneous Integration is also the focus of a talk by Bill Bottoms, Chairman and CEO, Third Millennium Test Solutions. Bill will report on the collaboration in the making of the HIR Roadmap to address disruptive changes in the global IT network, the explosive growth coming for IoT sensors and the multi-sensor fusion and data analytics that extract “awareness” from the expanding data.

I’m very much looking forward to these and many other talks this year, and the exciting panel discussions and networking events we have planned.

IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, this week announced the next milestone phase in the development of the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS)—an IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Industry Connections (IC) Program sponsored by the IEEE Rebooting Computing (IEEE RC) Initiative—with the launch of a series of nine white papers that reinforce the initiative’s core mission and vision for the future of the computing industry. The white papers also identify industry challenges and solutions that guide and support future roadmaps created by IRDS.

IEEE is taking a lead role in building a comprehensive, end-to-end view of the computing ecosystem, including devices, components, systems, architecture, and software. In May 2016, IEEE announced the formation of the IRDS under the sponsorship of IEEE RC. The historical integration of IEEE RC and the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) 2.0 addresses mapping the ecosystem of the new reborn electronics industry. The new beginning of the evolved roadmap—with the migration from ITRS to IRDS—is proceeding seamlessly as all the reports produced by the ITRS 2.0 represent the starting point of IRDS.

While engaging other segments of IEEE in complementary activities to assure alignment and consensus across a range of stakeholders, the IRDS team is developing a 15-year roadmap with a vision to identify key trends related to devices, systems, and other related technologies.

“Representing the foundational development stage in IRDS is the publishing of nine white papers that outline the vital and technical components required to create a roadmap,” said Paolo A. Gargini, IEEE Fellow and Chairman of IRDS. “As a team, we are laying the foundation to identify challenges and recommendations on possible solutions to the industry’s current limitations defined by Moore’s Law. With the launch of the nine white papers on our new website, the IRDS roadmap sets the path for the industry benefiting from all fresh levels of processing power, energy efficiency, and technologies yet to be discovered.”

“The IRDS has taken a significant step in creating the industry roadmap by publishing nine technical white papers,” said IEEE Fellow Elie Track, 2011-2014 President, IEEE Council on Superconductivity; Co-chair, IEEE RC; and CEO of nVizix. “Through the public availability of these white papers, we’re inviting computing professionals to participate in creating an innovative ecosystem that will set a new direction for the greater good of the industry. Today, I open an invitation to get involved with IEEE RC and the IRDS.”

The series of white papers delivers the starting framework of the IRDS roadmap—and through the sponsorship of IEEE RC—will inform the various roadmap teams in the broader task of mapping the devices’ and systems’ ecosystem:

“IEEE is the perfect place to foster the IRDS roadmap and fulfill what the computing industry has been searching for over the past decades,” said IEEE Fellow Thomas M. Conte, 2015 President, IEEE Computer Society; Co-chair, IEEE RC; and Professor, Schools of Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology. “In essence, we’re creating a new Moore’s Law. And we have so many next-generation computing solutions that could easily help us reach uncharted performance heights, including cryogenic computing, reversible computing, quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, superconducting computing, and others. And that’s why the IEEE RC Initiative exists: creating and maintaining a forum for the experts who will usher the industry beyond the Moore’s Law we know today.”

The IRDS leadership team hosted a winter workshop and kick-off meeting at the Georgia Institute of Technology on 1-2 December 2016. Key discoveries from the workshop included the international focus teams’ plans and focus topics for the 2017 roadmap, top-level needs and challenges, and linkages among the teams. Additionally, the IRDS leadership invited presentations from the European and Japanese roadmap initiatives. This resulted in the 2017 IRDS global membership expanding to include team members from the “NanoElectronics Roadmap for Europe: Identification and Dissemination” (NEREID) sponsored by the European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA), and the “Systems and Design Roadmap of Japan” (SDRJ) sponsored by the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP).

The IRDS team and its supporters will convene 1-3 April 2017 in Monterey, California, for the Spring IRDS Workshop, which is part of the 2017 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS). The team will meet again for the Fall IRDS Conference—in partnership with the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Rebooting Computing (ICRC)—scheduled for 6-7 November 2017 in Washington, D.C. More information on both events can be found here: http://irds.ieee.org/events.

IEEE RC is a program of IEEE Future Directions, designed to develop and share educational tools, events, and content for emerging technologies.

IEEE-SA’s IC Program helps incubate new standards and related products and services, by facilitating collaboration among organizations and individuals as they hone and refine their thinking on rapidly changing technologies.

Leti, a research institute of CEA Tech, is marking its 50th anniversary this year during industry events and workshops in Grenoble, Tokyo, and Taipei and at both SEMICON West and IEDM 2017 in San Francisco.

Founded in 1967 as an electronics research division of the French Atomic Energy Commission, Leti evolved into a global leader in micro- and nanotechnologies tailoring differentiating applicative solutions.

Leti solutions target a wide variety of sectors, including sustainable transport systems, telecommunications, health, consumer electronics, energy, smart cities, defense and security and space. Leti has formed partnerships with world leaders of industry, such as IBM, Intel, Qualcomm and Applied Materials.

Among Leti’s 60 startups are Soitec and the company that became STMicroelectronics.

Leti miniaturization technologies in everyday life

Leti’s iconic low-power FD-SOI technology can be found in game consoles, GPS receivers, connected watches and many other everyday connected devices.  The institute’s accelerometer that automatically switches between portrait and landscape can now be found in millions of smartphones, along with Leti’s radio-frequency technologies. Leti also develops technology for health care, such as scanners and exoskeletons to increase quality of life for people affected with quadriplegia. Leti serves the defense and security industries with infrared technologies.

“Leti is an innovation institute,” said Marie Semeria, Leti’s CEO. “It is unique in the world because it embraces a broad diversity of technologies: CMOS, sensors, communication systems, packaging and 3D integration, power electronics, imaging, integrated circuits and many more. We will emphasize both Leti’s cultural of pioneering research and its technological strengths throughout this 50th anniversary year and on our redesigned website.”

Leti 50th anniversary worldwide events throughout the year

JUNE 28-29: FRANCE

Leti Innovation Days 

Leti and partners will discuss how microelectronics can make a difference in health care, address environmental concerns in a competitive world and help industrials and society embrace the digital revolution during its Leti Innovation Days, June 28-29, in Grenoble. Keynote sessions on June 28 will be followed on June 29 by an immersive exhibition packed with technology demonstrators, proof of concepts, a start-up corner and offering dynamic presentations on three routes to innovation in digital transformation, new frontiers in health care and electronics-driven environmental change. The institute will host a gala anniversary dinner event at Chateau de Sassenage.

OCTOBER: JAPAN & TAIWAN

Leti Day

Leti also will host one-day Leti Day events in Tokyo and Taiwan during the second week of October.

JULY & DECEMBER: USA

Leti Workshops

Anniversary-year events will conclude with workshops July 11 at SEMICON West in San Francisco and the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM 2017) Dec. 3 in San Francisco.

aicha-evans_1Intel Corporation today announced the appointment of Aicha S. Evans as chief strategy officer, effective immediately. She will be responsible for driving Intel’s long-term strategy to transform from a PC-centric company to a data-centric company, as well as leading rapid decision making and company-wide execution of the strategy.

“Aicha is an industry visionary who will help our senior management team and the board of directors focus on what’s next for Intel,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said. “Her new role reflects her strong strategic leadership across Intel’s business, most importantly in 5G and other communications technology. Her invaluable expertise will contribute to the company’s long-term strategy and product portfolio.”

“I look forward to working across the company to advance Intel’s ongoing transformation,” Evans said. “We have an exciting future ahead us.”

Evans is an Intel senior vice president and has been responsible for wireless communications for the past nine years. Most recently, she was the general manager of the Communication and Devices Group. Evans joined Intel in 2006 and is based in Santa Clara, Calif. In her new role, she will report to Intel CFO Bob Swan.

An internal and external search is underway for a new general manager of Intel’s Communication and Devices Group.

ams, a worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, today announced the AS7225 tunable-white lighting smart system sensor, further broadening the solution set for sensor-integrated tunable-white lighting solutions. With the addition of the AS7225, OEM lighting manufacturers can access ams’ closed-loop CCT tuning and daylight compensation, while retaining the existing host microprocessor architecture in their smart lighting design. The result is higher precision, more flexible LED binning, and lower system costs for tunable white lighting systems.

The AS7225 is equipped with the product family’s industry-first embedded tri-stimulus CIE XYZ color sensor to enable precise color sensing with direct mapping to the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) 1931 color space which is recognized as the standard coordinate definition for human color perception. CCT and daylighting tuning directives are communicated to the host microprocessor via an industry-standard I2C interface, allowing IoT smart lighting manufacturers to avoid costly calibration and tuning algorithm development and reduce time to deployment.

“As the lighting industry moves to tunable solutions, the inclusion of closed loop sensor-driven integration not only increases white or daylighting tuning precision, it also loosens the required precision for both LED binning and system components. This results in cost reductions for both the overall bill of materials, as well as in time and cost savings in the materials management and manufacturing processes”, commented Tom Griffiths, Senior Marketing Manager at ams.

The AS7225 is an extension of ams’ Cognitive Lighting smart lighting manager family. The efficient AS7225 is available in a 4.5 x 4.7mm LGA package, for flexible integration into luminaires, light-engines and larger replacement lamps, such as LED linear T-LED products. The device provides precise CCT tuning direction between configured warm and cool white LED strings within a luminaire. In addition to the CCT- tuning functions, the AS7225 can additionally be used looking outward in luminaire designs to provide precise daylight management, or can deliver combined CCT-tuning and daylighting directives by the addition of ams’ TSL4531 ambient light sensor.

“Recent trends in LED device pricing show that chips have moved away from being the primary cost element in a typical commercial luminaire. This means that in just a few years, tunable lighting will become the standard for new commercial lighting installations”, Griffiths added. “The comfort, productivity and health benefits of good lighting have been clear for decades, and as it is becoming cost effective to do so, tunable lighting will be a key element in delivering those benefits from LED smart lighting platforms.”

Pricing for the AS7225 spectral tuning IoT smart lighting manager is set at $2.40 in quantities of 5,000 pieces, and is available in production volumes now.

Imec is granting its Lifetime of Innovation Award to Dr. Kinam Kim, President and General Manager of Semiconductor Business at Samsung Electronics. The selection recognizes Dr. Kim’s leadership and strategic vision, as well as his undeniable impact in the semiconductor industries.

The award ceremony will take place on May 16, during the global edition of the Imec Technology Forum (ITF), one of Europe’s leading tech events on technologies and solutions that will drive groundbreaking innovation across sectors in nano-electronics and the Internet of Things, smart health, smart cities, smart industries and smart energy.

“Dr. Kim has been a driving force at Samsung for more than 30 years, and the beacon the industry has used to navigate towards further innovations and technological breakthroughs in memory and computing,” states Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec. “His unparalleled contributions, leadership and strategic vision have not only paved the way for Samsung’s role as a world leader in the field, but have also shaped today’s society and our relation with computers, mobile and other similar devices.”

Dr. Kim joined Samsung Electronics in 1981, and led the development and advancement of various memory technologies such as DRAM and NAND flash, and logic technologies such as Application Processor and Communication Modem. As CEO of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), he spearheaded the research and development of technologies that have significantly impacted the semiconductor industry, such as graphene, carbon nanotubes and quantum dots, advanced materials, 3D fusion technologies, batteries and printed electronics.

Imec’s Lifetime of Innovation Award was launched in 2015, in support of imec’s commitment to recognizing the prominent individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry. Previous recipients were Dr. Morris Chang in 2015 and Dr. Gordon Moore in 2016.

dr kim samsung

Brigham Young University researchers have developed new glass technology that could add a new level of flexibility to the microscopic world of medical devices.

A graduate student at BYU holds up a disc of microchips that have flexible glass membranes. Credit: Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo

A graduate student at BYU holds up a disc of microchips that have flexible glass membranes. Credit: Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo

Led by electrical engineering professor Aaron Hawkins, the researchers have found a way to make the normally brittle material of glass bend and flex. The research opens up the ability to create a new family of lab-on-a-chip devices based on flexing glass.

“If you keep the movements to the nanoscale, glass can still snap back into shape,” Hawkins said. “We’ve created glass membranes that can move up and down and bend. They are the first building blocks of a whole new plumbing system that could move very small volumes of liquid around.”

While current lab-on-a-chip membrane devices effectively function on the microscale, Hawkins’ research, recently published in Applied Physics Letters, will allow equally effective work at the nanoscale. Chemists and biologists could use the nanoscale devices to move, trap and analyze very small biological particles like proteins, viruses and DNA.

So why work with glass? According to lead study author and BYU Ph.D. student John Stout, glass has some great perks: it’s stiff and solid and not a material upon which things react, it’s easy to clean, and it isn’t toxic.

“Glass is clean for sensitive types of samples, like blood samples,” Stout said. “Working with this glass device will allow us to look at particles of any size and at any given range. It will also allow us to analyze the particles in the sample without modifying them.”

The researchers believe their device could also mean performing successful tests using much smaller quantities of a substance. Instead of needing several ounces to run a blood test, the glass membrane device created by Hawkins, Stout and coauthor Taylor Welker would only require a drop or two of blood.

Hawkins said the device should also allow for faster analysis of blood samples: “Instead of shipping a vial of blood to a lab and have it run through all those machines and steps, we are creating devices that can give you an answer on the spot.”

There is an increased demand for portable on-site rapid testing in the healthcare industry. Much of this is being realized through these microfluidic systems and devices, and the BYU device could take that testing to the next level of detail.

“This has the promise of being a rapid delivery of disease diagnosis, cholesterol level testing and virus testing,” Hawkins said. “In addition, it would help in the process of healthcare knowing the correct treatment method for the patient.”

Intel Corporation today announced that Omar Ishrak and Greg Smith have been elected to Intel’s board of directors.

“We are very pleased to welcome two new, independent directors with the depth of leadership experience at innovative, global companies that both Mr. Ishrak and Mr. Smith bring,” said Intel Chairman Andy Bryant. “We look forward to their valuable contributions as Intel continues to transform itself for growth in emerging, adjacent market segments.”

Omar-IshrakIshrak, 61, is the chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology. He has served in that role since 2011. Prior to joining Medtronic, he spent 16 years in various roles with General Electric Company, most recently as president and chief executive officer of GE Healthcare Systems, a division of GE Healthcare. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Asia Society, which promotes mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context, and a member of the board of directors for Minnesota Public Radio.

Smith, 50, is the chief financial officer and executive vice president of corporate development and strategy at Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace and defense company. He has served as Boeing’s finance leader since 2012 and its strategy leader since 2015. Previously, Smith held various leadership roles across Boeing’s finance function and operations. He rejoined Boeing in 2008 after serving for four years as vice president of global investor relations at Raytheon. Smith serves on the board of trustees for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and the board of directors of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Northwestern Medicine Community Physicians Group.

This article originally appeared on SemiMD.com and was featured in the March 2017 issue of Solid State Technology. 

By Dave Lammers, Contributing Editor

It takes a range of skills to create a successful business in the Internet of Things space, where chips sell for a few dollars and competition is intense. Circuit design and software support for multiple wireless standards must combine with manufacturing capabilities.

Daniel Cooley, senior vice president and general manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs (Austin, Tx.), said three trends are impacting the manufacture of IoT end-node devices, which usually combine an MCU, an RF transceiver, and embedded flash memory.

“There is an explosion in the amount of memory on embedded SoCs, both RAM and non-volatile memory,” said Cooley. Today’s multi-protocol wireless software stacks, graphics processing, and security requirements routinely double or quadruple the memory sizes of the past.

Secondly, while IoT edge devices continue to use trailing-edge technologies, nonetheless they also are moving to more advanced nodes. However, that movement is partially gated by the availability of embedded flash.

Thirdly, pre-certified system-in-package (SiP) solutions, running a proven software stack, “are becoming much more important,” Cooley said. These SiPs typically encapsulate an MCU, an integrated antenna and shielding, power management, crystal oscillators, and inductors and capacitors. While Silicon Labs has been shipping multi-chip modules for many years, SiPs are gaining favor in part because they can be quickly deployed by engineers with relatively little expertise in wireless development, he said.

“Personally, I believe that very advanced SIPs increasingly will be standard products, not anything exotic. They are a complete solution, like a PCB module, but encased with a molding compound. The SiP manufacturers are becoming very sophisticated, and we are ready to take that technology and apply it more broadly,” he said.

For example, Silicon Labs recently introduced a Bluetooth SiP module measuring 6.5 by 6.5 mm, designed for use in sports and fitness wearables, smartwatches, personal medical devices, wireless sensor nodes, and other space-constrained connected devices.

“We have built multi-chip packages – those go back to the first products of the company – but we haven’t done a fully certified module with a built-in antenna until now. A SiP module simplifies the go-to-market process. Customers can just put it down on a PCB and connect power and ground. Of course, they can attach other chips with the built-in interfaces, but they don’t need anything else to make the Bluetooth system work,” Cooley said.

“Designing with a certified SiP module supports better data throughput, and improves reliability as well. The SiP approach is especially beneficial for end-node customers which “haven’t gone through the process of launching a wireless product in in the market,” Cooley said.

Control by voice

The BGM12x Blue Gecko SiP is aimed at Bluetooth-enabled applications, a genre that is rapidly expanding as ecosystems like the Amazon Echo, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home proliferate.

Matt Maupin is Silicon Labs’ product marketing manager for mesh networking products, which includes SoCs and modules for low-power Zigbee and Thread wireless connectivity. Asked how a home lighting system, for example, might be connected to one of the home “ecosystems” now being sold by Amazon, Apple, Google, Nest, and others, Maupin said the major lighting suppliers, such as OSRAM, Philips, and others, often use Zigbee for lighting, rather than Bluetooth, because of Zigbee’s mesh networking capability. (Some manufactures use Bluetooth low energy (BLE) for point-to-point control from a phone.)

“The ability for a device to connect directly relies on the same protocols being used. Google and Amazon products do not support Zigbee or Thread connectivity at this time,” Maupin explained.

Normally, these lighting devices are connected to a hub. For example, Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home “both control the Philips lights through the Philips hub. Communication happens over the Ethernet network (wireless or wired depending on the hub).  The Philips hub also supports HomeKit so that will work as well,” he said.

Maupin’s home configuration is set up so the Philips lights connect via Zigbee to the Philips hub, which connects to an Ethernet network. An Amazon Echo is connected to the Ethernet Network by WiFi.

“I have the Philips devices at home configured via their app. For example, I have lights in my bedroom configured differently for me and my wife. With voice commands, I can control these lamps with different commands such as ‘Alexa, turn off Matt’s lamp,’ or ‘Alexa, turn off the bedroom lamps.’”

Alexa communicates wirelessly to the Ethernet Network, which then goes to the Philips hub (which is sold under the brand name Philips Hue Bridge) via Ethernet, where the Philips hub then converts that to Zigbee to control that actual lamps. While that sounds complicated, Maupin said, “to consumers, it is just magic.”

A divided IoT market

IoT systems can be divided into the high-performance number crunchers which deal with massive amounts of data, and the “end-node” products which drive a much different set of requirements. Sandeep Kumar, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Silicon Labs, said RF, ultra-low-power processes and embedded NVM are essential for many end-node applications, and it can take several years for foundries to develop them beyond the base technology becoming available.

“40nm is an old technology node for the big digital companies. For IoT end nodes where we need a cost-effective RF process with ultra-low leakage and embedded NVM, the state of the art is 55nm; 40 nm is just getting ready,” Kumar said.

Embedded flash or any NVM takes as long as it does because, most often, it is developed not by the foundries themselves but by independent companies, such as Silicon Storage Technology. The foundry will implement this IP after the foundry has developed the base process. (SST has been part of Microchip Technology since 2010.) Typically, the eFlash capability lags by a few years for high-volume uses, and Kumar notes that “the 40nm eFlash is still not in high-volume production for end-node devices.”

Similarly, the ultra-low-leakage versions of a technology node take time and equipment investments, as well as cooperation from IP partners. Foundry customers and the fabless design houses must requalify for the low-leakage processes. “All the models change and simulations have to be redone,” Kumar said.

“We need low-leakage for the end applications that run on a button cell (battery), so that a security door or motion sensor, for example, can run for five to seven years. After the base technology is developed, it typically takes at least three years. If 40nm was available several years ago, the ultra-low-leakage process is just becoming available now.

“And some foundries may decide not to do ultra-low-leakage on certain technology nodes. It is a big capital and R&D investment to do ultra-low-leakage. Foundries have to make choices, and we have to manage that,” Kumar said.

The majority of Silicon Labs’ IoT product volume is in 180nm, while other non-IoT products use a 55nm process. The line of Blue Gecko wireless SoCs currently is on 90nm, made in 300mm fabs, while new designs are headed toward more advanced process nodes.

Because 180nm fabs are being used for MEMS, sensors and other analog-intensive, high-volume products, there is still “somewhat of a shortage” of 180nm wafers, Kumar said, though the situation is improving. “It has gotten better because TSMC and other foundries have added capacity, having heard from several customers that the 180nm node is where they are going to stay, or at least stay longer than they expected. While the foundries have added equipment and capital, it is still quite tight. I am sure the big MEMS and sensor companies are perfectly happy with 180nm,” Kumar said.

A testing advantage

IoT is a broad-based market with thousands of customers and a lot of small volume customizations. Over the past decade Silicon Labs has deployed a proprietary ultra-low-cost tester, developed in-house and used in internal back-end operations in Austin and Singapore at assembly and test subcontractors and at a few outside module makers as well. The Silicon Labs tester is much more cost effective than commercially available testers, an important cost advantage in a market where a wireless MCU can sell in small volumes to a large number of customers for just a few dollars.

“Testing adds costs, and it is a critical part of our strategy. We use our internally developed tester for our broad-based products, and it is effective at managing costs,” Kumar said.

SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, today announced that it has moved its headquarters office to Milpitas, Calif. The new SEMI office is approximately five miles (eight kilometers) from the former location in San Jose, Calif.

SEMI is a global organization with offices in the U.S., China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. SEMI’s headquarters houses its global leadership and administration staff as well as Americas region personnel. Through maintaining its headquarters in Silicon Valley, SEMI continues to be connected to the region’s unique innovation ecosystem.

In addition to providing efficient and cost-effective office space for SEMI staff, the new facility features a dedicated conference center with configurable seminar rooms, modern infrastructure and amenities. The new facility better supports SEMI member networking and collaboration needs ─ from SEMI Standards and Special Interest Groups to SEMI’s network of Strategic Association Partners, including FlexTech, MEMS & Sensors Group (MSIG), and the Fab Owners Association (FOA).

SEMI Headquarters new location is:

SEMI

673 S. Milpitas Blvd.

Milpitas, CA 95035

“Our new location with its enhanced operational capabilities and efficiencies will help us better serve the growth and evolving needs of our members,” said Rich Salsman, CFO and VP of Operations at SEMI.