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GLOBALFOUNDRIES last week announced additional enhancements to the foundry’s 55nm Low-Power Enhanced (LPe) process technology platform – 55nm LPe 1V – with qualified, next-generation memory and logic IP solutions from ARM. The 55nm LPe 1V is the industry’s first and only enhanced process node to support ARM’s 1.0/1.2V physical IP library, enabling chip designers to use a single process that supports two operating voltages in a single SoC.

“The key advantage of this 55nm LPe 1V offering is that the same design libraries can be used whether you are designing at 1.0 voltage or 1.2 voltage power option,” said Bruce Kleinman, Vice President of Product Marketing at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. “What it means is that same set of design rules and models can be adopted, with no extra mask layer or special process required. This translates into cost saving and design flexibility without compromising on the power and optimization features.”

Based on ARM’s 1.0V/1.2V standard cells and memory compilers, GLOBALFOUNDRIES 55nm LPe 1V enables designers to optimize their design for speed, power and/or area and is especially beneficial for designers who are faced with power constraints in designing System-on-Chip solutions.

ARM offers a comprehensive, silicon-validated platform of 8-track, 9-track and 12-track libraries along with high-speed and high-density memory compilers for GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ advanced 55nm LPe process.

“The combination of 1V and 1.2V operation along with supporting level shifting logic provides the best combination of low power, high performance and reduced chip area,” said Dr. John Heinlein, vice president of marketing, Physical IP Division at ARM. “Dual-voltage domain characterization support coupled with Artisan next-generation memory compiler architecture reduces dynamic and leakage power by more than 35 percent, compared to previously available solutions.”

The 55nm LPe 1V is especially suited for high-volume, battery-operated mobile consumer devices, as well as a broad range of green or energy-saving products. PDK and EDA tools are available now, along with MPW shuttle availability.

Artisan memories offer flexible manufacturing options and are shipping in billions of products worldwide. Part of a broader platform of Artisan physical IP from 65nm to 20nm, these next-generation memories include low voltage and stand-by modes enabling extended battery life, ultra high-speed caches for maximum processor speed, and proprietary design techniques resulting in reduced area for low-cost SoC designs.

Shipments of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphones in 2012 amounted to 2.05 billion units, up 57% from 1.30 billion in 2011, according to IHS iSuppli. Shipments will climb by another 30% to 2.66 billion units in 2013, to be followed by at least three more years of notable double-digit-rate increases. By 2016, approximately 4.65 billion MEMS microphones will be shipping, IHS predicted.

Revenues also made big gains in 2012, up 42% to $582 million, on the way to a projected $1.0 billion by 2016, IHS indicated.

"Microphones continue to be one of the biggest success stories in MEMS, with the rapid growth of the device due to its increasing penetration in the four areas of cellphones, laptops, headsets and media tablets," said Jeremie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst for MEMS & sensors at IHS. "MEMS microphones also can be found to a lesser extent in applications such as gaming, cameras, televisions and hearing aids, contributing to their broadening use overall, with further utilization coming to set-top boxes this year and to automotive during the next three years."

For handsets – by far the top application – penetration of MEMS microphones rose to 69% in 2012, up from 52% in 2011 and 38% in 2010, IHS said. In particular, multiple microphones are now being adopted in smartphones for noise suppression, in which the cancellation of ambient sounds is crucial for handsets when carrying out voice commands, like what Siri does in the Apple iPhones. The total number of microphones per handset is also on the rise: While midrange to high-end smartphones mostly used two microphones in 2010 and 2011, three microphones are fast becoming standard ever since Apple introduced a third device on the back of the iPhone 5 for high-definition video recording.

MEMS microphones are likewise making major headway into tablets, expected to become the second-ranked application by 2016, IHS noted. Even though the first tablets on the market, such as the initial iPad from Apple and the Galaxy Tab from Samsung Electronics, used electret condenser microphones (ECM), MEMS microphones had started to appear by the second generation of tablets. New use cases for noise suppression and voice commands are expected to add to the total device count moving forward, resulting in as many as four microphones in some tablets in the future.

MEMS microphones were also present in more than half of notebooks in 2012, as well as in headsets for the iPhone 4 and 4S, IHS added.

The MEMS microphone market is driven by both price and performance considerations, IHS pointed out. While MEMS microphones remain much more expensive than ECMs – over which MEMS microphones enjoy advantages in reliability, performance and ease of manufacturing – the price gap between the two has been narrowing. Moreover, sound quality and acoustics are becoming important differentiators in mobile devices, with manufacturers like Nokia and Apple willing to pay a significant price premium to obtain better performance and recently migrating to MEMS.

Apple, for instance, used ECMs exclusively for its first iPad and until the iPhone 3GS. Since the iPad 2 and iPhone 4, however, the California-based maker has switched to solely using MEMS microphones, IHS observed.

Both Apple and Samsung were the top consumers of MEMS microphones in 2012, accounting for a combined 54% of all shipped MEMS microphones, well ahead of other significant users like LG Electronics and Motorola, according to IHS.

The top supplier of MEMS microphones was US-based Knowles Electronics, which continued to dominate even though its share of shipments in 2012 slipped to 58%, down from 74% in 2011, on the face of increased competition, said IHS. Knowles is a second supplier of MEMS microphones for the iPhone, and is a first supplier for the iPad mini.

Other important MEMS microphone suppliers were AAC and Goertek, both from China and ranked second and third, respectively, IHS said. In fourth place was Analog Devices from Massachusetts, the sole supplier in the iPhone 5 of the third microphone – a high-performance, high-revenue-generating part.

Together the four top makers represented nearly 90% of MEMS microphone shipments in 2012, with the remaining portion of the market split among seven other suppliers, including Italian-French supplier STMicroelectronics in fifth place, IHS said.

Chinese makers figure prominently in the industry – as do Chinese smartphones and handset manufacturers acting as consumers, emerging as a major driving force after utilizing some 200 million MEMS microphone units in 2012, IHS noted.

This week, India’s Finance Minister P Chidambaram offered incentives to chip makers to set up headquarters in India, in an effort to encourage local electronics manufacturing. However, the response from the industry has been less than positive. Many believe that it is a good start, but far from sufficient.

While presenting the Union Budget for 2013-14, Chidambaram said the Indian government will waive customs duty for plants and machinery in the semiconductor sector.

"We recognize the pivotal role of semiconductor wafer fabs in the ecosystem of manufacture of electronics. I propose to provide appropriate incentives to semiconductor wafer fab manufacturing facilities, including zero customs duty for plant and machinery," Chidambaram said, while presenting the budget.

"A company investing Rs.100 crore or more in plant and machinery during the (next fiscal) period will be entitled to deduct an allowance of 15 percent of the investment," he continued. "This will be in addition to the current rates of depreciation. There will be enormous spill-over benefits to small and medium enterprises."

While India has held its own in terms of semiconductor design, very little manufacturing is currently done in the country. Today, India has close to 4,000 electronics manufacturing units and about 300,000 units directly or indirectly supporting the electronics manufacturing industry. The Indian semiconductor design market is anticipated to grow to $14.5 billion by 2015, according to a report, but India’s electronic products manufacturing sector could shrink by as much as 7% in revenue during that same time, indicating that government efforts may not succeed.

As many in the industry know, the semiconductor industry lives and dies by Moore’s law, making fab-launching business ventures a risky move for any start-up.  With the need for constant equipment upgrades, many companies have turned to “fabless” business models, farming out their chip-making to established foundries.

“Building and running a fab is a complex business that is very sensitive to utilization and improvements in technology,” says Satya Gupta, chairman of the Indian Semiconductor Association. “Somebody who knows the fab business has to run it, not the government.”

Many experts point to India’s rising middle class as the main reason to consider India as a potential location for fabs. Much of India’s electronics are imported, meaning India is currently footing a huge import bill to meet the growing demand. As much as 65% of electronic products demand is currently met by imports, which is estimated to grow from $28 billion in 2011 to $42 billion in 2015, according to industry body Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association, which also report that local manufacturers could lose out on nearly $200 billion of potential revenue by 2015.

But the import bill isn’t the only factor discouraging potential fab-owners.

"I wish it was as simple as offering an import duty exemption. What about availability of land, power and all other government clearances?" said a senior executive at one of the large computer manufacturers told the India Times, requesting anonymity.

What do you think of India’s efforts to encourage fabs? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

At the International Semiconductor Strategy Symposium (ISS Europe), the European semiconductor industry affirmed its ability to innovate. More than 170 top industry representatives agreed on a number of joint steps and strategic measures to strengthen their competitiveness and sustainability. The controversial question whether the best way to attack future challenges will be "More Moore" or "More than Moore," ended in an expected compromise, namely that the industry should pursuit both strategies concurrently, the participants of a panel expressed. Whilst the More than Moore sector is traditionally strong in Europe, going on with More Moore is important for two to three device makers in Europe and in particular for the European equipment suppliers which export 80% of their products.

In a global scale, the semiconductor industry is approaching the move to 450mm wafer processing technology – a step that promises to greatly boost the productivity of semiconductor manufacturers. However, since the investment to build a 450mm fab easily exceeds the 10 billion dollar mark, this move is regarded as risky and, for this reason, reserved to only the very largest enterprises. In the past, this perspective divided the European industry into two camps – the "More Moore" group that advocates taking on the 450mm challenge, and the "More than Moore" group which shunned this risky investment and preferred to rely on application-oriented differentiation instead.

At the event SEMI Europe, an industry association embracing enterprises that represent the entire value chain and organizer of the ISS Europe, set up a high-ranking panel discussion on options and choices of a single European semiconductor strategy. The panel proved that entrepreneurial spirit is well alive among Europe’s chipmakers, technology suppliers and researchers.

Time is ripe to close the ranks and take on the challenges, as the speakers in the panel pointed out. Judged on the basis of its expertise and abilities, the European semiconductor and equipment industry has remarkable strengths, the experts said unanimously.

"We have to think in European terms," said Luc Van den hove, CEO of the Belgian research center Imec. "Talking in a common voice allows the European Commission to act and support this industry".

Jean-Marc Chery, Chief Manufacturing & Technology Officer of chipmaker STMicroelectronics, reminded that a holistic approach is necessary. "We have to push the full value chain cooperatively," he said.

The panel participants recognized that the European semiconductor industry possesses the necessary expertise. So far, the willingness to jointly face these challenges has been affected adversely by the macroeconomic environment and the Euro crisis, which discouraged far-reaching strategic decisions. The members of the European Commission that recently signalized understanding the needs of the semiconductor industry’s vital role for the high-tech location Europe, certainly contributed to the optimism in the industry.

"We have all the knowledge, the materials and the equipment," said Rob Hartman, Director Strategic Program for leading equipment manufacturer ASML, during the panel. "Let’s do it in the EU."

European Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ idea of creating an "Airbus for chips," a European initiative for the semiconductor industry comparable to the initiative that once led to the launch of the Airbus in the aviation industry, was strongly hailed by the panel.

"An Airbus for chips could be a very powerful tool," Van der hove said. "It does not need to be a single company, it also can be a framework of companies," added Laurent Malier, CEO of French research centre CEA-LETI.

The main concern of the industry is the slow decision process of the European institutions due to a complex political approval process inside of the European Union, the participants agreed. This industry is moving fast and so the decisions have to be taken fast, too. The strong Euro and the lack of qualified labor are further regarded as potential stumbling blocks for the technological progress and the business competitiveness.

At the panel the European Commission signalized its support for the industry as well.

“If policy instruments would be combined on EU and national levels, a critical mass of support for R&D for both More than Moore and More Moore could be achieved,” said Khalil Rouhana, Director Components & Systems at the European Commission.

brooks instruments mass flow controllerBrooks Instrument, a provider of flow measurement and control instrumentation to the microelectronics industry, will launch the GF135 pressure transient insensitive (PTI) mass flow controller at SEMICON China, March 19-21 at Shanghai New International Expo Center. In its first year at SEMICON China, Brooks will showcase the GF135 and its high-performance digital solutions for flow, vacuum and pressure measurement with partner SCH Electronics at booth 5505.

The GF135 improves yield and uptime with real-time integral rate-of-decay flow measurement and advanced diagnostic capabilities to verify accuracy, check valve leak-by and monitor sensor drift without stopping production. It provides market-leading actual process gas accuracy and ultra-fast flow settling time for reduced process cycle time. Onboard diagnostic data logging, zero stability trending and correction, and early detection of valve corrosion or clogging allow semiconductor manufacturers to achieve tighter tolerances and maintain uniformity in etch profiles and critical dimensions. The combination of these features allows the GF135 to deliver accuracy and cost savings to the semiconductor industry.

Additionally, Brooks will demo its GF81 mass flow controller, the new high-flow version of the GF80. The GF81 is the mass flow controller of choice for process engineers in solar, coatings and industrial thin-film applications. The GF81 offers flow rates up to 300 slpm, as well as a high-purity flow path. Unlike other high-flow mass flow controllers, it has a smaller footprint and offers the broadest range of communication protocols.

Based in Pennsylvania, Brooks Instrument is a multi-technology instrumentation company serving a range of markets. Brooks also owns Key Instruments, which offers precision machined acrylic flow meters, molded plastic flow meters, glass tube flow meters, and flow control valves. The company has manufacturing locations, sales, and service offices in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

A researcher from North Carolina State University has developed a technique for creating high-density ceramic materials that requires far lower temperatures than current techniques – and takes less than a second, as opposed to hours. Ceramics are used in a wide variety of technologies, including body armor, fuel cells, spark plugs, nuclear rods and superconductors.

At issue is a process known as “sintering,” which is when ceramic powders, such as zirconia, are compressed into a desired shape and exposed to high heat until the powder particles are bound together into a solid, but slightly porous, material. But new research from Dr. Jay Narayan, John C. Fan Distinguished Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State, may revolutionize the sintering process.

Narayan’s new technique, selective-melt sintering, allows sintering of yttria-stabilized zirconia at 800 degrees Celsius (C) – instead of the conventional 1450 C. In addition, using the selective-melt sintering technique, it is possible to sinter zirconia at 800 C in less than a second, and create a material with no porosity at all. In contrast, traditional sintering techniques take four to five hours at 1450 C.

“This technique allows you to achieve ‘theoretical density,’ meaning it eliminates all of the porosity in the material,” Narayan says. “This increases the strength of the ceramic, as well as improving its optical, magnetic and other properties.”

The key to Narayan’s approach is the application of an electric field, at approximately 100 volts per centimeter, to the material. When this field is applied, it creates subtle changes in the material’s grain boundaries – where atoms from different crystals meet in the material. Namely, the field draws defects to the grain boundary. These defects consist of vacancies (missing atoms) which can carry charges. The defects are negatively charged and draw current from the electric field to the area – which raises the temperature along the grain boundary.

Raising the temperature along the grain boundary means that the material can be sintered at a much lower temperature, because sintering is done by selectively melting the grain boundaries to fuse the crystals together.

Normally you would have to apply enough heat to raise the mass of all the material to the melting point, even though you only need to melt the grain boundary. Pre-heating the grain boundary with an electric field is what allowed Narayan to lower the sintering temperature from 1450 C to 800 C and sinter the material much more quickly.

The work is described in two papers published online this month in Scripta Materialia. The papers are Grain growth model for electric field-assisted processing and flash sintering of materials, and an invited viewpoint paper, New mechanism for field-assisted processing and flash sintering of materials. Narayan is the sole author.

 

Mentor Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced availability of the Kronos Cell Characterization and Analysis platform. The Kronos platform quickly produces accurate performance models for standard cells, I/Os, and complex cells within an advanced, integrated environment. Without correctly characterized libraries, an entire design project may be at risk, and designing at the wrong environmental corner or not taking advantage of a special operating voltage may lead to slower, larger designs that waste power or take longer to close on timing.

Accurate Models

At 45nm and below, speed and power consumption are much more sensitive to environmental conditions including voltage and noise. Therefore, producing accurate models at the appropriate conditions is critical to achieving design success. The Kronos platform quickly generates accurate and complete timing/power models and incorporates unique methods for noise immunity and signal integrity to avoid design problems that otherwise might not be detected until failure analysis.

High Throughput

The Kronos Platform’s advanced algorithms and efficient job distribution reduces characterization time from weeks to days. During characterization, SPICE simulations are continuously monitored, and numerous data checks and recovery mechanisms significantly improve turn-around time by pinpointing specific model results and simulations if a problem is detected.

Kronos Characterizer

Kronos Characterizer is a high-throughput, general purpose cell library characterization tool for standard cells, complex cells, IO pad, and custom macros. The Kronos platform features high-performance integration with the best-in-class Eldo Classic SPICE simulator. Eldo Classic has been extensively optimized for cell characterization, offering quick simulation turnarounds and the industry’s most accurate results. The tight integration of Kronos Characterizer with Eldo Classic delivers improved performance for shorter total characterization time through dedicated features in the Eldo simulator that support library characterization.

Kronos Analyzer

Kronos Analyzer is a library analysis and verification tool for ensuring high quality libraries whether qualifying libraries from an external supplier or developing library models internally. The tool enables design engineers and library qualification teams to compare and validate complex ASIC cell libraries for design-critical characteristics such as performance, area, and power. Kronos Analyzer can be used with any cell characterization solution for library validation and optimization.

“Our customers know that sophisticated and robust Standard Cell Library analysis and characterization are of critical importance,” said Robert Hum, vice president and general manager, Deep Submicron Division (DSM), Mentor Graphics. “Our SPICE simulator, Eldo, has been optimized for cell characterization and used to drive this type of solution for many years. Now we have the opportunity to deeply integrate Eldo into a best-in-class characterization technology for optimal accuracy and performance.”

 

Intel announced Monday a major move to expand its foundry business. Altera Corporation and Intel Corporation have entered into an agreement for the future manufacture of Altera FPGAs on Intel’s 14nm tri-gate transistor technology. These next-generation products, which target ultra high-performance systems for military, wireline communications, cloud networking, and compute and storage applications, will enable breakthrough levels of performance and power efficiencies not otherwise possible.

"Altera’s FPGAs using Intel 14nm technology will enable customers to design with the most advanced, highest-performing FPGAs in the industry," said John Daane, president, CEO and chairman of Altera. "In addition, Altera gains a tremendous competitive advantage at the high end in that we are the only major FPGA company with access to this technology."

Intel promised Altera access to the 14nm process for 12 years to satisfy long-term availability requirements of defense and other customers, Daane said. The agreement will allow Altera the use of other nodes, but Altea will focus on high-end parts at 14nm initially. Intel has yet to disclose the details about its 14nm tri-gate technology.

Daane told Reuters he believes Intel’s manufacturing technology will give Altera’s chips a several-year advantage against Xilinx, Altera’s main competitor.

While Intel has built manufactured chips in collaboration with other companies in the past, this particular announcement with Altera is a significant step in the unfolding timeline of its 14nm technology.

"They’ve crossed over the line from it just being a questionable experiment to – we’re going to do this for tier-1 customers," said RBC analyst Doug Freedman to Reuters.

Daane said he believes Intel is two to four years ahead of other foundries with its 14nm FinFET process, which Altera plans to use to on its highest-end FPGAs, giving them advantages in power, performance and density.

"We are essentially getting access like an extra division of Intel. As soon as they’re making the technology available to their various groups to do design work, we’re getting the same," Daane said.

Altera’s next-generation products will now include 14nm, in addition to previously announced 20nm technologies, extending the company’s tailored product portfolio that meets myriad customer needs for performance, bandwidth and power efficiency across diverse end applications.

"It’s a step in terms of building into a business level we wish to achieve," Sunit Rikhi, Vice President and General Manager of Intel custom foundry, told Reuters on Monday. "There’s no doubt in my mind the foundry will be a significant player in the future."

Altera still plans to use TSMC as its primary foundry, which will continue to supply its current processes and fulfill Altera’s product portfolio.

The global market in Key Enabling Technologies (KET) is forecast to grow from about 650 billion euro in 2008 to over one trillion euro in 2015. In response to this growth, top professionals in fields utilizing KETs have formed an expert group to assist the European Commission in the implementation of the strategy to boost the industrial production of KETs-based products in Europe. Today marks the inaugural meeting of the European Commission Key Enabling Technologies (KET) High Level Commission expert group, including professionals in automotive, communication, aeronautics, defence, medical and energy fields.

Representing the European photonics industry, EPIC President Drew Nelson, CEO and President of epitaxial wafer supplier IQE, has been appointed as a member of the new High Level Group as technology representative for the Photonics KET. EPIC is the European Photonics Industry Consortium, a membership-led not-for-profit industry association that promotes the sustainable development of organisations working in the field of photonics.

“I will be a vigorous supporter and promoter of KETs at regional, national, and European level and take every opportunity to help design and implement policies to help the competitiveness of Europe through the rapid deployment of KETs” Drew Nelson stated, “I expect from the KET high level group that it is able to persuade the European Commission through evidence based examples and debate to adapt EU policies throughout each directorate general that fully support KETs implementation throughout Europe.”

The expert group advises the European Commission on KETs related policy issues, follows up the implementation of the European strategy for KETs adopted by the European Commission on June 26, 2012, and promotes the development of KETs policies by the Member States.

“KETs offer a fantastic opportunity for all of Europe; we must explore and embrace its potential. Especially in Photonics, there are many opportunities ahead of us,” said Carlos Lee, director general of EPIC. Lee is a member of the working group on “Promotion and Implementation of KETs Policies at National and Regional Level.”

The group aims to foster the industrial deployment of European KETs in order to keep pace with main international competitors, restore growth, create jobs and help address today’s major societal challenges.

The group was inaugurated by European Commissioners Antonio Tajani from DG Enterprise, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn from DG Research, and Johannes Hahn from DG Regio. Drew Nelson, President of EPIC, represents the photonics industry.

 

New automotive technologies that go beyond touchscreens, satellite radio, and voice-activated GPS commands are being tested and improved, and will soon begin to appear in many more new car models, resulting in solid growth for the automotive IC market through 2016, according to the 2013 edition of IC InsightsIC Market Drivers—A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits.

Military-like night-vision systems that quickly identify pedestrians, animals or road hazards in low-light conditions; airbags stowed in shoulder harnesses of seatbelts; and the ability for drivers to customize the look of their dashboard instrument panels are examples of systems that are available in a select number of cars now, but will soon become available in many more vehicles. Along with backup cameras, electronic stability control, active-cruise control, and several other systems covered in the IC Market Drivers report, emerging electronic systems are forecast to help the automotive IC market grow 52% from $18.2 billion in 2012 to $27.7 billion in 2016. This growth translates to an average annual increase of 11% for the automotive IC market.

Analog ICs and MCUs are forecast to benefit most from the increasing electronic content within automobiles.  According to the IC Market Drivers report, analog ICs accounted for 41% of the 2012 automotive IC market (Figure 2).  Analog ICs are used in “traditional” applications such as to gauge input functions like speed measurement and for output functions like opening and closing power windows and adjusting power seats.  One of the newer applications for analog ICs in cars is LED lighting.  Depending on the application, LED drivers and various converters are used to supply constant current despite variations in battery voltage.

Microcontrollers accounted for 36% of the automotive IC market in 2012.  16-bit applications in chassis and safety applications (lane-detection warning, hands-free telematics, etc.) are increasing, but enhanced 8-bit and low-end 32-bit MCUs are competing for many of the same sockets as 16-bit controllers.  Applications like anti-skid braking and airbag systems are solidly 16-bit now, but are transitioning to larger bit widths.  Electronic parking assist could be a new sweet spot for 16-bit MCUs. These systems typically use two to four (but as many as eight) ultrasonic sensors to detect objects near the vehicle.  Processing the additional information drives the requirements into the domain of 16-bit devices.

The 32-bit chips are incorporated into powertrains to handle functions such as electronic throttle control, cylinder deactivation, variable valve timing, and fuel injection, and in next-generation chassis and safety systems including active high-end electronic stability control, complex smart airbag systems, and more.  In addition, 32-bit MCUs are used to process sophisticated, real-time sensor functions within safety and crash-avoidance systems.

Gesture recognition is a growing trend that is being incorporated both inside and outside the car. 32-bit MCUs are at the core of many emerging gesture-recognition systems and in many ways, they are an extension of gesture-recognition technology found onboard in game controllers.

Though the automotive market represents only about 7% of total IC sales, increasing electronic system content in motor vehicles is forecast to result in this segment being one of the fasting-growing end-use categories through 2016.