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Rudolph Technologies, Inc., has received an order for over $15 million from an unnamed foundry in Asia for multiple NSX 330 Systems.

The systems will be used for inspection of next-generation fan-out wafer level packaging products, including whole-wafer inspection and post-saw inspection. The systems will begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2015 with the majority shipping in the first quarter of 2016.

“We are pleased to partner with this industry leader to provide the market-leading NSX System for their next-generation packaging line,” said Mike Goodrich, vice president and general manager of Rudolph’s Inspection Business Unit. “Key factors of this win were the systems’ superior inspection sensitivity, capture rate, and throughput for two-dimensional (2D) inspection, while meeting the automation challenges inherent with fan-out wafers and film frames. Additionally, all systems will be equipped with Rudolph’s Discover Yield Management Software that enhances the user’s process analysis capability in real-time, enabling fast yield improvement and increasing the productivity of each tool and the overall fab yield. This level of process visibility is quickly becoming essential to factory efficiency.”

“Rudolph has been enabling its customers’ development of advanced packaging processes for nearly two decades. We are pleased that our experience, combined with our unique fusion of hardware and software solutions, was selected to help our customer quickly ramp and control such a critical project,” said Mike Plisinski, CEO of Rudolph. “The development of advanced packaging solutions is a priority for many of our customers, as more of their customers specify packages utilizing fan-out, panel, and copper pillar technology to reduce the cost of devices while improving performance.”

Plisinski adds, “While the 2016 forecast for the overall semiconductor industry remains relatively subdued at 1.9 percent growth, according to Gartner, the development of next-generation advanced packaging processes continues to be an important growth driver for Rudolph. We are pleased that our comprehensive solutions-process, process control, and software-are helping to enable this growth.”

The global market for semiconductors used in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for plug-in hybrid (PH) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) will continue to expand in the coming years, providing significant growth opportunities to semiconductor manufacturers.  Revenue from semiconductors used in EV charging stations reached $44 million in 2014 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39 percent to reach $233 million in 2019, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), a global source of critical information and insight.

“Fast charging is a necessary step to the strong adoption of EVs and a higher power rating is required to support these shorter charging times,” said Noman Akhtar, industrial semiconductors analyst for IHS Technology. “Electric vehicle charging stations with higher ratings require more power semiconductors, especially discrete semiconductor components, which will lead to increased semiconductor revenue growth.”

In 2014, the average price for semiconductor components in a level-two charging station — which could charge a battery in about five hours — was $143. By comparison, semiconductor components used in the latest fast-charging direct-current (DC) chargers now cost more than $1,000; however, they are capable of charging a vehicle battery to 80 percent of capacity in just 15 minutes.

Average selling prices of semiconductors used in communication modules are expected to increase over time, as the industry moves toward single system-on-chip (SoC) solutions that not only provide faster control, but also include the memory required for secure communications and other applications. “Better communication between the utility and the charger improves the stability of the electric grid,” Akhtar said. “The latest developments in communication interface ICs enable more secure and reliable information transfer.”

Congress took a major step in supporting U.S. manufacturing and innovation today by voting to make the federal Research and Development (R&D) tax credit permanent. SEMI has been working to make the popular tax incentive a permanent part of the tax code since the R&D credit was first established in 1981.

“SEMI members invest and average of 15 percent of their revenues back into R&D activities every year,” said SEMI president & CEO, Denny McGuirk. “Being able to count on the R&D tax credit is immensely important to our members, which are some of the most innovative companies in the world.”

In its temporary status, the credit was widely used by many SEMI member companies; however, it was often not reliable because of its temporary status. In the past 34 years, the credit had expired 17 times, and on more than one occasion, was expired for almost an entire tax year before being retroactively reinstated. By making the credit permanent, companies will now be able to plan their long term research and development projects with greater certainty.

The permanent provision for innovation-supporting tax policy was included in the wide-ranging year-end “tax extenders” bill that was then combined with the omnibus appropriations legislation to fund the government through September 2016. Included in the same legislation is an extension of the popular solar energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The 30 percent ITC, which was set to be reduced to 10 percent at the end of 2016, has been critical to the wide-scale deployment of solar photovoltaic panels in the U.S. With the passage of this bill, the 30 percent credit will be extended until 2019, and then gradually phased down to 10 percent at the end of 2021.

“Both the R&D Credit and the ITC are good examples of why SEMI engages with policymakers in Washington, D.C. on behalf of our members,” continued McGuirk. “SEMI, our members, and many others in the high tech community have long advocated for this change. Our collective persistence has resulted in important and meaningful support for innovation.”

SEMI is the global industry association serving the electronics manufacturing supply chains.

Between 2015 and 2019, worldwide systems revenues for applications connecting to the Internet of Things will nearly double, reaching $124.5 billion in the final year of this decade, according to IC Insights’ new 2016 edition of its IC Market Drivers report.  During that same timeframe, new connections to the Internet of Things (IoT) will grow from about 1.7 billion in 2015 to nearly 3.1 billion in 2019 (Figure 1), based on the forecast in the new 450-page report, which examines emerging and major end-use applications fueling demand for ICs.

Figure 1

Figure 1

The new IC Market Drivers report shows about 30.0 billion Internet connections are expected to be in place worldwide in 2020, with 85% of those attachments being to web-enabled “things”—meaning a wide range of commercial, industrial, and consumer systems, distributed sensors, vehicles, and other connected objects—and 15% for electronics used by humans to communicate, download and receive streams of data files, and search for online information.  It was the opposite of that in 2000, with 85% of 488 million Internet connections providing human users with online access to the World Wide Web and the remaining 15% serving embedded systems, remote sensing and measurements, control, and machine-to-machine communications.

Strong double-digit increases in the Internet of Things market will drive up IC sales in IoT applications by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9% between 2015 and 2019 to about $19.4 billion in the final year of this decade (Figure 2), according to the new report.  IoT applications will also fuel strong sales growth in optoelectronics, sensors/actuators, and discrete semiconductors (O-S-D), which are projected to rise by a CAGR of 26.0% between 2015 and 2019 to $11.6 billion in four years.  The new IC Market Drivers report shows microcontrollers and system-on-chip microprocessors topping integrated circuit sales growth with a CAGR of 22.3% in the next four years, followed by memories at 19.8%, application specific standard products (ASSPs) at 16.4%, and analog ICs at an annual growth rate of 12.7%.

Figure 2

Figure 2

In the 2014-2019 forecast period of the IC Market Drivers report, wearable systems are projected to be the fastest growing IoT application with sales increasing by a CAGR of 59.0%, thanks in great part to a 440% surge in 2015 due to the launch of Apple’s first smartwatches in 2Q15.  Sales of IoT-connected wearable systems are expected to reach $15.2 billion in 2019 compared to $1.5 billion in 2014 and about $8.1 billion in 2015.

Meanwhile, connected vehicles (passenger cars and light trucks) are expected to be the second fastest market category for IoT technology with revenues growing by a CAGR of 31.5% between 2014 and 2019 to $5.3 billion in the final year of this decade.

SEMI projects that worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment will decrease 0.6 percent to $37.3 billion in 2015, according to the SEMI Year-end Forecast, released today at the annual SEMICON Japan exposition.  In 2016, nominal positive growth is expected, resulting in a global market increase of 1.4 percent.

The SEMI Year-end Forecast predicts that wafer processing equipment, the largest product segment by dollar value, is anticipated to increase 0.7 percent in 2015 to total $29.5 billion. The “Other Front End” category (fab facilities, mask/reticle, and wafer manufacturing equipment) is expected to increase 20.6 percent in 2015. The forecast predicts that the market for assembly and packaging equipment will decrease by 16.4 percent to $2.6 billion in 2015 and that the market for semiconductor test equipment is forecast to decrease by 7.4 percent, totaling $3.3 billion this year.

For 2015, Taiwan, South Korea, North America, remain the largest spending regions, with investments in Japan approaching North American levels.  SEMI forecasts that in 2016, equipment sales in Europe will climb to $3.4 billion (63.1 percent increase over 2015). After a 13 percent contraction for Europe in 2015, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon, Intel, and STMicroelectronics are all expected to significantly accelerate fab equipment spending in 2016, resulting in strong growth in the region in 2016.  In Rest of World, essentially Southeast Asia, sales will reach $2.5 billion (25.7 percent increase), the China market will total $5.3 billion (9.1 percent increase), and North America equipment spending will reach $5.9 billion (6.1 percent increase). The equipment markets in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan are expected to contract in 2016.

The following results are given in terms of market size in billions of U.S. dollars:

Year_End_image_600px

The Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) from SEMI provides comprehensive market data for the global semiconductor equipment market. A subscription includes three reports: the monthly SEMI Book-to-Bill Report, which offers an early perspective of the trends in the equipment market; the monthly Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS), a detailed report of semiconductor equipment bookings and billings for seven regions and over 22 market segments; and the SEMI Year-end Forecast, which provides an outlook for the semiconductor equipment market.

SEMI this week announced details about the fourth annual European 3D Summit.  “SEMI European 3D Summit 2016: Above and Beyond TSV,” the advanced semiconductor summit will take place on January 18-20 at Minatec in Grenoble, France. With 3D now being much more than just TSV and subsequent stacking technologies, the summit has evolved to encompass 3D as part of the whole advanced packaging continuum.

The SEMI European 3D Summit will include a wide scope of 3D integrated circuit topics beyond Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) technology ─ with presentations on FO-WLP/ e-WLB, Embedded Die, 3D alternative technologies, new “Start-Up Pitch” session, and companion exhibition with the latest 30 products and services:

  • On 18 January, the Market Briefing session will highlight the latest business challenges and opportunities. Featured 3D and packaging industry experts will include McKinsey, System Plus Consulting, TechSearch International, and Yole Developpement.
  • On 19 January, the 3D Packaging for High-Performance session includes CEA-LETI, ATOS and a keynote from Cisco’s Li Li on “Emerging 2.5D and 3D IC Packaging Platforms for System Integration.”  In the 3D Integration Strategy for Imaging products session, experts from Invensas, Olympus, Redbelt Conseils, and STMicroelectronics will present. The New Technologies session features experts from ASE, Fraunhofer IIS/EAS, imec, and XFab. The final two sessions cover Key Enabling Technologies and Start-Up Pitches.
  • On 20 January, the focus is on “FO-WLP: 3D Options” with a keynote from Ramakanth Alapati of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, plus presentations from AMKOR, Nanium, and SPTS. The final session is on the Manufacturing of 3D Integrated Products with speakers from ams, AT&S, Mentor Graphics, and Xintec.

SEMI will provide attendees networking opportunities throughout the event.  This year, SEMI offers attendees a chance to visit the Minatec Showroom, to learn about the latest innovations being developed in the Grenoble tech hub.

The SEMI European 3D Summit consistently produces a large industry turnout receiving top satisfaction rates (97 percent overall satisfaction rate, 2012-2015).  The  European 3D Summit steering committee includes executives from: ams AG, BESI, CEA-Leti, Evatech, EV Group, Fraunhofer-IZM, imec,  Scint-X,  SPTS, STMicroelectronics and SUSS Microtec.

The total production value of electronic systems is forecast to decrease 2% in 2015 to an estimated $1,423 billion, marking only the fourth time in history that the systems market registers a decline (previous years were 2001, 2002, and 2009).  Total electronic system sales are forecast to reach $1,614 billion in 2019, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1% from $1,454 billion in 2014.  Figure 1 compares the relative market sizes and projected growth rates of nine major systems segments covered in IC Insights’ recently released 2016 edition of its IC Market Drivers report.  These nine market categories represented approximately 70% of the estimated total production value of all electronic systems in 2015.

cellphone ic sales

Figure 1

 

Among individual end-use systems covered in detail in the 2016 IC Market Drivers report, cellphones expanded their lead over standard personal computers (desktops and notebooks) as the largest electronic systems market in 2015 after overtaking PCs for the first time in 2013.  Cellphones accounted for 18% of total electronics systems sales ($262.2 billion) versus about 13% for standard PCs ($187.4 billion) in 2015. Cellular phone sales are projected to rise by a CAGR of 2.9% in the 2014-2019 period, while standard PC revenues are expected to slump by an annual rate of -1.7%, partly due to longer upgrade cycles for standard PCs, the influx of tablet computers into the mix of computing platforms, and the growing use of smartphones to access the Internet.

The Internet of Things system market is forecast to show the highest average annual growth rate (21%) through 2019.  Aside from this one high-flying market, however, no other system category is forecast to average annual growth of more than 7%.  In fact, the standard PC, tablet, and game console system markets are forecast to decline through 2019.

CEA-Leti today announced it has signed an agreement with Keysight Technologies, a device-modeling software supplier, to adapt Leti’s UTSOI extraction flow methodology within Keysight’s device modeling solutions for high-volume SPICE model generation.

The simulation of the Leti-UTSOI compact model, which is the first complete compact model dedicated to Ultra-Thin Body and Box and Independent Double Gate MOSFETs, is currently available in Keysight’s modeling and simulation tools. This agreement expands the collaboration to include the extraction flow and will enable device-modeling engineers to efficiently create Leti-UTSOI model cards for use in Process Design Kits (PDKs).

“This collaboration between Leti and Keysight will strengthen the global FD-SOI ecosystem by providing an automatic extraction flow for building model cards associated with the Leti-UTSOI models, which are already available in all the major SPICE simulators,” said Marie Semeria, Leti’s CEO. “This professional, automatic extraction-flow solution will address designers’ needs as they weigh FD-SOI’s benefits over competing solutions for the 28nm technology node and below.”

“Keysight’s modeling solutions provide both automation and flexibility for device modeling,” said Todd Cutler, general manager of Keysight EEsof EDA. “The addition of a Leti-UTSOI modeling technology will further expand our offering in CMOS modeling. We have been collaborating with Leti on many projects, and we are pleased to extend our relationship to improve access to the Leti-UTSOI.”

GaN Systems, a manufacturer of gallium nitride power transistors, announces that its foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), has expanded the high volume production of products based on GaN System’s proprietary Island Technology by 10X in response to surging global demand from consumer and enterprise customers. GaN Systems has the industry’s broadest and most comprehensive portfolio of GaN power transistors with both 100V and 650V GaN FETs shipping in volume.

Transistors based on GaN Systems’ Island Technology and using TSMC’s GaN fab process boast the best performance and Figure of Merit in the industry, easily outstripping the capabilities of the world’s highest performance silicon power semiconductors, the latest silicon carbide devices and competing gallium nitride products. The unique combination of TSMC’s gallium nitride process and GaN Systems’ proprietary Island Technology design is further enhanced by GaNPX packaging, which delivers high current handling, extremely low inductance and exceptional thermal performance. GaN Systems’ power switching transistors continue to lead the gallium nitride market, providing best-in-class 100V and 650V devices and driving product innovation ranging from thinner TVs to extended range electric vehicles.

Sajiv Dalal, VP Business Management at TSMC, comments, “We are delighted to confirm that our collaboration with GaN Systems has brought the promise of gallium nitride from concept through reliability testing and on to volume production.”

Adds Girvan Patterson, GaN Systems’ President, “GaN has emerged as the power semiconductor solution of choice. Smart mobile devices, slim TVs, games consoles, automotive systems and other mass volume items have been designed with GaN transistors as the enabling power technology, so it is imperative that devices are available in correspondingly large quantities. Using our patented Island Technology, we have designed and made available for widespread adoption GaN power solutions that greatly exceed the performance standards exhibited by silicon devices. That is why, after three years of working together, we are so excited to formally announce our collaboration with TSMC, the world’s leading third-party semiconductor manufacturing company and a byword for quality and service industry-wide.”

Delivering large volumes of highly reliable GaN transistors in near-chipscale packaging is the culmination of a journey GaN Systems began in 2008. The company was founded with the mission of creating a low cost, highly reliable GaN-on-Silicon product based on Island Technology, a method of creating small islands where electro-migration is mitigated, die size is minimized and very high current devices realized with high yield. Using Island Technology with TSMC’s GaN-on-Silicon manufacturing techniques enabled GaN Systems to deliver the most usable, high performance, normally-off transistor to the market in mid-2014. This has allowed global power system manufacturers in the energy storage, enterprise and consumer markets to design, develop, test and bring to market more powerful, lighter and far smaller new products in their quest to attain competitive edge. To meet customers’ increasing demand for high GaN volumes in 2016, TSMC’s commitment to volume production flow comes at the perfect time.

Mentor Graphics Corp. announced it is collaborating with GLOBALFOUNDRIES to qualify the Mentor RTL to GDS platform, including the RealTime Designer physical RTL synthesis solution and Olympus-SoC place & route system, for the current version of the GLOBALFOUNDRIES 22FDX platform reference flow. In addition, Mentor and GLOBALFOUNDRIES are working on the development of the Process Design Kit (PDK) for the 22FDX platform. The PDK includes support for the Mentor Calibre platform, covering design rule checking (DRC), layout vs. schematic (LVS) and metal fill solutions for 22FDX. These solutions help mutual customers optimize their designs using the capability of 22FDX technology to manage the power, performance and leakage.

“We are collaborating closely with Mentor Graphics on enabling their products to help customers realize the benefits of the 22FDX platform,” said Pankaj Mayor, vice president of Business Development for GLOBALFOUNDRIES. “The qualification of Mentor tools for implementation flows and design verification will help designers to achieve an optimal balance between power, performance and cost.”

In design flows for advanced technologies, RealTime Designer addresses the need for higher capacity, faster runtimes, improved quality of results (QoR) and integrated floorplanning capabilities. For 22FDX in particular, it offers support for multi-VDD designs based on the Unified Power Format (UPF), multi-Vt optimization, leakage and dynamic power analysis and optimization, and a unique RTL-level floorplanning technology for improved QoR and runtimes. The Olympus-SoC tool comprehensively addresses the performance, capacity, time-to-market, power, and variability challenges encountered at advanced technologies. Support for 22FDX includes low power capabilities such as multi-VDD flow, concurrent multi-corner multi-mode timing and power optimization, forward and reverse bias handling, and DCAP cell insertion on power meshes for noise reduction.

“Our customers are designing some of the most complex chips for mobile, wireless, networking and graphics products,” said Pravin Madhani, general manager of the IC Implementation Group at Mentor Graphics. “Our collaboration with GLOBALFOUNDRIES will enable us to deliver advanced digital implementation flows for the 22FDX platform for our mutual customers.”

The Calibre nmDRC, Calibre nmLVS, and Calibre YieldEnhancer tools provide the verification functionality available in the 22FDX PDK. Core DRC and LVS verification are provided by the Calibre nmDRC and Calibre nmLVS tools, respectively. Calibre YieldEnhancer with SmartFill helps designers meet planarity and density requirements, and minimize post-fill timing changes, by intelligently and automatically filling designs with the optimum distribution and placement of fill shapes.

The next release of the 22FDX PDK will place GLOBALFOUNDRIES differentiated DFM capabilities into the hands of designers. The industry-leading DRC+, Manufacturing Analysis and Scoring (MAS), and Yield Enhancement Services (YES) design kit offerings from GLOBALFOUNDRIES, all based upon the Calibre platform, assist design teams in analyzing the manufacturability impact of their design styles with the 22FDX process technology. The DRC+ methodology uses fast pattern-matching capabilities in the Calibre Pattern Matching tool to identify lithographically problematic patterns, then uses Calibre nmDRC to enforce tighter design constraints where those patterns occur. The MAS and YES methodologies help reduce manufacturing variability: MAS employs the DFM Scoring functionality in Calibre YieldAnalyzer to score IP blocks and SoCs across all layers; in the YES service, GLOBALFOUNDRIES engineers use the layout modification capabilities in Calibre YieldEnhancer to modify edges and via placements to improve the robustness of the layout.

“By incorporating the most advanced Calibre analysis and verification capabilities into its 22FDX platform, GLOBALFOUNDRIES is giving designers the tools they need to build robustness into their products,” said Joseph Sawicki, vice president, Design to Silicon Division at Mentor Graphics. “This not only ensures high-quality designs are delivered for fabrication, but also will help ensure faster ramps to production.”

Mentor Graphics and GLOBALFOUNDRIES are working on supporting advanced extraction and reliability verification sign-off capabilities for Calibre xACT and Calibre PERC solutions.