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Vesper, a developer of acoustic MEMS, announced today that it is collaborating with GLOBALFOUNDRIES, a provider of advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, to deliver the world’s first commercially available piezoelectric MEMS microphones for smartphones, wearables, automobiles, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other high-volume markets.

Vesper’s piezoelectric MEMS microphones are natively waterproof, dustproof and particle-resistant, enabling outstanding acoustic performance in almost any environment. Vesper’s ultra-high reliability also enables designers to build large stable arrays without ever suffering a breakdown. This makes them highly attractive to systems designers who cannot compromise on quality or performance.

“GLOBALFOUNDRIES, one of the world’s largest and most advanced semiconductor foundries, is a pioneer in piezoelectric MEMS manufacturing,” said Matt Crowley, CEO, Vesper. “Their piezoelectric process technology and manufacturing capability have proven their ability to deliver high-quality piezoelectric products. That’s why we selected them as a premier supply chain manufacturer for our microphones.”

”GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ proven manufacturing process for piezoelectric MEMS microphones is designed to ensure consistent quality at high volumes,” said Gregg Bartlett, senior vice president of the CMOS Platforms Business Unit at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. “Our collaboration with Vesper has enabled rapid time-to-market to deliver the first piezoelectric MEMS microphone. GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ high-volume MEMS manufacturing experience enabled Vesper to move from first wafers to full process validation in under twelve months, while using a new material and process. That’s unprecedented in the MEMS industry, where this process can easily take five years or more.”

Worldwide, more than four billion MEMS microphones will ship in 2016, and the market grows rapidly to exceed six billion units by 2019, according to IHS Technology.

Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst, MEMS & Sensors, IHS, commented, “Piezoelectric MEMS microphones are well positioned as higher-performance devices that can be built into arrays for smartphones, smart home devices and other products that use multiple microphones for noise cancellation and beamforming.”

More than half of major new business processes and systems will incorporate some element of the Internet of Things (IoT) by 2020, according to Gartner, Inc. The impact of the IoT on consumers’ lives and corporate business models is rapidly increasing as the cost of “instrumenting” physical things with sensors and connecting them to other things — devices, systems and people — continues to drop.

“Uses of the IoT that were previously impractical will increasingly become practical,” said W. Roy Schulte, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “The IoT is relevant in virtually every industry, although not in every application. There will be no purely ‘IoT applications.’ Rather, there will be many applications that leverage the IoT in some small or large aspect of their work. As a result, business analysts and developers of information-centric processes need to have the expertise and the tools to implement IoT aspects that play a role in their systems.”

Gartner has made four more predictions for the IoT:

Through 2018, 75 percent of IoT projects will take up to twice as long as planned.

Gartner expects three out of four IoT projects to face schedule extensions of up to 100 percent with the consequent cost overruns. The more ambitious and complicated the project, the greater the schedule overruns. For some projects, compromises will be made to keep them on-schedule, leading to significant weaknesses in performance, security or integration into existing processes. In the mid-to-long term, these compromises will require that the IoT project be refactored and perhaps even recalled and redeployed.

“Product-centered enterprises will be the worst affected,” said Alfonso Velosa, research vice president at Gartner. “They will seek to launch smarter, connected products, although this will often be a reactive, tactical approach that seeks to address their competition’s IoT product. However, even for enterprises conducting internally centered projects that may focus on cost reductions, there will be people issues. Most of these issues will center on the normal introduction of a new technology model. It will be complicated by emerging business models that will require process and cultural change. Addressing both of these will lead to projects going over schedule.”

By 2020, a black market exceeding $5 billion will exist to sell fake sensor and video data for enabling criminal activity and protecting personal privacy.

The nature of IoT solutions, how they are deployed, and the types of data they generate and consume are giving rise to new security and privacy implications that organizations must begin to address. This is a rapidly escalating risk to the organization, bringing complexity unfamiliar to most IT and business leaders.

“The IoT has enormous potential to collect continuous data about our environment,” said Ted Friedman, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “The integrity of this data will be important in making personal and business decisions, from medical diagnoses to environmental protection, from commands to modify actions of machinery to identification and authorization of physical access. A black market for fake or corrupted sensor and video data will mean that data can be compromised or substituted with inaccurate or deliberately manipulated data. This scenario will spur the growth of privacy products and services, resulting in an extensive public discussion regarding the future of privacy, the means to protect individual privacy, and the role of technology and government in privacy protection.”

By 2020, addressing compromises in IoT security will have increased security costs to 20 percent of annual security budgets, from less than one percent in 2015.

As use of IoT devices grows, however, the unique requirements of IoT architecture, design and implementation over multiple industry segments and scenarios will also grow. As a result, Gartner believes that the average security budget for IT, operational technology (OT) and IoT security requirements will respond to the growth of IoT devices across all business segments and scenarios, rising from less than one percent of annual security budgets in 2015 to 20 percent in 2020.

“Major cybersecurity vendors and service providers are already delivering roadmaps and architecture of IoT security, in anticipation of market opportunity,” said Earl Perkins, research vice president at Gartner. “Small startups delivering niche IoT security in areas such as network segmentation, device-to-device authentication and simple data encryption are offering first-generation products and services, including cloud-based solutions where applicable. Large security vendors have already begun acquiring some of these IoT startups to support their early roadmaps and fill niches in their portfolios.”

More detailed analysis is available in the report “Predicts 2016: Unexpected Implications Arising From the Internet of Things.” This research note is part of Gartner’s Special Report “Predicts 2016: Algorithms Take Digital Business to the Next Level” a compilation of 85 reports focused on the top predictions and actions that will enable organizations to shape their digital future.

Autonomous driving is arguably the most exciting development in the industry today.

Indeed, according to the latest analysis from Yole Développement (Yole), entitled Sensors and Data Management for Autonomous Vehicles report 2015 (October 2015 edition), the automotive market segment is the next target of the consumer electronic players. Currently the most advanced commercial car with autonomous features embeds about 17 sensors with two main solutions: ultrasonic sensors and cameras for surround. And by 2030, Yole anticipates more than 29 sensors.

A majority of automotive industry players are currently developing sensor based solutions to increase vehicle safety in high and low speed zones. These systems, called ADAS use a combination of advanced sensors mixed with actuators, control units and integrating software. These systems enable the driver and his car to monitor and respond to their surroundings. Some ADAS are already available. It includes: lane-keeping and warning systems, adaptive cruise control, back-up alerts and parking assistance. And many others are still under development. Under this context, Yole’s analysts propose a comprehensive technology & market survey dedicated to the technologies for autonomous driving. According to Yole’s experts, autonomous driving has a long way to go.

“Sensors for ADAS are now rather mature, except LIDAR and dead reckoning, however, some of the technical blocks needed to achieve self-driving like ECU, software, data management are not mature enough to enter the current market,” commented Dr. Guillaume Girardin, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. And he added: “The technology will quickly evolve and serve the autonomous vehicle trend.”

The autonomous vehicle report from Yole provides a deep understanding of sensors and data management for autonomous vehicles including market metrics, ASP analysis and expected evolution. The analysts describe the applications for key existing markets and promising emerging ones; they also analyzed the major technology trends, the value chain, its infrastructure and the players. What are the major drivers? What will the market look like in 2030? Who will be the winners? Yole’s report details the insight of the automotive driving industry.

autonomousvehicles

Sensor technologies are mature, but embedded data processing and management are still under construction, with emerging players like Mobileye, nVidia, and Kalray providing advanced ECU challenging the established players like Toshiba or Infineon. Yole’s analysts underline the related technical choices made by the companies, including ultrasonic sensors, short-range radar, long-range radar, LIDAR, and dead reckoning sensors, along with the associated data management.

Future cars will slowly evolve from traditional mechanical, fuel-powered, and high-powered electronic vehicles into electrical-powered, ultra-sensitive machines that can anticipate many critical situations. The overall goal is to replace the last remaining cause of driving errors: human beings.

The market value for sensors in autonomous vehicles is likely to grow rapidly, but a strong focus on computing and software is expected in the coming years, with more powerful ECUs and sensor fusion for improved reliability and efficiency. At Yole, analysts believe that sooner or later the value will flow from sensors to ECU and software, leading to the emergence of new specialized players who will take a slice of the pie. A detailed description of this report is available on i-micronews.com website, MEMS & Sensors reports section.

Qualcomm Incorporated and TDK Corporation today announced an agreement to form a joint venture to enable delivery of RF front-end (RFFE) modules and RF filters into fully integrated systems for mobile devices and fast-growing business segments, such as Internet of Things (IoT), drones, robotics, automotive applications and more, under the name RF360 Holdings Singapore PTE. Ltd. (RF360 Holdings). The joint venture will draw upon TDK’s capabilities in micro-acoustic RF filtering, packaging and module integration technologies and Qualcomm’s expertise in advanced wireless technologies to serve customers with leading-edge RF solutions into fully integrated systems.

In addition to creating RF360 Holdings, Qualcomm and TDK will expand their collaboration around key technology fields, including sensors and wireless charging.

The agreement is subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other closing conditions and is expected to close by early 2017.

“TDK is a leading electronic components manufacturer with cutting-edge expertise in RF filters and modules, and we are looking forward to deepening our collaboration and together accelerating innovation and better serving the ecosystem for next-generation mobile communications,” said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “The joint venture’s RF filters will bolster Qualcomm RF360 front-end solutions to enable Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI) to deliver a truly complete solution to the ecosystem. This will enable us to expand our growth opportunity by allowing us to accelerate our strategy to provide OEMs across our business segments with fully integrated systems that will enable them to deliver at scale and on an accelerated timeframe.”

“The joint venture with Qualcomm is a win for both companies, which complement each other ideally,” said Mr. Takehiro Kamigama, President and CEO of TDK. “Customers will benefit from our unique and comprehensive portfolio, which will further strengthen TDK’s position in key growth business segments and open new and exciting business opportunities. In this context, it was a major objective to ensure that our customers can continue to expect a seamless supply of discrete filters and duplexers, as well as modules.”

RF360 Holdings poised to meet challenging RF industry requirements

As one of the world’s most dynamic and fast-moving global industries, mobile communications is placing growing demands on all players. Current and future smartphones, for example, must support dozens of frequency bands for 2G, 3G and 4G LTE, while offering connectivity for wireless LAN, satellite navigation, Bluetooth, and more. In addition, the convergence of 4G mobile communications and the IoT means that manufacturers of wireless solutions for mobile IoT devices must achieve new levels of miniaturization, integration and performance, especially for the RFFE in these devices. Further, 5G will expand this complexity even more. Module solutions will be essential to supporting this increasing complexity in the RFFE.

Together with RF360 Holdings, QTI will be ideally positioned to design products from the modem/transceiver to the antenna in a fully integrated system.

RF360 Holdings will have a comprehensive set of filters and filter technologies, including surface acoustic wave (SAW), temperature-compensated surface acoustic wave (TC-SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) to support the wide range of frequency bands being deployed in networks across the globe. Moreover, RF360 Holdings will enable the delivery of RFFE modules that will include front-end components designed and developed by QTI. These components include CMOS, SOI and GaAS Power Amplifiers, a broad portfolio of Switches enhanced via a recent acquisition, Antenna Tuning and the industry’s leading Envelope Tracking solution.

RFFE is an $18 billion US dollar opportunity by 2020 — with filters acting as a key driver of this opportunity. The filter assets that will reside in RF360 Holdings currently are among the top 3 in the industry. TDK is currently shipping in excess of 25 million filter functions per day, and growing, and holds design wins at all major handset OEMs, including leading premium tier smartphones. TDK, and subsequently RF360 Holdings, are committed to investing in capacity increases to meet the growing industry demand. The business that will be transferred constitutes a part of the total TDK SAW Business Group activities and the current run rate is approaching $1 billion US dollars of sales per annum and approximately 4200 employees are involved in that business. RF360 Holdings will be a Singapore corporation and will have a global presence, with R&D, manufacturing and/or sales locations in the US, Europe and Asia and its headquarters function in Munich, Germany.

Deepening collaboration between Qualcomm and TDK

In addition to the joint venture, Qualcomm and TDK have agreed to deepen their technological cooperation to cover a wide range of cutting-edge technologies for next-generation mobile communications, IoT and automotive applications, including passive components, batteries, wireless charging, sensors, MEMS and more.

Microchip Technology Incorporated, a provider of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions today announced that it was informed last night that the Board of Directors of Atmel Corporation had determined that Microchip’s  proposal to acquire Atmel for $8.15 per share in a cash and stock transaction constitutes a “Superior Proposal” under the terms of Atmel’s merger agreement with Dialog Semiconductor PLC.

Under the terms of Microchip’s proposal, stockholders of Atmel will receive $7.00 per share in cash and $1.15 per share in Microchip common stock, valued at the average closing sale price for a share of Microchip common stock for the ten most recent trading days ending on the last trading day prior to the closing. The maximum number of Microchip shares to be issued in the transaction is 13.0 million, after which the cash consideration per share will be increased such that the combined cash and stock consideration will remain at $8.15 per share. Microchip was informed that Atmel has given written notice to Dialog of its intent to change its recommendation and terminate the Dialog transaction in favor of the Microchip proposal. As a result, Atmel will be entitled to terminate the Dialog merger agreement if Dialog does not make, within four business days following the receipt of the notice, a written, binding proposal that would cause the Microchip proposal to no longer constitute a “Superior Proposal.”

“The combined business of Microchip and Atmel will create a microcontroller, analog and internet of things (IoT) powerhouse. Atmel’s portfolio of microcontrollers, wireless, touch, memory and automotive products complements and enhances many of Microchip’s solutions in these areas.  We believe that combining Atmel’s business with Microchip’s business will offer our combined customers a broader range of innovative solutions to serve their needs, while creating significant long-term stockholder value,” said Steve Sanghi, President and CEO of Microchip.

“Microchip’s enduring vision is to be the very best embedded control solutions company ever. Our strategy behind this vision is to enable the growing market for smart, connected and secure solutions for the automotive, industrial, office automation, consumer and telecom markets. We believe that the combined microcontroller, analog, memory, automotive, security, computing, networking, wireless, touch, timing and technology licensing product lines of Microchip and Atmel will present a powerful portfolio of innovative solutions for these growing markets.  We also believe this acquisition will further enhance our analog and mixed-signal opportunities as we expect to attach these products to an expanded set of microcontroller customer applications,” said Ganesh Moorthy, COO of Microchip.

If Microchip and Atmel execute a merger agreement on the terms proposed by Microchip, the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Microchip’s non-GAAP earnings per share following the closing of such transaction.

J.P. Morgan is acting as Microchip’s exclusive financial advisor. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. is acting as Microchip’s legal advisor.

By Heidi Hoffman, FlexTech Alliance, a SEMI Strategic Alliance Partner

Flexible and printed electronics applications are becoming real. Forecasters are predicting a nearly $30 billion market for internet-connected devices in a combined industry and consumer sector.  Of those, healthcare is the strongest flexible, hybrid electronics (FHE) segment, where performance is of the highest value and reliability is life-and-death critical.  The savings to be realized from these devices and more successful self-treatment will potentially in part make up for the shortages in doctors, nurses and care-givers as people live much longer lives and encounter more health problems than before.

Demand is high for increasing the manufacturability of all of these products — lowering the per unit price and increasing value to the customer– and is the reason the U.S. Government is putting its muscle (and funds) into advanced manufacturing of FHE with NextFlex – America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute.

NextFlex was announced last August, and has since released its first project call asking for proposals on advanced manufacturing methodologies for health monitoring and structural health monitoring.  The products will incorporate a hybrid approach where commercial-off-the-shelf signal processing electronics are integrated onto the flexible substrate that allows for the fabrication of fully functional, mechanically flexible, sensor systems. The intelligence on small, flexible silicon can be incorporated onto flexible substrates for more conformable electronics and eliminate big, bulky, boxy electronics that are far from comfortably worn.

Over 70 organizations submitted pre-proposals to NextFlex with a wide range of projects designed to advance FHE manufacturing know-how.  Much of the work in sight will be presented at the NextFlex/FlexTech/SEMI event ─ 2016FLEX ─ designed to survey recent developments in printed electronics and hear how FHE is developing cost effective solutions for manufacturing advanced products and systems. Specific development programs will be discussed on how and when FHE can and should be used in a variety of commercial and military applications.  The 2016 FLEX technical conference will also feature presentations on the current state of FHE from a manufacturing perspective, including methods for integrating electronics with sensors onto flexible substrates.

Read more about 2016FLEX at www.2016FLEX.com.  The event brings together 600+ of the industry’s technology leaders to present and explore the latest products, processes, materials and equipment in the flexible and printed electronics ecosystem.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders worldwide in November 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96, according to the November EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.  A book-to-bill of 0.96 means that $96 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

SEMI reports that the three-month average of worldwide bookings in November 2015 was $1.24 billion. The bookings figure is 6.7 percent lower than the final October 2015 level of $1.33 billion, and is 1.7 percent higher than the November 2014 order level of $1.22 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in November 2015 was $1.29 billion. The billings figure is 5.2 percent lower than the final October 2015 level of $1.36 billion, and is 8.3 percent higher than the November 2014 billings level of $1.19 billion.

“The semiconductor equipment book-to-bill ratio continued to decelerate in the fourth quarter,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI.  “In light of this recent softening and with the currently strong U.S. dollar, SEMI anticipates that the total equipment market (billings) will be flat to slightly down this year vs. last year as reported in U.S. dollars.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
June 2015

$1,554.9

$1,517.4

0.98
July 2015

$1,556.2

$1,587.3

1.02
August 2015

$1,575.9

$1,670.1

1.06
September 2015

$1,495.0

$1,554.9

1.04
October 2015

$1,358.6

$1,325.6

0.98
November 2015 (prelim)

$1,287.9

$1,237.1

0.96

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), December 2015

ORBOTECH LTD. today announced that SPTS Technologies, an Orbotech company and a supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions for the global semiconductor and related industries, has supplied CEA-Leti, one of Europe’s largest micro- and nanotechnologies research institutes, with its vapor HF etch release systems for 300mm microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) on CMOS development. Installed in 2015 at CEA-Leti’s facility in Grenoble, France, the Monarch300 joins the 200 and 300mm etch, CVD and PVD systems previously supplied by SPTS and which are already operational in CEA-Leti’s MEMS and packaging lines.

“The co-integration of MEMS and CMOS has the potential to create a new family of sensors with improved performance,” said Kevin Crofton, President of SPTS and Corporate Vice President at Orbotech. “The Monarch 300 uses our patented Primaxx vapor HF etch technology and is capable of processing thirteen 300mm wafers simultaneously. NEMS and MEMS are at the core of CEA-Leti’s activities, and we are pleased to be able to supply this highly valued partner with additional capability to support its 300mm MEMS program.”

Marie-Noëlle Semeria, CEO of Leti and President of the Nanoelec RTI board, commented: “MEMS devices co-integrated with CMOS help Leti achieve a long-standing goal of enabling smaller and more powerful sensors and actuators, without exceeding power budgets.”

“After characterizing the performance of a number of competing vapor HF etch methodologies, we selected SPTS’ Primaxx reduced-pressure, dry technology because it extends our existing process capability significantly and offers enhanced compatibility with materials of interest. Leti intends to lead the way in developing MEMS devices on 300mm formats, and to achieve this we are partnering with industry leaders such as SPTS, who have the specialist process knowledge needed to transfer our 300mm MEMS developments to high-volume production,” added Fabrice Geiger, Head of the Silicon Technologies Division of CEA-Leti.

SPTS and CEA-Leti entered into a two-year agreement that will encompass full performance characterization and process optimization of both the 200mm and 300mm vapor HF process modules. This collaboration will further extend the long-standing relationship between these partners who already collaborate on the development and optimization of a range of etch and deposition processes for next-generation 3D high-aspect-ratio through-silicon-via (TSV) solutions.

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.

Worldwide semiconductor fab equipment capital expenditure growth (new and used) for 2015 is expected to be 0.5 percent (total capex of US$35.8 billion), increasing another 2.6 percent (to a total of $36.7 billion) in 2016, according to the latest update of the quarterly SEMI World Fab Forecast report.

SEMI reports that in 2015, Korea outspent all other countries ($9.0 billion) on front-end semiconductor fab equipment, and is expected to drop to second place in 2016 as Taiwan takes over with the largest capex spending at $8.3 billion. In 2015, Americas ranked third in overall regional capex spending with about $5.6 billion and is forecast to increase only slightly to (5.1 percent) in 2016.

fab equipment spending 2016

In 2015, 80 to 90 percent of fab equipment spending went to 300mm fabs, while only 10 percent was for 200mm or smaller.  SEMI’’s recently published “Global 200mm Fab Outlook” provides more detail about past and future 200mm activities.

Examining fab equipment spending by product type, Memory accounts for the largest share in 2015 and 2016.  While 2015’s spending was dominated by DRAM, the SEMI World Fab Forecast reports that 2016 will be dominated by Flash, mainly 3D-related architectures.  Capacity for 3D-NAND will continue to surge. SEMI’’s report tracks 10 major 3D producing facilities, with a capacity expansion of 47 percent in 2015 and 86 percent in 2016.

The Foundry segment is next in terms of the largest share of fab equipment spending in 2015 and 2016.  In general, the foundry segment shows steadier, more predictable spending patterns than other device product segments. Coming in third place in fab equipment spending, MPU had lower spending in 2015.  Logic spending was very strong in 2015, with 90 percent growth, driven by SONY’s CMOS image sensors.

Throughout 2015, SEMI anticipates that there will be 1,167 facilities worldwide investing in semiconductor equipment in 2016, including 56 future facilities across industry segments from Analog, Power, Logic, MPU, Memory, and Foundry to MEMS and LEDs facilities. For further details, please reference to the latest edition of SEMI’s World Fab Forecast report.