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IC Insights recently released its Update to its 2018 IC Market Drivers Report.  The Update includes IC Insights’ latest outlooks on the smartphone, automotive, PC/tablet and Internet of Things (IoT) markets.

The $93.9 billion top-line projection for total IoT systems sales in 2018 remains unchanged from the original MD18 forecast released in November 2017, but dollar volumes in end-use categories were adjusted due to slight changes in expected growth rates and also because $2.5 billion in revenues were reclassified and moved from the large connected cities segment to the broad-ranging Industrial Internet group, which covers most commercial applications, including medical.  IoT systems revenues for industrial Internet applications are now forecast to grow 17.7% in 2018 to $35.9 billion, while the connected cities segment—covering government-funded infrastructure, “smart” roadways and bridges, streetlights, power grids and other utilities, public-safety video security networks, environmental and weather monitors, and other systems—is expected to increase 7.0% this year to $38.8 billion.

The strongest growth in 2018 is still expected to occur in the IoT-connected vehicle category, which is forecast to rise 21.6% this year to $4.5 billion.  IoT sales generated by connected home systems are forecast to grow 16.0% in 2018 to $2.9 billion, while the wearable category (including Internet-enabled smartwatches and medical units) is expected to rise 12.4% to $11.8 billion this year.

The report’s update lowers the projected 2016-2021 sales growth rate in three IoT end-use market categories with wearable systems going from a CAGR of 12.8% to 11.9%; connected homes applications dropping from a CAGR of 16.8% to 14.8%; and the industrial Internet segment being eased back from a CAGR of 18.7% to 17.8% in the five-year period.  The sales growth forecast in connected vehicle systems remains unchanged at a strong CAGR of 22.9% between 2016 and 2021. Automotive Internet applications are accelerating as carmakers race each other to add more automated controls and driver-assist features for greater safety and create vehicles that are aware of their locations, road conditions, and changes in weather as well as communicate with each other.   The five-year growth forecast in the connected cities category has been raised slightly, going from a CAGR of 6.3% to a 6.5% annual rate of increase in the MD18 update (Figure 1).

Figure 1

 

The MEMS pressure sensor market is still driven by automotive applications. Established automotive applications increase MEMS pressure sensors adoption in the integrating systems, and also widespread their geographical adoption especially in China thanks to new automotive regulation.
Consumer is the second pressure sensor business with new consumer applications including wearables, electronic cigarette, drones, which are giving attractive perspectives to the devices’ manufacturers.

MEMS pressure sensor technologies are basically segmented into piezoresistive and capacitive categories. Both two technologies are not hugely different in terms of performance but capacitive is limited to absolute pressure applications. Today piezoresistive is leading the industry in terms of market share, and that will probably continue in the future despite growing adoption of capacitive technology in consumer application.

To complement Yole Développement (Yole) technology & market report, MEMS Pressure Sensor Market and Technologies 2018, System Plus Consulting, part of Yole Group of Companies, has conducted a unique comparative review of pressure sensors chips, modules and TPMS.

Under this new MEMS Pressure Sensor Comparison 2018 report, the reverse engineering & costing company provides insights into the structures, technical choices, designs, processes, supply chain positions and costs of a selection of key MEMS pressure sensors. 7 consumer, 14 industrial and 13 automotive MEMS pressure sensor products from the leading suppliers are so deeply analyzed in System Plus Consulting’s study. Suppliers include All Sensors, Amphenol, APM, Bosch, Denso, First Sensor, Fuji Electric, Freescale/NXP, Honeywell, Infineon, Melexis, Merit SensorSystems, Mitsubishi Electric, Nagano Keiki, Sensata, Sensirion, SMI and STMicroelectronics.

The MEMS pressure sensors comparison from System Plus Consulting points out the diversity of devices and related technologies, which are a characteristic of this industry. All manufacturing process flows and cost reviews are detailed in this report to highlight the technical choices made by each player, according to the market segments.

“In this new analysis, we identified lot of different manufacturing processes”, comments Audrey Lahrach, Cost Engineer at System Plus Consulting. “Indeed MEMS pressure devices’ packaging and pressure range differ widely according to application.”

System Plus Consulting’s report includes multiple comparisons based on physical analyses of 34 MEMS pressure sensor components. It offers buyers and device manufacturers the unique possibility of understanding MEMS pressure sensor technology evolution, and comparing product costs.

Yole releases today its annual MEMS technology & market analysis: Status of the MEMS Industry. This 2018 edition presents the MEMS device market along with key industry changes and trends. The market research and strategy consulting company is following the MEMS industry for a while, tracking more than 200 applications and 300 MEMS companies. This report is a significant combination all of these applications into more than 15 major MEMS devices. This 15th version includes: global macro economical megatrends and their impact on MEMS and sensors business – MEMS and sensors market forecast – manufacturers rankings – analysis by device and application.

“MEMS market will experience a 17.5% growth in value between 2018 and 2023, to reach US$ 31 billion at the end of the period,” reported Dr. Eric Mounier, Principal Analyst, MEMS & Photonics, at Yole Développement (Yole). “The consumer market segment is showing the biggest share, with more than 50% . The good news is that almost all MEMS devices will contribute to this growth.”

 

However, the RF industry is still playing a key role in the MEMS industry development. Excluding RF, the MEMS market will grow at 9% over 2018 – 2023. With RF MEMS devices, CAGR reaches 17.5% during the same period. Driven by the complexities associated with the move to 5G and the higher number of bands it brings, there is an increasing demand for RF filters in 4G/5G, making RF MEMS (mainly BAW filters) the largest-growing MEMS segment.

Amongst the numerous existing MEMS devices, inkjet heads will grow, with the consumer market representing more than 70% of printhead market demand. This market recorded its first signs of recovery in the first half of 2017, a trend confirmed in the second half of the year. This recovery was noticed both in disposable and fixed printheads. Most consumer players show discernable growth: for example, HP has recorded a 2% growth in consumer printer revenue since 2016, and Canon has confirmed a progression in sales for inkjet printers, with strong demand in Asia.

Numerous pressure sensor applications also contribute to market expansion. Indeed, it is interesting to see that, although it is one of the oldest MEMS technologies, pressure sensor keeps growing. In automotive, pressure sensors have the highest number of applications, with many advantages such resistance to toxic exhaust gas and harsh environments, higher accuracy, and the development of intelligent tires that deliver more information on tire status (especially for future autonomous cars). For consumer, mobiles and smartphones still account for 90% of pressure sensor sales, and cost reduction is the priority vs. size reduction because size is already very small. Although there are no big “killer” applications expected in the future, new applications are emerging: smart homes, electronic cigarette, drones, and wearables, to name several. (1)

Then after, are coming the MEMS microphones. Such MEMS components have been in the spotlight for a long time and have expressed one of the highest CAGRs of any MEMS technology over the last five years. “In the range of US$105 million in 2008, the MEMS microphone market was worth US$402 million in 2012 and reached the US$1 billion milestone in 2016”, asserts Guillaume Girardin, Director of the Photonics, Sensing and Display division at Yole. “Currently, almost 4.5 billion units are shipped annually. The main application is mobile phones, which comprise 85% of shipment volumes, in a consumer market that makes up 98% of the total shipment volume. Tablets and PCs/laptops take second and third place, with 5% and 3.2% of total shipment volumes, respectively.” (2)

Step by step, the uncooled IR imager market keeps growing. This is due to a continuous price decrease over the last few years stemming from new technologies such as WLP and silicon lenses, as well as increasing acceptance from customers. As prices continue falling, we believe the market for uncooled IR imaging technology will continue finding new applications in the coming years. More results will be detailed during the 3rd Executive Infrared Imaging Forum, powered by Yole and taking place on September 7 in Shenzhen, China: Full program

All MEMS market segments including inertial, optical MEMS, microfluidics, new micro components and more … are deeply analyzed in Yole’s annual MEMS report, Status of the MEMS Industry. A full description of this technology & market analysis is available in the MEMS & Sensor reports section, on i-micronews.com.

In this new edition, Yole’s team is also analyzing the market positioning of the MEMS device manufacturers and their annual revenue. What is the status of the 2017 Top MEMS manufacturers? 
• In 2017, the biggest surprise was Broadcom becoming the #1 MEMS player. As growth continues for RF, driven by an increasing number of filters/phones and by the front-end module’s increasing value, it is likely that RF players will still dominate the top 2018 rankings. 
• In parallel, most MEMS players showed positive growth in 2016 – 2017. Established players, Robert Bosch, STMicroelectronics and HP were “shaken” by Broadcom’s growth but still performed well. For example, the German leader, Robert Bosch enjoyed growth of approximately US$100 million. Inkjet heads players also had a good overall performance compared to previous years. In addition, the company, SiTime displayed the most impressive growth, exceeding 100%. Other MEMS players posting significant growth are: FormFactor, benefiting from the semiconductor business’s excellent health; and ULIS, with uncooled IR imaging still growing annually into multiple applications including consumer – thermography, firefighting, night vision, smartphones, drones, and military.

In 2016, the top 30 MEMS players totaled more than US$9,238 million. In 2017, that number increased to US$9,881 million.

 

Cadence Design Systems, Coventor, X-FAB and Reutlingen University announced the grand prize winner of the Global MEMS Design Contest 2018 at CDNLive EMEA 2018, the Cadence annual user conference. A team from ESIEE Paris and Sorbonne University received the grand prize award for designing an innovative MEMS-based energy harvesting product using electrostatic transduction. Energy harvesting products can be used in implantable medical devices and other portable electronics that need to operate without an external power source.

The winning team received a $5,000 cash prize along with a complimentary one-year license of CoventorMP™ MEMS design software. In addition, X-FAB will fabricate the team’s winning design using the X-FAB XMB10 MEMS manufacturing process.

The design contest was launched two years ago at the 2016 Design, Automation and Test in Europe (DATE) conference, with the goal of encouraging the development of imaginative concepts in MEMS and mixed-signal design. Contest submissions were received from around the world, and three semifinalist teams were selected in February 2018 to compete for the grand prize. A panel of industry professionals and respected academics selected the grand prize winner based upon the degree of innovation demonstrated in the hardware and methodology, the novelty of the application, adherence to the design flow and the educational value of the submission.

“We are extremely excited to be working with the team from ESIEE and Sorbonne to manufacture their energy harvesting product,” said Volker Herbig, vice president, BU MEMS at X-FAB. “The design rules and process specifications provided in X-FAB and Coventor’s MEMS PDK, along with Cadence technology, should help ensure ‘first-time-right’ manufacturing of the winning team’s design. We look forward to bringing the winning contestant’s innovative thinking to life, using our well-tested open-platform MEMS and CMOS manufacturing technologies.”

“We are very pleased that the contestants used the CoventorMP design environment and XMB10 MEMS PDK to create and model their designs,” said Dr. Stephen Breit, Vice President of Engineering at Coventor, a Lam Research Company. “We’re looking forward to X-FAB’s successful manufacturing of the winning team’s design, which will demonstrate how this new approach can reduce the cost and time of developing new MEMS products.”

“We were impressed with the high-calibre and creativity of the designs submitted,” said Sanjay Lall, Regional Vice President EMEA of Cadence. “The contestants were able to successfully simulate their combined MEMS and mixed-signal designs in the Cadence Virtuoso® Analog Design environment and use the Cadence Spectre® Circuit Simulator for their transient simulations. Choosing one winner was very difficult, as all the finalists put forward excellent projects.”

A team from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, took home the second-place prize, which included a cash award of $2,000. The team from KAUST created a MEMS resonator for oscillator, tunable filter and re-programmable logic device applications.

Third place went to a team from the University of Liege, Microsys, KU Leuven and Zhejiang University. This team created a genetic algorithm for the design of non-linear MEMS sensors with compliant mechanisms and showcased it using a capacitive MEMS accelerometer. They received a cash prize of $1,000.

In addition to the cash prizes, all three semifinalists had the opportunity to present their winning entries to an audience of design professionals at the CDNLive EMEA 2018 conference.

For more details regarding the winning teams and their contest entries, please visit the MEMS Design Contest website.

 

By Emmy Yi, SEMI Taiwan Marketing

Emboldened by advances in self-driving and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) technologies, Taiwan’s microelectronics sector is investing heavily in manufacturing processes and equipment as engines of innovation and growth for autonomous driving, the world’s next market goldmine. But breaking into the self-driving vehicle industry can be an uphill struggle. Semiconductor players bent on securing their piece of the potentially massive market must know how to navigate the automotive industry’s unique ecosystem of suppliers, not to mention its lofty standards for safety and reliability.

To explore opportunities and challenges in the automotive semiconductor market, SEMI recently organized Mobility Tech Talk – a gathering of invited professionals from Strategy Analysis, Yole Développement, Renesas, X-FAB and IHS Markit to examine the evolution of sensors for autonomous cars, advanced driver-assisted system (ADAS) applications, and new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China. Nearly 200 participants exchanged in-depth, forward-looking insights and perspectives as the event successfully reinforced connections among different segments. Here are four key takeaways from the event.

Lidar: The hottest sensing technology for smart automotive

Lidar, mmWave radar, cameras and inertial measurement units (IMUs) are the most important sensing devices for autonomous cars. As sensor and high-speed computing technologies mature, 2018 may mark the beginning for an era of autonomous cars, with 350,000 self-driving vehicles expected to hit the road by 2027. But before a single car takes to the roadways, self-driving technology must become expert at monitoring a vehicle’s environment.

That’s where Lidar, the hottest of all sensing technologies and the key to the holy grail of safe self-driving, comes into the picture. Lidar’s versatility supports multiple essential functions such as mapping, object detection and object movement, but mass production is still impossible due to its high cost. What’s more, technical issues must still be sorted out with solid-state lidar, mechanical lidar and MEMS. Both startups and traditional tier-1 semiconductor players have aggressively invested in related research and development, all hoping to pre-position themselves for the new opportunity.

Smart automotive sets new quality and safety standards

As cars become smarter, so too must silicon. Chips must support vastly more data generated by in-vehicle connectivity, ADAS, electrification, autonomous driving and a multitude of other functions that rely on advanced automotive electronics components. Demand for smarter silicon is prompting Taiwan companies to directly tap the automotive chip market or serve as OEMs for major automakers.

With quality and safety top priorities for automotive applications, in-vehicle semiconductors must meet strict requirements across areas including vehicle control, robustness, liability, cost and quality management to conform to the automotive specifications necessary to securing certifications. Smart silicon must also pass all AEC-Q liability standards promoted by automakers in North America, and score “zero defect” for the ISO/TS 16949 Automotive Quality Management System.

China’s new energy vehicles to fuel semiconductor growth

To promote NEVs and thus reduce fuel consumption by cars with internal combustion engines (ICEs), late last year the Chinese government introduced the Measures for the Parallel Administration of the Average Fuel Consumption and New Energy Vehicle Credits of Passenger Vehicle Enterprises. With China the world’s largest market for NEVs, the policy is forcing automakers in Japan, the U.S. and Europe to accelerate moves towards NEVs that, in turn, will fuel growth in the semiconductor and automotive battery industries. NEVs in China are expected to number 2 million by 2020 before more than doubling to 4.9 million by 2025. Today, most cars still run on ICEs as environmentally friendly motor drives are still under development. In unit shipments, motor drives are expected to exceed ICEs by 2025.

Cross-field collaboration is the key

The rise of smarter, fully autonomous vehicles – a disruptive “Car 2.0” – is unlikely to happen overnight. The global automotive semiconductor market will continue rapid growth, with safety and powertrain applications driving the strongest chip demand. Meanwhile, automakers are focusing more on innovations from startups and non-traditional suppliers, and some have even started developing their own IP and solutions. These paradigm industry shifts are diversifying the automotive supply chain into a cross-domain collaborative network of suppliers, pushing the closed, one-way automotive supply chain into lesser relevance. In the near future, rivals and partners may become indistinguishable as traditional turf wars begin to wane.

As ADAS and autonomous cars evolve, and the era of electric cars nears, automotive semiconductors are rising as the engine of growth for the global semiconductor industry. The automotive semiconductor market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8 percent, reaching US$48.78 billion by 2022.

To help the semiconductor and automotive industries thrive in the era of self-driving vehicles, SEMI has established the Smart Automotive special interest group, a platform for better connecting elite professionals from the microelectronics and automotive sectors. Focusing on trends and innovation in the global autonomous semiconductor industry, the SEMI Smart Automotive SIG promotes industry development and cross-domain collaboration so members can create more business opportunities.

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

Global MEMS market for mobile devices to grow at a CAGR of 10.55% during the period 2017-2021.

The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.

One trend in the market is advances in the manufacturing technology of MEMS pressure sensors. The OEMs in the global MEMS pressure sensors market are continually adding new features to their products, resulting in the launch of innovative products in the market on a regular basis. The accuracy of MEMS pressure sensors is increasing with these advances.

According to the report, one driver in the market is MEMS becoming an integral part of consumer electronic devices. MEMS devices are increasingly being used in consumer electronics and mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and gaming consoles. The mobile devices integrated with MEMS devices can be scrolled, tilted, rotated, and switched from horizontal and vertical displays. Applications such as GPS and gaming, which employ motion sensors, are popular among smartphone and tablet users. For instance, MEMS sensors, when used in GPS applications, help consumers get directions and estimate the distance even in remote locations.

Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is design-related challenges faced by optical MEMS manufacturers. MEMS manufacturers face a lot of difficulties while designing optical MEMS. The optimization of the switching speed of optical MEMS devices needs a clear understanding of the mode shapes and frequencies of oscillations. Optical MEMS devices need to be checked for parameters such as shock dynamics, temperature drift, contact dynamics, and power. Furthermore, the manufacturing of integrated MEMS wafers is very challenging for the manufacturers as the components are manufactured individually and are then assembled on a single chip. This increases the time to market and creates the need for the testing of components at the individual and assembled levels.

Key Vendors

  • Analog Devices
  • Robert Bosch
  • STMicroelectronics

Other Prominent Vendors

  • AAC Technologies
  • Goertek
  • Maxim Integrated
  • Murata Manufacturing
  • Sensata Technologies
  • Silicon Laboratories

By Emir Demircan, Senior Manager Advocacy and Public Policy, SEMI Europe

With its leading research and development hubs, materials and equipment companies and chipmakers, the EU is in a strategic position in the global electronics value chain to support the growth of emerging applications such as autonomous driving, internet of things, artificial intelligence and deep learning. Underpinning the European electronics industry’s competitive muscle requires a new EU-wide strategy aimed at strengthening the value chain and connecting various players. Specializing and investing in key application segments, such as automotive where the EU enjoys a central place at global level, is crucial to help European electronics industry hold its ground.  In parallel, Europe’s production capabilities need bolstered, requiring effective use of Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI).

On research, development and innovation (RD&I), the upcoming Framework Programme 9 (FP9) must provide unprecedented collaboration and funding opportunities to Europe’s electronics players. Concerning small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups, it is vital that EU policies are aligned with global trends and small and young companies benefit from a business-friendly regulatory framework. And as an overarching action, building a younger, bigger and more diverse talent pipeline is paramount for Europe to innovate in the digital economy.

Laith Altimime, President at SEMI Europe, opening speech at ISS Europe 2018

Laith Altimime, President at SEMI Europe, opening speech at ISS Europe 2018

These were the clarion messages that emerged from the Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) Europe organized by SEMI in March, an event that brought together more than 100 industry, research and government representatives for in-depth discussions on strategies and innovations for Europe to compete globally. Here are the key takeaways:

1) Build a strong electronics value chain with a focus on emerging demands

In recent years the EU has focused on beefing up semiconductor production in Europe within the 2020-25 window, starting with the EU 10|100|20 Electronic Strategy of 2013. The strategy aims to secure about 20 percent of global semiconductor manufacturing by 2020 with the help of € 10 billion in public and private funding and € 100 billion investment from the industry. Today, Europe is not nearly on track to achieving this target. Supply-side policies have done little to help grow the EU semiconductor industry. Now is the time to change our thinking.

To nourish the electronics industry in Europe, we need to shift our focus to demand. Semiconductors are a key-enabling technology for autonomous driving, wearables, healthcare, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and all other internet of things (IoT) and big data applications. To become a world leader in the data economy and energize its semiconductor industry, Europe needs to start by better understanding the evolution of data technologies and their requirements from electronics players, then design and implement an EU-wide strategy focused on strengthening collaboration within the value chain.

2) Specialize and invest in Europe’s strengths that are enabled by electronics

Jens Knut Fabrowsky, Executive VP Automotive Electronics at Bosch

Jens Knut Fabrowsky, Executive VP Automotive Electronics at Bosch

Fueled by increasing demand for smaller, faster and more reliable products with greater power, the global electronics industry has developed a sophisticated global value chain. Europe brings to this ecosystem leading equipment and materials businesses, world-class R&D and education organizations, and key microelectronics hubs throughout Europe that are home to multinationals headquartered both in and outside of the EU. Nevertheless, global competition is growing ever fiercer in the sectors where the European microelectronics industry is most competitive: automotive, energy, healthcare and industrial automation. In the future, Europe is likely to be more challenged between the disruptive business models of North America and the manufacturing capacity of East Asia. The European electronics industry must re-evaluate its strengths and set a strategic direction.

Make no mistake: Europe is in a strong position to advance its microelectronics industry. The EU already boasts leading industries that rely on advances made by electronics design and manufacturing. Take the automotive industry – crucial to Europe’s prosperity. Accounting for 4 percent of the EU GDP and providing 12 million jobs in Europe, according to the European Commission, the EU automotive industry exerts an important multiplier effect in the economy. Automotive is essential to both upstream and downstream industries such as electronics – a level of importance not lost on the EU’s GEAR 2030 Group. Since the 1980s, automotive industry components have increasingly migrated from mechanical to electrochemical and electronics.

Today, electronic components represent close to a third of the cost of an automobile, a proportion that will grow to as high as 50 percent by 2030 with the rise of autonomous and connected vehicles. Automotive experts anticipate that over the next five to 10 years, new cars will feature at least some basic automated driving and data exchange capabilities as electronics deepen their penetration into the automotive value chain. Europe’s leadership position and competitive edge in automotive are under threat by competitors across the world as they invest heavily in information and communications technologies (ICT) and electronics for autonomous driving and connected vehicles. Investing in next-generation cars will help the European electronics industry retain its strong competitive position, as will investments in other key application areas such as healthcare, energy and industrial automation where Europe is a global power.

3) Make better use of Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI)

Microelectronics is capital-intensive, with a state-of-the-art fab easily costing billions of euros. That’s why countries around the world are making heavy government-backed investments to build domestic fabs. For instance, China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative, which establishes an Integrated Circuit Fund to support the development of the electronics industry, calls for 150 billion USD in funding to replace imported semiconductors with homegrown devices. In 2014, the European Commission adopted new rules to IPCEI, giving Member States a tool for financing large, strategically important transnational projects. IPCEI should help Member States fill funding gaps to overcome market failures and reinvigorate projects that otherwise would not have taken off. To fully benefit from the IPCEI, the industry requires Member States involved in a specific IPCEI to work in parallel and at the same pace and faster approvals of state-supported manufacturing projects.

4) Use FP9 to strengthen Europe’s RD&I capabilities

Panel Discussion on growing Europe in the global value chain. (L-R) Bryan Rice, GLOBALFOUNDRIES; James Robson, Applied Materials Europe; Joe De Boeck, imec; Leo Clancy, IDA Ireland; James O’Riordan, S3; Colette Maloney, European Commission; Moderator: Andreas Wild

Panel Discussion on growing Europe in the global value chain. (L-R) Bryan Rice, GLOBALFOUNDRIES; James Robson, Applied Materials Europe; Joe De Boeck, imec; Leo Clancy, IDA Ireland; James O’Riordan, S3; Colette Maloney, European Commission; Moderator: Andreas Wild

A top EU priority in recent years has been to enhance Europe’s position as a world leader in the digital economy. Fulfilling this mission requires an innovative electronics industry in Europe. To this end, FP9 should encourage greater collaboration between large and small companies to leverage their complementary strengths – the dynamism, agility and innovation of smaller companies and the ability of larger companies to mature and scale new product ideas on the strength of their extensive private funding instruments and testing and demonstration facilities. Also, future EU-funded research actions should prioritize electronics projects involving players across the value chain, starting with materials and equipment providers and spanning chipmakers, system integrators and players from emerging “smart” verticals such as automotive, medical technology and energy. FP9 should also play the pivotal role of setting clear objectives, increasing investments, and easing rules for funding. These measures would help expand the European electronics ecosystem, accelerate R&D results and defray the rising costs of developing cutting-edge solutions key to the growth of emerging industry verticals.

5) Support high-tech SMEs, entrepreneurship and startups to become globally competitive

European SMEs, the backbone of EU’s manufacturing, are already strong players in the global economy, making outsize contributions to Europe’s innovation. Yet more of Europe’s small and young businesses with limited resources are challenged in Europe’s regulatory labyrinth. Only by improving the European regulatory environment in a way that supports young and small businesses can Europe fulfill its vision of a dynamic electronics ecosystem and digital economy. Access to finance must also be easier, particularly as underinvested startups struggle under a European venture capital apparatus that is smaller and more fragmented than those in North America and Asia. Early-stage funding instruments such as bank loans are essential for young businesses but they often face barriers to finance due to the sophistication of their proposed business models that are difficult to be understood and supported by banks.

One answer is to better familiarize Europe’s financial sector with industrial SMEs and startups so they can co-develop financial tools that support the growth of small and young businesses. Also, the narrow European definition of SME with staff headcount limited to 250 block innovative companies from access to financial tools exclusively provided to SMEs. By contrast, the United States defines SMEs as businesses with as many as 500 employees, placing their EU counterparts at distinct funding disadvantage. EU should ensure that its SME policy is aligned with global trends and industry needs.

6) Create a bigger and more diverse talent pipeline with a hybrid skills set 

Europe’s world-class education and research capabilities help supply the electronics industry with skilled workforce. Yet the blistering pace of technology innovation calls for rapidly evolving skills sets, a trend that has led to worker shortages at electronics companies and left the sector fighting to diversify its workforce and strengthen its talent pipeline. The deepening penetration of electronics in AI, IoT, AR/VR, high-performance computing (HPC), cybersecurity and smart verticals is giving rise to a new set of skills that blend production technologies, software and data analytics. As more technologies converge, the gap between university education and business needs continues to widen.

One solution is work-based learning – allowing students to build job skills in a setting related to their career pathway. Encouraging higher female participation in STEM education programs at the high school and university levels is also a must to overcome the traditionally low number of females entering high technology. To build on its reputation as “a place to work” in the eyes of the international job seekers, Europe also needs a more flexible immigration framework to attract skilled labour to high-tech jobs.

Save the Date: Industry leaders, research and government representatives will meet again next year at the ISS Europe organized by SEMI on 28-30 April 2019 in Milan, Italy. More details regarding the event will be published soon on www.semi.org/eu.

MarketResearch.biz has published a new report titled Global Internet of Things Market by Components (Hardware, Software, and Services), Application, and Region – Global Forecast to2026., which offers a holistic view of the global internet of things market through systematic segmentation that covers every aspect of the target market. The first five-year cumulative revenue (2017-2021) is projected to be US$ 7,760.8 billion, which is expected to increase rather significantly over the latter part of the five-year forecast period.

Internet of things (IoT) is combination of information technology (IT) with operational technology (OP) connected via virtual intelligence and interface used in various sectors to send, control, and receive data with/without human intervention. The technology simplifies human efforts and reduces need for manual interference. IoT is an interconnected system of mechanical systems, computing devices, and digital technology, devices, and human beings.

Rising demand for wireless technology, increasing adoption of smart wearables, and shift to automation by various industries are major factors driving growth of the global internet of things market. Increasing adoption of connected devices, smart wearables, and increasing number of high speed internet providers are further fueling growth of the global internet of things market.

In addition, increasing adoption of big data analytics and cloud based services and solutions in various sectors such as consumer electronics, manufacturing, healthcare, etc. are some other factors fueling growth of the global internet of things market. Increasing deployment of augmented reality and virtual reality in gaming is another factor expected to further propel growth of the global internet of things market.

Rising concerns related to data privacy and data security, leading to data theft and leakage is a major factor expected to hamper growth of the global internet of things market over the forecast period.  In addition, relatively increasing incidence of cyber-attacks and cyber breaches, and lack of standards for deployment IoT devices and products, and as the technology is in nascent stage there are complexities related to integration and interoperability of these technologies. This are some other factors hampering growth of the global internet of things market.

Development of smart cities by various government across the globe is another factor driving growth of the global internet of things market. This trend is expected to further drive growth of the global internet of things market to a significant extent over the forecast period. Moreover, technological advancements in related technologies & towards product development, and rising investment in IoT technology can create lucrative business opportunities for key vendors and major service providers in the global internet of things market over the forecast period.

The comprehensive research report comprises a complete forecast of the global internet of things market based on factors affecting the market and their impact in the foreseeable future. According to the forecast projections, revenue from the global internet of things market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 21.6% during the forecast period.

The research report on the global Internet of things market includes profiles of major companies such as Google Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., IBM, Fujitsu Ltd., HP Inc., Dell Inc., Arm Limited, Intel Corporation, Infineon Technologies AG, and Infosys Limited.

Case Western Reserve University researchers achieve cat-like ‘hearing’ with device 10,000,000,000,000 times smaller than human eardrum

CLEVELAND-Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are developing atomically thin “drumheads” able to receive and transmit signals across a radio frequency range far greater than what we can hear with the human ear.

But the drumhead is tens of trillions times (10 followed by 12 zeros) smaller in volume and 100,000 times thinner than the human eardrum.

The advances will likely contribute to making the next generation of ultralow-power communications and sensory devices smaller and with greater detection and tuning ranges.

“Sensing and communication are key to a connected world,” said Philip Feng, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science and corresponding author on a paper about the work published March 30 in the journal Science Advances. “In recent decades, we have been connected with highly miniaturized devices and systems, and we have been pursuing ever-shrinking sizes for those devices.”

The challenge with miniaturization: Also achieving a broader dynamic range of detection, for small signals, such as sound, vibration, and radio waves.

“In the end, we need transducers that can handle signals without losing or compromising information at both the ‘signal ceiling’ (the highest level of an undistorted signal) and the ‘noise floor’ (the lowest detectable level),” Feng said.

While this work was not geared toward specific devices currently on the market, researchers said, it was focused on measurements, limits and scaling which would be important for essentially all transducers.

Those transducers may be developed over the next decade, but for now, Feng and his team have already demonstrated the capability of their key components-the atomic layer drumheads or resonators-at the smallest scale yet.

The work represents the highest reported dynamic range for vibrating transducers of their type. To date, that range had only been attained by much larger transducers operating at much lower frequencies-like the human eardrum, for example.

“What we’ve done here is to show that some ultimately miniaturized, atomically thin electromechanical drumhead resonators can offer remarkably broad dynamic range, up to ~110dB, at radio frequencies (RF) up to over 120MHz,” Feng said. “These dynamic ranges at RF are comparable to the broad dynamic range of human hearing capability in the audio bands.”

New dynamic standard

Feng said the key to all sensory systems-from naturally occurring sensory functions in animals to sophisticated devices in engineering-is that desired dynamic range.

Dynamic range is the ratio between the signal ceiling over the noise floor and is usually measured in decibels (dB).

Human eardrums normally have dynamic range of about 60 to 100dB in the range of 10Hz to 10kHz, and our hearing quickly decreases outside this frequency range. Other animals, such as the common house cat or beluga whale (see illustration), can have comparable or even wider dynamic ranges in higher frequency bands.

The vibrating nanoscale drumheads developed by Feng and his team are made of atomic layers of semiconductor crystals (single-, bi-, tri-, and four-layer MoS2 flakes, with thickness of 0.7, 1.4, 2.1, and 2.8 nanometers), with diameters only about 1 micron.

They construct them by exfoliating individual atomic layers from the bulk semiconductor crystal and using a combination of nanofabrication and micromanipulation techniques to suspend the atomic layers over micro-cavities pre-defined on a silicon wafer, and then making electrical contacts to the devices.

Further, these atomically thin RF resonators being tested at Case Western Reserve show excellent frequency “tunability,” meaning their tones can be manipulated by stretching the drumhead membranes using electrostatic forces, similar to the sound tuning in much larger musical instruments in an orchestra, Feng said.

The study also reveals that these incredibly small drumheads only need picoWatt (pW, 10^-12 Watt) up to nanoWatt (nW, 10^-9 Watt) level of RF power to sustain their high frequency oscillations.

“Not only having surprisingly large dynamic range with such tiny volume and mass, they are also energy-efficient and very ‘quiet’ devices”, Feng said, “We ‘listen’ to them very carefully and ‘talk’ to them very gently.”

More than Moore (MtM) wafer demand reached almost 45 million 8-inch eq wafers in 2017. The wafer demand is expected to reach more than 66 million 8-inch eq. wafers by 2023, with an almost 10% CAGR between 2017 and 2023. According to Yole Développement (Yole)’s definition, the MtM applications include MEMS & sensors, CIS , and power, along with RF devices.

For the first time, the market research and strategy consulting company Yole announces a global technology & market analysis dedicated to the MtM industry. The Wafer Starts for More Than Moore Applications report is the first part of a valuable series that will be released all year long.

“Yole’s analysts are part of the powerful semiconductor community”, explains Emilie Jolivet, Director, Semiconductor and Software at Yole. “Their daily interactions with leading companies allow them to collect a large amount of relevant data and cross their vision of market segments’ evolution and technology breakthroughs. Wafer Starts for More Than Moore Applications report is the first opportunity to get an overview of the MtM industry based on a 20-year expertise.”

“Numerous megatrend market drivers will contribute to MtM devices’ growth”, confirms Amandine Pizzagalli, Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Manufacturing at Yole. “The megatrends are covering the following market segments: 5G including wireless infrastructure & mobile, mobile with additional functionalities, voice processing, smart automotive, AR/VR and AI.”

What is the status of the MtM wafer demand? Which market drivers will contribute to the growth of MtM devices? Which semiconductor substrate materials and wafer diameter dominate the MtM industry today? What are Yole’s expectations for the next 5 years? The analysts propose you a comprehensive analysis of the MtM wafer demand market.

Driven by the increasing deployment of renewable energy sources , and industrial motor drives, as well as the growing EV/HEVs industry, power devices’ wafer market size will grow at an almost 13% CAGR from 2017 to 2023. In 2017, it accounted for more than 60% of overall MtM wafer starts. According to Yole’s analysts, it will continue dominating the MtM industry.

In parallel, 5G, a hot topic today, will likely be a huge part of the MtM evolution, bringing any service to any user anywhere, but also requiring new antennas, along with filtering functionality. These stringent requirements will lead to increasing demand for RF components like RF filters, PAs , and LNAs to ensure access to tomorrow’s radio network.

Meanwhile, the demand for advanced mobile applications that integrate more functionalities will require aggregating more and more devices such as fingerprint sensors, ambient light sensors, 3D sensing, microphones, and inertial MEMS devices. This will, in the near future, contribute to strong wafer growth in the MEMS & sensors wafer market. Additionally, smart automobiles have reached a new level of complexity requiring the development and integration of new sensors. As such, Yole expects smart automobiles to drive consistent growth of CIS and sensor wafer production over the next five years, fueled by the expanding integration of high-value sensing modules like radar, imaging, and LiDAR. Although automotive will be mainly supported by these growth areas, classical MEMS & sensors such as MEMS pressure sensors and inertial MEMS will still continue growing at a reasonable rate, supporting the standard automotive world.

Yole’s investigations are based on numerous discussions with leading semiconductor players. Applied Materials Inc. is part of them. Amandine Pizzagalli recently had the opportunity to debate with Mike Rosa, Head of Marketing, 200mm Equipment Products Group (EPG) at Applied Materials. During this discussion, both exchanged their vision of the MtM industry and its evolution.

“Today, while many of these technologies exist on 200mm and below wafer sizes much of this business falls within the purview of the 200mm Equipment Product Group”, explains Mike Rosa from Applied Materials. “With the exception of Power Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) and some Discretes, 2.5D Interposer, CMOS Image Sensors and some Photonics devices in the market – all other technologies in the MtM segment are manufactured on 200mm and 150mm wafer sizes today. So, to support our customers on current and future wafer size requirements, we work across the company to share the domain knowledge acquired, for example in the 200mm group on MEMS or Discrete Power, with the 300mm group in order to ensure continuity of technology development onto the larger wafer sizes.”

The full interview is available on i-micronews.com, semiconductor manufacturing news or click Here.

In terms of wafer size, the MtM wafer market is dominated by the 6-inch wafer format, followed by the 8-inch size, which is mostly supported by power device applications. However, though 6-inch will continue increasing in the next few years, its share will decrease compared to 8-inch. “We expect 8-inch wafer diameter to progress significantly and surpass the 6-inch wafer size by 2023”, explains Amandine Pizzagalli from Yole. And she adds: “This transition will be driven first by power and MEMS & sensor applications, where the vast majority will convert their components from 6-inch to 8-inch over the next five years due to increasing volume production.”

Nevertheless, 12-inch will represent the fastest growth from 2017 to 2023, with a 15% CAGR. The 12-inch wafer demand should also grow from 3.3 million units in 2017 to 7.5 million in 2023, mainly fueled by BSI CIS (Including 3D stacked BSI, 3D hybrid BSI).

On the other side, 4-inch wafer diameter is in large demand today for MtM applications driven by RF SAW filter products. However, 4-inch’s adoption will decrease due to the transition from 4-inch to 6-inch for these applications. Yole still sees some MtM products manufactured in wafer sizes below 4-inch, i.e. 3-inch and 2-inch wafer formats. However, these represent a very small volume, and the analysts expect such sizes to die out, aside from small volumes still used for producing MEMS, power, and RF SAW devices.

The Wafer Starts for More Than Moore Applications report is the first research performed by Yole’s analysts, gathering all the wafer starts markets for MtM applications. Yole’s market forecast methodology is based on both top bottom and a bottom up approach with dozens of interviews of companies across the entire semiconductor value chain. With this report, the company proposes an assessment of the wafers market for MEMS & Sensors, CIS, power and RF devices. This analysis reveals the market metrics at wafer market level for the whole MtM industry from 2017-2023. It evaluates market developments in terms of market size, substrate sizes/formats, and by MtM application.

Yole’s report also discloses the competitive landscape with key players in technology development and manufacturing. A detailed analysis of the key market drivers that will shape the MtM market in the future are also part of this technology & market report.