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The Micron Foundation (Nasdaq:MU) announced a $1 million grant for universities and nonprofit organizations to conduct research into how artificial intelligence (AI) can improve lives while ensuring safety, security and privacy. The grant was announced at the inaugural Micron Insight 2018 conference where the technology industry’s top minds gathered in San Francisco to discuss the future of AI, machine learning and data science, and how memory technology is essential in bringing intelligence to life.

“Artificial intelligence is one of the frontiers where science and engineering education can best be applied,” said Micron Foundation Executive Director Dee Mooney. “We want to accelerate advances in AI by investing in education and making sure that pioneers of this technology, reflect the diversity and richness of the world we live in and build a future where AI benefits everyone.”

Micron awarded a total of $500,000 to three initial recipients at Micron Insight 2018.

  • AI4All, a nonprofit organization, works to increase diversity and inclusion in AI education, research, development and policy. AI4All supports the next generation of diverse AI talent through its AI Summer Camp. Open to 9th-11th grade students, the camp gives special consideration to young women, underrepresented groups and families of lower socioeconomic status.
  • Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) Lab supports researchers and graduate students developing fundamental advances in computer vision, machine learning, natural-language processing, planning and robotics. BAIR is based at UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering.
  • In a related announcement, the Micron Foundation launched a $1 million grant for universities and non-profit organizations to conduct research on AI. For more details, visit http://bit.ly/MicronFoundation.

The $1 million fund is available to select research universities focused on the future implications of AI in life, healthcare and business, with a portion specifically allocated to support women and underrepresented groups. The Micron Foundation supports researchers tackling some of AI’s greatest challenges – from building highly reliable software and hardware programs to finding solutions that address the business and consumer impacts of AI.

In August 2018, the Micron Foundation announced a $1 million fund for Virginia colleges and universities to advance STEM and STEM-related diversity programs in connection with Micron’s expansion of its memory production facilities in Manassas, Virginia.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) today announced that it has received four TSMC Partner of the Year awards at this year’s TSMC Open Innovation Platform® (OIP) Ecosystem Forum. Cadence was presented with awards for the joint development of the 5nm design infrastructure, the cloud-based TSMC OIP Virtual Design Environment (VDE), the Wafer-on-Wafer (WoW) design solution, and its Tensilica® DSP IP.

These awards were given to Cadence based on the following work that has been delivered:

  • 5nm design infrastructure: Cadence participated in an early, in-depth collaboration with TSMC on the design infrastructure development of this latest advanced-node technology for next-generation system-on-chip (SoC) designs.
  • Cloud-based TSMC OIP VDE: Cadence was one of the first TSMC OIP Cloud Alliance partners and has collaborated with TSMC and mutual customers on successful tapeouts.
  • WoW design solution: Cadence collaborated with TSMC on the development of a design solution and delivered a reference flow that includes implementation, electrical analysis and physical verification
  • DSP IP: Cadence collaborated with TSMC on the delivery of Cadence® Tensilica DSP IP, the most widely-used DSP IP in the TSMC portfolio, which mutual customers use to complete successful projects.

“Through our ongoing collaboration with TSMC, we’ve jointly worked to stay in front of industry trends so that we can enable our mutual customers to consistently deliver successful designs through use of the latest technologies,” said Dr. Chin-Chi Teng, senior vice president and general manager of the Digital & Signoff Group at Cadence. “These awards from TSMC exemplify our ability to drive the industry forward with our innovations with 5nm, cloud, WoW, and DSP IP.”

“Our ongoing, in-depth collaboration with Cadence provides our customers with confidence that they can use the latest technologies and tools to deliver new innovations in competitive market windows,” said Suk Lee, senior director of the Design Infrastructure Marketing Division at TSMC. “We look forward to continuing to partner together on creative new solutions that our mutual customers can use to establish leadership in their respective markets.”

GOWIN Semiconductor today announced that its GW1NS product family was named a 2018 Arm TechCon Innovation Award finalist for design innovation of the year.

GOWIN’s GW1NS-2C is the first of its microprocessor-based SoC family.  The architecture of the product is unique in that it uses a shared resource technology.  Typically, a microprocessor is designed with the core of the processor connected to peripherals via a bus architecture.  The peripherals could include JTAG, SRAM memory, I/O interfaces, PLL’s, oscillators, etc.  The GW1NS-2C shares its peripheral resources with a barebone Arm Cortex M3 to leverage the complete system for size and power.  In addition, because the peripheral functionality is located inside the FPGA portion of the SoC, it is possible to change the peripheral functionality by reprogramming the FPGA fabric.  This allows for complete flexibility in a SoC environment that no other microprocessor product can offer today.

The Arm TechCon Innovation Awards program celebrates leading-edge Arm-based technologies that have spawned new applications and sparked innovation in systems design. Arm TechCon, the world’s leading conference and exhibition showcasing Arm-based technologies, will be held Oct. 16-18 at the San Jose Convention Center.

A tour of finalists’ booths and their technologies will be conducted at Arm TechCon Wednesday Oct. 17 at 3:30 p.m. Winners will then be announced at 5 p.m. in the expo theater. For more information and to register for the event, please visit armtechcon.com.

“We are honored to receive this recognition from Arm.  As a partner, they have been very supportive of our approach to innovation,” said Scott Casper, Director of Sales, GOWIN Semiconductor.  “The GW1NS family demonstrates incredible functionality and flexibility needed for the success of today’s system designs.  We are happy to be accelerating growth in this field.”

Semiconductors play increasingly important control roles in automotive, industrial and safety critical applications. Quality and reliability are therefore of vital importance and so Presto Engineering has completed certification to the ISO 9001:2015 quality standard at its facility in Caen, France, which is Europe’s largest independent semiconductor test facility.

“We have an extensive and comprehensive range of semiconductor test equipment,” said Dr Alban Colder, Presto’s Site Director at Caen. “This includes testing at every stage from wafer, through die, to final packed device. As part of the ISO 9001: 2015 quality standard, we have a comprehensive range of equipment for non-destructive analysis such as X-Ray to check packaging and bondings, and ultrasound to see inside a device to check for delamination, voids and cracked silicon. There is also equipment to check for failure localization by photoemission or thermal laser stimulation, and deep physical analysis, i.e. strip a device down layer by layer to see exactly where it is failing and why. Other advanced equipment such as an atomic force microscope or a scanning electron microscope are used to reveal the precise details of the structure of a chip down to a few nanometers.”

The key part of a quality system in semiconductors industry, is traceability. Detailed record keeping traces every wafer, every operation, every die and every test. Thus, in the event that there is a faulty chip in the field, it can be traced back to try and determine the cause and to see if any other chips have been affected that might necessitate a recall. In the case of an automotive recall, this could be very expensive so it is vital to be able to narrow the problem down to only the affected chips.

Martin Kingdon, Presto’s VP of Sales, added, “We have assembled a suite of state-of-the-art equipment as part of our commitment of quality and this new standard. We provide customers with a comprehensive service once they provide us with a design that covers every stage of the chip manufacturing and testing process right through to final product. As part of our quality assurance to customers, we rigorously test at every stage. Such a comprehensive test and failure analysis capability all together under one roof is very rare; usually it requires a number of different test houses which means that issues could be missed. Having all the skills and equipment together in one place means that we can keep searching until we find the cause of a problem so that it can be resolved and quality maintained.”

Technion, Israel’s technological institute, announced this week that Intel is collaborating with the institute on its new artificial intelligence (AI) research center. The announcement was made at the center’s inauguration attended by Dr. Michael Mayberry, Intel’s chief technology officer, and Dr. Naveen Rao, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the Artificial Intelligence Products Group.

“AI is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and Intel has been working closely with a range of industry leaders to deploy AI capabilities and create new experiences. Our collaboration with Technion not only reinforces Intel Israel’s AI operations, but we are also seeing advancements to the field of AI from the joint research that is under way and in the pipeline,” said Naveen Rao, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of Artificial Intelligence Products Group

The center features Technion’s computer science, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and management departments, among others, all collaborating to drive a closer relationship between academia and industry in the race to AI. Intel, which invested undisclosed funds in the center, will represent the industry in leading AI-dedicated computing research.

Intel is committed to accelerating the promise of AI across many industries and driving the next wave of computing. Research exploring novel architectural and algorithmic approaches is a critical component of Intel’s overall AI program. The company is working with customers across verticals – including healthcare, autonomous driving, sports/entertainment, government, enterprise, retail and more – to implement AI solutions and demonstrate real value. Along with Technion, Intel is also involved in AI research with other universities and organizations worldwide.

Intel and Technion have enjoyed a strong relationship through the years, as generations of Technion graduates have joined Intel’s development center in Haifa, Israel, as engineers. Intel has also previously collaborated with Technion on AI as part of the Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence program.

“MicroLED displays could potentially match or exceed OLED performance in all critical attributes,” said Dr. Eric Virey, Senior Technology & Market Analyst at Yole Développement (Yole).It includes brightness, contrast, color gamut, refresh rate, viewing angle, ruggedness and durability, resolution and pixel density, lifetime, power consumption etc.

 

Yole and its partner Knowmade, both part of Yole Group of Companies release two microLEDs reports to reveal the status of the technology and give a deep understanding of the industry, the companies involved and the related supply chain. MicroLED Displays 2018 and MicroLED Displays: Intellectual Property Landscape are now available. A detailed description is available on i-micronews.com, Displays section.

This year again, Yole Group of Companies pursued its investigation to understand the technical issues and business challenges and confirms today its market positioning with a new online event: MicroLED Displays: Hype and Reality, Hopes and Challenges – Webcast on October 11, 2018 at 5 PM CEST – 8 AM PDT – Powered by Yole Développement. Make sure to get a clear vision of this emerging industry and REGISTER today.

Sony’s demonstration of a full HD 55” microLED TV at CES 2012, more than six years ago, was the first exposure for microLED displays and generated a lot of excitement. Since Apple acquired Luxvue in 2014, many leading companies such as Facebook, Google, Samsung, LG or Intel have entered the game via sizable internal developments, acquisitions, like those of mLED and eLux, or investments in startups such as glō or Aledia.

Analyzing Apple’s microLED patent activity shows that the company essentially halted its filing around 2015. This is a surprising finding in the light of the fact that the consumer electronics giant has maintained a large project team and consistently spent hundreds of millions of dollars annually on microLED development. A closer analysis however brought up the name of a possible strawman entity used by Apple to continue filing patents and shows that the company is still advancing key aspects of microLED technologies.

“Despite a later start compared to pioneers such as Sony or Sharp, Apple’s portfolio is one of the most complete, comprehensively covering all critical technologies pertinent to microLEDs,” explains Dr Virey from Yole. “The company is the most advanced and still one of the best positioned to bring high volume microLED products to the market. However, it also faces unique challenges”, he adds.
Apple can’t afford to tarnish its brand and introduce a product featuring such a highly differentiating technology that would be anything but flawless. Moreover, it requires high volumes, which makes setting up the supply chain more challenging than for any other company.

In addition, it has no prior experience in display manufacturing and due to its need for secrecy, has to develop pretty much everything internally, duplicating technologies and infrastructures that others have the option to outsource…

The smartphones sector is a good example to illustrate the leadership of Apple. Indeed smartwatch volumes could reach 100 million units by 2027 and Apple remains the single largest smartwatch maker, explains Yole’s analysts in microLED reports. Yole’s scenario assumes that Apple would start using microLEDs in 2021 in a new flagship model, and, as is common with the brand, will propagate the technology in a staggered fashion over the next three years as legacy products are discontinued… MicroLED Displays report invites you to discover the MicroLED world with a section dedicated to the patent landscape. With this focus, Yole Group of Companies offers you a unique opportunity to get a clear view of the competitive landscape, understand the current challenges and identify business opportunities.

MicroLED webcast will average both Yole’s reports, MicroLED Displays and MicroLED Displays: Intellectual Property Landscape report in order to provide a global overview and status of the microLED industry. Powered by Yole, this event taking place on October 11, will provide an update on the status of the microLED industry. Dr. Eric Virey will detail the activity of the major players as well as remaining technology and supply chain bottlenecks. In addition, cost aspects will also be discussed as well as an assessment of when products can realistically be expected to hit the market. Yole Group of Companies is pleased to welcome during this webcast, on October 11

On October 1, 2018 INFICON Inc. (SWX:IFCN), a supplier of vacuum instrumentation and process control software to the semiconductor manufacturing industry acquired all assets of Final Phase Systems (FPS) of Austin, Texas, USA.

Founded in 2009 by Industrial Engineers from AMD/Spansion’s Fab25, FPS has grown to a team of 22 employees who will now join the INFICON organization. Together, INFICON and FPS have developed the most comprehensive Industrial Engineering Software Suite available in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. With many successful deployments in the USA and across the globe, they have a proven track record of improving capital productivity and labor efficiency. By utilizing its software and techniques, their customers have been able to realize greater than 10% improvement in overall fab efficiency. In collaboration with the international SEMI organization, Final Phase Systems has established itself as a key player in the Smart Manufacturing initiative and serves as Co-chair of SEMI’s Smart Manufacturing Americas Chapter.

“The acquisition of FPS is the latest step in INFICON’s vision to provide the semiconductor and display manufacturing industries with the most advanced factory and process control tools available,” said Oliver Wyrsch, President, INFICON Inc. “The combined product offering will put INFICON in a unique position to provide the industry’s only end-to-end software solution for the fully connected Smart fab of the future.”

“2017 was an excellent year for CIS , with growth observed in all segments except computing,” commented Pierre Cambou, Principal Analyst, Technology & Market, Imaging at Yole Développement (Yole). Driven by new applications, the industry’s future remains on strong footing.

Yole announces its annual technology & market analysis focused on the CIS industry, from 2017 to 2023, titled: Status of the CMOS Image Sensor Industry. In 2017 the CIS market reached US$13.9 billion. The market research & strategy consulting company forecasts a 9.4% CAGR between 2017 and 2023, driven mainly by smartphones integrating additional cameras to support functionalities like optical zoom, biometry, and 3D interactions.

Yole proposes this year again a comprehensive technology & market analysis of the CMOS Image Industry. In addition to a clear understanding of the CIS ecosystem, analysts detail in this new edition, 2017-2023 forecasts, a relevant description of the M&A activities, an impressive overview of the dual and 3D camera trends for mobile. Mobile and consumer applications are also well detailed in this 2018 edition, with a deep added-value section focused on technology evolution.
In collaboration with Jean-Luc Jaffard, formerly at STMicroelectronics and part of Red Belt Conseil, Pierre Cambou pursued his investigation all year long and reveals today the status of the CIS industry.

2017 saw aggregated CIS industry revenue of US$13.9 billion. And 5 years later, the consulting company Yole announces more than US$ 23 billion. The YoY growth hit a peak at 20% due to the exceptional increase in image sensor value, across almost all markets, but primarily in the mobile sector. “CIS keeps its momentum”,confirms Pierre Cambou from Yole.

Revenue is dominated by mobile, consumer, and computing, which represent 85% of total 2017 CIS revenue. Mobile alone represents 69%. Security is the second-largest segment, behind automotive.

The CIS ecosystem is currently dominated by the three Asian heavyweights: Sony, Samsung, and Omnivision. Europe made a noticeable comeback. Meanwhile, the US maintains a presence in the high-end sector.

The market has benefited from the operational recovery of leading CIS player Sony, which captured 42% market share. “…Apple iPhone has had a tremendous effect on the semiconductor industry, and on imaging in particular. It offered an opportunity for its main supplier, Sony, to reach new highs in the CIS process, building on its early advances in high-end digital photography…”, explains Pierre Cambou in its article: Image sensors have hugely benefited from Apple’s avant-garde strategy posted on i-micronews.com.

The CIS industry is able to grow at the speed of the global semiconductor industry, which also had a record year, mainly due to DRAM revenue growth. CIS have become a key segment of the broader semiconductor industry, featuring in the strategy of most key players, and particularly the newly-crowned industry leader Samsung. Mobile, security and automotive markets are all in the middle of booming expansion, mostly benefiting ON Semiconductor and Omnivision.

These markets are boosting most players that are able to keep up with technology and capacity development through capital expenditure. The opportunities are all across the board, with new players able to climb the rankings, such as STMicroelectronics and Smartsense. Technology advancement and the switch from imaging to sensing is fostering innovation at multiple levels: pixel, chip, wafer, all the way to the system.

CIS sensors are also at the forefront of 3D semiconductor approaches. They are a main driver in the development of artificial intelligence. Yole’s analysts foresee new techniques and new applications all ready to keep up the market growth momentum… A detailed description of this report is available on i-micronews.com, imaging reports section.

MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, today announced four Technology Showcase finalists for the 14th annual MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress (MSEC), October 28-30, 2018, at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif. The MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress is the premier event for industry executives to gain insights on emerging MEMS and sensors opportunities and network with partners, customers and competitors. An early bird registration discount is available until Oct. 8.

The Technology Showcase highlights the latest applications enabled by MEMS and sensors as finalists demonstrate their innovations and vie for attendee votes. The finalists were selected by a committee of industry experts.

Technology Showcase Finalists

N5 Sensors’ Micro-Scale Gas Sensors on a Chip enable low-power, high-reliability microscale gas and chemical sensing technologies in small-footprint devices. The chip promises to broaden the implementation of gas and chemical sensing for industrial detection, first response, smart cities, demand-controlled ventilation, wearables and other consumer electronics. N5 Sensors Logo
NXP Semiconductor’s Asset Tracking Technology uses motion sensors, GPS and edge computing for precision tracking of a package’s journey from origin to delivery point. The technology enables logistics companies to quickly pinpoint and resolve transportation issues. See video NXP Logo
Scorched Ice Inc.’s Smart Skates leverage STMicroelectronics’ inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors to facilitate real-time diagnostics of a hockey player’s skating technique, condition and performance. The device provides actionable insights to players, coaches, trainers and scouts. SI Logo
SportFitz’s Concussion-Monitoring Device combines real-time measurements of location, position, direction and force of impact as well as big data analytics and embedded protocols to stream data that can help assess potentially concussive brain impacts. The one-inch wearable device is hypoallergenic, waterproof, recyclable, reusable and rechargeable. See video. SportsFitz Logo

 

SMART Global Holdings, Inc. (“SMART” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SGH), parent company of SMART Modular Technologies, Inc., today announced the appointment of Bryan Ingram, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Wireless Semiconductor Division of Broadcom Inc., to its board of directors and its Compensation Committee, effective October 2, 2018.

“Bryan brings significant operating skills and an extensive network of relationships with industry leaders in all parts of the electronics and semiconductor supply chain, including the largest handset manufacturers in the world,” said Ajay Shah, Chairman of the Board, President & CEO of SMART. “Bryan is responsible for one of the largest divisions within Broadcom, and his long history of executive leadership in the global semiconductor industry will be of great benefit to SMART as we continue to execute our expansion strategy.”

Mr. Ingram currently leads the Wireless Semiconductor Division at Broadcom Inc. and has served in various executive roles for over 13 years, at Broadcom Inc. and its predecessor Avago Technologies Limited, which acquired Broadcom Corp. in 2015. Mr. Ingram also held executive positions at the predecessor to Avago within Agilent Technologies. From 1986 to 1999 Mr. Ingram held various management positions at Hewlett Packard and Westinghouse. Mr. Ingram holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

With the appointment of Mr. Ingram, the board of SMART Global Holdings now has four independent directors and a total of nine members.