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SEMI-MSIG’s MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress (MSEC) held November 1-2 in San Jose, CA, challenged industry executives to see beyond traditional dividing lines of human-machine interaction. MEMS and sensors were hailed as the enablers for pervasive, connected and contextually aware computing and seen as drivers for an explosion of new applications and possibilities. Securing autonomous vehicles from hackers and improving crop yields to feed the 10 billion people we will have on the planet by 2050 were two popular examples of new applications.

Keynote Speaker Intel’'s Lama Nachman discussed contextually aware systems.

Keynote Speaker Intel’’s Lama Nachman discussed contextually aware systems.

Lama Nachman, Intel fellow and director of the company’s Anticipatory Computing Lab, explored contextually aware systems during her keynote. Lachman said that technology needs to be more proactive, anticipating our needs, e.g., Google Now. One challenge lies in using sensors to measure things for which they were not designed, such as emotions and physiology. Lachman exhorted MSEC attendees to develop more configurable systems and sensors so that they can be used for other applications and possibly drive the next “killer app.”

Lars Reger, CTO, NXP Automotive Business Unit, described the essential and extensive use of MEMS and sensors in automotive connectivity, autonomy, electrification, and safe and secure mobility during his keynote. Reger noted that “motion sensors are the key to increasing security in keyless entry systems, reducing hacking.” He concluded that “entering a new era of automated driving requires functional safety and security,” telling MSEC attendees, “we need the best sensors to achieve a failure-free model in autonomous vehicles.”

Alissa Fitzgerald, founder and managing member, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, noted that the pipeline for emerging technologies generally begins with university labs turning out proof-of-concept devices. “The next $1B product is lurking in a lab somewhere,” said Fitzgerald. She also encouraged attendees to look for key trends in emerging technologies, citing “ultra-low power, a migration from capacitive MEMS to piezoelectric sensors and actuators, the stagnation of silicon sensors, and a movement toward paper and plastic sensors.” She drew her results from a review of more than 500 papers from academic conferences, filtered for commercial viability.

Henri Hekman, CEO and president of SoilCares BV, explained how his company is using MEMS near infrared (NIR) devices to scan soil samples. “To feed a surging global population, we cannot increase arable land so we must increase agricultural productivity. The place to start is in the soil.” Hekman said that SoilCares is conducting trials in Africa and North America as it launches in 20 countries in 2017.

SEMI-MSIG Executive Director Frank Shemansky expanded upon themes from MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress. “From device-makers to commercial application developers, there was a collective buzz around ubiquitous intelligent sensing,” said Shemansky. “Speakers explored the critical role of sensing in more natural and immersive user interfaces, including voice, in interpreting emotion, in anticipating needs, in managing medication, and in providing safer, more secure ways to build autonomous vehicles that will actually save human lives. As we look toward 2018 and beyond, the MEMS and sensors industry will continue to work closely with the consumers of our products, as we help them to further advance human-machine interaction in meaningful ways.”

Technology Showcase Winner and Hall of Fame Recognitions
A highly anticipated event at the Executive Congress, the Technology Showcase, was a forum where four finalists competed for attendees’ votes and the title of “winner.” The 2017 Technology Showcase winner, Menlo Digital-Micro-Switch Technology by Menlo Micro, demonstrates fundamental materials’ advancements that improve the size, speed, power handling and reliability of MEMS switches. Menlo Micro’s MEMS-based switching element is the width of a human hair, enabling RF switching 1,000 times faster and lasts 1,000 times longer than traditional mechanical switches.

SEMI-MSIG also inducted two new members into the SEMI-MSIG Hall of Fame: Raji Baskaran, pathfinding lead, Hardware and Software Co-optimization, Intel Corporation: Saffron Technology Group, and Kevin Crofton, executive vice president and COO, SPTS Technologies, an Orbotech Company.

 

NXP Semiconductors, Chongqing Economic and Information Technology Commission, and Chongqing Laingian New Area Administrative Committee have signed an agreement to establish the NXP China Applications Development Center for Auto Electronics. The center will help China’s domestic carmakers quickly gain the needed knowledge and expertise to build Electronic Control Units (ECUs) using NXP solutions.

Chongqing, a mega city with more than 30 million inhabitants located in the eastern part of China, plays a vital role in China’s modern automobile industry. As the country’s largest automobile production base with 14 vehicle manufacturers, Chongqing has identified automotive growth as a key strategic pillar and seeks to build its strength and competitive edge by expanding its semiconductor capabilities.

NXP has partnered with the Chongqing Economic and Information Technology Commission and the Chongqing Laingian New Area Administrative Committee to drive more automotive industry growth with the new applications development center. The facility, staffed with NXP automotive experts, provides a tight link to local automotive teams that will bring their products, reference designs and application support needs for consultation.

The agreement outlines a 15-year minimum window of commitment, the hiring of 100 team members and massive joint investment to create rich conditions for growth. It also aims to increase tier one electronic capability and build and support infrastructure with an initial focus on microcontrollers.

About Chongqing and the Application Center

  • Chongqing plays a vital role in China’s modern automobile industry. It has the country’s largest automobile production base with 14 vehicle manufacturers.
  • It is the first R&D organization in Chongqing to focus on automotive semiconductors and four major applications in the automotive industry (traditional vehicle body, new energy, autonomous driving and intelligent networks).
  • Chongqing is developing an automotive electronics industry worth hundreds of billions of RMB and expanding the influence of the city’s innovation in the Chinese and global automotive market.

“It is the right time for NXP to establish the China Auto Electronics Application Development Center in Chongqing,” said Wu Cunrong, mayor of Chongqing. “Combining automotive and electronic information, the automotive electronics industry has a vast space for development. Chongqing is currently targeting global market demand and focusing on automotive electronics research and development in order to promote industrial transformation and upgrading. We hope that the Application Center will enhance the capability of Chongqing in auto electronics R&D, improve the industrial ecosystem and enhance the vitality of industrial development. I hope that the project can start construction as soon as possible, so that we can benefit from its research and development capacity.”

Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) today announced the appointment of two new members to the Company’s Board of Directors, increasing its total size to eleven. Mary Louise (ML) Krakauer, an independent director who will also serve on the Board’s Compensation Committee, joins the Board alongside Victor Peng, the Company’s chief operating officer. Both Ms. Krakauer and Mr. Peng bring decades of executive management experience and industry expertise to Xilinx.

“We are delighted to have ML and Victor join the Board of Directors,” said Dennis Segers, chairman of the board of Xilinx. “ML comes to us through an extensive search, and she brings deep executive and operational experience to the Board. Her expertise in human capital management, in particular, will enhance the effectiveness of our Compensation Committee. The Board also continues to focus on our previously announced CEO succession plan. Victor’s appointment reflects the continued expansion of his role and responsibilities at Xilinx, and we look forward to adding to our Board his unique combination of Company knowledge, technical expertise and leadership skills that have made him an outstanding executive.”

Ms. Krakauer retired as the executive vice president, chief information officer of Dell Corporation in January 2017, where she was responsible for global IT, including all operations and integration activity. She also served as the executive vice president, chief information officer of EMC Corporation in 2016. Prior to that she served as executive vice president, Business Development, Global Enterprise Services for EMC in 2015 and as executive vice president, Global Human Resources for EMC from 2012 to 2015, where she was responsible for executive, leadership, and employee development, compensation and benefits, staffing, and all of the people-related aspects of acquisition integration.  Previously, she held leadership roles at Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Compaq Computer Corporation, and Digital Equipment Corporation. Ms. Krakauer serves on the board of Mercury Systems, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed commercial provider of secure sensor and safety critical mission processing subsystems.

Mr. Peng joined Xilinx in 2008, and became the Company’s chief operating officer in April of this year, with responsibility for global sales, global operations and quality, product development, and product and vertical marketing. Prior to that, he served as the Company’s executive vice president and general manager of Products, a position he held since July 2014. Mr. Peng has over 30 years of experience defining and bringing to market leadership FPGAs, All Programmable SoCs, GPUs, high performance microprocessors and chip sets, and microprocessor IP products. Mr. Peng previously held executive roles at AMD, ATI, and MIPS Technologies.

Display shipments for notebook PCs are forecast to increase by 5 percent in 2017 to 177 million units compared to the previous year, while notebook PC unit shipments are expected to remain flat during the same period. Being worried about slower shipments next year due to higher inventory, panel makers are focusing on expanding high-end displays, such as in-plane switching (IPS) technology and low-power consuming displays.

According to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, IPS displays with wide-view angle and high color accuracy are expected to make up 37 percent of total notebook PC panel shipments in 2017, up from 27 percent in 2016. The share will continue to grow in 2018 to 42 percent.

“Production of IPS panels could bring economic benefits to panel makers, such as higher price and larger capacity consumption,” said Jason Hsu, senior principal analyst at IHS Markit.

The price of a typical IPS panel is about 30 percent higher than a conventional twisted nematic (TN) panel of the same size, while a premium IPS panel can cost double or higher. Moreover, producing one IPS panel will consume capacity more than 20 percent compared to producing a TN panel since it requires more photo masks, resulting in a longer take-time in the production line.

Lenovo, the largest IPS panel buyer, is estimated to purchase more than 12 million units of IPS panels in 2017. Dell has been focusing on the mid- and hi-end segments, applying more IPS panels to its products than its competitors. HP is also expanding IPS panel adoption, contributing to the IPS panel shipment growth in 2018.

Another feature display makers are focusing on is displays that consume lower power. As slim notebook PCs become the design trend, low-power consumption display is a critical need as the battery capacity is limited due to very compact chassis. With the advanced substrate technology such as oxide and low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS), the power consumption of LCD panel can be managed at a lower level.

According to IHS Markit, adoption of oxide and LTPS panels in the notebook PC market is expected to grow from 3 percent in 2016 to 10 percent in 2017 and to 13 percent in 2018. In the past, these advanced panel technologies were mostly used for premium panels like ultra-high definition (UHD)/wide quad HD (WQHD) resolution displays, but the application will expand to full HD resolution displays, driving the market demand.

In 2018, panel suppliers may have more pressure to maintain panel prices as panel oversupply is expected to continue. “But if the display evolution continues, raising the average selling price, panel makers will not necessarily struggle,” Hsu said.

The average selling price of a notebook PC panel is expected to increase to $46.68 in 2017 and to $47.96 in 2018, from $42.15 in 2016. “Although shipments in unit might decline next year, there are still opportunities for panel makers to increase revenues.”

 

notebook display forecast

 

notebook display forecast 2

TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry, announced today a partnership with Changchun Changguang Yuanchen Microelectronics Technology Inc. (YCM), a BSI process manufacturer for backside illumination (BSI) manufacturing in Changchun, China to provide the BSI process segment for CMOS image sensor (CIS) wafers manufactured by TowerJazz. This partnership will allow TowerJazz to serve its worldwide customers with advanced BSI technology in mass production, at competitive prices, starting in the middle of 2018.

The new BSI technology will be utilized for high-end photography, automotive, and AR/VR, among other growing CIS markets. This is the first time BSI will be offered by a foundry to the high-end photography market, including large formats requiring stitching.

BSI and stacked wafers are the state of the art CIS technology for higher pixel sensitivity, allowing a boost in the number of photons captured by the pixels for better picture quality in low light conditions, as well as providing higher dynamic range and higher frame rates (faster sensors).

TowerJazz and its leading customers view BSI technology as playing an important future role in the growing high-end CIS market, including DSLR high end photography, cinematography cameras, and automotive, among others. TowerJazz’s BSI offering is unique in the sense that it is focused on high-end large format, including stitched sensors. It also provides the roadmap for wafer stacking, including pixel level wafer stacking.

“TowerJazz is recognized worldwide as the leader of CMOS image sensor manufacturing platforms for high-end applications,” said Dabing Li, YCM Chief Executive Officer. “The collaboration with TowerJazz will certainly allow us to bring unique and high value technology to the market quickly and in high volume, especially to the growing Chinese market where TowerJazz already plays a significant role.”

“I am thrilled with the capabilities we developed with YCM, supporting our continued leadership in many different high-end growing markets. In addition, the excellent collaboration with YCM enables us further penetration into this very fast growing high-end CMOS camera market in China,” said Dr. Avi Strum, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CMOS Image Sensor Business Unit.  “I have very high confidence in the technical capabilities of this partnership.”

According to Yole Développement (Yole), the MEMS packaging market will grow from US$2.56 billion in 2016 to US$6.46 billion in 2022, showing a 16.7% CAGR over this period. The MEMS packaging market’s value is growing faster than the MEMS device market’s value: respectively, a 16.7% CAGR for packaging versus 14.1% for devices, during the period 2016 – 2022.

Under this dynamic context, Yole Group of Companies including Yole and its sister company System Plus Consulting proposes today a comprehensive review of the technology evolution, market trends and competitive landscape, with two reports, MEMS Packaging and MEMS Packaging: Reverse Technology Review.

The MEMS packaging report offers a deep understanding of the packaging over the years, detailed roadmap for future solutions, related market metrics and detailed analysis of the supply chain. In parallel, the MEMS Packaging: Reverse Technology Review details a comparative technology review and discloses insights into the packaging structure and technology of 80+ consumer and 20+ automotive MEMS devices developed by leading players: Robert Bosch, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, STMicroelectronics, Knowles…

The MEMS packaging market is becoming more and more attractive, offering important business opportunities for advanced packaging companies. What are the market needs? What are the conditions to penetrate this market? Are the technologies “ready to use”? Through its analyses, Yole Group believes that companies which will be successful, are the ones that will adapt their technologies portfolio to match with the market evolution and ensure their market shares. Yole and System Plus Consulting’s analysts put a spotlight today on MEMS packaging.

MEMS devices are characterized by a wide range of different designs and manufacturing technologies, with no standardized processes. As a consequence, many technical challenges are in place and create a strong competition between packaging companies.

“Players have to take into account specifies of each component as well as many application constraints, from the need to low cost packaging for consumer applications to the ability to withstand high temperature and harsh environment for automotive and aeronautics packaging,” explained Dr. Eric Mounier, Senior Technology & Market Analylst at Yole.

MEMS application scope is broad, very fragmented and diversified. Therefore, under its annual report, Status of the MEMS Industry, Yole’s MEMS & Sensors team analyzed more than 200+ applications. Thus, MEMS packaging must always cope with different end-application requirements. It includes for example, protection in different media, hermeticity, interconnection type, and thermal management. This context creates many issues within the packaging industry, which faces different package configurations (open/ closed package).

Under System Plus Consulting’s report, MEMS Packaging: Reverse Technology Review, the company analyzed more than 100 MEMS components developed by the major manufacturers. This review is a relevant comparison between the main existing packaging solutions. It includes the encapsulation processes, the preferred interconnection methods as well as the latest innovations. System Plus Consulting also evaluated the components in term of integration and functionalities.

“No tremendous changes in packaging platforms are expected,” commented Audrey Lahrach, in charge of costing analyses at System Plus Consulting.“But we rather see a change in the complexity of existing platforms to respond to the growing needs of sensor fusions.” Therefore, combining inertial and pressure sensors is now a reality. For example TDK/InvenSense released this month a high-performance “7-Axis” motion tracking device targeting drone applications and based on an exclusive assembly step stacking the 3-axis gyroscope, the 3-axis accelerometer and a barometric pressure sensor (1).

Driven by the complexity associated with the move to 5G and therefore the increasing demand for RF filters in 4G/5G, the largest MEMS growth will be for RF MEMS, especially BAW filters (2).
“The real opportunity of MEMS packaging is carried by RF MEMS devices as the number of units could be multiplied by five by 2022,” confirmed Dr. Mounier from Yole. Optical MEMS including micro mirrors and micro bolometers are second with a 28.5% CAGR, driven by consumer, automotive, and security applications.

Acoustic and ultrasonic sensors including microphones are third. Demand for audio processing is particularly strong, with high unit growth for MEMS microphones targeted at increasingly sophisticated applications that use the microphone to continuously sense what is happening around it.

But why is the MEMS packaging industry becoming so attractive? Yole identified several reasons:
“OSATs already have very low package margins due to fierce competition” asserted Emilie Jolivet, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. And she added: “And it will be difficult for such companies to lower the cost further.”

The second factor is related to the importance of testing steps. Because every MEMS is different, testing strategies defined by MEMS devices manufacturers are usually dedicated to one device type and account for a significant fraction of the final cost.

The third reason is focused on the packaging’s material cost that is playing a key role within the attractiveness of the MEMS packaging business.

At the end, the strong CAGR of certain devices such as RF MEMS devices, also directly impacts the MEMS packaging industry with numerous opportunities to ensure larger volumes and better margins.

Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC), a provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, and Knowles Corporation (NYSE: KN), jointly announced today that Microsemi has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the high performance timing business of Vectron International, a Knowles company, for $130 million.

Vectron is a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of frequency control, sensor and hybrid solutions using the very latest techniques in both bulk acoustic wave (BAW) and surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based designs from DC to microwave frequencies. Products include crystals and crystal oscillators; frequency translators; clock and data recovery products; SAW filters; SAW oscillators; crystal filters; SAW and BAW based sensors and components used in telecommunications, data communications, frequency synthesizers, timing, navigation, military, aerospace, medical and instrumentation systems.

“Microsemi is focused on building the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of high value timing solutions,” said James J. Peterson, Microsemi’s chairman and CEO. “Vectron’s highly complementary technology suite expands our product offering with differentiated technology and allows Microsemi to sell more to its tier one customers in the aerospace and defense, communications and industrial markets while improving upon the operating performance of the combined model as we execute on significant synergy opportunities.”

Microsemi expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive once closed.  The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is currently expected to close in Microsemi’s fiscal first quarter ending December 2017.

As of this date, Microsemi remains comfortable with its July 28, 2017 non-GAAP guidance for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 ended Oct. 1, 2017. Microsemi currently intends to announce its fourth fiscal quarter results on Nov. 9, 2017.

As organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are used in more smartphones and high-end flat panel TVs, panel makers have boosted their investments in new OLED display fab construction. As a result, the global production capacity of AMOLED panels — including both red-green-blue (RGB) OLED and white OLED (WOLED) — is forecast to surge 320 percent from 11.9 million square meters in 2017 to 50.1 million square meters in 2022, according to new analysis from IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

The production capacity of RGB OLED panels for mobile applications will increase from 8.9 million square meters in 2017 to 31.9 million square meters in 2022, while the OLED capacity for TVs, mainly WOLED but including printing OLED, is set to grow from 3.0 million square meters in 2017 to 18.2 million square meters in 2022, says the latest Display Supply Demand & Equipment Tracker by IHS Markit.

The two market leaders — Samsung Display and LG Display — have taken different paths: Samsung is focusing on RGB OLED panels for mobile devices, and LG on WOLED displays for TVs. To cope with the trend of RGB OLED replacing the liquid crystal display (LCD) in smartphones and other mobile devices, especially for the full-screen and flexible feature of OLED panels, LG Display has started to manufacture RGB OLED panels in 2017. Meanwhile, Chinese panel makers, including BOE, ChinaStar, Tianma, Visionox, EverDisplay, Truly and Royole, are all expanding the production capacity of RGB OLED panels, targeting the mobile market.

OLED_panel_production_capacity_outlook

“It takes more than $11.5 billion to build a Gen 6 flexible OLED factory with a capacity of 90,000 substrate sheets per month, and this is a much larger investment required than building a Gen 10.5 TFT LCD fab with the same capacity,” said David Hsieh, senior director at IHS Markit. “The learning curve costs for the mass production of flexible OLED panels are also high. The financial and technological risks associated with the AMOLED panels have hampered Japanese and Taiwanese makers from entering the market aggressively,” Hsieh said. “In other words, the capacity expansion of AMOLED display, whether it is RGB OLED or WOLED, is only apparent in China and South Korea.”

Samsung Display will remain the dominant supplier of the RGB OLED panels for smartphones. Its RGB OLED panel capacity will grow from 7.7 million square meters in 2017 to 16.6 million square meters in 2022, IHS Markit says. Even though many Chinese panel makers are building RGB OLED fabs, each of their production capacity is much smaller than that of Samsung Display. Due to the gap in their production capacities, they will target different customers: Samsung Display will mainly focus on two major customers — Samsung Electronics (the Galaxy) and Apple (the iPhone), while Chinese makers will be targeting at Chinese smartphone makers at a smaller scale. These include Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Meizu, Lenovo and ZTE, and white box makers.

South Korea’s panel makers are estimated to account for 93 percent of the global AMOLED production capacity in 2017, and their share is expected to drop to 71 percent in 2022. Chinese players (BOE, ChinaStar, Tianma, Visionox, EverDisplay and Royole) will account for 26 percent in 2022 from 5 percent in 2017.

“Many interpret the strong expansion of RGB OLED capacity in China as a threat to South Korean makers. It is indeed a threat. However, while South Korean companies have high capacity fabs with high efficiencies, China’s OLED fabs are relatively small and dispersed across multiple regions and companies,” Hsieh said. “Also, while the Chinese makers could expand fabs with government subsidies, the operating performance will completely depend on the panel makers themselves. How long it will take until they could sustain the business, getting over the challenges with learning curve costs, initial low yield rates and capacity utilization, is still an open question.”

 

NVIDIA today announced that it is collaborating with Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence across Taiwan’s commercial sector in support of its recently announced AI Grand Plan to help foster domestic AI-related industries.

The collaboration — kicked off with a jointly hosted AI Symposium during NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference in Taiwan, which is being attended by more than 1,400 scientists, developers and entrepreneurs — calls for NVIDIA to help MOST promote AI across Taiwan through five initiatives.

“Taiwan has been the epicenter of the PC revolution, and it will serve as a key center for the next industry revolution focused on AI,” said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. “We are delighted to be working closely with MOST to ensure that Taiwan fully harnesses the power of this technological wave.”

“AI is the key to igniting Taiwan’s next industrial revolution, building on the long-established strength of our IT manufacturing capabilities,” said Dr. Liang-Gee Chen, Minister of Science and Technology. “Our focus is on drawing academics, industry and young talent into our AI Grand Plan to create an ecosystem based on AI innovation.”

Under the agreement, the National Center for High-Performance Computing will build Taiwan’s first AI-focused supercomputer powered by NVIDIA® DGX™ AI computing platforms and Volta architecture-based GPUs. Its target is to create a platform for accelerating advanced research and industry applications that next year reaches 4 petaflops of performance – placing it in the top 25 fastest supercomputers in the Top500 list – and 10 petaflops within four years.

In other steps:

  • MOST and NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Institute will train 3,000 developers over the next four years on the use of deep learning in smart manufacturing, the Internet of Things, smart cities and healthcare. Launched last year, the Deep Learning Institute provides hands-on training for developers, data scientists and researchers through self-paced online labs and instructor-led workshops that use open-source frameworks, as well as NVIDIA’s GPU-accelerated deep learning platforms.
  • NVIDIA is rolling out domestically its Inception program to help MOST establish its “Youth Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base” for local AI startups. NVIDIA’s Inception program is a virtual incubator for startups focused on AI and deep learning, providing young companies with hardware grants, marketing support and access to NVIDIA’s larger deep-learning ecosystem. Just last week, it added its 2,000th member company.
  • NVIDIA will support MOST’s overseas talent training program for post-doctorates by offering high-level internship programs.
  • NVIDIA will provide NVIDIA Deep Learning Accelerator (NVDLA) technology for IoT and SoC devices, plus technical support, to MOST’s Project Moon Shot, AI Edge – its NT$4 billion, four-year program to use AI to increase the competitiveness of the domestic semiconductor industry by focusing on memory, sensors and edge products.

And in a related effort, MOST will provide domestic robotics experts with access to NVIDIA DGX Station™ AI deskside supercomputers and NVIDIA Jetson™ TX2 AI modules through the Central and Southern Taiwan Science Parks. NVIDIA is making available DGX-1 systems for MOST’s Formosa Speech Grand Challenge, in which 150 teams from local universities and high schools will compete at the end of October on creating networks capable of Chinese speech recognition. Taiwan’s AI Grand Plan, which was announced in August, aims to create a strong environment for fostering AI innovations and connect with industrial leadership from around the world.

Today, SEMI announced that SEMICON Japan, the exposition for the electronics manufacturing supply chain in Japan, will focus on smart applications as key drivers of the electronics industry. Over 30,000 attendees are expected to convene at SEMICON Japan at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo on December 13-15. Registration for the exhibition and programs is now open.

Both on the exhibition floors and in sessions, smart applications will be featured, including Smart Automotive, Smart Manufacturing, Smart MedTech and the Internet of Things (IoT), bringing the theme, “Dreams Start Here” to life.

Smart Automotive – On the show floor, Toyota and Tesla will share new Smart Automotive technologies. Two dedicated forums on Smart Automotive will be featured at SEMICON Japan:

  • IoT Key Technology Forum: Companies, including Nissan Motors, NVIDIA andHitachi Automotive Systems will share their perspectives on the future of Smart Automotive.
  • Smart Mobility Forum: The technologies shaping our future mobile society, including autonomous bus systems, robot cars and drones, are featured.

Smart Manufacturing – The Smart Manufacturing Forum will share the latest on advanced  manufacturing lines from two Japanese solution providers ─ Fuji Machine Manufacturing and Yokogawa Electric. On the exhibition floor, Peer Group, Siemens and Yokogawa Electric will showcase the technologies and products.

Smart MedTech – The Smart Healthcare Forum will feature the Internet Association Japan and Hitachi who will explore the development of medical electronics and the latest technologies and solutions brought by IoT and AI. On the show floor, companies providing key enabling technologies for wearable devices including JINS, Toyobo and YUASA Systems will exhibit in the Flexible Hybrid Electronics area.

WORLD OF IOT – Many of the above exhibits on smart applications and their enabling technologies will be located at the WORLD OF IOT, a technology showcase highlighting the companies, products, technologies, and applications enabling the IoT revolution. WORLD OF IOT will have more than 70 exhibitors including Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM, Micron, Nokia, Panasonic, Soft Bank and Sony. SEMICON Japan also features two sessions on IoT technologies:

  • IoT Global Trends Forum: Executives from leading technology companies, including Arm, Intel and Sony, will discuss the technology development needed to reach a smarter and more connected world.
  • IoT Connectivity Forum: Presentations by wireless communication technology companies Ericsson and NTT Docomo on next-generation technology including 5G and LPWA, needed to accelerate the Industrial IoT and Smart Manufacturing.

 

All about Drones – SEMICON Japan will also present “All about Drones”─a spotlight on drones, a growing application of sensor and actuator technologies. A tear-down drone exhibit, drone lectures, and a demonstration area will allow visitors fly drones.

Osamu Nakamura, president of SEMI Japan said, “With all these exhibits and sessions, the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain will intersect with the growing application markets, technologies and players to find new opportunities for collaboration, innovation and growth. That’s why ‘Dreams Start Here’ at SEMICON Japan.”

For more information on the SEMICON Japan exposition and programs, visit http://www.semiconjapan.org/en.