IC

The fast-growing automotive semiconductor market means big change for the IC supply chain. Beyond the obvious demands for reliability and traceability, the sector is moving towards simpler and lower-cost solutions while facing the daunting challenge of automating driving in a complex world. The need for simpler and cheaper automotive intelligence will likely drive acquisitions to build complete platform solutions that are easier to integrate. This demand has already spawned a market for pre-configured test cars to save developers time and money, and is driving LiDAR (Light Detection And RADAR) towards lower-cost, solid state solutions. “The growth of the automotive electronics market provides a great opportunity for the IC supply chain to differentiate on specialty processes and quality for the high-volume automotive business with its long design cycles,” says Scott Jones, principal, strategy, at KPMG, who will speak in the automotive program at SEMICON West. “This differentiation is a chance to reduce chip suppliers’ dependence on scaling volume for the mobile phone world with its short-cycle volatility of winning and losing sockets.” He notes that increasing demand for automotive ICs is also reinvigorating the eight-inch supply chain and spurring opportunity for specialty products such as compound semiconductor devices for power efficiency. Supplying the automotive market also means addressing automotive reliability requirements, which can be 10 times more stringent than for consumer devices. At the same time, the industry must sustain fast-paced development cycles required for the volume and diversity of low-cost IoT devices, manage the segmented supply chain for both those markets, and still spread development costs. Another big challenge for the supply chain will be to automate testing and update vast amounts of embedded software in these automotive devices. “The more complete solution a company can put together, the more the automakers will gravitate to it. They want simplicity,” Jones suggests. Smaller players will need to differentiate with IP and acquire other IP provider to build a broader platform, or be acquired and folded into an all-in-one solution.AutonomouStuff helps accelerate and simplify development of autonomous driving solutionsAutonomouStuff is helping to speed development of these platforms. The company has grown from a sensor distributor into a supplier in the emerging niche of vehicles preconfigured with key interfaces for sensors and controls. These interfaces can then be customized by integrating different components for developers to test their applications. AutonomouStuff offers developers a lineup of vehicle models pre-configured with the interfaces needed to add desired chips, sensors and software to develop their autonomous vehicle systems. Source: AutonomouStuff.“Whether they’re major chipmakers or AI software startups, they don’t have a year to build their own vehicle platforms themselves for developing autonomous vehicle systems,” says Wolfgang Juchmann, VP sales and business development at AutonomouStuff. Juchmann, a SEMICON West speaker, will bring a demonstration vehicle to the show. “In four to six weeks we can prepare a custom test car with selected sensors, enabling users to start testing their computer platforms and software. It’s faster and more cost-effective for us to supply the car with the needed interfaces.” He notes that developers are using some 300 AutonomouStuff vehicles in the field. AutonomouStuff customers are starting to transition from testing on a single car or two to testing on mini-fleets with 50 to 100 vehicles. Beyond sensors and pre-configured vehicles, the next step will be to add more data intelligence services to help with capabilities like tagging the data for training, Juchmann says. AutonomouStuff already offers hardware to support Baidu’s Apollo open-source software stack and data set. The company was recently acquired by the Swedish holding company Hexagon to help support expansion.CMOS silicon LiDAR nears automotive qualificationInnovations in the hyper-competitive LiDAR market, where burgeoning demand is driving the race to develop various types of solid-state devices, may also help reduce the cost of autonomous vehicles. Among the roughly 40 LiDAR suppliers, at least one – Quanergy – is taking advantage of 45nm and 32nm foundry CMOS volume production. The company uses voltage through the semiconductor stack to change the refractive index, controlling the phases of optical beams and the resulting interference patterns of light exiting the chip to quickly steer the laser beam without the need for moving parts, much like the phased array radar its team developed earlier. Solid state LiDAR image with object recognition software. Source: QuanergySo far, most of the small LiDAR units have shipped to the security, industrial automation, drone, robots and 3D mapping markets. However, Quanergy CEO Louay Eldada, another SEMICON speaker, says the company is also winning automotive designs and expects automotive shipments to take off early next year, once automotive certification testing is completed. “We can get design wins because standard CMOS production at TSMC makes us a known entity,” says Eldada. To prevent component misalignment, the company produces its own specialized packaging to secure the laser, phase control ASIC, optical phased-array emitter, detector array, and receiver readout ASIC at its plant in Silicon Valley or the facility of its automotive partner Sensata. Through its software business, Quanergy offers an artificial intelligence (AI) perception program for object recognition and LiDAR tracking. The solution uses the people-tracker software the company acquired from Raytheon.SEMICON West this year expands to three full days of automotive electronics programming and features a Smart Transportation Pavilion. Other companies with experts who will speak as part of the program include XPT/NIO, Infineon, McKinsey, Voyage, GM Cruise, Bosch, Deepen AI, Airbus A3, Nvidia, Excelfore, Byton, Macronix, SK Hynix, SAP, Xilinx, Achronics, California Fuel Cell Partnership, Velodyne, Lam Research, KLA-Tencor, SCREEN, Rockwell, Versum Materials, TechSearch International, Entegris, ASE, Amazon, Continental and Wind River. www.semiconwest.orgPaul Doe, SEMI

The growth of China’s semiconductor industry outstripped sector expansion in many other regions in 2017 thanks in part to heavy government investments and supportive state policies. But China’s chip industry also struggled under the weight of overheated investment, inconsistent project quality, insufficient investment in research and development, a poor ability to innovate, and barriers to international cooperation. To overcome these headwinds to growth, China must identify global trends in the development of global semiconductor industry and better understand the forces it needs to mobilize to further expand its own semiconductor sector. AI and 5G fuel global semiconductor industry growthIn 2017, global semiconductor industry revenue reached a seven-year peak, expanding 22 percent to nearly USD 420 billion, and entered a new growth phase with artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and other new technologies leading the surge with greater market segmentation, diversification and decentralization. The emergence of smart automobiles, smart cities, smart medicine, AR/VR and other new markets headed the list of new applications. In the next three to five years, semiconductor industry growth is expected to remain stable, with no marked declines. In 2018, the growth rate is expected to fall to between 5 percent and 8 percent, with the expansion more comprehensive and balanced. The memory market, in particular, will find it hard to match its 2017 blistering growth rate. The market’s expected growth of 10 percent to 20 percent will be chiefly driven by DRAM and 3D NAND Flash. In 2019, NAND growth will continue but DRAM shipments could decline. Emphasis on both innovation and investment key to sustainable growth of Chinese IC Under the China government’s Guidelines to Promote National IC Industry Development, designed to provide key policy guidance and capital support for the development of China’s IC industry, the Chinese semiconductor industry is seeing particularly rapid growth that is expected to be a key contributor to continuing global industry expansion. In IC design, HiSilicon and Unigroup Spreadtrum RDA ranked among the top 10 in the world. In wafer fabrication, Chinese IC manufacturing accounted for 13 percent to 15 percent of global market capacity despite SMIC and Huahong Group lagging international competition in advanced processing. In packaging and testing – China’s strongest segment – JCET, NFME and Huatian Technology also ranked in the global top 10. The Guidelines to Promote National IC Industry Development has fueled a boom in capital investments. However, investments must go well beyond fab construction to add new capacity for China’s semiconductor industry to flourish. A strategy for sustainable, long-term chip industry growth must focus more on technology innovation while continuing heavy capital investments, though it takes time for innovation to lead to higher capacity demand and GPD growth and more jobs. Despite large investments by the 02 Special Project in semiconductor equipment and materials, China trails other regions of the world in advanced technologies. Global spending on semiconductor equipment reached a record-breaking USD 56 billion in 2017, with Korea a major driver. In 2017, Samsung alone invested USD 25 billion in semiconductor equipment, followed by TSMC (USD 10.8 billion), Intel (USD 11.5 billion), Hynix (USD 8.5 billion), Micron (USD 0.5 billion), SMIC (USD 2.3 billion) and YMTC (USD 2 billion). In 2018, Samsung’s equipment spending is expected to drop slightly, to USD 24 billion, while investments by Intel and TSMC will be remain roughly equal. China’s equipment spending will continue to grow in 2018, with SMIC and YMTC maintaining investment levels similar to last year’s and other China semiconductor manufacturers starting to ramp up investments. In 2018, China is expected to surpass Taiwan in equipment spending to claim the number two position after Korea. SIIP China dedicated to international connection and cooperation The huge investments in China’s semiconductor industry need to be supported by robust business strategies, greater international cooperation, deeper expertise in advanced technologies, and more skilled workers. China lags the global industry in all of these areas. The rapid rise of China’s semiconductor industry has raised concerns among many countries over China’s growing influence, with some, most notably the United States, going so far as to implement containment measures. Other regions including Japan, Korea and Taiwan followed suit. The continued growth of China’s semiconductor industry hinges on technological innovation enabled by international cooperation, as well as strong international communication to allay concerns and misunderstandings over the rising prominence of China’s chip sector. China must overcome these obstacles. One partial solution is for China to convince the rest of the world that its need a thriving semiconductor industry if only to meet enormous demand for electronics products within its own borders. As the largest international semiconductor industry association, SEMI enjoys a unique ability to strengthen the connection between China’s semiconductor sector and its international counterparts. SEMI is well-known for its vital support of the traditional semiconductor equipment and materials markets, but SEMI’s work also spans IC design, manufacturing, packaging and testing. What’s more, SEMI has expanded into innovative market vertical applications such as AI, smart manufacturing, smart transportation and smart automotive as it aims to bring together supply chains across these growth areas. For its part, SEMI China remains dedicated to improving communications and cooperation between the Chinese and global semiconductor industries. SEMI China will also continue to encourage deeper collaboration among individual enterprises and government institutions in the interest of industry growth while making full use of SEMI’s international, professional and localization platform to promote the development of China’s semiconductor industry. Last year, we established SEMI Innovation Investment Platform (SIIP) China to help grow China’s pool of skilled workers, promote advanced technology, generate industry capital, and expand China’s semiconductor industry while developing stronger connections with chip sectors in other regions. SIIP China is focused on the following: Promoting sustainable development of the Chinese semiconductor industry Establishing stronger connections to help take advantage of global technology and investment opportunities Providing a platform for open communications between the Chinese and global semiconductor industries Promoting greater coordination between China and its global partners Helping newly enterprises secure funds for expansion Encouraging greater cooperation with foreign semiconductor manufacturers in the interest of openness and mutual benefit will be the best way for China to overcome obstacles to the development of its semiconductor industry. Meanwhile, China will continue to strive to merge into the global semiconductor industry and become a key partner. SEMICON China has witnessed the development of Chinese semiconductor industry SEMICON China marked its 30th anniversary this year. Over the past three decades, China’s semiconductor industry has seen remarkable growth. This year’s SEMICON China was the largest ever. SEMICON China and FPD China 2018 numbered 3,628 booths, covered 74,000 square meters of exhibition space and attracted 1,116 exhibitors from 21 countries and regions and 91,252 professional attendees from 58 countries and regions. Most of China’s top device makers and global leading packaging houses, together with their equipment and materials suppliers, exhibited at SEMICON China and FPD China 2018, representing the global IC manufacturing ecosystem. The number of SEMICON China and FPD China 2018 visitors jumped 32.3 percent from last year, with representation by professionals from the design, manufacturing, assembly and test, equipment and materials sectors. Lung Chu is President of SEMI China.

SEMI’s mantra is: Connect, Collaborate, Innovate. This mantra has delivered industry-enabling value to our members since SEMI’s beginnings in 1970. It has been essential for SEMI members to grow and prosper locally, while being synchronized globally. As the electronics manufacturing business has become more complex and interdependent, SEMI’s mantra has increasingly been applied across the full span of electronics manufacturing.With the IC industry now worth over $400 billion in annual revenue, developing a single new chip can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Consequently, industry players now connect, collaborate, and innovate in new, but more often, deeper ways. This is especially true with IC design – what’s possible in chip design is only possible if the manufacturing processes can be developed as projected. It makes sense, as complexity grows and the stakes get higher, that design and manufacturing are closely linked and apply the SEMI mantra together. Where Electronics Begin“Where Electronics Begin” is the tagline of the Electronics System Design Alliance, or the ESD Alliance. It aptly distills the fact that all IC manufacturing begins with design – and the design ecosystem. This week, SEMI announced it reached an agreement with the ESD Alliance to join SEMI as a SEMI Strategic Association Partner. The ESD Alliance will become part of the SEMI organization in 2018. With the ESD Alliance and its community joining SEMI, its membership will complete the full electronics design and manufacturing span.This is a momentous step forward. The ESD Alliance’s ecosystem is vital and thriving and includes the world’s leading EDA and IP companies. Within the ESD Alliance community, Aart de Geus (Synopsys), Wally Rhines (Mentor, a Siemens Company), Simon Segars (Arm), and Lip-Bu Tan (Cadence), among others, are already familiar figures, having brought their thought leadership to SEMI platforms in the past. Now they, and the rest of the ESD Alliance members, will be able to more directly work with semiconductor equipment manufacturers, devices makers, and the rest of SEMI’s membership.At events like SEMICON China, which recently concluded in March and attracted over 90,000 attendees, SEMI and the ESD Alliance members will be able to efficiently connect and engage the supply chain players and find new areas for collaboration. As SEMI’s membership looks out towards new applications and systems opportunities, having both ecosystems together will find possibilities faster and innovate approaches more practically. The ESD Alliance will maintain its distinct community identity and governance while having access to, and the ability to augment, SEMI’s global platforms including seven regional offices, programs and expositions (including SEMICONs), advocacy (including trade, tax, talent, and technology), industry research and statistics, and other SEMI Strategic Association Partner and technology communities.SEMI will gain direct access to the electronics design ecosystems to provide a deeper and wider value – to its combined membership – with SEMI’s mantra. SEMI and its more than 2,000 corporate members and more than 1.2 million stakeholders look forward to connecting, collaborating, and innovating with the ESD Alliance and its members. SEMI’s global reach and wide span of membership with ESD Alliance’s deep expertise in design and IP is truly the best of both worlds for all stakeholders.Connect: Design ManufacturingSEMI’s members have been reaching into the electronics design ecosystem and the ESD Alliance members have been reaching into SEMI’s ecosystem to optimize design and manufacturing process for lowest cost and highest yield. This week’s announcement is a step forward to directly and more intimately connect electronics design and manufacturing for the supply chain to work more closely together in full synchronization. Collaborate: From Beginning to End in Electronics ApplicationsWith the ESD Alliance joining SEMI as a Strategic Association Partner, SEMI members can better collaborate across the full supply chain. Gone are the days when it was enough to collaborate only with one’s direct customer. Today, for example, components and c-subs suppliers frequently collaborate not just with their OEM equipment manufacturer customers, but with device manufacturers – and even system integrators. To be successful, companies are striving for connection to their customers’ customers.The ESD Alliance, with its design ecosystem and linkage to the fabless community, will join three existing SEMI Strategic Association Partners: Fab Owners Alliance (FOA), MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), and FlexTech (the association representing the flexible hybrid electronics ecosystem). These relationships now cover the entire span of electronics manufacturing.To provide focused collaboration across the full supply chain, SEMI has developed five vertical application platforms: IoT, Smart Manufacturing, Smart Transportation, Smart MedTech, and Smart Data. These have been chosen because of unique and pressing needs to synchronize the supply chain and to engage and develop solutions collectively.Innovate: Faster FutureWith the confluence of emerging digital disruptions and new demand drivers, forecasts suggest the IC industry could grow to over $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2030. To deliver this growth, the supply chain must efficiently innovate together. SEMI’s value proposition is to speed the time to better business results for its members across the global electronics (design and) manufacturing supply chain. The addition of the ESD Alliance as a Strategic Association Partner is a key contributor to deliver this value proposition for the industry to grow and prosper now and in the future.