Chip Industry Week In Review

By Liz Allan, Jesse Allen, and Karen Heyman.

Canon uncorked a nanoimprint lithography system, which the company said will be useful down to about the 5nm node. Unlike traditional lithography equipment, which projects a pattern onto a resist, nanoimprint directly transfers images onto substrates using a master stamp patterned by an e-beam system. The technology has a number of limitations and strengths.

Tech companies operating in Israel are preparing for possible disruptions. Israeli tech workers, venture capitalists, and start-up founders are among the 360,000 reservists being called up to fight. IBM, meanwhile, is mourning the loss of two employees, and pledges to match employee donations to its selected charities. NVIDIA canceled its AI Summit in Tel Aviv.

RISC-V International‘s chief executive said possible U.S. government restrictions would slow down the development of new and better chips, holding back the global technology industry. A growing group of U.S. lawmakers is calling on the Biden administration to impose export control restrictions around RISC-V.

Meanwhile, RISC-V is no longer content to disrupt the CPU industry. It is waging war against every type of processor integrated into an SoC or advanced package, an ambitious plan that will face stiff competition from entrenched players with deep-pocketed R&D operations and their well-constructed ecosystems. 

The SIA expressed concerns that outbound semiconductor investment restrictions “will result in an uneven playing field for U.S. companies and erode our global competitiveness.” It urges the Biden Administration to work with allies and partners to make these rules plurilateral.

Emerson completed its acquisition of NI, at an equity value of $8.2 billion.

In Semiconductor Engineering’s latest startup funding report, chip-to-chip and data center I/O drew strong investor interest in September, including support for several startups developing CXL solutions.

Quick links to more news:

Design and Power
Manufacturing and Test
Security
Pervasive Computing, AI and Connectivity
Automotive and Batteries
Quantum
Events
Further Reading And Newsletters

Design and Power

Accellera released version 2.1 of the Portable Test and Stimulus Standard. The update focuses on modeling and usability for efficient hardware and software verification, including support for floating-point data types and associated math functions, enhanced capabilities for interaction with memory management, and flexible generation of random data.

The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) and JEDEC are merging OCP’s Chiplet Data Extensible Markup Language (CDXML) and JEDEC’s JEP30 PartModel Guidelines to enable chiplet builders to provide standardized chiplet part descriptions electronically, including thermal properties, physical and mechanical requirements, behavior specifications, power and signal integrity properties, testing in package, and security parameters.

Partitioning of workloads used to be a straightforward task, although not necessarily a simple one. But with the ongoing changes in AI, including a continuous stream of algorithm updates, new use cases, and entirely new applications and priorities, what is designed today often is not the optimal configuration by the time a chip ships.

Support for the CXL memory interface standard has skyrocketed. Momentum for sharing memory resources between processor cores is growing inside of data centers, where the explosion in data is driving the need to be able to scale memory up and down in a way that roughly mirrors how processors are used today.

Yole Group predicts CXL market revenue will grow to more than $15 billion by 2028, with DRAM constituting more than $12 billion of the CXL market revenue.

The amount of power consumed by redundant non-functional toggles, or glitch power, can be as high as 35% of total power consumption in a design. The problems are particularly challenging with compute-intensive designs, and solutions are incomplete.

Siemens EDA unveiled Tessent RTL Pro, which enables the analysis and insertion of design-for-test (DFT) logic including test points, wrapper cells, and x-bounding logic earlier in the design flow, performing quick synthesis and then running automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) to identify and address outlier blocks and take appropriate measures.

NeuReality deployed Arteris’ FlexNoC interconnect IP in an 8-hierarchy NoC with an aggregated bandwidth of 4.5TB/sec as part of its NR1 network addressable inference server-on-a-chip, which provides native AI-over-fabric networking, including full AI pipeline offload and hardware-based AI hypervisor capabilities.

Imagination Technologies utilized Cadence’s AI-driven Cerebrus Intelligent Chip Explorer and the complete RTL-to-GDS digital full flow to optimize its latest low-power 5nm GPUs, reducing leakage current by 20%.

Stanley Electric adopted Siemens’ Questa Advanced Verification platform as the functional design verification environment for its next generation controller ICs for 2D-MEMS mirror devices, which are used to control a wide range of automotive and industrial applications, such as laser-scan headlamp systems.

SWISSto12 will use Keysight’s Payload Test System to validate the RF payloads of its first HummingSat geostationary satellite.

Micron extended its 1β process node technology with 16Gb DDR5 memory supporting speeds up to 7,200 MT/s for data center and PCs.

SiFive uncorked two new processors for high-performance compute in consumer, infrastructure, and automotive applications.

Manufacturing and Test

The chip industry is looking to AI and data analytics to improve yield, operational efficiency, and reduce the overall cost of designing and manufacturing complex devices. SEMI estimates its members could capture more than $60 billion in revenues associated through smart data use and AI.

The DRAM industry experienced its first operating loss since 2012 in Q1 2023, with margins dropping from 9% in Q4 2022 to -16% in Q1 2023, according to Yole. Shipments were 13% lower than projected, and suppliers are now holding more than 13 weeks of inventory. Still, the worst may be over.

Denso and Mitsubishi Electric plan to back Coherent’s silicon carbide substrate and wafer business with a total of $1 billion. The SiC business will operate as an independent subsidiary and enter long-term supply arrangements with the two backers. Mitsubishi Electric has been procuring 150mm SiC substrates from Coherent for SiC power modules for many years, and the companies plan to develop 200mm SiC substrates.

Tighter integration of automatic test equipment (ATE) into semiconductor manufacturing holds significant promise to boost manufacturing efficiency and yield. The challenge is selling this concept to fabs, packaging houses, and their customers.

Increasing complexity in semiconductor and packaging technology is driving shifts in failure analysis methods.

South Korea’s government said Samsung and SK Hynix will be allowed to supply U.S. chip equipment to their China factories indefinitely without separate U.S. approvals, according to Reuters, which also reported that Taiwan was waiting for the U.S. government to decide whether Taiwanese chipmakers will be allowed a waiver extension. 

China plans to boost the country’s aggregate computing power by more than 50%. The plan, released by six departments in Beijing, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), has set a target for China’s total computing power to reach 300 EFLOPS by 2025, according to Reuters.

The incoming board of trustees to operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) was announced. The NSTC is the core research and development (R&D) component of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America program.

 The revenue from advanced packaging is anticipated to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7%, increasing from US$43.9 billion in 2022 to US$72.4 billion by 202, according to Yole.

Amkor opened its newest factory in Bac Ninh, Vietnam. The facility occupies 57-acres within the Yen Phong 2C Industrial Park. Upon completion, it will feature 200,000 square meters of cleanroom space.

Advantest announced that iTest has taken delivery of a V93000 EXA Scale SoC Test System for testing advanced digital ICs up to the exascale performance class.

Automotive and Batteries

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will allow taxpayers to transfer new and previously owned clean vehicle credits to dealers that are eligible to receive advance payments of either credit.

Stockholm will ban petrol and diesel cars from its city center, starting at the end of 2025. Twenty blocks will be restricted to electric vehicles (EVs), low emissions gas vehicles, and plug-in hybrid heavy goods vehicles.

In Australia, Porsche recalled the 2022-23 Taycan model due to insufficient sealing between the high voltage battery casing and battery cover. If moisture enters, “arcing can occur, which increases the risk of fire causing injury or death to vehicle occupants, other road users or bystanders.”

Honda and Mitsubishi will explore new electric vehicle (EV) and EV battery businesses, aiming to maximize the value of batteries installed in 2024 Honda mini-EV models and help EV users optimize electricity costs by offering access to smart-charging, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services, and green (renewable) power.

Renault, Volvo, and French shipping company CMA CGM are joining forces to develop an all-new generation of fully electric vans and associated services, including superior and safe solutions onboarding the new software-defined vehicle platform. Renault and Volvo initially will hold 50-50 equity stakes and invest €300 million each over three years, with CMA to join and invest EUR 120 million subject to regulations.

Toyota and Idemitsu will collaborate on developing mass production technology of solid electrolytes to achieve the mass production of all-solid-state batteries for battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

VinFast Auto will acquire a 99.8% stake in VinES Energy Solutions to secure its battery supply, save on costs, and gain access to R&D partners.

Stellantis and Samsung chose Kokomo, Indiana, to be the site of their second U.S. StarPlus Energy Gigafactory, announced earlier this year.

South Korea-based BOS Semiconductors, is partnering with Canada’s Tenstorrent to develop automotive system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductors for automobile and automobile part manufacturers.

Neutron Controls announced its ECU8 platform, enabling accelerated development of its battery management system (BMS) based on Infineon chipsets. Built on an ASIL-D, ISO 26262 foundation, the platform is compatible with lithium-ion battery cells, monitoring up to 12 cells individually per module, and can support up to 1,000V batteries by combining up to 20 modules.

Fig. 1: Neutron’s ECU8. Source: Infineon

Tasking’s debugging tools now support Synopsys’ virtualizer development kits (VDKs) and Silver virtual electronic control unit (ECU) platforms, improving vehicle safety and reliability.

Kia unveiled its EV5 electric compact SUV and two concept models. The standard EV5 has a 64kWh battery pack and a 160kW motor, with a range of 530km per charge according to China Light Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (CLTC) standards. The long-range model has an 88kWh battery aiming for a range of 720km per charge. The AWD model targets a range of 650km CLTC with fast-charging from 30% to 80% capacity in 27 minutes.

BMW announced its all-electric sports activity coupé (SAC) iX2 xDrive30, featuring a high-voltage battery producing 64.8 kWh of usable energy and a high efficiency drive system enabling a range of 417 to 449 kilometers (259 – 279 miles) WLTP.

Fig. 2: BMW all-electric iX2. Source: BMW press download.

There are many divergent ideas about how best to leverage simulation to teach and test automated vehicles, reports SAE. Global AV simulation experts continue to work on the technology’s persistent obstacles.

Security

MITRE Engenuity created an emulation plan for OceanLotus, a suspected Vietnam-based threat group that has targeted private sector industries, foreign governments, dissidents, and journalists. The plan starts on macOS and ends on a Linux host with explicit defensive telemetry for a full scope purple teaming perspective.

By integrating large language models (LLMs) into the system-on-chip (SoC) security verification paradigm, researchers from the University of Florida are opening a new frontier of possibilities and challenges to ensure the security of complex SoCs.

Tennessee Tech University and Technische Universitat Wien recently published “DeMiST: Detection and Mitigation of Stealthy Analog Hardware Trojans,” a novel way to address negligible charge accumulation in the capacitor that generates stealthy triggers.

Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Cloudflare reported record numbers of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, relying on a novel HTTP/2 “Rapid Reset” technique.

Google said an August event peaked at 398 million requests per second (rps) compared to last year’s peak of 46 million rps. Cloudflare mitigated a barrage of attacks including one that exceeded 201 million rps, while AWS detected an unusual spike in HTTP/2 requests to Amazon CloudFront, peaking at more than 155 million rps.

As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Google launched several security products and features, and announced that passkeys will be the default option across its personal accounts, meaning a fingerprint, face scan, or pin is used to unlock a device.

Synopsys published its Global State of DevSecOps 2023 report, examining the strategies, tools, and practices impacting software security.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA), and U.S. Department of the Treasury published guidance on improving security of open-source software. CISA issued numerous other alerts, including updates on AvosLocker ransomware, security updates, known vulnerabilities, and industrial control systems advisories.

The U.S. Space Force paused the use of web-based generative AI tools like ChatGPT for its workforce over data security concerns, reports Reuters. Meanwhile, China proposed security requirements for firms offering services powered by generative AI, including a blacklist of sources that cannot be used to train AI models.

Pervasive Computing, AI and Connectivity

AMD will acquire Nod.ai to expand the company’s open AI software capabilities and accelerate the deployment of AI solutions optimized for AMD’s data center accelerators, AI processors, SoCs, and GPUs.

Qualcomm is eliminating 1,258 jobs in California.

AI could soon require as much electricity as an entire country, according to a recent report. In a middle-ground scenario, by 2027 AI servers could use between 85 to 134 terawatt hours (Twh) annually, which is about 0.5 percent of the world’s current electricity use, according to the New York Times.

Siemens EDA launched Solid Edge 2024, expanding the AI assisted design capabilities of its Xcelerator portfolio of industry software. The new technology enables manufacturers to re-use data more efficiently and drive innovation through new applications of AI in product design, greater cloud-based data sharing, and collaboration.

Some Apple iPhone users are reporting their devices are shutting off at night, sometimes for hours at a time. This issue is separate to the previous overheating issue affecting iPhone 15.

Infineon and Adidas developed the Lighting Shoe, which can sense music and beats from the environment and react with programmable lighting effects. Microphones and microcontrollers convert the audio information into dynamic colorful LED effects on the shoe.

Fig. 3: Adidas Lightning Shoe. Source: Infineon

A new design method leverages AI and additive manufacturing to ensure that optimum functionality and target behaviors are built into metamaterials engineered to carry load or resist impact, like sneaker midsoles and car bumpers, according to University of California Berkeley engineers.

It’s possible to track the progression of Parkinson’s Disease accurately using ML algorithms to analyze data derived from sensor devices worn by patients, according to University of Oxford researchers.

Wireless, battery-free electronic “stickers” can measure the force exerted by one object upon another and fit into tight spaces, making them ideal for applications such as giving robots a sense of touch, making biomedical devices smarter, monitoring industrial equipment, and tracking warehouse inventory, according to engineers at the University of California San Diego.

Quantum Technology

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and IQM Quantum Computers installed a 20-qubit superconducting quantum computer. They expect to expand it to 50 qubits by the end of 2024.

Fujitsu and RIKEN developed a new 64-qubit superconducting quantum computer that will be used in a hybrid quantum computing platform alongside Fujitsu’s 40 qubit quantum computer simulators.

Researchers at IIT Delhi “achieved a trusted-node-free quantum key distribution (QKD) up to 380 km in standard telecom fiber with a very low quantum bit error rate (QBER).” The technology could be used in a wide range of applications and is capable of securing network communication, such as the internet of things (IoT).

Researchers led by Caltech demonstrated a type of quantum eraser, pinpointing and correcting for mistakes in quantum computing systems known as “erasure” errors, while a Princeton-led team demonstrated an easier way to identify when errors occur in quantum computers.

Events

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Upcoming webinars are here.

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