Here are some of my collection of newest trends and predictions for year 2018. I have not invented those ideas what will happen next year completely myself. I have gone through many articles that have given predictions for year 2018. Then I have picked and mixed here the best part from those articles (sources listed on the end of posting) with some of my own additions to make this posting.This article contains very many quotations from those source articles (hopefully all acknowledged with link to source).
The general trend in electronics industry is that the industry growth have been driven by mobile industry. Silicon content in smartphones and other mobile devices is increasing as vendors add greater functionality. Layering on top of that are several emerging trends such as IoT, big data, AI and smart vehicles that are creating demand for greater computing power and expanding storage capacity.
Manufacturing trends
According to Foundry Challenges in 2018 article the silicon foundry business is expected to see steady growth in 2018. The growth in semiconductor manufacturing will remain steady, but there will be challenges in the manufacturing capacity and expenses to move to the next nodes. For most applications, unless you must have highest levels of performance, there may not be as compelling a business case to focus on the bleeding-edge nodes. Over the last two years, the IC industry has experienced an acute shortage of 200mm fab capacity (legacy MCU, power, sensors, 6-micron to 65nm). In 2018, 200mm capacity will remain tight. An explosion in 200mm demand has set off a frenzied search for used semiconductor manufacturing equipment that can be used at older process nodes. The problem is there is not enough used equipment available. The profit margins in manufacturing are so thin in markets served by those fabs that it’s hard to justify paying current rising equipment prices, and newcomers may have a tough time making inroads. Foundries with fully depreciated 200mm equipment and capacity already are seeing increased revenues in their 200mm business.The specialty foundry business is undergoing a renaissance, thanks to the emergence of 5G and automotive.
300mm is expected to follow a similar path for lack of capacity because 300mm fabs already produce leading-edge chips and more mainstream 300mm demand is driven by MCUs, wireless communications and storage applications. Early predictions are for solid growth in 2018, fueled by demand for memory and logic at advanced 10/7nm.
In 2017, marking the first time that the semiconductor equipment market has exceeded the previous market high of US$47.7 billion set in 2000. Fab tool vendors found themselves in the midst of an unexpected boom cycle in 2017, thanks to enormous demand for equipment in 3D NAND and, to a lesser degree, DRAM. In 2018, equipment demand looks robust, although the industry will be hard-pressed to surpass the record growth figures in 2017. In 2018, 7.5 percent growth is expected to result in sales of US$60.1 billion for the global semiconductor equipment market – another record-breaking year. Demand looks solid across the three main growth drivers for fab tool vendors—DRAM, NAND and foundry/logic.
Rising demand for chips is hitting the IC packaging supply chain, causing shortages of select manufacturing capacity, various package types, leadframes and even some equipment. Spot shortages for some IC packages began showing up in 2017, but the problem has been growing and spreading since then, so packaging customers may encounter select shortages well into 2018. Apple Watch 3 shipment growth to benefit Taiwan IC packagers in 2018.
Market for advanced packaging begins to diverge based on performance and price. Advanced Packaging is now viewed as the best way to handle large amounts of data at blazing speeds.
Moore’s law
Many recent publications say Moore’s Law is dead. Though Moore’s Law is dead may be experiencing some health challenges, it’s not time to start digging the grave for the semiconductor and electronics market yet.
Even smaller nodes are still being taken to use in high end chips. The node names are confusing. Intel’s 10nm technology is roughly equivalent to the foundry 7nm node.In 2018, Intel is expected to finally ramp up 10nm finally in the first half of 2018. In addition, GlobalFoundries, Samsung and TSMC will begin to ship their respective 7nm finFET processes. On the leading edge, GlobalFoundries, Intel, Samsung and TSMC start migrating from the 16nm/14nm to the 10nm/7nm logic nodes. It is expected that some chip-makers face some challenges on the road. Time will tell if GlobalFoundries, Samsung and TSMC will struggle at 7nm. Early predictions are for solid growth in 2018, fueled by demand for memory and logic at advanced 10/7nm. 7nm is projected to generate sales from $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion in 2018. Over time 10nm/7nm is expected to be a big and long-running node. Suppliers of FPGAs and processors are expected to jump on 10nm/7nm.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics said it has commenced production of the second generation of its 10nm-class 8-Gb DDR4 DRAM. Devices labeled 10nm-class have feature sizes as small as 10 to 19 nanometers. With the continued need for shrinking pattern dimensions, semiconductor manufacturers continue to implement more complex patterning techniques, such as advanced multi-patterning, for the 10nm design node and beyond. They also are investing significant development effort in readying EUV lithography for production at the 7/5nm design nodes. Samsung is planning to begin transitioning to EUV for logic chips next year at the 7nm node, although it is unclear when the technology will be put into production for DRAM.
There will be talk on even smaller nodes. FinFETs will get extended to at least to 5nm, and possibly 3nm in next 5 years. The path to 5nm loks pretty clear. FinFETs will get extended at least to 5nm. It’s possible they will get extended to 3nm. EUV will be used at new nodes, followed by High NA Lithography. New smaller nodes challenges the chip design as abstractions become more difficult at 7nm and beyond. Models are becoming more difficult to develop, integrate and utilize effectively at 10/7nm and beyond as design complexity, process variation and physical effects add to the number of variables that need to be taken into account. Materials and basic structures may diverge by supplier, at 7 nm and beyond. Engineering and scientific teams at 3nm and beyond will require completely different mixes of skills than today.
Silicon is still going strong, but the hard fact is that CMOS has been running out of steam for several nodes, and that becomes more obvious at each new node. To extend into new markets and new process nodes Chipmakers Look To New Materials. There are a number of compounds in use already (generally are being confined to specific niche applications), such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, and silicon carbide. Silicon will be supplemented by 2D materials to extend Moore’s Law. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), a class of 2D materials derived from basic elements—principally tellurium, selenium, sulfur, and oxygen—are being widely explored by researchers. TMDCs are functioning as semiconductors in conjunction with graphene. Graphene, the wonder material rediscovered in 2004, and a host of other two-dimensional materials are gaining ground in manufacturing semiconductors as silicon’s usefulness begins to fade. Wide-bandgap semiconductor materials like gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) are anticipated to be used in many more applications in 2018. Future progress increasingly will require a mix of different materials and disciplines, but silicon will remain a key component.
Interconnect Materials need to to be improved. For decades, aluminum interconnects were the industry standard. In the late 1990s, chipmakers switched to copper. Over the years, transistors have decreased dramatically in size, so interconnects also have had to scale in size leading to roadblock known as the RC challenge. Industry is investing significant effort in developing new approaches to extend copper use and finding new metals. There’s also some investigation into improvements on the dielectric side. The era of all-silicon substrates and copper wires may be coming to an end.
Application markets
Wearables are a question mark. Demand for wearables slowed down in 2017 so much that smart speakers likely outsold wearable devices in 2017 holiday season. eMarketer is estimating that usage of wearable will grow just 11.9 percent in 2018, rising from 44.7 million adult wearable users in 2017 to 50.1 million in 2018. On the other hand market research firm IDC estimates that the shipments of wearable electronics devices are projected to more than double over the next five years as watches displace fitness trackers as the biggest sellers. IDC forecasts that wearables shipments will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 18.4 percent between 2017 and 2021, rising from 113.2 million this year to 222.3 million in 2021. At the same time fitness trackers are expected to become commodity product. Tomorrow’s wearables will become more fully featured and multi-functional.
The automotive market for semiconductors is shifting into high gear in 2018. Right now the average car has about $350 worth of semiconductor content, but that is projected to grow another 50% by 2023 as the overall automotive market for semiconductors grows from $35 billion to $54 billion. The explosion of drive-by-wire technology, combined with government mandates toward fully electric powertrains, has changed this paradigm—and it impacts more than just the automotive industry. Consider implications beyond the increasingly complex vehicle itself, including new demands on supporting infrastructure. The average car today contains up to 100 million lines of code. Self-driving car will have considerably more code in it. Software controls everything from safety critical systems like brakes and power steering, to basic vehicle controls like doors and windows. Meeting ISO 26262 Software Standards is needed but it will not make the code bug free. It’s quickly becoming common practice for embedded system developers to isolate both safety and security features on the same SoC. The shift to autonomous vehicles marks a major shift in the supply chain—and a major opportunity.
Many applications have need for a long service life — for example those deployed within industrial, scientific and military industries. In these applications, the service life may exceed that of component availability. Replacing an advanced, obsolete components in a design can be very costly, potentially requiring an entire redesign of the electronic hardware and software. The use of programmable devices helps designers not only to address component obsolescence, but also to reduce the cost and complexity of the solution. Programmable logic devices are provided in a range of devices of different types, capabilities and sizes, from FPGAs to System on Chips (SoC) and Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLD). The obsolete function can be emulated within the device, whether it is a logic function implemented in programmable logic in a CPLD, FPGA or SoC, or a processor system implemented in an FPGA or SoC.
Become familiar with USB type C connector. USB type C connector is becoming quickly more commonplace than any other earlier interface. In the end of 2016 there were 300 million devices using a USBC connection – a big part was smartphones, but the interface was also widespread on laptops. With growth, the USBC becomes soon the most common PC and peripheral interface. Thunderbolt™ 3 on USBC connector promises to fulfill the promise of USB-C for single-cable docking and so much more.
Power electronics
The power electronics market continues to grow and gain more presence across a variety of markets. 2017 was a good year for electric vehicles and the future of this market looks very promising. In 2017, we saw also how wireless charging technology has been adopted by many consumer electronic devices- including Apple smart phones. Today’s power supplies do more than deliver clean and stable dc power on daily basis—they provide advanced capabilities that can save you time and money.
Wide-bandgap semiconductor materials like gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) are anticipated to be used in many more applications in 2018. At the moment, the number of applications for those materials is steadily increasing in the automotive and military industry. Expect to see more adoption of SiC and GaN materials in automotive market.
According to Battery Market Goes Bigger and Better in 2018 article advances in battery technologies hold the keys to continuing progress in portable electronics, robotics, military, and telecommunication applications, as well as distributed power grids. It is difficult to see lithium-ion based batteries being replaced anytime soon, so the advances in battery technology are primarily through the application of lithium-ion battery chemistries. New battery protection for portable electronics cuts manufacturing steps and costs for Lithium-ion.
Transparency Market Research analysts predict that the global lithium-ion battery market is poised to rise from $29.67 billion in 2015 to $77.42 billion in 2024 with a compound annual growth rate of 11.6 %. That growth has already spread from the now ubiquitous consumer electronics segment to automotive, grid energy, and industrial applications. Dramatic increase is expected for battery power for the transportation, consumer electronic, and stationary segments. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the global energy-storage market will double six times between 2016 and 2030, rising to a total of 125 G/305 gigawatt-hours. In 2018, energy-storage systems will continue proliferating to provide backup power to the electric grid.
Memory
Memory business boomed in 2017 for both NAND and DRAM. The drivers for DRAM are smartphones and servers. Solid-state drives (SSDs) and smartphones are fueling the demand for NAND. Both the DRAM and NAND content in smartphones continues to grow, so memory business will do well in 2018.Fab tool vendors found themselves in the midst of an unexpected boom cycle in 2017, thanks to enormous demand for equipment in 3D NAND and, to a lesser degree, DRAM. In 2018, equipment demand looks robust, although the industry will be hard-pressed to surpass the record growth figures in 2017.
NAND Market Expected to Cool in Q1 from the crazy year 2017, but it is still growing well because there is increasing demand. The average NAND content in smartphones has been growing by roughly 50% recently, going from approximately 24 gigabytes in 2016 to approximately 38 gigabytes today.3D NAND will do the heavy memory lifting that smartphone users demand. Contract prices for NAND flash memory chips are expected to decline in during the first quarter of 2018 as a traditional lull in demand following the year-end quarter.
Lots of 3D NAND will go to solid state drives in 2018. IDC forecasts strong growth for the solid-state drive (SSD) industry as it transitions to 3D NAND. SSD industry revenue is expected to reach $33.6 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 14.8%. Sizes of memory chips increase as number of layer in 3D NAND are added. We’ve already scaled up to 48 layers. Does this just keep scaling up, or are there physical limits here? Maybe we could see a path to 256 layers in few years.
Memory — particular DRAM — was largely considered a commodity business. Though that it’s really not true in 2017. DRAM memory marked had boomed in 2017 at the highest rate of expansion in 23 years, according to IC Insights. Skyrocketing prices drove the DRAM market to generate a record $72 billion in revenue, and it drove total revenue for the IC market up 22%. Though the outlook for the immediate future appears strong, a downturn in DRAM more than likely looms in the not-too-distant future. It will be seen when there are new players on the market. It is a largely unchallenged assertion that Chinese firms will in the not so distant future become a force in semiconductor memory market. Chinese government is committed to pumping more than $160 billion into the industry over a decade, with much of that ticketed for memory startups.
There is search for faster memory because modern computers, especially data-center servers that skew heavily toward in-memory databases, data-intensive analytics, and increasingly toward machine-learning and deep-neural-network training functions, depend on large amounts of high-speed, high capacity memory to keep the wheels turning. The memory speed has not increased as fast as the capacity. The access bandwidth of DRAM-based computer memory has improved by a factor of 20x over the past two decades. Capacity increased 128x during the same period. For year 2018 DRAM remains a near-universal choice when performance is the priority. There has been some attempts to very fast memory interfaces. Intel the company has introduced the market’s first FPGA chip with integrated high-speed EMBED (Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge): The Stratix 10 MX interfaces to HMB2 memory (High Memory Bandwidth) that offers about 10 times faster speed than standard DDR-type DIMM.
There is search going on for a viable replacement for DRAM. Whether it’s STT-RAM or phase-change memory or resistive RAM, none of them can match the speed or endurance of DRAM. Necessity is the mother of invention, and we see at least two more generations after 1x. XPoint is also coming up as another viable memory solution that could be inserted into the current memory architecture. It will be interesting to see how that plays out versus DRAM.
5G and IoT
5G something in it for everyone. 5G is big. 5G New Radio (NR) wireless technology will ultimately impact everyone in the electronics and telecommunications industries. Most estimates say 2020 is when we will ultimately see some real 5G deployments on a scale. In the meantime, companies are firming up their plans for whatever 5G products and services they will offer. Though test and measurement solutions will be key in the commercialization cycle. 5G is set to disrupt test processes. If 5G takes off, the technology will propel the development of new chips in both the infrastructure and the handset. Data centers require specialty semiconductors from power management to high-speed optical fiber front-ends. 5G systems will drive more complexity in RF front-ends .5G will offer increased capacity and decreased latency for some critical applications such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and self-driving vehicles. The big question is whether 5G will disrupt the landscape or fall short of its promises.
Electronics manufacturers expect a lot from Internet of Thing. The evolution of intelligent electronic sensors is creating a revolution for IoT and Industrial IoT as companies bring new sensor-based, intelligent systems to market. The business promise is that the proliferation of smart and connected “things” in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides tremendous opportunities for increased performance and lower costs. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has a market forecast approaching $100 billion by 2020. Turning volumes of factory data into actionable information that has value is essential. Predictive maintenance and asset tracking are two big IoT markets to watch in 2018 because they will provide real efficiencies and improved safety. It will be about instrumenting our existing infrastructures with sensors that improve their reliability and help predict failures. It will be about tracking important assets through their lifecycles.
A new breed of designers has arrived that is leveraging inexpensive sensors to build the intelligent systems at the edge of the Internet of Things (IoT). They work in small teams, collaborate online, and they expect affordable design tools that are easy to use in order to quickly produce results. Their goal is to deliver a functioning device or a proof-of-concept to their stakeholders while spending as little money as possible to get there. We need to become multi-functional engineers who can comfortably work in the digital, RF, and system domains.
The Io edge sensor device usually needs to be cheap. Simple mathematical reasoning suggests that the average production cost per node must be small, otherwise the economics of the IoT simply are not viable. Most suppliers to the electronics industry are today working under the assumption that the bill-of-materials (BoM) cost of a node cannot exceed $5 on average. While the sensor market continues to garner billions of dollars, the average selling price of a MEMS sensor, for example, is only 60 cents.
Designing a well working and secure IoT system is still hard. IoT platforms are very complex distributed systems and managing these distributed systems is often an overlooked challenge. When designing for the IoT, security needs to be addressed from the Cloud down to each and every edge device. Protecting data is both a hardware and a software requirement, as more data is being stored and analyzed in edge devices and gateways.
The continued evolution of powerful embedded processors is enabling more functionality to be consolidated into single heterogeneous multicore devices. You will see more mixed criticality designs – those designs which contain both safety-critical and non-safety critical processes running on the same chip. It’s quickly becoming common practice for embedded system developers to isolate both safety and security features on the same SoC.
AI
There is clearly a lot of hype surrounding machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) fields. Over the past few years, machine learning (ML) has evolved from an interesting new approach that allows computers to beat champions at chess and Go, into one that is touted as a panacea for almost everything. Machine learning already has delivered beneficial results in certain niches, but it has potential for a bigger and longer lasting impact because of the demand for broad insights and efficiencies across industries. Also EDA companies have been investing in this technology and some results are expected to be announced.
The Battle of AI Processors Begins in 2018. Machine learning applications have a voracious appetite for compute cycles, consuming as much compute power as they can possibly scrounge up. As a result, they are invariably run on parallel hardware – often parallel heterogeneous hardware—which creates development challenges of its own. 2018 will be the start of what could be a longstanding battle between chipmakers to determine who creates the hardware that artificial intelligence lives on. Main contenders on the field at the moment are CPUs, GPUs, TPUs (tensor processing units), and FPGAs. Analysts at both Research and Markets and TechNavio have predicted the global AI chip market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 54% between 2017 and 2021.
Sources:
Battery Market Goes Bigger and Better in 2018
Smart speakers to outsell wearables during U.S. holidays, as demand for wearables slows
Wearables Shipments Expected to Double by 2021
The Week In Review: Manufacturing #186
Five technology trends for 2018
NI Trend Watch 2018 explores trends driving the future faster
Creating Software Separation for Mixed Criticality Systems
Isolating Safety and Security Features on the Xilinx UltraScale+ MPSoC
Meeting ISO 26262 Software Standards
DRAM Growth Projected to be Highest Since ’94
NAND Market Expected to Cool in Q1
Memory Market Forecast 2018 … with Jim Handy
3D NAND Storage Fuels New Age of Smartphone Apps
$55.9 Billion Semiconductor Equipment Forecast – New Record with Korea at Top
Advanced Packaging Is Suddenly Very Cool
Apple Watch 3 shipment growth to benefit Taiwan IC packagers in 2018
Rapid SoC Proof-of-Concept for Zero Cost
EDA Challenges Machine Learning
What Can You Expect from the New Generation of Power Supplies?
Optimizing Machine Learning Applications for Parallel Hardware
FPGA-dataa 10 kertaa nopeammin
Chipmakers Look To New Materials
What the Experts Think: Delivering the next 5 years of semiconductor technology
Programmable Logic Holds the Key to Addressing Device Obsolescence
The Battle of AI Processors Begins in 2018
For China’s Memory Firms, Legal Tests May Loom
Predictions for the New Year in Analog & Power Electronics
Lithium-ion Overcomes Limitations
Will Fab Tool Boom Cycle Last?
The Next 5 Years Of Chip Technology
Chipmakers Look To New Materials
Process Window Discovery And Control
Sensors are Fundamental to New Intelligent Systems
Industrial IoT (IIoT) – Where is Silicon Valley
Internet of things (IoT) design considerations for embedded connected devices
How efficient memory solutions can help designers of IoT nodes meet tight BoM cost targets
1,325 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
7/5nm Timing Closure Intensifies
https://semiengineering.com/timing-closure-intensifies-at-7-5nm/
The issues may be familiar, but they’re more difficult to solve and can affect everything from performance to yield.
Timing closure issues are increasing in magnitude at 7/5nm, and ones that were often considered minor in the past no longer can be ignored.
Timing closure is an essential part of any chip design. The process ensures that all combinatorial paths through a design meet the necessary timing so that it can run reliably at a specified clock rate. Timing closure hasn’t changed significantly over the past few decades–largely because each new process node presents similar challenges and physical phenoma. The same effects can be seen at earlier nodes. But those effects have reached the point where they are now impacting yield as well as power, performance and area.
“In the past, a typical design flow was built out of point tools,” said Igor Keller, distinguished engineer at Cadence. “Each tool got something separate. Each one may have been developed by different organizations, which were then put together in a loosely-integrated flow. The output of one piece did the delay calculation, for example, which was fed into another step of the flow like the the timer, and so on. There was a loose integration and exchange of files or data, but it was not really well integrated or architected with a single engine.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hedging The Chip Industry
The creation of new markets for semiconductors could help iron out demand fluctuations.
https://semiengineering.com/hedging-the-chip-industry/
The chip industry has changed significantly since the last big downturn. And while there is no indication a downturn is on the horizon, analysts are beginning to ask questions about what comes next.
At the start of the last major downturn in 2008, there were two big markets for chips. One was mobile phones, which managed to do quite well with the shift to smartphones. That was reflected in the earnings of Arm and Qualcomm. The other was computer chips, which was reflected in the earnings of Intel.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TE launches optical flex circuit cable assemblies for commercial, military aircraft
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2018/01/te-optical-flex-aero.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cim_data_center_newsletter_2018-01-25&pwhid=e8db06ed14609698465f1047e5984b63cb4378bd1778b17304d68673fe5cbd2798aa8300d050a73d96d04d9ea94e73adc417b4d6e8392599eabc952675516bc0&eid=293591077&bid=1984307
TE Connectivity in Harrisburg, Pa., is introducing optical flex circuit cable assemblies for high-speed electronic packaging in the harsh environments of aerospace, commercial and military aircraft, and defense systems.
These compact, robust fiber-optic circuits are customizable for card-to-card and backplane applications. They are made up of thousands of individual fibers positioned on a rugged substrate that employs crossovers to minimize stress while maximizing opportunities for complex routing arrangements.
A thin film encapsulating each fiber helps provide enhanced protection from harsh environments and allows for high-density packaging that saves valuable space. A
OFS launches rugged fiber-optic cable for commercial aircraft networking, displays
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/pt/2017/10/ofs-launches-rugged-fiber-optic-cable-for-commercial-aircraft-networking-displays.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Global connector market forecast to pass $80B over next 5 years
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/pt/2018/01/global-connector-market-forecast-to-exceed-80-billion-over-next-5-years.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cim_data_center_newsletter_2018-01-25&pwhid=e8db06ed14609698465f1047e5984b63cb4378bd1778b17304d68673fe5cbd2798aa8300d050a73d96d04d9ea94e73adc417b4d6e8392599eabc952675516bc0&eid=293591077&bid=1984307
According to a new market report published by Lucintel (Irving, TX), the future of the connector market looks promising with opportunities in the automotive and transportation, telecom/datacom, computer and peripheral, industrial, and consumer electronics industry. The global connector market is expected to reach an estimated $80.4 billion by 2023 with a CAGR of 4.9% from 2018 to 2023.
The major growth drivers for this market are growing 3C applications (Computers, Communications, and Consumer Electronics), miniaturization of electronic devices, and demand for products with advanced features, convenience, and connectivity. Encompassing the global market, the scope of the new report encompasses data for the PCB (Printed circuit board) connector, rectangular I/O, application specific connector, circular connector, and IC (Integrated circuit) sockets. RF (Radio frequency) coax, and fiber optic-connectors used for connecting electrical circuits in a wide range of end use industries are given special attention.
Lucintel forecasts that PCB connector will remain the largest product type due to growing automation in various sectors such as automotive, industrial, and military is driving the PCB connectors. The fiber-optic connector segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate due to its easy installation, fast connection, low signal loss, and high performance which are highly required in optical communications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Promises More Secure Chips This Year
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332900
Intel will begin releasing later this year redesigned chips that address recently disclosed processor security vulnerabilities, CEO Brian Krzanich said during a conference call with analysts after the company reported fourth quarter results and gave a first quarter forecast that beat Wall Street’s expectations.
Intel reported reported that sales grew by 4 percent in the fourth quarter to reach $17.1 billion and 6 percent for the year to reach a record $62.8 billion. The company expects sales for the current quarter to be between $14.5 billion and $15.5 billion, compared to $14.8 billion in the second quarter of 2017.
“We just wrapped up the best year in Intel’s history with the best quarter in Intel’s history,” Krzanich told analysts on the conference call.
Tomi Engdahl says:
China Forecast to Miss Chip Targets
Veteran analyst still sees good growth ahead
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332896
China’s ambitious drive to expand its semiconductor industry will fall far short of its targets, according to Bill McClean, president of IC Insights. In the short term, 2018 will be a good year for the global chip industry, despite the ups and downs of the DRAM market and capital spending, he said.
China will fill 15 percent of its semiconductor needs in 2020 and perhaps 20 percent in 2022, McClean predicts. That’s significant growth, but far from the targets of 40 percent in 2020 and 70 percent in 2022 that the China government has set.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Atom-Thin Memristors Discovered
https://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/atomthin-memristors-discovered
Two-dimensional atom-thin materials are good for a lot of things, but they don’t make good memory devices. At least that’s what everyone thought until Ruijing Ge, a first-year graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin, persuaded her mentor—flexible electronics guru Deji Akinwande—to let her try. They sandwiched an atom-thick layer of molybdenum disulfide between two electrodes and found that, contrary to expectation, the structure displayed memristance; it can be set to a high resistance or low resistance state by particular voltages and remain stable long after the voltage is removed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AI Silicon Preps for 2018 Debuts
A dozen startups chase deep learning
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332877
Deep neural networks are like a tsunami on the distant horizon.
Given their still-evolving algorithms and applications, it’s unclear what changes deep neural nets (DNNs) ultimately will bring. But their successes thus far in translating text and recognizing images and speech make it clear they will reshape computer design, and the changes are coming at a time of equally profound disruptions in how semiconductors are designed and manufactured.
The first merchant chips tailored for training DNNs will ship this year. As it can take weeks or months to train a new neural-net model, the chips likely will be some of the largest, and thus most expensive, chunks of commercial silicon made to date.
Tomi Engdahl says:
UMC Expects AI to Grow to $3 Billion Business
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332882
Tomi Engdahl says:
Metal Markets In Flux
https://semiengineering.com/metal-markets-in-flux/
Geopolitical concerns, economics and uncertain supplies are raising the anxiety level about availability across multiple supply chains.
Markets for critical metals are becoming turbulent, creating shortages and widespread supply chain concerns.
Critical metals are the raw elements and materials used in the production of aerospace/defense systems, automobiles, batteries, computers and electronic products. Many critical metals also are scarce, and there is high risk associated with their supply. In a recent report, the European Union (EU) lists 27 different raw metals/materials that are considered critical for systems and devices, including cobalt, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten and various rare earths.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wanna design a chip that talks to silly-fast GDDR6? You’ll have to talk to Rambus, too
Blueprints touted to ASIC, SoC makers to take on GPUs
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/25/rambus_gddr6_phy_ip_core/
Semiconductor licensing giant Rambus announced this week a physical layer design for accessing GDDR6 – aka double data rate type six synchronous graphics random-access memory.
This GDDR6 PHY blueprint is aimed at hooking up high-speed, high-bandwidth GDDR6 SGRAM to hardware accelerators and processors to rapidly crunch through stuff like crypto-mining and machine learning.
GDDR technology is usually aimed at plumbing fast memory into graphics processors to make games and math-heavy workloads run faster. These Rambus designs are aimed at non-GPU semiconductor engineers who want to connect super-fast dual-channel GDDR6 SGRAM to their custom accelerators and system-on-chips.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Examining data over the last 15 years, you can see that off-chip communication energy efficiency improved from 2000-2010 due to supply voltages and process scaling that followed Moore’s Law.
Then progress slowed down. Why?
Designers are trying to push more data at higher data rates through existing communication channels. Therefore, research is underway to improve power dissipation at the circuit design phase.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Photonic chips will rapidly outpace the snail-brained humans
https://www.electropages.com/2018/01/photonic-chips-will-rapidly-outpace-the-snail-brained-humans/?utm_campaign=&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=article&utm_content=Photonic+chips+will+rapidly+outpace+the+snail-brained+humans
Global data communications is running into a big problem. As modern living and ever-expanding commercialism puts immense pressures on data communication capacity and speed, so existing technologies are rapidly falling short of what the future needs.
The question is will photonics technologies save the day? Fortunately there is currently enormous interest and investment in moving silicon-based photonics forward and some of the latest breakthroughs suggest it could be a game-changer.
This breakthrough is not mere electronic gizmo-ism of an academic nature. This is important because current computer design is actually fairly slow and merely boosting existing technologies to speed things up consumes increasing amounts of power.
It is well recognised that copper cabling is stifling data centre operations and hindering high-speed computing because of its slow data transfer capability.
What silicon photonics could end up providing is increased bandwidth in servers, faster data transfer speeds and efficient system designs.
Basically, silicon photonics facilitates data transfer between computer chips using laser light via optical fibre of nano dimensions that is manufactured within the actual silicon chip.
The silicon is patterned into micro-photonic components. These operate in the infrared spectrum which is used by the majority of optical telecoms systems. The silicon typically lies on top of a layer of silica in what is known as silicon on insulator.
To give you a real-world example of what such a development with a transfer capability of 50G/sec could do, it would be able to transfer the file of high-definition feature length film in under a second.
Given all these facts it’s not surprising that industry analysts are saying that the global expenditure on silicon photonics is set to rocket.
Estimates vary but back in 2015 the world market for silicon photonics was reckoned to be about $500 million. Today that market is expected to grow by an impressive 22% annually.
Making a substantial contribution to that growth pattern are optical transceivers and today the silicon photonics market is dominated by the USA and Europe which hold 70% of the total global market share. But that could be set to change because Chinese data centre operations are rapidly growing. It currently has around 650 million Internet users and three big companies establishing their own fibre networks. Predictions are that three huge data centres will be implemented there this year.
So the data rates race is well and truly on with 100G/sec already in reach. However, in the long term the target will be 400G/sec.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Extraction Necessities For 5nm And Below
https://semiengineering.com/3d-extraction-necessities-for-5nm-and-below/
New transistor architectures mean new parasitic effects to watch out for.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Semiconductor Shipments Forecast to Exceed 1 Trillion Devices in 2018
Semiconductor units forecast to increase 9% with IC units rising 11%, O-S-D units growing 8%.
http://www.icinsights.com/news/bulletins/Semiconductor-Shipments-Forecast-To-Exceed-1-Trillion-Devices-In-2018/
Annual semiconductor unit shipments (integrated circuits and opto-sensor-discretes, or O-S-D, devices) are expected to grow 9% in 2018 and top one trillion units for the first time, based on data presented in the new, 2018 edition of IC Insights’ McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry (Figure 1). For 2018, semiconductor unit shipments are forecast to climb to 1,075.1 billion, which equates to 9% growth for the year. Starting in 1978 with 32.6 billion units and going through 2018, the compound annual growth rate for semiconductor units is forecast to be 9.1%, a solid growth figure over the 40 year span.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do Spectre, Meltdown Mean the Death of Moore’s Law?
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/262787-spectre-meltdown-mean-death-moores-law
Spectre and Meltdown are two of the most significant security issues to surface since the beginning of this millennium. Spectre, in particular, is going to be difficult to mitigate. Both AMD and Intel will have to redesign how their CPUs function to fully address the problem. Even if the performance penalties fall hardest on older CPUs or server workloads, instead of workstation, gaming, or general-purpose compute, there are going to be cases where certain customers have to eat a performance hit to close the security gap. All of this is true. But in the wake of these revelations, we’ve seen various people opining that the flaws meant the end of either the x86 architecture or, now, that it’s the final death knell for Moore’s law.
That’s the opinion of The Register, which has gloomily declared that these flaws represent nothing less than the end of performance improvements in general purpose compute hardware. Mark Pesce writes: “[F]or the mainstay of IT, general purpose computing, last month may be as good as it ever gets.”
A short-term decline in performance in at least some cases is guaranteed. But the longer-term case is more optimistic, I’d argue, than Pesce makes it sound.
Sharpening the Argument
Before we can dive into this any further, we need to clarify something. Pesce refers to this potential end of general compute performance improvements as the end of Moore’s Law, but that’s not really true. Moore’s Law predicts that transistor density will double every 18-24 months. The associated “law” that delivered the performance improvements that went hand-in-hand with Moore’s Law was known as Dennard Scaling, and it stopped working in 2005. Not coincidentally, that’s when frequency scaling slowed to a crawl as well.
Why Meltdown, Spectre, Aren’t the End of CPU Performance Improvements
The history of computing is definitionally a history of change. Spectre and Meltdown aren’t the first security patches that can impact performance; when Data Execution Prevention rolled out with Windows XP SP2 and AMD’s Athlon 64, there were cases where users had to disable it to make applications perform properly or at desired speed. Spectre in particular may represent a larger problem, but it’s not so large as to justify concluding there are few-to-no ways of improving performance in the future.
Furthermore, the idea that general purpose compute has stopped improving is inaccurate. It’s true that the pace of improvements has slowed and that games, in particular, don’t necessarily run faster on a Core i7-8700K than on a Core i7-2600K, despite the five years between them. But if you compare CPUs on other metrics, the gaps are different.
An 18 percent average improvement over several years is a far cry from the gains we used to see, but it isn’t nothing, either. And there’s no sign that these types of gains will cease in future CPU architectures. It may take a few years to shake these bugs off, particularly given that new CPU architectures take time to design, but the long-term future of general computing is brighter than it may appear. CPU improvements may have slowed, but there’s still some gas in the tank.
Business
Death notice: Moore’s Law. 19 April 1965 – 2 January 2018
Done in by the weaponisation of optimisation, and now 2017 may be as good as it ever got
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/24/death_notice_for_moores_law/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Six Skills That Power Engineers Need Today
http://www.powerelectronics.com/alternative-energy/six-skills-power-engineers-need-today?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20180129_ED-003_448&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=15134&utm_medium=email&elq2=81311b77808e473abf528c29c2c3894b
1) High voltages and/or high currents.
2) Mechanical and thermal issues. A power supply is much more than the physical implementation of a schematic diagram, no matter how perfect that schematic may be.
3) Multirail operation. Systems now have multiple voltage rails, often differing by only a few tenths of a volt.
4) Testing and EMI/RFI mandates. Interpreting which ones apply and how, and deciding how to meet them, is a major issue.
5) Modeling. From a high-level perspective, a power supply is an amplifier, albeit a specialized one. Basic DC performances and all losses – both electrical and thermal – must be assessed in advance
6) Finally, willing to challenge conventional wisdom. Yes, everyone “knows” that switching supplies are more efficient than linear ones, but that’s not necessarily always the case. In the region below 1 A, an LDO may have comparable or even better efficiency, plus lower total cost and fewer issues.
Those who say, “it’s no big deal, it’s just a cookbook power-supply design,” are either battle-hardened designers or naïve newcomers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Best Practices, Part 1: Integrating eGaN FETs
http://www.powerelectronics.com/power-management/best-practices-part-1-integrating-egan-fets?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20180126_ED-003_478&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=15114&utm_medium=email&elq2=9ea22fb4731f4e06aa219e60498b746b
Best design practices utilize the advantages offered by eGaN FETs, including printed circuit board (PCB) layout and thermal management.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Devices are being sold all the time more and more and more microcircuits find their way into them. But how much separate, individual chips are sold to us? This year, for the first time, the threshold of trillion, or thousands of billion, goes on, says IC Insights.
The number of microcircuits delivered last year was well below the previous year. All in all, 986.2 billion microcircuits were sold to OEMs. This year the number will increase to 1075.1 billion, ie for the first time over the trillion limit.
Statistics have been monitored since 1978. At that time, 32.6 billion microcircuits were made into the market.
Gartner has just listed how many different computing devices this year are sold. The figure is 2324 billion. Of this, there are 193 million PCs and 1,9 billion mobile phones.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7477&via=n&datum=2018-01-30_15:32:36&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
Saheli Roy Choudhury / CNBC:
Samsung posts record Q4 profit of $14.15B driven by chip sales, while its mobile business saw a 3.2% YoY profit decline to $2.25B
Samsung announces stock split, posts record fourth-quarter profit
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/30/samsung-earnings-semiconductor-business-outperformed-in-q4.html
Samsung Electronics recorded an operating profit of about $14.15 billion for the December quarter — in line with guidance.
The firm’s semiconductor division drove the fourth-quarter earnings on the back of strong demand for its memory chips.
Samsung’s mobile business saw a 3.2 percent on-year decline in operating profits.
The tech giant also announced a 50:1 stock split that saw its shares jump more than 8 percent in morning trade.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Memory Chips Continue to Lift Samsung’s Results
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332915
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, which last year became the No. 1 supplier of semiconductors worldwide, posted strong fourth quarter revenue and profit, boosted once again by sales of memory chips.
Samsung said its fourth quarter sales of about $61.4 billion and profit of about $14 billion were driven primarily by its components business, with the bulk of the contribution coming from DRAM and NAND flash memory. Sales of memory chips rose industry-wide throughout 2017 due to pricing gains amid a general shortage.
Samsung’s semiconductor business alone posted profit of about $10.1 billion on sales of roughly $19.6 billion in the fourth quarter, Samsung said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung, Apple Pad Lead in Chip Buying
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332914
Samsung Electronics and Apple were the top two buyers of semiconductors for the seventh consecutive year in 2017, distancing themselves further from the pack.
The two electronics powerhouse spent a combined $81.8 billion on chips last year, representing 19.5 percent of the global total, according to Gartner Inc. The pair has topped the list each year since 2011.
The combined total of $81.8 billion spent on chips by Apple and Samsung represented an increase of more than $20 billion compared with 2016, Gartner noted.
“Samsung Electronics and Apple not only retained their respective No. 1 and No. 2 positions, they also radically increased their share of semiconductor spending through 2017,” said Masatsune Yamaji, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a press statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
European Display Tech Firms Get Funding
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332913
Displays are getting plenty of attention from investors this week in Europe, with two firms announcing funding for developing their next generation technologies: one working on a 3D LED technology based on nanowires, the other at an earlier stage looking at new reflective technology enabling low cost, printable dynamic displays.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Apple Built a Chip Powerhouse to Threaten Qualcomm and Intel
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-apple-custom-chips/
For several years, Apple has been steadily designing more and more of the chips powering its iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches. This creates a better user experience and helps trump rivals. Recently the company got a fresh incentive to go all-in on silicon: revelations that microprocessors with components designed by Intel Corp., Arm Holdings Plc and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. are vulnerable to hacking.
Steve Jobs long believed Apple should own the technologies inside its products rather than rely on mashups of components from other chip makers, including Samsung, Intel and Imagination Technologies. In 2008, the company made a small but significant step in that direction by acquiring boutique chip maker P.A. Semi. Two years later, Jobs unveiled the iPad. The world focused on the tablet’s giant touchscreen, book-reading prowess and creativity apps. But the most ground-breaking technology was hidden away inside: the A4, Apple’s first processor designed in-house.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gartner Says Worldwide Device Shipments Will Increase 2.1 Percent in 2018
By 2021, 9 Percent of Smartphones Sold Will Support 5G
https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3849063
Worldwide shipments of devices — PCs, tablets and mobile phones — totaled 2.28 billion units in 2017, according to Gartner, Inc. Shipments are on course to reach 2.32 billion units in 2018, an increase of 2.1 percent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gartner Says Samsung and Apple Extended Their Lead as Top Global Semiconductor Customers in 2017
https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3848670
Top 10 OEMs to Account for More Than 45 Percent of Global Semiconductor Spending by 2021
Tomi Engdahl says:
AMD’s earnings top estimates as graphics chip demand rises
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amd-results/amds-earnings-top-estimates-as-graphics-chip-demand-rises-idUSKBN1FJ2XF
Chipmaker AMD (AMD.O) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that handily exceeded Wall Street forecasts, as it sold more graphics processors used in data centers and computers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Elec unveils stock split, record profit as chips sizzle
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-results/samsung-elec-unveils-stock-split-record-profit-as-chips-sizzle-idUSKBN1FJ35X
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd announced on Wednesday its first stock split and said it expects demand for semiconductors to remain strong in 2018, as it posted record annual profit driven by a so-called memory chip “super-cycle.”
The firm’s largesse has encouraged investors to hold shares despite concerns that the memory business may be peaking.
“This will not have an impact on the company’s fundamentals, but it will increase supply of the stock and have a positive impact on shares.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
TTI Europe – Wire-to-wire connectors operate in wet, harsh environments (Molex 1730410001)
https://www.electropages.com/2018/01/tti-europe-wire-to-wire-connectors-operate-wet-harsh-environments/?utm_campaign=2018-01-31-Electropages&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=article&utm_content=TTI+Europe+-+Wire-to-wire+connectors+operate+in+wet%2C+harsh+environments
Innovative one-piece Molex ValuSeal Wire-to-Wire Connectors achieve industry-leading cost efficiencies and offer IP65 sealing protection. The connectors can now be sourced from TTI Europe. The connectors are aimed at the consumer, non-automotive transportation and industrial applications.
Applications for the range include industrial robots; food equipment and processing plants; forklift trucks, trailers, buses, RVs and commercial vehicles; disposable medical equipment, patient monitoring equipment; consumer appliances such as washing machines, fridges, HVAC equipment; outdoor lighting and smart metering, among many others.
TTI Europe – Connectors have a sealed, inline solution for automotive IP69K applications (Molex FAKRA SMB)
https://www.electropages.com/2018/01/tti-europe-connectors-sealed-inline-solution-automotive-ip69k-applications/
Molex FAKRA SMB connectors, available now from TTI Europe, are used throughout the automotive industries in the United States and Europe. Their application is key to onboard telematics and RF communication in today’s automobiles.
This series uses an SMB interface with keyed and colour-coded housings for ease of identification.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Taiwan IC packagers to cash in on mining craze in 2018
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20180130PD209.html
Taiwan IC backend service providers including Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) and King Yuan Electronics (KYE), are upbeat about their revenue performances in the first quarter of 2018, bolstered by the strong market demand for midrange to high-end ASIC and GPU chips, especially from China, amid the global cryptocurrency mining fever, according to industry sources.
The sources said that China is now the hottest mining market in the world, with global semiconductor supply chains and graphic card suppliers moving aggressively to strive for more orders from China customers. ASE, which mainly applies the bumping process to its packaging operations, has seen its plants in northern and southern Taiwan busy fulfilling Bitcoin ASICs packaging orders from China designers and suppliers of such ASICs and mining machines.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Columbia Engineers Develop Flexible Lithium Battery for Wearable Electronics
http://engineering.columbia.edu/news/yuan-yang-flexible-lithium-battery
Shaped like a spine, new design enables remarkable flexibility, high energy density, and stable voltage no matter how it is flexed or twisted
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cobalt Could Untangle Chips’ Wiring Problems
https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/materials/cobalt-could-untangle-chips-wiring-problems
Today’s computer chips contain tens of kilometers of copper wiring, built up in 15 or so layers. As the semiconductor industry has shrunk the size of transistors, it has also had to make these interconnects thinner. Today, some wiring layers are so fine that electrical current can actually damage them. And chipmakers are running out of new ways to deal with this problem.
Companies are now eyeing other materials, such as cobalt, ruthenium, even graphene, to replace copper for on-chip wiring. In December at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), in San Francisco, some seemed ready to anoint cobalt as the chosen metal. Intel described adopting the metal in its 10-nanometer chips’ finest interconnects; Intel and GlobalFoundries both presented details about the performance of devices that rely on cobalt as a replacement for other electrical contacts currently made of tungsten.
Tomi Engdahl says:
POET Technologies optical interposer platform for electronic and optical component co-packaging in single MCM unveiled
http://www.lightwaveonline.com/articles/2018/02/poet-technologies-optical-interposer-platform-for-electronic-and-optical-component-co-packaging-in-single-mcm-unveiled.html?cmpid=enl_lightwave_lightwave_enabling_technologies_2018-02-01&pwhid=6b9badc08db25d04d04ee00b499089ffc280910702f8ef99951bdbdad3175f54dcae8b7ad9fa2c1f5697ffa19d05535df56b8dc1e6f75b7b6f6f8c7461ce0b24&eid=289644432&bid=1992131
POET Technologies Inc. (OTCQX:POETF) (TSX-V:PTK) said it has unveiled an optical interposer platform for the co-packaging of electronics and optics in a single multi-chip module (MCM). The optoelectronic device designer, developer, and manufacturer’s optical interposer delivers the capability to run electrical and optical interconnections side-by-side on one interposer chip at a micrometer scale.
POET’s optical interposer represents a crucial component of its combined integrated optical engines. Based on its previously announced Dielectric Waveguide technology, the optical interposer leverages the Dielectric Waveguides capabilities, as well as the manufacturing processes.
According to POET, optics will continue to move closer to the data source, whether a processor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or field programmable gate array (FPGA), as the demand for higher data transfer speeds at greater baud rates and lower power levels grows.
POET’s optical interposer platform facilitates an optoelectronic interconnect fabric to directly interface with the data source, supporting high-speed optical data transfer from within the MCM. POET also expects this technology to make component reduction possible, deliver affordable optical interconnects, and minimize test and assembly steps for reduced manufacturing costs.
POET’s platform is aimed at 100G transceiver applications, and is scalable to 200G and 400G transceiver products. The company says its optical interposer is applicable in high-performance computing, networking, optical transceivers and transponders, and automotive LIDAR systems, and an array of additional high-growth markets. The platform technology can be applied to both GaAs and InP-based optical components.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coreless power design for high magnetic field environments
https://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4460276/Coreless-power-design-for-high-magnetic-field-environments-
In this article, I want to use an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) medical scanner design as a familiar example for what needs to be done in a power supply design architecture to allow it to function properly in a high magnetic field environment.
Until recently, power supplies designed into the MRI environment have had limited functionality depending upon how close they are placed near the MRI unit. The magnetic field that is present typically causes power supply failure. An object made from ferromagnetic material will be pulled into the MRI machine, and become attached to the MRI magnet–not a good thing. A power supply with iron-core based transformers and inductors are candidates for this disastrous situation.
In the past, power supplies were prevented from being drawn into the MRI machine via Velcro strips to keep them attached to the floor or other anchors in the room. In this case, a long, shielded cable is used to connect the power supply to the patient monitor being powered.
The best design is to have the power supply attached to the patient monitoring unit. This would lower the cost of the shielded cable, because it can be much shorter. The mobility of the patient monitor is also increased, because the power supply is not attached to a fixed anchor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Tools & Learning> Products> Product Review
LabVIEW NXG grows features missing in parent version
https://www.edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4460273/LabVIEW-NXG-grows-new-features-missing-in-parent-version
As any parent knows, children often exceed the abilities of their parents at a young age, even though they still lack experience and knowledge about the world. When EDN covered LabVIEW NXG in 2017, it was a toddler at best. That’s why we said wait for version 2.0.
The new version of LabVIEW NXG—officially called version 2.0 though National Instruments is downplaying the number—is now an adolescent. LabVIEW NXG still isn’t fully grown, but it’s getting there. For example, the current version of NXG lacks the parent LabVIEW’s ability to work with FPGAs. But, NXG’s new WebVI feature exceeds its parent’s ability to share data online.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cobalt Could Untangle Chips’ Wiring Problems
Intel and GlobalFoundries are replacing some copper connections with the resilient, conductive metal
https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/materials/cobalt-could-untangle-chips-wiring-problems
Companies are now eyeing other materials, such as cobalt, ruthenium, even graphene, to replace copper for on-chip wiring. In December at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), in San Francisco, some seemed ready to anoint cobalt as the chosen metal. Intel described adopting the metal in its 10-nanometer chips’ finest interconnects; Intel and GlobalFoundries both presented details about the performance of devices that rely on cobalt as a replacement for other electrical contacts currently made of tungsten.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In the future, electrons are replaced by magnones
he physicists at the Kaiserslautern Technical University (TUK) study the structure using specific quasiparticles, that is, magnets instead of electrons. – The information can be carried in the form of an internal angular momentum. These quantum particles are magnones, says Professor Andrii Chuma.
Scientists have shown that magnetic flux is possible in an integrated magneto circuit where the components are only two-dimensionally coupled.
Magnons can carry much more information compared to electrons. In addition, they require less energy and thus produce less waste heat. This makes them interesting, for example, faster and more powerful computers, especially in mobile applications.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7473-tulevaisuuden-piireissa-elektronit-korvataan-magnoneilla
Tomi Engdahl says:
4 Important Trends in Electrical Engineering
http://www.sealevel.com/community/blog/4-important-trends-in-electrical-engineering/
Smart Grids
Large-capacity Batteries
Nanowire Batteries
Wireless Power Transfer
Tomi Engdahl says:
White Paper Download
https://www.aldec.com/en/downloads/private/1086
Simulation-to-Synthesis mismatch issues may cause malfunctions of physical devices. Even for functionally flawless RTL simulations, their physical implementation may contain critical design bugs. RTL Linting is the only way to locate and fix Simulation-to-Synthesis mismatch issues.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Keysight combines simulation, design and testing
The Keysoght Technologies has introduced a new PathWave software platform that, for the first time, combines simulation, design and testing in the same environment.
PathWave is an ambitious project. The goal is to combine the naturally different parts of design-testing data, so that it is available at all stages. This has always been a big challenge for all electronics design.
Often, design, simulation, and testing data are in different formats. Tool and equipment manufacturers consume a lot of time and money to ensure, for example, that the data to be simulated corresponds to the actual one.
PathWave gives your designers an open and scalable platform with flexible and direct access to all the design and testing tools they need.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7482-keysight-yhdisti-simuloinnin-suunnittelun-ja-testaamisen
More:
https://about.keysight.com/en/pathwave.shtml
Introducing PathWave from Keysight. The first design and test software platform created to accelerate your workflow by connecting every step in your product development path – from design and simulation, to prototype and test, to manufacturing -connected and integrated.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The electric field can be measured with a MEMS sensor
Researchers at the Vienna Technical University, together with Danube University Krems, have developed a new kind of sensor to measure the strength of electric fields. It is much smaller in size, simpler in structure, and is also less prone to distortion than comparable devices.
Accurate measurement of electronic fields is important in a number of applications, such as weather forecasts, industrial process management, or the security of people working on a high-voltage network.
The silicon-based sensor currently developed by the research team is based on a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). Its great advantage is that it does not distort the electronic field to be measured. The sensor includes a small trussed spring frame with a pile structure. When the silicon is exposed to an electric field, the piezoelectric forces are subjected to force, causing the spring to fall or expand slightly.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7487-sahkokenttaa-voi-mitata-mems-anturilla
Tomi Engdahl says:
Say Goodbye to Stencils
http://www.electronicdesign.com/embedded-revolution/say-goodbye-stencils?code=UM_NN7RU1&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=15178&utm_medium=email&elq2=8d7dbf3807c04645936b6ef4b9d7a305
Jet paste printing gives PCB designers greater flexibility with less risk. Learn how this new technology can improve the success of your projects.
While stencils have been an acceptable method for dispersing paste on PCBs for many years, recent trends in the electronics industry have required some assembly manufacturers to seek a faster, more reliable solution for their customers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
European tech gets second wind after record-breaking 2017
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-tech/european-tech-gets-second-wind-after-record-breaking-2017-idUSKBN1FL5RD
When German semiconductor maker Infineon slashed its revenue guidance on Wednesday because of a weakening dollar, its shares tumbled to the bottom of the benchmark DAX index.
Tech was by far the strongest sector in global stocks last year.
European tech is more focused on business-to-business areas such as industrial automation, connected home appliances, business management software and self-driving car components.
MULTIPLES HIGHER, STILL BULLISH
A trader at a European bank said he remained positive on STMicro and Infineon despite recent caution around those names. “The peak of the semiconductors cycle is close but it’s not imminent,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solution for Controversy over Chip Prices?
Samsung Electronics, China to Jointly Develop Next-gen Technologies like AI
http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/ict/20442-solution-controversy-over-chip-prices-samsung-electronics-china-jointly-develop-next
Samsung Electronics Co. has decided to cooperate with the Chinese government to develop next-generation technologies including artificial intelligence (AI). With China having been putting pressure on Samsung Electronics due to a rise in the price of memory chips supplied to Chinese smartphone makers, some market watchers say that the partnership can settle a series of conflicts between the two.
Tomi Engdahl says:
With Samsung deal, Qualcomm doubles down on licensing practices
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-qualcomm-samsung/with-samsung-deal-qualcomm-doubles-down-on-licensing-practices-idUSKBN1FL3NL
Qualcomm Inc on Wednesday aimed to show shareholders that its licensing practices still have a future after having come under scrutiny from antitrust regulators around the world as well as from major customer Apple Inc.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Semiconductor wafer prices to rise 20% in 2018, says GlobalWafers chair
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20180202PD200.html
International semiconductor wafer prices, due to tight supply and strong demand, are expected to increase 20% in 2018 from the level at year-end 2017, according Doris Hsu, chairwoman of GlobalWafers.
The 12-inch segment will see the worst shortages, Hsu said. GlobalWafers has received orders occupying all its capacity through 2018 and its 16 plants worldwide will have to run 365 days in the year, she noted, adding it will increase capacity mainly for 12- and 8-inch wafers by about 7% through removing manufacturing bottlenecks in May-July 2018.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chip Heads Gauge Silicon Roadmap
AMD, ARM, Intel review Moore’s law and more
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332925
Whether Moore’s law is dead or alive, the semiconductor roadmap leads to both big challenges and opportunities, according to a panel of technologists from AMD, ARM, and Intel at the DesignCon event here.
“Moore’s law is also a law of finance and a law of ambition. There’s an insatiable demand for advanced process technology, and in my area of AI, people are busting their butts to cram as much stuff in [a chip] as possible.”
From the perspective of rival AMD, time between nodes is stretching out, and both chip and fab costs are rising rapidly. “It has a profound impact on our business … we have to innovate more at every node with both architecture and packaging,” said Joe Macri, a corporate fellow and product chief technology officer at AMD.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This New Technology Can Discretely Vaporize Electronics
https://blog.hackster.io/this-new-technology-can-discretely-vaporize-electronics-804750b4505
When it comes to electronics, we put a great deal of effort into constructing chips and circuits, but very little thought goes into deconstructing them.
there are a number reasons why a self-destruct feature would be useful in the real world, and not just for spies and hackers. And, engineers from Cornell University have developed a mechanism for vaporizing those chips and circuits safely. Their method uses a polycarbonate shell to contain the circuit, along with rubidium and sodium biflouride in tiny cavities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simple, Energy-Efficient Recycling Process for Lithium-Ion Batteries
https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/simple-energyefficient-recycling-process-for-lithiumion-cathodes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your Next Arduino Could Be Flexible
https://blog.hackster.io/your-next-arduino-could-be-flexible-7f7bd78d78f5
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), in partnership with NextFlex, have created the first flexible Arduino-based development board.
They chose to base the prototype on an Arduino because it’s open-source, popular, and well-documented. Their innovation is both in the flexible substrate that the circuit is printed on, as well as the manufacturing processes used to build a circuit on it. While that substrate, and the traces printed on it, are flexible, the actual components appear to be traditional rigid SMDs.