SEMICON Europa, Europe’s largest event connecting the entire electronics design and manufacturing supply chain – from innovation to applications – opens today in strategic co-location with productronica at Messe München, in Munich, Germany. Themed Semiconductors Drive Smart, SEMICON Europa 2019 – Nov. 12-15 – highlights the vital importance of European sectors and ecosystems in propelling the semiconductor manufacturing industry and the broader electronics design and manufacturing supply chain worldwide.
Silicon Wafer Area Shipments Fall for Fourth Consecutive Quarter
Marking the fourth consecutive quarterly decline, worldwide silicon wafer area shipments totaled 2,932 million square inches in the third quarter of 2019, down 1.7 percent from the 2,983 million square inches shipped in the second quarter of the year and 9.9 percent lower than shipments during the same period in 2018, according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.
NXP Announces New Automotive Ultra-Wideband Chip Capable of Turning Smartphones into Car Keys
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI), the world’s largest provider of automotive semiconductors, today announced an addition to its UWB portfolio with a new automotive UWB IC. UWB provides precise, secure, real-time localization capabilities unrivaled by other wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. The technology is designed to give spatial awareness to UWB-equipped cars, mobiles, and other smart devices, to enable cars to know exactly where the users are. For the first time, smartphone-based car access offers the same level of convenience as state-of-the-art key fobs. Users can open and start cars, while leaving their phones in their pockets or bags, and enjoy secure remote parking via smartphone.
Inphi to Acquire eSilicon, a Leading Provider of 2.5D Packaging, SerDes and Custom Silicon
Inphi Corporation (NYSE: IPHI), a provider of high-speed data movement interconnects, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire eSilicon for $216 million in both cash and the assumption of debt.Inphi has familiarity with the eSilicon team and opportunity through past interactions, investment, and an ongoing board observer seat.
3D Display Technologies: A New Chance to Reach the Market?
As of today many challenges such as the image or display resolution, the number of viewers, the field of view… remain to be solved. When most of these challenges will be overcome, then several waves of adoption could set up, announces Yole in its latest display report, Next Generation 3D Displays. The market research and strategy consulting company investigates the 3D display world and proposes a comprehensive overview and a deep understanding of the today’s technologies and their challenges, Yole’s analysts reveal in this report, the technology status and the related issues. They identify the numerous applications and analyze the ability of the technology to penetrate each market segment.
On the Way to Intelligent Microrobots
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have developed a micromachine that can perform different actions. First nanomagnets in the components of the microrobots are magnetically programmed and then the various movements are controlled by magnetic fields. Such machines, which are only a few tens of micrometres across, could be used, for example, in the human body to perform small operations. The researchers have now published their results in the scientific journal Nature.
2019 Global Semiconductor Alliance Award Nominees Announced
The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) is pleased to announce the 2019 award nominees for the GSA Awards Dinner Celebration. The event features a Master of Ceremonies format hosted by Katie Linendoll, an Emmy Award-winning TV personality, writer, technology expert, global technology consultant, and one of the leading women in the field of technology. The celebration takes place on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif.
ON Semiconductor CEO Keith Jackson Elected Chair of Semiconductor Industry Association
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Board of Directors today elected Keith Jackson, President, CEO, and Director of ON Semiconductor, as its 2020 Chair and Robert Bruggeworth, President, CEO, and Director of Qorvo, as its 2020 Vice Chair. SIA represents U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, with members accounting for approximately 95 percent of U.S. semiconductor sales.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES and SiFive to Deliver Next Level of High Bandwidth Memory on 12LP Platform for AI Applications
GLOBALFOUNDRIES® (GF®) and SiFive, Inc. announced today at GLOBALFOUNDRIES Technology Conference (GTC) in Taiwan that they are working to extend high DRAM performance levels with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2E) on GF’s recently announced 12LP+ FinFET solution, with 2.5D packaging design services to enable fast time-to-market for Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. In order to achieve the capacity and bandwidth for data-intensive AI training applications, system designers are challenged with squeezing more bandwidth into a smaller area while maintaining a reasonable power profile.
Transphorm Ships Over Half a Million GaN Power Devices for Multi-kilowatt Class Applications
Transphorm Inc. — a leader in the design and manufacturing of the highest reliability and first JEDEC- and AEC-Q101 qualified 650 V gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors — disclosed that it has shipped more than 500 thousand high voltage GaN FETs. The company hit this milestone as customers continue to adopt its high quality-high reliability GaN platform. Industry analyst firm IHS Markit Technology, now a part of Informa Tech, forecasts the total GaN power discrete, module, and system IC revenues to reach $1.2 billion by 2028. Approximately $750 million of those revenues (almost two-thirds of the total market) will be driven by high voltage GaN solutions.
