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October 28
- IBM's New Chip Outperforms GPUs
半导体行业观察
➀ IBM's researchers are inspired by the human brain to develop neuromorphic computing, aiming to mimic the brain's efficiency in processing vast amounts of data required for tasks like AI.
➁ The concept of neuromorphic computing involves designing a computing system that reflects the efficiency of the human brain, which consumes very little power and solves tasks effectively even with ambiguous or undefined data.
➂ IBM's NorthPole chip, an example of neuromorphic architecture, integrates memory and computation on the same chip to overcome the von Neumann bottleneck and reduce energy consumption.
➃ IBM's research teams are working on materials and algorithms to improve the performance and efficiency of neuromorphic chips, with the goal of creating more powerful and energy-efficient AI accelerators.
- TSMC Distributes 200,000 New Taiwan Dollars in Bonuses to Employees
Not provided
➀ TSMC announced a special bonus of 20,000 New Taiwan Dollars for each of its grassroots employees, totaling about 1.2 billion New Taiwan Dollars for approximately 60,000 employees;
➁ Chairman and CEO of TSMC, Wei Zhejia, shared the news during the company's sports meeting, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and the spirit of perseverance;
➂ TSMC has achieved several milestones this year, including the progress of the 2-nanometer process and the launch of the A16 process, and continues to expand its technical leadership position globally;
➃ TSMC has also been expanding its talent acquisition efforts and has recently increased its workforce to about 67,000 employees in Taiwan, with an average bonus of 1.4952 million New Taiwan Dollars per employee;
➄ The TSMC board approved the issuance of restricted stock units for key talent to attract and retain high-level management and critical talent.
- ECOC2024: Silicon MZM Innovations
Unknown
➀ Enhanced bandwidth for Silicon MZM by asymmetrically doped TID with increased loss;
➁ High-speed Silicon modulator with frequency-domain equalizer for increased bandwidth, larger size, and no increase in modulation efficiency;
➂ Micro-ring modulator based on MZM with increased bandwidth and halved Vpi, but with working wavelength issues;
➃ Double-segment traveling-wave MZM modulator for reduced design complexity and increased bandwidth up to 170-GBaud.
- GPU Virtualization: A Detailed Explanation of Common Techniques
Unknown
➀ The need for GPU virtualization in resource sharing and isolation;
➁ Different types of virtualization at the user level, including local API interception and API forwarding, and remote API forwarding;
➂ The process of half-virtual API forwarding and its comparison with remote API forwarding;
➃ Kernel layer virtualization and its application in container and virtual machine scenarios;
➄ GPU hardware virtualization techniques, including NVIDIA vGPU, NVIDIA MIG, and AMD MxGPU;
➅ Comparison of GPU virtualization technologies.
October 27
- International First! This Chip Achieves Mass Production
科技日报
➀ The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced that the internationally first X/γ nuclear radiation dose detection chip developed by its Institute of Nuclear Safety and Environmental Engineering Technology has achieved mass production.
➁ The chip has a range of 100nSv/h to 10mSv/h for X/γ ray dose rate and can detect energy ranging from 50keV to 2MeV. It has a size of 15mm×15mm×3mm and can operate within a temperature range of -20℃ to 50℃ with a low power consumption of 1mW.
➂ The chip has a wide application prospect and can be easily integrated into various intelligent equipment such as smartphones, tablets, smart helmets, and drones, making it suitable for radiation detection in nuclear fields and other radiation dose monitoring scenarios.
- Tech Company SOPHGO's Supply Chain Stopped by TSMC Amidst US Investigation
芯智讯
➀ TSMC stopped supplying chips to SOPHGO, a Chinese tech company, amidst an investigation by the US商务部;
➁ SOPHGO released a statement denying the reports and providing evidence of its innocence;
➂ SOPHGO is a RISC-V and TPU processor developer with a strong R&D team and ties to Bitmain.
- An Analysis of Intel Xeon 6's E\P Core and AP\SP Platform Product Logic
IT技术分享-老张
➀ The E-core and P-core of Intel Xeon 6 are designed to better meet diverse business needs, with E-core focusing on light loads and P-core on high-performance loads.
➁ The AP and SP platforms are designed to match different slot sizes for different series of CPUs, with the 6700 series using LGA4710 and the 6900 series using LGA7529.
➂ Key points about Intel Xeon 6 include the distinction between AP and SP platforms and P and E cores, as well as the differences in product specifications between the 6700 and 6900 series.
- Tesla Plans to Spend $1 Billion on SSDs, Solidigm's Large Capacity Disks in High Demand
微信公众号
➀ Tesla is in talks with SK Hynix for a $725 million enterprise SSD order;
➁ SSDs are seen as core components for AI chips, holding significant importance in the AI field;
➂ Solidigm, a subsidiary of SK Hynix, has developed a 61TB enterprise SSD that is in high demand and experiencing supply shortages;
➃ Musk's cost control experience is evident in his approach to purchasing enterprise SSDs for Tesla's AI supercomputing system;
➄ The global enterprise SSD market is expected to reach $20 billion by 2027, with a significant demand for AI storage chips.
- The Challenges Faced by Chinese Companies in Mexico: A Reality Check
Unknown
➀ The article discusses the challenges faced by Chinese companies in Mexico, including high costs, bureaucratic hurdles, and corruption.
➁ The author highlights the issue of government involvement,中介 involvement, and the high cost of labor.
➂ The article also touches upon the economic and political relationship between Mexico and the United States, and how it affects Mexican businesses.
October 26
- A1chip Debunks 'Huawei White Glove' Rumor
芯智讯
➀ A1chip has issued a clarification stating that the rumors about 'Huawei white gloves being A1chip' false;
➁ A1chip emphasizes that there is no direct or indirect business relationship between the company and Huawei;
➂ A1chip is a semiconductor company listed in Taiwan, but its main business is in mainland China, with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Wuxi, Hefei, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Jinan;
➃ A1chip's main business is chip backend design, helping chip design companies integrate IPs, design processes, chip layouts, and DFT for physical design;
➄ A1chip's clients include cloud service providers like Baidu, Google, and Amazon, chip design companies like Intel and MediaTek, and system integrators like Sony, Tesla, and Xiaomi.
- Sony Leads Image Sensor Market Share, China's Influence on Future Trends
Nikkei Asian Review
➀ Sony holds over 52.5% of the market share in CMOS image sensors for smartphone cameras, widening the gap with Samsung to 37 percentage points.
➁ The global shipment of image sensors in 2023 was $18.589 billion, a 1.4% decrease from 2022.
➂ China's encouragement for domestic image sensors could impact future market share changes.
October 25
- EUV Masking Column - The Game Changer of Multi-Beam Lithography
Unknown
➀ The 11th Luminaries survey report by eBeam Initiative indicates a strong purchase prediction for multi-beam mask writers, promoting the growth of EUV and step-and-repeat lithography masks.
➁ Experts discussed the challenges faced in the adoption of step-and-repeat lithography masks at an event held concurrently with the SPIE Mask Technology Conference.
➂ The survey involved industry leaders from 44 companies in the semiconductor ecosystem, with Aki Fujimura, CEO of D2S, Inc., and Naoya Hayashi, DNP Honorary Researcher, leading the discussion on the survey results.
- Just Launched: XinQing's 7nm Chip!
芯榜+
➀ XinQing Technology, a leading domestic intelligent cockpit chip manufacturer, has made a significant breakthrough in the field of autonomous driving with the launch of the full-scenario high-level autonomous driving chip 'Xingchen No. 1' (AD1000);
➁ The 'Xingchen No. 1' chip has achieved all performance design goals ahead of schedule and will be mass-produced in 2025 and widely used in 2026;
➂ The chip uses a 7nm automotive-grade process, meets AEC-Q100 standards, and has a multi-core heterogeneous architecture that enhances the computing power of intelligent driving.
- TSMC Announces Price Increase Again! Up to $30,000
Weixin Official Accounts Platform
➀ TSMC has released 2025 foundry quotes to reduce the impact of high operating costs and 2nm deployment costs;
➁ The price increase for 5nm, 4nm, and 3nm process technology is higher than previously expected, with a maximum increase of 10%;
➂ The price increase for 2nm is even higher than expected, possibly exceeding $30,000;
➃ TSMC's advanced process prices are rising, indicating increasing development costs;
➄ The cost of developing advanced process technology has seen exponential growth;
➅ The development of advanced process technology is a long and resource-intensive process, often requiring 7 to 10 years.
- Xin Yisheng's Third Quarter Net Profit Up 453.07% in 2024
Xin Yisheng Official WeChat Account
➀ Xin Yisheng reported a revenue of 2.403 billion yuan in the third quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 207.12%; net profit of 781 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 453.07%.
➁ The company's cumulative revenue for the first three quarters reached 5.13 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 145.82%, with a net profit of 1.646 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 283.2%.
➂ Xin Yisheng showcased 100G to 800G/1.6T series high-speed optical modules at CIOE, designed for data center and AI/ML cluster internal interconnection needs.
- How Does NVIDIA Make Money?
Semiconductor Industry Observation
➀ NVIDIA's total revenue in 2023 was $60.922 billion, with a gross margin of 72.7% and a 98% market share in the data center GPU market. As of October 6, 2024, NVIDIA's market value reached $3.064 trillion, ranking third globally.
➁ NVIDIA's success is driven by three dimensions: product depth, product breadth, and sales channels. The company continuously expands its product range, integrates new technologies, and optimizes its product offerings.
➂ NVIDIA has transformed from a PC graphics chip company to a provider of complete solutions for key vertical fields, focusing on the 'GPU+DPU+CPU' strategy and data center products.
- ECOC2024: Huawei's Application of APD in Lidar
Unknown
➀ Commercial APDs typically consist of InGaAs/InAlAs and InGaAs/InP, but they have high noise factors and require high-power lasers for long-range detection.
➁ Huawei has developed an APD structure with a 1.5μm InGaAs absorption layer and a 0.55μm Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 layer on InP, achieving a 200 μm radius photosensitive area with an anti-reflection coating.
➂ AlGaAsSb APD demonstrates higher gain (127) and lower noise factor (4.0) compared to InP APD.
➃ AlGaAsSb APD has a sensitivity advantage of over 5dB at temperatures below 20°C and maintains a 2dB advantage at 105°C.
➄ In a laser radar system, AlGaAsSb APD provides four times the signal of InP APD, reducing the required laser power by 66%.
➅ AlGaAsSb APD passed reliability tests with a breakdown voltage decrease less than 1V and dark current increase less than 30% after 2000 hours of aging.
October 24
- First Industry-Level RISC-V Computing Power Ecosystem for Large-Scale Models Debuts
Semiconductor Industry Observation
1. China emphasizes digital and intelligent development, focusing on digital economy growth and integration of the internet, big data, AI, and real economy.
2. SimCom Computer Technology Co., Ltd. (SimCom) is a company dedicated to RISC-V-based AI processors, providing a comprehensive solution for digital transformation.
3. SimCom's products include Jiuzhou large model, Xuan Shu data governance platform, and Qingtian intelligent agent development platform, creating an efficient data processing ecosystem.
4. SimCom's RISC-V-based solutions aim to address the AI computing power anxiety and provide a stable and secure computing environment.
- EDA Giants Compete for Altair Acquisition?
半导体行业观察
➀ PTC and Cadence are rumored to be interested in acquiring software company Altair Engineering.
➁ Siemens is in negotiations to potentially acquire Altair Engineering, which could be the German giant's largest merger ever.
➂ Altair Engineering is a U.S.-based company specializing in simulation, IoT, HPC, data analysis, and AI, providing software and cloud solutions.
➃ Altair's products and services are utilized in various industries for innovation and smart decision-making.
➄ Altair's financial performance has been impressive with a 27% stock increase this year and a market value of $9.1 billion.
➅ Altair's product portfolio includes design phase solutions, HyperWorks solutions, electromagnetic and electronic solutions, and data analytics and machine learning.
➆ Altair has been actively investing in the EDA field, acquiring several companies in recent years.
➇ The acquisition of Altair by EDA giants could disrupt the semiconductor and EDA markets.
- NVIDIA & AMD GPU Virtualization: Technical Analysis
架构师技术联盟
➀ GPU virtualization splits a physical GPU into multiple virtual CPUs for different virtual machines to use.
➁ NVIDIA's vGPU solution involves hardware support, virtualization layers, and VM drivers to enable GPU virtualization.
➂ AMD's MxGPU offers hardware-level GPU virtualization, allowing for better performance isolation and resource allocation.
- ECOC2024: Nokia Bell Labs on 100G or 200G PONs
Unknown
➀ Nokia Bell Labs discusses the current status, path, and challenges of achieving and standardizing 100G or 200G-PONs, focusing on technical choices between IM-DD or coherent solutions.
➁ The next generation of PONs should continue to use the existing mass market ecosystem, using TDM to increase line rates 2-4 times, and continue to use IM-DD and NRZ PAM2.
➂ The key indicators of 100GPON TRx are expected, including key performance parameters such as transmitter optical bandwidth, extinction ratio, and receiver technology.
October 23
- Semiconductor Foundry Suffers 1.2 Billion New Taiwan Dollar Loss!
Unknown
➀ Largan Precision reported a net loss of NT$2.88 billion (US$80.9 million) in the third quarter of 2024;
➁ The company's revenue for the first three quarters of 2024 reached NT$33.594 billion, with an EPS loss of NT$1.27;
➂ Largan Precision's capital expenditures for the year are expected to be between US$855 million and US$905 million, mainly for the capital investment of the P5 factory.
- Texas Instruments Achieves Over 4.1 Billion USD in Revenue Growth in China Market Continues to Expand
满天芯
➀ Texas Instruments' third-quarter revenue exceeded analyst expectations, with the company's revenue reaching 4.15 billion USD, up 9% from the previous quarter.
➁ The company's net profit was 1.36 billion USD, and the EPS was 1.47 USD.
➂ Despite the softness in the industrial market, other terminal markets such as smartphones and PCs have shown signs of recovery, driving the sales performance of TI's semiconductor products for power electronic devices.
- Arm Cancels Licensing Agreement with Qualcomm Amid Patent Dispute
Xin Dong Shi
➀ Arm has given Qualcomm a 60-day notice to terminate their architecture licensing agreement, potentially leaving Qualcomm unable to use Arm's instruction set for chip design.
➁ The termination is related to a lawsuit between the two companies since 2022, involving Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia and Arm's claims of contract breach and trademark infringement.
➂ Qualcomm, which relies on Arm's instruction set, may face significant disruptions if the licensing agreement is not renewed, as they would not be able to use Arm's instruction set for their own designs.
- China's Photoresist: How Far Behind Japan?
Zhengjieju (正解局)
➀ Photoresist is a critical material for chip manufacturing, with Chinese companies making significant progress in breaking international monopolies.
➁ The article explains the working principle of photoresist and its applications in various industries.
➂ It highlights the progress made by Chinese companies in the field of photoresist, including the success of some domestic companies in developing and producing various types of photoresist.
➃ However, it emphasizes the significant gap between Chinese and Japanese photoresist technologies, particularly in the high-end and advanced markets.
➄ The article discusses the reasons behind the strength of Japanese photoresist companies and suggests that Chinese companies need to focus on research and development, industrialization, and building an industry ecosystem to catch up.
- ECOC2024: Huawei's 50G PON
微信公众号
➀ The article discusses the use of analog equalizer ICs in 50G PON systems, comparing them to traditional DSPs, and highlights their potential power, cost, and size advantages.
➁ Huawei and Orange have evaluated the performance of a new analog equalizer IC for 50G-PON applications, achieving a 33dB link budget.
➂ The article also covers the implementation of a 50G-PON downstream (DS) link analog ONU Rx side equalizer ASP-IC and a 25G burst mode (BM) upstream (US) Tx driver.
- Qualcomm Auto Chips Take Off! AI Performance Boosts 12 Times, Ideal Mercedes-Benz on Board
芯东西
➀ Qualcomm unveiled two new automotive chip products: the Snapdragon Cabin Ultimate Platform and the Snapdragon Ride Ultimate Platform.
➁ The Snapdragon Cabin Ultimate Platform supports multiple applications to run simultaneously without performance loss or delay.
➂ The Snapdragon Ride Ultimate Platform supports over 40 sensors and offers a high-quality sensor data processing capability.
October 22
- Single Crystal Silicon Substrate Crystal Directions: How to Choose?
Unknown
➀ Single crystal silicon has a diamond-like crystal structure with a face-centered cubic cell structure, where the smallest unit is a regular tetrahedron made of five atoms.
➁ The distribution of atoms on different crystal faces of silicon crystals is different due to the microstructure anisotropy.
➂ The (111) crystal face has the highest silicon atom density, and one silicon atom on the (111) crystal face forms three covalent bonds with three silicon atoms on the next surface.
➃ The (100) crystal face has the next highest silicon atom density, and one silicon atom on the (100) crystal face forms two covalent bonds with two silicon atoms on the next surface.
➄ The (110) crystal face has the lowest atom density, and one silicon atom on the (110) crystal face forms one covalent bond with one silicon atom on the next surface and two covalent bonds with surface atoms.
➅ (100) crystal direction silicon is commonly used in MEMS processing for V-slot formation.
➆ (110) crystal direction silicon is used for making MEMS optical switches and achieving high aspect ratio etching slots.
➇ (111) crystal direction silicon allows for selective lateral corrosion for the release of movable structures.
- Understanding Full-Mask in Wafer and Chip Production Stages
Unknown
➀ Full-mask is a key concept in integrated circuit manufacturing, involving the use of masks in semiconductor manufacturing processes.
➁ Masks are optical tools used in photolithography for patterning the surface of silicon wafers.
➂ Full-mask covers the entire wafer during exposure and is used for mass production, offering efficiency and precision but at a higher cost.
- New 200,000 Pieces/Year SiC Production Capacity Added, Project Completed
行家说-许若冰
➀ Shuoke Crystal's SiC Phase II project has been completed;
➁ Additional 200,000 pieces/year of SiC production capacity added;
➂ Project located in Shanxi Transformation Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Area, with phase I completed in May 2024;
➃ Total investment of 520 million yuan for the expansion;
➄ To produce 200,000 pieces/year of N-type SiC substrate and 25,000 pieces/year of high-purity substrate after completion.