Author page description
October 18
- The Era of AI Chip Customization is Approaching
Semiconductor Industry Observation
➀ The increasing complexity of AI models and the exponential growth of network numbers and types have led to a dilemma for chip manufacturers between fixed function acceleration and programmable accelerators;
➁ The general AI processing methods are not up to standard, and focusing on specific use cases or workloads can achieve greater power saving and better performance in smaller space;
➂ The trend of AI algorithm complexity is increasing, and the number of floating-point operations is increasing, and the trend line is only pointing upwards and to the right.
- Advanced Packaging: What to Focus On?
Semiconductor Industry Observation
➀ The evolution of semiconductor packaging from 1D PCB design to wafer-level 3D hybrid bonding;
➁ The core technologies of 2.5D and 3D packaging, including various interlayer materials;
➂ The advantages and challenges of each technology, such as Si interlayer, organic interlayer, glass interlayer, and Cu-Cu hybrid bonding;
➃ Key market trends like larger interlayer area, panel-level packaging, and glass interlayer adoption;
➄ The importance of HBM hybrid bonding and CPO in enhancing I/O bandwidth and reducing energy consumption;
➅ The significance of advanced packaging in HPC, 5G/6G, and consumer electronics markets.
- The Good Times for Chip Equipment are Over
icbank
➀ The demand for AI chips is booming, but it's not enough for semiconductor manufacturing equipment makers.
➁ ASML, a Dutch equipment manufacturer, reported disappointing financial results with net orders for the third quarter at 2.6 billion euros, below Wall Street expectations.
➂ Analysts still expect global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales to exceed $100 billion this year, but the industry is dominated by a few large investors.
- Nvidia Invests in Optical Chip Company, Boosting Interconnect Bandwidth by 10 Times
Weixin Official Accounts Platform
➀ Nvidia is investing in an optical chip company to increase interconnect bandwidth by 10 times;
➁ Xscape Photonics, a spin-off from Columbia University, is developing optical interconnect solutions;
➂ The company aims to address the bandwidth bottleneck in AI computing by converting electrical signals to optical signals within the same package.
- Japan's Major Companies Compete in Automotive GaN
半导体行业观察
➀ Japanese companies are ramping up mass production of GaN power semiconductor devices for electric vehicles to increase range, although high costs remain a barrier.
➁ GaN is competing with SiC for applications in electric vehicle power semiconductor devices.
➂ GaN has very low power loss, which could reduce the charging time for electric vehicles from 90 minutes to 5 minutes.
➃ Companies like Sumitomo Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical are investing in large diameter substrates to lower production costs.
➄ Toyota Synchro Corporation is working on integrated development from seeds to substrates and devices.
➅ Shin-Etsu Chemical is developing 300mm substrates for horizontal devices and 200mm substrates for vertical devices.
➆ GaN devices have a market size of over $2.3 billion in 2030, expected to grow from $220 million in 2023.
- Another DPU Released by Chip Company Invested by Intel and AMD
半导体行业观察
➀ Xsight Labs, a chip company invested by Intel and AMD, announced the release of its E1 SoC, the first in its SDN DPU product line, designed for ultra-large-scale, edge, and AI data center networks.
➁ The E1 SoC is built on TSMC's advanced 5nm process technology, offering unprecedented efficiency and computing power.
➂ E1 is designed to meet the growing demand for fast-growing data center infrastructure and advanced applications, especially in AI and compute-intensive environments.
- 36 Semiconductor Companies Announce Mergers and Reorganization!
集微网
➀ The 'Six Principles of Mergers and Acquisitions' policy has exceeded expectations, significantly stimulating the merger enthusiasm of listed companies.
➁ The integration of the industrial chain has become the main theme of many listed companies' merger and reorganization.
➂ The active market of mergers and reorganization is closely related to the continuous efforts of supporting policies.
- Big Models Enter the 'Inference Scaling' Era: How SambaNova Challenges NVIDIA's Dominance
机器之心
➀ OpenAI's o1 has revolutionized the AI field with its general reasoning capabilities;
➁ The shift from 'training scaling' to 'inference scaling' has prompted a rethinking of resource allocation and hardware choices;
➂ SambaNova's RDU offers a superior alternative to GPUs for big model inference with its dynamic dataflow architecture;
➃ SambaNova's SN40L provides performance advantages over GPUs with its high HBM utilization and operator fusion capabilities;
➄ The dataflow architecture is gaining popularity in the AI chip industry as it supports parallel processing and improves performance;
➅ SambaNova's RDU is a strong competitor to NVIDIA's GPUs, offering faster inference speeds and lower infrastructure costs for large language models.
- Nokia Announces Near 2,000 Layoffs in China Amid Sales Slump
ZhiDongXi (智东西)
➀ Nokia is laying off nearly 2,000 employees in Greater China, accounting for about 20% of its workforce in the region, and plans to cut another 350 jobs in Europe to reduce costs.
➁ The company's sales in China have been declining in recent years as domestic communication manufacturers have grown, leading to a reduction in contract numbers with major Chinese operators.
➂ Nokia's CEO Pekka Lundmark said the company would not cut costs at the expense of research and development output and was pleased with the speed of cost reduction.
- What are L6 and L10 in Server Products?
IT技术分享-老张
➀ L10 represents a fully assembled server ready for customer delivery, including complete system and component-level testing, and often includes operating system/software integration.
➁ L6 is the 'barebone server' level, which includes motherboard, chassis, fans, and power supply but lacks CPU, memory, hard drives, and network components.
➂ L11 is a hard integration involving network and wiring within the server rack, while L12 involves platform software deployment.
- ECOC2024: DFB Research Advances
光芯之路
➀ Surface emitting DFB lasers for short-distance applications, with features like single-mode and easy coupling;
➁ Utilizing PPR effect to increase DML bandwidth to 53GHz for short-distance LAN-WDM applications;
➂ High-power DFB sources using SCOW structure for silicon photonics applications, supporting full-temperature operation;
➃ Narrow linewidth O-band QD DFB laser with improved performance;
➄ Analysis of the performance of DFB lasers in various studies.
- Levin: Semiconductor Market Potential Exceeds Trillion!
Shenzhen Commercial Daily
➀ The 2024 Bay Area Semiconductor Industry Ecosystem Expo in Shenzhen marked an important window into the semiconductor industry's development status, with many industry experts attending and sharing insights.
➁ Reports from several well-known institutions indicate that the semiconductor industry is gradually recovering due to the rapid development and application of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, IoT, intelligent manufacturing, and smart transportation.
➂ Levin, co-founder and president of NIO, believes that the trillion-dollar market outlook is too conservative, as the electric vehicle industry is leading in the application of the latest technology, chips, and materials.
- Comparing GDDR and HBM Memory
架构师技术联盟
➀ GDDR memory is a graphics-specific memory optimized for GPUs with higher bandwidth than DDR memory.
➁ HBM memory is a high-bandwidth memory designed for GPUs with larger memory bus width than GDDR memory.
➂ The choice between GDDR and HBM depends on the specific application scenario and cost considerations.
October 17
- HP Confirms Layoffs!
半导体技术天地
➀ HP Taiwan announced a two-phase layoff starting in October, which is rare as it involves the R&D department, expected to cut 20 to 30 people, including some senior management.
➁ The layoff, a measure to counter revenue decline, aims to optimize the organization and improve operational efficiency.
➂ HP has significantly reduced the involvement of the Taiwan team in procurement decisions and transferred more responsibilities to Singapore, adding multiple positions to strengthen global supply chain flexibility and resilience.
- The Precision Beyond Photolithography: TSMC's Power and Empire
远川研究所
➀ The six core members of TSMC's R&D department were awarded for their achievements in the '0.13 micron copper process' war in 2003;
➁ TSMC's power struggle and the rise and fall of key figures like Liang孟松;
➂ TSMC's talent cultivation system and the internal power structure of the company;
➃ TSMC's influence on Taiwan's economy and its unique 'Zheng Huangqi' recruitment model;
➄ The challenges and opportunities facing TSMC in the global semiconductor industry.
- King of Chips: 3nm Android AI Chip Unveiled: Create Videos Without Internet, Smart Body Helps Order Takeout and Book Hotels
公众号 QbitAI
➀ The Dimensity 9400, with a 3nm process, PC-grade Arm V9 architecture, and the 8th generation NPU, marks the latest achievement in mobile AI chips.
➁ The Dimensity 9400 supports the first-end DiT architecture, enabling video generation without internet connection on smartphones.
➂ The Dimensity 9400 achieves 32K text length for large models, eight times the length of the Dimensity 9300.
➃ The Dimensity 9400 supports running multi-modal large models on the endpoint and surpasses previous SOTA with a speed of 50 Tokens per second.
➄ The Dimensity 9400 leads the Zurich ETHZ mobile SoC AI performance list with a score of 6773, 1.4 times that of the Dimensity 9300.
➅ The Dimensity 9400 adopts TSMC's second-generation 3nm process, with a 35% single-core performance improvement and a 28% multi-core performance improvement over the previous generation, and a 40% reduction in power consumption.
➆ Mediatek has integrated the Dimensity AI Intelligent Agent Engine, which can achieve cross-application operations based on user needs and remember user habits, making the phone smarter and more convenient.
- The 8th International Advanced Lithography Technology Symposium (IWAPS) Concludes Successfully in Jiaxing, Zhejiang
光刻人的世界
➀ The 8th International Advanced Lithography Technology Symposium (IWAPS) concluded successfully in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, with participation from over 600 experts and scholars.
➁ The event was organized by the China Integrated Circuit Innovation Alliance and the Chinese Optical Society, and sponsored by companies like Siemens Electronics, Fujifilm, and Gigaphoton.
➂ The symposium featured technical reports on topics such as computational lithography, DTCO, EUV, and new lithography technologies.
- Major Chip Manufacturer Announces Price Increase!
微信公众号
➀ Rockchip announced a price increase for some chip products starting from October 15, 2024, with a uniform increase of $0.8 (about 5.7 yuan);
➁ The reason for the price increase is due to the rising costs of raw materials and supplier prices, leading to a sharp increase in the cost of the RV1109, RV1126, and RV1126K product lines;
➂ Rockchip is a leading IoT and AIoT processor chip company, focusing on integrated circuit design and development.
- ASML Downgrades Earnings Forecast, Striking Global Semiconductor Stocks
Nikkei Asian Review
➀ ASML, a major semiconductor manufacturing equipment company, has lowered its earnings forecast, impacting global semiconductor stocks.
➁ ASML's revenue from the Chinese market, which accounted for about 50% of its overall revenue, is expected to decline to around 20% next year due to US export controls.
➂ The semiconductor industry is facing weak demand, particularly for AI以外的 products, and concerns about the impact of US export controls are rising.
- Ziguang Guowei: HBM Chip in Sample System Integration Verification Stage
芯榜+
➀ Ziguang Guowei is revising and improving its incentive plan and aims to launch it soon.
➁ The company's special integrated circuit business saw no significant change in orders in the third quarter compared to the first and second quarters.
➂ Its image AI intelligent chip has been developed and is being promoted with user selection, and the HBM chip is in the stage of sample system integration verification.
➃ The company does not have plans to acquire Ziguang Zhanrui's assets and is actively following the development of the AI business, hoping to make a breakthrough through internal or external development.
- Wuxi Industrial Group Invests in SK Hynix Wuxi Company
芯榜+
➀ The Wuxi Industrial Group has become a shareholder of SK Hynix Wuxi Company;
➁ The registered capital of SK Hynix System IC (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. has been increased from 275 million US dollars to 385 million US dollars;
➂ SK Hynix System IC (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. was established in August 2018 and is engaged in the production, sales of integrated circuits, electronic components, and related technical services.
- The World's Smallest Wafer Factory
半导体行业观察
➀ The smallest wafer factory showcased at CEATEC 2024 demonstrates the use of ultra-small semiconductor manufacturing equipment in photolithography processes.
➁ These small wafer factory manufacturing equipment can use home power supplies outside of cleanrooms.
➂ The capital investment for the smallest wafer factory is only about 500 million yen, making it accessible for small and medium-sized enterprises and startups.
➃ The equipment can be manufactured in single pieces, allowing for easy small-batch production of various products.
➄ The minimal wafer factory's manufacturing equipment has the advantage of low power consumption and can use home AC100V power.
➅ The organization behind Minimal Fab aims to revolutionize semiconductor manufacturing with its innovative approach to multi-product, small-batch production.
➆ Minimal Fab's technology has the potential to significantly reduce capital investment and manufacturing cycles, making it suitable for IoT applications.
- AI Unleashes a New Era in EDA, Leading the Semiconductor Industry Revolution
半导体行业观察
➀ The rise of AI is bringing a disruptive transformation to the semiconductor industry, particularly in electronic design automation (EDA) and the entire semiconductor industry.
➁ The increasing demand for smaller, more efficient, and faster technologies in the semiconductor industry is driving the rapid innovation of IC process and packaging technology, leading to an exponential increase in chip design complexity.
➂ AI is gradually penetrating into all aspects of EDA and the semiconductor industry, improving development efficiency and accuracy, and showing great potential in production process automation and quality control.
- NVIDIA TSMC Alliance Shows Cracks
芯东西
➀ The partnership between NVIDIA and TSMC, one of the most profitable in AI chip business, is showing signs of tension due to production issues with NVIDIA's new Blackwell chip.
➁ Issues with the chip, including potential design flaws, were discovered during testing by NVIDIA engineers.
➂ TSMC employees believe that NVIDIA's rushed production requirements contributed to the problems.
➃ NVIDIA's Blackwell chip mass production plan is delayed to the fourth quarter, with additional costs incurred.
- Intel's Sales in China May Face Cybersecurity Review Amid Frequent Vulnerabilities and Backdoors
芯智讯
➀ China's Cybersecurity Association recommended a cybersecurity review of Intel's products sold in China due to frequent vulnerabilities and poor reliability.
➁ Intel's actions in catering to the US government's policies on Xinjiang and China's suppliers are criticized.
➂ The review could impact Intel's revenue in China and benefit domestic CPU manufacturers like Hygon and Zhaoxin.
- ECOC2024: UCSB Quantum Dot Lasers
光芯之路
➀ UCSB is at the forefront of quantum dot laser research, aiming to apply the technology to silicon photonics platforms for high-quality, mass-producible chip-on-chip light sources;
➁ The research involves direct heteroepitaxy of quantum dot lasers on Si using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, achieving room-temperature continuous-wave quantum dot lasers with high quality quantum dots and complete laser structures;
➂ Techniques such as nano V-grooves, thermal cycle annealing, and InGaAs/GaAs strain layer lattices are used to reduce surface defect density and enhance performance.
- Essential Insights into GPU Training and Rendering Technologies
Not provided
➀ The evolution of rendering technology with GPU hardware upgrades from GeForce 256 to RTX with ray tracing;
➁ The perspective of software developers in understanding rendering and the need for a deeper understanding from the GPU architecture angle;
➂ Overview of GPU architecture including global memory, stream multiprocessors (SM), and their components.
October 16
- Huang Renxun Discusses with Arm CEO: Predicts AI Cost Reduction by Half Annually, Reveals Speech Preparation Relying on 'Biting the Bullet'
芯东西
➀ Huang Renxun discusses the importance of finding great talents to build a great company and shares his strategy for hiring at NVIDIA.
➁ He explains the seamless acquisition of Mellanox by NVIDIA and the transformation strategy to become a SoC company.
➂ Huang Renxun predicts the rapid development of AI, with costs reduced by half annually and the speed surpassing Moore's Law.
➃ He emphasizes the importance of architecture compatibility and software investment in the AI industry.
- Glass Substrate Chiplet Advanced Packaging and Multi-Physical Field Simulation
公众号名称或转载出处未提供
➀ Chiplet technology breaks down components from a single system-on-chip (SoC) into multiple small chips (chiplets) with specific functions, and then interconnects them using advanced packaging technology to form a system-in-package (SiP). Advanced packaging technology enhances Chiplet design and performance in terms of interconnect density, signal transmission optimization, thermal performance improvement, reduction of process dependency, and heterogeneous integration, accelerating chip design and application deployment.
➁ With the continuous improvement of chip performance, Chiplet design requires higher signal transmission speed from the substrate. Traditional substrates struggle to meet this demand, but glass substrates offer faster signal transmission rates, lower dielectric losses, and higher interconnect density, providing faster signal transmission channels for Chiplet chips. Additionally, glass substrates have larger packaging sizes and good mechanical stability, allowing for more chiplets in the same area, facilitating large-scale integration of Chiplets and enabling more complex system-in-package designs to meet the performance requirements of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.
➂ On October 18th at 19:30, the 11th 'Xing Xing Chiplet and Advanced Packaging Public Lecture' will feature a talk by Ma Xiaobo, President of Hunan YueMo Research Institute, titled 'Glass Substrate Chiplet Advanced Packaging and Multi-Physical Field Simulation'. Ma will discuss the prospects and industry status of Chiplet advanced packaging technology, share the application advantages of glass substrates in advanced packaging, and focus on multi-physical field simulation for glass substrate Chiplet advanced packaging and the application and future development trends of deep learning in advanced packaging simulation.
- Shenzhen 8-Inch SiC Line to be Operational by Year-End, Planning 720,000 Production Capacity
行家说三代半
➀ Shenzhen's 8-inch SiC line is scheduled to be operational by the end of the year with a planned production capacity of 720,000 units.
➁ Fangda Microelectronics announced the launch of new automotive-grade SiC MOSFETs at the SEMiBAY event, with a production capacity of 170,000 units per year for 6-inch wafers and 720,000 units per year for 8-inch wafers.
➂ The Fab1 of Fangda Microelectronics is producing both SiC and GaN chips and has a current SiC capacity of 9,000 units per month, with an expected increase to 14,000 units per month by the end of 2024.