Global Integrated Circuit(IC) Trends – November 2022 Update 0 0 SUMMARY As we move towards a technologically advanced and resource efficient consumption scenario, it has been essential to focus towards integrated circuits which are present in practically all electronic devices. Integrated Circuits are found in everything, from a simple wristwatch to a personal computer. Circuits, even the most basic things like the temperature control in a regular iron or the clock in a microwave, control almost everything. This has significantly altered how we use electronic devices and might possibly be employed in medical applications in the future. To know more about Global Semiconductor Industry Quarterly Update, read our report For instance, research into creating a computer chip that may be inserted into the brain to treat various forms of brain damage has been ongoing since the late 1980s, which could even treat some forms of blindness with this kind of connectivity. The experimental findings that semiconductor devices could perform vacuum tube functions and mid-twentieth-century technological advancements are visible across eUICC (Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card) standards, which allow users to now load new carrier profiles digitally, over the air, eliminating the need to physically swap SIM cards, are the two factors that made integrated circuits possible. RECENT PRODUCT LAUNCHES Modern electronics rely heavily on integrated circuits (ICs). The microprocessors that run everything from computers to cellular phones to digital microwave ovens are among the most sophisticated integrated circuits. Another family of integrated circuits that is essential to the current information society is the digital memory chip family. Following are the few key product launches of sensors in the global market across sectors: S. No. Company Product Product launch timeline Remarks 1 Monolithic Power Systems MP2651 Buck-Boost IC Developed and Launched : 2022 These have been created for battery packs that had one to four series-connected cells. For charging the battery, the MP2651 provides a broad 4V to 22V input voltage (VIN) range. 2 ABLIC S-82Y1B Battery Protection IC Developed and Launched : 2022 These safety integrated circuits (ICs) for rechargeable lithium-ion/lithium-polymer batteries provide high-accuracy voltage detecting circuits. 3 SMARTsemi DDR3 Memory IC Developed and Launched : 2022 The double data rate architecture used by the ICs allows for high-speed operation. 4 TDK TMR front-end IC Developed : 2022 and to be Launched in early 2022 The ASA 2310 is intended to interface with the TAS family’s high-precision analogue TMR sensors. 5 Littelfuse LS0504EVT233 Developed : 2022 and to be Launched in early 2022 The eFuse Protection integrated circuits are mostly for wearable technology, charging cables, battery devices, data transmission power generation, fan power controls, and data storage drives. They provide power input ranging from 3.3 to 28 volts. RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS IN INTEGRATED CIRCUITS INDUSTRY Even if the expense of designing and creating a complex integrated circuit is relatively costly, the cost of each IC is reduced when dispersed across millions of production units considering the compact size and short traces made possible by this, low power logic (like CMOS) can be used at high switching rates with great switching performance. Over the years, ICs have steadily migrated to decreasing feature sizes, enabling more circuitry to be crammed onto each chip. It is possible to reduce costs and/or improve functionality by taking use of the greater capacity per unit area. The current application of Moore’s law claims that an integrated circuit’s transistor count doubles every two years. To know more about Global Semiconductor Industry Quarterly Update, read our report There is considerable competition among manufacturers to employ finer geometries since these performance and power consumption savings are readily visible to the end user. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors provides a clear description of this process and the anticipated advancement over the following few years (ITRS). The ULSI was proposed for chips with a complexity more than 1 million transistors to represent the continued rise of complexity. MEMS are microscopic machines made using the methods developed by the integrated circuits industry over the past three decades. There are numerous commercial and military uses for these gadgets. DLP projectors, inkjet printers, and accelerometers used to deploy airbags in automobiles are a few examples of commercial applications. NOTABLE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS DEVELOPMENT TRENDS BY INDUSTRY Automotive Integrated Circuit(IC) Trends Thousands of ICs power the thousands of automated or fully electric cars (EVs) that are currently on the road (AV). There are around 1,400 ICs in these cars, hundreds of which are devoted to the battery, radio, infotainment, ignition, and engine control subsystems. In order to increase performance, fuel efficiency, comfort, and overall safety, modern automobiles come with embedded CPUs, parts, and modules. The features of new components can be enhanced or added. Infotainment is still a key differentiator in the automotive industry. However, as those systems are used more and more for safety, either as a failover for other components or as part of an alert system, they are being held to the same exacting standards as engine-control electronics which could be seen in the latest STMicroelectronics accelerometer. According to ST, the ASM330LHHX delivers a linked 3-axis module that gives more degrees of freedom than the majority of IMUs on the market. A 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope make up its 6-axis capability. In order to establish the same stability for each sensor and the noise mitigation in automotive systems, ST is utilising its MEMS capabilities. Consumer electronics Integrated Circuit(IC) Trends A significant contribution to the advancement of integrated circuit technology has come from consumer electronics. In contrast, the integrated circuit has enabled low-cost, extremely complicated goods that we as families or consumers have come to rely on for convenience and enjoyment. Economic considerations for integrated circuit production favour volume applications, and the possibility of “one per human being” offered by consumer goods can be a significant motivator. Consumer applications must meet certain performance criteria, such as low cost, low power, battery operation, non-volatile memory, high-frequency amplification and scanning, lightweight design, pleasing appearance, and easy input/output. The amount of data will explode as we steadily move towards the Internet of Things (IoT). The need for portable, high-performance data processing equipment will rise along with it. The National Institute of Material Sciences’ most recent study has resulted in the development of an organic anti-ambipolar transistor that can carry out any one of the five logic gate operations by varying the input voltages to its dual gates. Medical Devices Integrated Circuit(IC) Trends Nowadays, almost all of the major chip makers have some sort of presence in the healthcare sector, and many are beginning to look beyond wearables like the Apple Watch to products that can be trusted for accuracy and dependability. Prior to now, design activity was constrained by the historically low chip volumes for medical devices. However, as additional firms offering design services enter the market, they are able to offer economies of scale across numerous vendors. However, there are also an increasing number of engineering service companies that focus on medical applications. They work with a range of businesses, some of whom have never before designed a medical device, designing chips and systems for small to major medical device OEMs. This advancement can be seen in the MCCI’s innovative multi-function programmable electronic chip created to allow patients to have heart pacemakers that are more compact, effective, and practical. The Nano-watt power biomedical Integrated Circuit (IC) supports pacemaker and neuro-stimulation therapy applications and includes power management, a flexible microprocessor interface, and therapy monitoring. Aerospace and Defence Integrated Circuit(IC) Trends The original integrated circuits were very expensive, replaced just a small number of discrete transistors, and operated at a relatively modest speed. Only a few applications, such military and aerospace systems, found that the advantages of low power consumption and tiny size outweighed these disadvantages. Integrated photonics technologies are being widely used in fibre communication networks due to their expanding potential. In fact, the current state of photonics and electronics opens up new possibilities for enhancing critical services like security, environmental sensing, and the availability and dependability of the internet, which is evidently seen in the BAE system’s 45-nanometre technology now in use, the new 12-nanometre technology employs a reduced feature size and offers advancements in space-based computing. Industrial Machineries and IT Integrated Circuit(IC) Trends The Industrial integrated circuit (IC) design is a difficult undertaking that frequently goes unnoticed by academic IC designers in today’s cutting-edge technologies. Time-to-market, design reuse, design for test (DFT), design for manufacturing (DFM), yield, project negotiation, and management of intellectual property are all very important issues. The capacity of integrated circuit (IC) manufacturers to keep providing more performance and functionality for the money has been a key factor in the success and widespread adoption of ICs. In order to reduce the price of ICs, an increasing set of technologies and wafer-fab production practices are required, such as standard CMOS methods. This industrial expansion of technologies can be noticed in the recently developed ASA 2310 is designed to interface the high-precision analogue TMR sensors of the TAS family. The sensors, powered and monitored by the ASA 2310, are detecting magnetic-field direction in x-y plane, and providing a SIN/COS analogue voltage output, which is used as input for the ASA 2310. NOTABLE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS DEVELOPMENT TRENDS BY TYPE Digital IC (Integrated Circuit) Trends The great majority of digital devices, including computers, employ these types of ICs, making digital ICs the more prevalent type. The transistors used in digital integrated circuits (ICs) are switches rather than amplifiers. The most common families of technologies used to create integrated circuits are complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and transistor-transistor logic (TTL) (CMOS). Bipolar transistors are used in TTL technology, while MOS field-effect transistors are the foundation of CMOS technology. This technological integration could be seen in the latest AEC-Q101 qualified 750V SiC MOSFET line is aimed at the high-reliability needs in electric vehicle (EV) systems such as the on-board charger (OBC) and the main traction inverter, while the 650V SiC MOSFETs are ideal switching solutions for industrial applications Power (Integrated Circuit) Trends With increasing modern techniques for manufacturing, the capacitive sensors reap the benefits of many of the fundamentals used throughout semiconductor technology to produce sensors with little long-term drift and hysteresis. Capacitive relative humidity (RH) sensors are widely used in many industrial, commercial, and weather telemetry applications. Monolithic signal conditioning circuitry built onto the substrate is possible in thin film capacitive sensors. This trend can be seen in the most recently launched and adopted at the highest level of dependability and built-in resistance to pollutants and hard environments that can tolerate potential moisture-related damage and respond appropriately to evolving water vapour conditions throughout time within the industrial systems. Analog (Integrated Circuit) Trends Wide-bandgap semiconductor IC technologies like gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) are anticipated to expand quickly, providing designers with more performance in a more compact package and increasing the difficulty of design choices. GaN and SiC power ICs have characteristics that set them apart from conventional silicon-based devices like diodes, transistors, and field-effect transistors (FETs), including higher operating voltages, higher operating frequencies (faster switching times), higher temperature tolerances, and lower power dissipation. With increasing technological capabilities, there has been a noticed inability of silicon to withstand greater working voltages, temperatures, and frequency limits silicon-based power IC technology. This advancement towards gap closure can be seen in the latest ROHM based Load transient response properties of switching regulators and LDOs in DC/DC converter ICs for high quality power supply ICs that deliver excellent response performance and the capability to provide stable operation are required. Mixed Signal (Integrated Circuit) Trends Analog and digital circuits are used in conjunction in the majority of systems on chips. Although they may be called mixed signals when combined, the field of mixed signal engineering requires knowledge of both realms and expertise in their efficient integration. Typically, a physical layer (PHY), an analogue-to-digital or digital-to-analogue controller, and an analogue design are combined in this process. Although this is a great approach to optimise a design for power and performance, convincing engineers to embrace both disciplines has always been difficult. The majority of EDA businesses have determined that their efforts would be better spent trying to provide some form of translation or bridge between analogue and digital designers rather than waiting for this to become easier because it has proven to be so challenging over the last few decades. This advancement towards multiple technological integrations could be seen across the SkyWater’s 130 nm technology has been dependable focusing on IoT and edge computing work well with the automotive-grade, extended temperature, mixed-signal CMOS technology. The information has been sourced from our report titled “Global Semiconductor Industry Quarterly Update”. Download free sample to know more
