Semiconductor market news(Oct. 16 to Oct. 22)

New Roadmap Identifies Critical Semiconductor Research Priorities

Advancing semiconductor research is essential to continued innovation in the chip industry and throughout our economy. As ever-shrinking semiconductor components face fundamental physical limits, next-gen breakthroughs are unachievable without major advancements. To help address this challenge, Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) today unveiled the?Microelectronics ?and Advanced??Packaging (MAPT) Roadmap, which defines critical chip research priorities and technology challenges that must be addressed to support the “seismic shifts” outlined in the?Decadal Plan for Semiconductors?released by SRC and SIA in January 2021.

The Decadal Plan identified five seismic shifts in the industry related to smart sensing, memory and storage, communication, security, and energy efficient computing. The MAPT Roadmap continues the spirit of the Decadal Plan and discusses how to achieve its system-level goals, outlining the implementation plan for the semiconductor industry. The fundamental research that will transform these obstacles is focused on advanced packaging, 3D integration, electronic design automation, nanoscale manufacturing, new materials, and energy-efficient computing. The MAPT Roadmap is framed around fundamental and practical limits of information and communications technology sustainability: energy sustainability, environmental sustainability, and workforce sustainability.

Federal government and private sector investments in semiconductor R&D have propelled the rapid pace of innovation in the U.S. semiconductor industry, spurring tremendous growth throughout the U.S. and global economies. Using the MAPT Roadmap as a guide, we must sustain and expand public and private investments in chip research to help unlock the transformative technologies of the future

3D NAND Can’t Change the Laws of Physics

With Optane mothballed and emerging memories still emerging, the gap between 3D NAND flash and DRAM persists. New architectures enabled by Compute Express Link (CXL) may negate the need to fill it, but can flash be optimized to make the gap smaller?

There’s only so much that can be done with the NAND flash itself, while interfaces like Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) and the solid-state drive (SSD) that the flash is enclosed in can help to get more performance and efficiencies that might allow NAND to make gains.

Kioxia is one company that is looking to advance 3D NAND flash so it can gain ground on DRAM.nbsp;The company’s XL-flash is an extremely low-latency, high-performance flash memory based on Kioxia’s BiCS technology, specifically aimed at addressing the performance gap between existing volatile memories and flash memory.

In an exclusive interview with EE Times, Kioxia America executive VP and CMO Scott Nelson said XL-flash falls into the category of storage-class memory or persistent memory. Emerging memories like magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), resistive random-access memory (ReRAM) and phase-change memory (PCM/PCRAM) are all seen as falling under this umbrella, with the latter being the basis for 3D Xpoint/Intel Optane. The challenge has been that they have not been able to cost-effectively fill the gap, let alone catch up to DRAM.

Nelson said the candidates for filling this storage-layer gap, including Optane, have been too expensive. “Optane wasn’t very scalable,” he said, noting that scalability and price need to intersect to bridge the performance gap between TLC 3D NAND and DRAM.

In the meantime, there has been innovation around 3D NAND, not the least of which is the increasing number of layers.

And even as 3D NAND makers up the layers, the cost structure must be lower, so the technology remains profitable, Objective Analysis’s Handy said. Whether it’s less DRAM and more NAND, or vice versa, or a storage-class memory in between to reduce both DRAM and flash, whichever one of those wins out on a cost-performance basis is the thing that’s going to do the trick, he said. “If a faster NAND is sold at a low-enough price, it be very well-received

NXP Semiconductors unveils two-wheeler connected digital cluster reference platform enabling rich multimedia experiences

Oct 18 -- NXP Semiconductors announced the launch of a two-wheeler connected digital cluster reference platform on October 17 designed specifically for mass-market two-wheelers, including motorcycles, electric scooters, and commuter bicycles.?The products meet the extensive interest of new vehicles technologies in China's engineering community.

?

The two-wheeler connected digital cluster reference platform delivers high-performance graphics and a rich connectivity experience for an advanced two-wheeler driving experience. It enables three-way Bluetooth pairing between the phone, the two-wheeler’s digital cluster and the rider’s headphones for advanced connectivity, safety and personalized services.?

Other features include OpenVG vector graphics and a rich multimedia experience with secure vehicle access and vehicle location. By pairing NXP’s high performance RT1170 crossover MCU with the highly integrated AW611 single-chip Wi-Fi? 6 and Bluetooth?/Bluetooth Low Energy Audio connectivity solution together with the KW45 secure wireless access MCU, the company’s better together reference platform delivers a highly cost-effective system. This platform extends connected and intelligent digital experiences beyond vehicles — delivering the future of two-wheel mobility, according to the company.

With nearly 300 million two-wheelers currently on the world’s roads, whether for daily commuting or leisurely travel, the electrification of these vehicles is on the rise. Connected digital displays with rich graphics are crucial for the safe operation of these electric vehicles, providing essential information that enables drivers to compare navigation details with battery status, health, and charging point locations. This information is particularly critical for safe travel as two-wheel electric vehicles typically have limited range compared to their four-wheel counterparts.?

NXP’s digital dashboard and connectivity reference platform aim to assist OEMs in delivering these essential functionalities while supporting a range of connectivity use cases to enhance the user experience. These features include three-way Bluetooth pairing between smartphones, two-wheeler digital dashboards, and headphones; rider and passenger music sharing; and even location features such as “find my two-wheeler” in parking lots.

Dan Loop, vice president and general manager of automotive edge at NXP, stated, “Digital dashboards not only inform drivers of vehicle status but are also a primary way for drivers to customize their vehicles to their preferences. NXP’s digital dashboard and connectivity platform enable ongoing updates and customization to support the latest functional safety, information security, and connectivity features, all integrated into a cost-effective platform that supports wireless connectivity capabilities.”