FD-SOI in Japan?

If you want to get your finger on the Japan FD-SOI pulse, registration is still open for a free, two-day workshop in Tokyo this week organized by the SOI Consortium. This is the 3rd Annual SOI Tokyo Workshop, and there’s a really interesting line-up of speakers.

In case you’re wondering, Japan is doing FD-SOI. In fact the history is long and deep, with researchers presenting papers on it — especially for ultra-low power — at top conferences for over a decade. Now it’s out of the lab and into the fab. Sony, for example, is using FD-SOI for IoT chips (the first of which, a GPS chip that cut power to 1/10 of the previous generation, was unveiled at last year’s workshop). And Renesas is using it for automotive and ultra-low-power IoT (which they just presented at ICICDT). In Japan, it was originally called SOTB, for Silicon on Thin Box. But that’s just another name for FD-SOI.

(Image courtesy: ©Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau)

This year the SOI/FD-SOI workshop will be held over the course of two days, May 31st and June 1st . Click here for registration information on the SOI Consortium website. (While there is no charge for the event, you should register in advance to guarantee your place.) You’ll find the full program here. Here’s a quick overview of what’s on tap.

May 31st – Ecosystem in the Afternoon
Wednesday, May 31st there’s an afternoon session on the FD-SOI Ecosystem hosted by Silvaco. There will be presentations from GlobalFoundries and IP/design companies Synopsys, Silvaco, Invecas and Attopsemi, as well as the SOI Consortium. It will be held on the 25th floor of the Yokohama Landmark Tower. A reception at the end of the day will give participants an extended opportunity to network with the speakers and other attendees.

June 1st – Full Day of Convergence, IoT & Automotive
On Thursday, June 1st the focus is on Convergence of IoT, Automotive Through Connectivity. This is a full-day workshop; it will be held at Tokyo University’s Takeda Hall.

First up will be talks on ultra-low power applications from Sony IoT and Samsung. Next there’ll be execs from Imagination/MIPS, IHSMarkit and Leti talking about automotive technologies. In the afternoon, GlobalFoundries, Cadence, Nokia and ST deep dive into IoT, Connectivity and Infrastructure. And finally, the day ends with talks by key supply chain providers Applied Materials, Soitec and Screen.

There will be a couple of coffee breaks and lunch (yes, of course you’ll get lunch), which will give attendees and speakers time for networking.

These workshops are really popular events — people fly in from all over the world for them. If you want to get an idea of what they’re like, click here to check out the presentations from last year.

If you’re in the region (it is, after all, the week before VLSI in Kyoto), it really is a great opp.