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Arm Inches Up the Infrastructure Value Chain

Arm Inches Up the Infrastructure Value Chain
by Bernard Murphy on 08-30-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: AI, Arm, IP, TSMC

Arm just revealed at HotChips their compute subsystems (CSS) direction led by CSS N2. The intent behind CSS is to provide pre-integrated, optimized and validated subsystems to accelerate time to market for infrastructure system builders. Think HPC servers, wireless infrastructure, big edge systems for industry, city, enterprise automation. This for me answers how Arm can add more value to system developers without becoming a chip company. They know their technology better than anyone else; by providing pre-designed, optimized and validated subsytems – cores, coherent interconnect, interrupt, memory management and I/O interfaces, together with SystemReady validation – they can chop a big chunk out of the total system development cycle.

Accelerating Custom Silicon

A completely custom design around core, interconnect, and other IPs obviously provides maximum flexibility and ability to differentiate but at a cost. That cost isn’t only in development but also in time to deployment. Time is becoming a very critical factor in fast moving markets – just look at AI and the changes it is driving in hyperscaler datacenters. I have to believe current economic uncertainties compound these concerns.

Those pressures are likely forcing an emphasis on differentiating only where essential and standardizing everywhere else, especially when proven experts can take care of a big core component. CSS provides a very standard yet configurable subsystem for many-core compute, include N2 cores (in this case), the coherent mesh network between those cores, together with interrupt and memory management, cache hierarchy, chiplet support through UCIe or custom interfaces, DDR5/LPDDR5 external memory interface, PCIe/CXL Gen5 for fast IO and or coherent IO, expansion IO, and system management.

All PPA optimized for an advanced 5nm TSMC process and proven SystemReady® with a reference software stack. The system developer still has plenty of scope for differentiation through added accelerators, specialized compute, their own power management, etc.

Neoverse V2

Arm also announced a next step in the Neoverse V-series, unsurprisingly improved over the V1 version with improved integer performance and reduction in system level cache misses. There is improvement on a variety of other benchmarks also.

Also noteworthy is its performance in the NVIDIA Grace-Hopper combo (based on Neoverse V2). NVIDIA shared real hardware data with Arm on performance versus Intel Sapphire Rapids and AMD Genoa. In raw performance the Grace CPU was mostly at par with AMD and generally faster than Sapphire Rapids by 30-40%.

Most striking for me was their calculation for a datacenter limited to 5MW, important because all datacenters are ultimately power limited. In this case Grace bested AMD in performance by between 70% and 150% and was far ahead of Intel.

Net value

First on Neoverse’s contribution to Grace-Hopper – wow. That system is at the center of the tech universe right now, thanks to AI in general and large language models in particular. This is an incredible reference. Second, while I’m sure that Intel and AMD can deliver better peak performance than Arm-based systems, and Grace-Hopper workloads are somewhat specialized, (a) most workloads don’t need high end performance and (b) AI is getting into everything now. It is becoming increasingly difficult to make a case that, for cost and sustainability over a complete datacenter, Arm-based systems shouldn’t play a much bigger role especially as expense budgets tighten.

For CSS-N2, based on their own analysis Arm estimates up to 80 engineering years of effort required to develop the CSS N2 level of integration, a number that existing customers confirm is in the right ballpark. In an engineer-constrained environment, this is 80 engineering years they can drop from their program cost and schedule without compromising whatever secret differentiation the want to add around the compute core.

These look like very logical next steps for Arm in their Neoverse product line. Faster performance in the V-series and let customers take advantage of Arm’s own experience and expertise in building N2-based compute systems, while leaving open lots of room for adding their own special sauce. You can read the press release HERE.

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The First TSMC CEO James E. Dykes

The First TSMC CEO James E. Dykes
by Daniel Nenni on 08-25-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: Foundries, TSMC
3 Comments

James Dykes TSMC CEO (1)

Most people ( including ChatGPT) think Morris Chang was the first TSMC CEO but it was in fact Jim Dykes, a very interesting character in the semiconductor industry.

According to his eulogy: Jim came from the humblest of beginnings, easily sharing that he grew up in a house without running water and never had a bed of his own. But because of his own drive, coupled with compassion, leadership, and intelligence, he was indeed a genuine “success story.” He was honored in his profession with awards too numerous to list. During his long career he held leadership positions in several companies, including Radiation, Harris, General Electric, Philips North America and TSMC in Taiwan. His work took him to locales in Florida, California, North Carolina and Texas as well as overseas, but he returned to his Florida roots to retire, living both in Fort McCoy and St. Augustine.

Jim was known around the semiconductor industry as a friendly, funny, approachable person. I did not know him but some of my inner circle did. According to semiconductor lore, Jim Dykes was forced on Morris Chang by the TSMC Board of Directors due to his GE Semiconductor experience and Philips connections. Unfortunately Jim and Morris were polar opposites and didn’t get along. Jim left TSMC inside the two year mark and was replaced by Morris himself. Morris didn’t like Philips looking over his shoulder and stated that the TSMC CEO must be Taiwanese and he was not wrong in my opinion. Morris then hired Don Brooks as President of TSMC. I will write more about Don Brooks next because he had a lasting influence on TSMC that is not generally known.

One thing Jim left behind that is searchable is industry presentations. My good friend and co-author Paul McLellan covered Jim’s “Four Little Dragons of the Orient and an Emerging Role Model for Semiconductor Companies” presentation quite nicely HERE. This presentation was made in January of 1988 while Jim was just starting as CEO of TSMC. I have a PDF copy in case you are interested.

“I maintain we are no less than a precursor of an entirely new way of doing business in semiconductors. We are a value-added manufacturer with a unique charter… We can have no designs or product of our own. T-S-M-C was established to bridge the gap between what our customers can design and what they can market.”

“We consider ourselves to be a strategic manufacturing resource, not an opportunistic one. We exist because today’s semiconductor companies and users need a manufacturing partner they can trust and our approach, where we and our customers in effect spread costs among many users, yet achieve the economics each seeks, makes it a win-win for everyone.”

So from the very beginning TSMC’s goal was to be the Trusted Foundry Partner which still stands today. From the current TSMC vision and mission statement:

“Our mission is to be the trusted technology and capacity provider of the global logic IC industry for years to come.”

Another interesting Jim Dykes presentation “TSMC Outlook May 1988” is on SemiWiki. It is more about Taiwan than TSMC but interesting  just the same.

“Taiwan, by comparison, is more like Silicon Valley. You find in Taiwan the same entrepreneurial spirit the same willingness to trade hard work for business success and the opportunities to make it happen, that you find in Santa Clara County, and here in the Valley of the Sun. Even Taiwan’s version of Wall Street will seem familiar to many of you. There’s a red-hot stock market where an entrepreneur can take a company public and become rich overnight.”

I agree with this statement 100% and experienced it first hand in the 1990s through today, absolutely.

I was also able to dig up a Jim Dykes presentation “TO BE OR NOT TO BE” from 1982 when he was VP of the Semiconductor Division at GE. In this paper Jim talks about the pros and cons of being a captive semiconductor manufacturer. Captive is what we now call system fabless companies or companies that make their own chips for complete systems they sell (Apple). Remember, at the time, computer system companies were driving the semiconductor industry and had their own fabs: IBM, HP, DEC, DG, etc… so we have come full circle with systems companies making their own chips again.

Speaking of DG (Data General), I read Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder during my undergraduate studies and absolutely fell in love with the technology. In fact, after graduating, I went to work for DG which was featured in the book.

I have a PDF copy of Jim’s “TO BE OR NOT TO BE” presentation in case you are interested.

Also read:

How Philips Saved TSMC

Morris Chang’s Journey to Taiwan and TSMC

How Taiwan Saved the Semiconductor Industry

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How Intel, Samsung and TSMC are Changing the World

How Intel, Samsung and TSMC are Changing the World
by Mike Gianfagna on 08-21-2023 at 10:00 am
Categories: Analytics, Foundries, Intel Foundry, Samsung Foundry, TSMC
3 Comments

How Intel, Samsung and TSMC are Changing the World

Given the changes in the music business, the term “Rock Star” doesn’t really have any relevance to music or its performers anymore.  Instead, we use the term to describe leaders, innovators and generally people or organizations of great significance. In the world of semiconductors, the designers of advanced chips were the rock stars for a long time. Those who put those chips in packages were regarded as the clean-up crew. A roadie for the rock star at best.

Thanks to the coming revolution of multi-die design, packaging is now a fundamental technology driver and advanced packaging engineers are now the rock stars. These trends promise to change the semiconductor industry and the world. SemiWiki recently received some compelling data on this topic. The sources of the data are just as interesting as the data itself. Read on to understand how Intel, Samsung and TSMC are changing the world.

The Data, Who is Watching What

This all began with an email from The Bulleit Group entitled Intel Stock Down, Why TSMC Might Be Responsible. The Bulleit Group, in its own words, was founded in 2012 by Kyle Arteaga and Alex Hunter over a glass of Bulleit Bourbon (no relation). Once I read that, I had to learn more. This is a tech agency with a twist – a singular focus on what’s next, how to get there and what it means. The company’s rotating home page graphic illuminates its mission.

We tell stories about:

  • the future
  • frontier technology
  • sci-fi becoming reality
  • a better world
  • challenging the status quo
  • mavericks
  • the nexus of technology and culture

The punch line is:

Throughout the past ten years, technology has changed everything about the way we live. We’re focused on the next ten.

I found it gratifying that a forward-looking, award-winning organization like this was interested in semiconductor packaging.  But this isn’t the end of the story. The Bulleit Group was writing to share information it had received from LexisNexis, another catchy name I hadn’t heard of.

LexisNexis is an intellectual property solutions provider. The company’s tagline is Bringing Clarity to Innovation. In its own words, we are proud to directly support and serve (innovators) in their endeavors to better humankind.  Another award-winning and unique organization with a global perspective. And their team is focused on semiconductor packaging. Life is good.

The Data, What it Means

Let’s look at what LexisNexis is saying. Since the organization focuses on IP, a patent analysis is in its wheelhouse. This analysis was based on 37,779 patent families active on 07/20/2023. That’s a lot of data to analyze. The results are quite interesting. Below are the top ten patent producers.

Top ten patent producers

TSMC, Samsung and Intel are clearly in the lead. The Bulleit Group summarizes this data as follows:

LexisNexis discusses the different approaches of semiconductor companies regarding advanced packaging, with Intel focusing on high-performance computing, for example, Samsung targets high-volume assembly, and TSMC aims to capture a wide range of trends from low-cost to high-performance computing. In addition, these topics are not only important to the manufacturers above, but these topics are also relevant to fabless companies such as AMD, Apple, Broadcom, Nvidia, Qualcomm, etc., particularly in the continuing demand for AI-enabled technologies.

Reuters covered these trends in a recently published story. The article commented, “Advanced packaging is crucial for improving semiconductor designs as it becomes more difficult to pack more transistors onto a single piece of silicon. Packaging technology enabled the industry to stitch together several chips called “chiplets” – either stacked or adjacent to one another – within the same container.” Once again, the mainstream media has taken notice of significant, world-changing trends in semiconductors. Honestly, this feels quite good.

“They seem to be the ones that pulled the field forward, and set the technology standard,” said LexisNexis PatentSight Managing Director Marco Richter in an interview, referring to TSMC, Samsung and Intel.

Additional insights from LexisNexis illustrate the substantial growth of the advanced packaging sector. See below. Back to that rock star comment.

Advanced packaging trends

To Learn More

If you’re interested in digging deeper, here are two reports from LexisNexis that may be of interest:

Innovation Momentum 2023: The Global Top 100

Exploring the Global Sustainable Innovation Landscape: The Top 100 Companies and Beyond

The second report dives into the links between sustainability and technology innovation. And that’s how Intel, Samsung and TSMC are changing the world.

Also Read:

Intel Enables the Multi-Die Revolution with Packaging Innovation

TSMC Redefines Foundry to Enable Next-Generation Products

VLSI Symposium – Intel PowerVia Technology

TSMC Doubles Down on Semiconductor Packaging!

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How Philips Saved TSMC

How Philips Saved TSMC
by Daniel Nenni on 08-21-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: Foundries, TSMC

TSMC Philips

TSMC and Philips have deep historical ties. In fact, TSMC may not have existed without Philips. In the 1980s TSMC was established as a joint venture with Philips Electronics, the government of Taiwan, and other private investors. Several semiconductor companies were approached by Morris Chang for funding including semiconductor giants Intel and Texas Instruments but neither chose to participate. Both Intel and TI are now TSMC customers so it came full circle.

Only Philips was willing to sign a joint venture contract with Taiwan to put up $58 million in exchange for a 27.5 percent stake in TSMC. The Taiwanese government provided another 48 percent of the startup capital for TSMC and the rest of the capital was raised from private investors. The government asked several of the island’s wealthiest families who owned firms that specialized in plastics, textiles, and chemicals, to put up the money. TSMC was really a Taiwanese enterprise rather than a normal start-up semiconductor company.

It wasn’t just the money, Philips also played a crucial role in the early days of TSMC by transferring semiconductor manufacturing technology, IP and patents to the newly-formed company and working closely as an investor, partner, and customer. Philips really was the first semiconductor company to go fab-light due to the rising costs of building and operating fabs.

Even though they had a minority stake, Philips had quite a bit of influence and even installed the first TSMC CEO James E. Dykes, who had previously worked for Philips North America. I will write more about James in the next installment.

However, over time, Philips reduced its stake in TSMC, and the two companies evolved in different directions. Philips shifted its primary focus to health technology while TSMC concentrated on becoming the most successful pure-play foundry in history, absolutely. The other semiconductor powerhouse Philips has historical ties to is ASML (ASML was a spinout of Philips Labs) but that is another story in itself.

Here is some background on Philips from ChatGPT-4:

“Founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips and his father Frederik in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Philips, or Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips), is a leading multinational conglomerate known for its diversified technology solutions. Initially starting as a company manufacturing incandescent lamps and other electrical products, Philips expanded over the decades into various sectors.

Here’s a brief overview of Philips’ trajectory over the years:

Early Days (1891 – 1920s): The company initially focused on producing carbon-filament lamps. They soon became one of the largest producers in Europe.

Radio and Electronics (1920s – 1940s): Philips entered the radio market in the 1920s. By the 1930s, they were one of the largest radio manufacturers in the world. They also started producing X-ray and radio technology during this period.

Post-war Era (1940s – 1960s): After World War II, Philips was involved in the revival of the Stirling engine. They also diversified into products like television sets and shavers during this period.

Electronics Expansion (1970s – 1990s): Philips expanded further into electronics, producing items like cassette tapes, CD players, and other home electronics. The company co-developed the Compact Disc (CD) with Sony.

2000s and beyond: In the 21st century, Philips started streamlining its operations to focus on health technology and personal health solutions. They sold off or spun off many non-core divisions, such as their semiconductor division (NXP Semiconductors) and their lighting division (Signify). The company’s primary focus has been on healthcare, diagnostic imaging, patient monitoring, health informatics, and personal care.

Throughout its history, Philips has been known for innovation and has been responsible for a number of significant technological advancements. The company operates globally and continues to be a major player in the fields it is active in.“

The Dutch had an even deeper connection to Taiwan dating back hundreds of years. Here is a 10 minute history video that covers it nicely and is well worth watching:

Next up: TSMC’s first CEO James E. Dykes and the Taiwan Semiconductor Outlook (May 1988).

Also Read:

How Taiwan Saved the Semiconductor Industry

Morris Chang’s Journey to Taiwan and TSMC

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Morris Chang’s Journey to Taiwan and TSMC

Morris Chang’s Journey to Taiwan and TSMC
by Daniel Nenni on 08-14-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: Foundries, TSMC
2 Comments

Morris Chang 2023

High volume manufacturing is a 24/7 business with 12 hour shifts. You don’t always get to pick the shifts you want and you must cover for others when they can’t. It’s a challenging career and not for the faint of heart like myself.

In the 1980s and 1990s I spent time in Japan working with some of the top Japanese semiconductor manufacturers. It was an amazing experience but I walked away wondering how the US would be able to compete. The Japanese people I met worked very hard to honor their families and country. Back in the United States we worked 9-5 for a paycheck. Morris Chang knew this from his experience at TI and that is why he headed to Taiwan.

As I have written, Taiwan’s early start into semiconductors did not begin with Morris Chang but he does figure in prominently in Taiwan’s rise to dominance. Here is a brief biography of Morris (ChatGPT 4.0):

“Morris Chang (张忠谋) is widely recognized as the father of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Born in 1931 in Ningbo, China, Chang moved to the U.S. in the late 1940s, where he pursued higher education in the field of physics and engineering.

Here are a few key points about Morris Chang:

  1. Education: Morris Chang holds degrees from several esteemed institutions. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
  2. Texas Instruments: Before his endeavors in Taiwan, Chang worked at Texas Instruments (TI) in the United States for 25 years. During his tenure there, he held various senior positions including Group Vice President of the Worldwide Semiconductor Group.
  3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC): In 1987, Chang founded the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). TSMC is the world’s first dedicated semiconductor foundry, meaning it manufactures chips for other companies without designing its own products. This business model transformed the global semiconductor industry, enabling a myriad of fabless semiconductor companies to focus on chip design without having to invest in expensive manufacturing facilities.
  4. Economic Impact: Under Chang’s leadership, TSMC became a cornerstone of Taiwan’s IT industry, propelling the country into a major role in the global semiconductor market. Taiwan’s importance in chip manufacturing can’t be overstated, with TSMC at the forefront of cutting-edge semiconductor technology and production.
  5. Retirement: Chang retired from TSMC in 2018, but his influence in the semiconductor world and his legacy as a pioneer in the foundry business model will persist for years to come.
  6. Recognition: Chang has received numerous awards and honors over the years in recognition of his contributions to the semiconductor industry and his visionary leadership.

In summary, Morris Chang is a seminal figure in the semiconductor industry, especially in the foundry business model. His leadership and strategic vision not only transformed the industry but also elevated Taiwan’s standing in the global tech ecosystem.“

From a semiconductor insider’s point of view, there is a lot more to this story. Morris started his education at Harvard but MIT turned out to be more to his liking both financially and technically. For engineers, MIT was the place to be and Morris was an engineer at heart. Morris chose mechanical engineering but he quickly became obsessed with the transistor during his first job right out of college.

After graduating from MIT (1955) Morris went to work for Sylvania, a company with a long history in lighting and electronics. After 3 years Morris wanted to go where the transistor innovation was and that was Texas Instruments. His dream was to be the head of the central research labs at TI but Morris did not have a PhD, or even a degree in electrical engineering.  In fact, he twice failed a qualifying exam for a doctoral degree at M.I.T.

Morris first worked in the germanium transistor business which would soon be surpassed by the silicon transistor. TI was IBMs major supplier (20% of TI’s revenue) and Morris was in charge of the IBM program. Getting yields ramped up was the first big challenge for Morris. He burned the midnight oil and cracked the yield code and became a hero. Morris was promoted to the head of the germanium transistor program and in 1963 he was sent to Stanford to get his PhD for further advancement. He Finished the PhD program in a record time (2.5 years) while still spending time at TI.

When Morris returned to TI full time, germanium was no longer leading edge technology so Morris took a leadership position with the TI IC group. Morris’s influence grew and in 1973 he became head of the semiconductors group and again became a hero. TI was the king of TTL (Transistor – Transistor Logic)  with a 60% market share and more than $1B in revenue, but TTL was soon replaced by MOS and TI lost the MOS race.

SemiWiki: Texas Instruments and the TTL Wars

Morris’s downfall at TI was MOS memory and microprocessors. Other companies caught up with TI (Mostek) and in some cases surpassed them. Microprocessors became the next big thing and TI had the first microprocessor patent, not Intel or Motorola. When IBM chose the Intel 8088 microprocessor for their first personal computer over the TI TMS9900 and the Motorola 6800 (amongst others), Morris took this as a personal defeat.

In 1977 Morris’s departure from TI officially started when he was removed as Group VP of Semiconductors and became Group VP of Consumer Products, a somewhat troubled business at the time (calculators and toys). Morris was then moved to head of corporate quality and his fall from grace was complete. Morris wasn’t fired from TI but his departure was not unexpected.

Morris then spent a difficult two years (1984-86) at General Instruments under CEO Frank Hickey before calling it quits and heading to Taiwan. I was a field engineer for GI during the Hickey era (1979-82)  and it was a tumultuous time for the company, absolutely.

Bottom Line: The work ethic and experience Morris developed through his career with innovative electronic and semiconductor companies was the perfect foundation for the customer centric pure-play foundry model that is TSMC. It should be noted that TI is today a semiconductor powerhouse, one of the longest standing semiconductor companies in the world. TI is also a long standing customer of TSMC.

To be continued…. How Philips saved TSMC!

Also Read:

How Taiwan Saved the Semiconductor Industry

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How Taiwan Saved the Semiconductor Industry

How Taiwan Saved the Semiconductor Industry
by Daniel Nenni on 08-07-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: Foundries, TSMC
4 Comments

Taiwan USA

Now that semiconductors are front page news and a political football, I would like to write more about how we got to where we are today to better understand where semiconductors will go tomorrow. I will start this article with a provocative quote that really made me laugh and will put some context to what I am trying to accomplish here:

Trump accuses Taiwan of taking away America’s semiconductor business “Taiwan, they took our business away. We should have stopped them. We should have taxed them. We should have tariffed them,” said Donald Trump, Fox News, July 2023.

I know, American politics is an acquired taste but it is funny just the same. We already covered the fabless transformation in our book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry” so let’s start with a quick look at the history of the semiconductor industry in Taiwan (GPT 4.0):

The semiconductor industry in Taiwan has a rich history that spans several decades, starting from the 1970s to the present day. The industry has played a crucial role in Taiwan’s economic transformation from an agrarian economy to one of the world’s top high-tech industrialized nations.

Here are some of the key milestones:

“Formation of Electronics Research and Service Organization (ERSO): In 1973, the Taiwanese government established ERSO under the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Its aim was to develop the electronics industry in Taiwan and provide a platform for semiconductor research and development.

Birth of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC): In 1987, TSMC, the world’s first dedicated semiconductor foundry, was founded by Dr. Morris Chang. The establishment of TSMC initiated the foundry model in the global semiconductor industry, which separated the manufacturing and design aspects of chip production. This allowed fabless companies to focus on designing innovative chip solutions without the need for significant capital investments in manufacturing facilities.

Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park: The Taiwanese government established this park in 1980 to serve as a hub for high-tech companies. It now houses numerous semiconductor companies and has played a significant role in the growth of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.

Expansion of other major semiconductor companies: Over the years, several other Taiwanese companies have become key players in the global semiconductor industry. These include United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), the world’s second-largest pure-play semiconductor foundry, MediaTek, a leading fabless semiconductor company, and ASE Technology Holding Co., the world’s largest provider of independent semiconductor manufacturing services in assembly and test.

Leadership in Advanced Process Technology: In recent years, TSMC, in particular, has emerged as a global leader in advanced process technologies, successfully achieving mass production at ever smaller node sizes (7nm, 5nm, 3nm and planning for 2nm and beyond). This has placed Taiwan at the forefront of the global semiconductor industry.

While this summary provides a brief overview, the history of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is rich and complex, driven by strategic government initiatives, visionary leadership, strong educational programs, and the rise of the global digital economy. As of 2023, Taiwan is one of the world’s largest and most important centers for semiconductor manufacturing.”

Great summary, here is a little color on what happened. When I joined the semiconductor industry in the 1980s it was a challenging decade. Mini computer companies such as IBM, Hewlet-Packard, Digital Equipment, Data General, Prime Computer, and Wang all had their own fabs all over the United States. Unfortunately, due to over regulation (especially here in California) and the inability to hire skilled workers (sound familiar?), manufacturing of all types left the US for more friendly countries.

Additionally, in the 1980s, there were quite a few economic ups and downs including the crash of 1985. Keeping these very expensive fabs running was difficult which spawned the IDM foundry business where US and Japanese semiconductor companies accepted designs from outside customers for contract manufacturing to fill their fabs.

One of the first big fabless companies to do this was FPGA vendor Xilinx (founded in 1984, now owned by AMD). Sieko Epson (Japan) was Xilinx’s first IDM foundry partner. Xilinx quickly outgrew the relationship and moved to UMC and then TSMC which is where they are today.

Clearly IDM foundries were a stop-gap solution back then since they routinely competed with customers and the foundry business had lower margins than the products they manufactured internally so those products always had priority in the fabs.

Also in the 1980s, the ASIC business model was developed by VLSI Technology (founded in 1979) and LSI Logic (founded in 1980). VLSI and LSI accepted designs from fabless companies and manufactured them using internal fabs. But again the cost of the fabs was prohibitive. The ASIC business model is again thriving but it is now populated by fabless ASIC companies who do the design and manage manufacturing through the foundries.

Bottom line: The early IDM foundries and ASIC companies created the perfect storm for the pure-play foundry business model that fully evolved in the 1990s and that is where Dr. Morris Chang comes in.

To be continued… Morris Chang’s journey to Taiwan.

Also Read:

Morris Chang’s Journey to Taiwan and TSMC

Intel Enables the Multi-Die Revolution with Packaging Innovation

TSMC Redefines Foundry to Enable Next-Generation Products

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TSMC Redefines Foundry to Enable Next-Generation Products

TSMC Redefines Foundry to Enable Next-Generation Products
by Mike Gianfagna on 06-30-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: AI, Foundries, TSMC
7 Comments

TSMC Redefines Foundry to Enable Next Generation Products

For many years, monolithic chips defined semiconductor innovation. New microprocessors defined new markets, as did new graphics processors, and cell-phone chips. Getting to the next node was the goal, and when the foundry shipped a working part victory was declared. As we know, this is changing. Semiconductor innovation is now driven by a collection of chips tightly integrated with new packaging methods, all running highly complex software. The implications of these changes are substantial. Deep technical skills, investment in infrastructure and ecosystem collaboration are all required. But how does all of this come together to facilitate the invention of the Next Big Thing? Let’s look at how TSMC redefines foundry to enable next-generation products.

What Is a Foundry?

The traditional scope of a foundry is wafer fabrication, testing, packaging, and delivery of a working monolithic chip in volume. Enabling technologies include a factory to implement a process node, a PDK, validated IP and an EDA design flow. Armed with these capabilities, new products are enabled with new monolithic chips. All this worked quite well for many decades. But now, the complexity of new product architectures, amplified by a software stack that is typically enabling AI capabilities, demands far more than a single, monolithic chip. There are many reasons for this shift from monolithic chip solutions and the result is a significant rise in multi-die solutions.

Much has been written about this shift in the innovation paradigm it enables. In the interest of time, I won’t expand on that here. There are many sources of information that explain the reasons for this shift. Here is a good summary of what’s happening.

The bottom line of all this is that the definition of product innovation has changed substantially. For many decades, the foundry delivered on the technology needed to drive innovation – a new chip in a new process. The requirements today are far more complex and include multiple chips (or chiplets) delivering various parts of the new system’s functionality. These devices are often accelerating AI algorithms. Some are sensing the environment, or performing mixed signal processing, or communicating with the cloud. And others are delivering massive, local storage arrays.

All this capability must be delivered in a dense package to accommodate the required form factor, power dissipation, performance, and latency of new, world-changing products. The question to pose here is what has become of the foundry? Delivering the enabling technology for all this innovation requires a lot more than in the past. Does the foundry now become part of a more complex value chain, or is there a more predictable way?  Some organizations are stepping up. Let’s examine how TSMC redefines foundry to enable next-generation products.

The Enabling Technologies for Next Generation Products

There are new materials and new manufacturing methods required to deliver the dense integration required to enable next-generation products. TSMC has developed a full array of these technologies, delivered in an integrated package called TSMC 3DFabric™.

Chip stacking is accomplished with a front-end process called TSMC-SoIC™ (System on Integrated Chips). Both Chip on Wafer (CoW) and Wafer on Wafer (WoW) capabilities are available. Moving to back-end advanced packaging, there are two technologies available. InFO (Integrated Fan-Out) is a chip-first approach that provides redistribution layer (RDL) connectivity, optionally with local silicon interconnect. CoWoS® (Chip on Wafer on Substrate) is a chip-last approach that provides a silicon interposer or an RDL interposer with optional local silicon interconnect.

All of this capability is delivered in one unified package. TSMC is clearly expanding the meaning of foundry. In collaboration with IP, substrate and memory suppliers, TSMC also provides an integrated turnkey service for end-to-end technical and logistical support for advanced packaging. The ecosystem tie-in is a critical ingredient for success. All suppliers must work together effectively to bring the Next Big Thing to life. TSMC has a history of building strong ecosystems to accomplish this.

Earlier, I mentioned investment in infrastructure. TSMC is out in front again with an intelligent packaging fab. This capability makes extensive use of AI, robotics and big data analytics. Packaging used to be an afterthought in the foundry process. It is now a centerpiece of innovation, further expanding the meaning of foundry.

Toward the Complete Solution

All the capabilities discussed so far bring us quite close to a fully integrated innovation model, one that truly extends what a foundry can deliver. But there is one more piece required to complete the picture. Reliable, well-integrated technology is a critical element to successful innovation, but the last mile for this process is the design flow. You need to be able to define what technologies you will use, how they will be assembled and then build and verify a model of your semiconductor system and verify it will work before building it.

Accomplishing this requires the use of tools from several suppliers, along with IP and materials models from several more. It all needs to work in a unified, predictable way. For the case of advanced multi-chip designs, there are many more items to address. The choice of active and passive dies, how they are connected, both horizontally (2.5D) and vertically (3D) and how they will all interface to each other are just a few of the new items to consider.

I was quite impressed to see TSMC’s announcement at its recent OIP Ecosystem Forum to address this last mile problem. If you have a few minutes, check out Jim Chang’s presentation. It is eye-opening.

The stated mission for this work is:

  • Find a way to modularize design and EDA tools to make the 3DIC design flow simpler and efficient
  • Ensure standardized EDA tools and design flows are compliant with TSMC’s 3DFabric technology
3Dblox Standard

With this backdrop, TSMC introduced the 3Dblox™ Standard. This standard implements a language that provides a consistent way specify all requirements for a 2.5/3D design. It is an ambitious project that unifies all aspect of 2.5/3D design specification, as shown in the figure.

Thanks to TSMC’s extensive OIP ecosystem, all the key EDA providers support the 3Dblox language, making it possible to perform product design in a unified way, independent of a specific tool flow.

This capability ties it all together for the product designer. The Next Big Thing is now within reach, since TSMC redefines foundry to enable next-generation products.

Also Read:

TSMC Doubles Down on Semiconductor Packaging!

TSMC Clarified CAPEX and Revenue for 2023!

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 3

 

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TSMC Doubles Down on Semiconductor Packaging!

TSMC Doubles Down on Semiconductor Packaging!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-14-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: Chiplet, Foundries, TSMC
4 Comments

TSMC 3DFabric Integration

Last week TSMC announced the opening of an advanced backend fab for the expansion of the TSMC 3DFabric System Integration Technology. It’s a significant announcement as the chip packaging arms race with Intel and Samsung is heating up.

Fab 6 is TSMC’s first all-in-one advanced packaging and testing fab which is part of the increasing investment in packaging TSMC is making. The fab is ready for mass production of the TSMC SoIC packing technology. Remember, when TSMC says mass production they are talking about Apple iPhone sized mass production, not engineering samples or internal products.

Today packaging is an important part of a semiconductor foundry offering. Not only is it a chip level product differentiator, it will take foundry customer loyalty to a whole new level. This will be critical as the chiplet revolution takes hold making it much easier for customers to be foundry independent. Chiplet packaging however is very complex and will be foundry specific which is why TSMC, Intel, and Samsung are spending so much CAPEX to secure their place in the packaging business.

The TSMC 3DFabric is a comprehensive family of 3D Silicon Stacking and Advanced Packaging Technologies:

  • TSMC 3DFabric consists of a variety of advanced 3D Silicon Stacking and advanced packaging technologies to support a wide range of next-generation products:
    • On the 3D Si stacking portion, TSMC is adding a micro bump-based SoIC-P in the TSMC-SoIC®family to support more cost-sensitive applications.
    • The 2.5D CoWoS®platform enables the integration of advanced logic and high bandwidth memory for HPC applications, such as AI, machine learning, and data centers. InFO PoP and InFO-3D support mobile applications and InFO-2.5D supports HPC chiplet integration.
    • SoIC stacked chips can be integrated in InFO or CoWoS packages for ultimate system integration.
  • CoWoS Family
    • Aimed primarily for HPC applications that need to integrate advanced logic and HBM.
    • TSMC has supported more than 140CoWoS products from more than 25
    • All CoWoS solutions are growing in interposer size so they can integrate more advanced silicon chips and HBM stacks to meet higher performance requirements.
    • TSMC is developing a CoWoS solution with up to 6Xreticle-size (~5,000mm2) RDL interposer, capable of accommodating 12 stacks of HBM memory.
  • InFO Technology
    • For mobile applications, InFO PoP has been in volume production for high-end mobile since 2016 and can house larger and thicker SoC chips in smaller package form factor.
    • For HPC applications, the substrateless InFO_M supports up to 500 square mm chiplet integration for form factor-sensitive applications.
  • 3D Silicon stacking technologies
    • SoIC-P is based on 18-25μm pitch μbump stacking and is targeted for more cost-sensitive applications, like mobile, IoT, client, etc.
    • SoIC-X is based on bumpless stacking and is aimed primarily at HPC applications. Its chip-on-wafer stacking schemes feature 4.5 to 9μm bond pitch and has been in volume production on TSMC’s N7 technology for HPC applications.
    • SoIC stacked chips can be further integrated into CoWoS, InFo, or conventional flip chip packaging for customers’ final products.

“Chiplet stacking is a key technology for improving chip performance and cost-effectiveness. In response to the strong market demand for 3D IC, TSMC has completed early deployment of advanced packaging and silicon stacking technology production capacity, and offers technology leadership through the 3DFabricTM platform,” said Dr. Jun He Vice President, Operations / Advanced Packaging Technology & Service, and Quality & Reliability. “With the production capacity that meets our customers’ needs, we will unleash innovation together and become an important partner that customers trust in the long term.”

TSMC’s customer centric culture will be a big part of the chiplet packaging revolution. By working with hundreds of customers you can bet TSMC will have the most comprehensive IC packaging solutions available for fabless and systems companies around the world, absolutely.

TSMC Press Release:
TSMC Announces the Opening of Advanced Backend Fab 6, Marking a Milestone in the Expansion of 3DFabric™ System Integration Technology

Also Read:

TSMC Clarified CAPEX and Revenue for 2023!

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 1

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 2

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 3

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 4

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 5

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TSMC Clarified CAPEX and Revenue for 2023!

TSMC Clarified CAPEX and Revenue for 2023!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-06-2023 at 2:00 pm
Categories: Events, Foundries, TSMC
4 Comments

TSMC HQ Taiwan

TSMC clarified CAPEX and revenue for 2023 last night at the Annual Shareholders Meeting. Last year TSMC guided up during this meeting but this year they guided down. CAPEX was guided down to the lower end of $36B-$32B.  Revenue was guided down from low-single to mid-single digit so maybe down another percent or two. The TSMC Jan – May 2023 revenue report indicates a decrease of 1.9 percent compared to the same period in 2022 so I think TSMC is being very conservative here.

Other foundries may not be as fortunate. Globalfoundries is already -5% in Q1 and UMC is -17% Jan-May 2023. In contrast TSMC started the year strong with +16% in January and +11% in February. Things turned bad in March with -15% and April -14%. At the TSMC Symposium CC Wei joked about his horrible forecasting but coming off the strongest year in the history of TSMC it was not a surprise.

“The year 2022 was a landmark year for TSMC. Supported by our strong technology leadership and differentiation, we delivered a thirteenth-consecutive year of record revenue, with strong profitable growth. Our 2022 annual revenue increased 33.5% year-over-year in U.S. dollar terms, while our EPS rose to NT$39.20, nearly tripling over the past three years.”

A landmark year indeed. TSMC manufactured 12,698 products for 532 customers in 2022. Hopefully we can all recognize this incredible achievement. Unfortunately, 2023 will also be a landmark year for a YoY decline and the pandemic is still to blame.

TSMC predicts that the second half of 2023 will improve so we may be at the bottom. 2024 also looks very promising but of course it is too soon to tell. According to the  World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, the global semiconductor industry is forecasted to grow 11.8% to $576B in 2024 with a major rebound expected in the memory segment, a surge of about 40% from last year.

The other news from the meeting echoed the Symposium which is good news:

 “In Taiwan, our N3 has just entered volume production in Tainan Science Park. We are also preparing for N2 volume production starting in 2025, which will be located in Hsinchu and Taichung Science Parks. In the U.S., we are in the process of building two advanced semiconductor fabs in Arizona, with N4 and N3 process technology, respectively. We are also building a 12-inch specialty technology fab in Kumamoto, Japan.”

TSMC was crystal clear in the reasoning for building fabs around the world. TSMC’s business model has always been customer centric and customers want fabs near their customers. This customer demand is not just for semiconductor manufacturing, other manufacturing is localizing as well, and again it is a direct result of the pandemic which broke supply chains around the world.

“N2 technology development is on track, with risk production scheduled in 2024 and volume production in 2025. Our 2-nanometer technology will be the most advanced semiconductor technology in the industry in both density and energy efficiency when it is introduced.”

Interesting wording here and I do agree N2 will be denser and more power efficient than Intel 20A or Samsung 3nm. I would also add more cost effective as no one in the foundry business has the economies of scale to match TSMC.

One thing you have to remember is that when TSMC says volume N2 production in 2025 that means Apple which is a multi-billion transistor SoC shipped by the millions. TSMC is not talking about internal product, engineering samples or chiplets. The mainstream media misses this point every time. Either they are ignorant or they are intentionally besmirching TSMC to get clicks. Either way it is unethical, my opinion.

“To help customers unleash their product innovations with fast time-to-market, TSMC provides customers with comprehensive infrastructure needed to optimize design productivity and cycle times. TSMC continues to expand our Open Innovation Platform® (OIP), providing over 55,000 items of libraries and silicon IP portfolio, more than 43,000 technology files, and over 2,900 process design kits, from 0.5-micron to 3-nanometer in 2022.”

As most people know I have been part of this ecosystem since it started so I know it better than most. The one thing that I would add here is that with the overwhelming success of TSMC N3, the ecosystem has never been stronger for TSMC so there is significant momentum for the N2 transition, absolutely.

Also Read:

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 1

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 2

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 3

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 4

TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium Overview Part 5

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Investing in a sustainable semiconductor future: Materials Matter

Investing in a sustainable semiconductor future: Materials Matter
by Daniel Nenni on 05-31-2023 at 6:00 am
Categories: EMD Electronics, Foundries, Semiconductor Services, TSMC

EMD LinkedIn Twitter Materials Matter

In 2020 TSMC established its Net Zero Project with a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. I remember wondering how could this possibly be done before 2050 or at all for that matter. After working with TSMC for 20+ years I have learned never to bet against them on any topic and green manufacturing is one of them, absolutely.

TSMC presented on green manufacturing at the recent symposium in Silicon Valley. Clearly energy and water resources are critical parts of any net zero project but carbon emissions are also a of great importance and that means materials. In regards to semiconductor manufacturing materials we have experts here on SemiWiki.

EMD Electronics has a presence in 66 countries and over 100 years of invaluable experience in the electronic materials space delivering a broad portfolio of semiconductor and display materials for cutting-edge electronics.

EMD Electronics recently published a paper: INVESTING IN A SUSTAINABLE SEMICONDUCTOR FUTURE – MATERIALS MATTER.

It is a very interesting comprehensive look at innovative sustainable semiconductor materials techniques that decrease carbon emissions, improve resource efficiency and productivity, and highly contribute to achieving net zero semiconductor.

“It is amazing where collaboration can take us. Sustainability is no longer the result of individuals; only by working together can we get closer to our goals for a sustainable future! Brita Grundke, Head of Sustainability, EMD Electronics”

Here is the introduction. This paper is freely available and well worth the read for semiconductor professionals at all levels:

Emissions from semiconductor manufacturing are a growing segment of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There are two reasons behind this trend. First, the demand for semiconductor chips is growing. Our technology appears in everything from mobile phones to automobiles, where the number of chips per vehicle increases every year. Data storage, which relies on the semiconductor industry, is exploding. Second, today’s manufacturing processes have more deposition and etch steps than ever. Each step consumes water and electricity and creates GHG emissions.

Semiconductor companies large and small talk about achieving climate neutrality by 2030. That sounds like a great goal. But merely achieving that goal won’t solve the emissions problem. How we get there matters.

Buying carbon offsets is an easy way out. It isn’t the best long-term answer, because many offsets are not as effective as they claim to be. Some may even make the problem worse, defeating the purpose [1]. And relying on offsets can make internal actions seem less pressing. It is best to see offsets as a temporary or last-choice option.

Semiconductor industry leaders are, of course, doing more than buying offsets. They are investing in renewable energy, improving the energy efficiency of their processes, and finding ways to reduce waste. These actions are helpful, and we must do more. Despite modest success in reducing emissions per wafer or per revenue, demand for semiconductor chips is growing faster than the improvements can handle. We need more drastic reductions, and that starts by examining the sources.

Bottom Line: Climate change is real and semiconductor manufacturing is under a microscope now that it is being regionalized due to the shortages and supply chain issues we suffered during the pandemic. If you really want to know why semiconductor manufacturing left the US it was due to the Environmental protection Agency crack down on water, ground, and air pollution. I grew up in Silicon Valley so I had front row seat to the environmental issues of semiconductor manufacturing. Now that semiconductor manufacturing is coming back to the US and other parts of the world sustainability is front and center once again.

Also Read:

Step into the Future with New Area-Selective Processing Solutions for FSAV

Integrating Materials Solutions with Alex Yoon of Intermolecular

Ferroelectric Hafnia-based Materials for Neuromorphic ICs