There will be an estimated demand for 12.44 million mm of 2-inch-equivalent sapphires for optical purposes in 2014, mainly consisting of 54.3% for use in smartphone button covers, 24.1% iWatch covers and 17.4% smartphone camera lens covers, according to Digitimes Research.The demand will increase in 2015 to 26.2 million mm, with iWatch holding the biggest proportion at 57.2% followed by smartphone button covers at 30.1%.Sapphire for Apple's iWatch is expected to primarily come from GTAT while 2-inch units for use in optical purposes will come from VHGF technology. Additionally, demand for advanced sapphire furnaces needed to produce iWatch applications is expected to increase from 67 units in 2014 to 333 in 2015, added Digitimes Research.

There were 55.06 million tablets shipped globally in the second quarter of 2014, decreasing 4.5% on quarter but increasing 17.9% on year, according to Digitimes Research.The shipments consisted of 14.1 million iPads, down 10% on quarter, and 18.96 million units launched by vendors other than Apple, down 12.7% on quarter. Additionaly, 22.3 million white-box units were shipped in the second quarter.Shipments of small-size Wi-Fi-enabled units in particular slowed down in the second quarter and the time period was also a slow season for shipments. Supply chains also faced yield issues and Samsung saw less-than-expected shipments for its 8-inch tablets. Tablets sized 10-inch and above have seen shipment increases since fourth-quarter 2014.Taiwan tablet makers meanwhile surpassed 20 million in shipments for brand tablets during the second quarter, which made up 60% of overall brand tablet shipments during the time period, added Digitimes Research.

Connecting an application processor to a DRAM chip through a 3200 Mbps LPDDR4 interface is not any easier than routing a 2600 MHz 4G LTE antenna. While RF front ends enjoy ceramic packages and careful routing in electromagnetic proof modules, digital signals flow through ball grid array packages and small dense printed circuit boards (PCB) making them more liable to high frequency effects.As data rates increase in the gigabit range and beyond, PCB traces can no longer be treated as simple conductors. The parasitic resistance, capacitance and inductance of the copper trace make it act as a transmission line producing all kinds of high frequency effects not commonly considered in digital design. For example, high frequency components of the signal suffer more attenuation due to skin effect than the lower frequency components causing signal deformation. The inductance and capacitance between parallel copper traces result in crosstalk and the high switching currents lead to ground bounces. Bit error rate (BER) increases as more ones become interpreted as zeros and vice versa. Hence, transmission line effects of PCB traces as well as the frequency response of packages, connecters and cables need to be thoroughly analyzed to ensure signal integrity. Accurate SPICE analysis at the PCB level can save time and cost by reducing numerous iterations of PCB prototyping and measurement.Figure 1: A typical system configuration for signal integrity analysisFigure 1 shows a memory interface, a typical example of multi-Gigabit inter-chip communication. The same concept applies to high speed serial IO such as USB 3.0 and HDMI as well as multi-Gigabit Ethernet devices. The communication channel consists of IO models for the chips, Scattering Parameters (S-parameters) models for the packages, connectors and cables, and lossy coupled transmission line models for the PCB traces. IO models are provided by the chip vendors. Simple IO buffers can be accurately represented by IBIS models. More complex IO circuitry with active pre-emphasis and equalization are usually available in the form of encrypted transistor-level HSPICE netlists, or as IBIS-AMI models derived from the transistor-level representation. As the golden reference for transistor-level simulation, HSPICE uses foundry-certified transistor models to deliver the most accurate behavior of IO circuits. Moreover, most chip vendors use HSPICE to validate their IBIS and IBIS-AMI models. Hence using HSPICE at the board-level gives the best correlation with the chip vendor's intent. When it comes to IBIS-AMI, HSPICE has the unique capability of simulating these models in true transient mode in addition to bit by bit and statistical eye diagram modes.Lossy coupled transmission lines for PCB traces can be extracted in different ways, the simplest of which is using HSPICE W-elements. The W-element reads in the PCB properties and the dimensions of the parallel traces, and then uses a built-in 2D solver to extract the transmission line response. The model accurately represents frequency-dependent loss and coupling, has no limit on the number of coupled lines and ensures the passivity and causality of the system. Most PCB layout tools can extract the trace geometries and automatically generate W-element models in the HSPICE netlist. Third party quasi-static 2.5D field solvers can also be used to generate broadband models of PCB traces. Depending on the field solver, these models can be inserted into the W-element in the form of RLGC tables. For critical layouts, full-wave solvers can be used to extract the frequency response of the PCB traces in the form of S-parameters which can also be used as input to the W-element.The S-parameter models for the packages, connectors and cables are provided by the component vendor, measured by a network analyzer or extracted using a 3D electromagnetic field solver. In either case, the S-parameter model gives a robust linear representation of the component taking into account its distributed nature and any arbitrary frequency dependent behavior. Examining S-parameters on a Smith Chart gives deep insight of such distributed systems beyond what can be obtained using lumped elements in a circuit schematic. There is one challenge though. S-parameters are frequency domain models originally invented for RF and microwave devices, while signal integrity analysis of digital multi-Gigabit systems is predominantly performed in the time domain. The HSPICE S-elements overcomes this challenge using state-of-the-art automatic rational function model generation. Furthermore, HSPICE deploys multi-delay enhanced rational function models to capture the complex high frequency behavior of long data cables with several meters in length (e.g. HDMI cables). HSPICE uses parallel computing technology available in modern processors to simulate large - over 500 ports - S-parameter models with superior speed and accuracy. In addition to the use of s-parameters in circuit simulations, HSPICE also supports multiport linear network analysis (.LIN) which allows S-parameter extraction from arbitrary circuit types.Figure 2: Working with S-parameters is more than running transient analysisThe flexibility and robustness of s-parameter modeling are sometimes compromised by the lack of quality of some s-parameter models. Low-quality S-parameter models are likely to end up with poor simulation results. Quality issues include - among other causes - passivity violation, coarse frequency sampling and narrow frequency bandwidth. For example, the starting frequency of an S-parameter model can be too high to capture low-frequency transient behavior, or the end frequency can be too low to capture the high frequency components of digital transitions. HSPICE includes a standalone S-parameter utility (SPUTIL) which can manipulate S-parameters in different ways to ensure the quality of S-parameter modeling. Figure 2 shows how HSPICE combines S-parameter extraction using multi-port linear network analysis (.LIN), S-parameter simulation using transient analysis (.TRAN) and S-parameter quality assurance using the S-parameter utility (SPUTIL). Figure 3: Checking impedance matching using HSPICE S-parameter utility (SPUTIL)SPUTIL provides a number of convenient s-parameter manipulation techniques such as merging multiple data files, passivity checking or enforcement, re-sampling with flexible frequency point specifications, and file format conversion. For example, impedance matching is an important requirement of high speed channel design. The quickest way to test impedance matching is to observe S11 with different reference impedances. SPUTIL offers a convenient way to convert the reference impedance of a given s-parameter set using a simple script, as shown in Figure 3. Then observing the resulting S11 plot on a Smith chart and finding the smallest S11 value will give a good starting point for designing the channel termination impedance.This concludes our discussion of the different components and models used in signal integrity analysis. Now we move to the discussion of the different analysis techniques. Eye diagram analysis is widely used for high speed communication channel evaluation. The eye diagram overlays the unit intervals of a long digital bit sequence into a compact form that readily gives picosecond-level observations of the system. Generating an eye diagram of the target system under test, examining the eye opening and measuring BER as accumulated probability are the key aspects of channel compliance testing.HSPICE offers different techniques to analyze eye diagrams at different levels of simulation speed and accuracy. BER evaluation of multi-Gigabit systems requires the analysis of millions of unit intervals. Transient analysis of such long bit streams takes hours and produces huge data files. Thousands of simulation may be needed to cover the design space for channel optimization. Bit-by-bit and statistical eye diagram generation in HSPICE significantly improves the productivity of channel design by reducing simulation time from hours to seconds.Figure 4: HSPICE statistical eye diagram analysisHSPICE state-of-the-art statistical eye diagram analysis is applicable to all types of channels and models. HSPICE uses accurate transient analysis to calculate the impulse response of a number of small bit patterns, and then uses statistical methods to quickly generate the eye diagram as a probability density function (PDF) map that takes all the possible bit patterns into account as shown in Figure 4. HSPICE automatically extracts the jitter profiles by observing the vertical and horizontal cross sections of the eye diagram. HSPICE also generates the bit error rate (BER) map based on the PDF eye diagram. Then similarly taking cross sectional views of the BER, bathtub curves can be examined. HSPICE also captures the shortest necessary bit pattern which reproduces the inner-most - or in other terms the worst-case - eye fragment at a given time point. Using this worst bit pattern in subsequent short transient analysis, one can analyze the causes of eye closure and improve the design. HSPICE can extract time domain waveforms at particular bit positions, a useful technique for qualifying adaptive equalizer designs.Bit-by-bit eye diagram analysis uses a fast transient technique to generate eye diagrams for specific bit patterns at a fraction of the time needed for transient analysis. Bit-by-bit and statistical eye diagram techniques are very useful for channel design. For signoff, transient analysis offers the most accurate eye diagrams. HSPICE supports all types of IO models - including algorithmic ones (IBIS-AMI) - and frequency-dependent elements in time domain transient analysis. Parallel computing technology is used to speed up the simulation of extremely long bit sequences without compromising accuracy.Figure 5: combining AMI and transistor-level models in statistical, bit-by-bit and transient eye diagram analysisHSPICE has the unique ability to mix and match analysis technique and model types to best fit every stage of channel design and compliance testing. As shown in Figure 5, HSPICE treats the channel as a complete black box giving the user the option to include any combination of active and passive devices. HSPICE also allows for different transmitter and receiver representations. For example the transmitter can be a transistor level IO circuit while the receiver is an IBIS-AMI model and vice versa. In early design stages, one can use fast statistical eye diagram analysis to evaluate pattern independent transmitter emphasis. For such analysis, IBIS-AMI models are used in the transmitter side only keeping the receiver as an idealized receiver termination. Then as design evolves, one can use bit-by-bit simulation replacing the idealized receiver with an algorithmic model in order to test how well the adaptive equalizer adjusts its parameters to achieve maximum eye openings. Then by switching the analysis from bit-by-bit mode to full transient, one can capture any nonlinear effects that may happen to be in the channel. At the final verification stage, most likely full transistor representations of both transmitter and receiver buffers will be used. HSPICE has the flexibility to run all these analysis in the same testbench.About the authors:Hany Elhak, Product Marketing Manager, Synopsys, Inc. Elhak has more than 10 years of EDA experience spanning both technical and marketing responsibilities. Prior to EDA, Hany worked as RF designer, designing RF ICs for cellular and wireless networking standards. Hany holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Ain Shams University, Cairo and MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business.Ted Mido, R&D Engineer, Synopsys, Inc. Mido is a senior staff member of HSPICE R&D group. He received the BS, MS and PhD. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan. His researches and developments have focused on analyzing high speed signal propagation systems in analog/mixed-signal ICs, high speed chip packages and printed circuit boards. He has published numerous technical papers on interconnect analysis and parasitic extraction.Hany ElhakProduct Marketing Manager, Synopsys, Inc.Ted MidoR&D Engineer, Synopsys, Inc.

There were 178 million handsets shipped in the China market during January-May 2014, decreasing over 70 million units on year. The decrease was mainly because China Mobile shifted marketing resources to promote 4G TD-LTE smartphones and reduced subsidies for 2G and TD-SCDMA (3G) handset purchases, according to Digitimes Research.The reduced subsidies were a factor in the 77% decline of 2G handsets in China during the time period. Additionally, China Telecom and China Unicom had not yet started 4G commercial operation due to licensing issues, which further pushed down shipments.However, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued two FD-LTE pilot operation licenses to China Unicom and China Telecom on June 27, 2014 for several cities in China, which will push 4G developments in China as well as increase handset shipments, added Digitimes Research.Meanwhile, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) has announced that mobile Internet users in China reached 527 million as of June 2014.

Buoyed by back-to-school demand, global notebook shipments are expected to grow 4.3% sequentially in the third quarter of 2014 before taking a dive of 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to Digitimes Research.In August and September 2014 vendors are expected to release new units and will hold promotional events to push sales which in addition to US$249 units from Microsoft will push up shipments during the third quarter.The 4.3% increase in the third quarter will bring the ratio of overall notebook shipments to 48.7 in the first half of the year and 51.3 in the second half, said Digitimes Research.Hewlett-Packard (HP) is expected to maintain a strong hold in the enterprise and education segments while Acer expects to see 30% on-year growth in the second half of 2014.In terms of ODMs, Compal Electronics is expected to surpass Quanta Computer in the second half and the two makers are expected to hold a combined 70% share in the fourth quarter, added Digitimes Research.

Facing a funding shortage for local IC manufacturers, the China State Council in June 2014 published guidelines to strengthen government support for China's semiconductor industry, while stating the short-, mid-, and long-term goals for the related industry supply chains through 2030. In order to examine and analyze these policy revisions, Digitimes Research has published a Special Report that examines how the revised central government guidelines and various local government policy implementations will affect China's semiconductor manufacturing, IC design, packaging & testing and materials industry. The new government guidelines, titled "National Integrated Circuit Industry Development Guidelines," continue to affirm the tax benefits mentioned in the State Council Document 4 (2011) for IC design houses and foundries, but the tax benefits have expanded to testing firms. This means testing firms will now also enjoy benefits on corporate income, value-added, and operation taxes. The central government also plans to set up a national industry investment fund of CNY120 billion (US$19.3 billion). The fund will mainly focus on investing in the construction of advanced process capacity, semiconductor firm reorganization, and mergers. Digitimes Research believes through the investment fund support, China will increase its capabilities for advanced processes on 12-inch wafers. In addition, there will be more China-based semiconductor firms merging and more acquisitions of international firms by China-based firms. The Special Report is priced at NT$42,750 (approx. US$1,500). Purchase the report Table of Contents Introduction     Current status of China semiconductor industry        Chart 1: China semiconductor industry output, 2009-2014 (CNYb)        Chart 2: China semiconductor self-sufficiency rate, 2009-2015 (CNYb)     IC design industry in China        Chart 3: China IC design industry output, 2009-2014 (CNYb)        Chart 4: Taiwan and China IC design industry output, 2009-2014 (US$m)        Table 1: Top-10 China IC design companies by revenues, 2010-2013     Consolidation and partnerships since 2012        Chart 5: Consolidation and joint ventures have become the trend in China's semi industry Central and local government support     Central government        Table 2: Government support in the second part of 12th Five-Year Plan        Chart 6: Central government support policies in the latter part of the 12th Five Year Plan     Local government        Chart 7: Local government support policies in the latter part of the 12th Five Year Plan Central Government policy analysis     Description and guidelines for 02 Project of 2014        Chart 8: In 2014, the 02 Project shifted IC fab subsidies upstream to the materials industry     Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's four major goals        Chart 9: Four major policy goals of MIIT to support semiconductor industry     National Integrated Circuit Industry Development Guidelines        Policy goals        Chart 10: NICIDG guidelines have goals laid out for semi industry through 2030        Key development goals        Table 3: China semiconductor industry sub-sector goals as planned out in NICIDG        Primary growth and support policies        Table 4: NICIDG growth and support policies for the semiconductor industry        CNY120 billion investment fund to be established        Chart 11: Semiconductor industry growth and support fund details Local government support     Beijing City Government        Chart 12: Beijing City Government policy-based support for the semiconductor industry     Shandong Provincial Government        Chart 13: Shandong Province policy-based support for the semiconductor industry     Wuhan City Government        Chart 14: Top-10 China cities for semiconductor output value, 2012-2013 (CNYb)        Chart 15: Wuhan City Government policy-based support for the semiconductor industry     Hefei City Government        Chart 16: Hefei City Government policy-based support for the semiconductor industry     Tianjin City Government        Chart 17: Tianjin City Government policy-based support for the semiconductor industry     Shenzhen City Government        Chart 18: Shenzhen City Government policy-based support for the semiconductor industry     Shanghai City Government        Chart 19: Shanghai City Government policy-based support for the semiconductor industry Conclusion     Chart 20: Supportive policies from NSID Summary for China's semiconductor industry     Industry development in the 12th Five Year Plan        Chart 21: Using equity funds to purchase shares become a major support policy for China        Chart 22: Development goals in the latter part of the 12th and the 13th Five-Year PlanAbout DIGITIMES Research DIGITIMES Research is the research arm of DIGITIMES Inc., Taiwan's leading high-tech media outlet. Operating as an independent business unit, DIGITIMES Research focuses on monitoring key high-tech industries, while also guiding clients toward suitable new businesses. Digitimes provides market intelligence and analysis to more than 1000 corporate customers worldwide. Research and consulting services including a full range of products, from in-depth Special Reports on industry trends in the flat panel display (FPD), LED, and semiconductor industries, to Tracker services that monitor the global mobile device supply chain on a quarterly basis. Media contact: Michael McManus (michael.mcmanus@digitimes.com)

Samsung Electronics recently launched the 8.4- and 10.5-inch AMOLED-based Galaxy Tab S flagship tablets. Although the new Galaxy Tab S tablets feature specifications exceeding those of Apple's iPads, the series is still unlikely to boost Samsung's sales in the second half of 2014 as demand in the high-end tablet market is gradually approaching saturation, according to Digitimes Research.Competition in the 8- and 10-ich segments has increased while the tablet market is maturing and becoming increasingly saturated. The recent Samsung tablets have also already made use of all the specialized features accessible from Android.Regardless, the Galaxy S 8.4-inch tablet is expected to outcompete the iPad mini in the second half of 2014 due to its advanced Super AMOLED panel technology, lighter weight as a result of no backlight unit as well as larger vieiwng area, added Digitimes Research.

In June 2014, the digital home industry saw several developments worth noting. Google-owned Nest Labs released a new smart home API that is open to iOS and Android developers. Digitimes Research believes the new platform will open up cross partnerships across the digital home industry as well as bring increased advantages to end-user products.Additionally, Aereo's over-the-air (OTA) TV services over the Internet was ruled illegal by the US Supreme Court. Aereo is trying to appeal the ruling with claims it is a traditional cable company and that such services are legitimate.Samsung Electronics meanwhile launched its Multi Power TV services geared towards Africa-based users in order to further establish its TV services and ecosystem throughout emerging economies in the continent, added Digitimes Research.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued two FD-LTE pilot operation licenses to China Unicom and China Telecom on June 27 for several cities in China. However, China Mobile, which is most aggressive about FD/TD-LTE dual-mode network technology was excluded, showing that the China government is trying to control the telecom market from being dominated by one player throgh the license distributing.By the end of May 2014, China Mobile had added 8.1 million users to its 4G services and China Unicom saw a 22% decrease in new 3G users. This follows developments in China during 2013 when China Mobile held 81% of profits out of the three major telecom providers in China, prompting concern that China Mobile's presence would dominate even further into the following year.Digitimes Research, however, believes the China ministry's move will help push forth the LTE standard into the market, which will cause changes in regards to how much providers dominate the market as well as vendor-telecom cooperation.

Google has recently announced its new wearable device platform, Google Fit, which is expected to change the business model for wearable devices to horizontal partnerships with different industries with its hardware/software integration and connectivity, according to Digitimes Research.Google Fit provides advantages for hardware makers because it will allow them to rely on third-party apps rather than having to develop their own in-house software. The technology however is not yet associated with the medical/health segments most likely due to safety/security concerns. But that is expected to change as improvements are made as Google extends its reach with partners within those segments.The medical/health segments are expected to be a major niche for Google to further tackle in the future. With increased safety coupled with connectivity through mobile devices, Google is expected to revamp its presence in those segments as well as similar services related to Google Health platform, which failed to take off and make a large presence in the market, leading to an end in services back in 2011.Developments in Android meanwhile are also a top priority for Google to ensure increased safety with Google Fit and therefore increased trust and expanded business opportunities in the medical/health segments, said Digitimes Research.