In 2022, the demand of semiconductor chips is facing an uncertain outlook, apart from the strong surge in orders of previous year. Especially in consumer electronics sectors, the market seems to be lessening demand and showing slowdown. But the power management IC (PMIC) and 5G radio frequency (RF) silicon chips are maintaining continuous strong growth. Driven by multiple applications such as automotive, industrial automation and control systems, PMIC remains high and continues with high attention. The demand for electric vehicle (EV) power charging stations, battery charging control and USB power transition are all relying on PMIC chips to provide the outstanding performance.Seeing the huge growth of electric cars and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), the IC chip makers are looking for the innovative production solutions for pushing a quick ramp-up of the production scale. The fan out panel level packaging (FOPLP) technologies have the potential to ease the current chip shortage concerns with the key benefits of cost reduction and heat dissipation features. The technology and equipment suppliers for FOPLP continuously are becoming technically more demanding.Manz AG as one of the key players of wet chemistry and Cu plating process equipment showcases a major technical breakthrough of FOPLP RDL equipment in 2022 SEMICON Taiwan exhibition. The Re-Distribution Layers (RDL) of FOPLP processes do matter while the high volume production phases kick-in. And these solutions are rapidly transforming FOPLP as the prevailing technology in advanced package sectors.This interview with Robert Lin, General Manager of Manz Asia, takes a closer look at the new development of FOPLP technology and equipment. The current line width and spacing (L/S) specification is reaching to 10/10 to 25/25µm ranges, which is fully fitting the requirements of PMIC production in semiconductor industry. The previous demonstration of the process and equipment was welcomed by the global IDMs and quickly to set the mass production planning in 2023. At this moment before the end of 2022, Manz AG is scheduling to work on the process machinery moving into the customer's factory and fine tune the production parameters. This is a key milestone in a successful manufacturing of FOPLP technology.The IDMs are pushing the FOPLP volume production phase to address increasing chip manufacturing and boosting supply. On the other hand, Taiwan OSAT and major IC design vendors also keeping up the pace with verification testing and FOPLP adoption. Manz is incorporating with supply chain partners and material suppliers to make industry continuing its robust growth on improving the yield rate.Enabling supply chain collaboration to accelerate the adoption of FOPLPTalking the progress of FOPLP process development for PCB and panel makers, the major Taiwan display panel OEM/ODM manufacturer has announced starting to provide the FOPLP manufacturing services to customers. And there are several Taiwan OSAT vendors built the new production lines in the current fabs through Capex investment for preparation of volume production in 2023. This is encouraging for Manz FOPLP technology development and having an ambition to win the project, Lin highlights.Facing the diverse needs of the market, especially the trending heterogeneous integration has become one of the important solutions for the continuation of Moore's Law, Manz will actively expand the reach of its Total Production Solutions to help customers. The current Manz's roadmap is continuing to go to optimum production and provide solutions to overcome major issues such as warpage challenges with the integration of the process equipment form supply chain partners .In the SEMICON booth, Manz's demonstration is the state-of-the-art production design of 700 x 700mm in surface areas. There are several production samples in 340 x 340 mm using stainless steel substrates. The production process has been proven and delivered to customers for pre-production verification. Furthermore, the use of stainless steel substrates has convincing performance results to increase yields. This is a compelling evidence to reach the volume production for FOPLP technology.Targeting 700 x 700 mm process areas as an industrial production standardThere are currently three popular sized for the FOPLP process including 515 x 515, 600 x 600 and 700 x 700 mm. Considering the benefit of production efficiency, the process dimension of 700 x 700 mm is the bigger the better. It will produce the silicon die counts equal to four 12-inch wafers, or nine 8-inch wafers. This will help to achieve the goals of miniaturized packaging and lowering costs while the yields rise. Lin sees 700 x 700 mm in process dimension a great potential for the industrial standard.Manz has been investing FOPLP RDL technological innovations since 2016. The process verification is successfully verified by the precision adjustment of Cu-plating process applied in large area of redistribution layers and overcome the major technical challenges including uniformity of electroplating pattering, high resolution and high electrical connectivity. This development supports key customers to prepare the sample devices and obtains certifications of mass production. The coming actions for Manz will actively expand the reach of its Total Production Solutions to provide the services to build from single equipment to automated production lines with certified manufacturing processes. With the high performance of FOPLP RDL production systems, Manz is seizing the opportunities with continuous innovation in advanced packaging applications.Manz AG as one of the key players of wet chemistry and Cu plating process equipment showcases a major technical breakthrough of FOPLP RDL equipment in 2022 SEMICON Taiwan exhibition
As electric vehicle and ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) continue to penetrate the market, iCatch Technology also has been investing lots of resources in imaging-based ADAS technology and business development. How do you ensure that the driver is still paying attention to the road condition ahead when ADAS is activated becomes an important topic for both the car makers and the government. Therefore, Euro NCAP will include Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) in its five-star safety assessment starting in 2023.By adding DMS that monitors driver's attentiveness and health status through multi-sensor fusion and AI edge computing, the system will alert the driver and even take over the control of the car when needed. Imaging is the core of DMS and iCatch's Intelligent Imaging SoC can support multiple imaging sensors simultaneously to meet car makers' requirements on image resolution, dynamic range and privacy protection. Moreover, iCatch has also been cooperating with leading algorithm providers in the DMS industry to provide total solution to potential customers worldwide.iCatch's AI Intelligent Imaging SoC has been selected by a leading European car maker as the core processor of its DMS and has already entered mass production.The cause of car accidents can be classified into two categories, violation of traffic rules and human error. According to the statistics of Euro NCAP and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 94~96% of accidents are actually caused by human error. Therefore, Euro NCAP has been enforcing the adoption of ADAS of all types to compensate for human error. For example, DMS will become one of the mandatory system in a vehicle to qualify a 5-Star safety rating in 2023. As automotive Tier-1s continue to enhance DMS solutions, iCatch has readied several DMS solutions which have already been deployed on multiple passenger and commercial vehicles.iCatch's Intelligent Imaging SoC has been selected by a leading European car maker as the core processor of its DMS and has already entered mass production. On the other hand, iCatch's SoC has also been powering the fleet management dash cam which combines DMS functions for driver coaching. This dash cam product has been adopted by a leading transportation and e-commerce company in the US. Ability Enterprise, a leading imaging ODM in Taiwan, is partnering with iCatch to provide ADAS and in-cabin monitoring camera modules to Japanese autonomous driving developers and to supply multi-camera AI dash cam with built-in ADAS and DMS features to US and Japan fleet management customers. Appro Photoelectron is an Elite Partner of Nvidia in Taiwan and has been providing automotive camera modules based on iCatch's solution to pair with Nvidia AI computing platforms for ADAS and DMS applications.iCatch's EVS-based intelligent vision sensing solution not only can it protects driver's privacy but also can track driver's gaze and alertness with the embedded deep learning accelerator.iCatch's Intelligent Imaging SoC includes industry-leading image signal processor and AI deep learning accelerator to support multiple sensor technologies, including Global Shutter, RGBIR color filter, and Event-based sensing in order to fulfill various smart cabin applications, such as DMS, Occupant Monitoring System (OMS) and Face Recognition. With RGBIR sensor, a single camera can produce color and monochrome IR images for driver and occupant monitoring as well as in-cabin video conferencing. Event-based Vision Sensor (EVS) is a new type of sensor technology that only captures the outline of moving objects and significantly reduce the amount of output data with extremely high response rate for AI processing. iCatch has co-developed EVS-based intelligent vision processing system with Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS) and Prophesee. When this solution is applied to DMS application, not only can it track driver's gaze and alertness with high accuracy and fast response rate using the embedded deep learning accelerator but also can protect driver's privacy.A DMS device must adapt to the continuously changing lighting conditions in the cabin and provide reliable alert even if the driver might be wearing glasses or sunglasses to improve driving safety. iCatch's latest Intelligent Imaging SoC is able to process sensor fusion and provide a complete and robust solution to customers. With drivers' and road users' safety as the 1st priority, iCatch Technology will continue to invest in resource to improve image signal processing and AI deep learning technologies using advanced process nodes.
ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of industrial-grade DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, is pleased to announce that it will be at Global Gaming Expo (G2E), the largest gathering of global, commercial and tribal gaming professionals in North America. The show will be held in Las Vegas from October 11-13, 2022. At the show, ADATA will be showcasing its latest industrial-grade solutions for gaming applications, including 112-layer (BiCS5) 3D TLC flash storage products and high-performance DDR5 DRAM modules. Visit ADATA at Venetian Expo, Las Vegas, booth 2826 in Taiwan Pavilions. At G2E 2022, visitors will be able to see ADATA's latest 112-layer (BiCS5) 3D TLC NAND flash storage devices equipped with KIOXIA and WDC ICs and featuring various form factors, including 2.5-inch, M.2 2280/2242 solid state drives, as well as CFast and microSD memory cards. In addition to SATA III SSDs, ADATA will showcase two PCIe Gen4x4 M.2 2280 SSDs that deliver read/write performance up to 7000/6500 MB/s, high capacities up to 4TB, and 3K P/E cycle ratings for greater product longevity. As for data security and integrity, the BiCS5 SSDs support LDPC ECC (error correcting) technology, End-to-End (E2E) data path protection, as well as A+ Security data security technologies, such as AES 256-bit encryption and TCG OPAL 2.0. What's more, with ADATA's proprietary A+ OPAL software, customers can easily activate TCG OPAL function for all their ADATA industrial-grade NVMe and SATA III SSDs that support TCG OPAL to protect data.For enhanced reliability and extending product life of gaming applications, ADATA provides customized services, including its exclusive A+ SLC technology, which can simulate SLC performance on MLC and 3D TLC NAND Flash by customized NAND Flash firmware. And Power Loss Protection (PLP) technology is able to significantly minimize the risk of data loss by sensitive voltage monitors with banks of power-retaining Tantalum polymer capacitors. In case of power failure, ADATA's PLP technology supplies SSDs with enough power to continue buffered read-write operations until completion.To better understand ADATA's new products and proprietary technologies, welcome to visit G2E 2022 at the Venetian Expo, Las Vegas from October 11-13, booth 2826. Please contact ADATA representatives to schedule a guided tour of the ADATA booth.For more details, please visit ADATA's website: https://industrial.adata.com/en/edm/G2E_2022 or ADATA's Profile Page at G2E: https://www.globalgamingexpo.com/en-us/show-info/exhibitor-list/exhibitor-details.org-a8191759-87b0-4165-9e11-17ef6f1cd60c.html#/ADATA will showcase PCIe Gen4 and DDR5 solutions at G2E 2022
"Taiwan's ICT companies have a longtime focus on hardware advancement, capable of agile and flexible development to adapt to unprecedented circumstances. For example, the services and system integration providers can team up with Taiwan ICT suppliers to develop 5G services targeting different industries vertically such as smart cities, transportation, banking, and smart manufacturing, then sky will be the limit for the global 5G application growth," said Roger Huang, director of DIGITIMES Research.According to GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association), only 218 telecom operators from 87 countries have successfully launched 5G services to their customers, in comparison with 4G LTE, which has a drastic difference of 760 operators. "There are still 2/3 worldwide operators looking to invest in the 5G market," said Huang.Statistics from Ericsson, one of the world's leading ICT companies, indicated that 4G services have accumulated 4.91 billion subscribers at the end of 2021 and will reach their all-time peak of five billion users at the end of 2022. For now, there are only 555 million 5G users with a 6.85% penetration rate. It is still at the starting point for the 5G service life cycle."5G users are growing rapidly worldwide, reaching 690 million users as of June and could possibly exceed one billion by the end of 2022," said Huang. It is expected by 2027, 5G users will hit a penetration rate of 48.3% accumulating over 4.37 billion users while overtaking LTE users. Telecom operators, services providers, and system integrators are optimistic about the current inclination; however, the one that can provide the well-suited product for the constantly growing market wins the 5G battle in the long run.Huang pointed out that companies including Aewin, Askey, Alpha Network, Arcadyan, Foxconn, Pegatron and Tmytek are the major suppliers for 5G customer premise equipment (CPE), small-cell all-in-ones, as well as Open-RAN radio units (RU), distributed units (DU), central units (CU) and transport networks.These companies mainly devote themselves to the development of small cells which is especially relevant for 5G private networks, one of the most crucial 5G use cases with the potential to reach US$4,719 million over the next five years, growing at a CAGR of 39.2%, according to sources from ResearchAndMarkets. "The demand for digital transformation for enterprises has rapidly increased every year, driving the growth for small cells," said Huang.Huang will join telecom industry experts on October 12 to discuss how top network equipment vendors and telecom operators can fully utilize Taiwan's flexibility and agility solutions. Join Key Solutions to Advancing Global Telecommunication webinar now to secure your spot!Webinar AgendaGMT+8TOPICSPEAKER10:30~11:00Log on 11:00~11:05OpeningRoger HuangDirector of DIGITIMES Research11:05~11:25The Vibrant Taiwan 5G IndustryRoger HuangDirector of DIGITIMES Research11:25~11:455G Open RAN and MEC Enable Intelligent ApplicationsTiana ShaoProduct Marketer of AEWIN Tech11:45~12:055G FWA Opportunity and SolutionLance LiuSenior Director of Askey12:05~12:25The Challenges to Designing mmWave Systems for 5G/B5GSu-Wei ChangFounder & CEO of TMYTEK12:25~12:30End of Program
Smoltek Nanotech Holding AB (Smoltek) announces that the group company Smoltek Semi AB (Smoltek Semi) has entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with a subsidiary of YAGEO Group (YAGEO), a global electronic component company, to commercialize a silicon based Carbon Nanofiber (CNF) discrete capacitor. The capacitors are based on Smoltek's patented CNF-MIM technology and will be fabricated using a proprietary nano-fiber synthesis machine and industrial silicon foundry processes.The initial target application is a decoupling capacitor for microprocessor landside mounting. The target thickness for this discrete capacitor is 40 microns. Landside decoupling for microprocessors is an increasing area of interest for miniaturization within the semiconductor industry.The JDA constitutes the next step in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) previously signed by the parties. In conjunction with the signing of the JDA, Smoltek Semi will receive 1.5 MUSD to be used for development activities within the framework of the partnership with YAGEO.Dr. Philip Lessner, Senior Vice President of YAGEO Group states, "This partnership is an excellent opportunity to commercialize a new technology that will be used in capacitors for applications where space is at a premium and high capacitance density is required".Hakan Persson, CEO of Smoltek Nanotech Holding says, "We are excited to partner with a major passive component manufacturer to commercialize a product that is based on our core Carbon Nanofiber technology. We now have a perfect partner in place to complete a competitive product and industrial mass production process for our ultra-thin CNF-MIM capacitors".Portrait photo of Hakan Persson, CEO of Smoltek (Smoltek Nanotech Holding AB)Photo of two Smoltek R&D engineers at MC2-laboratory
Discover how the SG+ twinning model allows companies to combine the business and manufacturing advantages of Singapore and Southeast Asia (SEA) for long-term growth.Looking to diversify your company's supply chains and expand your manufacturing footprint amidst global disruptions? SEA is well-positioned to be the next global manufacturing powerhouse with world-class facilities in logistics management and research and development (R&D), access to extensive Free Trade Agreements, as well as a young and growing workforce that is set to increase by 40 million by 2030.Already, big names such as Dyson, Foxconn and Samsung, are expanding production in SEA to build resilient supply chains. Companies like Pegatron have also looked to SEA to cope with rising production costs, or tap the region's burgeoning digital economy, as seen in Wiwynn's move to house their first overseas server rack integration plant in SEA.As a global business hub, Singapore serves as an ideal control tower for regional expansion in neighbouring locations with cost-competitive manufacturing advantages. Discover how you can combine the synergistic advantages of dual locations in Singapore and SEA through the SG+ twinning model.Find out how Singapore can become your gateway to SEA!To help companies better harness SEA's manufacturing strength for supply chain resilience and growth, the Singapore Economic Development Board, along with Enterprise Singapore and other private sector partners, have launched the Southeast Asia Manufacturing Alliance (SMA). Under the SMA, eligible businesses are able to unlock differentiated benefits with participating industrial parks and receive support for R&D activities, supplier partnerships, streamlined setup processes among many other advantages.Interested to join the SMA as a manufacturer or Strategic Partner? Learn more about how you can leverage SEA's manufacturing potential through this programme.
In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, many businesses resorted to the work-from-home (WFH) model as a way to maintain both normal operation and employee health. McKinsey Global Institute's 2021 report "The future of work after COVID-19" suggests that the pandemic has accelerated three sets of trends—remote work, e-commerce and automation. In Singapore, one of Asia's vital economies, the vacancy rate of office space climbed 2.4pp fourth-quarter 2019 through third-quarter 2021 to 12.9%. Furthermore, according to Singapore's Ministry of Manpower, 49% of the country's employed residents worked remotely in 2020. This indicates that Singapore's shared space and space management markets are embracing rapidly growing demand.With the hybrid work model becoming the new normal and employees having the flexibility of choosing where they prefer to work, employers are now reexamining the arrangement and planning of their existing workspace. For example, they may re-do their office floor plan and offer online reservations for desks and meeting rooms. This not only allows more flexible use of office space but also makes it easier for employers to comply with COVID-related restrictions on occupancy capacity. They can even sublease unused office space and adopt the co-working model to save on rent. More than 80% of Singapore's citizens live in public housing. To the citizens that need to work or learn from home during the pandemic, environmental noise and cramped space make it difficult for them to stay focused. This gives rise to the demand for shared space in the neighborhood that allows them to balance work/school and life. In view of such needs, Great Connection System (GCS) joins forces with partners to co-create smart space management solutions.According to Jason Wang, VP, solution business group, GCS, in Singapore, employers pay high salaries so the Singapore government encourages the country's industries to leverage IoT solutions to raise operating efficiency and lower operating costs as part of its smart country planning. Driven by the government's smart city policies, shared space solutions are closely interconnected with IoT implementations in Singapore. GCS has abundant experiences and superior capabilities in IoT product development and heterogeneous system integration as well as data analytics. Its G-Pod, a smart shared space management solution working in connection with partners' IoT equipment, satisfies wide-ranging application scenarios and needs. Aside from shared space management, it can also be used in a diversity of applications including smart campus, smart sports as well as data acquisition and analysis.Collaborating with local firms in Singapore to capture smart space management opportunitiesIn the post pandemic era, people in Singapore and the rest of the world adopt a new way of working and learning, giving rise to tremendous demand for shared space management solutions. In view of this, GCS, with a proven track record in IoT system integration services, has formed a smart commerce alliance with partners including Xian Shun, Li Jie Technology Hardware, Jida Computer, GSPRO, Yu Sheng Technology, Prime Electronics and Holycow Design. Under the assistance of the 2022 project to drive international expansions of SME digital innovations headed by Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, the alliance exerts all-out efforts to promote smart commerce solutions to Singapore and further to the rest of the Southeast Asian markets.The smart commerce alliance aims to create a quiet and comfortable environment where local citizens can engage in everyday work or learning activities. Collaborating with a work pod provider in Singapore, the alliance recently built an unmanned workspace solution (smart pod) featuring friendly costs and simple reservations that allow easy and quick access by local residents. For mid-to-long term objectives, GCS will expand the success of the unmanned workspace solution in Singapore to additional business applications and create more diversified compound business environments. Joining forces with Taiwan's leading IoT solution providers, GCS will foray into Southeast Asian markets."Space management has traditionally been achieved by controlling the lock using a light current system. Traditional space management solutions lack reservation systems, user interactions as well as sensors and data systems that collect various space information so they are unable to stay on top of space usage, user habits, environmental parameters, etc.…" said Wang. He added "In contrast, not only can G-Pod gather environmental data on site, but it also performs cross analysis of user data, thereby properly managing and monitoring the unmanned space and its surroundings. On top of ensuring user safety and upholding user interests, G-Pod also reduces energy waste and achieves environmentally friendly objectives."Taiwan can learn from Singapore and expand IoT application scopeThe smart unmanned space management solution jointly presented by GCS and its fellow smart commerce alliance members can effectively lower staffing costs. Most important of all, it gathers user characteristics, environmental parameters and site information. Then, it performs big data analytics at the backend for feature extraction to allow the space manager to gain insight into potential needs of specific user groups and thereby strategize marketing plans targeting different user groups. With the solution, the space manager will be able to minimize the idle time and design a suitable and precise marketing plan based on when specific user groups use the space. Moreover, the solution can take into consideration various site requirements and arrange the needed frontend features as well as the backend management systems. While satisfying user needs, the solution also maximizes the management efficacy of the unmanned space for the space manager, achieving a win-win situation.Unlike Singapore, Taiwan's shared space market is only at the budding stage. Unmanned space management in particular is still in early development. As such, the solutions currently on the market are primarily standalone light current electronics systems. In light of this, GCS led the industry in launching the smart unmanned space management solution G-Pod. By interconnecting and integrating heterogenous systems comprising various hardware and software into an all-in-one management solution, GCS enables significant cost reduction when different types of devices and systems have to work together. A great number of interested parties have approached GCS to inquire on G-Pod.Wang pointed out that although Taiwan boasts of a well developed ICT industry, when most businesses evaluate the adoption of IoT solutions, they often take a wait-and-see and conservative attitude because they will have to replace existing hardware systems or lack in-house capability to develop integrated systems. After GCS sales reached out to businesses, took an in-depth look into their needs and introduced G-Pod features in detail, many businesses expressed interest in G-Pod's high level of hardware software integration capability and began talks with GCS about further development. For example, a slew of colleges in Taiwan are actively advancing toward smart campus. Many colleges have approached GCS for smart campus solutions. They look to introduce G-Pod to help create a variety of smart spaces to meet students' diverse learning needs.As part of its current-stage planning, GCS joins forces with its smart commerce alliance partners and together make all-out efforts to expand into Singapore. Furthermore, it will strive to replicate the success with Singapore to Southeast Asia and Taiwan, aiming to create whole-new digital economy opportunities for the industries with G-Pod.An end-to-end application for a smart (unmanned) space management system
MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service), which combines cloud computing, AI, big data, and other technologies, is regarded by national governments and businesses as necessary for realizing a future with smart transportation. Taiwan's MaaS project, which will go online in 2022, integrates various transportation services into a single, convenient platform. The development of this platform was led by Dr. Yi-Chang Chiu, the Founder, and CEO of Metropia. He believes that MaaS needs to aggregate and compute a large amount of information and provide various innovative functions that can quickly respond to user demand. To meet these requirements, Metropia adopted AWS cloud services with the assistance of CKmates.Metropia was founded in the U.S. by a primarily academic team nearly ten years ago when Dr. Chiu was teaching at the University of Arizona. Its core innovation was the creation of a MaaS smart transportation platform that combined mathematical models and modern artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. They set out to help plan operating models for system integrators, and as such, Metropia has robust technical ability in the field of smart transportation. Since its establishment in 2012, Metropia has been devoted to R&D. In 2015, the first version of Metropia's behavior engine was launched, upon which the company was ranked in the Top 100 Government Technology companies by GovTech in the United States. After a decade, Metropia has expanded to many cities in the United States and was invited by the Taiwanese Ministry of Transportation and Communications to return and assist in planning and constructing a smart transportation platform. Currently, its MaaS platform is the largest such platform in the United States and Taiwan.Dr. Chiu further explained how a MaaS platform works. The platform will integrate various traffic data into a single location. If users want to travel to a certain destination, they are presented with information regarding driving, cycling, public transportation, walking, and other modes of transportation. The platform also considers transfer times and the tradeoffs between time and money. While this concept sounds relatively simple, building a service that can accurately and efficiently fulfill this design is incredibly complex and difficult. For example, Dr. Chiu provided an example of a group of students that wanted to travel with a small budget but plenty of time. The platform would provide them with options that mostly included public transportation, such as the Taiwan Railways or passenger transport, with low fares but longer travel times. Conversely, the options would focus on High-Speed Rail and ride-hailing for business professionals with larger budgets but tighter time requirements. In addition, Metropia's MaaS AI engine can learn from its users' travel histories, recommend suitable modes of transportation, and meet travelers' on-the-road payment needs via the integration of third-party cash services and mobile payment platforms.A powerful MaaS platform that integrates food, accommodation, travel, shopping, and transportation can create diverse business models. For example, lifestyle MaaS operators understand users' travel behavior, meaning their data can be used to recommend more accurate products and greatly increase transaction rates. Tourist-type MaaS operators can offer packaged itineraries that combine transportation plans with meals/accommodations/travel/shopping/etc. By working with overseas travel companies, this platform can greatly expand the foreign tourist market and boost revenue.Integrating these technologies has many more applications, such as understanding consumer travel behavior and instantly pushing discounts to consumers for food, accommodation, travel, shopping, and travel. In its latest report, the market research organization Juniper Research predicted that MaaS platform providers would bring in US$53 billion in revenue by 2027, which shows that the appetite for MaaS will only continue to grow.Dr. Chiu pointed out that a fully functional MaaS platform must integrate a large amount of continually updated traffic data and execute AI algorithms that typically require many computing resources. At the same time, the service has to be able to connect with third-party platforms. This all involves very high requirements for IT system performance. In its early days, Metropia's US office used AWS cloud services to deal with rapidly increasing traffic data volume and the computing needs of MaaS. The Taiwan office was originally set up with an onsite backend system. In order to smoothly connect with the US branch, AWS was later imported with the assistance of CKmates.Metropia chose to use AWS mainly due to its focus on diverse services and scalability. Dr. Chiu pointed out that MaaS uses a huge amount of real-time traffic data that can change rapidly. Therefore, it requires an IT system with sufficient storage and computational resources. Building an independent system that can operate smoothly would require a hefty investment of both time and money. Organizing a professional team to develop various functionalities and upgrades and maintaining the software and hardware is quite burdensome for new startups. It is in these very circumstances that AWS helps tremendously.Since AWS already has its own hardware resources and various functional modules, Metropia only needed to select the appropriate software and hardware according to its current needs, which could be immediately brought online. If the user load changes in the future, the service could be increased or decreased accordingly. This feature helped optimize the IT budget efficiency of Metropia, allowing them to expand their IT system according to demand flexibly. Dr. Chiu mentioned that Metropia frequently used the AWS Auto Scaling expansion plan. This function allowed Metropia to automatically search for relevant resources and set expansion plans within a short period of time. This functionality would take a lot of time for an onsite system to develop. The AWS platform comes completely ready to use. In addition, the stability and information security offered by AWS is virtually unmatched.Dr. Chiu advised how to start using AWS based on his experience introducing it to Metropia. He said that with AWS' many functions, it is inevitable that first-time users may be overwhelmed by the many choices. He suggested that businesses cooperate with vendors with professional experience in this area. Metropia sought out CKmates, a business familiar with AWS with long-term experience coaching enterprises to build IT systems. They assisted Metropia in choosing suitable software and hardware services to maximize ROI.With the assistance of CKmates, Metropia has been able to make good use of the various cloud services provided by AWS. Ever since it has focused its enterprise resources on its core business. For future planning, Dr. Chiu revealed that he would continue using AWS's power to improve Taiwan's MaaS platform and provide a convenient and smart transportation service for the people of Taiwan.If you want to know more about metropia, please click the link. https://www.metropia.com/Metropia's Director of Mobility System Jeff Lin (left), Metropia's Technical Director Sibu Wang (middle) and CKmates' Senior Sales Representative Chun-Cheng Zhao (right)
By 2025, we can expect nearly 27 billion connected IoT devices worldwide. Many of those will be smart home products, however currently those products are in varied ecosystems and may be unable to communicate with others, which poses a challenge for consumers looking for products that work with their existing smart home configuration and creates considerable hurdles for developers working to get products to market.The Matter standard is an answer to that challenge, and will be a major driver of growth that helps usher in a new era of IoT connectivity. Matter's release in the fall of 2022 will tear down the boundaries between smart home ecosystems, making smart home connections seamless and giving consumers more product options than ever before.At Silicon Labs, we have been highly invested in Matter's success and creation from the ground up. As an active member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), we are one of the largest code contributors to the platform, and the largest code contributor of any semiconductor vendor. To accelerate its adoption, we have a portfolio of hardware and software solutions for Matter that provide a complete, end-to-end Matter development platform for all ecosystems and wireless protocols.Our Matter Development Platform supports the advancement of smart home technology capabilities, crossing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE), and Thread. Featuring superior wireless performance and wireless hardware that extends battery life, products built with on the Silicon Labs Matter platform are smart, efficient, and primed for seamless integration into the smart home—which will save consumers costs and frustration.The central component of the Matter platform is our 2.4 GHz wireless MG24 SoC with Bluetooth and multiple-protocol operations. MG24 supports Matter over Thread as a single-chip solution, delivering long range of up to 200 meters indoors, and enabling Bluetooth Low Energy commissioning of new devices using the same chip. MG24 is ready for developers to begin designing Matter-ready products.Our Unify SDK software development platform for Matter provides the environment and the tools needed for developers to bridge Matter to other IoT platforms, including Wi-Fi, Zigbee and Z-Wave. Simplicity Studio and Gecko SDK provide a single development environment for enabling Matter on wireless devices and connecting them to the ecosystem of the consumer's choice.Every Matter solution we offer features Silicon Labs Secure Vault, bringing the industry's highest level IoT security and reliability to devices. The IoT security enabled within our platform will protect these devices and their users against cyberattacks and other potential threats to privacy.This innovative approach to smart home technology will alleviate integration challenges previously encountered by consumers and will give developers the tools to create products that work across ecosystems. Our in-depth system expertise will accelerate the development of high-quality Matter devices to revolutionize the smart home experience.
The word "shortage" has figured prominently in the semiconductor industry over the past several years. From automotive to industrial, very few businesses found themselves with enough chips to keep up regular production. Alongside the chip shortage, an even larger scarcity looms – a rapidly shrinking workforce.As competition for talent intensifies, the US' government and manufacturers with plans to expand domestic semiconductor production are looking for creative ways to close the employment gap. The solution they are pursuing is to invest in programs now to pave the way to the future. How We Got Here and Where We Are GoingIn the 1960s, the US semiconductor industry was bolstered by fiscal spending and contracts from the Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD enforced open communication, which meant technology was shared by large and small firms alike — enabling rapid, cost-effective innovation. This created a healthy labor market responsible for producing groundbreaking technologies.The industry eventually grew beyond a point where the government could regulate firms' agreements and government contracts dropped dramatically in the 1970s. But technology was swiftly integrating into businesses globally, so there was no lack of profit for the semiconductor enterprise.As policies shifted, "champion" and asset-light design firms took over, favoring larger companies. This created supply bottlenecks for those who lacked funds for substantial orders. As global competition increased, fabless firms, which concentrated on design and sale while outsourcing fabrication to semiconductor foundries, were born, and supply chains became further dedicated to aiding more well-funded companies.Other countries increased their design capabilities, and gradually the US market share of electronic component production dropped to today's level of just 12%.However, expansion plans and changes in US policy are shifting the tides yet again.Some of the biggest developments include:Intel pledging upwards of US$20 billion in fabrication plant construction. Micron announcing plans to finance US$40 billion for memory chips. Samsung, Texas Instruments and GlobalFoundries revealing domestic expansion plans for the next 3-5 years. Qualcomm improving domestic production by upwards of 50% over the next five years.The Stats Stacked Against UsThese developments are exciting, but questions remain about where to find employees. Reports from talent management company Eightfold.ai project that the US semiconductor industry needs between 70,000 - 90,000 new workers by 2025. These numbers only satisfy the most critical workforce needs.These positions require highly skilled and trained talent. The semiconductor electrical engineer workforce has grown three times faster than electrical engineering overall, with 78% more job posts in 2021 compared to 2020.The competition from companies both in the US and abroad makes finding trained individuals daunting. The question is, how does the US bring the global talent closer to home and expand the number of candidates to fit the industry's needs?How to Invest in the Future WorkforceOn August 9th, 2022 President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law, allocating US$52.7 billion in federal subsidies to domestic chip manufacturing, with funds earmarked to upskill and expand the industry's workforce.Incentives include US$39 billion for manufacturing and US$13.2 billion for R&D and workforce development. Additional allocations are earmarked to create regional innovation and technology hubs, with the goal of increasing private investment and providing country-wide job opportunities.The burden of investing in education also falls on the manufacturers; Intel has joined with universities and community colleges to devote around US$100 million over the next 10 years for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs.If companies hope to encourage students to pursue a career in the industry and work for them over the competition, they should invest in work training programs, and where possible, allocate charitable giving to education programs.Bridging the Talent GapThere are no quick-fix solutions to the semiconductor and manufacturing workforce shortage. It will take a significant investment of time, money and patience to bridge the gap between demand and personnel availability. If the US hopes to reinvigorate the industry, the government and manufacturing companies will need to work together to build a strong future.
