YC Synergy (YCS) announces new fuel cell power system solution, Rick-II series. The new solution greatly upgrades the fuel cell performance for better automobile application. The Rick-II series provide power range from 45KW to 60KW, IP-67 protection, and better power dynamic performance. With over 20% power density improvement from the previous version, Rick-II is even more compact and easy for installation on heavy duty vehicles including buses, trucks, multi-purpose vehicles and maritime application.The Brand-new Rick-II series comply with the GB and SAE standards for better safety and reliability. And with better durability, it provides up to 400,000 kilometers drive-range performance warranty. Rick-II is also capable of full range flow adjustment which allows full power range utilization, from 20% to 100%, creating optimal fuel efficiency in different power output and different driving scenarios. At the same time, it also largely reduces the supporting battery needed on a fuel cell vehicle. The Rick-II series can also go with YC Synergy's self-developed supporting system for operation temperature control, power hybrid, safety assurance device, full-function control system and communication systems. The complete turn-key-solution assures easy product adoption and installation for various vehicles. The vehicle makers or OEM can simply install Rick-II fuel cell system by connecting cables and fuel tube, while the other supporting subsystems are all well-positioned on the total-solution system YCS provide.YC Synergy (YCS) provides not only fuel cell system product but also complete fuel cell solution for vehicle, stationary, maritime and also special purpose applications. YCS provides full support from feasibility evaluation phase, installation phase, to after service phase for assuring the best customer support. YCS will exhibit the most updated fuel cell system and solution at the FC Expo 2020 in Tokyo, World Energy Week from Feb 26 - 28, Feb. About YC Synergy, please visit website for more information.YC Synergy's Rick-II series

Winbond Electronics Corporation, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions, today announced the introduction of a new high-speed OctalNAND Flash which makes high-density serial NAND Flash a viable low-cost alternative to today's Octal NOR Flash.The world's first x8 Octal interface for NAND Flash, Winbond's OctalNAND Flash enables automotive and industrial manufacturers to provide code storage in high density without having to pay a premium and any special hardware change for NOR Flash, a fast memory technology which scales poorly at densities above 512Mbits.The first Winbond product to include the new interface, the 1Gbit W35N01JW, offers a maximum continuous Read throughput of 240Mbytes/s, three times faster than the earlier high-performance W25N-JW QspiNAND Flash family. The single-die W35N01JW is also 50% faster than Winbond's W72N-JW family of Dual QspiNAND devices, which have dual dies in a single package, and a more complex x2/x4/x8 I/O architecture.Manufactured in Winbond's proven 46nm Single Level Cell (SLC) NAND fabrication process, the W35N-JW OctalNAND Flash offers excellent data integrity and more than ten years' data retention. It is specified to perform more than 100,000 Program/Erase cycles, providing the high level of endurance and reliability required in mission-critical automotive and industrial applications.Fast execution of boot codeWinbond developed OctalNAND Flash because automotive and industrial OEMs are reaching the limits of NOR Flash technology's ability to scale cost effectively while being assembled in industry standard packages. In applications such as automotive graphics displays and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), boot code size is often larger than 512Mbits. Customers have traditionally used NOR Flash for code storage, because it is highly reliable, and its fast Read throughput supports fast boot performance. At densities above 512Mbits, however, NOR Flash scales poorly, and die size and cost become excessive.Because NAND Flash technology scales well, its cost is more attractive at densities of 1Gbit and higher, but conventional NAND Flash has been too slow for functions such as shadowing boot code to DRAM.Takehiro Kaminaga, Deputy General Manager of Winbond, says that the new OctalNAND Flash squares the circle. He says: 'Customers in the automotive and industrial markets can now benefit from 240Mbytes/s Read performance in devices with 1Gbit-4Gbit density at a fraction of the cost-per-bit that they pay today for similar performance from an Octal SPI Flash device.'The new OctalNAND Flash from Winbond offers partial compatibility with Octal NOR Flash, easing replacement of NOR Flash devices in existing designs. The industry-standard 8mm x 6mm BGA package of the W35N-JW device is footprint-compatible with serial NOR flash products, and is fully pin-compatible with that of Xccela Flash and OctaFlash NOR products on the market today. Lead automotive customers are using the 1Gbit W35N01JW OctalNAND Flash to replace Octal NOR Flash memory products in new designs, benefiting from a shorter boot time and lower bill-of-materials cost.The W35N-JW parts include a Reset pin, a hardware feature which supports customers' approach to compliance with automotive safety requirements. This Reset pin is compatible with the pin-out of equivalent NOR Flash devices, enabling customers to retain existing serial NAND software for triggering a system re-boot.Excellent performance characteristicsThe W35N-JW family operates at up to 166MHz in single data-rate mode, and up to 120MHz in double data-rate mode. It operates from a supply voltage of 1.7V-1.95V. Data integrity is maintained by the on-chip 1-bit Error Correction Code (ECC). Data from ECC operations help optimize the chip's bad block management.Fast program and erase performance - the W35N-JW achieves a maximum Write speed of 16.9Mbytes/s - supports over-the-air firmware updating in vehicles and also improved manufacturing throughput.More information about the Winbond OctalNAND Flash and the W35N-JW family may be found at website.Winbond OctalNAND

As the final step in the production process, inspection is of critical importance to the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers generally allot adequate staff resources to perform inspection for the purpose of safeguarding product quality. However, there is a limit to what people can do and human visual inspection may be error-prone.To address the issue, LEDA Technology adopted ADLINK's machine vision system and built a smart inspection solution for use as part of a contact lens manufacturing process. According to LEDA Technology CEO Che-Hsian Huang, aside from quickly catching product defects through machine vision-based inspection, the solution can also collect data from individual inspection devices and conduct AI training to keep strengthening the inspection performance.Starting out as a developer of image processing technologies, LEDA has been expanding into artificial intelligence (AI) technology research as smartization becomes a trend in manufacturing in recent years. It is working on solutions that capture and feed image data to the system to do further processing, the result of which then serves as the basis for making process improvements. LEDA currently focuses on technology development and system application for the manufacturing industry, including defect inspection of LED, metal work pieces and contact lenses. In particular, its solution used in the contact lens manufacturing process is a benchmark representative of LEDA's incredible achievement in AI-enabled machine vision.The CEO said that consumer demand for contact lenses is on the rise for style and convenience reasons. To keep up with the increasing demand, manufacturers need to produce them at a rapid rate. As contact lenses are made from transparent materials, making machine vision-based inspection very challenging, inspection has generally been performed by humans. Furthermore, manufacturers conduct 100% full inspection on contact lenses as opposed to most other products for which sampling inspection is more common. Due to production in a large quantity and at a rapid rate in addition to 100% full inspection, inspectors have to visually check about 4,000 small contact lenses a day, which causes the rates of false discovery and missed detection to remain high. LEDA's solution can improve inspection performance for manufacturers with help from ADLINK's hardware platform and professional technical support.According to LEDA CTO Si-Syuan Huang, to improve manufacturing system performance, instabilities on the production line need to be kept to a minimum so that data can be steadily generated and accurately tracked and then used to calibrate the production process for maximum benefits. Human visual inspection is the main cause of instability in the current manufacturing process, especially in the case of contact lens production lines where mass-quantity inspection is conducted. In view of this, LEDA first introduced a machine vision system to replace human visual inspection and then used the digital data gathered by the system to develop AI algorithms, thereby building a smart manufacturing system from the bottom up.LEDA's AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses built on top of ADLINK's EOS-i6000 vision system features the Intel Movidius accelerator, the 9th generation Intel Core i7 processor and support for Intel OpenVINO. The system comes preloaded with a validated AI development platform so it can reduce the efforts needed for testing and integration, thereby significantly shortening the development cycle. EOS-i6000 is optimized for machine vision applications and fully supports a wide variety of deep learning applications. With proven track records in energy consumption, heat dissipation and compatibility, the platform is an ideal edge device complementing a smart manufacturing system.The CTO indicated that due to the complexity of production line configurations and the diversity of factory equipment, when setting up machine vision systems for customers, system providers often have to test all kinds of industrial cameras with different specs and features. If the test results are not as good as expected, the engineering team will have to study the cameras under test again until the system performance meets expectation. ADLINK's EOS-i6000 comes with a built-in GigE camera interface and image capture app along with its proprietary ADLINK Edge development kit, allowing quick and easy connection to other equipment and cloud, so that the LEDA team can focus on algorithm development and shorten the time it takes to get the system up and running.With ADLINK's help, LEDA successfully developed the AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses, which allows users to configure the standard on defect detection and precisely screens products based on the user-defined standard. It solved the problem of high false discovery and missed detection rates with human visual inspection. The system can also keep inspection logs which serve as product traceability records for customer reference. In addition to precise product inspection, LEDA's solution also leverages EOS-i6000's features to build deep learning systems for customers.The precision of deep learning hinges not only on the algorithm but more importantly on the data. Only with a sufficient amount of high-quality data can the model training results be accurate. However, due to manufacturing systems' limited capabilities, AI system providers generally have to wait until a certain amount data has been accumulated from the manufacturing process and then send the data back to do training. The back-and-forth process is time-consuming and it takes a long time to get the system up and running. To address this issue, LEDA makes use of EOS-i6000's strength to allow its machine vision system to collect data on the production line and tap into the customer's servers to perform deep training. According to the CEO, in its early development stage, LEDA's AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses first learned from humans by having the AI system operate alongside experienced human inspectors who would correct and mark the mistakes the AI system made. The approach enabled the system to develop the rules and logics of the deep learning algorithm while accumulating adequate data for the system to keep improving its precision.The AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses LEDA built is now in operation on its customer's production line. LEDA was able to get the system up and running within a short period time. The CEO attributed the success to ADLINK's full support. He pointed out that although there is a wide selection of AI-enabled visual hardware platforms on the market, very few vendors have the expertise in both AI and machine vision. With years of experience in machine vision and a team of AI experts, ADLINK gave LEDA its full support throughout their collaboration. This allowed LEDA to significantly cut down the development time and cost. Going forward, the two firms will continue to engage in close partnership, crafting tailor-made smart systems suited to customer needs.Explore the contact lens inspection solutions, please visit the page.LEDA Technology Che-Hsian Huang (left) and CTO Si-Syuan Huang (right) both point out that AI-enabled machine vision not only ensures stable product quality but also aggregates data for use in process improvementLEDA Technology adopted ADLINK's machine vision system and built a smart inspection solution for use as part of a contact lens manufacturing process

Celebrating its 30th anniversary as a leading brand of Taiwan's aviation industry, EVA Air is not only named one of the World's 50 most valuable airline brands in 2019 but also ranked among Skytrax's list of the world's top 10 airlines in 2019. Its brand and service have deeply impressed consumers.Keeping abreast of the times and technological advances, EVA Air embraces innovations and changes and stays connected to the world. It has joined forces with Chunghwa Telecom IDC to ensure its top-quality services remain uninterrupted and to make every flight a perfect experience.It is general knowledge that the aviation sector often faces a race against time. Especially in Asia, airline companies engage in cutting-throat competition and thus strive for operation efficiency as well as service quality. As a leading brand of Taiwan's aviation industry, EVA Air offers a wide range of premium hardware and software services in the air and on the ground. It continues to expand its route network, connecting passengers to more and more destinations. Not only has it gained recognitions from passengers worldwide, it has also won numerous international awards honoring its achievements in flight safety, overall services and cabin amenities.Uninterrupted premium services 24 hours a day, 365 days a yearGoing into its 30th year, EVA Air is devoted to refining its passenger services in every way. For example, to offer passengers convenient and speedy access to its diverse services such as on-line booking or check-in as a way of coping with the large amount of passenger traffic during Chinese New Year, summer and winter vacations or a sudden spike in passenger traffic arising from flight schedule changes. In order to meet those real-time services, EVA Air, engaging help from Chunghwa Telecom IDC's professional consulting team, has built the most suitable server room and network infrastructure. "When planning digital services for our passengers, we need to take into consideration the requirements with respect to high transaction processes and information security architecture. Chunghwa Telecom IDC is able to meet our high quality demands for operation management, network performances and reliability so that we can offer EVA Air passengers smooth, seamless access to our website and mobile services from every corner of the world," noted Hsien-Yu Hou, the Senior Vice President of EVA Air.In terms of hardware features, Chunghwa Telecom IDC's server room infrastructure is equipped with comprehensive protections against floods and earthquakes to prevent disruptions to network services in the case of such natural disasters. In recognition of its soft power, Chunghwa Telecom IDC has certified Service Organization Controls (SOC) report and received the 2019 Taiwan IDC Provider of the Year from Frost & Sullivan. Fully capable of providing professional server room services, Chunghwa Telecom IDC employs a team of professionals experienced in server room and equipment operations, a team of experts skilled in network surveillance and information security and a team of specialists focused on server room planning and consultation. Working around the clock, these teams provide one-stop total solutions for clients.Services from server room to cloud enable EVA Air flights to bring people worldwide closer togetherStaying true to the commitment to provide professional services, Chunghwa Telecom IDC not only helps EVA Air build server room infrastructure with expansion flexibility to accommodate future growth but also offers "Smart Hand" services, which include facility management and remote operation services. Furthermore, with remote backup being an important part of enterprise risk management, Chunghwa Telecom IDC additionally helps EVA Air plan future remote server room and cloud architecture. Leveraging AWS Direct Connect to help EVA Air tap the worldwide public cloud, Chunghwa Telecom IDC enables EVA Air to effectively connect global markets, significantly reduce network costs and raise system performance. With its extensive experiences in international data center certifications, Chunghwa Telecom IDC is capable of offering EVA Air consultation services on information system certification, allowing EVA Air to expand its footprint abroad while perfecting its digital services with even better quality, reliability and safety for passengers."For three decades, EVA Air continues to grow on the foundation of its commitment to safety, service and innovation. Going forward, EVA Air will uphold the same principle and exert all efforts to make itself a world-leading aviation brand and every flight an immaculate performance," said Hou.About Chunghwa Telecom IDC, for more information, please visit website or contact customer service at +886 800-080-365.Hsien-Yu Hou, Senior Vice President of EVA Air

Unitech, a global solution provider of automatic identification and data capture technologies, announced it is an official partner for Android zero-touch enrollment that streamlines the process and enhances efficiency for businesses.As a zero-touch reseller, Unitech offers various zero-touch-enabled Android devices. For businesses, just purchase the zero-touch-enabled Android devices from Unitech, and Unitech can add devices into an organization's zero-touch enrollment account to make them ready for configuration. Next, their IT team can configure and deploy thousands of devices instantly, simply, and securely online without manually configuring the devices. For employees, they can just power on the devices and start their work immediately.By adopting zero-touch enrollment, Unitech will enable enterprises to mobilize their employees at once by shipping these pre-configured devices to setup effortlessly on boot. It reduces human efforts, increases productivity, and speeds up your time to market.For more information about unitech, please visit www.ute.comUnitech offers Android zero-touch enrollment

NEXCOM, the leading provider of network and communication solutions, announces its new partnership with O'Prueba Technology Inc, a spin-off from the reputed Networking Benchmarking Lab (NBL) at National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan, to create cloud-based automated test solutions.To address the increasing need to simplify testing processes without sacrificing quality assurance and to minimize the risk of human errors in parameter settings, NEXCOM and O'Prueba introduce an automatic control testing solution run on NSA x86-based rackmount appliances, ranging from entry-level agent A308 (based on NSA 1160), to mid-range A528 (based on NSA 5160), to performance A702 (based on NSA7145) integrated with NEXCOM LAN Modules."High port density and flexibility of NEXCOM's network appliances enable us to offer customers a great variety of configurations for both hardware and software, since testing and validation requirements are very confidential and proprietary for each customer," points out Gavin Hsu, CEO of O'Prueba. "Modularized design, reliable quality, and great technical support are also why we decided to form a long-term partnership with NEXCOM.""We are thrilled to see the adoption of NEXCOM network appliances for such innovative, cloud-based automatic control testing systems by O'Prueba, a breakthrough in managing testing methodology and data that helps customers to reduce overall expenditures associated with NPI validation and production testing. In this process of co-creation between NEXCOM and O'Prueba, we have brought and will continue to bring more solutions that answer the agility of today's networks," says Allan Chiu, ODM1 BU Head of NEXCOM's Network & Communication Solutions Group.Details about the platform solutions' performance and corresponding white paper are available on NEXCOM's official website: http://www.nexcom.com/news/Detail/cutting-edge-and-affordable-network-performance-testing-solutionsAbout NEXCOMNEXCOM was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Integrating diverse capabilities, NEXCOM operates six global businesses, including the Network and Communication Solutions (NCS) unit, which focuses on high performance computing and network technology and is committed to helping customers build network infrastructure. NCS' network application platform is widely adopted in CDN, Cyber Security, Load Balancer, uCPE, Router, SD-WAN, Edge Computing, Storage, NVR, and other network applications.About O'PruebaO'Prueba Technology Inc.(O'Prueba) was founded in 2018 as the first spin-off research service company of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan. O'Prueba is dedicated to building easily used and cost-effective testing solution for network and communication industry. The focused areas are including SDN, NFV and 4G/5G systems. O'Prueba designed a series of testing methodologies, frameworks and services as the solution to connect the related technologies to the future network.Allan Chiu, Head of NCS ODM1 BU, NEXCOM International (left), and Gavin Hsu, CEO, O'Prueba Technology Inc

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies play a critical role driving the transition to Industry 4.0. In particular, their use in combination with machine vision has become the first step that most manufacturers are taking to incorporate smart systems into their production process. By leveraging deep learning algorithms, machine vision systems can learn by themselves to determine the quality of the device under test. However, there are certain barriers to overcome before manufacturers are able to make use of AI technologies, according to Kai-Hsiang Hsu, senior product manager, smart machinery business and product center, ADLINK. To help manufacturers make a smooth transition to smart manufacturing, ADLINK has introduced AI-enabled machine vision solutions developed by combining its accumulated strength in machine vision and AI. ADLINK's plug-and-play (PnP) solutions make it easy for manufacturers to make the first move toward smart manufacturing.AI technologies are mainly used in the manufacturing sector for machine vision and robotic arms. Deep learning algorithms are being used for predictive maintenance of production equipment, optimization of production efficiency and improvement of product quality. Taking the PCB and the plumbing parts sectors for example, Hsu noted PCBs are printed with fine and intricate circuits and are produced at a rapid rate. Plumbing parts are characterized by curved surfaces. AI technologies will be the key to enhancing inspection system efficacy for the two types of products as they require high-performance inspection systems. Aside from examining items on the production line, AI-enabled machine vision systems can also be used for factory management, for example, to perform image analysis on factory floor operators to ensure labor safety or recognize objects in the factory to help control the work environment for better management efficiency.With AI's strong performance and diverse applications, manufacturers largely agree that AI will be the way to go. However, when attempting to incorporate AI, most manufacturers will find a gap between idea and execution. ADLINK assistant manager Chia-Wei Yang pointed out the challenge is that AI is not just a device equipped with accelerators but a complete hardware and software architecture implementing highly-specialized know-hows such that AI-enabled machine vision systems are intelligent enough to achieve smart manufacturing.Extending on Yang's view, Hsu talked about proof-of-concept (POC) systems of AI-based machine vision emerging on the market in recent years. With their current model training process, they have been unable to meet expectation when put to practical use on the factory floor. This is mainly due to a lack of professional know-how. According to Hsu, successful AI implementation requires both industry-specific know-how and AI expertise. Each specialty of manufacturing has its own unique production process and every factory has different production equipment. Every piece of new machinery including AI-based systems needs to work in synergy with the existing equipment and production model. However, most AI system providers lack a full grasp of industry-specific knowledge. As to AI systems, it requires highly specialized expertise to build a system with an ideal hardware and software combination best suited to the production line. According to Hsu, neural networks carrying out deep learning algorithms are very complex. On top of that, the different AI accelerators designed by leading chip makers, including Google's TPU and NVIDIA's GPU as well as Intel's and AMD's AI processors, may deliver different performances on the same neural network due to their individual characteristics. As such, AI system developers not only need to know about deep learning and neural networks but also fully understand the features of AI accelerators on the market so as to come up with the best solution that meet the system requirements while working with the end equipment in accordance with expectation.However, to build up the manufacturing know-how and AI expertise needed to implement a precise AI-enabled machine vision system requires tremendous resources and time. Engaging professional third-party vendors will be a smart move to most system developers and manufacturers. Ming-Chang Kao, R&D manager, industry platforms, ADLINK, noted starting out as a provider of automation solutions, ADLINK has built up extensive experience and knowledge in the manufacturing sector. ADLINK also has established an AI team long dedicated to the R&D of various software and hardware solutions so it is capable of designing tailor-made AI-enabled machine vision solutions for all kinds of manufacturing specialties.Kao added that with a full understanding of deep learning algorithms and hardware accelerators on the market, ADLINK can put together an AI-enabled machine vision system that closely matches customers' production line needs and thereby boost the operation success rate on the factory floor. Furthermore, ADLINK provides a highly integrated hardware and software solution, allowing customers to make a one-stop purchase of an all-in-one system. The plug-and-play system is ready to use, helping manufacturers quickly get the system up and running, calibrate the parameters at any time and flexibly reconfigure the production line. ADLINK's machine vision solution perfectly meets manufacturers' every expectation.ADLINK's AI-enabled machine vision solutions have been used in manufacturing systems at home and abroad. According to Che-Hsian Huang, CEO of LEDA Technology, a close partner with ADLINK, on top of its years of experience in machine vision, ADLINK is making additional efforts toward AI research in recent years. With a dedicated AI team, ADLINK is able to design hardware products that quickly satisfy system vendors' needs so that system vendors can focus on developing the algorithms. ADLINK's team of experts also offers consultation services to customers to help with their system design and shorten their development cycle. ADLINK is committed to assisting manufacturers as they make the first step on the transition to smart manufacturing.ADLINK assistant manager Chia-Wei Yang (right), senior product manager Kai-Hsiang Hsu (middle) and R&D manager Ming-Chang Kao (left) talk about ADLINK's extensive experience in AI and machine vision and how its solutions can help customers quickly build up smart systems

Amid rising global trade tensions in 2019, the semiconductor industry is experiencing revenue declines as it struggles with the changes and uncertainties resulting from the technology war between the US and China. Flash memory prices peaked in 2017 but then started to go on a downward trend until reaching a bottom in 2019. With the tug of war between market demand and production capacity in addition to the shift in product segmentation, there are still global economic uncertainties going forward. However, a slew of new applications enabled by 5G x AI technologies are catching market attention, including automotive electronics, artificial intelligence (AI), 8K TV and streaming video, smart home, and smart IoT. They will open up new opportunities as the year 2020 unfolds.Ming-Cheng Lin, Macronix marketing center director, expects the year 2020 to bring favorable news to memory suppliers as the flash memory market welcomes a strong demand for memory chips, which will accelerate a change in demand for high-capacity memory products and future development. Prices of all types of flash memory products are surging, followed by those of DRAM. What is noteworthy is that with limited foundry capacity on top of priority planning and capacity reduction, rapid advances and transformation of high value-added memory products as well as memory chip process improvements and breakthroughs, Macronix is poised for a wave of steady growth as the market embraces surging market expansion.NOR flash enjoys ongoing popularity with flourishing applications to keep fueling growth"Memory demand from new applications is on the rise, calling for a seven percent to 10 percent increase in production capacity," said Lin. "However, supply unable to keep up with demand may be the main reason for the current surge in memory prices. True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds such as AirPods and AirPods Pro, as well as a new generation of smartphones coming with OLED displays, are boosting demand for memory products. Moreover, with micro-servers being increasingly used at 5G base stations, data center equipment and server suppliers are focusing efforts on edge computing technologies, making the segment a key area of competition, which also exacerbates memory shortages.Citing NOR flash as an example, Lin pointed out that global semiconductor supply has dropped from 900,000 wafers per month to 750,000-800,000 wafers, calculated based on 12-inch equivalent wafers. Buoyed by continuingly growing innovations of small-sized smart devices, NOR flash demand remains high with a six percent CAGR between 2018 through 2023. Although NOR flash's costs may trend downward due to its large supply, the global NOR flash market will maintain a US$2 billion market worth, thanks to growing demand. As related production capacity is unlikely to see any further expansion, latecomers to the NOR flash memory market will have difficulty catching up with existing market leaders.Macronix secures its lead in the NOR flash market, targeting 256Mb or larger medium- and high-capacity productsWith U.S.-based NOR flash firms exiting the market, Macronix has stepped up to fill the void. Furthermore, as most China-based competitors are fabless design houses, they sustain a more serious impact from foundries giving priority to producing chips with higher profit margins such as contact-image sensors. The situation favors Macronix, allowing it to maintain a leading position.In analyzing NOR flash products with different capacities, Lin further noted that, despite only representing 10 percent of the shipments to the market, 256Mb and larger NOR flash products contribute 30 percent to 40 percent of the total revenues. The competition in the segment is also less intense. In view of this, Macronix has decided to focus on 256Mb and larger medium- to high-capacity NOR flash products, making the category its breadwinner and a major growth driver that boosts its 2020 revenues and profitability.Cost advantage and in-house production maximize SLC NAND flash benefitsSecuring the largest share in NOR flash and ROM markets, Macronix is stepping up efforts toward its latest NAND flash, making it another important product line. Commenting on the market of SLC NAND, which is often used in embedded systems, Lin spoke candidly that the cost advantage and in-house production are the key to success. Cost is the main consideration to system integrators when choosing SLC NAND, so suppliers have to stay ahead in semiconductor process technologies or they will not be able to keep up with customer requirements on cost. As such, Macronix led the industry in producing SLC NAND on the 19nm node after making a more than NT$10 billion capital investment. Macronix launched a new-generation SLC NAND solution in 2019, guaranteed with not only the absolute cost advantage but also industry-leading chip capacity and size.Meeting the requirements and trends of iconic IoT applications such as smart city and smart home, SLC NAND is widely used in white goods including refrigerators, air conditioners and even cleaning robot. This goes to show that growing use of and demand for SLC NAND will become a sure trend. With its capacity expansion plans clicking into place, Macronix will be able to maintain stable production and prices and therefore is poised to capture exclusive business opportunities.As Macronix's NOR flash is being used in most 5G base stations, production priority will increasingly be committed to 5G applications. Although the prosperity is exciting, what Macronix hopes to achieve is to obtain more market share amid the flash market reshuffling and to capture the opportunity that has opened up with the market changes. Despite the upcoming memory price rises, Macronix will still endeavor to assist customers to achieve success.Ming-Cheng Lin, director of Marketing Center, Macronix

As opposed to multi-level cell (MLC) and triple-level cell (TLC) memory, single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash enables high-speed reads and writes as well as excellent reliability and therefore meets the requirements for high performance and high durability imposed by IoT devices, automotive electronics and emerging embedded applications. However, amid fierce market competition, the ability to maintain a cost advantage continues to play an instrumental role in a product's success. Memory manufacturers have been leveraging progress in miniaturization of semiconductor integrated circuits to help them keep costs down and stay ahead of the competition.Psyche Kuo, deputy director of product marketing at Macronix International, noted that as a leading manufacturer of nonvolatile memory solutions for three decades, Macronix has accumulated extensive experiences in the volume production of SLC NAND, making its way onto the list of the world's top three SLC NAND suppliers. Its outstanding track record in SLC NAND applications in embedded systems, on top of its excellent product quality and production capacity, has enabled Macronix to win support from system integrators and its memory spec to become mainstream standard used in wide-ranging embedded systems. To stay on top of market demand, Macronix has again introduced new-generation SLC NAND solutions produced on the 19nm node, taking advantage of advanced semiconductor process technologies.In full control of production with its own fabrication facilities, Macronix boosts customer satisfactionMacronix expects the family of 19nm SLC NAND products to become a major pillar supporting its 2020 revenue. The 19nm SLC NAND family comprises two subgroups: SLC NAND featuring full support for the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) and Serial NAND. They target niche application markets including smart speakers, set-up boxes, streaming TV, smart home devices and other high-profile electronics, as well as niche high-end network communication products such as broadband network access equipment. Satisfying customer needs in memory capacity and cost, Macronix's 19nm SLC NAND will further strengthen its leading position in the embedded memory market.First and foremost, Kuo pointed out that embedded system customers attach great importance to product quality and supply stability. Macronix operates its own fabrication facilities and thus is in control of production capacity. It is capable of planning production capacity to accommodate customers' shipment schedule. With a proven track record of shipping billions of chips and years of experience in volume production, Macronix is able to maintain long-term relationships with brand customers based on the guarantee of supply stability and agile production planning.As it moves to advanced technology, the SLC NAND naturally will require a host controller to handle stronger error correction code (ECC). Macronix's 19nm SLC NAND requires the same 8-bit ECC as other 2x-nanometer SLC NAND in the industry now, which is the mainstream specification. Additionally, the Macronix family provides tailored features to satisfy more needs to customers in niche markets.Macronix taps growing niche markets with a diversity of new product featuresAside from ECC requirement following the mainstream specification, the new SLC NAND is the first to come with a unique ID (UID) based on the "physical un-clonable function" (PUF), which comes from cell characteristic and it is truly random and un-predictable. Macronix's new 19nm SLC NAND components allow for checking the authenticity of a memory component to make sure it has not been swapped with an unauthorized one. The UID can be retrieved using a read-unique ID command. The microcontroller can compare the read-out of the ID with the original one stored in a safe area.The new SLC NAND also features randomizer function, which is especially for a special data pattern, such as extreme an unbalance data pattern on the distribution of zeros and ones. For NAND read interference caused by errors in this kind of case, this function is used to pre-transform the data into evenly distributed zeros and ones and to resolve the risk of data being read inaccurately.In addition, the NAND memory is susceptible to the Read Disturb effect due to highly intensive and frequent reads - a situation that can easily cause read data errors after high-intensive frequent erasure and data modification (Program Disturb), as well as long-term data retention requirements. In response to these situations and high-quality reliability requirements, a special read function named the Special Read for Data Recovery is provided in the Macronix 19nm SLC NAND for data recovery. This function can adjust the internal condition of NAND FLASH, and may save data and extend the memory lifetime from that. These new features effectively reduce errors during data reading, improve system stability, and meet the stringent requirements of embedded systems for data access applications.Shipments of the 3V 4Gb model began in the fourth quarter of 2019 with 1/2/8Gb devices to follow in the first quarter of 2020. Macronix is also preparing to launch of 1.8V 19nm SLC NAND. Kuo has high hopes for the 3V product family due to large market demand and the wide range of embedded system applications needing SLC NAND, especially those running Linux OS. Macronix is envisioning large orders going forward into 2020.19nm SPI NAND flash with cost advantage allows processors to maximize their benefitsMacronix's 19nm SPI NAND series is positioned as niche and high-value-added products. As CPU manufacturers scramble to add powerful computing cores to cope with the demand of smart Automotive Internet of Things (AIoT) applications, equipping CPUs with 8-bit, 12-bit or even higher ECC capability is becoming standard in the market. In view of this, processing of ECC by the memory is inefficient, while ECC-related specifications vary among memory vendors, thus posing problems for microcontrollers to adopt ECC. Macronix specifically removed the built-in ECC function of 19nm SPI NAND memory products, allowing customers to fully enjoy the high-performance advantage of cost and processor control, in line with its strategy to move toward customization and cater to market demand.Macronix regards satisfying leading semiconductor firms as its top priority. Moreover, as 19nm chips are smaller and therefore can better accommodate different system-in-package (SiP) designs by leading semiconductor firms, a wide variety of customized semiconductor solutions can be made through with them. Major system chipmakers can use a stack of different density memory chip with logic chips or processors to integrate some customized semiconductor solutions. As leading vendors, Macronix is the first to launch a complete solution for 19nm SLC NAND memory, which takes an important step forward in embedded applications and helps international brands to expand the markets for smart devices, smart communication and AIoT systems.Psyche Kuo, deputy director of product marketing at Macronix InternationalMacronix introduces new 19nm SLC NAND flash

China-based IC design firm Sage Microelectronics Corp. (Sage Micro) completed the acquisition of Beijing-based ChuZhi for US$18 million (CNY125 million) during the last week of 2019. According to Sage Micro founder and CEO Jerome Luo, the deal is aimed at further strengthening Sage Micro's ability to integrate high-end storage controller chips at the system level.With the advent of the big data era, the storage sector is among the most important and fast-growing industries in recent years, promising prosperity and a bright future for flash memory chip makers including Samsung, Micron Technology and Toshiba. This also gives rise to burgeoning business opportunities in controller chips for memory cards and solid-state drives (SSD) and the start of companies including Marvell, Sandforce, as well as Taiwan-based Silicon Motion, Inc (SMI) and Phison. However, US-based firms still dominate the segment of system-level high-end controller chips in the storage market as they control the core technologies of cloud storage and high-performance servers. As the industry chain advances toward maturity, China-based system providers such as Inspur, Sugon and Huawei have increasing demand for high-end controller chips. Sage Micro's acquisition of ChuZhi matches with the China government's policy to pursue chip self-sufficiency.So far no IC design houses in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan have attempted to challenge US-based firms' dominance in the high-end storage controller chip segment. Focusing efforts on PC, manufacturers in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan engage in competition on detailed spec of consumer and industrial products. They lack the market sense and presence in mass storage systems. Furthermore, their products are less known for use in program controlled switches, cellular network base stations or optical fiber communication systems compared to smartphone processors, fingerprint modules and SSDs. None of them seems to be known for producing core controller chips for mass storage devices. US-based firms including LSI, Broadcom, IBM and PMC remain the leaders dominating this segment. With the cloud storage industry undergoing waves of growth, the storage controller chip segment will continue to expand and become increasingly concentrated.China-based Sage Micro is set to turn a new page. During the last week of 2019, Sage Micro completed the acquisition of Beijing-based ChuZhi for CNY125 million. Sage Micro is the first IC design firm in China to take over a big data system solution provider. The deal is aimed at strengthening its system-on-chip (SoC) design and applications as part of its strategic planning toward high-end chips including RAID controllers, bus aggregators and bus expanders.As an innovator in China's storage chip industry, Sage Micro focuses on high-speed interface, solid-state storage, information security IC design and supplies USB-SATA bridge chips and SSD controllers to markets worldwide. Without state funding, Sage Micro is one of the very few among the slew of small and medium privately operated technology firms in China capable of selling products internationally. The company started out as a provider of SSD controller chips and has expanded its offerings to include flash memory controller chips supporting all interface protocols encompassing SD, USB, CF, SATA, SAS and PCIe. It was the first to begin volume production of SATA SSD controller chips and SAS RAID controller chips in China.Luo operated his own business in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. He recently received the golden award at the World Zhejiang Entrepreneurs Convention 2019. Zhejiang entrepreneurs have performed outstandingly in business and politics in China. Luo noted that Sage Micro generated total revenue of CNY300 million in 2019, growing at a steady pace. As state-owned memory suppliers like Yangtze Memory Technology Corp establish market presence, Sage Micro can have a sure and clear roadmap for its SSD controller chip research and market development. The merger deal with ChuZhi marks a historical milestone. It is a strategic move on Sage Micro's road to localized supply of big data storage devices and servers in correspondence with the initiative to produce servers and other high-end equipment domestically after it has secured footprint in the SSD controller chip market. Going forward, Sage Micro will concentrate efforts toward high-end chips including RAID, server bus switch and expansion solutions.The merger between Sage Micro and ChuZhi is not only a case of vertical integration in the storage sector but also an inspiration to the IC design industry. With unprecedented SoC design complexity today, it may be a good strategy for IC design firms to climb new heights by expediently expanding into the system integration business and designing high-end chips to suit system needs.Sage Micro founder and CEO, Dr. Jerome Luo