Okinawa-based startup Watasumi is utilizing its biological technological expertise to convert organic carbon from waste water into energy through bioelectrochemical systems (BES). The company now targets small- and medium-sized food and drink industries around Japan, hoping to treat waste water more sustainably by leasing to clients the fully self-sustained compact module reactor that can also serve as an additional power source.Watasumi is a spin-off from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST)'s R&D Cluster Section and the Tech Pioneers program. The company has advisors in Europe where Environmental Technology is more mature.Company founder David Simpson has worked on such BES for over a decade. The technology works particularly well as the Japanese diet culture comprises a large variety of carbohydrates including rice and tofu, and Watasumi has attained business in the shochu and sake industry in Japan. Some other Watasumi's clients are also primary producers of food and beverages like tofu cakes and pig farms, which produce a consistent volume of waste water with high concentration of sugar that they normally would need to pay a large amount money to get treated and disposed of.The system has a colony of bacteria consuming sugars on one conductive electrode, where some bacteria breathe electrons (oxidization) onto the electrode, and another type of bacteria consumes these captured electrons to boost biogas production in a "syntrophic" relationship. A counter electrode connected by an external circuit creates a power current and controls the reaction, Simpson explained. The reaction is fully self-sustained and produces biogas for use.There are lots of small sake makers in Japan, Simpson added, and besides the primary producers, restaurants or local communities could be the potential clients to Watasumi in the future as well.The benefits of Watasumi's solutionWatasumi is currently at the phase of streamlining production of the equipment. The business model works for its clients as it does not require a large capital to invest in. Neither does it require a lot of manpower to operate or monitor, Simpson said. Before the equipment gets in place, the company carries out analytical tests on the waste water.Food producers are sometimes choked by the high costs of treating waste water, especially for small-scale one. Despite strict regulations for waste water treatment, compliance is not so high, especially with SMEs, according to Simpson. Biotechnology like BES's could help them lower the costs of waste water treatment and make their business more sustainable and environmental-friendly.To push for its solution to be more widely adopted by the food and beverage industry, Watasumi is now making inroads to approach local authorities.Currently, for small food producers considering adopting Watasumi's solution in Japan, Simpson said the costs can be mostly covered by government subsidies.Most importantly, the reactor can help clients reduce a significant portion of energy costs as the biogas generated by the solution can be directed towards making new products. For distilleries, for example, 90% of the electricity generated by the reactor are in the form of biogas. Burning the gas for production activities or heating can save up to 50% of the energy requirement for the facility, Simpson said.The company is looking to start seed-round fundraising this year.Looking for collaborations and networking activities in neighboring Asia countries, the company will be in Taipei on Oct 12-14 as one of the recipients of the TIE Awards.Watasumi's reactor system is easily installed on even the smallest of customer's sites by using standard pallets. This installation is capable of treating 1000L of distillery wastewater per day.

Thermalytica, a spin-off startup from Japan's National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS), has developed an ultra-low density and lightweight silica-based thermal insulation material. The material, TIISA, is revolutionary in its structure; its volume can expand up to ten times larger than traditional aerogel when compared at the same weight.The company's CEO, Kazuo Konuma, formerly worked as a semiconductor researcher at NEC and has hands-on experience assisting NIMS in technology transfer. Founder and CTO, Rudder Wu, boasts years of dedicated research in insulation materials and envisions diverse applications for TIISA.Everyday use cases encompass insulation paint for eco-friendly building exteriors, smart AIOT insulation windows for residential use, and outdoor gear suitable for everyone.Wide use of insulation materialsApplying high-end insulation materials is key to reducing power consumption and carbon emissions because it creates a thermal barrier that shields heat from entering or leaking. Insulation is needed in many fields, ranging from buildings, factories, industrial equipment, electronics, data centers, lithium batteries for EVs and green energy storage, functional textiles, cryogenic transportation storage of liquid hydrogen.Silica powder is drawing close attention for its excellent insulation properties as production costs decline and technology improves. As the world calls for higher ESG compliance and net-zero carbon emissions, everyone is looking for better ways to improve energy efficiency and to make human activities more sustainable.TIISA, which stands for "thermal insulation inflatable solid air", contains over 99% air and comprises nanometer-sized particles. The material has high fluidity and can shield heat up to 1,300 degrees Celsius. Comparing with traditional insulation materials, TIISA has significantly low thermal conductivity.Wu recognizes the substantial demand for curbing heat loss and reducing carbon emissions. If a layer of thermal insulation material could be applied to the industrial ovens and high-temperature pipes, he said, it could significantly reduce energy loss for the factory.Meanwhile, the company has received many requests from Taiwan's ICT manufacturers seeking solutions for managing heat dissipation. While heat insulation and dissipation represent separate mechanisms, said the company's research engineer, Eric Lee, insulation material could be applied in consumer electronics to protect temperature-sensitive components, such as cameras and batteries, from the dissipated heat and complement heat management for electronics.Production commercializationThe team is currently constructing a pilot production facility in its headquarters city, Tsukuba, Japan. Ryo Sasamoto, head of corporate strategy at Thermalytica, said his objective over the next five years is to increase annual production capacity to ten tonnes. Sasamoto emphasized that Taiwan would be among Thermalytica's early target markets. The company also plans to expand globally, including into other Southeast Asian countries and the US, where they have connected with potential investors. The company garnered recognition in both Japan and Taiwan, having been chosen by a Taiwanese incubator, Garage Plus, and the Hsinchu county government as a promising startup. It has also been chosen by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) as J-startup this year. The company has been engaging with Taiwanese manufacturers since then.In Tsukuba, the company has been given an opportunity to verify its thermal insulation paint on a public building later this year. The project will be funded and supported by the local government.Thermalytica will be showcasing TIISA at TIE Awards in Taipei on October 12-14 and is seeking collaborations with local producers and suppliers across steel production, automotive, electronics, textile, chemicals, and green energy.The company also plans to start the next round of fundraising in 2024.Thermalytica TIISA monolith, a translucent aerogelThermalytica TIISA, a fluid-like silica-based powder

Blumind is pitching a farsighted approach of neural network processing using an all-analog architecture for AI applications to be more sustainable in the future. The company has completed the latest phase of R&D and is now looking to commercialize its high-performance, low-cost, and sustainable AI chips.Instead of building a digital compute architecture like most other industry players today, the company has invented an all-analog neural network signal processor architecture that is totally event-driven, highly efficient and accurate.The semiconductor industry has started working on reducing the mind-boggling power consumption and improve the sustainability of AI, said Niraj Mathur, co-founder of Blumind. For AI to be more broadly adopted in all aspects of our lives, it has to become more energy efficient, he added.Having worked in the chip industry for decades and witnessing the surge of AI applications, Mathur and his team at Blumind believe that it is necessary to deliver new innovative semiconductors to enable AI for everyone, everywhere. Markets ranging from smart wearables, health monitoring, to smart mobility and robotics, will demand ultra-low power, low latency and low-cost solutions to become major drivers of global economic growth.In order to meet the growing demand for AI-enabled applications in people's everyday lives, such as camera-based collision avoidance, microphone-based voice command detection and natural movement for robots, the chip industry has been seeking ways to reduce costs and power consumption of AI chips.Blumind's all-analog neural network processor can reduce power by 100x-1000x versus current AI chips, said Mathur. The architecture does not rely on absolute voltage or current and does not use ADCs or DACs in the neural network core. This makes Blumind's products impervious to process, voltage and temperature variations without compromising accuracy. Additionally, Blumind's architecture does not require the latest semiconductor fabrication nodes to manufacture their chips, but instead utilize cost-effective mature and readily available fabrication nodes. There is also a trend in the industry of using mature processing nodes due to heightened demand for automotive chips and IoT electronics.When Mathur met John Gosson, who is now the CTO of Blumind, he knew that AI sustainability will be the next inflection point of the industry. Gosson was already working on the project and the two decided to form Blumind to commercialize Gosson's invention.Blumind will present its novel processor at TIE Awards in Taipei on Oct 12-14, 2023, aiming to look for lighthouse customers and to build a significant, long-term presence in Taiwan.The Canadian company closed their latest round of fundraising at the beginning of this year. It is expecting to start another round of fundraising later this year.Blumind's prototype test board

DigiKey, a leading global commerce distributor offering the largest selection of technical components and automation products in stock for immediate shipment, has released the full Season 3 of its "City Digital" video series, which explores the evolution and future of IoT in the automotive industry.Sponsored by Analog Devices, the three-episode series dives deep into the future of automotive technology and beyond by examining how electrification, autonomous vehicles and the connected automotive eco-system are changing ideas around the future of commuting."The interdependence between IoT and automotive has moved forward in the past decade, with more electronic features like mobile connectivity, environmental sensing and radar in vehicles every year," said Kelsie McMillin, partnership marketing manager, IoT at DigiKey. "Our work with suppliers like Analog Devices allows us to bring engineers and designers the products and tools they need to accelerate the automotive industry.""There's likely nothing else you are going to buy in your life that will have as much technology as a car," said Yasmine King, vice president of the automotive cabin experience group at Analog Devices. "We dedicate significant effort to envisioning future R&D innovations, aiming to address some of the most challenging automotive problems including accelerating the autonomous driving experience and the convergence of the energy grid and electrified mobility."The first of three videos in the series, "An Evolution in Mobility," looks at the history of the automotive industry, charting the progress made in the last several decades and where technology is showcasing the path forward.The second video, "Powering the Road Ahead," explores the growing need for charging stations in today's smart cities. The third and final video, "Creating a Sustainable Driving Experience," discovers how the cities of tomorrow will work together with automakers to support sustainable manufacturing, energy storage and next-generation connectivity.

As more players enter the cryptocurrency space, mining becomes more complex and requires more computing power. As a result, many people who used to mine cryptocurrencies using their own hardware are now finding it unsustainable due to high electricity bills and hardware wear and tear. Therefore, cloud mining has become an attractive option.What is cloud mining?Cloud mining is a mechanism that uses rented cloud computing power to mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, without installing and directly running hardware and related software. Cloud mining companies allow people to open accounts at a basic cost and participate in the cryptocurrency mining process remotely, making mining accessible to more people around the world. Since this form of mining is done through the cloud, issues like equipment maintenance or direct energy costs are reduced. All in all, if you want a truly hands-free investing experience, then cloud mining is for you.How to start cloud mining?Keen to try cloud mining? Here are the basic steps you need to follow before getting started.Step 1: Choose a Cloud Mining ProviderCGMD miner is a popular and powerful cryptocurrency mining platform and an excellent resource for earning passive cryptocurrency income. The platform is one of the world's leading mining companies and your trusted partner. To take it to the next level, CGMD miner introduces a free bitcoin mining program that lets you earn bitcoins passively. They promise to open Bitcoin mining to everyone, regardless of technical knowledge or financial resources, with no strings attached. Once you have mined 12 USDT worth of bitcoins, you can transfer them to your account and trade them. Any profit you make is yours and you can withdraw it to your personal wallet.Advantages of the platform:Sign up and get your $10 bonus instantly.High profitability levels and daily payouts.There are no other service or administrative fees.Users can generate more than 6 other currencies using the platform.The company's affiliate program allows you to refer friends and earn up to $3,000 in referral bonuses.McAfee security protection. Cloudflare® Security Protection.Backed by a 100% uptime guarantee and outstanding 24/7technicalsupport.Step 2: Sign up for an accountSign up for an accountIn this example, we choose CGMD miner as our cloud mining provider. theGo to the provider of your choice and sign up to create a new account. The CGMD miner offers an easy registration process, all that is required to participate is entering an email address and creating an account. After signing up, users can immediately start mining bitcoins.Step 3: Purchase a mining contractCurrently, CGMD miner also offers various mining contract options, such as $100, $500, and $1000 packages. Each has a unique ROI and a specific contract period.You will unlock even more passive income when participating in the following contracts:Purchase a mining contractEarn income the next day after purchasing a contract. When the income reaches $100, you can choose to withdraw to your encrypted wallet or continue to purchase other contractsAffiliate programNow, CGMD miner has also launched an affiliate program, a platform that allows you to earn money by recommending the website to others. Even if you don't invest, you can start making money. After inviting a certain number of positive referrals, you will receive a one-time fixed bonus of up to $3,000. With unlimited referrals, your earning potential is unlimited too!In conclusionIf you are looking for ways to increase your passive income, then cloud mining is a great way to do it. When used correctly, these opportunities can help you grow your crypto wealth on "autopilot" mode with minimal time investment. At the very least, they should take less time than any type of active transaction. Passive income is the goal of every investor and trader, and with CGMD miner you can maximize your passive income potential easier than ever.If you want to know more about CGMD miner, please visit its official website www.cgmdminer.com

Fan-out panel level packaging (FOPLP) offers advantages in cost control, high-density integration, and high reliability. After years of research and development, the technology has matured and its scope of application has gradually expanded beyond vehicle-mounted applications. It has become a critical packaging process for next-generation RFIC used for low earth orbit satellites. Robert Lin, General Manager of Manz Taiwan, stated that the FOPLP market demand will quickly expand as the number of success stories increases. Manz Taiwan has worked on these solutions for years. It has developed several innovative technologies and established comprehensive service mechanisms and professional teams to facilitate joint development with IDM OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test), Display panel, and IC substrate manufacturers to reduce the minimum requirements for production and commence mass production.Manz Taiwan has strong roots in automation and has focused on the development of production equipment for displays, high-end IC substrates, and other high-tech electronics since its establishment. It has also developed FOPLP technologies in the last 10 years. Since 2015, the company has helped renowned companies in the domestic and foreign semiconductor industries with the production of the next-generation packaging process and accumulated strong innovation capabilities, particularly the equipment and plating processes for the FOPLP RDL wet fabrication process. It also introduced high-precision inkjet printing technologies and gained a leading position in the industry.Robert Lin stated that the evenness of the coating in FOPLP RDL is critical for the performance of semiconductor components. Manz Taiwan optimized the FOPLP RDL plating process and increased the overall copper plating uniformity to 92%. It can also meet the requirements of certain categories of customers such as power semiconductor companies to increase the thickness of the coating to 100μm and increase the current used for plating to 5 ASD instead of the existing 1-2 ASD. It significantly increased the copper plating speed and doubled monthly output. Manz AG developed exclusive high-precision inkjet printing technologies and Manz Taiwan used them in the FOPLP process. The technology can be used for direct printing on functional conductor or intermediary materials to streamline the production process and enhance production efficiency.Manz Taiwan offers customers the best support with comprehensive service mechanismsIn addition to innovative technologies, Manz Taiwan also provides comprehensive service mechanisms for technology validation and introduction. First, Manz Taiwan integrated partners and technologies to create one-stop process equipment solutions and ensure that customers can quickly commence mass production after the delivery of the equipment. The advantages of automation increase the synergy and performance of the entire process. Second, Manz Taiwan provides solutions and services for different FOPLP substrate materials including stainless, glass, and epoxy molding compounds (EMC) for customers to choose the most appropriate process solution based on their expertise.Third, Manz Taiwan set up the RDL laboratory in Taiwan equipped with comprehensive advanced equipment for customers to conduct tests and validation during the technology development phase before verifying the feasibility of projects and transferring them to the actual production line. The laboratory thus reduces the minimum requirements for production and helps customers commence mass production.After the laboratory was established, domestic and foreign customers have used it for tests and validation of FOPLP process technologies. During the tests, the team at Manz Taiwan also provides technical services to help customers reduce the development time.With regard to FOPLP development, Robert Lin believes that the technology has underwent concept communication, validation, and trial production and has entered the practical application phase. Applications have also expanded from vehicles to satellite communication, which verified its commercial value. Robert Lin stated that the demand for future FOPLP applications has risen faster than expected. Manz Taiwan has prepared robust technical capacities and comprehensive service mechanisms to help different customers adopt next-generation packaging technologies and win the next wave of market opportunities.Robert Lin, General Manager of Manz Taiwan, stated that Manz Taiwan has worked on FOPLP solutions for years. It has developed several innovative technologies and established comprehensive service mechanisms and professional teams to help customers adopt new process technologies and win new business opportunities in the market.

Global Unichip Corp. (GUC), the advanced ASIC leader, announced that they have silicon proved 8.4 Gbps HBM3 solution on TSMC's 5nm process technology. The platform was demonstrated at the Partner Pavilion of the TSMC 2023 North America Technology Symposium. It contains a fully functional HBM3 Controller and PHY IP and vendor's HBM3 memory using TSMC's industry leading CoWoS® technology.HBM memory vendors keep aggressive roadmap increasing throughput and memory size from HBM3 to HBM3E/P and further doubling data bus width at HBM4. But fundamental DRAM timing parameters don't change and HBM Controller is getting more and more sophisticated to enable full bus utilization. GUC's HBM3 Controller achieves above 90% bus utilization at random access while keeping low latency. GUC's HBM3 PHYs are silicon proven at TSMC's 5nm technology and were taped out at the TSMC 3nm early this year, and ready to support the fastest planned HBM3E/P memories. The PHYs are verified with angle routing of HBM bus on both CoWoS-S and CoWoS-R interposers enabling offsetting HBM PHY vs. HBM memory for ASIC floorplaning flexibility. GUC's HBM Controller and PHY IPs are used in customers' HPC ASICs for production since 2020.Explosion in amount of computation required from Level4 Autonomous Driving computer leads to adoption of 2.5D chiplet-based architectures and HBM3 memories by car processors. Harsh car environment and high reliability requirement make continuous monitoring of 2.5D interconnect and replacement of failing lanes necessary. GUC integrates proteanTecs' health and performance monitoring solutions into all its HBM and die-to-die interface test chips. proteanTecs' technology is now silicon proven in GUC's 5nm HBM3 PHY, up to 8.4 Gbps. During data transfer in mission mode, I/O signal quality is continuously monitored, without any re-training or interruptions. Each signal lane is individually monitored, allowing for the identification and repair of bump and trace defects before they cause system operational failures and therefore extending the chip's lifetime. "We are proud to demonstrate the world's first HBM3 controller and PHY at 8.4 Gbps," said Dr. Sean Tai, president of GUC. "We established a complete 2.5D/3D chiplet IP portfolio at TSMC's 7nm, 5nm and 3nm technologies. Together with design expertise on the TSMC 3DFabric™ technologies including CoWoS, InFO, and TSMC-SoIC, we provide our customers robust and comprehensive solution of their AI/HPC/xPU/Networking/ADAS products.""Based on high-volume manufacturing experience of our 2.5D chiplet products we defined the strictest qualification cycle and covered our IPs with comprehensive set of diagnostics, it allows our IPs to pass the toughest quality criteria of the world's leading car manufacturers." said Igor Elkanovich, CTO of GUC. "Convergence of 2.5D and 3D packaging using HBM3, GLink-2.5D/UCIe and GLink-3D interfaces enables highly modular, chiplet-based, much- bigger-than-reticle-size processors of the future."GUC HBM Controller and PHY IPTSMC Process NodesSpeedReadiness7nm HBM37.2 GbpsV (6nm compatible)5nm HBM38.4 GbpsV (4nm compatible)3nm HBM38.6 GbpsVGUC D2D (GLink-2.5D & UCIe) IPTSMC Process NodesBandwidth (full duplex)Readiness7nm GLink 1.00.7 Tbps/mmV (6nm compatible)5nm GLink 2.3LL2.5 Tbps/mmV (4nm compatible)3nm GLink 2.3LL2.5 Tbps/mmV3nm UCIe 1.05.1 Tbps/mm4Q23To learn more about GUC's HBM3, GLink-2.5D/3D and UCIe IP portfolio and InFO/CoWoS/SoIC total solution, please contact your GUC sales representative directly or send email to IP-FAE-AM@guc-asic.com.Please visit https://www.guc-asic.com

The semiconductor manufacturing industry, which constantly pursues ultimate performance, small form factors, and minimal power consumption, has been continuously refining various technologies in recent years. Apart from the two major trends of advanced processes and compound semiconductors, advanced packaging technology for heterogeneous integration has also become a recent market focal point in conjunction with the AI popularity. However, all three of the aforementioned technologies must be accompanied by material analysis (MA) and failure analysis (FA) to ensure product quality and reliability. With ample professional experience in semiconductor analysis, Integrated Service Technology Inc. (iST) provides a variety of solutions that cater to the diverse needs of customers in this field.Creating new technologies with professional experience to overcome analytical challenges in new production processesTurning the attention to advanced processes, over the past two years, AI development has picked up the pace gradually. Various electronic devices and field systems have shown an increasing demand for more computing power in ICs. To meet these market demands, semiconductor manufacturers have been investing heavily in the research and development of advanced processes. Due to these efforts, the mass production of 3-nanometer chips began in the end of 2022, while the mass production of 2-nanometer chips is expected to commence in 2025. Miniaturization processes and high-density components have brought various challenges to failure analysis(FA) and material analysis(MA) in semiconductor production. Shih-Hsorng Shen, the Director of Failure Analysis Engineering Division at iST, pointed out that as component sizes decrease, internal structures become more refined. As a result, failure points will also become proportionally smaller. Analyses thus require techniques and approaches that are different from the past to address these challenges.Demands for new analytical techniques brought forth by new processes are also created in the fields of heterogeneous integration and compound semiconductors. Shen explained that advanced processes, advanced packaging for heterogeneous integration, and compound semiconductors all give rise to fault patterns that are different from traditional processes. In traditional processes, faults typically involve issues like open circuits, short circuits, or leakage. However, new processes exhibit different faults. For example, in advanced packaging processes for heterogeneous integration that require stacking of different materials, variations in the coefficient of thermal expansion among different materials can lead to mechanical stress, impacting the overall operation of ICs. Due to diverse materials used and the intricate 3D IC architecture of heterogeneous integration, compared with inspecting a single layer in traditional 2D ICs to detect problems, diagnosing faults in 3D ICs of heterogeneous integration requires a thorough understanding of material properties, mechanical stress during fabrication, thermal effects, and layer-by-layer examination of the 3D structure to identify defect points. As a result, the difficulty level is fairly high.To overcome these challenges, laboratories with complete testing instruments, and extensive professional analysis experience are required. Taking thermal effects, which often lead to component failures, as an example, a thermal imager is typically used for identifying heat concentration points within the structure. If the issue still cannot be pinpointed, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) must be conducted for an in-depth microscopic material analysis. However, in the verification and analysis service industry, precision instruments only constitute the basic requirements. Kim Hsu, Assistant Vice President of Material Analysis Engineering Division at iST, pointed out that to obtain accurate results, extensive analysis experience is also essential.Hsu further said that generally, more comprehensive information will make analysis results with higher precision. However, due to the sensitive nature of information in the semiconductor industry, clients are often less willing to provide detailed information compared with other fields. To deliver analysis results that meet client expectation despite these circumstances, different professional approaches are required.Regarding the mechanism of semiconductor verification and analysis services, Shen used the medical field and its processes as an analogy. When a person feels unwell, he or she would usually see a family physician first. The family physician would conduct preliminary examinations such as auscultation, inspection, or use various instruments to identify the cause of illness. Once the cause is established, the patient is then referred to the appropriate specialized department, where a specialist physician would provide the corresponding treatment. iST's verification and analysis services follow a similar approach. Shen explained that when a product fails, customers often struggle to identify the point of defect. As such, iST will first assign a single contact window to handle the case. Preliminary diagnosis will be conducted before the case is transferred to the corresponding laboratory. This practice resolves the inefficiency of past procedures, where trial and error was repeated in various analysis processes to determine the cause of defect. As a result, the time required for product analysis is significantly reduced.Additionally, much like in hospitals, where X-rays or ultrasound scans are performed for maintaining as much integrity of a patient's body as possible, and preventing the equipment from affecting the area under examination, verification and analysis services operate under similar principles. However, as semiconductor processes become increasingly miniaturized, the difficulty of conducting non-destructive testing has increased. iST's unique techniques and methods often start with a pinpoint analysis for a broad area, and an elimination process layer by layer to identify the issue. Subsequently, limited-destructive or non-destructive analysis will be carried out where appropriate. The majority of the analysis work is conducted with this approach, which leads to precise results.Consolidating years of analysis expertise to provide one-stop integrated solutionsIn addition to aiding customers in swiftly identifying causes of product defects, Hsu pointed out that a product comprises an integrated structure. Therefore, failure analysis(FA) and material analysis(MA) not only have to fulfill their respective roles, but also closely interact and connect with each other to effectively ascertain the reasons for failure. During the analysis process, FA primarily focuses on identifying root causes of issues from a higher level such as mechanical and electrical causes. On the other hand, MA delves deeper into analyzing material properties to ensure that the quality and performance of materials or components align with the requirements.Hsu continued to explain that the ability of iST in providing comprehensive solutions is underpinned by a high degree of professional expertise. He cited TEM as an example. TEM can penetrate materials to reveal their internal structures at a microscopic level. However, the results are inherently microscale. At this point, it is necessary to cross-examine and verify the microscopic results against macroscopic findings. Hence, MA and FA need to go hand in hand to identify the causes of failures.To provide customers with the best integrated solutions, iST adopts several approaches to strengthen the capabilities of its team. Firstly, iST continues to invest in its hardware and equipment to establish a comprehensive analytical environment. Secondly, the company works to enhance the quality and quantity of its talents. Employees are encouraged to proactively participate in academic conferences, and engage in exchanges and collaborations with research institutions. Meanwhile, industry experts are also recruited into the team.Aside from investing in hardware and cultivating talents, Shen mentioned that another important aspect is the utilization of data science in iST. He said that with the increasing data volume nowadays, data analysis and processing have become ever more important. iST uses AI-automated measurement technology to effectively reduce human error. By integrating automated measurement technology with TEM, not only can the precise dimensions, shapes, and distribution of grains and nanometer-sized particles be accurately measured, the thickness and width of thin-film layers can also be measured. Through this integration, a continuous stream of data on nanoscale components can be generated, ultimately enhancing process yield and creating new business opportunities.In addition to advanced processes, advanced packaging for heterogeneous integration, and compound semiconductors, more new technologies will emerge in the future. In this regard, Shen said that iST will work to establish a comprehensive hardware environment, nurture cross-disciplinary talents, and develop analytical technologies. In response to the rapidly changing semiconductor industry, iST aims to become the strongest force through professional analysis services, supporting customers to emerge a winner from market competition.iST's Assistant Vice President of Material Analysis Engineering Division, Kim Hsu (left), and Director of Failure Analysis Engineering Division, Shih-Hsorngg Shen (right), pointed out that new semiconductor technologies must be complemented by sophisticated analytical technologies to ensure product quality and reliability.Photo: DIGITIMES

In the midst of semiconductor, automation equipment, and material companies at SEMICON TAIWAN, iCometrue stands out with its unique business model.iCometrue was founded by Dr. M. S. Lin, who is an inventor and the current chairman of the company. He is currently also a member of Harvard University's Global Advisory Council as well as a member of Dean's Advisory Cabinet under the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He has four decades of experience in the semiconductor industry. Lin said that primary objective of participating in SEMICON TAIWAN 2023 is to find partners for co-development to lead to production of Logic Drive, a disruptive device invented by iCometrue. Alternatively, the company is looking for opportunity for patent licensing, finding possible manufacturers that may be interested in developing and producing Logic Drive.The Logic Drive Aims to Create a Public Innovation Platform for IC Designers Using Technology Nodes More Advanced Than 10 NanometersLogic Drive is an innovative term to many people in the industry. Lin said that as the technology of the semiconductor IC chip continues to advance, the cost of developing a chip below the 5nm technology node would easily surpass hundreds of millions of dollars. The cost presents a huge barrier to chip innovation. If this barrier could not be surmounted, chip designers would only flock to large semiconductor companies, thus, missing public talent pools and making revolutionary breakthroughs of the overall semiconductor industry even more difficult.Lin also pointed out that with the 10nm technology node, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) performance in some applications will be able to complement or even contend against the popular GPU — especially in networking and AI inference. With the inherent programmability of FPGA, developers will have flexibility to develop a variety of applications by modifying the configuration, which then alters the circuitry of FPGA chip, an impossibility for existing ASIC and CPU/GPU chips.Lin even likens FPGAs to a modern Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance man who made great contributions as a painter and musician, an anatomist and physiologist; a geometer and a civil engineer; a skilled astronomer, meteorologist, geologist, optical scientist, mechanic, and a biologist familiar with animals and plants.Inspired by the potential of FPGAs, Lin proposed a totally new idea: Logic Drive: Standardize the FPGA chip manufactured by the technology more advanced than 10nm technology node, pair it with a non-volatile memory (NVM) chip to store the FPGA configuration, and then package them together using multi-chip packaging technology. The result is a product similar to a Solid-State Drive or Solid-State Disk (SSD), with the only difference being that SSD is for storing data memory, while Logic Drive is for storing computing logic. An innovative IC designer may implement his innovations cost-effectively by programming his innovation into Logic Drive, put his own logo on a Logic Drive, and sell it as an ASIC chip.What does standardizing FPGA chip mean? It means that only the programmable circuits of the FPGA is retained, while the I/O circuits and control circuits are removed from the FPGA chip to form the I/O chips and control chip in the Logic Drive. That way, the standardized FPGA chip becomes a commodity product and is easier and much less costly to mass-produce.Lin further mentioned that adopting one or even multiple FPGA chips in a multi-chip package is a quite flexible method. In other words, the Logic Drive can be customized with different quantities of standardized FPGA chip, all depending on computing demand.A Public Innovation Platform for Conquering Present ChallengesLin hopes to use the realization of Logic Drive to create a public innovation platform. So that, through Logic Drive, the 99% of the common public can also participate in cutting-edge technology available to the wealthy 1%. Moreover, Logic Drive is a re-useable product, contributing to environmental sustainability. Based on Lin's observations over the past few years, iCometrue has gradually been able to search out market demand, and he also believes that such a model has a great chance of success. That is why the company hopes to seek partners at SEMICON TAIWAN. In last seven years, iCometrue has intensively detailed the roadmap to Logic Drive, proposing methods to standardize the FPGA chiplets for cost reduction and inventing advanced multi-chip packaging technology for packaging Logic Drive. As now, iCometrue has been awarded 36 US patents, with many more pending.Realizing the concept of Logic Drive still presents some difficulties, such as the willingness of FPGA manufacturers to invest in this field so that FPGAs can be standardized and mass-produced. Another difficulty, in terms of development tools, is whether there is a more friendly development interface (such as NVIDIA's CUDA) that the market can use. But Lin also revealed that there are already methods to overcome these obstacles and realize Logic Drive, all without much difficulty. iCometrue will use multiple channels and business models to promote Logic Drive, and continue to develop multi-chip packaging technology patents for Logic Drive.A New Moore's Law: The Result of Multi-Chip Packaging TechnologyLin has years of research and observation of multi-chip packaging technology, and he proposes: "Moore's Law of Chip Package." Moore's Law of chip states that the number of transistors per unit area doubles every 18–24 months. While the chip packaging technology was once considered as "non-Moore's Law", Dr. Lin proposes that the chip packaging technology will also start to undergo a similar trend of size miniaturization, following the well-known Moore's Law of chip. This implies that every 18-24 months, the number of transistors within a unit volume of chip package will double. When combining with Moore's Law of chip, the number of transistors in the multi-chip package will double sooner in every 9–12 months. The Moore's Law of chip now faces challenges related to physical limitations and escalating costs, and gradually slows down. As a result, the miniaturization journey is turning towards the chip packaging technology. In the future, the chip packaging technology is anticipated to progressively take the lead and continue the Moore's Law.Finally, it is worth mentioning that Lin has over 40 years of industry experience, having worked at IBM, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and TSMC, and founded Megic Technologies (which became part of Chipbond) and Megica (which was acquired by a leading US semiconductor company). He has more than 300 US patents to his name. Encouraged by several top scientists, he distilled his forty years of experience into a book, Moore's Journey. The book was published at the end of August, and covers core concepts of science and engineering intermingled with personal stories and observations. Lin eloquently shares his deep understanding of physics and philosophy in this exploration of the past and present of semiconductors. The book, to be exhibited at SEMICON TAIWAN this year, also contains a more fleshed-out explanation of Logic Drive and Moore's Law of Chip Package. Anyone interested is welcome to come and browse.Logic Drives store computing logic, just like solid state drives store data memory Photo: iCometrueIn a standardized FPGA chip, most of its area is occupied by regular logic block arrays, just like memory block arrays in the DRAM chipPhoto: iCometrueDr. Lin proposed Moore's Law for chip packaging based on his decades of research and observation of multi-chip packaging technologyPhoto: iCometrue

DigiKey, a leading global commerce distributor offering the largest selection of technical components and automation products in stock for immediate shipment, announced that it significantly expanded its portfolio in the first two quarters of 2023 by adding 300 new suppliers across their core business, DigiKey Marketplace and Fulfilled by DigiKey program."DigiKey is focused on adding the newest and most innovative technologies to carry the widest selection for the engineering community," said Mike Slater, vice president, global business development for DigiKey. "In addition, we are continuously analyzing our supplier mix to fill technology gaps and provide the global engineering community with technologies that are in compliance with regulations in their respective locations."Some of the key suppliers added to the DigiKey portfolio so far in 2023 include Alps Alpine, Amphenol LTW, Ambiq Micro, HELUKABEL and Zettler Magnetics. Long term suppliers also continue to expand their offerings by adding new products from different divisions. DigiKey is rapidly expanding in the industrial space, controls, sensors, motors and advanced products in industrial automation.DigiKey is an authorized distributor of electronic components for more than 2,400 industry-leading suppliers, ensuring that the products engineers, designers, procurement professionals and makers order are authentic and come to DigiKey directly from the manufacturer.The company also continues to expand the diversity of its products and suppliers in new product categories with its DigiKey Marketplace, a single source for all aspects of technology innovation, including bare PCB boards, industrial automation, test and measurement, IoT solutions and virtually all things related and adjacent to technology innovation, all through a singular shopping experience.By using DigiKey's state-of-the-art warehouse and logistics center, the Fulfilled by DigiKey program brings the capabilities of a 3PL warehouse along with a longstanding, global customer base and world-class on-demand fulfillment and transaction website to market, sell, pick, pack, and ship a supplier's products globally.For more information about the suppliers in the DigiKey portfolio, please visit the DigiKey website.