Friday, January 23, 2015

Apple Watch battery life, A5-caliber CPU inside

Apple watch battery life is a key factor in how useful this new computer interface will be in our lives. Some information is discussed in the article below. 
"Apple opted to use a relatively powerful processor and high-quality screen for the Apple Watch, both of which contribute to significant power drain. Running a stripped-down version of iOS codenamed SkiHill, the Apple S1 chip inside the Apple Watch is surprisingly close in performance to the version of Apple's A5 processor found inside the current-generation iPod touch,"

More about A5 power consumption is in May 2012 article Apple's A5 Die Shrink, Improve Battery Life, Cut Cost .


 Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - 
http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/





Apple targets for Apple Watch battery life revealed, A5-caliber CPU inside



Although Apple has said that the Apple Watch will need to be charged nightly, the company has not disclosed any details on how long the wearable's battery will last. For the first time, people with knowledge of the Apple Watch's development have provided us with the specific performance targets Apple wants to achieve for the Apple Watch battery, but the actual numbers may fall short of those targets.

According to our sources, Apple opted to use a relatively powerful processor and high-quality screen for the Apple Watch, both of which contribute to significant power drain. Running a stripped-down version of iOS codenamed SkiHill, the Apple S1 chip inside the Apple Watch is surprisingly close in performance to the version of Apple's A5 processor found inside the current-generation iPod touch, while the Retina-class color display is capable of updating at a fluid 60 frames per second.
Apple initially wanted the Apple Watch battery to provide roughly one full day of usage, mixing a comparatively small amount of active use with a larger amount of passive use. As of 2014, Apple wanted the Watch to provide roughly 2.5 to 4 hours of active application use versus 19 hours of combined active/passive use, 3 days of pure standby time, or 4 days if left in a sleeping mode. Sources, however, say that Apple will only likely achieve approximately 2-3 days in either the standby or low-power modes…

Apple has also been stress-testing the Apple Watch's battery life with pre-bundled and third-party applications. Our sources say that Apple is targeting 2.5 hours of "heavy" application use, such as processor-intensive gameplay, or 3.5 hours of standard app use. Interestingly, Apple expects to see better battery life when using the Watch's fitness tracking software, which is targeted for nearly 4 hours of straight exercise tracking on a single charge.

As Apple is positioning the Apple Watch as a timepiece, the company has conducted numerous tests to determine how long it can run purely in time-keeping modes. We're told that the Watch should be able to display its clock face for approximately three hours, including watch ticking animations, if nothing else is done with the device. However, it's unlikely that most people would actually keep the Apple Watch clock face turned on for even three hours straight in a single day. When the Watch screen is not in use, the display is powered off, and the clock demands much less energy.

Considered separately, the active use app, clock, and fitness numbers sound very low, but the reality is that people will passively wear the Apple Watch for most of the day, actively interacting with it only for short periods of time. That's why the Watch will be able to last the average user roughly a day on a single charge. We're told that Apple has been shooting for roughly 19 hours of mixed usage each day, but that the company may not hit that number in the first generation version.

Sources tell us that battery life has remained a source of concern for Apple over the past year, and was a contributing factor for Apple pushing back the retail launch from an originally planned late 2014 to early 2015. To test real-world performance in a variety of conditions, the company has circulated a surprisingly large number of test units of the Watch: nearly 3,000 are said to be currently roaming around, mostly the stainless steel variant.
Apple has also been working to perfect the MagSafe-based inductive charging mechanism for the Watch, which sources indicate was responsible for slower-than-expected recharging times that hopefully will be fixed in time for the product's release. The company has developed both plastic and stainless steel versions of the circular charger, potentially one for the $349 aluminum and plastic Apple Watch Sport, and the other for the higher-end models. It's unclear at this point whether the company will sell multiple versions of the charger, as Apple has only shown the metal variant, though the Apple Watch Edition is said to ship with a special box and charging dock that may incorporate the stainless steel MagSafe connector.

As of earlier this month, the Apple Watch is on track to ship by the end of March. We previously detailed how the Watch will integrate with the iPhone via an iOS 8.2-based Companion application.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Chinese $80 Billion Fabless IC

Latest survey of Top fabless semiconductor IC shows the result of a large effort by China to increase the number of IC companies (see below).

 Between 2009 and 2014 the number of Chinese fabless IC companies in top 50 increased from one (HiSilicon) to nine (HiSilicon, Spreadtrum, Datang, Nari Smart Chip, CIDC,  ZTE, Rockchip, RDA, Allwinner) .

"In 2014, the Chinese government described new semiconductor industry programs that will utilize investment by both the Chinese national government ($19.5 billion) and local government and private equity investors ($97.4 billion).”


Already "Chinese fabless IC suppliers held 8% of the top 50 fabless IC market ($80.5 billion) in 2014 and currently hold twice as much top 50 fabless IC market share as the European and Japanese companies combined! Nineteen U.S. companies were represented among the top 50 fabless suppliers in 2014, and they accounted for 64% of the total top 50 fabless company IC sales.  In 2014, Japan held less than 1%”

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - 
http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/



China Charts New Course in Targeting Worldwide IC Industry—Fabless!

January 08, 2015

Chinese companies held 9 of the top 50 spots in the 2014 fabless IC company ranking, up from 1 in 2009.

Later this month, IC Insights’ will release the 2015 edition of The McClean Report, which includes a ranking of the top 50 fabless IC suppliers for 2014.

China’s ambitious late-1990s plan to create numerous high-volume indigenous IC manufacturers in the pure-play foundry segment did not come to fruition, but the Chinese government is still very serious about keeping China and Chinese IC suppliers relevant in the future IC industry.  In 2014, the Chinese government described new semiconductor industry programs that will utilize investment by both the Chinese national government ($19.5 billion) and local government and private equity investors ($97.4 billion).  IC Insights believes that these outlays have to potential to significantly change the future IC supplier landscape.

As Chinese IC design houses continue to advance, IC Insights expects an increasing number of China-headquartered companies to move up in the ranking of top fabless IC suppliers.  As shown in Figure 1, there were nine Chinese companies among the top-50 fabless companies in 2014 as compared to only one company in 2009.

In total, the Chinese fabless IC suppliers held 8% of the top 50 fabless IC market ($80.5 billion) in 2014 and currently hold twice as much top 50 fabless IC marketshare as the European and Japanese companies combined! Nineteen U.S. companies were represented among the top 50 fabless suppliers in 2014, and they accounted for 64% of the total top 50 fabless company IC sales.  In 2014, Japan held less than 1% and the “other” countries (e.g., South Korea, Singapore, etc.) represented only 6% of the market held by the top 50 fabless IC suppliers.

Although its original plan of establishing numerous large indigenous IC manufacturers in China was not successful, it is obvious that the Chinese government still intends to create a dynamic environment in the China-based IC industry, including placing additional emphasis on establishing new fabless IC suppliers.  IC Insights believes that the Chinese government’s commitment to creating a more powerful Chinese presence in the future IC industry is alive and well and should be taken seriously.


                       
Figure 1


More details on the 2014 top 50 fabless IC suppliers and China’s future role in the IC industry will be provided in The 2015 McClean Report.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

More or Less Patents?

Whether a company should own a few or many patents is not a simple question. The article below suggests that a trend started of having few good patents instead of a large basket of patents. 

The problem with few solid patents is that they can be perceived as too broad and would be narrowed down in litigation.  One of the benefits of having a basket of patent related to a specific technology is that different patents will cover facets of the technology through well crafted set of claims. Often it is very difficult to locate a prior art with the same specific structure.

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - 
http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/





Patents Strategy Shift Predicted

Quality not quantity to be focus, says expert
Rick Merritt
1/13/2015 09:00 AM EST 

Friday, January 9, 2015

SSD Controllers, Still Secret Sauce (Silicon Motion)

Silicon Motion controllers gain acceptance and is integrated by Hynix, SanDisk, and maybe by Intel (see below).




"SM2256 also features Silicon Motion’s proprietary NANDXtend technology, which utilizes three levels of error correction and data protection to effectively triple the program/erase cycle count for TLC NAND.  Combined with global wear-leveling algorithms, the lifespan of an SSD utilizing the SM2256 is significantly extended.  It also features real-time AES256 encryption, as well as being TCG Opal compliant."

More about Silicon motion (2nd article below) - Silicon Motion Penetrating NAND Flash Fabs - SMI on the Rise



Also See June 2012 ( Flash Memory Controller is the Secret Sauce


"Controller is a key edge in designing fast and low power flash memory systems.....even though by 2012 ....5 SSD controller company acquired recently:
* In March of last year OCZ acquired Indilinx 
* In may 2011 SanDisk bought Pliant
* LSI acquired SandForce in October 

* December brought Apple's acquisition of Anobit 
* Now SK Hynix has acquired Link_A_Media"


Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - 
http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/



Silicon Motion Announces SM2256 SSD Controller WithSupport For TLC NAND — CES 2015 Update


We were privileged yesterday to meet with Robert Fan, Vice President and General Manager of Silicon Motion to discuss their latest SSD controller, the SM2256, which features support for TLC NAND.  Historically, TLC NAND has had a reputation of having low endurance and reliability, and hence was not suitable for use in solid state storage devices.  Fast-forward to today, and we are seeing new technology and software/firmware tools that are able to increase both the reliability and endurance of TLC NAND, now making it a viable alternative to the more expensive MLC NAND for use in certain SSDs.


The SM2256 supports a wide variety of NAND chips, including ONFI 3.0, toggle 2.0 and asynchronous NAND.  It also supports the latest process geometries, including 1x, 1y, and 1z NAND from all major NAND suppliers, and includes 3D NAND.  The SM2256 is a 4-channel controller, yet offers performance that rivals that of 8-channel controllers.  It supports up to 32 NAND devices, which gives it the capability to support up to 1TB of flash storage.  The SM2256 also features a 16-bit wide DRAM interface at DDR3/DDR3L speeds.

As an OEM solution, the SM2256 offers controller and firmware from a single source, simplifying its usage.  The firmware is both customizable and upgradeable. The SM2256 supports both device sleep mode (DevSleep) and PHY sleep mode (CFast PHYSLP), as well as TRIM functions.  It also features S.M.A.R.T. drive performance and health monitoring attributes.

SM2256 on samples

In the above image, we see a trio of engineering samples that are utilizing the Silicon Motion SM2256 with various NAND configurations. In the close-up shot below, we see the SM2256 residing on the PCB of a 512GB SSD utilizing 19nm TLC NAND and a 512MB DDR3 DRAM chip from Hynix.


The SM2256 also features Silicon Motion’s proprietary NANDXtend technology, which utilizes three levels of error correction and data protection to effectively triple the program/erase cycle count for TLC NAND.  Combined with global wear-leveling algorithms, the lifespan of an SSD utilizing the SM2256 is significantly extended.  It also features real-time AES256 encryption, as well as being TCG Opal compliant.

Performance of the SM2256 is augmented by utilizing an SLC cache.  Real world performance numbers from qualifying OEMs put sequential read speeds at a range from 514MB/s to 545MB/s.  Qualifying sequential writes range from 458MB/s to 477MB/s.  Random 4K read speeds are averaging 97,000 IOPS, with random 4K write speeds averaging around 40,000 IOPS.  The screenshot below shows similar results.

Silicon Motion has enjoyed widespread adoption of their previous SM2246 controller, which is being utilized by over 30 OEMs as shown in the graphic below. For additional information click on “SM2256″ in the selection guide here at Silicon Motion’s website.  This will take you to the product page for the SM2256.


Silicon Motion Penetrating NAND Flash Fabs - SMI on the Rise

Silicon Motion Penetrating NAND Flash Fabs with their innovative new controllers (NASDAQ: SIMO)
CES 2015 - Over the last year we've often discussed Silicon Motion's rise in the SSD controller space. The fabless semiconductor's SM2246EN controller was well received, first by smaller SSD manufacturers, and now by NAND flash fabs.

This week, SanDisk announced the new SSD Plus that is priced less than $70 in 128GB. The SSD Plus won't break any performance records but is clearly designed to break price barriers. SanDisk didn't brief media before introducing the SSD Plus at Storage Visions 2015, but since that time we've learned that Silicon Motion is inside with a custom variant of the SM2246EN controller.

Getting one NAND fab company to use your controller is a big step for a controller maker that was virtually unheard of one year ago. Getting two is big news for investors. Just days after the SanDisk announcement, Crucial, a division of Lexar and also a NAND flash manufacturer, announced the new BX100. Again, this new low cost consumer SSD with 16nm MLC flash is managed by a Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller.

They say when it comes it comes in threes. Analysts have recently come forward to state that Intel, a partner with Micron/Crucial/Lexar, has chosen a Silicon Motion controller for an unannounced consumer SSD that should break cover in the coming months. Most likely Intel will brand the new product in the 300 Series family, a low cost series that again is designed to increase the adoption rate of solid state storage technology, replacing mechanical hard drives.

None of this is all that radical when you know the history of the SSD market. SandForce quickly came to power but acquisitions and long product delays have left the door open for Silicon Motion to get a foot in the door. Now that Silicon Motion is sitting at the table, we think the real objective is for the company to use SM2246EN as a stepping stone for SM2256EN, a flash controller that takes advantage of new 3bit per cell technology that will further reduce the cost of solid state storage technology to consumers.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

NAND Flash, DRAM 2015 Trends

Speed, band width and low power continue to be key goals for semiconductor DRAM memories. The article below discusses DDR4, LPDDR4, and GDDR5, DIMMS, and JEDEC standards. 


Some of the same issues are also key concerns for NAND flash memories. However, 3D NAND fabrication processes are closer to production.

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/




Janine Love
1/7/2015 11:00 AM EST 

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Top Semiconductor in 2014 and 2015?


The article below summarizes results of Gartner's top semiconductor vendors in 2014. It is interesting that a 26% growth was shown by Hynix, due to strength in DRAM memory chips market (which accounts for about 80% of its revenues). Also Micron had a very large growth. Micron acquisition of Elpida strengthens their DRAM position.  DRAM memory is currently about 70% of its revenue.

Intel will continue to have largest semiconductor revenues for at least several more years since it will be hard for Samsung to grow fast while Apple has been reduces its dependence on Samsung chips in the last few years for the iPhones (see October 2012 Next iPhone A7 Made by TSMC not Samsung


Would MediaTek (see January 2013 - Apples' Cook in China (MediaTek Impact) or SanDisk make the top 10 in 2015 ( Top Semiconductor Ranking for 2013 )?


Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/




Boom in RAM helped chip sales grow 7.9 per cent in 2014, as Gartner lists Top 10 vendors

Summary:Intel held on to its chip industry leadership in 2014, but it faces a challenge from Samsung and, in the long run, perhaps from Qualcomm, as smartphones and tablets compete against traditional PCs.

Thanks to booming memory chip markets, worldwide semiconductor revenues grew by 7.9 percent to $339.8 billion last year, according to preliminary numbers that Gartner released today (Tuesday). The top 25 chip vendors did even better, with revenues up by 11.7 percent compared with 2013.
Things didn't go quite as well for Intel, the biggest chip manufacturer by revenues, in spite of the PC industry's mini-recovery. However, it managed to grow sales by 4.6 percent in 2014, which contrasts with the 10.1 percent decline it suffered in 2013.
According to Gartner, "Intel continued to gain market share from AMD" in laptops and desktops, and it was also "on pace to reach its goal of 40 million tablet processors in 2014, although these processors are being shipped at significantly discounted prices with incentives." Many of these chips are appearing in 7in and 8in Windows 8.1 tablets that cost less than $100/£100.
Intel held its place as the No 1 semiconductor company for the 23rd consecutive year, with 15.0 percent of the market, though it remains to be seen how much longer its lead will last. Samsung, the No 2 chip vendor, grew revenues by 15.1 percent last year, and it's currently spending $15 billion on a new fab in South Korea to expand sales. Qualcomm took third place with growth of 11.5 percent as its Snapdragon processor continued to dominate the smartphone market.
Gartner Semiconductor Revenue, Worldwide, 2014
However, Gartner said: "SK Hynix and Micron Technology benefited the most from the strong memory market, with the strongest growth of the top 10 vendors". Micron Technology's sales grew by 41.0 percent and SK Hynix's by 26.1 percent. DRAM chips accounted for about 80 percent of SK Hynix's revenues and about 70 percent of Micron's, with Micron shifting more production to NAND (Flash memory) chips.
With STMicroelectronics and Renesas Electronics losing ground - both saw sales decline by around 9 percent - we could well see MediaTek in the 2015 table. If so, it will be the first Taiwanese company to make the Top 10.
Finally, for AMD fans, the company saw its chip revenues slide by more than 9 percent to $4.67 billion, and it came 15th in the table with a market share of 1.4 percent.
Gartner provides more information about the top 25 semiconductor vendors in its latest report, Market Share Analysis: Preliminary Total Semiconductor Revenue, Worldwide, 2014.