ST is at the forefront of innovation, developing unique technologies and products that empower our customers to overcome challenges and capitalize on opportunities. At MWC Shanghai 2024, ST will collaborate with its ecosystem partners to present industry-leading solutions. Visitors will be immersed in the transformative power of connectivity with over 30 demonstrations, all designed to showcase our commitment to technological excellence and especially the future of connected experiences. These will be featured across 9 major application zones: 

• Smart Charging
• Secure & Connectivity
• IMU Attitude Detection
• Smart Personal Electronics
• Time-of-Flight & Smart Cameras
• Air Quality Monitoring based on FlightSense
• Bluetooth Connectivity & Low Power MCU
• Edge AI & GUI
• ST60 mmW Contactless Connector

Secure & Connectivity: According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a staggering 2.6 billion people are still unconnected, 1.4 billion of whom are unbanked, mainly in emerging countries. This disconnect not only excludes them from the digital revolution, but also hinders economic development. To enable a seamless “tap and go” experience, KaiOS has collaborated with STMicroelectronics to develop game-changing solutions designed for underserved transportation drivers. At MWC Shanghai, STMicroelectronics and KaiOS will showcase a solution designed for informal transportation drivers. Utilizing the ST54L chip, this innovative solution combines an NFC controller with an integrated secure element (SE) IC to transform a simple “KaiOS-equipped smart feature phone” into a powerful tool for informal drivers, enabling the KaiOS “smart feature phone” to provide secure contactless ticketing, replacing cash transactions with contactless ones.

Air Quality Monitoring based on FlightSense: Measuring air quality has become crucial due to its direct impact on human health and the environment. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than outdoor air. Most existing AQI stations are designed for outdoor and professional use; however, environmental analysis is now possible in consumer devices. At MWC Shanghai, visitors will have the exclusive opportunity to see the innovative personal mobile environmental monitor in action. ST and Mobile Physics will present a solution for air quality and smoke detection with ST’s VL53L8 direct Time-of-Flight sensor. The comprehensive system includes the VL53L8 hardware, along with tailored firmware and software, plus pioneering air quality algorithms developed by Mobile Physics. The VL53L8 is capable of measuring PM2.5 concentrations within 10% or 10µg/m³ of the reference sensor. Designed for seamless integration, this system is ideal for mobile phones, personal electronics, and a wide array of IoT products. 

Bluetooth Connectivity & Low Power MCU: ST will demonstrate two Bluetooth® LE Audio solutions based on the recently announced STM32WBA55 microcontroller. Visitors are invited to put on headphones to personally experience the listening effects in unicast and broadcast scenarios. Harnessing the cutting-edge wireless STM32WBA5 series, ST has now integrated support for the newly finalized Bluetooth® LE Audio specifications, achieving certification that unlocks the potential for groundbreaking products. These innovations promise to enrich audio experiences with superior listening, hearing, and sharing capabilities. Among these, the innovative Bluetooth® LE Audio Auracast feature stands out, offering a transformative approach to audio broadcasting and sharing, and heralding a new era of auditory communication.

To display its expansive portfolio of solutions across different sectors at MWC Shanghai, ST will also showcase its advanced wireless-charging and wireless power-transfer solutions. Highlights include the high-efficiency, compact 100W laptop wireless charger, boasting WPC Qi 1.3 compliance with a security profile, capable of supporting up to a 100W output using ST’s proprietary protocol (STSC). Additionally, ST offers an up to 300W wireless power transfer discrete solution designed for industrial applications with fast load transient response, wider spatial freedom, better thermal dissipation, and a user experience comparable to that of a wired power supply.

ST is proud to present the ST4SIM-300, its first eSIM compliant with the GSMA’s eSIM specification for IoT. The ST4SIM-300 unlocks new possibilities, including over-the-air profile swaps, and is supported by a streamlined ecosystem.  This design is well-suited for compact devices without a user interface. By integrating the ST4SIM-300 into their designs, IoT developers can now ensure the best connectivity anywhere, at any time.

At MWC Shanghai, ST will also showcase a solution that propels consumer products into the realm of high-end applications. With 6-axis architecture, the LSM6DSV32X Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is capable of superior edge processing, making it ideal for applications such as advanced 3D mapping on phones, contextual awareness in laptops and tablets, precise gesture recognition in AR and VR headsets, and always-on tracking in wearables.

Learn more about ST at MWC Shanghai 2024 and explore the power of connectivity together with us: https://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/events/mwc-shanghai-2024.html

Bengaluru, June 25, 2024: Texas Instruments (TI), a leading semiconductor company, announced it is hosting the third year of the WiSH (Women in Semiconductors and Hardware) program, a month-long mentoring program for second-year female engineering students in India. The program is designed to encourage more women to pursue core engineering careers by giving them exposure to and mentoring in the semiconductor, embedded software, and hardware industry early on in their professional journey. TI received more than 1600 registrations for the WiSH program this year out of which 115 participants were selected.

“Only 27% of women who pursue STEM education in India for higher studies end up pursuing careers in these fields1 and we want to help change that,” said Santhosh Kumar, president and managing director, Texas Instruments India. “By providing first-hand experience of a hardware and embedded software career and mentorship, the WiSH program encourages more women to seek careers in the semiconductor industry and transform the status quo.”

The month-long program provides these students access to simulation projects, lab visits, technical discussions, and networking sessions with TI leaders. Students also receive mentoring through virtual sessions for three weeks and in person at TI’s Bangalore campus during the final week. While there, they interact with successful women leaders at TI and many other experts in the semiconductor domain to learn from their experiences, helping them make informed career decisions.

“During the WiSH program, participants are encouraged to learn advanced engineering concepts with the help of simulations, assignments, and brainstorming sessions,” said Poornima Kulkarni, a past WiSH participant and future TI employee. “Every week of the initiative is meticulously planned, to provide invaluable mentorship and exposure to semiconductor industry concepts. The program helped me decide to join the semiconductor industry, and has made a significant difference in my career trajectory.”

TI encourages second-year women engineering students to apply to the WiSH program, enabling them to make informed career choices early in their lives.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is introducing its comprehensive ecosystem offer for companies to transform their products with edge AI. The announcement of the ST Edge AI Suite, an integrated set of software tools free-to-use with ST hardware, takes the offer to customers one step further, enabling them to jumpstart the design and deployment of billions of connected, autonomous things embedding artificial intelligence locally. The ST Edge AI Suite will simplify the development of customers’ AI solutions exploiting ST’s broad range of hardware (general-purpose and automotive microcontrollers and microprocessors, smart sensors) and related tools for embedded AI optimizations. It will expand and integrate the multiple software tools, evaluation, and development kits introduced over the past 10 years, while leveraging the existing AI ecosystem of machine learning (ML) frameworks and key partners (such as Nvidia and AWS).

“We are moving towards a world with tens of billions of connected, autonomous things bringing value and convenience to their users throughout all aspects of consumer life and enterprise productivity. To achieve this, AI algorithms will need to be run both in the cloud and on-device, at the edge across a broad range of devices: smartphones and connected personal devices, smart home and building control systems, industrial machines, cars and many more,” said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics. “ST products are already at the core of all those devices, but it is their combination with the industry-leading, free software suite we are announcing today that will make the difference. This combination will enable the transition to a more intelligent edge, empowering customers of any size to deploy edge AI more easily and build their vision of this connected future leveraging ST’s hardware portfolio.”

A preview of the ST Edge AI suite capabilities was presented today at ST’s online Edge AI Summit. ST’s industry-leading offer will empower embedded developers who want to create optimized machine learning models, data scientists who want to run their model on an embedded device, and product designers and creators who want to redefine product greatness.

With free access, ST will enable customers large and small, pooling resources and knowledge into a community-driven approach. The Suite will further enable this transformation by federating the tools and their users around a broader edge AI community.

The first release of the ST Edge AI suite will be available in the first half of 2024.

More information about the benefits of the adoption of edge AI

Edge AI is a crucial technology for businesses to transform their products in today’s connected world by bringing intelligence and decision-making capabilities closer to the data source. This offers numerous benefits in terms of speed, power consumption, privacy, security, and cost-efficiency empowering businesses to create more intelligent, responsive and efficient products that meet the demands of today’s fast-paced and data-driven world.

Examples of businesses transforming their products with ST:

15-40% performance improvement for washing machines:

A major home appliance maker is currently adopting this solution and we should see their product on the market next year. The first machine learning algorithm is creating a virtual sensor approach, estimating the weight of the clothes to be washed based on the motor current measurement. Another machine learning algorithm is collecting data from a 6-axis motion sensor to enable drum collision avoidance by calculating if the drum will touch the outer shell of the washing machine. Based on the algorithm input, a program drives the motor using exactly the current needed and adjusts the water and detergent used to save between 15 and 40% energy and water for a washing cycle. Both algorithms have been developed with NanoEdge AI and are running on an STM32G0 MCU together with an ST 6-axis motion sensor.

Ultra low power PC activity monitoring:

The HP engineering team worked closely with ST to develop and train AI models that recognize different user activities based on device and user motion. Multiple use cases were addressed, including scenarios where the laptop is placed on a table, on the user’s lap, or carried inside a bag and taken out. This helped create an AI model specific to HP devices that was put on a smart 6-axis motion sensor. But the really interesting part here is the power consumption. This sensor is running an edge AI algorithm at 34 microamps. This allows HP computers to detect changes and respond accordingly. And most importantly, conserve the battery power for more critical tasks.

EV motor operation and maintenance optimization:

ST is working with the HPE Group to optimize the operation and maintenance of motors in electric vehicles. The challenge here was to monitor the internal temperature of the rotor of an electric motor in actual use, so that power output could be optimized for more efficient and safer operation.  This is something that could be done in a lab with the rotor exposed but is not possible in an actual running motor in a vehicle. The solution was to train a model and build a virtual temperature sensor with edge AI to estimate the internal rotor temperature from the external temperature measurement. The algorithm runs on the microcontroller that controls the motor – a Stellar automotive MCU. The same MCU also runs an AI algorithm that detects potential anomalies through the analysis of vibrations. The same approach can be used with other critical components, like EV batteries, where the internal temperature of the battery is not practical to measure but an edge AI model can simulate it from an external measurement.

 Additional technical information

ST’s strategy on AI relies on the availability of a comprehensive, integrated set of tools (some of them already available today), technical and educational examples, and an innovative, unified optimizer of embedded AI solutions called ST Edge AI Core Technology. The ST Edge AI Suite addresses the needs and requirements of different profiles, like Data scientists, embedded SW developers and HW System Engineers.  The suite is easy to use, with a simple and intuitive interface, available in different fashions (Desktop, CLI, Web, API).

ST Edge AI Suite works across multiple ST hardware platforms: will be working across: STM32 general-purpose MCUs, including the already announced portfolio with AI hardware acceleration, STM32N6 and STM32 MPUs built for industrial applications; Stellar automotive microcontrollers, supporting carmakers in their transition to software-defined vehicles with predictive maintenance of the electric powertrain to extend vehicle lifetime or battery management systems to maximize energy efficiency embedded intelligent  sensors (based on  intelligent sensor processing units, or ISPU, machine learning cores, or MLC, as well as leveraging Time-of-Flight sensors for advanced imaging), ideal for  applications in industrial, automotive and anything from wearable accessories to high-end personal electronics applications. All are supported by a broad range of evaluation and development boards.

 A critical component of the ST Edge AI suite is ST Edge AI Core that brings together all the SW and tools engineers need at each step of their project: The ST Edge AI Core can import ML and NN algorithms from the most widely used ML frameworks, provide a detailed analysis, optimize the algorithm for the selected devices (sensors, MCU, MPU), validate against the original model, and finally map the resulting embedded AI solution on the selected device. It will be possible to benchmark the same AI algorithm on different platforms, in pure SW or exploiting specific HW accelerators, to assess accuracy and inference time in a few clicks.

NanoEdge AI Studio autoML tool becomes free for STM32, and is now available for all ARM Cortex-M based MCUs: In parallel, ST’s autoML tool NanoEdge AI Studio is getting an upgrade to the benefit of customers globally: its use will become free. The deployment of libraries created by NanoEdge AI Studio will now be at no cost for unlimited deployment on any STM32 microcontroller. In addition, as NanoEdge AI Studio targets all ARM Cortex-M based microcontrollers, clients will now be able to build and deploy libraries, including unique on-device learning, on other ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers under a special license agreement.

By Dinesh Ramanathan, co-CEO of NexGen Power Systems

“India is a key center, with the potential to emerge as a world leader in electronics R&D and manufacturing. Three things are required to achieve this goal – (a) subsidize the capital needed to build semiconductor fabrication facilities, (b) build the engineering skills, nurture and acquire the talent needed to drive the complex processes needed to build semiconductors, (c) build the infrastructure needed to manufacture semiconductors, such as chemicals, gases, substrates, packaging, etc. The government has put forth a welcoming start to subsidize the capital needed to set up semiconductor fabrication facilities. It will also need to focus on building out the engineering skills and infrastructure.

I believe that the government initiatives in conjunction with the talent in India is a perfect combination to make India the global hub of semiconductor in the future. With global R&D Center of Excellence and strategic manufacturing partners already located in India, NexGen Power Systems is proud to be a part of this exciting transition for the country.”

The new business integration is intended to provide a total solution as a turn-key provider in the field of semiconductor back-end processing; it does this by integrating the capabilities of Yamaha Motor IM’s surface mounters and industrial robots, Shinkawa’s bonders, and Apic Yamada’s package encapsulation equipment.

The Shinkawa Group was established as a semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker in 1959 and soon became fully engaged in automating semiconductor manufacturing equipment, especially wire bonding,  the most labor-intensive process at the time. Shinkawa developed the industry’s first fully-automatic wire bonder in 1977.

APIC Yamada Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shinkawa Ltd., is also a semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker whose major business lines include a Molding System, a Package Singulation System, a Test Handler and Transport System, a Trim and Form System, and a Precision Die Set.

Both companies are now part of Yamaha Motor Robotics Holdings Co., Ltd. which is mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of semiconductor manufacturing equipment for semiconductor and electronic component makers. The Company also provides related services including installation, maintenance and repair services for its products.

For more information, visit https://www.ymrh.co.jp/en/profile/.

Steep memory market plunge likely to push Samsung’s 2019 semiconductor sales down by 20%.
IC Insights is currently updating its 2019-2023 semiconductor market forecasts that will be presented later this month in the March Update, the first monthly Update to the 500-page, 2019 edition of The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry (released in January 2019).
For 2019, a steep 24% drop in the memory market is forecast to pull the total semiconductor market down by 7%.  With 83% of Samsung’s semiconductor sales being memory devices last year, the memory market downturn is expected to drag the company’s total semiconductor sales down by 20% this year.  Although Intel’s semiconductor sales are forecast to be relatively flat in 2019, the company is poised to regain the number 1 semiconductor supplier ranking this year (Figure 1), a position it held from 1993 through 2016.

With both the DRAM and NAND flash markets forecast to show big declines this year, IC Insights expects greater than 20% sales declines for the other top-10 ranked memory suppliers (SK Hynix, Micron, and Toshiba/Toshiba Memory) in 2019 as well.  Similar to Samsung, the steep sales declines expected for SK Hynix, Micron, and Toshiba in 2019 are likely to lower these companies’ revenue back to, or even below, what they were in 2017.  This year will likely prove once again that the infamous volatile IC industry cycles are still very much alive and well in the memory market.
The March Update will also examine the latest capital spending budgets of the major semiconductor companies for this year.  With the memory suppliers expected to encounter a very difficult year in 2019, large capital spending cutbacks from these producers are likely to drag down worldwide semiconductor industry capital spending by at least 14% this year.
Report Details:  The 2019 McClean Report
Additional details on semiconductor market trends are provided in The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry (released in January 2019).  A subscription to The McClean Report includes free monthly updates from March through November (including a 200+ page Mid-Year Update), and free access to subscriber-only webinars throughout the year.  An individual-user license to the 2019 edition of The McClean Report is priced at $4,990 and includes an Internet access password.  A multi-user worldwide corporate license is available for $7,990.

To review additional information about IC Insights’ new and existing market research reports and services please visit our website: www.icinsights.com.

The Nordic nRF52840 SoC, available from Mouser Electronics, builds on the architecture of Nordic’s existing nRF52 Series of SoCs to support complex Bluetooth low energy and other low-power wireless applications. The nRF52840 SoC employs a 64MHz, 32-bit Arm^® Cortex^®-M4F processor, plus a CPU with 1 Mbyte of flash and 256 Kbytes of RAM, floating point unit, and digital signal processor (DSP) performance. The SoC also incorporates Arm TrustZone CryptoCell-310 cryptographic accelerator for best-in-class security.

The nRF52840 SoC complies with the Bluetooth 5 specification, which, coupled with increased maximum output power, enables the device to deliver Bluetooth low energy wireless connectivity with up to four times the range or up to twice the raw data bandwidth (2 Mbps) compared with the Bluetooth low energy implementation of Bluetooth 4.2. In addition to Bluetooth 5 support, the nRF52840 SoC includes NFC-A tag support plus IEEE 802.15.4 capabilities for Zigbee- and Thread-based smart home technologies or as a Network Adaptation Layer with 6LoWPAN and standard internet protocols.

The SoC is supported by the Nordic nRF52840 Preview Development Kit, which includes an onboard nRF52840 SoC and four user-programmable buttons and LEDs, is hardware compatible with the Arduino Uno R3-based shields, and features connector pins for all inputs and outputs (I/O) and interfaces, including a dedicated connector for the included external NFC antenna.

Nordic’s nRF52840 multi-protocol SoC is an ideal solution for a variety of wireless Internet of Things (IoT) applications, including advanced wearables, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), high-performance HID controllers, smart home products, and connected industrial devices.

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser strives to empower innovation among design engineers and buyers by delivering advanced technologies. Mouser stocks the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is continually updated and offers advanced search methods to help customers quickly locate inventory. Mouser.com also houses data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

Bangalore , Jun 15, 2018 —

Highlights:

• Synopsys Design Platform with Fusion Technology delivers power, performance, and area benefits for Samsung Foundry’s 7LPP process with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology
• Comprehensive full-flow support for single-exposure-based routing and via stapling for maximum design routability in Design Compiler^® Graphical RTL synthesis, IC Compiler II place-and-route, and PrimeTime^® timing signoff
• Tool certification includes scalable 7LPP reference flow compatible with Lynx Design System using the 64-bit Arm^® Cortex^®-A53 processor for QoR optimization and flow validation

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced that Samsung Foundry has certified the Synopsys Design Platform with Fusion Technology for 7-nanometer (nm) Low Power Plus (LPP) process with Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. The Synopsys Design Platform provides comprehensive full-flow 7LPP support for EUV single-exposure-based routing and via stapling to ensure maximum design routability and utilization while minimizing IR-drop. Synopsys’ SiliconSmart^® library characterization tool was key to developing the foundation IP used for this certification process and reference flow. Samsung Foundry has certified Synopsys Design Platform tools and the reference flow, which is compatible with the Lynx Design System with scripts for automation and design best practices. The reference flow is available through the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) program.

“Built through deep collaboration with Synopsys, this certification and reference flow for our 7LPP process will enable our mutual customers to achieve the best power, performance, and area for their designs,” said Ryan Sanghyun Lee, vice president of Foundry Marketing Team at Samsung Electronics. “Our foundry customers can confidently ramp their designs to volume production on our most advanced EUV-based process using the proven Synopsys Design Platform with Fusion Technology.”

“Our tools and reference flow collaboration with Samsung Foundry is focused on enabling designers to get the optimum quality of results with the highest confidence on Samsung Foundry’s latest 7LPP process with EUV,” said Michael Jackson, corporate vice president of marketing and business development for Synopsys’ Design Group. “This scalable 7LPP reference flow based on the Synopsys Design Platform with Fusion Technology will allow designers to easily achieve their desired design and schedule targets.”

The 64-bit Arm Cortex-A53 processor, based on the ARMv8 architecture, was used for quality of results (QoR) optimization and flow certification. Key tools and features of the Synopsys Design Platform 7LPP reference flow include:

• IC Compiler II place-and-route: EUV single-exposure-based routing with optimized 7LPP design rule support, and via stapling to ensure maximum design routability and utilization while minimizing IR-drop

• Design Compiler Graphical RTL synthesis: Correlation, congestion reduction, optimized 7LPP design rule support, and physical guidance for IC Compiler II
• IC Validator physical signoff: High-performance DRC signoff, LVS-aware short-finder, signoff fill, pattern matching, and unique dirty data analysis with Explorer technology, as well as in-design verification for automated DRC repair and accurate timing-aware metal fill within IC Compiler II
• PrimeTime timing signoff: Near-threshold ultra-low voltage variation modeling, via variation modeling, and placement rule-aware engineering change order (ECO) guidance
• StarRC parasitic extraction: EUV single pattern-based routing support, and new extraction technologies such as coverage-based via resistance
• RedHawk Analysis Fusion: ANSYS^® RedHawk-driven EM/IR analysis and optimization within IC Compiler II including via insertion and power grid augmentation
• DFTMAX and TetraMAX^® II test: FinFET-based, cell-aware, and slack-based transition testing for higher test quality
• Formality^® formal verification: UPF-based equivalence checking with state transition verification

The certified, scalable reference flow compatible with Synopsys’ Lynx Design System is available through the SAFE program. The Lynx Design System is a full-chip design environment that includes innovative automation and reporting capabilities to help designers implement and monitor their designs. It includes a production RTL-to-GDSII flow that simplifies and automates many critical implementation and validation tasks, enabling engineers to focus on achieving performance and design goals. The SAFE program provides extensively tested process design kits (PDKs) and reference flows (with design methodologies) that are backed by Samsung Foundry’s certification.

Suppliers cited many criteria for the honors, including double-digit growth, fastest new product introductions (NPIs), breadth of inventory, best-in-class global marketing campaigns, customer growth, global expansion and commitment to teamwork.

“It is very rewarding to be recognized by our supplier partners, who share our mission of delivering the newest technologies and providing best-in-class customer service,” said Jeff Newell, Senior Vice President of Products at Mouser Electronics. “These awards honor the outstanding teamwork we share with these valued supplier partners.”

Performance awards for excellence for 2017 include:

• TE Connectivity – Global High Service Distributor of the Year; Customer Expansion Awards for Americas and EMEA regions
• Vishay Intertechnology – Semiconductor Catalog Distributor of the Year
• ON Semiconductor – Global High Service Distributor of the Year
• KEMET – Digital Marketing Partner of the Year
• Littelfuse – Global High Service Distributor of the Year
• HARTING – Global High Service Distributor of the Year
• Epson America, Inc. – Greatest Increase in Customer Count
• Qorvo IDP – Global Distributor of the Year
• Ohmite – Chairman’s Award
• Neutrik – Distribution Partner of the Year Award; Outstanding Performance Award; Distributor of the Year Award for Top Revenue
• Bel Connectivity Solutions – President’s Award
• APEM – Distributor of the Year
• Yageo Corporation – Demand Creation Distributor of the Year
• Kingbright – Channel Excellence & Customer Growth Recognition Award
• Keystone – Platinum Level Distributor Award
• Qualtek – Global Excellence Award
• Abracon – Executive Partnership Award
• Crouzet – Largest Sales Growth Award
• Alpha Wire – Sales Excellence & Continued Dedication; Partnership in Sales and Marketing
• Altech – Sales Achievement Award
• Eaton – Engagement Award for Best Engaged Distributor
• Wakefield-Vette – Highest POS Percentage Growth
• Micro Commercial Components (MCC) – Million Dollar Circle Member

For more information, visit eng.info.mouser.com/eds-awards-2017.