Everything around us is getting smarter and more connected with new features and more electronic content. Innovation in semiconductor technology has been driving the fast evolution of new products in personal electronics, automotive, manufacturing and many other markets for the last several years. Through the following, some technology trends and the semiconductor industry’s role have been highlighted, which can further fuel innovation in many new markets.
1- Smart power and high voltage:
The quest for higher power efficiency is ever increasing. Optimization of circuit topologies, along with power devices and advance packaging techniques, has enabled higher power density in excess of 1 KW/in3. Several trends in power management such as the ones mentioned below are evident:
- Server farms are constantly growing to accommodate new cloud services and social networks. As the number of servers and data flow are rapidly growing, efficiency of power management is becoming gradually increasingly critical. Demand for higher efficiency in server power management – from high voltage to point of load (POL), has prompted new converter architectures and circuit topologies to aim at increasing power density and removing conversion stages.
- Smaller and faster chargers for portable devices are in demand. A combination of higher switching frequency and improved power devices have contributed to higher power efficiency, hence smaller sizes of adaptors – although regulations in the adaptor space are increasing as well.
- Smart power solutions are being deployed in many applications such as LED array controllers in automotive, high performance servers and battery management for high power/torque drones and ebikes. By using a mix of digital and analog control loops, higher efficiency at different load current can be achieved. Also, extremely low standby and sleep mode current with fast start ups are eminently available in many power solutions.
- The market for alternative energy, such as solar and electric/hybrid vehicles, is experiencing healthy growth. Subsequently, semiconductor content in higher voltage applications, particularly 600-1200v, is growing. Long awaited III-V materials such as Gallium Nitride and Silicon Carbide are eminently qualified for prime time, which enables new applications.
2- Industry 4.0:
The transition to smart manufacturing and inventory management is en route. Key enabling technologies such as low-power connectivity, embedded processing and embedded sensing have made significant progress in providing low power and intelligent networked sensing solutions. However, security and reliability are among the key concerns for wider and faster deployment of Industry 4.0. Multi-mode sensing solutions, such as humidity, temperature and pressure sensing, are often integrated within many industrial and building automation systems. Ultra-low power is critical for battery life and eventually for energy harvesting. Achieving less than 1 microwatt in standby and less than 100 nA during sleep mode is feasible, thanks to efficient power management and signal chain technologies. Integrated ultrasonic and millimeter wave sensing solutions, including analog and digital signal processors, can offer new multimodal functionalities in flow metering, diagnostic and many other industrial applications.
3- Semi-autonomous systems:
Electronic content continues to be the differentiating feature of new vehicles. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in semi-autonomous vehicles are going beyond beta tests and luxury vehicles into the mainstream. Extensive use of cameras (up to 10 per vehicle), integrated radar, sonar and eventually Lidar, which demand for higher-speed interfaces and hierarchical signal processing, have paved the way for smart vehicles. These technologies have enabled features such as collision avoidance, lane detection and smooth hovering at affordable prices.
Advance power solutions in intelligent lighting subsystems for LED arrays, bi-directional power conversion, high-voltage drivers and devices in electric and hybrid vehicles are some examples of growing power contents in vehicles.
Robots are roaming out of their industrial cages and being deployed alongside humans in medical and manufacturing sites. Therefore, the need for adaptive sensing and learning in lighter weight robots is critical. A wide range of sensing systems, including high resolution current, tactile, ultrasonic and optical sensing fusion, have emerged in various light robots and drones. Ultra-low power sensing solutions with local analytics capability and precision motor drives are among some of the key enabling technologies.
4- Wireless Infrastructure:
Access to multimedia, social networking, e-commerce and other data-intensive applications – anytime, anywhere – drives the growing demand for higher wireless data rates. Urban peak data density (Gbps/km2/MHz) in many major cities around the world is rising. Despite LTE deployment, there are some peak data limitations at the hot spots. Small cells have been developed to improve network capacity but have not ramped up as expected due to evolving business models for their deployment.
A new model of enterprise cloud services has been evolving by utilizing small cell services independent from large cell infrastructures. Collaboration between OEMs and operators in some markets, like China, has supported joint small cell LTE and Wi-Fi services. Seamless roaming between cellular and Wi-Fi, as well as distributed antenna system deployments, are not happening as fast as expected.
A small, low-power yet flexible radio, which can be powered up through Power over Ethernet (PoE), is desirable for small cells. New radio architectures that can accommodate the evolutionary requirements of small cells rely on ultra-wideband radios in excess of 100 MHz and flexible technologies such as RF sampling. Lower jitter and programmable clock references are also critical for many new base station systems. The tradeoffs between power consumption and flexibility have results in a range of baseband architecture such as low-power, high performance DSPs, ASICs and FPGA.
Conclusion
In summary, some segments of the consumer market, thanks to their rapid growth, have been the primary focus of innovation and growth in recent years. As more electrification enables new features with a higher level of efficiency and reliability in other markets such as industrial and automotive, the opportunities to innovate are likely to expand. Innovations in power and signal processing can further optimize system solutions with direct benefits to users. TI, with the most diverse IP portfolio in power management, analog, and embedded processing, is actively engaged in pushing the boundaries of innovation in new circuits, devices and packaging to optimize new system solutions.
