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Forbes Column
September 15, 2021 Hidden within today’s hottest 5G-capable phones, such as Apple’s newly announced iPhone 13, are several critically important, but little understood semiconductor chips that power much of these devices’ impressive capabilities. Components like RF front ends (RFFEs), WiFi 6/6e-compatible power amps, display drivers, audio amplifiers, and stacked image sensors certainly don’t get the attention of something like the A15 Bionic, but they’re absolutely essential in providing the kinds of high-quality experiences we expect from these new phones. In that light, it’s much easier to appreciate and understand the value of new innovations that chipmaker GlobalFoundries announced at its annual GF Technology Summit event. The company has made a name for itself by focusing on manufacturing specialized chips like these that have very specific, often power-sensitive requirements, but don’t need the smallest transistor node size used for CPUs and SOCs like Apple’s A15 Bionic SOC. At the event, GlobalFoundries (GF) announced innovations across all these areas, as well as important advancements for datacenter, AR/VR-type headsets, and the automotive industry. All of these solutions leverage unique process capabilities that GF has chosen to specialize in, such as FD-SOI (fully depleted silicon-on-insulator) and other technologies that often have an analog component to them. The company’s 22FDX manufacturing process, for example, enables chips to provide cleaner, more robust signals to be transmitted, as well as better reception characteristics, all while operating at lower power. This and other related types of process technologies make GF ideally suited for making wireless applications chips of many types, particularly 5G. Perhaps not surprisingly then, GlobalFoundries (GF) also made a major announcement with 5G industry leader Qualcomm, supplier of the 5G modem in Apple’s latest iPhones, as well as premium smartphones from Samsung, Motorola, and others. The deal extends the companies’ collaboration in manufacturing 5G-focused RF front ends that Qualcomm designs and GlobalFoundries builds. RF front ends provide the critical connection between the antennas inside smartphones that receive the over-the-air signals from cell towers and the 5G modems that power the connections. (Interesting side note is that it was confusion over the capabilities of the latest RF front ends in the new iPhone 13 that led some to inaccurately speculate that it would have satellite phone features.) One of the many unique requirements of 5G modems is the need to support both frequencies below 6 GHz (sub-6) as well as the higher frequencies above 24 GHz that are at the core of millimeter wave (mmWave) technology. As it turns out, building RF front ends that can support both frequency types demands different types of chip manufacturing processes, as well as different types of chip wafers. At its GF Summit event, the company outlined new enhancements in both its RF-SOI (radio frequency silicon on insulator) technology, which is optimized for applications like working with sub-6 GHz signals, and FDX-RF (fully depleted radio frequency), which is intended for improving the transmission and reception of mmWave frequency signals. In addition, the company also described new advancements in solutions designed for WiFi signal transmission and reception, specifically enabling higher speed, more reliable WiFi6 and WiFi6E connections. On the audio-visual side, GlobalFoundries debuted its latest advancements in several areas. For displays, GF unveiled technologies that enable the creation of display driver ICs, which can deliver variable refresh rates on OLED displays (a feature Samsung has on its latest S21 Ultra and Z Fold 3 smartphones and that Apple just announced as ProMotion for its iPhone13 Pro). Not only does this enable the ultra-smooth scrolling and gaming action possible with fast 120 Hz refresh rates, but it can also save power by switching to lower, less power-hungry refresh rates when little or nothing is happening on screen. GF’s upgraded audio solutions give audio amplifier circuit designers more options to create unique solutions—including a non-volatile memory option for storing chunks of audio or music—as well as improve the overall sound quality. Finally, in the area of cameras and image sensors, GF enhanced its existing offerings to enable the creation of stacked image sensors with greater than 200 Megapixel resolution. Stacked image sensors are an essential part of today’s sophisticated smartphone camera solutions, because they enable higher light sensitivity and integrated image processing, as well as lower costs. In the datacenter world, GF announced a brand-new manufacturing platform for creating light-driven silicon photonics chips that’s called Silicon Photonics 45nm. As the demands of cloud-based computing and high-performance, data-intensive AI applications continue to grow, the need for ultrafast interconnect between components is growing, hence the interest in silicon photonics. The GF platform, which is scheduled to be ready for technical qualification in Q1 of 2022, combines both RF CMOS and optical components on the same chip. One of its unique characteristics is support for a micro ring resonator (MRR)—an essential piece of optical components that provides the light source for the chip—on 300mm wafers. Looking ahead, GF also discussed new possibilities for smaller and more power-efficient microdisplays that could be used in future AR (augmented reality glasses). The new chips would leverage improved pixel drivers made possible by enhancements to its 22FDX+ process. Finally, the company also announced that its 22FDX process at its Fab 1 in Dresden, Germany was automotive grade ready, providing a much-needed shot in the arm to help start addressing the current shortage of automotive-focused chips. In sum, the event highlighted not only the range, but also the flexibility of the different semiconductor manufacturing solutions that GlobalFoundries has worked to create and evolve over time. As mentioned before, the company isn’t always creating the most high-profile components, but it does provide essential, behind-the-scenes capabilities that are at the heart of an enormous range of devices we all use. Disclosure: TECHnalysis Research is a tech industry market research and consulting firm and, like all companies in that field, works with many technology vendors as clients, some of whom may be listed in this article. Here’s a link to the original column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobodonnell/2021/09/15/globalfoundries-advancements-qualcomm-partnership-push-5g-ahead/ Forbes columnist Bob O'Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, a market research and consulting firm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional financial community.
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