Could operational fabs for sale fill the MEMS capacity gap?

By Barney Silver, Senior Vice President & Principal, ATREG, Inc.

IHS iSuppli reports that the aggregate MEMS market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% between 2010 and 2015, with current predictions of 22% CAGR for consumer and mobile products alone (from $1.5 billion in 2010 to $4.4 billion in 2015). In 2010, pure-play MEMS foundries experienced a 48.4 % expansion, compared with only 2.4 % for standard semiconductor foundries.

With OEMs integrating MEMS devices into consumer, biomedical / quality of life, automotive, and industrial applications by the hundreds of millions, MEMS manufacturers need to keep pace with the robust global demand that is currently primarily driven by the explosive growth of smartphones and tablets. Gearing up for increased manufacturing capabilities and capacities can be a costly endeavor, and MEMS companies need to look at all available options to accelerate time-to-market while keeping costs down.

Purchasing an existing operational fab is one way to approach this challenge, especially 150mm or 200mm fabs running at less advanced geometry nodes. There are a variety of fully equipped operational fabs on the market right now that would make a cost-effective investment for a MEMS company. One perfect example of that is Texas Instruments that is selling its 150mm fabs in Hiji, Japan and Houston, TX. By acquiring an operational fab with ongoing production, MEMS companies can gradually introduce capacity into the fab without bearing the 100% of operational fab cost during the initial product qualification and ramp phases. As the seller’s production volumes decline over time, the buyer introduces incremental production capacity to maintain a healthy fab utilization rate.

I welcome your comments on this post at info@atreg.com.

About Barnett Silver

As a Senior Vice President and Principal with ATREG, Barney brings over 15 years of experience in finance, real estate, and investment banking. Barney works with ATREG’s clients across the semiconductor spectrum in Asia, Europe, and North America on acquisition, disposition, and complex strategy assignments. He has recently worked with Freescale Semiconductor, IDT, Qimonda, Renesas, Texas Instruments and TowerJazz. In addition to leading client assignments, Barney is responsible for the company’s operations, focused on developing new business opportunities and growing the ATREG platform. Click here to learn more.

Speaking Opportunity: iNEMI MEMS Workshop

iNEMI will be holding a MEMS workshop (MEMS; Driving Next Level Results Through Collaboration) in Pittsburgh on May 10th, 2012, the day after MIG’s M2M Forum. We are hoping that you will join us and that you will accept an invitation to be a speaker at this key event.

The meeting announcement that reviews the objectives and agenda for this workshop can be found here.  Please forward this invitation to any other attendees from your organization.

Interested? Please respond to: bill.bader@inemi.org on your ability to support this opportunity by April 17th at the latest.

Karen’s blog from Smart Systems Integration 2012

By Karen Lightman, Managing Director, MEMS Industry Group

It was definitely a mix of adrenaline and my LOVE of MEMS Industry Group (MIG) that kept me going as I chaired and hosted the US MEMS Session on day one of SSI; because I was definitely tired after the previous day’s successful MEMS Executive Congress Europe. Or perhaps it was seeing the two fabulous keynotes that inspired me.

After an introduction by Professor Gessner of Fraunhofer ENAS, the ever-charming Carmelo Papa of STMicroelectronics gave a fantastic opening keynote; totally different from the one he gave the day. Carmelo later tweaked my nose when I told him that his SSI keynote was even better than the one he gave at the Congress EU. Some of the highlights of his keynote include an overview of ST’s pursuit of “More Moore and More than Moore.” His presentation was an inspiration for smart system integration and touched upon all facets of application from energy/industrial to consumer, to automotive to health/medical.

MEMS Sensors Driving Smart Automotive

By Karen Lightman, Managing Director, MEMS Industry Group

Originally posted on DesignNews

Rapid advances in intelligent automotive systems were showcased during the first European edition of the MEMS Executive Congress. Such systems can tell whether a child is in the street and enable the car to avoid impact. MEMS can ensure that a driver is not inebriated before getting behind the wheel; this is already a reality in France, and would seem to beat the pants off the old-fashioned Breathalyzer.

MEMS can make a car smarter in how it utilizes and conserves energy and power through energy harvesting. It can make a car easier to drive, through sensor-enabled steering that senses the curvature of the road and accounts for torque and speed. (Now that would certainly come in handy on California’s Pacific Coast Highway or the Autobahn.) MEMS make drivers safer and smarter with anti-roller stability, airbags, and tire-pressure monitors. And after experiencing the keynote by Markus Buhlmann, “The MEMS-Enabled Automobile — An Inside Look at Audi’s Vorsprung durch Technik,” MEMS can also make driving a car a hell of a lot of fun.

Automotive panelists at MEMS Executive Congress Europe held in Zurich, Switzerland. From left: Bernhard Schmid of Continental, Marc Osajda of Freescale Semiconductor, Hannu Laatikainen of VTI Technologies, and Richard Dixon of IHS-iSuppli.

 

The MEMS automotive panel at the Congress was moderated by Robert Bosch’s MEMS automotive sensor guru, Jiri Marek. Featured panelists represented top players in the industry: Richard Dixon of IHS iSuppli; Hannu Laatikainen of VTI; Marc Osajda of Freescale Semiconductor; and Bernhard Schmid of Continental Teves. All these guys are well versed in the challenges and opportunities facing the MEMS automotive industry.

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Degrees of freedom vs. axes

By Michael Stanley

Originally posted on Freescale’s The Embedded Beat Blog

No, the title does not refer to the forces of good versus those of evil. Nor am I referring to my stance when chopping firewood with an axe. Instead, let’s see if we can straighten out some of the terminology that you’ll hear when people start to talk about sensors. Even folks in the business sometimes get it wrong, so here is my attempt to establish a common language.

Degrees of Freedom – AKA DOF, this term gets misused more than any I can think of. It is often confused with “number of axes”, which I’ll discuss below. But if you consult any text on the dynamics of rigid bodies, you will quickly learn that any movement of any rigid body from point A to point B can be characterized as a translation plus a rotation.

MEMS Industry Group Scores Success with MEMS Executive Congress Europe

More than 150 European Innovators Explore Future of Intelligent Systems at MIG Event

PITTSBURGH—April 3, 2012—MEMS Industry Group (MIG)’s first MEMS Executive Congress® Europe, held March 20, 2012 in Zurich, was a resounding success. Keynotes by Audi AG and STMicroelectronics and panels on smart industrial systems, automotive, Quality of Life (QoL)/biomedical devices, and consumer products gave more than 150 attendees of MEMS Executive Congress a glimpse of the future of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) in wide-ranging applications.

Calling MEMS “the nervous system of machines,” Siemens’ Thomas Scheiter predicted that smart industrial systems will use sensors and software algorithms as “brains” that interpret data from electronic devices. VTI Technologies’ Hannu Laatikainen waxed poetic when he stated that we need to “treat the car more like a human that can see, feel, hear, smell and taste.” Suunto’s Terho Lahtinen described the role of gyros and RF MEMS with biofeedback in complete, multi-level sensor networks that improve athletic performance. Philips Research Laboratories’ Hans Hofstraat declared that “MEMS devices are an essential component in bringing healthcare closer to the patient. They can play a key role in promoting self-management of chronic disease. Furthermore, they are at the basis of innovations in effective minimally invasive therapies.”

As host of the event, Karen Lightman, managing director of MEMS Industry Group—the trade association advancing MEMS across global markets—noted recurring themes expressed by the various speakers. “MEMS is growing at an exponential pace. That’s true in consumer products and automotive, where it is practically ubiquitous—and in smart industrial systems and QoL/biomedical devices, in which it is steadily gaining ground. MEMS is enabling functionality that we have only just begun to imagine, such as cars that drive themselves, or biomedical systems that minimize surgery and miniaturize therapy for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s. While the design of these applications is vastly different, a common interest in integration, mass production, safety and reliability applies across the board.”

Lightman added that “the fantastic success of MEMS Executive Congress Europe and the US MEMS Session at our partner conference, Smart Systems Integration, demonstrates that these issues are universal and worldwide—and that forums such as these are important to furthering the commercialization of MEMS.”

ABOUT MEMS EXECUTIVE CONGRESS EUROPE

Premier sponsors of MEMS Executive Congress Europe 2012 include: Platinum Sponsor – EV Group; Gold Sponsors – Applied Materials and SPTS Technologies; and Silver Sponsors – Analog Devices and Semefab. Additional sponsors include: ACUTRONIC, AEPI, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, Asia Pacific Microsystems, Bosch, Bosch Sensortec, CEA Léti, CSEM, Freescale Semiconductor, Fries Research & Technology (FRT), GSA, IHS iSuppli, imec, iNEMI, IVAM, Plan Optik, Maxim, MST BW, NMI, Okmetic, Smart Systems Integration, SEMICON Europa, Solid State Technology, SVTC and Yole Développement.

MEMS Executive Congress Europe was held March 20, 2012 at the Hotel Novotel Zurich Airport Messe, Zurich, Switzerland. It was co-located with Smart Systems Integration 2012.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The US edition of MEMS Executive Congress will be held November 7-8, 2012 at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ. For more information, please visit: http://www.memscongress.com/us.

ABOUT MEMS INDUSTRY GROUP

MEMS Industry Group (MIG) is the trade association advancing MEMS across global markets. More than 130 companies comprise MIG, including Analog Devices, Applied Materials, Robert Bosch GmbH, Freescale Semiconductor, GE, Honeywell, HP, Intel, InvenSense, Nokia, STMicroelectronics, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, VTI Technologies and WiSpry. For more information, visit: www.memsindustrygroup.org.

MEMS Executive Congress Europe

By Karen Lightman, Managing Director, MEMS Industry Group

“MEMS is only limited by the imagination” was the title of the opening keynote presented by ST’s Carmelo Papa at MEMS Executive Congress Europe and in many ways this phrase perfectly summarizes the conference itself. All of the speakers on our four panels  – industrial, biomedical/Quality of Life (QoL), automotive and consumer – as well as our keynotes – all conveyed that frontier feeling that MEMS can truly change the world. Sure we have some challenges to overcome (biggest being packaging), but the potential of having MEMS (frickin’) everywhere is a very tangible reality, if any of the predictions of MEMS Executive Congress Europe come true.

Thankfully the numerous press who attended the Congress Europe have already done an impressive job of highlighting the panelists’ and keynotes’ more technical points – please refer to our Congress press coverage for the growing list of stories.  So instead of retelling you who said what regarding what ISO qualification, I’ll use this blog to give you the more colorful side of the Congress (shocking disclosure, I know).  And speaking of color, MIG’s Monica Takacs did a great job of capturing the Congress in pictures and we’ve posted them on our Flickr site; you will want to check it out.

I am going to share with you my favorite quotes, saving my favorite for last. I’ll start with the one by our opening keynote, Carmelo Papa. When Carmelo was talking “off the ST script” his adorable Italian personality was a lot of fun. Like when he said that he couldn’t reveal ST’s biggest customer “even under torture,” but he’d give us some hints: “it is green, and delicious to eat.” What a great way to describe Apple.  I also liked how he described MEMS as the “mouse for portable devices” as it enables a new realm of gesture.

My next favorite quote was from VTI’s Hannu Laatikainen who I called a “Finnish Haiku Poet” when he said that we needed to “treat the car more like a human that can see, feel, hear, smell and taste.” Great stuff.  I absolutely enjoyed hearing every single word coming out of the mouth of Dr. Berger of Clinatec and it wasn’t just because I am a sucker for a French accent. I loved his description of connecting technology with medicine and his passion for patient health, safety and welfare.  He urged that there must be more money for clinical trials of technology for medical treatment to prove efficacy (not just money for consumer-inspired sport applications masking as healthcare products). I couldn’t agree more.

I laughed when Stefan Finkbeiner introduced himself and stated that his company, Akustica/Bosch, hailed from Pittsburgh, the “MEMS center of the US.” Stefan then modified the statement by saying that Pittsburgh is the “MEMS capital of Pennsylvania” and “definitely the MEMS capital of Western PA.” My hometown is a lot of things, but not yet the MEMS capital of the US.

But my absolute favorite quote from MEMS Executive Congress Europe was from Continental’s Bernhard Schmid. When someone from the audience asked the panelists if visual sensors will replace MEMS on automotive, Bernhard responded with a rhetorical question: “Have the eyes cannibalized the ears? No. Both senses/sensors are needed for smart automotive.” I guess he was inspired by Hannu’s earlier comment about the car’s senses being more human. I wouldn’t have expected such eloquence from a bunch of automotive engineering executives.  But like the Congress in general, these guys impressed and surprised me.

MEMS Executive Congress Europe was a fantastic success. I was expecting 100 attendees; we had 155. I thought we had a handful of sponsors; we had over 30. I look forward to building the content for this year’s upcoming MEMS Executive Congress US in Scottsdale (November 7-8) and yes, next year’s event somewhere in Europe and possibly in Asia. By design, MEMS Executive Congress is a unique professional forum where executives from companies designing and manufacturing MEMS technology sit side-by-side with their end-user customers in panel discussions and networking events to exchange ideas and information about the use of MEMS in commercial applications. And clearly, with our success in Europe, MIG is meeting a need in the market. Good thing it’s also lots of fun.

Source form for eCompass software and 4 and 7 element magnetic routines (Yes!)

By Michael Stanley

Originally posted on Freescale’s The Embedded Beat Blog

Last week, Freescale made its eCompass and 4 and 7 element magnetic compensation routines available in (drum roll please!) source form.

Getting access is easy. Let me take you through the steps….

• Open your web browser to http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=eCompass
• Click on the “ECOMPASS_SW: eCompass Software” link.
• This will take you to the Freescale web site login page. You must be a registered user to download the software. There is a link right on that page allowing you to register if you haven’t already.
• Once you’ve entered your ID and password, you will be presented with a copy of the software license agreement. Please review it carefully before clicking the “I Accept” button. The good news is this: Freescale is making this software freely available for use in any product containing an Xtrinsic brand magnetometer. There is no license fee, there are no royalties.
• Assuming you have accepted, follow the usual procedure to download the software onto your hard drive.The software is in the form of a zip file containing:
  • A single C source file (main.c)
  • Freescale User’s Guide entitled “Implementing a Tilt-Compensated eCompass with Magnetic Calibration”.

The basic dataflow of the algorithm is illustrated in the block diagram below. The software contains source for each of the blocks shown.


The main.c file includes the entire application, and is designed to operate as a “console” application which should be compatible with just about any C compiler. The accompanying user guide goes through the source in a detailed fashion, and clearly explains how to adapt the code for your environment. The application is designed to operate out of the box with simulated data. You need to replace the console I/O functions with a call to your I2C driver function to operate with real data.There are options allowing you to build a model for hard iron compensation only (the four element model) or for many cases involving soft iron issues (the 7 element model). The generated soft iron matrix is limited to scale factors distributed along the diagonal of the soft iron matrix (see my earlier posts listed in references below). In general, you want to use the simplest model that works for your product. Should your soft iron problems exceed the capabilities of the 4 and 7 element models, Freescale has a more complicated model which supports off-diagonal elements in the soft iron matrix. Please contact your Freescale representative for details.

References

• Xtrinsic pressure sensor/altimeter Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
• Hard and soft iron magnetic compensation explained
• Freescale Magnetic Sensorspage
• Freescale AN3461: Tilt Sensing Using Linear Accelerometers
• Freescale AN4246: Calibrating an eCompass in the Presence of Hard and Soft-Iron Interference
• Freescale AN4247: Layout Recommendations for PCBs Using a Magnetometer Sensor
• Freescale AN4248: Implementing a Tilt-Compensated eCompass using Accelerometer and Magnetometer
  Sensors
• Freescale AN4249: Accuracy of Angle Estimation in eCompass and 3-D Pointer Applications

Original post: http://blogs.freescale.com/2012/03/09/source-form-for-ecompass-software-and-4-and-7-element-magnetic-routines-yes/

MEMS Industry Group Launches MEMS Conference Track at DESIGN West 2012

MIG speakers to address MEMS in Quality of Life/biomedical, consumer products, sports and the smart grid at Sensors in Design

DESIGN West 2012

PITTSBURGH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MEMS Industry Group® (MIG), the industry organization advancing micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) across global markets, will kick off a two-day conference program exploring MEMS in vertical markets at UBM Electronics’ conference-within-a-conference: Sensors in Design at DESIGN West (March 28-29, 2012, San Jose, CA). With MEMS devices embedded by the hundreds of millions in mobile handsets, tablets, laptops, video games, automotive safety systems, Quality of Life (QoL) applications, wireless sensor networks, and other vertical applications, design engineers are increasingly integrating these tiny micro-machines with DSPs, microprocessors, software algorithms and mobile operating systems to improve the user experience with electronic devices.

“MEMS is changing the way that we experience the world around us, altering our relationship with all things electronic,” said Karen Lightman, managing director, MEMS Industry Group. “Reverse-engineer the iPhone 4, for example, and you will find an accelerometer, a gyro, MEMS microphones and an electronic compass. Earlier this year Samsung began shipping the first RF MEMS device found in a commercial application, and someday soon a mobile handset OEM will no doubt become the first to include a pressure sensor in a phone to enable indoor navigation. Mobile phones are just one application area in which MEMS plays an important role. There are countless others, and design engineers are chomping at the bit to understand the capabilities MEMS offers within the hardware-software ecosystem.”

The MEMS track at Sensors in Design 2012 features:

• Day One: “MEMS”(March 28, 2012)—chaired by Alissa Fitzgerald, PhD, founder and managing member, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, and member of MEMS Industry Group. Sessions will include:
  • Panel: “Future of the MEMS Market: New and Innovative Applications”—with Rob O’Reilly, member technical staff, MEMS Sensors, Analog Devices; Dave Rothenberg, worldwide marketing manager, Movea; and Stephen Whalley, director, Sensors, Intel Architecture Group, Intel Corporation.
  • Presentations: “MEMS Enabling Healthcare Maintenance and Monitoring: Improving Quality of Life”—with Nancy Dougherty, electrical engineer, Proteus Biomedical; Alissa Fitzgerald, PhD, founder and managing member, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates; and Peter Himes, vice president of marketing and strategic alliances, Silex Microsystems.
  • Presentations: “MEMS in Consumer Products, Hand-held Electronics and Mobile Devices”—with William Gatliff, consultant; Michael Housholder, senior director of business development, InvenSense; and Davin Yuknis, vice president of sales and marketing, Akustica.
  • Presentations: “MEMS Sensor Fusion and System Design”—Jay Esfandyari, MEMS product marketing manager, STMicroelectronics; Hughes Metras, vice president, strategic partnerships, North America, CEA-Leti; and Michael Stanley, systems engineer, Freescale Semiconductor.
• Day Two: “MEMS and Smart Sensing”(March 29, 2012)—chaired by Karen Lightman, managing director, MEMS Industry Group. Sessions will include:
  • Panel: “Moving from Conventional Analog to Smart Digital Sensors: Practical Advice for Engineers”—Peter Adrian, principal analyst and research manager, Technical Insights, Frost & Sullivan; Brian MacCleery, product manager for clean energy technology, National Instruments; and James (Jamie) Wiczer, PhD, founder and president, Sensor Synergy.
  • Presentations: “Sensors for the Smart Grid”—Rajesh Lakhiani, director of strategic operations, CURRENT; and Brian MacCleery, product manager for clean energy technology, National Instruments.
  • Panel: “MEMS in Sports”—Romain Lazerand, business development, Syride; Karen Lightman, managing director, MEMS Industry Group; Rob O’Reilly, member technical staff, MEMS Sensors, Analog Devices; Jack McCauley, director of R&D, R0R3 DEVICES; and Per Slycke, CTO and founder, Xsens.
  • Presentations: “Smart Sensor Product Roadmaps”—Joseph Doll, mechanical engineering ME, Stanford University; and James (Jamie) Wiczer, PhD, founder and president, Sensor Synergy.

ABOUT SENSORS IN DESIGN 2012

Sensors in Design 2012, a DESIGN West Summit co-located with ESC Silicon Valley—is a two-day conference exploring advances in design and systems architecture based on the increased utilization of sensors in numerous applications. Sensors in Design will take place March 28-29, 2012 at the McEnery Conference Center, San Jose, CA. For a complete agenda, please visit: http://www.ubmdesign.com/sessions/sensors.

ABOUT MEMS INDUSTRY GROUP

MEMS Industry Group (MIG) is the trade association advancing MEMS across global markets. More than 130 companies comprise MIG, including Analog Devices, Applied Materials, ATREG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Freescale Semiconductor, GE, Honeywell, HP, Intel, InvenSense, Nokia, Qualcomm, C2MI, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, VTI Technologies and WiSpry. For more information, visit: www.memsindustrygroup.org.

MEMS Industry Group® and the MEMS Industry Group® logo are registered trademarks of MEMS Industry Group®. All product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

MEMS Industry Group®- 1620 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Phone: 1.412.390.1644

Contacts

MEMS Industry Group
Karen Lightman, 412-390-1644
klightman[at]memsindustrygroup.org
or
Vetrano Communications for MEMS
Maria Vetrano, 617-876-2770
maria[at]vetrano.com

MEMS and Consumer Products at MEMS Executive Congress Europe

March 20, 2012
Hotel Novotel Zurich Airport Messe
An executive forum promoting the commercialization of MEMS

The consumer and mobile MEMS market will reach US$4.4 billion by 20151. That’s an extraordinary number of accelerometers, magnetic compasses, optical MEMS, silicon microphones, gyros and pressure sensors. Emerging MEMS devices such as tunable RF-MEMS components and MEMS timing devices will add to record volumes of MEMS embedded in mobile handsets, tablets, televisions, remote controllers, laptops, video games, e-readers, projectors and other consumer applications. MEMS Industry Group has tapped top European companies using MEMS to advance the user experience with mobile phones and consumer electronics for our panel, “MEMS and Consumer Products”, at MEMS Executive Congress Europe. Panelists will explore: What are the market and industry trends affecting the growth of MEMS in consumer applications? What are the challenges? How can companies stay competitive, despite intense price, performance and design-to-delivery pressures? How will MEMS enable the next revolutionary product? (What’s coming after tablets?) What are the differences between market leader and revenue leader? Please join us March 20, 2012, 2:45-3:30 p.m., for the panel, “MEMS and Consumer Products.” Moderated by Stefan Finkbeiner, PhD, CEO, Akustica, with panelists: Jean-Christophe Eloy, founder and president, Yole Développement; Terho Lahtinen, product concepts & innovation manager, Suunto; Sauli Palo, principal specialist, Component Quality and Technology, Nokia Corporation; and Andre van Geelen, PhD, executive vice president & general manager, EPCOS Netherlands B.V. PREMIER SPONSORS Platinum Sponsor – EV Group; Gold Sponsors – Applied Materials and SPTS Technologies; Silver Sponsors – Analog Devices and Semefab. SPONSORS ACUTRONIC, AEPI, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, Asia Pacific Microsystems, Bosch, Bosch Sensortec, CEA Léti, CSEM, Freescale Semiconductor, Fries Research & Technology (FRT), GSA, IHS iSuppli, imec, iNEMI, IVAM, Plan Optik, Maxim, MST BW: Mikrosystemtechnik Baden-Württemberg, NMI, Okmetic, Smart Systems Integration, SEMICON Europa, Solid State Technology, SVTC and Yole Développement. Please Join Us for MEMS Executive Congress Europe As a business rather than a technical conference, MEMS Executive Congress Europe provides a unique forum for MEMS solution providers and OEM integrators to exchange ideas and information during panel discussions and networking events. This truly compelling one-day event is a must-attend conference for the entire MEMS supply chain. If you have not registered yet, you can do so via the link below:

1 iHS iSuppli‘s Consumer & Mobile MEMS Market Tracker – H2 2011 (November 2011)