Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, held its 3^rd Annual Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE^TM) Forum 2021 virtually today.

With the theme of ‘Performance Platform 2.0: Innovation, Intelligence, Integration’, Samsung and its foundry ecosystem partners prepared 7 plenary talks and 76 technology sessions focused on three main topics: Gate-All-Around (GAA, Innovation), Artificial Intelligence (AI, Intelligence) and 2.5D/3D (Integration) technologies and the diverse design infrastructures required for high-performance applications.

“In the rapidly changing data-centric era, Samsung and its foundry partners have made great strides responding to increasing customers demand and to support their success by providing powerful solutions,” said Ryan Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of Foundry Design Platform Development at Samsung Electronics. “With the support of our SAFE program, Samsung will lead the realization of the vision ‘Performance Platform 2.0’.”

Starting with a keynote live streaming on November 17, attendees are able to explore a variety of tech sessions and engage with ecosystem partners through the virtual SAFE Forum platform for a month. To register for SAFE forum, please visit https://www.samsungfoundry.com.

SAFE 2021: Performance Platform 2.0

Samsung has concentrated on expanding its foundry ecosystem by focusing on IP, Electronic Design Automation (EDA), Cloud, Design Solution Partner (DSP) and Package solutions necessary for today’s data-driven era. Samsung introduced today its latest SAFE^TM program including:

• SAFE^TM-IP & EDA: Samsung and its foundry ecosystem have reserved over 3,600 IPs and 80 certified EDA tools respectively. These are developed and verified based on the high-standard certification program run by Samsung and participated in by our partners. In order to respond to the demands of high performance applications, Samsung’s foundry ecosystem has developed not only HPC-specific foundation IPs including standard cell libraries and memory compilers but also key IPs, such as over 100Gbps Serializer-Deserializer (SerDes) interface and 2.5D/3D multi-die integration solutions.
  
  With our EDA partners, Samsung has secured design tools optimized for its unique 3-nanometer (nm) GAA process technology and design methodology for integrating multiple dies in 2.5D/3D. Customers can also utilize AI- and machine learning-based EDA technology to systematically manage and analyze design data. To overcome the increasing difficulties of chip design and analysis, Samsung has strengthened cooperation with partners to develop EDA tools and related technologies, such as incorporating GPUs that can efficiently use computing resources required for chip verification.

• SAFE^TM-OSAT: Samsung plans to lead ‘beyond-Moore’ technologies by strengthening various package line-ups such as 2.5D/3D through the expansion of its SAFE-Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) ecosystem. The recent announcement of the co-development of Hybrid-Substrate Cube (H-Cube) solution, which offers efficient integration of 6 HBMs and cost benefit, is one of the successful examples of Samsung foundry’s collaboration with the OSAT community.

• SAFE^TM-Cloud Design Platform: SAFE^TM-CDP, the cloud-based one-stop design platform introduced last year, now supports a hybrid cloud function that can be linked to customers’ conventional design environments.

• SAFE^TM-DSP: Through the SAFE^TM-DSP ecosystem, Samsung and its global partners can actively support global fabless companies to implement their design ideas into custom product by utilizing cutting-edge process technologies as well as high-performance, low-power chip design knowledge.

[Quote from SAFE^TM Partner companies]

• Ansys, Ajei Gopal, CEO

“Today’s chips demand a full multiphysics approach, which requires engineering simulation. Ansys is proud to partner with Samsung to deliver a comprehensive multi-physics analysis flow for Samsung’s multi-die integration initiative. The benefits to joint customers, to the industry – and to the entire world – are tremendous. Semiconductors will drive innovations as varied as autonomous and electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and mobile technologies, including 5G and beyond.”

• Arm, Simon Segars, CEO

“Our longstanding partnership with Samsung Foundry has been essential for growing business opportunities in many markets for our combined partner ecosystem. This close collaboration continues as we work together to optimize our Armv9 next-generation processors on Samsung Foundry’s leading-edge processes, including GAA, to deliver a best-in-class solution that is optimized for the world of today, and the technologies of tomorrow. Together, we are unlocking new opportunities across HPC, Automotive, AI, and IoT, while also managing rising complexities, enabling faster time to market.”

• Cadence, Lip-Bu Tan, CEO

“The Cadence Intelligent System Design strategy is very well-aligned with Samsung Foundry’s Performance Platform 2.0 with common themes of innovation, pervasive intelligence and integrated solutions. Together, we’re enabling customers to develop and deliver innovative, breakthrough products using Samsung’s most advanced process and packaging technologies, and we look forward to continuing our work with Samsung Foundry to accelerate design successes”

• Siemens EDA, A. J. Incorvaia, Senior Vice President

“The Samsung SAFE event provides an exceptionally valuable venue for the Samsung Foundry ecosystem to meet, share information and identify opportunities to fully leverage Samsung’s cutting-edge process technologies. Siemens EDA looks forward to this year’s Samsung SAFE event and the many opportunities it presents for collaborating with customers and partners to eliminate design obstacles and enhance silicon success.”

• Synopsys, Sassine Ghazi, president and COO

“We see exciting times ahead as software and chip technology come together to create world-changing new products,” said Sassine Ghazi, president and COO of Synopsys. “We have strong programs with Samsung Foundry on 3nm gate-all-around enablement, broad IP certification, AI-assisted chip design and 2.5/3D multi-die design to name just a few. We welcome the strong collaboration opportunities offered by the Samsung SAFE initiative.”

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced at its Samsung Tech Day 2019 two silicon products specifically tailored for future mobile devices that will make intensive use of video and artificial intelligence (AI) applications as well as 5G communications.

Both the Exynos 990 premium mobile processor and ultra-fast next-generation 5G Exynos Modem 5123 harness the most advanced 7-nanometer (nm) process technology using extreme ultra-violet (EUV) to provide unprecedented performance and accelerated product development options for mobile manufacturers.

“Milestones in technological advancements are imminent all around us. Mobile 5G technology is opening new avenues for communication and connection, while AI is poised to become an everyday tool for people worldwide,” noted Inyup Kang, president of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s Exynos 990 and Exynos Modem 5123 are perfectly adapted for high-volume 5G and AI applications, and are designed to help the world’s most ambitious enterprises, large and small, achieve their goals of bringing new capabilities to their markets .”

New levels of mobile gaming and other graphics-intensive operations are enabled by the Exynos 990’s inclusion of an embedded Arm Mali-G77 GPU, the first premium GPU based on the new Valhall architecture, which improves graphic performance or power efficiency by up to 20 percent. This comes in addition to an overall 20-percent performance boost from an extremely powerful and flexible tri-cluster CPU structure that consists of two powerful custom cores, two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores and four power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores.

The Exynos 990 also makes on-device AI practical and useful, with a top-class dual-core neural processing unit (NPU) and improved digital signal processor (DSP) that can perform over ten-trillion operations (TOPs) per second.

The NPU enables localized AI in a smartphone or other mobile platform, allowing data to be processed on-device, rather than going through a network and a server, for added efficiency and security. This can also help enhance AI features such as facial recognition and scene detection for richer mobile experiences.

Next-generation mobile connectivity needs are addressed by the 5G Exynos Modem 5123, one of the first 5G modem chips manufactured using a 7nm EUV process. It supports virtually all networks, from 5G’s sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrums to 2G GSM/CDMA, 3G WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, HSPA and 4G LTE, with outstanding downlink speed across the board.  In 5G, with up to 8-carrier aggregation (8CA), the modem delivers a maximum downlink speed of up to 5.1-gigabits per second (Gbps) in sub-6-gigahertz (GHz) and 7.35Gbps in mmWave, or up to 3.0Gbps in 4G networks by supporting higher-order 1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM).

The Exynos 990 complements these modem speeds with a very wide memory bandwidth that supports LPDDR5 data rates of up to 5,500 megabits per second (Mb/s). The processor also features a 120Hz refresh-rate display driver, which makes games come alive by reducing screen tearing and enabling smoother animations even on devices with multiple displays, such as foldable phones. Also on board is an advanced image signal processor (ISP) that supports up to six individual image sensors with concurrent processing of three; this enables pro-grade photography, with resolution up to 108-megapixels.

The Exynos 990 and Exynos Modem 5123 are expected to begin mass production by the end of this year.

For more information about Samsung’s Exynos products, please visit http://www.samsung.com/exynos