In the opening keynote, Samsung emphasized the company’s vision to lead hyper-intelligent, hyper-connected and hyper-data technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era with its comprehensive logic solutions uniquely tailored for various industries.

“Generative AI has quickly emerged as perhaps the most significant trend of the year, demanding more powerful foundational technologies to process data and bring AI to life,” said Yong-In Park, President and Head of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are paving the path toward a new era of proactive AI, leveraging our Samsung System LSI Humanoid platform, which seamlessly converges our capabilities across a broad spectrum of logic semiconductors, from powerful computational IPs, connectivity solutions to sensors emulating the main five human senses.”

First Glimpse of Exynos 2400 Mobile Processor and Zoom Anyplace Image Sensor Technology

One of the event’s highlights was the preview of Samsung’s next-generation flagship mobile processor, the Exynos 2400 with Xclipse 940 GPU based on the latest AMD RDNA 3 architecture. A live demo showcased the processor’s substantially enhanced ray tracing capability, promising improved realism and immersion in gaming through a range of optical effects including global illumination, reflection and shadow rendering.

Achieving significant advancements in computing performance, the Exynos 2400 processor features a 1.7x increase in CPU performance and a remarkable 14.7x boost in AI performance compared to the previous Exynos 2200 product. Additionally, Samsung introduced a new AI tool designed for upcoming smartphones, demonstrating text-to-image AI generation using its Exynos 2400 reference board.

Also revealed for the first time was Samsung’s Zoom Anyplace technology based on its 200-million pixel image sensor. This sensor innovation will enable an entirely new camera zoom experience, allowing mobile users to take up to 4x close-ups of moving objects without any image degradation. AI-based tracking technology automatically follows and captures objects, all while recordings are made in full screen simultaneously, ensuring that no moment or detail is left uncaptured.

Other debuts at the event were Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) non-terrestrial networks (NTN) ready next-generation 5G modem; a new vision sensor brand, the ISOCELL Vizion; and a Smart Health processor.

Samsung’s latest automotive processor slated for mass production in 2025, the Exynos Auto V920, was displayed running several applications across multiple displays. Meanwhile, a video of the ISOCELL Auto 1H1 image sensor highlighted its 120Hz high dynamic range (HDR) and superior LED flicker mitigation (LFM) performance that ensure safer driving.

Demonstrating its capability in cellular and connectivity technologies, Samsung featured a video demo of NB- IoT NTN satellite communication in collaboration with Skylo Technologies, an NTN service provider, using Samsung’s next-gen modem reference device. A live demo of wireless lighting control through its ultra-wideband (UWB) solution, the Exynos Connect U100, was also shared.

Additional logic innovations on display include the 200-megapixel (MP) ultra-high-resolution image sensor, the ISOCELL HP2; an advanced driver assistance (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) camera solution, the ISOCELL Auto 1H1; quantum-dot (QD) OLED display driver IC (DDI); IoT security solutions; and wireless-charging power management IC (PMIC).

Deep-Dive Into AI With Academic Experts

During the afternoon panel discussion session, Sukhwan Lim, head of the U.S. System LSI R&D Center, joined with academic experts — Professor Jae-sun Seo of Cornell Tech, Professor Yakun Sophia Shao of UC Berkeley and Professor Thierry Tambe of Stanford University — to discuss the implications on compute platforms from recent trends in generative AI and large language models.

Jong-Hee (JH) Han was promoted to Vice Chairman and CEO, and will lead the newly merged SET Division as he continues to head the Visual Display Business. President Kyehyun Kyung was also named CEO and will lead the DS Division.

• JH Han is a leading expert in TV research and development and has played a major role in the Company achieving the top position in global TV sales for the 15th consecutive year. He is expected to strengthen the synergies among the different businesses in the SET Division and help drive new businesses and technologies.
• Kyehyun Kyung, who has been the CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, is an expert in semiconductor design, having previously been the head of Samsung Electronics’ Flash Product & Technology Team as well as part of the DRAM Design Team. He is expected to help maintain the Company’s semiconductor leadership and lead innovation in the components business.

Other promotions and changes in today’s announcement include:

• Yongin Park, named President and Head of System LSI Business; previously Executive Vice President and Head of System LSI Sales & Marketing
• Hark Kyu Park, named President and Chief Financial Officer; previously President and Head of the Corporate Management Office, DS Division
• Kinam Kim, named Chairman of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology; previously Vice Chairman and head of the DS Division
• KS Choi, named President and Head of North America Office for SET Division; previously Executive Vice President and Head of North America Office
• Inyup Kang, named President and Head of North America Office for DS Division; previously President and Head of System LSI Business

Having received the semiconductor industry’s first carbon footprint accreditation for memory chips from the Carbon Trust in 2019, Samsung has now broadened its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) spectrum with this global recognition of ‘eco-friendly’ logic chips. Samsung also grabbed the industry’s first triple Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon, Water and Waste in June 2021.

The Carbon Trust is an independent and expert partner of organizations around the world that advises businesses on their opportunities in a sustainable, low carbon world. The Carbon Trust also measures and certifies the environmental footprint of organizations, supply chains and products.

Of the various certification categories of the Carbon Trust, Samsung’s System LSI products received the CO2 Measured product carbon footprint label. The label certifies the chip’s carbon footprint, which informs consumers of the impact that the product and its manufacturing process have on the environment.

Receiving the CO2 Measured label is a critical first step for carbon reduction, since it verifies the current carbon emissions of the product with globally recognized specifications (PAS 2050), which Samsung can use as a benchmark to measure future carbon reductions.

Correctly measuring the carbon footprint of a product requires extensive effort and time. It involves calculating the amount of carbon emitted from fabricating raw subsidiary materials and transporting the product, as well as the carbon emission from using electricity, water, and gas. The hundreds of fabrication processes needed to make a semiconductor chip add to the complication.

“We’re pleased to have worked with Samsung on this step in its sustainability journey,” said Hugh Jones, managing director at the Carbon Trust Advisory. “The Carbon Trust’s Carbon Measured certification is a clear and credible indicator for consumers that the carbon footprint of these products have been independently verified, as well as a baseline for Samsung to compare against as they work towards reducing their emissions in the future.”

The four products to receive certification include a variety of Samsung’s System LSI chips, from mobile processors to image sensors. The Exynos 2100, one of the four products to receive certification, is a high-performance mobile processor built with the most advanced 5-nanometer (nm) extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node. The 0.7-micrometer (μm)-pixel image sensor ISOCELL HM2, DTV SoC (S6HD820), and TCON (S6TST21) also received certification by the Carbon Trust.

Including the four chips, Samsung has so far received certifications for fourteen of its semiconductor products from the Carbon Trust.

“We are thrilled to be globally acknowledged for our eco-friendly efforts,” said Seong-dai Jang, senior vice president and head of DS Corporate Sustainability Management Office at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to fulfill our carbon reduction goals and expand our efforts to a wider range of eco-friendly, high-performance products to meet the global standards for a sustainable future.”

Exynos 2100

Based on 5nm EUV process technology, the Exynos 2100 is Samsung’s first 5G-integrated flagship mobile processor for premium mobile devices. The Exynos 2100 performs up to 26-trillion-operations-per-second (TOPS) with more than twice the power efficiency than the previous generation.

ISOCELL HM2

The ISOCELL HM2 is a 0.7μm-pixel image sensor that opened up the market for ultra-high resolutions. The 108MP sensor is around 15 percent smaller than the 0.8μm-based predecessors, and reduces the height of the camera module by 10 percent, while featuring faster autofocus, nine-pixel binning and 3x lossless zoom.

DTV SoC (S6HD820)

Samsung’s DTV SoC (S6HD820) is an essential component in television as picture quality evolves from 4K to 8K standard. The DTV SoC’s NPU (neural processing unit) allows AI technology to improve picture quality and audio processing.

TCON (S6TST21)

A TCON takes video data from the DTV SoC and converts it according to the demands of the DDI (Display Driver IC). The data transmission speed of the TCON is important when it comes to quickly transmitting high-resolution video data to the DDI. Samsung’s TCON (S6TST21) integrates two 8K 60-hertz (Hz) chips to minimize energy loss.

Unlike wireless headphones, TWS earbuds have no wire that connects the two earpieces. Without the connecting wires, TWS devices present users with more freedom in movement and range on their day-to-day activities. However, like other mobile devices, long battery life and small form factors are key requirements for these wireless earbuds.

“TWS earbuds present elevated listening experiences for more users and the trend is rapidly expanding the mobile accessory market, creating new opportunities for device manufacturers,” said Dong-ho Shin, senior vice president of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s industry-first, all-in-one power management solutions optimized for TWS devices will allow manufacturers to craft new applications with greater flexibility.”

The MUA01 and MUB01 PMICs, respectively, have been designed for the charging case and the earbuds, and are one-of-a-kind fully-integrated solutions optimized for TWS devices. By combining several of the company’s in-house logic technologies, Samsung was able to integrate up to ten discrete components into one, including switching chargers and discharge circuits, enabling the PMICs to occupy less than half the space compared to previous alternatives. The compact solutions can allot more room to the battery for longer playback time and enable more flexible and efficient designs.

The MUA01 is also the industry’s first solution to support both wireless and wired charging in a single chip. For wireless charging, it supports the Wireless Power Consortium’s (WPC) Qi 1.2.4, the consortium’s latest wireless power transfer interface standard. To provide efficient power management, the MUA01 integrates a highly effective switching charger. In addition, MUA01 comes with a microcontroller unit (MCU) and embedded Flash (eFlash), offering the option of modifying its firmware to support other applications.

With power line communication (PLC) support, the new PMICs can communicate with each other over the charging pins. This allows the charging case and earpieces to share essential information such as battery levels and whether the earpieces are inserted in the case.

The MUA01 and MUB01 are currently in mass production and are featured in Samsung’s recently-announced Galaxy Buds+ TWS earbuds.

The investment plan is expected to help the company to reach its goal of becoming the world leader in not only memory semiconductors but also logic chips by 2030. The company also plans to create 15,000 jobs in R&D and production to bolster its technological prowess.

The investments through 2030 will be composed of KRW 73 trillion for domestic R&D and KRW 60 trillion for production infrastructure. Per this plan, investments in R&D and facilities for logic semiconductors are expected to amount to an average KRW 11 trillion per year until 2030.