▲ Integrated Ambarella CV3-AD685 system-on-chip built on Samsung Foundry’s 5nm technology

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, and Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), an edge AI semiconductor company, today announced that Samsung’s Foundry business is providing its 5-nanometer (nm) process technology to Ambarella for its newly announced CV3-AD685 automotive AI central domain controller. This collaboration will help transform the next generation of autonomous driving vehicle safety systems by bringing new levels of AI processing performance, power and reliability.

The CV3-AD685 is the first production version of Ambarella’s CV3-AD family of automotive AI central domain controllers with Tier-1 automotive suppliers announcing they will offer solutions using the CV3-AD system-on-chip (SoC) product family. Samsung’s 5nm process technology is optimized for automotive-grade semiconductors with extremely tight process controls and advanced IP for exceptional reliability and outstanding traceability.

Ambarella will rely on Samsung’s 5nm process maturity and the technology’s solid track record. This 5nm process is backed by the company’s extensive experience in automotive foundry process, IP and service package development to enable manufacturers to create cutting-edge innovations in assisted and automated mobility.

“Ambarella and Samsung Foundry have a rich history of collaboration, and we are excited to bring their world-class 5nm technology to our new CV3-AD685 SoCs,” said Fermi Wang, President and CEO at Ambarella. “Samsung’s proven automotive process technology allows us to bring new levels of AI acceleration, systems integration and power efficiency to ADAS and L2+ through L4 autonomous vehicles.”

The CV3-AD685 integrates Ambarella’s next-generation CVflow^® AI engine, which includes neural network processing that is 20 times faster than the previous generation of Ambarella’s CV2 SoCs. It also provides general-vector and neural-vector processing capabilities to deliver the overall performance required for full autonomous driving (AD) stack processing, including computer vision, 4D imaging radar, deep sensor fusion and path planning.

“Samsung brings 5nm EUV FinFET technology to automotive applications for unprecedented ADAS and vision processor performance,” said Sang-Pil Sim, Executive Vice President and Head of Foundry Corporate Planning at Samsung Electronics. “With Tier-1 automotive suppliers already adopting the technology, we believe other automotive companies will also consider using the Ambarella CV3-AD SoC product family manufactured in Samsung’s 5nm process.”

The CV3-AD685 will be the first in the CV3-AD product family to use Samsung’s 5nm process, and this SoC integrates advanced image processing, a dense stereo and optical flow engine, ARM^® Cortex^® A78AE and R52 CPUs, an automotive GPU for visualizations, and a hardware security module (HSM). It features an “algorithm first” architecture that provides support for the entire autonomous-driving software stack.

The high-performance, power efficient and scalable CV3-AD family, which is built specifically for ADAS, complements a wide range of solutions for assisted driving while advancing vehicle automation. The integrated CV3-AD685 SoC enables information from various sensors to be fused for robust L2+ to L4 autonomous driving. Samsung Foundry’s industry-leading process technology and advanced 3D-packaging solutions are powering many of the latest mobile, HPC and automotive solutions.

Samsung’s 5nm process is also backed by the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) program. The SAFE program ensures close collaboration between Samsung Foundry, ecosystem partners and customers to deliver robust SoC designs based on certified key design components including Process Design Kits (PDK), reference flows with Design Methodologies (DM), a variety of Intellectual Properties (IP), and on-demand design support.

About Ambarella

Ambarella’s products are used in a wide variety of human vision and edge AI applications, including video security, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), electronic mirror, drive recorder, driver/cabin monitoring, autonomous driving and robotics applications. Ambarella’s low-power systems-on-chip (SoCs) offer high-resolution video compression, advanced image and radar processing and powerful deep neural network processing to enable intelligent perception, fusion and planning. For more information, please visit www.ambarella.com.

Supporting Fast, Smooth Telecommunication Anywhere: The Ultra-High Performing Modem with AI Technology

The term “modem” encompasses all types, from the dial-up modems used in the 1990s to connect PCs to the Internet, to wired communication modems like digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable, to wireless communication modems for cellular service and Wi-Fi. However, when we talk about modems today in the mobile industry, the term usually refers to cellular modems for wireless communication that support LTE and 5G.

In a smartphone, the terminal modem is in charge of making calls and transmitting and receiving data by exchanging signals with base stations. The reason we can make calls and seamlessly watch videos anywhere is all thanks to high-performing cellular modems. Today, the latest cellular modems support technologies from 2G to 5G. 

Cellular modems were first used for 1G when only phone calls could be made using the analog communication method. In the 2G era, the digital communication method¹ was introduced, and additional services such as the short message service (SMS) became possible. 3G enabled the use of the Internet on mobile phones, laying the foundation for mobile broadband,² and 4G ushered in the true mobile broadband era that made seamlessly watching HD videos possible. The speed of 5G, which Korea was first in the world to commercialize in 2019, now reaches the 10Gbps level, and various applications other than mobile devices are being created using this low-latency and hyper-connectivity technology. 

▲ A comparison of the characteristics of different mobile communication generations.

With the advent of the LTE era, data transmission speeds have become remarkably higher, and mobile phones can now provide functions almost identical to those provided by computers. Having experimented with developing its own modem before the 2000s, Samsung Electronics began developing an LTE modem chip in earnest in 2007 and became the first in the world to succeed in LTE modem commercialization in 2009, after mastering 2G and 3G technologies.

▲ The communication process between a modem and a base station.

In 2012, the Galaxy S series was equipped with Samsung’s LTE modems for the first time. In 2019, the 5G-integrated SoC Exynos, the first ever chip to combine a 5G communication modem and a mobile AP, was developed. Exynos improved energy efficiency by combining two chips with different functions into one as well as the ease of design for smartphone manufacturers by reducing the area taken up by the component. Currently, Exynos’ 5G³ modem supports not only the sub-6GHz band but also extremely high frequency bands (i.e., mmWave), such as 28GHz and 39GHz. Thanks to this, sub-6GHz increases service coverage, and ultra-high-speed communication is offered with mmWave near base stations. 

Today, Samsung is one of the world’s top three 5G modem design companies. “Generally, the process for developing a modem is complicated because it must support new technology like 5G and already commercialized technologies like 3G and LTE. As it also requires a significant investment, there are only a handful of modem chip companies in the world,” said Vice President Jungwon Lee, a signal processing expert who currently leads the Modem Development Team in the System LSI Business after working at Samsung DS America and at Samsung Research America. “It is an area that also requires a lot of development time, from algorithm development to chip design, software development and field testing.”

▲ Vice President Jungwon Lee (right) and PL Huiwon Je (left) of the Modem Development Team strive to improve the development performance of cellular modems.

Samsung is conducting field tests in countries around the world to improve service coverage as much as possible and making various efforts to improve the baseband signal processing method, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to increase transmission speeds. As a result, the company successfully created a modem that utilizes AI algorithms last year, although it is yet to be commercialized. “Modems with AI technology can promote performance enhancements by minimizing the processing of interference signals or increasing energy efficiency through the use of AI processors,” said Lee.

In addition to 5G, Samsung is currently actively working on the development of 6G technology. “Right now, we are focused on developing the world’s best 5G modem and 5G-Advanced modem, and we are preparing for 6G modem technology research in collaboration with Samsung DS America and Samsung Research for the imminent 6G era,” said Lee. His achievements in modem signal processing technology were recognized when he was selected as a Fellow of the IEEE.⁴

“6G modems are expected to enable 1Tbps-level speeds, support various communication networks including satellite communication, and be widely used in various applications, such as automobiles, IoT and AR/VR — going far beyond smartphones,” he said. “To pave the way for the 6G era, we must have the backing and support of various frequency bands, including the terahertz (THz) band, multi-antenna support for at least hundreds of antennas, advanced AI technology and communication network signal efficiency technology.”

Meanwhile, Lee is leading the way for Samsung as the company aims to create the best modem for Android. “We are expanding our 5G business in the short run while striving to secure a leading position early on in the 6G era in the medium to long-term,” he said. Samsung plans to drastically increase the headcount of the Modem Development Team to improve such performance and to expand related business markets. 

“I am proud to be a part of the development team of a major global company that leads modem technology. On a more personal note, I find it fascinating to see how what I learned from theories can actually be implemented in many cases when applied to products,” said Lee when asked why he was so drawn to modems. “Today, having seamless telephone conversations anytime and anywhere and the high-speed internet experience have become a fundamental part of life. The thing that has allowed us to experience this convenient life is modems, and the Modem Development Team is enthusiastic about continuing to play its role in these developments.”

Making an Extensive Connectivity Environment That Works Quickly and Fluidly

The two main telecommunication standards for mobile wireless communications are cellular networks and connectivity. The cellular network represented by the 3GPP standard⁵ refers to telecommunication standards such as CDMA, LTE and 5G. It provides a wide range of service coverages in certain bandwidths licensed for mobile carriers and does this via the infrastructure of various base stations. Connectivity, on the other hand, is represented by IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi)/802.15 (Bluetooth, ZigBee, UWB⁶). It utilizes Industry-Science-Medical (ISM) bandwidth that can be used by anyone. Connectivity follows local telecommunication standards for indoors and provides service to all.

▲ The types of Wi-Fi protocols for wireless connection

“Cellular network” is a service with an infrastructure based on mobility and is mainly operated by establishing networks that cover wide areas. On the other hand, “connectivity” provides wireless access among devices within a short distance without using infra-networks established by operators. This allows for the convenience of portability without wires. In particular, Wi-Fi boasts a faster transmission speed more reliably than cellular networks over relatively long distances, especially indoors. This is why Wi-Fi is so widely used for connecting mobile phones, laptops and so on. Just like peer-to-peer (P2P), Wi-Fi is better for selective and intensive telecommunication that can, when necessary, facilitate high transmission speeds. This makes it more appropriate for next-generation IoT devices, such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) devices.

These days, it is hard to even imagine daily life without Wi-Fi. It is easy to forget that, just 20 years ago, Wi-Fi was not expected to become the most commonplace wireless data telecommunications technology. However, as the industry expanded to smartphone-based technology, the realization grew that Wi-Fi was the most effective method of response to today’s data traffic explosion. Thanks to the lower cost of setting up and operating — when compared to cellular networks — it is a method that is still growing exponentially.

Unlike cellular systems using infra-networks, the data link range of a Wi-Fi network can only be extended up to a few hundred meters, so it is emphatically local. In addition, as it uses unlicensed bandwidth, it can be affected by interference from other telecommunication systems, making it risky for supporting advanced Quality of Service (QoS).⁷ However, as cellular and Wi-Fi convergence technology advances, it continues to provide a huge convenience: an undisrupted user experience. All over the world, Wi-Fi has long gone beyond being seen as a specific technology and is instead treated more like a public infrastructure.

“Back in 2016, a dedicated team was set up to get Wi-Fi technology to the point where it could be integrated into the Exynos processor,” said Joonsuk Kim, Executive Vice President of the Connectivity Development Team. Kim was the team leader when the Connectivity Team was first established when joining Samsung in 2016. “In only about four to five years, we completed the development of the legacy protocols all the way up to the sixth generation of Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 6) by achieving technological stability and readiness. Although there was not enough investment or talent, our technology caught up in just a short period of time,” he recalled.

▲ Exynos’ Wi-Fi technology nearing the market leader in only six years

After its success in developing and commercializing Wi-Fi 6E, as well as all the previous Wi-Fi protocols, Samsung Electronics is now developing Wi-Fi 7, which is targeted for next generation flagship as a discrete modem. Since Wi-Fi needs to provide connection for all mobile and IoT devices supporting the latest protocol, it is crucial that the performance of all legacy protocols is improved and maintained and that the performance of the most recent protocol is similarly secured. This latest protocol — Wi-Fi 7 — will likely be expanded to the market from 2024. It boasts the Multi-Link Operation (MLO),⁸ a channel bandwidth of 320MHz and 4096QAM.⁹ Through these capabilities, Wi-Fi 7 will have the advantages of faster data transmission speed, increased data transmission volume, improved power efficiency and the ability to support undisrupted wireless connectivity, even in an environment where users abound.

▲ The size of the Wi-Fi market is projected to grow from 4.7 billion in 2022 to 6 billion in 2027.
Source: LANCOM (Survey Digital Policy in Germany), TSR (June 2022)

In order to further enhance the fast transmission speeds of Wi-Fi, the internal processor core needs to become more complex than it currently is, and an internal memory with a large capacity is required.

“To make this happen, we are staying focused on research and development of multi-processor structures, and on securing the intellectual properties necessary for fast transmission,” Kim said. “Until now, companies in other countries have been the main players leading the development of Wi-Fi solutions. But the Wi-Fi technology of Exynos is the only Wi-Fi solution in Korea that is commercialized on a large scale. I’m confident that, when it comes to embedded Wi-Fi solutions for mobile SoC, our technology comes second to none,” Kim said.

This is important, because, when it comes to Wi-Fi, only the best is good enough for customers. Although most people, in general, do not realize how much of an advanced technology Wi-Fi truly is, they do expect to be able to access fast, uninterrupted Wi-Fi almost wherever they are.

“Many users recognize revolutions in cellular networks, such as the LTE and 5G, as advanced technologies, thanks to their advertisement as major features of phones in mobile carriers’ active marketing,” said Kim. “However, by contrast, people do not quite seem to recognize how quickly Wi-Fi technology is evolving.”

▲EVP Joonsuk Kim has been working on connectivity technology for 20 years.

However, when asked if he thinks the role of Wi-Fi will still be important in the future, Kim was resolute.

“The data transmitted through Wi-Fi these days makes up 70 to 80%¹⁰ of overall wireless data traffic,” he said. “Cellular networks and connectivity technology pursue different usage scenarios and this is not likely to change any time soon. Wi-Fi technology and cellular technology should advance together by complementing each other. As the role of information technology (IT) becomes more important in our lives, the ability to minimize dead-zones and provide stable connections and fast data services indoors will become very important for Wi-Fi technology.”

To fully tap into future technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and the metaverse, fast speed and low latency are crucial.

“Wi-Fi uses low-frequency bandwidth, such as 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz,” Kim explained. “So the diffraction is relatively higher, and this enables the fast, stable transmission of data.”

As 320MHz frequency became usable with the availability of 6GHz bandwidth, connections between devices with ultra-fast and low-latency could be achieved even faster than originally expected. Kim emphasized the role of Wi-Fi advancement in this process. At the same time, the Connectivity Development Team developed and completed the commercialization of the latest specification (BT5.2), Bluetooth and GNSS that successfully entered the Flagship by applying L5 satellite and sensor correction technology for high-performance positioning, and recently indoor positioning with accuracy within several centimeters. Kim explained that if UWB technology, which has been developed for measurement and is in preparation for its first commercial use, can be combined, it can exert strong power in many high-spec IoT services and applications in the future.

“To help our latest products lead the market standard, to secure competitiveness and sustainability in the future and to make sure stability and compatibility are achieved well in advance, I personally hope that we implement wireless access points¹¹ and enter the relevant product market to do so,” Kim said.

Protecting Your Privacy on Smartphone: Security That Strengthens a Separate Security Operation Environment (iSE)

Smartphones play a lot of roles these days. Two particularly significant such roles are identification cards and wallets. Take biometrics, mobile identification (eID) and Samsung Pay, for example. These services often require users to verify their identity, and there is always the possibility that hacking can occur in the process of user verification. As such, a level of security that goes beyond the software level is called for, which means it is required on the hardware level and even in semiconductors.

The semiconductor that provides security in smartphones is called the Secure Element (SE) semiconductor. There is a separate embedded Secure Element (eSE) located outside the SoC, but, with Exynos 2020, an integrated Secure Element (iSE) is embedded in the security block inside the SoC.

“The name we have given to the project that focuses on iSE embedded in Exynos is ‘STRONG,’ which is an abbreviation of Secure Tamper-Resistant of Next Generation,” said Jongwoo Lee, Vice President of the Design Platform Development Team. “The iSE is a separate environment within the SoC that operates security programs. The iSE plays not only the role of the eSE — which can be separately embedded on the outside — but it can control the security of the SoC as well. Advanced processing means it boasts high performance, and it also enables safe expansion to external memory, such as DRAM and Flash. These many roles can be taken even further and protect the SoC in the active security module.”

▲ (From left) Keunyoung Park from the AP S/W Development Team, VP Jongwoo Lee, PL Bogyeong Kang and Sunghyun Kim from the Design Platform Development Team are doing their utmost to strengthen the security environment in mobile devices.

The iSE is used for device security and security services. Device security is focused on strengthening the security of the device itself, and security services are focused on the information of users that is held within mobile devices, like mobile identification, payment and car keys.

“At the beginning of this year, we finished the PoC (Proof of Concept) and succeeded in developing the iSIM,¹² the most applicable service using iSE,” Lee said. “This was a result of close cooperation between Samsung Research, which is in charge of the iSE Secure OS (Camelia), and the digital security company Thales, which is in charge of developing the iSIM Secure Application.”

The iSIM is an upgraded version of the embedded SIM (eSIM) and it integrates the function of the SIM within the SoC. This provides convenience for users because it allows them to change their mobile carrier without changing their SIM card, have more than two phone numbers at once and make use of various mobile carrier services on one device. From the perspective of smartphone manufacturers, the iSIM provides advantages as well, because it lets them remove the SIM card slot and reduce the space needed for parts: iSIM can be operated within the SoC without a separate semiconductor, as is the case with discrete eSIM.

▲uSIM, eSIM and iSIM size comparison

What makes the development of the iSIM so significant is the extreme difficulty developers encounter in meeting the technological environment requirements for embedding iSIM.

“The iSIM needs to meet Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) requirements,” said Lee. “That means embedding the iSIM over the OS software and hardware above a certain security level, a level called CC EAL4+.¹³ However, we have hardware that operates one level higher than this guideline: CC EAL5+. We also have secure external memory where large SIM profiles can be embedded.”

“We are the only company that can provide both the eSE and iSE, which are the basis for the eSIM and iSIM,” Lee continued. “So we can provide solutions that smartphone manufacturers can easily and flexibly adopt. Personally, I believe there is no such thing as ‘perfect’ in the area of security, but we are working hard to get as close to perfect as is technologically possible. Our teams will continue to make constant effort in providing a high-level security operation environment that can accommodate the many different security features different platforms provide.”

¹ Digital communication: A method of converting an analog signal into a digital signal, transmitting it to the other party and converting it back into an analog signal that can be recognized by humans. High-quality and large-capacity communication are possible compared to analog communication.

² Mobile broadband: A technology that provides high-speed multimedia Internet services to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs.

³ New Radio (NR): A 5^th generation mobile communication technology. Consists of sub-6 GHz and mmWave (millimeter wave, high frequency band of 24-100 GHz band). Although mmWave has the advantages of ultra-high speed, ultra-low latency and super-connectivity, it has the disadvantage of poor diffraction.

⁴ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): An American association of electrical and electronic engineers and the world’s largest technical organization.

⁵ 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP): A mobile communication standardization technology cooperation organization founded in December 1998 to establish international standards related to wireless communication, such as GSM, WCDMA, GPRS and LTE.

⁶ Ultra-Wideband (UWB): A technique that lowers maximum transmit power to less than -41.3 dBm/MHz so as not to interrupt other wireless. However, it uses wide bandwidth (500MHz) to achieve comparably high data rates.

⁷ Quality of Service (QoS): This refers to the guarantee of communication service quality, delay time or data loss rate below a certain level on the network. It also refers to a communication service level agreed or defined in advance. In other words, it is a generic term for various technologies that intelligently match the transmission demand of various applications to a given network resource by allocating network resources such as bandwidth and priority in order to send data to a destination quickly, at a constant speed and reliably.

⁸ Multi-Link Operation (MLO): The technology that operates various channels of different frequency bandwidths at the same time.

⁹ 4096 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation): A modulation method for transmitting data by shifting and adjusting the amplitude and phase of the in-phase carrier signal and quadrature-phase carrier signal. It is advantageous when a large amount of data needs to be transmitted in a narrow transmission bandwidth. 12bits per symbol in a 4096QAM

¹⁰ Source: February 22, 2019

¹¹ Wireless Access Point: The low-power wireless device that plays the role of a base station in wireless LAN. It is also referred to as a Wi-Fi extender, Wi-Fi amplifier or wireless extender.

¹² iSIM (integrated SIM): A built-in subscriber identification module. Also called ieUICC (integrated embedded universal integrated circuit card)

¹³ Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level (CC EAL): Common Criteria (CC) is an international standard for evaluating the security of IT products and certain websites. Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) is a grade that is assigned to evaluation assurance.

Equipped With a Brain That Surpasses Computers: Strengthening Cooperation With for CPU

In this second series installment, Samsung Newsroom sat down with two project leaders at Samsung Electronics to better understand the role of CPU and NPU in mobile devices. A computer’s central processing unit (CPU) is often compared to the human cerebrum, the largest part of your brain that handles many responsibilities. Similarly, the CPU is the most important unit that deals with a computer’s four main functions, which are memory, decoding, operation and control. CPU is the factor that determines the overall performance of a PC. Likewise, a mobile CPU runs all software on an operating system (OS) and controls other hardware peripherals, helping a smartphone perform at its optimal level.

CPU performance is determined by a variety of factors, including the clock speed,¹ IPC² and the number of cores.³ The phones of the past were powered by a single-core CPI with a simple pipeline structure. Consequently, there were limits in handling parallel processing, and the maximum frequency only amounted to a few hundred MHz. However, the CPU in smartphones today has a superscalar⁴ structure, allowing it to execute parallel processing for various commands or instructions. Additionally, it can run at 3 GHz speed, or 3 billion cycles per second, and have eight or more multi-core structures. Mobile CPUs now have a microarchitecture that pushes the performance beyond desktop CPUs.

Exynos’ CPU has evolved from a big core to a big-little and then a big-mid-little structure to keep its size small and power consumption low. Big-little structure is a processing architecture concept that dynamically switches between two types of cores — a big and a little — to maximize performance or maximize power efficiency, depending on the task. For example, the CPU performance needed for texting versus playing a 3D game is different. Therefore, when sending a text, the process uses a smaller, power-efficient core instead of a high-performing core.

▲ Project Leader Wookyeong Jeong has worked in the CPU field for more than 20 years since joining Samsung.

“CPU determines the competitiveness of all systems, including the SoC. It’s an influential area and the top priority when it comes to developing advanced semiconductor technology,” said Wookyeong Jeong, the SoC Design Team 2’s project leader who is in charge of all tasks related to the Exynos’ CPU. Jeong has worked in the CPU field for more than 20 years since joining Samsung.

“Achieving a high performance with a limited power budget is key,” said Jeong. “It is important to operate different types of CPU cores, including big, mid and little in appropriate combinations to achieve maximum efficiency in various situations.” Exynos’ CPU optimizes a combination of activated cores to deliver users the best experience in situations requiring high performance, such as playing a game or using a camera on mobile devices.

▲ CPU Core Structure of Exynos 2200

Based on the IP of semiconductor design company Arm, Samsung Electronics is taking the performance of CPUs up a notch. When Jeong was asked about the specific tasks of the team’s developers, he explained the team’s role and responsibilities.

“We decide the performance goal for the CPU of a product, acquire the CPU IP, predict and review the performance, validate and conduct debugging⁵ before mass production and further steps. We take care of the overall development work to enhance CPU performance,” Jeong explained. “The System LSI Business is responsible for taking the RTL CPU design from Arm to create an optimal semiconductor chip,” Jeong said. “The team is also responsible for designing and creating the CPU peripheral circuit, such as an appropriate memory subsystem, for maximizing CPU performance.”

“With the adoption of Arm CPU, we have a vision of becoming the mobile industry’s best CPU manufacturer by optimizing software not only on a chip level but also on a device level. We aim to become an E2E⁶ total solution provider,” said Jeong when asked about the future development direction of the company. “To achieve this goal, the CPU developers have been working very closely with Arm, device manufacturers, Samsung Foundry and others as one team since the early development stages. In addition, they’re seeking various ways to enhance performance, such as advanced packaging technology that enhances performance further,” Jeong explained.

“With the emergence of AR and the metaverse, appropriately utilizing all processors, such as CPU, GPU and NPU for comprehensive machine learning processing on a SoC level would give us an important, competitive edge. We’re going to focus on increasing our competitiveness by strengthening the CPU’s performance in machine learning processing as well,” Jeong added.

Real, Imaginative Technology: The Advancement of NPU Based on Proprietary Technology Throughout Six Generations

An NPU is a processor optimized for deep learning⁷ algorithm arithmetic. It can process a large amount of data as fast and efficiently as the human neural network. For such reason, it is mainly used for AI arithmetic and computation. While it may seem complicated, it is already commonly used in devices. For example, thanks to NPU, a smartphone’s camera can recognize and focus based on the objects, environment and people in the frame. It can automatically switch on the food filter mode for food photography or even remove unwanted subjects in the picture.

▲ AI Remover function within new smartphone improved as NPU developed.

In the past, when NPU did not exist, GPU mainly performed AI computation. However, the computation efficiency⁸ was low due to the hardware’s structural differences. These days, the NPU is mainly in charge of AI computation, and it can process data more efficiently in mobile devices as well. It’s optimized for parallel data computing so that AI-based applications can run faster on low power.

▲ Project Leader Suknam Kwon, who has been working on the NPU since its second generation, now leads the NPU developers.

Exynos’ NPU development began in 2016. The first SoC equipped with the NPU was Exynos 9820, which was embedded in the Galaxy S10 that was released in 2019. “When the first task force was formed six years ago, we had only about 20 people, but now our team has grown tenfold if we include the members from our overseas research institutes,” said project leader Suknam Kwon. Kwon used to design the hardware of the SoC and has been working on the NPU since its second generation. “The NPU is an area of high interest these days, but back then, it was so unfamiliar and new that we had to learn from videos and university lectures overseas.”

In the past, there were few applications for the NPU, including detecting objects based on images. However, in the era of AI, market demand for high-performing IP requiring a large amount of computation is increasing. This can be used to perform tasks such as improving camera picture quality, voice services and more. In addition, since size and power consumption increase as IP performance is enhanced, determining the most efficient architecture is key.

▲ AI using cloud servers compared to On-device AI

As NPU gets more powerful, it offers improvements in object recognition speed or photo enhancement. The performance of the NPU equipped in the latest Exynos is two times more enhanced compared to previous generation. By independently developing the NPU for six product generations, the SoC Design team’s expertise and know-how in NPU technology is second to none. “With advantages in benchmark such as the ML Per, power efficiency, size, etc., Exynos’ NPU is a highly competitive IP solution,” Kwon said. “Through optimization of architecture for performance and improvements in power efficiency, the NPU adds competitive value for Exynos processor,” he said.

Going forward, the technologies that utilize NPU will continue to evolve. “I think the on-device AI, which performs AI computation in one’s smartphone rather than going through a server, will become more widely used because there is less risk of having sensitive personal information leaked,” Kwon said. “Because of this, mobile NPU performance needs to be even more enhanced. These days, one NPU is used for many computations, but I predict that there will be more demands for operating specialized AI algorithms for each application program. So, developing an NPU that is specialized for each domain will be important as well,” he added.

When asked about autonomous driving, Kwon discussed the role that NPU will play in the industry. “In the near future, the advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) will become a reality,” Kwon said. “It requires hardware that can perform autonomous driving algorithms using a massive amount of data in real time. To accomplish this, a higher-performing NPU is needed, and Samsung is preparing an NPU with powerful capabilities for autonomous driving devices that meet the market’s demands.”

At the end of the interview, Kwon explained the most meaningful moment that occurred during development. “Each year, Exynos comes with a higher-performing NPU that is increasingly enhanced, which is very meaningful,” he said. “It will continue to become a key IP for future markets. I take a lot of pride in the fact that developing NPU has led to the growth of both myself and the company — and even contributes to the country’s overall competitiveness,” he said. “It’s the best field where it makes the things in one’s imagination come true.”

* All images shown are provided for illustrative purposes only and may not be an exact representation of the product or images captured with the product. All images are digitally edited, modified or enhanced.

¹ Clock: Continuously generates electric oscillation of 0 or 1 for computation. It’s expressed in Hz, and a higher clock figure means a faster processing speed.

² IPC (Instructions per Cycle): Instructions processed per clock. It measures the clock needed to process one command or instruction. IPC is the unit that assesses how efficiently a CPU is operating.

³ Core: The key part in the physical processing circuit within the CPU. The more cores there are, the easier it is to perform multiple actions at the same time. Single-core means there’s one core, dual-core means there are two, quad-core means there are four and so on.

⁴ Superscalar: An architecture that combines the advantages of pipeline and parallel processing and enables instructions from multiple pipelines to be processed in parallel. The processing speed is fast because multiple instructions can be executed at the same time without having to go through waiting status first. 

⁵ Debugging: A process of checking whether the designed program is accurate, identifying program errors and fixing them.

⁶ End to End

⁷ Deep Learning: Technology that enables a machine to learn, infer and reason like human beings using data.

⁸ In mobile SoC, efficiency means it uses less power or has faster speeds.

Exynos: The Technology Intensive System Semiconductor

In the first installment of this series, Samsung Newsroom shares the importance of the graphics processing unit (GPU) and image signal processor (ISP) in the Exynos mobile processor (SoC). Before meeting with the seven IP development leaders, Samsung Newsroom first met with the SoC Development Head and Senior Vice President Mingoo Kim, who oversees system-on-chip (SoC) design in the System LSI Business.

Kim first explained the fundamental reason behind the concept of SoC, in which various features are all incorporated into a single chip. “When chips are divided, it becomes difficult to manage their power consumption completely,” Kim said. “When each feature consumes power separately, the battery efficiency also decreases. In addition, the bandwidth limit and transfer time latency will affect data transmission between chips, which can lead to reduction in performance.” Consuming minimal power is very important for smartphones because, unlike desktop computers, smartphones are not continuously supplied with power.

“SoC has high efficiency due to comprehensive power control. And as a single chip, it also takes up less space within a smartphone,” Kim explained. “When all functions are performed by a single chip, performance is significantly improved.” Modern mobile phones go beyond simply sending and receiving calls and texts and have evolved to perform a multitude of advanced functions, including taking videos, mobile gaming and accessing financial services. The SoC, which is smaller than a thumb nail, has played a big role in making this possible.

As the SoC is the epitome of all main types of information technology that exist today, Kim described it as the “flower of system semiconductors.” “SoC is not an easy field to work in, but it’s an optimistic field that any engineer would aspire to become a part of,” Kim said. “The role of SoC will be limitless in future industries, such as the metaverse, autonomous driving and 6G.”

Samsung will continue to focus on developing proprietary IP, including GPUs, NPUs, ISPs, modems, RF and more. Samsung strives to take another step forward in chip design to become a platform solution company. “With our competitiveness in SoC, we aim to see Exynos recognized as the best mobile processor brand available,” Kim said. “Through this feature series, we hope the role and importance of SoC, the characteristics and advantages of Exynos as well as its developmental direction will be shared with more people.”

Expanding the Possibilities of Mobile Gaming: GPU for More Enhanced Graphics

In general, graphics processing requires large-scale computation, and it is faster and more efficient if processed in parallel (parallel processing). However, the structure of a central processing unit (CPU) is specialized for fast, serial processing. As such, graphics processing with a CPU would cause important computations to be delayed due to this constant computational performance by CPU. One example of this can be seen when playing a game. It’s possible that your character may not be able to avoid an enemy due to the touch input being delayed while graphics are being rendered on the display.

To address these issues, GPU was developed. Before there were GPUs, CPUs took care of everything. However, GPU was conceived to increase efficiency as a separate accelerator for similar computations that are frequently used. In short, CPU is like a general-purpose calculator while GPU is a large-scale parallel calculator specializing in graphics processing. This is how GPU came to be, and it is one of the key components in graphics processing. It receives commands from CPU and displays an object’s shape, location, color and texture on the monitor.

The Xclipse 920 equipped in the Exynos 2200 is the first mobile GPU Samsung jointly developed with AMD, a U.S. based global company that specializes in semiconductor products like GPU for PC and consoles. The name ‘Xclipse’ is a combination of the ‘X’ from Exynos and the word ‘eclipse.’ The name represents Samsung’s goal to go beyond the limits of mobile gaming and carry out performance on the level of console games, ushering in a new era of gaming.

▲Vice President Sungboem Park, a mobile processor design expert who oversees GPU development

In line with this, Samsung collaborated with AMD to develop a power efficient, console-level GPU for mobile devices. AMD’s GPUs are designed specifically for PCs or consoles, meaning they had to be redesigned to fit the mobile environment. Specifically, it was redesigned to accommodate the memory bandwidth of mobile, which is relatively limited, in addition to managing heat dissipation. “Based on our rich knowledge of low-power design, acquired from developing mobile SoCs, we were able to successfully achieve power efficiency and miniaturization in the first-generation product,” said Vice President Sungboem Park, a mobile processor design expert who oversees GPU development. “We focused heavily on minimizing heat, because mobile devices do not have fans like gaming consoles, while also maintaining performance so that the frames do not lag.”

The main role of the GPU in Exynos is to display objects in a 3D virtual space on a 2D smartphone screen, a role that is especially important when playing graphically demanding games on mobile devices. In particular, the Xclipse 920 is the first mobile GPU to support hardware-accelerated ray tracing (RT). Ray tracing is a technology which produces realistic lighting effects by simulating light rays reflected from 3D objects. By being accelerated by hardware rather than software, Xclipse 920 is able to perform real-time computations faster. In addition, variable rate shading (VRS) technology adjusts the amount of GPU computation depending on changes in color, shade, movement and other variables of the objects on screen to reduce GPU overload.

▲The Xclipse 920 has its own hardware support for ray tracing (RT) technology, which produces realistic lighting effects by simulating light rays reflected from 3D objects.

As the number of game users grows and graphics become more detailed, the development direction of GPU is becoming increasingly more important. This includes increasing the performance level to that of high-performance consoles while lowering battery consumption. By improving these two crucial areas, users are able to experience high fidelity graphics on mobile devices similarly to how they are experienced on consoles. “In general, mobile tends to lag around five years or so behind consoles when it comes to graphics technology, however, we were able to incorporate the latest console technologies in the Exynos 2200 mobile processor quickly through our collaboration with AMD. The SoC is applied to the Galaxy S22,” Park said. “We plan to continue to implement other features in the RDNA series by working closely with AMD going forward.”

“As the performance of smartphones has become enhanced overall, it’s true that it’s not easy to create a performance edge that is significant enough for consumers to notice,” Park answered when asked about the future direction of mobile GPUs. “From now on, the reason for flagship smartphone users to purchase the latest smartphones will most likely be dependent on gaming performance,” he said. This means that the possibility of the further advancement of GPUs, which determines a smartphone’s gaming performance, is high.

He also predicted that mobile GPUs will become even more important in the fields of AR and VR as well. “For AR, GPUs will need to be equipped in lightweight devices, such as glasses, so a low-power design is very important,” Park said. “Performance requirements are much more demanding in the field of VR, as the entire visible virtual world needs to be rendered instantly. As such, we need to satisfy various development requirements while also generating more realistic images at a much faster rate than we currently can. So, the advancement of mobile GPU is crucial going ahead and will have limitless applications,” he emphasized.

Elevating the Level of Satisfaction in Camera Performance: ISP for More Natural and Vivid Images

An ISP corrects raw data transferred from an image sensor and creates a photo or video to a form preferred by the user. ISP also corrects the potential physical limitations of a camera module — comprised of an optical system and an image sensor — interpolates red, green and blue (R/G/B) and removes noise. In addition, it carries out post processing, such as adjusting the brightness of a video and emphasizing detailed areas. Simply put, through fine tuning and post processing, ISP generates the picture or video that is most desirable by the users.

▲ Whole process of ISP in Mobile Camera

In earlier smartphone models, ISP was equipped as a separate chip. However, due to market demand, embedded ISP soon became the norm. “At first, we cooperated with research institutes overseas to develop a high-performing ISP that can be used for digital cameras,” said Jongseong Choi, a project leader (PL) in the Multimedia Development Team who has been working in the video processing field for more than 20 years. “As a result, our first embedded ISP solution was utilized in the Galaxy S4’s main camera.” Since 2012, the Exynos mobile processor has been contributing to a substantial advancement in smartphone cameras’ video image quality through the internalization of ISP, enabling performance at the level of digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras.

▲Jongseong Choi, Project Leader of the Multimedia Development Team, has been working in the video processing field for more than 20 years.

With a high-performing ISP, consumers are able to enjoy higher video image quality as well as faster processing speeds. “It’s difficult to explain in specific numbers how great a photo is because photography is subjective, but we are conducting various research studies such as video evaluation using deep learning and ISP tuning technique to create natural and sharp photos and videos,” Choi explained. In addition, ISP also determines the speed of the burst rate in continuous shooting and is responsible for the fast-processing of high-resolution photos and videos.

The high-performing ISP equipped in the latest Exynos can process up to 200 million pixels. Up to seven image sensors are supported, and videos and images from up to four image sensors can be processed simultaneously. Also included is the ability to apply different parameters per each element, such as sky, bushes, skin and so on by incorporating semantic segmentation technology that recognizes the scenes being captured with the help of NPU. The AI feature detects and marks a person’s face and adjusts the brightness, focus and color of the video based on the face’s coordinates.

▲ Example of contents aware image processing using semantic segmentation

When asked about the future direction of ISP, Choi answered that development will be focused on maintaining low-power usage and improving video image quality. “The data transferred from the image sensor is processed in real-time by ISP, but the amount of data is increasing exponentially,” Choi said. “So, a significant amount of power is consumed in writing the data into memory and then in retrieving it later. ISP in Exynos, however, is designed to save data in memory only once, thereby minimizing power consumption,” he emphasized.

“The era of videos has arrived faster than expected and, because of this, we’re focusing on improving the video image quality,” Choi said. “In particular, we’re making efforts to increase our competitiveness by improving the video image quality, even those taken in dark, low-light environments.”

* All images shown are provided for illustrative purposes only and may not be an exact representation of the product or images captured with the product. All images are digitally edited, modified or enhanced.

AWS and PCS are important mid-band spectrums, offering a good mixture of coverage and capacity. By combining them into a ‘one box’ solution, mobile operators gain a simplified approach to capacity extension.

As the lightest and most compact AWS/PCS dual-band Massive MIMO radio available in the market, Samsung’s new radio stands out for its ability to deliver high output power (320W) in a small form factor. It is equipped with the company’s latest System-on-a-Chip (SoC), which is built to improve network capacity and coverage, while decreasing its power consumption and radio size. This will enable operators to reduce their radio footprint, the weight placed on towers and installation time, helping to drive faster rollouts and operational efficiency.

AWS/PCS Dual-band Massive MIMO Radio and AWS/PCS Dual-band 4T4R Radio

The AWS/PCS Dual-band Massive MIMO Radio is the company’s first 16T16R FDD dual-band Massive MIMO radio. It is now commercially available, along with Samsung’s AWS/PCS Dual-band 4T4R Radio. Samsung continues to offer a comprehensive lineup of radios covering low-band, mid-band and mmWave in North America.

“We are excited to launch a new dual-band 16T16R Massive MIMO radio, adding to our 5G radio lineup to expand our extensive portfolio of cutting-edge network solutions,” said Dong Geun Lee, Vice President and Head of H/W R&D Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “With Samsung’s high-performance dual-band Massive MIMO radio, which features one of the smallest footprints in the industry, operators will be able to easily boost network capacity and accelerate network rollouts.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end infrastructure solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

The new chipsets were announced today at “Samsung Networks: Redefined,” the company’s virtual public event highlighting notable 5G accomplishments and new solutions for network transformation. At the event, Samsung emphasized its experience in developing in-house chipsets for more than two decades and reiterated the significant investments behind the launch of multiple generations of chipsets starting from 3G, leading to today’s cutting-edge 5G solutions.

The newly introduced chipsets are designed to take Samsung’s next generation 5G lineup to a new level, boosting performance, increasing power efficiency and reducing the size of the 5G solutions.

Samsung’s newly-introduced chips are:

• 3^rd Generation mmWave RFIC:
  This new chip follows prior generation RFICs from Samsung. The first generation, introduced in 2017, powered the company’s 5G FWA solutions supporting the world’s first 5G home broadband service in the U.S. Two years later, the second generation powered Samsung’s 5G Compact Macro, the industry’s first mmWave 5G NR radio, which has since been widely deployed in the U.S.
  
  Samsung’s 3^rd generation RFIC chip supports both 28GHz and 39GHz spectrums, and will be embedded in Samsung’s next generation 5G Compact Macro. The chip incorporates advanced technology that reduces antenna size by nearly 50%, maximizing the 5G radio’s interior space. Moreover, the latest RFIC chip improves power consumption, resulting in a more compact-sized, lightweight 5G radio. Lastly, output power and coverage of the new RFIC chip have increased, doubling output power of the next generation 5G Compact Macro.

• 2^nd Generation 5G Modem SoC:
  Samsung’s first 5G modem SoCs, introduced in 2019, powered the company’s new 5G baseband unit and Compact Macro. To date, more than 200,000 of these 5G modem SoCs have been shipped.
  
  This new second generation chip will enable Samsung’s forthcoming baseband unit to have twice the capacity, while cutting power consumption in half per cell, in comparison to the previous generation. Moreover, supporting both below-6GHz and mmWave spectrums, it offers beamforming and increased power efficiency for Samsung’s next generation 5G Compact Macro and Massive MIMO radio, while reducing the size for both solutions.

• DFE-RFIC Integrated Chip:
  In 2019, the first Digital/Analog Front End (DAFE) chip was introduced by Samsung, serving as an essential component of 5G radios (including Samsung’s 5G Compact Macro), by converting analog-to-digital and vice versa, and supporting both 28GHz and 39GHz spectrums.
  
  This new chip combines RFIC and DFE functions for both below-6GHz and mmWave spectrums. By integrating these functions, the chip not only doubles frequency bandwidth, but also reduces the size and increases output power for Samsung’s next generation solutions, including 5G Compact Macro.

“This newly unveiled chipset is the fundamental component of our state-of-art 5G solutions, developed through a long-standing R&D effort that enables Samsung to be at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge 5G technologies,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “As one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, we are committed to developing the most innovative chips for the next phase of 5G advancement, integrated with the features mobile operators seek to stay competitive.”

“5G chipsets are critical to achieving the performance capabilities required for next-generation network deployments,” stated Anshel Sag, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Samsung’s long-standing expertise in developing chipsets in-house is a key differentiator, positioning it as a leader in the delivery of 5G network solutions with the features and benefits operators seek to advance their 5G strategies.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios, and core. This includes the creation and shipment of innovative chips from Samsung’s manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

The SoC is designed to help implement new technologies, which improve cellular radios by increasing their capacity and coverage, while decreasing power consumption and size. The new SoC is equipped to support both 5G and 4G networks simultaneously, and it can also save up to 70 percent in chipset power consumption compared to previous solutions.

“We are excited to extend our collaboration with Marvell to unveil a new SoC that will combine both companies’ strengths in innovation to advance 5G network solutions,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung prioritizes the development of high-impact 5G solutions that offer a competitive edge to our operators. We look forward to introducing this latest solution to the market shortly.”

Samsung and Marvell have been working closely to deliver multiple generations of leading network solutions. Last year, the companies announced a collaboration to develop new 5G products, including innovative radio architectures to address the compute power required for Massive MIMO deployments.

“Our collaboration with Samsung spans multiple generations of radio network products and demonstrates Samsung’s strong technology leadership. The joint effort includes 4G and 5G basebands and radios,” said Raj Singh, Executive Vice President of Marvell’s Processors Business Group. “We are again honored to work with Samsung for the next generation Massive MIMO radios which significantly raise the bar in terms of capacity, performance and power efficiency.”

“Marvell and Samsung are leading the way in helping mobile operators deploy 5G with greater speed and efficiency,” said Daniel Newman, Founding Partner at Futurum Research. “This latest collaboration advances what’s possible through SoC technology, giving operators and enterprises a distinct 5G advantage through optimized performance and power savings in network deployments.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios, and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

About Marvell
To deliver the data infrastructure technology that connects the world, we’re building solutions on the most powerful foundation: our partnerships with our customers. Trusted by the world’s leading technology companies for 25 years, we move, store, process and secure the world’s data with semiconductor solutions designed for our customers’ current needs and future ambitions. Through a process of deep collaboration and transparency, Marvell is ultimately changing the way tomorrow’s enterprise, cloud, automotive, and carrier architectures transform—for the better. For more information, please visit www.marvell.com

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today held the first Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) Forum 2019 in the United States. By sharing the latest technology trends and strengthening cooperation within the foundry ecosystem, Samsung showcased its strong dedication to customers.

SAFE Forum is designed to provide an opportunity for SAFE partner companies to directly meet with customers to discuss comprehensive design technology infrastructure, including electronic design automation (EDA), intellectual property (IP), cloud, design service, and packaging, which is critical to efficiently developing and manufacturing semiconductor products.

While the Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) has served as a channel to present Samsung’s technology roadmap and leadership to customers, the newly held SAFE Forum is distinctive in that it allows its partners to engage deeper and more efficient collaboration within Samsung’s foundry ecosystem by directly communicating in detail with customers on their own design support solutions proven by Samsung.

“SAFE program has grown in quality over the past two years; it has expanded the number of competitive partnerships and support of flexible product design for customers as well as bolstered the relationship between our partners, customers, and Samsung foundry,” said Jae-hong Park, executive vice president of Foundry Design Platform Development at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue our efforts in enhancing accessibility to enable customers to more easily utilize Samsung’s excellent foundry solutions.”

As the latest system-on-chip (SoC) product requires more sophisticated features in a smaller surface size than before, the number of considerations in IC design optimization has increased exponentially: performance, power, security, design, density, etc.

To actively respond to these IC design trends and lower the design barrier for developing competitive SoCs, Samsung Electronics launched the SAFE program in early 2018.

Under the slogan “Partnering for a bold silicon future”, details on the latest global IC design trends as well as benefits of the efficient easy-to-use platform design infrastructure were introduced.

With more than 400 industry experts attending the first SAFE Forum, 12 detailed sessions were given by around 30 speakers from 15 partner companies, focusing on emerging high-growth applications, including high-performing computer (HPC), internet-of-things (IoT), and automotive. Attendees also had a chance to discover the optimal solution for implementing their new ideas into chips through 40 partner booths at the venue.

With comprehensive process technology roadmap updates down to 3-nanometer (nm) at the annual ‘Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2018 USA’, Samsung Foundry is focused on providing customers with the tools necessary to design and manufacture powerful, yet energy-efficient system-on-chips (SoC) for a wide range of applications.

“The trend toward a smarter, connected world has the industry demanding more from silicon providers,” said Charlie Bae, executive vice president and head of the Foundry Sales & Marketing Team at Samsung Electronics. “To meet that demand, Samsung Foundry is powering innovation at the silicon level that will ultimately give people access to data, analysis, and insight in new and previously unthought-of ways to make human lives better. It is imperative for us to accomplish the first-time silicon success for our customers’ next-generation chip designs.”

Process Technology Roadmap Updates

• 7LPP (7nm Low Power Plus): 7LPP, the first semiconductor process technology to use an EUV lithography solution, is scheduled to be ready for production in the second half of this year. Key IPs are under development, aiming to be completed by the first half of 2019.

• 5LPE (5nm Low Power Early): Through further smart innovation from the 7LPP process, 5LPE will allow greater area scaling and ultra-low power benefits.

• 4LPE/LPP (4nm Low Power Early/Plus): The use of highly mature and verified FinFET technology will be extended to the 4nm process. As the last generation of FinFET, 4nm provides a smaller cell size, improved performance, and faster ramp-up to the stable level of yield by adopting proven 5LPE, supporting easy migration.

• 3GAAE/GAAP (3nm Gate-All-Around Early/Plus): 3nm process nodes adopt GAA, the next-generation device architecture. To overcome the physical scaling and performance limitations of the FinFET architecture, Samsung is developing its unique GAA technology, MBCFET^TM (Multi-Bridge-Channel FET) that uses a nano-sheet device. By enhancing the gate control, the performance of 3nm nodes will be significantly improved.

HPC (High-Performance Computing) Solutions

Samsung Foundry delivers the technology solutions to drive the latest hyper-scale datacenters and accelerate the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning capability. From the latest 7LPP technology and beyond with its EUV capability, to the differentiated high-speed IPs such as 100Gbps+ SerDes on top of the innovative 2.5D/3D heterogeneous packaging, Samsung delivers the total platform solutions to greatly increase computing power and accelerate AI revolution.

Connected Device Solutions

From low-power microcontroller units (MCU) and next-generation connected devices to the most sophisticated autonomous vehicles based on 5G and Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication, Samsung Foundry offers full-featured turnkey platforms to enable compelling products. A broad technology portfolio from 28/18 FD-SOI with eMRAM and RF capability to advanced 10/8nm FinFET processes will enable a great end-user experience for connected devices.

Mr. Bae continued, “Over the past year, we have focused on strengthening our EUV process portfolio to provide each of our customers with the finest technologies. Applying GAA structure to our next generation process node will enable us to take the lead in opening a new smart, connected world, while also to reinforcing our technology leadership.”

Details regarding Samsung Foundry can be found at www.samsungfoundry.com and www.linkedin.com/company/samsungfoundry.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced its participation in the Audi Progressive SemiConductor Program (PSCP) as a partner supplier of Exynos processors, its own System-on-Chip (SoC) solution, for Audi’s In Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) system.

Audi’s PSCP was first initiated in 2010 to quickly implement the latest technologies that satisfy its highest standard in robustness, performance and quality for automobiles. As a key partner, Samsung will be supplying its flagship Exynos processors for Audi’s next-generation IVI system.

“With Exynos processors, Samsung has proven its technology leadership in performance, reliability and innovative packaging solutions, ” said Alfons Pfaller, Head of Infotainment Development at Audi. “Through the PSCP, Samsung and Audi will work together to bring the best in-vehicle infotainment experience at the automotive quality level expected from the Audi brand.”

“We are very thrilled to be a part of the rapidly advancing automobile technology,” said Charlie Bae, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is fully dedicated to delivering robust and reliable yet high-performing solution to Audi for the next level of driving enjoyment.”

With multiple OS and multi-display support, flagship Exynos processors can operate up to four different domains and displays stationed in the vehicle at once. Exynos processors’ powerful computing and graphic processing performance delivers highly graphical user interface on displays for deeper user engagement.

Since 2010, Samsung’s Exynos processors have powered the highest performing smart devices ranging from smartphones and laptops to navigation systems, delivering the ultimate experiences to consumers. Through the adoption of advanced technology and optimization for automobiles, Samsung is committed to bringing top-of-the-line performance for safer and more pleasant driving experience.

“Samsung is a bellwether for Austin. As a company that the community and state partnered with to relocate here several years ago, they have far exceeded expectations,” said Mike Rollins, President, Austin Chamber of Commerce. “Samsung remains a shining example of what happens when we create a business friendly environment.  The result is a win that enhances and sustains our community’s ability to create a broad range of new jobs and economic opportunities for Austinites and their families.”

According to an Impact Data Source Economic Impact Study, SAS added $3.6 billion into the regional economy of central Texas in 2015. During that same time, SAS supported 10,755 jobs in the area and $498 million in annual salaries. Since its establishment in 1997, Samsung has invested more than $16 billion for the expansion and maintenance of its Austin facility.

“I was glad to discuss this with Samsung when our trade delegation visited Korea, and I’m thrilled that this plan is coming to fruition,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler. “Samsung is so often a source of good news in Austin whether it’s about jobs, education, workforce development, housing or helping the homeless. Samsung is a great partner for Austin’s present, and this announcement tells us that they’ll be an even bigger part of our future.”

“We are committed to Austin and our contributions to the community,” said Catherine Morse, General Counsel and Senior Director of Public Affairs at SAS. “This is our home and we want to ensure our community is healthy and prospering. These investments will support this, while also ensuring our customers’ growing needs are met.”

Following the successful mass production of the industry’s first FinFET mobile application processor (AP) in January, 2015, Samsung extends its leadership in delivering leading-edge process technology to the mass market with the latest offering.

“The industry’s first mass production of 10nm FinFET technology demonstrates our leadership in advanced process technology,” said Jong Shik Yoon, Executive Vice President, Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue our efforts to innovate scaling technologies and provide differentiated total solutions to our customers.”

Samsung’s new 10nm FinFET process (10LPE) adopts an advanced 3D transistor structure with additional enhancements in both process technology and design enablement compared to its 14nm predecessor, allowing up to 30-percent increase in area efficiency with 27-percent higher performance or 40-percent lower power consumption. In order to overcome scaling limitations, cutting edge techniques such as triple-patterning to allow bi-directional routing are also used to retain design and routing flexibility from prior nodes.

Following the introduction of Samsung’s first-generation 10nm process (10LPE), its second generation process (10LPP) with performance boost is targeted for mass production in the second half of 2017. The company plans to continue its leadership with a variety of derivative processes to meet the needs of a wide range of applications.

Through close collaboration with customers and partners, Samsung also aims to cultivate a robust 10nm foundry ecosystem that includes reference flow verification, IPs and libraries.

Production level process design kits (PDK) and IP design kits are currently available for design starts.

SoCs with 10nm process technology will be used in digital devices launching early next year and are expected to become more widely available throughout 2017.