▲ 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.

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.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, has announced today its continued commitment to first-pass silicon success for its foundry customers’ chip designs by launching the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE^TM) program.

The SAFE^TM program ensures deep collaboration between the Samsung Foundry, ecosystem partners, and customers to deliver competitive and robust System on Chip (SoC) designs based on certified key design components including Process Design Kit (PDK), reference flows with Design Methodologies(DM), Intellectual Property (IP), and ASIC design support.

“We are very excited to provide the comprehensive, collaborative, and qualified Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem to our customers to enable faster and more reliable SoC design success”, said Jong Shik Yoon, executive vice president of Foundry Technology Development at Samsung Electronics. “Together with our SAFE^TM partners, Samsung Foundry will provide certified design enablement solutions to existing strategic customers as well as innovative, new start-up customers. We welcome all current and future Ecosystem partners to join the new SAFE^TM program.”

The SAFE^TM program is based on three pillars :

• EDA/DM : Provides extensively tested PDKs and reference flows (with design methodologies) that are backed by Samsung Foundry’s certification.
• IP : Provides a full set of silicon qualified, application specific IP offerings from the early stage of process technology development. Customers can view a full list of IP solutions offered through SAFE^TM by accessing Samsung Foundry’s B2B site, CONNECT(https://www.samsungfoundry.com).
• Design Services : Connects mid- to small-sized companies with qualified ASIC design services and support. Using design service partners of SAFE^TM, customers will benefit from easy access to process technology information, competitive price conditions, and committed resources for their SoC design success.

For more information about Samsung Foundry, please visit https://www.samsungfoundry.com

Quotes from SAFE^TM  Partner Companies

• Arm, Gus Yeung, vice president and general manager of Physical Design Group

“The Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem creates significant opportunities for the industry. Through our ongoing collaboration with the Samsung Foundry, we are enabling the ecosystem with access to leadership co-optimized physical IP solutions for enhancing next-generation SoC designs.”

• AlphaHoldings, Donggi Kim, CEO

“It’s honor to be one of the initial member of SAFE. As a Korean design service partner, we are ready to support Samsung Foundry’s ASIC customers more effective way based on long-term collaboration with Samsung Foundry and competencies – leading edge process experiences, customer specific IP, high quality manpower, error free design capabilities, etc.”

• Cadence, KT Moore, vice president, product management

“We’ve collaborated with Samsung Foundry for many years to enable our joint customers to achieve their aggressive design goals. We believe that the new SAFE foundry design program will facilitate innovation and help customers deliver designs to market even faster. Our support for Samsung Foundry’s process technologies continues to expand with our broadened IP portfolio and full EDA tool enablement with comprehensive reference flows.”

• eSilicon, Hugh Durdan, vice president, strategy and products

“Through our Tier 1 ASIC work with Samsung Foundry, we understand Samsung Foundry’s advanced process technologies well. This allows us to offer differentiating IP targeted at the high-bandwidth networking, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G infrastructure markets using these advanced process technologies.”

• Faraday, Steve Wang, President

“Samsung Foundry provides the most competitive grand ecosystem for the leading edge technologies. Since our establishment in 1993, Faraday has successfully delivered more than 2,200 ASIC mass production projects. Thus we are confident in our ability to leverage the SAFE program, targeting next-generation applications now and beyond.”

• Mentor, Joe Sawicki, vice president, Design to Silicon

“Mentor is proud that it has been the signoff solution for Samsung’s own design efforts over the last two decades and Samsung Foundry since the foundry was launched in 2005. We are pleased to be continuing our close partnership with Samsung as it expands its ecosystem interactions via the Samsung SAFE initiative.”

• Rambus, Luc Seraphin, senior vice president and general manager, Memory and Interfaces Division

“As ASIC and SoC designs continue to increase in complexity, high-speed interfaces are integral to successful design. This strong partnership between Rambus and Samsung across multiple nodes, ensures that we are providing a broad portfolio of high-quality solutions to our end customers. We are pleased to collaborate with Samsung Foundry to provide designers with leading high-speed SerDes and memory PHY IP solutions for easy integration into their chip designs.”

• Synopsys, Deirdre Hanford, co-general manager, Design Group

“Our collaboration with Samsung Foundry since 2005 has enabled mutual customers to deliver state-of-the-art designs across a wide range of Samsung’s process technologies. The SAFE program will help accelerate adoption of Synopsys’ high-quality IP, market-leading tools, and comprehensive design services supporting Samsung Foundry for development of their differentiated SoCs.”

• VeriSilicon, Wayne Dai, President and CEO

“Our experience in shipping high volume SoCs using Samsung 14nm and 10nm FinFET, as well as 28nm FD-SOI process demonstrates that Samsung Foundry has excellent potential for the China market. Now as a charter member of SAFE, we will expand our partnership to a new level enabling us to better support our mutual customers.”

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.

Superior Visibility

A customer, rushing to make the most of a short lunch break, pulls into the drive thru for a grab-and -go meal. Once she pulls up the ordering station, however, she realizes that the glare of the sun is making it impossible to read the menu. Frustrated, she orders some version of the usual, misses out on the special combo of the day, and vows to try the restaurant across the street next time. Outdoor digital displays have the ability to engage customers with compelling and relevant information—but only if that content can actually be seen.

One of the main concerns with early generation outdoor displays was the effect of brightness and glare on the readability of the content—something anyone who has ever tried to use a laptop outside can relate to. As Young Cho, a senior product manager from Samsung specializing in outdoor displays says: “The purpose of having the signage is to get the message through to the customer, so it’s important that the proper technology is implemented to make sure that any reflection is cancelled and people can actually see the content.”

This applies not only to the menu, but also to the order confirmation screen, since order accuracy is absolutely critical for customer satisfaction in the drive thru. Most indoor LCD displays have a brightness of 300 to 350 “nit”—a measure of luminance. For an outdoor display to be equally vivid in intense sunlight, outdoor digital signage must have at least 700-nit brightness.

Samsung’s OHD Series SMART Outdoor Signage provides this level of readability with LED backlighting, delivering vibrant content even in direct sunlight. These displays measure in at more than 2,500 nit, paired with energy-saving Auto Brightness sensors and an easily customizable brightness range.

High brightness is not enough, as glare from the sun also impairs visibility. Samsung’s outdoor signage is equipped with protective anti-reflection glass which reduces the total reflection to 0.5 percent and makes content clearly visible even under direct sunlight. Plus, the high contrast ratio of 5,000:1 creates an optimum viewing experience in any light, during any time of day or night. The displays are even equipped with circular polarizing technology, which means that customers wearing polarized sunglasses can view them without a problem.

Cost-Reducing Durability

With torrents of rain and wind swirling outside, your restaurant is empty. On days like this, you put your faith in the drive thru, where customers can grab a delicious meal without getting out of their cars and stepping into the pouring rain. Only two customers in, however, you realize that the graphics and text have shorted out in the inclement weather. The next day you wake up to a sunny sky and renewed hope, only to find that vandals have left a surprise message in bright yellow paint directly over your outdoor menuboard.

Now, instead of rejoicing over all of the sales you plan to recoup that day, you have to worry about the cost to repair your outdoor signage, along with worries about what your customers will think. By investing in outdoor digital signage with special tempered glass, you’re protecting against vandalism, spray paint, and hard impact—ensuring that promising mornings stay promising. You also decide it’s time to invest in outdoor signage that remains clear and high-performing in any weather.

“Digital signage has to resist the summer heat, winter’s freezing temperatures, pouring rain, and dust, among other things,” Cho says. “On top of all of that, it has to be protected from vandalism, so there’s a lot to consider.” Cho says that as a baseline, waterproof, IP-rated hardware is a must. Samsung’s IP56-rated, waterproof and dustproof design extends protection to the fan, drain hole, and power outlets, as well as the main display, while a steady cooling system eliminates the risk of overheating.

In addition to handling tough blows from vandals, Samsung’s outdoor digital signage is designed to handle tough blows from moody weather as well, with a temperature range of negative 22 degrees to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. By effectively protecting outdoor displays, owners can reduce repair costs and avoid risking lost sales opportunities resulting from inclement weather or environmental conditions.

Convenient Design

To make up for the past few days of lagging sales—and hopefully pay for the graffiti removal—the general manager has asked you, the IT manager, to immediately roll out a new LTO. He has also requested you update the calorie count for some of the menu items. With the old static signage, you would have had to go through a long process of designing, printing, and distributing the new content. With the new centralized content management system and digital outdoor displays, all of this work is simplified to a few clicks.

The ability to conveniently create, manage, and push out new content to outdoor digital displays is the final factor in building a successful outdoor display program. It’s particularly helpful if the same provider of the hardware can step in to provide this content-management software with a hard-to-beat, all-in-one system.

Samsung’s MagicInfo content management platform allows users to create, schedule, and deploy content to multiple displays in multiple locations. MagicInfo comes with a suite of creative tools, enabling brands to design eye-catching digital signage, all the way up to complex, interactive multimedia displays. The solution comes standard on Samsung SMART Signage products.

Furthermore, distribution of the created content can easily be distributed to the outdoor drive thru signage and managed in a centralized location due to an HDBaseT connection, which allows for smooth flow of content even over long distances. Samsung signage also comes with the industry’s first System-on-Chip (soc) embedded media player—the Samsung SMART Signage Platform (sssp)—which streamlines the process of uploading content and eliminates the need for external hardware to run digital content.

All of this is conveniently housed within a slim, stylish, compact design for easy installation. Measuring in at only 90.3 millimeters in depth, this signage includes an embedded media player, power box, cooling system, and more. With the clear benefits and increased selling power that outdoor digital displays bring, brands are looking for this trifecta of visibility, durability, and convenience to push their drive thru sales and accuracy to the next level.

Samsung continues to bring innovation to the next level with forward-thinking designs and capabilities, allowing restaurants to keep current customers happy while engaging the next generation. “We continue to study the dynamics of quick serves and the drive thru in order to develop optimized and impactful displays,” Cho says. “Our displays provide a unique business solution to fill the gap in the outdoor signage market by delivering industry-leading brightness and enhanced functionality, allowing business owners to create and deploy powerful and attractive messages easily.”

By harnessing the ability to relay information in creative, easily readable, and easily updated ways, outdoor digital displays are adding customer engagement and operator ease into the drive thru equation.

*This article contains content repurposed with permission from QSR magazine.