Innovation is key to new semiconductor growth

This is a guest contribution by STMicroelectronics.

INDIA: The increasing pervasiveness of semiconductor technology and the critical role it plays in enabling new applications that are transforming every aspect of daily life, from entertainment, communication and transportation to energy saving and healthcare, means that success in the semiconductor industry, perhaps more than in any other, hinges upon how well a company embraces a culture of innovation and commits to developing new and innovative products and technologies.

An innovative culture, however, isn’t simply employing an ethereal management style or a instilling a creative atmosphere in the workplace. Instead, the innovative culture driving any company, and even more a semiconductor one, must start with a leadership open to change, driving an organization that is already showing an unwavering commitment to investment in research and development as a starting point.

It must not only encourage new ideas but also evaluate them accurately in terms of potential value and then implement them efficiently, with in-house methodologies that provide a wide scope for creative thinking but also ensure that the resulting creativity is grounded in real market trends and can deliver measurable results.

In addition, the company should engage with a wide variety of customers, from strategic partners to innovative new start-up enterprises, to develop applications in the key areas where semiconductor technologies play a fundamental enabling role: (1) enriching people’s daily lives, (2) helping society function better, and (3) improving the sustainability of our environment. Within these three key areas, chip companies have significant opportunities in 2011.

Enriching people’s lives
Multimedia convergence is the name given to the phenomenon that has for some years brought together entertainment, information and communications, especially wireless communications. Today’s consumers increasingly expect instant access to information services and entertainment, at any time, in any place, on any device. Enabling these ever-increasing expectations to be met at consumer process requires continuous innovation in many different types of semiconductor products and technologies.

For example, very complex new systems-on-chips (SoCs), integrating millions of transistors on a single chip, will enable the next generation of set-top-boxes and T Vs to offer a broad range of entertainment-enhancing features. These features will improve reception, increase realism and increase the choice in what signal sources--broadcast-broadband-Internet—to watch and all this with significant cost-reductions for consumers.

Another example can be seen in the growing market for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) wireless microphones, where major advances resulting from intensive R&D are making them smaller and less costly. Today, closer in price to what a larger, single microphone may cost, several new smaller microphones, called microphone arrays, can be used together in mobile devices to improve sound quality by filtering out unwanted noise.

Man-machine interfaces: With a new generation of tablet and wireless devices on the horizon, simply pointing, dragging and swiping won’t be enough. For example, as sophisticated gaming and other functionality is added to devices, processors will pair with gyroscopes, accelerometers and systems-on-chips (SoCs) to interpret actions as an even greater part of the user interface. Smart semiconductor companies understand that motion-based interactivity will be an ongoing focus and continue to refine this technology.

Making society work better
Safety and security: Increasingly, semiconductors are being used to ensure safety and security in various facets of everyday life. One sector where opportunities are especially strong is the automotive industry, where, for example, semiconductor technology is now being used to activate automotive response systems.

Increasingly, vehicles will include full “Advanced Driver Assistance Systems” (ADAS) that detect pedestrians, animals, other vehicles, and traffic signs and can activate collision avoidance systems—which can be programmed to either alert the driver or proactively maneuver the vehicle before the driver even reacts.

High-end cars with these technologies are already available and it won’t be long before these features migrate down to mid-range cars. Similarly, smartpower airbag chips, which combine power switching transistors as well as control circuitry on the same chip, are being developed to deploy faster, use less energy and do a better job of “adjusting to the surroundings” (i.e. sensing whether the affected passenger is a child weighing 50 pounds or a 200-pound adult).

Chipmakers also continue to pursue different technological answers that address data security and protect information – from system guards against viruses and hackers to secure data storage for government organizations and corporations.

Healthcare: Semiconductors will play a significant role in new diagnostic and therapeutic tools, as well as fitness aids. Increasingly, digital gyroscopes and MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) chip sets will not only bring more information and functionality to the consumer, they’ll send information back to a central source. For example, a new generation of micro-machined sensors can measure up to 11 different kinds of motion and change, including temperature, pressure, and momentum.

These sensors will be particularly useful – and life-saving – in applications such as remote patient-monitoring, where they can help distinguish between a heart being strained because of a heart attack and one stressed from climbing a flight of stairs.

Another example in this field is a new type of contact lens equipped with a special chip can help optometrists detect the possible onset of glaucoma by continuously measuring eye pressure over the course of a 24-hour period, including common night-time changes that would be missed in a routine day-time eye test. A patient wears the lens and data about the wearer can be routed to a central source – offering far more comprehensive information than the traditional method, allowing earlier intervention to prevent the disease progressing.

This particular example illustrates another key aspect of innovation, the need for companies working in formerly disparate areas, in this case ST, a semiconductor giant, and Sensimed, a small medical start-up enterprise, to explore the potential synergies that could create whole new applications.

Working for a greener world
Power management: Partnerships to provide energy efficient solutions and reduce global demand for non-renewable energy sources will drive future opportunities for the industry. Semiconductor companies will benefit from this trend if they develop technologies that reduce the use of energy in everything from industrial plants and automobiles to audio/video, wireless, and home appliances.

As consumers around the world continue to increase their ability to acquire more computers, TVs, appliances and other products, there will be further stress on demand for energy, and making products more energy-efficient will be one of the industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities.

Smart metering and alternative energy sources: Semiconductor companies that are committed to helping reduce global consumption of fossil fuels are applying technologies to bring more accurate, state-of-the-art digital metering capabilities to electricity and natural gas suppliers.

Smart grid technology will help consumers better manage costs by understanding how much energy they’re using on an hourly basis and how they can reduce usage during peak hours, as well as enabling utilities to funnel energy where it’s most needed during peak usage hours.

Semiconductor technology will also play a key role in the development of economically viable alternative energy sources. For example, microchips will be a major component in renewable resource technology such as solar panels, helping make the collection of solar power and the subsequent production of usable energy as efficient as possible.

Over the course of the economic downturn, semiconductor solutions providers that kept an unwavering commitment to research and development, regardless of market conditions, are now prepared to be reinvigorated by primed product pipelines and in fact, with over 23 percent of its revenue invested in R&D in 2010, over 20 percent of its people involved in R&D, and close to 20,000 patents portfolio, ST is one of them.

In 2011 (and beyond), there’ll not only be more demand for these products, but demand for further advancement in almost every area of our lives including the vehicles we drive, devices we use, and energy we consume. Critical to meeting this demand, even if it is not always visible to the end users, is a culture of innovation that will drive thriving companies to match the insatiable appetite of their customers for new solutions and applications.