By Richard Otte, President and CEO, Promex Industries

Richard Otte,

The Miniaturization Revolution in Electronics

Embracing the Tiny Giants: How Smaller Electronics Are Reshaping Our World

In the realm of electronics and semiconductors, a silent revolution is underway, one marked not by the grandeur of size, but by the subtlety of miniaturization. This long-term trend toward smaller, more compact devices is not just a technological feat; it’s a transformation that has profound implications for how we interact with technology and the world around us.

Unpacking the Benefits: More Than Just Size Reduction

The journey toward miniaturization brings a plethora of benefits. As devices shrink in size, advances in technology allow more functionality into each cubic centimeter, enhancing their capability while occupying less space with lower power utilization. This evolution is evident in everyday gadgets like cell phones, which have evolved from bulky, single-function devices to sleek, multi-functional powerhouses.

Cost-efficiency is another significant advantage. Making devices smaller – and the resulting reduction in the amount of material required for device construction, coupled with lower manufacturing overhead –translates into lower costs per function. This economy extends to shipping, handling, and storage, where smaller devices mean less expenditure and more efficient use of space.
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By Sanjeev Aggarwal, Ph.D., President and CEO, Everspin

Sanjeev Aggarwal

• Technological Innovations: “What major technological advancements or innovations do you foresee occurring in your industry in 2024, and how do you plan to adapt or lead in these areas?”
• Market Trends: “How do you predict consumer behavior and market trends will evolve in 2024, and what strategies are you implementing to meet these changing demands?”
• Artificial Intelligence Integration: “How do you envision the role and impact of artificial intelligence in your industry in 2024, and what steps is your company taking to integrate AI into its operations or offerings?”

There has never been a more exciting time to be in the semiconductor memory business. Innovation is required more than ever as it becomes clear that advances in computing at all levels are limited by memory performance. At the extreme performance boundary of AI acceleration for high-performance computing there will be broader adoption of high-bandwidth memory structures that provide wider I/O data busses to increase throughput and provide data to the multiple cores starving for data. Bus width of 1,024 with up to 9GT/s will give way to 2,048, bringing challenges to high-density memory providers to reduce micro-bump pitch and increase the density of TSVs to maintain the footprint in 3D SiP modules. This tends to drive the news in the memory industry, several other trends drive innovation as well.

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By Marcel Beemster, CTO, Solid Sands

Expect the use of the C++ standard library to increase for safety-critical applications in 2024

Marcel Beemster

What major technological advancements or innovations do you foresee occurring in your industry in 2024, and how do you plan to adapt or lead in these areas? What key market trends do you expect to see?

We expect there will be many more companies focusing on the safety of critical C++ applications – especially in sectors such as industrial, automotive, rail, medical, robotics, and aviation. There has never been a greater requirement for a well-developed programming language that emulates the performance levels of C whilst offering a superior degree of abstraction. This is because increasing numbers of safety-critical applications in 2024 will involve working with real-time data that is generated by many different types of sensors.

To get the best out of C++, a qualified C++ library is absolutely essential in safety-critical applications. Library qualification is important because code from the library is connected to the application and installed on the target device.

There are a number of factors that combine to drive the technology and enable its wider usage.

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By Hassan Triqui, Co-Founder, CEO and President,  Secure-IC

Hassan Triqui

Securing Tomorrow: A Vision for 2024 by Hassan Triqui, CEO of Secure-IC

In the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape, Secure-IC is at the forefront of innovation and commitment to securing the digital future. As we step into the year 2024, it is imperative to reflect on the dynamic shifts in technology, market trends, and the profound integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within the industry.

Technological Innovations: Leading the Charge in Embedded Cybersecurity

Secure-IC, founded in 2010, has been a stalwart in the embedded cybersecurity domain, leveraging 15 years of research from the esteemed “Télécom Paris” University. Our mission has been, and remains, to fortify the security of devices worldwide. Looking ahead to 2024, we foresee major technological advancements, particularly in the realms of automotive and smart mobility, defense and space, industry and factory automation, and many more.

The advent of the digital age has brought about a surge in connected devices, exposing us all to new and sophisticated threats. In response, Secure-IC has devised a unique approach called PESC—Protect, Evaluate, Service & Certify—supported by Supply, Deploy, and Manage, offering a comprehensive suite of security solutions. We are committed to adapting swiftly to these advancements, ensuring that our patented protection technologies continue to be embedded in millions of electronic chips across diverse sectors.

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By Charlie Hauck, CEO, Bluespec Inc.

Charlie Hauck

The demand for custom silicon continues to rise. To meet this demand for greater design flexibility, companies are adopting silicon based on the open standard RISC-V architecture.

RISC-V is popular with developers for many reasons. Most notably, RISC-V’s popularity stems from its design freedom – allowing developers to tailor applications to their liking, thanks to its simplified base instruction set – and enables developers to avoid vendor lock-in. The collaborative ecosystem encourages developers to innovate alongside each other, spurring friendly competition which also encourages companies to push the boundaries of innovation.

In 2024, we expect to see RISC-V adoption grow more across vertical markets. While traditionally used to support embedded applications, RISC-V is now being used in applications in automotive, aerospace, consumer devices. We expect RISC-V will be used to support AI applications in the coming year as industries increase their use and reliance on advanced technologies. Generative AI applications, for example, require lots of computing power. RISC-V not only helps reduce the cost associated with running these applications, but efficiently does so compared to other architectures on the market. With Google leveraging RISC-V to support Android applications, we also expect to see more companies launching RISC-V-enabled gadgets like smartwatches.

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By Dr. Lucio Lanza, Managing Director, Lanza tech Ventures

2024 Ushers in the Democratization of Silicon

Dr. Lucio Lanza

The democratization of silicon will become a reality in 2024 as the pieces for its success fall into place. Availability of open-source resources such as the RISC-V ISA and an open-source community-based platform where free design tools and the methodology for a complete design flow are making silicon design more cost effective and readily accessible. And within reach to thousands and thousands of hardware designers or would be hardware designers, helping address the demand for new designs and the acute engineering shortage.

Design guides, how-to webinars and other support resources are also freely available to help train new recruits into the world of semiconductor design. The cost of prototyping in reasonably advanced silicon nodes will be cut down by a factor of 100. Being at a node that is not the absolute most advanced is not a big weakness any longer. And availability of U.S.-based fabs like GlobalFoundries and Skywater Technologies with viable process technologies offering the manufacturing of silicon far less expensive than the traditional silicon design and manufacturing route.
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By Robert Smith,  Commercial Director at PRFI

What major technological advancements or innovations do you foresee occurring in your industry in 2024, and how do you plan to adapt or lead in these areas?

Robert Smith

In the RF compound semiconductor industry we are seeing increasing levels of integration of different semiconductor technologies onto the same process, such as pHEMTs, HBTs and PIN diodes. This offers new opportunities for innovative levels of functionality. PRFI has experience with most of the major foundries and can select the most appropriate process or technology for a specific application, taking into account all the technical, commercial, and supply chain considerations.

We also see a continuation of the trend towards packaging high-power PAs into SMT packages to drive down costs and allow the use of standard PCB assembly reflow processes. PRFI has extensive knowledge of the design, simulation, and evaluation of various packaging technologies.

How do you predict consumer behaviour and market trends will evolve in 2024, and what strategies are you implementing to meet these changing demands?

We think the focus will be on ubiquity of coverage and reliability rather than the emergence of a new ‘killer’ application to drive increased capacity. To facilitate this, PRFI is working with partners in the satcom industry to design ICs that enable LEO satellite constellations for near-ubiquitous coverage.

We continue to see growth in requirements for high-power solid-state power amplifiers, as GaN technology steadily replaces tubes in a range of RF and microwave applications. We see this trend continuing through 2024 and beyond.
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By Charbel Rizk, PhD., Founder and CEO, Oculi

Charbel Rizk

Technological Innovations:

1. What major technological advancements or innovations do you foresee occurring in your industry in 2024?

In 2024 we foresee an increased demand for visual intelligence at the edge. The term smart sensor has been overused in previous years to mean adding or extracting some intelligence after the image has been captured, stored, or transmitted off the image sensor. While the result may indeed derive some intelligence, it is a highly inefficient process which is slow, power hungry, and expensive if the industry continues with the traditional dumb image sensor. Increasingly we see this demand for smart sensors not just as wishful thinking, but governments and regulators as turning it into policy requirements for certain systems. For example, in Europe, under the General Vehicle Safety Regulation, all new types of vehicles must be fitted with an advanced driver distraction warning system from mid-2024, where driver eye movements are monitored and warned when distracted to help reduce accidents. No doubt this will soon follow in the US and elsewhere. A new type of sensor capable of visual intelligence will be necessary to meet this and similar smart sensors or devices based on machine vision.

2. How do you plan to adapt or lead in these areas?

Oculi has had a head start and innovated on our technology over decades since we understood the problems with the conventional image sensor model of ever-increasing data from dumb pixels, high bandwidth transfer to power hungry post-processing processors to achieve current smart sensors.

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By Yoan Dupret , Managing Director and CTO, Menta

Yoan Dupret

‘A Paradigm Shift: Universally Adaptive and Resilient Compute at the Edge’

In 2022, I began my predictions column talking about the aftershocks of COVID-19 and growing east-west geopolitical tensions. Since, then, the number and severity of events affecting the semiconductor industry has exploded. Geopolitical tensions became war, in both Ukraine and Israel, and  also a new cold war as explained in the Financial Times 2022 book of the year Chip War by Chris Miller. While China has injected more money in its semiconductor industry, Europe, Japan and USA have all engaged in their own Chip Acts.

While the semiconductor industry has been fueling the world innovations and advancements for the last 60 years, it is only now that nations and the general public starts to understand its importance. In other words, people now understand dominance in the semiconductor realm has a direct correlation to which region really drives global innovation.

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By Nick Dutton, senior director for product marketing, Atmosic

Nick Dutton

Consumers and businesses alike are prioritizing sustainability in their purchase decisions. We’re all becoming more conscious of the environmental impact of the products we use and discard. Below is a look at some segments where we’re seeing this demand for sustainability in full force.

In 2024, we’ll see consumers double down on sustainable asset trackers. Why? Simply put, people want a more convenient way to keep track of their items, whether it be luggage, keys, or even pets. As consumers are deciding what type of tracker to purchase, battery life is a critical consideration. Replacing batteries costs time and money. Plus, battery waste is bad for the environment, making eco-friendly asset trackers a must-have. One great example is the Samsung SmartTag2, which delivers 700 days of battery life thanks to Atmosic’s ATM3325 Bluetooth 5.3 SoC.

Furthermore, many industries—including healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing—rely heavily on asset tracking applications. Asset trackers are a great way for businesses to manage the equipment in their facilities and keep tabs on where shipments are going. Since these companies have anywhere from hundreds to thousands or even millions of assets to manage, it’s critical that businesses choose sustainable asset trackers to minimize their maintenance time, costs, and carbon footprint.

We’re seeing a growing demand for other types of sustainable devices as well. Retail stores are adopting eco-friendly electronic shelf labels (ESLs) to display real-time pricing information. Enterprises are adopting sensors and beacons with extended battery life that can be integrated into all sorts of IoT applications. Plus, consumers are looking for eco-friendly keyboards and mice. Targus’ ErgoFlip EcoSmart Mouse, which was selected as a CES 2024 Innovation Award Honoree, stands out in this category; it reduces power consumption by using an Atmosic ATM2 Bluetooth SoC that is four times more energy efficient than other BLE chipsets.

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