Devanshu Shrivastava

Strengthening Semiconductor Manufacturing Practices in India: A Strategic Role for Government, Academia and Industry with The global semiconductor industry is set to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, and India is positioning itself as a crucial player in this strategic domain. With strong policy initiatives like the Semiconductor Mission and growing demand across electronics, automotive, and defense sectors, the time is ripe to build robust capacities in semiconductor manufacturing and design. While infrastructure and investments are vital, the true competitive edge will come from building a skilled workforce. This is where collaboration between government, academia, and industry becomes essential. Current Challenges: • Limited semiconductor fabrication facility within India. • Lack of dedicated training facilities focused on cleanroom operations, wafer fabrication, IC packaging, testing, and design processes. • Talent gap between academic education and industry-ready skills. Strategic Approach for Workforce Development A long-term, coordinated approach is needed to cultivate a talent base. This includes: • Specialized Training Centers: Establish national and regional centers funded by government and supported by academia, dedicated to hands-on training in advanced semiconductor processes. • Public-Private Partnerships: Link training programs with semiconductor companies for real-world exposure and research opportunities. • University Curriculum Upgrades: Introduce semiconductor-specific programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels alongside short-term vocational certifications. • Faculty Development: Institute global exchange programs for professors and researchers with leading semiconductor hubs like Taiwan, South Korea, and the USA. • Skill Certification Frameworks: Create standardized certifications aligned with international semiconductor industry benchmarks. The Road Ahead: For India to emerge as a global semiconductor hub, scaling up skilled talent pools is equally important as setting up fabs and foundries. Government and academia must jointly lead this mission by creating enduring training centers that tie education to employability and innovation. Semiconductors are the brain of digital transformation, and India's vision of becoming self-reliant will depend on how effectively we build future-ready workforce capabilities. #SemiconductorIndustry #MakeInIndia #DigitalTransformation #SkillDevelopment #SemiconductorManufacturing #FutureOfWork #InnovationInIndia 💬 Loved this? Share your thoughts in the comments! 👍 Like | 🔄 Share | 🚀 Follow for more insights!

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What’s Wire Bonding — How Chips Actually Connect to the World? In advanced packaging conversations, we often hear about 2.5D, 3D ICs, and chiplet integration. But behind the scenes, the most widely used interconnect method in chip packaging is still wire bonding. Here’s a breakdown of what’s happening in the image above: -> Wire Bonding Ultrathin gold or copper wires connect the bonding pads on the IC chip to the package’s interposer. These form the electrical path between the die and the outside world. -> Die and Mold Resin The silicon die (the “brains” of the chip) is encapsulated in mold resin for protection against moisture, dust, and mechanical damage. -> Pads and Solder Balls Pads on the die are the connection points for bonding wires, while solder balls create connections to the PCB or system board. -> Interposer A bridging layer that routes signals from the die to the package’s external pins or balls. Think of the die as a powerful workstation inside a sealed lab. Wire bonds are the power and data cables running through the walls—without them, the lab is isolated. -> Why It Matters Wire bonding remains the most common method in OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) because it’s simple, reliable, and cost-effective. But as chips demand higher speeds and bandwidth, newer methods—like flip-chip, TSVs, and hybrid bonding—are stepping in for advanced performance. Key Takeaway: Wire bonding is the unsung hero of chip packaging—connecting silicon intelligence to the outside world for over 50 years. But as we move deeper into the era of 3D integration, the industry faces a balancing act: performance vs. manufacturability at scale. P.S. If you’re following semiconductor packaging, testing, and post-silicon trends, check out our blog The Semiconductor World. Link in comments. #Semiconductors #ChipPackaging #WireBonding #OSAT #AdvancedPackaging #ICDesign #PostSilicon #TestFlow #ATOMS

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Clock jitter refers to the variation of a clock signal’s edge from its ideal position in time. It is critical in high-speed digital, mixed-signal, and communication systems because it affects timing margins, setup/hold requirements, and data integrity. ⸻ ✅ Types of Clock Jitter Here are the major types: 1. Period Jitter • Definition: Variation in the clock period from one cycle to the next. • Impact: • Causes frequency instability. • Can lead to setup/hold violations in synchronous systems. • Example: One clock cycle is 10.1 ns, the next is 9.9 ns instead of the ideal 10 ns. ⸻ 2. Cycle-to-Cycle Jitter • Definition: Difference in duration between two adjacent cycles. • Impact: • Critical in high-speed I/O and SerDes designs. • Affects PLL/DLL performance and data serialization/deserialization. ⸻ 3. Long-Term Jitter (or Accumulated Jitter) • Definition: Cumulative deviation of clock edges over a long time. • Impact: • Important in systems with multiple clock domains and data recovery. • Causes phase drift and synchronization issues. ⸻ 4. Random Jitter (RJ) • Definition: Caused by thermal noise and other stochastic processes. • Characteristics: • Unbounded, follows a Gaussian distribution. • Impact: • Dominates at very high frequencies. • Reduces timing margin for setup/hold. ⸻ 5. Deterministic Jitter (DJ) • Definition: Jitter that has a bounded, predictable cause. • Sources: • Crosstalk, power supply noise, EMI, clock interference. • Impact: • Can be analyzed and reduced by design improvements. ⸻ 6. Duty Cycle Distortion (DCD) • Definition: Variation in high and low times of the clock. • Impact: • Alters duty cycle, which can affect latch/flip-flop operation. • Critical in DDR memory and high-speed buses. ⸻ 7. Phase Jitter • Definition: Short-term variations in the phase of the clock signal. • Impact: • Affects PLL lock stability and clock data recovery (CDR). ⸻ ✅ Impact on Design 1. Timing Violations • Jitter reduces the effective setup and hold margins. • In STA (Static Timing Analysis), jitter is modeled as clock uncertainty. 2. Signal Integrity • High jitter increases bit error rate (BER) in high-speed links (e.g., PCIe, DDR, SerDes). 3. PLL/DLL Design • Jitter tolerance is key in clock generation and recovery circuits. 4. Synchronous System Stability • More jitter → skew variations, synchronization failures. ⸻ How It’s Handled in Design • Clock uncertainty in STA = Jitter + Skew. • Jitter budget allocation among PLL, clock tree, and data paths. • Low-noise power supply design (reduce supply-induced jitter). • Use of spread-spectrum clocking to minimize EMI-based jitter. • Filtering (PLL bandwidth) to suppress high-frequency jitter.

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: 📈 NXP Semiconductors Price Target Raised Amid Signs of Industry Recovery Stifel has raised its price target on NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) from $170 to $210, while maintaining a Hold rating. According to analyst Tore Svanberg, the broader semiconductor industry appears to be exiting a two-year inventory correction, suggesting the early stages of a cyclical recovery. However, the pace of this recovery remains uncertain. In its latest sector outlook, Stifel reiterates an Overweight recommendation for AI-related semiconductor stocks. The firm forecasts that its covered group of AI-focused companies will see median revenue growth of 32% in 2025 and 17% in 2026. This update reflects cautious optimism in legacy and AI-driven segments as investors assess the timing and strength of a broader rebound. Thanks again to Yahoo Finance for the full article with more background and insights click the source link in the comments below. #Semiconductors #NXP #NXPI #AI #ChipIndustry #EarningsPreview #SemiconductorStocks #TechInvesting #InventoryCorrection #Stifel

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OpenAI's Stargate project to consume up to 40% of global DRAM output — inks deal with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to the tune of up to 900,000 wafers per month 🤯 #Samsung and #SKhynix have inked preliminary agreements to supply #memory to OpenAI’s massive Stargate #datacenter initiative, reports Reuters. Instead of actual tested and packaged DRAM #chips or #HBM stacks, the companies will supply Stargate undiced #wafers, according to Bloomberg, which highlights the vast volumes of #memory and other components that Stargate needs. For now, it looks like Stargate could consume nearly half of global DRAM output. Both Samsung and SK Hynix confirmed that OpenAI's anticipated demand could grow to 900,000 DRAM wafers monthly, which is an incredible volume that may represent around 40% of total DRAM output. The deal likely includes various types of memory, including commodity #DDR5 and specialty #HBM memory for #AI #processors. What remains to be seen is which company will dice the wafers and build actual DRAM #chips, HBM stacks, and memory modules. To put the 900,000 #DRAM #wafers number into context: global 300mm fab capacity is projected to reach 10 million wafer starts per month (WSPM) in 2025, according to TechInsights. DRAM capacity — which includes both commodity DDR5 and LPDDR4/LPDDR5 as well as premium HBM, and specialty DRAM types — accounted for a 22% share (2.07 million WSPM) in 2024. Analysts predict that DRAM capacity could grow by 8.7% in 2025 to around 2.25 million WSPM, which means that Stargate plans to consume 40% of it. A big thank you again to Anton Shilov and Tom's Hardware for the full article with more background and insights via the link below 💡🙏👇 https://lnkd.in/e77JbqE5 #semiconductorindustry #semiconductormanufacturing #technology #it #tech #chip #chips #innovation #geopolitics #semiconductors #server

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The Fab Whisperer: The Most Misleading Metric in Fabs Every fab runs on metrics: OEE, cycle time, line yield, on-time delivery, cost per wafer/layer. But there’s one metric that, more often than not, misleads fabs into thinking they’re winning when in reality they’re falling behind: “Utilization”. Why it matters? On the surface, utilization feels like the right goal: keep tools busy, maximize output. But fabs are not simple factories — they’re complex, interconnected systems with bottlenecks and long cycle times. When fabs chase utilization too hard, it usually leads to: WIP bloats — tools run wafers just to look “busy,” flooding the downstream line with lots. Cycle time explosion — bottlenecks starve while non-bottlenecks overproduce. False sense of efficiency — high utilization ≠ high throughput. Technician overload — more setups, more firefighting. The paradox is that the harder a fab pushes utilization, the slower and more expensive it often gets. From the field: I once worked with a fab proudly reporting 95% utilization on bottleneck tools. Management celebrated. But wafer cycle times were climbing, and customers were missing deliveries. Tracing WIP revealed that the implant area was flooding the downstream Litho bottlenecks. Lots piled up in front of scanners, miss-managing critical recipes' priorities and inflating cycle time by weeks. Litho Utilization looked world-class. Actual fab delivery performance was collapsing. When we shifted the focus to throughput at the bottleneck and WIP turns at non-bottlenecks, cycle time improved 18% in just three months, and on-time delivery jumped from 70% to 93%. The fix: Stop chasing utilization as a headline fab metric. Focus on throughput at the bottleneck — the true limiter of output. Use metrics for bottleneck tools such as % Idle with WIP, throughput/tool/day or per shift. Focus on Dynamic Cycle Time (DCT) and WIP turns on non-bottlenecks — they reveal the hidden cost of overproduction. Align fab scheduling with pull principles wherever possible. Focus on FLOW. Teach fab leaders the difference between “busy” and “productive.” The most misleading metric isn’t the one you ignore. It’s the one you celebrate — while it quietly erodes flow. So… drop a comment if in your fab the focus on keeping tools busy trumps delivering wafers on time. What's your most misleading metric? #TheFabWhisperer #Semiconductor #FabOperations #Metrics #Utilization #CycleTime #ManufacturingExcellence

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#DDR4 and #LPDDR4 Supply Tightens as #Shortages Drive Price Surge Rigid server orders are squeezing PC and consumer markets, pushing OEMs to accelerate DDR5 adoption. TrendForce reports consumer #electronics makers face soaring costs and material #shortages, while mobile #DRAM prices also climb. In 3Q25, LPDDR4X posted its steepest single-quarter rise in nearly a decade. With capacity tilted toward servers, most PC demand remains unmet. By July, 8GB DDR4 PC modules cost more than DDR5 equivalents in a rare price inversion. OEMs unable to secure #DDR4 have cut production and shifted to DDR5. DDR4 now faces high prices, low volume, and gradual phase-out. In data centres, DDR4 remains standard for #AI and high-efficiency workloads, prompting CSPs to issue intensive follow-up orders. Suppliers continue prioritising server contracts, though demand should ease as DDR5 gains ground in 2026. The consumer DRAM market—covering TVs, networking, controllers, and industrial uses—faces the harshest #shortages since it ranks last in allocation. Prices surged 60–85% in July, with 3Q25 contract prices revised up by 85–90%. For LPDDR4X, used in mainstream and entry-level phones, supply fears have grown as US and Korean firms plan output cuts from 2025–26. Panic buying and bidding wars lifted TrendForce’s 3Q25 forecast to a 38–43% increase. Meanwhile, LPDDR5X supply is healthier thanks to process migration. Adoption has expanded to mid/high-end phones, notebooks, and AI servers. With average prices lower than other DRAM, suppliers plan moderate hikes, with 3Q25 contracts rising 10–15% QoQ. https://lnkd.in/eUd3zDj8 Personal addition 🤓: The DDR4 shortage is still going on. The big ones are going out and the market gets flooded with big last time buys to stock up goods. Legacy DDR4 suppliers will be overrun by new demands and need to set priority lists for customers. Of course, we already have solutions for the long run. Get in contact with us ([email protected]), if you search longterm available solutions. Until that, the madness goes on. #embedded #embeddedsystems #IIOT #industry40 #SSD #storage #memory #electronics #DRAM #NAND #flashmemory #semiconductor altec ComputerSysteme GmbH #technology

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