IP is the core technology of IC design. Usually refers to the application in the chip, has a specific function, reusable circuit module, IP has two characteristics of standard and tradability.

A mature IP is to directly formalize and generate a certain type of functional module to achieve the effect of direct application. Therefore, the behavior of IP authorization is generated, and the design company does not need to design every detail of the chip, and realizes a specific function by purchasing a mature and reliable IP solution.

We are now highly dependent on IP licensing from foreign companies (ARM, Synopsys, Cadence, etc.). In fact, not only domestic enterprises, looking at the world, the vast majority of SOC manufacturers rely on IP to design and produce an SOC chip. After all, a reliable, proven IP that meets the requirements will greatly shorten the SOC development cycle, and this model has been very mature in the past few decades.

EDA tool

EDA is a necessary software tool for circuit design. You can think of chip design companies, such as Huawei Hisilicon, Flathead brother, Mediatek, Intel, Qualcomm, Nvidia, no company can do chip design without EDA software.

The world is now monopolized by three EDA giants: Synopsys Technology, Cadence Kedden Electronics, Mentor International (renamed Siemens EDA).

According to the data, Synopsys has the highest market share in the world at 32.14%, while Cadence and Siemens EDA occupy 23.4% and 14% of the global EDA market share. (Ps. Sunsys and Kayden Electronics are American companies, as was Siemens EDA until it was acquired by Germany's Siemens.

The development of EDA software in China is relatively slow, and EDA enterprises such as Huada Jiutian, Jiulun Electronics, Guowei and Guangli Micro are emerging.

Chip design

Companies in the chip industry currently have two modes of operation:

Fabless+Foundry: Fabless refers to a pure chip design company, which does not include any manufacturing, closed test links, such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, hisilicon. Foundry is the wafer manufacturing plant, does not include any design links, such as TSMC, SMIC.

IDM: It is a combination of design, manufacturing, packaging, testing and other industrial chains, such as Intel, Samsung and TI (Texas Instruments).

Design companies headquartered in the United States account for 68% of the world's output value, while the mainland accounts for only 9%. In other words, in the field of IC design, the United States is still dominant. We are not far behind in chip design, but we still need to catch up.

Production equipment

At present, the top ten semiconductor equipment in the world is still occupied by the United States, Japan and the Netherlands.

The lithography machine that everyone is more familiar with is a typical production equipment that is stuck. In addition to the lithography machine, there are oxidation furnaces, etching machines, film growth equipment, ion implantation equipment, etc., we are still based on the purchase of foreign equipment.

At present, the layout of semiconductor equipment in China is relatively wide, basically all the equipment we have developed independent available products, but if we want to replace foreign enterprises on the 12-inch advanced production line, there is still a big gap.

In other words, although the manufacturing level of some domestic manufacturers has approached the world level, we still rely on foreign equipment suppliers.

Raw material for production

In addition to the silicon you can think of, it also includes mask plates, photoresist, electronic gases, polishing materials, wet chemicals and sputtering targets.

Most of the market for semiconductor materials is distributed in the Asian region, and the top three regions in the world are Taiwan, South Korea and mainland China.

Overall, our growth momentum is clear in the raw materials sector, but there is still a technology gap.

Chip manufacturing

In terms of manufacturing, the United States (Intel), South Korea (Samsung), China's Taiwan (TSMC, Taiwan Union Power, etc.) occupy the vast majority of the global market. China is mainly dominated by Huahong Semiconductor and SMIC.

In terms of manufacturing process, one direction is to develop along Moore's Law and pursue advanced technology; The other direction is to meet diverse needs and develop special crafts.

Advanced technology, the major giants have promoted to 2nm, 3nm research, 5nm flow sheet, 7nm mass production. At present, the most advanced process in China is SMIC's 14nm, and there is a gap of about 2 generations between the 7nm process.

Characteristic process, mainly used in simulation, guideline, MEMS various subdivisions. At present, there is a lack of IDM backbone enterprises in China, and the foundry capacity also has great room for improvement.

Chip encapsulation

Relatively speaking, the closed test area is the most optimistic situation. Packaging and testing is China's integrated circuit industry chain in the world's highest share of the link, accounting for about 20%, ranking second in the world (the first Taiwan, about 50%).

Changdian Technology, Tongfu micro electricity, Huatan Technology is a strong momentum of domestic sealed test enterprises, in recent years in Sip packaging, Aip packaging, Fan-out process and other aspects to accelerate the layout, but and ASE (Taiwan, China), Anrely (United States), Teridda (United States), Aiwan (Japan) these international mainstream manufacturers still have a gap.

To sum up, we can rely on our own technology to design and manufacture chips, but the process is certainly not advanced enough. Whether we aim for advanced processes or not, we still have a long way to go.