富士通半導(dǎo)體(Fujitsu Semiconductor)、松下(Panasonic)連手與日本開發(fā)銀行(Development Bank of Japan Inc. ，DBJ)在近日簽訂了一項(xiàng)最終協(xié)議，將成立一家新的無(wú)晶圓廠系統(tǒng)芯片(system LSI)設(shè)計(jì)公司；此舉意味著日本電子產(chǎn)業(yè)已經(jīng)發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化。 上述合作案代表了一個(gè)時(shí)代的終結(jié)。數(shù)十年來(lái)，日本電子業(yè)者一直沉迷于擁有自己的晶圓廠，日本芯片供貨商也將開發(fā)系統(tǒng)芯片視為未來(lái)發(fā)展的關(guān)鍵，以擺脫僅此一招 的傳統(tǒng)內(nèi)存業(yè)務(wù)、朝產(chǎn)品多元化方向邁進(jìn)；但現(xiàn)在，半導(dǎo)體制造業(yè)務(wù)已非神圣不可侵犯，富士通與松下在最近這幾年都陸續(xù)將旗下的晶圓廠脫手，甚至將藉由成立合資新公司擺脫系統(tǒng)芯片業(yè)務(wù)。 根據(jù)富士通與松下所公布的消息，即將成立的無(wú)晶圓廠新公司首席執(zhí)行官為西口泰夫(Yasuo Nishiguchi)，持股比例分別為富士通40%、松下20%、日本開發(fā)銀行40%；新公司員工數(shù)約2,800人(其中700人來(lái)自松下的系統(tǒng)芯片事 業(yè)部門)，預(yù)計(jì)在2014財(cái)務(wù)年度第四季開始營(yíng)運(yùn)。 但官方新聞稿似乎還是遺漏了許多重要消息，留下來(lái)的疑問(wèn)包括新公司的晶圓代工伙伴是否包括英特爾(Intel)在內(nèi)、特別是其14納米制程？此外富士通與松下也未透露新公司將會(huì)開發(fā)那些汽車應(yīng)用相關(guān)IC？還有Unifier平 臺(tái)──松下針對(duì)數(shù)字消費(fèi)類電子應(yīng)用所開發(fā)的ARM核心SoC──是否會(huì)成為新公司的系統(tǒng)芯片基礎(chǔ)架構(gòu)？ 以下是六個(gè)EETimes美編輯在日本向富士通與松下發(fā)言人所提出的問(wèn)題，以及他們的響應(yīng)： 問(wèn)題一：新公司是否會(huì)履行松下與英特爾之間的14納米制程代工協(xié)議？ 對(duì)此一位富士通發(fā)言人表示，他對(duì)相關(guān)細(xì)節(jié)不清楚；松下發(fā)言人則表示：“將松下系統(tǒng)級(jí)芯片(System LSI，SLSI)部門與英特爾之間所達(dá)成的協(xié)議轉(zhuǎn)移至新公司，是合乎邏輯的思考?！? 在 稍早之前，松下SLSI事業(yè)部門總監(jiān)岡本(Yoshifumi Okamoto)在一份聲明中指出：“我們將透過(guò)合作、利用英特爾的14納米三閘晶體管(Tri-Gate)制程技術(shù)，為下一代的SoC帶來(lái)提升的性能與 功耗優(yōu)勢(shì)?！碑?dāng)時(shí)岡本并未提到松下與富士通將成立的新公司，而事實(shí)上松下在其中的持股比例也只有20%。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第2頁(yè)：新成立的公司將開發(fā)哪些芯片？ 第3頁(yè)：兩家會(huì)各自保留哪些芯片業(yè)務(wù)？新公司如何獲利？ {pagination} 問(wèn)題二：松下的Unifier將成為新系統(tǒng)芯片設(shè)計(jì)公司的產(chǎn)品之一嗎？ Unifier是松下的工程團(tuán)隊(duì)所開發(fā)的一個(gè)公用平臺(tái)，能提供電視、DVD播放器、手機(jī)等各種不同的數(shù)字消費(fèi)性產(chǎn)品應(yīng)用，大幅提升SoC軟件的重復(fù)使用率；該平臺(tái)包含系統(tǒng)芯片硬件(CPU核心、視頻編譯碼器)與軟件(操作系統(tǒng)、軟件)。 而針對(duì)新公司產(chǎn)品是否包括Unifier平臺(tái)的問(wèn)題，松下發(fā)言人謹(jǐn)慎表示：“還有待觀察，一切細(xì)節(jié)需要在新公司內(nèi)部進(jìn)行討論。” 問(wèn)題三：新成立的公司將開發(fā)哪些類別的系統(tǒng)芯片？ 在 今年稍早松下、富士通的一份聯(lián)合聲明中，兩家公司透露了一系列將鎖定的技術(shù)領(lǐng)域包括：1. 高性能解決方案(包括支持云端基礎(chǔ)架構(gòu)如超高速網(wǎng)絡(luò)的性能服務(wù)器以及核心技術(shù))；2. 虛擬與影像解決方案(新一代數(shù)位電視以及影像識(shí)別應(yīng)用)；3. 無(wú)線解決方案(支持無(wú)所不在網(wǎng)絡(luò)之行動(dòng)與超低功耗無(wú)線連結(jié)解決方案)。 不過(guò)身為母公司之一的松下現(xiàn)正試圖擺脫傳統(tǒng)的消費(fèi)性電子業(yè)務(wù)，如數(shù)字電視與手機(jī)，因此新公司究竟將會(huì)開發(fā)那些數(shù)字消費(fèi)性系統(tǒng)芯片，還未真正明朗化。 問(wèn)題四：新公司是否會(huì)開發(fā)車用SoC？ 針 對(duì)此一問(wèn)題，富士通發(fā)言人肯定的表示，汽車儀表板與顯示器使用的系統(tǒng)芯片會(huì)是新公司的開發(fā)項(xiàng)目之一；他指出：“車用ASSP是富士通半導(dǎo)體的強(qiáng)項(xiàng)?！倍上聞t并不打算將汽車相關(guān)組件業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)移至新公司，該公司發(fā)言人表示，將保留旗下的汽車與工業(yè)系統(tǒng)(Automotive and Industrial Systems，AIS)事業(yè)，芯片設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)也不會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)往新公司。 松下汽車相關(guān)組件包括影像傳感器、車用LED，以及功率半導(dǎo)體、高性能大功率組件等，都將保留在母公司；而松下系統(tǒng)芯片事業(yè)群的大部分都會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)移至新公司，該部門主要是開發(fā)消費(fèi)性產(chǎn)品應(yīng)用SoC，其中四成業(yè)務(wù)為電視、25%為藍(lán)光產(chǎn)品、手機(jī)與調(diào)諧器各占10%。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第3頁(yè)：兩家會(huì)各自保留哪些芯片業(yè)務(wù)？新公司如何獲利？ {pagination} 問(wèn)題五：新公司將如何獲利？ 在 官方新聞稿中，新公司特別強(qiáng)調(diào)擁有“世界級(jí)管理資源”，并將專注于獲利，擴(kuò)展業(yè)務(wù)至全球市場(chǎng)，爭(zhēng)取在數(shù)年之內(nèi)讓公司股票公開上市(IPO)。新公司的首席執(zhí)行官西口泰夫并非來(lái)自富士通或松下，他先前曾擔(dān)任京瓷(Kyocera)首席執(zhí)行官，后來(lái)則在一家私募股權(quán)公司──頗負(fù)盛名但也受爭(zhēng)議的凱雷集團(tuán) (Carlyle Group)──擔(dān)任主管，負(fù)責(zé)搜尋日本當(dāng)?shù)氐氖召?gòu)目標(biāo)。 根據(jù)富士通半導(dǎo)體與松下相關(guān)業(yè)務(wù)目前的營(yíng)收估計(jì)，合資新公司年?duì)I收可達(dá)到1,500億日?qǐng)A；新公司不會(huì)有自己的晶圓廠，將以無(wú)晶圓廠模式經(jīng)營(yíng)，但這并不能保證其獲利能力，也不能確定其客戶群能超越兩家母公司的現(xiàn)有客戶。 在全球眾多芯片供貨商都積極爭(zhēng)取汽車電子領(lǐng)域不斷成長(zhǎng)的商機(jī)的此刻，這家新公司的汽車芯片也不一定能在強(qiáng)敵環(huán)伺中保證獲利；松下就不打算將汽車芯片業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)移至新公司。而據(jù)了解，在兩年前成立合資新公司的計(jì)劃首度浮現(xiàn)時(shí)，富士通原本想邀瑞薩(Renesas)加入新公司，但瑞薩卻決定走自己的路、維持在全球車用半導(dǎo)體市場(chǎng)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)地位。 問(wèn)題六：富士通半導(dǎo)體與松下將會(huì)各自留下哪些芯片業(yè)務(wù)？ 富士通半導(dǎo)體將保留的是內(nèi)存業(yè)務(wù)，主要是FRAM與FCRAM；該公司表示，F(xiàn)RAM擁有非揮發(fā)特性，且高速寫入性能優(yōu)于SRAM。富士通自1999年就推出FRAM，目前有兩條產(chǎn)品線，分別是串行接口(I2C、SPI)以及并列接口產(chǎn)品。 富 士通的FCRAM (Fast Cycle RAM，快速周期隨機(jī)存取內(nèi)存)則以低功耗特性為要求，擁有低功耗DDR SDRAM接口或PSRAM (pseudo SRAM)接口兩種產(chǎn)品。因?yàn)镕CRAM具備低功耗與高速數(shù)據(jù)傳輸功能，富士通一直認(rèn)為該技術(shù)是數(shù)字消費(fèi)性電子產(chǎn)品的理想內(nèi)存，如數(shù)字電視、數(shù)字?jǐn)z影機(jī) 等需要大量數(shù)字?jǐn)?shù)據(jù)高速處理的裝置，此外也適合手機(jī)等移動(dòng)設(shè)備應(yīng)用。 除了將在新合資公司開發(fā)的系統(tǒng)級(jí)芯片，還有已經(jīng)出售給Spansion的微控制器(MCU)與模擬組件業(yè)務(wù)，富士通半導(dǎo)體表示該公司未來(lái)只會(huì)專注在內(nèi)存業(yè)務(wù)。而松下將保留的半導(dǎo)體組件業(yè)務(wù)，則是鎖定汽車與工業(yè)應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：Fujitsu-Panasonic Co.: 6 Things Left Unsaid，by Junko Yoshida {pagination} New Fujitsu-Panasonic Co.: 6 Things Left Unsaid Junko Yoshida Will Intel 14-nm process be a part of the picture? TOKYO — Fujitsu Semiconductor and Panasonic, together with Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ), marked a sea change in the Japanese electronics industry last week by signing a definitive agreement to establish a new fabless-type company to design and develop system LSI. The move confirms the end of an era. For decades, Japanese electronics companies were obsessed with owning their own fabs. Japanese chip vendors had also regarded developing system LSIs as the key to their future, as they wanted to diversify products from their traditional one-trick memory business. The semiconductor production business is no longer a sacred cow either. Fujitsu and Panasonic have jettisoned most of their own fabs over the last few years. Further, both companies are willing to let go of their system LSI businesses, as they merge into one as a new company. The announcement last week revealed a few details of the new fabless chip company -- including its CEO (Yasuo Nishiguchi), its ratio of voting rights (Fujitsu 40%, Panasonic 20%, DBJ 40%) and the number of employees (approximately 2,800 -- 700 of which are from Panasonic's system LSI business). The new company is scheduled to start operating in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. What's left unsaid More revealing, however, was what the companies did not say in their joint press release. Left unanswered in the announcement is whether the new company's foundries would include Intel, especially at its 14-nm process. There is no indication of how many automotive-related ICs the new company will develop, or whether Unifier -- Panasonic's ARM-based SoC platform for digital consumer products -- will become a major part of the new company's system LSI architecture. We asked those questions to spokespeople at Fujitsu and Panasonic in Japan, and here's what we learned. Question No. 1: Will the new company honor the manufacturing agreement Panasonic made with Intel for the use of Intel's 14nm process? A Fujitsu Semiconductor spokesman said he's unclear on the issue. A Panasonic spokesman, in contrast, told EE Times, "It is logical to think that the deal reached between Panasonic's System LSI (SLSI) business division and Intel will be carried over to the new company." Yoshifumi Okamoto, director of Panasonic's SLSI Business Division, said in an early announcement: "We will deliver highly improved performance and power advantages with next-generation SoCs by leveraging Intel's 14nm Tri-Gate process technology through our collaboration." At that time, Okamoto made no mention of the emerging Fujitsu-Panasonic system LSI company, in which Panasonic, it turns out, has only 20% voting rights. Question No. 2: Is Panasonic's Unifier part of the new system LSI company's platform offerings? Rather than developing different software and hardware for TVs, DVD recorders, mobile phones, and other digital consumer products independently, Panasonic engineers designed a common platform called Unifier, so that they can dramatically increase the reuse of software on their SoCs. The Unifier platform consists of system LSI (including CPU cores and video codecs) and software (incorporating operating system and middleware). Whether the new Fujitsu-Panasonic system LSI company will include the Unifier platform "remains to be seen," the Panasonic spokesman cautiously noted. "Details need to be discussed within the new company." Question No. 3: What sort of "system LSIs" will the new company develop? The new company will develop system LSIs focused on "visual imaging" and "networking" solutions, according to Fujitsu and Panasonic. More specifically, in a joint press release earlier this year, the two companies listed "areas of focus" that include: 1) High-performance solutions (high-performance servers and core technologies that support cloud infrastructure such as ultra-high-speed networks), 2) visual and imaging solutions (next-generation DTV, applications for image recognition, etc.), and 3) wireless solutions (mobile and extremely low-power wireless connectivity solutions that support ubiquitous networks). However, at a time when Panasonic -- the parent company -- is trying to get out of the traditional consumer electronics business, such as DTV and mobile, it is unclear how much of digital consumer SoCs will becom a part of the new company's agenda. Question No. 4: Will the new company also develop automotive SoCs? The Fujitsu spokesman made it clear that system LSIs for automotive dashboards and displays are definitely a part of the plan. "Fujitsu Semiconductor has a strong ASSP business around automotive," he added. In contrast, Panasonic will not assign its automotive-related device businesses to the new company. Panasonic's Automotive and Industrial Systems (AIS) Company will stay with Panasonic. Automotive chip designers working for AIS, won't be transferred to the new company, according to the spokesman. Automotive-related devices such as image sensors, LEDs for vehicles, power semiconductors and high-performance high-voltage devices will remain within Panasonic. A majority of Panasonic's System LSI group will be transferred to the new company. The group had been specialized on the development of SoCs for consumer products, with 40% of its business in TV, 25% in Blu-ray, 10% for mobile and 10% on tuner ICs. Question No. 5: What will make the new system LSI company profitable? In the latest press release, the new company painstakingly stressed that it will have "world-class management resources" and will consolidate "in a profitable manner." The new company will "expand its business globally" and "aim for an IPO within several years." Good news is that the incoming CEO Yasuo Nishiguchi does not come from either Fujitsu or Panasonic. Formerly CEO of Kyocera Corp., he served most recently as an operating executive at the private equity firm, the prestigious but controversial Carlyle Group. Nishiguchi's responsibility at the Carlyle Group was the focus on Japanese buyout opportunities. The new company forecasts annual sales to be about 150 billion yen, based on the combined results of Fujitsu Semiconductor and Panasonic's relevant businesses in the latest fiscal year. The new company won't own any fabs of its own. The new company's fabless model, however, by no means guarantees its profitability. Nor will it assure broader design wins beyond the existing customers held by Fujitsu and Panasonic. While many chip vendors throughout the world are committed to the growing electronics content inside vehicles, the new company's automotive chip business won't necessarily profit from any consolidations among Japanese chip companies. After all, Panasonic is pursuing automotive chip business independent of the new Fujitsu-Panasonic company. Reportedly, Fujitsu originally wanted to bring Renesas into the new company, when the idea of the JV was first floated more than two years ago. Renesas, however, has decided to go it alone, while the company plans to maintain its leadership position in the global automotive electronics market. Question No. 6: What chip business, if any, will be left at Fujitsu Semiconductor and Panasonic? For Fujitsu Semiconductor, what's left will be memory business -- mainly focused on FRAM and FCRAM. According to Fujitsu, FRAM (ferroelectric memory) has advantages of non-volatile memory like EEPROM, keeping write data without power supply for data retention, and high-speed write performance of SRAM. FRAM, which Fujitsu has been shipping since 1999, has 2 product families; serial interface (I2C, SPI) and parallel interface product. Fujitsu's FCRAM (Fast Cycle RAM) is a random access memory featuring low-power consumption. It has a low-power DDR SDRAM interface or PSRAM (pseudo SRAM) interface in the product family. Because the FCRAM features both low-power consumption and high-speed data transfer capability, Fujitsu has long maintained that it's ideal for digital consumer electronics such as digital television and camcorder, that require high-speed processing of large-scale digital data, and optimal for mobile applications such as cellular phones. Now that those system-level SoCs will be designed at the new Fujitsu-Panasonic company and the company's original MCU and analog businesses were sold to Spansion, Fujitsu Semiconductor's main focus will be on the standalone memory business, said the company. For Panasonic, the company's device business will be all about chips for automotive and industrial applications.