Faster adoption of the newest chip technology is TSMC’s goal.
New software made available by TSMC will allow automotive chip designers to begin their work on their designs about two years earlier.
California’s SANTA CLARA — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. announced that it will release new software this year to make it easier for customers developing high-tech computer chips for automobiles to benefit from its most recent innovations.
The largest contract maker of semiconductors in the world is TSMC. Many of the largest chip makers for the automotive sector, including NXP Semiconductor and STMicroelectronics, use TSMC to produce their components.
However, compared to chips used in consumer electronics, automotive chips must pass a higher standard for toughness and longevity. Automotive manufacturing technologies developed by TSMC often appear a few years after comparable processes for consumer chips.
Historically, it has taken automotive chip manufacturers more time to design chips for those specialised production lines. As a result, automobile chips may be several years behind those in the most recent smartphone.
On Wednesday, TSMC introduced new software at a conference in Silicon Valley, allowing automotive chip designers to begin work on their designs around two years earlier. As a result, when TSMC releases its automotive-grade variation in 2025, those businesses will be able to employ the N3 chipmaking technology, which is the state-of-the-art in consumer gadgets right now.
Kevin Zhang, vice president of business development at TSMC, remarked during a press conference that “auto stayed far, far behind consumer historically.” “That was back then. This enables our automotive customers to begin their ideas significantly earlier—by a full two years—than they could previously.
Prior to the pandemic and the resulting shortages of car semiconductors, according to Zhang, automakers frequently delegated crucial choices about chip technology to their suppliers. But these days, TSMC and the automakers are frequently in direct communication.
According to Zhang, “They fully understand they need direct exposure to silicon technology selection.” We deal with them extremely closely up front, since I have personally gotten to know many of the top automobile CEOs over the past number of years.
