Making way for power-hungry circuits
Digitalization is accelerating as access to consumer electronics expands and organizations feel the push to become more competitive, resilient, and efficient. Consequently, the demand for semiconductors will increase. Already, roughly 7 percent of the global carbon footprint can be attributed to use of integrated circuits (ICs), most of which is accumulated by data centers. Many expect carbon emissions from chips to grow as the need for specialized semiconductors will inevitably accelerates due to both consumers and corporations integrating AI technologies into their respective activities. Because of this, electrical systems companies have been pressuring manufacturers to make ICs more sustainable.
Simultaneously, the carbon footprint from fabricating chips will likely increase in tandem. Chipmakers must be keen to improve their processes while keeping their emissions low to achieve their net zero goals. To address with sustainability concerns, semiconductor manufacturers must consider sustainability from the design phase.
During our Transforming Industries podcast, Michael Munsey, VP of Siemens Semiconductor Industry, touched on methods semiconductor companies could take to reduce energy consumption for both their products and production.
Start at design
Products cannot be as sustainable as possible when starting in the middle of development. With the growing prevalence of software-defined products (SDPs) and the rising need for specialized ICs, challenges such as high-power consumption and resource usage will exacerbate.
Chip makers are moving towards tailoring their semiconductors to specific products and considering the workload needed to handle them, leading to increased production of customized chips. What’s more, chips that process AI applications are power intensive. It is imperative that chip manufacturers manage both the energy consumption of the end product as well as energy used during their production.
And obviously, all these considerations start at design. Manufacturers are now changing their packaging techniques to enhance performance and manage energy consumption of each chip. Innovations in packaging techniques, such as 3D IC and heterogeneous integration, can improve performance while reducing power consumption. This leads to more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly designs, aligning with sustainability goals.
Simultaneously, simulation can help chip makers guarantee sustainability from the start. Leveraging technology like the comprehensive digital twin, companies can gain very detailed analysis of power consumption and analyze the chip’s functionality, enabling them to determine whether energy usage could be reduced through design changes by moving more things to software from hardware.
Greener production processes
The semiconductor industry has rapidly advanced when it comes to building complex semiconductor devices, but not very many businesses have updated ways to design their fabs. Despite this, most companies in the field have set net zero carbon emission initiatives for the year 2030. In order to meet these goals, drastic changes to the manufacturing process are needed.
Ensuring sustainability starts by looking at IC production on a systems level. Knowledge of the supply chain and material origins not only help manufacturers design more efficient chips but also enables them to see avenues where they can reduce power consumption. When coupled with advanced packaging techniques such as backside power delivery, companies can begin to create a system that requires drastically less power.
The cDT looks across all the software and mechanical systems in the fab to map data and compare it against the predictions of the model. It combines real-time feedback and data gathering and allows businesses to put it into a data model that matches the entire system to aid optimization. With a detailed simulation of the fab, companies can understand its power, water, and HVAC requirements and optimize them for sustainability.
Looking towards the future
Fabbing chips can strain the environment. Carbon footprints are likely to surge as businesses increasingly introduce more SDPs and AI chips become more widespread. Sustainable development must start early.
Advanced packaging techniques like 3D IC and heterogeneous integration can improve performance and reduce power consumption. As well, simulation technology can aid organizations in meeting their sustainability goals. the cDT can help engineers analyze and optimize chip power usage from the design stage. And, on the production process side, the cDT integrates data from various systems in the fab, optimizing requirements for greener operations.
If you want to hear more about how the semiconductor industry can continue to implement digital tools to optimize operations, check out our podcast.
Siemens Digital Industries Software helps organizations of all sizes digitally transform using software, hardware and services from the Siemens Xcelerator business platform. Siemens’ software and the comprehensive digital twin enable companies to optimize their design, engineering and manufacturing processes to turn today’s ideas into the sustainable products of the future. From chips to entire systems, from product to process, across all industries. Siemens Digital Industries Software – Accelerating transformation.
