2012 年,华为收购英国光子集成公司 CIP;
2013 年,华为收购了比利时硅光技术开发商 Caliopa 公司。
也就是通过这两项收购,华为正式进入了光通信芯片市场,成为首家掌握硅光子技术的国内厂商
此外,据英国《金融时报》报道,华为在上海正准备建立一个芯片组工厂,这个工厂将由总部设在上海的研发公司直接代表华为进行管理,且不会使用任何源自美国的技术,根据规划,该工厂将在 2021 年底开始生产 45 nm 芯片组,并采用 28 nm 光刻技术。力争在 2022 年使用 20nm 以下的先进工艺来制造专门服务于旗下电信部门的芯片。
回过头,我们再来看武汉华为光工厂,它是否是华为海思的项目呢
值得一提的是,华为选择在武汉建立光芯片工厂,一方面与武汉光谷的定位、发展有关,从上世纪 80 年代开始,武汉光谷用了近 30 年的时间,成为全球最大的光纤光缆生产基地、光电器件研发基地、激光产业基地、是中国最大的光电子产业集聚地。目前在光电领域,只有武汉和西安,是跑在全国最前面的,武汉有光谷,西安有国家光电研究所。另一方面,华为海思的磷化铟实验室本就建在这里,是一条磷化铟的中试线。磷化铟(InP)是第二代化合物半导体材料,具有电子迁移率高、耐辐射性能好、禁带宽度大等优点,在光子和射频领域拥有关键优势,是军事通信、雷达和辐射测量等性能驱动型利基市场以及自动测试设备的首选。因此,研发、生产集中在一个有需求、有服务、有配套的地方,有助于降本,这也在侧面证明武汉光芯片工厂是海思的阵地
In 2012, Huawei acquired CIP, a British photonic integration company; In 2013, Huawei acquired Caliopa, a Belgian silicon light technology developer. Through these two acquisitions, Huawei officially entered the optical communication chip market and became the first domestic manufacturer to master silicon photonics technology.
In addition, according to the British "Financial Times" report, Huawei is preparing to establish a chipset factory in Shanghai. This factory will be directly managed by a Shanghai-based R&D company on behalf of Huawei and will not use any technology originating from the United States. According to the plan , The factory will begin production of 45 nm chipsets by the end of 2021, and will use 28 nm lithography technology. Strive to use advanced processes below 20nm in 2022 to manufacture chips dedicated to serving its telecommunications sector.
It is worth mentioning that Huawei chose to build an optical chip factory in Wuhan. On the one hand, it is related to the positioning and development of Wuhan Optics Valley. Since the 1980s, Wuhan Optics Valley has taken nearly 30 years to become the world’s largest optical fiber. The optical cable production base, the optoelectronic device research and development base, and the laser industry base are the largest gathering place for the optoelectronic industry in China. At present, in the field of optoelectronics, only Wuhan and Xi'an are in the forefront of the country. Wuhan has Optics Valley and Xi'an has the National Institute of Optoelectronics. On the other hand, Huawei HiSilicon’s indium phosphide laboratory was originally built here, which is a pilot line for indium phosphide. Indium Phosphide (InP) is a second-generation compound semiconductor material. It has the advantages of high electron mobility, good radiation resistance, and large forbidden band width. It has key advantages in the field of photonics and radio frequency, such as military communications, radar, and radiation measurement. The first choice for performance-driven niche markets and automated test equipment. Therefore, the concentration of R&D and production in a place where there is demand, service, and supporting facilities will help reduce costs. This also proves that Wuhan Optical Chip Factory is the position of HiSilicon
±±++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hisilicon had an indium phosphate InP lab at wuhan awhile back. That's why Huawei build this fab at wuhan. InP is a key material for photodetector