Chinese semiconductor thread II

[tokenanalyst]

Kingsemi has been increasing manufacturing capacity pretty steady with a new base that comes online this year.

 

[tokenanalyst]

Jingce Electronics : Q4 performance significantly improved year-on-year, semiconductor business delivery capabilities improved​

It is expected to achieve a net profit attributable to the parent company of 150-180 million yuan in 2023, a year-on-year decrease of 33.78%-44.82%; it is expected to achieve a non-net profit of 0.25-055 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.453%. %-79.33%. Looking at quarters, the company is expected to achieve net profit attributable to the parent company of 163-193 million yuan in Q4 of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 26.86%-50.26%, and a sharp turnaround from the previous quarter; it is expected to achieve non-net profit of 106-136 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 187.53%-268.83 %, a sharp turnaround from the previous quarter.

　　Weak demand puts the display business under pressure, and semiconductor business R&D continues to invest heavily: The company expects a year-on-year decline in performance in 2023, mainly due to 1) the continued existence of unfavorable factors such as the global economic downturn and weak demand in the consumer electronics market, and the slow recovery of terminal consumer demand. The display industry is still It has not yet reached the cyclical bottom; 2) The company's semiconductor business is in a period of high investment and has not yet made profits. High R&D investment has a certain impact on the company's net profit. In 2023, Q3 R&D expenses were 154 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.29%. The company's Q1-Q3 R&D expenses were 438 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.24%.

　　The display industry is recovering steadily, and semiconductor business orders continue to increase: In Q4 of 2023, the industry recovery situation in the display field continues to improve, and market demand gradually recovers. The company vigorously promotes the expansion of OLED, Micro-OLED and other related new businesses, and continuously improves products Delivery capabilities and profitability have been enhanced. In Q4, the company showed significant growth in business compared with the previous quarter. In the semiconductor field, the company's R&D investment has entered the harvest period, and orders have grown rapidly. According to the company's third quarter report of 2023, the company's orders in hand in the semiconductor field in Q3 are approximately 1.489 billion yuan. From Q1-Q3 in 23, the company achieved revenue of 209 million yuan in the semiconductor sector. , a year-on-year increase of 86.1%; in addition, the company's film thickness, OCD and electron beam defect review equipment has obtained advanced process orders, and some products have entered the mass production stage. Deliveries have been completed and repeat orders have been obtained. Q4 delivery capacity has been significantly improved compared to Q3 , revenue improved significantly.

​

 

[tokenanalyst]

I don't like to post anything Bloomberg but this is just too funny, this guy is basically saying what we have suspecting for a long time, that Micron has been doing some shady lobbying with China hawks to harm their Chinese rivals.

 

[gelgoog]

Domestic supply is not sufficient to meet domestic demand, it is nowhere even close. Pick SMEE, AMEC, NAURA, whichever you want, and look at their output vs what their buyers need.

Except if there is no demand no factories will be built. Domestic suppliers have been growing capacity very quickly over the past 5 years. But there is no reason they couldn't grow capacity even faster with enough orders.

The ability of Chinese manufacturers is not in doubt here. They are moving as fast as they can, but it is not fast enough to fulfill the needs of the entire market. Which is why imports are and will continue to be necessary. Again, this is not permanent but foreign dependencies will only be eliminated gradually over time.

This would sound great. Except for a couple of reasons. You could get support and upgrades from imported tools pulled out from under your feet at any time. These tools aren't cheap and are amortized over the lifetime of the fab. Quite often they remain there for a decade or more. Imagine support and upgrades are cut and then you get a giant expensive paperweight. And you cannot just easily replace one tool with another from a different vendor. This will require retesting and requalification of the process.

you cannot compare this to EVs or solar, where they caught up in a couple of years.

Solar was remarkably quick yes. But EVs were only possible to scale this quickly because the industrial base in batteries and cars already existed. This took decades to build.

Such rapid advancement in solar was only possible because tool and process technology improvements weren't sanctioned. It wasn't considered to be strategically critical technology by the West. And there was a history in Germany and Japan of similar growth in their industry. So there was a model to be copied. Had sales of EUV tools to China not been blocked, SMIC would have 5nm or better by this time.

DJEL (Metrology), Raintree scientific instruments (Metrology), Shanghai Jingce(Metrology) and many others.

Metrology is still showing the signs of the industry being in a raw state. It needs more expansion and consolidation.

We have to establish lines here, We know that some companies in China cannot get US made tools, Huawei, YMTC, SMIC, Jinhua? Right?
We know even if they can get the tools, a lot of these companies don't want to get stuck doing the same 28nm node in logic, 18nm in memory and the 128L in NAND? Right.

Given the settlement of Jinhua with Micron don't be too surprised if they can buy tools from the West again in the near future. But yes they will be stuck with older process nodes.

I don't like to post anything Bloomberg but this is just too funny, this guy is basically saying what we have suspecting for a long time, that Micron has been doing some shady lobbying with China hawks to harm their Chinese rivals.

It is surprising this kind of news even came out in Bloomberg in the first place. I have to assume someone in the US is pissed with Micron's attitude. The shady dealings of the memory industry are nothing new really. It is basically a cartel and it is run like one.

 

[tokenanalyst]

Metrology is still showing the signs of the industry being in a raw state. It needs more expansion and consolidation.

Is the fastest growing equipment sector in China.

 

[tonyget]

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Huawei Mate 60 Pro Mobile RF Architecture Proves They Can Compete with Top-Tier Smartphone OEMs – Part II​

1. Intro: Reconnect with Part I​

You can read the first part of the analysis at

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. We concluded the first part of the Mate 60 Pro RF FE analysis with the following Summary and Conclusions.

Summary:​

1. Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro marks a clear departure from the RF FE architecture of old, the Phase 5N present in all (that we’ve analyzed) phones built with Chinese RF FE components.
2. While the high-performance RF filters (with high Q and small footprint) are still missing, the presence of LB, MB/HB Rx Diversity FEMs, and LB MB/HB L-PAMiD prove that the Chinese RF FE industry, helped by a new BB and FR1 transceivers from Huawei/HiSilicon, has entered the same league as the top-five leaders in the world, overcoming significant technological handicaps.

Conclusions:​

• The Chinese RF FE industry has developed higher-integration RF FE modules and RF Filters (SAW, LTCC/IPD, and others) to support them pushing beyond the Phase 5N architecture.
• They are not quite at the same performance and module integration level given the number of external filers and what we see in the modules themselves (comparing the 15-20 in Qorvo, Broadcom, Qualcomm, Murata, and Skyworks with the Mate 60 Pro ones).
• The innovation efforts in the RF filter technology, using SAW and LTCC/IPD-type of filter technology may soon reach its limitations in terms of RF performance (lower Q-factors for IPD/LTCC devices) and size/footprint, thus preserving a smaller gap this time between the Chinese RF FE industry and the top-five RF FE industry leaders.

Now, after having spent more time in the lab and analyzing key elements of Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro RF FE architecture and module design, we continue the discussion as promised. We have completed the mobile radio architecture for the smartphone and have done some RF FEM analysis and now have a better understanding of the pressure points and limitations faced by Huawei as an OEM. We have expanded the field of view a bit, looking at the Mate 60 Pro siblings: Mate 60, Mate 60 Pro+, and Mate X5. To highlight the differences and similarities between Huawei (which seems to have successfully overcome many of the difficulties imposed by the 5G technology embargo) and other Chinese OEMs, which are not facing the 5G embargos, we are using Oppo’s Find X6 Pro 5G as a product with comparable performance—minus the emergency satellite communications feature.
To round up this analysis, we have attempted to understand where is China positioned in terms of RF filters for 5G mobile radios in general and BAW filters in particular.
Many thanks to John Sullivan, my colleague and collaborator, the author for the module and RF FE analysis reports.

1.1 Why the Oppo Find X6 Pro 5G?​

The Oppo Find X6 Pro 5G is a solid representative of the current top-tier smartphone 5G FR1, though not available for sale outside China. The mobile radio is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 architecture and can be considered typical for a top-tier Chinese OEM using Western components. The centerpiece of the sub-3 GHz RF FE, the MHB L-PAMiD is a Qorvo design from 2019 (which underwent several design iterations since) similar in RF capability with the Mate 60 Pro’s S111341A.
Given that Qorvo has a more advanced (high-performance) MHB L-PAMiD, as seen in the Pixel 7 Pro, we’ll be using that RF FEM to contrast what’s available in China now compared to what the top-five RF FE vendors have in their product lines.
The Oppo Find X6 Pro 5G allows us to do a solid comparison of 5G mobile radio architectures “beyond Phase 7”, with two mobile platforms: one using the Huawei/HiSilicon developed AP/BB SoC Kirin 9000S together with the FFY6633F1 FR1 XCVR and the other using the Qualcomm AP/BB SoC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and the SDR735 FR1 XCVR.

2. The Oppo Find X6 Pro 5G Mobile Radio Architecture​

Released at the end of March 2023 (and not FCC, UL, or CE certified), the Oppo Find X6 Pro 5G shows a typical radio architecture from top Chinese OEMs with access to western 5G technology.
Relevant Air Interface Specifications*:
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (SM8550-AB) with 1 × SDR735 XCVR (Oppo Find X6 uses the MediaTek Dimensity 9200 platform)

• 4G Bands: B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66 (band xx is TDD)
• 5G Band: n1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 77, 78, 79 (bands yy and n7 , for compliance to 3GPP R3l 17, are required to be capable of 4 × 4 MIMO in DL and 2 × 2 MIMO in UL)

Note: At launch Oppo highlighted the support for band n28† with 2 × 2 MIMO in DL (FDD UL: 703–748, DL: 758–803).

• SUL and SRS support as applicable to the Chinese networks
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be, Wi-Fi Direct
• GNSS: GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS (G1), BDS (B1I+B1c+B2a), GALILEO (E1+E5a), QZSS (L1+L5)

The Find X6 Pro mobile radio architecture shows the typical building blocks of a design solution tailored for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC using a single SDR735 FR1 transceiver—as opposed to a dual SDR735 architecture for the same BB processor for phones supporting more 4G and 5G bands and extended CA, like Galaxy S23 and iPhone 14. The radio architecture for the Oppo Find X6 Pro 5G is presented in Figure 1 and the main RF FE components are listed in Table 1.

The Find X6 Pro Phase 7+ architecture is built around RF FE modules from Skyworks, Qorvo, and Qualcomm. The Qorvo workhorse QM77048E was chosen as the key MHB L-PAMiD in the sub-3 GHz space. Qorvo designed that device in 2019 and has gone through several design iterations such that we can see it in several mobile radios introduced in 2023.
*We have not independently verified the device performance and specifications declared or advertised in corporate or third-party media reports.
† 5G Band n28 is rather popular in China, as is in other countries from the

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(APT). Band n28 provides wide-area 5G coverage even with 4 × 4 DL streams as proven in the 2021 FWA trials with Ericsson. It’s similar to T-Mobile’s 600 MHz band (n71).

Qorvo QM77048E MHB L-PAMiD – Module Architecture​

Designed in ~2019 and known as QM77048, B/D/E/S (the analyzed version is E, tailored for China, and was extracted from a Xiaomi 12 Pro released in December 2021; Figure 2), Qorvo’s MHB L-PAMiD is a 62-pin LGA containing a six-layer single-sided PCB with ? BAW (SMR) filters and five ICs:

• 1 × PA die (two PAs) – in Oppo Find X6 Pro only one PA is used
• 1 × LNA
• 2 × RF Switch
• 1 × RF FE Controller

Relevant datasheet specifications:

Support for 4G bands:

• Integrated filters for bands B 1, 3, 4, 34, 39, 40 and 41. Additional bands can be supported though AUX ports.
• Support for 5G bands n1, n3, n4, n7, n40, n41, n66.
• MIPI RF FE V3.0 Interfaces

Qorvo QM77180 MHB L-PAMiD – Module Architecture​

The top-five RF FE vendors have higher performance modules in their portfolios and, to put things in perspective, Figure 3 shows Qorvo’s high-performance L-PAMiD from a Pixel 7 Pro containing a nine-layer double-sided PCB with ? BAW (SMR) filter dies and eight ICs:

• 2 × PA
• 1 × LNA
• 4 × RF Switch
• 1 × RF FE Controller

Given the large number of integrated filters and its architecture, the QM77180 can support a lot more bands and carrier aggregation combinations, as required for a top-tier device.

 

[tonyget]

3. Huawei Mate 60 Pro – Mobile RF Architecture​

The radio architecture depicted in this high-level functional block diagram looks very similar to what one would expect to find in a current-production 5G FR1 smartphone, plus the emergency satellite voice and data messaging system (Figure 4).

The stand-alone RF band filters and multiplexers and antenna switches in the ASM and RF MUX subsystem are matched cleverly with the LB L-PAMiD, MHB L-PAMiD, and Rx Div FEM. The UHB subsystem is built using the UHB L-PAMiF and the OnMicro MMMB PA complete with APT RF power detectors, and voltage switches round up the mobile radio architecture.

Clearly this is not a Phase 5N design, and Huawei and their RFIC and RF FEM design houses must have considered it a staple design since Huawei used variations of this architecture in the Mate X5 and Mate 60 Pro+. Both these smartphones were launched in September 2023.

While having a good control of the technology, with a variety of indigenous Chinese companies delivering UHB L-PAMiF modules, China has not shown a module-level integration of the sub-3 GHz RF circuits needed for 5G mobile radios until the Mate 60 Pro, preferring the less performant but technologically less challenging architecture known as the Phase 5N. Very few SAW filters made it into the Phase 5N modules; the Chinese OEM and RF FE vendors are constrained to use external stand-alone components.

We attribute this to the lack of high-performance SAW and BAW filters and limited expertise in module packaging for the sub-3 GHz bands, where multiple Tx and Rx paths must coexist without EMI interference and with minimal RF insertion losses within the confines of a small footprint and low- cost package.

With the Mate 60 Pro Huawei has shown for the first time that China can go it alone even in the RF FE space and deliver 5G capable performance in Rx Diversity, LB L-PAMID, and MHB L-PAMID modules. It’s a start, and the solutions employed in developing those modules are not at the forefront of technological innovations yet, but it meets the requirements for 5G mobile radios.

We will focus our attention on the MHB L-PAMID module because it’s the key to having a successful Phase 7+ implementation: it needs high-performance filters to satisfy these requirements:

1. Support multiple bands for frequency range covers <1 GHz to 3 GHz, specifically the 100 MHz TDD bands that are key for high-data rates, EN-DC NSA, or SA.
2. Support for multiple Tx/Rx paths, SUL, and SRS. Two integrated PAs and at least two integrated LNAs are the norm these days.
3. 4 × 4 MIMO in DL and 2 × 2 MIMO in UL
4. Exhibit low RF insertion losses with good control of impedance matching (direct matching is the norm for these modules nowadays). This requires very good RF filters with low IL and high RF power handling capability for Tx (HPUE, PC 2, and even PC 1.5).
5. Very good Tx-Rx isolation and low EMI relying heavily on the packaging technology to accommodate that, preferably using double-sided PCB with GND layers separating the Rx from the Tx path.
6. Small footprint and low cost.
7. Frugal on DC power, meaning make the best use of ET and APT technology.
8. Controlled and configured over standard MIPI RFFE interface.

To understand how the Chinese RF FE designs have overcome the technical difficulties of the past, the analysis of the MHB L-PAMiD module from the Mate 60 Pro must cover at least these three aspects of the module design: architecture, packaging, and the so very important integrated RF filters.

3.1 Huawei Mate 60 Pro MHB L-PAMiD​

Using Figures 5 and 6 we can easily identify the active components: two PA dice, one RF FE module controller, one RF switch for each PA, and another RF switch with integrated RF couplers for the connection to the antenna subsystem. A bank of six LNAs completes the active IC line-up for the module.

On the RF filters side, we have four duplexers and four BPFs, all SAW devices. The lone SAW BPF labeled in red is just a die, all other SAW devices have their own metallic cans mounted on a ceramic carrier.

We made a cross-section along the A-A line of the whole module to expose the packaging details; EDS results are shown in Figure 7. Two filter dice from two different filters are visible in the cross-section together with the overall PCB carrier and other details of the package structure and assembly technology.

The SAW filters used in the MHB L-PAMiD are very different from the SAW filters used in the S111131C Receive Diversity FEM. The MHB L-PAMiD filters are technologically more evolved and from a different vendor as we will show later.

From a packaging technology point of view, we should note the single-side only mounting of components on the PCB carrier and the EMI fence shielding the LNA bank and the red SAW die from the rest of the module. This is likely the consequence of the single-sided PCB mounting technology although somewhat similar EM shielding fences were observed in FEM packages from the top-five vendors but in a less-pronounced (through the package) fashion. The fence extends through top of the package where the dark line shows and inside the package as shown with the dotted line. A full package analysis

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for the module is in progress and the report will be available by the end of January 2024.

3.2 The SAW filters in the MHB L-PAMiD​

In these optical images for Filter 2 (dark field, Figure 7b, and bright field, Figure 7c) the ceramic carrier, the metallic package together with the rolled-up rim of the metal can together with the filter’s piezo substrate, and the PCB are easy to spot. Even the metal layer for the IDT is distinguishable in Figure 7c.

The EDS analysis reveals a piezo substrate bonded to a glass-like layer (LTOS), a technology with excellent RF and thermal performance in the sub-3 GHz range. The LTOS technology theoretically yields better performance than Murata’s IHP (incredibly high- performance) SAW filters.

TechInsights has analyzed a two-die SAW filter manufactured by a foreign, non-Chinese company and extracted from an Honor 5G smartphone. The analysis is available in the Mobile RF vertical under the Acoustic Wave Filter channel,

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.
The similarity between the MHB L-PAMiD SAW filter packages, the package markings, and the SAW technology from the foreign company is very high, leading us to believe that it’s likely those filters are not made in China.

We have encountered other foreign stand-alone SAW filters in smartphones from Chinese as well as other smartphone OEMs (Figure 9).

We couldn’t find any BAW filters in the Mate 60 Pro, a good indicator that the BAW technology was not ready for reliable mass-production in China at the time the Mate 60 Pro architecture was engineered. In fact, we were rather disappointed with the SAW filter technology we found in the Rx Diversity FE module.

3.2 SAW Diplexer Filter from Mate 60 Pro S111131C Rx Diversity FEM​

This filter uses a standard SAW filter manufacturing process, in which a metal (Al) electrode forms the IDT on a single piezoelectric crystal. It does not appear to be temperature compensated (Figure 10) and looks like a very low-cost device that fits the LB filtering requirements. It is clearly not in the same league with Murata, Qorvo, Skyworks, and others who use piezo engineered substrates (like SOITEC’s POI) bonded to Si or sapphire.

There are several SAW devices in the Rx Diversity FE module and it’s very likely they are all designed and built in China for Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro RF FE.

3.3 Thin Film IPD BPF Filter from Maxscend UHB Rx Div (Single LNA)​

The Chinese RF IC and filter designers have developed solid RF filter technologies for the UHB bands using IPD and LTCC technologies or packaged multilayer ceramics devices. Figures 12 and 13 shows an example of a thin film IPD filter extracted from an UHB Rx Diversity module—though it is not used in the Mate 60 Pro.

 

[tonyget]

3.4 Mate 60 Pro relevant module comparisons against Oppo Find X6 Pro and Mate X5​

To better illustrate the technical features of the RF FE design introduced by Huawei with the Mate 60 Pro, we have produced several side-by-side images of key modules in the Mate 60 Pro and the equivalent modules from Mate X5 and Oppo Find X6 Pro.

In the first set of side-by-side images (Figure 14) we have the layout, as a hybrid X-ray with the superimposed dice, for the MHB L-PAMiD modules from the Oppo Find X6 Pro and the Mate 60 Pro. Both modules are bult on a single-sided PCB with a similar number of acoustic wave filters and active IC, but the Qorvo L-PAMiD uses BAW/SMR filters while the S111341A uses SAW filters as we’ve shown already. Interestingly enough, the size of the PCB on which these modules are built are comparable.

In the second set of images (Figure 15), we’re looking at the same MHB L-PAMiD from the Mate 60 Pro and the corresponding module from Mate X5. The two smartphones share a common mobile radio platform, but these modules are rather different, not just in the component line-up but also in the mounting method: the Mate X5 module uses wire-bonding for the PAs and the RF FE controller while the S111341A is all BGA/LGA for the actives.

For the third set of images (Figure 16), we have selected the LB L-PAMiD modules form Mate X5 and Mate 60 Pro given that unlike the MHB L-PAMiDs, these modules while somewhat different, they appear to have the same design philosophy and manufacturer and are almost identical on the Tx side. The PCB size is comparable too.

4. Features of the Mate 60 Pro RF FE design (what stands out)​

Table 2 summarizes the main components of the mobile radios from the phones discussed here with information for the Mate 60 Pro+, Mate 60, and Mate 40 5G from 2020. The Mate 60 Pro mobile radio architecture carries on in the latest crop of Huawei top-tier phones, even though the RF FE module line-up is slightly different because of the target market (Mate 60 at the low end) and features and design optimization (Mate X5 at the high end).

The first observation we are compelled to make is that while China seems to have SAW and BAW filter technology and with several Chinese vendors manufacturing successfully 5G UHB modules for about 3 years now, Huawei decided to compromise for the key MHB L-PAMiD module, using what appear to be non-Chinse sourced SAW filters. The design of the actual modules is Chinese though.

However, our Mate 60 Pro analysis has not yet found any BAW filters and some of the SAW filters from the key MHB L-PAMiD module are not made in China. There are Chinese SAW filters in the RF FE modules as we’ve shown in the Rx Diversity FEM and as we expect in the LB L-PAMiD, because these modules have less-demanding RF performance requirements and because of the Chinese experience with such devices.

The second observation is that RF FE SiP packaging technology used for the Mate 60 family is behind what the top-five vendors are using in their high-performance modules—a 2D packaging heavily influenced if not driven by the mobile platform developers, Huawei/HiSilicon.

The third observation is that at the end of the day—“What works, works!” It’s not a timid start by any means, Huawei has a viable 5G FR1 smartphone built almost entirely with Chinese sourced components and for that they should be commended, especially considering that they’ve succeeded where Apple is still struggling to deliver. Let’s see if they can make the jump to FR2—no hurry needed, thinking that not much FR2 bandwidth has been licensed in China—and switch to advanced packaging and integration of SAW and BAW filters in their RF FE modules.

The fourth observation concerns the satellite messaging capability present in the Huawei Mate 2023 crop of phones and the Huawei designation for these smartphones as “Satellite Mobile Device” and not a “Digital Mobile Phone” as was the case for Mate 40 Pro 5G. Is this designation just meant to drive marketing hype only?

Over the summer, the Chinese media reported about the successful launch of mass-produced BAW (FBAR) acoustic wave filters for 5G and the subsequent long-term supply agreement with a leading OEM, presumably Huawei. The company in the news is part owner of one of the leading MEMS wafer manufacturers and the MEMS production lines could have provided the basis for developing the BAW filter technology the Chinese company is boasting about.

FBAR BAW filters are easier to manufacture than the SMR BAW. China has several other companies active in the FBAR space, Suzhou Huntersun, Epic Mems, Crystal Resonance Tech, and ROFS, which is the most talked about. There are several top Chinese RF FE vendors that seem to have the technology for sub-3 GHz Rx Div FEM and LB, MHB L-PAMiD at the active die level (LNA, PA, RF switches, RF FE controller) but are lacking the filters. The Mate 60 Pro could be the catalyst for the introduction of more Phase 7+ RF FE modules in Chinse production lines by those RF FE vendors.

On the RF FE packaging front, Chinese OSAT companies specializing in RF FE could be used for advancing packaging for the new custom designed RF FEMs like the ones used in Mate 60 Pro. The module designs could be from Huawei/HiSilicon using active dice from different vendors.

5. Summary​

1. The Huawei Mate 60 Pro has a typical Phase 7+ radio architecture also shared with the Mate X5 and the Mate 60 Pro+, although the RF FE line-up is somewhat different, including a MMMB PAM in the Mate 60 and the Mate X5 from HiSilicon. Those phones were released about one month later, maybe the RF FEM supply had to be adjusted; the components for satellite communications and the satellite networks themselves are different; the Mate 60 Pro and Pro+ stand out in that regard, with the dual “voice and data” emergency messaging using Tiantong satellites.
2. We don’t have a clear indication on who designs and who makes the key RF FE modules. Overall system design consideration dictates that the OEM—in this case Huawei/HiSilicon—must have had at least a hand in the design: after all they had to supply the AP/BB SoC and XCVR platform for the RF FE vendors to interface with and the OEM (Huawei) had to set the parameters and requirements to fit their RF FE design.
3. We’re reconfirming the Chinese mobile radio technology is on the right 5G track but still behind Western leading edge by 4-5 years. For the critical MHB L-PAMiD, the RFIC designers used outsourced SAW filters for the high-frequency performance and Tx power handling capability instead of their own Chinese SAW filters. Also, they used canned (metal packaged) filters either to circumvent embargo for high-frequency/5G die components or because they were readily available as off-the-shelf components. This module design choice also highlights that China did not have an indigenous BAW filter supplier when the Mate 60 Pro FE design was finalized. Even with their SAW filters, Chinese companies seem to be in the earlier stages of having in-house capabilities for the high-performance demands in 5G ML and MH bands.
4. Based on our analysis, the FR1 XCVRs are from HiSilicon—an easily drawn conclusion knowing that the transceiver development is closely linked to that of the modem/BB processor. This brings up an interesting question: How did Huawei/HiSilicon manage to succeed in the development of a modern 5G mobile platform when the mighty Apple, even with the head start from the acquisition in 2019 of Intel’s 5G mobile radio division, is still struggling to deliver?
5. Even though HiSilicon shows up as the likely vendor for the MMMB PAMs in the Mate 60, Mate X5, and Mate 40 5G, we cannot credit them with the other key modules in the RF FE like the Rx Div FEM or the MHB L-PAMiD; however, they surely have set the requirements and influenced the design.
6. Some Chinese companies could be using the MEMS technology they acquired from the West to repurpose it for BAW filter production.

6. Conclusions​

1. The Chinese RF FE industry has developed higher-integration RF FE modules matching the Huawei/HiSilicon mobile radio platform (BB processor and FR1 transceiver), evolving the Chinese smartphones beyond the Phase 5N mobile radio architecture.
2. They are not quite at the same performance or level of integration given the number of external filers and what we see in the modules themselves (comparing the 15-20 integrated filters in Qorvo, Broadcom, Qualcomm, Murata, and Skyworks with the Mate 60 Pro ones). In fact, for the critical RF FEMs like the MHB L-PAMID, the Chinese RFIC designers have used SAW filters sourced externally.
3. The Chinese innovation efforts in the RF filter technology, using SAW and LTCC/IPD-type of filter and more recently BAW technology, while showing promising results have yet to deliver the mass-produced high-performance devices needed for mobile radios compliant with 3GPP Release 17 and beyond, thus preserving a smaller gap this time between the Chinese RF FE industry and the top-five RF FE industry leaders.
4. Innovation comes in many ways and acquiring manufacturing technology for MEMS piezo substrate and then converting it to BAW/FBAR filter technology could be one of them. The Mate 60/X5 series of phones are supplied only for China’s domestic market though.

 

[tonyget]

@tphuang Techinsights haven't find any BAW filter inside Mate 60 pro

 

[olalavn]

It is reported that Changxin Memory's new factory in Hefei has begun mass production of 18.5nm process DRAM chips. The first phase of the Hefei factory is close to full capacity, with a monthly output of 100,000 wafers.

The upcoming second phase of the expansion will be completed by the end of 2024, adding 40,000 wafers per month, bringing CXC Memory's total DRAM production capacity to 10% of the world's scale.

In addition to developing more than 300 layers of NAND flash memory, Yangtze Memory has also launched 120-layer new products. The goal is to overcome external adverse factors and promote the development of China's semiconductor capabilities.