Science popularization of semiconductor： the first category of ＂logic chip＂ in semiconductor industry and its main companies.

Source: Straight Flush

In the early stage, we briefly introduced the classification of semiconductor industry, and briefly explained the position of memory chips in the semiconductor industry and related companies in the storage segmentation field. In this article, we will continue to introduce you to another pillar in the semiconductor industry: logic chips.

Programmable Logic Device (PLD) is also called programmable logic device. PLD is produced as a general integrated circuit, and its logic function is determined according to the user’s programming of the device. Logic chips are always accompanied by logic circuits, which are basically composed of AND gates, OR gates and NOT gates. PLD chip belongs to digital circuit chip, not analog or mixed signal chip (with both digital circuit and analog circuit).

• logicIC is the largest category in semiconductor industry.

According to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Organization (WSTS), it is estimated that the global sales of semiconductor products will be 633.228 billion US dollars in 2022, of which the sales of digital and analog integrated circuits will reach 534.01 billion US dollars, accounting for 84.33%. Among them, the sales of digital integrated circuits will reach 443.672 billion US dollars, and the sales of analog integrated circuits will reach 90.338 billion US dollars. In digital integrated circuits, the sales of memory, logic IC and microprocessor reached $166.517 billion, $192.182 billion and $84.974 billion respectively, and logic IC continued to dominate the integrated circuit market.

• logicIC classification

At present, logic chips mainly include CPU/GPU/ASIC/FPGA and so on:

CPU:Chinese name CPU is one of the main equipment of electronic computer. Its function is mainly to interpret computer instructions and process data in computer software. The CPU mainly consists of two parts, namely, the controller and the arithmetic unit, and it also includes a bus for buffering the data and control between processors at high speed. Its functions are mainly to process instructions, perform operations, control time and process data.

In the computer architecture, CPU is the core hardware unit that controls and allocates all hardware resources of the computer (such as memory, input and output units) and performs general operations. CPU is the core of computer operation and control, and the operations of all software layers in the computer system will eventually be mapped into CPU operations through instruction sets.

Judging from the global CPU competition pattern, the head effect of the integrated circuit industry is obvious, and a few leading enterprises occupy a dominant position in the market. Among them, Intel and AMD lead the global CPU market. In the x86 field in 2021, Intel’s market share was 76.65%, which still dominated. In the non-x86 field, ARM has dominated the mobile terminal market with the advantages of low energy consumption, high efficiency and long development time, with a market share of 43.2%, showing a duopoly pattern. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, the country launched the Taishan Plan to develop domestic CPU, and the 863 Plan also proposed to independently develop CPU. In 2006, the nuclear high-base special project was launched, and the domestic CPU field ushered in a new round of state support. A number of high-quality domestic CPU manufacturers such as Kunpeng, Feiteng, Godson, Zhaoxin, Haiguang and Shenwei rose rapidly.

GPU: GPU, namely graphics processor, is a kind of microprocessor that specializes in image and graphics-related operations on personal computers, workstations, game consoles and some mobile devices (such as tablet computers and smart phones). Because it is good at large-scale concurrent computing, it is also used in AI training and other scenarios that require large-scale concurrent computing.

At present, the leading GPUs in the world mainly include NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, and their high-performance GPUs are widely used in artificial intelligence and other fields in China. NVIDIA and AMD’s high-performance GPUs are mainly used in the field of high-performance computing. At present, the high-performance GPU concerned by the market includes AMD’s M.I100, MI200 and NVIDIA A100, H100, all have double-precision computing capability, and are mainly used in the field of high-performance computing. At present, influenced by the international environment, the domestic high-performance GPU market is facing a change.

ASIC(application specific integrated circuit) is an application specific integrated circuit, which is designed and manufactured according to the requirements of specific users and the needs of specific electronic systems. The characteristic of ASIC is to meet the needs of specific users. Compared with general integrated circuits, ASIC has the advantages of smaller size, lower power consumption, improved reliability, improved performance, enhanced confidentiality and lower cost in mass production.

ASIC chips can be used in smart security, autonomous driving, smart medical care,Smart homeAnd the Internet of Things.

FPGAThe full name is Field-Programmable Gate Array, that is, field programmable gate array. It is mainly composed of programmable logic unit (LC), input and output unit (IO) and switch wiring array (SB).

PGA was born in 1985. In order to solve the lack of flexibility of ASIC circuits, FPGA was invented by Ross Freeman, one of the founders of Xilinx, in 1985, which belongs to a kind of programmable logic device PLD. The first real FPGA chip XC2064 was invented by Xilinx. This kind of FPGA is much simpler than modern FPGA, and only contains 64 logic blocks, while there are thousands or millions of logic blocks in modern FPGA.

Because of its field programmable flexibility and constantly improving circuit performance, FPGA chips have a wealth of downstream applications, including network communication, industrial control, consumer electronics, data centers, automotive electronics and so on. In China FPGA market in 2020, the communication field and industrial control account for the highest proportion, reaching 41% and 32% respectively. along withintelligent automobileWith the continuous penetration of AI reasoning, automotive electronics and data centers will become the fastest growing market segments of FPGA. FPGA is the hottest subdivision in China at present. In 2022,Fudan microelectronicsAfter listing, it was heated up.

This report is compiled by the investment consultant with the assistance of the research assistant. Investment consultant: Bo Huang (registration number: A0740620120007).