{"id":56520,"date":"2021-10-06T03:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jamasoftware.com\/?p=56520"},"modified":"2023-01-12T16:48:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T00:48:02","slug":"safety-as-a-competitive-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamasoftware.com\/legacy\/blog\/2021\/10\/06\/safety-as-a-competitive-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety as a Competitive Advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"safety\"<\/p>\n

Like many industries, the semiconductor industry has seen a dramatic change over the past several decades.\u00a0Simple, single function devices have evolved into complex multi-function devices with firmware, supporting software and,\u00a0in some cases,\u00a0full reference designs.\u00a0While the products that the semiconductor industry\u00a0sells are still integrated circuits (ICs), in many cases the supporting software, documentation\u00a0and\u00a0system-level understanding are just as important\u00a0as the product themselves.\u00a0A key example of this are the products produced\u00a0for the automotive industry that must\u00a0meet the Functional Safety requirements<\/a> of ISO 26262.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early in the days of integrated circuit design, companies generally focused on\u00a0developing single function products.\u00a0The development focus was on continuously\u00a0optimizing for\u00a0different applications and in many cases\u00a0improving performance metrics like power,\u00a0speed,\u00a0and bandwidth.\u00a0Later came an increased focus on reducing product size and cost. The common thinking was that if\u00a0team\u00a0could build a product with better performance metrics than the previous generation, there would be a market\u00a0for the product.\u00a0For these\u00a0teams the skill of circuit design and the capabilities of\u00a0manufacturing were the ultimate competitive advantage.\u00a0A great deal of system-level understanding is not required, although many teams\u00a0had\u00a0Applications Engineers with an understanding of the various applications their products would be used for.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For\u00a0many\u00a0companies in the semiconductor industry,\u00a0circuit design and manufacturing are still competitive advantages.\u00a0For others,\u00a0an\u00a0increased\u00a0focus on integration\u00a0has\u00a0encouraged\u00a0them\u00a0to\u00a0think in terms of\u00a0providing a complete solution, rather than just products.\u00a0Increasing levels of integration is often driven by a goal to decrease size and cost of the\u00a0solution but\u00a0doing so requires a better understanding of the end application and more systems-level thinking in developing the solution.\u00a0This understanding of\u00a0the end application leads to\u00a0a focus on\u00a0clearly understanding and communicating the\u00a0requirements to\u00a0ensure successful product development.\u00a0While in\u00a0single function\u00a0products the\u00a0requirements are often simple and the circuit design is the challenge, in more complex products the\u00a0requirements\u00a0can become quite complex and truly understanding the need is just as critical as executing on developing a solution.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No aspect of integrated circuit development\u00a0increased functional complexity as much as adding firmware and software to\u00a0the overall solution being provided.\u00a0While adding software and firmware to a solution\u00a0is often done to solve a specific problem, it quickly\u00a0opens up\u00a0such a wide range of functional possibilities that\u00a0the complexity\u00a0grows rapidly.\u00a0While there are still teams focused on advancing the state of the art of circuit design, just as many (maybe more) teams are developing\u00a0full\u00a0solutions with a semiconductor element\u00a0as well as firmware, software and even system integration.\u00a0The ultimate representation of this trend is semiconductor companies providing complete reference designs that contain nearly all the engineering required to produce an end-product.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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RELATED:<\/strong> ISO 26262 vs. ASPICE<\/a><\/h4>\n
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In the automotive industry,\u00a0the trend of providing a complete\u00a0system-level\u00a0solution\u00a0has not been as strong as in other industries like IoT or consumer, but\u00a0another trend has emerged: providing a safe solution.\u00a0Integrated circuits sold into automotive applications\u00a0have long had to achieve some of the\u00a0toughest\u00a0reliability\u00a0standards.\u00a0Now it is increasingly common for vehicle electronics to impact\u00a0the safety of the vehicle, so not just reliability is required, but also functional safety.\u00a0Achieving functional safety requires a lot more than circuit design and process technology.\u00a0It requires understanding of\u00a0how failures in an integrated circuit can impact the system.\u00a0It requires robust development processes not\u00a0traditionally\u00a0employed in the semiconductor industry.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowhere was the need for this more strongly articulated than at the \u201cGuidance & Application of ISO 26262 to Semiconductors<\/a>\u201d conference held virtually in August 2021. In the first session of the conference, several automotive OEMs joined forces to explain how important it is for semiconductor suppliers to develop pre-integrated, pre-certified and pre-tested solutions that meet the requirements of ISO 26262 and place the minimum burden on system integrators to integrate the solution into their system and safety case. Functional Safety adds a lot of overhead to vehicle development and receiving complete solutions from their suppliers goes a long way toward reducing that burden.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While many\u00a0semiconductor suppliers\u00a0have been playing catch up to meet the requirements of\u00a0ISO 26262, others are turning it into\u00a0a competitive advantage.\u00a0These suppliers are\u00a0winning business on the strength of their functional safety\u00a0competency.\u00a0They have developed robust processes featuring robust requirements management, configuration management and\u00a0safety analysis.\u00a0As a\u00a0result,\u00a0they\u00a0can\u00a0provide their customers complete safety cases that save their customers significant time when integrating their solutions.\u00a0Some are even\u00a0furthering the state of the art in functional safety\u00a0by participating in standards development.\u00a0It is common for multiple\u00a0suppliers\u00a0to have technically equivalent products, so in these cases\u00a0safety competence\u00a0can\u00a0become the deciding factor in which\u00a0semiconductor\u00a0solution\u00a0an\u00a0OEM or Tier 1 supplier ultimately selects.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the automotive industry working toward fully autonomous vehicles, the importance of developing safe products is more critical than ever. It will take the whole industry working together to furthering the state of the art in all areas to achieve the goal of full autonomy. That state of the art includes both skillful circuit design and robust process that ensure safety.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Never has there been a time where\u00a0it\u00a0was more critical for the semiconductor\u00a0industry to adopt new skills.\u00a0Circuit\u00a0design and manufacturing will always be the core competency of semiconductor companies, but for those focused on the automotive industry safety, it is increasingly necessary for safety to be a core competency.\u00a0Developing this\u00a0as a\u00a0core competency\u00a0can lead to increased market share in\u00a0today\u2019s\u00a0exciting\u00a0automotive market.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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