RF and Analog IC design - end of year review

Leon Morrison, Senior Consultant, recently wrote the following newsletter for his contacts in the RF and Analog IC design community.

Once again the Merry (aka the Wet and Windy) Month of December is nearly upon us.  I thought this would be a good time to send the 2nd Annual Analog Almanac to our  Most Excellent and Revered RF and Analog IC design community. Any feedback, comments or questions would be most welcome.

The General Picture

Design activity and the demand for skills remains strong, with a wide range of companies throughout the UK and mainland Europe busy on new designs. At the recent Future Horizons IEF conference, Maria Marced (President of TSMC Europe) said that RF and Analog has grown from 60% to 80% of the European market since 2008 (note I’m not sure this included IP, as ARM and Imagination must make up a good chunk). See article below.

RF, Analog and Mixed Signal IC design skills are in high demand, with a current “spike” in CAD/PDK Support and Design Methodology positions. Layout requirements have been low for a number of months – this may be a natural design cycle, or a trend within companies to outsource / take on contractors – however there are 2 layout roles in the UK. I work closely with Dan and Tom in our contracts division so we offer full permanent and contract cover across Europe (and certain other international locations).

Specific Trends / Skills

1.   Over the last few years, as Analog design has evolved, some companies have become more specific about the “sector” experience they’re looking for. Currently three primary sectors of interest are:

• Power Management
• High Speed
• RF IC (High Frequency)

2.   New areas such as Smart Home, Remote Healthcare, Smart & Renewable Energy, Connected Car, etc. are driving Analog and RF skills demand. Of particular interest is the Internet of Things (IoT) (see another article below). Current demand is spread geographically:

• RFIC:    Cambridge, Thames Valley, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland
• Analog / Mixed Signal IC:   England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France, even Malaysia and Singapore

3.   Some of the jobs we’re currently working on are in particularly interesting technology fields – 4 highlights include:

• Envelope Tracking – very challenging full custom Analog designs
• Imaging for space applications – client’s chip on Mars rover!
• NFC – creating new business models with smartphones
• LTE for next generation wireless communication

Work Permits
 

Certain countries seem to be waking up to the fact that they have a chronic skills shortage, so are slowly becoming more open to work permits. In the UK it is possible to obtain work permits but the bureaucracy and cost is making the majority of companies hesitant to undergo the process. Neil Dickins, a founder of IC Resources, has been asked to participate on an advisory board to the UK Border department, so if you have any comments or views on this issue please let us know.

IC Resources News

IC Resources (and the IC Group) has continued to grow over the last two years. We’re pleased to announce the addition of Peter Markl to the team, who will head up a new Munich office for us. Peter has more than 25 years of semiconductor experience.

We’ve also launched mobile websites – see www.ic-resources.com  on the move!

Recommendation Scheme

 

As always, we’re keen to hear from strong RF or Analog IC Design engineers as well as CAD/PDK and layout professionals. We hope that recommendations are made because you trust our service, but we should also say “thank you” in a concrete way. Therefore for anyone reading this newsletter we’re happy to raise the highest value our recommendation scheme to £1000 (depending on seniority).

Getting in Touch

Please get in touch if you have any questions or comments about this information, or about the market in general. I’d love to hear an update from you, either professional or personal.

All the best for December, the holidays (only 3 weeks away) and of course next year. And remember…..the REAL world is ANALOG.

Links:
Maria Marced / EIF:    Click here
Internet of Things:   Click here 
Leon Morrison: LinkedIn
Peter Markl: LinkedIn

 

Cheers, Leon
Senior Consultant
+44 20 8400 2483  | +44 20 8400 2444 

www.ic-resources.com goes mobile

We’ve launched a mobile website to run alongside our current platform www.ic-resources.com. 

Semiconductor professionals who are using the site from any mobile device will have an easy search functionality and the ability to apply for semiconductor jobs quickly and easily.

Email and, of course, calling are also options for finding out more information on the market or a particular job.

Electronica

Electronica 25th International Fair for Electronic Components, Systems and Applications
13-16 November 2012, Munich

We sent a contingent of 6 consultants to Electronica this year, and there was hardly a pause in the talking over a three day period. The one notable exception was at an excellent restaurant, when we paused to savour some good Bavarian food and well earned fermented hops. The restaurant was chosen by our new German consultant, Peter Markl, who is heading up our Munich office. Peter has been in the high tech arena for more than 25 years, so he renewed many old acquaintances at Electronica as well as establishing a number of new working partnerships.

The show was busy and had more companies from China and Taiwan than ever before. The number of UK companies actually exhibiting was probably slightly lower than in previous years but the UK Networking area, sponsored by the UKTI, was always busy and proved a valuable resource for arranging meetings in a slightly less manic environment than most.

Overall, the general mood can be split into two categories:
1. Technical: development activity is continues at a heated pace and the vast majority of companies are hiring, or would like to hire if budgets allowed!
2. Commercial: subdued in the leadup to end of Q4 but quiet optimism regarding next year.

Semicon 9-11 October 2012

Last week (9-11 October 2012) the Manufacturing Division of IC Resources attended Semicon in Dresden.  Semicon is the leading forum for semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing in Europe.

Although the main exhibitor part of the show has been decreasing over the years, the vibe was still up-beat with companies producing growth and expansion plans.

New contacts and clients were made for the IC Group among IC manufacturing engineers and managers, with new connections forged throughout Europe.

Dresden and Saxony has become a major growth area for semiconductor manufacturing industry and is continuing to promote itself with new companies emerging.

The highlight once again, of course, coming from the Scottish Development International stand with the infamous Scottish Whisky Reception on Wednesday evening!

For more information on Semicon, please see their website http://www.semiconeuropa.org/

No Wires Anywhere

Will we one day live in a world with no wires? Well, that’s a long way off, but there’s currently huge demand in Europe vis a vis jobs for IC and systems designers with RF expertise. RF IC Design engineers and RF System of Board level designers are sought after by companies in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Ireland, with a particular spike in demand within the UK.

This demand springs from a number of industry trends merging around RF issues. LTE is nascent, smart grids and new health innovations demand remote or wireless monitoring, and the automotive industry wants to hook up cars to networks while they’re “on the go”. All these, and many other, applications need new RF solutions and can be vastly improved by more integrated chips.

This is good news for RF companies, and of course the test platform companies down the line. Unfortunately the number of people studying RF has been too low for too long – it’s a challenge to find people in Europe to do RF development who don’t need a work permit. To ensure these key jobs don’t go overseas, we need creative ways of attracting new employees – some of these need government cooperation!

IC Resources is a recruitment company placing semiconductor professionals with IC companies worldwide, with a focus on UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Benelux, Italy, Spain, etc. Areas covered include RF IC design jobs, analogue and mixed signal  IC design jobs, ASIC design and verification jobs, test and product IC engineering jobs, semiconductor equipment engineering jobs, IC sales jobs (account manager to VP), IC marketing and business development jobs, semiconductor FAE jobs, and executive roles (VP IC engineering, VP IC Operations, etc).

Goal-Line Technology Approved

Goal-Line Technology to be First Used in December

IC Resources is a recruitment consultancy providing jobs in the semiconductor industry. With the IFAB approval of goal-line technology, IC Resources looks at the candidates and asks: will there be any more “improvements” to the beautiful game?
With no small part played by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s lawmakers, finally answered the calls for goal-line technology. At the meeting in Zurich, the IFAB members gave the green light to two of the proposed systems: Hawk-Eye and GoalRef.

The fact that there are two competing systems that have been approved should help keep costs down, but smaller clubs are worried about how they will afford to implement the technology.

Hawk-Eye is a system that is already familiar to fans of tennis and cricket. It uses a system of six high speed cameras that can accurately triangulate the position of the ball, with a margin of error of 3.6 millimetres. If the ball crosses the line, that information is sent to the referee’s wristwatch via an encrypted radio signal within one second.

GoalRef features a magnetic field on and behind the goal-line, with a corresponding microchip implanted in the ball itself. If there is any change in the magnetic field the chip reports it back to the referee, again within one second as per the requirements of the IFAB.

There were other contenders in the running. Cairos GLT also used a magnetic field and a sensor suspended inside the ball. It proposed having a grid of thin electrical wires buried in the penalty box and behind the goal-line. The sensor measures the magnetic grid and sends information to a computer which decides whether or not the ball has crossed the line, relaying the information to the referee.

Goalminder is a simpler system. This has high speed cameras built into the posts and crossbar recording 2000 frames per second. The referee makes his decision based on visual evidence, which is relayed to him within 5 seconds, rather than the decision being made for him.

It was decided that goal-line technology would be first used in the World Club Cup which is being held in Japan, this December. A competition featuring the current European Champions Chelsea. There is an irony that won’t be lost on Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard; it was as an England player that one of the most obvious goals ever to be ruled-out was taken from him by the officials in the match against Germany, in Bloemfontein during the 2010 World Cup.

When Marko Devich of Ukraine had a much less obvious goal ruled out, playing against England in the recent European Championships, Sepp Blatter immediately tweeted his support for goal-line technology. He was noticeably much quieter after Lampard’s goal was dismissed two years before.

The technology, if it had been in place at Euro 2012, would have caused an injustice if the referee had given the goal because it wouldn’t have shown that Artem Milevskiy was offside when the ball was played to him in the build-up.

Michel Platini of UEFA has admitted scepticism of the use of technology in football. He advocates the use of the “fifth official”, another referee’s assistant behind the goal-line. It should be noted though, in the match between Ukraine and England there was a “fifth official”, yet he failed to spot the ball had crossed the line or that there was an offside.

Platini believes that the game is on a technological slippery slope. With the introduction of goal-line technology, how long will it be before there are calls for more systems to be put in place? For instance: video replays of tackles, video evidence of offsides; all interrupting the flow of play.

Human error can cost clubs millions of pounds in lost revenue if a bad decision causes relegation, or missing out on participation of cup competitions or European football. Yet what makes this game of ours so special is the amount of debate it instigates amongst its fans. Technology can take that element out of the game and it would be a little less special because of it.


Semiconductor Industry Rises to Meet Demand

Outlook for Semiconductor Industry Jobs Brighter

IC Resources is the number1 brand when it comes to finding semiconductor jobs in the UK, US, Asia Pacific and worldwide. A second quarter growth in worldwide semiconductor sales and a positive forecast for the next two years comes as welcome news for the semiconductor industry.

The semiconductor industry could be on the rise again as demand climbs, according to Market Research Company IHS iSuppli. This is good news for jobs in the semiconductor industry after it suffered a decline in demand for the past couple of years.

It had been predicted that semiconductor inventories worldwide were expected to decline in the first quarter of 2012, but that there could be possible growth in demand. It seems that the IHS analysts called it right as second quarter figures look positive. IHS contends that this upward trend will continue for the rest of the year, with worldwide inventories growing to meet customer demand.

According to figures released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global semiconductor sales were $24.1bn in April, showing a rise of 3.4% over the previous month. This represents the biggest monthly rise since 2010. Figures are still 2.9% down from the same time last year which stood at $24.8bn; and show a 5.9% decrease in year to date figures from 2011: $93.7bn this year compared to $99.5bn in April 2011.

That aside, the prediction is for a tentative yet steady upward growth to continue for the rest of this year and become even stronger over the next two years. Brian Toohey, president & CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said, “The outlook for the global semiconductor industry continues to be one of cautious optimism… But that optimism continues to be tempered by macroeconomic factors."

World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) forecast that worldwide semiconductor sales will reach $301bn by the end of this year, a rise of 0.4% over 2011. The figures also suggest that the rise will pick up pace in 2013 rising by 7.2% in global sales, to around $322bn; in 2014 another rise is predicted of 4.4% to $337bn.

It should be noted though, these forecasts are not set in stone; the global economy is in a delicate state and it wouldn’t take much to put a dent in consumer enthusiasm, causing purse strings to tighten and demand to fall. Whenever there is a spike in customer demand and the semiconductor industry, or any manufacturer for that matter, steps up production to meet it, it is not so simple to reduce that level of production when the demand dips. This very often leads to stockpiling of unwanted goods.

For semicondutor careers and recruitment services, visit IC Resources.