ASICLAND Registers 'Edge AI Facial Recognition Device' Patent ASICLAND (CEO Jong-min LEE) announced on the 8th that they have registered a patent for an 'Edge AI-based facial recognition device.'The device uses a 3D camera to generate a depth map image corresponding to the user's face and a 2D camera to create a 2D facial image, enabling the recognition of the user's face.Facial recognition technology involves detecting facial images within still images or videos captured through cameras. After detecting the facial images, pre-processing steps such as face alignment, brightness correction, and image normalization are applied. Subsequently, features are extracted from the pre-processed facial image to identify the specific face.The issue with existing technology lies in its inability to improve the fundamental accuracy and reliability of facial recognition, as it primarily verifies the three-dimensional aspects of a user's face through distance sensors or depth maps.In this regard, Jong-min Lee, CEO of ASICLAND, stated, “The first neural network model is trained to calculate the similarity between depth map images corresponding to the user's face and pre-registered depth map images. Simultaneously, the second neural network model, also trained, computes the similarity between 2D facial images corresponding to the user's face and pre-registered 2D facial images. These approaches collectively enable diverse facial recognition techniques,” and added, “The final facial recognition result is obtained by considering multiple results together, thus preventing spoofing attacks using photos or videos and enhancing the accuracy and reliability of facial recognition.”The company has also registered a patent for 'On-Chip System Data Management Device and Method.' This technology is expected to contribute to power savings in on-chip systems and can be applied to various devices that use limited power, such as mobile devices, sensor nodes, and robots. Source: ETNEWS (link)

 ASICLAND Wins Presidential Commendation for Job Creation ASICLAND (CEO Jong-min LEE) announced on the 6th that the company (represented by Vice President Sung-sik) JANG received the Presidential commendation in the youth employment promotion sector at the 2023 Government Recognition Ceremony for Job Creation, organized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.This award ceremony was established to recognize individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to increasing employment opportunities and improving the quality of jobs, such as exemplary practices in work-life balance and expanding youth employment. The company was recognized for its contributions to the youth employment promotion sector through the creation of a family-friendly corporate culture and the expansion of youth employment.Over the past five years since its foundation, the company has continuously achieved 150% growth in employment, with over 100% of new hires being regular employees, and more than 70% of new hires since 2021 being young people. As part of creating a family-friendly corporate culture, the company provides various welfare benefits, including improving the working environment, offering stock options for vision sharing, providing dormitories for long-distance commuters, implementing a 10 am to 6 pm work schedule, early Friday departure at 4 pm, and a 90-minute lunch break. The company also operates welfare systems such as in-house sports facilities, golf, table tennis, game rooms, and in-house English classes. Efforts to enhance communication with young employees, including the establishment and operation of labor-management committees for complaints handling, and the establishment and operation of various committees for in-house welfare, are ongoing to promote smooth communication. Sung-sik JANG, Vice President of ASICLAND, said that the company aims to contribute actively to the youth's better future and the national job creation policy through continuous innovation and social responsibility. He also mentioned that they will continue to foster a happy organizational culture where employees can enjoy working and provide various welfare services.  Source: ETNEWS (link)

"Enhancing business and entering to US market following KOSDAQ listing"ASICLAND, an ASIC(Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) design solution company, is preparing an IPO(Initial Public Offering). ASICLAND is the only Korean VCA(Value Chain Alliance) of TSMC, the largest foundry company.ASICLAND accelerates the growth with the first domestic AI semiconductor design, the world’s first 5G mobile base station semiconductor mass production, and other mass production lineups for main customers in the 4th revolutionary industry. It has also changed new sales records every year. The annual revenue reached 65.6 billion in 2022 with 55% of growth rate, compared with 42.2 billion won in 2021 and its operating profit also incredibly increased from 2.8 billion won to 10.9 billion won.On the 18th, ASICLAND announced that it has submitted a preliminary examination request to the Korea Exchange, and has commenced the procedures for listing on the KOSDAQ market within this year. Samsung Securities has been appointed as the lead underwriter for the IP Established in 2016, ASICLAND is a leading company in ASIC design services and SoC(System on Chip) development, whose key strengths include a robust partnership with TSMC, providing turnkey services based on an in-depth understanding of TSMC’s process, and securing a wide range of references. It also has developed its own SoC automation design platform and has a proven track record of successful scale-up from development to volume manufacturing.ASICLAND has been selected as an Approved Design Partner(ADP) of Arm, a global intellectual property(IP) company, shortly after its establishment and subsequently obtained the official partner status of TSMC VCA(Value Chain Alliance).Design solution companies typically enter into one-way contracts with specific foundries, as they serve as a bridge between fabless(semiconductor design) companies and a foundry(semiconductor manufacturing) such as TSMC or Samsung Electronics. This is due to concerns about leakage of semiconductor IP security. ASICLAND is the only domestic TSMC design house. It has been reported that the balance of its new development orders has significantly increased recently, in response to the growing demands for global semiconductor process miniaturization, high-performance semiconductor chips, and chiplets. It is rumored that ASICLAND’s high understanding of TSMC’s processes and its global research and development (R&D) competitiveness have had a positive impact. Jongmin Lee, ASICLAND’s CEO, emphasized “ We will diligently complete the IP schedule and finalize the KOSDAQ listing within this year. After the listing, we will accelerate our growth through business expansion, entry into the US market, and enforcement of global competitiveness. Source: THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY (link)

​TSMC’s Korean Partner, Isn’t It Only Beneficial to Taiwan? Nonsense  “Pleased TSMC with Front-end design capability as well as Back-end”“Recorded 66 billion won last year and now preparing for an IPO this year”“70% of Korean fabless companies use TSMC’s process, not Samsung’s”“Without ASICLAND, who will connect Korea to TSMC”“Investment in nurturing the fabless ecosystem is necessary, not just manufacturing”  Jongmin Lee, CEO of ASICLAND / Source = ASICLANDDesign houses, which serve as as bridge between fabless (semiconductor design-only) and foundry(semiconductor contract manufacturing) typically sign an exclusive contract with a single foundry due to security concerns. Therefore, it is impossible for a single design house to receive orders for both TSMC and Samsung Electronics simultaneously. As the only TSMC design house in Korea, ASICLAND is the exclusive channel connected to TSMC in Korea due to these characteristics. However, some have raised doubts about whether ASICLAND, a Korean company, is only doing good things for TSMC. “This is the narrow-minded view that doesn’t understand the nature of the semiconductor industry”, responded Jong-min Lee, CEO of ASICLAND. “If ASICLAND were to disappear, the development of K-semiconductors could be hampered, as 70% of Korean fabless companies use TSMC’s process.The following is a Q&A with the CEO. How did you get into the design house business?I majored in semiconductor design in college. After graduating, I joined Hynix, but the atmosphere was not good because the business unit had been divested and executives had been laid off. I resigned after just two years and joined a fabless company, but the company closed down after four years. I had no choice but to challenge myself to start a business, which I had vaguely dreamed of. It was almost like destiny. I made a decision with like-minded juniors to do a design house in earnest and founded the company in 2016.How could ASICLAND, the only partner in Korea, make a partnership with TSMC?I didn’t come from Samsung. While I could have aimed to establish a design house of Samsung, I thought there would be a limitation coming from my background at Hynix. I firmly pledged to partner with TSMC, the global No.1 foundry, and entirely focused on TSMC projects. The typical role of design houses is to support back-end design services, but I tackled both front-end and back-end design, which pleased TSMC. One day, TSMC unexpectedly offered us a partnership. We had achieved our goal much sooner than expected. As a result of our work with TSMC, the company has grown in size. We currently have over 160 employees, including subsidiaries. Since the foundation, we have never experienced a decline in revenue. We achieved around 66 billion won in annual sales last year and recorded an operating profit of around 17%. TSMC’s logo / Sources: TSMCWhat is the TSMC corporate culture like as experienced through the skin?They are foundry geniuses. They have all the global information related to semiconductors like foundry marketing, know-how, networks, and so on. This means they have the leadership in this global foundry market. The level of conversation among engineers is also different. While other foundry companies are busy securing any customer but TSMC prioritizes the reliability of customers. They do not engage in business if they view it as a short-term collaboration, even if they receive high revenue offers.Some say ASICLAND is not doing anything good for Korea or Samsung but only for Taiwan and TSMC.It is a very narrow-minded view. To become a true semiconductor powerhouse, one must have a lot of intellectual property (IP). To do that, expanding the domestic fabless ecosystem is essential. To grow fabless, there must be foundries that can make chips. Most people don't know this, but if there are 100 fabless companies in Korea, 70 of them use TSMC. Why not use Samsung foundry process? What Samsung is building in Pyeongtaek is a high-end process, not the low-end process used by most domestic fabless companies. The number of domestic fabless companies that can use Samsung foundry in Pyeongtaek is very small. Only fabless companies of the size of Qualcomm or Samsung can use it. Domestic fabless companies use low-end processes such as 28, 40, 55, 65, 90, 130, and 180nm. Samsung foundry's low-end process is only around 28nm and 130nm. Even this is a priority for Samsung's design. Samsung is not investing in low-end processes, nor should it. Low-end processes are already legacy processes and are firmly occupied by TSMC like a fortress. Will the foundry occupancy rate increase if Samsung attracts more low-end customers (domestic fabless companies)? No, it will not. Jongmin Lee, CEO of ASICLAND / Source = ASICLANDDo you mean that ASICLAND is essential for Korean fabless to utilize TSMC?Of course. Without us, where would fabless startups, domestic research institutes, and universities design chips? The only foundry that matches both the process and the price is TSMC, and if we don't exist in Korea, domestic fabless companies have no choice but to rely on Taiwanese design houses. Will they treat us better than they treat their own country's fabless companies? Having ASICLAND directly connected to TSMC in Korea is a huge premium. This will be the same in the future. ASICLAND is not helping TSMC, but rather acting as a 'bridge' to effectively utilize TSMC for domestic fabless companies. ASICLAND is putting a lot of effort into allowing even non-mass production designs to be produced through TSMC.Explain more about the difference between Samsung and TSMC’s process.For example, if it is assumed that TSMC has 10 different types of foundry processes, Samsung only has 2-3. American and Japanese fabless companies produce chips using a TSMC process that perfectly fits their design out of 10 available options. However, if Korean fabless companies only use Samsung's process, which has only 2-3 available options, would their chips be competitive? In other words, the key to growth for Korean fabless companies is to effectively utilize TSMC. Of course, if the process that fits perfectly with the desired chip design exists in both Samsung and TSMC, then Samsung foundry should be used. However, it is an undeniable fact that there is a significant difference in the number and competitiveness of processes between TSMC and Samsung. As TSMC has far more process types, domestic fabless companies in Korea have no choice but to use it, and ASICLAND is essential to use it under favorable conditions. Jongmin Lee, CEO of ASICLAND / Source = ASICLANDI know you are preparing for the IPO.When starting my business, the hardest part was definitely money. Initially, we couldn't even get any investment, and even though we had dozens of employees, there were many nights when we had only 2 million won in our bank account and couldn't sleep. As time passed, the importance of the foundry became more apparent, and gradually investment began to come in. Recently, the importance of design houses has also become well known and our performance has stabilized. Now we have to dream bigger. We are preparing for an IPO to expand globally, and plan to present a vision to promote global expansion through listing. Our first target is the U.S. market, where 70% of the world's fabless companies are located. We are planning to establish a U.S. branch and are in the process of concrete planning.Finally, if you have any last words you'd like to share?In the semiconductor industry, once you miss the trend, you can never catch up. Look at Japan, once it fell behind in semiconductors, it still continued to backdown. Even if Japan invests 100 trillion won now to catch up with TSMC and Samsung, can they really succeed? Absolutely not. That's how much steady and strong investment is essential for semiconductors. However, Korean government support is too weak. Even in the K-Chip Act, fabless companies are not included as support targets. Seeing the tax benefits that the US and Taiwan give to semiconductor companies, I feel not only envious but also a sense of crisis. This is a time when semiconductors have become as important as nuclear security. I hope the government will implement strong support policies.  Source: THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY (Link)

[ASICLAND's Booth at IEEE EDTM 2023] ASICLAND(CEO Jongmin Lee) announced on the 8th that the company plans to showcase its technological capabilities and strengthen collaboration with domestic and international researchers at 'IEEE EDTM 2023', which is being held at COEX in Seoul until the 10th.IEEE EDTM(IEEE Electron Devices Technology and Manufacturing Conference) is an international conference organized by the IEEE EDS(Electron Devices Society). It is held to present and exchange the latest research results related to semiconductor and electronic technology. Experts in the semiconductor industry and academia attend to discuss technological innovations and market trends, as well as to provide networking and business opportunities.ASICLAND participated as a sponsor of this international conference and showcased its technological capabilities. As the only domestic TSMC VCA (Value Chain Alliance), the company provides services such as MPW (Multi-Project Wafer) for the development of domestic semiconductor R&D. Through this conference, the company plans to strengthen collaboration with domestic and international researchers and promote knowledge-sharing and technological development between the industry and academia.The head of its business development team and senior director, Sean Lee, said, "ASICLAND is the only domestic company among TSMC's eight VCAs around the world," adding that the company is "preparing to showcase Korean technology in the global market." He also stated that the company is receiving "love calls" from companies in the United States and China, as there is currently a lot of interest in the global market.Meanwhile, the US semiconductor publication, 'Semiconductor Review,' recently selected ASICLAND as one of the top 10 companies in the system-on-chip (SoC) field for 2023. The publication reportedly highly evaluated ASICLAND's semiconductor design automation platform. The company said that through this selection, ASICLAND will be shoulder-to-shoulder with global companies such as Renesas, Infineon, and Synopsys. Source: Money Today(Link)