What are the eight hot technologies in 2021?

ELEXCON, hosted by UBM Creative, will be grandly opened at Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center (Bao'an) from September 1 to 3, 2021! With nearly 30 years of experience in the electronics industry, it will give full play to the advantages of local resources and promote the shared development of China's entire electronics industry chain. In 2021, it will focus on "Focusing on Electronic Technology Innovation and Industrial Chain Reshaping" and comprehensively display 5G, AI and edge computing, smart medical care, TWS and wearables, MCU and domestic chips, third-generation semiconductors, SiP system-level packaging and advanced manufacturing, Internet of Things technology and solutions, embedded technology, and RISC-V. Dozens of professional technical forums will be held at the same time, inviting more than 100 global industry think tanks and experts to give speeches. By then, Informa Group will make every effort to create a flagship exhibition of the "optical + electrical" full industry chain!

2020 is about to pass. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, various industrial chains are being reshaped. Compared with other industries, information technology has not been significantly affected. On the contrary, due to the rise of video conferencing and working from home, the entire electronic information industry has developed rapidly. Today, we will sort out the technology hotspots in 2020 from the perspectives of technology and market applications, as well as the outlook for 2021.

5G technology is making its first appearance

2020, as a major development year for 5G, was not defeated by the epidemic. On the contrary, we have seen the implementation of policies including "new infrastructure", and 5G construction has made leapfrog development. In January 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the four major development directions of 5G in 2020. As of November, the cumulative shipments of 5G mobile phones in China in 2020 reached 144 million units, accounting for 51.4%. This is the first time that 5G mobile phones have surpassed 4G mobile phones in an annual span. In terms of base station infrastructure construction, according to information released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 5G independent networking has initially achieved large-scale commercial use, and the network covers cities at or above the prefecture level and key counties and cities across the country; as of October this year, my country has opened more than 700,000 5G base stations.

The technological innovations required for 5G are still developing, including millimeter wave, massive MIMO, ultra-dense heterogeneous networks, multi-technology carrier aggregation and other technologies, which will have long-term development space. Therefore, the future development path of 5G is still very long, and we still have more unknown technologies and business models to explore.

During the 2021 ELEXCON Electronics and Embedded Systems Exhibition, the 5G Technology and Internet of Vehicles Zone will showcase a number of new technologies and business models, presenting a rich and colorful 5G life experience through the form of the entire 5G industry chain. The 5G Global Conference China Station 2021 (5G China) held at the same time will bring together global 5G operators and cutting-edge manufacturers in the form of a high-end international conference to provide participants with the latest insights on 5G technology and the market.

Automotive electronics is full of confidence

Due to the epidemic, we have seen a decline in the automotive market in the first half of the year, but we have also seen a shortage caused by the increasing demand for automotive electronics, electrification, and new technologies. With the rapid progress of ADAS, autonomous driving, Internet of Vehicles, in-car infotainment, and electric vehicles, it is foreseeable that the automotive market, at least the automotive electronics industry, will remain hot next year.

According to TrendForce, the global automotive chip output value will reach US$18.67 billion in 2020, and is expected to grow to US$21 billion in 2021, with an annual growth rate of 12.5%. It also pointed out that many important automotive electronics companies are currently seizing the opportunity of the next generation of smart cars through integration or cooperation. For example, NXP has cooperated with TSMC on 5nm automotive processors; STMicroelectronics and Bosch have cooperated to develop automotive microcontrollers; after Infineon completed the acquisition of Cypress, Cypress's automotive NOR Flash and microcontrollers (MCUs) have strengthened the completeness of Infineon's automotive-related solutions.

When automobiles and information technology merge, a number of cool technologies have emerged. Major automobile manufacturers began to participate in CES several years ago in order to be the first to show forward-looking technologies to consumers. During the 2021 ELEXCON Electronics Show and Embedded Systems Show, the Automotive Electronics Technology Zone, the 5G Internet of Vehicles Conference, and the Second China Shared (Charging) and Battery Swapping Industry Ecosystem Conference will focus on hot topics such as autonomous driving, Internet of Vehicles and electric vehicle technology, charging piles, and battery swapping systems, starting from the most basic technology realization, to help the development of the automotive industry in terms of intelligence, electrification, and electrification.

Chinese chips help domestic substitution

The output value of China's semiconductor industry is expected to exceed RMB 600 billion in 2020. Although our share in the global semiconductor market continues to grow, we are still weak in some key, core, and high value-added products. Including the entire industry chain including IP, EDA tools, design, packaging and testing, we still need to continue to move towards a higher level and achieve breakthroughs in local technology.

At the 2021 ELEXCON Electronics and Embedded Systems Exhibition, the China Chip Pavilion will feature domestic IC design, IP, EDA tools, packaging and testing companies, and other companies that showcase products based on my country's independent intellectual property rights. Helping China's chips and contributing to security, independence and domestic substitution is the original intention of setting up the China Chip Zone.

AIoT rekindles embedded

A few years ago, the development of embedded systems seemed to have reached a bottleneck. Whether in terms of performance, power consumption or cost, embedded systems were no longer a hot topic. However, as artificial intelligence became lightweight and began to be introduced from the cloud to the edge and even terminal nodes, the concept of AIoT has brought revolutionary changes to the embedded market.

Due to power consumption, latency, cost and other limiting factors, it is difficult to fully realize the idea of ​​AI for the general public. However, by introducing lightweight AI through nodes, everyone and even every object can be endowed with elements of AI. When AI and IoT are combined, it has become possible to enjoy AI more efficiently anytime and anywhere.

In response to the important computing needs of artificial intelligence, we see more processors integrating AI functions. In addition to Arm and X86, RISC-V has grown rapidly with its open source characteristics. The RISC-V technical community has grown to more than 50 technical and special interest groups, with more than 2,300 developers, a year-on-year increase of 66%. From embedded to enterprise computing, RISC-V-based CPU cores, SoCs, development boards, software and tools are showing a clear growth momentum in the market. The number of foundation members has nearly doubled, and there are currently more than 900 members, including 215 organizations from all over the world.

As for wireless technology, in addition to 5G, other types of products have also made great progress in 2020, including new market technologies such as WiFi-6 and UWB, as well as the evolution of technologies such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, Lora, and NB-IoT, presenting a situation of flourishing development.

RISC-V Zone and IoT Technology and Solutions Zone are the hottest zones in the Embedded and AIoT Technology Pavilion at the 2021 ELEXCON Electronics Exhibition and Embedded System Exhibition. Combining chips, network transmission and solutions, developers can complete the development process from creativity to innovative products more quickly. IoT World China 2021, 2021 China Embedded Technology Conference ETCC and the 12th MCU Technology Innovation and Application Conference are also important conferences at each electronics exhibition. They will focus on key topics such as embedded AI technology and AIoT applications, IoT security and MCU ecosystem construction from three levels: network services, system solutions and chip technology, and deeply analyze the development opportunities of AIoT and embedded.

Advanced manufacturing and packaging to ensure supply

This year's global epidemic has led to blockades and factory shutdowns in many countries. Coupled with the increased demand for advanced processes, even the demand for relatively backward processes is also saturated. The supply chain has undergone major changes, and there have been voices of shortages. Behind this is the value of manufacturing and packaging in the chip industry chain. Although 5nm production capacity is still in short supply, as Moore's Law slows down, the industry is also thinking about how to continue Moore's Law from other angles and provide better PPAP. ​​The introduction of new technologies such as Chiplet, Fan-Out, FOWLP, HBM, SiP, etc. has enriched Moore's Law.

At the 2021 ELEXCON Electronics Exhibition and Embedded System Exhibition Advanced Manufacturing and IC Packaging and Testing Zone and the 2021 China System-Level Packaging Conference, various popular trends in advanced processes and packaging will be presented one by one, bringing together OSAT, EMS, OEM, IDM, fabless semiconductor design companies and silicon wafer foundries as well as assembly and testing suppliers of raw materials and equipment.

TWS and wearables: the red and blue ocean

Since Apple pioneered the TWS (true wireless headset) market, TWS has quickly become popular in the market due to its convenience and anytime, anywhere features. As a market that has transformed from a blue ocean to a red ocean in just a few years, more differentiated solutions must be found. Longer standby, better touch/tap control, better sound quality, and higher integration will be the differentiated development requirements of TWS today.

In addition to TWS, other wearable markets have also gone through a fierce competition phase from wristbands and smart watches to a differentiated demand phase. The introduction of technologies such as wireless charging, ultra-low power consumption, vital signs monitoring, and eSIM has brought a new round of explosion to the wearable market.

The 13th China International Medical Electronics Technology Conference (CMET2021), TWS and Wearable Technology Zone and Forum will be presented at the 2021 ELEXCON Electronics Exhibition and Embedded System Exhibition. Communicate with experts on how to stand out from the red ocean market.

Power supply helps green energy saving

Any electronic device cannot do without a power supply. More than half of the damage to electronic products is caused by the power supply. However, due to the complexity of power supply technology, many companies lack sufficient design capabilities. Therefore, high integration, modularization and digitalization have become the main development trends of the power supply industry.

As the concept of sustainable green development has gained popularity, the power conversion efficiency has become increasingly higher. In areas where traditional silicon devices cannot meet the requirements, semiconductor technology has begun to make revolutionary developments. The cost of photovoltaic power generation has approached that of traditional fossil fuels, and electric vehicles are expected to replace traditional fuel vehicles in the next decade, making third-generation wide-bandgap semiconductors including silicon carbide and gallium nitride increasingly popular in the market.

At the same time, the development of radio frequency technology and the widespread popularization of fast charging technology have enabled gallium nitride to play its value in various emerging markets.

The 2021 ELEXCON Electronics and Embedded Systems Exhibition will set up a special area for power supplies, power devices and third-generation semiconductors. When silicon and third-generation semiconductors compete on the same stage, you can compare these two types of products at the closest distance and choose the most suitable solution for your application.

Communicate with the world and perceive the future

Sensors are one of the important ways to perceive the real world and transmit data to the digital world. They play an extremely important role today. From images to speed, from air quality to air pressure, from cars to human bodies, from mobile phones to industry, a variety of sensor technologies have built the foundation for us to understand and transform the real world.

As an important micro-architecture in the sensor market, MEMS has expanded from consumer electronics to broader applications such as automobiles and smart industries.

The MEMS and Sensor Zone is also specially set up for the exchange of sensor technology at the 2021 ELEXCON Electronics Exhibition and Embedded System Exhibition. It will showcase the products and applications of various smart sensors to jointly build a smarter future.

The above is this issue's review of 2020 and the prediction of technology hot spots in 2021. Maybe the technology hot spots may be similar every year, but the revolution of electronic technology is from a little quantitative change to the final qualitative change. Shenzhen is China's innovation capital and an important gateway for the internationalization of science and technology. As an important exhibition in the field of hard technology exchanges, the original intention of the ELEXCON Electronics Exhibition is to build a full-service platform around the electronic industry ecosystem, introduce world technology, promote domestic technology, promote in-depth exchanges and discussions between upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and jointly promote the great development of the electronic industry, so that the trends we can foresee can become a reality as soon as possible.