[System LSI Tech Day 2023] Fundamental Technologies: Samsung System LSI to Achieve Power Efficiency and Security for System LSI Humanoids

Seemingly all of the conversations surrounding future technologies concern the imminent connection between humans and intelligence of devices. Generative AI and autonomous driving are on the horizon, and Samsung System LSI humanoids will play a key role in these technologies. This is an exciting future, but there are two fundamental aspects of these high level technological developments that often get overlooked: security and power. As the amount of information transfers between devices increase at an exponential rate, data breaches will be more likely. At the same time, the devices in the near future will have increasingly higher power needs. At Samsung System LSI Tech Day 2023, the company addressed how it will meet greater security and power demands. Fundamental Technology for a Brighter Future PMIC as an Innovation Engine Hwa-Yeal Yu, Head of the Security & Power Product Development, delivered a speech titled, “Heart of System LSI Humanoid and Security for Hyper-Connected World” in which he discussed the Security IC and PMIC products and solutions that Samsung System LSI has developed in anticipation of a future centered on the System LSI Humanoid. The Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) provides optimal power through dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS). Samsung System LSI has been expanding its PMIC product portfolio to a variety of applications since 2012, starting with smartphones before extending to displays, automobiles, and servers. The PMIC is critical to SoC technology, as it allows the SoC to be an energy-efficient and powerful computing unit. As a result, System LSI Humanoids are able to do more tasks with less energy, while also increasing charge speeds. In his speech, Yu covered two primary power solutions that the company’s PMIC lineup supports on the way to the age of the System LSI Humanoid. The first of the two solutions is regarding wireless charging. The diverse PMIC product lineup supports a variety of wireless charging applications, including smart watches, true wireless stereo (TWS), and mobile phones. For wearable products like smartwatches, System LSI provides up to 10W-class wireless charging PMIC that is compatible with the Qi-standard, which measures just 2.2mm by 2.6mm. Samsung System LSI also has offered a one-chip TWS PMIC that integrates wired and wireless charging technologies since 2020. With this as its basis, the company is working on developing a new high-end wireless charging PMIC that will meet Qi 2.0 standards. The next-generation wireless-charging PMIC solution for flagship wireless-charging PMIC has nearly double the memory of the previous generation, and supports Magnetic Power Profile (MPP), which is a new magnetically attached wireless charging standard. Qi’s current BPP and EPP charging profiles will be supported, as well. Furthermore, it will improve the ability of devices to detect foreign metal objects on the surface of charging pads during wireless charging. This product is currently in development. Various services such as over-the-top (OTT) streaming, social media, gaming, and generative AI applications dominate the modern landscape, and these services are supported by data centers. These data centers require a tremendous amount of power for upkeep, both to keep memory modules running and to keep these modules cool. The DDR5 module is able to save energy up to 30% compared to its previous generation, thanks largely in part to an On-DIMM PMIC. Two crucial DDR5 components that allow for these massive efficiency capabilities are the SPD Hub and the TS. The SPD Hub collects the necessary information for systems operations from components around memory and acts as a hub that controls all the chips on the module. The TS, on the other hand, is a highly accurate temperature sensor. Together, they evenly distribute heat emission and reduce the system’s overall cost. As the demand for data increases, the demand for high bandwidth of DDR5 also increases. The registering clock driver for server and the clock driver for PC and laptop contribute to the improvement of memory bandwidth by quickly and stably transmitting signals between the controller and memory. Secure Operations in the Humanoid Era Yu also highlighted the urgency of advanced security solutions in a world overflowing with data, as the number of connected devices around the world is increasing at an exponential rate. However, Samsung System LSI provides high confidence and user-centric security solutions and will continue to do so in meeting the security demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A massive amount of data is stored in memory, and if this data is not sufficiently protected against security risks, it could lead to data breaches. To account for this, Samsung System LSI is developing a Secure Memory Controller chip that provides isolation within IC processes and applies hardware-based security countermeasures. All data will be fully encrypted when stored in memory as a result of the chip. Inside the controller, an isolated crypto sub-system will block attacks on crypto operations and keys while still providing a seamless user experience. This is because the system is directly linked to the chip’s main core, which will lead to no drop off in performance or security. For users, this represents a total solution that allows for safe, convenient data storage. In an age where data storage is increasingly being pushed to new limits, safety and convenience are critical.