In August this year, the company TSMS Cases of production of Russian orders. Previously, the Baikal, Elbrus chips and other microelectronics of domestic development were produced there. Shipments of already produced chips for all customers from Russia have stopped.
This was a blow to the entire field of microelectronics, from which it will be very difficult. All this coincided with the global semiconductor crisis.
To the point: The world of semiconductors has come into crisis, and it can be worse further. Understanding the situation
At the moment, less than ten Russian enterprises are forming and producing microprocessors. Some of them have their own production, while others have experience in production and issuance of related documentation.
Now let’s deal with busy microelectronics manufacturers in our country and with the prospects of keeping them.
🏭 PKK Milandr JSC, Zelenograd
This is one of the largest integrated circuits in Russia. The company was established back in 1993.
The company specializes in the development and production of microprocessors (8-, 16- and 32-bit) and microcontrollers, power management chips, memory chips (RAM and ROM), converter chips, interface chips. The production of industrial goods and industrial enterprises is carried out.
The company has about 650 employeesproduction capacity allowed in the area above 8000 m².
Milandr full cycle of production of microcircuits and electronics, including design, testing and quality control to increase GOST ISO 9001-2011. Production plant approx. 500 thousand microcircuit per year. In the lineup more than 200 types products.
All high-precision production is recommended in overseas enterprises, mainly in the factories of companies TSMS.
🏭 MCST JSC, Moscow
The company is based on Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies LLP, which in turn was educated on the basis of a team of employees of the Elbrus-3 project. Engineers involved in the creation of Soviet PCs and creators of the project to develop universal processors.
MCST includes design of microprocessor architecture, design of computer modules, high performance optimizing compilers, binary compilers, design of computers.
A separate area of activity is access control to a system with an interface Unix (POSIX).
Key Product Line Generalizations: Microprocessor Architectures Elbrus (E2K) and microprocessor architectures SPARK.
The enterprise does not have a full cycle of processor production and previously ordered casting work at the plant TSMS in Taiwan. Now shipments of foreign components are interrupted and the release of some devices is paused.
🏭 Mikron JSC, Zelenograd
One of the oldest companies in the industry. It is based on Research Institute of Molecular Electronics (NIIME)which has been around since 1964.
The main activity of the plant is the creation of integrated circuits, circuits for information carriers, circuits for identifying devices and payment terminals.
The enterprise is part of the state corporation Rostec, has a representative office in China and Taiwancooperates directly with the assembly plant in Shenzhen.
Mikron has a production facility in Russia and provides lines for the production of chips according to 65 nm process technology. Since 2018, the company plans to open new versions for the technical process 45-28 nmbut so far it has not been possible to find delays in production and minor modernization.
🏭 Baikal Electronics JSC, Krasnogorsk region of the Moscow Region
The company is engaged in the development of integrated circuits with MIPS and ARM architecture, develops SDK, uses their boards as a standard design. The company was founded in early 2012. Now the company employs about 120 employees.
Baikal Electronics does not have its own production, according to its projects, processors are created at external capacities Baikal and development boards BFC 3.1.
Most orders for the Baikal project were carried out by a Taiwanese company TSMSSince the spring of this year, new contracts have not been concluded with a domestic enterprise, and already produced processors have not been shipped.
At the moment, special attention is paid to the transfer of production to the Russian factory. “Micron”.
One more problem Baikal Electronics there is a license revocation to use the proprietary ARM architecture. This ready-made and generally accepted basis for mass production of chips since the spring of the beginning of the year cannot be used by the industry of processor manufacturers.
🏭 JSC SPC “ELVIS”, Zelenograd
The enterprise was founded in 1990 on the basis of the research and production association “ELAS”. Previously, employees were engaged in advanced developments in the field of space electronics.
The company specializes in the production of multi-core signal microprocessors, system-on-a-chip microprocessors, microprocessors for telecommunication modules and artificial intelligence. In addition, individual associations of network interfaces SpaceWire, GigaSpaceWire and Space Fiber.
In portfolio ELVIS means more than 50 chip types, with manufacturing process from 16 nm to 250 nm. The very consequence of the development of the company is 28nm Skif processor.
The company orders most of its products from a Taiwanese factory. TSMS. After the end of the production of shipments in Russia, the management actively engaged in the search for domestic production. At the moment, it is possible to create a joint venture with Rostelecom for the production needs of the company.
🏭 JSC STC “Module”, Moscow
The company was authorized in 1990 on the basis of two enterprises of the military-industrial complex: NPO Vympel and Research Institute of Radio Instrumentation.
The main field of activity is the production of computing modules, control systems and design of integrated circuits. Produced devices are mainly used in aviation and navigation.
In addition, development is underway in the field of coverage and analysis of video images and the absorption of neural networks in dangerous complexes.
Due to the availability of production and testing facilities, the company is partially independent of components or assembly at foreign enterprises.
Where are our processors used?
The main customers and buyers of Russian microprocessors are enterprises and organizations. chips Elbrus and Baikal important for critical information.
In recent years, servers, workstations and terminals of state institutions and companies have been transferred to them. The pace of import substitution was rather slow, and at the moment the critical information infrastructure is still dominated by solutions from Intel and AMDdistributed in the field of data storage of residual equipment manufactured by the company IBM.
A temporary or complete halt in the production of Russian processors, although it stops import substitution in the information infrastructure, does not completely stop this area. Currently, we need to deal with the import of components to use the health and use of existing nodes.
How Russian processor production depends on Taiwanese TSMC
There are cases of arrest of enterprises and seizure of production, their capacities are not enough to create the most technologically advanced and high-performance chip models.
At the moment in Russia there is the possibility of mass production of only chips with the technical process 65-130 nm. These lines are in the factory. Micron in Zelenograd.
However, we already had a negative experience with the plant. In the period from 2005 to 2013, the experimental years of the first generation of the processor were produced at the plant. Elbrus by 130 nm technologies. After the discovery of identified problems in the chip itself and refinement, a batch of second-generation chips was released. 90 nm process technology.
The processor showed insufficient performance, and the amount of marriage was too large. According to experts, the plant was poorly adapted for such production and required modernization of equipment.
In the past since the last generation of processor production Elbrus ordered from abroad. Basically, these were contracts with Taiwanese TSMS.
After upgrading and improving the production capacity of the factory Micron a tested batch of chips was produced Elbrus-4SM (65 nm).
Increasingly technological developments of Russian companies until the spring of 2022 were produced at foreign factories. Our specialists developed the architecture and design of the processor, but the production was carried out mainly in Taiwan and China.
This is a common global practice for many fabless companies. Russian enterprises most often enter into agreements with the food market – the company TSMS.
Where and how Russian processors are now produced
The most technologically advanced production in Russia at the moment allows you to produce only chips according to 65 by process technology. Even such low-volume lines completely cover the needs of Russian factories and make up for the interrupted shipments from Taiwan.
At the moment, the management of the construction of a new production NM-Tech in Zelenogradwhich makes it possible to produce chips according to 28 nm process technology. The expected construction and approximate dates for the start of production have not yet been reported.
The bankrupt enterprise “Angstrem-T” can be restored by “NM-Tech”
Other religions appeared among domestic representatives that do not support the powers that have come into force. Currently in the world there is more than 400 factories for the production of microprocessors. However, high performance chips 16 nm can offer only ten of them.
Large scale production 5 nm process technology mastered only TSMS, Samsung and Intelbut the latter do not accept external contracts.
It turns out that if we are talking about relatively powerful and private equipment, there are currently no alternatives to Taiwanese or South Korean companies.
Under such conditions, it remains for manufacturers to release processors of average performance and look for applications in wide instability to performance. They will find application in the defense and aerospace shell.
Trying to create a competitive alternative for the market of mobile gadgets or high-performance solutions, unfortunately, is not yet possible.
Source: Iphones RU
