TITC
Transforming Semiconductor Memory with Innovative Compression IP

In the fierce semiconductor market, rapid responses to challenges and focusing resources on emerging market trends are essential. Businesses must collaborate and leverage each other’s strengths, as success requires a collective effort. A company like Taiwan Imaging-Tek Corporation (TITC) stands ready to fill this need with its two decades of extensive experience developing niche semiconductor compression IPs. Its expertise enables the firm to provide solutions that address industry obstacles and significantly reduce time to market.

Over the past 50 years, Moore’s Law has driven semiconductor advancements, stating that logic chips double their performance every 18 months and semiconductor memory every 36 months. This leads to a scenario where logic chips often wait for memory access, especially as data access needs increase with higher display panel and image sensor resolutions. TITC’s compression IP mitigates these issues by reducing the quantity and cost of memory chips, thereby alleviating the demand for memory bandwidth and minimizing the power consumption between memory and logic chip I/O pads.

TITC follows a straightforward approach—compressing images before transmission to memory and decompressing them upon retrieval. Unlike most standard algorithms that offer variable compression ratios, TITC provides a fixed compression ratio algorithm. This type of compression IP is ideal for semiconductor hardware design, as it can be seamlessly integrated into the customers’ existing products.

The firm also effectively tackles three major issues in the semiconductor industry— reducing memory costs, easing memory bandwidth demands and lowering power consumption. For instance, in 2005, German TV chip supplier Micronas licensed TITC’s 2x compression IP, reducing the number of double data rate (DDR) chips from four to two.

As newer DDR technologies emerged, TITC’s IP enabled manufacturers to use a single memory die and their TV chip, significantly reducing system costs and board size while avoiding magnetic interference effects.

In 2012, TITC expanded its reach from TV chips to the mobile phone display market, licensing its compression IP to top display driver suppliers in Taiwan and Korea. This led to a significant reduction in the on-chip frame buffer static random access memory (SRAM) density and cost. Looking ahead, the firm is prepared for the future applications of AI chips that require frequent access to parameters stored in memory, which can be time-consuming. By reducing the data size of these parameters, its IP aims to decrease the time required to access data, enhancing overall efficiency.

TITC’s commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction is evident in its long-standing relationships with leading industry players. The company’s IP has been rigorously tested, adopted and successfully implemented in the top systems of leading global system vendors, including Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and LG. Over 2 billion chips have already used its compression IP mass production-proven solution.

A major differentiator of TITC is its rich intercontinental experience and customer-centric approach. It anticipates and provides solutions to customers’ needs before they articulate any questions, leading to a remarkable success rate of over 90 percent in mass production. TITC also takes pride in its ability to customize existing IPs to meet specific customer requirements, ensuring seamless integration and optimal performance.

The company is a solid and happy team that thrives on a supportive, family-like culture that fuels its success. The firm’s highly acclaimed team has won numerous awards in national and international competitions, including the prestigious ‘Best IP Award’ at the IP SoC Forum in November 2013 in Grenoble, France. TITC also dedicates 50 percent of its profits to supporting music, art, broadcast activities, churches, charity foundations and initiatives that improve the quality of life for Indigenous communities. “TITC—A Solid Happy Team” is more than a slogan; it reflects the company’s commitment to excellence and its interest in making a positive impact in the world.

“Our guiding principles blend Intel’s philosophy that only the paranoid survives and Hewlett-Packard’s belief that the best results come from a happy team,” says Chih-Ta "Star" Sung, CEO of TITC. While these cultures might seem conflicting, the firm has successfully combined them to create a happy and vigilant team.

“We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” - Psalm 66:12. This verse resonates with TITC’s journey, whose innovative solutions and unmatched support have paved the way for success in the semiconductor industry, bringing abundance to all who associate with it.