Global Chip Shortage Threatens Production of Laptops, Smartphones and More

[levi]

As the Largest Computer Networks Continue To Grow, Some Engineers Fear that Their Smallest Components Could Prove To Be an Achilles' Heel - Slashdot

An anonymous reader shares a report: Imagine for a moment that the millions of computer chips inside the servers that power the largest data centers in the world had rare, almost undetectable flaws. And the only way to find the flaws was to throw those chips at giant computing problems that...

tech.slashdot.org

In the old days chips came with undocumented HCF (halt and catch fire) instructions, or Pentium divide errors or the Cyrix coma bug, and we just coded around it. These days when everyone is running under some kind of hypervisor seems to make even malicious use of such errors workroundable.

 

[FBnil]

In the old days chips came with undocumented HCF (halt and catch fire) instructions, or Pentium divide errors or the Cyrix coma bug, and we just coded around it. These days when everyone is running under some kind of hypervisor seems to make even malicious use of such errors workroundable.

Maybe they should go into deep space with old slow x86 machines? Because we also need reliability in time (as in, 3000 years from now - probably with selfreplicating machines).

Now, as things get smaller, the same happens in the fabric of spacetime. Our reality is like minecraft; our blocks are “Planck length” blocks. They have a certain probability of existance. But can be flipped too. And for that, we have error-correcting codes in the fabric of spacetime itself...

light watching:


heavy reading:

Error Correcting Codes in Quantum Theory

In the mid-1990s, theorists devised methods to preserve the integrity of quantum bits---techniques that may become the key to practical quantum computing on a large scale.

journals.aps.org

heavy watching:

light watching:

 

[levi]

I don't think even old slow x86 chips are considered hardened enough to even enter low earth orbit, let alone deep space. As far as I know many chips manufacturers make chips for spaceflight and while those are never the latest spin of the tech, it's not about it not being the latest, that's simply an artefact of the amount of testing it takes them to certify stuff. I'm still not sure exactly what modifications they make to harden devices for space, perhaps just putting a big plane of copper or something in front of the part does the job, I couldn't say.

 

[λ the β-Redex Reducer]

They cannot go back to the moon. They lost the technology and it cannot be rebuild again. 1960's and 1970's computers were much more difficult to produce than the toys which we pass of off as computers today.
I find this to be unfortunate because they destroyed all telemetry data, too. I think it would be cool to have the actual data from one of the biggest few milestones in human history, especially since they cannot go back to get new data.

 

[FBnil]

They lost the technology and it cannot be rebuild again

You are ignoring Jade Rabbit? (the Chinese "copied" it and landed a rover on the moon, right? And the rover has microchips and send images back and such... so no problem so far, except that they shut it from public view - probably to map the moon for mining in the future)

Or do you mean "manned spaceflights" ? Because the first mars probes already landed and one of the rovers lasted longer than expected (either because martians cleaned the solar panels, or there is not so much dust, which could mean a young solarsystem.

 

[λ the β-Redex Reducer]

I was talking about manned flights. NASA is the only space agency who has ever been capable of sending men to the moon and they lost interest in it so thoroughly that they destroyed virtually all of the collected data, the technology which they did it with, and the knowledge of how they did it. NASA cannot go back any time soon and it looks like other space agencies will never be able to go at all. Even the Soviets basically just threw in the towel by never going at all. I would think that if they were so dedicated to showing their superiority that they would at least want to prove that they have caught up to 1970 NASA, but evidently they just rolled over and gave up.

1970 NASA is overpowered. Our modern technology pales to what they had. Nixon had a telephone with a signal that has thousand times as much reach as our signal and that can reach through the Van Allen Radiation Belt and cancel out the roaring of a deafening lunar module exhaust. 1970 NASA fills me with awe. But alas, NASA ultimately wound up going from a futuristic corporation that is so advanced that it is literally much more than 50 years ahead of it's time to a corporation that fakes USA temperature data to promote their theory of anthropogenic global warming. What a disgrace. NASA ought to just start over their research again until they can at least come anywhere near to how advanced that they were in the 1970's.

And the global chip shortage does not even matter, back in 1970's there were no good chips at all, but NASA could still send men to the moon anyway. They were so far ahead of their time that we do not even know how far ahead, because 50+ years later they are still ahead of the current time. Incredible. Maybe the temperature data was not faked and they just really have a time machine with which they traveled to the 1930's and 1940's in order to use technology from the future to cool down the weather and make the heat wave disappear. I hope that they do the same to the covid-19 curve so that in a few years it really was all over within 2 actual weeks.

 

[joki1]

I think that the big countries have a large enough production and even a stock of chips, but they deliberately create a crisis with chips for the prices of some devices such as laptops, TVs, cars to grow and thus some large corporations to make much more money than before and the crisis with covid19 is just one big excuse for prices to rise sharply on all world stock exchanges.

 

[ElPoco]

I think that the big countries have a large enough production and even a stock of chips, but they deliberately create a crisis with chips for the prices of some devices such as laptops, TVs, cars to grow and thus some large corporations to make much more money than before and the crisis with covid19 is just one big excuse for prices to rise sharply on all world stock exchanges.

They don't need any of that to hike prices. There are monopolies/oligopoly everywhere now so all it takes to rise price is for a handful of people to meet and agree to do it.
There's clear evidence that this was a trend even before the COVID-19 crisis. It just got worse because the US gov. gave big companies a lot of money during the crisis and they used it to buy competitors who suffered from the crisis.

Even now, all the "inflation" talk is probably exaggerated. Companies are bragging about record margins, which wouldn't be the case if there truly was inflation.

 

[levi]

or there is not so much dust, which could mean a young solarsystem.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Western Digital Says Contamination Impacting Production at Japanese Facilities - Slashdot

Western Digital said on Wednesday certain materials at two of its manufacturing units in Japan, operated by joint-venture partner Kioxia Holdings, were contaminated and will result in reduced availability of flash storage devices. From a report: According to the company's current assessment...

hardware.slashdot.org

 

[TeDaDeS]

Western Digital Says Contamination Impacting Production at Japanese Facilities - Slashdot

Western Digital said on Wednesday certain materials at two of its manufacturing units in Japan, operated by joint-venture partner Kioxia Holdings, were contaminated and will result in reduced availability of flash storage devices. From a report: According to the company's current assessment...

hardware.slashdot.org

This fab (previously Toshiba) is the only fab that (eventually) agreed I could visit their cleanroom. I followed the required training to enter, and then it turned out I couldn’t visit due to my hosts work :-( Soon after that I traveled back home and this fab was sold and became Kioxia.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

What's in a cleaning room anyway ? Buckets, mops...

 

[FBnil]

What's in a cleaning room anyway ? Buckets, mops...

And chemicals. And if you know your chemistry, you can make nasty things with them.

 

[λ the β-Redex Reducer]

They already are nasty as they are.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Intel Nearing $6 Billion Deal To Buy Tower Semiconductor - Slashdot

In an effort to boost its manufacturing operations, Intel is nearing a deal to buy Israeli chip firm Tower Semiconductor for almost $6 billion, reports Reuters, citing a report from the Wall Street Journal. "A deal could be unveiled as soon as this week assuming the talks do not fall apart, the...

slashdot.org

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Pelosi, Schumer Urged To Pass Chip-Funding Bill by 21-Industry Group - Slashdot

A group of 21 industry groups aligned with the automotive and technology sectors is calling for Congress to finalize work on a bill to fund increased domestic chip production. From a report: Congress in 2021 authorized federal spending on research and design initiatives to boost domestic chip...

news.slashdot.org

 

[netcat]

Intel Nearing $6 Billion Deal To Buy Tower Semiconductor - Slashdot

In an effort to boost its manufacturing operations, Intel is nearing a deal to buy Israeli chip firm Tower Semiconductor for almost $6 billion, reports Reuters, citing a report from the Wall Street Journal. "A deal could be unveiled as soon as this week assuming the talks do not fall apart, the...

slashdot.org

So they were begging for a bailout a few months ago now they're splurging on acquisitions. No further comments.

 

[TeDaDeS]

Intel D1 gowning procedure:


If I remember correctly you dress from top to bottom, as particles fall down so you start at the top with you clean clothing.
In the video it's somewhat clear the garment hits the floor, which is not suppose to happen, that's why there is a bench so you can awkwardly hold up you bunny suit trying not to have it touch the floor.
Some of the equipment in the clean room is really sensitive to particles. And if one of these particles hit your wafer in the ~30 days of processing, it might just damage or kill the chip entirely.
Probably why they automate so much, so they don't need a lot of people near the sensitive equipment.

 

[TeDaDeS]

Intel to setup a factory in Germany - Magdeburg?

Intel: Chipfabrik soll nach Magdeburg kommen | MDR.DE

Intel will in Europa eine Chipfabrik bauen. Offenbar hat sich der US-Hersteller dabei für Magdeburg entschieden. Das haben MDR-Recherchen ergeben. Auch Dresden hatte sich um die Ansiedlung beworben.

www.mdr.de

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Ukraine War Flashes Neon Warning Lights for Chips - Slashdot

Russia's invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea risks reverberating across the global chip industry and exacerbating current supply-chain constraints. Reuters Breakingviews: Ukraine is a major producer of neon gas critical for lasers used in chipmaking and supplies more than 90% of U.S...

hardware.slashdot.org

Italy Plans $4.6 Billion Fund To Boost Chipmaking - Slashdot

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Italy plans to set aside more than $4.6 billion until 2030 to boost domestic chip manufacturing as it seeks to attract more investment from tech companies such as Intel, a draft decree seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday. The government is trying...

hardware.slashdot.org

Biden To Congress: Pass The Bill To Fund US Chip Manufacturing - Slashdot

President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass the CHIPS Act, a law that would provide chipmakers with $52 billion in subsidies to advance semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, during his State of the Union speech Tuesday. From a report: Biden lauded Intel Chief Executive Pat...

news.slashdot.org