MEMS Microphone - System Plus Consulting · MEMS Microphone Technology and Patent Infringement Risk...

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MEMS MicrophoneTechnology and Patent Infringement

Risk Analysis

ICS-43432MP45DT01 SR595 (iPhone 5S)S1157 (iPhone 5S)

2405 route des Dolines, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, FranceTel: +33 489 89 16 20

Web: http://www.knowmade.com

21 rue La Nouë Bras de Fer, 44200 Nantes, FranceTel: +33 240 18 09 16

Web: http://www.systemplus.fr


Knowmade has developed methodologies to identify patents related to product features.By combining their technical knowledge, process flow understanding and patent search, System Plus

Consulting and Knowmade are able to provide a clear link between patents and marketed products. In-depth analysis of the links between technology and patents provided in this report will lead to

understanding product features and related patents, and to highlight the potential risks of patentinfringement.

A New Type of Report

Reverse Engineering and Process Analysis

Patent Search and Infringement Risk Analysis

Knowmade & System Plus ConsultingNew Reports

• Teardown & Reverse engineering • Technology and manufacturing analysis•Patent search• Link between technology and patent• Evidence of use•Risks of patent infringement• Full searchable patent database

KNOWMADE (specialized in patent analysis) and SYSTEM PLUS CONSULTING (specialized in reverse engineeringand reverse costing) are joining their unique added value in order to combined technology and manufacturinganalysis with patent claims understanding in order to highlight the risks of patent infringement.


The Authors

• Headquartered in Sophia Antipolis, France, Knowmade is specialized in analysis of patents and scientific research findings. Weprovide Patent Search, IP landscape, Patent Analysis, Scientific Literature Landscape, State of the art, Technology Scouting,Technology Transfer and Technology Tracking. Our service offer consists of custom studies, analysis reports, on-demandtracking and strategy consulting. Knowmade combines information search services, scientific expertise, powerful analytics andvisualization tools, and proprietary methodologies for analyzing patents and scientific information. With a solid focus onMicroelectronics, Compound Semiconductors, LED, MEMS, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, Knowmade supports researchlaboratories, industrial companies and investors in their business development.

• Headquartered in Nantes, France, System Plus Consulting is specialized in technology and cost analysis of electroniccomponents and systems in the fields of Integrated Circuits, Power Devices and Modules, MEMS & Sensors, LED, ImageSensors, Packaging including wafer level, Electronic Boards and Systems. The company offers custom reverse costing analyses,standard reverse costing reports and costing tools. These analyses are used by Purchasing Departments to measure theirsuppliers’ cost structure, R&D Departments to confirm technological choices depending on their impact on costs,and Benchmarking/Marketing Departments to monitor the products on the market.

Disclaimer: Knowmade and System Plus Consulting are research firms that provide technical analysis and opinions. They do notprovide any insight analyses or counsel regarding legal aspects or the validity of any individual patent. The research, technicalanalysis and/or work contained herein is not a legal opinion and should not be construed as such.


Table of Contents (1/2)

Introduction P2• Scope of The Study P7• Rationales for Choice P8• Key Features of the Report P10• Objective of the Report P11• Terminology for Patent Analysis P12• Methodology P14

Company Presentation P15

Product Presentation P28

Executive Summary P39

Teardown: Technology Comparison P49• Physical Analysis Methodology• MEMS Microphone Comparison• Selection of Product Features to be Analyzed

Patent Analysis: Risk of Patent Infringement P55• Matrix Product Features/Patent Portfolio P57• Diaphragm Structure P60

> Patent Identification-Knowles S1157-ST/OMRON MP45DT01-AAC/Infineon SR595-InvenSense/Analog Devices ICS-43432

> Patent Infringement Risk-ST/OMRON MP45DT01 vs Knowles patents-Knowles S1157 vs OMRON patents

• Anti-Sticking Bumps P71> Patent Identification

- Knowles S1157-ST/OMRON MP45DT01-AAC/Infineon SR595-InvenSense/Analog Devices ICS-43432

> Patent Infringement Risk-Knowles S1157 vs Infineon, OMRON, InvenSense/ADIand AAC patents-ST/OMRON MP45DT01 vs Infineon, AAC, InvenSense/ADIand Knowles patents-AAC/Infineon SR595 vs OMRON, InvenSense/ADIand Knowles patents-InvenSense/Analog Devices ICS-43432 vs Omron,Infineon, Knowles and AAC patents

• Acoustic Hole Shape P92> Patent Identification


> Patent Infringement Risk• Transducer, Number & Shape P100

> Patent Identification- Knowles S1157-ST/OMRON MP45DT01-AAC/Infineon SR595-InvenSense/Analog Devices ICS-43432

> Patent Infringement Risk-Knowles S1157 vs InvenSense/ADI and OMRON patents


Table of Contents (2/2)

• Stress Relief P110> Patent Identification


> Patent Infringement Risk-AAC/Infineon SR595 vs Knowles and InvenSense/ADI patents

• Port Structure P121> Patent Identification

-Knowles S1157-ST/OMRON MP45DT01-AAC/Infineon SR595-InvenSense/Analog Devices ICS-43432

> Patent Infringement Risk-ST/OMRON MP45DT01 vs Knowles and AAC patents

• Metal/PCB Housing P131> Patent Identification


> Patent Infringement Risk-ST/OMRON MP45DT01 vs AAC and Knowles patents

• Embedded Capacitance P141> Patent Identification


> Patent Infringement Risk-Knowles S1157 vs AAC patents-AAC/Infineon SR595 vs Knowles patents

• RF Protection/Shielding P152> Patent Identification


> Patent Infringement Risk-ST/OMRON MP45DT01 vs Knowles patents

• Patent Litigation P161

Conclusion P169• Summary of Patent Infringement Risks P170


Scope of the Study

• This report provides a technology and patent infringement risk analysis of the recent MEMSMicrophones supplied by Knowles, STMicroelectronics/Omron, AAC Technologies/InfineonTechnologies and InvenSense/Analog Devices.

• This report does not provide detailed claim charts and legal opinions regarding patentinfringements. The risks of patent infringement highlighted in this report require more in-depthlegal assessments to be confirmed.

InvenSense/ADIICS-43432

The comparative study is focused on following product featuresProcess: Diaphragm Structure, Anti-Sticking Bumps.Design: Acoustic Holes Shape, Transducer Number & Shape, Stress Relief.Packaging: Port Structure, Metal/PCB Housing, Embedded Capacitance, RF Protection.

STMicroelectronics/OMRONMP45DT01

AAC/InfineonSR595

(iPhone 5S)

KnowlesS1157

(iPhone 5S)


Rationales for Choice (1/2)

MEMS microphone is a very fast growing market with more than 29% growth in units in 2013-2014, driven bysmartphone growth. The mobile phone application dominates the market however tablet market seems verypromising with fastest growing.

Knowles is the dominant player with 61% market shares in 2013 and 58% in 2014. A decrease is again expectedin the next years with new challengers in the market:InvenSense(/Analog Devices): InvenSense acquired Analog Devices (ADI) MEMS Microphone business and

released HD products recently.AAC Technologies is a fast Chinese growing company, that has cross licensing agreement with Knowles and

acquired MEMSTECH.Infineon Technologies is the supplier of MEMS dies for most Knowles competitors and has lots of

collaborations with Asian MEMS Microphone players.STMicroelectronics has collaboration with CEA-Leti on R&D projects and also with OMRON for MEMS

Microphones.OMRON is looking at Infineon business model.

The global market share of these 6 players account for more than 80% of market share in 2014. These playersare all developing innovative technical and manufacturing solutions, and, in parallel of course, the right patentsto protect their inventions. But what are the similarities and the differences in term of technical andmanufacturing choices at the devices level and what is the related patent situation?


Rationales for Choice (2/2)

This report highlight the risks of patent infringement between Knowles, STMicroelectronics, OMRON, AACTechnologies, Infineon Technologies and InvenSense/Analog Devices in the field of MEMS Microphone market.As the MEMS Microphone market is growing very fast, it is the right time now to understand what could happenbetween these companies and how to differentiate patents and claims compared to the other players.

The S1157, MP45DT01, SR595 and ICS-43432 are on the last MEMS Microphones from Knowles,STMicroelectronics/OMRON, AAC Technologies/Infineon Technologies and InvenSense/Analog Devices/ASE(*)respectively. These devices are contained in different type of applications such as smartphones and tablets.These devices contain an ASIC die and a MEMS die.

(*) Because of a doubt about the involvement of ASE in the package manufacturing of the ICS-43432 MEMSmicrophone, we have made the decision to not considered this player in this study.

According to similar features between the 4 selected MEMS microphones and revealed by the reverseengineering performed by System Plus Consulting, this report is focused on some aspects related to MEMS dieand Packaging. No product features related to the ASIC die have been selected.


Key Features of the Report

This report provides a deep insight on technology data and manufacturing processes (teardown analysis) ofS1157, MP45DT01, SR595 and ICS-43432 components, and comparative studies of product features(similarities & differences).

It provides patents related to the target product features and held by Knowles, STMicroelectronics,OMRON, AAC Technologies, Infineon Technologies and InvenSense/ADI.

It provides discussions on the potential patent infringement risks by comparing relevant patent claimelements to the target product features and manufacturing processes.

This report also provides an extensive Excel database with all patents analyzed in this study (240+ patentfamilies comprising more than of 650 patents). This database allows multi-criteria searches:

- Patent publication number- Hyperlinks to the original documents- Priority date- Title- Abstract- Patent Assignees- Legal status of the patent

Disclaimer: This report does not provide any insight analyses or counsel regarding legal aspects or thevalidity of any individual patent. Knowmade and System Plus Consulting are research firms that providetechnical analysis and opinions. The research, technical analysis and/or work contained herein is not a legalopinion and should not be construed as such.

170+ slides


Objectives of the Report

• Provide an overview of technology data and manufacturing process of MEMS Microphonecomponents S1157, MP45DT01, SR595 and ICS-43432 supplied by Knowles,STMicroelectronics/OMRON, AAC Technologies/Infineon Technologies andInvenSense/Analog Devices respectively.

• Find the technical and manufacturing process similarities and differences of S1157(Knowles), MP45DT01 (STMicroelectronics/OMRON), SR595 (AAC/Infineon) and ICS-43432(InvenSense/Analog Devices) MEMS Microphone components.

• Identify key patents held by Knowles, STMicroelectronics, OMRON, AAC Technologies,Infineon Technologies, InvenSense and Analog Devices, and related to the target productfeatures and manufacturing processes.

• Find the link between patented technological solutions and marketed products.

• Identify the potential infringing parties, and help to find evidence of use.

• Identify potential risks of patent infringement, and identify the patents which require amore in depth legal assessment.


• Package is analyzed and measured.

• The dies are extracted in order to get overall data: dimensions, main blocks, padnumber and pin out, die marking.

• Setup of the manufacturing process.

• Patents are extracted from Questel-Orbit worldwide patent database by usingkeyword-based queries.

• The selection of relevant patents is done manually by expert review of thesubject-matter of inventions.

• The patents are manually categorized regarding the selected product features.

• The similarities and differences of target of products are identified (productfeatures and manufacturing processes).

• A set of product features and manufacturing processes is selected regardingtheir interest in terms of IP study.

• The links between the patented technologies and the target product featuresare established.

• The potential infringing parties of the target product are identified, and thepotential risks of patent infringements are discussed.

Methodology

Patent Search

Infringement Risks

Teardown Analysis

Comparative Study


XXXXX (iPhone 5S)


Note: iPhone 6


MEMS Microphone Comparison: Process & Design


MEMS Microphone Comparison: Packaging


Matrix Product Features/Patent Portfolio


Embedded Capacitance in PCBPatent Identification


Acoustic Holes Shape & DistributionPatent Identification


Transducer, Number & ShapePatent Identification


Risk of Patent Infringement

Unlikelyinfringement

Likelyinfringement

Highly likelyinfringement

Not any elements of the patent’s claims match with theproduct features being investigated.

At least one element of the patent’s claims partlymatches with the product features being investigated.

At least one element of the patent’s claims isdemonstrably present in the product being investigated.

In this technology and patent infringement risk analysis, we have chosen the 3 following levels for characterizing the potential risk of patent infringement.


Anti-sticking bumpsPatent Infringement Risk


Stress ReliefPatent Infringement Risk

24


Stress ReliefPatent Infringement Risk


Summary of Patent Infringement Risks

Potential risk of patent infringement: Unlikely patent infringement / Likely patent infringement / Highly likely patent infringement


Excel Patent Databasewith all patents analyzed in the report

More than 240 patent families composed of more than 650 patents.This database allows multi-criteria searches and includes patent publication number, hyperlinks to the original documents, priority date, title, abstract, patent assignees, legal status for each member of the patent family.

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Technology and Patent Infringement Risk AnalysisKnowles - STMicroelectronics - OMRON - AAC Technologies - Infineon Technologies - InvenSense - Analog Devices

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