Silicon Valley's Longest-Serving CEO Beginning New Chapter

With the impending close of Microchip's $840 million acquisition of Micrel, Ray Zinn, Micrel's CEO for the past 37 years, looks to a future that includes mentoring high-tech U.S. startups.

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Assembling Next-Gen Light Fixtures

LED fixtures and luminaires are challenging to mass-produce.

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Ensuring Traceability in Electronics Assembly

Data from a traceability system can be used for process improvement, defect resolution and regulatory compliance.

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Jet Dispenser Applies Epoxy Underfill Material for Hearing Aid Assembly

Protecting one's hearing is always a smart thing to do. Hearing-aid manufacturer GN ReSound (GNR) believes that improving one's hearing is just as smart.

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Robot-Mounted Vision System Simplifies Large-Part Inspection

Designing an automated, inline system to perform final quality inspection of a large or complicated assembly can be tricky.

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EEVblog #774 – Low Battery Discharge Testing Part 1

Dave shows how to do discharge testing on AAA and AA alkaline batteries, for the specific purpose of investigating how much energy is left under the industry standard 0.8V cutout voltage.
This is an explanation of the test setup, verification, and a sample plot of some data before the long term testing.
The setup consists of the BK Precision 8500 electronic load, the Keysight 34470A 7.5 digit meter, and the Rigol DP832 for testing.
Negative feedback T-Shirt
Energizer AAA battery datasheet
Duracell AAA battery datasheet

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Perambulating & Texting -- Dazed & Confused

It seems that walking while texting is becoming endemic; so much so, in fact, that a city in Belgium has set up special walking lanes for people who are texting.

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IBM Takes A Second Turn at PCM Drift

Another approach taken by IBM and Macronix to address phase change memory drift was to find a means of the reducing the statistical spraed of the resistance levels of MLC

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The Next Big Thing Is The Continuum

What will come next for us? Internet of Everything, wearables, the smart car, smart home, smart city, 3D printing, quantum computing, robotics, the cloud, Big Data, the maker movement, drones?

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Making EDA Exciting Again

There are still plenty of exciting challenges out there for companies or individuals who are not yet locked into the quarterly revenue drumbeat.

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Turing Test -- Are You Talking to a Human or a Machine?

Imagine you are allowed to pose five questions to determine whether you are communicating with a person or a machine; what questions would you ask?

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MediaTek Cautions 'Weak Demand' for Handsets

MediaTek has pared its expectations for 2015 as a result of weaker demand for smartphones and stronger price competition for the handset chips that the company makes.

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Patent Search Supports View 3D XPoint Based on Phase-Change

Is 3D XPoint non-volatile memory really just a version of phase-change memory? A patent search support the idea.

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Processor brings 1080p video to car rear-view mirrors

ON Semiconductor has developed a range of image co-processors to work with 1.2 and 2 megapixel image sensors specifically in automotive rear view and surround view cameras.

According to Sandor Barna, vice president at ON Semiconductor, the processor will support both 1080p and 720p video in automotive applications.

“We have added higher resolution, multiple interfaces and new automotive-targeted features such as ASIL support,” said Barna.

The AP0200, AP0201 and AP0202 support up to 2 MP 1080p image sensors, and the AP0102AT supports up to 1.2 MP 720p image sensors.

The chips will be used for functional safety features Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) levels A and B. They support 30 frames/second (fps) operation at 1080p, 45 fps at 960p and 60 fps at 720p.

They also support Ethernet or parallel output interfaces, and incorporate I2C, SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) and general purpose input/outputs (GPIOs).

Each has an operating temperature range of -40 °C to +105 °C (ambient) and is fully AEC-Q100 qualified.

The co-processors are designed to be used in combination with the firm’s image sensors such as the 1 MP AR0140AT, AR0132AT and AR0136AT, as well as the new AR0230AT 2 MP 1080p sensor.

 

 

Richard Wilson

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Industrial Automation Companies Combine

Japan's Omron is acquiring US-based Delta Tau Data Systems.

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Hybrid Solar Cells Capture More

Solar cells today waste as much as 44 percent of the solar spectrum--the infrared (IR)--but by combining inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals with organic molecules that lost energy can be unconverted to the visible spectrum for conversion to electricity, according to researchers at University of California, Riverside, (UCR).

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Google Street View Cars Test The Air

Environmental sensor firm Aclima has partnered with Google to test air quality in urban areas.

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Imec, Panasonic Push Progress on ReRAM

The two companies jointly presented a paper at the recent VLSI technology symposium outlining a process that paves the way for 28nm embedded applications

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USB will carry 4K video with new connector design

USB Type-C

Could a USB connector support 4K high definition video? This is what the industry intends and a new look USB connector is likely to start appearing in PCs, TVs and mobiles over the next year.

The Type-C connector, as it is called, is expected to take over from the micro USB as the standard connector for multi-gigabit USB 3.0 interfaces.

What do USB Type-C connectors offer over the Type-A and Type-B USB connectors we are all so familiar with?

It will support the 10Gbit/s data rates which will make it a practical alternative to today’s HDMI connectors on your television.

The connector’s 32-pins can be configured to support higher speed video data standards such DisplayPort, MHL, and Thunderbolt. This is referred to as “alternate mode” Type-C.

Significantly, the Type-C connector in alt mode will support 4K video as defined in the USB 3.1 standard.

USB has made its name by being a power connector as well as a data interface. The new connector extends the power capabilities. The maximum power rating is 100W.

But it also supports bi-directional power flow to allow a device to either source or sink power.

It also supports simultaneous power and data transfer.

Type-C connectors also offer scalable power ranging from 5.0V at 0.5A for handheld devices up to 20V at 5.0A for fast charge.

The big change to the mechanical design of the Type-C connector is its reversible plug orientation and cable direction.

 

 

 

Type-C needs new USB transceivers, filters and interface devices and the first ICs are appearing on the market.

One of the first Type-C controller/driver packages comes from NXP Semiconductors, and others are likely to follow very soon.

The important Type-C devices are: the USB3 re-drivers, ESD protection and filtering devices, USB PD PHY, authentication, load switches and high speed switches.

The PC and mobile industry, including Apple, seems to think the redesign of the USB connector interface is necessary and worthwhile to support the growing hunger for high speed data transfers to mobile devices.

 

 

 

 

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Water repellent coating improves capacitor reliability

Murata has developed a water-repellent coating that it claims will increase the reliability of multi-layer ceramic capacitors.

At issue is condensation – not just between the PCB and he capacitor, but on any capacitor surface that can gather condensation.

When water wets the surface of the caoacitor – top diagram – electromigration of electrode metals can occur which can eventually grow into a short circuit between the capacitor electrodes.

With the anti-wetting coating, which is permamantly applied, water droplets can not bridge from electrode to electrode and the scope for electromigration is significantly reduced – middle diagram.

Diagram shows the ceramic die, electrodes, and coating

“This capacitor has applications particularly in navigation systems, body control electronic control units [ECUs], air conditioner ECUs, meter ECUs and engine ECUs,” said Murata.

Sample shipments have begun and mass production is scheduled within a year.

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Will car makers become internet companies?

Connected vehicles will create a new business opportunity proving the internet-based mobile services to the driver.

Car manufacturers will soon be competing against technology companies to provide the online services to connected cars.

Autonomous connected vehicles are seen as the first major market for so-called internet of things (IoT).

This will be an important market for IC and hardware system suppliers. But arguably the biggest market opportunity will be in the provision v of online services that support the IoT devices in the car.

Car manufacturers see this as their domain and they want a major slice of the business. But to do this they will have to compete with IT firms and partner with software suppliers.

According to chip supplier NXP:

“The race to win the future mobility services business has begun. It is wide open on how automakers will fare versus the technology companies.”

Existing automotive technologies and business models that have worked for the car industry for a century are not so well suited to a changing car market with autonomous vehicles and IoT-connected cars.

“So will technology companies like Uber win this race by adopting new and successful business models?” asks NXP.

In order to address the connected vehicle opportunity it will be necessary to form cross-industry groups. This will combine car makers with electronics firms and software services suppliers.

No single sector will be able to capitalise on this market, due to its diversity and the range of technologies required.

Putting electronics management systems in cars was only the beginning. Connecting vehicles to the internet will add a far greater level of complexity to the automotive business model.

According to NXP, the convergence of personal and public transportation markets, will force car manufacturers to make “a leap of faith and fundamentally transform their value chain”.

NXP believes car makers will find themselves fighting on two major battlefronts.

Their core activity will be designing new forms of autonomous connected vehicles, but to be successful in the connected vehicles market they will need to develop and sell internet based services.

Whether they are successful in doing this will determine they business growth in the years ahead.

 

Richard Wilson

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Chips at risk from bad voltages, says Mentor

Electrical reliability and protection from electrostatic discharge (ESD) has become more important to IC designers as on-chip geometries shrink and device complex increases.

ESD is not a new phenomenon in chip design but its importance to IC designers has increased in recent years.

The main factors for this are:

·         Smaller on chip geometries for wiring as well as feature size.

·         Multiple power islands on the one chip

·         Designing in third-party silicon IP

“The big risk designers have is from allowing inappropriate voltages being applied to different parts of the circuit on the same die,” says Carey Robertson, product marketing director at Mentor Graphics.

Chip reliability is also enforced by industry standards such as the ISO26262 automotive device certification.

This puts greater pressure on the chip designer to check for issue such as electrical overstress, over-heating and latch-up at all stages of the design.

“This means designers must ensure the longevity of devices especially if they are being designed into applications such as automotive or medical,” says Robertson.

So what does the designer need to think about?

·         Current density limits for specific areas of the die

·         Identifying power islands within the design

·         Pad spacing

·         Bond wire widths

·         Resistance matching

Foundries have their own reliability check. For example TSMC will give designers an ESD/latch-up design kit with as many as 60 design rule checks for 28nm devices and below.

For many designers this could be a new task for them, and the EDA firms have now introduced tools which can automate the process to a great extent.

Mentor’s tool for performing ESD and multiple power domain checks is called Calibre PERC.

According to Robertson, geometrical and electrical verification requirements must be described by a topological view rather than single device/pin to net relation.

“The tool can give a topological view incorporating many layout-related parameters as well as circuitry-dependent checks,” says Robertson.

According to Robertson, there will be an inevitable increase in the design cycle runtime, but he says this can be typically “a matter of hours”.

Designers will have to budget for this, because this is a world where customers are increasingly looking for device longevity as well as performance and low cost.

 

Richard Wilson

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Electronic dictionary vendor Global View sets up business incubator in Beijing

Taiwan-based Global View, an e-dictionary and e-translator vendor, has set up an innovative business incubator in Beijing, aiming to help Taiwan-based teams establish startup companies in China, according to company chairman Chou Chih-yuan.

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Silicon Motion to offer solutions for 3D XPoint devices

Silicon Motion Technology, a Taiwan-based company engaged in the design and development of NAND flash device controller solutions, will reportedly provide controller chips for SSDs utilizing 3D XPoint memory technology developed jointly by Intel and Micron Technology.

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Taiwan promoting recycling of household wastewater for industrial use

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has been assisting industrial parks to set up disposal facilities to recycle household wastewater for use in production at the industrial parks, according to MOEA.

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FET arranges stake investment in CNS via buying corporate bonds

Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) on July 30 announced it will subscribe to 7-year unsecured corporate bonds at a fixed annual interest of 3% worth up to NT$17.12 billion (US$546 million), paving the way to acquiring a major stake in China Networks Systems (CNS), the largest cable TV MSO in the Taiwan market.

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Innolux to merge with CMEL

Innolux will merge with its subsidiary CMEL, with the former to be the surviving company. Innolux currently holds a 97.19% stake in CMEL.

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Taiwan IC design houses expect orders for handsets to pick up in August

IC demand for handsets is expected to pick up in August buoyed by an influx of orders from China, according to sources at Taiwan-based IC design houses.

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LG top TV panel supplier to China in 1H15, says firm

LG Display was the largest supplier of TV panels to the China market in the first half of 2015, holding a 22% share, according to Sigmaintell Consulting.

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Acer pushing investments in startups

Acer has announced to cooperate with Taiwan's Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, which will be represented by Institute for Information Industry (III) to push a plan to nurture emerging industries and related Taiwan-based startup companies. Acer's Build Your Own Cloud (BYOC) business has already invested in a few startups, looking to help them enter into the worldwide market to compete for Internet of things (IoT) business opportunities.

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MediaTek posts lower revenues and profits for 2Q15

MediaTek has reported revenue and profit decreases for the second quarter of 2015, citing decelerating handset demand and intensifying price competition among chip providers.

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Sharp plans to stop in-house production of a-Si thin-film PV modules, says Nikkei News

Japan-based Sharp plans to stop in-house production of amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin-film PV modules as they are less price competitive, according to Japan-based Nikkei News.

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Digitimes Research: China smartphone AP shipments to grow 23.5% in 2H15

Shipments of smartphone application processors in the China market are expected to grow 9.7% and 16% on quarter, respectively, in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, according to Digitimes Research.

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Global smartphone shipments growth slows to 15% in 2Q15, says Strategy Analytics

Global smartphone shipments grew 15% on year to reach 339.5 million units in the second quarter of 2015, which was the industry's slowest growth for six years, according to Strategy Analytics.

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Mouser ships Intel Compute Stick

Mouser is shipping the Intel Compute Stick with Ubuntu Linux which enables any screen with an HDMI interface to become a fully functional personal computer.

The stick has pre-installed Ubuntu 14.04 LTS OS.

It has a 64-bit 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3735F Quad-Core processor with 2Mbytes cache, integrated Intel HD graphics, and multi-channel digital audio.

It plugs into any display that has an HDMI 1.4a interface. Networking is achieved with onboard IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and peripheral connectivity is available through the Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 2.0 interfaces.

Once plugged into a display’s HDMI port, the user powers the Compute Stick with a wall adapter. A status LED indicates the device is powered while both graphics and audio is provided through the HDMI port. The device can be controlled through a wireless keyboard and mouse.

The stick has 8GBytes of eMMC Flash for user file storage and 1GByte of RAM. An Intel Compute Stick running Microsoft Windows 8.1 is also available from Mouser Electronics. Flash user storage is expandable for both versions through a microSDXC slot on the side of the device.

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Antenova adds Sinica for 1559-1609 satellite bands

Antenova, the Hatfield antenna specialist, has launched an embedded GNSS antenna, named ‘Sinica’, which operates on the 1559 – 1609 MHz satellite bands.

Sinica is suitable for all positioning applications on the 1559-1609 MHz bands. It operates with all of the public satellite constellations – GPS, GLONASS, Baidou and Gallileo, which means it can provide accurate positioning combined with global coverage.

The Sinica antenna is created from FR4 materials and new dielectric constant laminate substrates. It uses a new approach to antenna design, which has enabled the company to create an antenna with the high performance of a ceramic patch antenna, in a low profile part that can be placed neatly within a small printed circuit board.

Sinica is designed for devices that need accurate positioning or tracking globally, which means it is suitable to use in drones, network devices and wearable electronics, or any other portable device or tracking application.

Antenova’s product designers recently introduced the concept of “Design For Integration” (DFI), which considers how the antenna will operate when it is embedded with a manufacturer’s product. Antenova’s antennas are always used within a customer’s design, so they are designed to provide superior RF performance from within the device, and to make the integration of the RF elements easier for the designer. In addition to this, Antenova provides its customers with technical support during the design, integration and  testing phases.

The antennas are supplied on Tape and Reel.

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K computer claims super computer crown

Having fallen from the peak of the Top 500 list of super computers a few years ago, Japan’s K compute is back up there again, this time on the Graph 500 supercomputer ranking.

Graph 500 is a relatively new benchmark, from 2010, which seeks to measure supercomputers on data-intensive loads rather than simple speed, “with the goal of improving computing involving complex data problems in areas such as cybersecurity, medical informatics, data enrichment, social networks, symbolic networks, and modeling neuronal circuits in the brain”, said Fujitsi, builder of K computer.

 

A collaboration between RIKEN, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, University College Dublin, Kyushu University, and Fujitsu got the computer its top place – announced this month at the international conference on high-performance computing (ISC2015) in Frankfurt.

The Tokyo Institute of Technology and RIKEN used 82,944 of K computer’s 88,128 compute nodes to solve a breadth-first search of a graph of 1 trillion nodes and 16 trillion edges in 0.45s, scoring 38,621 gigaTEPS

Sequoia at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory scored of 23,751 gigaTEPS, and Mira at the Argonne National Laboratoryscored 14,982.

“In June last year we took the top spot with K computer, but we dropped to second place in the rankings of November that year,” said K computer scientist Koji Ueno. “In response, we identified problems in the performance of our previous implementation and developed a new algorithm that allowed us to make some important improvements.”

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ARM buys hardware-based security technology.

ARM has bought the five year-old Israeli security firm Sansa which has a hardware solution for mobile connectivity.

The price is thought to be somewhere around $90 million.

Sansa, which was called Discretix until last October, has had $37 million of VC money and is backed by both Sequoia and Accel among others.

Car-hacking demonstrations have recently shown the vulnerability of mobile connections to hackers. Software solutions are widely seen as only temporary because hackers find their way round them. Sansa’s approach is via hardware which physically isolates sensitive operations from the apps processor.

“Any connected device could be a target for a malicious attack so we must embed security at every potential attack point,” says ARM’s CTO Mike Muller, “protection against hackers works best when it is multi-layered, so we are extending our security technology capability into hardware subsystems and trusted software. This means our partners will be able to license a comprehensive security suite from a single source.”

‘Sansa has a hardware subsystem that adds additional isolation of security operations from the main application processor,’ says ARM, ‘this is complemented by software components operating on top of trusted execution environments to perform security-sensitive operations.’

Sansa says its technology is in devices sold in quantities on 150 million units a year.

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Virtual reality device shipments to reach 43 million by 2020, with mobile-reliant head mounted displays foremost, says firm

The early excitement surrounding augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) has prompted some substantial bets from major players, including Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and Facebook. Microsoft's Hololens will likely be a major driver of consumer AR devices, while Google Cardboard will continue to be the first choice for an inexpensive VR experience (estimated to ship around 1.5 million units by then end of 2015), and will join Samsung's Gear VR in driving mobile-reliant device growth. The Oculus Rift, along with similar devices like the HTC Vive or Sony's Project Morpheus, will be dominant among tethered devices and will drive early growth, with their successors likely continuing that lead in the space. These tethered VR devices are forecast for the highest growth among VR device types (128% CAGR 2014-2020), but ultimately mobile VR devices will ship more units total (25 million in 2020), according to ABI Research.

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Acer passes down Stationary Computer and Display BU management to younger executives

Acer's ex-general manager of the Stationary Computing and Display Business Groups Simon Hwang has recently been assigned to handle new business planning and will be in charge of developing new products. Acer's Stationary Computer Business Group will be handled by the business group's original director Hou Chihyuan (transliterated from Chinese) and the Display Business Group by its original director Chien Huihsiang (transliterated from Chinese).

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Taiwan market: Samsung launches new Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, Galaxy Grand Prime

Samsung Electronics has launched upgrade versions of its entry-level smartphone the Galaxy Grand Prime and the entry-level tablet the Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 LTE in the Taiwan market, aiming to further ramp up its share in the local mobile device market.

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Adlink posts 1H15 net EPS of NT$1.77

Industrial computing device maker Adlink Technology on July 30 released its financial report for the first half of 2015, recording consolidated revenues of NT$4.58 billion (US$149 million), net profit of NT$355 million and net EPS of NT$1.77.

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Notebook component makers shift to server applications along with ODMs

While notebook ODMs, such as Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics, have been expanding staff specifically for servers used in cloud computing data centers, their component suppliers, including thermal modules, power supplies and metal stamping, have also extended related production, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

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Touch panel suppliers step up shipments for new iPhone

Touch panel supply chains of the iPhone 6 have stepped up shipments for the next generation iPhone, with shipments of the new Apple smartphones expected to reach 36-40 million in the third quarter and 50 million in the fourth quarter, according to supply chain sources.

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TPK revenues slip due to decline in handset touch panel shipments

TPK has stated its 22.7% on-year decline in revenues for the second quarter of 2015 was largely due to an 18% shipment decline for handset applications, which held a 51% share of the company's overall revenues.

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LED to account for 19% of transportation lamp revenues in 2015, says IHS

LED lighting is forecast to reach 19% of total lamp revenues in transportation lighting in 2015, according to IHS. The total worldwide revenue for office lamps is projected to reach US$1 billion in 2015, of which US$0.2 billion is anticipated to be LED. LED, which is increasing its market penetration, generally has a high initial installation cost, but lower maintenance and energy costs. The other main technology is high intensity discharge (HID).

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ASE expects to post revenue growth through 4Q15

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) will manage to post sequential revenue growth through the fourth quarter of 2015, according to company COO Tien Wu.

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Coretronic reports 2Q15 performance

Coretronic has reported its revenues in the second quarter of 2015 rose 7% but declined 19.5% on year to NT$16.93 billion (US$536.24 million). EPS was at NT$0.58, and operating profit NT$241 million.

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Taiwan market: Chunghwa Telecom sees 4G user base increase to 2.9 million

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) saw the number of its 4G mobile communication subscribers increase to 2.9 million at the end of July and has offered several sales promotions in a bid to target 4.2 million for the end of 2015, the company said at a July 30 investors conference.

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Energy management revenues for healthcare markets expected to reach US$2.2 billion by 2024, says report

Due to an increase in global policies promoting energy efficiency and skyrocketing healthcare costs, governments and organizations are examining the adoption of new technologies to monitor and control the energy use of healthcare spaces. This demand for greater control is being realized through the use of healthcare energy management systems (EMSs), as well as through software as a service (SaaS) applications that help optimize existing facility equipment while avoiding high upfront costs. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, energy management revenues for healthcare markets are expected to reach US$2.2 billion by 2024.

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Hua Hong Semiconductor, QST announce 3-axis gyroscope SoC

Hua Hong Semiconductor, a pure-play 200mm foundry, and Shanghai Quality Sensor Technology (QST) have jointly announced what they claim is the first 3-axis gyroscope SoC developed and manufactured by China-based firms.

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UMC slows 28nm ramp

United Microelectronics (UMC) has decided to ramp up its 28nm production capacity at a slower pace due to a less-optimistic outlook for demand in the second half of 2015.

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Friday Quiz: Oscilloscopes

So, you use an oscilloscope every day? Well then, you should have an easy time with this week's quiz.

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Inventables X-Carve LIVE Build Part 3 + Batteriser Rant

Part 3 of Dave & David2 assembling the Inventables X-Carve milling machine.
Bonus impromptu rant on the Batteriser for the first 30 minutes!

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Inventables X-Carve Time Lapse Build

Time lapse footage of Dave & David 2 assembled the Inventables X-Carve cutting/milling machine.
6.5 hours of build footage in 2 1/2 minutes

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Samsung's Slippage Stirs Smartphone Angst

Samsung's downbeat outlook is stirring up worries over the global smartphone market. A bigger question is if this dip is an isolated incident, or a harbinger of an inevitable slowdown in the smartphone market.

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Patents: Exercises in Futility and Incomprehensibility?

Learning anything from patent documents has to be one of the world's least productive endeavors. But there are a few techniques by which you can squeeze out what useful information may be hidden there.

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The Best Way to Store Morse Code in C

In which we compare two approaches to store and manipulate the dot-and-dash symbols used to represent characters in Morse code.

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NXP Touts Mixed Signal, Auto Gains

NXP Semiconductors' financial results for the second quarter of 2015 highlighted $1.506 billion in revenue, a 12% year-over-year increase, with much of the growth coming from mixed signal and automotive markets.

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Test is not someone else's problem

You can reduce production time and cost if you create the test plan before the design.

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Graphene Lights Up Chips

A group of national and international researchers have demonstrated an on-chip visible light source using graphene as a filament. The team attached small strips of graphene to metal electrodes, suspended the strips above the substrate, and passed a current through the filaments.

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M2M connections increasing, but don’t call it IoT

The market for M2M cellular modules and wireless terminals is predicted to grow dramatically over the next three years.

By the end of 2019 the market for cellular M2M modules is expected to reach $2.2bn, according to a new report by Beecham Research.

The numbers of modules and wireless terminal is predicted to more than double in the same period.

Despite the move to 3G and 4G and talk of 5G, Beecham Research says that 2G modules will continue to provide for the majority of new M2M connected devices for the next few years.

“This is particularly the case in Europe where there are no plans to end 2G services. But while 2G module shipments will continue to increase in volume over the period, as a percentage of total shipments they will decline from almost 80% in 2014 to just 50% by 2019,” said the Beecham Research report.

The most common applications for cellular M2M connections are likely to be in smart meters, security alarms, medical devices, parking meters and connected cars systems.

“The increasing sophistication of M2M applications is driving the need for higher speeds, including real time video in security and connected car markets and the addition of service layers on telematics applications such as job scheduling and mobile payment systems,” says David Parker, senior analyst at Beecham Research and author of the report.

“There are a number of potentially disruptive factors in the market including the timing, pricing and acceptance of new technologies like LTE-M and the rise of alternative methods of connecting objects such as mesh networks, low power wide area (LPWA) and satellite.”

M2M wireless terminal sales are expected to more than double in revenue terms in the period to 2019.

These products are much more diverse and can cost from $150 up to $2,000 for complex multi-radio gateways.

 

Richard Wilson

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Independent Board Members: The Outsiders With an "In"

Being a member of the board of a hot young tech startup can be a heady experience and one few of us will experience. While thrilling, a board seat can bring unexpected challenges for independent (or outside) board members.

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Mythbusters Tests Killer Drones

See what the team on Discovery Communications' TV series Mythbusters learned when they tested the safety of drones. The results might make you lose your head.

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CERN Taps Brocade For SDN

The legendary particle physics lab will use Brocade's OpenDaylight-based SDN controller to build out its SDN strategy.

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Windows 10 Mobile: Why Microsoft Is Confident

Windows 10 for smartphones is essentially feature complete, says Microsoft, and will make its official debut with a new flagship phone soon.

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Samsung SE370 Monitor Boasts Wireless Charging Capability

No stranger to innovative products, Samsung launches the SE370 monitor, which can wirelessly charge your smartphone.

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Smarter Sensor Hub Cuts Power

QuickLogic has a new sensor hub Eos, named after the Greek Goddess of the new dawn, which packs so many hardware accelerators--including it own field programmable gate array (FPGA)--on an SoC with an ARM Cortex-M4F, that it can serve as the application processor for wearables as well as significantly offload the app processor on a smartphone.

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Server power measured per programme

Aiming to cut power waste in data centres, Fujitsu Labs has developed a way to determine how much energy each programme running on a CPU consumes.

It adds to the capability, called RAPL, of some Intel CPUs to measure overall power consumption.

“According to a report by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan’s datacenters consume an average of 7.72 billion kWh per year,” said Fujitsu. “One way to reduce energy consumption is through the use of more energy-efficient hardware. Another is to reduce the energy required to run programs on servers. A precondition for energy-efficient programming is to have an understanding of the energy being consumed by existing software. Until now, however, it was not possible to calculate the energy required to execute software on a core-by-core basis, so it has been difficult to take a software-based approach to reducing power consumption.”

Not a lot of detail has been revealed – it is to be presented at the Summer United Workshops on Parallel, Distributed and Cooperative Processing 2015 (SWoPP 2015) next week.

The Lab’s technique uses information that can be tracked at the individual core level such as clock cycles and cache-hit percentages to estimate energy consumption in detail, down to the program module level. It adds atound 1% processing over-head, and captures information by the millisecond.

Testing is underway, a practical implementation is expected in 2016, and the company is also looking into applying the technology to its own data centres.

 

steve bush

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IQE joins Obama initiative

IQE has been announced as a key partner in a new consortium to establish the United States’ first Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation (IP-IMI).

Created as part of President Obama’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), the IP-IMI was launched this week in Rochester, NY by US Vice President Biden as the sixth of nine new manufacturing institutes designed to bring industry together with academia and government to advance the state-of-the-art in the design, manufacture, testing, assembly, and packaging of photonic integrated circuits and establish US Leadership in Integrated Photonics.

“IQE is proud to have been named as one of 55 key industrial partners in this important project led by SUNY to accelerate photonic capabilities and manufacturing in the U.S,” says IQE CEO Dr Drew Nelson, “the importance of the rapidly growing photonics technology industry cannot be overestimated and is already having a major impact in areas such as communications, energy efficiency, healthcare and safety and security systems. Inclusion as a key partner in this new US Manufacturing Institute is testament to IQE’s reputation as a global world leader in compound semiconductor materials, a key enabling technology (KET) for photonics.”

The consortium comprises 55 leading industrial partners, including Intel, IBM, Infinera, HP, Honeywell, Rockwell, Seagate and TI along with numerous other leading edge companies, universities and laboratories, and is led by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY). IQE’s role in the consortium is to provide advanced epitaxy services to the Institute partners.

The IP-IMI has been awarded federal funding of $110 million by the Department of Defense, which is expected to yield total public-private investment of more than $610 million which will enable the institute to focus on developing an end-to-end integrated photonics ecosystem in the U.S., including domestic foundry access, integrated design tools, automated packaging, assembly and test, and workforce development. The Institute will develop and demonstrate innovative manufacturing technologies for:

Ultra-high-speed transmission of signals for the internet and telecommunications

New high-performance information-processing systems and computing

Compact sensor applications enabling dramatic medical advances in diagnostics and treatment

Multi-sensor applications including urban navigation, free space optical communications and quantum information sciences

Other diverse military applications including electronic warfare, analog RF sensing, communications, and chemical/biological detection

All of these developments will require cross-cutting disciplines of design, manufacturing, packaging, reliability and testing.

Photonics is widely recognised globally as a key enabling technology that has significant potential to revolutionize a wide range of commercial, industrial and defense applications, including:

Revolutionizing communications

Creating dramatic energy savings at high-performing data centres

Dramatically improving medical technologies

Improving safety and security operations

The institute will provide central facilities through which academia, SMEs and large corporations can access latest technology for design and manufacture of photonics devices providing a route to commercialisation through high-value, high-volume manufacturing.

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Agile Design for Hardware, Part II

In the second of a three-part series, two Berkeley professors suggest its time to apply Agile design techniques to hardware.

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Infineon on-track to 34% y-o-y growth

Infineon had calendar Q2 revenue of € 1,586 million – up 7% on calendar Q1 – for a profit of €245 million at a margin of 15.4%. Infineon expects a 1% revenue increase in calendar Q3 and a 34% increase for the full year.

Dr Reinhard Ploss, Infineon

“Revenue, earnings and margin rose significantly in the quarter, despite an increasingly difficult business environment,” says Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss, “for the full fiscal year, we therefore continue to forecast revenue and a Segment Result Margin within the ranges previously predicted. The integration of International Rectifier is progressing according to plan.”

Between its four main operating units, revenues split: Automotive €621 million, Industrial Power Management €269 million, Power Management and Multimarket €517 million and ChipCard and Security €172 million.

Overall group operating income improved from €79 million in calendar Q1 to €119 million in calendar Q2 while net income for calendar Q2 came in at €109 million, well ahead of the previous quarter’s €65 million.

Payment of the purchase price for International Rectifier had given rise to a negative Free Cash Flow of €1,880 million in calendar Q1.

Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations rose from €135 million to €432 million. The gross cash position went up from €1,656 million on March 31, 2015 to €1,842 million at the end of calendar Q2.

The net cash position improved over the same period from a negative amount of €176 million to stand at a positive amount of €49 million at June 30, 2015.
With these figures, Infineon is now back within the target range for its three capital management objectives, namely gross cash of between 30 and 40% of revenue, a positive net cash position, and a moderate level of debt.

All four operating segments will contribute to revenue growth in 2015.

Investments during the 2015 fiscal year are expected to be in the region of €800 million. This figure includes investments in plant and equipment at existing factories and in intangible assets including capitalized development costs.

Specifically included in these investments are €60 to €70 million for readying the second shell in Kulim, Malaysia, for volume production and €21 million for the purchase of Qimonda patents in conjunction with the settlement reached with the insolvency administrator of Qimonda AG.

Depreciation and amortization will increase to around €750 million, mostly as a result of acquisition-related charges.

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Toshiba licenses ARM Cortex-A53

Toshiba has licensed the ARM Cortex-A53 processor, the most power-efficient ARMv8-A processor capable of seamlessly supporting 32-bit and 64-bit code.

Toshiba will deploy the processor to develop ASSPs such as ApP LiteT application processors that offer well balanced power-efficiency and performance with 64-bit capability, and custom products such as FFSA (Fit Fast Structured Array) and ASIC for industrial, networking, IoT, automotive and data storage products. The Company expects to bring products to market at an early date.

The industrial market is seeing strong demand for 64-bit capabilities and high reliability. The network market requires high-speed, low-power-consumption operation, real time processing and multi-clustered storage systems[1] for huge data handling and data encryption. IoT products require power-efficient microprocessors, and applications relying on enormous storage capacity need an expanded memory address space. Toshiba will develop products to meet these various demands.

The processor will allow Toshiba to hasten the development of highly featured, high performance systems that meet the functional safety requirements of ISO26262 for the automotive market and to provide customers with solutions for next generation automotive applications.

The Cortex-A53 processor features an 8-stage in-order pipeline, and strengthened data access / instruction fetch techniques. It also features ARM NEON technology with enhanced multimedia handling capabilities in addition to 128-bit SIMD ordering capabilities, as well as a cryptographic engine that accelerates encryption handling such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm) by extending architectures.

“Toshiba’s commitment to build SoCs based on Cortex-A53 further highlights the diverse range of use cases for the industry’s leading low-power 64-bit processor,” said Nandan Nayampally, vice president, marketing, CPU group, ARM. “The Cortex-A53 will deliver new levels of compute performance into power and space constrained environments in automotive, IoT and networking infrastructure applications and the processor safety package enables Toshiba to create products compliant with the latest functional safety standards.”

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NTSB concludes Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crash review

Plessey goes into LED light bulb ‘filament’ production

 Plessey has launched a range of LED ‘filaments’ based on GaN-on-Si die made in Plymouth.

“The filaments are designed for the surging filament bulb market where these replacement lamps have far better performance, but maintain the physical appearance of incandescent lamps,” said the firm.

Called the PLF series, the chip-on-board filaments create the same amount of light as an incandescent filament, while consuming less energy and lasting longer.

Terminations are unique, said Plessey, as they can be handled and spot welded by existing high volume automated glass lamp manufacturing lines, and the firm has incorporated a mechanism to control current and Vf of the filaments when filaments are driven in a bridge configuration.

“Plessey will also be incorporating other active and passive electronic components for chip-on-board and chip-scale packaging solutions in next generation of filaments,” said company CTO Dr Keith Strickland.

‘PLF’ series filaments come in a variety of lengths, light outputs, with colour temperatures from very warm 2,200K to sunlight-cool 6,500K.

 

steve bush

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Asia Tech Image to ship CIS modules to China-based ATM maker

Asia Tech Image will soon begin to ship contact image sensor (CIS) modules capable of recognizing counterfeit paper money to the second largest China-based ATM (automated teller machine) maker, company president Iris Wu said at a July 29 investors conference.

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Taiwan, China firms to jointly set up cloud-based educational platform

Taiwan-based Global View, an e-dictionary and e-translator vendor, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China-based Wei Dong Group to develop a cloud-based educational platform for the educational sector in China and other markets, according to Global View.

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Young Optics to start production of industrial optical modules for ultra-slim surveillance devices

Optical module and component maker Young Optics will begin production of industrial optical modules for use in ultra-slim video surveillance devices in the third quarter of 2015, according to the company.

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Low order visibility for 2H15, says SPIL chairman

Bough Lin, chairman of Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), has expressed caution about the semiconductor market prospects for the second half of 2015 due to low order visibility.

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Innolux reports 2Q15 performance

Innolux has announced its consolidated revenues in the second quarter of 2015 amounted to NT$93.8 billion (US$2.97 billion), and gross profit was NT$15.6 billion for a gross margin of 16.6%. Operating profit totaled NT$9.4 billion with an operating margin of 10%. Net profit amounted to NT$5.4 billion for a net profit margin of 5.8%. The company's EBITDA margin reached 24.7%, and EPS equaled NT$0.54.

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Digitimes Research: Taiwan 2Q15 LCD TV shipments decline 8% on year

Taiwan makers' shipments of LCD TVs reached 7.97 million in the second quarter of 2015, up 6.6% on quarter but down 8.6% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

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Digitimes Research: Taiwan 2Q15 small- to medium-size panel shipments drop 0.4%

Taiwan makers' shipments of small- to medium-size panels slipped 0.4% in the second quarter of 2015 to 287 million due to shrinking orders for feature handsets, according to Digitimes Research.

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Worldwide tablet market continues to decline; vendor landscape is evolving, says IDC

The worldwide tablet market declined 7% on year in the second quarter of 2015 with shipments totaling 44.7 million units according to preliminary data from the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. Marked by little hardware innovation and limited vendor portfolio updates, the market also declined 3.9% compared to the first quarter of 2015.

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High-end graphics cards become new focus for vendors

Graphics card players have recently started turning their focuses to mid-range and high-end graphics cards as related demand from enthusiast gamers continues to rise despite the fact that overall PC sales are still weak, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

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Delta Electronics starts integration of Norway-based Eltek

Power supply maker and energy management solution provider Delta Electronics has begun integration of Eltek ASA, a Norway-based company engaged in development, production and marketing of power supplies. Delta acquired a 100% stake in Eltek in December 2014, according to company chairman Yancey Hai at a July 29 investors conference.

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WearWise unveils new wearable camera

WearWise, a wearable device design team, has recently unveiled a new wearable camera and is currently raising funding via Kickstarter for mass production of the device. The camera is sized 4.2cm by 4.2cm and has a thickness of 2.1cm and weight of 25g.

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Wistron chairman expresses concerns about China supply chain takeover

Commenting on the Taiwan government's recent project of providing NT$500 billion (US$15.91 billion) loans to Taiwan's medium-to-large size enterprises, Wistron chairman Simon Lin is concerned that the government may place strict policies on the loans, causing only a few companies to be eligible. Lin is also concerned about China's supply chain gradually taking over Taiwan's supply chain and urges the government to come up with a comprehensive strategy for the competition.

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Taiwan IC firms positive about demand for USB 3.1 Type-C solutions

Taiwan-based IC design companies including ASMedia Technology, Etron Technology and VIA Labs are all gearing up to offer USB 3.1 Type-C solutions as they anticipate the interface will see widespread adoption among notebooks and smartphones.

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QuickLogic introduces multi-core EOS sensor hub

EOS – QuickLogic Flexible Fusion Engine S2-Sensor Hub Block-Diagram

QuickLogic has introduced a triple core sensor hub called EOS.

The justification for sensor hubs is that: “It is power-prohibitive to do sensor processing on the host processor,” according to QuickLogic vice-president Brian Faith.

The three cores are: an ARM Cortex M4F MCU, a front-end sensor manager and a QuickLogic proprietary core which it calls Flexible Fusion Engine (FFE). A fourth core could be integrated into the hub’s FPGA fabric.

The FFE and and sensor manager handle the bulk of the algorithm processing, which minimises the duty cycle for the floating point MCU.

This approach lowers aggregate power consumption, and enables mobile, wearable and IoT device designers to introduce next generation sensor-driven applications, such as pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR), indoor navigation, motion compensated heart rate monitoring, and other advanced biological applications within their power budgets.

The EOS platform includes a hardened subsystem specifically designed for always-listening voice applications.

With its dedicated PDM-to-PCM conversion block, and Sensory’s Low Power Sound Detector (LPSD) technology, the EOS system enables always-on voice triggering and recognition while consuming less than 350 microAmps.

“It solves the problem of doing voice recognition at low power,” says Faith.

EOS has 2,800 effective logic cells of in-system reprogrammable logic that can be used for an additional FFE or customer-specific hardware differentiated features.

The EOS S3 platform and QuickLogic’s SenseMe library are compliant with Android Lollipop (5.0+) as well as various RTOSes.

Since the platform is sensor and algorithm agnostic, it can support third party and customer-developed algorithms through QuickLogic’s industry-standard Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE) plugin.

The IDE provides optimised and proven code generation tools as well as a feature-rich debugging environment to ensure quick porting of existing code into both the FFE and the ARM M4F MCU of the EOS S3 platform.

Applications include:

• Always-on, always-listening voice recognition and triggering
• Pedometry, pedestrian dead reckoning, and indoor navigation
• Sports and activity monitoring
• Biological and environmental sensor applications
• Sensor fusion including gestures and context awareness
• Augmented reality
• Gaming

Processor Cores

• 180DMIPS of aggregate processing capability
• 578KB of aggregate SRAM for code and data storage

QuickLogic Proprietary microDSP Flexible Fusion Engine

• 50KB SRAM for Code
• 16KB SRAM for Data
• Very long instruction word (VLIW) microDSP architecture
• 50µW/MHz
• As low as 12.5µW/DMIPS

ARM Cortex M4F

• Up to 80MHz
• Up to 512KB SRAM
• 32-bit, includes floating point unit
• 100µW/MHz; ~80µW/DMIPS

Programmable Logic

• 2,800 effective logic cells
• Capable of implementing an additional FFE and customer-specific functionality

Package Configurations

• Ball grid array (BGA)
• 3.5×3.5×0.8mm, 0.40mm ball pitch
• 49-ball, 34-user I/O’s

Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP)

• 2.5×2.3×0.7mm, 0.35mm ball pitch
• 36-ball, 28-user I/O’s

Integrated Voice

• Always-on voice trigger and phrase recognition capability, in conjunction with sensory
• I2S and PDM microphone input with support for mono and stereo configurations
• Integrated hardware PDM to PCM conversion
• Sensory low power sound detector (LPSD)

Interface Support

• To host – SPI slave
• To sensors and peripherals – SPI master (2X), I2C, UART
• To microphones – PDM and I2S

Additional Components

• ADC
• 12-bit sigma delta
• Regulator – low drop 0ut (LDO), with 1.8V to 3.6V input support
• System clock – integrated 32kHz and high speed oscillator

david manners

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Getac launches new ruggedized tablet with improved gear

Getac has announced upgrades to its existing T800 ruggedized tablet with new hardware that is certified by ATEX Zone 2, 22 and will rename the device to T800-Ex. The new tablet has also passed US military MIL-STD-810G and IP65 certifications.

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GCL-Poly Energy has no plans to produce solar cells

China-based polysilicon and solar-grade crystalline silicon wafer maker GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, in response to a report that the company has acquired equipment with annual production capacity of 1.0GWp to undertake in-house production of crystalline silicon solar cells for own use, has clarified that it does not plan to produce solar cells itself but may seek strategic partners for outsourced production, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

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China Internet user base over 667 million at end of June 2015, says CNNIC

The number of fixed-line and mobile Internet surfers in China increased to an estimated 667.69 million at the end of June 2015, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

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Motorola launches 3 smartphones

Motorola has unveiled three smartphones, the Moto X Style, Moto X Play and Moto G, simultaneously in New York, London and Sao Paulo.

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Taiwan market: TWM, FET maintain monthly price of NT$998 for unlimited 4G use

Taiwan Mobile (TWM) on July 29 announced the continuation of a monthly charge rate of NT$998 (US$31.8) for unlimited 4G mobile access to the Internet, and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) followed suit immediately.

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Corning announces 2Q15 core sales of US$2.5 billion

Corning has announced its second-quarter 2015 core sales reached US$2.5 billion, flat on year. Core earnings increased 7% on year to US$522 million and core EPS increased 12% to US$0.38.

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China imports 10,942 tons of polysilicon in June

China imported 10,942 tons of polysilicon in total in June, with 84.8% from South Korea, Germany and the US, and 60,088 tons of the material was imported in first-half 2015, increasing 30.8% on year, according to China's customs statistics.

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PC replacement pushed by Windows 10 may come slowly, say Taiwan makers

As Microsoft will allow free upgrades of Windows 7 and Windows 8 to Windows 10, which has relatively low hardware requirements, PC replacement demand due to the launch of the new operating system (OS) is unlikely to surge immediately and instead may emerge slowly and gradually, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

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UMC expects wafer shipments to drop in 3Q15

Foundry chipmaker United Microelectronics (UMC) expects to post an up to 5% sequential decrease in wafer shipments for the third quarter of 2015, while its capacity utilization rate will fall below 90%.

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Silicon Motion expects to deliver another year of record sales

Silicon Motion Technology expects to post revenue growth of 22-27% in 2015. Revenues hit a record level of US$289 million in 2014.

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Testing service provider Sporton reports strong 2Q15 earnings

Mobile device testing and certification services provider Sporton International has reported net profits of NT$208 million (US$6.61 million) or NT$2.47 per share for the second quarter of 2015. The quarterly earnings were the company's highest ever level.

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HTC to make investment in VR application provider WEVR

HTC plans to take up 1.73 million shares, or a 15% stake, in virtual reality (VR) application provider WEVR for US$10 million, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).

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Tsunami of M&A deals underway in 2015 chip industry, says IC Insights

In just the first half of 2015 alone, announced semiconductor acquisition agreements had a combined total value of US$72.6 billion, which is nearly 6x the annual average for M&A deals struck during the five previous years (2010-2014), according to IC Insights.

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EEVblog #773 – 80W INDUAL LED Light Teardown

Teardown of the new INDUAL 80W industrial LED high bay ceiling light from Lightinstar
In particular a close-up look at the 150W 12×12 Chip-On-Board COB LED module from HongliTronic
Datasheet
UPDATE: Yes, they say they have fixed the issues of mounting and earthing.
Forum HERE

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eBook Explains Faster In-System Flash Programming

"Faster Flash Programming via FPGA and IJTAG" from ASSET Intertech shows you how to program FPGAs 50 to 1000 times faster.

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What's Next for Wearables?

Wearables have the power to transform the world around us - to interact on our behalf with other 'smart' devices that are increasingly common.

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Quantum Computing: Diode-like Breakthrough Surmounts Roadblock

Quantum computers need a component like a diode, that only allows single photons to travel in one direction when their spin is up or down, which is just what researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute (Copenhagen) have recently invented.

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There's No Shame in ReRAM

Intel and Micron say they've developed a new class of memory technology, but there's more talk about all of the things 3D XPoint memory might be able to do, and little detail of what it actually is. Speculation is inevitable.

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Chinese Automotive Chip Market Continues Rapid Growth

Even as growth shipments in vehicle shipments in China slows, automotive IC market expected to increase 11% based on need for more higher-performing chips.

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UMC Cuts Expectations for 28nm Ramp on Weaker Demand

United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), the world's second-largest foundry, said its ramp of 28nm process technology will slow as the outlook for demand is likely to remain weak until the first half of 2016 while the chip industry works its way out of an inventory correction.

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In depth: NASA’s passive Wi-Fi saves 80% power

NASA has revealed a technique which dramatically cuts the power consumption of Wi-Fi comms, at least at the remote terminal.

Key is modifying the Wi-Fi base station to allow the transmitter of the remote terminal to be replaced by a modulated passive reflector.

“In a Wi-Fi radio, 70-80% of power is consumed generating Wi-Fi signal. If you only reflect, you save the transmit power,” Adrian Tang of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory told Electronics Weekly. Tang is working with Frank Chang at UCLA.

What returns to the basestation is not some pale shadow of Wi-Fi.

“You get PHY, header, and everything; you get real Wi-Fi comms back,” said Tang.

The scheme works like this:

The basestation is modified to emit a 20dBm continuous-wave (CW) sinewave at the Wi-Fi fundamental frequency, while the remote terminal has an antenna connected to a variable phase shifter and a load.

Even without the phase shifter, the remote terminal can amplitude-modulate reflected signals by switching the load between matched and short-circuit.

With the right phase shift options, the signal reflected back from the antenna can be a clean Wi-FI signal with modulation up to 16-QAM – and phase shifters can be as simple as switches connecting the antenna to transmission lines of various lengths.

Tang and Chang have implemented such a modulator, offering QPSK and ASK as well as covering 2.4 or 5.83GHz, on a CMOS chip – its 200µm2 footprint is small enough to be added to a baseband SoC.

“At the remote terminal, there is no synthesiser, no power amplifier, just a modulator; and the modulator is just a bunch of switches,” said Tang.

For the demonstrator, the chip also includes a pseudo-random number generator.

The basestation has a conventional Wi-Fi receiver chip, but it needs some help.

Its receive antenna gets the smaller-than-usual modulated, swamped by reflections of the original CW signal from the local environment – putting reception well outside the dynamic range of conventional Wi-Fi chip front-ends.

To get over this, Tang and Chang have created a second chip (see photo) from 65nm CMOS which sits between the basestation receive antenna and the conventional Wi-Fi chip.

At the receive antenna, all the local CW reflections add to a single CW signal of arbitrary phase and amplitude.

The second chip takes a sample of the transmitted CW signal and, via a variable phase shifter and a variable attenuator (right in the photo), adds it to the received signal.

With the correct phase shift and attenuation, most of the incoming CW signal can be nulled, leaving the Wi-Fi signal. And the correct values are controlled by feedback loops in an on-chip signal processor which updates the phase and amplitude settings every 100µs.

“We can get about 60dB of suppression. We don’t actually need it all. We only need to stop the receiver from compressing,” said Tang. “10-20dB is good enough for a normal Wi-Fi chip.”

In the photo, the central block is the signal processor. The right-hand circuit samples the CW transmit signal. Its two horizontal structures are the variable phase shifter above the variable attenuator. On the left hand side is the antenna interface circuit.

So far, the scheme has been tested at up to 6m, and 330Mbit/s has been achieved at 2.5m range.

One fly-in-the-ointment is that Wi-Fi basestations are not permitted to transmit CW signals.

“We are working to make it 100% Wi-Fi standard compatible,” said Tang.

Patents have been applied for, and applications in wearables are expected. “There are agreements in place for the commercialisation of the technology,” said NASA.

The technology came out of a NASA project to eliminate mechanically-steered antennas in space – whose pivots have a habit of seizing, according to Tang.

One option is beam-forming using a fixed planar array of antennas, each driven by a separately phase-shifted signal through its own power amplifier, or low-noise amplifier (LNA) in the receive case.

As an alternative, NASA is experimenting with a single power amplifier and fixed antenna, bouncing its energy off a fixed planar array of reflective antennas, each with its own variable phase-shifter to steer the beam. If it works, it will cut out the need for multiple power amplifiers or LNAs.

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Concept upgrades netlist debugger for complex SoCs

German chip debugging tool firm Concept Engineering has released its latest generation tools.

StarVision PRO, RTLvision PRO, GateVision PRO, and SpiceVision PRO are scriptable debugging and visualisation tools.

As well as a debug tool for  analogue, digital and mixed-signal designs, StarVision PRO provides customisable design rule checks and automated netlist pruning.

There is an RTL debugger, RTLvision PRO, and GateVision PRO can be used for netlist debugging of more complex SoC netlists.

For SPICE simulation, the SpiceVision PRO can be used to view and debug transistor-level and post-layout netlists.

“With version 6, we continue to improve our specialized product family with individual tools for specific circuit debugging problems,” said Pascal Bolzhauser, product manager for Concept Engineering′s Vision product line.

Other features include:

• StarVision PRO now also allows netlist pruning for the most common post-layout formats, DSPF and SPEF.
• Improvements in the database API and GUI API allow even more sophisticated code to be developed and executed by the tool.
• Enhanced batch processing capabilities allow more efficient processing of user-defined analysis and debugging tasks.
• Unified File Open Dialog to load complex mixed-language SoC designs and libraries.

Version 6.0 products are available now to download from the company′s website. There are no additional fees for existing customers with valid licenses.

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Metallic Nanoparticles May Lower Solar Cost

While the domestic solar energy industry grew 34% last year, fundamental technical breakthroughs are still needed to hit the national goal of reducing the cost of solar electricity to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Researchers at Rice University say they have found a way reduce the costs of photovoltaic solar cells.

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Design kit for STM32F7 MCU has Arduino extension

STMicroelectronics’ STM32F7 series ARM Cortex-M7 core microcontroller just got easier to design in with a starter kit that has a Arduino Uno connector for coupling into the open source design environment.

Dubbed the Discovery kit, it comes with a 4.3-inch WQVGA colour LCD with touchscreen.

There is a 128Mbit Quad-SPI flash memory interface, 128Mbit SDRAM and interfaces for a micro SD card socket, Ethernet and USB OTG HS connector.

There are audio inputs and outputs, a camera connector and MEMS microphones.

The kit is available from distributor Rutronik which is also selling two versions of the STM32F7 MCU evaluation board. The STM32746G-EVAL2 and the STM32756G-EVAL2 with hardware cryptography acceleration.

The evaluation boards have a 5.7-inch touchscreen, 32Mbyte SRDRAM, the camera module and the RTC with backup battery.

The STM32F7 MCU with on-chip accelerator achieves 1082 CoreMark at 216MHz.

A version of the MCU, STM32F756, incorporates a crypto/hash processor providing hardware acceleration for AES-128, -192 and -256 encryption with support for GCM and CCM, Triple DES, and hash (MD5, SHA-1 and SHA-2) functions.

The series can be ordered at distributor Rutronik in seven different packages with 100 to 216 pins and as small as 4.5 x 5.5mm in WLCSP.

 

 

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Multi-layer security needed for Industrial IoT

Industrial networks are increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks. Their security requires a multi-layered approach.

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Intel, Micron plan crosspoint memory

Micron to ship TLC NAND flash this year

Intel and Micron plan to have samples of a 128Gbit 3D crosspoint memory by the end of the year with commercial shipments in 2016.

Intel claims that the new memory, which it calls XPoint, writes ‘up to 1000 faster than NAND’ and has 1000 times the endurance of NAND.

The memory has a cross point array structure described, in the press release, as a “3D checkerboard where memory cells sit at the intersection of word lines and bit lines, allowing the cells to be addressed individually. As a result, data can be written and read in small sizes, leading to faster and more efficient read/write processes.”

The release adds:

“More details about 3D XPoint technology include:

Cross Point Array Structure – Perpendicular conductors connect 128 billion densely packed memory cells. Each memory cell stores a single bit of data. This compact structure results in high performance and high-density bits.

Stackable – In addition to the tight cross point array structure, memory cells are stacked in multiple layers. The initial technology stores 128Gb per die across two memory layers. Future generations of this technology can increase the number of memory layers, in addition to traditional lithographic pitch scaling, further improving system capacities.

Selector – Memory cells are accessed and written or read by varying the amount of voltage sent to each selector. This eliminates the need for transistors, increasing capacity while reducing cost.”

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Wize Mirror reads back vital signs

Touch displays need extra EMI protection, says supplier

Capacitive touch screen panels have their own particular problems with being susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI)

EMI coupling for capacitive touch screens can be a problem which  can result in the touch screen assembly being affected by external noise and emissions from the rest of the system.

As well as the system’s power and data processing functions, the display and associated electronics which may also emit EMI.

To address the issues of EMI in capacitive touch panels, display module supplier andersDX is now using customised driver ICs that have EMI specific filter circuits.

Mike Logan, display and input technology manager at andersDX said:

“Engineers understand that EMC needs to be tackled from the ground up. Capacitive touch screens are sensitive to EMI and protection can’t be added as an afterthought.”

These techniques will need to be applied on a case by case basis taking into account multiple factors and in particular the environment and the design of the host product.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution here. We will work with customers from initial concept right through to qualification, to ensure that the display works reliably in their application, doesn’t interfere with other systems in the environment and complies with the required standards,” said Logan.

 

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Taiwan IoT makers have to develop innovative applications, says Acer founder

To compete for business opportunities in the global Internet of things (IoT) market, Taiwan-based makers should capitalize on advantages in information and communication technology to create hardware added value through developing innovation applications, Acer founder Stan Shih said at an IoT forum held in Taipei on July 28.

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MediaTek 3Q15 sales likely to rise 15-20%

Market sources expect MediaTek to post revenue growth of 15-20% sequentially in the third quarter of 2015 compared with the 20-30% estimated previously. The revised projection came on the heels of recent comments made by MediaTek president Hsieh Ching-chiang about the chip market outlook.

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Quantum dot market to grow at CAGR of 30.4% during 2015-2020, says research firm

The global quantum dots market was valued at US$961.4 million in 2014 and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.4% during the period 2015-2020. The global quantum dots market is increasing due to rising demand of nanotechnology in several industries. Quantum dot being one of the efficient technologies among its peers, its demand is increasing due to growing display based electronics market. The increasing urbanization and rising disposable income are further encouraging the growth of display based devices, as adoption of latest technology is becoming more affordable, according to P&S Market Research.

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Windows 10 available in 190 countries as free upgrade

Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 is available, starting July 29, as a free upgrade or with new PCs and tablets. Windows 10 includes innovations such as Cortana, an Xbox app and Microsoft Edge for a familiar, yet more personal and productive, experience. Windows 10 offers one experience that will become available on the broadest range of devices, including PCs, tablets, phones, Raspberry Pi, Xbox One, HoloLens and more, with more than 2,000 devices or configurations already in testing. The new Windows Store and Windows Software Development Kit are also available.

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TPK reports 22% on-year decline for 2Q15

Touch panel maker TPK has reported its consolidated revenues in the second quarter of 2015 reached NT$23.74 billion (US$754.45 million), down 18% on quarter and down 22.7% on year.

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Intel and Micron claim breakthrough memory solution

Intel and Micron Technology have jointly announced 3D XPoint technology, a non-volatile memory that has the potential to revolutionize any device, application or service that benefits from fast access to large sets of data. Now in production, 3D XPoint technology is a major breakthrough in memory process technology and the first new memory category since the introduction of NAND flash in 1989, the companies claimed.

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China Internet service company plans to invest in HTC, claims report

China-based Internet security service company Qihoo 360 plans to acquire up to 31.5% share of Taiwan-based smartphone vendor HTC, according to a China-based it.sohu.com report, citing sources at international securities investment houses. However, HTC has denied the report.

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Intel defines 6 desktop market segments for CPU platforms, say Taiwan makers

Intel, in a bid to promote desktop CPU platforms, has divided the whole market into six segments in terms of market positioning and price: Enthusiast Tower catering to demand for gaming, video/audio content and high performance, Mainstream appealing by high performance-price ratios, all-in-one (AIO) PCs, Mini PCs (NUC), Portable AIO PCs and Compute Sticks. Mini PCs will support both Windows and Chrome OS, and the other five only Windows 8.1/10, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

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China IC backend firms reportedly obtain orders from Qualcomm, MediaTek

Major China-based IC backend houses including Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology and Nantong Fujitsu Microelectronics have obtained orders from Qualcomm and MediaTek, which tend to support the China government's efforts to boost development of the local IC industry, according to industry sources.

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Taiwan market: Xiaomi to focus on mid-range to high-end smartphones

Xiaomi Technology has adjusted its marketing strategy to promote its smartphones in Taiwan, shifting its focus to mid-range and high-end smartphones instead of low-priced models in the local market, according to company sales director Henman Lee.

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AUO expects weak panel demand in 2H15

AU Optronics (AUO) expects the panel market to be weak in the second half of 2015 due to customers adjusting reserves. This will affect the company's large-size panel shipments, which are expected to drop 5% on year in the third quarter, according to company chairman Paul Peng.

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Telecom carriers expected to play key role in IoT, says CHT president

Mobile telecom carriers, along with increasing use of 4G mobile communication services, are expected to play a key role in boosting the Internet of Things (IoT) through providing IoT environment-based services, Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) president Shih Mu-piao said at an IoT-featuring high-tech forum held in Taipei on July 28.

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China adds PV installation capacity of 7.73GWp in 1H15, says NEA

China added total PV installation capacity of 7.73GWp during the first half of 2015, consisting of 6.69GWp for power-generating stations and 1.04GWp for distributed PV systems, according to China's National Energy Administration (NEA).

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Flat panel display revenues forecast to fall in 2015, says IHS

Led by declining TFT LCD revenues, global flat panel display (FPD) industry revenues are forecast to fall 2% from US$131.4 billion in 2014 to US$129 billion in 2015. Dwindling TFT LCD display revenues, declining panel demand in the PC segment, along with ongoing panel-price erosion are the primary reasons for overall FPD revenue declines in 2015, according to IHS.

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The number of natural gas refueling stations is expected to reach nearly 39,000 by 2025, says firm

Due to its abundant supply, low price, and ability to reduce operating costs, natural gas is an increasingly appealing alternative for fueling ground vehicles. As fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards become increasingly stringent in world markets-particularly for medium and heavy duty vehicles, where electrification is less practical, the use of natural gas is also an effective way to reduce carbon emissions. According to a new report from Navigant Research, the total number of global natural gas refueling stations is expected to grow from 23,001 in 2015 to 38,887 in 2025.

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Demand for UV-A LED may take off in 2015, say Taiwan makers

As the LED backlighting market is approaching saturation and prices for LED lighting, despite growing demand, have been falling, many LED makers have been developing UV (ultraviolet)-A LED and prices for UV-A LED are expected to drop 20-30% in 2015. Consequently, demand for UV-A LED is likely to take off in 2015, according to Taiwan-based LED makers.

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Digitimes Research: Taiwan makers to see flat growth for large-size panels in 2H15

Taiwan makers' shipments of large-size (9-inch and above) TFT LCD panels are expected to only grow 0.7% on quarter in the third quarter of 2015 followed by 0.6% sequential growth in the fourth quarter, according to Digitimes Research. Both of the slight increases will represent on-year declines, however, due to weak demand for PC products and LCD TV vendors adjusting reserves in the second half.

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Taiwan market: Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab S2

Samsung Electronics has unveiled Galaxy Tab S2 Android 5.0.2 tablet models for launch in the Taiwan market in early August at recommended retail prices of NT$19,900 (US$635) for 9.7-inch 4G (FDD/TDD-LTE) version, NT$15,900 for 9.7-inch Wi-Fi, NT$16,900 for 8.0-inch 4G and NT$12,900 for 8-inch Wi-Fi, according to Samsung Electronics Taiwan.

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PTI looks to moderate growth in 3Q15

Powertech Technology (PTI) expects to post another moderate growth in revenues for the third quarter of 2015, with improvement in gross margin.

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Inotera raises capex for 2015

Inotera Memories has raised its capex budget to NT$57 billion (US$1.81 billion) for 2015, and reiterated plans to convert 80% of its total wafer start capacity to 20nm process technology by the end of the year.

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Chinese automotive semiconductor revenues to hit US$6.2 billion in 2015, IHS says

Total automotive semiconductor revenues in China reached US$5.6 billion in 2014, and revenues are expected to grow nearly 11% year over year in 2015 to reach US$6.2 billion, according to IHS.

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Chipbond to boost sales from non-driver ICs, says report

Chipbond Technology, which provides backend services mainly for LCD driver ICs, will see significant growth in sales from its non-driver IC product line in the second half of 2015, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

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China market: Meizu to start marketing fast mobile chargers, says report

China-based smartphone vendor Meizu will start marketing its fast mobile charger, the Meizu Power Bank, at the end of July, priced at CNY149 (US$24). The fast charger supports MaxCharge technology, as well as two-way charging, according to a China-based tech.qq.com.

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Demand for Radar Systems Boosts Infineon's Chip Production

Radar systems are experience rapidly growing acceptance among car buyers. While passenger cars with a radar sensor can be bought since the nineties, production figures as well as take rates reached significant numbers only by 2013. But since radar-based driver assistance systems are available at affordable prices, the numbers are skyrocketing. Infineon now has produced the ten millionth radar chip.

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Intel, Micron Launch "Bulk-Switching" ReRAM

Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. have launched a new class of non-volatile memory that they call 3D Xpoint and which the companies said would be available as samples later this year for special customers.

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Chips in Space -- MacSpace, A Record Throughput Multi-Core Processor for Satellites

MacSpace is a collaborative R&D project aiming to research and develop a many-core DSP chip and computer for use in space.

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Smart Meters Can Destabilize Grid, Study Says

In some geographies including Germany, smart meters are mandatory for new buildings - being an ingredient of smart grids, they allow energy suppliers to match energy generation and consumption by implementing differentiated tariffs and help users to optimize energy consumption profiles.

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Rohm Semiconductor Acquires Powervation

Analog IC manufacturer Rohm has acquired digital power IC company Powervation for approximately $70 million in cash. The deal will bolster Rohm's share of the power market as high density systems increasingly call for a digital power.

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Ams Buys NXP Sensor Business

The acquisition adds advanced monolithic and integrated CMOS sensors to ams' sensor lineup, which already includes a variety of light management chips. The NXP chip business includes a single sensor to measure relative humidity, pressure and temperature.

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IoT Accelerators Offer Advice to Entrepreneurs

Startup accelerator experts panel offers IoT entrepreneurs insights into Kickstarter, manufacturing in China, and making the transition from prototype to production.

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Electronic Design’s Products of the Week (7/26-8/1)

Here we've rounded up some of the latest products to optimize your applications, devices, and systems.

read more

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