Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Supermicro expands

Server maker Supermicro has recovered from Last year’s spat with Bloomberg which accused it of putting Chinese spy chips on server boards. Supermicro has just held a groundbreaking ceremony for an $323 million, 800,000sq ft plant in Taiwan. Bloomberg alleged that Chinese apy chips had found their way onto boards used by Supermicro to make ...

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Infineon adds CIPOS Tiny to IPMs

Infineon is adding to its growing family of intelligent power modules (IPMs): CIPOS Tiny. The 3-phase inverter module is the newest generation of IPM to offer the highest power density for variable speed motor drives. By using the latest TRENCHSTOP IGBT6, it is possible to realize maximum efficiency with minimum footprint. Applications profiting from CIPOS ...

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ON adds to SiC IGBTs

 ON Semiconductor is launching and exhibiting a new silicon-carbide (SiC) based hybrid IGBT and associated isolated high current IGBT gate driver. The AFGHL50T65SQDC uses the latest field stop IGBT and SiC Schottky diode technology to offer low conduction and switching losses in multiple power applications, including those that will benefit from reduced reverse recovery losses, ...

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Tough Q1 for Samsung

Samsung’s Q1 semiconductor profit fell 64% to $3.52 billion while the whole company had a profit of $5.4 billion on sales which fell 13.5% to $45 billion. The phone business took a 40% drop in operating income for a $2 billion profit Displays made a $480 million loss. Samsung has been driving down memory prices ...

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Clock oscillators with ±5ppm frequency stability

IQD has launched a range of ultra-low frequency stability HCMOS based clock oscillators. The IQXO-923 series is available with a frequency stability of only ±5ppm over the full industrial operating temperature range of -40 to 85 degrees C. Available in either a voltage of 1.8V (IQXO-923-18) or 3.3V (IQXO-923-33) this new clock oscillator is housed ...

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Farnell widens margins

Calendar Q1 revenues at Avnet were up 1.2% y-o-y at $4.7 billion with an operating margin of 3.3%. Farnell’s operating margin was 12.4% up from 10.8% in calendar Q1 2018. “I am pleased with the strong execution we demonstrated this quarter,” said Avnet CEO Bill Amelio (pictured), “we saw continued strength in our Americas and ...

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Sponsored Content: Microlease grows its business supplying test equipment

Sponsored Content: Microlease has grown and established its business for over 50 years, supplying test equipment to various different industries, from telecommunications to defence. Find out more about Microlease and its services from the video below.

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Free software to get LoRa metro range IoT wireless up and running

Semtech has announced software building blocks to ease the development of devices with LoRa wireless links – LoRa is a low data rate wireless link with a range of over 10km. They are free, supported, open-source software and specification compliant – intended to implement the common functions that all developers of end devices, gateways or ...

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Monday, April 29, 2019

Semi sales drop 15.5% q-o-q

Q1 chip sales of $96.8 billion were down 15.5% on Q4 reports the SIA, and 13%  less than in Q1 2018. March 2019 sales were $32.3 billion, a dip of 1.8% compared to February, and 13% less than sales from March 2018. “Global semiconductor sales slowed during the first quarter of 2019, falling short of the previous quarter ...

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Sainsbury opens till-less supermarket

Sainsbury’s has beaten Amazon to the punch by opening the UK’s first till-less store. In Holborn Circus, the store currently processes 82% of sales digitally. Sainsbury is now waiting to see if customers go for it before they roll out the concept nationally.   Customers use an app called SmartShop Scan, Pay & Go. Customers ...

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ARM losing market share

ARM is losing share in the IP market, says IPNest. From 47.8% market share in 2016, it slipped to 46.2% in 2017 and to 44.7% in 2018. Companies ranked by semiconductor design IP revenue in 2018 (millions of dollars). Source: IPnest (April 2019). Achronix was the fabulous success story of last year growing revenues 250% ...

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PCIM: 150A 650V GaN transistor

GaN Systems is claiming a first at PCIM, with a 650V 150A GaN power transistor – further claiming: “the GS-065-150 device has 100 times lower switching losses than comparable IGBTs, that’s a 99% reduction in switching losses” Other product from the firm at PCIM will be the GS-065 low current (3.5A to 11A) transistor line that ...

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PCIM: 650V 40A IGBT

ST Microelectronics has announced a 650V 40A IGBT in a TO-247 package, the first of what will become its previously-announced HB2 series. “The HB2 series has outstanding conduction performance thanks to a VCEsat of 1.55V,” said ST. “At the same time, dynamic behaviour is enhanced due to reduced gate charge that enables fast switching at ...

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Copper particles displace silver for inks and bonding

Japanese scientists are proposing a copper alternative to sintered silver die-attach and conductive ink. Sintering – the process of pressing powders together to form solids – can occur at far lower temperatures than melting the same powder into a mould. However copper, for all of its excellent electrical and thermal properties, does not easily form ...

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Zero voltage switching converter for 48V applications

Infineon is introducing its zero-voltage-switching (ZSC) switched capacitor converter. It features a two-stage architecture for 48 V applications to power up CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, ASICs, and memory. Infineon’s full system concept for 48 V architecture paves a way towards 99 percent of efficiency. Combining ZSC board with CoolGaN 600 V based solutions results in an ...

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New Elektra Award introduced, and Elektra Awards 2019 website goes live

To reflect the increasing role of communication and marketing efforts in the electronics arena Electronics Weekly has introduced a new category to the Elektra Awards for 2019.

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Sixth Sense prizes awarded

element14  has announced the winners of its “Sixth Sense” Design Challenge. As one of five challenges the element14 Community runs each year, element14 encouraged its members to create a small, remotely-operated or autonomous vehicle, leveraging the  processing capabilities of STMicroelectronics and TE Connectivity products to improve remote vehicle sensing and data collection. The element14 Community ...

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Sunday, April 28, 2019

Wireless power gains traction

Shipments of wireless power receivers and transmitters grew 37% in 2018 y-o-y, says IHS Markit. The growth delivered a market of 600 million units which will, says IHS, double by 2023. “Wireless power technology continues to evolve rapidly, with reach expanding beyond smartphones to wider applications and product segments,” says IHS’ Dinesh Kithany, “wireless power technology ...

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35% Q2 boost for China AP shipments

The China smartphone AP shipments are forecast to grow 34.6% in Q2 with 7nm parts accounting for over 10% of the total, reports Digitimes Research. Q1 AP sales suffered a sequential dip of 25.7%. Y-oY China AP shipments fell 7% in Q1 and Q2 shipments are forecast to be down 0.8% on Q2 2018. 28nm ...

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Silver nanowire-based ink improves its clarity, conductivity and flexibility

C3Nano, the specialist in silver nanowire-based transparent conductive inks and films for flexible displays, has developed ActiveGrid Gen7 ink, which improves on clarity, conductivity and flexibility. The new ink delivers ~50 percent lower haze compared to the previous ink generation, provides  conductivity from 30-100 ohm/sq and delivers the flexibility to withstand more than a million ...

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ST offers free STM32 development tool

ST is offering the STM32CubeIDE, a free all-in-one STM32 development tool now available as part of the STM32Cube software ecosystem. The STM32CubeIDE leverages ST’s 2017 acquisition of embedded-development-tool vendor Atollic. It is offered under industry-standard open license terms and adds dedicated STM32-specific features to simplify and accelerate STM32-based embedded designs. These include the STM32CubeMX tool ...

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Friday, April 26, 2019

10mm Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo module

Murata has collaborated with Cypress Semiconductor to create Type 1LV, a low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module occupying 10 x 7.2 x 1.4mm. “When comparing Type 1LV to the Type 1DX,” according to Murata, “power usage in the previous is approximately 54% lower in DTIM 1, 60% in DTIM 3, up to 50% for 2.4 GHz ...

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Rohm buys part of Panasonic’s discrete semis business

Rohm is to acquire part of the diode and transistor business of Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions, with ROHM handling sales of these products to Panasonic’s current customers after October, if things go to schedule. The deal covers bipolar transistors, built-in resistor transistors, JFETS, Schottky diodes, transient voltage supressors, Zeners, switching diodes and fast recovery diodes. To ...

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Thursday, April 25, 2019

Memory takes a turn for the worse

The memory sector has been a positive for the semiconductor market for  the past two years but will likely have a very negative impact on total IC market growth in 2019, says IC Insights. The DRAM and NAND flash markets continue to closely follow the original IC industry cycle model whereby the market cycles are ...

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Adesto, IBM and NXP bring security to IIoT

Adesto Technologies, IBM and NXP say they have a new level of security for smart building and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) deployments. Adesto’s SmartServer IoT edge server and the IBM Watson IoT Platform, together enabled by NXP’s ready-to-use A71CH secure element for IoT devices, provide an extra layer of security for businesses connecting their systems ...

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e-peas chips in cows’ ears

e-peas’ AEM10941 devices for photovoltaic energy harvesting are being incorporated into tracking equipment employed in Australian cattle ranches. e-peas engineers worked in conjunction with the team at Dutch systems integrator SODAQ on the development and implementation of energy efficient livestock monitoring hardware for Brisbane-based client mOOvement. Through use of mOOvement’s smart tracker, valuable data on cattle ...

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Imec almost delivers $1k genome

Imec’s Genome Analytics Platform (GAP) platform can perform a full genome analysis of 48 samples in only 48 hours and at an acceptable cost. The platform paves the way to genome sequencing as a daily practice in hospitals, for diagnosing and treating genetic diseases, including cancer and rare diseases, and for better treating newborns with ...

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SiFive tie up with QuickLogic

SiFive has entered a strategic development partnership with QuickLogic. The two companies will develop the Freedom Aware family of SoC templates which extends SiFive’s chip design capabilities and radically lowers the cost and development time associated with new SoC designs.  The Freedom Aware SoC templates lower risk through the use of tested building blocks and a suite ...

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Magnetically soft magnetic alloy is not expensive, and is physically hard

Iron-based magnetic alloys have been created with good soft magnetic properties, without resorting to exotic alloying elements, according to a team of scientists from Russia, China Japan and the US. “In terms of their properties, the amorphous iron-based alloys obtained by us surpass common industrial analogues. Their undoubted advantages are: relatively low cost due to the lack of expensive alloying ...

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Wondering how to power your i.MX 8M processor?

Look no further than the BD71847AMWV power management IC, according to Rohm, which optimised it particularly for those very NXP’s i.MX 8M mini application processors Built on a BCD process, the chip can produce all power rails required by the processor as well as feed DDR and system IO. Its dc-dc converters operate at up ...

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Dual Cortex-M33 core microprocessors major on security

LPC55S6x are the first microcontrollers of the NXP LPC5500 series, offering dual 96 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 cores and running at 32µA/MHz. “The devices feature security features, including SRAM-based physical unclonable function [PUF] root-of-trust and provisioning, as well as asset protection with Arm TrustZone-M,” according to Mouser, which is stocking the part. “The microcontrollers also offer ...

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Red phosphor offers better white LEDs

Austrian chemists have developed a red phosphor that could improve the efficacy of white LEDs, by creating a narrow peak of emission at 614nm – in the middle of the eye’s 610-620nm peak red sensitivity. The material is a particular form of Sr[Li2Al2O2N2]:Eu2+, dubbed ‘salon’ by the researchers, which “meets all the requirements for the ...

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Xilinx buys Solarflare

Xilinx is to buy Solarflare Communications which has an ultra-low latency network interface card (NIC) technology and Onload application acceleration software. The acquisition is to enable converged SmartNIC solutions, accelerating Xilinx’s “data center first” strategy and transition to a platform company. Xilinx and Solarflare have been collaborating on advanced networking technology for the last two years, with ...

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Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Pickering wins Queen’s Award

Pickering Interfaces of Clacton-on-Sea has won the Queen’s Award for Outstanding Short Term Growth in overseas sales over the last three years. Pickering Interfaces was founded in 1988 as part of the Pickering Group which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. The company designs and manufactures modular signal switching and instrumentation for use in electronic ...

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Tesla loses $700m in Q1, thinks about capital raise.

Tesla lost $702 million on revenues of $4.5 billion in Q1 which were down from $7.2 billion in Q4 but an increase on the $2.6 billion of Q1 2018. Tesla had $2.2 billion in cash on March 31  down from $1.5 billion on December 31 2018. It looks necessary to raise more capital. Asked why ...

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SEMI billings down 24.6% y-o-y

SEMI’s March billings were 1.9% down on February’s $1.87 billion  at $1.83 billion and 24.6% below the $2.43 billion of March 2018 “March billings of North American test and assembly equipment manufacturers showed modest improvement over the prior month,” says SEMI’s Terry Tsao, “despite the increase for this segment, overall billings growth expectations for North ...

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Wide-input DC-DC converters for industrial and railways

Flex Power Modules has introduced a range of wide input range DC-DC converters for industrial and railways use, encapsulated for reliable operation in harsh conditions, in a 2 x 1in (~50 x 25mm) package. PKE8000A is for industrial use, with its 9-75V input covering 12V, 24V or 48V supply voltages in one go. In to ...

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UK compromise on Huawei role in 5G network

Huawei is to be allowed to build ‘non-core’ parts of the UK 5G network. The decision was made by the National Security Council chaired by the Prime Minister. The decision is a compromise berween the wishes of the USA to exclude Huawei from all its allies’ telecoms networks and the desire of the government not ...

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Samsung to invest $116bn in logic

Samsung plans to invest $116 billion in logic chips between now and 2030 creating 15,000 new jobs. $63 billion will go to domestic R&D and $52 billion will be spent on production facilities. A focus will be on foundry where it is second to TSMC with a market share of 19% compared to TSMC’s 48%. ...

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Chip component gets heat out of tight spots without leaking electrons

TT Electronics has introduced a surface-mount component designed exclusively to get heat out of tight spots. Looking much like a chip resistor or capacitor, TJC series ‘thermal jumper chips’ are made of solid aluminium nitride for good thermal conductivity with low electrical leakage and low capacitance. “Aluminium nitride has nearly five times the thermal conductivity ...

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Hitachi adds to robot portfolio

Hitachi is to buy  JR Automation Technologies of Michigan which builds production lines and logistics systems using industrial robots. In March, Hitachi bought KEC Corporation (KEC), a Japanese robotic system integrator. The acquisition of JR Automation will allow Hitachi to f expand its Lumada Solution business. Lumada is Hitachi’s advanced digital solutions, services, and technologies ...

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ST finds Q1 market soft

ST had Q1  revenues of $2.08 billion, down 6.7% y-o-y; gross proffit of $818 million down 7.9% y-o-y; gross margin of 39.4% down 50 basis points y-o-y; operating margin of 10.2% and net income of $178 million Operating income decreased 21.6% to $211 million, compared to $269 million in the year-ago quarter. The operating margin ...

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Digital security experts hunt for vulnerabilities on new trains

Rolling stock maker Bombardier Transportation has appointed Ricardo and Roke Manor Research to study the digital security risk profile of Aventra, its latest train type, soon to go into service with Crossrail, Transport for London and on various UK over-land services. Ricardo brings knowledge of rail operations, rolling stock design, systems engineering and passenger interaction, while ...

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Interview: SamacSys CEO on component modelling, EDA and engineering frustrations

We talk to Alex MacDougall, founder and CEO of SamacSys, about EDA tools and component libraries.

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Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Analog Bits has PCIe design kits

Analog Bits has front-end design kits for a complete PCIe clocking subsystem, which integrates the oscillator, PCIe class 100MHz reference clock generator with built-in Spread Spectrum Clock Generation (SSCG) and HCSL clock output buffer all into one macro. The Analog Bits clock PHY lowers Bill of Materials cost and saves power pins by sharing with ...

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Google drone delivery commercial service gets FAA certification

Thanks Wing Aviation, Google’s drone unit, has got certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration to deliver goods by drone in the State of  Virginia. Wing says it will start a service delivering goods from businesses to homes later this year. “This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones ...

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Tesla designs the best chip in the world

Tesla has designed the best chip in the world. What’s more it did it the first time it ever tried to design a chip. “How could it be that Tesla, who has never designed a chip before, would design the best chip in the world?” asked Elon Musk (pictured) at an analyst meeting earlier this ...

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250 designs for TSMC 7nm on Synopsys EDA

Synopsys says its DesignWare Logic Library, Embedded Memory, Interface and Analogue IP on TSMC’s 7nm)l process technology has achieved more than 250 design wins. Nearly 30 semiconductor companies have selected Synopsys’ portfolio to deliver their chips, says Synopsys. By achieving broad adoption of its DesignWare IP with multiple customer silicon successes, Synopsys enables designers to reduce risk ...

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Multilayer varistors target the smart home

Surface-mount, multilayer varistors from TDK Epcos are now available from TTI. The CeraDiode and CTVS multilayer varistors (MLVs) are designed for smart home applications and security devices. According to the company, the MLVs’ surge current ratings are comparable to those of disk varistors, making them suitable for use as alternatives to transient voltage suppression (TVS) diodes, yet with ...

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IoT wireless MCUs major on security for Bluetooth, Zigbee and Thread

Silicon Labs has added a second generation of wireless Gecko processors, with baked in security hardware. Called Wireless Gecko platform, Series 2, the products are based around Arm’s Cortex-M33, in 80MHz form, that includes TrustZone virtualisation hardware to separate secure and non-secure software. “Series 2 improves multiple design elements, including wireless performance, software reuse, RF communication reliability ...

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Voila! Digi-Key adds wireless connectivity

Developers and makers can take an existing microcontroller application that does not have wireless connectivity and, using just two GPIO pins, add it without modifying the original firmware, via IoTize‘s TapNLink products for Bluetooth and near field communications (NFC) products. The French start up company has signed a distribution agreement with Digi-Key to resell the wireless ...

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ST combines accelerometer and accurate thermometer

ST has combined a 3-axis MEMS accelerometer and a temperature sensor on a single die Called LIS2DTW12, the sensor is aimed at space-constrained and battery-constrained applications as shipping trackers, wearables, and IoT endpoints. Temperature accuracy is 0.8°C, according to the firm’s product announcement, although its helpful application page adds a caveat: “….a typical accuracy of ±0.8°C between ...

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Monday, April 22, 2019

China Arm-based server chip company to close

China’s attempt to make Arm-based server processors is being closed down. Huaxintong Semiconductor is a three year-old jv between Qualcomm and the Guizhou Province of China. Huaxintong was set up to pursue Arm-based server chips. Qualcomm owned 45% of the jv and Guizhou province 55%. According to The Information, Qualcomm and Guizhou had invested $570 ...

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Amphenol to launch quick-turn configuration tool

Amphenol is to launch an online quick-turn cable configuration tool called QuickBuild RF. QuickBuild RF will allow customers to configure cable assemblies from a wide assortment of radio frequency (RF) connectors and standard cables at any length, delivered in less than one week with no minimum order quantity. QuickBuild RF will use  Amphenol RF connectors. ...

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Server shipments to grow 3.9%

Server shipment growth will be 3.9% this year, says DRAMeXchange. Although enterprise servers are still the largest shipment group, servers for datacentres have grown from 35% of the total market in 2018 to 40% now.   US suppliers accounted for over 30% of the market. China’s top cloud service providers will drop by about 15% YoY ...

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NAND ASP to stabilise in Q3

NAND ASPs are expected to stabilise in Q3, says DRAMeXchange, after a year of falling prices last year and two quarters of decline in 2019. Samsung started cutting prices in Q1 to clear out inventory and the other vendors had to follow suit, says DRAMeXchange. While Samsung is expected to continue to cut prices in ...

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Huawei Q1 up 39%

Huawei’s Q1 revenues were up 39% at $26.81 billion for a net profit of ‘around’  8%. Huawei says it has signed 40 contracts with telcos to supply 5G equipment and has shipped 75,000 base stations. By the end of the month it expects to have shipped 100,000. Q1 network equipment sales rose 15%.  Q1 consumer ...

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On Semi buys GloFo East Fishkill fab.

ON Semiconductor has bought  GloFo’s East Fishkill 300mm fab for $430 million, of which $100 million has been paid at signing of the definitive agreement, and $330 million will be paid at the end of 2022, after which ON Semiconductor will gain full operational control of the fab, and the site’s employees will transition to ON ...

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Thursday, April 18, 2019

Foxconn Wisconsin deal to be re-negotiated

The planned $10 billion 20 million square foot Foxconn investment in Wisconsin is once again in question with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers saying he wants to re-negotiate the contract. The reason is that the amount of jobs the scheme is now expected to to create is less than the 13,000 originally envisaged. The State’s previous ...

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Data repeater extends links for PCIe 4.0, as well as 3.0, 2.0 and 1.0

For long data cables, Diodes has introduced aPCIe 4.0 compliant equalising repeater for use between 2.5Gbit/s and 16Gbit/s. Called PI3EQX16904GL, and branded a ReDriver by the firm, the device supports four 100Ω differential current mode logic (CML) data I/Os, providing programmable linear equalisation, output swing, and gain to reduce inter-symbol interference over a variety of physical ...

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An unintended consequence of self-driving cars?

The benefits of self-driving cars are likely to prompt vehicle owners to drive more, and that extra distance could partially or completely offset the potential energy-saving benefits that automation may provide, according to a University of Michigan study. It considers the expectation that self-driving cars will yield significant improvements in safety, traffic flow and energy ...

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4x2mm chips senses ambient light and proximity

Vishay has announced VCNL4040, a combined optical proximity detector and ambient light sensor, that includes infra-red LED, two photodetectors, signal processing and a 16bit ADC in a 4 x 2 x 1.1mm package. “The three-in-one sensor features an interrupt function and supports an I²C bus communications interface, which simplifies window and sensor placement, According to ...

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Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Robotic dogs pull truck

Boston Dynamics has demo-ed  a pack of its robotic dogs  pulling a truck.   Boston Dynamics say that the dogs, called Spot, are being made on a production line and could be sold in the market this year. Boston Dynamics didn’t say how much Spot might cost. Spot is just under three feet tall and ...

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Murata launches noise filter ferrite beads

Murata is shipping its BLM18DN_SH series of noise filter ferrite beads. The devices are specifically designed for automotive networks using Power over Coaxial (PoC) with high impedance, high frequencies and supporting large currents, up to 1400 mA. As vehicles become more complex and sophisticated and especially as a result of increased image sensing, data communication ...

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Mouser signs ODU

Mouser has  signed a global distribution agreement with connector specialist ODU. The ODU product line includes the ODU MINI-SNAP, ODU MEDI-SNAP, and ODU MINI-MED connector series. The ODU MINI-SNAP K Series and ODU MINI-SNAP L Seriesare push-pull circular connectors keyed by pin and groove. Both series offer 5,000+ mating cycle durability and are available in a wide variety of sizes, ...

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1.2kV Si rectifiers close on SiC

Vishay has introduced FRED Pt Gen 5 1,200V hyper-fast and ultra-fast rectifiers rated at 30A and 60A for hard-switched and soft-switched (resonant) designs “offering the best conduction and switching loss trade-off for devices in their class”, according to the firm. Matched to operate with mosfets of fast IGBTs, the diodes are optimised for PFC and ...

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Tact switch is small for IoT

C&K has announced a sub-miniature J-lead surface-mount tact switch aimed at home automation and IoT devices. Called PTS815, it is 2.5mm thick, with a 4.2 x 3.2mm footprint while retaining a relatively large actuation surface (3 x 2.2mm oval). For compatibility with production processes, the actuation surface is hard and flat. “With PCB space at ...

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Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Intel pulls out of 5G smartphone modems.

Intel says it will no longer pursue 5G modems for smartphones following the peace deal between Qualcomm and Apple. Intel will assess the opportunities for 4G and 5G modems in PCs, IoT and other data-centric devices and will invest in its 5G network infrastructure business. “In the smartphone modem business it has become apparent that ...

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Huawei expects double digit telecoms growth in 2019

Huawei chairman Ken Hu (pictured)  says that the company’s telecom business will see double digit growth this year despite the political attacks on it led by the USA. Demand is strong in China, Europe, South America, Middle East and Africa, says the company. “We’ve seen an overall optimism and acceleration in the industry regarding 5G ...

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Samsung says 5nm ready for prototyping

Samsung says its 5nm FinFET EUV process technology is complete  and ready to run customer samples. Compared to 7nm,  the 5nm process is claimed to be 25% denser with either 20% lower power consumption or 10% higher performance. All  7nm IP can be used on 5nm, says Samsung. Samsung Foundry says it has been providing ...

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Intel buys Omnitek

Intel is to buy Omnitek, the 20 year-old Basingstoke designer of intelligent video and vision systems  on FPGAs and SoCs.  It also designs and manufactures a suite of video test & measurement equipment. The price is not disclosed. Omnitek’s 40 employees will join Intel’s programmable solutions group based around its $16.7 billion Altera business which ...

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Mouser signs Futaba

Mouser has signed a global distribution agreement with Futaba Corporation.  Mouser now stocks a range of Futaba’s display modules, including vacuum fluorescent, organic light-emitting OLEDs and LCDs.  Futuba AH Series modules offer a complete display solution in a slim design. The modules are available in vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) or film compensated Super Twisted Nematic ...

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Qualcomm and Apple bury the hatchet

Apple and Qualcomm have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies worldwide and enter a six-year licensing agreement and a multiyear supply agreement. Apple will pay an unspecified amount to Qualcomm. The announcement came on the second day of  a court case in San Diego expected to last for several weeks. “The two ...

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Vigortronix signs Anglia for UK and Ireland

UK manufacturer, Vigortronix has signed a distribution agreement with Anglia, for the UK and Ireland. Vigortronix manufactures transformers and power supplies; its AC-DC converters, power transformers, toroidal transformers, pulse transformers and wound component lines will be added to the distributor’s linecard. The signing adds specialist products, explains David Pearson, technical director at Anglia. “[The signing] ...

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Hifideluxe: Rohm’s super-Fi DAC

At Hifideluxe in Munich next month, Rohm will be pre-viewing an audio DAC claimed to have a 131.6dB signal-to-noise ratio. Called BD34301EKV it is a 32bit, two channel ΣΔ converter with -115dB THD+N, taking inputs as 2.8 / 5.6 / 11.2 / 22.4MHz DSD or 32kHz to 768kHz PCM (pulse-code modulation) – DSD is direct ...

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TÜV SÜD supports industry 4.0 with UK IoT cellular test service

Technical service provider, TÜV SÜD, has launched its IoT cellular testing service. The service will be accommodated within the existing facility, claimed to be the only laboratory in the UK to offer a dedicated Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) test and certification service. Explaining the rationale for the service, TÜV SÜD explained that NB-IoT enables multiple machines, devices ...

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Kyocera and Vicor create ‘power-on-package’ for AI processors

Kyocera and Vicor will develop power-on-package (PoP) technology for high-performance and artificial intelligence (AI) processors. Kyocera will integrate processor power and data delivery with organic packages, module substrates and motherboard designs – using its design technology, simulation tools and manufacturing experience to route I/O, high-speed memory and high-current power. Vicor will provide current multipliers ready ...

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EPSRC funds UK Robotics Week to 2022

The UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is to fund UK Robotics Week through to 2022, with a grant to its organiser Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Network (UK-RAS Network). “The UK Robotics Week is a prime example of how those working in the field are demonstrating what the future will bring and encouraging ...

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Small triple display embedded PC boards support AMD Ryzen embedded R

Sapphire of Hong Kong has announced Mini-ITX and ‘5×5’ PC motherboards for AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 processors with Radeon Vega 3 Graphics – where 5×5 (see photo) is actually 5.8 x 5.5inch or ~150x140mm. They are suited for applications requiring a high speed communications front-end like a mini-server or high resolution display products such as ...

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Terry Gou to run for President

Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Foxconn (pictured with President Tsai) may challenge Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen for the country’s presidency in the January 2020 presidential elections, reports Bloomberg. President Tsai is rather anti mainland China and, if he runs, Gou says will seek the nomination of the more pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) party which is ...

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Monday, April 15, 2019

TSMC to make HiSilicon mobile processor in volume on EUV 7nm process in Q2

During this current quarter, TSMC will  move the HiSilicon Kirin 985 processor into volume production on an EUV-based version of its 7nm process called N7+, says Taiwan’s Commercial Times as reported by Digitimes. Also in Q2, TSMC will have a 7nm EUV-based process called N7 Pro running in volume producing Apple’s latest processor, the A13. ...

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Q4 EDA sales down 3.1% y-o-y

Q4 EDA revenues fell 3.1% y-o-y  to $2570.1 million, compared to $2652 million in Q4 2017. “While CAE and PCB & MCM categories reported an increase, the EDA industry overall reported reduced revenues in Q4, partly due to accounting and reporting changes by IP providers. The decrease is also in comparison to a particularly strong ...

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Arm invests in Ampere

Arm has invested in a new funding round for Arm-based server processor specialist Ampere Computing. Ampere’s technology derives from the Arm-based server processors  of Applied Circuit Corp (AMCC) which was taken over by MACOM in 2016. In October 2017, MACOM sold the computing business of AMCC, including the IP for AMCC’s X-Gene Arm-based processors, to ...

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100mA opto-triacs for 120, 240 and 380Vac

Vishay has introduced DIP-6 and SMD-6 opto-triacs rated at 800V 100mA for home appliances and industrial equipment. Applications include controlling small loads and triggering large triacs – in solid-state relays, for example. They come two forms: VOT8025A with zero-voltage crossing circuit (ZCC) for EMI reduction without the need for external snubber networks. VOT8125A without ZCC  for ...

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Tool simplifies configuration in machine learning IMUs

STMicroelectronics aims to ease the configuration of the finite state machine (FSM) and machine learning (ML) logic that exists in some of its inertial measurement units (IMUs). “The FSM logic lets users run gesture and motion-recognition algorithms directly in the sensor for always-on convenience and low power consumption,” explained the firm. “The ML core implements ...

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UK made: vented sensor enclosures

UK manufacturer BCL Enclosures, has introduced enclosures for sensors – designed to keep the air flowing around temperature, gas and humidity probes as well as thermostats. Manufactured from ABS, and called the BCS Series, there are different models. Three measure 80 x 80 x 21mm and are made in ABS HB. BCS30W is a white sensor ...

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Sunday, April 14, 2019

US stalls China institutions’ US tech purchases

The US government has produced a list of foreign companies for which US companies need new licences if they want to continue trading with them. Until they get the new licences, US companies have to stop trading with companies on the list. There are 44 Chinese companies and R&D institutions on the list including the ...

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Under-utilised fab capacity in China

With a number of companies building 300 mm fabs in China just as the market downturn hits, there is an expectation that there will be a lot of unused fab capacity in the country, reports Digitimes. Among those with new 300mm fabs are SMIC, Hua Hong, Tsinghua Unigroup (Nanjin, Chengdu), Chongqing Alpha and Omega Semiconductor, ...

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Deep eutectic solvents could solve li-ion recycling problem

Researchers from Rice University have found a new way to recycle lithium-ion batteries. As the consumption of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for the transportation and consumer electronic sectors continues to grow, so does the pile of battery waste, with no successful recycling model, as exists for the lead–acid battery. The Rice researchers have exhibited a method ...

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Saturday, April 13, 2019

Satellite team promotes women’s STEM – the Kyrgyz space program

I must have been walking around with my eyes shut to miss the Kyrgyz space program (BBC and TED noticed it) – an all-female attempt in Kyrgyzstan to get a micro-sat into orbit. Why all-female? According to its Patreon page: We are running a school of satellite-building for girls from Kyrgyzstan…  ….because we are tired ...

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Friday, April 12, 2019

In case of emergency, grab a solar suitcase

A solar-powered suitcase has won the 2019 Edison Award for Social Innovation. The Solar Suitcase was originally developed by the We Care Solar project and this third reiteration was enhanced by Arrow. In many developing nations, mothers and babies are put at risk in delivery rooms due to either lack of electricity or sudden power ...

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Thursday, April 11, 2019

Semi revenues hit $475bn

Semiconductor industry revenues were $474.6 billion in 2018, says Gartner, representing a 12.5% increase from 2017. 2018 growth was weaker than 2017’s 21.9% due to memory growth slowing to 24.9% versus 2017 growth of 61.8%. “Despite slowing growth, the memory market was still the largest semiconductor market, accounting for 34.3% of revenue,” says Gartner’s Andrew Norwood, “this ...

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Chip manufacturing equipment sales reach all-time high.

2018 sales of manufacturing equipment were up 14%  to an all-time high of $64.5 billion in 2018, from $56.62 billion in 2017, says SEMI. For the second consecutive year, Korea claimed the largest market for new semiconductor equipment with $17.71 billion in sales, followed by China, rising to become the second largest equipment market for ...

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Sharp reveals folding phone

The fifth folding phone to see the light of day after Royole, Samsung, Huawei and Motorola comes from Foxconn subsidiary Sharp. The phone has a 6.18” 1440 x 3040 AMzoLED which, says Sharp, is capable of enduring 300k folds without degradation. Even Sharp calls it a prototype so presumably it’s a long way from the ...

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Plasmonic hydrogen sensor rebuffs poisoning by other gasses

The world’s fastest hydrogen sensor, is being claimed by Chalmers University in Sweden, which can detect 0.1% hydrogen in air in less than a second. It consists of millions of palladium-gold alloy nano-particles – a material which is known for its sponge-like ability to absorb large amounts of hydrogen. The plasmon phenomenon then causes the sensor ...

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Frontier puts DAB, FM and streaming on one chip

Frontier has introduced a chip for internet, DAB, DAB+ and FM audio reception. Called Chorus 4, it will also be available built into the Venice X module, which is a “customisable turn-key system which enables brands and manufacturers to build smart radios quickly and cost-effectively”, claimed the firm. “By combining internet, DAB, DAB+ and FM ...

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Machine learning and RFID tags could help monitor vulnerable people in the home

Passive RFID tags attached to inanimate objects in the home can have reveal much about the activities of occupying humans, according to the University of Michigan. The system, dubbed IDAct, uses ‘long-range’ (a few metres) 900MHz passive UHF tags and a single antenna in the ceiling of each room. Tags were attached to household items ...

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Wednesday, April 10, 2019

FlexLogix introduces inference engine

FlexLogix has announced inference-optimized nnMAX clusters to develop the InferX X1 edge inference co-processor for incorporation in SoCs as IP, and in chip form, in Q3. InferX X1 chip claims to delivery high throughput in edge applications with a single DRAM, resulting in higher throughput/watt. Its performance advantage is claimed to be strong at low batch ...

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Japan to spend $14bn on 5G over five years

Japan’s wireless network operators Docomo, Softbank, KDDI and Rakuten are to spend $14.4 billion on installing 5G networks over the next five years. The newcomer,  Rakuten, plans to spend $1.75 billion; Softbank plans to spend $1.&86 billion; KDDI plans to spend $4.2 billion and Docomo plans to spend $7.2 billion. The plans were approved yesterday ...

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Mouser Formula-E team hits Rome

The Mouser-sponsored Formula E team returns to Rome on April 13 to battle it out on the seventh leg of the 2018–19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship racing season.  Mouser is sponsoring the GEOX DRAGON Formula E team throughout the 2018–19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship season in collaboration with TTI, Molex and AVX. This is ...

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ON enables battery-less sensor comms via BLE

ON Semiconductor has introduced an RSL10 Multi-Sensor Platform powered solely with a solar cell. This complete solution supports the development of IoT sensors using continuous solar energy harvesting to gather and communicate data through BLE without the need for batteries or other forms of non-renewable energy. The  combination of ultra-low-power wireless communications, small form-factor solar cell and ...

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Sony No.1 in O-S-D

Sony is by far the largest vendor in the O-S-D (Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discretes) product sector because of its sensor sales, reports IC Insights. Companies selling optoelectronics currently dominate the ranking of the top-10 O-S-D suppliers.     Figure 1 shows that nine of the top-10 companies sell optoelectronics, while six offer sensor/actuator semiconductors, and ...

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Welcome the official Raspberry Pi keyboard and mouse

We're not talking just any input devices, these are from the Raspberry Pi team - the official Raspberry Pi keyboard and mouse.

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Asic service offers RISC-V for IoT and AI

Taiwan asic design house Faraday Technology is offering RISC-V processor IP for chips aimed at AI and IoT. “This solution encompasses system-level design services, such as RISC-V core IP integration, SoC design verification, as well as a reference design kit consisting of RTOS and peripherals drivers,” said the firm, adding that it has already enabled mass ...

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ULEMCo to launch hydrogen-powered 50kW generator

ULEMCo, which is pioneering the adoption of ultra-low emission hydrogen fuel in the UK, has announced plans to launch a zero emission 50 kW (KVA) generator later this year. The zero emission genset is targeted for use in urban areas, where the impact of harmful emissions from non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) is increasingly being understood. ...

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Osram joins German micro-LED display project

LED maker Osram Opto has joined a German project to explore the principles of high-resolution displays using arrays of micro LEDs (μLEDs). Osram will work alongside ASM Amicra and Fraunhofer IISB in the SmartVIZ project, which has funding from the Bavarian state ministry for regional development. Their potentially high luminance (light output per unit area) could put μLEDs ...

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Farnell launches Connector e-Guide

Premier Farnell has launched the Connector e-Guide: an online reference tool showcasing connectors from more than 30 of the industry’s most trusted brands. The e-Guide allows engineers to easily review and select relevant interconnect products from Premier Farnell’s connector catalogue by sight or by part number. The e-Guide uses large visuals to clearly display and categorise ...

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Programmable 12-channel LED driver

With patented features to prevent distracting artefacts in “color-chasing” or “deep breathing” LED animation effects, the STMicroelectronicsLED1202 12-channel LED driver enables smoother and more natural interactions with smart-home devices, wearable electronics, and small appliances. The LED1202 can store eight programmable patterns and sequences and operate independently of the main controller, enabling the host system to ...

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Tuesday, April 9, 2019

China 2018 chip sales worth $97bn.

The China semiconductor industry had sales of $97.3 billion  last year, says China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The China IC industry had a CAGR 20.3% 2018-8,  said Ren Aiguang, who heads upthe IC office in MITT, told XinhuaNet. Revenue from IC design and manufacturing increased last year while sales from IC packaging ...

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MagnaChip ties up with ELAN Micro

MagnaChip Semiconductor, the Korean mixed signal specialist, is collaborating with ELAN Microelectronics to expand the capabilities of OLED displays. The partnership seeks to build upon the Recent market penetration of OLED displays in smartphones, mobile devices, tablets and automotive applications. OLED technology enables screens to display rich and highly saturated colors while emitting low power ...

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Waterproof 3.5mm jack sockets

CUI has introduced a series of 3.5mm waterproof audio jack connectors rated to IP67. They come in surface mount, mid mount SMT, and through hole styles, with right-angle orientation and four conductors (sleeve, ring 1, ring 2, tip). There are various sorts, with profiles as low as 5.3mm, typically with elastomer rings that seal against ...

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Automating the design and printing of soft robots

Soft robots can be be designed to move in predictable ways, and then 3D printed, according to Purdue University, which has created customisable soft robot structure, and an algorithm to do the customisation. The specific form of moving structure is a 3D elastomeric lattice, deformed by tension in tendons running through it – pulled by ...

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MIT moots hybrid lorries without diesel engines

Researchers at MIT are proposing plug-in hybrid vehicles for long-distance heavy transport. The truck would be primarily powered by batteries, but a non-diesel spark-ignition engine would extend range to that of today’s vehicles, according to MIT, avoiding the 10 to 15 tonnes of batteries required in an all-electric truck. The engine would be ‘flex-fuel’, able ...

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TTI steers towards automotive antennae from AVX

Low profile SMT automotive antennae for infotainment, telematics, e-call, onboard diagnosis, tracking, navigation and vehicle to everything (V2X) communication in vehicles from Ethertronics, an AVX company, are now available from TTI. The low profile antennae support worldwide frequency bands and are designed to occupy minimal PCB real estate to meet the space constraints of vehicle ...

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Dual 16bit 4Msample/s ADCs in 3x3mm

Analog Devices has released a couple of dual high-resolution SAR (successive-approximation register) ADCs operating at up to 4Msample/s, both packaged in 3 x 3mm 16pin LFCSP. 16bit AD7380 14bit AD7381 Dual simultaneous-sampling is available, and the firm is promoting them for motor control, sonar, power quality and data acquisition applications. “The conversion process and data ...

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Comment: On autonomous driving and seizing the tech transfer opportunity

The development of autonomous vehicles provides opportunities for innovative electronics businesses

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Monday, April 8, 2019

TSMC releases 5nm design infrastructure

TSMC has announced delivery of the complete version of its 5nm design infrastructure within the Open Innovation Platform (OIP). The release enables 5nm SoC designs in next-generation advanced mobile and high-performance computing (HPC) applications, targeting high-growth 5G and artificial intelligence markets. Leading Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and IP vendors collaborated with TSMC to develop and ...

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Imec n-PERT solar cells reach 23.2% conversion efficiency

Imec’s n-PERT (Passivated Emitter and Rear Totally diffused) solar cells developed with Jolywood, a Chinese manufacturer of n-type bifacial solar cells and modules, have reached a certified front-side conversion efficiency of 23.2%. With cost-efficient processing and a clear path to higher efficiencies, this makes these n-PERT cells a serious contender to p-PERC technology. “Compared to ...

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Lords welcome Internet White Paper

The House of Lords welcomes the White Paper on Internet regulation published yesterday by the Home Office and the Department of Culture Media and Sport. “I welcome the Government’s White Paper and its recognition of the need to establish regulation to protect users from online harms using a statutory duty of care,” says Lord Gilbert ...

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AMD launches 12nm 2nd gen Ryzen Pro

AMD has announced 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen PRO mobile processors with Radeon Vega Graphics and AMD Athlon PRO mobile processors with Radeon Vega Graphics. Providing commercial notebook users with power-efficient performance, state-of-the-art security features, and commercial-grade reliability and manageability, these new processors enable global PC manufacturers to create a wide range of business systems, from premium ...

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Chip combines secure hash algorithm and PUF to protect IoT, industrial and medical

Maxim’s DS2477 secure co-processor is intended to protect industrial, medical and IoT applications with authentication and physical security. “It is a secure I2C co-processor with built-in 1-Wire master that combines FIPS202-compliant secure hash algorithm [SHA-3] challenge and response authentication with Maxim’s ChipDNA feature to provide protection against security attacks,” said Mouser, which is stocking the part. ...

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R&S C-V2X tester wins GCF approval

Rohde & Schwarz’ cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) protocol conformance testing package has been approved to the Global Certification Forum’s (GCF’s) specification. The approval is based on using the CMW500 wide-band radio communication tester and SMBV100A vector signal generator. “The GCF is an industry-recognised organisation trusted by cellular network providers to certify the conformance of cellular handsets,” said ...

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750W RF power transistor for 915MHz

Ampleon has announced a high-750W RF power transistor offering 72.5% at 915MHz, built on the firm’s Gen9HV 50V process. Called BLF0910H9LS750P, it operates from 902 to 928MHz making it suitable, according to the Ampleon, for industrial, scientific, and medical systems, as well as professional cooking. It’s input is pre-matched, and the device is rugged enough to withstand a ...

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ADI presses US and EU to break down non-tariff trade barriers.

ADI has urged the US Department of Commerce (DoC) and the EU to break down non-tariff barriers to trade in technology components and systems. Regulations such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the US’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) inhibited the export trade in technology components and systems, argues ADI. ADI would like ...

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Home Office/ DCMS White Paper proposes Internet regulation

The Home Office and the DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) have published a joint White Paper on internet regulation. Sites which facilitate the “sharing” of content or “interaction” between users will be subject to a duty of care and face sanctions for non-compliance. Fines will be calculated based on the size of the company. ...

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Sunday, April 7, 2019

Record high for semi materials market

The semiconductor materials market grew 10.6% in 2018 to a record $51.9 billion says SEMI. The previous high of  $47.1 billion was set in 2011. 2018 sales of wafer fabrication materials were up 15.9% y-o y at $32.2 billion and sales of packaging materials were up 3% at $19.7 billion. Taiwan, at $11.4 billion, was ...

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Amazon planning low orbit satellite constellation for internet access

Amazon is reported to be planning a satellite constellation for providing internet access in a similar scheme to Space X’s satellite project Amazon’s proposed constellation is said to have 3,236 satellites and is called Project Kuiper. SpaceX’s constellation will consist of 4,425 satellites and is called Starlink. It has plans to expand it to 12,000 ...

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Colloidal quantum dots could advance photodetectors

IR optoelectronics, traditionally based on III-V semiconductors, could be based on colloidal quantum dots which would overcome III-V’s disadvantage of  CMOS incompatibility, says Barcelona’s Institute of Photonics (ICFO). ICFO researchers have discovered that by controlling defects in materials one can extend the semiconductor’s spectral reach beyond its bandgap, expanding thereby the material availability for the ...

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Infineon building new Austrian R&D centre

Infineon’s Austria holding company DICE (Danube Integrated Circuit Engineering) in Linz has broken ground for a  new site. Pictured are (L-R): Manfred Ruhmer, Executive Director DICE, Peter Schiefer, President Automotive Division Infineon Technologies AG, Sabine Herlitschka, CEO Infineon Technologies Austria AG, Gerhard Riess and Peter Zeiner, Executive Directors DICE. By the summer of 2020 the ...

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Friday, April 5, 2019

Plessey’s pins future on micro-LED displays, and gears up for production

Devon-based LED chip-maker Plessey is to focus entirely on micro-LED-based micro-displays, and has ceased launching new lighting LEDs. “The business strategy is 100% micro-LED applications: augmented reality, virtual reality, smart watches and large panel outdoor displays,” Plessey head of business development Mike Lee told Electronics Weekly. “Right now, we are in the middle of raising ...

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Thursday, April 4, 2019

LIDAR market to show 64% CAGR 2018-24

The LiDAR market was worth $1.3 billion in 2018, announces Yole Développement (Yole). For The automotive LiDAR story began with the DARPA Grand Challenge race in 2005 when LiDAR was introduced. Two years later, in 2007, five of the six vehicles finishing that race embedded a LiDAR on their roofs.   Yole reckons the  LiDAR market ...

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Würth extends REDEXPERT

Würth Elektronik eiSos has extended its free online design tool REDEXPERT. The simulation software, which has become known for AC loss calculation in switch mode power supplies, now supports calculations for a whole range of other components. LEDs for horticultural applications, wireless modules, photodiodes and foil capacitors are among the product groups now included in ...

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Infineon adds package to HV portfolio

Infineon has added to its portfolio of high voltage devices with a new package: XHP 3. This is a new flexible IGBT module platform for high-power applications in the voltage range from 3,3 kV up to 6,5 kV. The module allows for scalable designs with best-in-class reliability and highest power density. Due to its symmetrical ...

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Renesas launches touch-free UIs

Renesas has launches two touch-free user interface (UI) solutions to simplify the design of 2D and 3D control-based applications. Based on Renesas’ capacitive sensor microcontrollers (MCUs), the new solutions support the development of UI that allows users to operate home appliances, as well as industrial and OA equipment without touching the devices. The UI solutions make ...

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Mouser adds Optiga Trust X to secure hardware

To secure the IoT, smart homes, medical devices and drones, Infineon’s Optiga Trust X supports a high-speed I²C communication interface up to 1MHz. Typical current consumption is 20mA, which drops to 70µA in sleep mode.  The elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) NIST P256, AES128 and SHA-256 has built-in tamper-proof non volatile memory to enhance system security. ...

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PSU with battery back-up connection in 2x4in footprint for security

Delta’s PJU-60W open-frame ac-dc PSUs come with integrated dc un-interruptable power supply, and are aimed at security applications. There are two versions: PJU-13V60WCBA, with a 13.8V 3.5A output and designed to work with a 12V sealed lead-acid battery PJU-27V60WCBA, with a 27.6V 1.4A output and designed to work with a 24V sealed lead-acid battery Batteries ...

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Video: RS CEO Lindsley Ruth questions the UK’s vision for engineering

What is the vision for the UK? How can it paint a broader, better picture of what it wants to achieve in terms of attracting people into engineering? These are among the questions asked by the RS Components CEO Lindsley Ruth as he considers the issues around employment opportunities in the electronics industry. And yes, ...

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RS parent creates distributor for IoT and single-board computing

RS Components’ parent company Electrocomponents has launched a global technology business to focus on single board computing IoT. Called OKdo, “it will provide end-to-end support for all SBC and IoT segments, spanning makers, entrepreneurs, industrial designers, educators and re-seller partners,” according to the Electrocomponents “it will deliver a combination of hardware, software, development support and ...

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SIA calls for more government support for semiconductor industry

The SIA has produced a report asking the US government for more support. Specific actions suggested are: 1 Invest in research that will promote American semiconductor innovation. • Triple U.S. investments in semiconductor-specific research across federal scientific agencies from approximately $1.5 billion to $5 billion annually to advance new materials, designs, and architectures that will ...

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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Autonomous challenges

Autonomous cars have a long way to go says Dr Sally Epstein, Machine Learning expert at Cambridge Consultants, who points to some of the key challenges: Mapping data will become out of date as soon as it is collected. Street furniture is constantly changing, with roadworks, accidents and more, while human movement in the same environment ...

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ICs provide PoE-converter circuitry up to 71W

A new chipset from ST lets users quickly build reliable and space-efficient Powered Devices (PDs) to take advantage of the latest IEEE 802.3bt Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) specification. The PM8804 and PM8805 provide the PoE-converter circuitry for PDs up to class-8, which defines a usable power budget of 71 Watts. The chipset saves space, enhances reliability, and ...

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Shurter’s thermal fuse RTS now with integrated shunt

Schurter’s RTS thermal fuse has got  a new variant with an integrated shunt. The RTS is a particularly compact overtemperature protection device for power semiconductors in SMD technology for highest demands. RTS stands for Reflowable Thermal Switch. It was developed to protect highly integrated power semiconductors from overheating. Prior to mechanical activation, the new thermal ...

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Renesas reference designs for USB

Renesas has announced two reference designs that simplify and speed the development of USB Power Delivery (PD3.0) and USB-C battery charging applications such as USB-C computing hubs, power banks, car chargers, SSD enclosures, point of sale (POS) printers, and desktop displays. The RTK-251-1PowerBank3 and RTK-251-BuckBoostConverter2 are USB-IF PD3.0 certified design kits, and represent the first ...

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Debug Raspberry Pi software, and more, with this hardware

Tap-Hat is a multi-purpose JTAG debugger board for those developing software to run on Raspberry Pi: RTOSs, Linux and bare-metal code in particular. Photo of prototype As well as this, the board can turn a Raspberry Pi into a JTAG-based debugging machine for other processor boards. It supports: USB-connected debugging of a code on a ...

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SK Telecom takes 5G lead

SK Telecom says it has installed 34,000 5G base stations in 85 city centres giving it the world’s first installed public network.  “The AR, VR and cloud games unveiled today only mark the beginning of the age of Hyper-Innovation brought by 5G,” says SK CEO  Park Jung-ho, “SK Telecom will continue to introduce 5G-based innovative ...

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