The Internet of Everything is coming. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. Very many electronics devices needs to be designed for this in mind. The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. Gartner suggests that the “the smart machine era will be the most disruptive in the history of IT.” Intelligent systems and assistive devices will advance smart healthcare.
Software-defined anything (SDx) is coming more into use. It means that many proprietary systems are being replaced with commonly available standard computer hardware and software running in them.
PC market: ABANDON HOPE all ye who enter here. Vendor consolidation ‘inevitable’. Even Intel had to finally admit this that the Wintel grip which has served it and Microsoft so well over the past decades is waning, with Android and iOS coming to the fore through smartphones and tabs. The market conversion to tablets means that consumers and businesses are sweating existing PC assets longer. Tablets to Make Up Half of 2014 PC Market.
The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Electronics Kits article mentions that many older engineers first became interested in electronics through hobbies in their youth—assembling kits, participating in amateur radio, or engaging in other experiments. The 1970s and 1980s were great times for electronics hobbyists. But whenever it seems that there’s nothing left for the hobbyist, a new motif arises. The Raspberry Pi has become a best seller, as has a similar experimental board, the Arduino microcontroller. A great number of sensors, actuators, cameras, and the like have quickly become available for both. Innovative applications abound in such domains as home automation and robotics. So it seems that now there is much greater capacity for creativity in hobby electronics then there ever was.
E-Waste: Lack of Info Plagues Efforts to Reduce E-Waste article tells that creation of trade codes is necessary to track used electronics products according to a recent study concerning the waste from growing quantities of used electronics devices—including TVs, mobile phones and computers. High levels of electronic waste are being sent to Africa and Asia under false pretenses.” StEP estimates worldwide e-waste to increase by 33 percent from 50 million tons in 2012 to 65 million tons by 2017. China and the U.S. lead the world as top producers of e-waste. America produces about 65 pounds of e-waste per person every year. There will be aims to reduce the waste, for example project like standardizing mobile phone chargers and laptop power supplies.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
What about when the circuit board has flexible parts?
Flex of a flexible printed circuit board is a flexible insulating film printed wiring pattern. Rigid-flex circuit board that has both the traditional rigid and flexible parts. The combination requires more information from the designer, as well as the production of a project.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1699:enta-kun-piirilevylla-on-joustavia-osia&catid=13&Itemid=101
More information: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1698
Tomi Engdahl says:
White Goods Consolidation Drives Power Deals
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323678&
The power semiconductor industry has seen two key announcements this week, highlighting some serious consolidation. After 35 years of years of fierce independence, International Rectifier Inc has agreed to a $3 billion takeover by Infineon Technologies AG, creating an even stronger global power giant. At the same time, Fairchild Semiconductor Inc is cutting back on its capacity, closing some of the 5- and 6-inch manufacturing lines that were part of its reboot into the power business in 1999.
Why the dramatic moves? Perhaps today’s analysis of the consumer white goods market by IHS Technology throws some light on this. The white goods market has been seen as a key driver for power devices, creating a huge volume demand from air conditioning, washing machines and induction hobs (cooktops). As more of these devices become connected, so the power semiconductors are a more important element in the control loop.
Worldwide shipments of home appliances are projected to reach 611 million units by year-end, up 4.8% from 2013 according to IHS Technology, up from 4.5% last year. Revenue growth is forecast to be even higher, set to climb 7.1% in 2014, up from 5.9% last year.
As well as growing, the market is consolidating across the globe with deals in the US, Europe, and Asia.
US-based Whirlpool Corp., the world’s No. 1 home appliance maker, recently announced its second largest acquisition in less than a year, with plans to buy a majority stake in Indesit SpA of Italy. An earlier acquisition of a 51% stake in Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric is also expected to significantly enhance Whirlpool’s presence in the Asian market, especially in China, where Hefei Sanyo is the third largest appliance maker.
In Europe, the acquisition of appliance maker Fagor Electrodomesticos
strengthens the position of Spain’s CNA Group
Sweden’s Electrolux AB has also confirmed its interest in buying the home appliance business division of Kentucky-based General Electric (GE).
LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics are also expected to be interested in GE’s US facilities, rather than in the GE brand name
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meeting the conductive challenge
http://www.micromanufacturing.com/content/meeting-conductive-challenge
New, robust conductive inks can be used in molded parts
You probably don’t think about electrically conductive inks as you drive to work each morning. But it’s likely that you give at least a passing thought to some of your vehicle’s features that incorporate potentiometers and rheostats made with conductive inks.
These include heated seats, rearview mirror defrosters, bumpers, in-glass antennas, solid-state lighting and LED lights with printed conductors, and touch-control buttons that replace mechanical switches.
Conductive inks have been used in automobiles for years to enhance safety and the driving experience. But the latest advancement—CIs printed on injection-molded plastic parts—promises to significantly reduce the size and weight of automotive components.
Most conductive inks are made from silver. For some applications, nickel, copper, gold or other precious metals are used. Silver is popular because it’s more conductive than copper, which becomes less conductive as it oxidizes, and silver is less expensive than gold.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brit chip biz CSR rebuffs US takeover bid from Microchip Technologies
Bluetooth firms suggest a pairing, but it’s not going smoothly
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/29/csr_rebuffs_takeover_bid/
Fabless Bluetooth chip firm CSR, the second biggest chip design company in Cambridge, has rebuffed a takeover bid by customer and partner Microchip Technology.
The failed bid has trigged another round of CSR thinking about putting itself up for sale, and given its history of a roller-coaster share price, now might be a very good time to do so.
CSR was once the world’s biggest supplier of Bluetooth chips but as its customers’ market shares declined – particularly Nokia’s – its sales, share and stock market status sank.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Atmel Shows American Pride at White House Maker Faire
Posted Aug 28, 2014 at 7:27 am
http://www.eeweb.com/blog/eeweb/atmel-at-white-house-maker-faire
“Today’s DIY is tomorrow’s ‘Made in America,’” President Obama proclaimed in his opening remarks at the White House Maker Faire in June of 2014. With the rise of open-source hardware like the Arduino Uno, the limits of innovation, manufacturing, and technology have become boundless. To commemorate the rise in DIY innovation, the White House sponsored its first-ever Maker Faire in Washington DC and invited makers of all ages from around the country to show off their innovations. Projects ranged from robotic giraffes to a mobile 3D printing fab lab—all of them demonstrated for President Barack Obama himself.
These makers, as well as makers across the globe, have embraced the easy-to-use hardware and software of the Arduino platform, based on Atmel 8 bit (AVR) or a 32 bit (ARM based) microcontrollers (MCU). Cited for their ease-of-use, low-power, and high-performance capabilities, the AVR MCUs have enabled designers, inventors, and even school children to learn and innovate at a previously unheard of level. Atmel’s connection with the Arduino boards earned them an invitation to this year’s Maker Faire to see the variety of projects their MCUs have powered. EEWeb spoke with Sander Arts, vice president of marketing at Atmel, about his experience at the White House and how being involved in the maker community will enable the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SPST Type USB Switch IC
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/rohm/spst-type-usb-switch-ic/
Introducing ROHM’s SPST Type USB Switch IC, the BH6260MWX. BH6260MWX is a 2-channel SPST type Inverter SPST x and Inverter x 2ch analog switch. The device has an analog SW0 and SW1 port that passes USB 2.0 high-speed signal while analog SW2 and SW3 ports pass the UART signal.
5Ω switches connect inputs to outputs
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Funds III-V FinFETs in US Lab
Penn State fabricates InGaAs aimed at 7nm node
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323706&
Samsung is funding Pennsylvania State University researchers working to fabricate III-V indium gallium arsenide FinFETs for possible use at the 7nm node.
The silicon FinFET (3D fin gates on field effect transistors) have become the standard for low leakage and high performance at advanced nodes, but III-V compounds such as indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) are faster than silicon, prompting researchers at Penn State to combine the best of both worlds. Penn State’s InGaAs FinFET transistors use a novel five-gate structure grown on an indium phosphide (InP) substrate in its Materials Research Institute’s Nanofabrication Laboratory.
“These FinFETs as of now have been fabricated on InP substrates,” Arun Thathachary, a EE doctoral candidate working under professor Suman Datta, told us.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microchip in Pursuit of CSR
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323699&
It’s official. Microchip Technology CEO Steve Sanghi, once known as a skeptic on the Internet of Things, wants to join the parade big time, as it pursues the UK-based leading Bluetooth chip vendor CSR as a potential acquisition target. Microchip confirmed Thursday that it has had “preliminary mutual discussions with CSR.”
The US firm released the statement, several hours after CSR made it publicly known that it has rejected Microchip’s preliminary offer.
In the statement, Microchip stressed that “the discussions between the parties are at a very preliminary stage.”
CSR said that the undisclosed sum of money proposed by Microchip wasn’t enough, if Microchip actually wants to raise its role in the IoT market with CSR’s radio technology.
CSR announced late last month that Microchip has partnered with CSR to offer a CSR-based Bluetooth Smart module. The goal for the new module is to leverage CSR’s proven Bluetooth Smart ICs and offer a turnkey solution to a wider range of customers, the companies said at that time.
CSR today is freshly armed with its home-grown mesh networking technology called CSRmesh, a protocol designed to run over Bluetooth Smart. CSR is now at a critical point in evangelizing the new protocol, thus hoping to lead the Bluetooth-based IoT market. CSR could use Microchip’s powerful presence in the embedded market, in which Microchip leverages its microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog, and flash technologies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Soon, only two logic manufacturer
The new semiconductor factory price is transforming the permanent list of manufacturers. Even 0.13 microns, dozens of companies prepared their own parties. 20 nanometers, the list is very short: the logic of their own circle still produce Intel and Samsung.
IC Insights Research Institute says that use of fabless model has increased at an accelerating pace. Last wave of the Japanese Toshiba, Renesas, Sony and Fujitsu transition to fabless model. It is considered the capital investment of less than 10 per cent of net sales. Production is therefore transferred almost entirely of contract manufacturers of foundry business lines. Contract manufacturing is such a big business that Intel and Samsung do not want to stay away from it. They offer other semiconductor houses to their own processes as a service.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1724:pian-vain-kaksi-logiikkavalmistajaa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Drone Developers Consider Obstacles That Cannot Be Flown Around
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/technology/as-drone-technology-advances-practical-obstacles-remain.html?_r=0
The tech industry’s enthusiasm for building small delivery drones may be getting ahead of figuring out what to do with them.
On Thursday, with much fanfare, Google revealed Project Wing, an experimental program out of the company’s long-term projects division, called Google X. In a video, Google showed a buzzing aircraft — half plane, half helicopter — using a 200-foot fishing line to drop dog treats to a farmer in Queensland, Australia.
But for all the Tomorrowland wonder of a potential delivery-by-drone service, plenty of issues will be tricky to solve. Drone technology has not been thoroughly tested in populated areas, and commercial use of drones is not allowed in the United States. Even if it were, it is not clear that companies could make a profit using advanced, helicopterlike vehicles to deliver dog food, toothpaste or whatever else a modern family might need.
Tomi Engdahl says:
High-Accuracy 2-Wire Current-Loop Sensor
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/maxim/high-accuracy-2-wire-current-loop-sensor/
Maxim offers another new subsystem reference design board that contains all the necessary components needed to monitor and control a device remotely over a pair of conductors
The 4–20mA current loop is widely used as an analog communication interface in industrial applications for transmitting the data from remote sensors to a programmable logic controller (PLC) in a central control center over a twisted pair cable. Here, 4mA represents the lowest temperature value, and 20mA represents the highest measured temperature. There are four main advantages of the current loop. First, the accuracy of the signal is not affected by the voltage drop in the loop, as long as the power-supply voltage is greater than the total voltage drop across the loop. Secondly, it uses two wires for power as well as data communication over the entire loop. Thirdly, it is more immune to noise. And lastly, it is offered at a low cost and easy installation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PolyZen devices on Portable Electronics
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/te_circuit_protection/polyzen-devices-on-portable-electronics/
This application note stresses the most common system failure, the charger-induced system failure. With the use of unauthorized charging systems, device attached to it is very prone to such system failure, and may cause further damage. In order to prevent such inconvenience, TE circuit protection designed PolyZen device for circuit protection.
The most cost-effective way to implement a power bus for portable electronics is with a standard DC barrel jack. However, because this connector is so commonly used, the user may accidentally connect the incorrect power supply to electronic equipment at home or while traveling.
Transient protection is especially critical when designing peripherals that may be powered off computer buses and automotive power buses. Automotive power buses are notoriously dirty.
Trip events shutout over-voltage and reverse bias sources
Tomi Engdahl says:
Galvanically Isolated Current Sensor IC
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/allegro_microsystems/galvanically-isolated-current-sensor-ic/
Allegro MicroSystems announced the ACS726, a galvanically isolated current sensor IC that offers an economical and precise solution for current sensing suitable for industrial, commercial, and communications systems. The ACS726 is the first current sensor IC that has integrated fully differential back end amplifier that adjust gain and bandwidth through RC networks. This back end amplifier is completely independent and it can be powered down to minimize power consumption when not in use. The ACS726 is also designed to have differential output that provides better immunity to output offset drift as well as common mode noise.
The terminals of the conductive path are electrically isolated from the sensor IC signal leads (pins 13 through 24). This allows the ACS726 current sensor IC to be used in high-side current sense applications without the use of high-side differential amplifiers or other costly isolation techniques.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel is already sampling 14nm parts these Vishera-based CPUs continue to be manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ 32nm process. The result is less than expected performance boosts and efficiency gains.
Source: http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/09/02/1243232/amd-releases-new-tonga-gpu-lowers-8-core-cpu-to-229
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is that a 64-bit ARM Warrior in your pocket? Nope, it’s MIPS64
It’s just your Imagination: When two tribes go to war
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/02/mips_warrior_64_bit/
Chip designer Imagination Technologies today went public about its new processor design, the 64-bit MIPS Warrior I6400.
It’s an ambitious blueprint, aimed at car dashboards, digital TVs and tablets – the usual space for Imagination – all the way up to data center-grade compute, storage and networking kit. In other words, wherever arch-rival ARM is attempting to spread its limbs.
The I6400 CPU is pretty much a MIPS64-friendly version of the 32-bit Warrior P5600 that was talked up last fall, with a few extra features thrown in.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Desktop Pick-&-Place Machine: An EETimes Community Project
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1322807&
With all the excitement associated with of 3D printers, there seems to be a giant gap in the rapid prototyping tool set — a desktop pick-and-place (P&P) machine that can be had at a reasonable price. If you were to survey the landscape, you would find that most of the smaller pick-and-place machines that are out there are either just not quite ready for primetime, or will cost more than a few thousand dollars. This is where the EETimes community has an opportunity to change the picture.
The more we talked about this, the more excited we got. The thought of having a machine that can assemble your boards — and possibly even reflow them — while fitting in a space smaller than an 11″ x 17″ footprint just brought great big grins to our faces.
This idea — with the excitement it brings — is more than just designing a machine. There is a teaching opportunity as well.
Let’s start with out top-level design goals, which are as follows:
$400 to $600 target sales price
11″ x 17″ or smaller footprint
A modular system allowing for addition of features at a future date
Good mechanical design
With these as the basic design goals, here are some thoughts on other details to get your creative juices flowing. Because of the fact that we are shooting for a low price point, there will need to be some tradeoffs. For example, this is not intended to be the fastest pick-and-place machine out there, so we can look at compromising on speed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zapping Things With ESD – Just One More Service I Offer
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=216&doc_id=1323506&
Suppose you are working on hobby electronics projects on your kitchen table and you’ve invested in an ESD (electrostatic discharge) wristband as shown below. To what should you attach the crocodile (alligator) clip on the end of the strap to give you a good ground connection? Now, read on…
More recently, while rooting around looking for a toolkit to accompany me on my travels (see: What’s the Best Traveling Toolkit? ), I invested in a rather nice 24″ x 48″ anti-static mat
Obviously, I don’t have these grounding points mounted on my kitchen table at home
I have tried clipping the crocodile clips to the metal enclosure of my project’s power supply, but sometimes I unplug this from the wall while I’m “tweaking” something, in which case I’m SOL (sadly out of luck).
Another approach I’ve tried is to have one end of a flying lead plugged into the ground strip on my breadboard, and to then attach the crocodile clip on my ESD wristband to the other end of this lead.
The thing is that I always have a notepad computer powered up on the table while I’m working on my projects.
Even if I’m not programming a microcontroller, I almost invariably need to access the Internet to check something or other.
The only thing I’m wondering now is why no one sells ESD wristbands with USB plugs on the end. Another alternative would be to have a USB plug with a socket for a banana connector. Maybe there’s a business opportunity here for someone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IP67 circular connectors support data, signal, and power
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/08/phoenix-contact-m23.html?cmpid=EnlCIMSeptember22014
Phoenix Contact’s new M23 hybrid circular connector is “an all-in-one connector that securely transmits signals, data and power,” the company says, adding, “The compact M23 connector can handle currents up to 30 A and voltages up to 850 V DC or 630 V AC.” Among its features are a centrally located protective earth (PE) ground, four power contacts and four signal contacts. “The data pins have a 0.8-mm diameter and can provide an optional Ethernet connection in accordance with Cat 5e,” Phoenix contact says.
“The M23 hybrid connector is ideal for servo-drive and encoder-feedback applications,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robot Dramas: Autonomous Machines In the Limelight On Stage and In Society
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/09/03/0027256/robot-dramas-autonomous-machines-in-the-limelight-on-stage-and-in-society
We’re entering an era where we’ll increasingly coexist with robots and other intelligent machines — some of which may look like us. Not only is there a growing number of industrial robots (about 1.5 million today), there are 10 million Roombas in our homes, porter-bots in our hospitals and hotels, social robots in our nursing homes and even robot spectators at baseball games in Japan, tele-operated by remote fans.
Theater is not an arena that we typically associate with robots, however, artists, musicians and producers are often early adopters and innovative users of emerging technologies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Absolute Encoder Design: Magnetic or Optical?
http://www.ichaus.de/upload/pdf/WP6en_Magnetic_vs_optical_17092012.pdf
The angle resolution and accuracy of magnetic position encoders with a diametric magnet
and central scanning Hall sensor IC are limited by the feasible depth of interpolation and available field quality. By scanning many sine periods per revolution, the resolution of optical position encoders is much higher. If magnetic pole wheels are used, this approach can also
be applied to magnetic system, but which system is better?
Conclusion: Which is better?
There are many benefits that speak for magnetic sensor technology: excellent reliability, a high
resistance to shock and vibration, a lack of breakable parts, and insensitivity to dirt and moisture.
Single-chip Hall encoder iC-MU permits hollow through shafts to be used and achieve s a position resolution, which to date, was only achieved by optical encoders.
However, if the application demands top measurement accuracy, optical sensors such as the iC-LN Bhave the advantage, but do require more costly assembly space.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel says NO MORE BLOOD PENTIUMS by 2016
Chipzilla plots roadmap for conflict-free metals policy
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/03/intel_says_conflictfree_transition_set_for_2016/
Intel has set 2016 as the deadline for its transition to a 100 per cent conflict-free product line.
Under the plan, Chipzilla will look to receive gold, tantalum, tungsten, and tin only from those smelting facilities that it has certified as taking materials exclusively from ethically-mined sources.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung, Philips and Infineon slapped with €138m fine for chip price fixing
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2363228/samsung-philips-and-infineon-slapped-with-eur138m-fine-for-chip-price-fixing
CHIP MAKERS involved in a price fixing racket stretching back over a decade have been fined €138m by European regulators.
An antitrust investigation into chips used in mobile device SIM cards found that Infineon, Philips and Samsung colluded to artifically manipulate the price of SIM card chips.
Renesas, a former joint venture between Hitachi and Mitsubishi, was also implicated in the investigation but was granted immunity after whistleblowing the existence of the cartel.
European Commission (EC) VP in charge of competition policy Joaquin Almunia said, “In this digital era smart card chips are used by almost everybody, whether in their mobile phones, bank cards or passports.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Haptic Development Kit
http://www.eeweb.com/news/wireless-haptic-development-kit
Texas Instruments announced the release of its first wireless haptic development kit, providing system designers with a fast and convenient way to prototype eccentric rotating mass (ERM) motor and linear resonant actuator (LRA) haptic effects. Using Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) and a free iOS app, the Haptic Bluetooth Kit (DRV2605EVM-BT) enables designers to create haptic sequences and LED patterns for tactile feedback, notifications and alerts from a pre-licensed library of more than a hundred distinct haptic effects, eliminating wires and the need to design haptic waveforms.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industrial Automation Power Dilemma: Part 1
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/maxim/industrial-automation-power-dilemma-part-1/
Technology has brought industrial-automation system into a whole new level where gigantic machines and high powered devices are being shrunk into much smaller components. This provides space saving qualities of the devices as well as more components stuffed into a miniature system. However, engineering is a field where there is always a trade-off between advantages and disadvantages. This technique breeds new challenges for the designers to solve.
Industrial-automation system design presents unique challenges. This is, in fact, the story of conflicting demands. The introduction of low-cost modular racks to house system components such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and I/O modules places severe space and thermal restraints on the engineer and the solution. Such challenges are compounded by the need to ensure highly reliable operation in harsh environments subject to dirt, humidity, and vibration.
Customers, moreover, expect enhanced functionality in subsequent generations of automation systems, and all without an associated increase in power consumption, equipment size, heat generation, and cost. That enhanced functionality is typically underpinned by advances in electronics technology, but often comes at a cost: tighter power tolerances and proliferation of voltage levels that must be kept stable while being derived from a less-than-perfect mains supply.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4 Big Trends From ESC Brazil
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323739&
No. 1: The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things was a hot topic at ESC Brazil, with companies like Atmel and Microchip showcasing the latest technologies for connecting to the cloud.
“Actually, the Internet of Things is nothing new, as we have been connecting MCUs to sensors and analyzing the data for a long time,” said Andreas Eieland, senior product marketing manager at Atmel. “But what is new is the technology options available for engineers to develop connected systems without the high degree of complexity of the past.”
To wit, Atmel had on display the new Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi solutions it has added to its SmartConnect wireless portfolio line through the acquisition of Newport Media.
Philips’s Hue Bulbs, an example of the Internet of Things, feature Atmel’s ZigBee and Lightweight Mesh Stack.
No. 2: Android running on top of a more traditional, embedded Linux kernel and distribution.
Brazil has a strong community of Linux developers, so it’s no surprise that it is the OS of choice for many embedded systems designers.
The ordinary Android operating environment sucks for these general use cases, because it lacks the control points and signaling features that something more complicated than a cell phone always needs.
“We used to be 100% Linux, but now it is a mix of Android running on top of a standard Linux kernel (60%), 20% free RTOS, and 20% Linux,”
No. 3: Embedded systems startups
One of the big “buzzes” at ESC Brazil 2014 was the number of embedded systems startup companies rapidly appearing on the scene here.
No. 4: Tin foil hats are multinational
To demonstrate how difficult it is to predict the future, Maxfield presented the evolution of embedded systems over the past 100 years. This led into a discussion on the concept of self-aware artificial intelligences, the creation of which could lead to a robot apocalypse.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Photodevice Detects Color With Metal Grating
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323751&
Researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, have created a CMOS-compatible color photodetector that uses aluminium grating technology rather than color filters to make the sensor respond to red, green, and blue light.
The researchers make the point that the approach is closer to that used by human eye and allows color selectivity to be integrated into the photodetector.
The device uses two Schottky junctions to accumulate charge in an energy well, which results in photocurrent gain, and a plasmonic aluminum grating for photocurrent enhancement and red/green/blue color selectivity. The device is described online in a new study in the journal, Advanced Materials.
Conventional CMOS image sensors are turned into color image detectors by adding dielectric or dye color filters, which have the disadvantage of requiring multipass processing, tend to degrade under exposure to sunlight, and can be difficult to align with the sensor pixels.
“With plasmonic gratings, not only do you get color tunability, you can also enhance near fields,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
D-PHY, M-PHY & C-PHY? First Look at Testing MIPI’s Latest PHY
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323513&
One of the significant advantages of MIPI Alliance standards is the separation of the physical or PHY layer from the protocol layer. This approach contrasts with USB, PCI Express, or SATA, where these layers are specific to a particular protocol, and provides much needed-flexibility to deal with the many sensors and peripheral devices found in a typical mobile device while preserving the core PHY objectives of power conservation with headroom for higher data throughput.
To date, MIPI has published 30 different specifications but it only has two PHY specifications: D-PHY and M-PHY. All the display, camera, RF, storage interfaces, etc. layer on top of just these two PHYs. MIPI sees M-PHY as the high-performance PHY with speeds up to 5.8 Gbps while D-PHY is more for cameras and displays and lower-speed applications.
With low-power operation, high-performance, and flexible protocol support, it would appear that the MIPI canvas is a done deal. But, as with all things in technology, especially mobile technology, it’s never that simple. Now MIPI is in the process of releasing a third PHY standard called C-PHY.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moore’s Lag Shifts Paradigm of Semi Industry
Moore’s Law lagging may be a good thing
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323755&
In an earlier column, 28nm – The Last Node of Moore’s Law, we pointed out that the change has already happened. It is no longer a matter of forecast or prediction. In this blog, we will start by reviewing some of what has transpired since that column was published. Then we will focus on the ensuing paradigm shift in the semiconductor industry.
Soon thereafter, in a Semiconductor Manufacturing & Design blog post about ConFab 2014, Peter Singer quoted Dr. Gary Patton, vice president of semiconductor research and development center at IBM, as saying: “The challenge we’re facing now is two-fold. Number one, we’re struggling to get that 0.7X linear scaling. It might be about 0.8X. And we’re adding a lot more complexity, especially when you adding double and triple patterning.”
More recently, in early August, we finaly got more information from Intel about its upcoming 14nm technology node. n our blog Intel vs. Intel, we articulated that Intel’s numbers indicate that Moore’s Law stopped at the 28/22nm nodes, both in terms of the required bringup time and the cost of the new technology nodes.
It is hard to accept that a trend that has held strong for 50 years, and that kept going many years after multiple predictions of its imminent demise, has really stopped. And it is even harder as we watch the huge effort of bringing up the 14nm and 10nm nodes. Yet it seems that everybody should agree that the semiconductor industry is now going through a paradigm shift and — for most designs — 28 nm is, at least for some time, the last node of Moore’s Law.
These charts show that design costs increase by more than $100 million from 32 nm to 16 nm. If we assume a die cost of $10 at 32 nm, and if we assume that the traditional cost reduction per node still holds, then we would need a volume of more than 20 million units just to break even.
If one also considers the risk associated with such a design, it would actually require more than 100 million units — or at least $1 billion of market — for such device to justify the investment. Clearly, very few designs have the market for 100 million units or $1 billion.
As we see, most new designs are still created at the 130nm node, while the node with the fastest rampup is at 65 nm.
Yet again, this indicates a very slow shift to more advanced nodes, and the expectation is that — even in 2016 — most new designs will still be implemented at the 130nm node. This is clearly a paradigm shift in the industry, which is responding accordingly.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Starterkits speed up code safety standard compliance for IEC62304/61508, EN50128
http://www.edn-europe.com/en/starterkits-speed-up-code-safety-standard-compliance-for-iec62304/61508-en50128.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=10004616&vID=1327#.VAlpXWNsUil
A specialist in safety-critical applications, Embedded Office is offering pre-certified components in the form of its Cert-Kits that support manufacturers of safety-relevant systems in accordance with the standards IEC62304, IEC61508 and EN50128 in standard-compliant development.
The ‘starterkits’ are executable systems, which allow users to immediately commence the development of a certification project. The starterkits comprise the source code of a given microcontroller for the respective development tool. They are available for the following products;
Real-time kernel µC/OS-II with memory protection (µC/OS-MPU)
Partitioning system (µC/TimeSpaceOS)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Groups Accuse Apple Supplier in China of Labor Violations
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/business/Apple-Supplier-Is-Accused-of-Labor-Violations.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Phone and iPad Supplier Exploits and Endangers Safety of 20,000 Workers
http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-497.html
New Report Shows Repeated Health And Safety, Environmental, And Human Rights Violations At This Apple Second-Tier Supplier Factory; Apple Called On To Live Up To Its Commitments To Improve Labor Conditions Of Workers Making Apple Products
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg breaks down what happens to faulty launch-day iPhone returns
http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/04/bloomberg-breaks-down-what-happens-to-faulty-launch-day-iphone-returns/
When Apple (or any company) launches a product, such as the upcoming iPhone 6, there’s always the chance that a critical flaw will be discovered by first adopters. How exactly the company handles the devices that are returned and tracks down the source of these issues has always been somewhat of a secret process.
Today, Bloomberg’s Businessweek published a profile on the “early field failure analysis,” which is responsible for taking these returned devices apart, analyzing any issues, putting together a fix, and getting it into new production devices before the problems become even more widespread.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s iPhone 6 First Responders
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-04/for-iphone-6-defects-apple-has-failure-analysis-team-ready
As Apple (AAPL) prepares to unveil the iPhone 6 on Sept. 9, engineers are toiling in secrecy to make sure everything works properly. Their task won’t end when the phone goes on sale.
Within hours of a new phone’s release, couriers start bringing defective returns from Apple’s retail stores to the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. In a testing room, the same engineers who built the iPhone try to figure out the problem
“They take them apart to diagnose what’s happening right then and there,”
The program, created in the late 1990s, is called early field failure analysis, or EFFA
All consumer-electronics companies try to keep an eye on complaints during their product launches to head off major problems early
Apple’s EFFA testing is most stringent during a device’s first weeks on sale, but it continues for months as problems arise, say three former employees involved.
As with the early iPhone bugs, most of the problems they’ve discovered over the years relate to components not being connected properly, Wilhelm says—an unfastened cable or too little glue or solder. “If you can find a problem in the first week or less,” he says, “that can ultimately save millions of dollars.”
http://bit.ly says:
Genuinely when someone doesn’t understand
then its up to other users that they will help, so here it takes place.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moore’s Lag Shifts Paradigm of Semi Industry
Moore’s Law lagging may be a good thing
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323755&
In an earlier column, 28nm – The Last Node of Moore’s Law, we pointed out that the change has already happened. It is no longer a matter of forecast or prediction.
In his coverage of Semicon West, Rick Merritt wrote: “Moore’s Law has definitely slowed.” He quoted Gartner semiconductor analyst Bob Johnson as saying, “No matter what Intel says, Moore’s Law is slowing down. Only a few high-volume, high-performance apps can justify 20 nm and beyond.”
“The challenge we’re facing now is two-fold. Number one, we’re struggling to get that 0.7X linear scaling. It might be about 0.8X. And we’re adding a lot more complexity, especially when you adding double and triple patterning.”
It is hard to accept that a trend that has held strong for 50 years, and that kept going many years after multiple predictions of its imminent demise, has really stopped.
And it is even harder as we watch the huge effort of bringing up the 14nm and 10nm nodes. Yet it seems that everybody should agree that the semiconductor industry is now going through a paradigm shift and — for most designs — 28 nm is, at least for some time, the last node of Moore’s Law.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Interpreting Marketing Claims
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=216&doc_id=1323563
Marketing Spiel -> Translation
Rugged -> Don’t plan to lift without major equipment.
Robust -> Rugged, but more so.
Lightweight -> Slightly lighter than rugged.
Years of development -> One finally worked.
Energy-saving -> Achieved when the power switch is off.
No maintenance required -> Impossible to fix.
All new -> Parts not interchangeable with those in previous system.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is There Life After Touchscreens?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323784&
Touch panels have become such a mainstay of our everyday gadgets that many of us are already taking them for granted. At Touch Taiwan show last week, I saw display vendors mired in the battle over ever-narrowing bezels, and the never-ending pixel-per-inch war. As I examined the proliferation of display technologies, I found myself getting lost in the weeds.
AUO, alone, is spreading its resources wide and thin as it works on four different display technologies, ranging from amorphous silicon (a-Si) and low temperature Polycrystalline Silicon (LTPS) to oxide TFT and OLED.
So many panels on display at the show were breathtakingly beautiful. Does a narrow bezel matter? Absolutely. Do consumers want more PPI? You bet. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when the discussion kept coming back to whether a 1mm border is really that much worse than 0.7 mm for a 5-inch full HD high resolution smartphone panel.
I understand that specs are life-or-death for engineers. But all this “specmanship” is killing Taiwan’s display vendors. To make matters worse, the fierce price competition just keeps escalating. Vendors are scrambling to devise new (and possibly more simplified) manufacturing processes, while staying constantly on the lookout out for new materials.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cypress has introduced a new 16-megabit asynchronous SRAM memory, which is integrated on the same chip bit error correction.
When an ECC error correction (Error-Correcting Code) is pre-chip, so the memory should be as reliable as possible. Cypress, the new SRAM reliability is a thousand times better than ever. Furthermore, the memory does not have to feature the separate ECC circuit, which simplifies the design of the cards.
Hard coded ECC block causes the new möbl circuit errors becomes less than 0.1 FIT / MB. FIT refers to one error per billion hours of operation, or talking about the very high reliability.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1746:sram-korjaa-virheensa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronic Margining and Calibration
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/maxim/electronic-margining-and-calibration/
This application note presents an overview of electronic margining and its value in detecting potential system failures before a product ships from the factory. It is a calibration method that effectively predicts and allows adjustments to improve product quality. Margining also can be used to sort products into performance levels, allowing premium products to be sold at premium prices. We discuss the downside of sorting and suggest alternative ways to segregate products.
Speed margining, also known as “pushing” or “overclocking,” is changing your computer’s system hardware settings to operate at a speed higher than the manufacturer’s rating. This can be done at various points in the system, usually by adjusting the speed of the CPU, memory, video card, or motherboard bus speed.
Often, chips are trimmed and tested by the manufacturer to determine at what speed they fail. They are then rated at a speed one step lower than this. IC manufacturers will try to make their product as fast as possible, because faster hardware sells for more money.
Overclockers also figured out that some IC manufacturers deliberately underrated chips in order to meet market demand and create differentiation between high-end and low-end products. Occasionally, when manufacturers are short on stock, they package faster chips as slower ones to meet demand. Does overclocking always work? No. However, overclockers try because statistically some succeed.
Margining is a long-established technique used in the computer industry to prove the reliability of a digital process, by testing it under conditions more stressful than will be encountered in normal service. The degree of additional stress that can be applied before failure is a measure of the performance margin.
Margining techniques can be applied with great success, and if used correctly, will give a much-needed confidence factor. There are two typical ways to margin a circuit: one is to use pathological data patterns. Depending on the system and coding used, data patterns with long strings of ones or zeros lack clock data and may stress the threshold requirements. The second and more universal method is to change the power-supply level (usually by reducing the voltage).
Tomi Engdahl says:
4th Century GOBLET could REVIVE CORPSE of holographic storage
Boffins drink deep from history
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/04/4th_century_roman_cup_leads_to_coloured_holograms/
Cambridge boffins have discovered that thin films of silver nanoparticles can increase optical storage density and create multi-coloured holograms.
The effect was first noted way back in fourth century Roman times (circa 290-325 AD) with the crafting of the Lycurgus Cup, an engraved glass goblet that has a green tint when lit from the front and a red one when the light source is behind the cup.
It was made using dichroic glass which has this colour change property depending upon the position of the light source.
A nanoparticle is 1 to 100 nanometres in size. The boffins made a thin silver film with 16 million nanoparticles per square millimetre – the nanoparticles being approximately 1,000 times smaller than the 17-20µm human hair width. These particles reflect light in different colours according to their size and shape, and the collected reflected light from all of them can form an image.
When different coloured light sources are shone on them, they display different images.
If plasmonics, the science of this effect, can produce the goods, then laptop and TV screen pixels could be built using such particles and be 10 to 100 times smaller.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How will robots impact the job market in the future?
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2014/09/how-will-robots-impact-the-job-market-in-the-future.html?cmpid=EnlVSDSeptember82014
With advancing technologies and the proliferation of robotic usage across various industries, one question has been on the mind of many: How will robots affect the job market? The answer to this, according to one expert, is that robots are unlikely to take big bites out of employment.
Hummels sites historical precedent as a main reason to not worry too much about robots leading you to unemployment. In a viral video called “Humans Need Not Apply,” it is suggested that new robots will be smart enough to take jobs even in occupations that are normally thought of as being incompatible with automation. One of the problems with this video is the claim that innovation is getting faster and cheaper, and that we are going to lose the ability to control it, noted Hummels.
“That’s just not consistent with any historical evidence we have.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Circuit Protection for Small to Medium Sized Motors
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/te_circuit_protection/circuit-protection-for-small-to-medium-sized-motors/
Barry Brents, Field Application Engineer at TE Circuit Protection, discusses how PolySwitch device protects an operating motor. In this video,
When a high current flows through the PolySwitch, it trips and decreases the current.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sensing Circuit Help Solve Industrial Design Challenges
http://www.eeweb.com/news/sensing-circuit-help-solve-industrial-design-challenges
Texas Instruments (TI) announced the expansion of its industry-leading sensing integrated circuits with the addition of four new devices that allow engineers to accurately sense key parameters in tight spaces with very low power. These new products provide solutions for temperature, humidity, ambient light and capacitive sensing in a host of industrial and enterprise applications.
The TMP007 is a highly integrated, non-contact infrared (IR) temperature sensor, joining TI’s family of the world’s smallest thermopile sensors.
HDC1000 integrated humidity and temperature sensor
The OPT3001 is a precision ambient light sensor tuned to closely replicate the human eye’s photopic response.
The four-channel FDC1004 capacitance-to-digital converter combines unique features and functions with low power and 16-bit noise performance, over a range of +/-15 pF, which makes it easy for designers to use capacitive sensing
Tomi Engdahl says:
2.048 V Rad Hard Voltage Reference
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/intersil/2.048-v-rad-hard-voltage-reference/
The ISL71091SEH20 is a 2.048 V radiation hardened ultra low noise, precision voltage reference that operates in an input voltage range of 4.2 V to 30 V. This device is based on Intersil’s Advanced Bipolar technology which attains 3.8 µVP-P 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz noise with an initial voltage accuracy of 0.05%.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Highly Cost-Effective IR Array
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/melexis/highly-cost-effective-ir-array/
Melexis announced the availability of its highly cost-effective IR array that offers expansive FoV and high speed, low noise operation. It offers a 16 × 4 pixel configuration and available in a compact TO39 metal can package.
The MLX90621 can offer a field of view (FoV) of 100⁰ x 25⁰
Low cost infrared (IR) arrays are revolutionizing applications across a broad spectrum of industry sectors – including security, automotive, building automation and consumer electronics. Through such devices precise imaging data and detailed heat signatures for both static and dynamic objects can be derived.
The improved FoV enables a single MLX90621, when applied inside a vehicle cabin, to simultaneously measure temperature profiles of both the passenger and driver, if suitably positioned on the center-stack of the dashboard.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Austria’s AMS Shopping for Wafer Fab
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323811&
AMS AG, formerly known as Austriamicrosystems, is looking to expand its internal and foundry manufacturing operations with the acquisition of a mature 200mm wafer fab.
The Austrian company is looking to take over a 200mm wafer fab that has perhaps run its course as a supplier of digital ICs, which are now mainly produced on 300mm wafer fabs. AMS would then install its own analog manufacturing processes, which support its specialization in high-precision analog, high-voltage power IC and sensor production, according to CEO Kirk Laney.
The company currently has a manufacturing capacity of 160,000 wafers per year at its 200mm wafer fab in Unterpremstaetten, Austria. This offers CMOS, HVCMOS, and SiGe processes at geometries of 0.8 micron, 0.35 micron, and 180 nm. The company has technology partnerships with TSMC and IBM and a foundry partnership with UMC.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Startup Drives Serdes to 50G
Credo shows life left in NRZ approach
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323819&
Calif. – Credo Semiconductor demonstrated a working 50 Gbit/second serdes, a key building block for next-generation high-speed networking systems. The demo used traditional NRZ signaling rather than more complex modulation schemes many engineers have been pursuing.
Credo’s demo was based on a chip made in a 40nm TSMC process running on a simulated channel. It is not a product so much as a proof-of-concept that the traditional NRZ signaling technique is not dead as many engineer had thought.
The startup ported a 28 Gbit/s version of the serdes to TSMC’s 28nm process, expecting a tape out in October. It hopes to follow up with a 16nm FinFET version of a 56G serdes just four months later with equalization at 30dB at Nyquist and an anticipated power consumption of 175mw/channel.
If it can hit its targets, Credo’s approach could gain traction in so-called very short reach (VSR) modules running 56G signals about 100 mm, and possibly longer distances for some systems based on OEM-proprietary backplanes.
Several vendors are beginning to ship high-speed networking products today based on 25G channels with 50G seen as the next big leap.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Introducing Flexoelectricity
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323818&
Flexoelectricity is a rather obscure effect whereby a dielectric can become electrically polarized when bent and, conversely, can bend when polarized. Wait — isn’t that the piezoelectric effect? Well sort of, but the flexoelectric effect is different.
First, PEE is restricted to crystals with a limited set of symmetries where FEE is not (the effect has also been observed in liquid crystals, polymer films and bio-membranes). Second, coupling in FEE is between polarization and strain gradient, rather than homogenous strain (the case for PEE). And third, PEE is usually much larger than FEE on macroscopic scales, which — until recently — relegated FEE to being little more than a curiosity. What makes FEE interesting now is that it grows significantly at the strain gradients seen at nano-scales, so much so that it can become larger than PEE.
The theory behind FEE is a little more complex than for PEE
All of this is good to know because this effect can be exploited in MEMS devices (e.g., accelerometers) and in nano-generators — particularly energy-harvesting devices.
FEE is also of great interest in understanding electro-mechanical effects in soft bio-materials
For the present time, you probably shouldn’t be planning your next MEMS or energy-harvesting design based on FEE. All work on this topic still seems to be in the lab
Tomi Engdahl says:
Top 10 Reasons Why Hardware Emulation Is Must-Have Tool for Chip Design
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323758
Tomi Engdahl says:
Forget iPhone: 4 Megatrends in China’s Smartphone Market
Tense techno-politics unfolds as Asian suppliers fight over China
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323672&