Here is my list of electronics industry trends and predictions for 2016:
There was a huge set of mega mergers in electronics industry announced in 2015. In 2016 we will see less mergers and how well the existing mergers went. Not all of the major acquisitions will succeed. Probably the the biggest challenge in these mega-mergers is “creating merging cultures or–better yet–creating new ones”.
Makers and open hardware will boost innovation in 2016. Open source has worked well in the software community, and it is coming more to hardware side. Maker culture encourages people be creators of technology rather than just consumers of it. A combination of the maker movement and robotics is preparing children for a future in which innovation and creativity will be more important than ever: robotics is an effective way for children as young as four years old to get experience in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics as well as programming and computer science. The maker movement is inspiring children to tinker-to-learn. Popular DIY electronics platforms include Arduino, Lego Mindstorms, Raspberry Pi, Phiro and LittleBits. Some of those DIY electronics platforms like Arduino and Raspberry Pi are finding their ways into commercial products for example in 3D printing, industrial automation and Internet of Things application fields.
Open source processors core gains more traction in 2016. RISC-V is on the march as an open source alternative to ARM and Mips. Fifteen sponsors, including a handful of high tech giants, are queuing up to be the first members of its new trade group for RISC-V. Currently RISC-V runs Linux and NetBSD, but not Android, Windows or any major embedded RTOSes. Support for other operating systems is expected in 2016. For other open source processor designs, take a look at OpenCores.org, the world’s largest site/community for development of hardware IP cores as open source.
GaN will be more widely used and talked about in 2016. Gallium nitride (GaN) is a binary III/V direct bandgap semiconductor commonly used in bright light-emitting diodes since the 1990s. It has special properties for applications in optoelectronic, high-power and high-frequency devices. You will see more GaN power electronics components because GaN – in comparison to the best silicon alternative – will enable higher power density through the ability to switch at high frequencies. You can get GaN devices for example from GaN Systems, Infineon, Macom, and Texas Instruments. The emergence of GaN as the next leap forward in power transistors gives new life to Moore’s Law in power.
Power electronics is becoming more digital and connected in 2016. Software-defined power brings to bear critical need in modern power systems. Digital Power was the beginning of software-defined power using a microcontroller or a DSP. Software-defined power takes this to another level. Connectivity is the key to success for software-defined power and the PMBus will enable the efficient communication and connection between all power devices in computer systems. It seems that power architectures to become software defined, which will take advantage of digital power adaptability and introduce software control to manage the power continuously as operating conditions change. For example adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) is supported by the AVSBus is contained in the newest PMBus standard V 1.3. The use of power-optimization software algorithms and the concept of the Software Defined Power Architecture (SDPA) are all being seen as part of a brave new future for advanced board-power management.
Nanowires and new forms of memory like RRAM (resistive random access memory) and spintronics are also being researched, and could help scale down chips. Many “exotic” memory technologies are in the lab, and some are even in shipping product: Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), Resistive RAM (ReRAM), Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), Nano-RAM (NRAM).
Nanotube research has been ongoing since 1991, but there has been long road to get practical nanotube transistor. It seems that we almost have the necessary parts of the puzzle in 2016. In 2015 IBM reported a successful auto-alligment method for placing them across the source and drain. Texas Instruments is now capable of growing wafer scale graphene and the Chinese have taken the lead in developing both graphene and nanotubes according to Lux Research.
While nanotubes provide the fastest channel material available today, III-V materials like gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) are all being explored by IBM, Intel, Imec and Samsung as transistor channels on silicon substrates. Dozen of researchers worldwide are experimenting with black phosphorus as an alternative to nanotubes and graphene for the next generation of semiconductors. Black phosphorus has the advantage of having a bandgap and works well alongside silicon photonics device. 3-Molybdenum disulphide MoS2 is also a contender for the next generation of semiconductors, due to its novel stacking properties.
Graphene has many fantastic properties and there has been new finding in it. I think it would be a good idea to follow development around magnetized graphene. Researchers make graphene magnetic, clearing the way for faster everything. I don’t expect practical products in 2016, but maybe something in next few years.
Optical communications is integrating deep into chips finally. There are many new contenders on the horizon for the true “next-generation” of optical communications with promising technologies in development in labs and research departments around the world. Silicon photonics is the study and application of photonic systems which use silicon as an optical medium. Silicon photonic devices can be made using existing semiconductor fabrication. Now we start to have technology to build optoelectronic microprocessors built using existing chip manufacturing. Engineers demo first processor that uses light for ultrafast communications. Optical communication could also potentially reduce chips’ power consumption on inter-chip-links and enable easily longer very fast links between ICs where needed. Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which may enable engineers to exceed the properties of silicon in terms of energy efficiency and speed, moving researchers toward 2D on-chip optoelectronics for high-performance applications in optical communications and computing. To build practical systems with those ICs, we need to figure out how make easily fiber-to-chip coupling or how to manufacture practical optical printed circuit board (O-PCB).
Look development at self-directed assembly.Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and IBM have discovered a trenching capability that could be harnessed for building devices through self-directed assembly. The capability could potentially be used to integrate lasers, sensors, wave guides and other optical components into so called “lab-on-a-chip” devices.
Smaller chip geometries are come to mainstream in 2016. Chip advancements and cost savings slowed down with the current 14-nanometer process, which is used to make its latest PC, server and mobile chips. Other manufacturers are catching to 14 nm and beyond. GlobalFoundries start producing a central processing chip as well as a graphics processing chip using 14nm technology. After a lapse, Intel looks to catch up with Moore’s Law again with with upcoming 10-nanometer and 7-nm processes. Samsung revealed that it will soon begin production of a 10nm FinFET node, and that the chip will be in full production by the end of 2016. This is expected to be at around the same time as rival TSMC. TSMC 10nm process will require triple patterning. For mass marker products it seems that 10nm node, is still at least a year away. Intel delayed plans for 10nm processors while TSMC is stepping on the gas, hoping to attract business from the likes of Apple. The first Intel 10-nm chips, code-named Cannonlake, will ship in 2017.
Looks like Moore’s Law has some life in it yet, though for IBM creating a 7nm chip required exotic techniques and materials. IBM Research showed in 2015 a 7nm chip will hold 20 billion transistors manufactured by perfecting EUV lithography and using silicon-germanium channels for its finned field-effect transistors (FinFETs). Also Intel revealed that the end of the road for Silicon is nearing as alternative materials will be required for the 7nm node and beyond. Scaling Silicon transistors down has become increasingly difficult and expensive and at around 7nm it will prove to be downright impossible. IBM development partner Samsung is in a race to catch up with Intel by 2018 when the first 7nm products are expected. Expect Silicon Alternatives Coming By 2020. One very promising short-term Silicon alternative is III-V semiconductor based on two compounds: Indium gallium arsenide ( InGaAs ) and indium phosphide (InP). Intel’s future mobile chips may have some components based on gallium nitride (GaN), which is also an exotic III-V material.
Silicon and traditional technologies continue to be still pushed forward in 2016 successfully. It seems that the extension of 193nm immersion to 7nm and beyond is possible, yet it would require octuple patterning and other steps that would increase production costs. IBM Research earlier this year beat Intel to the 7nm node by perfecting EUV lithography and using silicon-germanium channels for its finned field-effect transistors (FinFETs). Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest foundry, said it has started work on a 5nm process to push ahead its most advanced technology. TSMC’s initial development work at 5nm may be yet another indication that EUV has been set back as an eventual replacement for immersion lithography.
It seems that 2016 could be the year for mass-adoption of 3D ICs and 3D memory. For over a decade, the terms 3D ICs and 3D memory have been used to refer to various technologies. 2016 could see some real advances and traction in the field as some truly 3D products are already shipping and more are promised to come soon. The most popular 3D category is that of 3D NAND flash memory: Samsung, Toshiba, Sandisk, Intel and Micron have all announced or started shipping flash that uses 3D silicon structure (we are currently seeing 128Gb-384Gb parts). Micron’s Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC) uses stacked DRAM die and through-silicon vias (TSVs) to create a high-bandwidth RAM subsystem with an abstracted interface (think DRAM with PCIe). Intel and Micron have announced production of a 3D crosspoint architecture high-endurance (1,000× NAND flash) nonvolatile memory.
The success of Apple’s portable computers, smartphones and tablets will lead to the fact that the company will buy as much as 25 per cent of world production of mobile DRAMs in 2016. In 2015 Apple bought 16.5 per cent of mobile DRAM.
After COP21 climate change summit reaches deal in Paris environmental compliance 2016 will become stronger business driver. Increasingly, electronics OEMs are realizing that environmental compliance goes beyond being a good corporate citizen. On the agenda for these businesses: climate change, water safety, waste management, and environmental compliance. Keep in mindenvironmental compliance requirements that include the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS 1), and Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). It’s a legal situation: If you do not comply with regulatory aspects of business, you are out of business. Some companies are leading the parade toward environmental compliance or learning as they go.
Connectivity is proliferating everything from cars to homes, realigning diverse markets. It needs to be done easily for user, reliably, efficiently and securely.It is being reported that communications technologies are responsible for about 2-4% of all of carbon footprint generated by human activity. The needs for communications and faster speeds is increasing in this every day more and more connected world – penetration of smart devices there was a tremendous increase in the amount of mobile data traffic from 2010 to 2014.Wi-Fi has become so ubiquitous in homes in so many parts of the world that you can now really start tapping into that by having additional devices. When IoT is forecasted to be 50 billion connections by 2020, with the current technologies this would increase power consumption considerably. The coming explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT) will also need more efficient data centers that will be taxed to their limits.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling increased automation on the factory floor and throughout the supply chain, 3D printing is changing how we think about making components, and the cloud and big data are enabling new applications that provide an end-to-end view from the factory floor to the retail store. With all of these technological options converging, it will be hard for CIOs, IT executives, and manufacturing leaders keep up. IoT will also be hard for R&D.Internet of Things (IoT) designs mesh together several design domains in order to successfully develop a product. Individually, these design domains are challenging. Bringing them all together to create an IoT product can place extreme pressure on design teams. It’s still pretty darn tedious to get all these things connected, and there’s all these standards battles coming on. The rise of the Internet of Things and Web services is driving new design principles as Web services from companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Uber are setting new standards for user experiences. Designers should think about building their products so they can learn more about their users and be flexible in creating new ways to satisfy them – but in such way that the user’s don’t feel that they are spied on what they do.
Subthreshold Transistors and MCUs will be hot in 2016 because Internet of Things will be hot in 2016 and it needs very low power chips. The technology is not new as cheap digital watches use FETs operating in the subthreshold region, but decades digital designers have ignored this operating region, because FETs are hard to characterize there. Now subthreshold has invaded the embedded space thanks to Ambiq’s new Apollo MCU. PsiKick Inc. has designed a proof-of-concept wireless sensor node system-chip using conventional EDA tools and a 130nm mixed-signal CMOS that operates with sub-threshold voltages and opening up the prospect of self-powering Internet of Things (IoT) systems. I expect also other sub-threshold designs to emerge. ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) is also working at sub- and near-threshold operation of ICs. TSMC has developed a series of processes characterized down to near threshold voltages (ULP family for ultra low power are processes). Intel will focus on its IoT strategy and next-generation low voltage mobile processors.
FPGAs in various forms are coming to be more widely use use in 2016 in many applications. They are not no longer limited to high-end aerospace, defense, and high-end industrial applications. There are different ways people use FPGA. Barrier of entry to FPGA development have lowered so that even home makers can use easily FPGAs with cheap FPGA development boards, free tools and open IP cores. There was already lots of interest in 2015 for using FPGA for accelerating computations as the next step after GPU. Intel bought Altera in 2015 and plans in 2016 to begin selling products with a Xeon chip and an Altera FPGA in a single package – possibly available in early 2016. Examples of applications that would be well-suited for use of ARM-based FPGAs, including industrial robots, pumps for medical devices, electric motor controllers, imaging systems, and machine vision systems. Examples of ARM-based FPGAs are such as Xilinx’s Zynq-7000 and Altera’s Cyclone V intertwine. Some Internet of Things (IoT) application could start to test ARM-based field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology, enabling the hardware to be adaptable to market and consumer demands – software updates on such systems become hardware updates. Other potential benefits would be design re-use, code portability, and security.
The trend towards module consolidation is applicable in many industries as the complexity of communication, data rates, data exchanges and networks increases. Consolidating ECU in vehicles is has already been big trend for several years, but the concept in applicable to many markets including medical, industrial and aerospace.
It seems to be that AXIe nears the tipping point in 2016. AXIe is a modular instrument standard similar to PXI in many respects, but utilizing a larger board format that allows higher power instruments and greater rack density. It relies chiefly on the same PCI Express fabric for data communication as PXI. AXIe-1 is the uber high end modular standard and there is also compatible AXIe-0 that aims at being a low cost alternative. Popular measurement standard AXIe, IVI, LXI, PXI, and VXI have two things in common: They each manage standards for the test and measurement industry, and each of those standards is ruled by a private consortium. Why is this? Right or wrong, it comes down to speed of execution.
These days, a hardware emulator is a stylish, sleek box with fewer cables to manage. The “Big Three” EDA vendors offer hardware emulators in their product portfolios, each with a distinct architecture to give development teams more options. For some offerings emulation has become a datacenter resource through a transaction-based emulation mode or acceleration mode.
LED lighting is expected to become more intelligent, more beautiful, more affordable in 2016. Everyone agrees that the market for LED lighting will continue to enjoy dramatic year-on-year growth for at least the next few years. LED Lighting Market to Reach US$30.5 Billion in 2016 and Professional Lighting Markets to See Explosive Growth. Some companies will win on this growth, but there are also losers. Due currency fluctuations and price slide in 2015, end market demands in different countries have been much lower than expected, so smaller LED companies are facing financial loss pressures. The history of the solar industry to get a good sense of some of the challenges the LED industry will face. Next bankruptcy wave in the LED industry is possible. The LED incandescent replacement bulb market represents only a portion of a much larger market but, in many ways, it is the cutting edge of the industry, currently dealing with many of the challenges other market segments will have to face a few years from now. IoT features are coming to LED lighting, but it seem that one can only hope for interoperability
Other electronics trends articles to look:
Hot technologies: Looking ahead to 2016 (EDN)
CES Unveiled NY: What consumer electronics will 2016 bring?
Analysts Predict CES 2016 Trends
LEDinside: Top 10 LED Market Trends in 2016
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Tomi Engdahl says:
LTC3895 – 150V Low IQ, Synchronous Step-Down DC/DC Controller
http://www.linear.com/product/LTC3895
Wide VIN Range: 4V to 140V (150V Abs Max)
Wide Output Voltage Range: 0.8V to 60V
The LTC®3895 is a high performance step-down switching regulator DC/DC controller that drives an all N-channel synchronous power MOSFET stage that can operate from input voltages up to 140V. A constant frequency current mode architecture allows a phase-lockable frequency of up to 850kHz.
The gate drive voltage can be programmed from 5V to 10V to allow the use of logic or standard-level FETs to maximize efficiency.
Applications
Automotive and Industrial Power Systems
High Voltage Battery Operated Systems
Telecommunications Power Systems
Tomi Engdahl says:
APEC 2016 – Plenty of hardware, but where was the software?
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/power-forward/4442056/APEC-2016—Plenty-of-hardware–but-where-was-the-software-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160523&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160523&elqTrackId=35ce668d728147228785b3a04962b081&elq=54ab3c1ee23c42d4bcd6b3d1d6559e00&elqaid=32348&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28260
The products featured at the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) in Long Beach, CA this year were, for the most part, what you expected to be there. While it could be argued that there seemed little in the way of breakthrough technologies or really exciting new product developments, it would perhaps be fairer to say that the products announced and promoted by a record number of exhibitors represent a maturing of their various hardware developments. With the highest attendance on record, APEC continues to be the preeminent power electronics show in North America and highlights power’s rapid transition from an afterthought to the forefront of electronic design.
Power management, of course, is the theme of this event and component-level product advancements certainly need to be given their proper recognition. Indeed, the ability of converters to step directly from 48V to 1V or less, for example, is clearly attractive to drive efficiency gains in distributed power systems, as was touted by a number of suppliers from the show. With USB power delivery (USB-PD) now established in production, another focus at APEC was on evolving implementations to provide fast charging and support higher current/voltage capabilities.
Technology-wise, GaN remains a mainstay of the show, except that where previously it’s always been on the cusp of becoming mainstream, now it finally seems to have arrived with GaN devices providing the basis for real products
However, digital power products by themselves do not deliver what can truly be considered as Software Defined Power ®, which is what CUI sees as the essential next step for digital power in moving to the system level and adding intelligence outside of the power supply. Other industries are layering software on top of hardware to advance system-level solutions for greater efficiency, lower capital and running costs, and other benefits. Considering that 10% of the world’s electricity is now consumed by data centers, efforts to manage power on a system-wide basis are well overdue. Strategies like “peak load shaving” combined with backup capabilities are needed to even out load fluctuations and eliminate single points of failure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A MOSFET’s behavior on a phase-shifted ZVS full bridge DC/DC converter
http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4442020/A-MOSFET-s-behavior-on-a-phase-shifted-ZVS-full-bridge-DC-DC-converter?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160523&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160523&elqTrackId=f94624677cc848778325d29770576165&elq=54ab3c1ee23c42d4bcd6b3d1d6559e00&elqaid=32348&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28260
ZVS Topology description
The basic circuit of the phase-shifted converter is composed of four switches: two for each “leg.” Due to the operation mode, the switching transitions on one leg always happen before the other one. The first is usually named “leading leg” the other one “lagging leg.”
The control of the power delivered is obtained by setting the shift time between the two phases, and in particular, a short time is set to deliver high power while a long one for the low power level. This technique allows control of the powering phase.
This control technique allows the reduction of the switching losses because the operations are managed so as transitions occur from OFF state to ON only when the voltage across to the devices is zero.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Audio line filter vanquishes noise
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4442074/Audio-line-filter-vanquishes-noise?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160523&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160523&elqTrackId=43c28fa72c8e4e7da884de06896be3c2&elq=963c21bc789c481caa90e302be4b29a4&elqaid=32353&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28265
When inserted in audio lines, TDK’s MAF1608G noise suppression filter for cellular bands keeps the total harmonic distortion and noise (THD+N) of the audio signal at 0% (1 kHz, 8 Ω, 1 W). The device provides a current rating of 1.6 A and low DC resistance of just 0.06 Ω.
Housed in a miniature 1.6×0.8×0.8-mm case, the MAF1608G filter ensures effective noise suppression when used in the sound lines of earphones, speakers, and microphones of such devices as smart phones, tablet PCs, and portable
Noise suppression filter for audio lines
For cellular bands
MAF1608G Type
https://product.tdk.com/info/en/catalog/datasheets/audioline-filter_maf1608g_en.pdf
FEATURES
A compact noise suppression compon
ent for audio lines that accommodates high currents.
Distortions are greatly reduced during insertion with the adoption of newly-developed low distortion ferrite materials.
Small reductions in volume due to its low re
sistance, and optimal for devices that require high sound quality as the generating of sound distortions is controlled.
Shows excellent effects in measures against the deterioration of the receiving sensitivity of wireless devices due to high attenuation characteristics in the cellular band.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TI claims highest power density 12-V, 10-A, 10-MHz DC/DC converter
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4442075/TI-claims-highest-power-density-12-V–10-A–10-MHz-DC-DC-converter?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160523&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160523&elqTrackId=665d201768134fd0aa7c0970d9f4f3d5&elq=963c21bc789c481caa90e302be4b29a4&elqaid=32353&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28265
Power supply designs are forever challenged to fit into a relatively small section of a PC board that never seems to be large enough to fit all the necessary components a designer deems necessary in order to have a robust system design. This is especially the case in Point-of-Load (POL) designs.
The series capacitor buck converter is a dc-dc converter topology that combines a switched capacitor circuit and a multiphase buck converter. This architecture’s unique advantages are the small footprint due to high frequency switching capability, with the caveat of not increasing switching power loss.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rectifier reference design reduces heat
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4442059/Rectifier-reference-design-reduces-heat?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160523&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160523&elqTrackId=a6758596f6c44fdf8fccd0c878b24852&elq=963c21bc789c481caa90e302be4b29a4&elqaid=32353&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28265
Linear Technology’s DC2465 evaluation board demonstrates a low-loss, three-phase, ideal diode bridge rectifier that eases thermal design. The board leverages the company’s LT4320 ideal diode bridge controllers to perform high-efficiency rectification of three-phase AC input.
Typically, three-phase rectifiers employ six diodes. Since the diodes drop voltage and dissipate power at just a few amperes of load current, heat sinking and active cooling techniques are required. The DC2465 design replaces the six diodes with three LT4320 ideal diode bridge controllers driving six low-loss N-channel MOSFETs, reducing power and voltage losses. This enhanced power efficiency allows the overall system to be specified to operate with a smaller, more cost-effective power supply.
http://www.linear.com/solutions/7232
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Non-Reciprocal Antenna May Yield New RF Options
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329719&
When a technical advance challenges a long-held assumption, new thinking is needed–but it may be hard to implement.
One of the first lessons we learn about antennas is that they have reciprocity, meaning that their “transmit” field-radiation pattern is identical to their “receive” pattern. In most situations, this symmetry is a good thing, such as when a handset is linked to a base station, since you want the patterns and paths to be the same in both transmit and receive modes. Still, there are times when it might be nice to have different patterns for the two modes, as way of minimizing interference, masking an antenna’s location, or implementing a clever mesh-network topology.
But the reciprocity situation may have a new development that is intriguing. While not the first non-reciprocal RF device, a team at the University of Texas at Austin has developed what appears to be a more practical antenna which implements non-symmetry
Assuming what these researchers have done is viable (I am in no position to judge it), I was trying to think how that would affect design fundamentals and underlying assumptions. The reality is that every design begins with a set of assumptions—whether consciously articulated or not—that are then “built in” to the resultant topology as well as subsequent design decisions and tradeoffs.
When those fundamentals change, so do the design options, for better and worse.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The first 94 GHz integrated radio circuits
San Francisco IMS2016 conference, the Arralis company introduced the world’s first integrated 94 GHz radio circuit, in which the transmitter and receiver are planted in the same 5.2 x 2.2 millimeter chip.
The integrated circuit solution means in practice is that very interesting 90-100 GHz frequency band opens for commercial and communication use. At these frequencies, circuits can be made very small, they are accurate in resolution and range of the radio link can be made very long.
These features can be used in many application. Arralis itself lists as potential areas for 5G networks, robotic cars, the Internet of Things and control of various quad copters.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4477:ensimmaiset-94-gigahertsin-integroidut-radiopiirit&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronics is able to repair itself – a new material
Electronic material created by the American Penn State University research team can repair a number of functions automatically, even if broken several times. The new material could be improved in the future, for example, wearable electronics durability.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/05/25/uusi-materiaaliloydos-elektroniikka-osaa-korjata-itsensa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Foundries’ Sales Show Hard Times Continuing
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329748&
Taiwanese foundries TSMC and UMC, two partial bellwethers of the semiconductor sector, have both indicate with recent sales figures that a chip market slow down that lasted through the winter is not yet over.
Both companies announced April 2016 sales that were significantly smaller than those they achieved in April 2015. This was after both were able to grow sales on an annual basis in March (see Corporate revenue indicators rise in March ) TSMC and UMC are bellwethers partly because they are of significant size and publish sales results on a monthly basis.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tower Debuts RF Process For IoT Front Ends
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329749&
pecialty foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Migdal Haemek, Israel) has said it has begun mass production of a silicon-germanium process tailored to meet the demands of wireless front-ends on an integrated circuit for the Internet of Things (IoT).
The process is suitable for power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers and switches as well as integrated CMOS digital and power control on a single die. Tower, which trades as TowerJazz, is delivering products based on this process for smartphones, tablet computers and wearable electronics.
The process is a 180nm SiGe that can support RF devices and 5V CMOS for power control and 180nm CMOS for the construction of MIPI and other interface logic as well as thick copper layers for the creation of low-loss inductors on-chip.
Tomi Engdahl says:
OEMs Leverage Online Resources for Better Buying
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329736&
UBM’s 2016 Global Distributor Customer Evaluation Study gathered the thoughts of industry leaders about how they are using online resources to collect design information, identify suppliers, and more.
The study, which was released to a select audience at the recent EDS tradeshow in Las Vegas last week, show what you might expect: that online sources are becoming a critical component to the way that supply chain professionals, engineers, designers and corporate management at electronics OEMs find the data they need.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Enter the PCM-Neuron and Neural Computing
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329754&
A team from IBM & ETH, Zurich, have put normally unwanted stochastic effects to good use. Making use of the fact that phase change devices are able to offer a more accurate representation of biological systems than perhaps any other solid state device.
Although stochastic effects and drift in phase change memory (PCM) are problems for many conventional memory applications, for those trying to build brain-like functions, they are grist to the mill. Rather than conquer, in a joint effort a team from IBM & ETH, Zurich, have put those normally unwanted stochastic effects to good use. Making use of the fact that phase change devices are able to offer a more accurate representation of biological systems than perhaps any other solid state device.
In phase change neurons, stochastic effects are inherent because the thickness of the amorphous region created via the melt-quench process and its internal atomic configuration are never the same, a different state of compositional and structural disorder always exists.
The PCM-neuron primitive
The first step in the paper (“Stochastic Phase Change Neurons”)[Ref 1] was to fully characterize the PCM cell, for its new role as the neural membrane
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ultra-Dense 3-D Packaging for IoT
Smoltek Beats Moore’s Law
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329757&
Smoltek AB (Gothenburg, Sweden) is dedicated to superseding Moore’s Law, which merely scales the size of transistors, with what it believes is the more urgent need to reduce the size of electronic packages. After all, the smaller the package the thinner the smartphone or other Internet of Thing (IoT) device. Today’s System on chip (SoC) and System in Package (SiP) technologies are good starts, according to Smoltek. However, the continued scaling down of the size of packages with novel technologies will be the legacy of the 21st century, Smoltek believes. The company claims to have solved the major bottleneck facing package shrinking with its 3-D carbon-based nanostructure interconnects.
“Today Smoltek’s patented technology enables controlled growth—meaning growth at the location of the function—of conductive carbon nanostructures on a substrate at just 390 degrees Celsius using CMOS compliant materials and processes,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
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Capacitive vs. thermal MEMS for high-vibration applications
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4442043/Capacitive-vs–Thermal-MEMS-for-High-Vibration-Applications?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160525&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160525&elqTrackId=4716ff481d494dceb84e431c053f2d98&elq=e707df27564a45ffb3df27e41611c41c&elqaid=32382&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28295
Thermal MEMS accelerometers are well-suited for inclination sensing in high vibration environments for several reasons. Their inherent low-pass response and zero resonance makes inclination sensing possible where capacitive MEMS accelerometers fail. In addition, their monolithic design and no capacitive cantilever structure – no moving parts – means high shock survivability and best-in-class reliability in demanding environments.
Design engineers involved in the development of heavy equipment that operate in high shock and vibration environments need to make some choices regarding the type of accelerometer that is used to measure inclination. In equipment such as tractors, cranes, wood chippers, and construction equipment, designers use accelerometers to measure pitch and roll using two (2D) or three orthogonal (3D) axes.
In most cases, equipment designers have a choice between capacitive-based or thermal MEMS (microelectromechanical) accelerometers. To select the right accelerometer for the application, they need to consider several design variables, including sensor structure, sensor resonance, reliability, stability, bandwidth, and power consumption, together with cost.
Tomi Engdahl says:
2D Speed and Direction Sensor IC
https://www.eeweb.com/company-news/allegro_microsystems/2d-speed-and-direction-sensor-ic/
Allegro MicroSystems, LLC announced the availability of a unique dual-channel Hall-effect latch featuring two-dimensional (2D) sensing via a combination of vertical Hall and planar Hall elements. The quadrature outputs of the A1262 allow rotation direction and position to be determined, such as when sensing a rotating ring-magnet target. The unique 2D operation of the combined planar and vertical Hall elements allows the end user to achieve an ideal 90° of phase separation between channels that is inherently independent of ring magnet geometry (pole pitch). This enables system designers to achieve new mechanical configurations not feasible with traditional planar Hall sensors, including replacing through-hole SIP devices with tiny surface-mount SOT23 ICs, saving space and cost. This new device is targeted at applications in the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets such as motor commutation and rotary position sensing, e.g., window blinds, garage door openers, scroll wheels, power window lifts, sunroof/sliding door/trunk/tailgate motors, white goods, etc.
Allegro MicroSystems, LLC Announces Unique New 2D Speed And Direction Sensor IC Using Vertical And Planar Hall Elements
Quadrature Signals Independent of Ring Magnet Geometry
http://www.allegromicro.com/en/About-Allegro/News-Room/2015/A1262-Press-Release.aspx?sc_camp=64EB2DD6B3FE4C088C07DB87D5D9B6EF
Tomi Engdahl says:
Highly efficient mini power supply
ntersil has introduced a single-channel 5 and 3 Amp DC-DC power modules with energy density and efficiency are the absolute best in the market. Pin configurations compatible modules have dimensions of 4.5 x 5 x 1.85 mils.
ISL8205M- and ISL8202M modules are intended for FPGA, DSP processors and microcontrollers provide power for various portable consumer electronics and industrial instruments, which is powered by a lithium-ion battery. Efficiency is a variation of up to 95 per cent.
Both modules support input voltages from 2.6 to 5.5 volts and the output can be installed as low as 0.6 volts.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4495:erittain-tehokas-miniteholahde&catid=13&Itemid=101
More: http://www.intersil.com/en/products/power-management/power-modules/analog-power-modules/ISL8205M.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
One generator for all waveforms
AWG4000 Series is Tekin, the industry’s first three generator device containing the same package. Generaattorist can be found in three modes: basic, advanced and digital.
Portable generators can be easily moved to another research group. It has two analog channels with a sampling rate will reach 2.5 giga sample per second, 750 MHz bandwidth, 14-bit resolution and a memory that stores 64 mega points per channel.
AWG4000 Series generator starting price of almost $ 35 000.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4498:yksi-generaattori-kaikille-aaltomuodoille&catid=13&Itemid=101
More: http://www.tek.com/arbitrary-waveform-generator/awg4000
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linearization of sense element outputs using sensor signal conditioners
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4442094/Linearization-of-sense-element-outputs-using-sensor-signal-conditioners?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160526&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160526&elqTrackId=e01f6ffc6a7643c0aeed686913ea2aaf&elq=a1c5567e197248fbaa0b0d33ba11e5c2&elqaid=32401&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28308
Sense elements are used to convert physical quantities of interest into electrical signals. For example, a Wheatstone bridge can be used to convert pressure into electrical output. Many sense elements are inherently nonlinear. In other words, their outputs are not linearly proportional to the physical quantity they are measuring. As the physical quantity of interest changes, the output changes nonlinearly.
Sensor signal conditioners are used to correct for nonlinearity of sense element outputs. In this article, we investigate two methods that are widely used to correct for sense element nonlinearity: 1) look-up table (LUT) or interpolation; and 2) polynomials or curve-fitting. The two approaches are compared and the tradeoffs between the two methods are discussed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
GaN RF power transistors: Not just power, but speed to L-Band and beyond
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/anablog/4442066/GaN-RF-Power-transistors–Not-just-power–but-speed-to-L-Band-and-beyond?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160526&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160526&elqTrackId=fecae837ad894351bd3856648fbf963f&elq=a1c5567e197248fbaa0b0d33ba11e5c2&elqaid=32401&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28308
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GaN RF power transistors: Not just power, but speed to L-Band and beyond
Steve Taranovich -May 20, 2016
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GaN power transistors have been quickly gaining momentum in the power and high frequency application space and not just overtaking Silicon in power and RF, but also GaAs in the microwave arena. If you are a designer of high power microwave pulsed and/or continuous wave (CW) amplifiers then read on.
We will be seeing 10s of kW microwave solid-state amplifiers emerging as we go forward in 2016.
Frequencies are going up and costs are going down on these devices. An example of where GaN is going can be seen in Reference 1 with a Doherty Power amplifier (DPA).
GaN devices are implemented into the DPA output combiner that combines the two-sub amplifiers in a typical DPA consisting of a Class AB-biased carrier amplifier and a Class C-biased peaking amplifier. These two amplifiers are fed into the output combiner that consists of two 10 W GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT).
W-band power level amplifier at 94 GHz, a record output power density for GaN. A GaN on sapphire substrate is used in this mm-wave design of a power amplifier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nanowire Batteries Never Need Replacing
http://hackaday.com/2016/05/26/nanowire-batteries-never-need-replacing/
The problem is repeated charging and discharging makes them brittle, which causes them to eventually fail. Typically, the researchers at UCI could get 5000 to 7000 cycles in before they failed. After some trial and error, they found that if they coat a gold nanowire with an acrylic-like gel, they can get up to 200,000 charge/discharge cycles through it before failure.
Chemists create battery technology with off-the-charts charging capacity
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-chemists-battery-technology-off-the-charts-capacity.html
Scientists have long sought to use nanowires in batteries. Thousands of times thinner than a human hair, they’re highly conductive and feature a large surface area for the storage and transfer of electrons. However, these filaments are extremely fragile and don’t hold up well to repeated discharging and recharging, or cycling. In a typical lithium-ion battery, they expand and grow brittle, which leads to cracking.
UCI researchers have solved this problem by coating a gold nanowire in a manganese dioxide shell and encasing the assembly in an electrolyte made of a Plexiglas-like gel. The combination is reliable and resistant to failure.
The study leader, UCI doctoral candidate Mya Le Thai, cycled the testing electrode up to 200,000 times over three months without detecting any loss of capacity or power and without fracturing any nanowires.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Infineon, IMEC Collab on 79GHZ All-CMOS Radar
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329768&
Radar sensors represent a pivotal technology for autonomous vehicles. Hence, the technology leadership in this segment is critical for vendors who strive for a leading position in automotive. Chipmaker Infineon announced a collaboration with Belgian research center IMEC to jointly develop next-generation radar systems.
IMEC is considered a global technology leader when it comes to RF technology as well as IC and antenna design for radar applications. The collaboration between the two partners will focus on further developing of 79GHz CMOS radar chips for automotive applications. The partners have already started developing a demonstrator integrated circuit implemented in 28nm CMOS technology. Their schedule calls for working specimen of the chips in Q3/2016. Early in 2017 they hope to have a radar system demonstrator based on this chip.
Vehicles with driver assistance systems today make use of up to three different radar systems. In the highly automated vehicle of the future, up to ten such systems will do their service experts expect – on top of another ten sensor systems based on camera and lidar technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Millimeter Wave Conference Highlights the Quest for Bandwidth
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329755&
The 5G cellular network — one application expected to benefit from higher bandwidth — will get a lot of attention at IMS.
Developments in millimeter wave technology serve as pointers (hidden treasure, perhaps) on the quest for radio frequency bandwidth. Whether it’s 5G deployments, automotive radar, or WiFi access points, RF system developers are interested in increasing the runway for their data exchanges, says Dr. Amarpal Khanna, distinguished engineer at National Instruments and general conference chair of the International Microwave Symposium (IMS), which opens in San Francisco this week.
The 5G cellular network — one application expected to benefit from higher bandwidth — will get a lot of attention at IMS. Definition of a 5G mobile standard is expected to be complete in 2018, and deployments will likely roll out in 2021 or 2022. Higher carrier frequencies are expected to enable this. Some 5G system developers are experimenting with the 71-76 GHz frequency band, and the results of Nokia experiments are encouraging, Dr. Khanna says. By using 2 GHz bandwidth, in one experiment, developers demonstrated data rates up to 10 Gbits/s riding on a 73 GHz carrier.
Dr. Khanna reminds. One 5G system may provide 10Gbits/s close to base station while handling few subscribers
But the data rate may go down to 100 Mbits/s at the edge of the coverage area — even while handling a larger number of subscribers.
Other millimeter wave applications featured at IMS include automotive radar, Pico basestation Cells, and WiFi network expansions — all trying to find additional bandwidth for their communications
The next-generation WiFi, Dr. Khanna feels, will utilize carriers in the range of 59 to 67 GHz. Current-generation WiFi uses 5.8 GHz carriers, but access remains limited. IMS papers will examine some of the challenges to implementing a 10GHz bandwidth on new WiFi deployments.
Millimeter wave transceivers have become key components in emerging consumer and commercial applications
Tomi Engdahl says:
Plastic and Flexible OLEDS Market to Reach $16B
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329759&
According to IDTechEx Research’s latest report, OLED Display Forecasts 2016-2026: The Rise of Plastic and Flexible Displays, the market will reach nearly $16 billion this year and will grow to $57 billion by 2026.
The two main manufacturers of OLED displays have both announced large investment to expand their production capacities. Samsung Display has plans to spend more than $3 billion between 2015 and 2017 to build a new production line. Its rival LG Display is trying to lead the industry by committing over $9 billionbn for two new manufacturing plants.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stratix 10 MX: 1 TBps On-Chip Memory Bandwidth in Single FPGA
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329776&
Altera has now thrown the veils open a little wider, providing more concrete details regarding the Stratix 10 MX family of System-in-Package (SiP) devices. First of all we have the core monolithic FPGA fabric boasting up to 2,005,000 logic elements (LEs) and up to 679,680 adaptive logic modules (ALMs) that can run at up to 1 GHz. This core fabric also features a quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A54 subsystem and peripherals running at up to 1.5 GHz.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Infineon, AMS To Benefit From $70M Euro Sensor Project
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329774&
IoSense, a European pilot line project has kicked off in Dresden, Germany at the site of project leader Infineon Technologies AG.
IoSense is a three-year project with 33 partners from six countries collaborating on R&D across the value chain for sensors and a budget of €65 million (about $70 million). Although there are numerous academic and research institute partners the main commercial participants are Infineon, AMS, Philips Lighting and Siemens.
The European Commission is providing €14.7 million (about $16.5 million) and the German state of Saxony and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will contribute €5.2 million (about $5.8 million).
“Sensor solutions from Infineon in cars make a major contribution to improving road safety,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
One chip to rule them all? The Internet of Things and the next great era of hardware
http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/28/one-chip-to-rule-them-all-the-internet-of-things-and-the-next-great-era-of-hardware/
It’s been almost 10 years since Apple unveiled the iPhone. Since that day, the smartphone has been the overwhelming driver of innovation in the technology industry. Cameras, Wi-Fi, batteries, touch sensors, baseband processors and memory chips — in less than a decade, these components have made stunning advances to keep up with consumer demand to have sleeker, more powerful devices every year.
For chip makers, the pressure has been to produce smaller, more powerful components for each generation of phones. Denser, faster, cheaper — these mantras have driven our industry for as long as most people can remember.
But there’s a new game in town. The smartphone era is not over, but the growth rate is slowing. The key growth driver in hardware could soon be the Internet of Things. Over the next decade, this industry will churn out tens of billions of connected sensor devices. These will be used in every corner of the world — from highways to arteries — to gather new insights to help us live and work better.
This chapter will reshape the technology hardware industry in profound ways
Denser, faster, cheaper — these mantras have driven our industry for as long as most people can remember.
Engineers soon began to experiment with putting multiple functions on a single piece of silicon. Before long, they could get a whole computer onto that one piece of silicon, wrap it up nicely and market it as a single, all-inclusive package.
We call this “System on a Chip” (SoC). You probably have one in your smartphone.
SoCs are frequently cheaper too; instead of testing many components independently, you could run one set of tests on a single chip. And, of course, size matters.
But there’s a big drawback. SoCs are manufactured on common process platforms in large manufacturing facilities called “fabs.”
The challenge in the SoC paradigm is that all the components in a single chip (processor, radio, memory, etc.) are locked into a single manufacturing process, which does not always provide the “best in class” for each component.
For example, one process platform may be excellent for processors, but just mediocre for embedded flash memory.
New rules in the era of “things”
Even more confusing, at this point we simply don’t know the exact requirements for most IoT applications. It’s just too early in the process. But we have to start building hardware for it anyway! This presents all kinds of challenges to existing models of chip production.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analog Devices RadioVerse technology: Simpler wireless system design
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4442072/Analog-Devices-RadioVerse-Technology–Simpler-Wireless-System-Design-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160530&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160530&elqTrackId=84fc40f0e7ea4f9298b940b0d50d1673&elq=dc461471b4cb4115aec74eebcbab1e07&elqaid=32432&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28338
If you are a design engineer interested in ways to accelerate your development cycle for Wireless Radio system technology designs and need the flexibility to develop different RF platforms with a minimum re-design effort by using one versatile, scalable platform with easily adaptable software flexibility as well, then read on.
There are an incredible estimated number of 8 billion hyper-connected people worldwide using over 100 billion connected devices and growing at a fast rate. We will need to somehow develop wired/wireless electronic solutions that can deliver more bandwidth, enhanced security, lower power and lower latency with lower cost.
The new transceiver technology will enable a reduction in the radio size, weight and power (SWaP), and as an added feature, the design environment offers board support packages, software and tools to help designers to simplify and accelerate radio development across a range of applications including wireless infrastructure, aerospace and defense electronics, and electronic test and measurement.
RadioVerse redefines radio design at the circuit, architecture, system and software levels to simplify integration and enable faster time-to-market.
Along with this new technology and design ecosystem the AD9371 was also introduced as the latest addition to ADI’s integrated wideband RF transceiver product line. This device is a highly versatile, carrier-grade, system-on-chip radio solution that achieves a wide RF tuning range of 300 MHz to 6 GHz, while enabling transceiver large signal bandwidths of 100-MHz, observation receiver and transmit synthesis bandwidths up to 250 MHz, fully integrated LO and clocking functions, and highly advanced on-chip calibration and correction algorithms
All this with a power consumption of less than 5W under standard operating conditions. It can reduce board footprint by as many as 20 discrete radio components and can be used as a common design platform across multiple applications and standards.
Other key features I like are a 6Gbps JESD204B interface, two independent receiver and two independent transmit paths.
There are also key support collateral like integrated wideband RF transceiver evaluation boards that directly connect to an FPGA development platform. This enables designers to perform IC-level performance evaluation and rapid prototyping of complete wireless scenarios using a single hardware platform. The boards are supported by a toolkit that includes HDL, Linux drivers, software API, a GUI, and design files necessary for designers to kick-start their own designs. An exact, verified model of the AD9371 transceiver, enabling advanced simulation and analysis of the transceiver, can be developed by using MATLAB and Simulink.
The AD9371 is priced at $245 in 1,000 piece quantities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Force sensors gain TEDS option
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4442071/Force-sensors-gain-TEDS-option?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160530&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160530&elqTrackId=978f1cd90ebf4d339eb568758e88863b&elq=dc461471b4cb4115aec74eebcbab1e07&elqaid=32432&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28338
A TEDS (Transducer Electronic Data Sheet) memory module for HBM’s force sensors stores sensor properties to speed configuration of the measurement system. The TEDS module containing the electronic data sheet can be incorporated into the housings, cables, or connectors of the transducer, allowing users to set up the measuring amplifier automatically.
The module stores individual characteristics of the force sensor, including sensitivity, nominal (rated) force, supply voltage, serial number, and transducer type. The amplifier system reads the TEDS chip automatically and configures the measurement module with the correct sensor data, eliminating entry errors and enabling measurements to be performed immediately.
Plug and Measure with an electronic data sheet in the transducer
http://www.hbm.com/en/0547/teds-transducer-electronic-data-sheet/
Plug and Measure is to measurement technology what Plug and Play is to PCs in general – the technology that lets you just plug in and get started. The characteristics of a transducer are stored inside it in the form of an electronic data sheet. The amplifier can import this data. It then converts it automatically into the right settings and gets on with measuring straight away, in the correct units, with no further effort on your part.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Panasonic To Stop Making LCD Panels For TVs
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/16/05/31/2126235/panasonic-to-stop-making-lcd-panels-for-tvs
Japanese electronics maker Panasonic says it will stop making LCD panels for televisions, giving way to fierce price competition. The pullout from TV LCD manufacturing follows the company’s withdrawal from plasma TV production 3 years ago.
After Panasonic pulls out, Sharp and its Taiwanese parent firm Hon Hai will be the only producer in Japan.
Panasonic to stop making LCD panels for TVs
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160531_17/
Japanese electronics maker Panasonic says it will stop making LCD panels for televisions, giving way to fierce price competition.
The pullout from TV LCD manufacturing follows the company’s withdrawal from plasma TV production 3 years ago.
They say they will continue to manufacture LCD panels at the plant for products other than televisions, such as medical equipment and cars.
They say the company will keep making Panasonic-brand televisions, using panels supplied by other manufacturers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Understanding WGL scan data structures and some common issues
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/ic-designer-s-corner/4442083/Understanding-WGL-scan-data-structures-and-some-common-issues?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160601&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160601&elqTrackId=22247f8f9e954d7b87784189c1122e1a&elq=ab00b48679c2430896258d2c641f89f6&elqaid=32459&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28368
Scan insertion to improve test coverage and reduce test pattern volume is very common in today’s DFT tools. All of the major ATPG tool vendors (Synopsys, Cadence, and Mentor) offer this approach in their product suites. And indeed this approach has proven to be very effective, together with some other pattern compression techniques, in helping design/test engineers meet the challenges for today’s complex devices.
The way in which scan is handled within WGL files is often a source of confusion for engineers using this language as the medium for pattern expression. One primary reason for this confusion is that the scan data expressed in the WGL file is cell data, not shift data. This means that when translating these patterns into an actual test program for ATE, a mapping must be done by the translation tool because real device test programs must have shift data. It is this mapping which can cause confusion and sometimes errors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MEMS Movement, 25 Years Later
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329793&
Microelectromechanical systems market began with pressure sensors, exploded with automotive airbags and is now headed into IoT and medical applications.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) seems to be everywhere these days — in our iPhones (and Android phones), our fitness trackers, our smart home devices like Amazon Echo and Nest, our automotive safety systems, our drones and our VR headsets, in pretty much every electronic product that you can name.
My first exposure to MEMS dates back to the early 1980s when companies like Foxboro Corporation were using MEMS pressure sensors for process control.
Automotive manufacturers had actually experimented with the safety aspects of airbags in the late 1980s-early ’90s. This started with GM making 10,000 Cadillacs equipped with airbags.
The first airbag sensor was a ball-in-tube device.
Delco (part of GM) wanted to be first to market with ADI accelerometers in automotive airbags. While it was a bold move on Delco’s behalf, it was also very smart. ADI’s single-axis accelerometer provided several important advantages over ball-and-tube:
It supported self-test
It was much less expensive to replace
It was much more intelligent as it could discern a crash from a bump in the road. It also supported manufacturers’ ability to create different “signatures” for different cars, giving them the ability to set thresholds as they wished.
Late ’90s: MEMS goes mainstream
By the late 90’s, GM/Delco, Vistion, Bosch and Siemens were buying MEMS in quantity from ADI for the automotive industry.
These first MEMS devices really paved the way for today’s MEMS industry — as well as its massive success in consumer products.
We are still seeing new examples of this evolutionary pathway for MEMS, including the ever-broadening scope and scale of Internet of Things (IoT).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Six Hidden Costs in a 99 Cent Wireless SoC
Considerations when choosing between a wireless module and a wireless SoC
http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/TechnicalDocs/six-hidden-costs-of-a-99-cent-soc.pdf?partnerref=distycomm
What you don’t know about dropping a wireless SoC onto the board could delay your product.
There are two main options:
Option 1: Use a wireless system-on-a-chip (SoC) on the product printed circuit board (PCB). It’s small and cheaper than a wireless module. But designing with it may be costly.
Option 2: Use a wireless module with Option 1’s SoC inside. A majority of the design is already done including a fully -characterized PCB with RF optimization and antenna layout, shielding, timing components (crystals), external bill of materials (BOM), regulatory approvals, and standards certifications. But they are generally more expensive and larger than the SoC.
So, what is the easiest and most cost effective option? That changes depending on the product, the designer, time to market, and so on. Further, the best option changes with volume.
Modules cost more than their SoC equivalent, but companies use them widely. Why? And what’s the breakeven volume for when to change from one option to the other?
Given the above, the annual breakeven volume falls between 200K and 300K.
This breakeven figure may seem high, but it still may not justify using an SoC as seen with the super-high volume iPhone 6 which uses a Murata Wi-Fi module.
An RF engineer is required for an SoC design. Or, at a minimum, access to RF engineering expertise from the SoC supplier. RF engineers can be expensive.
Hiring an RF Engineer = $80K-152K/year + 33% overhead = $100K-200K/year
since every design is different, the recommendations are always—always—hard to implement.
Module companies charge more for their products partly because they are already RF-optimized within a small footprint and low BOM. The whole “system” can be placed on the product board in a matter of hours if not minutes.
Of course, it is “never always” easy. But in the base case, putting a module on the board is measurably
easier than putting down an SoC.
RF engineering requires special equipment, software, and facilities to debug RF designs.
But there is still a good chance the PCB will need tweaks to optimize antenna performance. These take time—a few days to determine what needs to be tweaked and a week to turn the board at a local PCB manufacturer. Two weeks adds up when a typical development can take 16 to 20 weeks.
Products that operate in the unlicensed frequency bands require regulatory “type approvals.” Many also require a wireless st andard certification (e.g., Bluetooth).
Some wireless modules come pre-certified for type approval and wireless standards.
Regulatory testing costs and type approvals vary by country.
Every wireless standard requires certification and paid membership in the standards body.
One of the biggest hidden “costs” in using a wireless SoC versus a module is the risk of missing the market window due to incremental time to design it in, test it, debug it, type-approve it, and certify it.
For companies with low-volume production runs, modules can mitigate supply risk.
Module companies generally provide a unique software application programming interface (API) for their modules. This serves their customers with an easy-to-use API that allows them to transition between different modules for different SoC versions and/or wireless standards.
Conclusion
The answer of whether or not to use a wireless module or a wireless SoC has a high degree of associated complexity that depends on volume, time to market urgency, risk tolerance, and available resources.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Think you’re missing the IoT wave? Don’t panic.
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/eye-on-iot-/4442115/Think-you-re-missing-the-IoT-wave–Don-t-panic-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160602&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160602&elqTrackId=fc64f38c431a4b7eae78b39b965a847d&elq=b9236a41038d408f8d65607c07815a01&elqaid=32488&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28388
Let’s just cut to the chase. First, there are admittedly useful and valid applications where connectivity with other like or dissimilar products will be beneficial to improving design, manufacturing, or in one way or another, our quality of life. I believe the real issue falls on the shoulders of those of us who were born and bred in the chip industry. Read the headlines. Our financial world is shrinking… again. Pundits are forecasting a decline in global semiconductor revenues… again.
The problem (again, in my opinion) is that we have run out of killer ideas. Investment money has abandoned.
Money is flowing like a tsunami into non-chip-related enterprises. Growth (maybe not the right word) in our fading silicon industry today is coming from artificial means: megamergers.
Innovation drives killer apps – that drive product growth – that drive the chip industry’s growth. Historically, much of this came from chip startups.
Circle back to IoT. What’s the frenzy all about? Aside from those applications that really have a valid need for connected devices, the balance (again, in my opinion) is driven by panic. When there is no killer app, (think back to the early days of PCs and mobile phones and the World Wide Web) beware of overzealous marketers, hawking their versions of snake oil remedies to spur growth. Much of the IoT hype is spaghetti thrown against the wall… I wonder how much will stick?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industrial Semi Revenues Rise Slightly
Semi company rankings shift
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329823&
Despite many forecasts to the contrary, IHS reports that industrial semiconductor revenues rose slightly in 2015. Year-over-year global revenue rose less than 1% percent in 2015 to $41.9 billion.
The minor revenue increase in 2015 followed growth of 11.5% in 2014 and 9.8% in 2013, according to IHS.
“The flat growth in the industrial semiconductor market last year is a bit discouraging, after a period of such robust growth, but there’s hope on the horizon,” IHS’ Robbie Galoso, associate director of industrial semiconductors, said in a release. “The industrial market showed resilience in 2015 and all signs are pointing to improving growth in the future.”
IHS analysts pin the increase on “the gradual acceleration in the U.S. economy” that increased demand for industrial equipment demand last year.
Industrial electronics are expected to be the leading application growth driver in the semiconductor industry through 2020, with an 8.4% expected compound annual growth rate between 2015 and 2020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Future Phones May Use Vacuum Tube Chips As Silicon Hits Moore’s Law Extremes
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/06/06/214240/future-phones-may-use-vacuum-tube-chips-as-silicon-hits-moores-law-extremes
A team of researchers want to replace transistors with vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes are nothing new, however the ones in development at Caltech’s Nanofabrication Group are a million times smaller than the ones in use 100 years ago. “Computer technologies seem to work in cycles,”
Future Phones May Use Vacuum Tube Chips as Silicon Hits Moore’s Law Extremes
Light-emitting bendy silicon spells trouble for Moore’s Law.
https://www.inverse.com/article/16574-future-phones-may-use-vacuum-tube-chips-as-silicon-hits-moore-s-law-extremes
A team of researchers thinks it may have solved an impending problem with silicon-based computer chips: replace the transistors with vacuum tubes. The technology has been around for decades, but the ones under development at Caltech’s Nanofabrication Group are a million times smaller than the ones in use 100 years ago.
“Computer technologies seem to work in cycles,” Alan Huang, a former electrical engineer for Bell Laboratories, told the New York Times. “Some of the same algorithms that were developed for the last generation can sometimes be used for the next generation.”
The problem, Scherer explained is that the silicon transistors employed in most computing gadgets today can only take us so far. Some of the best minds in the world are working on smaller-than-ever transistors, some as small as 10 nanometers. By comparison, a single gold atom is around a third of a nanometer.
At this level, silicon starts to behave weirdly. It becomes more elastic, and starts to give out light. Silicon transistors also leak electrons at smaller sizes.
Vacuum tubes, which use tiny metal tubes that can control the flow of electricity, could prove a better solution at these sizes.
Silicon transistors may have some life left in them yet, though.
Heat is one of the major concerns when it comes to running tiny transistors in varying situations
Smaller Chips May Depend on Vacuum Tube Technology
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/technology/smaller-chips-may-depend-on-technology-from-grandmas-radio.html?ref=technology&_r=1
The future of computing may be in its past.
The silicon transistor, the tiny switch that is the building block of modern microelectronics, replaced the vacuum tube in many consumer products in the 1970s. Now as shrinking transistors to even more Lilliputian dimensions is becoming vastly more challenging, the vacuum tube may be on the verge of a comeback.
At stake is the future of what electronic engineers call scaling, the ability to continue to shrink the size of electronic circuits, which is becoming harder to do as they become as small as viruses.
For Axel Scherer, who heads the Nanofabrication Group at Caltech, that means going back to the future. With his students Max Jones and Daniil Lukin, he is pursuing what is in effect an ultrasmall vacuum tube as a candidate to replace the transistor. In their laboratory here, they have fabricated circuits that function like vacuum tubes but are a millionth the size of that 100-year-old technology.
The last time researchers explored vacuum tubes was in the 1990s, when they were a promising option for building flat-panel displays. The technology failed to take off, however, because of cheaper and more efficient liquid crystal displays.
“The vacuum tube comes back about every decade,”
Vacuum tubes are one of a range of ideas that engineers are looking at as they work to create chips that can do more while using less power. Other promising approaches include exotic materials such as carbon nanotubes and even microscopic mechanical switches that can be opened and closed just like an electronic gate.
Today, semiconductor companies like Intel are making silicon chips with minimum dimensions between 10 and 20 nanometers. (A strand of DNA is roughly 2.5 nanometers in diameter.) Once the industry shrinks below 10 nanometers, Dr. Scherer expects that researchers will be surprised by the behavior of silicon at such atomic dimensions.
For one thing, silicon emits light below 10 nanometers
Dr. Scherer’s tubes can be made from a range of conducting metals, such as tungsten, molybdenum, gold and platinum.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Community > Blogs > Rowe’s and Columns
NI introduces PXIe 7.5-digit DMM
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4442130/NI-introduces-PXIe-7-5-digit-DMM?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160606&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160606&elqTrackId=28f9f4a9a168461b9a5c2e6aa7eedb1b&elq=7c747410bac44235a18bbed17fbd4e6b&elqaid=32536&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28426
On April 26, National Instruments announced the NI PXIe-4081, which the company hailed as the most accurate 7½-digit DMM in PXIe format. The NI PXIe-4081 brings with it specs from its PXI sibling, the NI PXI-4071. These specs rival those of bench DMMs from Keithley Instruments and Keysight Technologies.
In its press release, NI claims “an industry-leading 15 ppm accuracy for DC voltage measurements up to two years after calibration.” NI’s claim is at the 10 V range only, but it does beat the competitors in that range. The table below compares DC accuracy in the 10 V range for the NI PXIe-4081, Keithley DMM7510, and Keysight 34470A (Keithley also has the 7@frac12;-digit Model 2100).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Getting smarter about power conversion and its management
http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4442109/Getting-smarter-about-power-conversion-and-its-management?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160607&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160607&elqTrackId=0c55e1b0df344aa3879df9d68ae40ccd&elq=81d4bdfb66354de8a91ba997700fd8a0&elqaid=32556&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28438
Part of the drive for connecting electronic products on the scale of the Internet of Things is that with greater connectivity comes greater control. While that can mean different things to different people, there is high expectation that the IoT will bring greater control over the way power is used.
Regional legislation is already in place across Europe to enforce compliance with targets for 2020 (which includes a 20% improvement in energy efficiency), with more laws and regulations being developed. This puts pressure on OEMs to comply with the new standards for power efficiency, which, in turn, is driving innovation from semiconductor manufacturers.
Converting power from a high voltage AC source to a series of low voltage DC supplies incurs inherent losses, but the loss that can occur at the inlet is one that involves no conversion. Instead, the passive components on the supply used to provide a safe discharge path also present a leakage path that, unless physically disconnected, will always be present. In the past, this may have been seen as an unavoidable loss, but a device from Power Integrations effectively reduces those losses to zero.
The CAP200DG in the CAPZero-2 family sits across the AC supply (see Figure 1) and blocks current flow in the X capacitor safety discharge resistors (R1 and R2) during normal operation. This reduces the power loss to less than 5mW or, as IEC 62301 clause 4.5 rounds down standby power that is below 5mW to zero, it removes the loss completely at 230VAC.
When the AC voltage is removed, the path through the resistors is re-established, allowing the X capacitor to be fully discharged, even below published SELV (safety extra low voltage) values.
Achieving less than 0.5W in standby mode, as defined by EuP Lot 6, is now aided by a range of power controllers from leading suppliers. Typically, these will integrate Power Factor Correction (PFC) and may include other features.
Programmability has become a key element in modern control systems, and power management is no exception. In answer to the demand for higher efficiency, the level of complexity has increased to deliver not only greater efficiency but also greater configurability.
Programmability is the enabling factor in modern digital power management controllers, and these devices can now be seen as exemplars of true mixed-signal design.
The regulations governing power efficiency in electronic devices are, quite rightly, becoming more rigorous in response to environmental and economic factors. Compliance with those regulations doesn’t have to be onerous for OEMs. There are an increasing number of advanced power management controllers being brought to market, with a corresponding level of support for power supply designers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
All technologies will eventually come to an end. Now called Objective Analysis research institute predicts that the current structures based on 2D flash memory fades away over five years. It takes place based on the 3D architecture of flash technology.
All technologies will eventually come to an end. Now called Objective Analysis research institute predicts that the current structures based on 2D flash memory fades away over five years. It takes place based on the 3D architecture of flash technology.
The only solution is to build cells also vertically
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4542&via=n&datum=2016-06-08_10:46:55&mottagare=30929
Tomi Engdahl says:
Free graphical development tool for 32-bit PICs
Microchip’s PIC32 is a popular micro-controllers series for many embedded applications. Now the company has launched a free graphical development tool controls. The new tool is called MHGC ie MBLAB Harmony Graphics Composer.
MHGC is integrated into the environment from Microchip-PMLAB. It can be used to develop user interfaces WYSIWYG principle (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) without a complex and tricky coding.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4538&via=n&datum=2016-06-08_10:46:55&mottagare=30929
Introduction video:
MPLAB® Harmony Graphics Composer (MHGC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxb8S8xCJaI&feature=youtu.be
MPLAB® Harmony, Microchip Technology Inc’s software integration framework for PIC32 MicroController family, now offers a GUI design tool, MHGC. MPLAB® Harmony Graphics Composer (MHGC) is an industry leading, visual design interface that will accelerate your application’s graphical front end design. It allows the user to easily configure and design for the MPLAB Graphics Primitive Library and MPLAB Harmony Graphics Object Layer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vacuum tube technology resurrected
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/anablog/4442187/Vacuum-tube-technology-resurrected?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160609&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160609&elqTrackId=8732283f390849e3bf60dbe02d14738d&elq=67fb6fd9fb344b108c38beed0e9d229a&elqaid=32603&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28476
On this 60th anniversary of the first issue of EDN, we look back to 1956 when the vacuum tube was at its maturity and transistors were about to begin their domination. The vacuum tube features of fast speeds, virtual distortion immunity and high gains were no match for the higher reliability, smaller size and far lower power dissipation.
NASA Ames Research Center applied for a patent on its gate-insulated vacuum channel transistor. A tiny cavity is etched in phosphorous-doped silicon using standard silicon semiconductor processing. The cavity is bordered by three electrodes, comprised of the familiar source, gate and drain.
The source and drain are separated by 150 nm with the gate atop the pair. When a voltage is applied across the source and drain, electrons flow across the cavity from source to drain and their flow is controlled by the gate.
The vacuum is the superior medium since there are no scattering with atoms of the semiconductor in a vacuum.
High voltage, high power heating elements are no longer needed in the small vacuum gap spacing which enable electrons to be emitted across only by the power of the applied electric field.
The physics behind the vacuum tube is done with Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling, a form of quantum tunneling.
Technology Opportunity: Nanostructure-Based Vacuum Channel Transistor
https://www.nasa.gov/ames-partnerships/technology/technology-opportunity-nanostructure-based-vacuum-channel-transistor
Tomi Engdahl says:
The intricacies of signal integrity in high-speed communications
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4442171/The-intricacies-of-signal-integrity-in-high-speed-communications-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160609&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160609&elqTrackId=3ab7ea9975424dfe9909707b2db1c85a&elq=67fb6fd9fb344b108c38beed0e9d229a&elqaid=32603&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28476
As communication rates continue to increase, data is being moved within systems at ever higher speeds, which leads to issues with how engineers design equipment and printed circuit boards (PCBs). In the past 15 years, the industry has seen interconnection speeds increase from 1 Gbps to over 28 Gbps. Modern processors may have over 100 lanes of PCI Express® (PCIe), each running at 8 Gbps. The amount of raw throughput of systems today dwarfs the throughput of just 10 years ago. Back then, signaling rates were slow enough so that signal integrity was somewhat unaffected by passive interconnections. Today, that is no longer true. In most cases, transmission lines are now absolutely part of the circuit.
Many engineers have never had to consider what happens to the signals routed between integrated circuits. It was more of a challenge of cabling between systems, which may have required physical layer devices or special wiring. With field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) having increased capability and processors routinely using very high-speed interface standards such as PCIe, the system design must take into account the effects of PCB materials, transmission line design and connectors.
With the ever increasing speed of communications, the need to understand the effects caused by board layout, connectors and other parasitics is more important than ever. This article addresses the issues with high-speed signals and how to mitigate problems through proper component selection and board layout. Included in the discussion are standards such as SAS, SATA and Ethernet, as well as data converter interfaces such as JESD204B and other high-speed standards.
At the highest level, loss of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) directly affects the channel’s capacity to carry information. Equation 1 shows this capacity relationship as presented by the Shannon-Hartley theorem. As SNR declines, channel capacity also declines.
Transmission loss is caused by a combination of things (Figure 1). These effects include linear loss (blue line), impedance discontinuities such as connectors or vias that cause peaks and valleys on the linear-loss line (red line), as well as coupling between signals known as crosstalk. All of these effects contribute to the channel insertion loss, also known as S21 or S12 scattering parameters. The most dominant loss is the bandwidth limitation of the PCB traces or cables.
Further, this bandwidth limitation is a function of the dielectric loss, which is directly proportional to frequency, and the skin effect, which is proportional to the square-root of the frequency.
To solve the insertion-loss issue, designers have several choices. The first and most straight forward is to select a low-loss, high-performance dielectric material for their PCB. Examples of high-performance materials are NY9000 or MEGTRON 7, which have excellent loss characteristics. These materials are polytetrafluoroethylene-based (for example, Teflon®) with extremely low loss, but are fairly expensive and may have limited availability from fabricators. Lower-cost alternatives will require some understanding of the channel characteristics to make the best selection.
Alternatives to expensive dielectric materials are to use active equalization on the receiver side or the addition of pre-distortion (also known as emphasis) to the transmitted signal to compensate for the linear loss.
Another effect that can degrade a channel is jitter
Jitter effects can be divided into two major categories: deterministic and random.
Deterministic jitter is further divided into periodic jitter, data-dependent jitter, and bounded uncorrelated jitter.
Random jitter caused by various effects such as thermal noise will continue to increase within a given sample time, also referred to as “unbounded” jitter.
For most high-speed interconnections, using advanced board materials or active repeaters works to improve channel performance. Some protocols, however, actively train the channel due to variability of the transmission lines. An example is PCIe, which has connectors for adapter cards with no knowledge of the channel characteristics until the adapter is running. For example, in a server, the communications adapter cards are normally placed at the back of the chassis along a riser card that plugs into a back-plane
During initialization of each lane, the EN talks with the RC through a series of lower-frequency exchanges on the very channel that carries the high-speed data. This is referred to as out-of-band (OoB) signaling since the communication takes place at a lower rate than the normal transfer of data.
The alternative is to completely recreate the EN and RC somewhere in the middle, effectively splitting the transmission lines into two independent PCIe channels. This method can add significant delay (30+ UIs) in each direction
Tomi Engdahl says:
Diversity Comes to Hot Chips
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329877&
This year’s program is as diverse as it’s ever been. There should be something for everyone.
Hot Chips has been the definitive high-performance chip conference since the demise of Microprocessor Forum
The conference has been changing over the last few years, much like the chip industry itself, and the program is moving far beyond fast processors for server and PCs and now includes more presentations on graphics, interconnects, ultra-low power, and sensing chips. That is not to say the traditional big CPU companies are not represented—they are. There will be presentations from AMD (new core), IBM (POWER 9), Intel (Skylake), and Oracle (SPARC M7) touting their latest big core developments. AMD, in particular, will likely be revealing some of the first details on its much anticipated x86 Zen CPU core.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NASA developed under the auspices artificial intelligence processor
AI has now suddenly become an important theme of the semiconductor industry. Former NASA scientist surprised many with the launch this week 10 years in secret cooked architecture, the basis of which has already been completed 256 processor core circuit.
The matter is a former NASA designer Daniel Goldin, whose Knuedge company was founded back in 2005.
It is an open DSP-processor platform, which interfaces are completely free to use. This Hermosa chips Artificial intelligence can be developed, their use then requires undoubtedly buying quite expensive processors. According to the company Hermosa sold as artificial intelligence processor is about eight times more potent than the corresponding graphics processor.
At the same family includes Knurdl company, which provides the basis Goldin technology developed on the basis of a web-based voice recognition task of the person.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4561:nasan-suojissa-kehitettiin-keinoalyprosessori&catid=13&Itemid=101
More: https://www.knupath.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
After Intel bought last year, the second largest FPGA manufacturer Altera, ie, the market has awaited the rumors of the largest company that is selling Xilinx. Now, Xilinx has reportedly made a $ 15 billion offer- It is really just a rumor.
Interest in FPGA circuits for point comes from the fact that they are used more and more data centers and cloud computing to speed up traffic.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4574:huhu-kauppaa-xilinxia&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
S-Parameter Data Isn’t Always Enough
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329866&
When modeling and simulating DC/DC converters, capacitors, and inductors, the data you get from data sheets is’t always sufficient to measure component values. Here’s a way to fix the problem.
When designing or optimizing a VRM (voltage Regulation Module), we need its output impedance data and impedance data for the filter inductors and capacitors for us to have complete simulation models. Unfortunately, vendor data on these components is often incomplete, erroneous, or difficult to decipher in terms of the setup involved to make the measurement. Thus, we often need to collect the data ourselves.
The measurements need to be performed over the entire frequency range of interest, typically from a few kiloHertz to about 1 GHz, depending on the application. Because of this very wide frequency range, we generally turn to S-parameter based measurements. High performance simulators can directly incorporate the S-parameter component measurements in AC, DC, transient, and harmonic balance simulations while including the finite element PCB models.
While extremely useful, standard S-parameter measurements frequently aren’t sufficient. What’s really needed is an extended range, that is, a partial S2p measurement. I’ll explain why you need it and how to make this improved measurement.
S-parameters are a simple method of performing measurements over a very wide frequency range. The measurement is performed using a fixed resistance port rather than a high impedance probe. Two options are available for measuring impedance with S-parameters. One option is a reflection measurement and the other option is THRU measurement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fix poor capacitor, inductor, and DC/DC impedance measurements
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/impedance-measurement-rescues/4442173/Fix-poor-capacitor–inductor–and-DC-DC-impedance-measurements
Tomi Engdahl says:
Enabling robust data communications within a high voltage BMS
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4442132/Enabling-Robust-Data-Communications-within-a-High-Voltage-BMS?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160609&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160609&elqTrackId=c70b590ad9c449a9929c25e44802fa52&elq=3eeff50b95684a2986b66ec5b21ca3c7&elqaid=32605&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=28478
Achieving reliability, performance and longevity of battery packs is the primary purpose of the BMS (battery management system). As part of this, the battery management electronics measures each cell voltage and transmits this information to a central processor. For large high voltage battery strings, such as is typical for automotive drivetrains, a modular, distributed pack is an attractive choice; battery modules can serve as the basic building block for multiple pack designs. Modules also allow for optimal weight distribution and maximum use of available space. The biggest challenge is the datalink required to operate the pack as a single unit.
An electrically noisy environment, such as is typical within automobiles, is a big challenge for data communication links. Although a CANbus link combined with isolation can provide sufficient noise-rejection, it is a complex, costly solution. For this reason, Linear Technology developed isoSPI™, a simple two-wire adaptation of the standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).
The isoSPI interface translates a full-duplex SPI signal up to 1Mbps into a differential signal, which is then transmitted via twisted pair and a simple, inexpensive transformer.
Two isoSPI ports are included in Linear Technology’s 12-cell battery monitoring IC, the LTC6811.
The isoSPI interface uses differential signaling on a “balanced” pair of wires, where neither wire is grounded.
The isoSPI interface uses a tiny transformer to magnetically couple and electrically isolate this signal between devices.
This is the same technique used in the highly successful Ethernet twisted-pair standards. Furthermore, electrical isolation allows packs to be interconnected despite large DC voltage differences between them.
The isoSPI links will of course work fine with simple point-to-point connections
dual-port ADC devices (LTC6811-1) can form fully isolated daisy-chain structures.
Since the isoSPI structure allows the minimization of electronics that is resident within cell modules, new directives like ISO 26262 are more easily and cost-effectively addressed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Intel wins contract to supply modem chips for some iPhones — Qualcomm to remain provider of chips in China, Verizon phones — Qualcomm CEO had said he expected major customer to diversify — Apple Inc.’s next iPhone will use modems from Intel Corp., replacing Qualcomm Inc. chips …
Intel Gets Chip Order From Apple, Its First Major Mobile Win
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-10/intel-said-to-get-chip-order-from-apple-first-major-mobile-win
Apple Inc.’s next iPhone will use modems from Intel Corp., replacing Qualcomm Inc. chips in some versions of the new handset, a move by the world’s most-valuable public company to diversify its supplier base.
Apple has chosen Intel modem chips for the iPhone used on AT&T Inc.’s U.S. network and some other versions of the smartphone for overseas markets, said people familiar with the matter. IPhones on Verizon Communications Inc.’s network will stick with parts from Qualcomm, which is the only provider of the main communications component of current versions of Apple’s flagship product.
Orders from Apple represent the first major win for an Intel mobile chip program that had struggled for relevance and racked up operating losses. The shot in the arm for the world’s largest chipmaker further dents the dominance of Qualcomm in baseband processors that connect phones to networks and convert radio signals into voice and data. While Qualcomm is losing some orders, it’s retaining a major chunk of Apple’s business,
Orders from Apple represent the first major win for an Intel mobile chip program that had struggled for relevance and racked up operating losses. The shot in the arm for the world’s largest chipmaker further dents the dominance of Qualcomm in baseband processors that connect phones to networks and convert radio signals into voice and data. While Qualcomm is losing some orders, it’s retaining a major chunk of Apple’s business,
Tomi Engdahl says:
IPhone Deal Would Boost Intel
Rumored LTE win would make Intel #3
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329885&
Intel Corp. could move into third place as a provider of smartphone modems if a growing number of reports are accurate it has won a substantial portion of sockets for LTE baseband chips in Apple’s iPhone 7. Such a deal would be a significant shot in the arm for Intel’s wireless business which took cuts in applications processors in the wake of a massive reorg announced in April.
Intel will provide more than 20 million LTE chips for iPhone 7 handsets for AT&T, according to a report from Bloomberg
Qualcomm dominated the 1.3-billion unit smartphone baseband market last year with a 57% share, followed by Mediatek at 25% and Spreadtrum at 6%, according to Strauss. Samsung was in fourth place at 3% and Huawei’s had a 2% share with a chip from its HiSilicon division used only in its own phones and not for sale in the merchant market. Intel shared last place at 1% with Leadcore and Marvell.