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
961 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung kind of cracks the 10nm barrier with new 8GB DDR4 slabs
Re-write your RAM cram plan, server scalers, there’s 128GB modules on the way
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/05/samsung_10nm_ddr4_ram/
Samsung Electronics has announced it’s started baking RAM using a “10-nanometer (nm) class*” process and says the 8GB chips it’s emitting are the first in the world to be manufactured in this way.
Don’t start trying to figure out how 10nm compares to the width of a human hair or the head of a really small pin, because that asterisk up there is Samsung’s and leads to a disclaimer to the effect that “10nm-class denotes a process technology node somewhere between 10 and 19 nanometers, while 20nm-class means a process technology node somewhere between 20 and 29 nanometers.” Samsung’s not saying just how big, or small, this RAM is.
Even if Samsung is building at 19.9999999999 nanometers, the product is impressive because it involves “quadruple patterning lithography” and “ultra-thin dielectric layer deposition”.
Samsung’s promising 10nm RAM in modules from 4GB to 128GB
Tomi Engdahl says:
Designer’s Notebook: Discrete Logic
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/benchtalk/4441764/Designer-s-Notebook–Discrete-Logic?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_designideas_20160405&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_designideas_20160405&elqTrackId=7670b8e191c94b7596a0d6a85752d2cf&elq=ecfaff83981945cba1d560d357c2b400&elqaid=31656&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27640
Tomi Engdahl says:
Development boards demo eGaN FETs
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4441773/Development-boards-demo-eGaN-FETs?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160405&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160405&elqTrackId=b6cc32eac7d648dda5c9cc29fbf49f89&elq=cf62c45b051345f0821a1cbeb069b53a&elqaid=31678&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27665
Efficient Power Conversion offers three half-bridge development boards, the EPC9066, EPC9067, and EPC9068, that can be configured as either a buck converter or ZVS Class D amplifier. All three boards incorporate a synchronous bootstrap gate driver that enables high efficiency at frequencies of up to 15 MHz.
he EPC9066, EPC9067, and EPC9068 are outfitted with a 40-V, 65-V, and 100-V enhancement-mode gallium nitride FET, respectively. Each 2×1.5-in. board is laid out in a half-bridge configuration and produces a maximum output of 2.7 A.
http://www.digikey.com/Suppliers/us/Efficient-Power-Conversion.page?lang=en
Tomi Engdahl says:
China’s Interest in FD-SOI: Is It for Real?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329355&
Reporters find it easier to write about Donald Trump, Apple and FinFET. When it comes to FD-SOI, not so much.
At EE Times, in the semiconductor field, I find fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) is just such an underdog topic — undervalued, underestimated, neglected. It generates geographically-divided opinions, comments and innuendo. This is predictable, because FD-SOI is a less traveled road for many engineers in the chip industry.
Soitec goes to China
China, it turns out, is where FD-SOI’s latest development is quietly unfolding.
Last month, Soitec, a French company that specializes in developing and manufacturing semiconductor materials, went to China. Its top executives discussed with locals everything China should know about FD-SOI technology.
Apparently, the local media ran with this revelation and stirred conversation about FD-SOI’s potential future in China. It’s too early to predict whether FD-SOI will be accepted in China, but this investment is the much-needed first step in China that Soitec, along with those in the FD-SOI ecosystem, have been waiting for.
Soitec must boost its FD-SOI 300mm capacity to the max at its site in France, to match Globalfoundries’ and Samsung’s move to mass production using FD-SOI wafers.
After all, especially in the eyes of those deeply involved in the FinFET-centric world, FD-SOI is often described as a process technology that has come too little too late. That perception still persists.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel-men, start your engines! Chipzilla gets into the car silicon caper
Acquires Yogitech for its certification smarts
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/06/intel_adds_yogitech_to_iot_business/
Intel has acquired Internet of Things business Yogitech with an eye to the automotive segment.
Blogging about the acquisition, Chipzilla’s Ken Caviasca explains that the surging “advanced driver assistance systems” (ADAS) segment – stuff like assisted parking – needs what he calls “functional safety,” and that’s where Italian Yogitech comes in.
Companies like Infineon, CEVA, Arteris, and STMicroelectronics will be watching the acquisition carefully, The Register imagines, but Altera won’t be worried, since Intel digested it in December 2015.
Yogitech’s systems help chip designers get the industry certifications needed for markets like the auto business.
Caviasca reckons the functional safety needed in the auto space will spread into other IoT segments like building and factory systems, and Intel estimates it’ll be a requirement for as much as 30 per cent of the IoT market by 2020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel restructures financial reporting to ‘provide visibility’
Not drowning under-performing products, waving happily about the whole business. Really.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/06/intel_restructures_financial_report_segmentation_analysts_weep/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel shrank last year
Intel has been the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer for 24 years. The situation has changed in the last year, why not, but Intel’s revenues decreased by 1.2 per cent from the previous year. It is unheard of.
According to Gartner’s statistics show that Intel’s revenue totaled $ 51.7 billion. Its share of the semiconductor market is still 15.4 per cent. In fact, market share also increased last year, the total market size declined by 2.3 per cent.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4217:intel-kutistui-viime-vuonna&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analog parts more quickly into shape
EDA-house Cadence Design Systems has introduced a new version of the Virtuoso design platform. Cadence has enhanced the analog layout tools, but special attention is given to the design analog components analysis and verification.
The main part of the ADE-ADE reforms Verifier, which allows the designer to a single view or “dashboard” (dashboard) to verify that all of the different blocks meet the design specifications and requirements.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4221:analogiaosat-nopeammin-kuntoon&catid=13&Itemid=101
More:
Cadence Unveils Next-Generation Virtuoso Platform Featuring Advanced Analog Verification Technologies and 10X Performance Improvements Across Platform
http://www.cadence.com/cadence/newsroom/press_releases/Pages/pr.aspx?xml=040516_virtuoso&CMP=hom
Tomi Engdahl says:
Encoding electrons with valleytronics
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new type of electronics that could lead to faster and more efficient computer logic systems and data storage chips in next-generation devices that they refer to as “valleytronics.”
Specifically, the team has experimentally demonstrated the ability to electrically generate and control valley electrons in a 2D semiconductor.
Valley electrons are named thusly because they carry a valley “degree of freedom,”
Source: http://semiengineering.com/system-bits-april-5/
More:
Scientists Push Valleytronics One Step Closer to Reality
Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley researchers control a promising new way to encode electrons
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2016/04/04/valleytronics/
Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have taken a big step toward the practical application of “valleytronics,” which is a new type of electronics that could lead to faster and more efficient computer logic systems and data storage chips in next-generation devices.
As reported online April 4 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the scientists experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to electrically generate and control valley electrons in a two-dimensional semiconductor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
6 Steps to Building a Superior Test System
recommended 6 step process:
1. Identify the Hardware Platform for your Measurement Needs
2. Choose the Rack Type, Rack Size and a Power Distribution Unit
3. Consider Switching, Mass Interconnects and Fixturing
4. Evaluate Test Management Software
5. Select the Right Development Environment
6. Assemble and Deploy your Test System
More: http://www.ni.com/automatedtest/guides/?cid=Paid_Display-70131000001RozY-Pan_EMEIA-PID17039652
Tomi Engdahl says:
Marvell’s President & CEO Resign
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329366&
Marvell Technology Group founder and Chief Executive Officer Sehat Sutardja and President Weili Dai will step down from active management posts, the company announced on April 5th.
The husband and wife team will remain on the Board of Directors, with Dr. Sutardja continuing as chairman.
The dismissal of the CEO and, his wife, the president, comes one month after a Marvell board audit committee identified management edicts — as “tone at the top” problems, said the Wall Street Journal.
Financial analysts applauded Marvell’s management change, according to the WSJ, which suggested this could improve Marvell’s financial performance or lead to a sale of the company. Marvell’s stock price jumped 13% on the news.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Structural Analysis of the Samsung K9DUGB8S7M 0.5 TB 48L V-NAND Flash Memory
http://www2.techinsights.com/l/8892/2016-03-17/2g41m1
This report is a detailed structural analysis of the K9DUGB8S7M 48L V-NAND flash memory used in the Samsung T3 2 TB SSD.
The Samsung T3 SSD is a super compact, rugged, fast, portable SSD. The T3 features an aluminum case and a USB-C port.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ten Criteria for Medical-Grade Power Supplies
https://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/astrodyne/ten-criteria-for-medical-grade-power-supplies/
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB instrument is an entire test bench
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4441786/USB-instrument-is-an-entire-test-bench?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160407&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160407&elqTrackId=aa1d99cc1e044c63a961fd408560c358&elq=a9155c5d9ab84293acea7045120bf3dd&elqaid=31702&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27691
Multifunction test equipment is nothing new, but with high-speed data converters, powerful signal processors, and software, a single set of hardware can take on many functions. So it is with the SF880 series of USB oscilloscopes from Analog Arts. Just calling this instrument an oscilloscope is an understatement.
The SF880 series consists of four models: SF880, SF650, SF830, SF810, which contain the following functions.
Oscilloscope (bandwidth varies by model, 100 MHz to 1 GHz)
Data logger (timing accuracy varies by model)
Frequency-response analyzer (10 MHz to 150 MHz, varies by model)
Function/arbitrary waveform generator (sample rate varies by model)
Logic analyzer (SF880 and SF830 only, sample rate varies by model)
Pattern generator (SF880 and SF830 only)
Prices range from $640 to $920. Analog Arts oscilloscope selection page.
http://www.analogarts.com/selection-table
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Analog Design Center > How To Article
How to design a −130-dB ultra-low distortion data-acquisition system
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4441739/How-to-Design-a–130-dB-Ultra-low-Distortion-Data-Acquisition-System?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160407&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160407&elqTrackId=71fbe7ba909d4c4e94f7e242a2c85515&elq=a9155c5d9ab84293acea7045120bf3dd&elqaid=31702&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27691
A data acquisition system (DAS) is the standard measurement and analysis instrument for industrial, medical, and telecom applications including medical imaging, audio and vibration analysis, and testing of analog and digital modulation systems. In most cases, the acquired and digitized signal is processed by a Fast Fourier transform (FFT), and the resulting spectral analysis is quantified by three dynamic performance parameters: signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) and total harmonic distortion (THD).
Tomi Engdahl says:
ECAD & System-level design now “going steady”
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/all-aboard-/4440512/ECAD—System-level-design-now–going-steady-
One is almost tempted to ask,”Is anyone still buying plain old CAD tools?” A least, that’s the impression I got attending sessions and browsing vendor offerings at PCB West a few weeks ago.
Zuken is one of the companies offering what they term “Product-centric design”. This means you are able to combine multiple PCBs and their interconnects into one project, as well as maintaining physical models of components and interfacing with MCAD software, allowing the PCB designer to quickly confirm at any time that their design is going to physically fit. Since miniaturized products these days rely on “squeezing all the air out” of the enclosure (gotta love that turn of phrase), having that power in one designer’s hands is a good thing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microcircuits was sold last year to 347.3 billion dollars, or two percent less than last year.
IHS Research Institute predicts that the market will shrink this year and next year.
They suggest the case of the normal cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry. Wireless technology and consumer electronics demand is sluggish, which is reflected in semiconductor sales this year and next.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4235:puolijohdealalla-edessa-laihoja-vuosia&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
UT Austin Engineers Design Next-Generation Non-Reciprocal Antenna
https://news.utexas.edu/2016/03/14/engineers-invent-next-generation-antenna
Researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have designed an antenna that is able to process incoming and outgoing radio-wave signals more efficiently and without the need for separate bulky and expensive electrical components commonly used in antenna systems. This new technology could lead to significantly faster, cheaper and clearer telecommunications in the future.
Andrea Alù, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, along with postdoctoral fellows Yakir Hadad and Jason Soric, discuss their non-reciprocal antenna’s design and capabilities in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research team’s breakthrough design is an antenna that can break reciprocity, or the natural symmetry in radiation that characterizes conventional antennas. In textbooks, the angular patterns for antenna transmission and reception have been assumed to be the same — if the antenna opens a door to let signals out, signals can come back through that same door and leak toward the source.
Conventional antennas are subject to reciprocity, implying that they unavoidably transmit and receive signals with the same efficiency.
“Our achievement is that we break the symmetry between transmission and reception signals, so we are able to prevent the antenna from having to listen to reflections and echoes that affect the source,” Alù said. “We show that it is possible to efficiently overcome these constraints using temporally modulated traveling-wave antennas.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
10nm DDR4 DRAM Could Defy Moore
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329380&
Rumors about the death of Moore’s Law have been greatly exaggerated in recent years, and Samsung Electronics’ mass production of what the company said is the industry’s first 10nm 8Gb DDR4 DRAM chips shows DRAM scaling has yet to hit the proverbial wall.
In a news release, Samsung said its new DRAM supports a data transfer rate of 3,200 Mbits/second, which is more than 30% faster than the 2,400 Mbits/sec rate of 20nm DDR4 DRAM. The new modules produced from the 10nm-class DRAM chips consume 10% to 20% less power compared to their 20nm process-based equivalents, making them ideal for high performance computing systems as well as the PC and mainstream server market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cognitive Computing Platform Unites Xilinx and IBM
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329377&
Xilinx and IBM announced that they will enable FPGA-based acceleration within the SuperVessel OpenPOWER development cloud services offered on ptopenlab.com.
SuperVessel is a first-of-its-kind open access cloud service that acts as a virtual R&D engine for application developers, system designers, and academic researchers to create, test and pilot solutions for emerging applications including deep analytics, machine learning and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The open access cloud service will leverage Xilinx’s SDAccel Development Environment, hosted in SuperVessel, for application developers to describe their algorithms in OpenCL, C, and C++ and compile directly to Xilinx FPGA-based acceleration boards.
SDAccel Application Development on SuperVessel OpenPOWER Cloud
http://www.xilinx.com/products/design-tools/software-zone/sdaccel/supervessel.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Organic and Printed Electronics Industry is Hiring
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329379&
According to the latest business climate survey conducted by the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association), 80% of survey participants expect the industry to continue its positive development in the coming year with a projected growth in sales revenue of 11 percent for 2016.
For 2017, the OE-A expects a continuation of the positive trend in the organic and printed electronics industry, in all areas, from material suppliers to end-users, as well as in all regions: Europe, Asia and North America. The companies expect further advancement and revenue growth of 13%.
Thin, lightweight and flexible are characteristics of organic and printed electronics. These features enable applications in numerous areas. OE-A members in particular target the following sectors: consumer electronics, medical and pharmaceutical, automotive, energy, as well as printing and graphic arts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM Neurocomputer Detailed
TrueNorth innards, aspirations revealed
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329372&
IBM unveiled details about the state of development and its future plans for TrueNorth—its neuromorphic mixed-signal chips based on the human brain. Its chip architecture, array of evaluation boards, reference systems and software ecosystem were described by their architect at the International Symposium on Physical Design 2016
At ISPD, IBM expressed it aspirations for its brain-like computers, hoping they will become a household name for applications from ultra-smart Internet of Things (IoT) to ultra-smart cars to ultra-smart cameras, ultra-smart drones, ultra-smart medical devices and of course ultra-smart supercomputers.
In his invited paper “Design and Tool Flow of IBM’s TrueNorth: An Ultra-Low Power Programmable Neurosynaptic Chip with 1-Million Neurons” IBM’s Low-Power Neuromorphic Circuit Designer, Filipp Akopyan described the company’s hardware, software and growing ecosystem of support.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to design better, more efficient lighting systems
http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4441735/How-to-design-better–more-efficient-lighting-systems?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20160407&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20160407&elqTrackId=276ecc44438b4290a2d9322237871851&elq=9d6dd7061f1a46d5a4535eb93af1da75&elqaid=31714&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27703
There’s more than one way to build a lighting system, and good design leads directly to better power efficiency and a lower bill of materials cost. Currently, the lighting industry is transitioning from 240 V to 277 V for greater efficiency. This makes it an excellent time to introduce Power Factor Correction (PFC) to existing product lines. As these systems need to be updated anyway, OEMs can take advantage of the many benefits of PFC at the same time.
The goal of Power Factor Correction is to minimize the phase difference between voltage and current.
There are numerous benefits gained from implementing PFC in lighting systems
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chip Market Decline Deepens
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329385&
A chip market decline that began mid-2015 looks set to continue through the first quarter of 2016 at least, with falling markets on an annual basis in all geographies except China, according to figures from the Semiconductor Industry Association.
The global chip market was down on an annual basis in both Q3 and Q4 of 2015, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) and some forecasters see the chip market continuing to contract throughout 2016 and into 2017 (see Global chip market to shrink for three years, says IHS ).
In February the three-month average of the global market for semiconductors fell to $26.02 billion, down 6.2 percent compared with the same figure in 2015. The year-on-year fall was steeper than the 5.8 percent decline recorded in January
Tomi Engdahl says:
Machine Learning Routes Chips
ISPD design contest focused on FPGAs
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329391&
The future of chip routing will be covered by the fastest machine learning methods—gone are auto-routing algorithms for billion transistors chips, according to the International Symposium of Physical Design 2016 (ISPD, 2016, April 3-6, Santa Rosa, Calif.)
The ISPD 2016 contest was for the first time a routing problem for interconnecting a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
Tomi Engdahl says:
China Facing Long-Term Memory Gap
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329399&
China, Inc.’s rush to build its own memory business is real. But just how — and how soon — remains a complete mystery, several knowledgeable semiconductor industry sources based in Japan told EE Times.
Abundant financial resources available from China’s National IC Industry Investment Fund, often called the Big Fund, augmented local government-led funds, have lent China’s “memory” dream an air of credibility.
Tomi Engdahl says:
10nm DDR4 DRAM Could Defy Moore
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329380&
Rumors about the death of Moore’s Law have been greatly exaggerated in recent years, and Samsung Electronics’ mass production of what the company said is the industry’s first 10nm 8Gb DDR4 DRAM chips shows DRAM scaling has yet to hit the proverbial wall.
Tomi Engdahl says:
First Look at Samsung’s 48L 3D V-NAND Flash
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329360&
The highly anticipated Samsung’s 48 layer V-NAND 3D flash memory is out in the market, and we at TechInsights have the first look.
Samsung had announced its 256 Gb 3-bit multi-level cell K9AFGY8S0M 3D V-NAND as early as August 2015, stating that it would be used in a variety of solid state drives (SSD), and would be on the market in early 2016. True to their word, we managed to find them in their 2 TB capacity, mSATA, T3 portable SSD
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM Neurocomputer Detailed
TrueNorth innards, aspirations revealed
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329372&
IBM unveiled details about the state of development and its future plans for TrueNorth—its neuromorphic mixed-signal chips based on the human brain. Its chip architecture, array of evaluation boards, reference systems and software ecosystem were described by their architect at the International Symposium on Physical Design 2016 (ISPD, April 3-6, Santa Rosa, Calif.) ISPD 2016 is an Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) conference on next-generation chips sponsored by Intel, IBM, Cadence, Global Foundries, IMEC, Oracle, Synopsys, TSMC, Altera, Xilinx and other stellar chip makers worldwide.
At ISPD, IBM expressed it aspirations for its brain-like computers, hoping they will become a household name for applications from ultra-smart Internet of Things (IoT) to ultra-smart cars to ultra-smart cameras, ultra-smart drones, ultra-smart medical devices and of course ultra-smart supercomputers.
Akopyan said IBM’s target for its TrueNorth chips was Edge-of-the-Net and Big Data solutions, where massive amounts of real-time data need to be processed by ultra-low-power devices—namely its low-cost 5.4 billion transistor neurosynaptic chips that nevertheless consume a mere 700 milliWatts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Test-and-measurement Design Center > How To Article
ESC Boston 2016: Test equipment preview
http://www.edn.com/design/test-and-measurement/4441619/ESC-Boston-2016-Test-equipment-preview?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20160408&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20160408&elqTrackId=1e2859e100eb4921bf8ecbf6c59e11cc&elq=cc5aff950393460584255be0c8fe7a6f&elqaid=31738&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27723
Tomi Engdahl says:
Measure PDN on a budget
http://www.edn.com/design/pc-board/4429510/Measure-PDN-on-a-budget?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_pcbdesigncenter_20160411&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_pcbdesigncenter_20160411&elqTrackId=cfa1b926b02e44858d5c150942f2e7de&elq=810b1cbcc94b4723a7fa5e8008f38dc3&elqaid=31753&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27734
Home> Pc-board Design Center > How To Article
Measure PDN on a budget
Steve Sandler -March 18, 2014
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As the use of microcontrollers, CPUs and FPGAs continues to grow, more engineers are facing challenges with their power distribution network (PDN) design. Many engineers are just starting to perform PDN measurement. Typically, these measurements are performed using a vector network analyzer (VNA). A 1-port measurement can be used for impedance levels above a few hundred mΩ. A 2-port shunt-thru measurement is used for applications as low as 1mΩ and in some cases even lower. Both of these measurements are based on S-parameters, allowing the cable to match the instrument impedance all the way to the point of measurement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Winbond Stacks NOR, NAND Flash
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329413&
It might not be as tasty as chocolate and peanut butter together, but the mixture of NOR and NAND flash might make a lot of sense for some applications, including the Internet of Things (IoT), which is one reason Winbond Electronics Corp. recently introduced its family of stackable SpiFlash memory.
The company’s SpiStack W25M Series stacks homogeneous or heterogeneous flash to provide memories of varying densities for code and/or data storage. The mixing and stacking capabilities provide designers with added flexibility to meet needs for a variety of small machine-to-machine (M2M) and IoT devices, said Mike Chen, Winbond’s director of technical marketing.
In a telephone interview with EE Times, Chen said Winbond wanted to innovate around the well-established 8-pin 8x6mm WSON package designers are already comfortable with, as well as the multi-IO SpiFlash interface and command set. “The small form factor has become popular as electronic devices are getting smaller.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Standard Supports Ongoing Efforts to Combat Counterfeit Semiconductors
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329410&
Semiconductor manufacturers recently reached agreement on a set of requirements, practices, and methods to reduce the risk of counterfeit parts entering the supply chain. The JEDEC standard (JESD243) marks an important step forward in the battle against counterfeit semiconductors, which pose a clear and immediate threat to public health and safety. JEDEC is the global leader in developing open standards for the microelectronics industry.
Counterfeit semiconductors can end up in critical consumer, industrial, medical and military devices, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
The new standard marks an important step forward, but it is just the latest step in a long march toward eliminating counterfeit semiconductors. The U.S. semiconductor industry—led by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)—has undertaken a comprehensive, multi-pronged effort in recent years to root out counterfeits and assist in the enforcement of anti-counterfeiting measures. SIA’s Anti-counterfeiting Task Force released a whitepaper in 2013 outlining the threats counterfeits pose and recommending steps to reduce them. That paper was subsequently embraced by the World Semiconductor Council, an organization that represents the U.S. and the other five top chip producing regions in the world—China, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The document’s chief recommendation was for customers to buy semiconductor products either directly from Original Component Manufacturers (OCMs, the chip companies) or their authorized distributors or resellers.
SIA continues its focus on a range of additional anti-counterfeiting measures.
Besides working to educate customers (including military customers) and law enforcement of the dangers of counterfeits, semiconductor manufacturers go to great lengths to ensure the integrity of their distribution chain. The JEDEC standard enhances those efforts by establishing clear practices, requirements and methods for additional mitigation of the risk of counterfeit parts entering the supply chain. It addresses issues such as handling of customer returns, and suspect and counterfeit parts.
This progress is encouraging, but more work remains.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Printed Electronics: What’s Hot & What’s Not
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1329409&
Three sectors dominate with billion dollar-sized business — OLED displays, sensors, and conductive inks.
From many different angles, the printed electronics sector is gaining commercial momentum. Large electronic manufacturing services (EMS) companies, such as Jabil and Flex, are investing in technology development with partners in addition to scaling up manufacturing. There have been many investments from VCs to strategic venturing, involving investors such as ARM and Samsung Investment Corporation. Most importantly, more products have come to market, from complete devices, such as the temperature sensing band-aid and infant respiration vest, to companies using printed electronics for part of the device, from the inkjet printed polymer layers used in barrier films on some OLED displays to over one billion printed RFID tag antennas.
Three sectors dominate with billion dollar-sized business, which are OLED displays (organic, but not printed), sensors (mainly printed glucose test strips), and conductive inks (predominately used for photovoltaic bus bars and electrodes for touch screens, but there are many other applications).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Development boards demo eGaN FETs
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4441773/Development-boards-demo-eGaN-FETs?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160411&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160411&elqTrackId=5fb5e9d0ccd341b8b635b3a9976a77c1&elq=032b50fb2f1f43cf82fa6997d6c29157&elqaid=31761&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27741
fficient Power Conversion offers three half-bridge development boards, the EPC9066, EPC9067, and EPC9068, that can be configured as either a buck converter or ZVS Class D amplifier. All three boards incorporate a synchronous bootstrap gate driver that enables high efficiency at frequencies of up to 15 MHz.
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB instrument is an entire test bench
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4441786/USB-instrument-is-an-entire-test-bench?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160411&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160411&elqTrackId=6fd01cc38b544c58bbdca2d4cf47f7a3&elq=032b50fb2f1f43cf82fa6997d6c29157&elqaid=31761&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27741
Multifunction test equipment is nothing new, but with high-speed data converters, powerful signal processors, and software, a single set of hardware can take on many functions. So it is with the SF880 series of USB oscilloscopes from Analog Arts. Just calling this instrument an oscilloscope is an understatement.
http://www.analogarts.com/selection-table
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sayonara, Japan Semiconductor Inc.
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329418&
The Japanese semiconductor industry’s downfall – by way of a slow death over the past quarter century — is undeniable and well documented.
Theories about why Japan’s semi industry fell apart are many. But the single reality facing Japanese semiconductor firms is this: They no longer matter in the global market.
Tracing the top 10 semiconductor sales leaders all the way back to 1990, Brian Matas, vice president of market research at IC Insights, observed that compared to “1990 when Japanese semi suppliers wielded their greatest influence on the global stage and held six of the top 10 positions, last year only Toshiba remained in the top 10.”
Contrary to the Japanese government’s expectations, the wave of consolidations among Japanese electronics giants’ chip divisions over the last few years backfired.
The cartel-like strategy (maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition) that has historically served Japanese manufacturers so well, didn’t work for Japan’s giant chip vendors in the world market. Instead, all this churn, for all practical purposes, wiped out most memory chip vendors in Japan (except for Toshiba). At best, it has given birth to a handful of minor players.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Superconductor Nearing Room Temp
Corrected theories, new tech
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329419&
Room-temperature superconductors are getting closer-and-closer now that separate research groups in the U.S. and Europe have improved a theory, namely that “critical states” at not fixed temperatures backed up by experimental results—and the highest temperature superconductor yet has been proven to be depend on quantum effects that open the possibility of optimizing compounds for room-temperature operation.
“The ‘critical state model’ has had continued success since circa 1963. One of its rock-solid predictions is that in order to magnetize a piece of bulk superconducting material to its maximum obtainable field, one must apply a field exceeding 2X that maximum,” professor Roy Weinstein told EE Times. “The actual factor is almost always larger than 2, and depends upon the geometry of the bulk. Most typically, for bulks used in applications, the factor is 3.2X. The magnetized bulk superconductor then acts like a permanent magnet, called a “trapped field magnet” (TFM).”
“Our experiments show many other interesting results, but these are of interest mostly to physicists rather than engineers,”
Weinstein’s group’s new formulation of superconducting theory, also has allowed them to build superconducting motors and generators which are more than 16X as powerful for the same size, or conversely could be 16-time smaller that equivalent superconducting motors and generators today.
In general, the new superconducting theory can increase magnetic fields by a factor of 3.2X.
“But using our new discovery, the bulk can be activated to 12T (12T÷1.0). This is about 17 times the strength of present day ferromagnets.”
Room-temperature superconductors?
“Room-temperature superconductors are presently only a dream,” according to Weinstein. “But that dream has made significant progress. The temperature at which certain materials can superconduct has been increased about 25 times since the first discoveries. It needs to be increased by another factor of about 3 to reach room temperature.”
“Our computational work suggests that the recently discovered high-temperature superconductivity in the hydrogen sulfide system, which holds the record for the highest critical temperature, occurs in a structure that is stabilized by the quantum nature of the hydrogen atom,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robust ±60V RS485 Transceivers
https://www.eeweb.com/news/robust-60v-rs485-transceivers
Linear Technology Corporation announced the availability of the LTC2876 and LTC2877, exceptionally rugged, high voltage tolerant RS485 transceivers targeted for PROFIBUS-DP (decentralized periphery) master and slave devices. As with any fieldbus, PROFIBUS-DP systems are prone to installation cross-wiring faults, ground voltage faults, or surge, which can cause catastrophic overvoltage conditions that exceed the absolute maximum ratings of typical transceivers. Whether transmitting, receiving, in standby or powered off, the LTC2876 and LTC2877 tolerate ±60V on their bus pins, eliminating common damage due to transmission line faults.
The LTC2876 and LTC2877 provide multiple levels of protection that make them suitable for a variety of PROFIBUS-DP applications, including discrete manufacturing and process automation. An extended ±25V input common-mode range and full failsafe operation improve data communications reliability in electrically noisy environments and in the presence of ground loop voltages, which would otherwise cause data errors and possible device damage. Their incredibly high ESD protection guarantees the LTC2876 and LTC2877 can withstand ±52kV HBM on the transceiver pins without latchup or damage; all other pins are protected to ±15kV HBM.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Keysight announces Windows 10 support for VEE
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4441794/Keysight-announces-Windows-10-support-for-VEE?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160413&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160413&elqTrackId=19353151637a4ca994053b2dda641142&elq=41acf75e50dd48238e3ec1028bae73b9&elqaid=31810&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27771
VEE (Visual Engineering Environment), it’s a graphical programming environment for test automation. It competes with LabVIEW, but doesn’t get quite the same visibility. VEE has a small but loyal following, mostly from test engineers.
Keysight Technologies is committed to ensure that our VEE customers have continued Microsoft Windows OS support and eventually a transition path to future Keysight software solutions.
Today’s VEE version 9.32 supports Windows XP, 7 and 8.
There will be a new version of VEE that supports Windows 10 by Q3 2017.
The thread that followed resulted in several people becoming convinced that this was the beginning of the end for VEE, which started on Unix in 1991 as HP VEE, becoming Agilent VEE in 1999 and Keysight VEE last year.
“We will bring Keysight VEE to fully support the features of Windows 10 and to integrate with Office 365,” said Cain. “The next version of VEE will be compatible with the latest version of Microsoft .NET Framework and be fully compliant with all flavors of Windows 10.”
Keysight plans to keep sustaining VEE as it has since porting VEE from Unix to Windows in 1993. “Mainstream support for Windows 7 ceased in January 2015 and we want to support our users going forward. Many are still using Windows 7.” Windows 7 computers are still available.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s Chipgate highlights semiconductor process variances
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4441789/Apple-s-Chipgate-highlights-semiconductor-process-variances-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160413&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160413&elqTrackId=3a999bfcf04e43b9b18b26506dcae751&elq=41acf75e50dd48238e3ec1028bae73b9&elqaid=31810&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27771
I don’t know about you, but the recent controversy regarding the Apple A9 SoC inside the company’s latest iPhone 6s and 6s Plus smartphones was fascinating to me. Here’s a brief summary, in case you didn’t catch the October 2015 kerfuffle. The application processor is dual-foundry-fabricated, from both Samsung and TSMC (the A9X derivative found in the iPad Pro does not, at least yet, seem to be similarly split-sourced). Quoting from Wikipedia:
The Samsung version is called APL0898, which is manufactured on a 14 nm FinFET process and is 96 mm2 large, while the TSMC version is called APL1022, which is manufactured on a 16 nm FinFET process and is 104.5 mm2 large.
To wit, when running Geekbench, a well-known and CPU-intensive benchmark utility, a TSMC A9-based iPhone 6s delivered roughly 33% longer battery life than the Samsung-fabricated alternative (~8 versus ~6 hours), as well as delivering slightly higher performance.
Various techniques are available to tell you which version of the A9 is in your smartphone. And predictably, TSMC-based variants are being explicitly identified (and resold for a premium) on Ebay and elsewhere
Indeed, a short time after news of the SoC issue broke, Apple issued a rare response to “Chipgate”, claiming (and backed up by independent testing) that in normal usage, the battery life discrepancy was only a few percentage points’ difference.
Is this controversy an isolated incident in tech? History suggests it’s not. Looking only at Apple, I came across plenty of other examples, such as:
Antennagate: the iPhone 4 antenna design led to transmission-and-reception degradation when the smartphone was held in certain ways, and
Bendgate: the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were susceptible to bending when pressure was applied to the chassis (such as when putting it into a rear pocket and then sitting down)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Magnetic Chips Could Increase Computing’s Energy Efficiency
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/1297-ntb/24396
In a breakthrough for energy-efficient computing, UC Berkeley engineers have shown for the first time that magnetic chips can actually operate at the lowest fundamental energy dissipation theoretically possible under the laws of thermodynamics. This means that dramatic reductions in power consumption are possible — down to as little as one-millionth the amount of energy per operation used by transistors in modern computers.
This is critical for mobile devices, which demand powerful processors that can run for a day or more on small, lightweight batteries. On a larger, industrial scale, as computing increasingly moves into “the cloud,” the electricity demands of the giant cloud data centers are multiplying, collectively taking an increasing share of the country’s — and world’s — electrical grid.
“Making transistors go faster was requiring too much energy,
Researchers have been turning to alternatives to conventional transistors, which currently rely upon the movement of electrons to switch between 0s and 1s.
Magnetic computing emerged as a promising candidate because the magnetic bits can be differentiated by direction, and it takes just as much energy to get the magnet to point left as it does to point right.
The UC Berkeley team used an innovative technique to measure the tiny amount of energy dissipation that resulted when they flipped a nanomagnetic bit. The researchers used a laser probe to carefully follow the direction that the magnet was pointing as an external magnetic field was used to rotate the magnet from “up” to “down” or vice versa. They determined that it only took 15 millielectron volts of energy – the equivalent of 3 zeptojoules – to flip a magnetic bit at room temperature, effectively demonstrating the Landauer limit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Storage-class memory just got big – 256MB big, at least
Everspin ships 256MB MRAM samples, says 1GB kit due by year’s end
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/14/everspin_ships_256_megabyte_mram/
Persistent storage that’s just about as fast as RAM is widely held to be a year or three away from giving the server and storage industries a generational shakeup, and that change is now rather closer after US outfit Everspin started shipping samples of 256MB Magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM).
MRAM looks like DDR3 or DDDR4 RAM and motherboards think it quacks like DDR. But MRAM is non-volatile – data doesn’t disappear when power does – while also being rather faster than Flash. Just about everyone who’s anyone in the hardware industry is therefore working on something like MRAM, because really fast persistent storage has lots of lovely uses.
Everspin’s currently the only company selling this kind of stuff, but until today only in 64 megabyte chunks.
The DDR interface is lovely and fast – DDR4 RAM can hit 19,000 MB/s – and Everspin is claiming write times 100,000 times faster than NAND Flash.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Foundry Sales Growth Slows
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329426&
Growth in semiconductor foundry sales slowed in 2015 amid a decline in overall semiconductor sales, according to market research firm Gartner Inc.
Total foundry sales amounted to $48.8 billion in 2015, an increase of just 4.4% over 2014, according to Gartner (Stamford, Conn.). Foundry sales were only able to achieve cumulative growth at all because of high wafer demand from Apple Inc. and revenue from a handful of integrated device manufacturers that also do foundry work, Gartner said.
Foundry sales had grown consistently by double-digit percentages in the years leading up to last year, according to Gartner. In 2014, the foundry market grew by 16%
Gartner estimates that total semiconductor sales declined by 2.3% in 2015 to settle at $334.8 billion. The firm attributes the decline to excess IC inventory, poor demand for mobile products and PCs and slowing tablet sales.
“The slowdown in the device market has driven semiconductor producers to be conservative in placing wafer orders to foundries,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Current sensors reject common-mode fields
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4441813/Current-sensors-reject-common-mode-fields?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160414&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160414&elqTrackId=ec4290bbd57441dcae8cf3ab40aafdcd&elq=f0a3e314ade64561a3755e702122c08d&elqaid=31845&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27784
Allegro’s 5-V ACS724KMA and 3.3-V ACS725KMA ICs perform AC or DC current sensing in systems that require very high-voltage isolation. Differential sensing provides immunity to interfering common-mode magnetic fields from adjacent current traces or motors, improving accuracy in magnetically noisy environments.
Both devices consist of a linear Hall sensor circuit with a copper conduction path located near the surface of the die. The internal resistance of this conductive path is 0.85 mΩ,
ACS724KMA: High-Accuracy, Hall-Effect-Based Current Sensor IC with Common-Mode Field Rejection in High-Isolation SOIC16 Package
http://www.allegromicro.com/en/Products/Current-Sensor-ICs/Zero-To-Fifty-Amp-Integrated-Conductor-Sensor-ICs/ACS724KMA.aspx
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rethink the button: An inductive-sensing approach
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4441824/Rethink-the-button–An-inductive-sensing-approach?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160414&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20160414&elqTrackId=ad9adcbfb070404481893e1f1d068fd1&elq=f0a3e314ade64561a3755e702122c08d&elqaid=31845&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27784
Inductive-sensing technology is revolutionizing the traditional approach to designing human-machine interfaces (HMIs). System designers are rethinking fundamental building blocks such as simple on/off buttons and attempting to solve many of the problems that have existed in button designs for decades.
Inductive-sensing technology has been consistently gaining ground with touch-on-metal (ToM) buttons because it facilitates cost-effective and a highly reliable approach that is immune to moisture and dirt, and continues to work even after minor structural damage. The completely sealed case allows for modern-looking and aesthetically pleasing designs without the need for moving mechanical parts.
This article covers the fundamentals of ToM technology using an inductance-to-digital converter (LDC) and provides guidance for constructing ToM buttons using metal panels commonly found in applications such as consumer electronics and appliances.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Former Agilent engineers developing a wireless oscilloscope
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4441822/Former-Agilent-engineers-developing-a-wireless-oscilloscope?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160414&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160414&elqTrackId=0cc64bcd2c1e4eb49e17ffbdde52d8d7&elq=2c7a33f1a50d4758b5a0e3ef90fefeca&elqaid=31852&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27791
“We designed the hardware from scratch,” said Lee, focusing on power and the analog front end.” According to Lee the Aeroscope will have a ±40 V input range. It’s based around an 8-bit ADC (analog-to-digital converter) and a programmable gain amplifier. An FPGA (field-programmable gate array) handles triggering and memory management. An ARM-based processor handles communications to the BLTE (Bluetooth Low Energy) transceiver.
Lee and Ward are developing the Aeroscope software for iOS devices, at least for now. Lee claims that unlike the LabNation SmartScope, you won’t have to jailbreak your device to use the software. That’s critical, for would you jailbreak your iPhone or iPad to use a piece of test equipment? Lee didn’t rule out the possibility of developing Android or Windows versions, but for now it’s all iOS.
A necessity for iOS-based oscilloscope is pinch gestures for setting vertical and horizontal sensitivity. Lee confirmed that the Aeroscope will have that ability.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What’s a Piezo Optomechanical Circuit?
http://hackaday.com/2016/04/14/whats-a-piezo-optomechanical-circuit/
Ever hear of a piezo-optomechanical circuit? We hadn’t either. Let’s break it down. Piezo implies some transducer that converts motion to and from energy. Opto implies light. Mechanical implies…well, mechanics. The device, from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), converts signals among optical, acoustic and radio waves. They claim a system based on this design could move and store information in future computers.
At the heart of this circuit is an optomechanical cavity, in the form of a suspended nanoscale beam. Within the beam are a series of holes that act as mirrors for very specific photons. The photons bounce back and forth thousands of times before escaping the cavity. Simultaneously, the nanoscale beam confines phonons, that is, mechanical vibrations. The photons and phonons exchange energy. Vibrations of the beam influence the buildup of photons and the photons influence the mechanical vibrations. The strength of this mutual interaction, or coupling, is one of the largest reported for an optomechanical system.
In addition to the cavities, the device includes acoustic waveguides. By channeling phonons into the optomechanical device, the device can manipulate the motion of the nanoscale beam directly and, thus, change the properties of the light trapped in the device.
Multilingual Circuit: NIST’s “Optomechanical Transducer” Links Sound, Light and Radio Waves
http://www.nist.gov/cnst/nists-optomechanical-transducer-links-sound-light-and-radio-waves.cfm
Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a “piezo-optomechanical circuit” that converts signals among optical, acoustic and radio waves. A system based on this design could move and store information in next-generation computers.
One of the researchers’ main innovations came from joining these cavities with acoustic waveguides, which are components that route sound waves to specific locations. By channeling phonons into the optomechanical device, the group was able to manipulate the motion of the nanoscale beam directly. Because of the energy exchange, the phonons could change the properties of the light trapped in the device. To generate the sound waves, which were at GHz frequencies (much higher than audible sounds; not even your dog could hear them), they used piezoelectric materials, which deform when an electric field is applied to them and vice versa. By using a structure known as an “interdigitated transducer” (IDT), which enhances this piezoelectric effect, the group was able to establish a link between radio frequency electromagnetic waves and the acoustic waves. The strong optomechanical links enable them to optically detect this confined coherent acoustic energy down to the level of a fraction of a phonon.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wake up primary-side regulated flyback
http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4441816/Wake-up-primary-side-regulated–PSR–flyback?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160414&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20160414&elqTrackId=8cca5dc415c04fa194adb3d36602de03&elq=2c7a33f1a50d4758b5a0e3ef90fefeca&elqaid=31852&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=27791
Primary-side regulated (PSR) flyback converters (Figure 1) have been a popular choice for reducing standby power in low-power adapters and bias supplies. These controllers have been able to achieve less than 5 mW of no-load standby power by using a frequency modulation (FM), current amplitude modulation (AM) scheme to reduce switching losses and standby power.
A significant problem with this control scheme is that the converter has slow transient response at light loads, which the designer has to overcome by adding more output capacitance to meet hold-up requirements. In this article, I discuss a technique for PSR flyback converters that speeds up the transient response and reduces the amount of output capacitance that the design requires for good transient response
Tomi Engdahl says:
Semiconductors sold this year to 333 billion dollars, predicts Gartner. At the same time research involves getting longer among the analysts, who predict shrinking markets
According to Gartner’s calculations, the dip is not very sharp. Circuits market will shrink by 0.6 percent this year, according to the forecast. Last year, the market shrank by 2.3 per cent.
This year, the demand for PC and create a weak smartphone sales slowdown. Gartner does not see any utta product sector, which could quickly restore market growth.
For example, wearable electronics, and IoT impact on semiconductor sales is still quite modest.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4262:gartner-liittyi-varoittajiin&catid=13&Itemid=101