Second handset manufacturer refuses to pay Qualcomm royalties

A second handset manufacturer has stopped making royalty payments to Qualcomm following the example set by Apple. Qualcomm’s lawyer told the court in the Apple dispute: “One of the largest handset manufacturers in the world has now told us that they have been watching the Apple litigation and they are no longer paying us.” According ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/second-handset-manufacturer-refuses-pay-qualcomm-royalties-2017-09/

Foundry and memory will take half 2017 capex.

Over half of  the expected $80.9 billion 2017 capex spending will be for foundries (28%) and upgrades for NAND flash memory (24%), says IC Insights.   With a projected 53% increase in 2017, the DRAM/SRAM segment is expected to display the largest percentage growth in capital expenditures of the major product types this year. With ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/foundry-memory-will-take-lions-share-2017-capex-2017-09/

Antenova debuts Robusta

Antenova, the Hatfield antenna specialist, is about to launch Robusta – an antenna for metal surfaces operating in the 1559-1609 MHz bands, and designed for tracking metal objects. Antenova’s antennas for metal surfaces employ a patented two layer technique with one layer electrically isolated from the other, so as to provide RF shielding to the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/508494-2017-09/

Samsung to build Xi’an Fab 2

Samsung has agreed a budget of $2.3 billion for the first stage of a second fab at Xi’an, in China. The fab, for NAND, is expected to cost $7 billion over the next three years. Samsung’s first fab at Xi’an was built in 2014. Xian Fab 2 will be coming on-line as the Chinese ramp ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/samsung-build-xian-fab-2-2017-09/

Has Tosh Been Playing A Crafty Game?

Has Toshiba been playing a crafty game all along? The consensus view is that Toshiba has made a right balls up of its sale of its chip business – dithering, procrastinating and exasperating all the participants. But could it have played a clever game – keeping its creditors and bankers at bay with the promise ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/tosh-playing-crafty-gamel-2017-08/

Toshiba flash drives store 128GB with 120MB/s read speed

In September, Toshiba is to start shipping the first of two new families of TransMemory USB 3.0 Super Speed Flash drives with densities up to 128GB and read speeds up to 120MB/s. With a maximum read speed of 120MB/s, the TransMemory U363 makes good use of its USB 3.0 connection. This 6 grams device, including ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-flash-drives-store-128gb-120mbs-read-speed-2017-08/

AR: Fart-App Or Big Deal?

Why would you want to overlay a digital image on a real-world image? A) Because you can B) Because you’re one of those brilliant people who created Pokemon Go entertaining hundreds of millions of people and earning several billion dollars C) Err. . . . .umm. It’s the answer to C) Err. . . .um ...

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Picture of the Day: The Stuxnet Throw

Check out the Stuxnet throw or the 2004 MYDOOM virus scarf, turning binary patterns and codes into material designs.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/humour/picture-day-stuxnet-throw-2017-08/

Webinar: Reduce Test Time by implementing Embedded JTAG Solutions

Make a note for your diary - Wednesday 6 September, 10:00am - for a new Electronics Weekly webinar: Combining the Power of Functional Test and Embedded System Access

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What an idiot did wrong in Eagle pcb

On my single sided pcb, I ended up with my SOT-23 mosfet gate and source connections swapped. Having checked the footprint is correct, by replacing the SOT-23 n-channel mosfet foorprint (Ao3404A) with some known SOT-23 npn transistors – MMBTA42 and BCX70 – where the base and emitters ended up swapped. So my only conclusion, is ...

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Turing letters found

148 letters and documents belonging to Alan Turing have been found at Manchester University. They are dated between 1949 and 1954 – the year he died. Here is an amusing correspondence with the editor of the magazine CHESS:   In view of the rather caustic comment from the editor asking Turing “what you really claim for ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/turing-letters-found-2017-08/

S3 reveals new strategy for semiconductor design business

Semiconductor design house S3 Semiconductors has announced a new strategy to focus on supplying chips for industrial and communications OEMs as well as designing them.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/s3-reveals-new-strategy-semiconductor-design-business-2017-08/

Huber+Suhner expands MXP digital test connector range with 50Ghz version

Connectors specialist Huber+Suhner has expanded its MXP series of multicoax connectors with a version that can handle up to 50Ghz.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/connectors/hubersuhner-expands-mxp-digital-test-connector-range-50ghz-version-2017-08/

New image sensors from Sony

Sony is sampling two new image sensors which are the first to employ Sony’s 3rd gen CMOS Global Shutter Mode. They are designated IMX420 and 428. The IMX420 has a scalable bit depth of 8, 10, and 12 bits, and can be programmed for multiple regions of interest (ROI). The IMX428 sensor, optimized for ITS ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/new-image-sensors-sony-2017-08/

Google’s ARCore SDK enables AR app development

Google has come up with a tool, called ARCore, to allow developers to make AR apps for Android smartphones. The first phones to use the tool will be the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Google’s Pixel phone. Apple says it will make an AR tool-set called ARKit available to developers in a fortnight when it launches ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/googles-arcore-sdk-enables-ar-app-development-2017-08/

Grotesque Statuesque

The statue thing on both sides of the Atlantic raises the question, how PC can you get? In Oxford, Oriel undergraduates wanted to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes. In Virginia they wanted to remove a statue of Robert E Lee. Who next? asked President Trump – Washington? Jefferson? In Oxford an undergraduate says she ...

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Top Ten IC Companies For Process Technology

Intel TSMC Samsung Toshiba GloFo Hynix Micron TI Sony UMC  

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Don’t assume, check!

Assumption is the mother of all foul-ups, or something similar,  is the watch-phrase of a friend of mine. And assume I did, when I did an Eagle pcb layout. I assumed I had not mirrored the under-side surface-mount components, but I had – only discovered when the board refused to work as I had expected. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/dont-assume-check-2017-08/

Cassini: Set the controls for the heart of Saturn

So farewell, then, Cassini. With fuel finally running out, the robotic spacecraft is entering its last two weeks of operation before a climactic plunge into Saturn.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/sensors/cassini-set-controls-heart-saturn-2017-08/

Sondrel plans to recruit 100 engineers in £10m investment plan

IC design consultancy Sondrel has announced plans to recruit 100 electronic engineers in its European operations in the next three years.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/sondrel-recruit-100-engineers-10m-investment-2017-08/

Cyber-Wonga

Anyone, it seems, can issue a cyber currency. In fact the ‘points’ you get for buying a cup of coffee or shopping in a supermarket seem to be examples. Your local tennis club could have its own cyber-currency for paying for court hire, rackets, tuition and refreshments. Your pub could issue its own cyber-currency. Look ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/507962-2017-08/

Mannerisms, Gadget Master, the Daily and the Weekly, in newsletter form

Too busy to keep checking our blogs and news section? Let the content come straight to you! Easily digestible newsletter emails straight to your inbox.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/general-electronics/mannerisms-gadget-master-daily-weekly-newsletter-form-2017-08/

Intel’s 1Tops neural processor for vision

Intel has introduced a neural computing engine for accelerating deep learning inferences at the edge. It is included on an SoC called Myriad X, aimed at drones, robotics, smart cameras and virtual reality. “The Myriad X architecture is capable of 1Tops maximum performance, based on peak floating-point computational throughput on deep neural network inferences,” said the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/micros/intels-1tops-neural-processor-vision-2017-08/

Big Market For Transistorised Dictating Machines

A BIG market is opening up for small transistorised dictating machines . So, 57 years ago, started a story in Electronics Weekly’s edition of October 5th 1960. The story continues: These machines are small and generally inexpensive and they do not overheat if left switched on. A year ago only one make of machine was ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/big-market-transistorised-dictating-machines-2017-08/

300m Wearables This Year, says Gartner

310.4 million wearables devices will be sold this year for $30.5 billion – $9.3 billion of which will be from smartwatch sales, says Gartner. In 2017, 41.5 million smartwatches will be sold and, by 2021, 80 million will be sold for $17.4 billion. “The overall ASP of the smartwatch category will drop from $223.25 in ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/markets/300m-wearables-year-says-gartner-2017-08/

Fujitsu Labs applies AI to bridge inspection.

Fujitsu Labs have developed sensor data analysis technology that can aggregate vibration data with sensors attached to the surface of a bridge, and then estimate the degree of the bridge’s internal damage through the application of “FUJITSU Human Centric AI Zinrai technology,” Fujitsu’s approach to artificial intelligence. This technology was validated using data obtained from ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/fujitsu-applies-ai-bridge-inspection-2017-08/

Ed Gets The Wink And A Nod

Sly smiles all round and loaded greetings ‘hope you had a good rest Secretary of State’ as I return to the office, Ed records in his diary, the London tittle-tattle columns have done their worst. They don’t mention any names which makes it difficult to sue, but anyone with any nous will know they’re pointing ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ed-the-serial-ceo/ed-gets-wink-nod-2017-08/

Silicon Labs CPT212B and CPT213B TouchXpress controllers are self-contained touch controllers that link to a host MCU, saving firmware development when adding touch to home appliances, medical equipment, consumer electronics, instruments, control panels and lighting. CPT212B features up to 12 sensor inputs in a QFN20, consuming 200 µA in optimised active mode and 1µA sleeping. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/sensors-products/507672-2017-08/

Top 10 most popular articles on ElectronicsWeekly.com

Here are the top ten most popular articles on ElectronicsWeekly.com in the last week, with Toshiba, Intel, NAND pricing, EUV and e-bikes all figuring prominently...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/general-electronics/top-10-popular-articles-electronicsweekly-com-28-2017-08/

UK made: Third Dimension gets order from Bombardier

GapGun is a hand-held metrology tool designed and made in Bristol by Third Dimension. Not only does it measure gaps, but whether panels are level and the radius of edges. Data is logged, and linked via Wi-Fi for the quality control audit trail. The latest order is from train maker Bombardier, for Aventra electric multiple ...

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EW BrightSparks programme seeks class of 2018

We are very pleased and proud to announce that we will be running a new EW BrightSparks programme for 2018, following on from its successful reception this year.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/ew-brightsparks-programme-seeks-class-2018-2017-08/

Beginners guide: getting your project in a box

Inspired by the wise words of commenters on this blog and a friend making an electronic thing, I thought I would share my experience of boxing projects to make reliable (claimeth I) useful (debateth even I) things. If you are an electronics professional, this is is probably not for you…. I am assuming the circuit has been ...

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Starting ARM

“By the late 1980s it was clear that ARM could only survive outside Acorn and it was fortuitous that Apple wanted its own microprocessor,” recalls Hermann Hauser, founder of Acorn. Apple wanted ARM for a hand-held, pen-based computer called the Newton. That requirement persuaded Apple into being one of the backers for a new company ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/starting-arm-2017-08/

Mayor of London appoints first digital tech Czar

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has appointed Theo Blackwell as first chief digital officer (CDO) for London. The role ranges from coming up with initiatives to build the capital’s status as a global tech hub particularly in the creation of public services which efficient and responsive to the needs of Londoners. Blackwell was previously ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/16744/mayor-london-appoints-first-digital-tech-czar-2017-08/

Samsung heir gets 5 year jail sentence

Lee Jae-yong, the Chairman of Samsung and grandson of the company’s founder, has been sentenced to five years jail in Korea for bribing the president of Korea, Park Geun-hye, who is herself currently on trial for extortion.   Lee was accused of offering Park $38 million in return for governmental favours. The prosecutors had asked for ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/samsung-heir-gets-5-year-jail-sentence-2017-08/

Uber-Dilemma

Uber’s $645 million Q2 loss was 9% less than Q1’s $708 million loss and a lot less than Q4’s $991 million loss. Q2 net revenue was $1.75 billion up 17% from Q1. Fares totalled $8.7 billion which was also 17% up on Q1. At the end of Q2 Uber had $6.6 billion cash. Uber has raised $15 ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/uber-dilemma-2017-08/

UK semi-autonomous lorry trials in 2018

Lorries will be electronically bound together in ‘platooning’ trials in UK motorways, according to the Department of Transport. Up to three heavy goods vehicles will be bound in convoy with acceleration and braking controlled by the lead vehicle. All lorries in the platoon will always have a driver ready to take control. “If successful, this ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/uk-semi-autonomous-lorry-trials-2018-2017-08/

ARM Linux industrial computer gets EtherCat.

Harting has added EtherCat connectivity to its modular industrial computing architecture (‘MICA’). “MICA’s modular open-source software makes it the ideal solution for developing edge and cloud applications in production,” claimed the firm. “Creating the EtherCat functionality as an internal function module enables MICA to deliver benefits such as protection class IP67, connectors suitable for industrial ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/bus-systems-sbcs/arm-linux-industrial-computer-gets-ethercat-2017-08/

BAE’s most powerful space computer yet

BAE Systems has announced a radiation-hardened single-board space computer. Called RAD5545, it has a quad-core 32/64bit QorlQ Power Architecture processor running at 466MHz and offering 5.6 Drystone Gips of processing with 512kbyte/core L2 cache and 1Mbyte x2 L3 cache on a ANSI/VITA 78.00 SpaceVPX compliant 6U-220 board. Up to 16Gbyte of DDR3 ram can be ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/bus-systems-sbcs/baes-powerful-space-computer-yet-2017-08/

Fable: The Guy Who Took A Chance

There was once a hotel credit controller in Canada who decided to go travelling in Asia. Six months later he was in Hong Kong needing to replenish his cash and took a job with a local paging company. After a year the company asked him to stay on for another year. One week before the ...

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Multi-length surface-mount connectors set board-to-board distance

WR-BTB is a family of surface-mount board-to-board signal connectors from Würth Elektronik. The plugs with coded guide are available in versions with 40, 64, 80 or 100 pins. Models with 0.8 and 1mm pitch are also available in various heights. Various male and female plugs can be combined to achieve a defined spacing between two ...

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EPSRC reveals leaders for sustainable energy research

Three leaders have been identified for the next phase of the UK’s Supergen Programme – to design research ‘hubs’ that will investigate sustainable energy technology. They received six-month grants to build consortia, investigate research strategies, devise networking plans and device engagement plans for their fields, according to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/epsrc-reveals-leaders-sustainable-energy-research-2017-08/

Two-colour LED in 1608

Rohm is claiming the smallest two-colour LED with the launch of the 1608 size SML-D22MUW, intended for use behind seven-segment displays. Red, green die are included, and intermediate colours are possible using both die. The 1.6 x 0.8mm footprint is down 35% from 1.5 x 1.3mm two-colour LEDs. “In recent years, chip LEDs are being ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/led/two-colour-led-1608-2017-08/

Component shortage to hit smartphone sales

A shortage of components will hit premium smartphone sales in H2, says Gartner. “We expect a shortage of flash memory and OLED displays will affect premium smartphone supply in the second half of 2017,” says Gartner’s Anshul Gupta,  “we’ve already seen Huawei’s P10 suffer from a flash memory shortage, and smaller, traditional brands, such as ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/component-shortage-hit-smarphone-sales-2017-08/

Mobile DRAM grew 15% Q2 on Q1

Q2 shipments of mobile DRAM were up 14.8% on Q1, reports DRAMeXchange. Samsung and Micron had 10%+ growth. Samsung has over 60% of the market folloeed by Hynix with 21% and Micron with 15%. Micron’s outage at its Taiwan fab which lost 50K wafers, mainly for mobile DRAM, will affect its H2 numbers. Returning demand and higher ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/mobile-dram-grew-15-q2-q1-2017-08/

Floreat Estonia

“And nowhere in the world all round Can ever such a place be found” So runs an extract from the National Anthem of Estonia which is turning out to be an absolute corker of a digital country. My thanks to Fred Dart who pointed out yesterday that Estonia is initiating a new move in the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/genius/floreat-estonia-2017-08/

HMG wants data protection transition

Today, the government sets out its plans to ensure personal data would continue to move back and forth between the UK and the EU in a safe, properly regulated way. In the latest of a series of papers looking at the UK’s future partnership with the EU after we have left, the Government will consider ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/hmg-wants-data-protection-transition-2017-08/

Another peek at blue hazard

I came across another useful-looking article on blue hazard: ‘Blocking the blue‘, in the British Journal of ophthalmology. Does anyone else have good sources for blue hazard – particularly long team exposure. If so, please comment below and I will attempt to collect the links here.  

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/another-peek-blue-hazard-2017-08/

Oreo it is. Welcome Android version 8.0

Google has revealed that the new version of Android will be dubbed "Oreo", representing API 26 of the mobile OS.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/eyes-on-android/oreo/oreo-welcome-android-version-8-0-2017-08/

A Rose By Any Other Name

If you want to raise money say you’re an AI company. Big Data is so last year. Databricks, a four year old San Francisco start-up, was founded as a data analytics company -processing big data. That was the trendy thing in 2013. Back in December Databricks raised $60 million in VC money at a time ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/start-ups/a-rose-by-any-other-name-2017-08/

Moortec launches 7nm on-chip monitoring IP for SoC

Moortec Semiconductor, the Plymouth-basedIP  specialists for on-chip monitors and sensors, have brought out an embedded monitoring subsystem for TSMC’s 7nm FinFET (FF) process. Within the subsystem the 7nm Temperature Sensor is a high precision low power junction temperature sensor that has been developed to be embedded into ASIC designs. It can be used for a ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/moortec-launches-7nm-chip-monitoring-ip-soc-2017-08/

Picture of the Day: Particle physics X-ray laser system power boosted three-fold

For today's Picture of the Day, reports from the US National Accelerator Laboratory hold a promise of progress on X-ray laser based technology.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/picture-of-the-day/picture-day-particle-physics-x-ray-laser-system-power-boosted-three-fold-2017-08/

Top Ten Fabless Companies In Q2

Thanks to TrendForce’s Topology Research Institute for this one – the top ten fabless companies in Q2:  

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ten-best/top-ten-fabless-companies-q2-2017-08/

Chip capex to jump 20%.

Semiconductor capex will rise 20% this year, forecasts IC Insights. Although there was a slight pause in the upward trajectory in 1Q17, 2Q17 set a new record for quarterly spending outlays. Moreover, 1H17 semiconductor industry spending was 48% greater than in 1H16. IC Insights believes that whether industry-wide capital spending in the second half of ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/chip-capex-jump-20-2017-08/

Microsoft uses Intel FPGAs for real-time AI in the cloud

Microsoft has selected Intel’s Stratix 10 FPGAs as the main hardware accelerator in its new accelerated deep learning platform – code-named Project Brainwave. The aim is to use the accelerated deep learning platform to deliver artificial intelligence in real-time for its cloud services. This will provide facial recognition and voice recognition on smartphones. As well ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/microsoft-uses-intel-fpgas-real-time-ai-cloud-2017-08/

The Addiction Of Phonophiles

That sad modern phenomenon – the couple in a restaurant each engrossed in their phones – could be cured reckons Andy Rubin, co-creator of Android and founder of Essential which launches its first phone next month. “We all lived happy lives before we had always-on internet,” he tells Bloomberg. Long billed as a Digital Assistant, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/the-addiction-of-phonophiles-2017-08/

Integrated batteries power e-bikes

The latest trend in electric bike (e-bike) design is the use of integrated batteries built into bicycle frames. The advantages of integrated batteries include better weight distribution and aesthetic design. An example, is the URV8 battery from BMZ Group. This is an integrated battery in an aluminum housing which is removable from the top, bottom, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/integrated-batteries-power-e-bikes-2017-08/

Guest Post: Building commercial open source robots, from prototype to production

Kyle Fazzari shares his insights on building commercial robots using open source snaps, particularly avoiding the ‘just ship it’ trap when the pressure is on to deliver financial returns.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/industry-comment/guest-post-building-commercial-open-source-robots-prototype-production-2017-08/

Farnell element14 targets the classroom with Raspberry Pi and LabView

The latest Raspberry Pi3 model B, Keysight instruments and 3D printers are among a list of key items now used to equip schools and colleges in the teaching of electronics, says Farnell element14. The distributor has created a list of hardware and software products which are highly relevant for teachers and educators. Items on Farnell ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/farnell-element14-targets-classroom-raspberry-pi-labview-2017-08/

TowerJazz gets go-ahead for Nanjing fab

 TowerJazz has received the first payment of $18 million under its agreement with  Tacoma Technology and Tacoma (Nanjing) Semiconductor Technology which makes binding their earliet agreement to set up an 8-inch fab in Nanjing. The fab will be funded by Tacoma, the Nanjing Economic and Technology Development Zone through its Administration Committee, Credito Capital and other  potential ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/towerjazz-gets-go-ahead-nanjing-fab-2017-08/

Automation No Threat To Jobs

57 years ago, Electronics Weekly in its edition of September 28th 1960, carried the following quotation: “There seems to be no justification for the fear that the introduction of automatic methods will cause widespread unemployment. Indeed the reverse seems more likely”. So concluded a report entitled “Ergonomics of Automation” published by the UK Department of ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/automation-no-threat-jobs-2017-08/

Microsemi joins US SiC and GaN initiative for 1.7 and 3.3kV devices

Microsemi has joined PowerAmerica, the US public-private initiative to promote the commercialisation of GaN and SiC power semiconductors, and US-based manufacturing. The organisation has $70m backing from the US Department of Energy over five years. The firm’s role at the organisation will be supporting the commercialisation of 1.7 and 3.3kV SiC mosfets and SiC Schottky diodes. “With ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/microsemi-joins-us-sic-gan-initiative-1-7-3-3kv-devices-2017-08/

5G New Radio for Wireless Communications

Discover the new 5G wireless communications with National Instruments.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/5g-new-radio-wireless-communications-2017-08/

PCB failure and success

It was pcb Sunday afternoon in the workshop, and I though I would try toner transfer using ordinary paper. The idea is that you laser print your design onto paper, iron the paper onto clean pcb (getting the print the right way around, and printing black), soak the paper off, then etch. On-line advice said ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/pcb-failure-success-2017-08/

Google shows Firebase source for Google I/O 2017 app

File this one under 'If I had world enough and time....' - Google is releasing its Android source for its Google I/O 2017 event app.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/eyes-on-android/programming/google-shows-firebase-source-google-io-2017-app-2017-08/

The Youngest, Richest, Shortest President

If Mark Zuckerberg wins the US presidency in 2020, he will be the USA’s youngest-ever president, the richest p-ever president and the shortest-ever  president. Zuckerberg will be 36 in 2020. The youngest president to date has been Teddy Roosevelt at 42. Even if Zuckerberg leaves his expected run for the presidency until 2024, he will ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/politicians/the-shortest-president-2017-08/

Hexa robot spider will teach adults to code

Arachnophobes beware! This spideresque robot’s movements are disconcertingly lifelike. It's a Hexa.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/crowdfunding/hexa-robot-spider-will-teach-adults-code-2017-08/

PC scopes distil data from a million waveforms

UK PC-based oscilloscope firm Pico Technology has introduced automatic measurement of waveform parameters on up to a million successive waveform cycles. Calling it DeepMeasure analysis tool, it has facilities to sorted, analyse and correlate waveforms, and is included as standard with PicoScope 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 Series oscilloscopes. “As electronic devices become more complex, design engineering ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/pc-scopes-distil-data-million-waveforms-2017-08/

Limiter clamps 100W from 10MHz to 6GHz.

To protect low-noise receivers, Peregrine Semi’s PE45361 power limiter offers 50dBm (100W) pulsed power handling from a surface-mount package, operating from 10MHz to 6GHz. Pulsed in this case is 1% duty cycle  – 10µs pulses in 1ms – in a 50Ω system at 25°C. “PE45361 delivers reliable and repeatable power protection to sensitive low-noise receivers for ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/rf-microwave-optoelectronics/limiter-clamps-100w-10mhz-6ghz-2017-08/

Sign up for the Gadget Master newsletter

Ensure you receive the latest and greatest Gadget Master news, hot and fresh, straight into your inbox!

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/general/sign-up-for-the-newsletter-2-2017-08/

High NAND prices expected to rise

NAND revenue grew 8% Q2 on Q1, and is expected to increase in Q3. “We expect supply to be under strain for the rest of 2017,” says DRAMeXChange’s Alan Chen, ‘relief will come later in 2018, when the manufacturing of 64- and 72-layer 3D-NAND Flash reaches maturity.” Samsung’s Q2 NAND revenue was up 11.6% to ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/high-nand-prices-expected-rise-2017-08/

MediaTek selects MIPS for LTE modems

Imagination's MIPS CPUs are to be deployed in high-volume smartphone modems for the first time after MediaTek adopted the technology for a new processor.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/rf-microwave-optoelectronics/mediatek-selects-mips-lte-modems-2017-08/

Hynix looking to acquire Toshiba says Korean report.

Hynix is looking to acquire Toshiba’s memory business, says a study from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) as reported by the Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper. Hynix is part of the INCJ/Bain consortium bidding for Toshiba, but it has always said it was only looking to provide finance. However it did transpire ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/hynix-looking-acquire-toshiba-says-korean-report-2017-08/

DRAM revenue at record levels

DRAM revenue hit a record $16.5 billion in Q2 after increasing 16.9% from Q1, reports TrendForce, with the sharp rise attributable o a declining under-supply allowing customers to replenish inventory. PC and server DRAM ASP rose 10% in the quarter while mobile DRAM ASP rose 4% as China smartphone vendors reduced orders on lower-than-expected shipments.   “The ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/506898-2017-08/

Ed Is Reduced To A Shadow Of His Normal Self

I am knackered, wasted, Ed confides to his diary, Pam is rapacious, insatiable. As soon as her husband left for London, as per my devious plan, I was dragged into the master bedroom and rogered rigid. And the procedure repeats on an infernal Infinite Loop of rumpy-pumpy – after breakfast, after lunch, before dinner and ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ed-the-serial-ceo/ed-6-2017-08/

UN: Please ban autonomous killing machines

An open letter signed by 116 founders of robotics and artificial intelligence companies from 26 countries urges the United Nations to ban the use of lethal autonomous weapons internationally. Signatories include: Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, SpaceX and OpenAI (USA) Mustafa Suleyman, founder and head of applied AI at Google’s DeepMind (UK) Esben Østergaard, founder ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/un-please-ban-autonomous-killing-machines-2017-08/

Calculate every resistor in a network from the outside

Bought to my attention by programming luminary Andy Cordani, was something he spotted here at Hackaday, which is a very nice application of multiplexing and matrix maths to determine the value of every resistor in an arbitrary network in which every node can be accessed by from the outside. Invented by ‘David’ on David’s Site, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/calculate-every-resistor-network-outside-2017-08/

When Noyce Calls

After developing the system logic for the 4004, Masatoshi Shima went back to Japan to work for Ricoh. But not for long. “One day a phone call came from Bob Noyce to  the Ricoh directors,” recalls Shima, “Noyce asked them: ‘Please send Shima to Intel to develop the 8080′. I talked to Ricoh’s directors and they ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/when-noyce-calls-2017-08/

UK disappoints as Europe’s chip market continues upward trend

The European semiconductor industry is having a good year. Latest figures from industry association DMASS indicate that the chip market shows no signs of slowdown in Q2/2017. According to DMASS, semiconductor sales as reported by the members ended with another record of €2.19bn, an increase of 17.3% over the corresponding quarter last year. However, the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/distribution-world/uk-disappoints-europes-chip-market-continues-upward-trend-2017-08/

Scottish tech firm plans growth and recruitment

The head of a Scottish tech firm is predicting a period of sustained growth and more highly skilled jobs in the region. John Spence, managing director of Ichor Systems, said the semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplier is planning to expand its Lanarkshire-based activities into new markets in the wider engineering sector. Company turnover is up 15% ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/scottish-tech-firm-plans-growth-recruitment-2017-08/

Imagination secures big smartphone design-in with MediaTek

Imagination Technologies has secured an important design-in for its MIPS processor technology with MediaTek. Crucially this takes MIPS into high-volume smartphone modems. The mobile phone chipset firm has adopted the multi-threaded MIPS I-class CPU for smartphone LTE modems. The mobile device from MediaTek featuring MIPS technology is the latest MT6799 Helio X30 processor which uses ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/imagination-secures-big-smartphone-design-mediatek-2017-08/

Gate drive PSU aimed at SiC mosfets

Recom is aiming at powering silicon carbite mosfet gate drives with its latest 2W dc-dc converters. “High-frequency and high-voltage switching are the main challenges of driving SiC mosfets,” said the firm. “A typical DC/DC isolation voltage should normally be at least twice the working voltage, but the high ambient temperature and fast switching edges generated ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/power-supplies/gate-drive-psu-aimed-sic-mosfets-2017-08/

Mouser boosts IoT range with Digi XBee embedded modem range

Mouser has added to its IoT-focused product line after starting to stock the Digi XBee Cellular 3G global embedded modem. According to the distributor, the modem is designed to help OEMs avoid time-consuming and expensive FCC and PTCRB end-device certifications and it enables engineers to quickly and easily integrate 3G (HSPA/GSM) with 2G fallback connectivity ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/mouser-boosts-iot-range-digi-xbee-embedded-modem-range-2017-08/

Micron doubles size of R&D centre

Micron has doubled the size of its R&D centre in Boise Idaho with a new 100,000 sq ft facility. “That is very meaningful in terms of giving us greater flexibility to research and develop more memory technologies, so we can bring them faster to high-volume production at our building sites and bring those solutions faster ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/micron-doubles-size-rd-centre-2017-08/

Nvidia’s Massive Q2

Broadcom remained the top fabless company in Q2, reports TrendForce’s Topology Research Institute, with Qualcomm No.2. Broadcom increased Q2  revenues 17.3% y-o-y $4.37 billion. Qualcomm grew Q2 revenues 13.1% y-o-y to $4.05 billion Nvidia overtook MediaTek to get the No.3 slot with a 56.7%  Q2 y-o-y increase to $1.9 billion. MediaTek had a 19.9% revenue ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/markets/nvidias-massive-q2-2017-08/

EW BrightSparks 2017 profile: Andrew Cowan, Cobham Antenna Systems

In the latest in our series on the EW BrightSparks of 2017, we highlight Andrew Cowan, who works as a signal processing engineer at Cobham Antenna Systems.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/eyes-on-android/general-eyes-on-android/ew-brightsparks-2017-profile-andrew-cowan-cobham-antenna-systems-2017-08/

EW BrightSparks 2017 profile: Calum Finn, Nestle

Continuing our series on the EW BrightSparks of 2017, we highlight Calum Finn, who is working at Nestle.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/general/ew-brightsparks-2017-profile-calum-finn-nestle-2017-08/

UK team moots better supercaps

Semi-interpenetrating polymer networks could improve supercapacitors, according to Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the University of Cambridge, who are seeking alternatives to carbon supercapacitors. “Pseudocapacitance is a property of polymer and composite supercapacitors that allows ions to enter inside the material and thus pack much more charge than carbon ones that mostly store ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/uk-team-moots-better-supercaps-2017-08/

Blue overalls power real-time clock at Schiphol Airport

Room has to be made on Gadget Master for this one, the modern Metropolis-style ‘man in the clock’ at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/general/blue-overalls-power-real-time-clock-schiphol-airport-2017-08/

Fable: Better To Be An Entrepreneur Than A VC

A teenager’s parents were once advised: “If he studies economics and goes into his  father’s business he’ll  drive around in a Mercedes; if he studies physics he’ll have to make do with rather less.” He studied physics and, after getting his doctorate, started a computer company and, eight years later, after an IPO, was No.12 in ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/fable/fable-better-entrepreneur-vc-2017-08/

Don’t hold your breath for lithium-air cells

Rechargeable lithium air batteries could save a lot of weight, if only they could be made to work. Now MIT has proved another hopeful additive is flawed, although the understanding developed could help in the search for others. Like zinc-air non-rechargeables, the idea is to replace one energy-containing electrode material with oxygen, which is breathed ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/dont-hold-breath-lithium-air-cells-2017-08/

Electro-colour-changing ink is printed with water

Georgia Tech chemists have developed water-based electrochromic film inks for colour-change applications such as auto-dimming rear-view car mirrors. “There were some hurdles to pulling it off,” said GaTech. “The finished product had to electrically operate comparable to films that are applied in an organic solvent, and also be water-resistant in spite of the water-based production.” ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/electro-colour-changing-ink-printed-water-2017-08/

Clean green graphene separation

Clean graphene be set free without damage to its growth substrate, using only simple safe chemicals, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – aiming to release it for use in flexible transparent electronics. The 2D material is synthesised using chemical vapour deposition onto a metal substrate, typically copper foil. “One particularly ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/clean-green-graphene-separation-2017-08/

NI adds PCI Express Gen 3 remote control

National Instruments has announced a family of PXI remote control and bus extension modules with PCI Express Gen 3 connectivity. “PCI Express Gen 3 technology delivers increased bandwidth that is critical for data intensive applications like 5G cellular research, RF record and playback, and high-channel-count data acquisition,” said the firm. “This family augments our existing ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/ni-adds-pci-express-gen-3-remote-control-2017-08/

LDOs drop

Toshiba has announced a family of CMOS low drop-out (LDO) regulators. Called TCR4DG, they have an on-off control input and come in in fixed output voltages between 1.0 and 4.5V, at up to 420mA. Typical drop-out is 193mV (420mA, 3.3Vout). Low output noise voltage is claimed, and as befitting a Japanese company, the claim is ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/power-supplies/ldos-drop-2017-08/

VR eye-tracking design-in for IR leds

Osram has won an infra-red led design-in with Japanese virtual reality headset maker Fove. “Through collaboration with FOVE, we are the first supplier to provide an eye tracking solution for a VR headset,” said Osram marketing manager Hiroshi Okuma. The packaged leds are tiny – only 0.5 x 1.0 x 0.45 mm SFH 4053 ChipLEDs, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/vr-eye-tracking-design-ir-leds-2017-08/

Ginni’s Goodbye

In her memo to IBM staff explaining her resignation  from the President’s Forum following the Charlottesville disaster, IBM CEO  Ginni Rometty says: “In the past week, we have seen and heard of public events and statements that run counter to our values as a country and a company.” “IBM has long said, and more importantly, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/ginnis-goodbye-2017-08/

Clueless On Driverless

Sharing a competitive advantage goes against every businessman’s instinct. So why are there so many consortia? Answer: because companies forming them do not individually have a competitive edge but don’t want to be left out of  any market which looks like becoming a big deal. Ergo: consortia are a defensive mechanism. There were more IoT ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/clueless-on-driverless-2017-08/

Diversity and Inclusion

The attitude to women and ethnic minorities in Silicon Valley, is, as we know, schizophrenic. On the one hand is the official corporate aspiration which is equality in hiring practices, pay, career development and treatment.. On the other hand the reality is male/female pay gaps, sexual exploitation of women and white male dominance. Intel has ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/bullshit/diversity-and-inclusion-2017-08/

UK-based image processing firm acquired by Coretronic of Taiwan

Calibre, a Yorkshire-based image processing technology manufacturer has been acquired by Coretronic, the Taiwan-based manufacturer of DLP projectors. The attraction of Calibre is its image processing technology branded HQUltra and its in-house R&D capabilities. SY Chen, president at Coretronic, writes: “Our strategy is to strengthen our position in display and image processing technology with a ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/uk-based-image-processing-firm-acquired-coretronic-taiwan-2017-08/

UK organic display tech firm aims for Asian expansion

SmartKem, the UK-based organic semiconductor firm, has appointed Billy McLaughlin as its new chief operating officer. The firm is currently preparing its semiconductor platform for production of displays and in the middle of a technology transfer to Asia. McLaughlin, who previously worked for Motorola, Globalfoundries and most recently e2v, will manage these activities. Steve Kelly, SmartKem CEO, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/uk-organic-display-tech-firm-aims-asian-expansion-2017-08/

Aluminium case mounts to walls and machines

Rolec has released a vertical holding bracket accessory for its mobilCase aluminium electronic enclosures. The holder can be fitted to walls or machines, and is moulded from black polyamide. MobilCase was designed primarily for IP65 handheld instruments and controllers, but can also be used for desktop and wall mounted applications, deemed IP54 by the company. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/emech-enclosures/aluminium-case-mounts-walls-machines-2017-08/

MLCCs work at 200ºC for tough projects

Novacap and Syfer Technology have jointly announced a range of high-temperature multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) for projects in oil exploration, geothermal, military, under-hood automotive and avionics. The ‘HiT’ range has an operating range of -55 to +200ºC, and offers tin-over-nickel terminations that had not been previously available in the companies’ other high-temperature MLCCs. Both C0G ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/passives/mlccs-work-200oc-tough-projects-2017-08/

Mouser to stock Robotis robotics components

Distributor Mouser is giving a boost to its robotics product line with a new agreement with robotics components manufacturer Robotis.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/distribution/mouser-stock-robotis-robotics-components-2017-08/

Fiat Chrysler joins BMW-Intel autonomous car tech alliance

Fiat Chrysler has joined a self-driving technology development alliance led by BMW Group, Intel and its Mobileye subsidiary.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/market-sectors/automotive-electronics/fiat-chrysler-joins-bmw-intel-autonomous-car-tech-alliance-2017-08/

Flourishing Fintech

Last quarter saw the birth of  fivenew fintech unicorn start-ups. As $50 million+ financing rounds on are the rise, VC-backed fintechs are on track to set new financing records in 2017, reports CB Insights. Here are a list of VC-backed Fintech companies which have achieved a billion dollar valuation, and a graphic showing where the companies ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/flourishing-fintech-2017-08/

Arduino: add de-bounce and sleep to short-push-long-push

There is an example of a programme that differentiates between long and short push-button pushes on the Arduino.cc website, but I was not taken it. However their was an example I did like the look of, by xn1ch1 on Instructables, and I used this as the basis for my code. Caveat: This code uses the ‘long’ ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/arduino-de-bounced-short-push-long-push-2017-08/

Top Ten Universities

Thanks to the Times Higher Educational Supplement for this one – the world’s top ten universities: Oxford Caltech Stanford. Cambridge MIT Harvard Princeton Imperial College ETH Zurich UC Berkeley and the University of Chicago are 1oth=        

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ten-best/top-ten-universities-4-2017-08/

Mini 3 and 5W encapsulated ac-ac power for household appliances

Minmax is aiming at household appliances with 3W (AAF-03) and 5W (AAF-05) encapsulated power modules safety approved for EN60950-1 (ITE) and EN60335-1 (household appliance). Size is ~ 26 x 26 x 16mm for the PCB-mount version, and there is chassis-mount option with terminal strips available on 5W models. “Their small size offers designers the opportunity ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/power-supplies/3-5w-mini-encapsulated-ac-ac-power-household-appliances-2017-08/

The Geographically Narrow Focus Of VCs

Globalisation has effectively implemented the geographical spread of manufacturing industry, but has not done so much for the geographical spread of the VC industry. 80% of all VC deals go to 6 countries: the US, UK, China, India, Germany, and Canada, says CBInsights. Another 16% go to more established start-up countries such as Brazil, France, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/start-ups/geographically-narrow-focus-vcs-2017-08/

EU radio equipment standard is “shambolic”, says techUK

A European Radio Equipment Directive is set to become UK law following what some industry insiders believe has been a “frustrating implementation period”. Industry body techUK has highlighted inconsistencies between wording in the UK Regulations and the text of the Directive. It also believes the government has made a major underestimation of the cost of ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/eu-radio-equipment-standard-shambolic-says-techuk-2017-08/

NI offers remote control of PXI systems using Thunderbolt 3

National Instruments has introduced a remote control module for laptop control of PXI systems using Thunderbolt 3. The PXIe-8301 offers PCI Express Gen 3 connectivity through two Thunderbolt 3 ports this will support up to 2.3 Gbyte/s of data throughput. The second port can be used to daisy chain additional Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C devices. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/ni-offers-remote-control-pxi-systems-using-thunderbolt-3-2017-08/

Microchip’s fourth-generation in-circuit debugger

Microchip has announced MPLAB ICD 4, an in-circuit programming and debugging tool for PIC microcontrollers and dsPIC digital signal controllers. All headers from the earlier MPLAB ICD 3 are supported, and inside is a 300MHz 32bit microcontroller. “MPLAB ICD 4 includes all the features of the MPLAB ICD 3 debugger while a faster processor and ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/microchips-fourth-generation-circuit-debugger-2017-08/

Single-layer capacitors for high frequency

DLI’s V Series, single layer ceramic capacitor series has been designed to provide higher capacitance in a smaller footprint at high frequency compared with multi-layer (MLCC) types. They are wire-bondable and have a 0.77 x 0.77mm footprint, allowing for high density mounting. “Excellent in high frequency characteristics compared with general purpose MLCC’s, the impedance of ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/rf-microwave-optoelectronics/single-layer-capacitors-high-frequency-2017-08/

Conrad signs deal to sell Panasonic’s passives

Distributor Conrad has signed a direct sales partnership deal with Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems Europe (PAISEU), covering passive components. PAISEU produces a wide portfolio of electrolyte and polymer aluminium capacitors, resistors and inductors that address many market sectors such as industrial, automotive and home entertainment. The partnership is targeting automotive, industrial, IoT and R&D ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/passives/conrad-signs-deal-sell-panasonics-passives-2017-08/

Krzanich resigns from Trump post

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has resigned from President Trump’s manufacturing advisory council after the President did not move far enough and fast enough in condemning the white supremacist fracas in Charlottesville, Virginia last week Krzanich said his decision was based on the worrying direction of U.S. politics. “I resigned to call attention to the serious ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/krzanich-resigns-trump-post-2017-08/

DRAM, NAND and auto driving IC market growth.

DRAM, NAND and automotive analogue/logic are the fastest growing IC product segments this year which are driving the semiconductor market to its first double digit growth year since 2010, says IC Insights. The fastest growing product segments are: Topping the chart of fastest-growing products is DRAM, which comes as no surprise given the strong rise ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/dram-nand-auto-driving-ic-market-growth-2017-08/

‘Kyoto Process’ enables wooden cars

Wood-based cars could be five times stronger than steel and five time lighter, say researchers at Kyoto University, Denso and DaikyoNishikawa. The scientists are working with plastics integrated with cellulose nanofibres – made by breaking down wood pulp into fibres measuring several hundredths of a micron. Under the so-called ‘Kyoto Process’, the wood fibres are ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/kyoto-process-enables-wooden-cars-2017-08/

Supersonic Airliners May Use Inertial Navigation Systems

Supersonic airlines of the future may have flight directors giving off-course indication derived from inertial navigation systems. Pre-programmed flight plans could be programmed into the system before take-off using punched cards. So, 57 years ago, started a story in Electronics Weekly’s edition of October 12th 1960. The story continues: At present the cost of producing ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/502354-2017-08/

Picture of the Day: Summer Bytes presents Colossus in virutal reality

The National Museum of Computing (NMC) steps up to the summer holiday plate with a range of Summer Bytes in what it describes as a family festival.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/picture-of-the-day/picture-of-the-day-summer-bytes-presents-colossus-in-virutal-reality-2017-08/

Suckers

If a guy cold-called you and asked you to buy a crypto-currency you’d never heard of, I hope you’d tell him to take a hike. Strangely enough there are some people who don’t. The City of London police arrested a guy last week who had been doing just this – running an operation which phoned ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/shenanigans/506399-2017-08/

Arduino: Programme finished and chip programmed – so quickly

I have been pleasantly surprised how quickly Arduino’s language and IDE can be understood enough to do something useful – two weeks of occasional time. Over the weekend, an old breadboard was dusted off and allowed a couple of ATtiny85s to be tried, both executing the little push-button-controlled led programme. One had sleep included, and ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/arduino-programme-finished-chip-programmed-quickly-2017-08/

TSMC 12nm to be in volume production in Q4

TSMC will have its 12nm process in volume production in Q4, reports the Commercial Times. It says that the process will be used for Nvidia’s Volta GPU and Xavier CPU, HiSilicon’s Miami SoCs and MediaTek’s Helio ICs. In Q3, TSMC started 10nm production for Apple APs. It is also reported that TSMC Q4 revenues could hit ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/506440-2017-08/

Atduino: go to sleep tiny ATtiny

Related to being powered by a super capacitor, I also need to get my ATtiny to go to sleep when not processing anything. And that involves setting pins to ‘interrupt-on-change’ and getting the chip to ‘wake-on-interrupt’ – all stuff I could have done in assembler, but how to do in Arduino-speak. Big Dan rides to ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/atduino-go-sleep-attiny-2017-08/

Server revenues and shortages drive DRAM ASPs

The Big Three DRAM vendors saw Q2 server revenues rise 30% in Q2 over Q1, reports DRAMeXchange, as shortages hike prices. “Thanks to the increase in the average memory density of server systems, as evidenced by the adoption of high-density 32GB RDIMMs and 64GB LRDIMMs in this year’s first half, the profit margin of server DRAM ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/server-revenues-shortages-drive-dram-asps-2017-08/

Toshiba deal stymied by payment issue

Toshiba’s plan to sell its memory unit to a Bain/INCJ/Hynix consortium for $19 billion ran into trouble because the consortium wants to pay in instalments and Toshiba wants the money up front, reports Bloomberg. This has prompted last week’s move to re-open talks with Western Digital and Hon Hai about selling the business to them. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-deal-stymied-payment-issue-2017-08/

Taiwan government to fund 30,000 tech start-ups in three years

Taiwan aims to create 30,000 tech start-ups in the next three years, reports Digitimes. Taiwan’s Industrial Innovation and Transformation Fund has earmarked $3.3 billion for startups and a national investment company with a fund of $330 million opens its doors this month to high tech entrepreneurs wanting investment. The intention is to make direct investments ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/taiwan-fund-30000-tech-start-ups-three-years-2017-08/

Sharp was like the ‘son of a rich family’, says president

Before Hon Hai bought it last year, Sharp was operating like the son of a rich family says Sharp’s president Tai Jeng-wu (pictured). The company has just reported its first FY operating profit for three years. Tai has been scathing about Sharp’s lax cost controls before Hon Hai bought it. Since becoming president, Tai he ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/sharp-like-son-rich-family-says-president-2017-08/

China news start-up valued at $20bn

One of the fastest growing start-ups in the world is five year-old Chinese news aggregator Toutiao which has grown its valuation 40x in three years, In a 2014 funding round it was valued at $500 million, last year it raised $1 billion at a valuation of $11 billion and now it is reported by Reuters ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/china-news-start-valued-20bn-2017-08/