Intersil launches rad-hard SOI 32-channel driver

Intersil has launched a radiation hardened 32-channel driver which integrates the decoder, level shifter and driver array. The ISL72813SEH driver leverages Intersil’s SOI process, which provides single-event latch-up (SEL) robustness in heavy ion environments. The driver’s integrated decoder interfaces directly to the general purpose I/Os of FPGAs and CPUs in the satellite’s flight computer, dramatically reducing ...

Read full article: Intersil launches rad-hard SOI 32-channel driver

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/intersil-launches-rad-hard-soi-32-channel-driver-2017-03/

Ten Worst US Airports

Thanks to J.D. Power for this one – the ten worst US airports: La Guardia Newark Philadelphia Chicago O’Hare Boston Logan LAX Houston Bush JFK Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Seattle-Tacoma

Read full article: Ten Worst US Airports

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ten-worst/ten-worst-us-airports-2017-03/

Government launches Digital Skills Partnership

A Digital Skills Partnership aims to link Government, business, charities and voluntary organisations to give people the right skills for the jobs in their area and are aware of all the digital training opportunities on offer and an attempt to make the UK  “the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business”. ...

Read full article: Government launches Digital Skills Partnership

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/government-launches-digital-skills-partnership-2017-03/

Gadget Watch: LG goes FullVision with LG G6 at MWC

The new LG G6 smartphone, unveiled at Mobile World Congress, is described by the company as a "back-to-basics approach to premium smartphones"

Read full article: Gadget Watch: LG goes FullVision with LG G6 at MWC

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/gadget-watch/gadget-watch-lg-goes-fullvision-lg-g6-mwc-2017-02/

MWC Starts With A Bang

This year’s Mobile World Congress seems to have got off with a bang as customers are said to have booked out Europe’s first robotic knocking-shop. A Barcelona bordello is giving away introductory offers of £70 an hour with one of four robots. Once the introductory offer is over, the price goes up to £100. The ...

Read full article: MWC Starts With A Bang

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/mwc-kicks-off-bang-2017-02/

MWC: Rohde & Schwarz, MediaTek collaborate on 5G wireless comms

Rohde & Schwarz and MediaTek collaborate on testing 5G wireless communication technologies: mm-waves for 5G radio access and over-the-air testing concepts for massive MIMO antenna arrays.

Read full article: MWC: Rohde & Schwarz, MediaTek collaborate on 5G wireless comms

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/mwc-rohde-schwarz-mediatek-collaborate-5g-wireless-comms-2017-02/

Intel – IoT Solutions Alliance

Learn about data acquisition from sensors and remote control with Intel’s IoT Kit

Read full article: Intel – IoT Solutions Alliance

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/intel-iot-solutions-alliance-2017-02/

Driverless car on London streets

A driverless car was tested in London yesterday as Nissan put a modified Leaf on the streets of the East End. The car was said to have gone at speeds up to 50mph on local streets and main roads. The Leaf uses cameras, radar and lasers to figure out where it is in relation to ...

Read full article: Driverless car on London streets

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/driverless-car-london-streets-2017-02/

MWC sees driverless car demo

Mobile World Congress brought a demo of driverless cars controlled by 5G signals staged by Telefonica, Ericsson and Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology KTH. The companies showed how they could control driverless cars on a test track 70km away in Tarragona. Telefonica’s Javier Lorca said that, for the moment, using cellular signals to control driverless ...

Read full article: MWC sees driverless car demo

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/mwc-sees-driverless-car-demo-2017-02/

Electroluminescent Walls

No doubt lighting engineers have long dreamed of being able to panel walls and ceilings with sheets of material, which at the touch of a switch would light up with an even glow, and the colour of which could be varied at the turn of a knob. Electroluminescence almost, but not quite, fulfils this dream. ...

Read full article: Electroluminescent Walls

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/electroluminescent-walls-2017-02/

MWC: Qualcomm, Telstra, Ericsson trial 5G NR deployment

Qualcomm, Telstra and Ericsson announce plans for interoperability testing and an over-the-air field trial based on the expected 5G NR (New Radio) specifications.

Read full article: MWC: Qualcomm, Telstra, Ericsson trial 5G NR deployment

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/mwc-qualcomm-telstra-ericsson-trial-5g-nr-deployment-2017-02/

Only Connect: Heatshrink versus Neoprene sleeving

Sometimes there is an obvious choice why you would choose one type, so let's look at the pros and cons of each type of sleeving (Heatshrink and Neoprene).

Read full article: Only Connect: Heatshrink versus Neoprene sleeving

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/industry-comment/only-connect-heatshrink-versus-neoprene-sleeving-2017-02/

Mobile World Congress 2017: Get the full Electronics Weekly guide

The best of Mobile World Congress, highlighting latest trends in mobile technology and services.

Read full article: Mobile World Congress 2017: Get the full Electronics Weekly guide

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/mobile-world-congress-your-electronics-weekly-guide-3-2017-02/

More on: 10 core MediaTek processor with PowerVR graphics

MediaTek’s 10 core Helio X30 phone processor includes graphics processing from UK-based Imagination Technologies. Its 800MHz PowerVR Series7XT Plus GPU (GT7400 Plus) produces a 2.4x performance boost and 60% power saving compared with MediaTek’s previous generation phone (X20) chipset, which is made on a TSMC 10nm process. It includes full hardware support for tessellation and ASTC ...

Read full article: More on: 10 core MediaTek processor with PowerVR graphics

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/micros/10-core-mediatek-processor-powervr-graphics-2017-02/

Will VR Fly?

If people decide they don’t like having bulky stuff fixed to their face then some companies are due a re-think. The 3D TV firms are currently going through that with Sony, LG and Samsung already abandoning 3D TV manufacture. Google Glass went the way of all flesh some years ago. So – spotlight on VR. ...

Read full article: Will VR Fly?

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/delusions/will-vr-fly-2017-02/

22nm FD-SOI Dream Chip

Dream Chip Technologies, the German IC design house, has produced first silicon of a 22nm FD-SOI ADAS SoC for automotive computer vision. It is the first chip to be made on GloFo’s 22nm FD-SOI process. The chip was created in cooperation with ARM, Arteris, Cadence, GloFo, and INVECAS as part of the EC’s ENIAC THINGS2DO ...

Read full article: 22nm FD-SOI Dream Chip

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/22nm-fd-soi-dream-chip-2017-02/

Rambus moves into mobile payments.

Rambus has announced a mobile payments platform to enhance payment security, reduce operational costs and increase revenue for retailers. The Rambus Unified Payment Platform enables consumers to pay with credit, points and coupons in a single transaction, and transform how they shop and pay. “Our Unified Payment Platform is based on a bank-proven foundation from our ...

Read full article: Rambus moves into mobile payments.

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/rambus-moves-mobile-payments-2017-02/

Softbank reported to be investing billions in work-space sharing start-up.

ARM’s owner Softbank is reported by CNBC to be spending up to $4 billion on a US workspace-sharing start-up called WeWork. The deal is said to be that Softbank will invest an initial $2 billion and may subsequently invest another $2 billion. WeWork is backed by Chinese investor groups Hony Capital, backed b Legend Holdings, ...

Read full article: Softbank reported to be investing billions in work-space sharing start-up.

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/softbank-reported-investing-billions-work-space-sharing-start-2017-02/

MediaTek and Analogix bring 4k ultra-HD to mobiles

Analogix has produced reference designs paring MediaTek’s Helio  X30 10-core processor with Analogix’s ANX7625 SlimPort transmitter to provide DisplayPort over USB-C at 4K Ultra-HD resolution for smart devices. The ANX7625 is an ultra-low power, single-chip bridge from the MIPI and USB 3.1 interfaces of the application processor to DisplayPort over USB-C, simultaneously performing the necessary ...

Read full article: MediaTek and Analogix bring 4k ultra-HD to mobiles

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/mediatek-analogix-bring-4k-ultra-hd-mobiles-2017-02/

Hipperos enhances RTOS

HIPPEROS, the Belgian RTOS developer, has added hardware acceleration, fast multicore IPC and mixed criticality scheduling, to its  multicore RTOS for high performance embedded systems version 17.02. HIPPEROS RTOS is a family of ITAR-free, highly configurable, modular and parallel real-time operating systems (RTOS) designed specifically for multicore platforms for the next generation of reliable, low ...

Read full article: Hipperos enhances RTOS

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/hipperos-enhances-rtos-2017-02/

Nokia rides again

Nokia’s re-entry into the handset business sees the launch of a phone with a battery which lasts a month and has 22 hours of talk time with a 1200mAh battery. It was designed nearly 20 years ago and is the re-launch of the most popular mobile phone of the year 2000 – the 3310 – ...

Read full article: Nokia rides again

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/nokia-rides-again-2017-02/

Renesas completes Intersil acquisition

Renesas announces the completion of  its acquisition of Intersil. “I am excited to welcome the Intersil employees into the Renesas Group and look forward to building a robust organization that will bring the capabilities of both companies to bear to proactively address changing market dynamics and customer needs,” says Renesas CEO Bunsei Kure,  “with the ...

Read full article: Renesas completes Intersil acquisition

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/renesas-completes-intersil-acquisition-2017-02/

Ed Preps For Article 50

We’re having a lot of fun leaking misinformation to our Continental counterparts about the UK’s Brexit negotiating position, Ed confides to his diary, No.10 have told us, in preparation for triggering Article 50 next month, to spread a bit of alarm and despondency sur le Continong about our negotiating stance, adds Ed, I think the ...

Read full article: Ed Preps For Article 50

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ed-the-serial-ceo/ed-preps-article-50-2017-02/

Government to put £17m into robotics and AI.

The government is to give £17 million to universities to support research into robotics and AI.. “Innovation is at the heart of our Industrial Strategy,” says business secretary Greg Clark, “by investing in dynamic fields such as robotics and AI, we will help put the UK at the forefront of global innovation.” HMG says that ...

Read full article: Government to put £17m into robotics and AI.

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/government-put-17m-robotics-ai-2017-02/

IoT Secure Systems Summit 2017 – Early Bird offer closes soon

If you are interested in learning how to make the Intent of Things more secure, by design, just a quick reminder about the IoT Secure Systems Summit: the Early Bird booking offer, will finish on 28 February. The event, organised by Electronics Weekly in partnership with the IoT Security Foundation, runs on Tuesday 25 April, in ...

Read full article: IoT Secure Systems Summit 2017 – Early Bird offer closes soon

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/site-update/iot-secure-systems-summit-2017-early-bird-offer-closes-soon-2017-02/

Top 10 most popular articles on ElectronicsWeekly.com

Here are the top ten most popular articles on ElectronicsWeekly.com in the last week, with Blu Wireless, quantum mechanics, the iPad2, visualising AI in action and MIPS figuring prominently...

Read full article: Top 10 most popular articles on ElectronicsWeekly.com

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/general-electronics/top-10-popular-articles-electronicsweekly-com-14-2017-02/

How Yamaha Got Into The Semiconductor Business

The static induction transistor was responsible for getting Yamaha into semiconductor manufacturing. Invented by a professor at Tohoku University, Jun’ichi Nishizawa, SITs had the advantage over other transistors in that, when used as audio amplifiers, they didn’t tend to deliver tinny output at higher frequencies. The SITs performed very like vacuum tubes but, as with ...

Read full article: How Yamaha Got Into The Semiconductor Business

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/yamaha-got-semiconductor-business-2017-02/

BeagleBone Black Wireless speeds development

The BeagleBone Black Wireless has on-board 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and there are also two new capes (Display and Wireless)

Read full article: BeagleBone Black Wireless speeds development

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/beagleboard/beaglebone-black-wireless-speeds-development-2017-02/

Waymo sues Uber

Google’s spun off driverless car unit Waymo is suing Uber’s driverless truck subsidiary Otto for stealing its technology. “Recently, we uncovered evidence that Otto and Uber have taken and are using key parts of Waymo’s self-driving technology,” says Waymo, “today, we’re taking legal action against Otto and its parent company Uber for misappropriating Waymo trade ...

Read full article: Waymo sues Uber

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/waymo-sues-uber-2017-02/

Flanders ups Imec grant

Imec has had its funding from the Flanders government increased from €79 million a year to $108 million a year for the next five years. Flanders innovation minister Philippe Muyters said that the extra funding would cover Imec’s task of getting Flemish companies to automate and use big data in the Industry 4.0 transformation. “This ...

Read full article: Flanders ups Imec grant

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/flanders-ups-imec-grant-2017-02/

5nm for 2019, says TSMC

TSMC will start risk production on 5nm in H1 2019, its co-CEO Mark,Liu told the company’s annual supply chain management forum yesterday, reports Digitimes. Risk production on 7nm starts in Q1 2017 with volume production in 2018 10nm production shipments will expand rapidly in H2 2017, said Liu. EUV will start being used at 7nm ...

Read full article: 5nm for 2019, says TSMC

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/5nm-2019-says-tsmc-2017-02/

Infineon DC-DC regulator aimed at Point of Load applications

Infineon is offering a DC-DC regulator aimed at high density Point of Load applications where efficiency, reliability and thermal behavior are important in NetCom, Telecom, Servers and Storage solutions. The voltage regulator employs a stability engine that makes it stable with ceramic capacitors without compensation for an easy design. The device, designated IR3883, can save up ...

Read full article: Infineon DC-DC regulator aimed at Point of Load applications

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/494769-2017-02/

5G Bollox

With new technology, imagination usually takes over from sober assessment when it comes to forecasting deployment time-tables. We saw crazily over-optimistic estimates from Google and Tesla about 2017/2018 introduction of driverless cars. Now responsible techies are saying it’ll be more like 2040 before the general public will be able to own a driverless car which ...

Read full article: 5G Bollox

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/bullshit/5g-bollox-2017-02/

Borophene: a heterjunction appeared out of nowhere

Scientists at the US Northwestern University have accidentally created a semiconductor junction with the newly-discovered material borophane, that might offer a route to determining if it is electronically useful. Borophene is a molecule made of boron atoms. Like graphene, borophene is a two-dimensional sheet-like molecule, but thought to be a better conductor of electrons than ...

Read full article: Borophene: a heterjunction appeared out of nowhere

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/borophene-heterjunction-appeared-nowhere-2017-02/

Fable: The Guy Who Followed His Gut

There was once a brewer’s son who became a Naval lieutenant before founding a company which became a mighty industrial empire. He believed strongly in branding and established his company’s brand name as the world No.1 brand He was so impressed by Maxim’s restaurant in a Paris that he installed replicas in the basement of ...

Read full article: Fable: The Guy Who Followed His Gut

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/fable-guy-followed-gut-2017-02/

TDK-Lambda mentors students in STEM competition, and they win

Engineers from TDK-Lambda UK supported a team of students from The Ilfracombe Academy in the international STEM competition, F1 in Schools. “TDK-Lambda is committed to supporting STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] education. We believe it is vital to address the looming skills gap and our engineers are engaged in a range of activities with ...

Read full article: TDK-Lambda mentors students in STEM competition, and they win

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/tdk-lambda-mentors-students-stem-competition-win-2017-02/

Anyone for ionotronic memory?

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have discovered large uniform reversible changes in electrical resistance as oxygen ions migrate in an oxide material. The discovery could open a route to ionotronic memories. It transpires that potential difference drives oxygen ions away from one electrical contact, causing an abrupt change in oxide lattice structure and an ...

Read full article: Anyone for ionotronic memory?

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/anyone-ionotronic-memory-2017-02/

‘Moth-eye’ film boosts display contrast

AndersDX has has increased all-round display readability with what it calls ‘moth-eye’ film. It has introduced the technology in a 7” capacitive-touch display module. “The moth-eye film surface treatment applied to this TFT display uses technology which mimics the micro-sized lenses in the eye of a moth,” said the firm. “It reduces internal reflections between the ...

Read full article: ‘Moth-eye’ film boosts display contrast

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/displays-2/moth-eye-film-boosts-display-contrast-2017-02/

NXP to sample Layerscape in April for multi-access technologies

In April, NXP intends to sample a family of programmable, multi-standard SoCs for multi-access technologies including 5G. The Layerscape Access family targets wired and wireless enterprise and carrier networks, and home gateway markets.   The first product in the family, the LA1575, solves a multi-standard problem with simultaneous implementation of 802.11ax, 802.11ad, and millimeter wave ...

Read full article: NXP to sample Layerscape in April for multi-access technologies

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/nxp-sample-layerscape-april-multi-access-technologies-2017-02/

BeagleBone Black gets wireless and display for industrial users

Farnell is aiming at industrial users with two ‘cape’ add-on boards for BeagleBone Black: one for wireless comms and another that adds a display. On top of this, is it also now stocking BeagleBone Black Wireless, which has followed Raspberry Pi 3 by adding native Wi-Fi support to a credit card-sized single-board computer. The Wireless ...

Read full article: BeagleBone Black gets wireless and display for industrial users

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/bus-systems-sbcs/beaglebone-black-gets-wireless-display-industrial-users-2017-02/

Cloud spending to top $122bn in 2017

Worldwide spending on cloud services and infrastructure will reach $122.5 billion in 2017, an increase of 24.4% over 2016, says IDC. Over the 2015-2020 forecast period, overall cloud spending will experience a 21.5% CAGR – nearly seven times the rate of overall IT spending growth. By 2020, IDC forecasts cloud spending will reach $203.4 billion ...

Read full article: Cloud spending to top $122bn in 2017

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/cloud-spending-top-122bn-2017-2017-02/

Taiwan leads in fab capacity

Taiwan led all regions in wafer capacity with 21.3% share, a slight decrease from 21.7% in 2015 when the country first became the global wafer capacity leader, says IC Insights. Taiwan was only slightly ahead of South Korea, which was in second place. IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity report shows that South Korea accounted for ...

Read full article: Taiwan leads in fab capacity

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/taiwan-leads-fab-capacity-2017-02/

Intel, UC Berkeley, Honeywell, GE, Ericsson form 5G innovators group

Ericsson, Honeywell, GE, UC Berkeley and Intel are launching the 5G Innovators Initiative (5GI2), an open industry initiative designed to join major equipment manufacturers, leading technology companies, industry leaders and top universities to explore, test and innovate with 5G network and distributed edge technologies to accelerate the adoption of 5G wireless and infrastructure innovation in ...

Read full article: Intel, UC Berkeley, Honeywell, GE, Ericsson form 5G innovators group

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/intel-uc-berkeley-honeywell-ge-ericsson-form-5g-innovators-group-2017-02/

CEVA DSP for multi-gig modems

CEVA has introduced a communication DSP to meet the performance requirements of multi-gigabit class modems. The CEVA-XC12 aims to efficiently implement 5G, gigabit LTE, MU-MIMO Wi-Fi and other multi-gigabit modems. Already licensed to a leading wireless OEM, the CEVA-XC12 delivers up to 8x performance improvement and consumes 50% less power than its predecessor, the CEVA-XC4500, for ...

Read full article: CEVA DSP for multi-gig modems

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/ceva-dsp-multi-gig-modems-2017-02/

Why Would TSMC Bid For Toshiba?

Why on earth would TSMC want to buy Toshiba’s chip business or a share in the business? That TSMC is among the bidders has been reported in the Nikkei. TSMC does not deny the report merely responding that it does not comment on market speculation. There is, of course, one outstanding reason why TSMC would ...

Read full article: Why Would TSMC Bid For Toshiba?

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/tsmc-bid-toshiba-2017-02/

Graphcore visualises artificial intelligence in action

This is what a machine learning algorithm looks like, according to Nigel Toon, CEO of Bristol start-up Graphcore. The false colour image has been created by the firm’s graph compiler software, which untangles neural networks as a prelude to executing them on Graphcore’s as-yet undisclosed hardware. “In software, we explode the full graph, with all ...

Read full article: Graphcore visualises artificial intelligence in action

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/software-products/graphcore-visualises-artificial-intelligence-action-2017-02/

The Internet of Risky Things: When things betray their owners…

In an excerpt from his new book, The Internet of Risky Things, Professor Sean Smith considers what can happen When Things Betray Their Owners...

Read full article: The Internet of Risky Things: When things betray their owners…

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/consumer-electronics/internet-risky-things-things-betray-owners-2017-02/

Calling Bullshit

In a world of fake news, lying politicians and a biased mainstream media it is more and more important to be able to tell truth from falsehood. The only person we can trust is ourselves. The only judgment on which we can rely is our own judgment. Where there are few trustworthy sources of information ...

Read full article: Calling Bullshit

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/bullshit/calling-bullshit-2017-02/

Hydronium-ion battery mooted for grid storage

Hydronium-ion batteries show promise for sustainable high-power energy storage, according to scientists at Oregon State University, which claims to have developed the world’s first battery to use only hydronium (H3O+) ions as the charge carrier. The hydronium ions are reversibly stored in an electrode made from the organic crystalline solid perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydridem (PTCDA). Dilute sulphuric acid is the electrolyte. ...

Read full article: Hydronium-ion battery mooted for grid storage

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/power-supplies/hydronium-ion-battery-mooted-grid-storage-2017-02/

MWC: Modular 5G antenna stacks for high data rate

Taoglas has unveiled its series of modular 5G massive MIMO antenna arrays. The new antennas – including the 5-6GHz Adaptrix CMM200.A (pictured) – feature a patent-pending, modular interlocking system (not shown) to help operators scale capacity  – when more capacity or speed is needed at a location, another module is clipped to the side of ...

Read full article: MWC: Modular 5G antenna stacks for high data rate

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/rf-microwave-optoelectronics/mwc-modular-5g-antenna-stacks-high-data-rate-2017-02/

Toshiba sampling 64-layer 512Gbit 3D NAND

Toshiba is sampling 64-layer 3-bit-per cell 512Gbit 3D NAND. Mass production is scheduled for H2. In April Toshiba plans to sample a  1Tbyte product which stacks 16 512Gbit die in a package. For the 512Gbit device, Toshiba deployed a 64-layer stacking process to realize a 65% larger capacity per unit chip size than the 48-layer 256Gbit ...

Read full article: Toshiba sampling 64-layer 512Gbit 3D NAND

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-sampling-64-layer-512gbit-3d-nand-2017-02/

Raspberry Pi, now we are five

Memorably, the Raspberry Pi was born to the world on 29 February, 2012, which makes it kind of hard to exactly match it’s birthday each year. Note in your diary that this year’s official celebration, by the Raspberry Pi foundation, takes place over the weekend of 4-5 March. It’s been dubbed the Raspberry Pi Big ...

Read full article: Raspberry Pi, now we are five

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/raspberry-pi-gadget-master/raspberry-pi-now-five-2017-02/

ARM invests in Blu Witeless

Blu Wireless Technology, the Bristol WiGig specialist, has received a significant investment from ARM and other strategic and private investors. This will allow the companies’ mutual customers to deploy high performance mmWave and software defined networks (SDN) demanded for the cost-effective deployment of the forthcoming 5G standard. 10Gbps-class mmWave modems based on the Blu Wireless ...

Read full article: ARM invests in Blu Witeless

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/494599-2017-02/

Intel reveals Atom processors with up to 16 cores

Intel has release some details of its forthcoming C3000 Atom processors. Designed for network and storage products, the family provides up to 16 compute cores for a claimed increase of up to 2.3x compute performance compared with the previous-generation C2750 Atom. In addition, up to 19Mpacket/s of Layer 3 forwarding is available. “Unique features for the intelligent network edge ...

Read full article: Intel reveals Atom processors with up to 16 cores

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/micros/intel-reveals-atom-processors-16-cores-2017-02/

Q1server DRAM price up 40% q-o-q

The Q1 contract price for server DRAM modules is 40% up on Q4, reports DRAMeXchange. The price is expected to rise another 10% in Q2. The price of 16GB DDR4 RDIMM modules will hit $130, says DRAMeXchange. Demand was unexpectedly high in H2, says DRAMeXchange. With the number of major suppliers down to only three ...

Read full article: Q1server DRAM price up 40% q-o-q

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/q1server-dram-price-40-q-o-q-2017-02/

DRAM price up 40% q-o-q

The Q1 contract price for server DRAM modules is 40% up on Q4, reports DRAMeXchange. The price is expected to rise another 10% in Q2. The price of 16GB DDR4 RDIMM modules will hit $130, says DRAMeXchange. Demand was unexpectedly high in H2, says DRAMeXchange. With the number of major suppliers down to only three ...

Read full article: DRAM price up 40% q-o-q

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/dram-price-40-q-o-q-2017-02/

Ten Worst Tech Villains Of 2016

Here they are – The Top Ten Tech Villains Of 2016: Lithium-Ion Hackers Fake News Inflated Claims Mobile Network Connectivity Value-Destructive M&A Predatory China Decline In Blue-Skies R&D IPO Dearth Cost Of Scaling

Read full article: Ten Worst Tech Villains Of 2016

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ten-worst/ten-worst-tech-villains-2016-2017-02/

Book review: Ladybird book of Quantum Mechanics

A friend bought me a neat book: Quantum Mechanics (A Ladybird Expert Book), written by physicist and broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili. While it is never going to teach you anything analytical, it will give you some about what the subject is, who the pioneers of quantum theory were, and how they interacted. I had no idea that ...

Read full article: Book review: Ladybird book of Quantum Mechanics

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/book-review-ladybird-book-quantum-mechanics-2017-02/

A Face In A Crowd

The next killer App will be holding up your phone to a face in a crowd and being told who it is. Would you object to that? Would you use that? Has your attitude to it changed in recent years? Back in 2012, when Facebook bought Israeli face recognition firm face.com, there was a widespread ...

Read full article: A Face In A Crowd

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/a-face-in-a-crowd-2017-02/

Secure Systems Summit 2017 – Designing in security

Connecting millions of electronic devices is creating significant security risks, and designing in security from day one is becoming ever-more crucial. Developers now recognise that the Internet of things (IoT) will only operate successfully if it becomes the Internet of trusted things. A key message at the Secure Systems Summit 2017 will be the importance ...

Read full article: Secure Systems Summit 2017 – Designing in security

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/secure-systems-summit-2017-designing-security-2017-02/

Ultrahaptics teams up with HARMAN for automotive haptic-touch

Mid-air touch-free haptics company, Ultrahaptics, has announced a collaboration with HARMAN  to incorporate mid-air gesture haptic feedback technology into a range of infotainment and audio systems.  HARMAN  is involved in connected car technology, lifestyle audio innovations, design and analytics, cloud services and IoT. There are more than 30 million vehicles currently equipped with HARMAN’s connected car ...

Read full article: Ultrahaptics teams up with HARMAN for automotive haptic-touch

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/ultrahaptics-teams-harman-automotive-haptics-2017-02/

GloFo 45nm RF SOI PDK available

Globalfoundries has announced the availability of PDKs for its 45nm RF SOI (45RFSOI) to support next mmWave beam forming applications in future 5G base stations and smartphones. The technology is optimized for beam forming front-end modules (FEMs), with back-end-of-line (BEOL) features including thick copper and dielectrics that enable improved RF performance for LNAs, switches and ...

Read full article: GloFo 45nm RF SOI PDK available

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/glofo-45nm-rf-soi-pdk-available-2017-02/

Xilinx integrates analogue RF into MPSoCs

Xilinx has integrated RF-class analogue technology into its 16nm MPSoCs resulting in a family of RFSoCs which eliminate discrete data converters resulting, claims Xilinx, in a 50-75% power and footprint reduction for 5G massive-MIMO and millimeter wave wireless backhaul applications. Large scale 2D antenna array systems will be key to the increase in spectral efficiency ...

Read full article: Xilinx integrates analogue RF into MPSoCs

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/xilinx-integrates-analouge-rf-mpsocs-2017-02/

Toshiba now looking for $8.8bn+ from chip sale.

Toshiba is now looking to raise $8.8 billion plus from the sale of a stake in, or all of, its chip business, reports Reuters. Although Toshiba’s preference would be to retain 30% of the business, it is prepared to sell all of it because Toshiba’s priority is to raise the $6.3 billion needed to cover ...

Read full article: Toshiba now looking for $8.8bn+ from chip sale.

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-now-looking-8-8bn-chip-sale-2017-02/

Altreonics ports VirtuosoNext DesignerRTOS to Sundance OpenVPX SBC.

Altreonic’s multicore VirtuosoNext Designer embedded RTOS has been ported to Sundance Technology’s VF360 3U OpenVPX single board computer (SBC). The Sundance board integrates a TI C6678 Keystone multicore DSP alongside an Altera Stratix V FPGA. VirtuosoNext Designer is Altreonic’s fifth generation embedded RTOS which is small enough to fit in on-chip caches. It also supports ...

Read full article: Altreonics ports VirtuosoNext DesignerRTOS to Sundance OpenVPX SBC.

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/alteronics-ports-virtuosonext-designerrtos-sundance-openvpx-sbc-2017-02/

Flight Simulation For School Kids

Among the attractions at the National Schoolboys’ Own Exhibition at Olympia, which opened last Tuesday, is a simulated flight in an RAF jet transport. So, 56 years ago, opened a story in Electronics Weekly’s edition of December 28th 1960. The story continues: Thirty-five boys at a time can be accommodated in a mock-up fuselage built ...

Read full article: Flight Simulation For School Kids

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/flight-simulation-school-kids-2017-02/

The Top 100 VCs

  CB Insights has come up with a methodology to determine who are the best VCs. The  factors taken into account are: An investor’s exits – the frequency/volume, size, and stage of entry Network centrality – connectivity to other investors. Think of it as akin to Google Pagerank. Consistency – stage, industry consistency of investments ...

Read full article: The Top 100 VCs

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/start-ups/494379-2017-02/

Apple buys face recognition firm

In a move reminiscent of Facebook’s 2012 purchase of Israeli facial recognition company face.com, Apple is reported to have bought another Israeli facial recognition company called RealFace. The expectation with the Facebook purchase was that it would match it to its vast library of people photos to create a mobile phone killer app which would ...

Read full article: Apple buys face recognition firm

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/apple-buys-face-recognition-firm-2017-02/

Semcon enables smart wipers

Semcon, the Swedish product development company, has developed a software upgrade for cars which pre-activates windscreen when a heavy splash of water is about to hit the windscreen. 61% of US drivers feel uncomfortable when overtaking heavy vehicles in wet conditions, says Semcon. Half of these say it is because an encounter with or takeover ...

Read full article: Semcon enables smart wipers

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/494479-2017-02/

Connector works at high pressure for oil and gas

Smiths Connectors has created a high pressure high temperature connector series for the oil and gas industry. Called Vortex, the single-way connectors are designed for logging-while-drilling (LWD), measurement-while-drilling (LWD) and wire-line applications. With a mating boot and Hypertac  hyperboloid contacts, they work at 200°C, 35,000PSI, 500gravity shock and 10gravity vibration while mated. “The series provides exceptional ...

Read full article: Connector works at high pressure for oil and gas

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/connectors/connector-works-high-pressure-oil-gas-2017-02/

Room temperature transport of spin information achieved

  Researchers at the Technical University of Munich, the Walther-Meißner-Institute (WMI) and Kyoto University have demonstrated the transport of spin information at room temperature. In their experiment, they demonstrated the production, transport and detection of electronic spins in the boundary layer between the materials lanthanum-aluminate (LaAlO2) and strontium-titanate (SrTiO3). What makes this material system unique ...

Read full article: Room temperature transport of spin information achieved

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/room-temperature-transport-spin-information-achieved-2017-02/

Ed Prepares To Short With A Hedgie

.My Hedgie chum has proposed a wheeze, Ed confides to his diary, it has become apparent, though not yet public, that some of the government contracts managed by private companies have been delinquent. A couple of these are public companies and the Hedgie, an old university pal, asked me the other day over lunch what ...

Read full article: Ed Prepares To Short With A Hedgie

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ed-the-serial-ceo/ed-prepares-short-hedgie-2017-02/

Harvard improves linear light engine range

Harvard Technology has There are three: Elite 170 lm/W (pictured) “Market-leading lumens per watt output”, is claimed as is colour consistency – with 1/4 bin or up to single bin solutions. The range includes our GEN III LER1-4 products. Pro 160 lm/W Off-the-shelf. All whites from 2,700 to 5,000K available. Classic 145 lm/W Standard T5-T8 replacement led light ...

Read full article: Harvard improves linear light engine range

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/harvard-improved-linear-light-engine-range-2017-02/

Frontier Silicon picks Coderus for mobile media playback software

UK DAB radio chip firm Frontier Silicon has selected mobile media playback software from Suffolk-based Coderus’ to streaming user media to products using Frontier’s Undok multi-room audio system. As a part of this agreement, Coderus also provided the integration services of their ‘local media playback’ capability into Frontier Silicon’s existing Undok audio streaming app – ...

Read full article: Frontier Silicon picks Coderus for mobile media playback software

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/frontier-silicon-picks-coderus-mobile-media-playback-software-2017-02/

ISSCC: DC-DC transient errors cut

Two key ISSCC papers show how DC-DC converter performance can be pushed to new heights Simple linear assistance can cut transient errors in DC-DC converters without wrecking stability, according to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. It described a 30MHz DC-DC converter at the IEEE International Solid State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) in San ...

Read full article: ISSCC: DC-DC transient errors cut

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/isscc-dc-dc-transient-errors-cut-2017-02/

ISSCC: Audio amp gets after-filter feedback

The LC output filters of Class-D audio amplifiers can be simplified if overall feedback is applied to the amplifier – ‘after‑filter’ feedback. Stabilising such systems is notoriously complex. Step forward NXP, which at ISSCC 2017 described a five‑channel 80W/channel audio amplifier for automotive use. To achieve stability, it has integrated low-latency ΔΣ ADCs, each consuming ...

Read full article: ISSCC: Audio amp gets after-filter feedback

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/audio-amp-gets-after-filter-feedback-2017-02/

Ten ARM cores in 10nm chip

Details of the first 10nm microprocessor were revealed in Session 3 at ISSCC  when MediaTek unveiled a chip with 10 ARMv8A cores of three different types: 2.8GHz Cortex-A73s for speed, Cortex-CA53 for low power and Cortex‑CA35 for ultra-low power. Voltage scaling for the cores, the subject of ISSCC Paper 3.4, is so agile that the firm ...

Read full article: Ten ARM cores in 10nm chip

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/ten-arm-cores-in-10nm-chip-2017-02/

How to kick-start a crystal oscillator

ISSCC paper describes a new technique for managing the adjustment of load capacitance Starting a crystal oscillator fast in an IoT node is an art: the high Q needed for stability means they take milliseconds to get going, just to transmit a 128μs Bluetooth LE packet, and power is at a premium. A team from ...

Read full article: How to kick-start a crystal oscillator

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/how-to-kick-start-a-crystal-oscillator-2017-02/

The Birth Of The Broadcast

At the beginning of 1921, the use for telephone and telegraph wires was seen as being point-to-point communications. By the end of the year, that had changed. All because a young exec at RCA saw an opportunity. It was the year of the Georges Carpentier – Jack Dempsey fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the ...

Read full article: The Birth Of The Broadcast

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/the-birth-of-broadcasting-2017-02/

MWC: Rohde & Schwarz drives 5G test in the 28GHz band

It seems likely that the first 5G network deployments will be in the 28GHz band in the US and South Korea. This jump in frequency, bandwidth and complexity for design of the radio access network  will require new test capabilities, says Rohde & Schwarz, which will show its 5G coverage measurement demonstrator at Mobile World ...

Read full article: MWC: Rohde & Schwarz drives 5G test in the 28GHz band

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/mwc-rohde-schwarz-drives-5g-test-28ghz-band-2017-02/

Kaspersky warns on connected cars

The connected car makes it possible to remotely obtain the location coordinates of a vehicle as well as its route, to open doors, start the engine and control additional in-car devices, says Kaspersky Labs. Kaspersky has come up with four recommendation for connected car users to protect themselves from cyber-interference: · Don’t root your Android ...

Read full article: Kaspersky warns on connected cars

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/kaspersky-warns-connected-cars-2017-02/

MWC: Cobham to demo first software-defined 5G phone simulator

Cobham Wireless will demonstrate what it claims is industry’s first software-defined 5G user equipment (UE) simulator, based on Verizon’s open 5G standard and down-linking at up to 10Gbit/s, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona – and it has an IoT simulator – see below. “Virtualising the solution provides operators with the flexibility to test technology and ...

Read full article: MWC: Cobham to demo first software-defined 5G phone simulator

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/mwc-cobham-demo-first-software-defined-5g-phone-simulator-2017-02/

Infineon-Wolfspeed deal looks off

Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss says he does not expect the company’s $850 million bid for Cree’s SiC and GaN power semiconductor unit Wolfspeed to go ahead. There is “a very significant risk that we will not be able to complete the takeover as planned or possibly even at all”, said Ploss at Infineon’s results meeting ...

Read full article: Infineon-Wolfspeed deal looks off

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/infineon-wolfspeed-deal-looks-off-2017-02/

China foundry ponders FD-SOI

China silicon foundry Shanghai Huali Microelectronics (HLMC) is considering whether to adopt FD-SOI reports Digitimes. HLMC, owned by the Shanghai local government, has a CMOS development programme with Imec and makes ICs for MediaTek. It views FD-SOI as a low-cost alternative to finfet. Consumer applications, where China fabless design companies typically focus, are often more ...

Read full article: China foundry ponders FD-SOI

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/china-foundry-ponders-fd-soi-2017-02/

Chairman for Cardiff Cluster Catapult

President of SPTS, Kevin Crofton, has been appointed chairman of the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult. “Crofton added: “I look forward to helping to guide the Catapult’s vital contribution to the compound semiconductor industry in the UK,” says Crofton, ““we expect the Catapult to bridge some of the primary research, development and test challenges that exist ...

Read full article: Chairman for Cardiff Cluster Catapult

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/chairman-cardiff-cluster-catapult-2017-02/

Panasonic moots terahertz space links for satellites and aircraft

Japanese researchers have built a transmitter capable 105Gbit/s over a single 290-315GHz channel. Last year, the same group demonstrated QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) at 300GHz to enhance data rate. “This year, they showed six times higher per-channel data rate, exceeding 100Gbit/s for the first time as an integrated-circuit-based transmitter,” said Panasonic, which worked with Hiroshima ...

Read full article: Panasonic moots terahertz space links for satellites and aircraft

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/panasonic-moots-terahertz-space-links-satellites-aircraft-2017-02/

Intel Out-Spends Everyone On R&D

Intel continued to top all other chip companies in R&D expenditures in 2016 with spending that reached $12.7 billion and represented 22.4% of its semiconductor sales last year, says IC Insights. Intel accounted for 36% of the top-10 R&D spending and about 23% of the $56.5 billion total worldwide semiconductor R&D expenditures in 2016.   ...

Read full article: Intel Out-Spends Everyone On R&D

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/markets/intel-spends-everyone-rd-2017-02/

Making (mm)Waves in Test Strategy

Download the National Instruments RFIC white paper series

Read full article: Making (mm)Waves in Test Strategy

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/making-mmwaves-test-strategy-2017-02/

Internet attacks more than double in a year

Large-scale distributed denial of service (DDoS) internet attacks increased 140% year-over-year from Q4 2015, according to the Q4 2016 ‘state of the internet’ security report from Massachusetts content delivery network firm Akamai Technologies, which carries a significant proportion of global web traffic. It uses data gathered by its own software to analyse threats to cloud ...

Read full article: Internet attacks more than double in a year

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/internet-attacks-double-year-2017-02/

EU staff get reassurance over Brexit

Paul Mullen, managing director of Anders Electronics, tells Electronics Weekly how he has had to reassure his staff from the EU that Brexit will not affect their right to work for the company.

Read full article: EU staff get reassurance over Brexit

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/eu-staff-get-reassurance-brexit-2017-02/

Panasonic introduces range of small, low-loss metallised polypropylene film capacitors

The small low-loss metallised polypropylene film capacitors for active filters, high frequency circuits and high current circuits.

Read full article: Panasonic introduces range of small, low-loss metallised polypropylene film capacitors

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/passives-products/panasonic-introduces-range-small-low-loss-metallised-polypropylene-film-capacitors-2017-02/

Fable: The Revolutionary

A TI-er who became a GI-er gained a fearsome reputation for spotting flaws in presentations. He came up with a new business model and, with Philips, used it to found a jv semiconductor start-up which became one of the industry’s greatest companies. The company based itself on the fundamental principle of achieving process excellence and ...

Read full article: Fable: The Revolutionary

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/fable/fable-the-revolutionary-2017-02/

Lemo launches right-angled broadcast connector

Lemo will launch the Anglissimo range of rotatable right-angled connectors at the Broadcast Video Expo 2017. The connectors are intended to simplify assembly when they are plugged in by offering eight different cable exit angles, selected by partially dismantling the plug. They incorporate the firm’s ‘push pull’ action is included – pushing to mate, but ...

Read full article: Lemo launches right-angled broadcast connector

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/connectors/494324-2017-02/

Micro LED record claimed as Photonics West

French research lab Leti is claiming a micro-LED pixelation and resolution record at Photonics West: 873 x 500 and 10μm pixel pitch. Designed for augmented-reality, virtual-reality and wearables, the blue or green GaN/InGaN µLED arrays use Leti’s proprietary self-aligned technology. This article was first published on 6th Feb, without images, which Leti has now sourced for ...

Read full article: Micro LED record claimed as Photonics West

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/micro-led-record-claimed-photonics-west-2017-02/

Browser-based PCB review from EasyLogix

EasyLogix has enabled browser-based PCB design optimisation in version 8 of its PCB-Investigator – CAD/ CAM software developed specifically for review of electronic assemblies during development. For the first time, it can be accessed via a browser interface without the need for local installation. “By using the ODB++ data format, the PCB-Investigator creates a common ...

Read full article: Browser-based PCB review from EasyLogix

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/eda-and-ip/browser-based-pcb-review-easylogix-2017-02/

Cypress makes HDMI over USB-C possible

Taiwan’s Elka International has announced the first HDMI Alternate Mode cable, which allows phones, cameras and set-top boxes with USB-C video outputs to connect with HDMI port-equipped displays, including HD and 4K TVs, according to Cypress Semi. “All HD and 4K televisions include HDMI connections, but previously connecting USB-C enabled source devices required adapters or ...

Read full article: Cypress makes HDMI over USB-C possible

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/connectors/cypress-makes-hdmi-usb-c-possible-2017-02/

Renesas joins industrial Linux organisation

Renesas has joined the Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP) project, which provides a base layer for industrial-grade open-source software for civil infrastructure. CIP was launched in April 2016 as a cooperative project of the Linux Foundation. By participating in the project as a semiconductor supplier, the first to do so, Renesas aims to reduce development and ...

Read full article: Renesas joins industrial Linux organisation

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/software-products/renesas-joins-industrial-linux-organisation-2017-02/

Toshiba may delay chip sale for a year

Toshiba has now decided to accept being insolvent at the end of its financial year in March and delay the sale of its chip business. The insolvency would have implications for its stock market status. Apparently Toshiba feels it will get the most money if it delays the sale beyond April because the best bids ...

Read full article: Toshiba may delay chip sale for a year

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-may-delay-chip-sale-year-2017-02/

Trillium raises Series A for driverless car security

Two year-old, Tokyo-based start-up Trillium which aims to close the cyber-security gap threatening  self-driving cars, has completed its Series A financing round with investments by Global Brain, Mizuho Capital and DBJ Capital. Trillium designs and provides custom, multi-layer adaptive cyber-security systems, focused on automotive – but applicable  to IoT in general “With funding now in ...

Read full article: Trillium raises Series A for driverless car security

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/trillium-raises-series-driverless-car-security-2017-02/

Atomico raises $765m VC fund

Atomico  has raised a $765 million VC fund  – Atomico IV – which will focus on European start-ups from Series A onwards. ‘Raising a fund of this size is testament to the growing confidence in European tech,’ says Atomico. There are 4.7 million professional developers in Europe and more than 20% of European MBA graduates ...

Read full article: Atomico raises $765m VC fund

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/atomico-raises-765m-vc-fund-2017-02/

FIDO replaces passwords

Fujitsu Labs has developed a technology that enables safe use of cloud services using the biometric authentication functionality of smartphones and near-field wireless functionality. With existing ID and password systems, users have to manage multiple IDs and passwords which make the authentication process cumbersome. FIDO technology enables biometric authentication of a cloud service’s user without ...

Read full article: FIDO replaces passwords

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/494259-2017-02/

Good Old iPad2

I’m a great fan of the iPad, I have three of them, and find them immensely more convenient for the sort of things I do than a laptop. So in one way it’s a bit of a surprise to see its unit shipments still slipping. In Q4, Apple sold 13.3 million iPads which is 19% ...

Read full article: Good Old iPad2

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/good-old-ipad2-2017-02/

Airbus aids America’s Cup yacht design

Airbus has provided the control system that keeps Oracle Team USA’s Americas Cup sailing boat on its hydrofoils. “The innovative control system on this boat is adapted from the aerospace world,” said Oracle team USA MD Grant Simmer. “This hydraulics control system allow us to actively control the foils and overall stability of the yacht ...

Read full article: Airbus aids America’s Cup yacht design

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/airbus-aids-americas-cup-yacht-design-2017-02/

Picture of the day: 104 satellites launched on single ISRO rocket

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launches 104 satellites on a single rocket, overtaking the record for 37 satellites launched by Russia, in 2014.

Read full article: Picture of the day: 104 satellites launched on single ISRO rocket

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/picture-of-the-day/picture-of-the-day-104-satellites-launched-on-single-isro-rocket-2017-02/

Conference calls can be hacked via Android OS

Criminals can gain a treasure trove of sensitive information by listening in to board meetings, suggest security researchers at Context Information Security, who have shown that some conference phone systems might be at risk from hackers. The Context team managed to gain root access and take full control of a voice and video conference setup, ...

Read full article: Conference calls can be hacked via Android OS

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/conference-calls-can-hacked-via-android-os-2017-02/

Wild And Woolly

ARM’s guys and girls must be wondering what has hit them. Five months after Softbank bought ARM last July for $32 billion – 43% more than ARM’s pre-bid market cap – Softbank’s boss, Massa Son, turned up in post-election Washington in December saying he’d invest $50 billion in the US to create 50,000 jobs while ...

Read full article: Wild And Woolly

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/shenanigans/wild-and-woolly-2017-02/

IoT Secure Systems Summit 2017 – coming in April

Our one-day event will cover the challenges and solutions for hardware and software security, particularly in the context of the IoT.

Read full article: IoT Secure Systems Summit 2017 – coming in April

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/site-update/iot-secure-systems-summit-2017-coming-april-2017-02/

India launches 104 satellites in a single shot

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is claiming a record: 104 satellites launched on a single rocket. Taking off this week, it was the 39th flight for the country’s India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) design, with ISRO’s own 714kg Cartosat-2 earth observation satellite as its primary payload. Sharing the ride were 103 nano satellites ...

Read full article: India launches 104 satellites in a single shot

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/india-launches-104-satellites-single-shot-2017-02/

Chip isolates 3Φ motor for automotive safety

Allegro has introduced an n-channel mosfet driver intended to isolate a three phase load in safety-critical automotive systems such as electronic power steering and electric braking. It is called A6862, aimed specifically at Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) requirements, and is supplied with what the firm describes as ‘detailed safety documentation’. “In safety critical applications ...

Read full article: Chip isolates 3Φ motor for automotive safety

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/power-supplies/chip-isolates-3%cf%86-motor-automotive-safety-2017-02/

Top Ten (+15) Countries With Good Future Potential

The Indigo methodology for determining the future potential of countries has come up with its annual ranking. The methodology looks at five indices: . Stability & Legal Framework . Creativity & Innovation . Economic Diversity . Digital Economy . Freedom The top 25 countries with the most positive future potential are:

Read full article: Top Ten (+15) Countries With Good Future Potential

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ten-best/top-ten-10-countries-good-bad-future-potential-2017-02/

Liquid metal turns elastomer into a heatsink

Adding a liquid metal to a silicone elastomer can create a rubbery heatsink, which has been nicknamed ‘thubber’. The important characteristics are: <100kPa stiffness 9.8W/mK conductivity 6x extension capability electrical insulation “Our combination of high thermal conductivity and elasticity is especially critical for rapid heat dissipation in applications such as wearable computing and soft robotics, ...

Read full article: Liquid metal turns elastomer into a heatsink

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/liquid-metal-turns-elastomer-heatsink-2017-02/

Consumers will see a plastic revolution

A new report says it is possible that plastic electronics technology is set to revolutionise parts of the consumer electronics industry, with lower costs, lower energy consumption during manufacture and increased sustainability. InnovationDB, the licensable IP technology database company, has carried out a study of the production, development and application of plastic electronics. CEO of InnovationDB, Gerald Law, writes: ...

Read full article: Consumers will see a plastic revolution

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/consumers-will-see-plastic-revolution-2017-02/

Ultra-portable spectrum analyser works with a tablet

Anritsu has introduced an ultra-portable millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum analyser range. Called Spectrum Master MS2760A, the family includes variants that will work in 5G and E-band spectra. Behind the small size (155 x 84 x 27mm 255g) is Anritsu’s ‘shockline’ non-linear transmission line (NLTL) technology. 802.11ad/WiGig, satellite comms, electronic warfare and automotive radar applications are also foreseen. ...

Read full article: Ultra-portable spectrum analyser works with a tablet

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/ultra-portable-spectrum-analyser-works-tablet-2017-02/

MeArm grabs robotic arm control for the Raspberry Pi

Check out the MeArm, a kit that brings robotic arm control to the Raspberry Pi, and it's aimed at kids.

Read full article: MeArm grabs robotic arm control for the Raspberry Pi

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/raspberry-pi-gadget-master/mearm-grabs-robotic-arm-control-for-the-raspberry-pi-2017-02/

A Thorny Q.

The Chinese must be salivating at the thought – in one swift move they can pick up the world’s finest non-volatile memory company for a song. If the best bid for 30% of Toshiba’s chip business is $3.6 billion – and it is said that Toshiba has received such a bid – then the price ...

Read full article: A Thorny Q.

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/whither-tosh-2017-02/

MIT recognises speach for

MIT researchers have built a low-power chip for automatic speech recognition, requiring 200μW to 10mW depending on the number of words it has to recognise, said the University, which is looking at IoT applications. “Speech input will become a natural interface for many wearable applications and intelligent devices,” said Professor Anantha Chandrakasan, whose group developed ...

Read full article: MIT recognises speach for <10mW

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/speech-recogniser-draws-2017-02/

Microsemi brings out flash-based FPGAs with 12.7Gbps transceivers

Microsemi has come out with a family of flash-based FPGAs with densities up to 500k LUTs with low power and low cost.

Read full article: Microsemi brings out flash-based FPGAs with 12.7Gbps transceivers

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/microsemi-brings-flash-based-fpgas-12-7gbps-transceivers-2017-02/

Microchip certifies zigbee with PRO and Green Power

Microchip is claiming an industry first by combining Zigbee PRO and Green Power features in a platform, and getting it certified by the Zigbee Alliance. “This software stack, and corresponding BitCloud 4.0 software development kit [SDK], is ideal for the design of home automation, commercial lighting, smart energy and IoT applications, said the firm. “Together ...

Read full article: Microchip certifies zigbee with PRO and Green Power

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/microchip-certifies-zigbee-pro-green-power-2017-02/

Toshiba considering total sell off of chip business

Toshiba is now considering a total sell off of its chip business according to the company’s president Satoshi Tsunakawa speaking to a press conference in Japan this morning. Until today, Toshiba had only offered to sell a 29.9% share in its chip business for which it is said to have been offered as much as ...

Read full article: Toshiba considering total sell off of chip business

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/chips-and-beer/bristol/toshiba-considering-total-sell-off-chip-business-2017-02/

Internet makes design social, says Arrow

Online services distributors are offering engineers are not that different from the types of internet activity we are seeing in consumer retailing and social media, writes Dean Hassell Internet-based services for professional engineering activities such as electronic product design are evolving every bit as quickly and radically as consumer-oriented online services. When we asked designers ...

Read full article: Internet makes design social, says Arrow

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/internet-makes-design-social-says-arrow-2017-02/

Queen opens National Cyber Security Centre

Today the Queen formally opens the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in London. Part of GCHQ and initiated last year,  it will be the UK’s authority on cyber security. “Our main purpose is to reduce the cyber security risk to the UK by improving its cyber security and cyber resilience.” said the organisation. It brings ...

Read full article: Queen opens National Cyber Security Centre

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/information-technology/queen-opens-national-cyber-security-centre-2017-02/

Fraen gets US patent for colour-mixing zoom lens

Fraen has been awarded US patent 9,411,083 for its colour-mixing zoom optics for leds. This two-part optical system has been mentioned in ths blog before, working with Led Engin LZ7 seven-colour leds, with which it zooms between: +/-29° (to 50%) and 0.7cd/lm to +/-3.5° and 14cd/lm Colour mixes in the narrow rod, and the end ...

Read full article: Fraen gets US patent for colour-mixing zoom lens

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/fraen-gets-us-patent-colour-mixing-zoom-lens-2017-02/

Bristol GaN gate driver is the fastest by 10x

As part of its research into GaN transistor power supplies, the University of Bristol has created the fastest active gate driver reported so far

Read full article: Bristol GaN gate driver is the fastest by 10x

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/bristol-gan-gate-driver-fastest-10x-2017-02/

Here comes Dedrone killer

Yesterday, Dedrone, a security company which develops software to detect drones and protect airspace from drone threats, announced a $15 million Series B funding round, led both by Felicis Ventures and through a personal investment from John Chambers, Exec. Chairman of Cisco. Dedrone is a San Francisco-based software security company specialising in protecting airspace from ...

Read full article: Here comes Dedrone killer

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/494067-2017-02/

First UK Restaurant To Have Electronic Ordering

Scottish restaurant has electronic order system Edinburgh is first in Britain This was the headline, 56 years ago, on a story in Electronics Weekly’s edition of December 28th 1960. The story continues: An electronic ordering and control system for restaurant use, believed to be the first in Britain has been put into use in Edinburgh ...

Read full article: First UK Restaurant To Have Electronic Ordering

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/first-uk-restaurant-electronic-ordering-2017-02/

Nested colimators make narrow beams from CoBs

Lens maker Fraen has again applied its nested collimator intellectual property, this time to a 50mm diameter optics that will fit in MR16 applications – the earlier 75mm types are aimed at PAR20s. +/-6° beams, or narrower, can be expected from CoBs with a light emitting surface unser 6.5mm across. Applications are expected in architecture, ...

Read full article: Nested colimators make narrow beams from CoBs

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/nested-colimators-make-narrow-beams-cobs-2017-02/

Colour-mixing collimators with narrow beams

Gaggione has created a range of colour-mixing 45mm collimators. Using a patented technology, according to the firm, it is achieves the narrowest available beams combined with state of the art colour mixing capabilities. “Designed to match most demanding RGBW or human-centric light applications, it also provides a significant breakthrough with single or multi-chip white LEDS,” ...

Read full article: Colour-mixing collimators with narrow beams

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/colour-mixing-collimators-narrow-beams-2017-02/

IoT: Case studies on fog computing and the Intel IoT Kit

Check out a couple of new whitepapers on the site relating to IoT and networking. They're from Intel and cover fog computing and the Intel IoT Kit.

Read full article: IoT: Case studies on fog computing and the Intel IoT Kit

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/site-update/iot-case-studies-fog-computing-intel-iot-kit-2017-02/

Only Connect: On the history of electrical wire

Welcome to another post in the series by Nick Locke, of Nicab Ltd, who has more than 15 years experience in the electronics manufacturing industry specialising in interconnection cable assembly. This week marks the 170th birthday of Thomas Edison inventor and all-round scientific superstar. But where would we be without the humble electrical wire? It’s often overlooked ...

Read full article: Only Connect: On the history of electrical wire

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/connect-history-electrical-wire-2017-02/

Ubuntu smart home platform for Raspberry Pi

Canonical, openHAB Foundation and Azul Systems have launched the snap packaging of openHAB 2.0, a free open smart home platform that acts as a control hub for home IoT setups. The smart home software can be used with different hardware ranging from a PC to Raspberry Pi. It can be used to control, automate and ...

Read full article: Ubuntu smart home platform for Raspberry Pi

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/distribution-world/ubuntu-smart-home-platform-raspberry-pi-2017-02/

Profile: Restructured Imagination focusses on PowerVR, MIPS and wireless IP

Imagination Technologies is back on track, and focusing on intellectual property licencing, according to CEO Andrew Heath.

Read full article: Profile: Restructured Imagination focusses on PowerVR, MIPS and wireless IP

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/profile-restructured-imagination-focusses-powervr-mips-wireless-ip-2017-02/

Coventor and Imec link on virtual fabrication

Coventor, the supplier of virtual fabrication technology for ICs and MEMS, has worked with a team from Imec to compare the effects of variability on different semiconductor fabrication processes. Coventor and its customers use virtual fabrication to deepen the understanding of what’s required to incorporate new lithography technologies. Coventor has conducted a series of studies ...

Read full article: Coventor and Imec link on virtual fabrication

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/coventor-imec-link-2017-02/

ARM Q4 revenues up.

ARM had Q4 revenues of £402 million compared to £266 million for Q3. Licensing revenue was £169 million, royalty revenue was £210 million and software and services revenue was £23 million. EBITDA was £234 million. The UK staffing level was 1853 in Q4 up from 1770 in Q3.   When SoftBank bought ARM last June ...

Read full article: ARM Q4 revenues up.

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/arm-q4-revenues-2017-02/

Clueless On Driverless

The driverless thing seems to be eluding a lot of people. Google and Apple reportedly have dropped plans to develop driverless cars in favour of developing licenseable driverless technology. Ford says it will put $1 billion over the next five years into driverless car developer Argo AI a company founded late last year in which ...

Read full article: Clueless On Driverless

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/bullshit/driverless-2017-02/

Ed games the honours system

Whenever I meet my old mates from the industry I’ve noticed that the subject of Honours always crops up, Ed confides to his diary. It’s always done in a jokey, casual way as though they think it funny that I could have this power of patronage, but underneath I detect calculation – they really want ...

Read full article: Ed games the honours system

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ed-the-serial-ceo/ed-games-honours-system-2017-02/

Our Petition

Thanks to MWS who kicked off this whole idea and to the 16 people who supported it, our petition to parliament to Enable UK Roaming has now been approved by the government’s petitions team. Here is the link to our petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/182306 This is the email from the government Petitions Team saying that the petition ...

Read full article: Our Petition

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/telecoms/our-petition-2017-02/

Raspberry Pi 3 features in Android Things update

There's an update -m Developer Preview 2 - to Android Things, one way Google is addressing the Internet of Things.

Read full article: Raspberry Pi 3 features in Android Things update

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/eyes-on-android/programming/raspberry-pi-3-features-android-things-update-2017-02/

Science Museum documents rise of the robots

The Science Museum in London is just starting its 'Robots' exhibition, highlighting robot history.

Read full article: Science Museum documents rise of the robots

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/robot/science-museum-documents-rise-robots-2017-02/

Eval board for 1.7kV SiC mosfet

Wolfspeed has created an evaluation board for its 1.7kV silicon carbide mosfet, implementing a 48W power supply that can be fed from anywhere between 300Vdc and 1kVdc. It delivers two isolated 12Vdc outputs, and potential applications include creating auxiliary rails from DC links in single and three-phase mains power supplies. The design, called CRD-060DD17P-2, centres around ...

Read full article: Eval board for 1.7kV SiC mosfet

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/power-supplies/eval-board-1-7kv-sic-mosfet-2017-02/

Designing The 555, by Hans Camezind

Probably the most famous chip ever made was the 555. Hans Camenzind recalled how he designed it. “In 1967 designing repeatable integrated tuned circuits was impossible. I was interviewed by Signetics that year and proposed that they let me try to designe one using a phase-locked loop. “I found the PLL in a 1935 Proceedings ...

Read full article: Designing The 555, by Hans Camezind

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/designing-555-hans-camezind-2017-02/

Skeleton gets €15m from EIB for graphene ultra-capacitors

Skeleton Technologies, the Estonian ultrcapacitor manufacturer, has received €15 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EIB loan comes under  the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). The EFSI-backed financing will allow the company to finance the R&D for the further development of its products and systems. Skeleton has now raised €41.7 million in ...

Read full article: Skeleton gets €15m from EIB for graphene ultra-capacitors

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/493948-2017-02/

Google wearing and tearing with Android Wear 2.0

Google is persevering with its wearable, extra lightweight version of Android. It has just announced Android Wear 2.0

Read full article: Google wearing and tearing with Android Wear 2.0

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/eyes-on-android/android-wear/google-wearing-tearing-android-wear-2-0-2017-02/

Comment: How can we speed up enterprise deployment of the IoT?

Organisations must understand the ways IoT projects evolve from prototype to production, writes Neil Bosworth

Read full article: Comment: How can we speed up enterprise deployment of the IoT?

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/comment-can-speed-enterprise-deployment-iot-2017-02/

German researchers enable DC power grid

A German research project has concluded that using DC instead of AC in the power grid would save more than half the current energy loss. Researchers from Airbus, Infineon, Siemens Bremen University and E-T-A Elektrotechnische Apparate combined on the project They came up with a semiconductor-based and completely electronic circuit breaker that can be used ...

Read full article: German researchers enable DC power grid

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/german-researchers-enable-dc-power-grid-2017-02/

Germans investigate DC grid

A German research team has explored the technological basis for reducing the energy losses in power grids and electric devices by more than half  by using DC instead of AC. Five project partners, DC allows for smaller power losses when compared to the alternating current (AC) used today. The five project partners from industry and ...

Read full article: Germans investigate DC grid

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/germans-investigate-dc-grid-2017-02/

Nvidia soaring

Nvidia’s Q4 revenues were up 55% from Q42015 and up 8% from Q32016 at $2.17 billion. Net profit was $655 million. For Nvidia’s full fiscal year (to the end of January) revenues were up 38% y-o-y at $6.9 billion. Nvidia forecasts $1.9 billion in dales for Q1. “We had a great finish to a record ...

Read full article: Nvidia soaring

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/nvidia-soaring-2017-02/

GloFo adds capacity at four sites

Globalfoundries says it is expanding capacity and investing in new processes at its US, German, Chengdu China and Singapore fabs. “We are seeing strong demand for both our mainstream and advanced technologies, from our RF-SOI platform for connected devices to our FD-SOI and FinFET roadmap,” says CEO Sanjay Jha, “these new investments will allow us ...

Read full article: GloFo adds capacity at four sites

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/glofo-adds-capacity-four-sites-2017-02/

Toshiba chip stake gets offers up to $3.6bn

Bids for a 20% stake in Toshiba’s chip business range from $1.8 billion to $3.6 billion, reports Reuters. Bidders are said to be Hynix, Micron, Foxconn, Tsinghua, Western Digital and Bain. Hynix is said to have offered $2.6  billion for the stake. Toshiba says that it will not decide who gets the stake based solely ...

Read full article: Toshiba chip stake gets offers up to $3.6bn

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-chip-stake-gets-offers-3-6bn-2017-02/

The Wealth Machine

Predictions are as old and unreliable as the weather but we still persist in them, and one of the more often repeated attempts at prediction has been predicting the stock market. Hitachi brought out a neural net-based computer in the 80s for stock market prediction. It didn’t seem to get widely accepted and it didn’t seem ...

Read full article: The Wealth Machine

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/delusions/the-wealth-machine-2017-02/

Fashion world and electronics are unlikely bed-fellows

Boris Felgendreher looks at what the consumer electronics supply chain can learn from the world of fashion There are many interesting and surprising  similarities between the consumer electronics and fashion industries. Firstly, both face the problems of seasonality and an increasing pace of change.  Within apparel, the acceleration from two, to twenty collections per year ...

Read full article: Fashion world and electronics are unlikely bed-fellows

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/distribution-world/fashion-world-electronics-unlikely-twins-2017-02/

TI op-amp combines precision with rail-to-rail input

TI has combined a modified chopper architecture with a proprietary input to create an op-amp whose precision extends to common-mode signals anywhere within its power rails – and slightly beyond. Traditional rail-to-rail inputs use a pair of differential pairs, one p-channel (or pnp) and one n-channel (or npn), whose outputs are combined in a later ...

Read full article: TI op-amp combines precision with rail-to-rail input

from Electronics Weekly http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/analogue-linear-mixed-signal-ics/ti-op-amp-combines-precision-rail-rail-input-2017-02/