Bitcoin Bollox

I didn’t realise that there is a credible claimant to be Satoshi Nakomoto, however I see an Aussie called Craig Wright claims to be the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin.. In fact he’s been claiming it since 2016. Bitcoin was launched in 2008. A court filing in Florida states: “It is unclear whether Craig, Dave (Kleiman – ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/bullshit/bitcoin-bollox-2018-03/

EW: Video Interview – ADI building to sense, measure, power, connect and interpret

At Embedded World 2018, we caught up with Stefan Steyerl of Analog Devices, as part of our promotional coverage for the event. He explains how the company is intelligently bridging the digital and analogue worlds, addressing customers’ problems in instrumentation, automation, communications, healthcare, and automotive industries. Thank you to Stefan for his time. Read all ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/market-sectors/embedded-systems/ew-video-interview-adi-building-sense-measure-power-connect-interpret-2018-02/

EW: Video Interview – Lattice advancing Edge Connectivity and Edge Computing

At Embedded World 2018, we caught up with Deepak Boppana of Lattice Semiconductor, as part of our promotional coverage for the event. He explains how the company’s small form-factor, low-power FPGAs and wireless technologies are enabling intelligence at the edge, for industrial, automotive and consumer applications. Thank you to Deepak for his time. Read all ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/market-sectors/embedded-systems/ew-video-interview-lattice-advancing-edge-connectivity-edge-computing-2018-02/

Electronics patent of the month: Avoiding ‘card clash’ when making payments

Featuring a neat, contactless payment device that avoids the problem of card clash by making use of passive NFC technology.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/eda-and-ip/electronics-patent-month-avoiding-card-clash-making-payments-2018-02/

How AI Could Enter Our Lives

Here’s an intriguing  graphic from CB Insights showing how the fashion industry could be impacted by AI. It’s intriguing because there seems to be an urge in many peoples’ hearts to be a fashion designer, just as there’s an urge to publish a book. Amazon have automated book production as I discovered last December when ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/genius/ai-entering-lives-2018-02/

Future Horizons wins 2017 best forecast accolade

Future Horizons was the winner among all the major analysts forecasting the 2017 semiconductor market, reports Semiconductor Intelligence. “We used forecasts made in late 2016 and early 2017 prior to the availability of the January 2017 WSTS data in March 2017. The winner was Future Horizons with a projected 11% increase in the 2017 semiconductor ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/future-horizons-wins-2017-best-forecast-accolade-2018-02/

EW: Video Interview – SensiEDGE IoT Devices, lowering development barriers

At Embedded World 2018, we caught up with Milan Yudkovich, founder of IoT specialist SensiEDGE.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/video/ew-video-interview-sensiedge-iot-devices-lowering-development-barriers-2018-02/

EW: Video Interview – Arrow Electronics on “Sensor to Sunset” IoT portfolio

At Embedded World 2018, we caught up with Amir Sherman of Arrow Electronics, as part of our promotional coverage for the event. He talks about the company’s theme “From Sensor to Sunset”, for a comprehensive, fully integrated IoT portfolio at Embedded World, including sensors, wireless connectivity, gateways to cloud platforms, data aggregation and visualization, analytics ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/video/ew-video-interview-arrow-electronics-sensor-sunset-iot-portfolio-2018-02/

EW: Video Interview – Rohde & Schwarz on new oscilloscopes series

At Embedded World 2018, we caught up with Bob Bluhm, vp of value instruments at Rohde & Schwarz, as part of our promotional coverage for the event.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/video/ew-video-interview-rohde-schwarz-new-oscilloscopes-series-restructured-portfolio-2018-02/

EW: Video Interview – Elatec on RFID, NFC, Bluetooth readers

At Embedded World 2018, we caught up with JT Tepley, Key Account Manager at Elatec, as part of our promotional coverage for the event. He talks about Elatec being a one-stop shop for multi-technology RFID/NFC/Bluetooth Low Energy readers. How one device can simultaneously support more than 60 low-frequency and high-frequency RFID technologies, plus NFC and ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/video/ew-video-interview-elatec-rfid-nfc-bluetooth-readers-2018-02/

Webinar: Why you should consider using C++ for your next Embedded Project

Electronics Weekly has joined forces with Doulos to discuss the benefits of using C++ for your next Embedded Project. It will consider how to produce code with comparable size and performance to traditional C approaches.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/general-electronics/webinar-consider-using-c-next-embedded-project-2018-02/

Smart pill streams live gut video and location

Korean researches have used a novel 80Mbit/s communication technique to stream live 360° video from a smart pill as it passes through the digestive tract. Location tracking within 1cm3 is also provided. The pill is a dome-ended cylinder 32mm long and 12mm in diameter. From its central section, four VGA cameras, each with four illumination ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/smart-pill-streams-live-gut-video-location-2018-02/

Top Ten Hyperloop Routes

Thanks to Hyperloop One for this – the top ten most likely routs for installing a Hyperloop:  

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ten-best/top-ten-hyperloop-routes-2018-02/

Creating a 10MHz scope HAT for the Raspberry Pi?

Check out this interesting project, whether it might be possible to make a basic 10MHz oscilloscope from a Raspberry Pi 3.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/raspberry-pi-gadget-master/creating-10mhz-scope-hat-raspberry-pi-2018-02/

Suckers

The phone market seems to gave reached that point which the the PC market reached seven or eight years ago when, despite some bizarre attempts at differentiation, all PCs looked the same, performed the same, did the same things, looked the same and y-o-y sales stayed the same. MWC this year has been noticeable for ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/delusions/suckers-2018-02/

Gadget Watch: Galaxy S9 gets IoT-friendly

Interestingly, from an IoT perspective, both the the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will come with a new SmartThings app, "which unites Samsung’s existing IoT services into one single, smart experience."

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/gadget-watch/gadget-watch-galaxy-s9-gets-iot-friendly-2018-02/

Bridgetek launches graphic controllers for EVE

Further extending its embedded video engine (EVE) product offering, Bridgetek has introduced the BT815/6 series of graphic controller ICs for next generation HMI development. Support for the Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression (ASTC) algorithm means that image quality can be significantly enhanced without needing greater bandwidth to be allocated as the compression algorithm allows for smaller ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/bridgetek-launches-graphic-controllers-eve-2018-02/

UK Team In Washington For Talks On Communication Satellites

A team from the United Kingdom arrived in Washington on Sunday for technical discussions on the possible use of earth satellites for communications systems. So, 57 years ago, started a story in Electronics Weekly’s edition of October 26th 1960 The story continues: The talks are being held with agencies of the United States Government and ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/uk-team-washington-talks-communication-satellites-2018-02/

Competition: Win an NXP NFC-enabled LPC8N04 devboard

Check out the new competition on Electronics Weekly, which offers the chance to get your hands on NXP NFC-enabled LPC8N04 development board.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/competitions/competition-win-nxp-nfc-enabled-lpc8n04-devboard-2018-02/

MWC: Spot the Difference

Some say all the latest phones look the same. Surely not. Spot the difference:     Answer: Top to Bottom. Samsung Galaxy S9; ZTE Blade V9; Nexperia Xz2; LG V30

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/521919-2018-02/

US Companies’ Foreign Cash

Here, thanks to CB Insights,  are the US companies with the most cash stashed abroad:

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/shenanigans/us-companies-foreign-cash-2018-02/

Only Connect: On new REDFIT IDC SKEDD connectors from Würth

Great news. There are now more ways to connect wires directly to PCBs, this time brought to you from Würth Elektronik.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/industry-comment/connect-new-redfit-idc-skedd-connectors-wurth-2018-02/

Qualcomm and Broadcom agree non-price-related conditions of takeover.

The Chairman of Qualcomm has written to the CEO of Broadcom saying that the conditions for a takeover of Qualcomm have been agreed except for the condition of price. Qualcomm is offering a break-up fee to Broadcom of 9% of enterprise value ($7.38 billion) if regulatory approval is refused by any fault of Qualcomm. Broadcom ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/qualcomm-broadcom-agree-non-price-related-conditions-takeover-2018-02/

MWC: Ericsson can supply 5G infrastructure this year

Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm (pictured)  told the MWC audience that  Ericsson can supply operators with 5G infrastructure as from Q4. Ekolm said that the commercial deployment of 5G will initially be for mobile broadband. “We believe network slicing is critical as we move into the 5G world; we performed a joint study with DT that ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/mwc-ericsson-can-supply-5g-infrasturcture-year-2018-02/

Embedded World 2018: Get the full Electronics Weekly Guide

A roundup of the latest electronics news from Embedded World 2017 in Nuremberg.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/embedded-world-2018-get-the-full-electronics-weekly-guide-2018-02/

Embedded World 2018: Preview of the show

Embedded World is Europe’s largest showcase for embedded components and systems where over 1,000 exhibitors will show their wares across six halls of the Nuremberg Messe. Embedded World is by no means a Europe-only show. The big chip firms exhibiting include Broadcom, Microchip/Atmel, Canonical (Ubuntu), Epson, Fujitsu, Infineon, Intel, Renesas, Rohm and Xilinx to name ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/embedded-world-2018-preview-of-the-show-2018-02/

Ed Gets Used

It’s insulting and a trifle depressing that so many people in business seem to think that my job is to legitimise their scams, Ed confides to his diary, I get all sorts of extraordinary requests, mostly from old acquaintances in the semiconductor business. This week I met an old mucker who asked me to get ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ed-the-serial-ceo/ed-gets-used-2018-02/

Webinar: MagicClick – The other way to an AOI test program

Learn how to generate automatic programs and current 3D AOI concepts

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/webinar-magicclick-way-aoi-test-program-2018-02/

Bezos backs installation of Long Now 10,000 Year Clock

When you're one of the world's richest men I suppose you can think nothing of donating $42m towards a clock designed to last 10,000 years.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/general/bezos-backs-installation-long-now-10000-year-clock-2018-02/

APEC: 36V 1A dc-dc converter is 3x4mm, plus a bit for capacitors

Texas Instruments has introduced two 4-36V buck power modules that measure 3.0 x 3.8mm (1.6mm high), requiring two external capacitors to complete the dc-dc converter in each case: 0.5A LMZM23600 and 1A LMZM23601. Final footprint of non-adjustable versions is around 27mm2 Packaged the firm’s 10pin MicroSiP, they are up to 92% efficient, and 85% efficient ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/power-supplies/apec-36v-1a-dc-dc-converter-3x4mm-plus-bit-capacitors-2018-02/

Embedded World 2018: Motherboard for high end embedded PCs

Exhibitors at Embedded World 2018 will show embedded PCs designed for new and established applications. At the high-throughput end of embedded processing are the embedded PCs and this year at Embedded World Congatec has introduced a Mini-ITX motherboard for the high-end of high‑throughput embedded processing (pictured). Called conga-IT6, it includes a COM Express Type 6 ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/embedded-world-2018-motherboard-high-end-embedded-pcs-2018-02/

AI diagnoses eye diseases following Big Data analysis

Macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema can be diagnosed by artificial intelligence viewing non-invasive light-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. The AI can also make referral and treatment recommendations. “Macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema are the two most common causes of irreversible blindness but are both very treatable if they are caught early,” dais ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/ai-diagnoses-eye-diseases-following-big-data-analysis-2018-02/

A Portentous Lunch

3o years ago this year, Jerry Sanders and Irwin Federman were having lunch in the Chantilly, Palo Alto, a restaurant which closed down earlier this year after 43 years serving customers in Palo Alto and, later, Redwood City. They were merging their companies. AMD paid $442 million for Monolithic Memories. Chantilly was an expensive restaurant ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/a-portentous-lunch-2018-02/

Top 10 most read on ElectronicsWeekly.com (to 23-Feb-2018)

Here are the top ten most popular articles on ElectronicsWeekly.com in the last week, with St Peter's Basilica, R&D spend, two hats for the Raspberry Pi, DRAM and the KiCad schematic tool all figuring prominently...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/general-electronics/top-10-most-read-on-electronicsweekly-com-to-23-feb-2018-2018-02/

IBM breaks optical receiver records in Zurich

IBM Zurich has demonstrated a novel optical receiver that can achieve an aggregate bandwidth of 160Gbit/s through four optical fibres. “This is not only the fastest data transmission speed to date, but the optical receiver also features power-on/off functionality and can wake-up and achieve phase-lock in 8ns, the shortest switch time in record,” said the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/ibm-breaks-optical-receiver-records-zurich-2018-02/

Embedded World 2018: Pocket a Prize in an Electronics Weekly competition

One to note if you are attending Embedded World in Nuremberg: there will be two competitions running on the Electronics Weekly stand.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/embedded-world-2018-pocket-prize-electronics-weekly-competition-2018-02/

Stretchy sensor suits human movement from heartbeat to running knees

An ultra-stretchy sticky-backed sensor has come out of research at the University of British Columbia. Made from a rubber infused with graphene nano-flakes, it has been tested with elongation up to 350% and over 10,000 cycles of stretching and relaxing while maintaining electrical stability. “We tested this sensor vigorously,” said Professor Homayoun Najjaran. “Not only ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/stretchy-sensor-suits-human-movement-heartbeat-running-knees-2018-02/

Embedded World 2018: Tiny PC is for digital signage

Striking a different performance balance, Logic Supply has created a fanless PC under 40mm tall that can be DIN, VESA, or wall-mounted. Called ML350, it is designed around Intel Apollo Lake processing – Celeron N3350 dual-core or Pentium N4200 quad-core, for example – and is intended for applications from digital signage and machine automation, to ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/market-sectors/embedded-systems/embedded-world-2018-tiny-pc-digital-signage-2018-02/

MWC: Osram Opto

At the Mobile World Congress 2018 Osram Opto Semiconductors is planning to show what is considers key technologies for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables or VR and AR gadgets. Infra-red leds for biometric identification – iris-scan and facial recognition Leds for virtual and augmented reality Leds for gaze and eye tracking. Multi-chip leds ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/mwc-osram-opto-2018-02/

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-2-2018-02/

Deadline: Time running out to enter EW BrightSparks 2018!

Please note that the deadline is fast approaching for entries to the EW BrightSparks 2018 programme! The closing date is 28 February 2018.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/electro-ramblings/general-electronics/time-enter-ew-brightsparks-2018-2018-02/

CEVA’s PentaG for 5G baseband processing

CEVA has introduced PentaG a  5G IP platform for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB). Compliant to the 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) Release-15 and software upgradable for Release-16, PentaG is targeted at smartphones, fixed wireless access and the many other embedded devices that can take advantage of multi-gigabit data rates to enable services and use cases ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/cevas-pentag-5g-baseband-processing-2018-02/

Embedded World 2018: IoT adds pressure to teach machines to ‘see’

Michaël Uyttersprot discusses embedded vision and what is required to bring a system to market for real-world applications. Visual input is arguably the richest source of sensor information. Scientists and engineers have been trying to understand and exploit imaging technologies for many decades now, developing algorithms for vision applications that enable computing machines to ‘see’. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/embedded-world-2018-iot-adds-pressure-teach-machines-see-2018-02/

PoLTE and Sequans to put GPS on LTE ICs.

PoLTE and  Sequans are integrating PoLTE positioning technology into Sequans’ Monarch LTE Platform, enabling indoor and outdoor positioning capability for LTE for IoT devices. Sequans sees value in PoLTE’s Lite-Touch virtual location architecture. While other competitors will have to increase their costs, size and energy consumption by embedding GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other radios just ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/polte-and-sequans-2018-02/

Toshiba introduces RF SOI process for LNAs

Toshiba has  developed  TaRF10, a new version of its TarfSOI (Toshiba advanced RF silicon-on-insulator CMOS process optimized for low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) in smartphone applications. In recent years, the increasing speed of mobile data communication has expanded the use of RF switches and filters in the analog front end of mobile devices. The resulting increase in ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-introduces-rf-soi-process-lnas-2018-02/

Spreadtrum and RDA join Intel on 5G

Tsinghua Unigroup wireless subsidiaries, Spreadtrum & RDA, have announced a strategic collaboration on 5G with Intel. The companies plan to develop a 5G smartphone platform for the China market that will feature an Intel 5G modem and will be targeted to coincide with 5G network deployments in 2019. The companies will develop Spreadtrum’s first Android-based ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/tsinghua-unigroup-subsidiaries-spreadtrum-rda-hook-intel-2018-02/

Intel did not tell US government about Spectre and Meltdown for six months

When The Register published news of the Spectre and Meltdown bugs in January, Intel had not told the US authorities, says Reuters. This was despite the fact that researchers at Google’s Project Zero had told Intel, AMD and ARM about the bugs six months before, during last June. The Google researchers gave Intel, ARM and ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/shenanigans/intel-kept-mum-spectre-meltdown-2018-02/

Comment: Many happy returns to open source

The birth of open source 20 years ago considerably accelerated the development of both software and hardware. Which software initiative is supported by Facebook and Google; promoted by Microsoft and IBM? Twenty years ago the phrase “open source” was first used and the development of software – and hardware – was changed forever. Very few ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/viewpoints/comment-many-happy-returns-open-source-2018-02/

Embedded World 2018: Lynx hunts down a solution for Spectre

What help is available to deal with the Meltdown and Spectre attacks, and protect systems for the future?

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/embedded-world-2018-lynx-hunts-down-a-solution-for-spectre-2018-02/

Fable: The Cloner Which Got Cocky

There was once a company which could do in five chips what IBM took 63 chips to do. PCs made with the company’s five chips were smaller, cheaper and faster than PCs made with IBM’s 63 chips and were compatible with IBM’s PCs. The company became, for its time, the fastest growing in the history ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/fable/fable-cloner-got-cocky-2018-02/

Webinar: MagicClick: The other way to an AOI test program…

Make a note for your diary, for a new Electronics Weekly webinar – MagicClick:  The other way to an AOI test program…

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/webinar-magicclick-way-aoi-test-program-2-2018-02/

Bluebird ready to run agian

Bluebird, Donald Cambell’s’s world record beating speedboat, is nearly re-built and soon will be ready to run. A mere thirty minute ferry ride from Glasgow lies the Isle of Bute, an exquisite, cookie-cut piece of premium Scotland in all its beauty dropped into the Clyde within easy reach and the location of many an enjoyable ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/bluebird-2018-02/

Smiths Interconnect awards growth in Europe

Smiths Interconnect has recognised its top-performing distributors in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA). The three winners were: TTI Europe for absolute growth, Radion Engineering for relative growth and Aerco for its design-in activity. Giuseppe Lancella, vice president global distribution at Smiths Interconnect, writes: “Through these awards we encourage our partners to continue to work with us as ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/distribution-world/smiths-interconnect-awards-growth-europe-2018-02/

Comment: Perhaps 5G should be built by governments

If operators doubt the business case for 5G, why do they insist on building the network? At what stage should government intervene to get the telecoms infrastructure up to speed? You might say that if you have the 37th slowest national mobile network in the world, government intervention is justified. Indeed, even if you’re only ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/rf-microwave-optoelectronics/comment-perhaps-5g-built-governments-2018-02/

LTC launches ZIF demodulator with 1GHz instantaneous I and Q 1dB bandwidth

The LTC5594 is a ZIF demodulator with 1GHz a wideband, high linearity true zero-IF (ZIF) demodulator with 1GHz instantaneous I and Q 1dB bandwidth. The demodulator is capable of 37dB image rejection typical. Using the on-chip serial port, the device allows correction of the I and Q phase and amplitude imbalance, hence can be tuned ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/ltc-launches-zif-demodulator-1ghz-instantaneous-i-q-1db-bandwidth-2018-02/

The Survivors

With only a small group of companies able to make advanced logic, IC Insights has produced a graphic showing the state of play in the industry. Thev industry has evolved to the point where only a very small group of companies can develop leading-edge process technologies and fabricate leading-edge ICs. There is more variety than ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/the-survivors-2018-02/

Q4 server DRAM soars 13.9% q-o-q.

Server DRAM revenue of the top three DRAM suppliers (Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron) rose by 13.9% QoQ in 4Q17 on the back of risiing ASPs, reports DRAMeXchange. The supply of server DRAM has not kept pace with the demand although suppliers have assigned more capacity to their server product lines. Furthermore, the data center ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/q4-server-dram-soars-13-9-q-o-q-2018-02/

AI

A couple of years back you’d think the electronics industry revolved around IoT. Now you’d think it revolves round AI. Half a dozen ISSCC papers describe AI processors. These, it seems, need ‘deep neural processing’, ‘convolutional neural processing’ and ‘computing in memory’. Que? Well it seems that the ‘deep’ in deep neural processing denotes the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/rd-mannerisms/ai-2018-02/

Broadcom reduces bid for Qualcomm

Broadcom has lowered its offer for Qualcomm in the light of Qualcomm increasing its offer for NXP. Broadcom has lowered its bid from $82 a share to $79 a share making its bid now worth $140 billion compared with the previous bid worth $145 billion. Earlier this week Qualcomm raised its bid for NXP from ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/broadcom-reduces-bid-qualcomm-2018-02/

Farnell element14 loads up with Aim TTi

Farnell element14 is stocking the LDH400P Electronic Load from Aim TTi, which are suitable for testing and characterising DC power sources such as PFCs, batteries, solar cells and electronic power supply units. The electronics loads have a voltage/current range (10 to 500V and 0 to 16A), multiple operating modes and built-in transient generators which make ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/distribution-world/farnell-element14-loads-aim-tti-2018-02/

Circular multi-pole connectors are IP68 waterproof, says CamdenBoss

CamdenBoss has launched a range of circular multi-pole connectors that can offer IP68 waterproof sealing. The CamCirc range features multiple options encompassing various body sizes and styles as well as contact configurations from 2 to 19 poles. Applications include broadcasting, military, automotive, medical, robotics and security. CamCirc connectors are based on push-pull technology that creates ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/circular-multi-pole-connectors-ip68-waterproof-says-camdenboss-2018-02/

Mouser sells tough touch controller from Renesas

Mouser Electronics is stocking the RX130 series of 32-bit microcontrollers from Renesas Electronics which offer a new capacitive touch IP with improved sensitivity and robustness. The MCUs are designed to support nontraditional touch materials or to operate in wet or dirty environments, such as human machine interfaces, household kitchen and bath. The MCUs feature a ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/mouser-sells-tough-touch-controller-renesas-2018-02/

Crypto-Currencies A ‘Brilliant Scam’, says Hedgie

Crypto-currencies will go down as ‘one of the most brilliant scams in history’ says the $34 billion Hedgie, Elliott Management FOMO has trumped WITHIT say the Hedgies. FOMO being Fear Of Missing Out and WITHIT being What The Hell Is This? “We all laugh at primitive tribes which used large stones (or pigs) as currency,” ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/delusions/521485-2018-02/

UK made: Avid Technology ships first electric vehicle motors

North East-based automotive firm Avid Technology has shipping Evo Electric Motors, which it took over the design, manufacture and distribution of from GKN Hybrid Power last year, now making them in Cramlington, Northumberland. “Since the start of the year, Avid has experienced a sharp increase in demand for the Evo, securing over £50m in new ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/uk-design-avid-technology-ships-first-electric-vehicle-motors-2018-02/

UK design: Turbo Technics

This is the product from Turbo Technics, the Northampton maker of turbochargers and turbocharging test equipment. ATP-100 is a turbocharger actuator tester designed for use by service personnel in turbocharger repairs. It is operated via a 5in colour capacitive touch screen interface. “With a single touch auto-detect feature, the tool allows simple connection to almost any ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/uk-design-turbo-technics-2018-02/

940nm IR led for 2D facial recognition

2D facial recognition involves illuminating the user’s face with an infra-red light source and capturing the image with an IR camera. The system then compares characteristic two-dimensional features in the image with previously stored images. “If there is a match for the various data such as the width of the mouth, length of the nasal ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/940nm-ir-led-2d-facial-recognition-2018-02/

Glasgow team develop stretchable sensor

A flexible, wearable sensor could help people avoid the discomfort of regular pin-prick blood tests by monitoring the chemical composition of their sweat instead. A team of scientists from the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering outline have built a stretchable, wireless system which is capable of measuring the pH level of users’ sweat. Sweat, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/glasgow-team-develop-stretchable-sensor-2018-02/

Help with this DAB antenna puzzle

Aldi is stocking an own-brand (‘Bauhn’) DAB converter for cars that connects to a conventional car radio via an aux input or via an FM transmitter. And it works very well, I have found – clear-sounding and only occasionally loosing the DAB signal – heavy tree cover seems a challenge to it. The antenna is ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/help-dab-antenna-puzzle-2018-02/

Automotive catalogue from Lumileds includes laser headlights

Lumileds has released its automotive lighting catalogue, which includes a laser main beam module as well as the Luxeon Altilon Intense dip-beam (US low-beam) leds and ‘FX Plus CW’ main beam (US high-beam) leds, plus matrix led headlamp light engines. Flick to pages 6 and 7 for the laser light engine (photo below) – used ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/automotive-catalogue-lumileds-includes-led-headlights-2018-02/

Top Ten (+11) Companies For VC Returns:

Here, thanks to CB Insights, are the  21 companies which delivered the biggest return to VCs: 1 WhatsApp 2 Facebook 3 Groupon 4 Cerent 5 Snap 6 King Digital Entertainment 7 UCWeb 8 Alibaba 9 JD.com 10 Delivery Hero 11 Zayo 12 Mobileye 13 Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) 14 Meitu 15 Google 16 Twitter 17 ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ten-best/top-ten-11-companies-vc-returns-2018-02/

Smart chess board moves its own pieces

A chess board that moves its own pieces so you can play with physical pieces and a virtual opponent, be it a remote player or the systems own moves.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/consumer-electronics/smart-chess-board-moves-pieces-2018-02/

Embedded World: Lauterbach and UltraSoC back RISC-V

Lauterbach and UltraSoC have added support for the RISC-V open-source processor architecture to their joint chip development and debug environment. “Across the industry there is rising excitement about the emergence of RISC-V as an open source processor,” said UltraSoC CEO Rupert Baines. “This is especially significant in heterogeneous multi-core architectures: engineers want the choice to ‘mix ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/eda-and-ip/embedded-world-lauterbach-ultrasoc-back-risc-v-2018-02/

Samsung and NI collaborate on 5G New Radio interface tests

NI is teaming up with mobile phone giant Samsung Electronics to develop 5G test UEs for proposed 5G New Radio (NR) radio interface. The first public demonstration of this collaboration will show Samsung’s 28GHz basestation communicating with an NI test UE at next week’s Mobile World Congress (February 26 to March 1) in Barcelona. A ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/samsung-ni-collaborate-5g-new-radio-interface-tests-2018-02/

Airbus maintains Beijing’s public safety Tetra network

Airbus has signed a three-year contract to maintain the operations of Beijing’s public safety Tetra network. The contract with Chinese operator Justtop until 2020 covers on-site support, maintenance services and a 24/7 emergency support with trouble shooting competences. The Beijing Government shared network serves various government authorities, including the municipal government, the emergency response office, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/airbus-maintains-beijings-public-safety-tetra-network-2018-02/

IP over Avian Carriers

I just came across a lovely idea – data by carrier pigeon – apparently first seen as a request for comment (RFC 1149) from the Internet Engineering Task Force in 1990. Wikipedia has a whole page on it. It appears the original RFC proposes paper duct-taped to a pigeon’s leg as the means of transmission, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/ip-avian-carriers-2018-02/

MWC: CCS launches 12Gbit/s comms for unlicenced 60GHz mmWave

Cambridge Communication Systems (CCS) has launched its Metnet 12Gbit/s unlicensed 60GHz mmWave access and back-haul unit. The multi-point system is the first element in a software-defined mesh network architecture, with multiple Metnet 60GHz nodes operating as a centrally managed SDN-capable networking switch. Operating in the unlicensed 57-71GHz band, it has automated interference avoidance and low ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/mwc-ccs-launches-12gbit-s-comms-unlicenced-60ghz-mmwave-2018-02/

Should Intel go fabless?

In 2017, Intel lost its 24 year position as the largest chip manufacturer, now it may have lost its leading position in chip manufacturing technology. Intel’s six-transistor SRAM cell made on its 10nm process measures 0.0312 sq micron. TSMC’s six-transistor SRAM cell made on its 7nm process measures 0.0272 sq micron. Samsung’s six transistor SRAM ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/manufacturing-mannerisms/intel-go-fabless-2018-02/

DevBoard Watch: PocketBeagle jump starts development

Welcome the new Beagleboard in town - the PocketBeagle, described as "an ultra-tiny-yet-complete open-source USB-key-fob computer".

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/beagleboard/devboard-watch-pocketbeagle-jump-starts-development-2018-02/

KiCad is big news for schematic capture, says Digi-Key

Digi-Key Electronics has put a new library of nearly 1,000 common parts for use by the open source, KiCad schematic capture and printed circuit board tool on beta release on its website. The distributor has selected the most popular parts for users of KiCad and created a library that links the schematic symbols and printed ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/kicad-big-news-schematic-capture-says-digi-key-2018-02/

Amplicon’s Mini-ITX is first in a line of branded industrial computers

Amplicon’s product development plans for 2018 include the introduction of new Industrial computers every month. The first release is the Impact-R 156/157, a Mini-ITX embedded computer based on the Intel Q170 chipset, delivering support for both 6th and 7th generation Intel Core processors as well as offering increased bandwidth and functional expansion. The Mini-ITX embedded ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/distribution-world/amplicons-mini-itx-first-line-branded-industrial-computers-2018-02/

Anglia expects Mitsubishi to light up industrial displays

Anglia Components is to sell the Mitsubishi Electric range of displays in the UK and Ireland, following a distribution deal which significantly strengthens Anglia’s display portfolio, and extends an existing agreement with Mitsubishi covering RF devices. Steve Rawlins, CEO, Anglia, believes the Wisbech-based distributor’s customers will welcome this addition to its range. “Potential applications include ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/distribution-world/anglia-expects-mitsubishi-light-industrial-displays-2018-02/

Qualcomm increases offer for NXP

Qualcomm has increased it offer for NXP to $127.50 per share representing a purchase price of $44 billion. Qualcomm’s previous bid was $110 per share worth $39 billion. Before the new offer NXP stock was trading at $118.50. Qualcomm has entered into binding agreements with nine NXP stockholders who collectively own more than 28% of ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/qualcomm-increases-offer-nxp-2018-02/

1MHz rail-to-rail op-amp draws only 55μA

Microchip’s MCP6411 operational amplifier can operate with a single supply voltage as low as 1.7V, while drawing 55μA quiescent current (max). Called MCP6411, input offset is ±1.0mV max, and both input and output operate rail-to-rail. Compensation means it is unity gain stable, and it has a gain bandwidth product of 1 MHz (typ). “The MCP6411 ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/analogue-linear-mixed-signal-ics/1mhz-rail-rail-op-amp-draws-55%ce%bca-2018-02/

LED lighting drives boom in vertical farms in China

LED lighting is having a major impact on the way plants are grown commercially in greenhouses. As a result the horticultural lighting market reached almost $3.8bn in 2017, according to market data from Yole Développement. But changes to the horticultural LED lighting market indicate that greenhouse applications may only be the tip of the iceberg. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/led-lighting-drives-boom-vertical-farms-china-2018-02/

Pi Desktop builds your own desktop computer

We've got the Pi-top, which builds your Raspberry Pi devboard into a recognisable laptop casing, and here now here comes a Pi Desktop, for a desktop computer base equivalent.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/raspberry-pi-gadget-master/pi-desktop-builds-desktop-computer-2018-02/

Samsung selling 30TB SSD

Samsung Says it has begun mass producing the industry’s largest capacity Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) solid state drive (SSD) – the PM1643 – for use in next-generation enterprise storage systems. Leveraging Samsung’s 64-layer, 3-bit 512-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND chips, the 30.72 terabyte (TB) drive delivers twice the capacity and performance of the previous 15.36TB high-capacity lineup ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/samsung-selling-30tb-ssd-2018-02/

Lime, green and purple LEDs grow red lettuce

Lumileds has been growing red lettuce, and worked out that lime, green and purple coloured leds LEDs grow more of them, with increased beneficial nutrients. Slightly abbreviated, the conclusion of the company’s paper (‘Luxeon SunPlus series Lime leds produce high yield and nutrition in leafy greens‘) reads: This study showed that red lettuce Rouxai grown ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/lime-green-purple-leds-grow-red-lettuce-2018-02/

Infineon buys Merus Audio

Infineon has bought Merus Audio, the Copenhagen-based start-up founded in 2010 by Hans Hasselby-Andersen (pictured) and Mikkel Hoyerby. Merus Audio creates energy-efficient integrated audio amplifier solutions. They maximize audio performance and battery playback time for smart home and battery-powered speakers while minimizing heat and design space. After the integration of Merus Audio, Infineon will be ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/infineon-buys-merus-audio-2018-02/

Embedded World: Digitally-tunable RF filters dodge spectrum congestion

The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS has developed digitally tunable and reconfigurable RF filters. In a congested spectrum “devices that send and receive data must function reliably”, said the organisation. “But with coexistence and interference issues on the rise, we can expect significant constraints and problems when it comes to transferring data. Fraunhofer IIS ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/embedded-world-digitally-tunable-rf-filters-dodge-spectrum-congestion-2018-02/

Obedient Morons

COMPUTERS, and the use of computers, have suffered from their popular description as “an electronic brain”, the Earl of Courtown told the Lords during a debate on industrial management last week. So, 57 years ago, started a story in Electronics Weekly’s issue of November 2nd 1960. The story continues: “They are not a brain and ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/memory-lane/obedient-morons-2018-02/

EE is best UK operator, says RootMetrics

EE took the honours in RootMetrics’ bi-annual assessment of UK mobile telecoms operators’ performance. In the second half of 2017, EE had a clean sweep of all the categories which RootMetrics measures. “EE leads the pack in all areas – reliability, speed, data and text handling – and shares the lead with 3 in call ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/ee-best-uk-operator-says-rootmetrics-2018-02/

Anritsu 5G test set supports sub-6GHz New Radio

Anritsu says software for its Wireless Test Set MT8870A now supports the new 3GPP 5G Sub-6GHz New Radio (NR) measurement standards. The enhanced 5G Sub-6GHz NR Uplink Tx measurement and downlink waveform software options will support non-signalling based 5G Sub-6GHz TRx tests. In December 2017, release 15 of the 3GPP standard was announced which defines ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/antritsu-5g-test-set-supports-sub-6ghz-new-radio-2018-02/

Prototyping board simplifies Zynq UltraScale+ multi-processor verification

Pro Design, the Germany-based firm using FPGAs in prototyping systems, has added three modules for Zynq UltraScale+ FPGAs. They will be part of the firm’s proFPGA product family of modular multi-FPGA prototyping boards. The Zynq UltraScale+ FPGAs, designated ZU11EG, ZU17EG and ZU19EG, can be mounted on the proFPGA uno, duo or quad motherboard and mixed ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/prototyping-board-simplifies-zynq-ultrascale-multi-processor-verification-2018-02/

Japan’s Rocketman

  Messrs Musk, Bezos and Branson have a competitor – Takafumi Horie of Hokkaido. The 45 year-old Japanese entrepreneur has set out, like Bezos, Musk and Branson, to make space travel affordable. “Our mission is to bring down the cost of space travel,” says Horie, “that will only happen with competition.” His aim is to ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/genius/japans-rocketman-2018-02/

Apple HomePod smart speaker resists its teardown

In the footsteps of Amazon's Echo and Google's Home comes the Apple HomePod smart speaker. And iFixit does a teardown, but with extreme difficulty it seems.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/consumer-electronics/apple-homepod-smart-speaker-resists-teardown-2018-02/

Osram lights St Peter’s Basilica

St. Peter’s Basilica is on the way to getting led lighting, according to Osram. “Lighting calculations and simulations have been completed,” said the firm. “In the basilica, the led lighting system has been tested in many areas, and everyone involved is really pleased with the results. Tests show that the illumination level of the domes ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/led-luminaries/osram-lights-st-peters-basilica-2018-02/

Renesas Target Boards for MCUs

Renesas has brought out  three Target Boards for the RX65N, RX130 and RX231 Microcontroller (MCU) Groups, each designed to help engineers jump start their home appliance, building and industrial automation designs. Priced below $30, the Target Boards lower the price threshold for engagement, allowing more system developers to enjoy the benefits of Renesas’ broad-based 32-bit ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/renesas-target-boards-mcus-2018-02/

From complexity to clarity: embedded vision solutions

Sight for machines is a complex task, but there’s a way to turn it into clarity.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/complexity-clarity-embedded-vision-solutions-2018-02/

Top Ten R&D spenders increased spend by 6% last year

The ten largest semiconductor R&D spenders increased their collective expenditures to $35.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 6% compared to $34.0 billion in 2016, says IC Insights. Intel continued to far exceed all other semiconductor companies with R&D spending that reached $13.1 billion. In addition to representing 21.2% of its semiconductor sales last year, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/521302-2018-02/

Qualcomm shareholders advised to vote for four out of six proposed new directors

Qualcomm shareholders have been advised to vote for four of the proposed six new directors if they want to maximise their return from the Broadcom bid. On March 6th Qualcomm shareholders will be asked to vote for six new directors proposed by Broadcom. Voting for all six will trigger the Broadcom takeover of Qualcomm. However ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/qualcomm-open-negotiations-broadcom-2018-02/

Ed’s Oxfam Moment

Where others smell a noxious stink in this Oxfam debacle, I detect the fragrance of advantage, Ed confides to his diary. The £13.4 billion foreign aid budget, laxly administered and loosely distributed, is a juicy opportunity for those doing the administering and distributing. I want my Department to be one of those I call in ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/ed-the-serial-ceo/eds-oxfam-moment-2018-02/

Church spires to boost mobile connections

Church spires across the UK will be used to boost digital connectivity in rural areas following an agreement between the Government and the Church of England. The accord, signed by the the National Church Institutions (NCIs) of the Church of England, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/church-spires-boost-mobile-connections-2018-02/

ISSCC: Background calibration boost for ADC

At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, Analog Devices revealed a 20-bit 1Msample/s successive approximation ADC with 0.3ppm INL (integral non‑linearity). Key to this performance is a constantly-running background calibration technique that allows the ADC to process its input signal without interruption, while compensating for ageing, temperature sensitivity, package stress and PCB stress. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/isscc-background-calibration-boost-adc-2018-02/

Design: How would you make a 10MHz scope HAT for Raspberry Pi?

There seems no end to the challenges the Raspberry Pi community has tackled with its credit-card-sized computer – there are at least two in space, plenty hidden away inside industrial equipment and loads around the globe educating children. Having spent a while recently trying to fix an ancient oscilloscope, it occurred to me that it ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/test-and-measurement-2/design-make-10mhz-scope-hat-raspberry-pi-2018-02/

Execs and Journos

Fred Hoar, who headed up the PR department at Fairchild Semiconductor in the 70s, divided execs and reporters into types. At press meetings he found execs conformed to three types: The Preacher The Explainer (goes on and on and on . . . .) The Patient Misunderstander (never gets the question but stays polite) The ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/execs-and-journos-2018-02/

ISSCC: 80GHz automotive radar on one chip

Could a single multi-mode radar IC fulfil the needs of: vehicle corner radars, which have to be physically small vehicle urban front radars, which need a wide field of view vehicle narrow-beam highway radars? Texas Instruments said ‘yes’ in an ISSCC paper devoted to a single‑chip 76GHz-81GHz frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar transceiver in 45nm ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/isscc-80ghz-automotive-radar-one-chip-2018-02/

Components Datasheets – view and download for free

We are very pleased to welcome on board the SamacSys component search engine. In the first of a series by SamsacSys, let's drill down into some of its features.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/components-datasheets-view-download-free-2018-02/

Small vector network analyser works up to 62MHz

Red Pitaya has launched a vector network analyser (VNA) extension for its credit-card-sized plug-in STEMlab data acquisition hardware, which works with a host PC running Windows or Linux. It covers 500kHz to 62MHz, has a typical directivity of 42dB, a dynamic range of 74dB and a noise floor at 88dBm. Features of its companion software ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/test-measurement-products/small-vector-network-analyser-works-62mhz-2018-02/

Graphene finds a use in golf balls

Graphene has found a new application – golf balls. Sports goods supplier Callaway starts selling graphene infused balls today. They cost £38 per dozen. A graphene infused outer skin of the ball can be made thinner than the skin of a conventional golf ball  which allows for a larger core which increases the speed at ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/graphene-finds-use-golf-balls-2018-02/

Siemens buys Sarokal

Siemens is to buy Sarokal Test Systems which sells cellular testing products to chipset vendors, fronthaul equipment manufacturers, and network operators. “The planned acquisition of Sarokal reinforces our ongoing commitment to EDA and the IC industry,” says Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens PLM Software. “building on our acquisition of Mentor Graphics, we continue ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/siemens-buys-sarokal-2018-02/

Homing Jihadis

Terrorism risks in Europe are likely to increase in 2018 as foreign fighters return, with the UK already having seen the return of half the British jihadis, according to Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC). “In the five- to 10-year outlook, European countries will face an elevated terrorism threat posed by radicalized convicts, returned foreign ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/wake-up/homing-jihadis-2018-02/

5G comms prototype at 2018 Winter Olympics

A 5G network will be demonstrated in Gangneung, one of the city’s hosting the winter Olympics, to coincide with the games. 5G beam-emitting transmitter array antenna at Leti Running from 20 to 22 February, the 5GChampion consortium has arranged for games visitors to experience the network while riding a special bus between event venues. “Wearing ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/5g-comms-prototype-2018-winter-olympics-2018-02/

Fable: The Recruit Who Did What He Wanted

55 years ago Fairchild hired a University of Utah PhD to work in the solid state group in Mountain View. The group’s manager lived in Illinois and the operation was intermittently overseen by Gordon Moore when he had time. So the recruit was left to his own devices and the devices he liked were FETs. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/fable/fable-recruit-wanted-2018-02/

Cobham Wireless idDAS now supports C-RAN and vRAN

Cobham Wireless has today announced the next stage in the development of its idDAS (intelligent digital Distributed Antenna System), which is interoperable with vRAN (virtualised radio access networks) capabilities, providing an end-to-end, high-capacity, cost-effective coverage solution.  Cobham Wireless is now ready to support both C-RAN and vRAN architectures. This vRAN approach replaces baseband units (BBUs) with ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/521158-2018-02/

ISSCC: Analogue boost for AI robot processor

Georgia Institute of Technology has used analogue processing to squeeze a 3.12Top/W (average) artificial intelligence processor onto a CMOS (55nm) chip, consuming only 690μW (1.2V), and aimed at self-teaching micro-robots that need to learn about their immediate environments. The processor is an accelerator for ‘reinforcement learning’ – a behaviourist psychology-inspired learning algorithm that mimics the ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/isscc-analogue-boost-ai-robot-processor-2018-02/

Fujitsu to sell e-peas energy harvesters

Fujitsu Electronics Europe (FEEU) is expanding its ultra-low-power linecard portfolio to include products from the Belgian manufacturer e-peas. e-peas has developed energy-harvesting solutions which support a wide range of energy sources such as photovoltaic, thermal, vibration or RF. With the new partnership, FEEU seeks to strategically extend its portfolio and to create new synergies between ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/fujitsu-sell-e-peas-energy-harvesters-2018-02/

Farnell adds 360,000sq ft of capacity in Leeds

Premier Farnell has opened a 360,000 sq foot warehouse at Muse Development’s Logic Leeds, within a Leeds City Council Enterprise Zone, retaining £650m in revenue and jobs in the Yorkshire region. The site, based off junction 45 of the M1, will stock over 420,000 products  and has the potential for up to one million square feet ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/farnell-adds-360000sq-ft-capacity-2018-02/

Raspberry Pi + Cloudio == IoT prototyping

Cloudio is the name - GraspIO Cloudio - and it's an add-on for the Raspberry Pi now available from Farnell element14.

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/gadget-master/raspberry-pi-gadget-master/raspberry-pi-cloudio-iot-prototyping-2018-02/

Toshiba boosts in-car audio amplifier range

Toshiba Electronics Europe has added a 45W (4Ω load) four-channel audio power amplifier to its in-car entertainment range. TCB001FNG is based upon a complementary MOS process. Supply can vary across 6 to 18V, allowing operation while the engine is idling or cranking. “The product includes functions to detect and prevent abnormal noise with Toshiba’s original ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/analog/toshiba-boosts-car-audio-amplifier-range-2018-02/

ISSCC: Deep learning hardware boosts for AI

The International Solid-State Circuits Conference’s digital architecture sub‑committee took time out to talk about artificial intelligence processors. It noted that: “Deep learning is a rapidly evolving topic, and the computational complexity of typical deep neural networks impedes their execution on resource‑scarce mobile or wearable devices. “Last year, several innovative solutions were introduced to enhance throughput ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/isscc-deep-learning-hardware-boosts-ai-2018-02/

Tokyo’s Cunctator

Satoshi Tsunakawa, could be Tokyo’s Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. Like the great Roman general, Tsunakawa has avoided joining battle until he is certain of winning. When Toshiba looked like going down because of huge, initially unquantified, liabilities incurred by its nuclear business, Tsunakawa put the company’s chip unit on the block as the sacrificial lamb. ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/genius/tokyos-cunctator-2018-02/

Qualcomm and Broadcom meet

Broadcom and Qualcomm met earlier today to discuss Broadcom’s bid. “We met with representatives of Broadcom for two hours earlier today, and listened carefully to what they had to say,” says  Qualcomm,  “the Qualcomm board will promptly meet to discuss the meeting and to determine next steps.” If no deal is reached the bid moves ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/qualcomm-broadcom-meet-2018-02/

Arm introduces IP for machine learned in edge devices

Arm has announced a suite of IP, collected together under the provisional title of Project Trillium, to bring machine learning to edge devices. The suite includes scalable machine learning and object detection processors, claimed to enable trillions of machine learning operations per second on mobile devices. As well as machine learning, the suite is intended ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/products/microprocessors/arm-introduces-ip-machine-learned-edge-devices-2018-02/

Creating an accurate low voltage using PWM

Back in October I was pondering the creation of accurate micro-voltages from a microcontroller. What makes this so difficult is the voltage offset created by current in the microcontroller bond wire, amongst other things. Diagram note – I have got a sneaky feeling the capacitor was returned to the opposite rail in each case.  Anyway, ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineer-in-wonderland/creating-accurate-low-voltage-using-pwm-2-2018-02/

Apple talking to Yangtze River about buying NAND

Apple is talking to China’s Yangtze River Storage Technologies about sourcing NAND, reports the Nikkei. It is possible that Apple, whose products are assembled in China, is being pressured by China to buy from Yangtze River, and it is not known what quantities are being discussed. Analysts are sceptical about the ability of the emerging ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/apple-talking-yangtze-river-buying-nand-2018-02/

Blocking

Home Secretary Amber Rudd says she does not rule out forcing companies to adopt blocking software for IS propaganda which was developed in a government-sponsored project by ASI Data Sciences. On the face of it, legislating to force sites to install the software seems a good idea. Then, of course, you look at the precedent ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/dilemmas/blocking-2018-02/

ISSCC: Novel gate drive improves GaN power transistor switching

GaN power transistors can shrink AC‑DC power supplies and cut losses but, to get the best out of them, their gate drive waveform needs careful attention. As a German team pointed out at ISSCC, GaN transistors have a threshold voltage of ~1V, which makes them vulnerable to spurious turn‑on through the Miller capacitance, particularly when ...

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from Electronics Weekly https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/isscc-novel-gate-drive-improves-gan-power-transistor-switching-2018-02/