Electronics Weekly articles from December 2003

Electronics Weekly archives from December 2003

A paradox for semiconductor suppliers.
December 3, 2003... During the past three years the European electronic industry landscape has changed significantly, which has created a paradox for semiconductor suppliers. They need to take quick decisions to modify their distribution network, while building...

Liquid crystal makes switches.
December 3, 2003... The Technical University of Denmark has been filling the holes of photonic crystal fibres with liquid crystal and making switches and sensors. In a paper in Optics Express, researchers described a thermo-optic switch with an on-off ratio of...

Don't let it be a nasty surprise.
December 3, 2003... A potentially nasty surprise lies ahead for the UK electronics industry. You may end up scrapping the product you are making and shipping now. This comes from the WEEE and RoHS directives, which are due to come in to law on the 1st of July...

Lead-free component issues.
December 3, 2003... Components are the first thing to consider when moving to lead-free if you have not considered parts on new products today, you are too late. This is based on many product introduction plans and roadmaps for the July 2006 deadline. It is also...

World trade faces uncertain future.
December 3, 2003... Few would dispute the environmental benefits of the lead-free directive. However, the ramifications of banning the use of lead and other hazardous materials in electronic components, as defined in the RoHS directive, will have far wider...

Clearing out old stock to meet the deadline.
December 3, 2003... Companies will get caught with the deadlines. All old stock needs to be completely flushed out of both distributors' and customers' warehouses and replaced with lead-free devices well in advance of the deadline. We plan to offer 100 per cent...

Bridging the UK skills gap.
December 3, 2003... A recent forum held in London found a disturbing lack of practical skills in newly-qualified graduates joining the industry. ALEX MAYHEW-SMITH addresses some of the issues facing employers looking to bring their staff's skills up to speed ...

Manufacturers must shed their lead boots.
December 3, 2003... As a distributor of electronic components we are able to see how component manufacturers are dealing with the RoHS Directive. We are well aware that many have not yet developed plans for addressing this issue. Others, however, and in particular...

Customers need technical information.
December 3, 2003... The EU regulations under the RoHS, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive are particularly stringent, in view of the fact that globally only about 0.5 per cent of lead consumption is by the electronics industry. As a distributor we...

Distributor cautious of premature upturn celebrations.
December 3, 2003... Distributor Abacus has warned that the firm will wait to the new year to signal any upturn. "There are early signs of improvement in booking levels but we need a substantial period of growth to be sure the market has taken off. We want to see...

Pen technology goes portable next year.
December 3, 2003... Cambridge-based Wacom Components expects to see smartphones sporting its Penabled technology appear late next year. The European subsidiary of Japanese company Wacom, which makes pen-based interfaces for computers, said the inductive system -...

More than just a solder issue...
December 3, 2003... The European RoHS directive will have an impact not just on solder alloys but component finishes and temperature ratings, board finishes and flame retardancy issues. Given our product range, it is not surprising that we are seeing a sharp...

Building starts on molecular tranny.
December 3, 2003... Researchers at North Carolina State University in the US are developing molecules in which they hope to demonstrate gain, in order to create a molecular transistor. So far the molecular structures have been characterised, but project leader Dr...

Scientists use human game theory to optimise complex bio-sensor network.
December 3, 2003... The study of human greed - game theory - is being used to optimise link creation rules in a network of sensors which could eventually be dropped randomly into disaster areas. "Individuals in a game will follow their own strategies, and pick the...

Industry heads see opportunities in 2004.
December 3, 2003... Specialists take the field by Richard A. Allen I believe that the specialist distributors will find the greatest opportunities in 2004. Many manufacturers look enviously at the capabilities of their specialist distributors, and I believe that...

SoC too costly to be realistic; says Infineon.
December 3, 2003... System-on-chip is too costly to be a realistic approach to complex devices, Infineon Technologies has told Electronics Weekly. The firm said that vertically integrating individual chips, each optimised for separate functions, is a more cost...

Lightweight ARM eyes consumers.
December 3, 2003... A lightweight version of the ARM9 processor has been developed in order to break into consumer and networking markets such as wireless LAN or audio players. The ARM968E-S is at the low end of the family, using the 'lite' version of the AMBA AHB...

Software addresses FPGA connection delay issues.
December 3, 2003... Physical synthesis software aimed at FPGA users has been unveiled by Mentor Graphics to address the challenge of designing with huge devices. Called Precision Physical Synthesis, the tool addresses the Asic-like issues that are now afflicting...

Public funding is secret of microelectronics' success.
December 3, 2003... The microelectronics industry has flourished when it has attracted public funding but has withered without it. That was the underlying message of Forum 2003 organised by the pan-European microelectronics R&D programme MEDEA+, held in Berlin...

Serial-to-Ethernet cable adaptor gives system builders fast, cheap Web option.
December 3, 2003... Able to turn almost anything with a serial port into a Web server which can be interrogated by a standard browser, NetPort from Alpha Micro Components is a plug-and-play serial-to-Ethernet cable adaptor. Applications include meter readers and...

Sandia LEDs emit in deep UV at higher power levels.
December 3, 2003... Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in the US have demonstrated LEDs emitting in the deep UV at comparatively high power levels. The lab claims the devices, emitting at 290nm/1.3mW and 275nm/0.4mW respectively, set new records for the...

14-bit A-D converter ; makes 240Msample/s.
December 3, 2003... Texas Instruments has introduced what it claims is a record breaking 14-bit A-D converter. "This is the first low-power 14-bit part to achieve 125Msample/s," said Mike Bartlett, TI's v-p of high-speed comms. Bartlett concedes Telasic got...

Multi-layer PTC thermistor.
December 3, 2003... Murata Electronics has developed a ceramic PTC (positive temperature coefficient) thermistor with what it claims is the world's first multi-layered structure, thanks to a process that fuses the base metal and ceramic without oxidation. The...

US tyre pressure ruling set to inflate market for UK sensors.
December 3, 2003... Northern Ireland firm Schrader Electronics is set to benefit from news that the US is about to confirm a ruling that forces car makers to use tyre pressure monitoring. The US Tread Act mandates that vehicle manufacturers must include pressure...

Recycle batteries says Brussels.
December 3, 2003... Europe's latest directive to come from Brussels insists that all companies and consumers will recycle their batteries. "This proposal will protect us and the environment from the risks that old batteries pose when they are incinerated or end up...

Sendo unleashes 'vicious' plan to cash in on mobiles.
December 3, 2003... Birmingham-based mobile phone company Sendo expects to sell four to five million phones next year, with 20 per cent of them being smartphones, and more than double its revenues to exceed $200m. "It's a growth story right now for us," said Hugh...

Korean firm develops SoC for digital multimedia broadcast.
December 3, 2003... LG Electronics is developing a SoC for digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) using Tensilica's reconfigurable processor. Applications could be video to mobile phone or distance learning systems. DMB was identified as one of the central...

ST challenges EDA companies on chip design.
December 3, 2003... EDA vendors are failing to give the semiconductor industry what it needs as device designers move from SoCs to software-intensive SaCs (system-above-chip). That is according to Philippe Geyres, corporate v-p for consumer and microcontrollers...

Space agency chooses French EDA company for chip design software.
December 3, 2003... The European Space Agency has chosen a small French EDA firm to supply chip design software. ESA will use Prosilog's tools to create a SystemC to RTL design flow. "We want to be able to perform architectural trade-offs, try several partitioning...

Components integrate closer with EBG material.
December 3, 2003... Highly integrated electronic devices in which interference between components is impossible; flat, sub-wavelength lenses at optical and microwave wavelengths; and low-profile pico-basestation antennas that "blend in with the wallpaper" are all...

Practical hurdles confound 90nm volume production.
December 3, 2003... Expectations for 90nm have been dashed by practical difficulties in implementing the process, according to the MEDEA+ Forum 2003, held in Berlin last week. "Many firms said they would deliver parts built on 90nm processes this year but,...

Test company launches lower-cost signal generator range.
December 3, 2003... Rohde & Schwarz is making a bid to extend its business in the signal generator test system market. The German firm has introduced the SM300 range of sub-[pounds sterling]5,000 signal generators in a bid to eat into the business of market leader...

DTI funds research into aerospace TV.
December 3, 2003... A consortium of Thales Avionics, ERA Technology, Chelton Electrostatics and Chelton Radomes has received a grant from the DTI to fund research into communications technology for the aerospace industry. The technology will give airline...

Automotive ; controls could end road deaths.
December 3, 2003... Road deaths in Europe could be eliminated if more use were made of electronic automotive controls, it was claimed at the Forum 2003 annual meeting of European microelectronics R&D programme MEDEA+. "The number of fatal accidents on the roads...

UK technology close to market.
December 3, 2003... Cambridge-based chipless tag firm Flying Null is "very, very close" to securing further large scale funding to take its electromagnetic ID (EMID) technology into a variety of markets. "For the last 12 months we've been through quite a lot of...

ASML takes immersion technology to market.
December 3, 2003... ASML is taking orders for its first lithography tool which uses the new immersion technology. "We are open for orders for prototype tools," ASML's CEO Doug Dunn told EW at the MEDEA+ Forum 2003 in Berlin last week. "Immersion technology extends...

Intel switches lithography to extreme UV process.
December 3, 2003... Intel says it will move its lithography equipment from 193nm ultra-violet direct to extreme UV processing technology, bypassing 157nm lithography. Extreme UV's 13.4nm wavelength makes it, in reality, soft X-ray technology. Intel will first use...

Europe under fire for freezing SMEs out of public procurement contracts.
December 3, 2003... Europe's smaller companies are getting a raw deal in access both to public procurement contracts and to publicly funded R&D. "SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) get only five per cent of European public procurement contracts, and only 14...

UK tagging firm looks into UHF.
December 3, 2003... RF tagging specialist Innovision R&T is researching UHF tagging, the firm has revealed. "Our on-going investment in UHF is a pre-emptive move as the demand for UHF RFID strengthens," company MD Marc Borrett told EW. "As the RFID market gathers...

FPGA company recruits Handel composer.
December 3, 2003... Oxfordshire-based start-up Orange Tree Technologies has boosted its design expertise with the appointment of a head of software development. He is Matt Bowen, previously with EDA start-up Celoxica, where he wrote the first commercial version of...

Distribution sales reverse three years' decline.
December 3, 2003... UK component sales through distribution are set to grow again after three years of decline, according to the industry association, Afdec. The total available market for component distributors is forecast to increase by just over three per cent...

Welsh silicon-on-sapphire firm builds plant as demand soars.
December 3, 2003... Wrexham-based Ellison Sensors is building a new factory to bring the various elements of its silicon-on-sapphire (SoS) processing in-house, in response to demand for its high temperature MEMS sensors. The firm, which this year won a gold medal...

Story ends at Kymata.
December 3, 2003... It was once billed as the technology rival to Bookham Technology but the final chapter in the story of Scottish optical firm Kymata has ended. Present owners Avanex said it would close operations at the former Kymata facility in Livingston. The...

US minnows get room to grow.
December 3, 2003... The MEDEA+ Forum was told that, of the 25 largest companies in the US, six existed in 1960 but, in Europe, all the 25 largest companies existed in 1960. The conclusion? European small companies do not grow as readily as US-based small...

Sepura tests low signal strength GPS technology.
December 3, 2003... UK developed GPS technology that works from low signal strength, such as in urban areas, has been used for the first time by Sepura, a Tetra handset maker. The low signal strength GPS was designed by QinetiQ. It is specifically aimed at users...

Handy, accurate and automatic.
December 10, 2003... ade by Peak Electronics in Derbyshire, the Atlas LCR is a pocket-sized fully-automatically inductor-capacitor-resistance meter - just connect a component and wait a few seconds for the result. It measures inductors from 1[micro]H to 10H,...

What's it like to be N-Gage'd?
December 10, 2003... okia's N-Gage combines a tri-band mobile phone with 3D games console, FM radio and MP3 player. Thrown in for good measure is the ability to wirelessly connect to other N-Gages using Bluetooth, which allows for multiplayer games and transferring...

A digital movie camera for your pocket.
December 10, 2003... onvergence, the trend to shoehorn various functions into a single device, has been exemplified most successfully by the mobile phone camera, which has caught the public's imagination to the extent that concert-goers are now more likely to hold...

A memory for telling the time.
December 10, 2003... ere at Electronics Weekly we've often imagined plugging into any computer that takes our fancy and downloading data via a FireWire connection direct to our brain. We've also always quite liked those handy little USB flash drives that seem to be...

When DAB looks fab.
December 10, 2003... he first thing you notice about the Pure Evoke-1 DAB digital radio as you pull it out of the box is how heavy it is. Luckily though you forget that as the next thing you notice is how pleasing to the eye the whole radio is. With its light maple...

You can talk the talk but does it make sense?
December 10, 2003... Exactly one week later, and the mists are starting to clear. Relief, euphoria, lager and jetlag are beginning to surrender to solid memory. And what are memory. We ought greenwood the England centre was at the birth of a legend, standing right...

Artificial intelligence builds robots for race.
December 10, 2003... Artificial intelligence software from the UK has beaten human designers in a competition to build and race virtual robots - only to be beaten itself by a Canadian teenager. The robots, called amoebas, are spring-and-joint creations modelled on...

CCL drills into on/off switching.
December 10, 2003... Cambridge Consultants (CCL) has developed a 'power assist' device that replaces on/off switching in powered products CCL's patented idea is that winding a rotary handle controls the speed and direction of a motor-powered item. The patent...

US materials put holes in OLEDs.
December 10, 2003... US microdisplay firm eMagin has been granted a patent covering materials that aid hole injection and transport in organic LED (OLED) devices. The company said its materials, applied in devices as layers 10-50nm thick, create a smoother...

Xilinx introduces vertical stripes in application specific high-end FPGAs.
December 10, 2003... Xilinx has developed an architecture for its high end FPGAs, creating a modular format that allows the firm to make programmable logic chips targeted at specific markets. The underlying hardware for configurable logic remains the same, but the...

ISSCC 2004 to highlight data conversion developments.
December 10, 2003... Next February's International Solid State Circuits Conference will be notable for research papers on data conversion. Four complete sessions are devoted to DACs and ADCs, with some significant improvements in device specifications being...

Design your own virtual machine.
December 10, 2003... If you want to have a go at making a virtual machine, take a look at www.sodaplaycentral.com. Run by Queen Mary College in London, the site allows you to design a machine made of springs and muscles. This is then animated for you over the Web,...

ST profits from Chinese consumers.
December 10, 2003... STMicroelectronics will get around a seventh of its revenues from mainland China this year, according to ST's chief executive Pasquale Pistorio. "ST has $1.3bn of sales in China this year," Pistorio said recently, adding "China is both a big...

Blueprint for European R&D focus.
December 10, 2003... The focus of Europe's microelectronics R&D should be on telecoms, automotive, power, wearable electronics, healthcare and security, said Peter Tischer, vice-chairman for technologies at the pan-European microelectronics R&D programme MEDEA+....

NAND flash firms bring forward 300mm manufacturing date.
December 10, 2003... Toshiba and SanDisk are bringing forward the date when they will begin the manufacture of NAND flash on 300mm wafers. Against a background of severe shortages, with only 65-70 per cent supply coverage, the two companies expect to jointly bring...

Computer manufacturer to trial RFID products in Scotland.
December 10, 2003... Sun Microsystems has chosen Scotland for a European test centre for radio-frequency identification (RFID) products. The 1,000m2 facility is another significant investment by Sun in Linlithgow, its only manufacturing site outside the US. Earlier...

Taiwanese foundry first to take initiative with X Architecture.
December 10, 2003... Taiwanese firm UMC is the first foundry to offer the X Architecture - diagonal lines in the metal interconnect, in its process technology. The firm will offer X Architecture on its 0.18, 0.15 and 0.13[micro]m processes, it said. Using diagonal...

Boundary scan firm signs low cost JTAG agreement.
December 10, 2003... XJTAG, the Cambridge firm developing boundary scan technology, has signed a low cost supply agreement with Europractice. "Europractice will supply our system to academia and not-for-profit researchers for 500," said Simon Payne, XJTAG's chief...

Wolfson threatens to sue Cirrus over share offering.
December 10, 2003... Wolfson Microelectronics and Cirrus Logic locked legal horns last week when Wolfson said it would sue Cirrus for trying to interfere with its initial public share offering in October. Four working days before the Wolfson IPO, Cirrus said it was...

ARM binary interface to aid software portability.
December 10, 2003... ARM has published an application binary interface for its processor architectures that will improve portability of software. It will allow different parts of an application to be developed with software tools from different companies, said Ian...

Equipment supplier questions immersion technology hype.
December 10, 2003... Using immersion technology to extend 193nm lithography tools down to the 45nm process node is by no means done and dusted, Boudewijn Sluijk, director of product marketing at Dutch equipment supplier ASML has told Electronics Weekly. Although...

Push-to-talk mobiles ring in the New Year at Christmas present lists.
December 10, 2003... Mobile phones with push-to-talk (PTT) capability will become a "stocking filler", not this year, but for Christmas 2004. "The conversations we're having with operators in the UK indicate that PTT will become a stocking filler for Christmas...

Employment figures rise.
December 10, 2003... Electronics firms reported an increase in employment for the last quarter of 2003 following three years of job cuts, according to the latest 'Business Trends Survey' from manufacturing industry body EEF. Electronics was also cited by EEF as...

10,000-node computers hit 10Tflops.
December 10, 2003... If you want to crack big nuts, you need a big hammer. In quantum physics, the nuts are so huge, the hammer needs to be devilishly efficient. In order to tackle quantum chromodynamics (QCD) problems, a project based at Columbia University, and...

Analog to sound out audio with $10 Sharc DSP devices.
December 10, 2003... Analog Devices has repositioned its Sharc high-end DSP family in a move to support a growing number of audio signal processing applications. The company's Sharc DSPs are commonly used in professional studio audio systems and it hopes to extend...

Engineering institutes to merge.
December 10, 2003... The IEE, IIE and IMechE are expected to agree on a blueprint for the formation of a merged multidisciplinary engineering institution by the end of January. The blueprint will form the basis of a prospectus which will be sent to members in...

Consortium wins ESA Galileo deal.
December 10, 2003... The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a contract to finalise the specifications of the satellite constellation and ground segment, the European alternative to GPS, to Galileo Industries, a consortium that includes Alcatel, EADS Astrium...

Display firm cuts 265 jobs.
December 10, 2003... LG.Philips Displays is to close one of its UK factories and cut 265 jobs as the firm restructures its European cathode ray tube (CRT) manufacturing operations. The firm's glass production facility at Simonstone in Lancashire will close next...

Infineon sees 33 per cent growth as world market grows to $175bn.
December 10, 2003... Infineon Technologies had a strong 2003, growing 32.9 per cent to end $100m behind STMicroelectronics, according to Gartner Dataquest's annual top ten ranking report. In the year, the worldwide chip market grew 11.8 per cent to reach $175bn....

Tyre firm plans silicon carbide business.
December 10, 2003... Bridgestone, the tyre manufacturer, is to set up a business making silicon carbide base wafers. It is thought the move could be followed by other wafer manufacturers hoping to capitalise on the technology's potential for LEDs. Last week...

University of Southampton spin-out wins seed funding.
December 10, 2003... Nanotecture, which spun out of the chemistry department at the University of Southampton in February with [pounds sterling]525,000 of seed funding, has recruited a CEO and is talking to potential partners about developing its nanoporous metals...

Students graduate with ISLI Masters Degrees.
December 10, 2003... A group of 53 students have graduated with Masters Degrees from the Institute of System Level Integration (ISLI), based at the Alba Centre in Livingston. The Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde jointly award the...

Bristol cluster is biggest for design.
December 10, 2003... The Bristol semiconductor design cluster employs over 500 pure silicon design engineers and is almost 50 per cent larger in engineering skills than the Cambridge cluster. A survey on the sector was conducted for the South West Regional...

Welsh RF test firm to expand after takeover.
December 10, 2003... Atlantic Technology in Wales has been acquired by Malaysian chip packaging and test company Unisem for $18m. The deal could result in an expansion of the firm's operations in South Wales, where Atlantic, a mixed-signal and RF test and assembly...

Universities must look to licence.
December 10, 2003... The Lambert Review has recommended that UK universities place less emphasis on developing spin-out firms in favour of licensing technology to industry. The report concluded that: "Measured against other developed countries, the research...

IEE warns UK to develop skills in march on nanotechnology.
December 10, 2003... Throwing money at nano-technology will not make the technology a success in the UK without there being sufficient skilled people to develop the sector according to the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). "There's a severe skills shortage...

Manufacturing will return to meet European shortages, says report.
December 10, 2003... Manufacturers' decisions to move production out of Europe will be reversed within the next two to three years, according to a report on the European electronics manufacturing industry. The survey, which has been commissioned by the European...

300mm fab drive cuts prices.
December 10, 2003... As 300mm fabs ramp up around the world, the price of 12in. raw wafers is dropping. Q4 pricing is around $200 compared to Q1 pricing of around $500. That compares to $45 to $50 for 8in. wafers. Wafer manufacturers are increasing capacity...

Researchers look to nature for inspiration.
December 17, 2003... When it comes to survival, nature has shown itself to be pretty handy. So it's quite a logical place to turn if you want to design a system - any system - that includes a degree of hardiness and fault-tolerance. That's what an EPSRC research...