Electronics Weekly articles from February 2003

Electronics Weekly archives from February 2003

GaAsInN improves power efficiency of RF amps.
February 5, 2003... Heterogeneous bipolar transistors (HBTs) made using gallium arsenide indium nitride have been proposed by US firm Kopin to improve efficiency of mobile phone power amps. The devices could also enable 40Gbit/s optical comms systems without...

ARM unsure when future licence deals will happen.
February 5, 2003... Alex Mayhew-Smith ARM is expecting flat revenues and warned it remained difficult to predict the timing of future licence deals. "We expect the exact timing of signing of licence deals to continue to be hard to predict, and in view of...

Electric field takes size into account.
February 5, 2003... Motorola has designed a single chip for generating and detecting electric fields that can be used to sense objects and their size. The device is already being used to disable car airbags if a seat's occupant is a child or small adult. The...

Quartz device detects nerve gases in air.
February 5, 2003... A miniature device for detecting airborne nerve gases and blister agents has been developed by researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and Lockheed Martin in the US. SnifferStar weighs only a few grams, operates on 0.5W and will fit...

Microchip simplifies control of single phase induction motors.
February 5, 2003... Steve Bush Microchip is offering microcontrollers and firmware aimed at open-loop control of single-phase induction motors. Using its new chips "motor control tasks can be realised with little or no previous experience in motor control...

Astrium aids Venus probe.
February 5, 2003... Astrium has won a e82.4m contract to design and develop the space probe Venus Express for the European Space Agency. Astrium France is the prime contractor with Astrium UK handling mechanical structure and propulsion systems. "We will...

Portables get MPEG-4 and MP3 from ST.
February 5, 2003... Richard Ball A multimedia processor aimed at running MPEG4 video and MP3 audio on handheld equipment has been unveiled by STMicroelectronics. Called Nomadik, the device combines several processing elements. "Nomadik is based on a...

Engineering GCSE attracts four times expected pupils.
February 5, 2003... The GCSE in Engineering has attracted the interest of four times as many pupils and three times as many schools than was anticipated. "I am delighted with the number of schools who have responded magnificently to teaching engineering and...

GSM and GPRS 'to die out by 2010' in Europe.
February 5, 2003... Melanie Reynolds GSM and GPRS mobile networks will have all died out in Europe by 2010, leaving 3G UMTS as the mobile network used by the majority, according to test firm Tektronix. Othmar Kyas, worldwide marketing director, monitoring...

Sharp to use Imagination IP.
February 5, 2003... Imagination Technologies Group has licensed its intellectual property (IP) to Sharp for use in the firm's ICs. Imagination said Sharp had licensed multi-thread DSP, audio and 3G graphics IP cores from its three technology divisions -...

Graphics chip sales show strong growth.
February 5, 2003... Sales of graphics chips rose 13 per cent in the last three months of 2002, according to Jon Peddie Research, the analyst firm specialising in graphics. Nine companies shipped 53 million graphics chips in the final three months of 2002, up...

Intergraph sues TI over superscalar chip patent.
February 5, 2003... Richard Ball Intergraph has accused Texas Instruments of patent infringement, and has filed a lawsuit in the US. The firm's intellectual property division alleges TI infringed three patents related to parallel instruction computing...

Silicon foundries must change their business model in order to survive.
February 5, 2003... David Manners The silicon foundry business model will have to change if firms are to recover from low profit margins and low growth rates, according to a number of sources. "The era of high margins for the current foundry model has...

3.4GHz licence sale in May.
February 5, 2003... The Radiocommunications Agency (RA) is planning to offer 3.4GHz licences for sale in May with reserve prices of pound sterling300,000 or pound sterling100,000, depending on the region covered. The 15 regional licences, for public fixed...

Osmetech claims success despite loss.
February 5, 2003... Electronic nose firm Osmetech made a loss of pound sterling1.9m in its first financial half year, although it claims to be close to commercial success. In its interim results, Osmetech announced revenue of pound sterling10,000 as it has...

PicoChip to sample 30bn MAC/s device.
February 5, 2003... Harry Yeates Bath-based 3G baseband processor firm PicoChip Designs has announced its first device is sampling. The device offers 30 billion multiply-accumulate operations per second (MAC/s) at 160MHz. The firm claimed its...

Synopsys opens Milkyway to third party developers.
February 5, 2003... Synopsys is opening its Milkyway design database to third party tool developers. Milkyway is the database system developed by Avant!, and acquired last year. Synopsys said it had almost completed the integration of its own tools with the...

Telecoms recovery 'bit by bit'.
February 5, 2003... Recovery in the long-haul telecommunications infrastructure spending will be piecemeal as some routes run out of capacity earlier than others, said the CEO of Bookham Technology, Giorgio Anania. "The requirement for bandwidth is still going...

Engineering registration is changing.
February 5, 2003... The Engineering Council UK (ECUK) is aiming to finalise tomorrow (Thursday) a "public draft specification" on the proposed changes to regulations for registration of engineers and technicians in the UK. The draft will enable employers and...

Rambus on the rise as Infineon claim fails.
February 5, 2003... Alex Romanelli Rambus' shares jumped more than 50 per cent after the dismissal by a federal appeals court of Infineon Technologies' fraud claims against Rambus. A three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit...

Mixed-signal; firm funded; for first chip.
February 5, 2003... Harry Yeates Power and mixed-signal IC start-up Cambridge Semiconductor has secured pound sterling3.75m of first round backing to put its fast, high-voltage switching technology into products. "The money will last between 18 and 24...

UK fabless chip start-up wins $10m for 'secret' technology.
February 5, 2003... Alex Mayhew-Smith A fabless semiconductor start-up has won $10m funding but the firm, which has leading industry executives behind it, is currently keeping its technology under wraps. The Bristol firm, backed by Benchmark Capital and...

Imperial College aims to fill analogue skills gap.
February 5, 2003... Imperial College believes there is still a shortfall in the industry of key engineering skills required for analogue circuit design. The London University college has announced a programme of courses aimed at addressing the skills issue. ...

Major players back YEDA awards.
February 5, 2003... Martin Rosinski (17) was a winner at last year's YEDA awards. This year's Youth-Electronics-Design-Applications YEDA awards are being backed by major companies, including STMicroelectronics, BT, National Semiconductor and the Institution of...

Study finds mobile phone fields damage rat brains.
February 5, 2003... A Swedish study has found that electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by mobile phones causes damage to neurons in the brains of rats. The study, published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal, exposed groups of 12 to 26 week old...

'We can compete with Far East' says UK PCB firm founder.
February 5, 2003... A uk-based PCB firm claims it is possible to compete with the Far East for manufacturing work. Les Sainsbury, a founder director at Circatex, said: "We have to get over saying China is cheap and Europe is expensive. Maybe what costs you a...

Cyan reincarnation gets first batch of controllers.
February 5, 2003... Re-born Cyan Technology is expecting its first production batch of 16-bit microcontrollers since a management buy-out in December. "We expect delivery before the end of next week," said company CEO Paul Johnson. Johnson and fellow...

Electronics sector expects big slice of MoD [pounds sterling]2.7bn aircraft carrier programme.
February 5, 2003... UK electronics businesses should be getting a large slice of the MoD's pound sterling2.7bn aircraft carrier programme. Prime contractor for the programme is BAE Systems, with Thales senior sub-contractor. "The on-board electronic...

IQE cuts 60 staff as sales drop in declining market.
February 5, 2003... Compound wafer firm IQE is cutting 60 staff, mostly from its IQE Europe business. The firm said sales in Q4 2002 will be five per cent down on the pound sterling5.6m reported in the previous quarter. The reduction is largely due to...

Driving the fast lane.
February 12, 2003... With the emergence of new technologies to boost the carrying capability of optical fibre networks due to the increase in demand for data and broadband services, test firms have responded with a raft of equipment, says HARRY YEATES The...

Jack of all trades not favourite.
February 12, 2003... Andrew Larkins Supplier base reduction is a proven way for companies to reduce costs by becoming more important customers to each of their suppliers, negotiating lower prices, simplifying logistics and reducing inventory. However, adopting...

Patients get bedside Internet and TV.
February 12, 2003... Trident Microsystems starts deliveries this month of a hospital bedside TV and Internet terminal which the company expects to lift sales revenues this year. The terminal, which Trident has designed and built, is being delivered to...

Bookham cuts 200 staff at Milton facility.
February 12, 2003... Bookham Technology is cutting 200 jobs at its Milton facility after reporting a loss of pound sterling19.9m in its Q4 and a net loss for 2002 of pound sterling101.36m. However, the firm claimed it continues to make headway sequentially...

Complex testing.
February 12, 2003... Intellectual property, with its many forms and varying degrees of test support, has test engineers tearing their hair out. So the chip developers are looking at ways to make it easier to implement. Richard Ball reports above 200MHz."...

Toshiba 25p SiGe transistors are a match for GaAs.
February 12, 2003... Toshiba will sample, next month, high frequency silicon-germanium (SiGe) transistors that it claims will match the low noise level of gallium-arsenide (GaAs) transistors but at around half the price (50 Yen, or 25p). Toshiba will start...

ARC International says Asia will be driver in depressed market this year.
February 12, 2003... Gulett: No significant change was also delaying any new licences of its products In its full year results, the firm saw a net loss of pound sterling22m, including exceptional items. This is an improvement on 2001, when the loss was...

Polymer pillars can connect electrical and optical signals.
February 12, 2003... Richard Ball Polymer pillars connecting silicon die with a substrate for both electrical and optical signals are being suggested by researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology. According to Muhannad Bakir from the Microelectronics...

Making sure the 3G networks will work.
February 12, 2003... The standards body responsible for setting out the test specifications ensuring that 3G systems will work has got its hands full getting the industry up to speed with test cases. MELANIE REYNOLDS looks at the problems TTCN explained ...

Gordon Moore: Law is fighting fit.
February 12, 2003... Steve Bush The state-of-the-art was put into perspective in the plenary session of ISSCC 2003 by three respected industry figures who spoke of integration trends, power consumption and the continuing need for analogue circuits. Gordon...

Clock distribution for 10GHz systems.
February 12, 2003... Clock distribution for 10GHz systems using standing waves has been addressed by a team from Stanford University and Atheros Communications. A grid of oscillators "sustain synchronous, sinusoidal standing waves across the chip". A 0.18[micro]m...

NEC in cruise control with 51.2Gops processor.
February 12, 2003... Image-based automotive cruise control systems have specific processing requirements, including the ability to run multiple algorithms in parallel. NEC has addressed this with a linear array of 128 four-way VLIW processing elements. The...

Agilent shows off record breaking CMOS ADC chip.
February 12, 2003... Steve Bush Oscilloscope maker Agilent revealed a 20Gsample/s 6GHz bandwidth CMOS ADC at ISSCC 2003, claiming it to be the fastest 8-bit device of its kind. Made on a standard 0.18[micro]m digital process, it is essentially 80 separate...

60GHz VCO uses SiGe:C BiCMOS.
February 12, 2003... Researchers at the IHP in Frankfurt have built a 60GHz VCO and a 77GHz oscillator in 0.25[micro]m SiGe:C BiCMOS. These frequencies have generally been implemented using GaAs p-HEMTs. The fully-monolithic devices are based on a Colpitts...

MEMS boost bio-tests.
February 12, 2003... The session on microsensors and biomems revealed some remarkable interdisciplinary projects, two involving high-throughput screening of biological samples. Bologna firm Silicon Biosystems reported a device implemented in standard...

ST debuts 160W audio D/A converter.
February 12, 2003... A brawny audio digital to analogue converter was the subject of a paper from STMicroelectronics. Made on the company's mixed signal BCD5 process, the chip has four full-bridge output power-DACs on its 7.5x4.8mm die. Power delivered is...

Thermogenerator sucks power from environment.
February 12, 2003... Scavenging power from the local environment was the subject of several papers. A notable example was a thermoelectric generator and associated power converter from NTT and Seiko of Japan. In this design, multiple 180[micro]m diameter...

Don't look too far.
February 12, 2003... Founder director of PCB maker Circatex reckons it is foolish to assume that the Far East is the answer to cheap manufacturing. alex mayhew-smith investigates his claims Just who exactly wants to be an electronics manufacturer today? It...

In the firing line of war with Iraq.
February 12, 2003... SUZANNE DEFFREE asks what would be the consequences of war for the chip industry? excess capacity and increases in the consumer markets. But he adds: "If there is a war in the Middle East and it does branch out into adjoining countries...

TI has low power stereo audio ADC.
February 12, 2003... Texas Instruments reported a low power stereo audio ADC that achieves total harmonic distortion plus noise of -105dB and 114dB dynamic range up to 20kHz on a total of 68mW. Supporting 48, 96 and 192kHz sampling rates, the converter is a...

Intel takes control of sleep transistors.
February 12, 2003... Dynamically controlled sleep transistors and body bias techniques have been examined by Intel. The firm tested the techniques on a 32-bit adder, which normally operates at 3.3GHz at 1.2V or 4.3GHz at 1.4V. The team inserted NMOS and PMOS sleep...

Cambridge firm Pi Technology plans controller to drive hydraulic power.
February 12, 2003... Pi Technology is to develop a controller for stored hydraulic power systems in cars. The Cambridge firm has agreed to develop the electronic control for the hydraulic system invented by SHEP Technologies, a Canadian firm with UK...

Cambridge University spin-off signs plasma display deals and seeks prototype funding.
February 12, 2003... Cam 3D, the company spun out of Cambridge University to commercialise a thin rear-projection display technology, has signed two development deals for its 'Wedge' device. The firm has also changed its name to Cam FPD. "We have concluded...

UK experimental programme cuts a year ; off terahertz imager development time.
February 12, 2003... The aim of this StarTiger was to develop a device for space use which can image objects using electromagnetic radiation at around 1THz. Exactly what has been developed is being kept secret for now. "The final version is an imaging system...

Electronics sector shows smart touch in DTI awards.
February 12, 2003... Richard Ball Electronics firms figured highly at last week's Achievement Awards ceremony for recipients of the DTI's Smart Awards. Diamond Consulting Services, Oxford Semiconductor, Millbrook Instruments and RF Engines were among 11...

Scottish chip firm adds software jobs.
February 12, 2003... Alex Mayhew-Smith Fabless network processor company Wintegra is planning to expand its software team in Scotland over the next year. The firm is to add four or five software engineers to its site at the Strathclyde Business Park in...

Irish design growth leads to skills shortage worries.
February 12, 2003... Growing demand for chip designers in Ireland may not be met by students graduating from local universities, a recent survey has indicated. Numbers of engineers employed in electronic research in Ireland have risen 90 per cent in the past...

Multi-level flash to use NAND.
February 12, 2003... Richard Ball M-Systems and Toshiba have developed a multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory based on a NAND structure. "This is the first product based on multi-level cell NAND technology," claimed Arie Tal, marketing manager at M-Systems....

Eurodis hints at US alliance to replace Pioneer-Standard.
February 12, 2003... Richard Wilson Distributor Eurodis Electron has hinted that it is looking for a US partner to replace its alliance with Pioneer-Standard. Eurodis chairman Robert Leigh told EW he was considering the options and would look at a similar...

University opens engineering centre.
February 12, 2003... Birmingham University's new School of Engineering will be opened today (Wednesday) by Lord Sainsbury, the minister for science and innovation. The university has restructured the department to develop interdisciplinary research, foster better...

Mitsubishi robot will be a friend.
February 12, 2003... Mitsubishi has unveiled a robot which it claims could become a house-sitter, caretaker, nurse and family friend. Called Wakamaru, the one metre tall robot is expected to sell for over pound sterling5,000. Wakamaru is equipped with a...

Amega sees security boost for specialists.
February 12, 2003... Distributor Amega Group expects demand for security in online transactions to generate significant revenue from specialist ICs over the next few years. The firm distributes devices from US firm SafeNet, which go into point-of-sale...

Nottingham gets into IP.
February 12, 2003... Nottingham University has launched a technology transfer unit to support its growing intellectual property activity. Nottingham Technology Ventures will help the university commercialise the IP it develops through research. It will educate...

Electronics bosses say cut in interest rates 'too small'.
February 12, 2003... Richard Wilson "Too little, too late" is the response from the electronics industry to last week's quarter per cent cut in interest rates after 14 months of no change. Electronics industry executives welcomed the rate cut but said it...

PCB maker Circatex to open support premises near Paris.
February 12, 2003... PCB maKer Circatex is opening an office in France to support its customers there and in the Benelux region. The office will employ two permanent staff, with a further two mobile throughout the country. "Location is not exactly confirmed,...

Alcatel site in Scotland under threat of closure.
February 12, 2003... Melanie Reynolds Alcatel's site in Livingston, Scotland, is facing an uncertain future after the firm said it is considering closing, selling or restructuring Alcatel Optronics, its loss-making optical components business. "All the...

TeraView signs drug company deal.
February 12, 2003... TeraView, the Cambridge firm developing terahertz radiation imaging technology, has struck a deal with drug giant GlaxoSmithKline. The company has also signed a contract with the Home Office to apply the technology to homeland security, and...

Synad in world office bonanza.
February 12, 2003... Dual-mode wireless LAN chipset developer Synad has opened offices in Asia, Europe and the US. The company has also moved into a new 1,000m2 headquarters and engineering facility in Reading. "Synad has been heavily focused on developing...

University to cash in on nanoporous materials.
February 12, 2003... Steve Bush The University of Southampton is spinning out a company to exploit its development of nanoporous materials. To be called Nanotecture, it has received pound sterling525,000 in seedcorn investment. "That will last us 18...

Green LEDs and plastic optics work pushes fibre in the home.
February 12, 2003... Harry Yeates Cheap optical networks in the home could be the result of work on green LEDs and plastic optical fibre (POF) at the National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC) in Cork, Ireland. By identifying an attenuation minimum...

GPRS spurs growth in embedded wireless.
February 12, 2003... High speed wireless data capabilities of GPRS mobile systems are driving a growth of embedded wireless communications technology in industrial and retail sectors. "GPRS is the fastest growing part of the embedded wireless market," said...

Sendo in fury at Microsoft bid to 'delay' court hearing.
February 12, 2003... Melanie Reynolds UK mobile phone company Sendo has described Microsoft's request to change the venue for the hearing of its lawsuit against the software giant as a "delaying tactic". A Sendo spokeswoman said if the case stays in Texas...

France Telecom links WiFi to mobile telephony networks.
February 12, 2003... France Telecom says it is going after the WiFi or 802.11 market with an approach which links WiFi with mobile telephony networks such as the GSM enhancement technology GPRS, and with 3G technologies. France Telecom's mobile phone...

VLIW-based configurable DSP core can be implemented in 7,000 gates.
February 12, 2003... Cambridge Consultants (CCL) has launched a configurable DSP core based on a VLIW architecture for which the basic configuration of a 16-bit device can be implemented in 7,000 gates. "That's an order of magnitude difference from the gates...

Govt neglected dual support funding, says pressure group.
February 12, 2003... Harry Yeates The Government has been accused of failing to maintain the dual support funding system for universities, leaving institutions looking for alternative means of raising cash for day-to-day operations. The pressure group Save...

Alphamosaic to launch platform.
February 12, 2003... Cambridge-based Alphamosaic will launch a middleware platform for use with its VC01 VideoCore processor at the 3GSM Congress in Cannes next week. The VideoCore Middleware platform integrates with mobile phone basebands to support high...

From ADCs to DACs at ISSCC.
February 12, 2003... A single 7.5x4.8mm die containing four full-bridge digital-to-analogue converters and an analogue-to-digital converter with a 20Gsample/s 6GHz bandwidth are two of the IC designs being talked about at this week's ISSCC in San Francisco....

Sigtronics turns to IP licensing business to survive European PCB industry slump.
February 19, 2003... Harry Yeates The poor state of the PCB industry has forced Scottish rapid prototyping start-up Sigtronics to relaunch as an IP licensing business. The firm has turned to partner agreements and IP licensing to make money from its...

Bandwidth junkies.
February 19, 2003... The explosion in demand for fast transfer of large amounts of data - like photos and audio files - between PDAs and PCs has seen an old radio technique called ultra wideband come back in fashion, says HARRY YEATES Wireless, and...

Linking up to fight the cause.
February 19, 2003... QinetiQ forms US alliance to bring component obsolescence management techniques to UK manufacturers gh QinetiQ has formed a partnership with TACTech, a US-based component obsolescence management specialist, to create the QinetiQ...

Fuel cells could power laptop for 'a whole day'.
February 19, 2003... Fuel cells with a high power density designed to replace the proton exchange membrane in traditional methanol devices with a honeycomb of porous silicon could power a laptop for a whole day. Neah Power Systems claims its patent-pending...

Intel on power kick with 4GHz arithmetic logic unit at ISSCC.
February 19, 2003... Steve Bush at ISSCC in San Francisco Power consumption control in logic circuits, long a feature of forward looking papers from Japanese companies at ISSCC, hit the conference mainstream last week when Intel presented a paper on a 4GHz...

Micromachines not key to chip growth for chips.
February 19, 2003... Micromachines will become more common, but are not going to lead chip sales for the foreseeable future, was one of the messages to come from an expert panel session at ISSCC in San Francisco last week. The question asked of the panel was...

The chip stream.
February 19, 2003... The semiconductor industry has always been a hotbed of innovation and despite the recession there has been no slowdown, with IBM leading the way. Necessity is proving to be the mother of invention, says DAVID MANNERS The last few years...

Sharp Z80 polysilicon chip built on glass.
February 19, 2003... Sharp has built a Z80 microprocessor in polysilicon directly on glass. "We chose the Z80 because we have good experience with it and this is good for characterisation," said Sharp researcher Beyeol Lee. The process used was a...