Electronics Weekly articles from January 2003

Electronics Weekly archives from January 2003

Philips works to develop material which can emit red or green light.
January 15, 2003... Steve Bush The discovery of the bi-colour emitter was the result of a happy accident. "The intention of mixing a metal [ruthenium] complex with the polymer was to increase light output and reliability," said Professor Hans Hofstraat of...

US researchers raise possibility of EUV laser-like light with wavelength of 4nm.
January 15, 2003... A finger-sized glass tube turns an existing idea into a semi-coherent EUV source. Researchers at the University of Colorado have created extreme ultra-violet laser-like light. Results suggest EUV lasers, and light with wavelengths as short...

Training benefits from real learning.
January 15, 2003... Simon Shute With technological innovations and new and updated versions of equipment constantly appearing on the market there is a need for people to become conversant with the latest developments - usually in a very short space of time....

Nottingham MSc graduates qualify.
January 15, 2003... The first graduates of an MSc in Real-Time Computing Applications from Nottingham Trent University, have qualified. The MSc, which was created in collaboration with Siemens, is based on the university's MSc in Industrial Computing Systems....

Choosing an extension.
January 15, 2003... DSP extensions have given designers options when applications that run control code using a Risc processor architecture also need some basic signal processing. RICHARD BALL finds out where they fit in The last couple of years has seen...

868MHz radio unit draws 75[micro]A current.
January 15, 2003... IAR has introduced 868MHz receiver and transmitter modules that can exchange 16bit/s over 60m for three months on a pair of CR2032 coin cells. The system is called Blue-Robin G2 and is based around Texas Instruments' MSP430 low-power...

Birmingham business intitiative supports optoelectronic firms.
January 15, 2003... Steve Bush Support for optoelectronic companies is the aim of a new business initiative in the Birmingham area. The Midlands Photonics Cluster and the UK Laser and Electro-Optics Association (UKLEO) have joined forces to create a...

DAB sells out over Christmas.
January 15, 2003... High demand for DAB digital radios saw retailers selling out over the Christmas period and complaining that they could have sold even more. About 75,000 DAB products went into the market before Christmas and, according to a survey by the...

Solving the 3G problem.
January 15, 2003... A new generation of DSP has opened up alternatives to FPGAs and costly Asics in 3G networks, says HARRY YEATES tion of programmable DSP has become the sensible choice for many OEMs. "It turns out there's just so much processing being...

Tardy 3G infrastructure roll-out makes Asic-based approach too expensive.
January 15, 2003... Third generation mobile phone infrastructure is rolling out too slowly to support Asic-based baseband processor designs, which require manufacturers to ship products in volume to dissipate high initial costs. "The cost of going to a...

The Alice in Wonderland world of the chip market.
January 15, 2003... DAVID MANNERS looks at the prospects for 2003 and finds an industry that doesn't make sense The chip industry is in another of its periods of unreality. Just as capacity at the traditional companies gets filled, the mainland Chinese and...

Chairman resigns in Densitron shake-up, ; but 'it's no bloodbath' says spokesman.
January 15, 2003... A boardroom reshuffle at Densitron has led to the resignations of chairman Crawford Gray and non-executive director Gerald Leahy. The moves come after an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) brought by company founder Cliff Hardcastle, who...

Bright LED future for Scottish researchers.
January 15, 2003... Steve Bush Researchers at Strathclyde University's Institute of Photonics have made an array of blue micro-LEDs which it claims is brighter than competitive products. "We can get 100[micro]W per element," said Tim Hold, business...

Philips jobs warning not aimed at UK workforce.
January 15, 2003... Harry Yeates Philips' UK workforce will escape the worst of job cuts resulting from any new reorganisation of the electronics giant. The chief executive of Philips, Gerard Kleisterlee, has warned that continuing reorganisation of the...

Design services firm emerges following Tality office closure.
January 15, 2003... Richard Ball A design services company has emerged from Tality's closure of its office near Cambridge. Fen Technology has been set up by former Tality and Symbionics engineers to carry out systems design consulting. According to...

Infineon hopes to exploit cut in DDR DRAM prices.
January 15, 2003... David Manners Double data rate (DDR) DRAM prices are sliding on the back of increased levels of production. "It's like nobody ever learns," said Kelli Woody, analyst and DRAM price-trackers ICIS-LOR, "the majors have all turned over to...

Low power design win.
January 15, 2003... Cambridge design consultancy OptionExist has won two Smart Awards, including one for Adiabatic Logic, its low power chip spin-off. The pound sterling45,000 award will help the firm test its technique for reducing power when communicating...

Crystal start-up gets boost from manufacturing.
January 15, 2003... Start-up company The Crystal Consortium is expecting to be profitable on an operational level this year. The firm, said CEO Dr Tony Vere, had a good year in 2002. "We have not been hit by the downturn and we have been picking up business,"...

Microelectronics to benefit from Scottish funding drive.
January 15, 2003... Alex Mayhew-Smith Microelectronics projects shine in Scottish Enterprise's latest Proof of Concept funding initiative. More than 10 applications came from the microelectronics sector and all from universities, said Mike Robertson,...

Design automation gets downturn blues.
January 15, 2003... Richard Ball The continuing downturn is biting into the electronic design automation community, a market traditionally resistant to the silicon cycle. Total industry revenues were $964m in the third quarter of 2002, according to the...

Chinese 3G mobile standard will not impact Europe's UMTS, says analyst.
January 15, 2003... Siemens engineers working on the TD-SCDMA 3G standard in the company's R&D facility in Beijing. BYLINE: Melanie Reynolds TD-SCDMA, one of the three standards approved by the International Telecommunications Union for 3G mobile, will...

Scottish manufacturing strategy in question as 500 jobs are cut.
January 15, 2003... David Manners Problems for Scotland's electronics manufacturing are getting worse with its long-standing industrial strategy of attracting foreign multinationals coming under fire. The latest failure was last week's closure of...

Mobile comms industry bullish for year ahead.
January 15, 2003... The mobile telecoms industry is optimistic about its prospects this year following a period of consolidation last year, according to the latest report from research company EMC. "There is renewed optimism in the industry, which will be...

SiGe Semi wins [pounds sterling]26.7m second round funding.
January 15, 2003... SiGe Semiconductor, the analogue semiconductor supplier specialising in comms, has raised pound sterling26.7m ($42.8m) in its second funding round. SiGe's products include ICs for Bluetooth-enabled portable devices, 802.11 (WiFi) WLAN...

Start-up names Leith as CEO.
January 15, 2003... Global Silicon, the UK consumer IC start-up, has appointed David Leith, formerly of 3D Labs and ex-managing director of LG Semiconductor UK, to be its CEO. Global Silicon raised pound sterling2m in 1999 and another pound sterling2m last...

Avnet makes Amphenol connection in Europe.
January 15, 2003... Avnet Time has extended its European distribution agreement with connector supplier Amphenol. The deal, which now covers the whole of Europe rather than a few selected countries, will once again bring Avnet Time head-to-head with its...

ARC software tools for ARM9 chip.
January 15, 2003... ARC International has unveiled a suite of software development tools for the ARM9 processor. The toolset includes C/C++ compiler, debugger, instruction set simulator, assembler, real-time operating system and networking protocol stacks....

Firms to get free advice ; for greener products.
January 15, 2003... Free help on product life cycle assessments (LCA) is available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the Environment Agency as part of a European project. "SMEs in the electrical and electronic equipment sectors have an...

Routing tool firm raises q5.3m.
January 15, 2003... The Pulsic team: "Positioned to lead complex and vital segment of EDA market." BYLINE: Richard Ball Pulsic, the Bristol firm developing chip design routing tools, has raised e5.3m in its first round of funding. "This investment is...

Pace Micro reports [pounds sterling]16m loss after set-top box price slump.
January 15, 2003... Set-top box manufacturer Pace Micro Technology has posted a loss of pound sterling15.9m and a 61 per cent reduction in turnover to pound sterling83.4m for the six months ending November 30, 2002. For the same period last year the company...

UMIST start-up wins competition with 'breakthrough' technology.
January 15, 2003... Harry Yeates LC Industries (LCI), a start-up company from UMIST in Manchester developing a fast-switching device technology, has won the Electronics Weekly Entrepreneur of 2003 competition. "What we were looking for was really...

Infineon to 'walk away' from ProMos DRAM joint venture.
January 15, 2003... A dramatic week for Infineon Technologies saw the German chipmaker lose an attempt to take over the board of ProMos, the DRAM joint venture it co-owns with Mosel-Vitelic of Taiwan. "We will now walk away from ProMos and cut all ties with...

Wales waits for Cogent jobs boost.
January 15, 2003... Richard Ball Cogent Defence and Security Networks could add 200 extra jobs in South Wales as part of its expansion in the area. The firm, employing around 500 staff in Newport, is near to completing its corporate headquarters and R&D...

Europe leads under-bonnet applications.
January 15, 2003... Europe is leading the US in developing under-the-bonnet automotive applications, according to chip supplier Fairchild Semiconductor. "Europe is still the key driving market for many automotive applications," said Hans Wildenberg, v-p of...

US operator spurns CPS for rival location technology.
January 15, 2003... Melaine Reynolds UK-based developer of mobile phone location technology, Cambridge Positioning Systems (CPS) has suffered a blow from US mobile operator Cingular Wireless' decision to deploy an alternative technology. Cingular is...

Browser firm collaborates on interactive TV design.
January 15, 2003... Browser firm ANT is working with ATI Technologies to offer an integrated interactive TV design based on ATI's Xilleon 220 chipset and the UK firm's Fresco browser. The aim is to combine E-mail and Internet browsing with interactive TV...

q2m European research project will take Toric's anti-jitter technology to market.
January 22, 2003... Harry Yeates Anti-jitter circuit (AJC) technology developed at the University of Surrey is being commercialised in ICs via a three-year, E2m collaborative European research project. London-based start-up Toric, which acquired the...

Circuit survival.
January 22, 2003... When the printed circuit board industry starts sounding like the Wild West you know times are tough. Prestwick Circuits has had to face up to Viasystems riding into town, but is determined to succeed, writes ALEX MAYHEW-SMITH The UK's PCB...

Axiom adds to management in turnover push.
January 22, 2003... Axiom Manufacturing Services has strengthened its management team and expects a significant turnover this year. Newly appointed MD Paul Pursey said: "We are on course to achieve a turnover of around pound sterling15m within the next six...

Numerical shareholders bring class-action on Synopsys bid.
January 22, 2003... The acquisition by Synopsys last week of Numerical Technologies is under threat, following a lawsuit brought by Numerical shareholders. The class-action lawsuit alleges that Numerical's board of directors failed to properly assess the...

UK sends strong signals to GSM wireless awards.
January 22, 2003... Melanie Reynolds UK-based development teams have made a very strong showing in the GSM Association's latest wireless industry awards. UK entries account for nine of the 21 nominations in Europe's leading mobile technology awards. "The...

Rugged communicator in education project.
January 22, 2003... Gotive of Slovakia has designed the H41, a rugged multi-purpose handheld wireless communicator, which runs both business and education software. The communicators are being employed in an EC sponsored project called RAFT - Remote...

Microphone co-inventor goes back to college.
January 22, 2003... Electret microphone co-inventor Jim West, who retired from Bell Labs in 2001 with 200 patents to his name, has gone back to university as a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. "My hobby is my work," he said. "I have the best...

Motorola audio chip does twice as much...
January 22, 2003... Motorola has introduced an audio DSP aimed at the latest clutch of audio encoding standards. "The biggest baddest audio algorithm is DTS 96/24. Last year this, plus bass management and multi-speaker delay management, took up our whole...

'Chaotic UK not ready for EU waste directive'.
January 22, 2003... Mike Trenchard, chief executive of COG As 2002 drew to its close, both national and trade publications highlighted a news story that suggested that over 80 per cent of the UK companies that will be affected by the various WEEE Directives,...

A change of location.
January 22, 2003... With the last minute change of heart by a US telecoms operator for mobile phone location technology analysts are worried that a first and second class personal safety system will be created. MELANIE REYNOLDS looks at the facts Just as...

Wales University leads [pounds sterling]2.1m 'biochip' project.
January 22, 2003... Harry Yeates The University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff is leading a four-year, pound sterling2.1m project to develop 'optical biochips' under the Government's Basic Technology Programme. The project's aim is to build a...

UK electronic systems drive yacht race leader.
January 22, 2003... Brad Van Liew, currently leading Class II of the Around Alone round the world yacht race, is using electronic systems from Portsmouth-based Raymarine. Van Liew's Open 50 yacht features dual-redundant electronic systems - one on the port...

Nano laser emits light without photo-pumping.
January 22, 2003... Harry Yeates Researchers at Harvard University have demonstrated electrically-driven laser action from single-crystal cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanowires. The development could lead to laser light sources that can be integrated with silicon...

Who's got the power this year?
January 22, 2003... Mickey Miller This year will see the beginning of the take-up of UMTS/3G technologies. Power manufacturers interested in participating in this area will have to ensure they have the right products in the market when operators build...

Growing industry will bloom in June.
January 22, 2003... The glow over Fuerstenfeldbruck last week was the vision of a golden future with which National Semiconductor's CEO, Brian Halla, enthused his troops at the company's European HQ, writes David Manners. Brian Halla is one happy camper....

Barcelona scores with op-amp circuit software.
January 22, 2003... Richard Ball Software that creates complete layouts for op-amp circuits has been unveiled by California-based Barcelona Design. The analogue circuit firm said its Picasso BOAS11-18 op-amp engine can synthesise ten different...

Smart technology.
January 22, 2003... EW competition winning UKstart-up, LC Industries is raring to go to put its fast signal-switching technology into silicon. All it needs is Smart money. HARRY YEATES reports and get started," says Fiona Butler, who will handle LCI's...

Semiconductor growth benefits just three firms.
January 22, 2003... Samsung, TSMC and Infineon Technologies were the only semiconductor firms in the top ten to show significant growth last year, according to Arizona analysts IC Insights in its 2002 world rankings list. Samsung, leaped 38 to the No.2 slot;...

ARC builds wireless LAN around Tangent A5.
January 22, 2003... UK processor developer ARC has unveiled a wireless LAN design, based around its Tangent A5 processor, that supports the IEEE802.11a, b and g standards. The combined modem, baseband processor and media access controller can also implement...

In defence of a global player.
January 22, 2003... Richard wilson finds the defence secretary's words ill-chosen and poorly timed When will the UK lose its largest defence manufacturer? Well, according to the defence secretary Geoff Hoon it has already happened. Last week, Hoon threw...

ST sets up joint venture Asic development centre in China.
January 22, 2003... A Chinese semiconductor joint venture of STMicroelectronics' is to include an Asic research centre with a graduate school of Beijing's Tsinghua University. It is part of ST's plans for the Chinese chip market which will eventually expand...

Viasystems buyout saves jobs in Northern Ireland.
January 22, 2003... Harry Yeates Viasystems' EMS plant at Ballynahinch in Northern Ireland has been bought by its management team and renamed Nitronica. Details of the deal have not been released, but the emergent firm has secured independent financing...

RFI signs up to Japanese test deal.
January 22, 2003... Radio Frequency Investigation (RFI) is to provide Japanese instrument rental company, ORIX Rentec (ORC) with test support for wireless system conformance services being introduced in Tokyo. The two-year contract will see the...

Chip companies feel the squeeze of falling prices despite higher volumes.
January 22, 2003... Pricing, the bugbear of the semiconductor industry for 18 months, has not recovered despite the ever-upwards creep in unit shipments. For the last calendar quarter of 2002, Fairchild Semiconductor reported $3.5m profit on $354m sales and...

Marconi says 'no change' as opto R&D facility closes.
January 22, 2003... Richard Wilson Marconi has reorganised its R&D activities for high speed optical fibre transmission technology, which will see the closure of a former flagship photonics development facility in Stratford-upon-Avon. Despite the closure...

Lattice shows programmable power sequencing logic chip.
January 22, 2003... A programmable logic chip for monitoring and sequencing power supplies has been developed by Lattice Semiconductor. "There's been a tremendous proliferation of power supply voltages," said Stan Kopec, v-p of marketing at Lattice, "yet...

National CEO predicts huge $500bn peak as market starts its rebound in summer.
January 22, 2003... David Manners National Semiconductor reckons the industry is in for such a sharp rebound that the market will top $500bn during the next peak cycle which will start in the middle of the year, and could run anything between 18 months to...

Production on 0.13[micro]m now possible, claims FPGA firm.
January 22, 2003... Richard Ball Production on 0.13[micro]m using copper interconnect is achievable, according to programmable logic firm Altera, which has started shipping production-qualified FPGAs on the process. Paul Hollingworth, marketing director...

Analyst sees increased analogue component activity.
January 22, 2003... Analyst firm Thomas Weisel Partners is reporting signs of increased analogue component buying. The analyst said firms including Fairchild Semiconductor, International Rectifier, Linear Technology and Maxim Integrated Products stand to...

TTPCom signs Chinese technology deal.
January 22, 2003... Melanie Reynolds TTPCom has signed a long term strategic agreement with Chinese mobile phone manufacturer TCL Mobile Communication for the development of next generation mobiles. Under the agreement TCL gains access to a number of the...

Investment ups and downs.
January 22, 2003... Intel and Samsung, the world's two largest chip manufacturers, have adopted very different investment strategies for 2003. Whereas Intel intends to cut back capital expenditure by 25 per cent to between $3.5bn and $3.9bn, Samsung intends to...

FPGA market escapes the worst of industry downturn.
January 22, 2003... While an economic bomb has hit the electronics industry, the embedded FPGA market may have stayed out of harms way. According to analyst In-Stat/MDR, because the market is still in its early stages of development, it will not experience the...

UK chip for NEC 3G videophone.
January 22, 2003... NEC has chosen Cambridge Silicon Radio's BlueCore single chip Bluetooth IC for use in its e606 3G videophone. The e606 handsets are being supplied for Hutchison's 3G network, which is currently being rolled out around the world under the...

Intense Photonics expands Scottish fab for opto test.
January 22, 2003... Intense Photonics has expanded its Scottish semiconductor fabrication facility with additional optoelectronic component life test, assembly and packaging development. The intention is to enable the company to fully qualify its products...

Philips joint venture targets Chinese 3G.
January 22, 2003... Philips Electronics has set-up a joint venture company to design chipsets for the Chinese 3G mobile market. It has formed the venture with Samsung Electronics and local mobile company Datang Mobile Communications to develop silicon for the...

Zarlink cost-cutting leads to 11 redundancies at Plymouth site.
January 22, 2003... Cost-cutting by Zarlink Semiconductor has led to eleven people made redundant at its Plymouth wafer fab plant. But the company remains committed to the facility which it runs as part of a lease agreement with X-Fab. "The total number is...

Infineon sees increased demand for memories and mobile chips.
January 22, 2003... Infineon Technologies saw demand for memories and mobile communications chips strengthen in the last three months 2002. But the semiconductor supplier expects market conditions to remain "difficult". Fourth quarter revenues increased...

Government ignores pleas over 28GHz.
January 22, 2003... The Government is not going to drop the price for broadband fixed wireless access licences in the 28GHz band despite industry pleas that they are too expensive given the state of the market. In response to a Radiocommunications Agency (RA)...

European initiatives to rescue UK lead-free directive disaster.
January 22, 2003... Steve Bush Small and medium-sized electronics companies are failing to prepare for the 2006 lead-free (Pb-free) manufacturing deadline, but rescue deals are at hand in the shape of two European initiatives. "There are two projects...

Arrow hooks US components division.
January 22, 2003... Arrow Electronics surprised the component distribution market last week with the $285m takeover of the components business of smaller US rival Pioneer-Standard. The purchase of Pioneer-Standard's Industrial Electronics Division will add...

EC clears Carlyle bid to buy QinetiQ stake.
January 22, 2003... The European Commission has cleared the Carlyle Group's acquisition of a third of QinetiQ, the UK defence and technology research organisation. Carlyle Group, a US investment firm, is paying between $140m and $150m for its share in...

Strained silicon success for Tyneside fab.
January 22, 2003... Richard Ball Newcastle University researchers are working at Atmel's fab on Tyneside to bring a strained silicon process to production. Strained-Si could boost transistor speeds by up to 30 per cent. "This is great news for the North...

First major deal for zbd display firm.
January 22, 2003... QinetiQ display technology spin-out ZBD has signed its first major deal, with Hong-kong-based LCD maker Varitronix. Under the agreement, the companies will work towards fabricating ZBD's zenithal bistable displays on Varitronix' existing...

IBM inches into Linux market for handhelds.
January 22, 2003... IBM has moved further into the Linux community with a deal with MontaVista Software for the embedded processor market. IBM is no stranger to Linux. The company pitted itself against Sun Microsystems last August and tried to woo customers...

Software Pitfalls.
January 22, 2003... Obsolescence pitfalls are often in store for the unprepared when updating software. Although software essentially never becomes obsolete, it is vulnerable to obsolescence issues in devices when functions are changed or when new 'bugs'...

Do you really want to take a chance?
January 22, 2003... Q - I am involved in providing Reliability predictions using Mil Hdk 217. The perceived problem is the way it adversely degrades commercial grade product. A - Mil Hdk 217 (E) & (F) predictions for commercial components are considered...

Finns claim first open source TCP/IP stack for 8 or 16-bit microcontollers.
January 29, 2003... The first open source TCP/IP stack for 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) has been made available by Finnish organisation OpenTCP, claimed its owners Viola Systems of Finland. Viola specialises in what it calls 'device servers' - add-on...

Wireless homes in.
January 29, 2003... The 802.11 wireless network is starting to walk throught the front door of homes in the UK bringing with it the opportunity not only to network PCs and peripherals, but also control heating and security. MELANIE REYNOLDS reports The...