Electronics Weekly articles from November 2005

Electronics Weekly archives from November 2005

Conformity certificates will not satisfy RoHS legislation enforcer.
November 9, 2005... Equipment manufacturers will be at risk if they rely only on certificates of conformity to prove they have complied with UK RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) legislation which comes into force next July. "The certificate...

Fire destroys research work at Southampton University.
November 9, 2005... A fire at the University of Southampton has destroyed facilities belonging to two prestigious research groups and the silicon technology developer Innos. The cost of rebuilding and re-equipping the labs and cleanrooms affected is estimated at...

Heading here.
November 9, 2005... 09nov05Afdec.jpg Book-to-bill ratios for September Semiconductors (Industrial Market) 1.03 Passives********************0.98 Electro-mechanical****************1.08 Total************************1.00 Comment "Both the bookings...

IP royalties drag down TTPCom's first half income.
November 9, 2005... First half revenues at TTP Communications of [pounds sterling]20.7m were 33 per cent down on the same period last year largely due to lower income from IP royalties. This disproportionate fall is due to price and volume reductions resulting...

Bluetooth firm focuses on UWB combo in 2007.
November 9, 2005... CSR is developing its Bluetooth technology and combining it with other wireless technologies over the next 12 to 18 months. "We're continuing the development of Bluetooth and particularly the amalgamation of digital signal processing of...

Yorkshire manufacturers make a show in Munich.
November 9, 2005... Electronics Yorkshire will be promoting 11 local companies at Productronica, Europe's largest manufacturing exhibition, later this month. According to Arthur Gillatt (pictured), chief executive of Electronics Yorkshire: "It provides a great...

Scottish Enterprise invests in software games technology.
November 9, 2005... Scottish Enterprise will build on the region's expertise in online software development with a [pounds sterling]5m investment programme for software games technology through the Government-funded ITI Techmedia organisation. "Scotland has a good...

High-k dielectric not necessary for first implementation of 45nm chip process.
November 9, 2005... Fears that 45nm semiconductor processes could be difficult to implement due to the need to use materials such as high-k dielectric have receded, with scientists believing processing can be achieved with existing materials. This will come as a...

Local firms benefit from return to traditional sources.
November 9, 2005... viewpoint JOHN HIGGINS, Intellect's director general believes that UK manufacturers can compete on the world stage A recent report by Morgan Stanley suggested that China may not be the dirt-cheap manufacturing base it once was. Surging...

Manufacturers go for broke in plan for cheap mobile phone handsets.
November 9, 2005... Motorola expects to start delivering its C113 handset designed for the GSM Association's emerging market handset programme in Q1 2006. he GSM handset initiative for emerging markets has been described as one of the most beneficial ideas to...

Tools face nanotech challenge.
November 9, 2005... haracterising nanodevices like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and single electron transistors (SETs) presents special challenges in R&D settings. Testing these kinds of devices in a manner that will not introduce measurement errors and characterising...

PCI Express impacts test systems.
November 9, 2005... urrent test systems depend on the PCI bus as a key architectural component since it is always part of the data communication path between instruments and processors, whether connected via GPIB, USB, LAN or MXI. PCI is at the heart of many...

Growth sees AWS invest.
November 9, 2005... AWS Electronics has installed a new surface mount production line to support business growth and the move to lead-free processes at its manufacturing plant in Newcastle under Lyme. The contract manufacturer has seen its business grow...

University SETsquared partnership wins [pounds sterling]1.5m DTI contract.
November 9, 2005... The SETsquared business partnership between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey, has been awarded a [pounds sterling]1.5m DTI grant. It will be used to expand the partnership's joint work with the universities of...

European aspirations.
November 9, 2005... E uropean R&D has to be stepped up, intellectual property (IP) has to be better protected and IP rights (IPR) have to be more strongly enforced if Europe is to remain competitive with its trading partners. "The wind has gone out of the sails of...

SEMTA-led manufacturing academy to address engineering skills needs.
November 9, 2005... The manufacturing industry is to benefit from the creation of a National Skills Academy which will train young people and adults to meet specific skills shortages. The academy will share [pounds sterling]40m of funding from the Government and...

IBM to collaborate with university on R&D programmes.
November 9, 2005... The University of Manchester is to collaborate with IBM to provide "unique" support for engineering courses and R&D programmes. The intention is to develop courses, carry out R&D, and commercialise emerging technology in engineering and life...

Asset tracking design uses 16-bit MCU.
November 9, 2005... Cambridge chip firm Cyan Technology has introduced an asset tracking reference design incorporating its 16-bit eCOG microcontroller. Featuring a 5[micro]A standby current, the design enables items to be tracked to within 5m, claims the firm,...

Processor firm finds market for low power parallel cores.
November 9, 2005... Parallel processor com-pany Clearspeed is starting commercial shipments of its CSX600 processors this quarter as its technology begins to move into the mainstream. "We started sampling in Q3 and intend to ship product in Q4," Tom Beese, CEO of...

Royal Society president blasts R&D shortfall.
November 9, 2005... Private investment in R&D does not do justice to the UK science base and lags behind public investment in R&D, the House of Lords was told last week. "If you examine the papers cited as the inspiration for patents, they come mainly from...

Heading here.
November 9, 2005... 09nov05 wendy.jpg Wendy Bolsover has joined Abacus ECD as a passives specialist in the north of the country. With 15 years experience in component sales she was previously with supplier Epcos as OEM account manager for consumer,...

IEE to convene special meeting over Charter change concerns.
November 9, 2005... The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) has conceded that a call for a special general meeting (SGM) to debate the recent merger with the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) is valid. A pressure group of 200 IEE members has called...

LED pedal generates own power.
November 9, 2005... The EW tech desk has been wanting to print a diagram of this rather lovely piece of mechanical design for a while now, but needed an excuse. It is a Pedalite - a bicycle pedal with LEDs that makes its own electricity. We got our excuse when...

NiMH cells work from the package.
November 9, 2005... Sanyo is to introduce NiMH cells that can be used straight from the package. Dubbed eneloop', the key is dramatically reduced self-discharge: "Residual ratio after one year of non-use is 85 per cent in temperature conditions of 20--C," said the...

High-temperature superconductor wire venture will lead to commercial product.
November 9, 2005... In an effort to improve its high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire, MetOx of Houston has called in the US Oak Ridge National Laboratory. "At Oak Ridge, they have both the capability and the interest to support MetOx's need to understand...

Nanorods used in medical imaging.
November 9, 2005... Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana have taken advantage of two-photon fluorescence in gold nanorods to demonstrate a potential medical imaging technique. In tests with mice the light produced by rods 20nm wide and 60nm long injected...

Project plans to improve control of nano structure growth.
November 9, 2005... Scientists in the US have conducted a study to improve the control they can exert over the growth of nanoscale structures of semiconductor materials. Researchers typically use trial and error to tune the reaction conditions to yield a certain...

UK academia missing out on Chinese opportunities.
November 16, 2005... UK universities are missing out on electronics and optoelectronics joint ventures with Chinese academic institutions, according to a DTI-sponsored academic and industry fact finding mission to China. "Foreign [to China] universities and...

Intellect expects rival funding bids for [pounds sterling]3m DTI knowledge transfer network.
November 16, 2005... Features 16 PLDs, SoCs and Asics [degrees] UK firms simplify design with multiple processor cores; a SoC for capacitive touch sensing systems Career moves 37 More jobs for engineers [degrees] six pages of recruitment ads could...

Bristol company unveils soft modem handset interface for 3G and HSDPA.
November 16, 2005... UK telecoms start-up Icera has finally taken the wraps off its technology after three years of secrecy surrounding its soft modem for mobile phone handsets. The Bristol-based firm has unveiled Livanto, a software-defined radio system for the...

Mosfet reduces clamp design size.
November 16, 2005... Provided in SOT23 and SOT223 packages, 200V rated p-channel mosfets from Zetex are aimed at reducing the size of forward converter active clamps previously reliant on DPAK and SO8 devices. The transistors are the 5-pin SOT23 ZXMP2120E5 and the...

Switch-mode medical supply.
November 16, 2005... Powersolve Electronics has a 60W switch-mode power supply aimed at commercial and medical applications. The 5x10cm LPS-50 series are 5V, 12V, 15V, 24V or 48Vdc single-output open PCB units. The DPS-50 series are external desk-top versions of...

DAC has built-in amplifier for DVD.
November 16, 2005... Audio chip firm Asahi Kasei Microsystems has introduced the AK4340 DAC with built-in line amplifier for DVD players, AV/DVD receivers and musical instruments. Its output stage features two gains, switchable between 2Vrms and the 2.5Vrms, and...

Management team buys Scottish manufacturer.
November 16, 2005... A management buy-out at contract electronics manufacturer Cemtron from Arlington Group has created an independent firm with sales of around [pounds sterling]16m and pre-tax profit of over [pounds sterling]600,000. The MBO team paid [pounds...

CEM acquires design firm for front-end.
November 16, 2005... Luton-based contract electronics manufacturer (CEM) Jaltek Systems has acquired contract electronic design firm Abra Cad of Berkshire. "We want to be able to add front-end capability of significant quality to the engineering chain, to be seen...

Heading here.
November 16, 2005... CSR's shares rose almost 10 per cent to reach 764p following its third quarter results. The firm has seized a strong position in the Bluetooth market and is pushing into other wireless areas. In its Q3 revenues were up 109 per cent to 4162.5m...

Toshiba, NEC in 45nm link.
November 16, 2005... Toshiba and NEC have agreed to collaborate on the development of a 45nm CMOS logic process. Under the terms of the agreement, engineers from Toshiba and NEC will collaborate at Toshiba's microelectronics centre in Yokohama on development of...

Lead-free seminar discusses PCB solder finish.
November 16, 2005... PCB solder finish selection for lead-free processes was one of the issues discussed by manufacturers at a recent lead-free seminar. According to Circatex's Martin Morrell, suppliers need to offer users more choice. "Tin, silver, copper OSP or...

Cleaning the supply chain for RoHS.
November 16, 2005... BRIAN HATCHER, senior product manager at Acal Semiconductors warns against underestimating the challenge of flushing non-compliant product through the supply chain By July 2006, all manufacturers of electronic and electrical equipment sold...

Semiconductor makers face tricky transition as chip processes move from 90nm to 65nm.
November 16, 2005... The leading semiconductor companies are now undertaking the transition from 90nm to 65nm. "It's not going to be easy," said Wim Roelandts, CEO of Xilinx, which plans its first 65nm products for next year. "Even the shrink is becoming...

MCU company floats on AIM.
November 16, 2005... Microcontroller developer Cyan is the latest semiconductor start-up to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The three year old fabless chip firm originally spun out from Cambridge Consultants to use its...

Low profit margins could force Philips to spin off chip business next year.
November 16, 2005... Philips Semiconductors could be spun off by the end of next year, according to Gerard Kleisterlee, CEO of Philips, because the profit margins are too low. "At the end of 2006 it's one of the options that will come up: either sell, close, fix or...

Heading here.
November 16, 2005... Chris Smith, technical manager for UK RoHS Enforcement replies First: that the OEM (or in the text of the directive the producer) is responsible is not a view of the enforcement body but a point of fact of the directive and legislation. The...

Heading here.
November 16, 2005... Thank you for the article (Conformity certificates will not satisfy RoHS legislation enforcer, EW 09/11/05), it opens a subject that needs debate within the industry. Chris Smith's view that the OEM, not the the supplier of component parts,...

0.18[micro]m RF CMOS for wireless Asics.
November 16, 2005... Atmel has a 0.18[micro]m RF CMOS process technology for customers developing Asics for wireless LAN, WiMAX and ZigBee applications. It is manufactured on 200mm wafers and features 1.8V CMOS transistors and passive components. The firm offers...

UWB firms check products ?for interoperability issues.
November 16, 2005... Ultra Wideband (UWB) chipset manufacturers are getting together to test their products against each other to avoid the interoperability problems which plagued Bluetooth. "Work is going on between WiQuest, Wisair [an Israeli UWB manufacturer],...

Indoor HSDPA raises hurdles for 3G mobile transmission.
November 16, 2005... Using high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) indoors will present problems for 3G mobile extension technology getting the signal inside a building to users. "To get this high speed you need a fairly clean radio signal, and you're operating...

UK mobile users fail to sing 3G praises.
November 16, 2005... Third generation mobile technology's capabilities are being seriously underused by British consumers with 41 per cent of 3G subscribers only talking and texting, according to a survey by market research firm Harris Interactive. Nine per cent of...

RFID devices in 865-868MHz band get licensing exemption from Ofcom.
November 16, 2005... Radio frequency identification (RFID) devices which operate in the 865-868MHz band will be exempt from licensing following a favourable response to a consultation by communications regulator Ofcom. The demand for spectrum for RFID is...

Aspex expands team in growth spurt.
November 16, 2005... parallel processing Aspex Semiconductor is expanding its HighWycombe-based development team as it sees design-ins for its parallel processing semiconductor architecture growing. According to Jeremy Hendy, v-p of marketing at Aspex, the firm has...

Threads and links.
November 16, 2005... f you want a highly programmable, very flexible SoC that can be used in many products it makes a lot of sense to use multiple processor cores, certainly in terms of hardware design. However, the downside is that mapping complex application...

The trouble with process technology...
November 16, 2005... here has not been much good news for process technology over the last few years. Everything has got more difficult, more complicated and more expensive. The leading companies are now undertaking the transition from 90nm to 65nm. "It's not going...

In touch with the user.
November 16, 2005... ser interfaces drive the design decisions in consumer-focused products. Consumers choose devices based on features, functions and cost. However, increasingly devices that employ stylish, user-friendly interfaces are favoured. This trend has...

Wireless data link tackles bad driving.
November 16, 2005... Motorola has publicly demonstrated its Motodrive car data architecture, aimed at the US VII (Vehicle Infrastructure Integration) initiative which seeks to ameliorate the effects of bad driving. VII proposes automated car-to-car and car-to-land...

Cypress samples 9Mpixel sensor.
November 16, 2005... Cypress Semiconductor has begun sampling its 9.0Mpixel CMOS image sensor. "The colour CYIHDSC9000AA and monochrome CYIHDSM9000AA are the first image sensors manufactured on Cypress's 0.13[micro]m CMOS process optimised for image sensors," said...

Membrane adds to fuel cell life.
November 16, 2005... Californian firm Polyfuel has achieved 5,000 hours operation with its hydrocarbon-based membrane for direct methanol fuel cells. "Membrane durability has always been one of the key technical challenges faced by fuel cell manufacturers," said...

Micromachined analogue of human cochlea drums up hope for the deaf.
November 16, 2005... Researchers at the University of Michigan are working on a micromachined analogue of the human cochlea. "We talk about it partly as a model of the cochlea and partly as a novel transduction technology," Dr Robert White, who is now working at...

Austrian firm in DARPA driving seat.
November 16, 2005... Two finishers in the DARPA Grand Challenge for driverless vehicles were using technology from Austria-based austriamicrosystems. "The AS8202NF TTP controller for time-triggered bus systems played an essential role in two of the five victorious...

Tape carries 100A at no resistance.
November 16, 2005... Once it has been cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures, this 1cm-wide nickel alloy tape can carry 100A at no resistance in the 1[micro]m-thick YBCO (yttrium barium copper oxide) superconducting layer on its surface. The nickel is only there to...

CDT prototypes 35cm display using thin film light-emitting polymers on amorphous silicon.
November 16, 2005... CDT has produced a 35cm polymer OLED prototype display (pictured right). The 1280x768xRGB pixel device was printed in the UK using soluble light-emitting inks with the firm's 128-nozzle ink-jet printing heads. All the nozzles are in a...

The driving force behind LEDs.
November 23, 2005... hen driving LEDs, is the choice between boost and buck-boost regulators simply about efficiency at high current levels or are there other issues? According to Robert Fischer, product marketing manager for power management at National...

The benefits of a shift from 48V to 12V.
November 23, 2005... owering the ICs scattered on and across the multiple PCBs in a system has always presented challenges to power-supply designers. As long as the required voltages were relatively high, it was possible to locate the power conversion in a remote...

Choosing topology designs.
November 23, 2005... any times designers are given a set of non-isolated supply specifications where the output voltage falls between the minimum and maximum input voltage. They then have to decide between a flyback or SEPIC (single-ended primary inductance...

Countdown to RoHS...
November 23, 2005... The RoHS deadline is fast approaching and most firms should be well on the way to eliminating the six banned substances from their products. This week we start Electronics Weekly's front page RoHS timer which counts down to the deadline day...

UK university gets in tune with wireless systems.
November 23, 2005... Tuneable superconducting filters for wireless systems are being developed at the University of Birmingham. The technology could enable real-time interference avoidance for systems as diverse as mobile phone receivers and radio telescopes. The...

Telecoms watchers dispute value of released analogue TV spectrum.
November 23, 2005... A major row is brewing about the value and usefulness of the frequency spectrum which will be released when the analogue TV signals are finally turned off in the UK in 2012. "Any benefit analysis that looks at the value of the released spectrum...

Offline driver for LED installations.
November 23, 2005... The MAX16801 is an off-line driver for high-power LED installations which takes its feed straight from the mains without a transformer through a bridge rectifier. Suitable for isolated and non-isolated flyback, buck, boost and SEPIC converters,...

Light connector in auto range.
November 23, 2005... Souriau has introduced a lighter connector in its Autosport range. Half the weight and smaller than the standard Size Four, the Size Two is derived from a Eurofighter specification. The male plug with contacts weighs 1.65g and has been...

DSP firm claims highest performance to cost ratio.
November 23, 2005... At 319Mflop/$, Analog Devices claims its forthcoming ADSP-21375 has the highest performance to cost ratio of any floating-point DSP. The $5 part is to be made on a 300mm 130nm process. "This is probably the most cost-effective process...

Efficiency of spray-on polymer-based solar cell brings it closer to production.
November 23, 2005... Researchers in the US have improved the efficiency of a spray-on' polymer-based solar cell which moves it closer to practical use. The North Carolina scientists have hit six per cent efficiency in buckyball-doped polymer solar cells. "We have...

Omron counts on Abacus for design.
November 23, 2005... Omron has continued the expansion of its European components business by appointing Abacus Polar as a distributor in the UK and Ireland. Nigel Blakeway, chief operating officer of Omron's European components business, said the signing of...

Antenova in Japanese push.
November 23, 2005... Antenna and RF specialist Antenova is developing its business in the important Japanese market with the help of consultancy Electronics-Link Asia (ELA). Cambridge-based Antenova said the partnership is necessary to create the right business...

LED market boosts PCB firms.
November 23, 2005... The growing LED market is creating a strong business opportunity for speciality PCBs, according to Daleba Electronics. The Hertford-based firm produces PCBs on metal substrates that can manage the increased heat produce by surface-mounted LEDs....

Three-way FPGA design alliance plans to simplify debug.
November 23, 2005... Simplifying debug in FPGAs is the trigger for a three way alliance involving Altera, Tektronix and First Silicon Solutions (FS2). The design co-operation for real-time debugging of Altera FPGAs is based on the FPGAView software package from FS2...

Thirst for bandwidth drives optical comms to 40Gbit/s.
November 23, 2005... The optical communications network looks set to finally move up to 40Gbit/s data rates in response to demand from residential customers for the greater bandwidth needed for new services. "With residential customers there is a thirst and...

Semiconductor industry enters era of lower longer-term growth.
November 23, 2005... As 2005 draws to a close, it appears the year will have been one of modest growth in the chip industry, despite any negative economic impact from the jump in the price of oil and natural disasters, says market researcher Gartner. Worldwide...

Fabless forum downbeat: big chip firms happy but up-and-comers fail to find big cash driver.
November 23, 2005... As a cheer-leader for the fabless semiconductor industry, the International Fabless Forum in Antwerp last week was surprisingly softly spoken. Senior executives from two major integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) - chip firms with their own...

Connector maker celebrates 25th birthday in UK.
November 23, 2005... Dietmar and Margrit Harting, owners of the German connector manufacturer Harting, visited the firm's offices in Northampton to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary in the UK and to receive a presentation from Steve Rawlins and Lee Nye (far...

Infineon to divide products.
November 23, 2005... Semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies is to split into two, with one company handling logic products and the other taking memory products. Disposal of the memory company is seen as a next step, with an IPO the preferred route. But company...

Power consumption is main concern for chip developers.
November 23, 2005... Power consumption, not performance, is now the overriding concern for system-on-chip developers, according to the chief executive of Scottish EDA firm CriticalBlue. David Stewart said the increased focus on power budgets that comes with 90nm...

Guidance on WEEE.
November 23, 2005... Loughborough University has developed a Web-based resource to help firms come to grips with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. The software, SortED, aims to show businesses how to navigate the legislation, which...

Parallel circuits connect with LEDs.
November 23, 2005... W hen designing a handheld device with a colour display using white LEDs for backlighting, is it better to use parallel or series connected LEDs? Both architectures have their own advantages when you consider the key parameters [degrees]...

TV signals to mobiles go via DAB.
November 23, 2005... By Melanie Reynolds The transmission of TV signals to mobile handsets over a DAB digital radio network is to be tested in London during April next year. The trial will compare Korean T-DMB applications with those using the enhanced packet...

Small chip firms growing faster than big ones.
November 23, 2005... Smaller semiconductor firms are outpacing the growth of the large companies, according to analysis at the International Fabless Forum in Antwerp last week. "Non-top ten companies grew at 2.5 times the rate of the top ten," said Chris Ryan,...