Electronics Weekly articles from September 2006

Electronics Weekly archives from September 2006

Features.
September 6, 2006... Manufacturer of the Year Sponsored by Avnet Memec Eldon Electric Fastwel TSMC Europe Supplier of the Year Sponsored by Hamilton Parker International Imagination Technologies IQE ML Electronics Silicon Laboratories Sony Semiconductor...

R&D spend to increase at Philips spin-off NXP.
September 6, 2006... By David Manners david.manners@rbi.co.uk The R&D spend at NXP, the re-branded and spun-off Philips Semiconductors, is to increase under its new ownership, according to NXP's CEO Frans van Houten. Asked if the R&D spend for the business -...

News.
September 6, 2006... Piezoelectric polymer films might one day become ultra-light mirrors in space telescopes, claims Sandia Labs. In 2007 an experimental package of these polymers will be part of NASA's 'Materials International Space Station Experiment'. For the...

Report urges seller collaboration to develop M2M market.
September 6, 2006... Short-range wireless vendors and cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) technology sellers should form partnerships to push the market forward, according to ABI Research. "There is certainly an opportunity for collaboration," said Sam Lucero,...

US military funds broadband diamond MEMS development.
September 6, 2006... By Steve Bush steve.bush@rbi.co.uk Advanced Diamond Technologies (ADT) is to develop CMOS-compatible diamond-based MEMS for broadband communication applications with funds from US military organisation DARPA. The material is not...

Products.
September 6, 2006... Radstone Technology has seen its shares rocket after computer systems provider bid for the firm. Last week the bidder upped its offer only to be rejected for a third time. LED company Dialight saw its shares fall to 210p last week. The...

Actel eyes low power FPGAs.
September 6, 2006... Programmable logic maker Actel is making a play for the low power FPGA market with a flash-based family of devices. The US firm reckons wireless trends plus shorter development times and time-to-market, are creating a void for lower power...

News.
September 6, 2006... Nemerix has appointed Anglia Components as sole UK distributor for its low power GPS chipsets. Pictured ( to r): Tim Shaw, divisional marketing manager at Anglia Katie Pooley, marketing manager at Anglia and Rob Palfreyman, director of EMEA...

News.
September 6, 2006... Stephen McKinnon Stephen McKinnon has joined ClearSpeed Technology as chief operating officer. McKinnon was most recently Intel's director of worldwide solution sales. He will be working out of ClearSpeed's office in San Jose, California.

News.
September 6, 2006... RF silicon and subsystem supplier Microtune has announced the appointment of Michael T. Schueppert to its board of directors. He is currently the president of Modeo LLC, a company in the mobile television industry. Carlos Chajin has joined...

Is 3G already old hat? Samsung downloads 100 MP3s in 2.4secs.
September 6, 2006... Samsung has given the world a first taste of what so-called 4th generation (4G) mobile communications will offer us. The firm's demonstration in Korea last week included data transmission speeds to a handset of up 1Gbit/s. A 1Gbit/s data...

Internet kids to boost Amino's TV technology.
September 6, 2006... By Melanie Reynolds melanie.reynolds@rbi.co.uk Internet TV will really start to take off as the 16 to 24-year-old "do-it-yourself" generation starts to adopt it, according to Cambridge-based Amino Technologies which demonstrated its...

Company buys up TransEDA tools and plans software development move.
September 6, 2006... By Richard Wilson richard.wilson@rbi.co.uk IC design verification tools developed under the TransEDA name will be sold by a recently-formed company based in Budapest. The firm, TransEDA Systems Ltd, is led by CEO Stephen Scholefield and has...

Strong liquid crystal tested for space.
September 6, 2006... Georgia Institute of Technology is evaluating the liquid crystal polymer (LCP) 'aromatic crystal polyester' for space-based electronics. "I think the chances are very high that LCP will be practical for a variety of NASA applications,"...

News.
September 6, 2006... How much money is too much? With new US venture capital funds closing at a record rate ($8.2bn last quarter, according to DowJones VentureSource), we are seeing too much money chasing too few opportunities in Silicon Valley. This is...

Race for 45nm set to heat up in 2007.
September 6, 2006... The semiconductor industry's oldest symbol of virility is not just to have a fab, but to have one capable of a smaller geometry process than anyone else. Back in February 2004, Sony and Toshiba announced they would beat Intel to the 45nm...

Jim derbyshire CEO of SiGE SEMICONDUCTOR.
September 6, 2006... Jim Derbyshire is CEO at SiGe Semiconductor How much longer can Europe rely on its wireless design strengths to keep ahead of developing countries where engineering skills are cheap? While I see immediate threats to design areas where CAD...

Japanese chip firm targets return to profit on back of mobile platform ICs.
September 6, 2006... By David Manners david.manners@rbi.co.uk NEC Electronics is looking for a sharp increase in profitability based on sales of platform ICs, particularly for mobile phones, according to CEO Toshio Nakajima. The firm, the third largest chip...

EU names firms for electric plane programme.
September 6, 2006... Protocol firm TTTech and aircraft power systems firm Intertechnique are to work on the EU's More Open Electrical Technologies (MOET) aircraft electrical bus programme. Part of Framework Programme 6, MOET involves 61 organisations and aims...

Researchers manipulate gold atoms as catalysts using spare electrons.
September 6, 2006... Techniques to analyse quantum dot structures are being used to improve catalysts. "We've been searching for methods for controlling and tuning the nanocatalytic activity of gold nanoclusters," said Professor Uzi Landman of Georgia Tech....

Plant structures make solar panels more efficient.
September 6, 2006... More efficient solar panels which use molecules that mimic those in plants could be a commercial reality in five years. Dr Deanna D'Alessandro, postdoctoral researcher in the molecular electronics group at the University of Sydney, said the...

IQE claims top spot for epitaxial wafer supply.
September 6, 2006... By Alex Mayhew-Smith alex.mayhew-smith@rbi.co.uk IQE now has the top position for outsourced epitaxial wafer manufacturing following the recent acquisition of the electronic materials division of Emcore in the US, according to Drew Nelson,...

Alcatel snaps up Nortel UMTS radio access unit.
September 6, 2006... French telecoms firm Alcatel has agreed to acquire Nortel's UMTS radio access business for $320m with the intention of using it to strengthen its 3G UMTS market position. "In the past we've been strong despite our limited R&D force. With...

Motorola to keep WiMAX commitment.
September 6, 2006... Motorola has announced a "strategic initiative" to develop chipsets for use in 802.16e mobile WiMAX devices. The firm had been thought to have exited the silicon business when it spun off Freescale Semiconductor, its semiconductor business....

DT Electronics signing boosts UK sales network for Xilinx.
September 6, 2006... By Richard Wilson Xilinx has strengthened its UK sales network by adding DT Electronics as a franchised distributor. For Xilinx, which has a pan-European franchise deal with Avnet Silica, the signing of a local distributor such as DT is...

News.
September 6, 2006... Design firm Plextek has expanded its activities into manufacturing services and has won its largest ever order worth $50m from US firm LoJack. The two-year deal will see the Cambridgeshire firm manufacturing LoJack's stolen vehicle recovery...

Health and safety assessments cut costs and boost productivity.
September 6, 2006... Workplace Health Connect, launched in February this year in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive, helps small businesses understand their health and safety responsibilities. By calling the Adviceline, businesses have access to a...

Features.
September 6, 2006... Sep 14: European EMC Automotive Regulations - York www.elec.york.ac.uk/cpd Sep 19: Safe Design of New Products - Leatherhead shop.era.co.uk Sep 20-22: DSP Design Flow - Bournemouth www.doulos.com Sep 21: Achieving...

Europe's brightest companies shortlisted in Elektra awards.
September 6, 2006... Europe's brightest companies are showcased alongside some of the most innovative names in the electronics industry in the shortlists for this year's Elektra European Elect?ronics Industry Awards. The awards attracted more entries than ever...

Features.
September 6, 2006... Many industries that have traditionally relied on VME are driving to transform their systems to take advantage of new processor architectures and fabric-based system architectures. This poses a challenge because system integrators and OEMs...

Upping the ante.
September 6, 2006... Ask David May about the architecture of the microprocessor he has developed for Bristol-based start-up company XMOS and he replies: "That's a closely guarded secret." Ask him, instead, what the world needs so far as new microprocessor...

Sign language interpreter shows the way in Yorkshire.
September 6, 2006... Leeds-based Electronics Yorkshire recently made use of a sign language interpreter to provide training for disabled employees from Remploy's electronics factory in Bolton. "Remploy's approach to us reflects the high training standards we...

Small molecule OLEDs benefit from electron injection material.
September 6, 2006... By Steve Bush steve.bush@rbi.co.uk Enfield-based OLED-T has produced a material for 'small-molecule' OLED displays that can extend life and improve efficiency. "We expect at least 20 per cent better lifetime and slightly better luminance...

News.
September 13, 2006... By David Manners david.manners@rbi.co.uk Filtronic will be a debt-free business turning over some ?60m a year after selling its wireless infrastructure operation to focus on its compound semiconductor manufacturing operation, its defence...

Distributor starts timetable for European expansion plan.
September 13, 2006... By Richard Wilson richard.wilson@rbi.co.uk Nu Horizons is set to shake up the European semiconductor distribution market. Having acquired Coventry-based distributor DT Electronics and bringing its Xilinx franchise to the UK and Ireland, the...

Nanotechnolgy centre planned for University of Birmingham.
September 13, 2006... A national centre for nanotechnology expertise, which will provide prototypes and research to businesses, is to be set up in the West Midlands at the University of Birmingham with ?7m of funding. The Materials Solutions project is expected...

Intel to lay off 10,500 staff as Q2 revenues fall by $1bn.
September 13, 2006... By David Manners david.manners@rbi.co.uk The announcement by Intel of 10,500 lay-offs last week coincided with reports that the company's Q2 revenues fell over $1bn compared to Q1, and that Intel's unsold chips accounted for half the...

DVD format battle reaches home shores.
September 13, 2006... The Blu-ray/HD DVD high quality video disc format battle is coming to Europe with leading suppliers Samsung and Toshiba lining up player launches this autumn. In a move that will put its technology head-to-head with the Blu-ray players...

WiFi plastic rabbit can forecast the weather.
September 13, 2006... A nine inch high plastic rabbit (pictured right) with WiFi connectivity could become the next high-tech craze in a long line of gizmos from the dancing flowers to the Tamagotchi. Manufactured by three year-old French company Violet, backed...

News.
September 13, 2006... Micro display firm MicroEmissive Displays saw its shares slide almost 35 per cent when it posted interim pre-tax losses of ?3.3m. The firm said it will place 26 million shares at 20p each to raise ?5m. The money will be used to set up...

Firms struggle to meet WEEE recovery targets.
September 13, 2006... By Steve Bush steve.bush@rbi.co.uk A fact-finding mission to Europe sponsored by the DTI has found that material recovery targets are proving hard to meet under the European WEEE Directive. "The consensus amongst virtually all experts...

News.
September 13, 2006... Sep 14: System level design, design for reuse and legacy IP, seminar by National Microelectronics Institute, Bristol. www.nmi.org.uk Sep 19: Power electronics, seminar by National Microelectronics Institute, Newport. www.nmi.org.uk Sep 19-20:...

Nanotubes grow in vertical form.
September 13, 2006... Engineers at Purdue University have developed a technique to grow individual carbon nanotubes vertically on top of a silicon wafer. "The technique might help develop a method for creating vertically oriented nanoelectronic devices," said...

International review plans to look at the impact of UK information and comms technologies.
September 13, 2006... By Melanie Reynolds An international review of UK information and communications technologies (ICT) research is to be carried out by the EPSRC, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Intellect and the British Computer Society. The...

Instrument firm steps up sales on wider portfolio.
September 13, 2006... By Alex-Mayhew-Smith alex.mayhew-smith@rbi.co.uk MTL Instruments has beefed up its sales force worldwide to push products from its three most recently introduced product areas. Chief executive Graeme Philp said the sales staff had been...

News.
September 13, 2006... Bill Greenhalgh, MTL's finance director, said the firm currently had an order book of around ?11m, the highest it has been. "There has been no summer lull this year and further ahead the orders also look strong," said Greenhalgh. He added...

US court dismisses Broadcom 3G W-CDMA anti-trust action.
September 13, 2006... The court action brought by Broadcom against Qualcomm alleging "anti-trust violations", including failing to license essential 3G W-CDMA patents to it on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" terms, has been dismissed by a US court. ...

News.
September 13, 2006... X-FAB gains both advanced digital processes by merging with 1st Silicon of Malaysia and extra capacity to meet fast growing demand. "There are several reasons to go this way," X-Fab's CEO, Hans-Jurgen Straub, told EW. "It's a pretty new fab...

Generics fails to stem rising pre-tax losses.
September 13, 2006... Generics Group has reported increased pre-tax losses in the first half of 2006, despite pushing revenues up 20 per cent to ?13m. The firm reported that losses rose to ?400,000 from ?200,000 a year previously. Revenue growth was pushed along...

UK 3G network operators wait on ?22bn spectrum VAT Court ruling.
September 13, 2006... UK mobile phone network operators will not be able to claim a tax rebate on the ?22bn paid to the Government for 3G spectrum licences if the European Court of Justice takes note of its advisor. The five UK operators claimed that the money...

Premier Farnell CEO focuses firm on product introductions and logistics.
September 13, 2006... Harriet Green, the CEO of Premier Farnell, has told EW that she wants to focus the catalogue and online distributor on its core strengths. Green took over as CEO in January this year and one of her first actions was to start a company-wide...

Volume production for four bit per cell flash memory.
September 13, 2006... By David Manners david.manners@rbi.co.uk Four bit per cell flash memory is being manufactured on a volume production line and will be made in production volume quantities by the end of the year, according to the inventor of the technology,...

Mobile TV company collaborates with software firm for multi-standard chip.
September 13, 2006... Mobile TV and digital radio semiconductor specialist Frontier Silicon is teaming up with software specialist Silicon and Software Systems (S3) to develop multi-standard mobile TV technology. The intention is for the joint initiative to...

Queen's Awards open for entries.
September 13, 2006... Companies are being urged to enter for next year's Queen's Awards for Enterprise before the October 31, 2006 deadline. The awards come under three categories: international trade innovation and sustainable development. Entrants compete...

Chip firm rebuilds fab after fire.
September 13, 2006... By Steve Bush steve.bush@rbi.co.uk Southampton-based semiconductor technology firm Innos is rebuilding its cleanroom. The move follows the fire at the University of Southampton in October last year that destroyed spin-out Innos'...

Features.
September 13, 2006... Greg Nicol group purchasing director at Abacus Group The RoHS Directive has now been in effect for 11 weeks and there has not been a meltdown in the supply chain yet. However, we believe that all manufacturers have a responsibility to...

Features.
September 13, 2006... Linda Shanks quality manager at Anders Electronics Some financial allowance has been made for stock write-off, but some factors are delaying an accurate picture of how much non-RoHS stock will be left. For instance, some customers -...

Features.
September 13, 2006... Malcolm Grant group quality manager at Anglia Since 1 July, Anglia has found that customers still need support on complying with RoHS, and this support can be required in a variety of areas. Some customers are only just beginning to take...

Features.
September 13, 2006... Michel Mayer, chairman and CEO of Freescale Semiconductor, is a man with a mission. The mission is to turn round what was always seen as a difficult business - the old Motorola semiconductor division, now renamed Freescale Semiconductor and...

Balance of power.
September 13, 2006... Traditionally it was not until the last design stage that the power supply was shoved into a corner with power 'rails' braided across the board. Modern techniques involve point-of-load where regulators are sprinkled close to their loads. But...

Cadence puts Virtuoso design suite on OpenAccess database.
September 13, 2006... Cadence has overhauled its Virtuoso mixed signal and RF design suite. "It's now on an OpenAccess data base and we have a the same user interface for all of the tools inside the design flow," product marketing manager Steven Lewis told...

EW gets exclusive showing of Light Blue Optics' hologram laser projector.
September 13, 2006... By Steve Bush Cambridge-based Light Blue Optics has revealed the colour prototype of its hologram laser projector. Previously demonstrated privately alongside an optical conference in the US earlier this year, the device was shown to EW...

Reverberation time fires up researchers in concert halls.
September 13, 2006... By Steve Bush steve.bush@rbi.co.uk Engineers at the University of Salford are developing ways to measure the acoustics of concert halls while they are in use. "The acoustics are very rarely measured. It is very difficult logistically,"...

News.
September 20, 2006... The UK Government should be promoting and funding technology more strongly to compete in global markets, said the new director general of the Confederation of British Industry, Richard Lambert. "I think where clusters have been established...

News.
September 20, 2006... By David Manners david.manners@rbi.co.uk Private equity companies have so much cash to invest they are willing to pay 50 per cent more for Freescale Semiconductor than they paid for Philips Semiconductors despite the companies being a...

News.
September 20, 2006... Fujitsu is investing in a Munich-based graphics centre of competence in an attempt to increase its European graphics controller revenues by five-fold over the next five years. "Since 2002 we have sold two million graphics controllers in...

News.
September 20, 2006... Didier Lacroix Chipidea has recruited Didier Lacroix as senior v-p of worldwide sales and marketing. He has worked for firms including Discera, MEMSCAPs, Synopsys and Cadence. John Phillips TS Technology Services has appointed John Phillips...

Products.
September 20, 2006... The Advanced Digital Institute has opened in West Yorkshire to help high-tech firms identify and develop products. Funded with ?2m, the centre has already opened but future plans include an R&D centre with labs and business incubation...

Products.
September 20, 2006... Distributor Premier Farnell saw its shares fall after the firm reported interim results. The firm warned that there is market uncertainty for the second half of the year despite posting a 35 per cent increase in pre-tax profit for the first...

Products.
September 20, 2006... Contract manufacturer Stadium Group has acquired KRP Power Source, the distributor of power supplies and DC-DC converters based in Newbury. The firm said the acquisition will fit in with Stadium Power, which designs and manufactures...

Manufacturing capacity increase will restrain chip prices, says analyst.
September 20, 2006... A big increase in chip manufacturing capacity in the second half of the year is predicted by Arizona analysts IC Insights, which will prevent the prospect of price rises. IC Insights is forecasting a 14 per cent increase in capacity in the...

University of Manchester adopts IBM supercomputer for scientific systems.
September 20, 2006... By Richard Wilson richard.wilson@rbi.co.uk One of IBM's first Cell processor-based computers is being used by the University of Manchester for biotechnology and molecular modelling research. An early version of the IBM BladeCenter QS20...

FPGA firm expects new customers to double revenues in second half.
September 20, 2006... By David Manners david.manners@rbi.co.uk Celoxica is expecting to double its revenues in the second half of the year when customers start to take delivery of its accelerated computing products. "We've invested ?400,000 in inventory, in...

News.
September 20, 2006... Linda Sanford (left), senior v-p at IBM was guest of honour at the Young Engineers' Annual Celebration of Engineering. She is pictured with Ruth Amos, who was named Young Engineer for Britain 2006 and Andrew Nowell, winner of The Duke of York's...

EPSRC runs transfer competition.
September 20, 2006... The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has invited 51 universities to take part in a competition to find the best example of knowledge transfer. The winner will get ?500,000 and four runners-up will get ?100,000. ...

Flexible power transmission sheet senses objects as they are placed on top.
September 20, 2006... A University of Tokyo team has developed a power transmission sheet which selectively feeds electronic objects placed upon it. The 1mm-thick flexible sheet weighs only 50g and contains an 8x8 array of position-sensing and power...

Microwave parts lift Intelek trading.
September 20, 2006... Microwave and satellite communications firm Intelek has issued a trading update saying there has been strong interest in its microwave components released in June. Volumes for the firm's older telcoms products, sold under its Labtech...

Price pressures rule out single chip for mobile TV, says handset supplier.
September 20, 2006... By Nick Flaherty reporting from Amsterdam It is too early for a single chip for mobile TV, according to the major supplier of chips to mobile phone handsets, DibCom. Frontier Semiconductor recently launched the industry's first single chip...

National Physical Laboratory seeks partners for DTI projects.
September 20, 2006... The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is seeking partners for three projects handed to it by the DTI. The project 'sensor for wireless measurement of coating performance' requires specifying and generating an integrated sensor and control...

Breathing life back into the mobile market.
September 20, 2006... These are difficult times for mobile operators. After years of glamour and high growth, stocks are being re-rated as utilities. In many parts of the world markets are saturated and the only scope for growth is taking market share. To complicate...

Features.
September 20, 2006... The operator's view WiMAX is entering a highly competitive marketplace in terms of services offered and their support in networks. In order to establish itself as an economically viable technology, business cases must be made to work hard to...

Features.
September 20, 2006... WiMAX Forum Target MarketCompeting TechnologyCompetitive PositionOpportunity for WiMAXResidential and SOHO high-speed Internet accessADSL cableThese markets are served well in developed countries and the technologies are developing...

Features.
September 20, 2006... As new technologies emerge, they often face unforeseen challenges created by the growth that they create. Data transmission in the enterprise is no different. Presently, most multimode fibre (MMF) typically carries data traffic at Ethernet data...

Biometric revolution.
September 20, 2006... The Government has signalled its backing for biometrics and has undertaken trials to include information such as fingerprints, iris patterns and a facial image to be used within recognition maps into its proposed ID cards. Coincidentally, from...