Ofcom specification opens up 60GHz for wireless gigabit Ethernet

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In a move that has crept under the radar (!) the UK regulator Ofcom has opened up the 60GHz band for unlicensed operation.
It is to open the spectrum in the 59 – 64 GHz band for Fixed Wireless Systems (FWS) and to combine this with the existing 57 – 59 GHz band under one overall licence exempt authorisation approach for FWS. This creates one contiguous and flexible block of

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Elpida Begins Mass Production of 40nm 2Gbit DDR3 SDRAM

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Elpida Memory has started volume production of 40nm process 2GBIT DDR3 SDRAMs that will bring the price of DDR3 chips down and drive further adoption. Since completing development of the DDR3 SDRAM last October it has taken Elpida only two months to ramp up mass production at its Hiroshima plant.
The

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UK Companies Slow to Grasp Plastic Electronics

We are on the brink of a new age of Plastic Electronics, production costs are tumbling and business opportunities are growing exponentially, yet companies are slow to take up the innovation challenge, according to research from the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM Research).
"Yoghurt pots that flash at you to say they're mouldy, animated e-papers like Harry Potter's Daily Prophet,

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Arizona State stacks nanoscale memory chips

Researchers improve chip memory by stacking cells

Researchers at Arizona State University have developed an elegant method for significantly improving the memory capacity of electronic chips.
The researchers have shown that they can build stackable memory based on 'ionic memory technology' which could make them ideal candidates for storage cells in high-density memory. Best of all, the new

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MPEGIF Launches “3D over MPEG” Campaign

The MPEG Industry Forum (MPEGIF) has formed a 3DTV Working Group with a “3D over MPEG” campaign. The new working group and campaign continue MPEGIF’s successful work in furthering the widespread adoption and deployment of MPEG-related standards including MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video compression technology.
“3DTV is of keen interest to everyone in the video creation and delivery industries. The

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Step forward for multicore Linux

CriticalBlue and MontaVista Partner to Expand Multicore Software Development

CriticalBlue, the Edinburgh-based pioneer of embedded multicore software analysis, exploration and verification tools, has joined the MontaVista partner program and will make their Prism product available on MontaVista Linux 6 and Montavista Linux Carrier Grade Edition products.
This announcement continues the

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Western Digital and NEC collaborate on USB3.0

New Driver for SuperSpeed Connectivity for SCSI Hard Drives With Advanced Features

Western Digital and NEC Electronics are collaborating to promote the new SuperSpeed Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 standard in storage devices supporting data transfer rates of up to 5 gigabits per second (Gbps), 10 times faster than the previous high-speed USB 2.0 transfer speeds.
The companies plan to develop a

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Farewell Zilog

Zilog, the inventor of the ubiquitous Z80 microcontroller, has finally given up the ghost and is to be sold to IXYS, a power semiconductor and mixed signal vendor that is one of the fastest growing semiconductor companies. The $62m deal is expected to be completed by March next year as IXYS expects the microcontroller market to take off again next year.The combination of the two companies with

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Single chip for HD image acquisition

HD image signal processors combine image signal conditioning circuitry, a 14-bit ADC, and precision timing core for medical, industrial and scientific designs As medical, industrial and scientific markets increasingly adopt high-definition (HD) image acquisition systems, designers of such systems must confront a host of signal-processing complexities in order to accurately capture and record

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First Cortex-M0 microcontroller starter kit

$139 starter kit for popular low cost microcontroller IAR Systems has developed what it believes to be the world's first commercial starter kit for ARM Cortex-M0-based microcontrollers for the NXP LPC1114.One of the features which enabled the speedy development of this kit was the fact that the NXP LPC11xx Cortex-M0 family is 100% pin compatible with the NXP LPC13xx Cortex-M3 family. "This kit

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Microtune plans DAB SDR chip

Microtune is planning to develop a version of its software defined radio chip for the DAB standard used across Europe.The current version supports AM/FM and HD radio but not DAB, making it a potial problem for equipment makers for the European market. The problem is that some key European countries such as Germany use the higher frequency L band. THis can be supported with a separate receiver

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SDR comes to radio and TV

Microtune has developed a chip architecture that brings Software Defined Radio (SDR) to car radios.The MT3511 RF MicroDigitizer provides a flexible RF front end for many different standards and is coupled with a digital signal processor for a low cost implemention in a car radio. For automotive manufacturers, software defined radio (SDR) represents a revolutionary approach to in-vehicle car

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VIA chipset for DDR3 all-in-one PCs

Blu-ray playback, DX10.1 graphics and DDR3 memory support VIA Technologies is set to push the adoption of next generation high speed DDR3 memory in all-in-one and embedded PCs with a new low power chipset.The VIA VN1000 digital media chipset features the ChromotionHD 2.0 video processor to guarantee smooth playback of the latest Blu-ray titles with superb hardware acceleration of the most

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Global automotive telematics market to quadruple

Boom time as 68m cars ship with telematics by 2016Global shipments of automotive telematics systems are set to rise to 84.4 million units in 2016, up by a factor of more than four from 19.3 million in 2008, according to iSuppli.“From sending out an automatic distress call after a car crash, to enabling remote diagnosis of engine troubles, telematics can provide enormous benefits to motorists and

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Netbook on a credit card with world’s first i.MX51 DIMM module

Runs Windows CE and Linux, measures only 67.6 x 26 x 4.2 mm Strategic Test has developed the world’s first Freescale i.MX51 processor-based System on Module (SOM). The TX51 measures just 67.6 x 26 x 4.2 mm (2.6” x 1” x 0.16”) and contains an ARM8 Cortex 800 MHz i.MX51 processor coupled with 128 MB mobile DDR-SDRAM, 128 MB NAND Flash memory and a 200-pin SODIMM connector, giving it the power of

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WiFi and Coldfire on embedded tower development system

Modular development platform helps save months of development time through rapid prototyping and tool re-useFreescale Semiconductor has launched a rapid evaluation and prototyping development system with two interchangeable peripheral modules and 8- and 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) modules for the Tower System.The advanced peripheral modules offer developers 802.11b Wi-Fi and rapid prototyping

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Printable programmable logic

Nano ePrint in Manchester has secured a grant for Research and Development from the UK's Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) for a £390k project to demonstrate the world's first printed programmable logic device.This will be based on developments led by Ian Barton, previously Managing Director of Silistix, who joined Nano ePrint as Vice President of Engineering in May. Ian brings

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First 1.1in QVGA LED display

OKI Digital Imaging has developed a 1.1 inch QVGA LED display while reducing power consumption to one-tenth that of conventional LCDs.This is the direct result of development in its LED print head technology that enhances luminance efficiency using an extension of its proprietary Epi Film Bonding technology into a two-dimensional array.This array has the world’s first 65-micrometer pitch between

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Altium targets Poland on software piracy

Design tool vendor Altium is targetting illegal use of its software specifically in Poland, offering an amnesty for just one month for existing users.Sets December deadline for illegal users“Piracy of Altium software, both of Altium Designer and older Protel software, is a known problem throughout Poland. With this programme, Altium helps illegal Protel users continue with their favourite EDA

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Lego robots at Robocon 2009

I can't resist robots, it's just the kid in me! The Annual Robocon Competition took place in Yokohama, Tokyo on November 18. 40 teams from all over the world were competing in various disciplines, including the LEGO MINDSTORMS, in which the Royal Danish Embassy in Tokyo sponsored one of the 'Innovation Prize' awards.

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USB3 solid state disk from OCZ

New names in the industry are emerging with USB3.0 coming through (despite the problems at Intel) with OCZ Technology of San Jose teaming up with Symwave to show an external high speed solid state disk (SSD) drive. Symwave is a fabless chip supplier of SuperSpeed USB3.0 devices with headquarters in Orange County, Calif., and design centers in Shenzhen, China, and San Diego, Calif. “Thanks to

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Atom moves into automotive

Kontron's Microspace MPCX28: in-vehicle PC with Intel Atom Z530 processorKontron has launched its first in-vehicle PC with extended support, based on the Intel Atom Z530 processor and Intel System Controller Hub US15W, with a flexible PC/104 socket for ultra flat and space-saving PC/104 expansion cards. Further options for customization include 2 PCIe Mini Card Slots for custom specific options

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SME survey of UK companies

The UK's Electronics Leadership Council, distributor Premier Farnell and The UK Electronics Alliance are co-ordinating a survey to gain knowledge from technology-based SMEs on how to better advise government to direct the necessary support for greater economic growth. The survey is hereAll UK based small and medium enterprise (SME) technology companies are encouraged to take part in a survey

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MEMS microphones for a dollar from ST and Omron deal

ST Microelectronics has teamed up with Omron to drive the cost of micromachined, highly integrated silicon MEMS microphones.The deal will see the devices falling to under $1, says ST, using Omron's sensor technology. ST is already the leading supplier of MEMS for consumer and portable applications and the third largest MEMS manufacturer overall. , but will use Omron's MEMS sensor technology.The

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Instant products from rapid prototyping

Design tool vendor Altium has added an instant deployment option to its FPGA development board. Designers can now take their FPGA-based designs from concept right through to deployment without the need to create a custom PCB by clipping the NanoBoard 3000 into a new range of enclosures designed in-house by Altium.The modular enclosures let designers deploy FPGA–based designs created and hosted on

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Namecalling Begins Around Intel's USB 3.0 Slowdown, Slapfight Imminent

Namecalling Begins Around Intel's USB 3.0 Slowdown, Slapfight ImminentPosted using ShareThis

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DDR3 memory transistion next year

Shipments of the next generation high speed, low power DDDR3 memory will rise to account for more than half of the global DRAM market by the second quarter of 2010, surpassing DDR2 for the first time as the leading technology for PC main memory says market researcher iSuppli. DDR3’s share of the DRAM market in terms of gigabit-equivalent shipments will rise to 50.9 percent in the second quarter

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Atom module adds dual GbE, SATA and PCIe

Anders Electronics in London has developed a module that uses Intel's Atom processor with two Gigabit Ethernet connections for faster connectivity. Measuring just 65x75mm, the new CM-iAM SoM (system-on-module) packs more features than any other Atom Z530 SoM - notably up to 2GB RAM, 4GB on-board Flash Disk, SATA interface, dual GbE, and up to 3 PCIe lanes.Used as a building block for any embedded

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National Instruments expands HIL

National Instruments is extending its hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation platform, which includes a range of products that optimise embedded system validation. During the past six months, NI has released nearly 40 new products targeted at delivering flexible HIL solutions to embedded control system developers within a variety of industries. The portfolio of NI HIL simulation tools helps

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PowerVR moves to HD

Imagination Technologies has launched a video encoder family of IP that provides H.264 High Profile (HP) at HD resolutions.The newest member of the POWERVR VXE encoder family delivers the highest quality encode ever seen in a synthesisable IP core, and offers the most complete implementation of the High and Main Profile toolsets of any IP core available in the market today, says the company.

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DDR3 module price increase catches PC and chip makers

Pricing continues to increase at a rapid pace for both DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules according to a market update from Converge. Earlier in the year market expectations were for another down year for the memory market, and yet at the close of business for October, the DDR2 and DDR3 markets had experienced eight straight months of rising prices. Clearly, computer builders did not see this coming or

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Supercomputing moves into harsh environments

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, part of GE Enterprise Solutions, has developed a rugged processing board with the performance of a supercomputer. The OpenVPX-compatible GRA111 high performance graphics board is one of the first commercially-available products to feature Nvidia’s newly-announced GT 240 GPU (graphics processing unit) and is also the first rugged implementation of a GPU using

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8bit microcontrollers fight back with dual core for payTV

While 32bit microcontrollers are moving down into the 8bit market at 65cents, 8bit devices are moving to dual core. Atmel has developed the industry's first dual-core secure microcontrollers targeting demanding smart card applications such as the PayTV conditional access market.Atmel's TwinAVR microcontrollers (MCUs) offer two independent cores, memory and peripherals on a single chip, unlike

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Atmel launches low cost 34cent RFID chip for next generation access control

Access Control System DiagramRFID block diagramAtmel has launched a low cost, One Time Programmable (OTP) transponder chip for next-generation access control systems. Application areas include, for example, hotel rooms, engineering departments, offices, time recording systems and parking lots, as well as customer loyalty and membership cards. The IDIC ATA5575M1 provides OTP functionality, which

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32bit microcontrollers fall to 65cents

The latest family of 32bit ARM Cortex-M0 microcontrollers from NXP is driving real time oerating systems straight into the 8bit and 16bit space. The LPC1100 microcontroller family will be available from distributors in December from 65cents in 10K volumes. With 15 members initially, the family offers a seamless entry point for any 8/16-bit customers looking to start with the scalable ARM

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Bada emerges as OS for handhelds

Samsung is set to launch its Bada operatings system as a challenge to Android. Details and prospects at the Portable Multimedia blog.

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European car telematics market to boom

Despite the collapse of the new car market, iSuppli is predicting a boom in telematics equipment for vehicles in Western Europe over the next ten years, and the details of the usage of telematics for each brand make very interesting reading (below), particularly the relatively low levels of telematics used today. Sales of automotive telematics systems are set to rise by a factor of five during

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Cognitive radio for old TV spectrum

Cambridge Consultants has developed a novel, low-cost ‘spectral sensing’ cognitive radio technology platform that will allow any radio product to transmit without interference over so the called ‘whitespace’ frequencies at 700MHz recently vacated by the US digital TV switchover. With InCognito, it is aiming to do for whitespace what it did for Bluetooth and Zigbee, spinning off companies such as

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Intel moves into equipment with the Reader

Intel's Digital Health group has launched a handheld device in the US that reads out text. This is one of the few times that Intel has sold consumer equipment under its own brand and is a key step towards the Intel phone. Intel already makes notebooks and netbooks, but these are all labelled by, and sold by, other companies.The Intel Reader is designed to increase independence for people who have

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DDR3 memory - what happend?

I've just had to buy a new laptop, and wanted something that would last for a good few years, so naturally wanted high speed, low power DDR3 memory. Could I find much? No, really just Dell and Acer. So this analysis of what happened from Malcolm Penn at Future Horizons is well timed, and an excellent description of how technology does, or doesn't get adopted, and the implications for the embedded

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China supercomputer breaks performance barrier

China's National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) has developed a supercomputer that breaks the petaflop barrier, putting China in the same league as the US and Europe for high performance computing. The supercomputer, called "Tianhe", meaning Milky Way, is based in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. The 155-ton system, with 103 refrigerator-like cabinets covering an area

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Ultra low power microcontroller extends battery life

A Norwegian startup is pushing the limits of low power in microcontrollers, cutting power by a factor of four over even 8bit devices. Energy Micro has developed the EFM32 low power 32bit microcontroller based on the ARM Cortex-M3 architecture with low power clocks and peripherals that consumes less than 180µA per MHz while executing real life code from Flash memory and the lowest active mode

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Virage aims for IP powerhouse with NXP deal

So, Virage Logic is taking another step towards becoming a major IP and system on chip player with a deal to acquire key IP from NXP.The deal sets up an R&D centre for Virage in Eindhoven, home of NXP, for advanced CMOS I/O, analogue mixed signal and System-on-Chip (SoC) infrastructure IP. These new products are expected to be commercially available in early 2011, and sit alongside the UK-based

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True wireless speakers emerge with Audium

The main problem with "wireless" speakers is that they aren't - you end up replacing the speaker cable with a power cable, which can give you some advantages but really isn't the point.Now, a Bristol startup aims to provide true wireless speakers with an audio amplifier that uses just 5% of the power of traditional amplifiers.Audium Semiconductor has developed an amplifier architecture that can

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HD video broadcast network launched by Akamai

In a move that has big implications for the developers of equipment that receives multimedia - whether tethered or portable - Akamai Technologies has launched the first platform to deliver HD video online to viewers using Adobe Flash technology, Microsoft Silverlight, and to the iPhone, at broadcast scale. The Akamai HD Network is the only solution that supports live and on-demand HD streaming

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SATA flash drives move to 62GBytes for embedded

Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has moved to 32nm NAND flash technology for a series of solid state drive (SSD) modules, increasing the capacity and lowering the cost for embedded systems. The SG2 modules come in two types, one based on the new low-profile mini-SATA (mSATA) interface standard and the other a Half-Slim type, which uses a SATA connector. The drives are available in 30GB and 62GB

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First USB3 HD video camera

Point Grey, a Canadian developer of digital camera systems has developed the first industrial high definition video camera to use the USB3.0 standard. It teamed up with Fresco Logic, a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and sells USB 3.0 chips for the launch at the 2009 Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. The live demonstration streamed uncompressed High Definition (HD

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Low power USB development kit from TI at $49

With a low power digital signal processor, Texas Instruments has managed to develop a development kit in a USB stick which drops the cost of a full-featured emulator and integrated development platform down to $49. This enables rapid creation of DSP applications including portable audio players, voice recorders, IP phones, portable medical devices, biometric USB keys, software defined radios (

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USB3 upgrade cards emerge

Taiwanese manufacturer Good Way is using the NEC USB3.0 chipset for a range of cards to support the high speed interface with the launch of Windows 7 next month. Known for USB peripherals in Taiwan, Good Way will exhibit at the Hong Kong Electronics Autumn Edition in October, showing several USB3.0 products which will be launched by end of September.The first USB3.0 products offered by Good Way

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Wireless 60GHz HDMI for full 1080p TV

With an uncompressed delivery of 1080p/60 full HD video and multi-channel audio in the HDMI format, a new wireless system from Gefen uses WirelessHD radio technology from SiBeam to allow installers to mount a flat panel HDTV anywhere and transmit the HDMI signal from a Blu-ray player, set-top box or gaming device up to 30 feet (10m) in distance.A line-of-sight recommendation makes it best suited

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USB3.0 compact dual-port jack for future-proof designs

To future proof USB designs, Taiwanese electromechanical component designer Suyin has developed a compact USB3.0 jack to support the high speeds of the new protocol and be backwards compatible with the existing USB2.0 plugs.The compact USB-3.0/type-A dual-port 020051MR018S500ZR jack (with two layers of 9 contacts) fully complies with all physical and technical requirements for USB 3.0. The

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Imaging a molecule for the first time

Researchers at IBM in Zurich has managed to create accurate pictures of a molecule for the first time using non-contact atomic force microscopy (AFC).The ability to image a molecule will help to open up atomic scale electronics, using molecules as switches an transistors.“Though not an exact comparison, if you think about how a doctor uses an X-ray to image bones and organs inside the human body,

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Jukebox player startup thriving

Nice to see startups thriving. Martin Brennan, covered in my story in Electronics Weekly back in September 2007 is doing well with his JB7 jukebox that uses an innovative, simple interface to access thousands of CDs on a simple unit. The reviews are good and full page ads are appearing, so things are going well.

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Silicon microphone moves to Bosch

Akustica, developer of silicon MEMS (micro electro-mechanical systems) microphones for the consumer electronics market has been bought by Robert Bosch North America. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed. Akustica, which was founded in 2001, is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and develops and sells digital and analogue micro electromechanical microphones using standard CMOS silicon

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Customer continuity is key says GE Fanuc

GE Fanuc has strongly objected to the idea that the joint venture has collapsed (see blog below), saying this is a strategic move based on changes in the market over the last twenty years. But it does not release turnover details for the joint venture, and with its focus on industrial and process control the joint venture is likely to be suffering as much as any other large equipment supplier.The

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Wireless power standard emerges with logo

A standard for wireless charging of portable equipment is emerging through the Wireless Power Consortium. It has released the 0.95 technical specification for a global wireless power charging standard for low power devices that are 5 watts and below, such as mobile phones and personal music players. It is out for review by its members and announced the launch of prototype testing at a members'

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Downturn hits as GE Fanuc splits

GE Fanuc Automation, the twenty year old joint venture between GE and FANUC, is to be dismantled by the end of the year. GE and FANUC expect the transaction to be completed by the end of this year, subject to satisfactory customary closing conditions. It denies the split is due to market conditions, see comments above.Set up in 1986, GE Fanuc Automation serves a vast array of industries around

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First European 1Gb/s Internet

Zon Multimedia in Portugal is planning to launch a 1Gbit/s Internet service in September, reports Julian Clover at Cable TV Europe and other sources. This is a phenomenal rise in speeds, and will put pressure on other providers across Europe who have been talking about 100Mbit/s, which Zon launched in January.The system, which runs over cable, has already been field tested.These speeds will drive

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