Global smart electricity meter to see installed base double by 2016

Global smart electricity meter to see installed base double by 2016

Market research analyst, IMS Research is forecasting that by the end of 2016, the global installed base of advanced electricity meters is expected to double.

A new market study from IMS Research entitled 'The World Market for Smart Electricity Meters – 2012 Edition' forecasts that the installed base of communicating meters will grow to almost 35 percent penetration globally.

At the close of 2011, less than 18 percent of the roughly 1.43 billion installed meters were communicating. These meters ranged from older one-way AMR (Advanced Meter Reading) style technology to GPRS (cellular) enabled C&I meters (commercial and industrial), to residential smart two-way meters. From 2012 onwards a mixture of fixed network technologies are anticipated to be installed worldwide, ranging from simpler RS485-wired types to next generation smart two-way PLC-OFDM meters.

IMS Research Lead Analyst, Michael Markides, explained: "In 2011 the market for advanced meters reached new heights; North American shipments remained strong, while shipments to China and Spain began in earnest. Largely due to these factors it is estimated that global advanced meter shipments in 2011 were double those of 2010. However, average annual shipments from 2012 through 2014 are expected to remain at this level, only growing significantly once more in 2015 when expected European advanced metering projects go online."

While the markets of North America and Western Europe are mostly understood, in the long term the continued growth of the global smart meter market is highly dependent on developing economies such as China, Brazil and India. Of these three regions, China is currently the only significant market for advanced meters. In 2011, some 40 million advanced electricity meters were shipped here, however, most were simple wired RS485 meters utilizing one-way communications.

The adoption of these simpler communicating meters reflects the difference in drivers in China when compared to Western Europe and North America. Rather than focusing on next-generation functionality such as voltage optimization or demand response, utilities here are more concerned with energy theft through meter tampering or bribes to readers. Brazil, India, and many other developing countries face similar challenges and may also see the need for simpler one-way style communicating meters to be installed in order to curtail non-technical losses.

Markides concluded: "In the next five years, most developed countries and industrializing, developing nations will have thriving advanced electricity meter markets. Whether installed to save on labor costs, work in conjunction with other smart grid schemes, or curtail non-technical losses, utilities worldwide are accelerating their adoption of smart metering."

Visit IMS Research at http://www.imsresearch.com.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:smart electricity meter smart meter forecast market research smart energy

Cisco, NXP push commercialization of Car-to-X communication

Cisco, NXP push commercialization of Car-to-X communication

Car-to-X communications is about to get ready for market entry, and the first players are preparing for a fast start: Network equipment manufacturer Cisco and chipmaker NXP both have invested in equipment maker Cohda Wireless, an expert company in automotive safety applications. The move brings together the expertise of the three organizations to make the Internet of Everything a reality for the automotive industry, creating a safer and more enjoyable driving experience while improving the traffic flow.

Car-to-Car (C2C) and Car-to-Infrastructure (C2I) communications enable active safety systems that can, according to U.S. Department of Transportation, affect 81 percent of all crash scenarios and as a result help to reduce fatalities and injuries on the roads. In addition to improving safety, (C2I) holds great potential for intelligent transport system (ITS) management and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

C2C and C2I communications require highly reliable and secure data exchange between fast moving vehicles and infrastructure in a range of conditions – from rural highway to dense urban canyons. NXP and Cohda Wireless have built a market-ready, flexible wireless communication solution for onboard-units based on Cohda's existing advanced radio and NXP's market-proven software-defined radio technology. This makes it a key element to connect to Cisco's vision of a ubiquitous and highly-secure Internet of Everything.

Onboard and road side units developed using technologies from the three companies have been tested to global standards in major field trials. In August 2012, the "Safety Pilot Model Deployment" trial by the US Department of Transport was initiated, and other major field trials include simTD in Germany, ScoreF in France, and ERP2 in Singapore.

The three companies announced that they will apply their collective expertise and technologies to help automotive OEMs, suppliers, enterprises and consumers to connect vehicles with ITS infrastructure. This will be spearheaded by producing the first automotive-qualified IEEE 802.11p products for onboard and road-side units that are ready for C2C and C2I deployments across the globe.

Cohda's technology enhances wireless communications to quality levels far beyond commercial off-the-shelf IEEE 802.11p transceivers, allowing cars to more effectively "see" through obstacles or around corners. NXP, as global number one supplier of car radio semiconductors and security chips, brings its software-defined radio platform and ensures industry-ready data security, cost efficiency, form factor, power consumption, and performance. Together, Cisco, NXP, and Cohda will develop a complete market-ready solution for the automotive and ITS industry.

NXP will exclusively license the Cohda 802.11p technology together with its chipsets as a one-stop shop to automotive customers. Cohda will be NXP's preferred partner for automotive 802.11p reference designs.

Cisco is helping the automotive and transportation systems industries deliver new functionality, enhanced safety and driver experience. By incorporating an intelligent network, OEMs, suppliers, enterprises and consumers can benefit from intelligent transportation systems, connected commercial fleets and smart connected vehicles.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:Car to X communication connected vehicles C2X infotainment Cohda C2C C2I

The tablet generation is pushing networks to the edge

The tablet generation is pushing networks to the edge

New research from Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent suggests that increasing consumption of video content on tablets, smartphones and other devices will push the wired broadband networks that carry this traffic to their absolute limits over the next decade.

Bell Labs projections suggest that, by 2020, consumers in the United States alone will access seven hours of video each day – as opposed to 4.8 hours today,and will increasingly consume this additional video on tablets, both at home and on the go. Significantly, the research also points to a dramatic shift in viewing habits, as consumers switch from broadcast content to video-on-demand services, which will grow to 70% of daily consumption compared with 33% today. The projections also suggest a twelve times increase in internet video content as cloud services, news sites and social networking applications become more video based, and continuously accessible anywhere, anytime on tablets.

Importantly, the study also highlighted how these trends will stretch the capabilities the residential broadband networks many service providers use today: as the delivery of video content rapidly moves from traditional broadcast TV to the 'unicast' delivery of personalized content to individuals, disproportionate pressure will be placed on the ''IP edge' of these networks. The IP – or Internet Protocol - edge is the part of the network where most of the intelligence is needed to deliver sophisticated video and high-speed Internet services is located. Broadcast is a much more efficient way of delivering video services, so the move to unicast creates enormous bandwidth demands on networks.

Marcus Weldon, Chief Technology Officer, Alcatel-Lucent, said: "Delivery of video from the cloud and from content delivery networks to tablets, TVs and smartphones - with guaranteed quality -, presents an exciting new revenue opportunity for communications service providers, but only if they are prepared to take advantage of it. Left unmanaged, the rapid growth in video traffic can turn into a deluge and spell disaster. It is important to look at where service providers' investments can have the most impact, and this research makes clear that the IP edge of both wireline and wireless networks – which are increasingly becoming one and the same - offers the greatest opportunity to improve network performance. At the same time, it also presents the greatest source of risk if not managed appropriately."

Bell Labs found that on-demand video services, such as high definition premium movie services as well as video sharing sites, will become even more popular over the next five years. As a result, on-demand video will command an increased share of viewing hours, causing peak-hour traffic at the 'edge' of new IP-based networks to grow 2.5 times faster than the amount of traffic on the broadband connections reaching households. This challenge will need to be addressed, comprehensively, if communications service providers are to maintain their ability to deliver high-quality residential multimedia services to consumers.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:tablet video content wired broadband research forecast cloud

Volvo, Ericsson jointly connect cars to the cloud

Volvo, Ericsson jointly connect cars to the cloud

With LTE in the starting blocks and the Connected Car increasingly taking shape, new alliances are in the offing. Volvo Car Group and Ericsson now have announced that they plan to jointly advance the technical development of innovations for automotive internet services. To the joint efforts, Volvo will bring in its expertise in driver behavior and traffic security requirements while Ericsson will contribute its consulting and systems integration.

Both companies plan to conjointly build the ecosystem around the connected car. The solution covers all Volvo Cars markets around the globe and is run as a Managed Service by Ericsson. Drivers will be able to download applications, create an on-line service booking and interact with partners through the Connected Vehicle Cloud built on Ericsson's Service Enablement Platform.

The partnership is focused on the rapid development of Volvo Cars' stand-alone scalable product architecture (SPA). However, connected car services will roll out in all new Volvo cars beforehand in order to position Volvo Cars with sophisticated solutions and services.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:Connected Car automotive internet cloud Volvo Ericsson LTE

BMW brings LTE connectivity to its vehicles (and others)

BMW brings LTE connectivity to its vehicles (and others)

Carmaker BMW is offering an LTE access device as an optional accessory part for his vehicles. The device acts as a router for up to eight mobile devices simultaneously, bringing high-speed and low-latency mobile internet access to the road.

Apart from the BMW Car Hotspot LTE an LTE-capable SIM card is required. The first time a mobile device is connected to the BMW Car Hotspot LTE using the mobile device's WLAN interface, an eight-digit code must be entered. This is a one-off requirement. If the mobile device is equipped with an NFC interface, the WLAN connection is automatically established simply by briefly placing the NFC-capable device on top of the LTE Hotspot.

According to BMW, this is the first time NFC functionality has been offered in the car. "'Plug and play' is something of an overworked term, but this is the genuine article," says Markus Dietz, Project Manager BMW Car Hotspot LTE Development.

If the customer's device is not NFC-capable, the BMW Car Hotspot LTE also offers WPS (WiFi Protect Setup) as a solution for establishing a WLAN connection. Using this method it is possible to establish a secure connection between the hotspot and a mobile device situated within a range of three metres simply by pressing the hotspot's "connect" button once and without entering a PIN.

The accessory piece is designed for optimal operation in any vehicle of the BMW Group equipped with a telephone docking station. The docking station provides the power supply and ensures optimal reception. When placed in the BMW docking station, the BMW Car Hotspot LTE connects to the internet using the vehicle aerial. This means that reception cannot be impaired for example by tinted windows, while also preventing radiation inside the vehicle.

But it is also possible to use the hotspot even without a docking station. In this case, using an optionally available adapter and mini-USB cable, the power is provided by plugging the BMW Car Hotspot LTE into the cigarette lighter. Thus, the hotspot can be used in any vehicle.

Equipped with a built-in battery pack, the BMW Car Hotspot LTE can even be used outside the vehicle. Away from an external power supply the hotspot can provide internet access for about an hour.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:LTE connectivity connected car LTE NFC

Cisco, NXP push commercialization of Car-to-X communication

Cisco, NXP push commercialization of Car-to-X communication

Car-to-X communications is about to get ready for market entry, and the first players are preparing for a fast start: Network equipment manufacturer Cisco and chipmaker NXP both have invested in equipment maker Cohda Wireless, an expert company in automotive safety applications. The move brings together the expertise of the three organizations to make the Internet of Everything a reality for the automotive industry, creating a safer and more enjoyable driving experience while improving the traffic flow.

Car-to-Car (C2C) and Car-to-Infrastructure (C2I) communications enable active safety systems that can, according to U.S. Department of Transportation, affect 81 percent of all crash scenarios and as a result help to reduce fatalities and injuries on the roads. In addition to improving safety, (C2I) holds great potential for intelligent transport system (ITS) management and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

C2C and C2I communications require highly reliable and secure data exchange between fast moving vehicles and infrastructure in a range of conditions – from rural highway to dense urban canyons. NXP and Cohda Wireless have built a market-ready, flexible wireless communication solution for onboard-units based on Cohda's existing advanced radio and NXP's market-proven software-defined radio technology. This makes it a key element to connect to Cisco's vision of a ubiquitous and highly-secure Internet of Everything.

Onboard and road side units developed using technologies from the three companies have been tested to global standards in major field trials. In August 2012, the "Safety Pilot Model Deployment" trial by the US Department of Transport was initiated, and other major field trials include simTD in Germany, ScoreF in France, and ERP2 in Singapore.

The three companies announced that they will apply their collective expertise and technologies to help automotive OEMs, suppliers, enterprises and consumers to connect vehicles with ITS infrastructure. This will be spearheaded by producing the first automotive-qualified IEEE 802.11p products for onboard and road-side units that are ready for C2C and C2I deployments across the globe.

Cohda's technology enhances wireless communications to quality levels far beyond commercial off-the-shelf IEEE 802.11p transceivers, allowing cars to more effectively "see" through obstacles or around corners. NXP, as global number one supplier of car radio semiconductors and security chips, brings its software-defined radio platform and ensures industry-ready data security, cost efficiency, form factor, power consumption, and performance. Together, Cisco, NXP, and Cohda will develop a complete market-ready solution for the automotive and ITS industry.

NXP will exclusively license the Cohda 802.11p technology together with its chipsets as a one-stop shop to automotive customers. Cohda will be NXP's preferred partner for automotive 802.11p reference designs.

Cisco is helping the automotive and transportation systems industries deliver new functionality, enhanced safety and driver experience. By incorporating an intelligent network, OEMs, suppliers, enterprises and consumers can benefit from intelligent transportation systems, connected commercial fleets and smart connected vehicles.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:Car to X communication connected vehicles C2X infotainment Cohda C2C C2I

The tablet generation is pushing networks to the edge

The tablet generation is pushing networks to the edge

New research from Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent suggests that increasing consumption of video content on tablets, smartphones and other devices will push the wired broadband networks that carry this traffic to their absolute limits over the next decade.

Bell Labs projections suggest that, by 2020, consumers in the United States alone will access seven hours of video each day – as opposed to 4.8 hours today,and will increasingly consume this additional video on tablets, both at home and on the go. Significantly, the research also points to a dramatic shift in viewing habits, as consumers switch from broadcast content to video-on-demand services, which will grow to 70% of daily consumption compared with 33% today. The projections also suggest a twelve times increase in internet video content as cloud services, news sites and social networking applications become more video based, and continuously accessible anywhere, anytime on tablets.

Importantly, the study also highlighted how these trends will stretch the capabilities the residential broadband networks many service providers use today: as the delivery of video content rapidly moves from traditional broadcast TV to the 'unicast' delivery of personalized content to individuals, disproportionate pressure will be placed on the ''IP edge' of these networks. The IP – or Internet Protocol - edge is the part of the network where most of the intelligence is needed to deliver sophisticated video and high-speed Internet services is located. Broadcast is a much more efficient way of delivering video services, so the move to unicast creates enormous bandwidth demands on networks.

Marcus Weldon, Chief Technology Officer, Alcatel-Lucent, said: "Delivery of video from the cloud and from content delivery networks to tablets, TVs and smartphones - with guaranteed quality -, presents an exciting new revenue opportunity for communications service providers, but only if they are prepared to take advantage of it. Left unmanaged, the rapid growth in video traffic can turn into a deluge and spell disaster. It is important to look at where service providers' investments can have the most impact, and this research makes clear that the IP edge of both wireline and wireless networks – which are increasingly becoming one and the same - offers the greatest opportunity to improve network performance. At the same time, it also presents the greatest source of risk if not managed appropriately."

Bell Labs found that on-demand video services, such as high definition premium movie services as well as video sharing sites, will become even more popular over the next five years. As a result, on-demand video will command an increased share of viewing hours, causing peak-hour traffic at the 'edge' of new IP-based networks to grow 2.5 times faster than the amount of traffic on the broadband connections reaching households. This challenge will need to be addressed, comprehensively, if communications service providers are to maintain their ability to deliver high-quality residential multimedia services to consumers.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:tablet video content wired broadband research forecast cloud

Volvo, Ericsson jointly connect cars to the cloud

Volvo, Ericsson jointly connect cars to the cloud

With LTE in the starting blocks and the Connected Car increasingly taking shape, new alliances are in the offing. Volvo Car Group and Ericsson now have announced that they plan to jointly advance the technical development of innovations for automotive internet services. To the joint efforts, Volvo will bring in its expertise in driver behavior and traffic security requirements while Ericsson will contribute its consulting and systems integration.

Both companies plan to conjointly build the ecosystem around the connected car. The solution covers all Volvo Cars markets around the globe and is run as a Managed Service by Ericsson. Drivers will be able to download applications, create an on-line service booking and interact with partners through the Connected Vehicle Cloud built on Ericsson's Service Enablement Platform.

The partnership is focused on the rapid development of Volvo Cars' stand-alone scalable product architecture (SPA). However, connected car services will roll out in all new Volvo cars beforehand in order to position Volvo Cars with sophisticated solutions and services.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:Connected Car automotive internet cloud Volvo Ericsson LTE

BMW brings LTE connectivity to its vehicles (and others)

BMW brings LTE connectivity to its vehicles (and others)

Carmaker BMW is offering an LTE access device as an optional accessory part for his vehicles. The device acts as a router for up to eight mobile devices simultaneously, bringing high-speed and low-latency mobile internet access to the road.

Apart from the BMW Car Hotspot LTE an LTE-capable SIM card is required. The first time a mobile device is connected to the BMW Car Hotspot LTE using the mobile device's WLAN interface, an eight-digit code must be entered. This is a one-off requirement. If the mobile device is equipped with an NFC interface, the WLAN connection is automatically established simply by briefly placing the NFC-capable device on top of the LTE Hotspot.

According to BMW, this is the first time NFC functionality has been offered in the car. "'Plug and play' is something of an overworked term, but this is the genuine article," says Markus Dietz, Project Manager BMW Car Hotspot LTE Development.

If the customer's device is not NFC-capable, the BMW Car Hotspot LTE also offers WPS (WiFi Protect Setup) as a solution for establishing a WLAN connection. Using this method it is possible to establish a secure connection between the hotspot and a mobile device situated within a range of three metres simply by pressing the hotspot's "connect" button once and without entering a PIN.

The accessory piece is designed for optimal operation in any vehicle of the BMW Group equipped with a telephone docking station. The docking station provides the power supply and ensures optimal reception. When placed in the BMW docking station, the BMW Car Hotspot LTE connects to the internet using the vehicle aerial. This means that reception cannot be impaired for example by tinted windows, while also preventing radiation inside the vehicle.

But it is also possible to use the hotspot even without a docking station. In this case, using an optionally available adapter and mini-USB cable, the power is provided by plugging the BMW Car Hotspot LTE into the cigarette lighter. Thus, the hotspot can be used in any vehicle.

Equipped with a built-in battery pack, the BMW Car Hotspot LTE can even be used outside the vehicle. Away from an external power supply the hotspot can provide internet access for about an hour.

This article originally appeared on EE Times Europe.

TAG:LTE connectivity connected car LTE NFC

欧米茄华贵珠宝系列盘点

欧米茄华贵珠宝系列盘点

　　欧米茄华贵珠宝包括星座Griffes、Flower、Dewdrop、Aqua和Aqua Swing五个系列，集隽永、优雅、动感于一身，秉承了品牌历史和传统中的珠宝设计精髓。

　　星座 Griffes

　　欧米茄星座Griffes系列华贵珠宝的设计个性鲜明、别具一格，令人想起著名的欧米茄星座腕表标志性的“托爪”设计。

星座 Griffes

　　欧米茄星座腕表是世界上最受欢迎、最具辨识度的表款之一。于1982年首次引入的托爪设计如今已成为星座腕表的标志性特征。这一传奇腕表系列正是Griffes系列珠宝的灵感之源。Griffes珠宝的设计与星座腕表表圈上的独特设计元素一脉相承，同样带有个性托爪，珠宝的一侧镌刻有罗马数字，另一侧则镌刻有“OMEGA”(欧米茄)字样。欧米茄Griffes系列珠宝柔美活泼、魅力非凡，每一枚Griffes珠宝都汲取了星座腕表的精髓，个性出众又意趣盎然。

　　Griffes戒指采用黄金、红金或白金材质，表面经抛光打磨或镶嵌有璀璨美钻。耳环与长款项链同样经过抛光打磨。

　　Flower

　　欧米茄Flower系列华贵珠宝设计别出心裁，5个欧米茄品牌标识“Ω”相互交叠，构成花朵图案，巧妙利用了品牌标识的极高辨识度，同时又以其精美细节为整体设计平添一抹妩媚，尽显女性柔美魅力。设计中的花朵图案也别具深意，象征着无限热情和花样年华。

Flower系列

　　戒指、耳环和吊坠采用18K红金搭配珍珠贝母，或18K白金镶钻搭配黑色缟玛瑙。

　　Flower系列华贵珠宝巧妙运用了珍珠贝母材质，其灵感源自欧米茄腕表的珍珠贝母表盘。这种独特的材质可恰到好处地彰显女性之美——珍珠贝母象征母性、温柔与呵护，是安宁、誓约和幸福的守护者。

　　缟玛瑙则是一种极富特色的天然宝石，一直以来寓意着关爱与呵护，在古希腊，缟玛瑙被认为是爱的象征。Flower系列华贵珠宝中的黑色缟玛瑙与欧米茄腕表的黑色表盘传递着相同的内涵。

　　Dewdrop

　　欧米茄Omegamania Dewdrop系列华贵珠宝采用迷人的“水滴”型设计，这一独特设计是对欧米茄品牌标识Ω的创造性演绎——Ω是希腊文中的最后一个字母，欧米茄的创始人用其命名品牌，寓意成就、永恒与完美。

Dewdrop系列

　　水滴是生命和情感之源，象征着青春、优雅、轻盈。Dewdrop系列设计清新出尘，洋溢着一种柔美灵动的女性韵味和优雅气质。

　　Aqua

　　欧米茄标志性的Aqua系列华贵珠宝，秉承了品牌悠久历史和辉煌传统中的珠宝设计精髓，同时从品牌与海洋的长久渊源中汲取了灵感。

　　Aqua系列珠宝以海洋为主题，设计中蕴含的灵动美感与“Aqua”(水)这一名称完美契合。在欧米茄华贵珠宝系列中，Aqua系列享有特殊的地位，其每一款珠宝的设计灵感都与水紧密相关。

　　Aqua系列珠宝采用18K白金、18K黄金或18K红金材质，表面经抛光打磨或镶嵌有璀璨美钻。有多种宽度可供选择的戒指是这一时尚系列的代表作品，佩戴者可随心打造或简约低调、或璀璨耀目的风格，为指间平添一抹个性美感。拥有多种宽度选择的Aqua系列戒指可让每一个人都找到自己的理想之选。

　　Aqua Swing

　　欧米茄Aqua Swing系列华贵珠宝对Aqua系列标志性的波纹图案进行了全新演绎：如今，极具象征性的波纹设计带来了变化超乎想象的搭配组合，每一位佩戴者都可进行创意叠戴，打造出与众不同的个性风格，让戒指的灵动美感在指间摇曳生辉。

Aqua Swing

　　近乎无限的搭配得益于尺寸和材质的丰富选择。

　　Aqua Swing系列华贵珠宝以18K黄金、18K红金或18K白金打造而成，表面经抛光打磨或镶嵌有璀璨美钻。此外还有两种引人瞩目的全新材质可选：白色或黑色陶瓷。陶瓷是一种高科技材质，素因其极轻的重量、极佳的抗磨损性和极高的耐用性备受推崇。

　　Aqua Swing系列不可思议的多样变化源于丰富的叠戴创意：将不同宽度、不同材质、镶钻或无钻的款式天衣无缝地组合在一起，形成完美配搭。这些珠宝的美感历久弥新，可完美诠释每一种心情。

TAG:欧米茄 腕表 珠宝 华贵系列 欧米茄华贵珠宝系列盘点

Imagination CEO given knighthood

Imagination CEO given knighthood

LONDON – Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination Technologies Group plc, has been knighted for services to technology and innovation in the New Year Honors for 2013.

Imagination (Kings Langley, England) was founded as VideoLogic Ltd. and Yassaie joined as CTO in 1992 before becoming CEO and taking the company public as Imagination.

"I am absolutely delighted and deeply humbled to receive such prestigious recognition. This distinguished honor means a great deal to me both personally and professionally. I have always wanted to make a real difference by what I do and I see this honor not only as a major recognition for past effort but as a real encouragement for the future.

"I strongly believe success in life also depends on support and commitment from family, friends, work colleagues and business partners. I have been very fortunate in this respect and see this honor as much theirs as mine."

Yassaie was born in Iran and came to the U.K to study at Birmingham University before working for Inmos Ltd. and STMicroelectronics. Yassaie has driven an intellectual property licensing strategy at Imagination based on graphics processing. Although it took time to gain traction the company benefitted from the need for power-efficient graphics in mobile phones and tablet computers. Imagination includes Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. amongst its customers and investors.

Imagination is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has a market capitalization of over $1.5 billion, employs more than 1,300 people worldwide, and develops and licenses key technologies used in over one billion products, from the most advanced smart phones to tablets, televisions and digital radios.



Sir Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination

A British national, Hossein gained a BSc degree (1979) and PhD degree (1982) from Birmingham University in Electronics and Communication Engineering as well as serving as a Research Fellow.


Related links and articles:

Imagination wins MIPS bid

Imagination raises MIPS bid

Ceva rebids for MIPS to stretch Imagination

MIPS rolls architecture extensions amid bidding war

TAG:Sir Hossein Yassaie Imagination CEO semiconductor IP

EET login reg test story

EET login reg test story

This is a test to see if the EET reg required check-box CMS feature of last sprint works.
TAG:registration

NASA to launch comms 'nanosats'

NASA to launch comms 'nanosats'

MANHASSET, N.Y. -- An Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket will launch three PhoneSat spacecraft into low Earth orbit in 2013 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va. The 4-inch "nanosatellites" weigh three pounds each and are dubbed Alexander, Graham, and Bell.

Two PhoneSat 1.0 spacecraft use of Nexus One smartphone technology from HTC Corp. and Google's Android operating system. The third spacecraft is a beta version of PhoneSat 2.0 built around an updated Samsung Nexus S smartphone running Android OS.

PhoneSat 2.0 includes solar panels to enable long-duration missions and a GPS receiver. It also has magnetorquer coils, electromagnets that interact with Earth's magnetic field, along with reaction wheels used to control satellite orientation in space.

The three satellites will be "inserted into a spring-loaded dispenser attached to the launch vehicle. They're stacked in there like a toaster," said Jim Cockrell, NASA's PhoneSat 1.0 project manager.

The project is designed to make use of commercial electronics technologies as a way to reduce cost. PhoneSat 2.0 uses "Triangular Advanced Solar Cells from Spectrolab (Sylmar, Calif) left over from the manufacturing process for larger solar cells. They cost $250 for a quantity of 100, have a 27 percent conversion efficiency and are small enough to cover the PhoneSat's surface area.

"The PhoneSat project is kind of a technology demonstration effort," said Jasper Wolfe of NASA's Ames Research Center. During the PhoneSat mission, amateur radio operators will be able to download and upload data packets. "One of the other benefits from PhoneSat is inspirational, demonstrating cool, cheap technologies that can inspire a lot of people to get involved in space," Wolfe said. "We want to keep up with all the technologies that are coming out and continually find new applications for technologies from other industries, particularly low-cost industries."


NASA's low-cost PhoneSat (Source: NASA)

TAG:NASA Comms Satellites

Texas firm buys Chinese chip maker

Texas firm buys Chinese chip maker

LONDON – Diodes Inc. (Plano, Texas), a manufacturer of discrete, analog and application-specific semiconductors, is set to buy BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. (Shanghai, China) in an all-cash deal valued at $151 million.

BCD was founded in 2000 and manufactures analog and mixed-signal ICs that is supplies to OEMs in China and elsewhere. BCD postponed an initial public offering of shares in 2008 and eventually conducted an IPO on Nasdaq in 2011.

"This proposed acquisition underscores Diodes' strategy to expand our market and growth opportunities through select strategic acquisitions," said Keh-Shew Lu, CEO of Diodes, in a statement.

He added that it would enhance Diodes' analog product portfolio by expanding our standard linear and power management offerings, including AC/DC and DC/DC solutions for power adapters and chargers. He added that it would increase Diodes' penetration in Asia and particularly in China and would also help sales of BCD products around the world.

The boards of both companies have approved the transaction, which is still subject to approval by BCD's shareholders, as well as other customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2013 or early in the second quarter.


Related links and articles:

www.diodes.com

News articles:

BCD Semi to buy power management IC firm

BCD aims IPO to raise $86 million



TAG:Diodes BCD Plano Shanghai China Texas semiconductor analog mixed signal discrete

IPad 3 called 'unbalanced' as Apple, TSMC rumors fly

IPad 3 called 'unbalanced' as Apple, TSMC rumors fly

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Apple iPad 3 is an unbalanced design with an underpowered graphics processor for its high-end display, according to an analysis released Wednesday (Jan. 2) by technology watcher David Kanter. Apple’s quick move to the iPad 4 with a graphics chip bolstered in part by Samsung’s new 32-nm process technology showed that Apple recognized the fault, he said.

The analysis emerges as reports circulate again that Apple is preparing to shift at least some of the manufacturing of its A series processors from Samsung to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSMC will start trial production this quarter of the A6X processor used in the iPad 4, according to several reports citing Taiwan newspapers.

Rumors have circulated since March 2011 that Apple will switch from Samsung to TSMC for foundry work. Apple and Samsung are locked in legal battles around the world over patent infringement including one resolved last year in a San Jose trial.

As foundries, Samsung and TSMC both could offer Apple the latest 28 nm processes to bolster performance and lower power for the A series chips. One analyst speculated that Apple may have a long term supply contract for foundry services at Samsung, explaining its slow shift away from its smartphone and tablet competitor. Through much of 2012, TSMC had limited availability of its 28-nm process.

Access to the latest process technology is key for Apple, said Kanter, principal of Real World Technologies. “The high cost and power consumption of the A5X was undoubtedly one of the reasons why Apple opted to discontinue the iPad 3 a mere seven months" after it was launched, he said.

Apple moved quickly to adopt the so-called Retina display from Samsung in the iPad 3 released in March. However, the graphics processor in the A5X chip Apple used--made in a 45-nm Samsung process using “conventional SiON gate dielectrics”--could not adequately feed the new 2048×1536 display, Kanter said.



Next: Superior graphics
TAG:David Kanter IPad 3 A Series IPad Apple Tablets Samsung TSMC Foundry A5X A6X Processors

London Calling: A northern light startup

London Calling: A northern light startup

Solid-state lighting is one of my tips for a technology-driven trend in 2013 and no sooner has the year begun than I receive the news that VTT Ventures Ltd. (Espoo, Finland) and Lumichip Oy (Espoo, Finland) have invested in a startup company called LightTherm Ltd. (Oulu, Finland). The far north has the aurora borealis and, in the winter, a great need for lighting. So it should perhaps be no surprise that a Finnish cluster of expertise is developing around the topic of lighting.

LightTherm claims to have a patent-pending proprietary LED die interconnect technology that it reckons can produce cooler semiconductor junction temperatures. The capacity of its technology to produce improved thermal efficiency and management is expected to have a beneficial impact on the lifetime of LEDs for lighting applications. The company aims to combine lower operating temperatures with new materials to produce reduced materials, simpler and automated manufacturing and lower-cost LED light bulbs.

VTT Technical Research Center is a government backed applied research institute and VTT Ventures is chartered with helping to create spin-off companies to exploit the research. Lumichip makes LED chips and packaged light engines and has operations in Finland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. LightTherm's technologies are based on development, characterization and lifetime tests carried out at VTT.

LightTherm's founding team consists of Petri Nyman, Ville Moilanen and Kimmo Jokelainen. CEO and co-founder Nyman has experience with startups as well as in the management of growth companies. Co-founders Moilanen and Jokelainen have a research background with VTT and developed the core innovations behind the technology.

The investors have decided not to disclose the size of the investment they are making in LightTherm at this time. But if the company wants to catch the LED lighting wave it should probably move as quickly as it can. It is forecast that a billion LED light bulbs will be produced in 2013 making an annual market worth about $20 billion. LED technology still faces some challenges, particularly where high light output is required from small compact light units. Many of the components and materials used in manufacture are heat sensitive and overheating can shorten the lifespan.

"LightTherm materials, device construction and manufacturing processes give flexibility in design, and will enable the manufacture of entirely new lighting applications for both consumer and industrial luminaires. We believe this will change completely the way in which LED products are manufactured in the future," said Juha Rantala, chairman of Lumichip, in a statement.


Related links and articles:

www.ventures.fi

www.lumichip.com

www.lighttherm.com

News articles:

Toshiba starts GaN-on-Si LED production

Plessey rolls the dice, preps LED wafer fab

Toshiba backs LED firm Bridgelux

TAG:Peter Clarke London Calling Northern lights Aurora Borealis VTT Ventures Lumichip LightTherm Espoo Oulu Finland LED lighting SSL

U.S. military pursuing microgrids

U.S. military pursuing microgrids

MANHASSET, N.Y. --The Pentagon wants to improve its energy security by using microgrid technologies.

The U.S. military's heavy reliance on fossil fuels, often imported from regions hostile to American security interests, is forcing the issue. Microgrids enable military bases to sustain operations, regardless of what is happening on the larger utility grid or in a war zone.

Pike Research forecasts that, in an typical war-time scenario, the total capacity of U.S. military microgrids will reach 54.8 megawatts by 2018.

Microgrids use networked generators as an integrated system to maximize energy efficiency. They also can be used to help integrate renewable energy resources at the local distribution grid level.

According to DOD, over 40 military bases either have operating microgrids or are planning and demonstrating microgrid technologies.

The U.S. military has 600 forward operating bases, and is investigating the deployment of even smaller mobile, tactical microgrids in Afghanistan and other war zones.

Pike Research examined the growth of DoD microgrids in three sectors: military bases, forward operating bases and mobile systems.

Among microgrid-enabling technologies are smart inverters, switches and meters along with electric vehicle charging technologies. Virtual power plants and cyber security technologies are also discussed in the report.

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• Solar powered soldiers
• China to lead smart grid market until 2021
• Smart grid: Slow buildout begins
• Stimulus: DoE readies $4.3 billion for smart grid

TAG:Military microgrids

Semi upswing seen for 2013

Semi upswing seen for 2013

LONDON – Strength in mobile devices and weakness in PCs will characterize the coming year and drive global semiconductor market growth of 4.9 percent in 2013 after a flat 2012, according to market forecast firm International Data Corp. (Framingham, Mass.).

This growth – to $319 billion in 2013 – will come after the market expanded by less than 1 percent in 2012 to reach $304 billion, according to the firm. In the longer term the global semiconductor market will show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 percent from 2011 to 2016 and reach $368 billion in 2016.

Weakness in PC demand with ongoing impacts on DRAM together with some inventory rationalization in the face of global macroeconomic uncertainty characterized 2012, in IDC's estimation. Smart phones and tablet computers, set-top boxes and automotive electronics were bright spots in the market and IDC expects that to be the case in 2013 and over the next few years.

IDC expects semiconductor inventories to come into balance with demand in the second quarter of 2013 with growth to resume in the second half of 2013.

IDC has broken down its semiconductor predictions by segment.

So for chips sold into the computing industry segment 2013 will show year-over-year growth of 1.7 percent, in line with a 2011 to 2016 CAGR of 1.7 percent. Semiconductor revenues from mobile PC demand will register 5.5 percent year-over-year growth in 2013, after declining 7.7 percent in 2012.

The market for chips for communications is set to expand by 6.5 percent in 2013 with a five-year CAGR of 5.5 percent. However, semiconductor revenues for 4G phones will experience annual growth of 140 percent in 2013 and a CAGR of 103.4 percent for 2011 to 2016.

Consumer growth, driven by tablets, e-readers and set-top boxes, will show 9.8 percent growth in 2013 and fiver-year CAGR of 6.0 percent.


Related links and articles:

www.idc.com

News articles:

Handset shipments set to grow just 1% in 2012

Android powers 75 percent of smartphones in Q3

Apple’s share of global tablet market slips
TAG:IDC chip market computers communications consumer

AMD names Devinder Kumar CFO

AMD names Devinder Kumar CFO

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — AMD announced it has appointed interim CFO Devinder Kumar to the full time role of senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective Jan. 2, ending a three-month search.

Kumar, 57, who has been interim CFO since September 2012 following the departure of Thomas Seifert, will report directly to AMD’s CEO Rory Read, and will be responsible for leading the company’s global finance organization.

A 28-year veteran of the chip company, Kumar previously served as corporate controller at AMD since 2001 and as senior vice president since 2006.

Read said Kumar would drive forward a new business model in the near term, while aiming to strengthen AMD’s long-term financial foundation.

Related Stories

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TAG:amd financial

Google to drop patent cases as part of FTC deal

Google to drop patent cases as part of FTC deal

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Google has agreed to drop cases in the U.S. that seek injunctions against competitors alleged to have violated standards-essential patents acquired from Motorola. The consent order was one requirement the U.S. Federal Trade Commission made as a condition of ending its 19-month investigation into anti-competitive practices at the search giant.

The deal gives Android competitors such as Apple and Microsoft an edge in on-going mobile patent wars. Less clear is its long term impact on the debate over how to handle licensing for standards-essential patents.

The consent order prohibits Google from seeking injunctions against a willing licensee of a standards-essential patent, either in U.S. federal court or at the U.S. International Trade Commission. The FTC did not immediately list which cases or patents were involved in the agreement, but it did say the cases were brought by Motorola before it was acquired by Google.

Separately, Google also agreed to stop two questionable practices related to its search advertising business. As part of its investigation, the FTC decided Google’s search engine is not inherently biased against competitors

In a blog post, Google’s chief legal officer suggested the deal provides some wiggle room. “We will seek to resolve standard-essential patent disputes through a neutral third party before seeking injunctions,” wrote David Drummond.

FTC commissioners approved the the order in a 4-to-1 vote. Proponents said the deal protects the standards process and sheds light on how to handle fair and reasonable (FRAND) licensing for standards-essential patents (SEP). One commissioner strongly disagreed.

Related stories:

Google TV turns on Android, Web apps

What Google/Moto means for Android OEMs

Next: Fueling FRAND debate
TAG:Standards Essential Patents Mobile Patent Wars Federal Trade Commission FTC Google SEPs Patents Apple Microsoft Mobile Android St

Imagination 'Rogue' GPUs to demo at CES

Imagination 'Rogue' GPUs to demo at CES

LONDON – Partners of graphics IP licensor Imagination Technologies Group plc will be demonstrating the first products using the firm's PowerVR Series 6 GPU cores at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company said. Equipment on show that uses Series 6 GPUs – codenamed Rogue – to render its graphics will include televisions, Imagination added.

Imagination's PowerVR Series 6 GPU architecture was announced in early in 2011 with a design win in the Nova A9600 application processor IC for mobile phones in development at ST-Ericsson and aimed at 28-nm CMOS manufacturing process technology. Series 6 was expected to bring about a 20-fold increase in performance over previous generation GPUs.

Imagination said it will also demonstrate the OpenGL ES3.0 and OpenCL capabilities of Series 6 GPUs, its Meta Series 3 multi-threaded processor (CPU/DSP), its Ensigma Series 4 radio processor (RPU) and PowerVR ray tracing graphics.


Related links and articles:

www.imgtec.com

News articles:

Imagination CEO given knighthood

Imagination wins MIPS bid

Top 10 business deals of 2012


TAG:Imagination Rogue GPU graphics cores IP

Five More Tough DesignCon Questions

Five More Tough DesignCon Questions

Got DesignCon questions? Last week, I put forth five questions I'd like answered at the electronics industry's go-to conference covering all aspects of chip, board, and system design. Here are five more:

[Click here to register for DesignCon 2013, Jan. 28-31 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Options range from an All-Access Pass to Free Expo Admission, which includes attendance at a dozen tech training sessions.]

When do we get to 440-Gbit/s Ethernet?

Later this year, a group of Ethernet experts will convene to start work on a next big step for this dominant network technology—a move to a 400 Gbit/s standard. To get there at all requires 28 Gbit/s serdes just now coming to market. To get there with some elegance will take signaling circuits that run faster than 40 Gbits/s, something that doesn’t exist today.

Can we get there? How and when? These are top questions to get perspective on at DesignCon. I hope to catch up with Adam Healy, a veteran SerDes expert with LSI Corp. Healy will present at a session about modulation schemes for just such products. He'll be followed by a talk from Altera on channel issues in the same beyond-25G territory.

In a related paper, IBM will talk about terahertz-class designs based on chain ganging multiple high speed serdes together for its top servers. It may not relate directly to 40G+ work, but I guarantee it will be interesting and the engineers there will have some thoughts on the topic.


TAG:Printed Circuit Boards High Speed Design 100G Ethernet Signal Integrity Power Integrity National Instruments DesignCon Serdes Etherne

Fabless companies out-performed IDMs in 2012

Fabless companies out-performed IDMs in 2012

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Fabless semiconductor companies as a group outperformed chip makers with their own fabs again in 2012, according to the latest numbers from the upcoming McClean Report 2013. In advance of the report’s release, IC Insights President Bill McClean shared data showing the historical strength of the fabless sector.

Revenues for fabless chip makers grew six percent in 2012 compared to a fall of four percent for so-called integrated device makers (IDMs), according to the forthcoming report. In April, Mark Bohr, a senior executive with Intel Corp.’s manufacturing division suggested the fabless model was collapsing because it could not keep up with Intel’s advances in areas such as FinFETs.

“In looking at the figures [below], the fabless model is certainly not collapsing through 2012 and is unlikely to as long as Samsung, GlobalFoundries, and TSMC keep up with technology,” said McClean in an email to EE Times. “In fact, fabless companies have performed better, usually much better, than IDMs every year since 1999 except 2010 when the DRAM market surged by 75 percent--The trend is pretty clear to me,” he said.

“If anything, I think the IDM model is collapsing with more and more companies going to fab-lite or fabless models,” he added. “In 2012, fabless IC company sales represented 27 percent of total IC sales, up from only 13 percent in 2002, not really indicative of a collapsing model,” he said.

Click on image to enlarge.
Related stories:
Intel exec says fabless model "collapsing"

China fabless firm looks West as mobile slumps

Is China's fabless model sustainable?
TAG:IC Insights Fabless IDM McClean Semiconductors Chips Intel TSMC Samsung GlobalFoundries

Fabless companies out-performed IDMs in 2012

Fabless companies out-performed IDMs in 2012

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Fabless semiconductor companies as a group outperformed chip makers with their own fabs again in 2012, according to the latest numbers from the upcoming McClean Report 2013. In advance of the report’s release, IC Insights President Bill McClean shared data showing the historical strength of the fabless sector.

Revenues for fabless chip makers grew six percent in 2012 compared to a fall of four percent for so-called integrated device makers (IDMs), according to the forthcoming report. In April, Mark Bohr, a senior executive with Intel Corp.’s manufacturing division suggested the fabless model was collapsing because it could not keep up with Intel’s advances in areas such as FinFETs.

“In looking at the figures [below], the fabless model is certainly not collapsing through 2012 and is unlikely to as long as Samsung, GlobalFoundries, and TSMC keep up with technology,” said McClean in an email to EE Times. “In fact, fabless companies have performed better, usually much better, than IDMs every year since 1999 except 2010 when the DRAM market surged by 75 percent--The trend is pretty clear to me,” he said.

“If anything, I think the IDM model is collapsing with more and more companies going to fab-lite or fabless models,” he added. “In 2012, fabless IC company sales represented 27 percent of total IC sales, up from only 13 percent in 2002, not really indicative of a collapsing model,” he said.

Click on image to enlarge.
Related stories:
Intel exec says fabless model "collapsing"

China fabless firm looks West as mobile slumps

Is China's fabless model sustainable?
TAG:IC Insights Fabless IDM McClean Semiconductors Chips Intel TSMC Samsung GlobalFoundries

Five More Tough DesignCon Questions

Five More Tough DesignCon Questions

Got DesignCon questions? Last week, I put forth five questions I'd like answered at the electronics industry's go-to conference covering all aspects of chip, board, and system design. Here are five more:

[Click here to register for DesignCon 2013, Jan. 28-31 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Options range from an All-Access Pass to Free Expo Admission, which includes attendance at a dozen tech training sessions.]

When do we get to 440-Gbit/s Ethernet?

Later this year, a group of Ethernet experts will convene to start work on a next big step for this dominant network technology—a move to a 400 Gbit/s standard. To get there at all requires 28 Gbit/s serdes just now coming to market. To get there with some elegance will take signaling circuits that run faster than 40 Gbits/s, something that doesn’t exist today.

Can we get there? How and when? These are top questions to get perspective on at DesignCon. I hope to catch up with Adam Healy, a veteran SerDes expert with LSI Corp. Healy will present at a session about modulation schemes for just such products. He'll be followed by a talk from Altera on channel issues in the same beyond-25G territory.

In a related paper, IBM will talk about terahertz-class designs based on chain ganging multiple high speed serdes together for its top servers. It may not relate directly to 40G+ work, but I guarantee it will be interesting and the engineers there will have some thoughts on the topic.


TAG:Printed Circuit Boards High Speed Design 100G Ethernet Signal Integrity Power Integrity National Instruments DesignCon Serdes Etherne

Imagination 'Rogue' GPUs to demo at CES

Imagination 'Rogue' GPUs to demo at CES

LONDON – Partners of graphics IP licensor Imagination Technologies Group plc will be demonstrating the first products using the firm's PowerVR Series 6 GPU cores at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company said. Equipment on show that uses Series 6 GPUs – codenamed Rogue – to render its graphics will include televisions, Imagination added.

Imagination's PowerVR Series 6 GPU architecture was announced in early in 2011 with a design win in the Nova A9600 application processor IC for mobile phones in development at ST-Ericsson and aimed at 28-nm CMOS manufacturing process technology. Series 6 was expected to bring about a 20-fold increase in performance over previous generation GPUs.

Imagination said it will also demonstrate the OpenGL ES3.0 and OpenCL capabilities of Series 6 GPUs, its Meta Series 3 multi-threaded processor (CPU/DSP), its Ensigma Series 4 radio processor (RPU) and PowerVR ray tracing graphics.


Related links and articles:

www.imgtec.com

News articles:

Imagination CEO given knighthood

Imagination wins MIPS bid

Top 10 business deals of 2012


TAG:Imagination Rogue GPU graphics cores IP

宝诗龙天鹅系列诠释浪漫优雅哲学

宝诗龙天鹅系列诠释浪漫优雅哲学

　　希腊女神阿芙罗黛蒂由海中泡沫幻化，乘着贝壳而生，象徵爱、美以及优雅，天鹅是她最钟爱的动物，总是驾驶着由天鹅拖曳的战车。BOUCHERON[微博]从希腊神话中撷取灵感，唯美打造CYPRIS天鹅系列，天鹅纯洁优美的外型成为BOUCHERON钟爱的创作灵感。

CYPRIS白天鹅戒指

　　2011年，BOUCHERON以黑白对比呈现不同美感，CYPRIS白天鹅戒指镶嵌白钻，展现优雅风华，CYPRIS黑天鹅则以黑色刚玉诠释浓郁羽毛色泽，可单独配戴，亦可黑白天鹅同时配戴，犹如双宿双飞的天鹅栖息于指间，散发浪漫气息。

CYPRIS黑天鹅戒指

　　2012圣诞佳节将至，BOUCHEORN再次以流畅的线条勾勒天鹅张扬的翅膀，推出CYPRIS黑白天鹅项链及CYPRIS白天鹅耳环，将优雅女神幻化成顶级珠宝，邀您浪漫走向2013年。

CYPRIS黑白天鹅戒指
CYPRIS白天鹅耳环
CYPRIS白天鹅项链
CYPRIS黑天鹅项链

　　CYPRIS黑白天鹅项链及白天鹅耳环，唯妙唯肖呈现天鹅优美的姿态，细腻刻画飞扬的羽翼和含情脉脉回首的修长颈项，立体线条增添灵动感觉，镶嵌闪耀白钻的白天鹅和浓郁黑色刚玉中点缀白钻的黑天鹅，截然不同的色彩表达优雅和高傲两种美感，犹如羽翼闪烁着波光粼粼，而镶嵌红宝石的双眼赋予CYPRIS天鹅系列柔和表情，似乎正在诉说对于爱情的眷恋，浪漫诠释来自神话的完美生物。

TAG:宝诗龙 BOUCHERON 天鹅系列 珠宝 宝诗龙天鹅系列诠释浪漫优雅哲学

AMD names Devinder Kumar CFO

AMD names Devinder Kumar CFO

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — AMD announced it has appointed interim CFO Devinder Kumar to the full time role of senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective Jan. 2, ending a three-month search.

Kumar, 57, who has been interim CFO since September 2012 following the departure of Thomas Seifert, will report directly to AMD’s CEO Rory Read, and will be responsible for leading the company’s global finance organization.

A 28-year veteran of the chip company, Kumar previously served as corporate controller at AMD since 2001 and as senior vice president since 2006.

Read said Kumar would drive forward a new business model in the near term, while aiming to strengthen AMD’s long-term financial foundation.

Related Stories

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News: AMD to sell Austin campus
News: AMD says it's not for sale
Discussion: AMD announces ARM server processors
News: AMD CFO Seifert steps down
TAG:amd financial

Semi upswing seen for 2013

Semi upswing seen for 2013

LONDON – Strength in mobile devices and weakness in PCs will characterize the coming year and drive global semiconductor market growth of 4.9 percent in 2013 after a flat 2012, according to market forecast firm International Data Corp. (Framingham, Mass.).

This growth – to $319 billion in 2013 – will come after the market expanded by less than 1 percent in 2012 to reach $304 billion, according to the firm. In the longer term the global semiconductor market will show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 percent from 2011 to 2016 and reach $368 billion in 2016.

Weakness in PC demand with ongoing impacts on DRAM together with some inventory rationalization in the face of global macroeconomic uncertainty characterized 2012, in IDC's estimation. Smart phones and tablet computers, set-top boxes and automotive electronics were bright spots in the market and IDC expects that to be the case in 2013 and over the next few years.

IDC expects semiconductor inventories to come into balance with demand in the second quarter of 2013 with growth to resume in the second half of 2013.

IDC has broken down its semiconductor predictions by segment.

So for chips sold into the computing industry segment 2013 will show year-over-year growth of 1.7 percent, in line with a 2011 to 2016 CAGR of 1.7 percent. Semiconductor revenues from mobile PC demand will register 5.5 percent year-over-year growth in 2013, after declining 7.7 percent in 2012.

The market for chips for communications is set to expand by 6.5 percent in 2013 with a five-year CAGR of 5.5 percent. However, semiconductor revenues for 4G phones will experience annual growth of 140 percent in 2013 and a CAGR of 103.4 percent for 2011 to 2016.

Consumer growth, driven by tablets, e-readers and set-top boxes, will show 9.8 percent growth in 2013 and fiver-year CAGR of 6.0 percent.


Related links and articles:

www.idc.com

News articles:

Handset shipments set to grow just 1% in 2012

Android powers 75 percent of smartphones in Q3

Apple’s share of global tablet market slips
TAG:IDC chip market computers communications consumer

London Calling: A northern light startup

London Calling: A northern light startup

Solid-state lighting is one of my tips for a technology-driven trend in 2013 and no sooner has the year begun than I receive the news that VTT Ventures Ltd. (Espoo, Finland) and Lumichip Oy (Espoo, Finland) have invested in a startup company called LightTherm Ltd. (Oulu, Finland). The far north has the aurora borealis and, in the winter, a great need for lighting. So it should perhaps be no surprise that a Finnish cluster of expertise is developing around the topic of lighting.

LightTherm claims to have a patent-pending proprietary LED die interconnect technology that it reckons can produce cooler semiconductor junction temperatures. The capacity of its technology to produce improved thermal efficiency and management is expected to have a beneficial impact on the lifetime of LEDs for lighting applications. The company aims to combine lower operating temperatures with new materials to produce reduced materials, simpler and automated manufacturing and lower-cost LED light bulbs.

VTT Technical Research Center is a government backed applied research institute and VTT Ventures is chartered with helping to create spin-off companies to exploit the research. Lumichip makes LED chips and packaged light engines and has operations in Finland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. LightTherm's technologies are based on development, characterization and lifetime tests carried out at VTT.

LightTherm's founding team consists of Petri Nyman, Ville Moilanen and Kimmo Jokelainen. CEO and co-founder Nyman has experience with startups as well as in the management of growth companies. Co-founders Moilanen and Jokelainen have a research background with VTT and developed the core innovations behind the technology.

The investors have decided not to disclose the size of the investment they are making in LightTherm at this time. But if the company wants to catch the LED lighting wave it should probably move as quickly as it can. It is forecast that a billion LED light bulbs will be produced in 2013 making an annual market worth about $20 billion. LED technology still faces some challenges, particularly where high light output is required from small compact light units. Many of the components and materials used in manufacture are heat sensitive and overheating can shorten the lifespan.

"LightTherm materials, device construction and manufacturing processes give flexibility in design, and will enable the manufacture of entirely new lighting applications for both consumer and industrial luminaires. We believe this will change completely the way in which LED products are manufactured in the future," said Juha Rantala, chairman of Lumichip, in a statement.


Related links and articles:

www.ventures.fi

www.lumichip.com

www.lighttherm.com

News articles:

Toshiba starts GaN-on-Si LED production

Plessey rolls the dice, preps LED wafer fab

Toshiba backs LED firm Bridgelux

TAG:Peter Clarke London Calling Northern lights Aurora Borealis VTT Ventures Lumichip LightTherm Espoo Oulu Finland LED lighting SSL

Chip market to turn up in 2013

Chip market to turn up in 2013

LONDON – Strength in mobile devices and weakness in PCs will characterize the coming year and drive global semiconductor market growth of 4.9 percent in 2013 after a flat 2012, according to market forecast firm International Data Corp. (Framingham, Mass.).

This growth – to $319 billion in 2013 – will come after the market expanded by less than 1 percent in 2012 to reach $304 billion, according to the firm. In the longer term the global semiconductor market will show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 percent from 2011 to 2016 and reach $368 billion in 2016.

Weakness in PC demand with ongoing impacts on DRAM together with some inventory rationalization in the face of global macroeconomic uncertainty characterized 2012, in IDC's estimation. Smart phones and tablet computers, set-top boxes and automotive electronics were bright spots in the market and IDC expects that to be the case in 2013 and over the next few years.

IDC expects semiconductor inventories to come into balance with demand in the second quarter of 2013 with growth to resume in the second half of 2013.

IDC has broken down its semiconductor predictions by segment.

So for chips sold into the computing industry segment 2013 will show year-over-year growth of 1.7 percent, in line with a 2011 to 2016 CAGR of 1.7 percent. Semiconductor revenues from mobile PC demand will register 5.5 percent year-over-year growth in 2013, after declining 7.7 percent in 2012.

The market for chips for communications is set to expand by 6.5 percent in 2013 with a five-year CAGR of 5.5 percent. However, semiconductor revenues for 4G phones will experience annual growth of 140 percent in 2013 and a CAGR of 103.4 percent for 2011 to 2016.

Consumer growth, driven by tablets, e-readers and set-top boxes, will show 9.8 percent growth in 2013 and fiver-year CAGR of 6.0 percent.


Related links and articles:

www.idc.com

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TAG:IDC chip market computers communications consumer

IPad 3 called 'unbalanced' as Apple, TSMC rumors fly

IPad 3 called 'unbalanced' as Apple, TSMC rumors fly

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Apple iPad 3 is an unbalanced design with an underpowered graphics processor for its high-end display, according to an analysis released Wednesday (Jan. 2) by technology watcher David Kanter. Apple’s quick move to the iPad 4 with a graphics chip bolstered in part by Samsung’s new 32-nm process technology showed that Apple recognized the fault, he said.

The analysis emerges as reports circulate again that Apple is preparing to shift at least some of the manufacturing of its A series processors from Samsung to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSMC will start trial production this quarter of the A6X processor used in the iPad 4, according to several reports citing Taiwan newspapers.

Rumors have circulated since March 2011 that Apple will switch from Samsung to TSMC for foundry work. Apple and Samsung are locked in legal battles around the world over patent infringement including one resolved last year in a San Jose trial.

As foundries, Samsung and TSMC both could offer Apple the latest 28 nm processes to bolster performance and lower power for the A series chips. One analyst speculated that Apple may have a long term supply contract for foundry services at Samsung, explaining its slow shift away from its smartphone and tablet competitor. Through much of 2012, TSMC had limited availability of its 28-nm process.

Access to the latest process technology is key for Apple, said Kanter, principal of Real World Technologies. “The high cost and power consumption of the A5X was undoubtedly one of the reasons why Apple opted to discontinue the iPad 3 a mere seven months" after it was launched, he said.

Apple moved quickly to adopt the so-called Retina display from Samsung in the iPad 3 released in March. However, the graphics processor in the A5X chip Apple used--made in a 45-nm Samsung process using “conventional SiON gate dielectrics”--could not adequately feed the new 2048×1536 display, Kanter said.



Next: Superior graphics
TAG:David Kanter IPad 3 A Series IPad Apple Tablets Samsung TSMC Foundry A5X A6X Processors

NASA to launch comms 'nanosats'

NASA to launch comms 'nanosats'

MANHASSET, N.Y. -- An Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket will launch three PhoneSat spacecraft into low Earth orbit in 2013 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va. The 4-inch "nanosatellites" weigh three pounds each and are dubbed Alexander, Graham, and Bell.

Two PhoneSat 1.0 spacecraft use of Nexus One smartphone technology from HTC Corp. and Google's Android operating system. The third spacecraft is a beta version of PhoneSat 2.0 built around an updated Samsung Nexus S smartphone running Android OS.

PhoneSat 2.0 includes solar panels to enable long-duration missions and a GPS receiver. It also has magnetorquer coils, electromagnets that interact with Earth's magnetic field, along with reaction wheels used to control satellite orientation in space.

The three satellites will be "inserted into a spring-loaded dispenser attached to the launch vehicle. They're stacked in there like a toaster," said Jim Cockrell, NASA's PhoneSat 1.0 project manager.

The project is designed to make use of commercial electronics technologies as a way to reduce cost. PhoneSat 2.0 uses "Triangular Advanced Solar Cells from Spectrolab (Sylmar, Calif) left over from the manufacturing process for larger solar cells. They cost $250 for a quantity of 100, have a 27 percent conversion efficiency and are small enough to cover the PhoneSat's surface area.

"The PhoneSat project is kind of a technology demonstration effort," said Jasper Wolfe of NASA's Ames Research Center. During the PhoneSat mission, amateur radio operators will be able to download and upload data packets. "One of the other benefits from PhoneSat is inspirational, demonstrating cool, cheap technologies that can inspire a lot of people to get involved in space," Wolfe said. "We want to keep up with all the technologies that are coming out and continually find new applications for technologies from other industries, particularly low-cost industries."


NASA's low-cost PhoneSat (Source: NASA)

TAG:NASA Comms Satellites

Texas firm buys Chinese chip maker

Texas firm buys Chinese chip maker

LONDON – Diodes Inc. (Plano, Texas), a manufacturer of discrete, analog and application-specific semiconductors, is set to buy BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. (Shanghai, China) in an all-cash deal valued at $151 million.

BCD was founded in 2000 and manufactures analog and mixed-signal ICs that is supplies to OEMs in China and elsewhere. BCD postponed an initial public offering of shares in 2008 and eventually conducted an IPO on Nasdaq in 2011.

"This proposed acquisition underscores Diodes' strategy to expand our market and growth opportunities through select strategic acquisitions," said Keh-Shew Lu, CEO of Diodes, in a statement.

He added that it would enhance Diodes' analog product portfolio by expanding our standard linear and power management offerings, including AC/DC and DC/DC solutions for power adapters and chargers. He added that it would increase Diodes' penetration in Asia and particularly in China and would also help sales of BCD products around the world.

The boards of both companies have approved the transaction, which is still subject to approval by BCD's shareholders, as well as other customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2013 or early in the second quarter.


Related links and articles:

www.diodes.com

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BCD Semi to buy power management IC firm

BCD aims IPO to raise $86 million



TAG:Diodes BCD Plano Shanghai China Texas semiconductor analog mixed signal discrete

EET login reg test story

EET login reg test story

This is a test to see if the EET reg required check-box CMS feature of last sprint works.
TAG:registration

Imagination CEO given knighthood

Imagination CEO given knighthood

LONDON – Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination Technologies Group plc, has been knighted for services to technology and innovation in the New Year Honors for 2013.

Imagination (Kings Langley, England) was founded as VideoLogic Ltd. and Yassaie joined as CTO in 1992 before becoming CEO and taking the company public as Imagination.

"I am absolutely delighted and deeply humbled to receive such prestigious recognition. This distinguished honor means a great deal to me both personally and professionally. I have always wanted to make a real difference by what I do and I see this honor not only as a major recognition for past effort but as a real encouragement for the future.

"I strongly believe success in life also depends on support and commitment from family, friends, work colleagues and business partners. I have been very fortunate in this respect and see this honor as much theirs as mine."

Yassaie was born in Iran and came to the U.K to study at Birmingham University before working for Inmos Ltd. and STMicroelectronics. Yassaie has driven an intellectual property licensing strategy at Imagination based on graphics processing. Although it took time to gain traction the company benefitted from the need for power-efficient graphics in mobile phones and tablet computers. Imagination includes Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. amongst its customers and investors.

Imagination is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has a market capitalization of over $1.5 billion, employs more than 1,300 people worldwide, and develops and licenses key technologies used in over one billion products, from the most advanced smart phones to tablets, televisions and digital radios.



Sir Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination

A British national, Hossein gained a BSc degree (1979) and PhD degree (1982) from Birmingham University in Electronics and Communication Engineering as well as serving as a Research Fellow.


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TAG:Sir Hossein Yassaie Imagination CEO semiconductor IP

密钉镶钻戒指成流行新趋势

密钉镶钻戒指成流行新趋势

　　在西方及中国媒体的时尚报道中，你可以见到一些密钉镶小钻款式或主石为彩色宝石的订婚戒指已成为流行趋势。密钉镶小钻款式的风格正大行其道的流行起来。来自卡地亚(Cartier)[微博]及海瑞温斯顿(Harry Winston)[微博]的专家称这一以简单且夺目的“光环”围绕中心宝石的设计趋势正在上升。

Cartier d’Amour 系列订婚钻戒
Bulgari Corona系列钻戒
Harry Winston钻戒

　　娜塔丽-波特曼(Natalie Portman)的订婚戒就带有这种风格的特点，只是她的钻石是由两圈密钉镶小钻围绕而成，甚至连戒圈都是密钉镶小钻。在OnlyLady排列的前十名最受欢迎的订婚戒中，毛阿敏以她对“光环”趋势的独特钟爱名列其中。布兰妮的订婚戒也采用密钉镶款式。卡地亚设计了一款由密钉镶环绕的单钻戒指，并贴切地称之为“d’Amour”。

蒂芙尼艳彩绿蓝色钻石戒指

　　威廉王子用戴安娜王妃的镶有18克拉蓝宝石钻戒向凯特求婚之后，带动了有色宝石及彩钻的流行趋势。维多利亚-贝克汉姆和关之琳这样的名人也对黄色钻石表示心动，而哈利-贝瑞则偏爱祖母绿。

　　无色钻石已没有像过去十年内那么风靡一时，名人及其他人士正逐渐尝试各种更为大胆的款式。总体上来说，订婚戒指越个性化，回头率越高，越容易成为头条新闻。

　　部分文字/图片：GIA美国宝石研究院的新浪博客

TAG:密镶钻戒 海瑞温斯顿 卡地亚 钻石 密钉镶钻戒指成流行新趋势

皇室血统Asscher切工钻石

皇室血统Asscher切工钻石

　　一些钻石的切磨款式永远不会过时，特别是当它们宣称拥有皇室“血统”并经过了重新的设计及改良。广受欢迎的Asscher切工便是这样的一个例子。

Asscher切工

　　Asscher切工最早由Joseph Asscher于1902年发明，流行于装饰艺术时期和第一次世界大战之后 。虽然该切工与祖母绿式切工很相似，但是Asscher切工的58个刻面更大，更宽(上面三排，下面三排)，几乎成八角形。Joseph Asscher发现能更佳运用钻石原石的机会 ，与其他切工方式相比，Asscher切工能从原石保留更多的重量。由于宝石的形状及刻面的切磨方法，使得Asscher切工宝割具有一种经典的外形，相较于相似的祖母绿式具有更均衡的亮光，同时仍能展现出比现代明亮式切工更为怡静的美感。

一种皇室和改良的切工

　　虽然最初的Asscher切工大部分见于二十世纪初装饰艺术风格的珠宝中，但是两颗非常重要的(且闻名世界的)宝石也拥有Asscher的名字。由Joseph Asscher和Abraham Asscher从同一颗重达3,105克拉的钻石原石上切割而来的Cullinan I钻石和Cullinan II钻石是世界最著名的两颗宝石。梨形的Cullinan I，重530.20克拉，在英国皇冠珠宝中被高高置于王室权杖之上。垫形的Cullinan II(317.4克拉)被镶嵌于英国帝国皇冠之上。

　　在过去十年中，西方和中国婚庆媒体对Asscher切工钻石的报导逐年增加，这也许该归功于Edward Asscher对钻石的重新设计。在参加1999年GIA国际宝石学专题研讨会(GIA International Gemological Symposium)后，Edward Asscher(原创者Joseph Asscher的孙子)意识到Asscher切工仍受欢迎，他带着一个新的想法回到了荷兰，这个想法就是制作出一颗新的、比以前更璀璨、更具活力的Asscher切工钻石。皇家Asscher切工钻石宣称比原始Asscher切工的58个刻面多了16个刻面，使钻石可以更好地捕捉光线。Edward Asscher在宝石的底部增加了两个排面，每排各八个刻面，而使每排变窄，在令钻石的外观更具活力的同时，保留了其祖父原始切工的经典。角度和比例的正确把握对Asscher切工及皇室Asscher切工的美感和璀璨度极为重要的。

　　现今，原始Asscher切工及皇室Asscher切工钻石不管在古董珠宝还是新式珠宝上都很受欢迎。Asscher切工在切磨、比例及角度方面常常有细微的变化，这是由于钻石切磨师为了体现其最佳切磨细节。不过，皇室Asscher切工拥有国际专利，也就是说仅有小范围的切磨角度被Royal Asscher Company(皇室Asscher公司)运用于其钻石切磨上。值得注意的是，Royal Asscher Company(皇室Asscher公司)是唯一允许切割皇室Asscher切工宝石的公司。

　　文字/图片来源：GIA美国宝石研究院的新浪博客

TAG:皇室血统 Asscher切工 钻石 皇室血统Asscher切工钻石

男士珠宝趋势新展望

男士珠宝趋势新展望

　　当今所有关于都市型男的文化言论--衣冠整洁跟随潮流、见多识广--这也带动了男士珠宝的兴起。多年来，虽然很多国家各有不同，但男士珠宝进一步迈向时尚舞台的中心。珠宝设计专家认为男士珠宝并不是一时的潮流。实际上，设计师和零售商目前在男士珠宝上投入的时间、关注力以及产品种类都比以往多。

新颖设计戒指 图片来自：PGI国际铂金协会

　　“现代的男士们相互展现他们不断提升的时尚品味。相较于他们的父辈，这些人无疑感觉佩戴非结婚戒指、项链及手链等珠宝，是一件很自然的事。” GIA的珠宝设计讲师也提到，现在GIA拥有来自全球各地学习珠宝设计及制作的学员。

黑钻戒指 图片来自：PGI国际铂金协会

　　据GIA图书馆的历史专家介绍，男士珠宝的出现并不是近几年才产生的现象。早期的君王与贵族便穿戴配有奢华珠宝的用品 – 缀满钻石、珍珠及金纽扣的服饰；时尚的珍珠别针；装饰性的定时器；华丽的钻石项链，以及镶有宝石的套剑。

　　今天的男士同样有着向世人展示他们身份的渴望，他们可以轻松且自信地穿戴一条手链、项链或者一枚戒指来搭配一只手表。目前更多不同形式的男士珠宝已经被社会所认同。但是，什么样的珠宝才是当代男士所追求的？什么样的珠宝可以吸引他们的目光？他们又觉得佩戴什么样的珠宝会吸引女士的注意呢？

图片来自：PGI国际铂金协会

　　GIA设计专家表示现在的款式正是旧与新的融合。设计师利用中性的时尚趋势，将具有明显男性特征的饰品配上几分清新的阴柔之美。柔美光彩的大溪地珍珠 - 女性饰品的传统材料 ，被配以皮革，以赋与其男性的阳刚之气。白金与橡胶的组合也不断出现于男士的手链及项链中。

袖扣 图片来自：PGI国际铂金协会

　　袖扣比以往更受欢迎，黄金、银或铂金袖扣的经典设计一直受到保守实业家的青睐。结合运用钻石、黑玛瑙、孔雀石、石榴石、红宝石或者蓝宝石，是追求饰品与服饰搭配，讲究品味男士的新宠。如今，不必是男性职业运动员或者摇滚明星才能佩戴耳环。手工设计师品牌的银或铂金饰品可以表现出一种高尚的当代阳刚之气。一枚钻石耳钉则是都市夜生活的最佳选择。

　　常被用于手表而引人瞩目的不锈钢材质，已经融入了男士精品珠宝的行列。它拥有铂金般的光泽表面及坚固性，而价格却更容易被接受。不锈钢及其他金属，如银和钛，在戒指中越来越受欢迎。链式项链具有粗犷、男子气慨的外表。钢项坠也可与皮绳结合，设计出新颖的手链或项链。一些设计师甚至将钻石镶入不锈钢饰品中。

　　图片/文字来源：GIA美国宝石研究院的新浪博客

TAG:男士 珠宝 指环 袖扣 男士珠宝趋势新展望