Monday, October 31, 2011

Emerson Network Power announces NPT42-M compact, triple-output 45W power supply with medical and IT equipment safety approvals

HONG KONG: Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson and the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity, announced the NPT42-M triple-output open-frame ac-dc power supply.

The NPT42-M can deliver up to 45 watts with convection cooling and up to 55 watts with forced air cooling. It can accommodate operating temperatures from minus 20 to 50 degrees Celsius at full power and as high as 80 degrees Celsius with de-rating.

Carrying a comprehensive set of worldwide IT equipment (ITE) and non-patient contact and non-patient critical medical safety approvals, the NPT42-M is suitable for a wide range of light industrial, instrumentation and process systems, as well as low power dental and laboratory equipment. Featuring an industry standard 2 x 4 inch (51 x 102 mm) footprint, the power supply has a height of just 1 inch (25 mm), making it ideal for 1U high portable and rack-mounting equipment.

Emerson Network Power’s NPT42-M has a wide-range universal input capable of accommodating any ac voltage in the range 90 to 264 Vac, at any frequency from 47 to 440 Hz. It can also operate from any dc input in the range 127 to 300 Vdc, enabling it to be used virtually anywhere in the world. The NPT42-M power supply requires less than 74 W of input power, and inrush current is less than 50 A peak at 230 Vac input.

The power supply provides a triple output of +5 V, +12 V and -12 V. The main +5V output can deliver 5 A continuously with standard convection cooling, and up to 8 A with forced air cooling. The auxiliary +12 V and -12 V outputs can supply 2.5 A and 0.5 A, respectively, increasing to 3 A and 0.7 A with forced air cooling. All three outputs are tightly regulated; the 5 V output is maintained to within plus or minus 2 percent for all normal line and load conditions, and has a maximum ripple of 50 mV peak-to-peak. Both 12 V outputs are regulated to within plus or minus 5 percent.

Emerson Network Power’s NPT42-M power supply fully complies with the international EN 61000-3-2 standard for harmonic emissions. It features built-in EMI filters (CISPR 22 Class B) and meet rigorous international EMC standards, including FCC Class B, EN 55022 class B and VDE 0878PT3 Class B for conducted noise. Key safety design aspects include fuses in both the line and neutral connections, and a safety ground leakage current which does not exceed 275 µA. Safety approvals include TUV/UL/CSA 60950 and 60601-1, CB certificate, CE mark (LVD) and CQC mark.

All three outputs on Emerson Network Power’s NPT42-M power supply are fully protected against short-circuit conditions. The main +5V output is also protected against overvoltage conditions, and primary-side total power monitoring protects the overall power supply against overload. The power supply delivers a very high demonstrated mean time between failures (MTBF) of 550,000 hours at full load and under 25 degrees Celsius ambient operating conditions.

An optional LPX50 enclosure kit is available for applications that require the power supply to have maximum component protection. Emerson Network Power’s NPT42-M triple-output power supply is very competitively priced at $26 per unit in production quantities and is available now.

GIGABYTE’s new Glass Fabric PCB technology helps your PC win war against humidity

MUMBAI, INDIA: Many parts of India experience moisture in the air as ‘humidity’ almost through the year. There is nothing more harmful to the longevity of your PC than moisture. To give the ultimate protection to your PC from humidity, GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, has recently launched in India, a motherboard series with its new, innovative Glass Fabric PCB technology that repels moisture caused by humid and damp conditions.

The Glass Fabric PCB technology uses a new PCB material which reduces the amount of space between the fiber weave, making it much more difficult for moisture to penetrate, compared to traditional motherboard PCBs. This ensures a much better protection from short circuits and system malfunctions, caused by humidity. This unique kind of PCB process actually helps protect the motherboard from moisture at the PCB level, with improvements to how the actual PCB structure is manufactured.

The problem with traditional PCB manufacturing is a process known as Conductive Anodic Filament (CAF). This basically describes a situation where the copper conductive filament forms a laminate dielectric between the adjacent conductors. This can be a major source of electrical failure and is believed to be caused primarily by humidity or moisture, which results in a hydrolytic reaction with the copper within the motherboard with the passage of time. Moisture is believed to enter the PCB via the holes in the board where IC components are attached.

GIGABYTE’s Glass Fabric PCB technology that allows for a finer glass fiber weave, makes it much more difficult for moisture to penetrate, even when holes are made to mount components.

FCI to feature high-speed I/O connections

SuperComputing 2011, SINGAPORE: FCI, a leading supplier of connectors and interconnect systems, will showcase products for high-performance computing (HPC) and data center applications during the upcoming SuperComputing 2011 (SC’11) exhibition to be held from November 14 to 17 in Seattle.

FCI’s Electronics Division will be highlighting its High-Speed I/O Connections offerings – which include copper cable assemblies, active optical cables, transceivers, connectors and cages - to accomplish high-speed Infiniband, 10/40/100G Ethernet, Fibre Channel or SAS cable links. A complementary range of high-speed backplane, coplanar, orthogonal midplane, mezzanine and I/O connectors which enable complete, end-to-end link solutions will also be featured.

The featured High-Speed I/O Connections products will include:

* QSFP+ (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable) connector, cages, copper cable assemblies and active optical cables (AOCs) designed for 4-lane cable interconnect applications demanding 40 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth, such as 40 Gigabit Ethernet or Infiniband QDR.

* CXP copper cable assemblies and active optical cables designed for 100 Gigabit Ethernet (10x10Gb/s) or Infiniband QDR 12x links as well as CXP-to-QSFP splitter AOCs.

* Mini-SAS HD internal and external connectors, cages and copper cable assemblies to enable 4x to 16x connections among servers and storage arrays at up to 12 Gb/s per channel.

* External Mini-SAS connector, cages and copper cable assemblies to enable 4x connections at 3-6 Gb/s per channel among servers and external storage enclosures.

* SFP+ connector, cages and copper cable assemblies to support server and storage networking applications requiring a single 8 – 10 Gb/s lane for Fibre Channel, Ethernet or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE).

* SFP+, XFP and SCFF (Small Cubic Form Factor) optical transceiver modules for 10 Gb/s Ethernet and Fibre Channel applications.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

USHIO Group's EUV light source achieves output of 30W at intermediate focus

2011 International Symposia on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography and Lithography Extensions, TOKYO, JAPAN: USHIO Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, XTREME technologies GmbH, has achieved the output of 30W at an intermediate focus under a duty cycle of 100 percent, which is indispensable for the high-volume manufacturing in EUV lithography.

The company reported this achievement during a presentation in an international conference for EUV lithography — the 2011 International Symposia on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography and Lithography Extensions — held in Miami, Florida (USA), on October 17–21, 2011.

An EUV light source with an extremely short wavelength of 13.5 nm is said to be the last light source for the semiconductor lithography process; it is necessary for the manufacturing of semiconductor devices on and after the 22-nm generation. USHIO has been developing EUV light sources of the Laser-assisted Discharge Plasma (LDP) method, which generates an EUV from a discharged plasma, since the 1990s. USHIO acquired full ownership of XTREME technologies in 2008, and purchased the assets of Phillips Extreme UV in 2010, to aggressively promote the research and development of EUV light sources.

XTREME technologies had already achieved an output of 15 W at an intermediate focus point under a duty cycle of 100% in February 2011. The stable output of 30W was achieved by solving the problems caused by increasing the output, such as debris and thermal processing. The company already has the solutions for these problems to enable a further increase in the output. Therefore, we will continue to develop the light source with higher output.

"We have already confirmed an output equivalent to 100 W at an intermediate focus with a prototype light source. We have reached the stage of achieving an output of 30 W at an intermediate focus with continuous emission," said Masaki Yoshioka, executive VP and CTO of XTREME technologies. "We have steadily progressed in the development of the EUV source to achieve further, higher outputs of 100W and 250W while solving critical engineering problems one by one."

USHIO is accelerating development of the LDP EUV source for high-volume production in EUV lithography through XTREME technologies.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Wavien to demo proprietary recycling LED technology

VALENCIA, USA: Wavien Inc. will be demonstrating its proprietary Recycling LED Technology (RLT) at the LDI tradeshow at the Orange Convention Center in, Orlando, Florida, October 28th-30th. Wavien's RLT system is a simple, cost-effective way to dramatically increase the "brightness efficiency" of most LED packages.

At the LDI 2011 show, two Wavien licensees, Taiwan Color Optics and TaYih Industrial, will be launching the sale for two new exciting RLT-based products. Available now is an impressive LED track lighting package that puts high-performance LED chips together with the brightness benefit of RLT. This turn-key design is ready for customization to distributor's specifications.

TaYih Industrial will also be taking orders for its new "Night Navigator" RLT tactical flashlight that clearly outperforms the competitors significantly in brightness thanks to Wavien's RLT technology.

"RLT is Wavien's Recycling Light Technology, a compact, low-cost, passive component
technology that increases over 2 times the useable light output of conventional LEDs by collecting high angle-led generated light, that would be wasted in conventional illumination systems, and redirecting it into a more compact, useful, and brighter beam. The usable LED light output is significantly boosted by the RLT reflector with no additional LED input power required and no decrease in LED lifetime," stated Dr. Kenneth Li, president and CEO of Wavien, also the inventor of the RLT technology.

Wavien, based in Valencia, California, is a technology licensing company developing long-life, advanced high-performance light source solutions for the next generation of projection and consumer lighting industries. Wavien currently offers its unique "Dual Paraboloid Reflector" (DPR) technology using ultra-high-pressure arc lamps for education and business uses, and xenon lamps for cinema projectors. Wavien continues to advance the LED illumination market with its recycling (RLT) technology.

These Wavien-based technologies clearly provide a direct path to the adoption of significant brightness efficiency approaches for a wide variety of lighting applications.

Diodes Inc.'s load switch raises HDMI port protection

PLANO, USA: Diodes Inc. announced the AP2331 single channel current-limited load switch. The AP2331 has been optimized for HDMI and monitor port protection duties, 3V–5V hot swap interconnects and other applications subject to heavy capacitive loads and the prospect of short-circuit.

Designed for a wide range of consumer electronics products, including set-top boxes, laptops and LCD TVs, this 0.2A rated, SOT23 packaged load switch helps improve system robustness with its fast and accurate over-current, over-voltage, reverse-current, thermal and short-circuit protection features as well as controlled turn-on time and under-voltage lockout functionality.

By including a built-in soft-start capability, delivering a 0.7ms typical turn-on time, the AP2331 increases system reliability by reducing inrush currents to a safe level, while its output discharge function ensures a controlled discharge of the output voltage stored on the output capacitor when disabled.

The load switch’s very tight 0.4A current-limiting tolerance means power rail current requirements can be reduced along with overall system cost. Device on-resistance is also low at 250mΩ, helping to minimize circuit voltage drop. System robustness is further enhanced by the AP2331’s reverse-current blocking capability, which avoids any current leakage from output to input, and ESD protection performance rated at 3KV in HBM and 300V in MM tests.

AVX’S AEC-Q200 qualified 0402 CAN BUS varistor delivers lowest specified leakage current

GREENVILLE, USA: AVX Corp., a leading manufacturer of advanced passive components and interconnect solutions, has expanded its automotive CAN BUS varistor product offering to include a miniature 0402 device that provides sub-1nS response to ESD strikes. The AEC-Q200 qualified CAN0005 varistor delivers the lowest specified leakage current available on the market. The bi-directional CAN0005 varistor also provides excellent current and energy handling capabilities as well as EMI/RFI attenuation.

“AVX offers one of the broadest AEC Q200-qualified product offerings of any automotive supplier. The introduction of the CAN0005 varistor provides our customers excellent ESD protection and the lowest specified leakage current in an AEC-Q200 Qualified 0402 varistor on the market today,” said Jeremiah Woods, global marketing manager for circuit protection.

The CAN0005 varistor provides an ESD rating of 25kV. The low profile 0402 varistor features a fast response time to ESD and can withstand successive 1k strikes at 8kV (IEC 61000–4-2).

Typical pricing ranges from $0.03-$0.09 depending on volume and package. AVX’s Production part approval process (PPAP) is available upon request.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

3M's connector families for embedded computer design in stock at Newark/element14

CHICAGO, USA: Newark/element14, a leading multi-channel, high-service electronics distributor in the Americas, and a business of Premier Farnell, has added new 3M high speed connector families to meet PICMG and PC104 consortium standards for embedded computing designs and to enhance its already wide 3M offering.

The specific product lines being introduced are:
* MicroTCA AMC connector, per mTCA specification.
* MicroTCA Power connectors, per mTCA specification.
* ATCA Power connectors, per PICMG 3.0 specification.
* CompactPCI Power connectors, per PICMG 2.11 specification.
* PC104 connectors, per the PC/104 specification.

These solutions are designed to complement the high-performance Ultra Hard Metric (UHM) Connector by 3M that is designated by PICMG in the 2.30 standard to support high-speed serial protocols (SAS/SATA, PCIExpress, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0) over legacy 3U and 6U CompactPCI systems and High-Speed Hard Metric (HSHM) connectors, along with the recently announced 3M™ UHM Cable Assembly, with up to 12 Gbps.

SlimPort accessories available from Beijing Creativity

SmartPhone Japan, TOKYO, JAPAN & SANTA CLARA, USA: Analogix Semiconductor announced that its SlimPort technology, which delivers uncompressed audio and video from a mobile device’s USB connector to HD and legacy displays, is available for compatibility testing and design integration using cables and adapters from Beijing Creativity.

On display this week at SmartPhone Japan, Beijing Creativity SlimPort products are available to smartphone and tablet manufacturers as well as to consumers in China beginning November 1.

“The SlimPort products from Analogix bring powerful media sharing capabilities to smartphones and tablets, allowing big screen, group viewing of all phone content from videos and photos to business media like PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets,” said Weixin Ni, GM of Beijing Creativity. “Creativity has seen a great interest from devices manufacturers to integrate SlimPort products into their devices, and now we have the cables and adapters to support the proliferation of complete SlimPort solutions to consumers.”

Smartphone and tablet manufacturers can order SlimPort cables and adapters at Beijing Creativity's website that have been verified for quality, performance and compatibility through Analogix’ SlimPort Accessories Adopters Program (SAAP).

Molex unveils MediSpec medical plastic circular (MPC) system

MD&M Minneapolis 2011, LISLE, USA: Molex Inc. introduced the MediSpec Medical Plastic Circular (MPC) Connector and Cable System featuring the world-class LFH (low force helix) contact design for a high-performance and affordable alternative to typical medical circular connectors.

The MediSpec MPC system, which will be showcased at MD&M Minneapolis, MN, Nov. 2–3, booth 445, provides OEMs, cable assembly manufacturers, contract manufacturers and research/development professionals with a cost-effective, commercial-off-the-shelf product designed for the medical market. Its reliable electrical interface is ideal for applications requiring multiple insertions and its unique contact design keeps forces low for ease of use. The MediSpec MPC system is also designed to be easily handled, even with surgical gloves.

“In today’s healthcare environment, medical equipment manufacturers are being driven to reduce costs while continuing to develop superior products that respond to increasingly complex medical device needs,” said Anthony Kalaijakis, strategic medical market manager, Molex. “The MPC system provides them with a competitively priced option that does not sacrifice the high quality electrical performance needed in a full range of medical equipment applications including portable and digital devices such as catheters, defibrillators and monitors.”

The MPC system offers three standard diameters: small (up to 12 contacts); medium (up to 27 contacts) and large (up to 50 contacts), as well as three keying positions, to address a full range of medical equipment applications. Its medical-grade plastic housing provides a lightweight option that can withstand the required sterilization processes found in the medical industry and color-coded bezels allow for simple mating in multi-port applications, preventing mismatching.

The MPC system also features a modular insert design, making it ideal for next-generation medical applications that utilize fiber optics, radio frequency, power, fluidic and air couplings.

MediSpec MPC connectors are built to AAMI-53 specifications and are compatible with the Molex cable assembly portfolio and other connectivity solutions for medical device manufacturers. They are ideal for a range of medical electronic systems including patient monitors, diagnostic equipment and therapeutic devices.

Microsemi unveils revolutionary driver for LED street light fixtures

ALISO VIEJO, USA: Microsemi Corp. has unveiled a new LED driver designed specifically for North American street light installations. The efficient LXMG221D-0700040-D2F LED driver eliminates bulky step-down transformers typically used in street light fixtures in these markets, providing a single-step conversion from 347VAC or 480VAC down to less than 57VDC as typically required by LED fixtures.

This allows manufacturers to design lighter fixtures, which can lower product development and transportation costs. Unique features include integrated fault detection and management functionality which enable operators to respond more quickly to light fixture failures.

According to estimates from industry analyst firm Strategies Unlimited, the LED street and area lighting market in 2010 was $327 million. The market is expected to increase at a compound annual unit growth rate of approximately 26 percent from 2010 to 2015. North America, Europe and China lead in the deployment of LED lighting technology.

"The deployment of high-performance solid state lighting fixtures is accelerating and customers are beginning to benefit from the improved efficiency and longer lifetimes these products deliver," stated Roger Holliday, VP of Marketing for Microsemi's Analog Mixed Signal Group. "Microsemi's leadership in power conversion and light management, combined with our analog mixed-signal design expertise and unique supply chain setup, is why fixture manufacturers globally are choosing us as their lighting solutions technology partner."

"Street lights often represent one of the highest operating expenses for municipalities because of electricity, maintenance and replacement costs," said Irene Signorino, director of Marketing for Microsemi's Analog Mixed Signal Group. "LEDs help solve this issue by minimizing energy consumption and reducing replacement frequency. If dimming and thermal protection are supported in conjunction with the elimination of the step-down transformer losses as in our new driver, operating costs can be decreased even further."

NXP, Leedarson and GreenWave illuminate home with advanced smart lighting solution

SINGAPORE: NXP Semiconductors, GreenWave Reality and Leedarson Lighting will be demonstrating a smart lighting solution with a wide-range of intelligent CFL, LED lamps and fixtures at the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair.

NXP’s GreenChip smart lighting technology using IP-based JenNet-IP (6LowPAN based) networking software is at the heart of this solution that transforms light bulbs into intelligent, controllable devices making them part of the global Internet of Things. NXP has established itself as a leading intelligent lighting technology provider by offering a scalable and secure, industry-standard solution leveraging a comprehensive partner ecosystem.

NXP is working with GreenWave Reality, a global innovator in smart home services, who has developed a breakthrough connected lighting platform that enables consumers to control their lighting within the home via remote control, smartphone applications or in-home sensors that detect changes in motion or lighting conditions, all without requiring any rewiring of the home. The result is that consumers can have complete control over their lighting with the ability to remotely turn lights on and off, and dim them, empowering them to reduce energy costs and improve their lifestyle.

Leedarson Lighting, a leading manufacturer of energy-saving lighting products and shipping more than 23 million top quality CFL, LED lamps and fixtures each month, utilizes GreenChip and GreenWave Reality technology in its currently available products: A19, BR20, MR16, downlight, LED tubes and panels. Leedarson Lighting is committed to further development of its smart lighting products through continued research and production of remote controllable lights for most of its product lines.

During the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair, held October 27-30, 2011, NXP, GreenWave Reality and Leedarson Lighting (Booth 1C-C16) will showcase the intelligent lighting solution running approximately 50 smart, connected bulbs. The booth will also feature a Smart Lighting showcase that will include a Smart Home, Smart Hotel, Smart Shop and Smart Office. Additionally, the smart lighting solution will be on display at the NXP booth (5B-C17) in the Hong Kong Convention Centre.

Leedarson’s smart lighting enabled products will be available in early first quarter 2012.

element14 partners LCD specialist Kentec to expand its segment-technology expertise across Asia Pacific

SINGAPORE: element14 (formerly Farnell) has announced its partnership with leading LCD specialist, Kentec, and the expansion of its inventory to include a comprehensive selection of LCD components that caters to a multitude of applications. Customers can enjoy 24/7 customer service and 24/5 technical assistance via element14 to address any components-related issues and obtain the necessary knowledge to help them fully utilise the solutions.

According to market research firm, iSuppli, the need for small-and-medium size displays has increased by a significant margin in recent months due to the increasing requirements from mobile phone and tablet manufacturers to keep up with consumer demand. This is expected to drive and sustain the strong growth for panel display demand in the next quarters.

"We constantly innovate in the design, development and manufacture of LCD display modules," says Steve Leung, director of Kentec Displays. "element14 provides engineers with extensive online resources as well as customer service for customers to readily access and design with our leading range of display products."

"With the rapid evolution in mobile platform technologies, engineers are constantly challenged to find advanced and reliable LCD solutions and integrate them seamlessly into increasingly sophisticated end product designs," says William Chong, regional director of Supplier Marketing, element14, Asia Pacific. "Our partnership with Kentec provides engineers with the best display solutions to meet their increasingly rigorous design requirements, together with product specification papers, application notes and design software.”

Wide spectrum of display solutions stocked in the Asia Pacific
element14 offers a comprehensive range of products and solutions from Kentec that addresses the markets' needs for LCD Module, Microcontroller, Power Management and Mobile Communication. Engineers will be able to browse and select the latest LCD components, including touch panels, LCD modules, evaluation kits and expansion boards, to meet their evolving design and technical requirements.

Kentec's touch screen LCD modules is a family of LCD solutions that comes in six different sizes, ranging from 3.2 inch to 9.0 inch. These LCD components also feature white LED-backlight which provides users with clear and crisp illumination for their displays. These modules also feature either resistive or capacitive touch screen options which support multi-touch inputs to support the essential applications.

Since 2009, Kentec and Texas Instrument have been in joint product development for display solutions in Industrial HMI, resulting in a capacitive touch panel option with the TI controller MSP430.

Another solution available via element14 is Kentec’s Expansion Board, which has a built-in LED backlight driver circuit and 60pin Flat Printed Circuit (FPC) connector for the Kentec LCDs. With these boards, engineers can easily integrate Kentec LCD's solutions with the MCU development kits from STMicroelectronics or Embest, facilitating the product development efficiency and ensuring that the end product's functionalities are maximised.

Avnet Electronics Marketing and ARM launch embedded software store

ARM TechCon 2011, PHOENIX, USA & CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND: Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet Inc. and ARM announced the launch of the Embedded Software Store - an online information and e-Commerce-based website dedicated to the embedded design community.

The Embedded Software Store accelerates software innovation for embedded applications by enabling users to easily locate available software supporting the ARM architecture. At launch, the site will provide software downloads from a wide range of partners that are active in the ARM Connected Community and Avnet’s partner ecosystem. The number of partners is expected to grow as the site seeks to consolidate a large number of high-value software options within a single domain.

Users can choose from a broad array of reputable embedded software vendors, including ARM, CMX Systems, Inc., DSP Concepts, Micrium, Motomic, yaSSL, and others. New software vendors are invited to join the initiative on an ongoing basis. The site also offers a quick download delivery system and preview of all license agreements in advance of purchase. Users are encouraged to participate in the Embedded Software Store’s online community to create a strong ecosystem of software support for ARM technology.

“Software has become a differentiating factor as consumers continue to demand higher levels of performance and increased functionality in their smart devices,” said Tudor Brown, president, ARM. “ARM and Avnet have leveraged our industry leadership and extensive partner ecosystems to develop a comprehensive one-stop-shop for accessing, evaluating and acquiring software. The Embedded Software Store provides easy access to a broad range of software, and this is important for designers as they seek to accelerate innovation.”

“The partnering of our two innovative companies – ARM and Avnet – is what makes this solution possible,” said Harley Feldberg, president of Avnet Electronics Marketing, global. “Today more than ever, customers are facing time-to-market issues and extreme cost pressures. Product cycles are shrinking and demands on engineering developers are expanding. The Embedded Software Store is a marketplace that offers solid choices over a broad range of readily developed software, at competitive prices and proven quality. This is a solution the industry has been waiting for.”

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Digi-Key and Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solutions expand distribution agreement to include Trompeter

THIEF RIVER FALLS, USA: Digi-Key Corp. announced the addition of Emerson Connectivity Solutions’ Trompeter product line to its expansive line card.

“Digi-Key is pleased to expand this distribution agreement with the addition of the Trompeter products,” said Jeff Shafer, Digi-Key’s VP of global interconnect, passives, and electromechanical product. “With Trompeter, we are now able to provide a broad range of cutting-edge RF interconnect solutions to engineers and procurement professionals around the world.”

“We are thrilled to expand the Emerson Connectivity Solutions offering at Digi-Key, to now include the Trompeter product line. Digi-Key’s proven track record over the years will help assure the success of Emerson Connectivity Solutions' intent to transition the Trompeter line from a primarily direct served model to one that is largely focused on service through the channel,” said Doug Pennington, Emerson Connectivity Solutions VP of Sales.

Trompeter brand products produce RF interconnect end products, cross-connects, and related tools for the telecom, central office, broadcast, military aerospace, and instrumentation markets worldwide. Trumpeter offers a broad line of patch panel insertion-controlled interconnect modules and rapid response RF cable assembly business.

New Cree LEDs deliver unmatched brightness, color quality and consistency

DURHAM, USA: Pushing LED brightness, color quality and consistency to new levels, Cree Inc. announced another step in eradicating today’s energy-wasting halogen light sources. New XLamp MT-G LEDs deliver higher brightness levels, unparalleled color quality and proven lighting-class reliability.

The new MT-G LED is now more than 10 percent brighter, and can deliver up to 1670 lumens at 85C in warm white (3000K) color temperatures. Additionally, MT-G LEDs are now available in high CRI versions optimized for applications such as retail and restaurant lighting where high CRI and lighting uniformity are required. These new capabilities can enable customers to extend existing MT-G designs, and enable new applications traditionally supported by halogen light sources.

USAI Lighting is one of the first lighting manufacturers to incorporate the new MT-G high-CRI LED into a luminaire—its award-winning NanoLED lighting solution. The Cree MT-G-based NanoLED provides designers with color quality, efficiency, flexibility and control via proprietary optics to bridge striking aesthetics with functional application in a variety of interior installations.

“We have a relentless focus on providing only the best—and superior color quality is an essential part to ensuring our customers a high-performing lighting solution,” said Bonnie Littman, president of USAI Lighting. “Being able to offer our customers halogen-like color and brightness along with the energy-efficient benefits of LEDs is going to be a game-changer.”

“Cree MT-G LEDs are the flagship product to bring real freedom to lighting OEMs,” said Mike Watson, Cree, senior director of marketing, LED components. “Real freedom is providing options to customers who want the ability to order their LEDs in 2-step or 4-step color consistency at many color points. Cree was the first in the industry to offer LED components binned at operating temperature. Combine all of that with commercially-available parts, and that’s the advantage Cree brings to its customers.”

XLamp MT-G LEDs are now available with brighter flux and with 90-minimum CRI options. Cree also offers more than 6,000 hours of IESNA LM-80 published lifetime data, which can assist lighting manufacturers with ENERGY STAR qualification. With color temperature options ranging from 2700K to 5000K, all MT-G LEDs are available in 2- and 4-step EasyWhite color temperatures, with the option of either 6V or 36V forward voltages. The full range of MT-G LEDs are available for sampling immediately, and production volumes are available with standard lead times.

Rubicon Technology ships 200,000th large diameter sapphire wafer

BENSENVILLE, USA: Rubicon Technology Inc., a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, RFIC, Semiconductor, and Optical industries, has shipped a total of 200,000 six-inch sapphire wafers to the LED manufacturing industry. Sapphire, the base material used for the majority of LEDs, is used in consumer products such as LED-based lighting, HDTVs, laptops, netbooks, smart phones and tablets, and automotive lighting.

Rubicon was instrumental in the development of large diameter sapphire wafers for use in the RFIC market and further developed the process to serve other markets requiring large diameter sapphire wafers, such as LED lighting and other semiconductor applications.

“I believe Rubicon has significantly more experience in producing large diameter sapphire wafers than any of our competitors,” explains Raja Parvez, Rubicon president and CEO. “LED manufacturers understand that migration to a large diameter sapphire wafer platform offers an opportunity to achieve production and cost efficiencies. This is increasingly important as LED manufacturers seek to reduce costs throughout the LED manufacturing process to help the industry lower prices of LED-based lighting and encourage adoption worldwide.”

Bringing down the price of LEDs is a key element in supporting the worldwide commercial adoption of solid state lighting based on LEDs as a light source. Government entities around the world including Australia, Canada and the United States have introduced legislation to require energy efficient lighting. The transition to larger diameter wafers in LED production has started. Several key LED chip manufacturers have announced plans to migrate to and/or test large diameter wafers in 2011/2012.

“There is significant large diameter wafer activity among LED manufacturers with nearly a half dozen working with six-inch in some way,” said Dr. Philippe Roussel, LED senior project manager, Yole Développement. “By 2016, our research projects that large diameter wafers measuring six inches and greater will capture more than 50 percent of the market.”

According to market research firm DisplaySearch, TV applications currently dominate the LED market, but LED lighting will capture the lead by 2014. The firm said that LED lighting penetration rate in 2010 was 1.4 percent, and is forecast to reach 9.6 percent in 2014 with the growth due to government incentive programs, and growth in commercial applications and consumer adoption worldwide.

IPC releases PCB industry results for Sept. 2011

BANNOCKBURN, USA: IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries announced the September findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

PCB industry growth rates and book-to-bill ratios announced
Rigid PCB shipments were down 13.1 percent and bookings were down 19.9 percent in September 2011 from September 2010. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments decreased 0.4 percent and bookings declined 10.8 percent. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments increased 3.5 percent and rigid bookings decreased 8.9 percent. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in September 2011 dipped just below parity at 0.99.

Flexible circuit shipments in September 2011 were down 0.7 percent and bookings declined 1.8 percent compared to September 2010. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments increased 1.6 percent and bookings increased 3.0 percent. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments increased 20.1 percent and flex bookings were up 9.9 percent. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in September 2011 fell to 0.97.

For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in September 2011 decreased 12.0 percent from September 2010, as orders booked decreased 18.4 percent from September 2010. Year to date, combined industry shipments were down 0.2 percent and bookings were down 9.6 percent. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for September 2011 increased 4.9 percent and bookings decreased 7.3 percent. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in September 2011 declined to 0.99.

“Sales and orders were both under last year’s levels in September,” said IPC president and CEO Denny McGuirk. “Bookings have been especially sluggish and that has caused a drop in the book-to-bill ratio … although it is still very near parity, which suggests that flat sales is the likely near-term scenario.”

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months.

Book-to-bill ratios and growth rates for rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined are heavily affected by the rigid PCB segment. Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 89 percent of the current PCB industry in North America, according to IPC’s World PCB Production Report.

Role of domestic production
IPC’s monthly survey of the North American PCB industry tracks bookings and shipments from U.S. and Canadian facilities, which provide indicators of regional demand. These numbers do not measure U.S. and Canadian PCB production. To track regional production trends, IPC asks survey participants for the percent of their reported shipments that were produced domestically (i.e., in the USA or Canada).

In September 2011, 85 percent of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 85 percent of rigid PCB and 83 percent of flexible circuit shipments in September by IPC’s survey participants. These numbers are significantly affected by the mix of companies in IPC’s survey sample, which change slightly in January, but are kept constant through the remainder of the year.

Bare circuits vs. assembly
Flexible circuit sales typically include value-added services such as assembly, in addition to the bare flexible circuits. In September, the flexible circuit manufacturers in IPC’s survey sample indicated that bare circuits accounted for about 53 percent of their shipment value reported for the month.

Assembly and other services make up a large and growing segment of flexible circuit producers’ businesses. This figure is also sensitive to changes in the survey sample, which may occur at the beginning of each calendar year.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Digi-Key announces stock of MEDER’s reed sensor and magnet design evaluation kits

THIEF RIVER FALLS, USA: Digi-Key Corp. announced the addition of MEDER’s Reed Sensor and Magnet Design evaluation kits to its vast product line.

These kits provide engineers with fast access to sensor systems for evaluation purposes. MEDER’s proprietary 3-D magnetic mapping equipment was used to accurately map out the activation distances in millimeters for five different position and movement configurations of each sensor, along with its corresponding magnet.

Four versions of the evaluation kits are currently available including the MK04-Kit rectangular screw fastening miniature, the MK21P-Kit rectangular screw fastening rugged, the MK11/M8-Kit cylindrical M8 threaded mount plastic, and the MK11/M5-Kit cylindrical M5 threaded mount stainless steel.

These MEDER evaluation kits can be applied to liquid level monitoring, position and end limit detection, counting and presence sensing for markets including agriculture, automotive, forestry, HVAC, material handling, automation and process control, security, and more.

Cree redefines high-voltage LEDs

DURHAM, USA: Cree Inc. announced the commercial availability of high-voltage XLamp XT-E and XM-L LEDs. These new LEDs can enable the use of more efficient, smaller drivers to lower cost for compact lighting applications such as candelabras and retrofit lamps.

“The XLamp XM-L High-Voltage LED eliminates the trade-off between size and efficacy, allowing us to take advantage of the efficacy of high-voltage drivers,” said Ken Chakravarti, CTO, Ledzworld. “This translates to more efficient, better and more cost-effective small LED lamps and luminaires such as the B10 replacement lamp for our customers.”

Small-form-factor lighting, like candelabras, historically presented a host of challenges for LED technology. Prior LEDs were unable to deliver the required system-level performance in the form factor consumers demand.

“Maximizing the LED voltage, as Cree has done in the new high-voltage XM-L and XT-E LEDs, is a very effective way to minimize current through the LED driver output rectifier,” said Peter Vaughan, director of applications engineering, Power Integrations Inc. “This can reduce losses and heat dissipation in the driver and increase the overall system luminous efficacy by several percentage points.”

“Never before have lighting OEMs been able to leverage the benefits of high-voltage LEDs with this level of performance,” said Paul Thieken, Cree director of marketing, LED components. “We continue to develop the right LEDs for the right applications—to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient LED lighting.”

The XLamp XM-L LED delivers up to 600 lm in Cool White (6000K) and up to 462 lm in Warm White (3000K) at 6W, 85°C. The XLamp XT-E LED delivers up to 300 lm in Cool White (6000K) and up to 228 lm in Warm White (3000K) at 6W, 85°C. Both LEDs have a typical voltage of 46V at binning conditions.

XLamp XT-E and XM-L LEDs are available now in production quantities with standard lead times.

LEDforum Taipei: Brand new chapter for LED industry!

TAIWAN: LED-related technologies have been developing rapidly over the recent years, and the industrial chain has been focused on innovative applications. The financial crisis in 2011 not only triggered rapid changes in the global LED market but it also added factors of uncertainty for the LED industry.

From November 1 to November 2, 2011, several industry heavyweights, including the inventor of GaN LED Dr. Shuji Nakamura, the inventor of yellow LED George Craford and LEDinside’s analysts will be participate in this analysis of the global LED industry at the LEDforum 2011 Taipei. This is an annual LED seminar organized by LEDinside, a research division of TrendForce.

Dr. Shuji Nakamura, the inventor of GaN LED and a professor of University of California, Santa Barbara, and George Craford, a SSL fellow of Philips Lumileds, will address the ground-breaking developments of the LED industry. Nakamura states that since 2001, the invention of nonpolar and semipolar GaNs gave LEDs and LDs higher efficiency. The short efficacy droop of the (20-2-1) LED will help the development of blue and green LDs.

Compared with other semipolar LED’s uneven efficiencies, the new LED still requires further research. On the other hand, Craford points out that LED lighting application sector is on the verge of entering the next generation. He is optimistic about the future of LED lighting and the prospects propelled by the LED chip efficacy and quality enhancement.

Moreover, experts of MOCVD equipment major makers Aixtron, Veeco will analyze the manufacture of LED. The continuous improvement of MOCVD equipment will decrease the manufacturing cost and carbon footprint and increase the capacity of upstream LED chip manufacturers

From the market perspective, LEDinside analyst team predicts that LED’s penetration rate in the HBLED market will increase from 24 percent to 52 percent in the next five years; by 2012, the LED backlight market is expected to face weak demand and underperformance of LED penetration rate.

Due to the improved economy growth of 2011, the value of the global lighting market will increase by 5.6 percent to $83.9 billion. Most notably, the European market plays an integral role in the global LED lighting market, accounting for 27-28 percent of the market value, which will most likely surge to 47 percent in the next five years.

Looking beyond Europe, the Chinese LED market is another major focus. LEDinside’s analysts believe that China’s subsidy policies spur the development of the LED industry: China taking up 15.4 percent of the value of the global lighting market is a testament to it. However, China’s present currency policy will affect local governments’ policies and loans of enterprises, which will cause LED chip makers to terminate their expansion plans.

Chinese and South Korean manufacturers drastically cut prices; competition in LED market intensifies

TAIWAN: According to the latest price survey conducted by LEDinside, a research division of TrendForce, the price downtrend persisted in the LED market in 3Q11. The price of LED (5630) for TV backlight dropped by 8-15 percent. Since TV backlight products will start adopting 7030 spec in 2012, South Korea manufacturers have been aggressively digesting the inventory of older specification, which result in a huge price gap in the market.

The price of high-power LED plunged by approximately 8-10 percent, which is less drastic compared to drop in 2Q11. The minor price plunge reflects the fact that the lighting market’s demand is rather stable, but huge orders are still rare in the market. Looking at 4Q11, in addition to transition from the old to the new specification, the LED makers will continue to face inventory pressure. Hence, the prices of LED (5630) for TV backlight and high power LED are expected to continue to fall.Source: LEDinside, Taiwan.

Transition to new module triggered apparent decline in TV backlight price
Due to the underperformance of LCD TV sales in 3Q11, the price of LED (5630) for TV backlight took the most considerable dip of 10-15 percent. Most notably, LCD TV manufacturers plan to adopt new the 7030 spec in 2012, resulting in an uncertain price outlook in the market. South Korean manufacturers’ aggressive inventory digestion caused a huge price gap in the market. LEDinside predicts that the price will continue to drop in 4Q11.

South Korean and Chinese makers to spur price competition in portable device market
Due to its maturity, the LED price for the notebooks, monitors and mobile devices only experienced a slight drop of 5-10 percent. As for mobile phone’s backlight module, the price drop averaged 8-10 percent.

LEDs for notebooks and mobile devices are relatively cheap, and they are the key products for Taiwanese LED manufacturers. However, as more and more Chinese LED manufacturers have made their way into the mobile backlight market while South Korean makers’ increasing their focus on mobile backlight module, the price competition is expected to intensify.

LED for lighting products experienced relatively small price downtrend; price competition remains fierce
The decreased growth momentum of the LED lighting market in 3Q11 was caused by the global economy climate. The market demand is mainly underpinned by the indoor lighting sector.

In order to obtain cost competitiveness, the majority of LED indoor lighting products adopt 5630 and 3014 LED packages, which compromises the demand for high-power LED. In addition, the manufacturers continue to cut prices in order to stimulate demand. However, due to the sharp appreciation of US dollar and Renminbi, Taiwanese maufacturers’ LED prices merely dropped 5-10 percent after they were converted into NT dollar, which alleviates their price pressure.

On the other hand, the price competition between global major companies remained fierce. In particular, these major global firms each offer more room for price negotiation for important clients; Japanese, South Korean, European and American manufacturers have all cut prices. As for 4Q11, LED inventory pressure will most likely persist. The uncertain economic conditions affect manufacturers’ inclination to purchase materials in advance, which will in turn cause price downtrend in 4Q11.

Digi-Key now stocks TE Connectivity’s reflowable thermal protection (RTP) device

THIEF RIVER FALLS, USA: Digi-Key Corp. announced the addition of TE Connectivity’s Reflowable Thermal Protection (RTP) solutions to its vast product line.

TE’s RTP device is the industry’s first SMD thermal protector. The RTP device helps prevent thermal damage caused by failed power components and can withstand the demanding environmental, life, and reliability requirements of automotive and industrial applications, including shock, vibration, temperature cycling, and humidity exposures.

In the field, an RTP device opens if its internal junction exceeds the device’s specified open temperature. Temperature increases can have multiple sources, one of which is component failure (i.e. when using power components such as a power FET, capacitor, resistor, triac, etc.). The RTP device’s open temperature is selected so that the device does not open within normal component operating windows, but it does open in a thermal runaway event and before the melt temperature of typical lead free solders.

The RTP device helps provide protection against damage caused by thermal runaway for power FETs and other components if failure occurs in applications such as automotive HVAC, ABS, power steering, DC/DC converters, PTC heaters, or IT servers, telecom power, or converters.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Digi-Key announces stock of Emerson Network Power configurable power supplies

THIEF RIVER FALLS, USA: Digi-Key Corp. announced the global addition of Emerson Network Power configurable power supplies to an already impressive listing of quality Emerson products.

The Embedded Power business of Emerson Network Power is a leading provider of ac-dc power supplies and dc-dc power converters that are renowned for outstanding performance, reliability and cost effectiveness.

Emerson Network Power offers a broad range of standard and configurable power supply solutions, making it a one-stop-shop for customers across all markets. The uMP, iMP, and iVS configurable power supplies offer the intelligence, flexibility, and muscle to fit just about any power application. These innovative supplies range from as low as 400 W up to 4920 W power output and have been approved for medical use.

“Power supplies are truly the heart of any embedded system,” said Jeff Shafer, VP, Global Interconnect, Passives & Electromechanical, Digi-Key. “We endeavor to keep our product offering current and relevant, and these innovative products from Emerson Network Power are a welcome addition to our broad selection of electronic components.”

World Micro signs distribution agreement with Sullins Connector Solutions

ATLANTA, USA: World Micro, a global distributor of electronic components serving the electronics, commercial, military, medical, and aerospace markets, has signed a distribution agreement with Sullins Connector Solutions, a world leader in the design and manufacture of connectors and interconnect systems, located in San Marcos, CA. The agreement gives World Micro the ability to promote, distribute, and market key Sullins product lines throughout the United States and Canada.

The product lines include conventional, lead-free and RoHS-compliant edge cards, headers, bi-level and PCIe connectors, Micro Plastics products, and interconnect systems along with parts engineered for high-temperature applications.

World Micro will continue to focus on offering customer service and engineering support to design engineers and purchasing professionals in the aerospace, medical instrumentation, test and measurement, telecommunications, audio, video and broadcast industries. With this distribution agreement in place, World Micro is also able to reach out to many more new customers and increase its penetration in previously underserved market sectors.

"We're extremely pleased to add Sullins' quality products to our line card of best-in-class suppliers," stated Vikki Planche, World Micro's director of sales. "Sullins' products are a natural complement to World Micro's existing portfolio, and effectively round out our connector and interconnect offering. This agreement strengthens our ability to offer one-stop shopping for these specialized solutions and gives our customers increased access to premier products at highly competitive price points," added Planche.

"Naming World Micro to our roster of North American distributors is also a critical step in Sullins' strategic plan to broaden both international and domestic distribution channels. World Micro's impressive record of achievement in uncovering opportunities for connector sales in markets we've targeted for superior growth potential made them a logical choice," commented Wade Harb, CEO of Sullins Connector Solutions. "Sullins is proud to partner with World Micro. They understand our markets and respect customers' requirements for responsive service, and technical assistance," Harb added.

austriamicrosystems launches new LED drivers and optimized backlight power supply to provide best efficiency in LED TVs

FPD International Exhibition & Convention 2011, UNTERPREMSTAETTEN, AUSTRIA & YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: austriamicrosystems, a leading global designer and manufacturer of high-performance analog ICs, announced the release of the latest additions to the company’s comprehensive LED TV drivers and support IC portfolio. The new ICs include three LED drivers and a new LED power supply IC. These new devices plus other LED drivers will be demonstrated at the FPD International Exhibition & Convention, Oct. 26-28, in Yokohama, Japan.

austriamicrosystems will also be demonstrating the company’s complete ambient light sensor, proximity detection and color sensor product offering for HDTVs, tablets and mobile devices.

The AS3822 & AS3823 are 6- and 8-channel LED driver ICs, respectively, and are fully compatible with the recently launched 16- and 12-channel AS3820 and AS3821 LED drivers. This compatibility enables set makers to use the same hardware design and software for their whole range of LED edge-lit TVs. All driver ICs in this portfolio employ austriamicrosystems enhanced digital power feedback control technique to achieve the lowest possible energy consumption. Additionally, smart dimming functionality further reduces power consumption while addressing the needs for the latest 3D TV designs and the highest picture quality.

In addition to these new driver ICs, the new AS3810 16-channel LED driver with internal FETs is the 3rd generation of driver ICs for direct-lit TVs. It features industry leading channel-to-channel performance and all the functionality needed to optimize power consumption in large direct-lit TVs. Multiple ICs are easily combined to realize even dozens of dynamically dimmed backlighting segments, further reducing power consumption and fully supporting the best possible contrast. This full driver IC portfolio meets the design needs of all TV architectures with the highest current accuracy for the best light uniformity, the latest 3D features, and also reduced system cost.

All of these driver ICs match perfectly with the new AS1390 combination boost controller/buck converter, which is optimized for the power needs of LED TV backlights. It supplies the LED backlight with a high-power constant-frequency boost controller optimized for up to 90 V/3 A combined with a 5 V/100 mA step-down converter to supply a microcontroller or other devices.

In addition to offering special features for 3D, the AS1390 supports the needs of low energy consumption for LED TVs with over 95 percent power efficiency. The continuous conduction mode of the AS1390 provides superior bandwidth and transient response. It also includes all required safety features, including over-voltage, over-current and over-temperature protection.

In addition to this range of LED TV backlighting solutions, smart light sensors from TAOS, the leading global supplier of intelligent light sensors, were recently added to austriamicrosystems product portfolio. These devices significantly contribute to further reducing energy consumption through use of ambient light sensors to automatically adjust the screen brightness to suit the surrounding light environment.

Markus Luidolt, Senior Marketing Manager for Panel Lighting stated: This full range of IC solutions allows designers to achieve the lowest power in TVs. The right products, plus austriamicrosystems strong technical support, make austriamicrosystems the leading specialist for meeting low energy consumption requirements in TVs. Working with the world leaders in TV technology results in austriamicrosystems best-in-class LED solutions for high-resolution, 3D and special effects.”

The AS3810, AS3822, AS3823 and AS1390 are all sampling.

Friday, October 21, 2011

World semiconductor automated test equipment (ATE) markets

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "World Semiconductor Automated Test Equipment (ATE) Markets" to its offering.

The world semiconductor ATE market is expected to witness sustained growth, fueled by the demand for system-on-chip (SoC) products in smart phones, wireless and wired communication devices, and consumer electronics. The success of tablets, PDAs, and handsets has created a boom in the consumer market, triggering the demand for greater functionality in terms of higher speeds, performance, and pin counts.

With products becoming increasingly mobile, radio frequency (RF) connectivity is likely to assume greater importance. Greater device complexity will boost growth in the semiconductor ATE markets. As the demand for tablets, PDAs, smartphones, and handsets continues to grow, increasingly rapid innovation is likely to be observed with the unceasing rollout of products with enhanced features and performance, notes the analyst of this research service.

It will be imperative for ATE market participants to up the ante to improve their testing capabilities to keep pace with the quickly evolving end-user requirements. In 2010, the non-memory semiconductor ATE market segment accounted for the largest market share of 75.9 percent.

Rubicon begins on-site processing of aluminum oxide used to ensure high quality, sapphire crystal growth

BENSENVILLE, USA: Rubicon Technology Inc., a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, RFIC, Semiconductor, and Optical industries, announced that the company has begun the transition to on premise processing of aluminum oxide used for the production of sapphire wafers.

Using a customized in-house method, Rubicon converts raw aluminum oxide powder into a form usable in the company’s industry-leading crystal growth process, Rubicon ES2. This process enables the company to reduce its manufacturing costs while increasing control of the quality of its raw materials.

In addition to providing greater control of quality and cost, this new process developed by Rubicon’s team of crystal growth engineers forms the powder into different shapes which can optimize the space in the crucibles in its crystal growth furnaces, thereby resulting in larger crystals.

“As the LED industry transitions to larger diameter substrates, ensuring a steady supply of raw material becomes increasingly important,” said Raja Parvez, Rubicon president and CEO. “Large diameter wafers are as much as three times thicker than two- to four-inch wafers and require more aluminum oxide. As the world’s leader in large diameter sapphire, it is important that our new on-site processing capability brings us a reliable supply of raw material that we can process into large diameter sapphire wafers for LED manufacturers.”

Advances in raw material handling combined with recent company-wide installation of enhancements to its proprietary crystal growth furnaces, Rubicon Furnace Version ES2-XLG3.0, delivers cost efficiencies for the production of large diameter sapphire. Rubicon’s next generation ES2-XLG3.0 furnaces provide automation for vacuum monitoring and crystal growth rates for greater yield consistency. The furnaces require less operator intervention at five employees per 100 furnaces at any given time. ES2-XLG3.0 furnaces operate in Rubicon’s United States high-efficiency crystal growth facilities in Batavia and Bensenville, Illinois.

The transition to larger diameter wafers in LED production has started. Several key LED chip manufacturers have announced plans to migrate to and/or test large diameter wafers in 2011/2012. Rubicon’s robust process platforms for large diameter sapphire wafers and the company’s ability to scale to commercial volumes, creates superior performance factors for the LED industry. To date, Rubicon has successfully shipped more than 150,000 six-inch sapphire wafers.

According to market research firm DisplaySearch, TV applications currently dominate the LED market, but LED lighting will capture the lead by 2014. The firm said that LED lighting penetration rate in 2010 was 1.4 percent, and is forecast to reach 9.6 percent in 2014 with the growth due to government incentive programs, and growth in commercial applications and consumer adoption worldwide.

Molex MediSpec interconnect technologies for next-gen healthcare devices

MD&M Minneapolis 2011, LISLE, USA: Molex Inc. will demonstrate its MediSpec portfolio at MD&M Minneapolis, MN, November 2-3, booth 445. The products support medical device manufacturers by delivering the latest interconnect technologies for maximum product efficiency, reliability and flexibility.

MediSpec products address the electronic design demands of medical equipment manufacturers engineering new and emerging healthcare products in diagnostic imaging, therapeutic and surgical, patient monitoring, hospital and patient care and healthcare IT applications.

“The effectiveness and reliability of healthcare devices and systems rely on the robust design, engineering and performance of their underlying electronics,” said Anthony Kalaijakis, strategic medical market manager, Molex. “With its MediSpec portfolio of products, Molex is leading the way in the convergence of electronic product integration into medical applications and delivering the technology solutions for the next generation of healthcare.”

LeCroy announces USB 2.0 HSIC decode test solutions

CHESTNUT RIDGE, USA: LeCroy Corp., a leading supplier of oscilloscopes and serial data test solutions, announced the availability of USB 2.0 High Speed Inter-chip (HSIC) protocol decode annotation for its WaveSurfer, WaveRunner, WavePro, WaveMaster and LabMaster oscilloscope product lines.

HSIC technology is capable of communicating between microchips in an embedded sub-system, leveraging the traditional host-device topology of USB and, hence, the large amount of code that already exists. This makes HSIC extremely lucrative in areas demanding fast time-to-market, for example, the mobile industry which includes smart phones and tablets. Because LeCroy engineers are fully engaged with USB industry leaders and standards bodies, they have been able to work in parallel with the industry adoption of this rapidly emerging standard and ensure that test solutions are available at precisely the time they are needed.

LeCroy HSIC USB solutions consist of an intuitive HSIC decode annotation overlaid on the physical layer (analog) waveform signal on the oscilloscope display with corresponding tabular display of data and a quick zoom to a specific packet. In addition, WaveRunner, WavePro, WaveMaster and LabMaster support LeCroy's ProtoSync option, which takes the testing to an even higher level by providing a transaction and application level view of the HSIC traffic in the familiar CATC protocol analyzer view. The separate decode annotation on the oscilloscope physical layer signals and corresponding CATC protocol analyzer view is completely linked and time synchronized to provide the fastest possible debug.

Additionally, LeCroy's WaveRunner 6 Zi family of oscilloscopes will also provide future capability (late 2011) for HSIC protocol triggering using the on-board USB PHY in the oscilloscope that already supports USB1.x and 2.0 protocol triggering. This combination of HSIC physical layer decode annotation, hardware-based protocol triggering, and ProtoSync transaction and application layer views provides a unique test capability for USB 2.0 HSIC that is unmatched in the market.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Digi-Key adds Honeywell’s HumidIcon digital humidity/temperature sensors to expansive line card

THIEF RIVER FALLS, USA: Digi-Key Corp. announced the addition of Honeywell’s HumidIcon digital humidity/temperature sensors to its expansive line card.

Honeywell’s HumidIcon digital humidity/temperature sensors are digital output-type relative humidity (RH) devices and temperature sensors combined in the same package.

Benefits include:
* Elimination of individual testing and calibrating for every sensor, helping to reduce manufacturing time and process.
* Support system accuracy and warranty requirements.
* Optimization of system uptime.
* Excellent sensor interchangeability–the customer can remove one sensor from the tape, remove the next sensor from the tape, and there is no part-to-part variation in accuracy.

The highly reliable, energy efficient HumidIcon digital humidity/temperature sensors are available for purchase now on Digi-Key’s global websites.

Fairchild's smart LED lamp driver IC solves small-space dimming challenges for designers

SAN JOSE, USA: As LED lighting continues to grow in popularity, especially in residential lighting applications, designers are looking for efficient dimming solutions – when compared to TRIAC methods – that also fit within existing sockets. Additionally, these solutions need to work reliably in a small space while providing high efficiency.

To help designers meet this challenge, Fairchild Semiconductor, a leading global supplier of high performance power and mobile products, developed the FL7701 Smart Non-isolated Buck LED Driver with power factor correction (PFC). The device uses a digital technique that allows it to automatically detect the AC input voltage condition, allowing it to create a special internal reference signal that results in high power factor correction.

The FL7701 will also work from a DC input voltage condition, automatically sensing AC versus DC input voltage conditions. The traditional technique of using a transformer in an MR application incurs additional losses with the transformer conversion; this traditional inefficient method can now be replaced using the FL7701 connected directly to a DC or AC off-line input.

The FL7701 combines high functional density in a small form factor that provides designers up to 20 percent lower bill of material (BOM) costs and up to 60 percent board space savings. This combination creates a solution suitable for the space-constrained PCB sizes found in LED lighting applications and supports analog dimming.

The high degree of integration designed into the FL7701 provides the high reliability required to increase the luminary lifespan to more than five years, compared to the three years achievable by current solutions. Reliability is also improved since no electrolytic capacitors for the input, output, or the FL7701 VDD supply are required.

Digital power factor (PF) realization (>0.9) and lower total harmonic distortion (THD), along with the 90 percent electrical efficiency results in increased energy savings for the end system. Combined, these features allow the FL7701 to provide energy savings that meet the most stringent worldwide regulations, such as Energy Star.

Fairchild’s IC design technology results in high power efficiency (>90 percent) and provides high light quality required for residential applications. Available in an SOP-8 package, the FL7701 is ideal for interior decorating/ornamental lights; LED light bulbs or down lights in PAR, Reflector, MR or classic styles E26/E27 or Bi-Pin base, as well as LED lamps for low power lighting fixtures.

Fairchild offers a total solution portfolio for low- (<20W), mid- (20W to 50W) and high- (>50W) LED driver applications. Our highly integrated PWM and PFC controller solutions reduce component BOM counts to enable smaller lamp sizes and eliminate design complexities, while improving overall lighting efficiency. Fairchild’s extensive product portfolio ranges from discrete devices to integrated solutions that contain PFC controllers, high voltage gate drivers and MOSFETs.

With commitment to energy savings and meeting the most stringent regulations, Fairchild has developed innovative products that maximize performance while reducing board space, design complexity and system costs. In addition, Fairchild’s Global Power ResourceSM Center comprised of online tools, FAEs and regional centers staffed by power engineers, is the industry standard for customer design support.

2011-2015 Chinese LED lighting market report: Street lamp market analysis

TAIWAN: In the past, traditional street lamps were primarily HID lamps and mercury lamps. However, due to disadvantages such as lumen decay, high power consumption and short lifespan, traditional light sources are no longer in line with the global energy-saving trend. LED quickly made its way into street lighting due to several factors, including carbon emission reduction policies enforced worldwide and improved luminous efficacy LED light sources (a total luminous efficacy of over 100–130 Lm/W and an application luminous efficacy of over 50 Lm/W), as commercial opportunities presented themselves.

The “10,000 Lamps in 10 Cities” program has been changed to “2 Million Lamps in 50 Cities” in order to further expand the application of LED street lamps. Although China, with the largest domestic demand worldwide, is considered the global LED industry’s priority market for LED street lamp, there is still a long way to go before LED street lamps reach wide adoption. Given that LED street lamps are large-size luminaires, long, practical tests and well-established standards should precede the launch of a large-scale promotion.

Moreover, it is almost time to inspect the results of the LED street lamps instituted from 2009 to 2011 for demonstration. If the results and benefits meet the expectations, it will strengthen Chinese government’s faith in popularizing the LED street lamps in first-tier cities, which will be a crucial breakthrough for LED applications.

LEDinside, a research division of TrendForce, believes that LED street lamps will most likely see the fastest growth rate in 2012. In 2009, the Chinese government planned and implemented LED street lamp installation programs in 21 cities, aiming to set up one million LED street lamps. However, surveys showed that the actual number of LED street lamps installed in 2009 was less than 20 percent of the planned quantity, falling vastly short of targets.

As for the “2 Million Lamps in 50 Cities” program implemented from 2010 to 2012, a rough estimate suggests that the number of installed LED street lamps reaches about 150,000~200,000 as of July, 2011.Source: LEDinside, Taiwan.

element14 spearheads initiative to cater to demands of lighting segment in Asia Pacific

SINGAPORE: element14 (formerly Farnell), the first electronic component distributor that fuses commerce and community, today unveiled its Lighting microsite featuring new lighting technologies and products. Showcasing the innovation of new lighting solutions, engineers in Asia Pacific will learn about the latest products and applications in this sector, as well as acquire the latest components through element14’s integrated platform.

As countries in the Asia Pacific become increasingly industrialised, energy consumption has reached an apex in recent years. LED lighting technologies have become one of the fastest emerging technologies because of its energy efficiency potential and lower maintenance cost. According to research firm, Frost and Sullivan, LED lighting is set to dominate the lighting technologies market as it phases out more energy-intensive counterparts.

"Our existing partnership with leading lighting specialists such as Avago Technologies, Cree, National Semiconductor and NXP allows us to continuously invest in our product portfolio of high performance LED components to give engineers a comprehensive selection to choose from," says William Chong, Regional Director of Supplier Marketing, element14, Asia Pacific. "In addition, we have converged our community and transactional website into one platform, providing engineers with a comprehensive product, design and information resource."

The Lighting microsite focuses on LED lighting, a maturing technology that is recognised for its energy efficiency and its potential to dominate the market in the near future. element14 has more than 10,000 best-in-class Lighting components in stock, ensuring engineers can find the most optimal solution from different categories. This includes High Power LEDs, LED Modules, power supplies, LED drivers as well as Thermal Management, Optical & Interconnect solutions from the leading lighting specialists.

The Cree XLamp XM-L LEDs are the industry’s highest performance, single-die white lighting-class LED. Featuring a unique combination of very high efficacy at very high drive currents, it provides 20 per cent more efficiency than other lighting solutions of the same current. These components can lower total system cost by reducing the number of LEDs and optics. Designed for high lumen functions, the XM-L series is ideal for outdoor area illumination, indoor commercial as well as high-bay and industrial lighting. The Cree XLamp XM-L EasyWhite LEDs deliver the industry’s best color consistency in the smallest package. It is optimized for small form-factor directional lighting, such as 20-25 watt halogen MR, PAR and B10-style replacement lamps.

NXP Semiconductors SSL2101 IC LED Drivers are Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) controller ICs that operate in combination with a phase cut dimmer directly from rectified mains. Designed to drive LED devices, they include a high-voltage power switch and a circuit to allow start-up directly from the rectified mains voltage.

National Semiconductor LM3445MM/NOPB ICs are energy efficient LED drivers that provide one of the best power to performance ratios and provide cutting edge features such as dimming, thermal management and fault protection. These ICs can be deployed in a wide range of applications such as solid state lighting, industrial and commercial lighting.

ilumisys grants license to LED Optics for LED fluorescent tube replacements

TROY, USA: ilumisys Inc., developer and producer of next-generation solid-state lighting technology, has granted a license for light-emitting diode (LED) fluorescent tube replacements to LED Optics, a high-end manufacturer of replacement LED T8 tubes that is based in Boca Raton, Fla.

The licensing agreement provides for royalty payments in exchange for rights to manufacture and sell products covered by the patent portfolio of ilumisys' parent company, Altair Engineering.

"The LED marketplace is rapidly expanding, and it is becoming increasingly important that as an industry we work to ensure quality products are entering the marketplace," said Adam Green, founder and president of LED Optics. "Nothing is more important to us than the quality and performance of our products, and this partnership with ilumisys is allowing us to further expand the portfolio of exceptional LED retrofit products available to our customers."

In addition to manufacturing replacement LED T8 tubes, LED Optics also manufactures other high-end LED bulbs used in commercial applications.

Solid-state lighting technology has the potential to cut US lighting energy usage by one-quarter and contribute significantly to the nation's climate change solution, according to the US Department of Energy. By providing licensees access to its expanding patent portfolio, ilumisys believes that the pace of both LED product development and installation will continue to accelerate.

"The LED industry is growing at a rapid pace, and ilumisys is working with companies across the country to help ensure the products going into the market are credible," said Dave Simon, president of ilumisys. "ilumisys is focusing its efforts on the company's future manufacturing and expansion to ensure it will be able to meet the demands of the industry as it continues to grow."

ilumisys, formed in 2007, is a spinoff of Altair, a global software and technology company that has a growing presence in the energy market. With the backing of Altair, its majority owner, ilumisys has a deep and substantial investment in research and development that includes seven patents awarded and over 60 patents pending.

Magnalight.com intros rechargeable LED light stick

KENT, USA: The Magnalight WL-LED-12-M rechargeable trouble light is the newest in versatile and durable LED lighting from Magnalight.com. This portable LED light offers high light output combined with an integrated magnetic mounting system to produce a weatherproof, portable industrial grade LED task light.

Designed for use anywhere, the WL-LED-12-M LED light stick from Larson Electronics' Magnalight combines the convenience of rechargeable portability with the versatility of magnetic mounting. Containing 60 LEDs powered by an integral Ni/Hm battery, this LED light stick produces enough light to cover an area approximately 25 foot long by 20 foot wide, and will run for over four hours on a single charge.

An impact, shock, and vibration resistant housing provides durable operation and makes this light suitable for indoor or outdoor use. The long life LEDs have a 100,000 hour lifetime rating and will provide years of reliable operation. This LED light has two built in 20 lbs grip magnets that allow the unit to be attached to any ferrous metallic surface. This feature is ideal for automotive and work applications where the user needs effective illumination that leaves their hands free.

This unit has predrilled through holes to allow mounting the unit with screws for permanent or semi-permanent mounting such as would be found in machine light applications. Included with this unit is an AC/DC charging unit for recharging from common 120 VAC outlets and a cigarette plug adapter for charging from vehicles and equipment. Fully wireless, portable, and ruggedly constructed, the WL-LED-12-M LED light stick is an ideal lighting solution for portable industrial applications.

Air Products signs second contract with Samsung Mobile Display to supply nitrogen and other gases for AMOLED production

LEHIGH VALLEY, USA: Air Products announced it has been selected to supply gaseous nitrogen and oxygen, and liquid argon to Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) for its Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) production. This is the second contract of its type following last year's contract for SMD's 5.5 generation AMOLED.

Air Products will build another air separation unit and pipeline at its Tanjeong, Korea site for gases supply to SMD's upcoming fab. Air Products will also build purification, filtering and monitoring systems. The company is currently supplying gaseous nitrogen and oxygen, and liquid argon to SMD's existing AMOLED fab in Tanjeong and two large-scale TFT-LCD facilities in Cheonan.

"Samsung has been a long-standing and strategic customer for Air Products. We are honored to have their continued confidence in our capabilities to support their growth," said Wayne Mitchell, VP and GM of the Electronics Division at Air Products. "This contract once again demonstrates our capability to serve the world's largest electronics customers with our infrastructure, technology advancements and product capacity in place."

Besides Tanjeong and Cheonan, Air Products has also recently announced nitrogen and pipeline expansions in many of the most important semiconductor and LCD manufacturing geographies around the world including Gumi, Korea; Tainan and Tai Chung, Taiwan; and Austin, Tex. and Chandler, Ariz. in the US.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Toshiba offers family of quad configuration couplers

IRVINE, USA: Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) announced the addition of the TLP290-4 (AC input) and TLP291-4 (DC input) to its family of optocouplers. Suitable for general purpose applications requiring isolation, including power supplies and motor controllers, the new optocouplers from Toshiba feature a quad configuration in a double - molded package and a wider creepage distance, improved performance and higher operating temperatures (110 degrees Celsius).

The Toshiba TLP290-4 and TLP291-4 both consist of a photo transistor that has been optically coupled to a gallium arsenide infrared emitting diode. The devices are housed in a low profile SO16 package, making for extremely small and thin couplers. The TLP290-4 and TLP291-4 feature a wide operating temperature (Ta=-55 to 110 degrees Celsius), making them suitable for high-density surface mounting applications such as programmable controllers and hybrid ICs.

According to Joseph Tso, business development manager for Toshiba's optoelectronics discrete business unit, "This new family of quad couplers can be used in the same socket as our popular TLP280-4 and TLP281-4 series of optocouplers, offering higher performance and greater creepage distance for designs in which package height is of a lesser concern."

Mouser Electronics now delivering National products from TI

DALLAS & FORT WORTH, USA: Mouser Electronics announced that it is an authorized global distributor for the complete portfolio of National products from Texas Instruments (TI).

Building upon record sales and an ongoing commitment to global expansion, the addition of National products from TI increases Mouser’s offering of analog products to its global customer base. These TI analog products enable engineers to create new designs that solve tough challenges, such as making electronics more energy efficient – consuming less power, extending battery life and generating less heat.

Mike Scott, Mouser VP of Semiconductors, said: “The addition of the National portfolio to our Texas Instruments line allows Mouser to offer our customers one of the industry’s broadest in-stock selections. Designers have long-awaited the ability to procure National products from Mouser, and we are working diligently to ensure we have the components they need for their new designs.”

September LED bulb price dropped 3 percent compared to August

TAIWAN: LEDinside, a research division of TrendForce, conducted price surveys on warm white LED light bulbs (replacements for 40W and 60W incandescent light bulbs), and the results showed that LED light bulb price in September took a dip of 3 percent compared to August, an indication that the downtrend persisted.

Most notably, the LED bulb price for 40W replacement underwent the steepest drop in Japan and South Korea, while the price for 60W replacement experienced the biggest setback in Europe. At present, the LED product prices for 40W and 60W replacements have declined to $23.1 and $42.3, respectively.

According to the survey conducted by LEDinside, LED bulb ASP for 40W replacement decreased by 3 percent with the most significant drops appearing in Japan (2 percent) and South Korea (6 percent). In particular, the South Korean makers’ low price strategy for their new products generate a considerable amount of interest, with the ASP hit a new low of $12.2 in September.Source: LEDinside, Taiwan.

As for 60W replacement, the LED bulb ASP in September plummeted to $42.3, a 3 percent drop compared to August. Due to the manufacturer’s low-price strategies, Europe experienced the most evident ASP decline of 6 percent.

According to LEDinside, the LED bulb ASPs for 40W and 60W replacements fell to $49.7/Klm and $52.3/Klm in September, respectively.Source: LEDinside, Taiwan.

Digi-Key announces stock of ECS’s HC-46X and CSM-3X series thru-hole and SMD crystals

THIEF RIVER FALLS, USA: Digi-Key Corp. announced the addition of ECS Inc.’s HC-46X and CSM-3X series to its expansive product listing.

Similar to the HC-49US and the HC-49USMD, the next-level ECS-46X and CSM-3X maintain compatibility with most if not all Microprocessor and Integrated circuits in existence, and feature more cost-effective packaging solutions.

The ECS-46X and CSM-3X are 70 percent smaller in volume than the traditional HC-49USX and CSM-7X packages and harbor a 50 percent smaller footprint. This lower cost package reduces cost by 50 percent or more versus comparable sized ceramic packaged crystals.

ECS Inc.’s HC-46X and CSM-3X series are available for purchase now on Digi-Key’s global websites.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Markets for OLED encapsulation - 2011

GLEN ALLEN, USA: NanoMarkets announced the release of its latest market report on OLED materials titled, "Markets for OLED Encapsulation – 2011."

In the report NanoMarkets ties the opportunities for OLED encapsulation suppliers to the emergence of OLED lighting. And while NanoMarkets predicts a modest but still significant market potential for OLED encapsulation of approximately $170 million ($US) in the year 2016, this time period will also coincide with the emergence of OLED lighting as a volume market leading to significant upside for encapsulation suppliers.

In this new report, NanoMarkets analyzes and quantifies the opportunities for encapsulation suppliers in the fast-growing OLED market. We examine the product development and marketing strategies of the major players in the OLED encapsulation materials sector, from large multinationals like 3M, DuPont and Corning to specialty firms like Tera Barrier Films, and we also attempt to indicate which are the "companies to watch" and which will be the likely winners and losers in the encapsulation materials space. Finally, this report contains detailed, eight-year forecasts of the OLED encapsulation market broken out by product type and by OLED application.

OLED firms are beginning to recognize that high quality encapsulation is an area of strategic importance. NanoMarkets believes that we are now seeing some real opportunities for the firms that have been working on the encapsulation issue, many of whom have poured resources into this area for several years. In fact, encapsulation is the key enabling technology for the larger-format/longer lifetime OLEDs that will be entering the market in the near- to mid-term, and thus can unlock entire market segments.

Small, rigid OLED displays are now widely commercially available and expected to continue to expand, principally in smartphone and other mobile computing displays and the OLED TV market is finally poised to take off within the next few years, as display manufacturers launch newer, bigger models with better value propositions for customers.

The emergence of the OLED lighting industry will be the defining opportunity for OLED materials suppliers turning a niche market into a significant opportunity after 2015.
Glass encapsulation technologies heavily dominate the market today, and glass will continue to dominate in the near- to mid-term.

However, the consensus is that glass will not be sufficient for the types of OLEDs expected to emerge over the next decade. OLED panels are getting larger, and the emerging lighting and TV markets expect OLED panels to last much longer than the mobile phone and mp3 sub-displays of the past. Furthermore, the cost pressures are getting more serious. The days in which manufacturers were willing to pay high premiums for good encapsulation strategies are long gone, and low-cost options for encapsulation are now demanded.

Avnet Express stocking TI’s SIMPLE SWITCHER Nano power modules and regulators

PHOENIX, USA: Avnet Express, the e-Commerce engine for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, a business region of Avnet Inc. announced the immediate in-stock availability of Texas Instruments’ recently released SIMPLE SWITCHER nano power modules and regulators. Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas carries a broad line of TI products and when ordered by 8:00 p.m. CST, these products ship same-day.

Recently, TI released four new SIMPLE SWITCHER power management integrated circuits for space-constrained point-of-load designs: the 1-A LMZ10501 and 650-mA LMZ10500 nano modules and the 2-A LMR24220 and 1-A LMR242210 nano regulators. These powerful ICs can be used in conjunction with TI’s WEBENCH online design tool to simplify and speed the design process.

“Avnet and TI’s strong, longstanding relationship enabled us to quickly provide these industry-leading products to our mutual customers,” said Beth Ely, senior VP of Avnet Express. “Avnet continually looks for ways to accelerate our customers’ time-to-market and providing in-stock availability of these products gives automotive, communications and industrial designers a true edge on their competition.”

Linear LED driver from Diodes Inc. simplifies low-power LED control

PLANO, USA: Diodes Inc. announced the AL5802 linear LED driver. Integrating a high gain NPN transistor with a 30V rated pre-biased NPN output transistor, the AL5802 provides a simple, cost-effective and low EMI solution for controlling current in up to 9 low-power series-connected LEDs. With an open-collector output capable of operating between 0.8V to 30V, the SOT26 packaged driver supports 12V and 24V power supplies and delivers LED currents between 20mA to 100mA for LED signs, lamps and automotive interior display applications.

The LED current is set by an external low-value resistor, the one additional component required by the driver. By generating a reference voltage of 0.65V across the resistor, the internal high-gain transistor helps minimize power losses and ensures supply voltage headroom. The negative temperature coefficient of the reference voltage means that LED current is automatically reduced at high temperatures, thereby helping to protect LEDs and improve circuit reliability.

PWM dimming of the LED string is also simple to achieve by either driving the device bias pin with a low-impedance voltage source or driving its enable pin with an external open-collector NPN transistor or open-drain N-Channel MOSFET. The AL5802’s wide ambient temperature operating range of -40ºC to +125ºC enables it to be circuit mounted very close to the LEDs in space-limited lighting applications.

Inventors of GaN LED and yellow LED to speak at LEDforum Taipei 2011

TAIWAN: LEDforum 2011, the largest LED seminar in Taiwan, is scheduled to be held on November 1-2, 2011 at the NTUH International Convention Center in Taipei. Organized and held by LEDinside, a research division of TrendForce, LEDinside analysts will present in-depth analyses on both European and Chinese markets and provide perspectives on the market trends and outlook during this two day event.

Moreover, the inventor of GaN LED Dr. Shuji Nakamura and the inventor of yellow LED, George Craford will both be speaking at the LEDforum 2011, addressing the cutting edge trends of the LED industry and LED innovations and application in next generation lighting, respectively.

Most notably, Dr. Shuji Nakamura, honored with Nobel Prize nomination and Millennium Prize, came to Taipei, Taiwan for a sold-out speech in 2007. Dr. Nakamura earned the title of “the inventor of GaN LED” due to his success in inventing GaN LED. In the early days, the difficulty of manufacturing GaN (blue) LED was a real stumbling block to creating colorful RGB basic color palette for LEDs.

However, after Dr. Nakamura solved the manufacturing issue of GaN LED, it spurred the invention of white LED, which contributes to the wide adoption of LED applications today. The perspectives of LED’s two iconic figures will illuminate the path to the next generation LED lighting.

LEDforum 2011 is a two-day seminar organized by LEDinside, which will be held at the NTUH International Convention Center on November 1-2, 2011. On the first day of LEDforum, the sessions will dissect the trends of LED upstream material, equipment and chip markets; the sessions on the second day will tackle the issues of LED lighting applications, driver IC and package and shed light on the big picture of LED industry, helping the participants get a firm grasp of the market dynamics.

element14 intros innovative Freescale Tower System in Asia Pacific

BANGALORE, INDIA: element14 (formerly Farnell), the first electronic component distributor that fuses commerce and community, has introduced the Freescale Semiconductor Tower System, a modular development platform for 8, 16 and 32-bit microcontrollers and microprocessors that enables advanced development through rapid prototyping.

Interchangeable and reusable modules, along with open source design files, make it easy to customize each design, providing design engineers more time to focus on differentiated solutions. Expansion in the Tower system is simple and cost effective with hardware available as complete kits and standalone, individual modules.

“The increasing complexity of industrial applications and expanding functionality of semiconductors are driving embedded developers toward solutions that require the integration of proven hardware and software platforms,” said Geoff Lees, VP of Freescale's Industrial & Multi-Market MCU business. “Freescale, along with a strong alliance network, offers comprehensive solutions, including development tools, debuggers, programmers and software. Our strategic relationship with element14 provides our customers in Asia Pacific with our most advanced solutions along with high quality customer service.”

“The Freescale Tower System is an innovative modular development platform that saves electronic design engineers months of development time through rapid prototyping and reusable tools,” said William Chong, regional director of Supplier Marketing, element14, Asia Pacific. “element14 will continue to offer our customers in the Asia Pacific with the most comprehensive range of advanced solutions from the world’s best manufacturers in the fastest time possible to enable even shorter design cycles.”

Cutting-edge modular development platform
The Freescale Tower System, featuring multiple modules, provides designers with building blocks for entry-level to advanced microcontroller development.

There are two types of hardware modules, MCU/MPU and peripheral (i.e., serial, memory, LCD, etc.), which plug into backplane “elevator” boards. MCU/MPU modules act as the main controller board for the assembled Tower System, providing everything from 8-bit to DSC to 32-bit processing. Peripheral modules add features and functionality and include serial connectors, memory options, graphical LCDs and many others. These MCU/MPU, peripheral modules and elevator boards combine to make a constantly evolving development system based on new and changing design needs.

The use of open source hardware and software allows quick development with proven designs to create new modules. The inherent modularity of the Tower System gives significant choice with additional controllers, processors and peripherals and saves time and money through rapid prototyping and tool re-use for any number of projects.

Universal Tower module for existing S08 and RS08 devices
The TWR-S08UNIV provides a Freescale Tower System development solution for pre-existing S08 and RS08 devices. This combination of a Tower System module and its attachable daughter cards provide an easy way to switch between different S08 and RS08 MCUs without purchasing the same development board again. The TWR-S08UNIV brings a set of MCUs previously supported only by traditional demo boards into the growing Tower System ecosystem.

Mouser Electronics and International Rectifier unite in global distribution agreement

DALLAS & FORT WORTH, USA: Mouser Electronics Inc., regarded as a top design engineering resource and global distributor for semiconductors and electronic components, today announced a new worldwide distribution agreement with International Rectifier (IR), a world leader in power management technology.

For design engineers, Mouser’s agreement with International Rectifier means faster, more streamlined access to IR’s advanced power management technology that enables applications to work smarter, run cooler, and raise the world's productivity-per-watt. With Mouser, customers will have access to detailed product knowledge microsites for IR’s newest products including digital, analog and mixed-signal ICs, power systems and discrete power components.

“Our agreement with International Rectifier represents our latest step towards offering complete, wide-spectrum availability of the most advanced technologies for design engineers,” says Mike Scott, Mouser’s VP of Semiconductors. “By focusing on power semiconductor components and subsystems, IR creates proprietary products that add more value to customers' end products. We are excited to have them on board, and look forward to a long, prosperous relationship between our two companies.”

“With decades of experience in providing cutting edge components for design engineers, Mouser supplies the tools necessary for the frontlines of new technology,” states Adam White, senior VP, Worldwide Sales, International Rectifier. “This agreement with Mouser reflects our continued focus on customer base expansion and acceptance of our newest products and industry-leading technologies. With our aggressive focus on R&D, we are generating a flow of highly-differentiated products targeted to high-growth applications – an excellent fit for Mouser’s distribution niche.”

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser caters to design engineers and buyers by delivering What’s Next in advanced technologies. Mouser offers customers 19 global support locations and the latest, most technologically advanced components for their newest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is updated daily and searches more than 8 million products to locate over 2 million orderable part numbers available for easy online purchase. Mouser.com also houses an industry-first interactive catalog, data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.