USA: Larson Electronics has announced the addition of a powerful new LED spotlight capable of operating with either common 120 volt AC current or the 12/24 volt currently typically available from vehicles and boats. The PML-90LED-DP-120 90 Watt LED Spotlight features IP68 rated waterproof construction, heavy duty aluminum construction, and the ability to operate from a wide variety of voltages both AC and DC.
The Larson Electronics PML-90LED-DP-120 90 Watt LED Spotlight provides professionals in demanding environments with a highly versatile and powerful source of intense focused light output. This powerful LED spotlight features a heavy duty aluminum housing with polycarbonate lenses and control handle for extreme durability.
The housing is IP68 rated waterproof to three meters of submersion, making it impervious to the effects of splashing water, driving rain, and high humidity. Mounting of the light is through a heavy gauge steel mounting plate with tensioned hinge assembly for secure and stable placement on flat surfaces. A single polycarbonate handle provides easy manipulation and the tensioned hinge allows the operator to adjust the lamp as needed, and then holds it in position once released without the need for lock screws or pins.
Power for this LED spotlight is supplied through an included inline transformer that allows operators to run the light with standard 120 to 277 VAC current. Operators can also disconnect the transformer and run the light directly from sources of 12 or 24 volt DC current such as car or truck electrical systems for added versatility. This LED light contains nine ten watt LEDs and produces a light beam over 2,000 feet long in spotlight configuration.
Buyers can also choose an optional floodlight configuration to produce a beam approximately 1200 feet long by 450 feet wide for more dispersed illumination over a wider area. This is a heavy duty spotlight intended for use in demanding conditions and is a popular choice among military and law enforcement professionals as well as personnel in the security industry.
"The PML-90LED-DP-120 LED light with swivel mount control base is designed as an alternative to larger security lights," said Rob Bresnahan with LarsonElectronics.com. "Operators can run this light for a low voltage 12/24VDC power source, like a vehicle, or they can power it from 120/277VAC standard grid power. This flexible power source operation and position-able light beam make this light very useful for any operator looking to identify issues at a distance."
Larson Electronics manufactures an extensive line of portable work lights, hazardous location lights, infrared LED lights, LED spotlights, and portable LED work lights.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Transphorm enables world's first GaN-based high power converter
USA: Transphorm Inc. announced at the 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit that its novel 600V Gallium Nitride (GaN) module has enabled the world's first GaN-based high power converter.
Transphorm will demonstrate the product built with its customer-partner Yaskawa Electric, Japan at the upcoming APEC 2013 industry conference. The announcement underscores the significant technical and commercial progress that Transphorm has made since being awarded ARPA-E funding in 2011 to reduce the vast amount of electric power waste globally.
Yaskawa's product, a 4.5kW PV power conditioner, is powered by Transphorm's 600V GaN half-bridge modules, which has enabled it to achieve several industry firsts:
* The first high power converter product in the world utilizing GaN technology.
* The first efficient PV power conditioner to operate at 50KHz.
* Simultaneous achievement of a 40% reduction in inverter size and 98 percent efficiency operation, a form and function benefit uniquely enabled by Transphorm's EZ-GaN module technology.
Transphorm's patented, high-performance EZ-GaNTM module technology, combines low switching and conduction losses offering reduced energy loss of over 50 percent compared to conventional silicon based power conversion designs while simultaneously operating at higher frequency.
"The partnership between Yaskawa, the world leader in inverter solutions, and Transphorm, the world leader in GaN-based power conversion, has produced the world's first high power GaN power converter," said Umesh Mishra, CEO of Transphorm. "This is a disruptive first step which signals the broad adoption of GaN-based power conversion solutions."
Transphorm's efficient, compact, and easy-to-embed solutions simplify the design and manufacturing of a wide variety of electrical systems and devices, including power supplies and adapters, PV Inverters for solar panels, motor drives and power conversion for electric vehicles.
Transphorm's proprietary EZ- GaNTM platform can reduce power system size, increase energy density and deliver high efficiencies across the grid. For customers looking for a low-risk roadmap to the next generation of power conversion technology, EZ-GaNTM provides a cost-effective, customizable and easy-to-use solution ready for commercial scale.
Transphorm will demonstrate the product built with its customer-partner Yaskawa Electric, Japan at the upcoming APEC 2013 industry conference. The announcement underscores the significant technical and commercial progress that Transphorm has made since being awarded ARPA-E funding in 2011 to reduce the vast amount of electric power waste globally.
Yaskawa's product, a 4.5kW PV power conditioner, is powered by Transphorm's 600V GaN half-bridge modules, which has enabled it to achieve several industry firsts:
* The first high power converter product in the world utilizing GaN technology.
* The first efficient PV power conditioner to operate at 50KHz.
* Simultaneous achievement of a 40% reduction in inverter size and 98 percent efficiency operation, a form and function benefit uniquely enabled by Transphorm's EZ-GaN module technology.
Transphorm's patented, high-performance EZ-GaNTM module technology, combines low switching and conduction losses offering reduced energy loss of over 50 percent compared to conventional silicon based power conversion designs while simultaneously operating at higher frequency.
"The partnership between Yaskawa, the world leader in inverter solutions, and Transphorm, the world leader in GaN-based power conversion, has produced the world's first high power GaN power converter," said Umesh Mishra, CEO of Transphorm. "This is a disruptive first step which signals the broad adoption of GaN-based power conversion solutions."
Transphorm's efficient, compact, and easy-to-embed solutions simplify the design and manufacturing of a wide variety of electrical systems and devices, including power supplies and adapters, PV Inverters for solar panels, motor drives and power conversion for electric vehicles.
Transphorm's proprietary EZ- GaNTM platform can reduce power system size, increase energy density and deliver high efficiencies across the grid. For customers looking for a low-risk roadmap to the next generation of power conversion technology, EZ-GaNTM provides a cost-effective, customizable and easy-to-use solution ready for commercial scale.
Corning to acquire Bargoa S.A.
USA: Corning Inc. has signed an agreement with Abengoa to acquire its Brazilian subsidiary, Bargoa S.A., a leading provider of connectivity solutions for the Brazilian telecom sector.
The terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. Pending regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter in 2013.
With its main activities located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Bargoa provides a wide range of connectivity solutions in the rapidly growing Brazilian telecommunications marketplace. Upon closing, Bargoa will be integrated into Corning's telecommunications business segment.
Corning currently plays an active role in the telecommunications industry in Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, and sixth largest economy in the world. The acquisition will strengthen Corning's telecom activities in the region – building on Bargoa's strong brand, high-quality manufacturing, and flexible design capabilities. These competencies complement Corning's innovative telecommunications portfolio and will enable the company to extend its leadership as a connectivity solutions company.
"We are very excited about the opportunity to expand Corning's presence in Brazil," said Clark S. Kinlin, executive VP, Telecommunications Business Group. "Bargoa has a proven history of delivering customer-driven solutions based on excellent manufacturing capabilities. We look forward to building a bright future in the Brazilian telecom market when Bargoa's talented team joins us."
The terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. Pending regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter in 2013.
With its main activities located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Bargoa provides a wide range of connectivity solutions in the rapidly growing Brazilian telecommunications marketplace. Upon closing, Bargoa will be integrated into Corning's telecommunications business segment.
Corning currently plays an active role in the telecommunications industry in Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, and sixth largest economy in the world. The acquisition will strengthen Corning's telecom activities in the region – building on Bargoa's strong brand, high-quality manufacturing, and flexible design capabilities. These competencies complement Corning's innovative telecommunications portfolio and will enable the company to extend its leadership as a connectivity solutions company.
"We are very excited about the opportunity to expand Corning's presence in Brazil," said Clark S. Kinlin, executive VP, Telecommunications Business Group. "Bargoa has a proven history of delivering customer-driven solutions based on excellent manufacturing capabilities. We look forward to building a bright future in the Brazilian telecom market when Bargoa's talented team joins us."
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
LED-based street lighting market to surpass $2 billion by 2020
USA: Dramatically falling costs and improvements in efficiency are driving increased sales of light emitting diode (LED) lamps for street lighting. Costs have fallen as much as 50 percent over the past two years, and are expected to continue falling.
According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, by 2015, LEDs will become the second-leading type of lamp for street lights in terms of sales, behind only high pressure sodium lamps. By 2020, the study concludes, LED lamps for street lights will generate more than $2 billion in annual revenue.
“Broader investments in smart city infrastructure by municipal governments will boost smart street lighting projects, as the two go hand in hand,” says research analyst Jesse Foote. “Smart street lighting systems can provide a backbone for other smart city applications, and conversely, a city investing in networking capabilities for smart city applications should also be looking to include better management of street lighting.”
Nearly all smart street lighting projects are still in a pilot phase at the moment, according to the report. The adoption of LED street lights and networked control systems is seriously hindered by the ownership models and tariff structures in place across the United States and in some European and Asian locations as well.
If utility companies own street lighting systems and charge a fixed tariff per light to municipalities, then towns have little financial incentive to pay for upgrading their lights. However, the potential for significant energy savings, reduced emissions and improved quality of service, combined with falling LED prices, means that more and more cities will find this an attractive proposition over time.
According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, by 2015, LEDs will become the second-leading type of lamp for street lights in terms of sales, behind only high pressure sodium lamps. By 2020, the study concludes, LED lamps for street lights will generate more than $2 billion in annual revenue.
“Broader investments in smart city infrastructure by municipal governments will boost smart street lighting projects, as the two go hand in hand,” says research analyst Jesse Foote. “Smart street lighting systems can provide a backbone for other smart city applications, and conversely, a city investing in networking capabilities for smart city applications should also be looking to include better management of street lighting.”
Nearly all smart street lighting projects are still in a pilot phase at the moment, according to the report. The adoption of LED street lights and networked control systems is seriously hindered by the ownership models and tariff structures in place across the United States and in some European and Asian locations as well.
If utility companies own street lighting systems and charge a fixed tariff per light to municipalities, then towns have little financial incentive to pay for upgrading their lights. However, the potential for significant energy savings, reduced emissions and improved quality of service, combined with falling LED prices, means that more and more cities will find this an attractive proposition over time.
iWatt 6-channel LED driver with intelligent digital control engine
USA: iWatt Inc. has announced its latest LED driver for LCD TV backlighting. The new iW7011 is a 6-channel LED driver with a built-in intelligent digital control engine, developed to reduce the bill of materials (BOM) cost and simplify design of edge-lit and direct-lit LCD TVs.
The digital core of the iW7011 provides on-chip control of the DC-to-DC boost circuit, along with precise LED dimming control and all the monitoring and feedback for the LED drivers. It also allows timing delays to be set for dynamic scanning, simplifying design by enabling one part to be used for both 2D and 3D TVs.
The iW7011 uses external LED current sinks and external boost MOSFETs for easy current and voltage scaling (up to 300mA per channel and Vout close to 85V), allowing designers to source one part type to meet requirements spanning medium- to large-size LCD TVs and monitors.
The iW7011 lowers BOM costs by integrating a number of design features. The on-board boost controller provides a high-voltage power supply for the external LED strings. The digital control engine allows real-time control of phase delays (especially relevant for 3D TVs) and manages Vsync synchronization (from 50Hz to 480Hz) and fault read outs, eliminating costly microcontrollers.
Additionally, the iW7011 offers an 85V capability on drain sensing, which means there is no need for cascodes or zener clamps for protection, while high-voltage drain sensing eliminates external diodes usually required for LED short-circuit fault management.
“We believe the iW7011 is the industry’s first truly flexible, scalable and cost-effective backlight solution,” said Athar Zaidi, iWatt’s VP of marketing for DC-DC products. “It reduces the BOM cost and allows one LED driver type to be used across different size LCD panels and for both 2D and 3D TVs, helping customers simplify design with price-competitive products.”
The digital control engine in the iW7011 improves overall system efficiency by optimizing the DC-to-DC voltage based on the minimum feedback voltage of the LED strings that is required to maintain the target current regulation. The digital control engine also generates the current sink PWM waveforms, processes the fault conditions, and reports on all faults.
The iW7011 enables accurate dimming control, with 14-bit resolution at 120Hz PWM frequency. It offers the flexibility of phase-shifted dimming of the current sinks either through direct PWM mode or through an SPI interface.
Additionally, an optional 8-bit analog register can be used to increase the dimming resolution. Phase-shifted dimming reduces capacitance demand on the input and output to improve both dimming linearity and EMI (electromagnetic interference) performance. Four phase-shift dimming options are available: three fixed options for 6-channel operation and an adaptive phase shift option where the shift is evenly distributed based on the number of active channels.
The iW7011 features a wide input voltage of 10V to 28V and LED current up to 300mA. It provides high, 2% channel-to-channel matching accuracy and 0.5% absolute current accuracy to deliver uniform brightness across the entire display. Comprehensive, built-in protection features include over-voltage, over-current, UVLO and over-temperature protection on the boost converter, with open detection and short fault protection for the LED drivers.
The iW7011 is packaged in a 44-pin, 10mm x 10mm, thin QFP with 0.8 mm pitch and a pin-out optimized for single-layer PCB layout.
The digital core of the iW7011 provides on-chip control of the DC-to-DC boost circuit, along with precise LED dimming control and all the monitoring and feedback for the LED drivers. It also allows timing delays to be set for dynamic scanning, simplifying design by enabling one part to be used for both 2D and 3D TVs.
The iW7011 uses external LED current sinks and external boost MOSFETs for easy current and voltage scaling (up to 300mA per channel and Vout close to 85V), allowing designers to source one part type to meet requirements spanning medium- to large-size LCD TVs and monitors.
The iW7011 lowers BOM costs by integrating a number of design features. The on-board boost controller provides a high-voltage power supply for the external LED strings. The digital control engine allows real-time control of phase delays (especially relevant for 3D TVs) and manages Vsync synchronization (from 50Hz to 480Hz) and fault read outs, eliminating costly microcontrollers.
Additionally, the iW7011 offers an 85V capability on drain sensing, which means there is no need for cascodes or zener clamps for protection, while high-voltage drain sensing eliminates external diodes usually required for LED short-circuit fault management.
“We believe the iW7011 is the industry’s first truly flexible, scalable and cost-effective backlight solution,” said Athar Zaidi, iWatt’s VP of marketing for DC-DC products. “It reduces the BOM cost and allows one LED driver type to be used across different size LCD panels and for both 2D and 3D TVs, helping customers simplify design with price-competitive products.”
The digital control engine in the iW7011 improves overall system efficiency by optimizing the DC-to-DC voltage based on the minimum feedback voltage of the LED strings that is required to maintain the target current regulation. The digital control engine also generates the current sink PWM waveforms, processes the fault conditions, and reports on all faults.
The iW7011 enables accurate dimming control, with 14-bit resolution at 120Hz PWM frequency. It offers the flexibility of phase-shifted dimming of the current sinks either through direct PWM mode or through an SPI interface.
Additionally, an optional 8-bit analog register can be used to increase the dimming resolution. Phase-shifted dimming reduces capacitance demand on the input and output to improve both dimming linearity and EMI (electromagnetic interference) performance. Four phase-shift dimming options are available: three fixed options for 6-channel operation and an adaptive phase shift option where the shift is evenly distributed based on the number of active channels.
The iW7011 features a wide input voltage of 10V to 28V and LED current up to 300mA. It provides high, 2% channel-to-channel matching accuracy and 0.5% absolute current accuracy to deliver uniform brightness across the entire display. Comprehensive, built-in protection features include over-voltage, over-current, UVLO and over-temperature protection on the boost converter, with open detection and short fault protection for the LED drivers.
The iW7011 is packaged in a 44-pin, 10mm x 10mm, thin QFP with 0.8 mm pitch and a pin-out optimized for single-layer PCB layout.
New LED-downlight reference design from Power Integrations achieves high-performance dimming while reducing component count
USA: Power Integrations has announced RDR-347, an LED-downlight reference design. The new circuit demonstrates the capabilities of the recently launched LYTSwitch IC family, which offers the industry’s best high-end dimming performance from a single-stage LED driver – together with all the associated efficiency, space and cost benefits that the single-stage approach brings.
The RDR-347 12 W reference design, based on the LYT4313E, delivers a power factor greater than 0.95 and reduces total harmonic distortion (THD) to less than 10 percent - easily meeting EN61000-3-2C requirements. Efficiency is greater than 86 percent at 120 VAC – industry-leading performance for an isolated solution capable of operating with a wide range of dimmers.
This performance is possible because LYTSwitch ICs use one combined PFC and CC power conversion stage which minimizes losses and cuts component count, which in turn increases reliability and decreases cost.
TRIAC dimming is challenging, especially deep-dimming where TRIAC asymmetry between half-cycles can have a significant effect. RDR-347 shows that Power Integrations’ LYTSwitch driver IC works excellently, even at very low output currents, without any shimmer or flicker.
The design also demonstrates system start-up without noticeable hysteresis (so-called “pop-on effect”), even in deep-dimming. The IC features a very fast start-up time (under 500 ms) even when dimmed to 10 percent output current, achieving the “instant-on” condition that many customers want, but that many designs in the market cannot provide.
The RDR-347 12 W reference design, based on the LYT4313E, delivers a power factor greater than 0.95 and reduces total harmonic distortion (THD) to less than 10 percent - easily meeting EN61000-3-2C requirements. Efficiency is greater than 86 percent at 120 VAC – industry-leading performance for an isolated solution capable of operating with a wide range of dimmers.
This performance is possible because LYTSwitch ICs use one combined PFC and CC power conversion stage which minimizes losses and cuts component count, which in turn increases reliability and decreases cost.
TRIAC dimming is challenging, especially deep-dimming where TRIAC asymmetry between half-cycles can have a significant effect. RDR-347 shows that Power Integrations’ LYTSwitch driver IC works excellently, even at very low output currents, without any shimmer or flicker.
The design also demonstrates system start-up without noticeable hysteresis (so-called “pop-on effect”), even in deep-dimming. The IC features a very fast start-up time (under 500 ms) even when dimmed to 10 percent output current, achieving the “instant-on” condition that many customers want, but that many designs in the market cannot provide.
RFMD intros power amplification solution based on Broadcom 5G Wifi technology
SPAIN: RF Micro Devices Inc. is shipping production volumes of its power amplification solutions that are compatible with Broadcom's 5G WiFi chips.
RFMD developed the RFFM82x5 (2.4GHz) and RFFM85x5 (5GHz) FEMs with Broadcom's 5G WiFi chips, which are based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard. The combined solution delivers faster throughput and expanded range for an enhanced user experience. RFMD's extensive portfolio of WiFi front end modules supports Broadcom's BCM4335 5G WiFi reference design for mobile platforms and Broadcom's BCM4360 5G WiFi reference design for customer premise equipment (CPE) solutions.
Rahul Patel (Broadcom VP, Mobile Wireless Connectivity Combos Group), said: "5G WiFi provides faster, more reliable coverage so that consumers can watch video and connect multiple devices to the network simultaneously without issue, all while also preserving battery life. By partnering with RFMD, Broadcom is continuing to drive the adoption of 5G WiFi into a broad range of products and leading the industry transition to this next-generation wireless breakthrough."
Norm Hilgendorf, president of RFMD's Multi-Market Products Group, said: "RFMD is very pleased to partner with Broadcom to deliver superior performance, reliability and value to our mutual customers. RFMD is committed to growing our participation on Broadcom reference designs to help power the world's leading WiFi enabled data devices."
RFMD developed the RFFM82x5 (2.4GHz) and RFFM85x5 (5GHz) FEMs with Broadcom's 5G WiFi chips, which are based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard. The combined solution delivers faster throughput and expanded range for an enhanced user experience. RFMD's extensive portfolio of WiFi front end modules supports Broadcom's BCM4335 5G WiFi reference design for mobile platforms and Broadcom's BCM4360 5G WiFi reference design for customer premise equipment (CPE) solutions.
Rahul Patel (Broadcom VP, Mobile Wireless Connectivity Combos Group), said: "5G WiFi provides faster, more reliable coverage so that consumers can watch video and connect multiple devices to the network simultaneously without issue, all while also preserving battery life. By partnering with RFMD, Broadcom is continuing to drive the adoption of 5G WiFi into a broad range of products and leading the industry transition to this next-generation wireless breakthrough."
Norm Hilgendorf, president of RFMD's Multi-Market Products Group, said: "RFMD is very pleased to partner with Broadcom to deliver superior performance, reliability and value to our mutual customers. RFMD is committed to growing our participation on Broadcom reference designs to help power the world's leading WiFi enabled data devices."
Cree, Nichia, Rohm Semiconductor among top firms in LEDs and power electronics
USA: LEDs are projected to grow more than six-fold to nearly $100 billion and power conversion electronics to $15 billion over the next decade as the desire for energy efficiency drives adoption, says Lux Research.
While the market opportunity is clear, the winning positions are still very much up for grabs, so making wise partnership and investment choices is critical.
“A slew of developers are working on innovative materials and system architectures, targeting the primary challenges of cost reduction and manufacturability,” said Pallavi Madakasira, Lux research analyst and the lead author of the report titled, “Winning the Jump Ball: Sorting Winners from Losers in LEDs and Power Electronics.” “Many leading lights of the electronics industry are strong in these markets, but start-ups with novel technologies are looking to grab a share for themselves.”
Lux Research positioned the key developers of LEDs and power electronics materials, devices, and systems on the Lux Innovation Grid based on their Technical Value and Business Execution – companies that are strong on both axes reach the “Dominant” quadrant. They also assessed each company’s maturity, and provided an overall Lux Take. Among their findings:
* SiC players are dominant in power electronics. The ”Dominant” power electronics players wager mostly on SiC. Cree is a fully vertically integrated SiC device manufacturer, while other top leaders are experienced players from silicon power electronics like Infineon, Rohm Semiconductor and ST Microelectronics.
* Cree, II-VI Wide Bandgap lead materials space. Cree is also “Dominant” in materials, based on its development of SiC substrates. The only other company with a “dominant” rank is II-VI Wide Bandgap Group, an SiC wafer supplier with established relationships with power electronics and RF device manufacturers.
* Six vie for dominance in LED. Cree is the leader in LEDs as well, the only firm that has successfully commercialized SiC-substrate-based LEDs at scale. Among other “Dominant” firms, Nichia holds the most IP, while Samsung, Philips, and Osram Opto Semiconductors have all demonstrated GaN-on-silicon LEDs. GE Lighting does not have its own chip technology but its integration further down the value chain and its recent acquisition of fixture manufacturer Albeo make it a force to reckon with.
While the market opportunity is clear, the winning positions are still very much up for grabs, so making wise partnership and investment choices is critical.
“A slew of developers are working on innovative materials and system architectures, targeting the primary challenges of cost reduction and manufacturability,” said Pallavi Madakasira, Lux research analyst and the lead author of the report titled, “Winning the Jump Ball: Sorting Winners from Losers in LEDs and Power Electronics.” “Many leading lights of the electronics industry are strong in these markets, but start-ups with novel technologies are looking to grab a share for themselves.”
Lux Research positioned the key developers of LEDs and power electronics materials, devices, and systems on the Lux Innovation Grid based on their Technical Value and Business Execution – companies that are strong on both axes reach the “Dominant” quadrant. They also assessed each company’s maturity, and provided an overall Lux Take. Among their findings:
* SiC players are dominant in power electronics. The ”Dominant” power electronics players wager mostly on SiC. Cree is a fully vertically integrated SiC device manufacturer, while other top leaders are experienced players from silicon power electronics like Infineon, Rohm Semiconductor and ST Microelectronics.
* Cree, II-VI Wide Bandgap lead materials space. Cree is also “Dominant” in materials, based on its development of SiC substrates. The only other company with a “dominant” rank is II-VI Wide Bandgap Group, an SiC wafer supplier with established relationships with power electronics and RF device manufacturers.
* Six vie for dominance in LED. Cree is the leader in LEDs as well, the only firm that has successfully commercialized SiC-substrate-based LEDs at scale. Among other “Dominant” firms, Nichia holds the most IP, while Samsung, Philips, and Osram Opto Semiconductors have all demonstrated GaN-on-silicon LEDs. GE Lighting does not have its own chip technology but its integration further down the value chain and its recent acquisition of fixture manufacturer Albeo make it a force to reckon with.
Excelitas intros UV LED high performance light module
USA: Excelitas Technologies, a global technology leader focused on delivering innovative, customized optoelectronics to OEMs seeking high-performance technology solutions, announced the launch of CurX, its first UV LED solution for the printing and curing industry.
Delivering superior performance and operating stability, CurX is well suited for demanding applications such as digital ink printing, screen printing, flexo printing, offset printing, and the curing of coatings, adhesives, glues, and varnishes.
The CurX UV-LED module is a linear, scalable, high-end UV LED curing “flood” module available in 365 nm, 385 nm and 395 nm ranges of UV output. The CurX UV-LED module, which incorporates LED technology from Nichia, delivers up to 50 percent higher irradiance than other products on the market, and features an ultra compact design for easy integration.
It also features a sophisticated water cooling system that provides a consistent operating temperature for maximum performance. CurX is comprised of a ceramic substrate with multiple UV LED dies, a driver, and controller for fast switching and easy dimming. The CurX UV-LED module is fully customizable to meet specific needs of customers and requires no mechanical switches.
“In keeping with our commitment to continuously innovate, I am delighted that the CurX UV-LED module now provides the printing and curing industry with a high-performance, energy-efficient, longer life solution,” said Joel Falcone, senior VP and GM, Excelitas. “Excelitas constantly strives to develop innovative technologies that allow our customers to be more productive and cost efficient. The CurX UV- LED module helps to do just that by increasing printing and curing throughput.”
Delivering superior performance and operating stability, CurX is well suited for demanding applications such as digital ink printing, screen printing, flexo printing, offset printing, and the curing of coatings, adhesives, glues, and varnishes.
The CurX UV-LED module is a linear, scalable, high-end UV LED curing “flood” module available in 365 nm, 385 nm and 395 nm ranges of UV output. The CurX UV-LED module, which incorporates LED technology from Nichia, delivers up to 50 percent higher irradiance than other products on the market, and features an ultra compact design for easy integration.
It also features a sophisticated water cooling system that provides a consistent operating temperature for maximum performance. CurX is comprised of a ceramic substrate with multiple UV LED dies, a driver, and controller for fast switching and easy dimming. The CurX UV-LED module is fully customizable to meet specific needs of customers and requires no mechanical switches.
“In keeping with our commitment to continuously innovate, I am delighted that the CurX UV-LED module now provides the printing and curing industry with a high-performance, energy-efficient, longer life solution,” said Joel Falcone, senior VP and GM, Excelitas. “Excelitas constantly strives to develop innovative technologies that allow our customers to be more productive and cost efficient. The CurX UV- LED module helps to do just that by increasing printing and curing throughput.”
Analogix releases single-cable SlimPort HDTV connector
Mobile World Congress 2013, SPAIN & USA: Analogix Semiconductor, a leader in DisplayPort-based interconnect devices, has just added a SlimPort HDTV cable to its feature line of SlimPort accessories.
This lightweight, single cable provides a simple plug and play connection from your Google Nexus 4 smartphone or SlimPort technology-enabled MYDP mobile device to any HDMI monitors or TVs and can be immediately purchased on Amazon for $34.95 (USD).
“Unlocking your media from the smartphone is as simple as a single, lightweight cable,” said Andre Bouwer, VP of marketing for Analogix. “This sleek connector allows you to get maximum productivity and enjoyment from your device and will quickly go everywhere you go.”
SlimPort provides the seamless transfer of Full HD resolution videos, photos, games and other media resident on the smartphone to be viewed and interacted with on virtually any size screen, all while preserving battery life. Featuring a SlimPort micro USB to HDMI 1.4 male connector, the SlimPort HDTV cable, model SP1101, is a comfortable 150cm (nearly 5 feet) and supports up to 1080p resolutions, 60Hz video refresh rate, 24 bits per pixel and up to 7.1 channel HDMI audio.
SlimPort branded products are based on the DisplayPort technology and are compliant with the Mobility DisplayPort (MyDP) standard, owned by VESA. The cable, backed by a one year warranty, is FCC and CE certified, RoHS II compliant and halogen-free.
This lightweight, single cable provides a simple plug and play connection from your Google Nexus 4 smartphone or SlimPort technology-enabled MYDP mobile device to any HDMI monitors or TVs and can be immediately purchased on Amazon for $34.95 (USD).
“Unlocking your media from the smartphone is as simple as a single, lightweight cable,” said Andre Bouwer, VP of marketing for Analogix. “This sleek connector allows you to get maximum productivity and enjoyment from your device and will quickly go everywhere you go.”
SlimPort provides the seamless transfer of Full HD resolution videos, photos, games and other media resident on the smartphone to be viewed and interacted with on virtually any size screen, all while preserving battery life. Featuring a SlimPort micro USB to HDMI 1.4 male connector, the SlimPort HDTV cable, model SP1101, is a comfortable 150cm (nearly 5 feet) and supports up to 1080p resolutions, 60Hz video refresh rate, 24 bits per pixel and up to 7.1 channel HDMI audio.
SlimPort branded products are based on the DisplayPort technology and are compliant with the Mobility DisplayPort (MyDP) standard, owned by VESA. The cable, backed by a one year warranty, is FCC and CE certified, RoHS II compliant and halogen-free.
Cree LED lighting to reduce energy consumption at Mt. Pleasant Walmart neighborhood market
USA: As part of a continued focus on sustainability, the nation’s largest retailer has selected energy-efficient LED lighting by Cree Inc. to illuminate the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Mt. Pleasant, Wisc.
Cree interior lighting products, including more than 400 CS18 LED linear luminaires, will fully illuminate the Neighborhood Market – from the sales floor and pharmacy to restrooms, vestibules and backroom areas. Cree LED lighting will also be installed in the parking lot and exterior areas of the store.
Walmart estimates that the CS18 luminaires, designed for low maintenance and long life, will save approximately 30 percent in energy costs compared to interior fluorescent lighting. Cree interior and exterior lighting fixtures offer an industry-leading long service life and are backed by a 10-year limited warranty. This substantial product lifetime enables significant maintenance reductions and energy savings for the Neighborhood Market.
Recently ranked fifth on the 2012 Newsweek rankings for greenest US retailers, Walmart’s deployment of Cree LED lighting will help the company achieve its sustainability goals: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment. According to Walmart, the retailer used enough renewable energy last year to power 78,000 homes and is keeping 80 percent of its US waste out of landfills.
The high-efficiency CS18 suspended LED linear luminaire uses approximately 30 percent less energy and lasts more than three times longer than standard fluorescents. The CS18 luminaire will bring an extraordinary combination of performance, aesthetics and optimal light distribution to the sales floor of the Mt. Pleasant Walmart Neighborhood Market.
Cree interior lighting products, including more than 400 CS18 LED linear luminaires, will fully illuminate the Neighborhood Market – from the sales floor and pharmacy to restrooms, vestibules and backroom areas. Cree LED lighting will also be installed in the parking lot and exterior areas of the store.
Walmart estimates that the CS18 luminaires, designed for low maintenance and long life, will save approximately 30 percent in energy costs compared to interior fluorescent lighting. Cree interior and exterior lighting fixtures offer an industry-leading long service life and are backed by a 10-year limited warranty. This substantial product lifetime enables significant maintenance reductions and energy savings for the Neighborhood Market.
Recently ranked fifth on the 2012 Newsweek rankings for greenest US retailers, Walmart’s deployment of Cree LED lighting will help the company achieve its sustainability goals: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment. According to Walmart, the retailer used enough renewable energy last year to power 78,000 homes and is keeping 80 percent of its US waste out of landfills.
The high-efficiency CS18 suspended LED linear luminaire uses approximately 30 percent less energy and lasts more than three times longer than standard fluorescents. The CS18 luminaire will bring an extraordinary combination of performance, aesthetics and optimal light distribution to the sales floor of the Mt. Pleasant Walmart Neighborhood Market.
IXYS integrates thyristor and IGBT in SMPD module platform
SWITZERLAND: IXYS Corp. has released its latest addition to the ISOPLUS surface mount power device (SMPD) range, which successfully reduces the amount of discrete devices for designers that need to apply insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT), thyristor and fast diode technologies in one circuit.
The patented SMPD module platform has successfully improved reliability and reduced board size by offering surface mount solutions for systems up to 15kW. Using IXYS’ proprietary DCB isolated substrates the SMPD module flexibility provides a platform for mixed technology and multiple die content, e.g., thyristor, IGBT, MOSFET and diode in boost, buck, parallel, half bridge, full and three phase bridges or two switches side by side topologies.
Dr. Nathan Zommer, CEO of IXYS, said: “Incorporating our thyristors with our IGBT’s has been a natural extension of our depth in power semiconductor technologies. The thyristors have been the highest power density switches for the industry and are relatively easy to drive as high side switches in bridge configuration.
"They conduct higher currents with higher efficiencies than FETs and IGBTs, thus a combination with FETs or IGBTs creates almost an ideal switch, where the high-side-high currents, are conducted by the thyristors, and high speed switching is done with the low side IGBTs in this product. More combinations of these technologies are possible, and will be introduced to our customers' needs as applications power devices (ASPD).”
Integration of the thyristor into a half bridge with an IGBT provides a one-stop solution for power designers needing to operate a low frequency bridge (thyristor) with higher frequency modulation (IGBT). The example of the IXA20PT1200LB is a 20A, 1200V SMPD surface mountable module which contains a thyristor at the high side and IGBT technology on the low side of a half bridge circuit allowing an energy efficient solution for applications such as current source micro-inverter, UPSs, power supplies, motor drives and medical applications.
“This latest release illustrates the true attraction of the SMPD Module platform to our customers,” commented Bradley Green, president of European Sales and Business Development. “Combining any number of our rugged, power efficient die technologies into innovative topologies and packing them in our surface mount, pick-and-place ready module platform for energy sensitive applications is a true differentiator.”
“The SMPD Module is a platform that provides ‘solution-scale’ resolution to power problems by reducing board real estate requirement and component count and weight and power loss due to parasitic inductance. We will continue to develop products which resonate with customers’ demand for MORE POWER - LESS PACKAGE and IXYS fully intends to retain the leading edge in providing innovation in this field,” he continued.
The patented SMPD module platform has successfully improved reliability and reduced board size by offering surface mount solutions for systems up to 15kW. Using IXYS’ proprietary DCB isolated substrates the SMPD module flexibility provides a platform for mixed technology and multiple die content, e.g., thyristor, IGBT, MOSFET and diode in boost, buck, parallel, half bridge, full and three phase bridges or two switches side by side topologies.
Dr. Nathan Zommer, CEO of IXYS, said: “Incorporating our thyristors with our IGBT’s has been a natural extension of our depth in power semiconductor technologies. The thyristors have been the highest power density switches for the industry and are relatively easy to drive as high side switches in bridge configuration.
"They conduct higher currents with higher efficiencies than FETs and IGBTs, thus a combination with FETs or IGBTs creates almost an ideal switch, where the high-side-high currents, are conducted by the thyristors, and high speed switching is done with the low side IGBTs in this product. More combinations of these technologies are possible, and will be introduced to our customers' needs as applications power devices (ASPD).”
Integration of the thyristor into a half bridge with an IGBT provides a one-stop solution for power designers needing to operate a low frequency bridge (thyristor) with higher frequency modulation (IGBT). The example of the IXA20PT1200LB is a 20A, 1200V SMPD surface mountable module which contains a thyristor at the high side and IGBT technology on the low side of a half bridge circuit allowing an energy efficient solution for applications such as current source micro-inverter, UPSs, power supplies, motor drives and medical applications.
“This latest release illustrates the true attraction of the SMPD Module platform to our customers,” commented Bradley Green, president of European Sales and Business Development. “Combining any number of our rugged, power efficient die technologies into innovative topologies and packing them in our surface mount, pick-and-place ready module platform for energy sensitive applications is a true differentiator.”
“The SMPD Module is a platform that provides ‘solution-scale’ resolution to power problems by reducing board real estate requirement and component count and weight and power loss due to parasitic inductance. We will continue to develop products which resonate with customers’ demand for MORE POWER - LESS PACKAGE and IXYS fully intends to retain the leading edge in providing innovation in this field,” he continued.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Anritsu announces remote control capability for high-power, battery-operated portable PIM test analyzer
USA: Anritsu Co. has introduced Windows-based remote control software for its PIM Master MW82119A, the industry's first high-power, battery-operated, portable PIM test analyzer.
With the software, field technicians on the ground can control an MW82119A configured on top of the tower, making it easier and more efficient to conduct highly accurate Passive Intermodulation (PIM) measurements, especially for difficult-to-access sites, such as Remote Radio Head (RRH) installations.
The free-of-charge software is compatible with any laptop or tablet operating with Windows XP SP2 through Windows 7 64 bit. Connection to the PIM Master MW82119A can be made over Ethernet or compact Wi-Fi travel router. The new software continues Anritsu's commitment to providing the marketplace with test solutions that address field market conditions.
The software will work with all six PIM Master MW82119A models, which address key frequency ranges, including the upper and lower 700 MHz bands, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, and 1900/2100 MHz. PIM Master MW82119A analyzers incorporate Anritsu's patented Distance-to-PIM (DTP) technology, allowing tower contractors, maintenance contractors, and wireless service provider field technicians to pinpoint the location of PIM problems, whether they are on the tower or outside the antenna system.
The analyzers also test at 40W, which allows the PIM Master MW82119A to locate faults that conventional 20W test solutions might miss, such as intermittent and power-sensitive PIM problems.
As with all Anritsu handheld test solutions, the PIM Master MW82119A is designed to withstand transportation shock, vibration, and harsh outdoor test conditions associated with cell site deployment, installation, and maintenance. Testing is simplified by the analyzer's ability to save and recall test set ups for standardized testing, and limit lines can be set for visual and/or audible pass/fail criteria.
Anritsu's Line Sweep Tools can be used to manage PIM Master MW82119A measurements, and generate reports that combine VSWR data, as well as PIM data into a unified site report. PIM measurements can be tagged with the GPS location when the analyzers are equipped with the GPS option.
The PIM Master MW82119A remote control software will be available for download from the Anritsu website after March 8, 2013
With the software, field technicians on the ground can control an MW82119A configured on top of the tower, making it easier and more efficient to conduct highly accurate Passive Intermodulation (PIM) measurements, especially for difficult-to-access sites, such as Remote Radio Head (RRH) installations.
The free-of-charge software is compatible with any laptop or tablet operating with Windows XP SP2 through Windows 7 64 bit. Connection to the PIM Master MW82119A can be made over Ethernet or compact Wi-Fi travel router. The new software continues Anritsu's commitment to providing the marketplace with test solutions that address field market conditions.
The software will work with all six PIM Master MW82119A models, which address key frequency ranges, including the upper and lower 700 MHz bands, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, and 1900/2100 MHz. PIM Master MW82119A analyzers incorporate Anritsu's patented Distance-to-PIM (DTP) technology, allowing tower contractors, maintenance contractors, and wireless service provider field technicians to pinpoint the location of PIM problems, whether they are on the tower or outside the antenna system.
The analyzers also test at 40W, which allows the PIM Master MW82119A to locate faults that conventional 20W test solutions might miss, such as intermittent and power-sensitive PIM problems.
As with all Anritsu handheld test solutions, the PIM Master MW82119A is designed to withstand transportation shock, vibration, and harsh outdoor test conditions associated with cell site deployment, installation, and maintenance. Testing is simplified by the analyzer's ability to save and recall test set ups for standardized testing, and limit lines can be set for visual and/or audible pass/fail criteria.
Anritsu's Line Sweep Tools can be used to manage PIM Master MW82119A measurements, and generate reports that combine VSWR data, as well as PIM data into a unified site report. PIM measurements can be tagged with the GPS location when the analyzers are equipped with the GPS option.
The PIM Master MW82119A remote control software will be available for download from the Anritsu website after March 8, 2013
Avnet intros Analog Devices Blackfin BF609 embedded vision starter kit
embedded world 2013, USA: Avnet Electronics Marketing has introduced the Analog Devices Blackfin BF609 Embedded Vision Starter Kit.
This low-cost development kit allows engineers to quickly evaluate the capabilities of the Analog Devices dual-core Blackfin BF609 processor, optimized for embedded vision applications, featuring a high-performance video analytics accelerator called the Pipelined Vision Processor (PVP). Customers can get an early look at the kit, which is being shown at the Silica booth at Embedded World 2013, in Nuremberg, Germany, today through Thursday.
“Video analytics/Embedded Vision is an emerging technology area with extensive use in many different types of applications across multiple markets,” said Jim Beneke, VP, global technical marketing, Avnet Electronics Marketing. “The Analog Devices Blackfin BF609 Embedded Vision Starter Kit essentially eliminates the cost barrier for evaluation, and for customers to have a great out-of-box experience in terms of making it easy to get an analytics algorithm up and running.”
“This low-cost kit is ideal for assessing the capabilities and developing applications for our new vision accelerated BF609 processor,” said Colin Duggan, director of marketing, ESPT division, Analog Devices. “Our goal with the Embedded Vision Starter Kit is to offer a comprehensive platform that provides easy access to a high level of analytic functions to engineers looking to learn about, and develop for, a broad range of vision-based applications.”
The Analog Devices Blackfin BF609 Embedded Vision Starter Kit includes a single board featuring all the blocks necessary to prototype an embedded vision application, including the Analog Devices BF609 dual core processor, a high-definition CMOS color sensor with replaceable lens for video input, HDMI / DVI port for output, 10/100 Ethernet and LED target illumination. The kit also includes a USB-based In-Circuit Emulator providing an easy, portable, non-intrusive, debugging solution for the Kit.
This low-cost development kit allows engineers to quickly evaluate the capabilities of the Analog Devices dual-core Blackfin BF609 processor, optimized for embedded vision applications, featuring a high-performance video analytics accelerator called the Pipelined Vision Processor (PVP). Customers can get an early look at the kit, which is being shown at the Silica booth at Embedded World 2013, in Nuremberg, Germany, today through Thursday.
“Video analytics/Embedded Vision is an emerging technology area with extensive use in many different types of applications across multiple markets,” said Jim Beneke, VP, global technical marketing, Avnet Electronics Marketing. “The Analog Devices Blackfin BF609 Embedded Vision Starter Kit essentially eliminates the cost barrier for evaluation, and for customers to have a great out-of-box experience in terms of making it easy to get an analytics algorithm up and running.”
“This low-cost kit is ideal for assessing the capabilities and developing applications for our new vision accelerated BF609 processor,” said Colin Duggan, director of marketing, ESPT division, Analog Devices. “Our goal with the Embedded Vision Starter Kit is to offer a comprehensive platform that provides easy access to a high level of analytic functions to engineers looking to learn about, and develop for, a broad range of vision-based applications.”
The Analog Devices Blackfin BF609 Embedded Vision Starter Kit includes a single board featuring all the blocks necessary to prototype an embedded vision application, including the Analog Devices BF609 dual core processor, a high-definition CMOS color sensor with replaceable lens for video input, HDMI / DVI port for output, 10/100 Ethernet and LED target illumination. The kit also includes a USB-based In-Circuit Emulator providing an easy, portable, non-intrusive, debugging solution for the Kit.
New LC-XD connector doubles fiber density, improves handling
SWITZERLAND: A ground-breaking new fiber optic connector, launched at the FTTH Council Europe’s conference, will double the density of fibers per rack and improve handling in Central Offices and Data Centres.
Developed by Swiss company, HUBER+SUHNER, a leading international manufacturer of components and systems for electrical and optical connectivity, the new connector significantly reduces the amount of space needed, helping to control costs and improve efficiency.
The LC-XD fiber optic connector, available in both simplex and duplex (Uniboot) versions, handles up to 4032 fibers in one rack, doubling the density handled by previous components. The connector is equipped uniquely with a rigid, extended lever that employs an innovative push/pull mechanism (patent pending), at the same time allowing greater density and more efficient handling.
For both installation and for ongoing handling, vertical space and finger access at the connection are needed, the LC-XD connector, due to its rigid lever, also allows mating and unmating from a distance.
For FTTH applications, with their high fiber density requirements, this will dramatically cut the amount of space required in the Central Office, where space is always an issue. The two most important factors that determine the cost of the passive infrastructure in a Central Office or Data centre are space and handling and focusing on either one of these can lead to increased costs. The key is to achieve a balance between packing density and good handling. With performance continuing to increase, costs per unit are falling and this also puts greater pressure on the issue of the density.
Developed by Swiss company, HUBER+SUHNER, a leading international manufacturer of components and systems for electrical and optical connectivity, the new connector significantly reduces the amount of space needed, helping to control costs and improve efficiency.
The LC-XD fiber optic connector, available in both simplex and duplex (Uniboot) versions, handles up to 4032 fibers in one rack, doubling the density handled by previous components. The connector is equipped uniquely with a rigid, extended lever that employs an innovative push/pull mechanism (patent pending), at the same time allowing greater density and more efficient handling.
For both installation and for ongoing handling, vertical space and finger access at the connection are needed, the LC-XD connector, due to its rigid lever, also allows mating and unmating from a distance.
For FTTH applications, with their high fiber density requirements, this will dramatically cut the amount of space required in the Central Office, where space is always an issue. The two most important factors that determine the cost of the passive infrastructure in a Central Office or Data centre are space and handling and focusing on either one of these can lead to increased costs. The key is to achieve a balance between packing density and good handling. With performance continuing to increase, costs per unit are falling and this also puts greater pressure on the issue of the density.
3M launches active optical cable for SFP+ apps
USA: Designers of high-performance computing systems, data centers and other ultra-high-throughput networks have a new interconnect option for SFP+ applications.
3M now offers the low-power, high-speed Active Optical Cable (AOC) Assembly for SFP+ Applications. It is the first known cable assembly of its kind available on the market that is designed for reaches up to 100 meters. The direct-attach, bi-directional AOC assembly supports speeds of more than 10 Gbps per channel over OM 2+ bend-insensitive fiber. It can be used to connect high-performance switches, servers and storage.
The AOC assembly consumes less power than the typical SFP+ interconnect solutions – active copper cable assemblies or active optical pluggable transceivers. The light-engine technology in the 3M AOC assembly allows the cable assembly to operate typically at 240mW per end, helping to save energy costs and minimize heat dissipation. The cable assembly incorporates 850nm VCSEL technology, which has a proven track record of high reliability.
“The 3M architecture for SFP+ applications eliminates the traditional TOSA/ROSA found in pluggable transceivers and allows for direct attachment of the fiber to the light engine,” said Jeff Bullion, marketing manager, Electronic Solutions Division.
“The 3M AOC architecture provides a lower cost solution by eliminating components, lowering the risk of optical contamination and reducing the power required to implement an active SFP+ solution. Now, network designers and installers have a cost-effective, lower-power, highly reliable single solution for lengths up to 100 meters.”
The AOC assembly from 3M eliminates many of the issues associated with other widely used interconnect options. It is lighter and more routable than conventional passive and active copper solutions, allowing more air flow and consuming less space. The optical interface is integrated into the cable assembly, lowering power use and virtually eliminating the risk of optical contamination associated with pluggable transceiver modules.
The SFP+ AOC from 3M is compliant with the SFF-8431 Rev4.1 SFP+ specification and supports the 10GB Ethernet and 4GFC and 8GFC Fibre Channel specifications.
3M now offers the low-power, high-speed Active Optical Cable (AOC) Assembly for SFP+ Applications. It is the first known cable assembly of its kind available on the market that is designed for reaches up to 100 meters. The direct-attach, bi-directional AOC assembly supports speeds of more than 10 Gbps per channel over OM 2+ bend-insensitive fiber. It can be used to connect high-performance switches, servers and storage.
The AOC assembly consumes less power than the typical SFP+ interconnect solutions – active copper cable assemblies or active optical pluggable transceivers. The light-engine technology in the 3M AOC assembly allows the cable assembly to operate typically at 240mW per end, helping to save energy costs and minimize heat dissipation. The cable assembly incorporates 850nm VCSEL technology, which has a proven track record of high reliability.
“The 3M architecture for SFP+ applications eliminates the traditional TOSA/ROSA found in pluggable transceivers and allows for direct attachment of the fiber to the light engine,” said Jeff Bullion, marketing manager, Electronic Solutions Division.
“The 3M AOC architecture provides a lower cost solution by eliminating components, lowering the risk of optical contamination and reducing the power required to implement an active SFP+ solution. Now, network designers and installers have a cost-effective, lower-power, highly reliable single solution for lengths up to 100 meters.”
The AOC assembly from 3M eliminates many of the issues associated with other widely used interconnect options. It is lighter and more routable than conventional passive and active copper solutions, allowing more air flow and consuming less space. The optical interface is integrated into the cable assembly, lowering power use and virtually eliminating the risk of optical contamination associated with pluggable transceiver modules.
The SFP+ AOC from 3M is compliant with the SFF-8431 Rev4.1 SFP+ specification and supports the 10GB Ethernet and 4GFC and 8GFC Fibre Channel specifications.
Monday, February 25, 2013
LV UltraMOV varistors from Littelfuse offer higher surge current ratings in smaller disc sizes
USA: Littelfuse Inc., the global leader in circuit protection, has introduced the LV UltraMOV series of low voltage, high surge current, radial leaded varistors. They provide an ideal circuit protection solution for lower DC voltage applications by offering higher surge ratings than ever before available in such small disc sizes.
Their high peak surge current rating provides superior protection against high peak surges, including indirect lightning strike interference, system switching transients and abnormal fast transients from the power source.
Typical applications of these devices include LED lighting drivers, cordless phones, wireless base stations, audio devices, mobile phone chargers, security systems, fire alarm systems and automation control systems (PLCs).
“The LV UltraMOV Series is unrivaled in the industry in terms of its surge current rating, energy handling capabilities, and ability to withstand multiple strikes; no competitive product comes close,” said Johnny Chang, product manager, LV UltraMOV Series Varistor product line. “For example, a 10mm LV UltraMOV Series Varistor offers a maximum surge current rating that’s four times higher than a standard MOV of the same size.”
Their high peak surge current rating provides superior protection against high peak surges, including indirect lightning strike interference, system switching transients and abnormal fast transients from the power source.
Typical applications of these devices include LED lighting drivers, cordless phones, wireless base stations, audio devices, mobile phone chargers, security systems, fire alarm systems and automation control systems (PLCs).
“The LV UltraMOV Series is unrivaled in the industry in terms of its surge current rating, energy handling capabilities, and ability to withstand multiple strikes; no competitive product comes close,” said Johnny Chang, product manager, LV UltraMOV Series Varistor product line. “For example, a 10mm LV UltraMOV Series Varistor offers a maximum surge current rating that’s four times higher than a standard MOV of the same size.”
Mouser signs international distribution agreement with Coilcraft
TAIWAN: Mouser Electronics Inc. announced the signing of a new international distribution agreement with Coilcraft, a leading magnetic component manufacturer, across the regions of Europe, Asia, Mexico and South America. Through this partnership, being announced at Embedded World in Germany, Mouser is now stocking a wide range of Coilcraft’s magnetic and inductive products for immediate shipment.
Coilcraft provides magnetic components including high-performance RF chip inductors, power magnetics and filters in a variety of packages and a wide range of values. Designer’s kits are offered to help engineers learn the capabilities of these high-performance inductors. Coilcraft supports the design process by providing hundreds of design tools, models, S-Parameters, and application notes, free of charge.
“As the industry leading design-fulfillment distributor, Mouser is proud to partner with Coilcraft in supporting both Europe and Asia to sell Coilcraft’s world-class products,” says Glenn Smith, Mouser’s president and CEO.
“This agreement with Coilcraft helps further our commitment to providing the newest products and technologies for design engineers from industry-leading suppliers. Design engineers will now have easy access to Coilcraft’s advanced technologies, backed by Mouser’s unsurpassed customer service and best-in-class logistics. We look forward to a long-standing and successful partnership together.”
“Coilcraft is excited to forge this international partnership with Mouser Electronics. Pairing Coilcraft’s quality and selection with Mouser’s global reach and rapid introduction of new products and technologies will benefit design engineers and buyers in key markets, integrating the industry’s best power and RF inductors into design specifications for tomorrow’s products,” states Tom Liebman, president of Coilcraft.
Coilcraft provides magnetic components including high-performance RF chip inductors, power magnetics and filters in a variety of packages and a wide range of values. Designer’s kits are offered to help engineers learn the capabilities of these high-performance inductors. Coilcraft supports the design process by providing hundreds of design tools, models, S-Parameters, and application notes, free of charge.
“As the industry leading design-fulfillment distributor, Mouser is proud to partner with Coilcraft in supporting both Europe and Asia to sell Coilcraft’s world-class products,” says Glenn Smith, Mouser’s president and CEO.
“This agreement with Coilcraft helps further our commitment to providing the newest products and technologies for design engineers from industry-leading suppliers. Design engineers will now have easy access to Coilcraft’s advanced technologies, backed by Mouser’s unsurpassed customer service and best-in-class logistics. We look forward to a long-standing and successful partnership together.”
“Coilcraft is excited to forge this international partnership with Mouser Electronics. Pairing Coilcraft’s quality and selection with Mouser’s global reach and rapid introduction of new products and technologies will benefit design engineers and buyers in key markets, integrating the industry’s best power and RF inductors into design specifications for tomorrow’s products,” states Tom Liebman, president of Coilcraft.
RFMD expands portfolio of multimode multi-band power amplifiers
SPAIN: RF Micro Devices Inc. announced the expansion of the company's family of multimode multi-band (MMMB) power amplifiers (PAs) to include the highly integrated RF7388 3G/4G MMMB PA.
RFMD offers the industry's broadest portfolio of MMMB components, and RFMD's PowerSmart power amplifiers are at the forefront of the technology shift to multimode-based architectures for smartphones, tablets, and other data-centric mobile broadband devices.
RFMD's MMMB PA portfolio is compatible with all leading chipset providers and includes multiple derivatives accommodating a variety of band counts, air interface standards, interfaces (both GPIO and RFFE), and power management schemes, including average power tracking (APT) and envelope tracking (ET).
RFMD also offers a complete family of discrete single-mode PAs that are available optionally with any RFMD MMMB solution to achieve additional band or mode coverage.
RFMD offers the industry's broadest portfolio of MMMB components, and RFMD's PowerSmart power amplifiers are at the forefront of the technology shift to multimode-based architectures for smartphones, tablets, and other data-centric mobile broadband devices.
RFMD's MMMB PA portfolio is compatible with all leading chipset providers and includes multiple derivatives accommodating a variety of band counts, air interface standards, interfaces (both GPIO and RFFE), and power management schemes, including average power tracking (APT) and envelope tracking (ET).
RFMD also offers a complete family of discrete single-mode PAs that are available optionally with any RFMD MMMB solution to achieve additional band or mode coverage.
RF Micro Devices expands leadership in RF power management
SPAIN: RF Micro Devices Inc. announced the addition of multiple new products to RFMD's industry-leading portfolio of envelope tracking (ET) power management and power amplifier (PA) solutions.
RFMD's ET-based solutions leverage the company's leadership in RF power management and cellular PAs to improve system-level efficiency in high-data rate applications.
The new RF solutions -- the RF7389, RF7390, RF7459, RF8081, and RF8085 -- comprise ET PMICs, ET multimode multi-band (MMMB) PAs, and ET ultra-high efficiency PAs. RFMD's expanding ET product portfolio is compatible with the leading LTE chipsets and provides full ET compatible coverage of all FD-LTE and TD-LTE bands (1-14, 17-21, 25-28, 38, 40, 41, and 44).
RFMD anticipates the combination of ET technology and RFMD's advancements in RF power management will be a disruptive combination that raises the bar significantly in RF performance.
RFMD's ET-based solutions leverage the company's leadership in RF power management and cellular PAs to improve system-level efficiency in high-data rate applications.
The new RF solutions -- the RF7389, RF7390, RF7459, RF8081, and RF8085 -- comprise ET PMICs, ET multimode multi-band (MMMB) PAs, and ET ultra-high efficiency PAs. RFMD's expanding ET product portfolio is compatible with the leading LTE chipsets and provides full ET compatible coverage of all FD-LTE and TD-LTE bands (1-14, 17-21, 25-28, 38, 40, 41, and 44).
RFMD anticipates the combination of ET technology and RFMD's advancements in RF power management will be a disruptive combination that raises the bar significantly in RF performance.
Power efficiency now dominant factor in mobile design
SPAIN: Imagination Technologies says that power consumption and thermal envelope considerations are becoming a dominant factor in mobile SoC design decisions.
Imagination puts very significant research into design for low power to help extend the ever-essential battery life of mobile and embedded computing systems. Designing first for low power has made Imagination the leading GPU supplier for mobile markets as well as a key supplier in other markets such as thin, flat TVs, complex automotive dashboards, connected audio/media players and ultra-portable computers, where power and thermal constraints can be just as demanding as in mobile devices.
Tony King-Smith, EVP marketing, Imagination, said: "The industry needs a call to action to acknowledge the realities of low power and thermal requirements in end user products running real software, not development boards just running benchmarks. Everyone talks about the importance of power management, and that's an area where the best in the industry have really drawn ahead of the pack by adopting technologies and developing design approaches that support sophisticated power management in SoCs.
"Unfortunately benchmarks used for system performance measurement rarely take account of power use even though this is a key factor in all modern designs. We are working closely with the benchmarking industry to address this in future benchmarks and are encouraging everyone in the industry to take into account power under real end product operating conditions when considering performance metrics."
Imagination puts very significant research into design for low power to help extend the ever-essential battery life of mobile and embedded computing systems. Designing first for low power has made Imagination the leading GPU supplier for mobile markets as well as a key supplier in other markets such as thin, flat TVs, complex automotive dashboards, connected audio/media players and ultra-portable computers, where power and thermal constraints can be just as demanding as in mobile devices.
Tony King-Smith, EVP marketing, Imagination, said: "The industry needs a call to action to acknowledge the realities of low power and thermal requirements in end user products running real software, not development boards just running benchmarks. Everyone talks about the importance of power management, and that's an area where the best in the industry have really drawn ahead of the pack by adopting technologies and developing design approaches that support sophisticated power management in SoCs.
"Unfortunately benchmarks used for system performance measurement rarely take account of power use even though this is a key factor in all modern designs. We are working closely with the benchmarking industry to address this in future benchmarks and are encouraging everyone in the industry to take into account power under real end product operating conditions when considering performance metrics."
Friday, February 22, 2013
Toshiba to showcase microUSB adaptor supporting TransferJet
JAPAN: -Toshiba Corp. announced that it will showcase a microUSB adaptor module supporting the TransferJet close proximity wireless technology standard in the TransferJet Consortium Booth (Hall 7/Booth 7C64) at the Mobile World Congress 2013 (MWC 2013), to be held from February 25 to 28 in Barcelona, Spain.
Data transfer using TransferJet communication can be implemented in Android devices with a micro USB port, such as smartphones and tablets, using the microUSB adaptor module and a newly developed app for Android devices. At MWC 2013, Toshiba will demonstrate data exchanges between a smartphone and a tablet.
Data transfer using TransferJet communication can be implemented in Android devices with a micro USB port, such as smartphones and tablets, using the microUSB adaptor module and a newly developed app for Android devices. At MWC 2013, Toshiba will demonstrate data exchanges between a smartphone and a tablet.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Molex and Waldom to support EU's electronics distribution market
USA: Molex Inc. has announced a recently signed partnership agreement with Waldom Electronics, the Rockford, IL-based master distributor of electronic and electrical products. The agreement authorizes Waldom to market and sell Molex products exclusively to distribution firms operating within the European Union.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Waldom Electronics, a valued partner and trusted industry supplier with a solid reputation as ‘The Distributor’s Distributor,’ in growing support and product availability for customers across Europe,” said Henry Fuerniss, VP of sales and marketing EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Molex.
The new contract builds on the companies’ existing long-standing partnership, which covers the entire North American electronics distribution market. Waldom will continue to support all of Molex products, including the comprehensive industrial portfolio of Woodhead and Brad brand products.
“Building on the Molex tradition of serving customers globally, Waldom brings added value to distributors by providing less than minimum order quantities, availability of B, C, and D products, design kits and special packaging—all of which is beneficial to our companies and European and global distributors,” adds Fred Bell, VP of global distribution, Molex.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Waldom Electronics, a valued partner and trusted industry supplier with a solid reputation as ‘The Distributor’s Distributor,’ in growing support and product availability for customers across Europe,” said Henry Fuerniss, VP of sales and marketing EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Molex.
The new contract builds on the companies’ existing long-standing partnership, which covers the entire North American electronics distribution market. Waldom will continue to support all of Molex products, including the comprehensive industrial portfolio of Woodhead and Brad brand products.
“Building on the Molex tradition of serving customers globally, Waldom brings added value to distributors by providing less than minimum order quantities, availability of B, C, and D products, design kits and special packaging—all of which is beneficial to our companies and European and global distributors,” adds Fred Bell, VP of global distribution, Molex.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Cree and Eta Devices to demo world’s most efficient power amplifier
Mobile World Congress 2013, USA: Cree Inc. and Eta Devices Inc. will demonstrate the world’s most efficient reported power amplifier for mobile base stations at the 2013 Mobile World Congress, February 24-28 in Barcelona, Spain.
Current generation mobile base station amplifiers employing silicon LDMOS transistors can provide amplifier efficiencies up to 45 percent. By contrast, Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers are able to deliver efficiencies higher than 70 percent under a 4G LTE modulation format, and are thus poised to revolutionize current industry efficiency standards.
“Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers leverage the performance and reliability advantages of Cree’s GaN HEMT RF transistors to realize game-changing efficiency benefits for the mobile base station industry,” said Jim Milligan, business director, Cree RF. “Our transistors have been instrumental in demonstrating Eta Devices’ amplifiers, which perform 50 percent more efficiently than the best incumbent silicon power amplifiers currently available in the 4G LTE market.”
The world’s mobile networks consume approximately 120TWh of electricity per year, and 50-80 percent of these networks’ power is consumed by their power amplifiers and associated components.
Implementing Eta Devices’ new power amplifier solution on a global level could save mobile operators 60TWh of energy per year, which is equivalent to the amount of power produced by more than seven average-sized American nuclear power plants. It could also save up to 50 percent of the $36.5 billion spent to power mobile base stations each year.
Current generation mobile base station amplifiers employing silicon LDMOS transistors can provide amplifier efficiencies up to 45 percent. By contrast, Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers are able to deliver efficiencies higher than 70 percent under a 4G LTE modulation format, and are thus poised to revolutionize current industry efficiency standards.
“Eta Devices’ next-generation power amplifiers leverage the performance and reliability advantages of Cree’s GaN HEMT RF transistors to realize game-changing efficiency benefits for the mobile base station industry,” said Jim Milligan, business director, Cree RF. “Our transistors have been instrumental in demonstrating Eta Devices’ amplifiers, which perform 50 percent more efficiently than the best incumbent silicon power amplifiers currently available in the 4G LTE market.”
The world’s mobile networks consume approximately 120TWh of electricity per year, and 50-80 percent of these networks’ power is consumed by their power amplifiers and associated components.
Implementing Eta Devices’ new power amplifier solution on a global level could save mobile operators 60TWh of energy per year, which is equivalent to the amount of power produced by more than seven average-sized American nuclear power plants. It could also save up to 50 percent of the $36.5 billion spent to power mobile base stations each year.
Benefiting from smart phone and TV stocking demand, LED manufacturers gradually increases revenue in January 2013
TAIWAN: According to LEDinside, the LED research division of TrendForce, the total revenue of Taiwanese listed LED manufacturers in January 2013 is 8,220 million NTD (+21.5 percent MoM, +39.9 percent YoY).
LEDinside indicated that in addition to the fourth quarter of 2012 (traditional off season), the TV manufacturers’ delay in stocking will also cause difficulties in the fourth quarter revenue of LED manufacturers. In January, however, LED manufacturers have started to benefit from smartphone and TV stocking demand. In short, LED backlight market is starting to rise, and the revenue of Taiwanese upstream and downstream firms are also increasing impressively.
Followed by commercial lighting stocking demand, LED chip and package manufacturers benefit from the rising backlight market
Due to upstream LED epitaxy manufacturers facing the increasing backlight market stocking demands, the revenue of Taiwanese listed LED chip manufacturers has increased to 3,090 million NTD (+23.7 percent MoM, +32.7 percent YoY).
The revenue of Taiwanese listed LED package manufacturers has also increased to 5,130 million NTD (+20.17 percent MoM, +44.6 percent YoY); not only did the revenue of Lextar Electronics Corp. increase due to the merging with Wellypower Optronics Corp., package manufacturers’ capacities was were also boosted by the increasing market demands.
Due to the launching of Samsung’s new direct-type LED TV models in the second quarter of 2013, a stocking effect appeared in the first quarter; compared with the same quarter in 2012, Taiwanese manufacturers have extricated themselves from the economic slowdown and started to increase their revenue. Benefiting from Korean manufacturers’s OEM order, Epistar Corp. and Formosa Epitaxy Incorporation Inc. significantly increased their revenue; it is expected that the order visibility continue till extends to the end of the first season.
Moreover, due to the fact that the quality of chips manufactured by Taiwanese manufacturers are better than that of Chinese manufacturers, the increasing shipments of Chinese TV vendors such as Skyworth, Hisense, TCL, Konka, and Changhong Electronic Corp. may be an opportunity for Taiwanese chip manufacturers to enter the Chinese TV backlight supply chain.
The stocking demand for another backlight demanding market- smartphones is also increasing. Not only improve was backlight brightness improved, but also raise shipment forecast was also raised by 28 percent in 2013. Amongst those, apart from international brand manufacturers, Chinese manufacturers also took advantage of this trend and started to rise, becoming potential clients of Taiwanese LED manufacturers.
Generally speaking, both chip and packaging manufacturers with a certain proportion of revenue that comes from the smart phone and TV supply chain have achieved significant increase in their revenue. Extricating from the gloomy year of 2012, chip revenue was boosted up to 1,350 million NTD; in addition, Formosa Epitaxy Inc. and Genesis Photonics Inc. have also achieved 300 million NTD and 270 million NTD respectively.
As for the lighting market, the second season is the traditional peak season of commercial lighting. Facing the challenge of intra-industry competition, LED package manufacturers are planning to release new products, and we expect the LED package to fall mainly between 160lm/W~180lm/W at the mass production level.
LEDinside also indicated that considering about the broad LED product applications including commercial and outdoor lighting along with the technical advantages of Taiwanese manufacturers, the future integrating focus of the LED industry will possibly include joint projects performed by Taiwanese LED chip manufactures, package manufacturers, and Chinese lighting manufacturers. Under the integrating and marketing adjustments, second-tier manufacturers will be facing another market challenge.
LEDinside indicated that in addition to the fourth quarter of 2012 (traditional off season), the TV manufacturers’ delay in stocking will also cause difficulties in the fourth quarter revenue of LED manufacturers. In January, however, LED manufacturers have started to benefit from smartphone and TV stocking demand. In short, LED backlight market is starting to rise, and the revenue of Taiwanese upstream and downstream firms are also increasing impressively.
Followed by commercial lighting stocking demand, LED chip and package manufacturers benefit from the rising backlight market
Due to upstream LED epitaxy manufacturers facing the increasing backlight market stocking demands, the revenue of Taiwanese listed LED chip manufacturers has increased to 3,090 million NTD (+23.7 percent MoM, +32.7 percent YoY).
The revenue of Taiwanese listed LED package manufacturers has also increased to 5,130 million NTD (+20.17 percent MoM, +44.6 percent YoY); not only did the revenue of Lextar Electronics Corp. increase due to the merging with Wellypower Optronics Corp., package manufacturers’ capacities was were also boosted by the increasing market demands.
Due to the launching of Samsung’s new direct-type LED TV models in the second quarter of 2013, a stocking effect appeared in the first quarter; compared with the same quarter in 2012, Taiwanese manufacturers have extricated themselves from the economic slowdown and started to increase their revenue. Benefiting from Korean manufacturers’s OEM order, Epistar Corp. and Formosa Epitaxy Incorporation Inc. significantly increased their revenue; it is expected that the order visibility continue till extends to the end of the first season.
The stocking demand for another backlight demanding market- smartphones is also increasing. Not only improve was backlight brightness improved, but also raise shipment forecast was also raised by 28 percent in 2013. Amongst those, apart from international brand manufacturers, Chinese manufacturers also took advantage of this trend and started to rise, becoming potential clients of Taiwanese LED manufacturers.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
IXYS ICs Division intros power solid state relay (SSR) with 5kv isolation voltage
USA: IXYS Integrated Circuits Division (formerly Clare, Inc.), a wholly owned subsidiary of IXYS Corp. announced the immediate availability of the CPC1907B, +/-6ADC or 6Arms, AC Power SSR. The 1-Form-A CPC1907B is a 60V device with very low 0.06 ohms of on-resistance, offered in the new Power SOIC package.
The new, 8-pin, low-profile Power SOIC package for high-current power relays, provides input to output isolation of 5000Vrms, while optically coupled circuitry provides exceptional noise immunity. Switching of the efficient MOSFET switches is controlled by the photovoltaic die using the patented OptoMOS architecture while activation of the output is controlled by a highly efficient input LED.
The combination of low on-resistance and high load current handling capabilities makes this relay suitable for a variety of high-performance switching applications. 12.5mm of external creepage distance can be achieved with the appropriate printed circuit board layout.
Input control current to the infrared LED for switching is 5mA. This relay can be readily controlled with the Zilog MCUs in a variety of applications under the ‘World of IXYS’ reference designs for power management, especially in reducing energy consumption by turning off power to appliances and subsystems as needed.
Applications include: motor controls, UPS, power supplies, lighting, valve and solenoid controls, security door and gate latches, medical equipment, home appliances, home automation and HVAC controls.
The CPC1907B, available in the 8-pin Power SOIC package, is approved to the UL 508 standard for industrial control equipment.
The new, 8-pin, low-profile Power SOIC package for high-current power relays, provides input to output isolation of 5000Vrms, while optically coupled circuitry provides exceptional noise immunity. Switching of the efficient MOSFET switches is controlled by the photovoltaic die using the patented OptoMOS architecture while activation of the output is controlled by a highly efficient input LED.
The combination of low on-resistance and high load current handling capabilities makes this relay suitable for a variety of high-performance switching applications. 12.5mm of external creepage distance can be achieved with the appropriate printed circuit board layout.
Input control current to the infrared LED for switching is 5mA. This relay can be readily controlled with the Zilog MCUs in a variety of applications under the ‘World of IXYS’ reference designs for power management, especially in reducing energy consumption by turning off power to appliances and subsystems as needed.
Applications include: motor controls, UPS, power supplies, lighting, valve and solenoid controls, security door and gate latches, medical equipment, home appliances, home automation and HVAC controls.
The CPC1907B, available in the 8-pin Power SOIC package, is approved to the UL 508 standard for industrial control equipment.
Emerson Network Power media processing accelerator offers performance breakthrough in server apps
HONG KONG: Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson and the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity, announced a performance breakthrough for adding voice and video to network server applications.
Where a typical commercial Host Media Processing solution is limited to 2000 ports per server, a single Emerson Network Power PCIE-8120 PCI Express media processing acceleration card is capable of transcoding over 7000 bidirectional voice channels from G.711 to G.729A, and multiple cards can be added to a single server for even higher performance.
Featuring up to 12 low power Octasic digital signal processors (DSPs) with embedded voice or video firmware, the Emerson Network Power PCIEe-8120 can also transcode over 300 mobile video streams at CIF resolution, and offers support for high definition video resolutions up to 1080p.
It enables users to add high density, highly scalable voice and video processing to network applications, while using less space, less power and at lower cost than the alternative of adding more servers or suffering significantly reduced application performance.
High density voice and video processing is increasingly in demand for applications such as session border controllers, media gateways/servers or media resource functions, video or content optimization, video communications servers, and interactive voice and video response systems.
A new white paper, published by Emerson Network Power, outlines the trends driving the need for network media processing with specific application examples. The PCIE-8120 is designed for NEBS carrier grade and data center environments, depending on the server enclosure, and so offers a common solution for both enterprise and telecom environments.
In addition, since Emerson Network Power’s ATCA-8320 is based on the same technology, this allows OEMs to achieve even higher scalability up to multi-bladed AdvancedTCA systems while protecting software investment.
“The opportunity enabled by Emerson Network Power’s innovative solution is a break from a conventional rack-and-stack model, where price-per-port is typically quite stable, because adding these high performance media processing cards to rack mount servers can significantly bring down the price-per-port,” said Rob Pettigrew, marketing director for Emerson Network Power’s Embedded Computing business. “When you factor in the improved scalability and future-proofing it offers a more straightforward deployment experience.”
Emerson Network Power is testing the PCIE-8120 in a variety of rack mount servers and publishing application notes to simplify the installation and use in these systems.
In addition to offering the PCIE-8120 as scalable individual boards, Emerson Network Power’s global network of channel partners will offer integrated platforms to help accelerate customers’ time-to-market and provide a complete application-ready solution.
Where a typical commercial Host Media Processing solution is limited to 2000 ports per server, a single Emerson Network Power PCIE-8120 PCI Express media processing acceleration card is capable of transcoding over 7000 bidirectional voice channels from G.711 to G.729A, and multiple cards can be added to a single server for even higher performance.
Featuring up to 12 low power Octasic digital signal processors (DSPs) with embedded voice or video firmware, the Emerson Network Power PCIEe-8120 can also transcode over 300 mobile video streams at CIF resolution, and offers support for high definition video resolutions up to 1080p.
It enables users to add high density, highly scalable voice and video processing to network applications, while using less space, less power and at lower cost than the alternative of adding more servers or suffering significantly reduced application performance.
High density voice and video processing is increasingly in demand for applications such as session border controllers, media gateways/servers or media resource functions, video or content optimization, video communications servers, and interactive voice and video response systems.
A new white paper, published by Emerson Network Power, outlines the trends driving the need for network media processing with specific application examples. The PCIE-8120 is designed for NEBS carrier grade and data center environments, depending on the server enclosure, and so offers a common solution for both enterprise and telecom environments.
In addition, since Emerson Network Power’s ATCA-8320 is based on the same technology, this allows OEMs to achieve even higher scalability up to multi-bladed AdvancedTCA systems while protecting software investment.
“The opportunity enabled by Emerson Network Power’s innovative solution is a break from a conventional rack-and-stack model, where price-per-port is typically quite stable, because adding these high performance media processing cards to rack mount servers can significantly bring down the price-per-port,” said Rob Pettigrew, marketing director for Emerson Network Power’s Embedded Computing business. “When you factor in the improved scalability and future-proofing it offers a more straightforward deployment experience.”
Emerson Network Power is testing the PCIE-8120 in a variety of rack mount servers and publishing application notes to simplify the installation and use in these systems.
In addition to offering the PCIE-8120 as scalable individual boards, Emerson Network Power’s global network of channel partners will offer integrated platforms to help accelerate customers’ time-to-market and provide a complete application-ready solution.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Toshiba to launch high-current P-ch MOSFETs for charging circuits of mobile devices
JAPAN: Toshiba Corp. has launched P-ch MOSFETs for switches of high-current charging circuit switches of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
As additional functions are added to mobile devices such as smartphones and cellular phones, tablets and notebook PCs, and digital cameras and digital video cameras—and as more demands are made on their batteries—efforts continue to boost charge density and to improve the user experience by significantly increasing charging current to cut charge times.
Toshiba's new "SSM6J505NU" and "SSM6J216FE" are the company's latest additions to its high-current P-ch MOSFET line-up of high-power dissipation packages.
High-current charging switches for mobile devices like smartphones and cellular phones, tablets and notebook PCs, digital cameras and digital video cameras.
Features include high-current, low ON-resistance, low capacitance and high-power dissipation package line-up including small packages.
As additional functions are added to mobile devices such as smartphones and cellular phones, tablets and notebook PCs, and digital cameras and digital video cameras—and as more demands are made on their batteries—efforts continue to boost charge density and to improve the user experience by significantly increasing charging current to cut charge times.
Toshiba's new "SSM6J505NU" and "SSM6J216FE" are the company's latest additions to its high-current P-ch MOSFET line-up of high-power dissipation packages.
High-current charging switches for mobile devices like smartphones and cellular phones, tablets and notebook PCs, digital cameras and digital video cameras.
Features include high-current, low ON-resistance, low capacitance and high-power dissipation package line-up including small packages.
Larson add explosion proof signal light with red and green lamps
USA: Larson Electronics has announced the addition of the EPL-TL-2X10W-C LED traffic light to its line of industrial grade LED lighting solutions.
This heavy duty unit features explosion proof approval and cool running LED lamps for high output and excellent visibility and is ideal for use as a traffic control device in servicing and refueling areas where flammable gases and vapors are present.
The Larson Electronics EPL-TL-2X10W-C explosion proof LED traffic light provides an effective signal light solution for hazardous locations where vehicles, equipment and aircraft are routinely serviced or maintained. This two color signal fixture operates similarly to a standard traffic signal and features copper free aluminum lamp housings that have been powder coated for a durable finish that resists corrosion.
The signal lamp housings can withstand 1490 pounds PSI hydrostatic pressure and are waterproof, making them well suited to use in wet locations such as marinas or areas where hose downs are a part of regular maintenance. The red and green signal lights are LED powered for bright illumination and a long 50,000 hour lamp life, and feature colored Pyrex cover globes for brilliant coloration and added durability.
Each indicator lamp houses a 10 watt LED bulb and runs cooler and produces more light output than a typical 100 watt incandescent bulb, making these units powerful as well as efficient. This unit signals in either red or green colors and each lamp is independently wired into a single harness to allow each light to be operated singly.
Each lamp is joined to the other by a centrally located junction box and the entire assembly is mounted to a heavy gauge aluminum base with four predrilled holes designed to be bolted to walls and flat surfaces for permanent and secure attachment.
Larson Electronics also offers custom mounting plate capabilities which allow operators to tailor this unit according to their installation requirements. The EPL-TL-2X10W-C explosion proof LED signal light carries a T3C temperature rating, Class 1 and 2 Division 1, Class 3, approval, and has a -40C to 85C operating temp range.
Larson Electronics offers these units in configurations to allow operation with standard 120-277 VAC current, or 12/24 volt DC current for those who require low voltage operation. This LED signal light is an excellent choice for operators in locations such as industrial sites, servicing stations, refueling areas, aircraft maintenance operations, and anywhere a clear and effective signaling solution with hazardous location approval is needed.
"The EPL-TL-2X10W-C explosion proof signal light is designed to give operators in hazardous area a way to signal the end of a process or engage another process," said Rob Bresnahan with LarsonElectronics.com. "Originally designed as a traffic light for fueling stations, this explosion proof red and green light can be used in any Class 1 Division 1 or Class 2 Division 1 area for process control. We offer it in low voltage or standard voltage configurations."
This heavy duty unit features explosion proof approval and cool running LED lamps for high output and excellent visibility and is ideal for use as a traffic control device in servicing and refueling areas where flammable gases and vapors are present.
The Larson Electronics EPL-TL-2X10W-C explosion proof LED traffic light provides an effective signal light solution for hazardous locations where vehicles, equipment and aircraft are routinely serviced or maintained. This two color signal fixture operates similarly to a standard traffic signal and features copper free aluminum lamp housings that have been powder coated for a durable finish that resists corrosion.
The signal lamp housings can withstand 1490 pounds PSI hydrostatic pressure and are waterproof, making them well suited to use in wet locations such as marinas or areas where hose downs are a part of regular maintenance. The red and green signal lights are LED powered for bright illumination and a long 50,000 hour lamp life, and feature colored Pyrex cover globes for brilliant coloration and added durability.
Each indicator lamp houses a 10 watt LED bulb and runs cooler and produces more light output than a typical 100 watt incandescent bulb, making these units powerful as well as efficient. This unit signals in either red or green colors and each lamp is independently wired into a single harness to allow each light to be operated singly.
Each lamp is joined to the other by a centrally located junction box and the entire assembly is mounted to a heavy gauge aluminum base with four predrilled holes designed to be bolted to walls and flat surfaces for permanent and secure attachment.
Larson Electronics also offers custom mounting plate capabilities which allow operators to tailor this unit according to their installation requirements. The EPL-TL-2X10W-C explosion proof LED signal light carries a T3C temperature rating, Class 1 and 2 Division 1, Class 3, approval, and has a -40C to 85C operating temp range.
Larson Electronics offers these units in configurations to allow operation with standard 120-277 VAC current, or 12/24 volt DC current for those who require low voltage operation. This LED signal light is an excellent choice for operators in locations such as industrial sites, servicing stations, refueling areas, aircraft maintenance operations, and anywhere a clear and effective signaling solution with hazardous location approval is needed.
"The EPL-TL-2X10W-C explosion proof signal light is designed to give operators in hazardous area a way to signal the end of a process or engage another process," said Rob Bresnahan with LarsonElectronics.com. "Originally designed as a traffic light for fueling stations, this explosion proof red and green light can be used in any Class 1 Division 1 or Class 2 Division 1 area for process control. We offer it in low voltage or standard voltage configurations."
Mitsubishi Electric to launch MOSFET-type super-mini DIPIPM
JAPAN: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will launch a transfer-mold-type, super-mini dual inline package intelligent power module (DIPIPM) primarily used for inverter drive systems of small-capacity motors in refrigerators and other consumer appliances.
The module uses a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) switching device featuring low power-on voltage in low current regions. Sales will begin on March 1.
With optimized low-loss-drive ICs and a high-heat dissipation design, the module will help to reduce power consumption, advance miniaturization and lower the cost of inverter systems for small-capacity motor drive applications.
Product geatures
Reduced power consumption in small-capacity inverter systems
* Power-on voltage in low current regions is reduced by about 60 percent compared to Mitsubishi Electric’s existing “PS219B2” DIPIPM at 0.5A and 25 degrees Celsius, by employing a MOSFET switching
device.
* Reduction of recovered-power loss by optimizing the MOSFET process.
* Reduction of IC power loss by optimizing the control IC.
High reliability through high-heat dissipation structure
* Suppression of channel temperature rise by reducing power loss of switching device and applying a high-heat dissipation insulation sheet.
Cost reduction and miniaturization of final product
* Facilitation of thermal radiation via the high-heat dissipation design.
* Reduction of external components thanks to built-in bootstrap diode (BSD) with current limiting resistor.
The module uses a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) switching device featuring low power-on voltage in low current regions. Sales will begin on March 1.
With optimized low-loss-drive ICs and a high-heat dissipation design, the module will help to reduce power consumption, advance miniaturization and lower the cost of inverter systems for small-capacity motor drive applications.
Product geatures
Reduced power consumption in small-capacity inverter systems
* Power-on voltage in low current regions is reduced by about 60 percent compared to Mitsubishi Electric’s existing “PS219B2” DIPIPM at 0.5A and 25 degrees Celsius, by employing a MOSFET switching
device.
* Reduction of recovered-power loss by optimizing the MOSFET process.
* Reduction of IC power loss by optimizing the control IC.
High reliability through high-heat dissipation structure
* Suppression of channel temperature rise by reducing power loss of switching device and applying a high-heat dissipation insulation sheet.
Cost reduction and miniaturization of final product
* Facilitation of thermal radiation via the high-heat dissipation design.
* Reduction of external components thanks to built-in bootstrap diode (BSD) with current limiting resistor.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Toshiba to launch 24ch constant-current LED driver for LED illumination
JAPAN: Toshiba Corp. has launched an LED driver for LED display and illumination equipment that can illuminate 8 RGB-LEDs with a single IC. Samples are available now and mass production is scheduled for March 2013.
The new product, TB62D612FTG, supports common anode LED control systems and is embedded with a 7-bit PWM gray controller and a 24ch constant-current driver. The constant-current circuit is divided into three blocks of 8chs.
The electric current of each block can be configured individually by an external resistor, making it ideal for driving RGB-LEDs. Additionally, the address of the driver IC can be set with three ID terminals and up to 64 ICs can be controlled individually. PWM gray level and address selection is configured by an address control interface, supporting simpler wiring that saves space on the circuit board.
A Toshiba developed circuit to counteract aerial discharge is used to improve noise characteristics.
The new product, TB62D612FTG, supports common anode LED control systems and is embedded with a 7-bit PWM gray controller and a 24ch constant-current driver. The constant-current circuit is divided into three blocks of 8chs.
The electric current of each block can be configured individually by an external resistor, making it ideal for driving RGB-LEDs. Additionally, the address of the driver IC can be set with three ID terminals and up to 64 ICs can be controlled individually. PWM gray level and address selection is configured by an address control interface, supporting simpler wiring that saves space on the circuit board.
A Toshiba developed circuit to counteract aerial discharge is used to improve noise characteristics.
Huntkey intros SZM series of power strips with surge protection
CHINA: Huntkey Enterprise Group, a global professional power supply provider, is introducing its new SZM Series of Power Strips with surge protection, in order to protect your electronic equipment even better.
The Huntkey SZM Series of power strips is composed of 4 models – SZM304, SZM404, SZM604 and SZM804, where the first digit stands for the number of sockets. The whole series are equipped with different levels of surge protection – 210 to 660 Joules, 2-lines / 3-lines surge protection, and the maximum spike current ranges from 6,500 to 19,500 AMPS.
It adopts a one-piece copper bar structural design in order to avoid the defect resulted from the process of welding. The silver-nickel master switch features high conductivity, good rigidity and resistance to oxidation. The maximum power is 2500 Watt. An overload protection is included so that the power strip will automatically turn off if overloaded for maximum safety, and the service life is over 10,000 times.
The Huntkey SZM Series of power strips is composed of 4 models – SZM304, SZM404, SZM604 and SZM804, where the first digit stands for the number of sockets. The whole series are equipped with different levels of surge protection – 210 to 660 Joules, 2-lines / 3-lines surge protection, and the maximum spike current ranges from 6,500 to 19,500 AMPS.
It adopts a one-piece copper bar structural design in order to avoid the defect resulted from the process of welding. The silver-nickel master switch features high conductivity, good rigidity and resistance to oxidation. The maximum power is 2500 Watt. An overload protection is included so that the power strip will automatically turn off if overloaded for maximum safety, and the service life is over 10,000 times.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tektronix expands product test capabilities at New Jersey lab facility
USA: Tektronix has added a new Vibration Test System and Hastest Sand and Dust Chamber to its Wayne, NJ Product Test Laboratory.
The chamber is designed to meet the requirements of MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-202, and RTCA/DO-160. Additionally, test parameters for wind speed, sand or dust concentration, and temperature can now be modified to meet customers' specific test requirements.
"The chamber is a great addition to the environmental product test resources within Tektronix. It will allow us to better service the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, and solar device industries, which rely on the types of testing procedures our expanded capabilities can provide," said Betsy Anderson, VP for Service Operations at Tektronix.
"With the new systems, we can further help our customers reduce the time it takes to get reliable products into the market."
In addition to the Wayne, NJ test facility, Tektronix also has a product testing laboratory in North Billerica, MA, just outside of Boston. The North Billerica facility has accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025, in addition to International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) certification, DLA suitability and ISO 9001:2008 registration. The Wayne laboratory is ISTA certified, has DLA suitability and is ISO 9001:2008 registered.
In addition to environmental testing, Tektronix' Product Test capabilities include HALT/HASS, Electrical Testing, NEMA Testing, Storage, Battery, Mechanical / Endurance Testing, and Package Testing.
Between the two laboratories, Tektronix offers 10 electrodynamic vibration machines, a hydraulic vibration system, various mechanical vibration systems and 45 standard and walk-in temperature, humidity and altitude chambers. Other lab capabilities include thermal shock chambers, salt spray chambers with SO2 injection, an explosive atmosphere chamber and various mechanical and electrical test setups.
The chamber is designed to meet the requirements of MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-202, and RTCA/DO-160. Additionally, test parameters for wind speed, sand or dust concentration, and temperature can now be modified to meet customers' specific test requirements.
"The chamber is a great addition to the environmental product test resources within Tektronix. It will allow us to better service the semiconductor, pharmaceutical, and solar device industries, which rely on the types of testing procedures our expanded capabilities can provide," said Betsy Anderson, VP for Service Operations at Tektronix.
"With the new systems, we can further help our customers reduce the time it takes to get reliable products into the market."
In addition to the Wayne, NJ test facility, Tektronix also has a product testing laboratory in North Billerica, MA, just outside of Boston. The North Billerica facility has accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025, in addition to International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) certification, DLA suitability and ISO 9001:2008 registration. The Wayne laboratory is ISTA certified, has DLA suitability and is ISO 9001:2008 registered.
In addition to environmental testing, Tektronix' Product Test capabilities include HALT/HASS, Electrical Testing, NEMA Testing, Storage, Battery, Mechanical / Endurance Testing, and Package Testing.
Between the two laboratories, Tektronix offers 10 electrodynamic vibration machines, a hydraulic vibration system, various mechanical vibration systems and 45 standard and walk-in temperature, humidity and altitude chambers. Other lab capabilities include thermal shock chambers, salt spray chambers with SO2 injection, an explosive atmosphere chamber and various mechanical and electrical test setups.
PC’s Electronic Components Blog named top resource for electrical engineers! ;)
INDIA: Today, Feb. 14th, has turned out to be a great day for me! I received an email early morning, which stated: PC's Electronic Components Blog is featured on the list of 100 Top Resources for Electrical Engineers that we published on ElectricalEngineeringSchools.org, USA!
Wow! This happens to be my sixth world title in a row!! The picture of the award badge is given on the blog.
I am so very happy that my blog on electronic components has bagged an award! I had started my career writing about electronic components for Asian Sources Media, now Global Sources, in Hong Kong.
May I take this opportunity and offer sincere thanks to all of my readers, well wishers, friends and acquaintances I have made over the years for their continuous love and support! Without you, no award is ever possible! ;)
Wow! This happens to be my sixth world title in a row!! The picture of the award badge is given on the blog.
I am so very happy that my blog on electronic components has bagged an award! I had started my career writing about electronic components for Asian Sources Media, now Global Sources, in Hong Kong.
May I take this opportunity and offer sincere thanks to all of my readers, well wishers, friends and acquaintances I have made over the years for their continuous love and support! Without you, no award is ever possible! ;)
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Cree sets new R&D performance record with 276 lumen-per-watt power LED
USA: Cree Inc. has delivered another industry first with a barrier-breaking 276 lumen-per-watt white R&D power LED. This significant milestone exceeds Cree’s previous R&D industry record of 254 lumens per watt and demonstrates Cree’s continued commitment to innovate and accelerate the adoption of LED lighting.
Cree’s innovative SC³ Technology platform, available in Cree XLamp LEDs, enables this record-breaking R&D result. The SC³ Technology Platform features advancements in LED chip architecture and phosphor and boasts a new package design to deliver the most advanced LED components in the industry.
Cree reports that the LED efficacy was measured at 276 lumens per watt, at a correlated color temperature of 4401 K and 350 mA.
“The core of the Cree R&D culture is a relentless focus on innovation that ultimately drives LED adoption,” said John Edmond, Cree co-founder and director of advanced optoelectronics. “The innovation from our labs is the foundation for our lighting-class XLamp LEDs. Higher performance LEDs can enable new and better LED-based applications and drive down the solution cost of LED designs.”
Cree’s innovative SC³ Technology platform, available in Cree XLamp LEDs, enables this record-breaking R&D result. The SC³ Technology Platform features advancements in LED chip architecture and phosphor and boasts a new package design to deliver the most advanced LED components in the industry.
Cree reports that the LED efficacy was measured at 276 lumens per watt, at a correlated color temperature of 4401 K and 350 mA.
“The core of the Cree R&D culture is a relentless focus on innovation that ultimately drives LED adoption,” said John Edmond, Cree co-founder and director of advanced optoelectronics. “The innovation from our labs is the foundation for our lighting-class XLamp LEDs. Higher performance LEDs can enable new and better LED-based applications and drive down the solution cost of LED designs.”
iWatt Flickerless SSL LED driver optimized for commercial and wireless lighting
Strategies in Light Conference, USA: iWatt Inc., a leading provider of digital-centric power management integrated circuits (ICs), debuted an innovative digital AC/DC LED driver platform designed to address cost, performance and operating life in commercial and wireless solid state lighting (SSL) systems.
The first device in this new platform, the iW3630 is a two-stage, Flickerless LED driver with output power up to 45W and is believed to be the first SSL LED driver with a built-in 0V to 10V dimming interface for commercial lighting ballasts. It also supports a PWM digital dimming interface for wireless SSL applications.
The highly integrated design of the iW3630 enables a 30-40 percent savings in bill of materials (BOM) cost compared to competitive solutions in 0V to 10V applications and, unlike alternative solutions, it maintains an extremely high power factor (PF) even at loads down to 20 percent of full load.
It also offers a low total harmonic distortion (THD) of < 15 percent, to meet stringent global energy regulations, along with a built-in over-temperature protection (OTP) and derating function to improve the predictability and reliability of system operating life.
The iW3630 achieves a 30-40 percent savings in BOM cost by integrating a number of design features. A built-in isolation transformer driver works directly with 0V to 10V dimming systems, eliminating the need for additional driver circuitry components and costly microcontrollers, while the PWM digital interface simplifies integration into wireless lighting systems.
In both commercial and wireless applications, the built-in over-temperature protection and derating function means there is no need for additional components to control heat. Plus, iWatt’s patented PrimAccurate primary-side control technology eliminates the need for a secondary-side regulator and optical feedback isolator, while EZ-EMI technology simplifies EMI filtering to further minimize the external component count.
This combination of on-board functions results in a typical BOM of less than 70 components using the iW3630 compared to often more than 100 components needed using conventional SSL LED drivers. It also reduces the overall solution size and improves reliability.
“We already offer the broadest range of SSL LED drivers in the market,” said Hubie Notohamiprodjo, iWatt’s director of marketing for SSL products. “The iW3630 further expands our reach with our first, and the industry’s first dedicated driver for commercial dimming applications.”
The digital control architecture of the iW3630 simplifies ballast driver designs by allowing it to adapt to wide input and output conditions. This enables one configuration to support a wide range of LED string lengths to cover the full output power range. iWatt’s analysis of one example lighting ballast portfolio using the iW3630 resulted in the ability to replace nine existing ballasts with just three, thus reducing the number of production models needed.
The iW3630 uses iWatt’s Flickerless technology to eliminate flicker across the entire 1 percent to 100 percent dimming range, while providing tight, ±5% LED current regulation. Flickerless technology incorporates a power factor correction (PFC) circuit comprised of a chopping circuit. This circuit ensures high power factor and also virtually eliminates the input line-voltage frequency component.
The on-chip over-temperature protection and derating feature of the iW3630 monitors the temperature inside the ballast. When thermal conditions reach a point set by the system designer, the iW3630 LED driver automatically reduces the current drive to the LEDs, lowering the power dissipation and resulting in cooler overall operation. This avoids the risk of thermal runaway, ensures the temperature rating of the electrolytic capacitors in the lighting system is not exceeded, and allows a predictable operating life. Additional built-in protection features include LED open/short, input over-voltage, over-current, and current-sense resistor short protections.
The iW3630 is available now in production quantities. It comes in a standard, 14-lead SOIC package. Samples are available at $1.16 in 1,000-piece quantities.
The first device in this new platform, the iW3630 is a two-stage, Flickerless LED driver with output power up to 45W and is believed to be the first SSL LED driver with a built-in 0V to 10V dimming interface for commercial lighting ballasts. It also supports a PWM digital dimming interface for wireless SSL applications.
The highly integrated design of the iW3630 enables a 30-40 percent savings in bill of materials (BOM) cost compared to competitive solutions in 0V to 10V applications and, unlike alternative solutions, it maintains an extremely high power factor (PF) even at loads down to 20 percent of full load.
It also offers a low total harmonic distortion (THD) of < 15 percent, to meet stringent global energy regulations, along with a built-in over-temperature protection (OTP) and derating function to improve the predictability and reliability of system operating life.
The iW3630 achieves a 30-40 percent savings in BOM cost by integrating a number of design features. A built-in isolation transformer driver works directly with 0V to 10V dimming systems, eliminating the need for additional driver circuitry components and costly microcontrollers, while the PWM digital interface simplifies integration into wireless lighting systems.
In both commercial and wireless applications, the built-in over-temperature protection and derating function means there is no need for additional components to control heat. Plus, iWatt’s patented PrimAccurate primary-side control technology eliminates the need for a secondary-side regulator and optical feedback isolator, while EZ-EMI technology simplifies EMI filtering to further minimize the external component count.
This combination of on-board functions results in a typical BOM of less than 70 components using the iW3630 compared to often more than 100 components needed using conventional SSL LED drivers. It also reduces the overall solution size and improves reliability.
“We already offer the broadest range of SSL LED drivers in the market,” said Hubie Notohamiprodjo, iWatt’s director of marketing for SSL products. “The iW3630 further expands our reach with our first, and the industry’s first dedicated driver for commercial dimming applications.”
The digital control architecture of the iW3630 simplifies ballast driver designs by allowing it to adapt to wide input and output conditions. This enables one configuration to support a wide range of LED string lengths to cover the full output power range. iWatt’s analysis of one example lighting ballast portfolio using the iW3630 resulted in the ability to replace nine existing ballasts with just three, thus reducing the number of production models needed.
The iW3630 uses iWatt’s Flickerless technology to eliminate flicker across the entire 1 percent to 100 percent dimming range, while providing tight, ±5% LED current regulation. Flickerless technology incorporates a power factor correction (PFC) circuit comprised of a chopping circuit. This circuit ensures high power factor and also virtually eliminates the input line-voltage frequency component.
The on-chip over-temperature protection and derating feature of the iW3630 monitors the temperature inside the ballast. When thermal conditions reach a point set by the system designer, the iW3630 LED driver automatically reduces the current drive to the LEDs, lowering the power dissipation and resulting in cooler overall operation. This avoids the risk of thermal runaway, ensures the temperature rating of the electrolytic capacitors in the lighting system is not exceeded, and allows a predictable operating life. Additional built-in protection features include LED open/short, input over-voltage, over-current, and current-sense resistor short protections.
The iW3630 is available now in production quantities. It comes in a standard, 14-lead SOIC package. Samples are available at $1.16 in 1,000-piece quantities.
O2Micro's free dimming technology patent continued
GRAND CAYMAN: O2Micro International Ltd, a leader in the design, development and marketing of high-performance integrated circuits and solutions, announced that it was issued 20 claims under United
States patent number 8,305,013 for its Circuits and Methods for LED Free Dimming control; a continuation of the invention issued February 2012 under United States patent number 8,111,017.
Free Dimming is O2Micro's dimming technology built into a LED light source. It allows the end-user to toggle dimming control using any standard on/off wall switch.
"This patented technology enables dimming control in LED lighting using an ON/OFF wall switch. The technology saves the cost of installation and compatibility issues associated with traditional incandescent dimmers," said Dr. Yung Lin, executive VP at O2Micro.
States patent number 8,305,013 for its Circuits and Methods for LED Free Dimming control; a continuation of the invention issued February 2012 under United States patent number 8,111,017.
Free Dimming is O2Micro's dimming technology built into a LED light source. It allows the end-user to toggle dimming control using any standard on/off wall switch.
"This patented technology enables dimming control in LED lighting using an ON/OFF wall switch. The technology saves the cost of installation and compatibility issues associated with traditional incandescent dimmers," said Dr. Yung Lin, executive VP at O2Micro.
Philips unveils LUXEON S emitters
USA: Philips Lumileds introduced LUXEON S, its second generation illumination-grade multichip emitters which offer twice the lumen density of existing solutions, an R9 value that exceeds 80 and has 50 percent better Color over Angle (COA) variation over existing solutions.
Philips Lumileds is demonstrating the new LUXEON S emitters this week at Strategies in Light, February 12-14 in Santa Clara, California (Booth #205).
Designed for retail, architectural and entertainment applications, LUXEON S emitters deliver up to 50 lumens per square millimeter and a high light output of up to 8000 lumens in narrow beams with sharp shadows.
Because of the challenges in creating a small footprint with tight beam angles and high lumen density, luminaire designers have had to deal with large optics and limited lumen levels. With LUXEON S, luminaire designers have more flexibility and can achieve beam angles in the 8 degree range in a compact design, with light levels that rival traditional CDM light sources.
This flexibility enables never-before-possible Center Beam Candle Power (CBCP) of over 50,000 candela, compared to other LEDs, like Chip on Board (COB) solutions, with a larger Light-Emitting Surface (LES) that achieve less than 20,000-25,000 candela.
"With a lumen density that is twice that of available solutions, the LUXEON S can offer light outputs as high as 8000 lumens at half of the optical size, enabling LED approaches to replace traditional ceramic discharge metal-halide (CDM) lamps in spotlight and architectural applications," said Orson Lo, director of LUXEON S products for Philips Lumileds.
"Relative to CDM lamps, LUXEON S-based lamps offer comparable efficacy of 90 lm/W but with instant-on operation, better color consistency and four times the expected lifetime at 60,000 hours."
The new emitters feature correlated color temperatures of 2700K and 3000K with a CRI of 80 or 90, as well as CCTs of 3500K, 4000K and 5000K at CRI of 80. In the 90 CRI products, R9 value exceeds 80, making them ideal for applications requiring exceptional color renderings such as in premium retail and museum applications.
Philips Lumileds is demonstrating the new LUXEON S emitters this week at Strategies in Light, February 12-14 in Santa Clara, California (Booth #205).
Designed for retail, architectural and entertainment applications, LUXEON S emitters deliver up to 50 lumens per square millimeter and a high light output of up to 8000 lumens in narrow beams with sharp shadows.
Because of the challenges in creating a small footprint with tight beam angles and high lumen density, luminaire designers have had to deal with large optics and limited lumen levels. With LUXEON S, luminaire designers have more flexibility and can achieve beam angles in the 8 degree range in a compact design, with light levels that rival traditional CDM light sources.
This flexibility enables never-before-possible Center Beam Candle Power (CBCP) of over 50,000 candela, compared to other LEDs, like Chip on Board (COB) solutions, with a larger Light-Emitting Surface (LES) that achieve less than 20,000-25,000 candela.
"With a lumen density that is twice that of available solutions, the LUXEON S can offer light outputs as high as 8000 lumens at half of the optical size, enabling LED approaches to replace traditional ceramic discharge metal-halide (CDM) lamps in spotlight and architectural applications," said Orson Lo, director of LUXEON S products for Philips Lumileds.
"Relative to CDM lamps, LUXEON S-based lamps offer comparable efficacy of 90 lm/W but with instant-on operation, better color consistency and four times the expected lifetime at 60,000 hours."
The new emitters feature correlated color temperatures of 2700K and 3000K with a CRI of 80 or 90, as well as CCTs of 3500K, 4000K and 5000K at CRI of 80. In the 90 CRI products, R9 value exceeds 80, making them ideal for applications requiring exceptional color renderings such as in premium retail and museum applications.
Kotura reports 40 percent revenue growth in 2012
USA: Silicon photonics innovator Kotura, Inc. announced 2012 revenue growth of 40 percent and points to the growing demand for faster, limitless access to digital information as a key driver for future growth. A recognized leader in the silicon photonics industry, Kotura's photonic integrated chips address the pressing bandwidth and performance needs of data centers supporting cloud computing, virtualization and other data intensive applications.
In addition to revenue growth, Kotura received nods in 2012 from Inc. magazine and Deloitte for their growth from 2007-2011 during which time they experienced 848 percent revenue growth. Having been named to Inc. magazine's Inc. 500|5000 fastest growing private companies and Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 and chalking up a number of technology and product wins, Kotura marks 2012 as a major milestone year.
"From a product standpoint 2012 was a turning point for our company," said Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura president and CEO. "We exceeded 60,000 channels shipping per month, more than doubling from the previous year. In addition, we launched our 100 Gb/s Optical Engine, which is targeted to data centers and high performance computing applications. In 2012, we strengthened our technology position with the addition of seven new patents granted and 22 new patents filed, bringing Kotura's total to 130 filed or granted technology patents -- the strongest technology patent position in our industry."
Coming off of a high growth year, Kotura is focused on the future, which in the short term includes high-volume production of its Optical Engine, a low-power, 100 Gb/s chip solution that supports the interconnect fabric for next generation data centers and high performance computing.
According to Cisco's Global Cloud Index released in October 2012, data center traffic will top 6.6 zettabytes by 2016, a fourfold increase from 2011. "Data center and cloud traffic are global trends driven by the consumer's need for instant access to digital information and the strong desire to access personal and business content anywhere," said Malinge. "The growth of mobility is pushing performance demands on data centers in ways that we couldn't have predicted five years ago."
Kotura's Optical Engine addresses the performance demands being placed on data centers and high performance computing interconnects. An inexpensive, small form factor chip solution that reduces power consumption and provides a high level of integration, Kotura's silicon photonics platform supports optical engines using Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM), in which multiple signals can share the same fiber path.
"As the only silicon photonics provider to offer WDM, Kotura's Optical Engine offers distinct advantages, including reducing the cost of fiber and associated connectors within the interconnect fabric for 4x25 GHz solutions by a factor of four, as well as readily expanding from four channels to eight, 16 or even 40 channels over a single strand of optical fiber," added Malinge.
2013 promises to be an exciting year for Kotura with strategic partnerships, technology advancements and sampling of its Optical Engine by year end. "We're optimally positioned for the explosive growth of silicon photonics into more and more markets. Kotura has invested heavily in its team and technology, and we look forward to being a part of new computing solutions that outperform what is possible today," concluded Malinge.
In addition to revenue growth, Kotura received nods in 2012 from Inc. magazine and Deloitte for their growth from 2007-2011 during which time they experienced 848 percent revenue growth. Having been named to Inc. magazine's Inc. 500|5000 fastest growing private companies and Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 and chalking up a number of technology and product wins, Kotura marks 2012 as a major milestone year.
"From a product standpoint 2012 was a turning point for our company," said Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura president and CEO. "We exceeded 60,000 channels shipping per month, more than doubling from the previous year. In addition, we launched our 100 Gb/s Optical Engine, which is targeted to data centers and high performance computing applications. In 2012, we strengthened our technology position with the addition of seven new patents granted and 22 new patents filed, bringing Kotura's total to 130 filed or granted technology patents -- the strongest technology patent position in our industry."
Coming off of a high growth year, Kotura is focused on the future, which in the short term includes high-volume production of its Optical Engine, a low-power, 100 Gb/s chip solution that supports the interconnect fabric for next generation data centers and high performance computing.
According to Cisco's Global Cloud Index released in October 2012, data center traffic will top 6.6 zettabytes by 2016, a fourfold increase from 2011. "Data center and cloud traffic are global trends driven by the consumer's need for instant access to digital information and the strong desire to access personal and business content anywhere," said Malinge. "The growth of mobility is pushing performance demands on data centers in ways that we couldn't have predicted five years ago."
Kotura's Optical Engine addresses the performance demands being placed on data centers and high performance computing interconnects. An inexpensive, small form factor chip solution that reduces power consumption and provides a high level of integration, Kotura's silicon photonics platform supports optical engines using Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM), in which multiple signals can share the same fiber path.
"As the only silicon photonics provider to offer WDM, Kotura's Optical Engine offers distinct advantages, including reducing the cost of fiber and associated connectors within the interconnect fabric for 4x25 GHz solutions by a factor of four, as well as readily expanding from four channels to eight, 16 or even 40 channels over a single strand of optical fiber," added Malinge.
2013 promises to be an exciting year for Kotura with strategic partnerships, technology advancements and sampling of its Optical Engine by year end. "We're optimally positioned for the explosive growth of silicon photonics into more and more markets. Kotura has invested heavily in its team and technology, and we look forward to being a part of new computing solutions that outperform what is possible today," concluded Malinge.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
450W TVS diode arrays from Littelfuse protect sensitive electronics from ESD and surge currents
USA: Littelfuse Inc. has introduced the 450W SD05 (unidirectional) and SD05C (bidirectional) series general-purpose TVS diode arrays (SPA devices), which are designed to replace multilayer varistors (MLVs) for protecting electronic equipment from damage due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) and other transient events.
Unlike ceramic devices, which have an inherent wear-out factor, SD05 and SD05C Series devices are made of silicon diodes, which allows them to absorb repetitive ESD strikes or surge transients safely without performance degradation.
Their low dynamic resistance (0.5Ω for SD05, 0.6Ω for SD05C) provides up to a 50 percent reduction in clamping voltage when compared with competing technologies, and can safely dissipate induced surge currents up to 30A.
Typical applications of these devices include buttons/keypads, switches, DC power ports, and various other low-speed I/Os in point-of-sale terminals, test equipment or instrumentation, medical equipment, desktop/notebook computers, servers, computer peripherals, etc.
“The SD05 and SD05C Series are perfect solutions for medical, industrial, consumer and computing applications. They allow designers to add ESD and/or surge protection around the printed circuit board (PCB) as needed,” said Chad Marak, director of the Littelfuse TVS Diode Arrays product line.
“Their compact SOD-323 package fits right into the footprint of an 0805 MLV, allowing manufacturers to replace them in their designs with a SD05 or SD05C device without requiring a PCB or solder pad change.”
Unlike ceramic devices, which have an inherent wear-out factor, SD05 and SD05C Series devices are made of silicon diodes, which allows them to absorb repetitive ESD strikes or surge transients safely without performance degradation.
Their low dynamic resistance (0.5Ω for SD05, 0.6Ω for SD05C) provides up to a 50 percent reduction in clamping voltage when compared with competing technologies, and can safely dissipate induced surge currents up to 30A.
Typical applications of these devices include buttons/keypads, switches, DC power ports, and various other low-speed I/Os in point-of-sale terminals, test equipment or instrumentation, medical equipment, desktop/notebook computers, servers, computer peripherals, etc.
“The SD05 and SD05C Series are perfect solutions for medical, industrial, consumer and computing applications. They allow designers to add ESD and/or surge protection around the printed circuit board (PCB) as needed,” said Chad Marak, director of the Littelfuse TVS Diode Arrays product line.
“Their compact SOD-323 package fits right into the footprint of an 0805 MLV, allowing manufacturers to replace them in their designs with a SD05 or SD05C device without requiring a PCB or solder pad change.”
OSRAM Mexico and Evolucia announce LED outdoor luminaire co-marketing agreement
MEXICO & USA: OSRAM Mexico and Evolucia Inc. have finalized an agreement whereby the companies will develop, deliver and market OSRAM ProPoint Cobrahead LED outdoor luminaires using Evolucia Aimed Optics.
Under the agreement, the companies will work together to integrate Evolucia's award winning Aimed Optics technology with superior LED modules and lighting controls from OSRAM. The combination is expected to result in one of the highest performing and highest quality LED outdoor luminaires in the industry.
"The combination of cutting edge LED technology from OSRAM with Evolucia's industry leading light distribution capabilities allows us to deliver high-performance and superior quality LED outdoor luminaires to our customer base," said Paolo Bortolan, presidente y DG-CEO of OSRAM Mexico. "The new OSRAM ProPoint Cobrahead using Evolucia Aimed Optics outdoor luminaire delivers the perfect amount of clean white light to the target area and uses up to 62 percent less energy than traditional fixtures."
Evolucia is a Sarasota, Florida-based company that recently won the lighting industry's coveted Best LED Street Light award, in its category, which was presented by the US Department of Energy, largely because of the proprietary Aimed Optics technology that was invented by the company's lighting design team.
Mel Interiano, CEO of Evolucia, said: "We are extremely pleased to be partnering with OSRAM Mexico. We have invested more than $25 million in our Aimed Optics product development platform and have spent five years working to perfect the LED mounting angles, heat sinking and aesthetics to ensure that not only performance is at the highest level, but also that our products can be manufactured and delivered at extremely competitive prices."
Under the agreement, the companies will work together to integrate Evolucia's award winning Aimed Optics technology with superior LED modules and lighting controls from OSRAM. The combination is expected to result in one of the highest performing and highest quality LED outdoor luminaires in the industry.
"The combination of cutting edge LED technology from OSRAM with Evolucia's industry leading light distribution capabilities allows us to deliver high-performance and superior quality LED outdoor luminaires to our customer base," said Paolo Bortolan, presidente y DG-CEO of OSRAM Mexico. "The new OSRAM ProPoint Cobrahead using Evolucia Aimed Optics outdoor luminaire delivers the perfect amount of clean white light to the target area and uses up to 62 percent less energy than traditional fixtures."
Evolucia is a Sarasota, Florida-based company that recently won the lighting industry's coveted Best LED Street Light award, in its category, which was presented by the US Department of Energy, largely because of the proprietary Aimed Optics technology that was invented by the company's lighting design team.
Mel Interiano, CEO of Evolucia, said: "We are extremely pleased to be partnering with OSRAM Mexico. We have invested more than $25 million in our Aimed Optics product development platform and have spent five years working to perfect the LED mounting angles, heat sinking and aesthetics to ensure that not only performance is at the highest level, but also that our products can be manufactured and delivered at extremely competitive prices."
TI's new LED drivers simplify retrofit light bulb design
USA: Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) introduced the industry's smallest off-line, phase-dimmable, constant-current lighting controller and an easy-to-use lighting driver that simplify the retrofit of a variety of LED bulbs, including E14, GU10, A19, PAR20/30/38, MR16 and AR111.
The TPS92075 controller and TPS92560 driver reduce component count and solution size while improving compatibility with legacy lighting controls.
The TPS92075 is designed for phase-dimmable, offline AC/DC LED lamp and downlight applications. Offered in a very small 6-pin TSOT package, it achieves power factor correction above 0.9 while delivering smooth, flicker-free dimming when used with conventional wall dimmers.
The TPS92560 is intended for use in low-voltage AC or low-voltage DC LED lamp applications such as MR16 and AR111. It uses a proprietary input current control method, which improves compatibility with electronic transformers.
The TPS92075 and TPS92560 join TI's LED driver portfolio for retrofit bulbs that includes the LM3445, LM3447, TPS92310/11/14, LM3444 and LM3401.
The TPS92075 controller and TPS92560 driver reduce component count and solution size while improving compatibility with legacy lighting controls.
The TPS92075 is designed for phase-dimmable, offline AC/DC LED lamp and downlight applications. Offered in a very small 6-pin TSOT package, it achieves power factor correction above 0.9 while delivering smooth, flicker-free dimming when used with conventional wall dimmers.
The TPS92560 is intended for use in low-voltage AC or low-voltage DC LED lamp applications such as MR16 and AR111. It uses a proprietary input current control method, which improves compatibility with electronic transformers.
The TPS92075 and TPS92560 join TI's LED driver portfolio for retrofit bulbs that includes the LM3445, LM3447, TPS92310/11/14, LM3444 and LM3401.
ISSI intros TRIAC dimmable LED driver IC for retrofit light bulbs
USA: Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. has announced the first member of the Flicker-Free family of devices, the IS31LT3935.
This is ISSI's latest solid state lighting (SSL) LED controller featuring a dimming core based on patent pending AccuDim technology. AccuDim is an advanced proprietary technique that mimics the characteristics of an incandescent light bulb for true dimming performance with all dimmers maintaining a high power factor.
In addition to offering near 100 percent compatibility with leading edge, trailing edge and digital TRIAC dimmers, designs employing the Flicker-Free IS31LT3935 will realize a substantial savings in bill of materials (BOM) cost due to the low component count.
The IS31LT3935 is a current mode LED controller that enables the 120V/230V AC lamp applications with a high power factor, high efficiency and a low component cost in a small PCB area. Designs using this single stage controller will experience a near unity power factor just like an incandescent lamp yet with very high efficiencies (up to 87 percent).
Other device features include spread-spectrum switching for reduced EMI, safety features such as input over-voltage protection, over-temperature thermal shutdown (with hysteresis) and AC line under voltage lockout. The controller IC feature set enables system designers to exceed all EMI and regulatory standards worldwide.
The IS31LT3935 can be configured as a high-frequency buck mode converter or as a primary side sensing flyback converter. Either mode of operation enables a solution that is both compact and cost effective. Though IS31LT3935 operates over a universal input voltage range (85V to 265V), Flicker-Free reference designs can optimize solutions that are highly efficient and have the lowest BOM by targeting a specific range such as 100V-120V or 220V to 240V AC input voltages up to a 25W power level. Such optimization enables customers to achieve lower overall cost with best in class performance in the smallest form factor to accommodate bulb retrofit designs.
The IS31LT3935 is sampling now and will be available in production quantities in Q2 2013. It is available in a small 3x3mm DFN-10 package with exposed pad and is priced at $0.89 in 1,000 piece quantities.
This is ISSI's latest solid state lighting (SSL) LED controller featuring a dimming core based on patent pending AccuDim technology. AccuDim is an advanced proprietary technique that mimics the characteristics of an incandescent light bulb for true dimming performance with all dimmers maintaining a high power factor.
In addition to offering near 100 percent compatibility with leading edge, trailing edge and digital TRIAC dimmers, designs employing the Flicker-Free IS31LT3935 will realize a substantial savings in bill of materials (BOM) cost due to the low component count.
The IS31LT3935 is a current mode LED controller that enables the 120V/230V AC lamp applications with a high power factor, high efficiency and a low component cost in a small PCB area. Designs using this single stage controller will experience a near unity power factor just like an incandescent lamp yet with very high efficiencies (up to 87 percent).
Other device features include spread-spectrum switching for reduced EMI, safety features such as input over-voltage protection, over-temperature thermal shutdown (with hysteresis) and AC line under voltage lockout. The controller IC feature set enables system designers to exceed all EMI and regulatory standards worldwide.
The IS31LT3935 can be configured as a high-frequency buck mode converter or as a primary side sensing flyback converter. Either mode of operation enables a solution that is both compact and cost effective. Though IS31LT3935 operates over a universal input voltage range (85V to 265V), Flicker-Free reference designs can optimize solutions that are highly efficient and have the lowest BOM by targeting a specific range such as 100V-120V or 220V to 240V AC input voltages up to a 25W power level. Such optimization enables customers to achieve lower overall cost with best in class performance in the smallest form factor to accommodate bulb retrofit designs.
The IS31LT3935 is sampling now and will be available in production quantities in Q2 2013. It is available in a small 3x3mm DFN-10 package with exposed pad and is priced at $0.89 in 1,000 piece quantities.
KEMET further expands C0G and X8R flexible termination portfolio
USA: KEMET Corp., a leading manufacturer of tantalum, ceramic, aluminum, film, paper and electrolytic capacitors, announced the expansion of its Flexible Termination (FT-CAP) product portfolio in C0G and Ultra-Stable X8R dielectrics. KEMET has extended case size offerings as well as capacitance values in both dielectric platforms.
"KEMET's C0G-type multilayer ceramic capacitors offer industry-leading performance and exceptional capacitance stability up to 125 degrees C," stated Dr. Abhijit Gurav, KEMET VP, Ceramic Technology. "Combined with superior flex performance, Ultra-Stable X8R devices are ideal for use at high temperatures up to 150 degrees C in higher reliability applications such as down-hole drilling and engine compartments."
C0G and Ultra-Stable X8R capacitors with flexible termination outperform devices with standard termination systems and are well suited for critical and safety relevant circuits without (integrated) current limitation, as well as any application that is subject to high levels of board flexure or temperature cycling.
These devices are RoHS compliant and available with an optional tin-lead finish. In addition to Commercial Grade, Automotive Grade (AEC-Q200) devices are available for mission and safety critical circuits requiring stricter testing protocol and inspection criteria.
Flexible termination technology was developed in order to address flex cracks, the primary industry failure mode of surface mount MLCCs. This technology directs circuit board stress away from the ceramic body and into the termination area, thereby reducing the risk of mechanical damage to the component that can result in low IR or short circuit failures.
FT-CAP complements KEMET's Open Mode, Floating Electrode (FE-CAP), Floating Electrode with Flexible Termination (FF-CAP), and KEMET Power Solutions (KPS) product lines by providing a complete portfolio of flex mitigation solutions.
"KEMET's C0G-type multilayer ceramic capacitors offer industry-leading performance and exceptional capacitance stability up to 125 degrees C," stated Dr. Abhijit Gurav, KEMET VP, Ceramic Technology. "Combined with superior flex performance, Ultra-Stable X8R devices are ideal for use at high temperatures up to 150 degrees C in higher reliability applications such as down-hole drilling and engine compartments."
C0G and Ultra-Stable X8R capacitors with flexible termination outperform devices with standard termination systems and are well suited for critical and safety relevant circuits without (integrated) current limitation, as well as any application that is subject to high levels of board flexure or temperature cycling.
These devices are RoHS compliant and available with an optional tin-lead finish. In addition to Commercial Grade, Automotive Grade (AEC-Q200) devices are available for mission and safety critical circuits requiring stricter testing protocol and inspection criteria.
Flexible termination technology was developed in order to address flex cracks, the primary industry failure mode of surface mount MLCCs. This technology directs circuit board stress away from the ceramic body and into the termination area, thereby reducing the risk of mechanical damage to the component that can result in low IR or short circuit failures.
FT-CAP complements KEMET's Open Mode, Floating Electrode (FE-CAP), Floating Electrode with Flexible Termination (FF-CAP), and KEMET Power Solutions (KPS) product lines by providing a complete portfolio of flex mitigation solutions.
Super junction MOSFET business update.
USA: Reportlinker.com announced that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Super Junction MOSFET Business Update.
It's no secret: Consumer is SJ MOSFET's main application segment, representing 2/3 of its total market. While some applications are stagnant, i.e., desktop PC and game console power supplies, most applications are still growing.
The biggest growth area will be power supplies for tablets, with an expected 32 percent increase in CAGR from 2013 to 2018. However, the main products where SJ MOSFETs are used are PC (desktop and laptop) power supplies and TV sets, which total half of the SJ MOSFET market as presented in this report.
The driver for using SJ MOSFET in these applications is, first and foremost, size reduction. SJ MOSFET allows for a much smaller size than planar MOSFET, since they generate less heat.
The Hybrid and Electric car markets should not be ignored. True, they are less than $5 million today, but they will represent more than $100 million by 2018.
This report clarifies the situation of SJ MOSFET in EV/HEV markets, and shows how SJ MOSFET will be used in DC/DC converters and chargers and how it provides accurate market metrics.
Industrial applications are less interested in SJ MOSFET use, since these applications do not require a high frequency of switching when operating in an H-bridge. SJ MOSFET is interesting only for specific topologies such as multi-level, or for cheap, low-power solutions (small UPS, residential PV) - but even in these applications, planar MOSFET or IGBTs remain better solutions since they are cheaper and meet all requirements.
The technology used for Super Junction MOSFET is of two types. The first one, developed by Infineon, uses a series of epitaxies and doping to create a locally doped "island" in the epi-layer. The doped region then diffuses and creates an N-doped pillar. The second technology uses deep reactive ion etching to dig a trench. This trench is then filled with an N-doped material to create the super junction structure. Players exploiting this particular technology are Toshiba, Fairchild Semiconductor and IceMOS Technology.
Technology evolution is accelerating and the opposition between multiple epitaxy and deep trench is growing stronger. Toshiba released its 4th generation of its DTMOS, a deep trench power MOSFET with a smaller pitch size. It means a smaller die size and an improved RdsON. It's still more expensive to produce than a CoolMOS (Infineon's brand name), but it's becoming more and more competitive.
Compound semiconductor remains a threat to SJ MOSFET. SiC will be positioned at higher voltage and will target high-end solutions as well. Silicon will still be present in 2015. IGBT is the best cost vs. switching efficiency trade-off, and International Rectifier is working on high-speed IGBTs that are competing directly with Super Junction MOSFET. In the end, SJ MOSFET is positioned in-between, and depending on the voltage, application and frequency of switching, it could compete with SiC, Fast IGBT, IGBT or GaN.
This report also presents evolutions in packaging, which has become a part of the game. In 2010, STMicroelectronics and Infineon maintained their leadership role by providing a common package type of very small size. It fits perfectly with consumer applications, where size reduction is a strong driver.
It's no secret: Consumer is SJ MOSFET's main application segment, representing 2/3 of its total market. While some applications are stagnant, i.e., desktop PC and game console power supplies, most applications are still growing.
The biggest growth area will be power supplies for tablets, with an expected 32 percent increase in CAGR from 2013 to 2018. However, the main products where SJ MOSFETs are used are PC (desktop and laptop) power supplies and TV sets, which total half of the SJ MOSFET market as presented in this report.
The driver for using SJ MOSFET in these applications is, first and foremost, size reduction. SJ MOSFET allows for a much smaller size than planar MOSFET, since they generate less heat.
The Hybrid and Electric car markets should not be ignored. True, they are less than $5 million today, but they will represent more than $100 million by 2018.
This report clarifies the situation of SJ MOSFET in EV/HEV markets, and shows how SJ MOSFET will be used in DC/DC converters and chargers and how it provides accurate market metrics.
Industrial applications are less interested in SJ MOSFET use, since these applications do not require a high frequency of switching when operating in an H-bridge. SJ MOSFET is interesting only for specific topologies such as multi-level, or for cheap, low-power solutions (small UPS, residential PV) - but even in these applications, planar MOSFET or IGBTs remain better solutions since they are cheaper and meet all requirements.
The technology used for Super Junction MOSFET is of two types. The first one, developed by Infineon, uses a series of epitaxies and doping to create a locally doped "island" in the epi-layer. The doped region then diffuses and creates an N-doped pillar. The second technology uses deep reactive ion etching to dig a trench. This trench is then filled with an N-doped material to create the super junction structure. Players exploiting this particular technology are Toshiba, Fairchild Semiconductor and IceMOS Technology.
Technology evolution is accelerating and the opposition between multiple epitaxy and deep trench is growing stronger. Toshiba released its 4th generation of its DTMOS, a deep trench power MOSFET with a smaller pitch size. It means a smaller die size and an improved RdsON. It's still more expensive to produce than a CoolMOS (Infineon's brand name), but it's becoming more and more competitive.
Compound semiconductor remains a threat to SJ MOSFET. SiC will be positioned at higher voltage and will target high-end solutions as well. Silicon will still be present in 2015. IGBT is the best cost vs. switching efficiency trade-off, and International Rectifier is working on high-speed IGBTs that are competing directly with Super Junction MOSFET. In the end, SJ MOSFET is positioned in-between, and depending on the voltage, application and frequency of switching, it could compete with SiC, Fast IGBT, IGBT or GaN.
This report also presents evolutions in packaging, which has become a part of the game. In 2010, STMicroelectronics and Infineon maintained their leadership role by providing a common package type of very small size. It fits perfectly with consumer applications, where size reduction is a strong driver.
LED and OLED global markets
USA: Reportlinker.com announced that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: LED and OLED Global Markets, 2nd Edition.
The report presents an in-depth analysis of the development, performance, applications, products, manufacturers, and trends in the worldwide use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). LEDs are now widely used in mobile electronics, flat panel televisions, traffic signals, automotive lights and signals, and general illumination among many other applications.
OLEDs are not as common and are typically used for small electronic displays. However, they have all but taken over the display market for smart phones, displacing LEDs as they do so. Significant strides have been made in LED and OLED manufacturing, performance, and product applications over the past five years and both technologies are now poised to revolutionize the lighting and electronics industry with their long-lifetimes and an energy-efficient operation.
This report contains a comprehensive analysis of the current market for LED and OLED technologies as well as projections for market size and end-use application growth through 2022. Marketing concerns including cost, energy demand, environmental impacts, economic conditions, consumer acceptance, intellectual property rights, and government activities are discussed in detail. The report also profiles major manufacturers and marketers of LEDs and OLEDs and the strategies they have adopted to maximize growth and profitability.
LEDs have been used in many industrial, business, and consumer applications for a number of years and are now beginning to penetrate the general illumination market in significant numbers. OLEDs are also becoming more widely used and are expected to have significant impacts on the flat panel television market and the general illumination market within the next five years.
Cost has been – and remains – the final obstacle to rapid growth of both LEDs and OLEDs since the brightness levels and operational lifetimes have surpassed that of incandescent and fluorescent lighting products. From mobile phones to automobiles to billboards to television sets and virtually every other product that requires lighting, LEDs and OLEDs have proven their many advantages over alternative lighting technologies. This report delineates these advantages and the potential impacts LED and OLED technologies bring to various markets and applications for the next ten years.
The report presents an in-depth analysis of the development, performance, applications, products, manufacturers, and trends in the worldwide use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). LEDs are now widely used in mobile electronics, flat panel televisions, traffic signals, automotive lights and signals, and general illumination among many other applications.
OLEDs are not as common and are typically used for small electronic displays. However, they have all but taken over the display market for smart phones, displacing LEDs as they do so. Significant strides have been made in LED and OLED manufacturing, performance, and product applications over the past five years and both technologies are now poised to revolutionize the lighting and electronics industry with their long-lifetimes and an energy-efficient operation.
This report contains a comprehensive analysis of the current market for LED and OLED technologies as well as projections for market size and end-use application growth through 2022. Marketing concerns including cost, energy demand, environmental impacts, economic conditions, consumer acceptance, intellectual property rights, and government activities are discussed in detail. The report also profiles major manufacturers and marketers of LEDs and OLEDs and the strategies they have adopted to maximize growth and profitability.
LEDs have been used in many industrial, business, and consumer applications for a number of years and are now beginning to penetrate the general illumination market in significant numbers. OLEDs are also becoming more widely used and are expected to have significant impacts on the flat panel television market and the general illumination market within the next five years.
Cost has been – and remains – the final obstacle to rapid growth of both LEDs and OLEDs since the brightness levels and operational lifetimes have surpassed that of incandescent and fluorescent lighting products. From mobile phones to automobiles to billboards to television sets and virtually every other product that requires lighting, LEDs and OLEDs have proven their many advantages over alternative lighting technologies. This report delineates these advantages and the potential impacts LED and OLED technologies bring to various markets and applications for the next ten years.
Monday, February 11, 2013
TI intros industry's first VID interface controller with adjustable start-up current for core-voltage regulators
USA: Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) introduced a power management controller with 4- and 6-bit voltage identification (VID) interfaces. The LM10011 is the first VID controller designed to operate along with a point-of-load regulator to adjust the core voltage (VCORE) of a VID-enabled processor, such as TI's C6000 power-optimized DSPs and KeyStone multicore DSPs.
The LM10011 enables TI's DSPs to realize their full power savings capability to reduce power consumption in wireless infrastructure applications. The controller features industry-leading one-percent output accuracy and adjustable output current during start-up.
The LM10011 VID controller operates over a 2.97-V to 5.5-V input voltage range and is a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution. It can be used with any point-of-load regulator that has a feedback node, such as TI's high-performance 15-A LM21215 and 25-A TPS56221 synchronous buck regulators. The LM10011 offers 16 pin-programmable current output options during start-up, allowing the DSP VCORE to power up various voltages to enable greater system flexibility and reliability.
The LM10011 enables TI's DSPs to realize their full power savings capability to reduce power consumption in wireless infrastructure applications. The controller features industry-leading one-percent output accuracy and adjustable output current during start-up.
The LM10011 VID controller operates over a 2.97-V to 5.5-V input voltage range and is a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution. It can be used with any point-of-load regulator that has a feedback node, such as TI's high-performance 15-A LM21215 and 25-A TPS56221 synchronous buck regulators. The LM10011 offers 16 pin-programmable current output options during start-up, allowing the DSP VCORE to power up various voltages to enable greater system flexibility and reliability.
ISSI expands LED driver family with AC/DC LED driver IC for general lighting apps
USA: Integrated Silicon Solution Inc., a leader in advanced memory and analog IC solutions, introduced the IS31LT3916 a high performance LED driver for solid-state lighting (SSL) applications.
With an input operating voltage range from 85 to 265VAC, a Power Factor Correction greater than 0.95 and a typical current accuracy of +/-3 percent, the IS31LT3916 is ideally suited for isolated lighting fixture designs, which meet UL compliance for galvanic isolation.
The IS31LT3916 is a fixed-frequency, peak current mode controller designed to deliver highly accurate current regulation at a constant power to the LED load. Designs utilizing this device will maintain current accuracy without any type of secondary side feedback such as an opto-coupler, while being insensitive to external component tolerances.
The device has an automatic correction for peak current threshold that keeps the current constant with varying line voltage while maintaining high power factor. In addition, the IS31LT3916 LED driver incorporates many features such as soft-start, Vcc undervoltage lockout with hysteresis, and protections against output over-voltage, output open and short circuit, primary side over-current and thermal shutdown with hysteresis enabling a robust and reliable system solution.
Industry analysts expect 2013 to be a pivotal year as LED lighting adoption gains momentum in general lighting applications. With environmental regulations worldwide limiting high power incandescent use, LEDs offer an alternative solution which is becoming attractive as SSL solution costs decline rapidly.
ISSI continues to expand its LED driver offerings with innovative and cost effective solutions to address the gamut of indoor and outdoor lighting applications.
"IS31LT3916 extends our LED Driver offering for general lighting applications," remarked Ven Shan, ISSI VP of Analog products. "Lighting manufacturers will find this driver to be highly flexible and yet cost effective as it can be tailored to either isolated or non isolated designs with reduced part count and small form factor for reliable LED lighting solutions."
The IS31LT3916 is available now in a space saving, RoHS compliant MSOP-8 package and is priced at $0.89 in 1,000 piece quantities.
With an input operating voltage range from 85 to 265VAC, a Power Factor Correction greater than 0.95 and a typical current accuracy of +/-3 percent, the IS31LT3916 is ideally suited for isolated lighting fixture designs, which meet UL compliance for galvanic isolation.
The IS31LT3916 is a fixed-frequency, peak current mode controller designed to deliver highly accurate current regulation at a constant power to the LED load. Designs utilizing this device will maintain current accuracy without any type of secondary side feedback such as an opto-coupler, while being insensitive to external component tolerances.
The device has an automatic correction for peak current threshold that keeps the current constant with varying line voltage while maintaining high power factor. In addition, the IS31LT3916 LED driver incorporates many features such as soft-start, Vcc undervoltage lockout with hysteresis, and protections against output over-voltage, output open and short circuit, primary side over-current and thermal shutdown with hysteresis enabling a robust and reliable system solution.
Industry analysts expect 2013 to be a pivotal year as LED lighting adoption gains momentum in general lighting applications. With environmental regulations worldwide limiting high power incandescent use, LEDs offer an alternative solution which is becoming attractive as SSL solution costs decline rapidly.
ISSI continues to expand its LED driver offerings with innovative and cost effective solutions to address the gamut of indoor and outdoor lighting applications.
"IS31LT3916 extends our LED Driver offering for general lighting applications," remarked Ven Shan, ISSI VP of Analog products. "Lighting manufacturers will find this driver to be highly flexible and yet cost effective as it can be tailored to either isolated or non isolated designs with reduced part count and small form factor for reliable LED lighting solutions."
The IS31LT3916 is available now in a space saving, RoHS compliant MSOP-8 package and is priced at $0.89 in 1,000 piece quantities.
Digi-Key signs distribution agreement with CogniMem
USA: Digi-Key Corp. and CogniMem Technologies have announced an exclusive global partnership in which Digi-Key will be the only global distributor of CogniMem’s unique cognitive memory products.
CogniMem is an innovator in neural network architecture built to resemble the synapses of the human brain, creating reactive memory components that use high speed and parallel pattern recognition to ‘learn’ versus being programmed.
The company’s unique neural network architecture products feature embedded embed intelligence into miniature sensory devices to enhance their performance in speed and power consumption. The products also scale to allow for fuzzy matching of data patterns in data mining.
“Our customers are searching for innovative memory solutions ideal to support advanced technology applications such as natural language computing, adaptive optics, robotics, consumer electronics and security products,” said Mark Zack, VP, Global Semiconductor Product at Digi-Key. “Now, we’re able to respond to this growing customer demand with innovative new products from CogniMem.”
CogniMem is an innovator in neural network architecture built to resemble the synapses of the human brain, creating reactive memory components that use high speed and parallel pattern recognition to ‘learn’ versus being programmed.
The company’s unique neural network architecture products feature embedded embed intelligence into miniature sensory devices to enhance their performance in speed and power consumption. The products also scale to allow for fuzzy matching of data patterns in data mining.
“Our customers are searching for innovative memory solutions ideal to support advanced technology applications such as natural language computing, adaptive optics, robotics, consumer electronics and security products,” said Mark Zack, VP, Global Semiconductor Product at Digi-Key. “Now, we’re able to respond to this growing customer demand with innovative new products from CogniMem.”
RS Components supports rapid prototyping with availability of mbed application board
UK: RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has announced the availability of a new mbed application board.
Based around the mbed developer platform, the new mbed application board includes a host of connectors and external interfaces, eliminating the requirement for add-on boards and thus reducing valuable design time for engineers.
The new application board is credit-card sized (54mm x 86mm) and is specifically designed for use with the mbed NXP LPC1768 microcontroller module. Providing multi-functional capability, the new board enables the maximum number of potential experiments and projects, while retaining board footprint at a minimum.
The mbed application board offers an impressive array of features including a 128 x 32 graphics LCD; a 3-axis accelerometer; temperature sensor; servo-motor headers; PWM controlled LEDs; socket for ZigBee, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity; Ethernet and USB connectors; and a speaker and I/O audio jacks.
"This new application board is an important addition to the mbed family that allows engineers to experience ARM technology-based programming," said Mark Cundle, head of Technical Marketing, RS Components. "Designed specifically for use with the mbed NXP LPC1768, the module saves engineers significant time in project development, and the huge range of connectivity options brings a huge range of 'Internet-of-Things' (IoT) applications into play."
Based around the mbed developer platform, the new mbed application board includes a host of connectors and external interfaces, eliminating the requirement for add-on boards and thus reducing valuable design time for engineers.
The new application board is credit-card sized (54mm x 86mm) and is specifically designed for use with the mbed NXP LPC1768 microcontroller module. Providing multi-functional capability, the new board enables the maximum number of potential experiments and projects, while retaining board footprint at a minimum.
The mbed application board offers an impressive array of features including a 128 x 32 graphics LCD; a 3-axis accelerometer; temperature sensor; servo-motor headers; PWM controlled LEDs; socket for ZigBee, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity; Ethernet and USB connectors; and a speaker and I/O audio jacks.
"This new application board is an important addition to the mbed family that allows engineers to experience ARM technology-based programming," said Mark Cundle, head of Technical Marketing, RS Components. "Designed specifically for use with the mbed NXP LPC1768, the module saves engineers significant time in project development, and the huge range of connectivity options brings a huge range of 'Internet-of-Things' (IoT) applications into play."
Agilent announces industry’s highest-performance real-time spectrum analyzers
USA: Agilent Technologies Inc. announced the availability of real-time spectrum analysis (RTSA) for its PXA X-Series signal analyzers. Agilent’s RTSA delivers unmatched probability of intercept (POI), analysis bandwidth, sensitivity, and frequency range—capabilities that make it the best way for system developers and signal analysts to see, capture and understand highly elusive signals.
In applications such as radar, electronic warfare and military communications, POI is the key benchmark for RTSA. When configured for real-time spectrum analysis, the PXA can detect intermittent signals with durations as short as 3.57 µs, which is the best POI currently available.
“Even at the extremes of signal analysis, a high-performance analyzer should be ready for anything—and that’s why RTSA is an upgrade option to the PXA,” said Guy Séné, president of Agilent’s Electronic Measurement Group. “Only the real-time PXA combines a high-performance signal analyzer and real-time analysis. It gives users greater confidence that they’ve achieved a detailed understanding of what’s happening inside a signal-rich system or environment.”
To help detect more signals in less time, Agilent’s real-time PXA provides an industry-leading 75-dB spurious-free dynamic range across analysis bandwidths of up to 160 MHz. This enables users to place deep and wide measurements anywhere within a measurement range of 50 GHz.
In addition to its industry-leading sensitivity of -157 dBm at 10 GHz (no preamp), the PXA also provides the ability to vary the resolution bandwidth within a measurement span. With this combination of capabilities, users are better able to resolve closely spaced signals, identify intermittent low-level signals and further improve POI.
For deeper analysis and thorough characterization of complex signals, a real-time PXA seamlessly integrates with Agilent 89600 VSA software. This combination of capabilities enables users to find the root cause of signal problems with advanced troubleshooting tools that support measurements in the time, frequency and modulation domains. The software also provides connections to Agilent instruments such as vector signal generators and arbitrary waveform generators to play back captured signals as inputs to a device under test.
In applications such as radar, electronic warfare and military communications, POI is the key benchmark for RTSA. When configured for real-time spectrum analysis, the PXA can detect intermittent signals with durations as short as 3.57 µs, which is the best POI currently available.
“Even at the extremes of signal analysis, a high-performance analyzer should be ready for anything—and that’s why RTSA is an upgrade option to the PXA,” said Guy Séné, president of Agilent’s Electronic Measurement Group. “Only the real-time PXA combines a high-performance signal analyzer and real-time analysis. It gives users greater confidence that they’ve achieved a detailed understanding of what’s happening inside a signal-rich system or environment.”
To help detect more signals in less time, Agilent’s real-time PXA provides an industry-leading 75-dB spurious-free dynamic range across analysis bandwidths of up to 160 MHz. This enables users to place deep and wide measurements anywhere within a measurement range of 50 GHz.
In addition to its industry-leading sensitivity of -157 dBm at 10 GHz (no preamp), the PXA also provides the ability to vary the resolution bandwidth within a measurement span. With this combination of capabilities, users are better able to resolve closely spaced signals, identify intermittent low-level signals and further improve POI.
For deeper analysis and thorough characterization of complex signals, a real-time PXA seamlessly integrates with Agilent 89600 VSA software. This combination of capabilities enables users to find the root cause of signal problems with advanced troubleshooting tools that support measurements in the time, frequency and modulation domains. The software also provides connections to Agilent instruments such as vector signal generators and arbitrary waveform generators to play back captured signals as inputs to a device under test.
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