Archive : 17 October 2014 год

Shipments of sensors used in wearable devices llike the Apple Watch will rise by a factor of seven over the coming years, IHS predicts.

In fact, the market research firm says shipments of sensors will climb much more quickly than those for wearable devices themselves. 

This is largely because of increased consumer demand for fitness and health monitoring features, as well as improved user interfaces. 

Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst at IHS Technology, said: "Wearables are a hotbed for sensors, with market growth driven by the increasing number of these components in each product sold. 

"The main factor propelling this phenomenon is a transition in market share away from simple products like pedometers and toward more sophisticated multipurpose devices such as smartwatches and smartglasses." 

IHS believes the worldwide market for sensors in wearables will expand to 466million units in 2019, up from 67m in 2013. The average wearable device shipped in 2019 is expected to incorporate 4.1 sensor elements, up from 1.4 in 2013. 

Shipments of sensors for smartwatches like the Apple Watch – which includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone and a pulse sensor – are expected to drive demand considerably. 

"Similar to the iPhone and iPad, we expect the Apple Watch will set a de facto standard for sensor specifications in smartwatches," Bouchaud continued. "Most other wearable OEMs will follow Apple's lead in using these four devices – or will add even more sensors to differentiate."

Author
Laura Hopperton

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

High tech trade association techUK has begun a review of the enforcement of the regulations regarding export licences, and export controls in particular. The review will look at whether these regulations have a negative impact to the UK electronics, systems, assemblies or components supply chains – either as an unnecessary cost to business, or loss of potential exports. 

The review will conclude with a presentation of evidence and finding to Government Ministers Matthew Hancock and Oliver Letwin in early December, with a view to improving the regulatory environment for the sector. 

A number of issues have already been identified by the sector; in particular, how the current export control regime operates for the classification of products in the UK compared to other EU countries. A further issue is the current application process for an Open General Export Licence and the advice given by support organisations. 

Initial evidence indicates that misclassification regarding dual use is costing the UK electronics supply chain lost export revenues and the process to obtain export licences is too slow to meet customer lead times. Meanwhile, advice and guidance on the subject is sometimes unclear and contradictory. 

If you would like to contribute to the review, email Ken Ball, electronics manufacturing & design manager 
or complete the online form at the URL shown below. 

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Nine of Altera's Enpirion power SoCs have been qualified as compliant with the automotive AEC-Q100 temperature qualification standard.

The devices include step-down PowerSoCs from the EP53xx and EN63xx families, which are optimised for energy efficiency and support load currents up to 12A. 

Unlike discrete power products, the turnkey solutions give designers complete power systems that are fully simulated, characterised and production qualified for use with Cyclone and MAX FPGAs. 

"Our automotive grade Enpirion PowerSoCs are specified, simulated, characterised, validated and manufacturing-tested as a complete power system," said Altera's Dan McNamara. "Fewer components and a tightly controlled IC manufacturing process permit 45,000-year MTBF reliability." 

By integrating inductors, high frequency filter capacitors, a controller and MOSFETs, Altera says the SoCs typically have a 25 to 50% smaller footprint compared to alternative discrete switching regulators. 

Author
Laura Hopperton

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

For Traction and Heavy-Duty Applications, Devices Offer High Ripple Current to 19.76 A in Two Large Case Sizes

MALVERN, Pa. - Oct. 16, 2014 - Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (NYSE: VSH) today introduced a new series of screw-terminal power aluminum capacitors designed for traction and heavy-duty applications. Devices in the Vishay BCcomponents 110 PHT-ST series offer a long useful life of 10,000 hours at +85 °C and high ripple current to 19.76 A at +85 °C in large 76 mm by 146 mm and 76 mm by 220 mm case sizes. 

Featuring a cylindrical aluminum case insulated with a blue sleeve and pressure relief in their sealing disc, the capacitors released today combine their long useful life with high capacitance of 6000 µF over a voltage range of 250 V to 450 V. Additional capacitance and voltage values are available on request. The devices offer tight tolerance of -10 % / +30 %, low maximum ESR down to 17.6 mΩ, and a wide operating temperature range from -40 °C to +85 °C.

As polarized aluminum electrolytic capacitors with a non-solid electrolyte, 110 PHT-ST series devices are optimized for rail traction in trains, subways, and light rail systems, in addition to power supplies in heavy-duty industrial applications. The capacitors are available with 13 mm high-current M5 and M6 discs, 18 mm high-current M6 discs, and 1/4-28 UNF discs. The devices are RoHS-compliant and available in standard or bolt-nut versions. 

Samples and production quantities of the 110 PHT-ST capacitors are available now, with lead times of 10 to 14 weeks. 

Source: www.vishay.com.

17th October 2014 – In order to maximise the optimization and troubleshooting possibilities when deploying next generation wireless networks, test sourcing specialist Livingston now offers JDSU’s RANAdvisor Handheld multi-technology radio access network (RAN) analysis solution. Complementing the backpack and vehicle based RANAdvisor products from JDSU, this ground-breaking, extremely compact new test product keeps the engineering resource and hardware investment required for implementing mobile communication infrastructure to a minimum. It has a highly intuitive and simple to operative graphic user interface (GUI), plus a unique parallel sequencer, which makes it very straightforward to carry out tests and capture data. The real-time key performance indictor (KPI) engine incorporated into the unit provides the operative with feedback regarding any problems as they occur.
 
When used in tandem with JDSU’s CellAdvisor base station analyser, also available through Livingston, the RANAdvisor Handheld can quickly and easily verify that voice, data, and web services are all working correctly. The products that make up the RANAdvisor platform support receivers with up to 8 different frequency bands. The accompanying software simultaneously measures and troubleshoots network RF coverage and service delivery across

all existing 2G, 3G and 4G technologies.

 
In addition to this product offering, Livingston can now provide its customers with RANAdvisor TrueSite - an ultra-portable discrete Android-based solution optimised for testing within indoor environments. Controlled using Bluetooth, this solution eliminates the need for cabling, thus making it easy for operatives to configure and to run tests on. Supporting LTE, WCDMA, GSM, CDMA and EV-DO technologies, TrueSite is targeted at testing small cells and distributed antenna systems (DAS) in indoor settings (like airports, sports stadiums and shopping centres). The solution can be used as a single device held (such as Samsung’s Galaxy S3/S4) in the palm of the operative’s hand, or used in conjunction with a control tablet so that up to 6 devices can be utilised. Location data can be taken directly from the device's built-in GPS. The remote start/stop function means that this solution can be activated/deactivated via SMS.
 
“Operatives involved in the installation and maintenance at sites where the majority of testing that needs to be done takes place indoors have until now been dependent on the bulky test solutions designed for field work,” states Reinier Treur, Marketing Director at Livingston. “By providing drive test solutions of this kind, convenience levels can be boosted and implementation times dramatically shortened. Having support for a wide range of different mobile communication technologies means that the multitude of networks types can be addressed.”

Source: www.livingston.com