Archive : 30 July 2015 год

Infineon Technologies has reported its results for the third quarter of the 2015 fiscal year. The results show that revenue grew by 7%, a rise of €103million to €1,586m at a margin of 15.4%. Infineon predicts a 1% growth for the final quarter and a 34% increase for the full year.

"Revenue, earnings and margin rose significantly in the third quarter, despite an increasingly difficult business environment. For the full fiscal year, we therefore continue to forecast revenue and a Segment Result Margin within the ranges previously predicted", stated Dr Reinhard Ploss, ceo of Infineon Technologies. "The integration of International Rectifier is progressing according to plan."

The company's four main operating units brought in revenues of: Automotive €621m, Industrial Power Management €269m, Power Management and Multimarket €517m and ChipCard and Security €172m.

Overall group operating income improved from €79m in calendar Q1 to €119m in calendar Q2 while net income for calendar Q2 came in at €109m, ahead of the previous quarter's €65m.

Infineon says it is back within the target range for its capital management objectives of gross cash between 30 and 40% of revenue, a positive net cash position and a moderate level of debt. This comes on the back of the company standing at a positive net cash position, with €49m at 30 June 2015 from a negative amount of €176m on 31 March 2015, with a gross cash position rising from €1,656m to €1,842m over the same period.

Investments during the 2015 fiscal year are expected to be in the region of €800m, including investments in plant and equipment at existing factories and in intangible assets including capitalised development costs.

Depreciation and amortization are predicted to increase to around €750m, mostly as a result of acquisition-related charges.

Pic: Dr Reinhard Ploss, ceo of Infineon

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Maxim Integrated Products has collaborated with NVIDIA to enable the analogue blocks on automotive infotainment and ADAS for NVIDIA's DRIVE CX and PX platforms.

To address concerns raised about the impact that interactive technologies will have on driver distraction, automakers have increased their focus on safety requirements within entertainment platforms. This balance between infotainment and ADAS is one of the principal challenges facing today's automotive ecosystem.

To meet this safety-in-entertainment challenge, NVIDIA has developed complex automotive SoCs capable of driving multiple functions with parallel processing architecture and large computing power.

"Maxim develops the high-performance analogue ecosystem required to drive NVIDIA's supercomputer platform," said Kent Robinett, managing director of automotive sales and marketing at Maxim Integrated. "Our collaboration enables new possibilities for infotainment and ADAS markets within automotive."

Maxim is providing software-compatible, automotive-grade power-management functionality for the NVIDIA visual computing module. Its gigabit multimedia serial link (GMSL) solutions provide high-speed data transfer between camera inputs and the NVIDIA SoC.

The MAX9286, a quad-channel 1.5Gbps deserialiser in Maxim's GMSL portfolio, is claimed to be the first solution on the market capable of synchronising video streams from four cameras while simultaneously powering each camera over the same coax cable. These 'aggregator' and 'power-over-coax' features are utilised on the NVIDIA DRIVE PX to simplify design for ADAS systems with up to 12 simultaneous camera inputs.

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

ARM has acquired Israel-based Sansa Security, a provider of hardware security IP and software for advanced SoC components embedded in IoT and mobile devices. Terms have not yet been disclosed.

"Any connected device could be a target for a malicious attack so we must embed security at every potential attack point," said Mike Muller, cto at ARM. "Protection against hackers works best when it is multi-layered, so we are extending our security technology capability into hardware subsystems and trusted software. This means our partners will be able to license a comprehensive security suite from a single source."

The acquisition builds upon ARM's embedded TrustZone technology, creating extra protection against malware and malicious software. It is a system-wide approach that underpins security-related chipset and trusted software needs. This enables the protection of any connected device and management of sensitive data and content.

"Our technology is already being used to protect data gathered and transmitted by a multitude of IoT and mobile devices," said Coby Sella, ceo of Sansa Security. "Joining ARM will enable us to scale the business by helping ARM's global technology partners to address their most pressing security needs."

Pic: Coby Sella, ceo of Sansa Security

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Altium has announced the release of a major update to its TASKING compiler for TriCore/AURIX microcontrollers which power advanced automotive applications. This release supports the next generation of Infineon TriCore technologies and enables engineers to begin development on advanced automotive applications before the AURIX family line is released publicly.

"OEM's and Tier-1 automotive providers require the highest standards in code reliability and safety without any compromises to performance," said Franz Maidl, managing director of global TASKING business. "This update provides engineers all over the world the capabilities they need to design sophisticated automotive applications without any sacrifice to quality."

Recent advances in complex automotive systems including power train, power steering, chassis, and transmission control have called for new, advanced functionality within the tools that embedded software developers rely upon. To meet these needs, Altium worked with OEM's and Tier-1 automotive providers to develop tools and enhancements to satisfy the engineering needs of future automotive applications.

These new features and enhancements include an integrity check tool, AURIX configuration tool, enhanced pin mapper tool for AURIX microcontrollers and a fully integrated development environment.

In addition to these features, a number of enhancements and fixes have been released to optimise the TriCore/AURIX compiler. Programming for advanced microcontrollers has also been simplified and developers can now configure low level drivers, C files and header files as well as the RTOS through the graphical editor and code generator directly from the TASKING software platform.

With these features and enhancements, Altium claims developers should be able to significantly decrease development time and costs while also generating the safest and most reliable code needed to meet the strict quality requirements from Tier-1 automotive providers.

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk