Archive : 2 November 2015 год

Sales of semiconductors in Europe in September 2015 were $2.871billion, an increase of 2.2% from the previous month, but 10.6% lower than in September 2014. According to the European semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA), third quarter sales in Europe were $8.612bn, an increase of 1.6% over Q2.

On a worldwide basis, semiconductor sales in September were $28.411bn, a 1.9% increase over August. Third quarter sales, meanwhile, were 0.6% higher than Q2.

According to ESIA, strong European demand for semiconductors in September resulted in good growth for most of the main product categories. Demand for MOS microprocessors rose by 5.5% compared to August, while sales of flash memories grew by 3.2% and discretes by 2.6%. Good growth was also reported by the computer, automotive, ic card, consumer and wireless communication sectors.

Measured in Euro, semiconductor sales were €2.579bn; up by 2.1% versus the previous month and 6.4% higher than September 2014.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Ultrahaptics has announced a Series A funding round of £10.1million led by Woodford Investment Management alongside existing shareholder IP Group.The start-up, specialising in mid-air haptics aims to revolutionise how we interact with computers, automobiles and consumer goods.

Steve Cliffe, CEO of Ultrahaptics, said: “The company is engaged with Tier 1 manufacturers in multiple markets and the investment from Woodford Investment Management will allow us to fulfil this demand and address additional markets and customers.”

The Series A funding from Woodford Investment Management, IP Group, employees and other investors brings Ultrahaptics’ total funding to date to £11.3m.

Mark Reilly of IP Group said: “We have been involved with Ultrahaptics from the very beginning and have been delighted with both the technical and commercial progress achieved to date. We are extremely excited to participate in this Series A funding and the company’s continued development.”

Pic: Steve Cliffe, CEO and Tom Carter, CTO and founder

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created what they believe to be the fastest, most responsive flexible silicon phototransistor yet. The device – which boasts good sensitivity and response time – could improve the performance of products ranging from digital cameras and smoke detectors to surveillance systems and satellites.

“We actually can make the curve any shape we like to fit the optical system,” said Professor Zhenqiang Ma. “Currently, there's no easy way to do that.”

The phototransistor has been produced using a ‘flip-transfer’ method, in which the final step is to invert the finished phototransistor onto a plastic substrate. At that point, a reflective metal layer is on the bottom.

“In this structure – unlike other photodetectors – light absorption in an ultrathin silicon layer can be much more efficient because light is not blocked by any metal layers or other materials,” Prof Ma noted.

The researchers also placed electrodes under the phototransistor’s silicon nanomembrane layer, allowing the metal layer and electrodes to act as reflectors and improve light absorption.

Ultimately, the new phototransistors open the door of possibility, he says.

"This demonstration shows great potential in high performance and flexible photodetection systems," Prof Ma concluded. “It shows the capabilities of high sensitivity photodetection and stable performance under bending conditions, which have never been achieved at the same time.”

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Argon Streams, from Argon Design, has been named Electronic Product of the Year at this year’s British Engineering Excellence Awards (BEEAs).

As higher display resolutions become more popular, data needs to be compressed so that it can be transmitted at lower bit rates or stored in smaller memory areas.

Looking to meet these requirements, the MPEG video standards body has defined the HEVC codec, while Google and YouTube, looking to stream 4K video over the internet, have defined the VP9 high compression codec.

Because both codecs provide much higher rates of compression than previous codecs, the encoding process is far more complex and the bitstreams generated by the codecs are equally complex. These bitstreams have to be decoded without error in order to display the video as intended.

Argon Streams is a set of encoded video bitstreams that can be used by decoder developers to verify that their products can handle the latest video standards. The product is targeted at semiconductor companies who are designing and manufacturing decoders, but is also of use to IP developers. In both cases, the end products will be used in devices such as smartphones, tablets and internet streaming systems.

Argon Design has now signed 22 licenses for Argon Streams – 14 more than its ‘optimistic’ forecast.

What the Judges said: 
“While there might only be a small number of customers for Argon Stream’s product, it is of critical importance, helping them to ensure their chips get to market in a timely fashion, on budget and that they work.”

Pic: Argon Design CTO Steve Barlow, left, and chief executive Alan Scott, centre, receive the Award from Mark Larson, right, vice chairman of category sponsor Digi-Key Electronics

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Oxford Space Systems (OSS) has won the Grand Prix at this year’s British Engineering Excellence Awards. Just two years old, the company has already raised more than £1million in investment and will see one of its products launched into space in 2016.

Every satellite requires some form of deployable structure and designers need to improve the stowage efficiency of these structures. OSS’ solution is AstroTube, a proprietary rolled composite material that unfurls like a tape measure. This allows structures such as antennas, panels and booms to not only be lighter and smaller, but also less complex. To achieve this, OSS is working with a world leading expert in origami techniques.

OSS was also recognised as Start Up of the Year. In the opinion of the Judges, OSS has demonstrated everything you could plan and hope for from a start up; a viable range of innovative products and demand for its technology from the global space industry.

OSS has already signed five ‘significant’ development contracts and

says it is succeeding because it has ‘genuinely innovative and disruptive technology, strong backing from investors and demand from companies in the US, the UK and Japan.

The OSS team is encouraged to ‘think big’ and to not be scared of proposing apparently ‘wacky’ ideas. In founder Mike Lawton’s opinion, there is no such thing as a ‘daft idea’. “History,” he says, “is littered with so called experts saying that the technology we take for granted was impossible.”

What the Judges said: 
“It’s a huge success story for UK manufacturing plc and an example to other companies of how to identify and exploit a market opportunity.”

Pic: Mike Lawton, Oxford Space Systems

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk