http://www.electronicsweekly.com/ElectronicsWeekly.com - News, analysis, research and opinions provided by the journalists of Electronics Weeklyen-gbCopyright Reed Business Information 2006http://www.electronicsweekly.com/images/ew-logo.gifhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/14430Electronics WeeklyFri, 12 Mar 2010 16:35:00 GMT60http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48193/nationals-revenues-profits-up.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48193/nationals-revenues-profits-up.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comNational Semiconductor has increased revenues and profits in the three months to the end of February.Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:35:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48192/most-accurate-dac-aims-for-mri-scanners.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48192/most-accurate-dac-aims-for-mri-scanners.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comAnalog Devices has introduced industry's most accurate monolithic digital-to-analogue converter. Designed in Edinburgh, the AD5791 20bit DAC has 1ppm resolution...Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:55:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48191/will-election-worries-hit-business-confidence.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48191/will-election-worries-hit-business-confidence.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.com“We are operating in very unusual market conditions in what continues to be a fragile overall economic environment, exacerbated by uncertainty about the forthcoming general election in the UK,” said Adam Fletcher of AfdecFri, 12 Mar 2010 11:52:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48189/distributor-takes-on-gan-chip-line-for-mosfet-replacement.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48189/distributor-takes-on-gan-chip-line-for-mosfet-replacement.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comLast year, EPC introduced its first commercial enhancement-mode GaN transistors. The supplier claims these can have “characteristics similar to silicon power mosfets”Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:58:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48188/pcb-design-firm-offers-free-cost-analysis.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48188/pcb-design-firm-offers-free-cost-analysis.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comThe Port Talbot-based consultancy said it will offer new projects a free analysis of their design and a report on the findingsFri, 12 Mar 2010 10:42:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48187/applied-expands-taiwan-flat-panel-solar-manufacturing-facility.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48187/applied-expands-taiwan-flat-panel-solar-manufacturing-facility.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comTo improve its ability to serve flat panel display (FPD) and thin film solar photovoltaic (PV) customers in Asia while capitalising on Taiwan's location, talent pool and supply chain infrastructure, capital equipment giant Applied Materials announced this week that its newly expanded Tainan Manufacturing Centre in Tainan, Taiwan is now open.Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:03:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48186/european-chip-business-is-looking-chipper.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48186/european-chip-business-is-looking-chipper.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.com“The European semiconductor industry leading indicator continues to grow, although the pace continues to slow, as noted last month, " commented Maria Simos, CEO of e-forecasting.comFri, 12 Mar 2010 09:47:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48184/ni-to-support-renewable-energy-product-development.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48184/ni-to-support-renewable-energy-product-development.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.com“With so much development in the areas of renewable energy and medical systems being carried out by small companies we feel this is an important initiative,” Ian Bell, market development manager at National Instruments told EWFri, 12 Mar 2010 07:23:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48183/mod-deploys-sdr-transceivers-in-sea-king-helicopter-fleet.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48183/mod-deploys-sdr-transceivers-in-sea-king-helicopter-fleet.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comThe MoD has bought 40 multi-band radios from Rohde & Schwarz to equip the Sea King HAR 3 fleet and the training Flight SimulatorFri, 12 Mar 2010 06:51:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48181/win-a-place-at-future-horizons-ief-2010.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/12/48181/win-a-place-at-future-horizons-ief-2010.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comFuture Horizons is giving away one free place (not including transport or accomodation costs) worth €2,900 at its International Electronics Forum 2010 in Dresden on May 5thFri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48185/arm-sets-sights-on-tablet-market.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48185/arm-sets-sights-on-tablet-market.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comARM CEO Warren East is on record predicting that ARM processor cores could be in as many as six million computers this yearThu, 11 Mar 2010 18:51:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48180/tsmc-to-hire-2400.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48180/tsmc-to-hire-2400.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comTSMC is to hire 2,400 new permanent staff.Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:12:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48179/motorola-opens-mobile-search-with-microsoft-move.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48179/motorola-opens-mobile-search-with-microsoft-move.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comThe question remains: is this a move specific to the China market, where Google, the world-leading search engine, has had well publicised issues, or does it reflect a wider trendThu, 11 Mar 2010 11:03:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48178/st-chip-targets-pay-tv-hackers.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48178/st-chip-targets-pay-tv-hackers.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comSTMicroelectronics is sampling the first devices to incorporate new security technology for prevent hacking of pay-TV broadcast signals. According to ST, the intention is to address the illicit decryption of signals for viewing or redistribution which can cost billions of dollars per year to broadcasters in lost revenuesThu, 11 Mar 2010 10:06:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48177/pcb-firm-sees-business-growth-china-looks-strong.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48177/pcb-firm-sees-business-growth-china-looks-strong.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comIn the UK, 70% of Graphic’s turnover is military and aerospace and the rest is for specialist applications such as formula one motor-racing, medical and marine productsThu, 11 Mar 2010 09:51:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48176/embedded-design-tools-will-be-in-the-cloud.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48176/embedded-design-tools-will-be-in-the-cloud.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comGuest columnist Mike Beunder believes it is only a matter of time before a complete embedded software tool chain is found in the cloudThu, 11 Mar 2010 09:32:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48175/space-chip-company-opens-design-centre-in-europe.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/11/48175/space-chip-company-opens-design-centre-in-europe.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comPeregrine Semiconductor has opened a design and engineering facility at Aix-en-Provence in France. It represents a new and expanded European business arm for the US-based supplier of silicon RF chipsThu, 11 Mar 2010 08:24:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48174/iar-and-express-logic-hit-32-bit-mcus-with-integrated-tools.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48174/iar-and-express-logic-hit-32-bit-mcus-with-integrated-tools.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comBoth Express Logic and IAR Systems products support the most commonly used 32-bit architectures including ARM's ARM7, ARM9 and Cortex-M3, Freescale's ColdFire, NEC's V850, and Renesas's H8Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:31:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48173/need-for-efficiency-stabilises-audio-amplifier-chip-design.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48173/need-for-efficiency-stabilises-audio-amplifier-chip-design.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.com Pushed by power efficiency requirements, integrated audio amplifier architectures are settling down, with Class-D at the top end and Class-AB at the bottom,...Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:26:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48172/200w-mains-chip-stands-by-on-100mw.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48172/200w-mains-chip-stands-by-on-100mw.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comMains PSU chip firm Power Integrations has introduced a low-stand-by family for TVs, set-top boxes and printers. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:02:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48171/cost-of-32-bit-microcontrollers-is-tumbling.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48171/cost-of-32-bit-microcontrollers-is-tumbling.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comTo reduce the price, changes have been made in design, production processing and test, for example, the on-chip variable oscillator is no longer calibrated, and the tolerances have been widened on some analogue blocksWed, 10 Mar 2010 10:39:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48170/fast-flash-and-floating-point-boost-mcus.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48170/fast-flash-and-floating-point-boost-mcus.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comMicrocontroller suppliers are looking to increase the performance of devices through fast flash memory technology and the integration of floating point unitsWed, 10 Mar 2010 10:32:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48169/how-sensory-feedback-will-improve-touch.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48169/how-sensory-feedback-will-improve-touch.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comGuest columnist Eric Itakura from IDT outlines the importance of providing user feedback in the area of touch control designWed, 10 Mar 2010 10:13:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48167/tierlogic-launches-3d-fpgas.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/10/48167/tierlogic-launches-3d-fpgas.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comToday, TierLogic breaks out of its seven years in Stealth Mode to launch its 3D FPGAs. The company is open for business now, and is offering free NREs to early adopters. TierLogic's approach is to make a monolithic chip which can act both as an FPGA and an ASIC.Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:39:00 GMThttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/09/48166/imec-and-synopsys-collaborate-on-3d-stacked-ic-development.htmhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/03/09/48166/imec-and-synopsys-collaborate-on-3d-stacked-ic-development.htmeditorial@electronicsweekly.comBelgian lab IMEC is to use Synopsys' finite-element method tools for characterising through-silicon vias in 3D stacked IC technologies.Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:57:00 GMT