Bisinfotech Magazine January 2019

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JANUARY 2019|` 80

BISinfotech Gospel Of Industrial Tech

SEMICONDUCTORS

N I

TR

T E C HN O E L ID

OG

&

NS

DAPTER

GALLIUM

A IN G AR H

O

C

ER AP

PL I C A T I

IN COMPARISON

WIDE BANDGAP

Y

THE ARM CORTEX-A35

S E M I C O N D U C T O R | T & M | L E D | A & D | S E C U R I T Y | C L O U D & D ATA | T E L E C O M

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CONTENT PAGE

36

SEMICONDUCTOR BUSINESS IN 2019 A ‘MIXED-REALITY’ FOR THE INDUSTRY

28

THE TEST AND MEASUREMENT 2019 PHENOMENON WITH VETERANS

06 TECH INSIDER

10 BIG PICTURE

08 INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

20 BIG PICTURE

12 TECH TRENDS

22 BIG PICTURE

14 COVER STORY

24 BIG PICTURE

18 TECH FEATURE

34 BIG PICTURE

32 TECH COLUMN

38 BIG PICTURE

THE ARM CORTEX-A35 IN COMPARISON ROHM SEMICONDUCTOR: WIDE BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS

VINCENT ROCHE, ANALOG DEVICES NIPS THE TECHNOLOGIES OF 2019 GALLIUM NITRIDE TECHNOLOGY IN ADAPTER & CHARGER APPLICATIONS BIOMETRICS ADDRESS PASSWORD FLAWS SIC AND GAN DEVICE MARKET TREND AND LITTELFUSE EXPERTISE

57 TELECOM INSIDER

JUNIPER NETWORKS 2019 PREDICTIONS – TELECOM SECTOR

42

LED EXPO 2018 DECORATES SMART LIGHTING MARKET WOOING MILLENNIAL DEMANDS

KEY CHALLENGES IN THE EV MARKET HAS BEEN THE COST OF LI-ION BATTERIES UMA PINGALI BUSINESS PRESIDENT | ELEMENT14

RAJESH RAM MISHRA PRESIDENT |IESA SATISH R.M |AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCT STRATEGY GROUP’ ROHM SEMICONDUCTOR INDIA MINHAJ ZIA |VP SALES FOR POLYCOM IN SOUTH EAST ASIA, INDIA & SAARC GAUTAM BRAHMBHATT HEAD, QUALITY ENGINEERING |UL

40 BIG PICTURE

VICTOR PENG CEO | XILINX

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR EDITOR MANAS NANDI manas@bisinfotech.com CONSULTANT EDITOR NILOY BANERJEE niloy@bisinfotech.com

With more and more telematics and electronics employed in automotive products, the next-gen focus in this sector is shifting to artificial intelligence SUB EDITOR (AI) and data analytics. Cars, trucks and buses are now increasingly JYOTI GAZMER driven by intelligent telematics technology, and big auto manufacturers jyoti@bisinfotech.com across the world is focussing on driverless cars, connected cars and, of course, electric mobility.

MARKETING MANAGER AI and data analytics are the new factors of production which will help auto companies to understand and create better consumer ARNAB SABHAPANDIT and employee experience, better productivity and quality in the arnab@bisinfotech.com supply chain. The industry will require critical cutting edge skills to write the algorithms and reskill its existing force to suit this new DESIGN HEAD environment. There is already a huge demand for such talent SANDEEP KUMAR pool and this is a very important segment which will transform the way we do business.

WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER What this means is that engineering colleges will need to JITENDER KUMAR upgrade their curriculum to cater this new demand.

With this, new challenges will also cross our paths. We all can recall the car hacking scene form Fast and Furious 8 WEB PRODUCTION which can become a real life situation unless we gear up BALVINDER SINGH for this kind of situation. Well, companies like Infineon are already working with top Indian institution like IIT and SUBSCRIPTIONS are addressing relevant, real-world security challenges S. RADHIKA in the 'Security' domain. Already top automobile radhika@bisinfotech.com companies are working with select campuses to tweak and update their curriculum and offer Bisinfotech is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi access to current shop floor and R&D technology.

Companies like M&M, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, and others routinely work with a select group of Sant Nagar,East of Kailash, New Delhi- 110065 (INDIA), Printed at Swascolleges to up skill their engineering graduates. tika Creation 19 DSIDC Shed, Scheme No. 3, Okhla Industrial Area, PhaseIn this issue, we have extensively covered II, New Delhi- 110020 automotive electronics through interviews and tech articles. Also to mention in this issue, we Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and achave covered the T&M segments at length curacy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any efand 3 top industry veterans has shared their fects from errors or omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily visions about this industry. those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement pubLot more to engage you for the next 30 lished in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned days! to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts Happy New Year & Happy Reading!

ManasNandi manas@bisinfotech.com

on the subject. Saur Energy International holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of the information provided herein. Any unauthorised reproduction of Bisinfotech magazine content is strictly forbidden.

Subject to Delhi Jurisdiction.

Cover Image: Created by Pikisuperstar - Freepik.com

TECH INSIDER

THE ARM CORTEX-A35 IN COMPARISON Toradex is launching early access for the Colibri iMX8X System on Module. It features the new NXP® i.MX 8X SoCs, making it the only SoC from the NXP i.MX 8 line to be equipped with Arm® Cortex®-A35 cores. In this article, we'd like to give you a little insight into this new processor and how it compares to others.

The Arm Cortex-A35 is the most efficient Armv8-A 64-bit processor. It is fully compatible with Armv7-A 32-bit cores, such as the Cortex-A5, A7, A9 and A15, featured on many Toradex SoMs with NXP and NVIDIA® SoCs. It uses an eight-stage, in-order pipeline which is optimized to provide the full Armv8 feature set while maximizing power efficiency. Boasting improved power management capabilities, the Arm Cortex-A35 offers not only heightened efficiency, but also reduces idle power consumption, extending battery life and minimizing heat generation.

For the Colibri iMX8X, Toradex equipped the module with low-power LPDDR4 RAM to further lower the SoM's power consumption. Toradex provides Linux base software with integrated power management to ensure that you can benefit from these low-power features, either fully automatically or using quick and easy manual configuration.

The Cortex-A35 runs both 32-bit and 64-bit code, allowing you to take advantage of the new features while providing full backwards compatibility.

Comparing the Cortex-A35 and Cortex-A7

Unlike the Cortex-A7, the Cortex-A35 offers you all the new features of Armv8, such as 64-bit support and thirty-one 64-bit general-purpose registers instead of fifteen 32-bit registers. There are also several improvements to the NEON unit, resulting in large performance improvements for tasks such as machine learning and computer vision.

The Cortex-A35 can deliver up to 40% faster performance[1] than the Cortex-A7 — at the same clock speed — while consuming 10% less power[1]. Cortex-A7 cores can be found on Toradex's Colibri iMX7 and Colibri iMX6ULL System on Modules.

Comparing the Cortex-A35 and Cortex-A53

The Cortex-A35 and Cortex-A53 share a lot of similarities, including the 64-bit Armv8-A architecture, an in-order, limited dual-issue architecture with an eight-stage pipeline.

At the same clock speed the Cortex-A35 reaches 80%-100% of the performance of a Cortex-A53 depending on the workload[1]; interestingly, it only consumes 68%[1] of the available power when doing so.

You can find the Cortex-A53 inside the Toradex Apalis iMX8, together with high-performance Cortex-A72 cores.

To find out how the Cortex-A35 performs in your application, sign up to receive access to the Colibri iMX8X. On this Colibri SoM, we provide two or four Cortex-A35s, clocked at up to 1.2GHz and paired with 2 GB LPDDR RAM and up to 8 GB eMMC. You'll also have a Cortex-M4 microcontroller core to further lower power consumption or offload real-time tasks.

References:

• https://developer.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a35 • ^[1] https://www.anandtech.com/show/9769/arm-announces-cortex-a35

06

T o contact Toradex, please write to lakshmi.naidu@toradex.com

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

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ROHM SEMICONDUCTOR:

WIDE BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS SiC and GaN – the potential of wide bandgap Today, WBGs are no longer a topic of basic research, the semiconductors time for applications is definitely here: The market for SiC and

08

Since the first FET was presented in the 1950s, transistors have made significant development steps roughly every 20 years: starting with bi-polar transistors, through MOSFETs and IGBTs to the most recent development of wide bandgap semiconductors (WBG) like SiC (silicon carbide) and GaN (gallium nitride).

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

GaN power semiconductors is expected to grow strongly in the coming years. Experts expect the global SiC market alone to exceed the 1 billion dollar mark by 2021. The largest share is accounted for by power supply applications, such as power conditioners, battery chargers for electric vehicles and the power grid.

OUTLOOK INDUSTRY

Outperforming silicon The properties of WBGs promise comprehensive application possibilities in power electronics. A large breakdown electric field and high electron saturation velocity (table) have the potential to contribute to energy savings. WBG-based voltage converters have significantly less losses than conventional silicon-based converters. WBGs also enable significantly smaller modules, components and systems than silicon.

Si

4H-SiC

applications, but in other applications GaN wins, thanks to the different properties of the two materials. Let’s have a look at the device structures used in WBG transistors. For SiC-MOSFETS it is more or less the same as for silicon-MOSFETS. But GaN HEMTs (High Electron Mobility Transistors) are different. They use a lateral structure as opposed to the vertical structure used in silicon and SiC devices (figure). As a result, GaN HEMTs do not work with high voltages like silicon and SiC MOSFETs and can be used as high-speed devices.

GaN

Crystal Structure

Cubic

Hexagonal

Hexagonal

Lattice Constant

0.5431 nm

a=0.3073 nm, c=1.005 nm

a=0.3186 nm, c=0.5186 nm

Density

2.33 g/cm3

3.211 g/cm3

6.15 g/cm3

Band Gap (eV)

1.12

3.2

3.4

Dielectric Constant

11.7

9.66

8.9

Breakdown Field (MV/cm)

0.3

3

3.3

Electron Saturation Velocity (107 cm/s)

1

2

2.5

Electron Mobility in the Bulk (cm2/Vs)

1350

720

900

Thermal Conductivity (W/cm K)

1.5

4.5

2-3

Table. Comparison of the Wide-Bandgap-Semiconductors SiC and GaN to silicon.

Generally speaking, both common WBGs (SiC and GaN) show the same advantages. But in the details, there are big differences between the two materials. Especially the different production processes lead to most manufactures focusing on just one WBG. ROHM Semiconductor for example chose SiC early on. In 2010 ROHM started the mass production of SiC power components such as SiC Schottky diodes and SiC planer MOSFETs. In addition, ROHM was the first supplier to produce complete SiC power modules and SiC trench MOSFETs. The company has introduced a vertically integrated production system throughout the group. This means that the company covers the entire manufacturing process from the SiC wafers through the devices to the packaging.

To further boost the production capacity for SiC, ROHM is improving the production efficiency by increasing the wafer size and using the latest equipment. In addition, the company is planning a new production building at the Apollo Plant in Chikugo, Japan. It will increase the production area by approximately 20,000m2(plan). Detailed planning has just begun, construction is scheduled to begin in February 2019 and to be completed by the end of 2020.

The advantages of GaN But the future of WBGs will not belong to SiC alone, GaN will play an important role, too. SiC is better suited for some

Fig. Comparison of the different device structures for Si/SiCMOSFETs (left) and GaN-HEMTs (right).

A company which really mastered GaN HEMTs is GaN Systems. With their patented island technology, they achieve higher currents and higher yields than the competition. Their special GaNPX Packaging enables faster switching, more current, ultralow inductance and small size. Market acceptance and implementation of their products is another testament to the importance of GaN in the marketplace.

Just recently ROHM announced a collaboration with GaN Systems. The companies have agreed to jointly develop form-, fit-, and function-compatible products using GaN semiconductor dies in both GaN Systems’ GaNPX packaging and ROHM’s traditional power semiconductor packaging. GaN Systems and ROHM customers will now have the advantage of having two possible sources for package-compatible GaN power switches, presenting the widest selection of dual-sourced GaN devices.

Summary The WBGs SiC and GaN have finally passed the research state. Their utilization in voltage converters leads to significantly reduced losses compared to conventional silicon-based converters. WBGs also enable significantly smaller modules, components and systems at lower cost.

ROHM Semiconductor is leading in the production of SiC components, modules and systems. To further increase the lead, the company plans a new building for additional production capacity. Additionally, ROHM recognizes the advantages of GaN. To offer these advantages to its customers as well, ROHM collaborates with GaN Systems, the global leader in GaN power semiconductors.

09

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

THE CONVERSATION

KEY CHALLENGES IN THE EV MARKET HAS BEEN THE COST OF LI-ION BATTERIES

Srinivas Kantheti Product Line Director, Analog Devices

For ADI, Automotive is a key business and the company had leadership in the infotainment, EV power train, battery management and communication products. Further to knowhow on the current technology and market challenges and scopes in the Indian market, BISinfotech-Consultant Editor, Niloy Banerjee got alongside Srinivas Kantheti - Product Line Director, Analog Devices and Junya Nagai - Director, Strategic marketing and Business development, Automotive Business Unit, Analog Devices, below is what they’re designing for 2019.

Edited Nub.

1

. What key technologies will rev-up the EV market in 2019 and what key advancements you foresee in the automotive semiconductor market alongside?

10

Srinivas - One of the key challenges in the EV market has been the cost of Li-Ion batteries. With more battery chemistries coming in, there are a larger number of 4W, 3W and 2W manufacturers going the EV way revving up the market significantly. But beyond the batteries, EVs enable many innovative start-ups to build vehicles with interesting infotainment technologies, enhanced in cabin user experience etc. All these requires significant semiconductor innovations leading to end product innovations. ADI plays a key role with their BMS monitors offering

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

highest accuracy across conditions making their monitors perfect for various chemistries. In addition, advanced technologies focused on safety, wireless get embedded with core technologies offering innovative experiences to the OEMs and the user.

2

. Many semiconductor companies are finding a leading-edge in an automotive audio& video system and ADAS and some advantage in the processor market. How you think these evolving in coming time?

Srinivas - I think Audio and video systems and ADAS continue to be innovating continuously and processor is an integral technology part of these innovations and applications. Maybe we should ask for more details here.

Junya Nagai Director, Strategic Mktg & BD, Automotive Business Unit, Analog Devices

3. Winning a share in the automotive application is challenging, given carmakers rigorous qualification process and strong risk aversion (for quality reasons), as well as the industry’s need for long-term supply agreements and lengthy product cycles. How does your company look into these snags?

Srinivas - Automotive OEMs give a lot of importance to the quality and reliability of products. However, given the “consumerization” of automotive in the recent past, OEMs also constantly look to semi-conductor supplier for innovations to adopt. ADI is precisely addressing this through its world class quality program and automotive processes it follows in the design, development, qualification and subsequent production of the products.

PICTURE BIG

4

7

. Future of automotive semiconductor market, and your company’s excellence to be a juggernaut in the coming years?

. Power electronics for 48V mild hybrid and beyond, carefully explaining the rapidly increasing complexity of power circuits and peripherals for these and successor powertrains. Your focus into it?

Srinivas - For ADI, Automotive is a key business and the company had leadership in the infotainment, EV power train, battery management and communication products. These are key exciting technologies that will drive excellence in the Automotive end products and thus drives company’s growth into the future.

5

. Cars with active safety features simply need new equipment that does not broadly exist in today’s vehicles, such as cameras, radar, lidar and sensor fusions. How prominent is your focus into these technologies alongside the EV proliferation?

Srinivas - ADI is focused on the development of next generation radar and lidar sensors and is working with different OEMs.

6

. High-quality standards, eminently, offer significant performance improvements over current offerings while understanding vehicle usage or specific systems-usage patterns very well are key, experts mention developing a less expensive alternatives to IGBT would be the way. Your comments to it.

Junya - As for EV drivetrain, A higher voltage high current switching devices are required. IGBT is the one commonly used for now. If you look at the challenge to improve invertor efficiency and reducing the drivetrain system weight and size to improve milledge per gallon, SiC switch devices is the one coming into the market. But, since the defect density and wafer size of the SiC is still not compatible to Si, the cost is still seen a challenge for the adoption. Also, those high temperature grade peripheral components including PCB are still very expensive, which blocked another SiC’s advantage, which is high temp withstand capability, that can reduce the inverter cooling system cost significantly. But we are seeing the huge improvement and we are expecting the adoption will be moving faster.

As for EV drivetrain, A higher voltage high current switching devices are required.

IGBT is the one commonly used for now

Junya - 48V system is relatively a costefficient system, in comparing with the system complexity vs. the effectiveness of CO2 reduction, while we think it is limited and difficult to meet the new next regulation (CO2=95g/KM). We did see some OEMs are releasing a new enhanced 48V technology, through increasing ISG driving capability to use the motor covering the low speed zone and handover to engine when the sweet spot of engine is reached. In terms of complexity, PHEV, EV, the drivetrain system requires even higher voltage, high temperature and robustness in Isolation and EMC. ADI is focusing on a very robust and reliable isolation technology to make sure there is no interference between low voltage system and high voltage. Leveraging with our sensors and analogue expertise, ADI is focusing on IGBT, SiC smart drivers, integrate Isolation and power supply technology to enable the system cost cheaper in addition to small formfactor and robust EMC/I capability. Also, ADI is providing the high accuracy angular sensor for motor position sensing in order to drive the motor efficiently.

8

. Lastly, witnessing the current Indian scenario, how you think EV will come up un the Indian market and challenges and scopes it keeps for semiconductor players, deriving, high-efficiency, reliability keeping the cost card on deck?

Srinivas - India automotive market has a wide dynamic range – from 2W, 3W to 4W to buses. This drives different levels of innovation, features and challenges for companies and no one product fits all. The cost structures, qualification requirements, interfaces vary from application to application (2W to buses). Semi-conductor suppliers will work to develop products that will meet the needs of this growing market and secure design wins to understand the market further and innovate.

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BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

THE CONVERSATION

VINCENT ROCHE, ANALOG DEVICES NIPS THE TECHNOLOGIES OF 2019 1. Getting Edgy

Vincent Roche President & CEO|Analog Devices

12

Don’t we want to know what’s revvingup for 2019? 2018, a year noted to towered Merger and Acquisition, more compact, integrated and miniaturized technology complementing Smart and power-efficiency devices invariably kept the semiconductor industry restive. Who other than, Vincent Roche, President & CEO, Analog Devices, chronologically underlines the trends expected in the year, 2019.

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

Every year we harvest and create everincreasing quantities of data. By some analyses, we are generating 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day and 90% of the data we have today was created in the past two years[1]. This data deluge shows no sign of slowing as the Internet of Things and applications operating on the edges of networks become more prevalent.

To transform this data into information at the point of creation and need, and to do so more efficiently, processing is increasingly being decentralized and we’re seeing an upsurge in the growth of edge-node processing.

In 2019, we’ll continue to see advances in “smart sensors” that only wake when something interesting is happening and sift the input to only transmit relevant information to the cloud. We’ll also see greater focus on efficient power management in edge node devices

to support the increased processing demands and resultant thermal dynamics challenges. We’ll see greater focus on security as the growing value of the information generated makes loss or corruption more costly. Finally, sensor fusion, or the combination of differing sensing modalities to create a more accurate perception of reality, will become increasingly pervasive thanks to a combination of edge-node processing, the fog, and the cloud.

2. Artificial Intelligence Begins to Shed the Artifice

It is difficult to imagine a technology more hyped at this point than Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) but the reality is that below the breathless excitement, real progress is being made as virtually every industry is working to determine the opportunity and potential impact it represents. In automotive

TRENDS TECH

for example, rapid advancement in environmental sensing accuracy and the delivery of higher quality, more relevant data and information to AI engines is fueling progress in both trained and inference-based systems.

Automotive AI processing predominantly takes place at the edge rather than in the cloud due to the need for lowlatency, real-time decision making but the architectural battle between edge and cloud computing in AI will be waged on an application-by-application basis as other emerging markets such as gaming and industrial automation have their own, different needs. Thorny issues remain for all markets, especially in the areas of unsupervised training and validation of how AI systems will really work once they are trained. While we will make advancements in these areas in 2019, non-technical issues like ethics, liability, and governance as well as a limited pool of AI/ML talent remain hurdles to progress.

3. Shifting into High Gear

A triple wave of disruption is hitting the automotive industry – vehicle electrification, autonomous vehicles, and transport-as-a-service. Vehicle electrification will continue to grow at double digits and migrate from the niche to the mainstream in 2019 as internal combustion engines face increasing regulatory pressure (up to and including banning certain technologies) and electric and power management technologies improve and become less expensive. New chemistries are enabling much greater energy density in batteries, which is spawning innovation in related areas of battery formation and lifecycle management. Advancements in electronics and architectures will be necessary to enable the sensing, measurement, interpretation, and secure communication of battery state information that is needed to maximize the results, lifetimes, and safety of the next generation of batteries.

On the autonomous vehicle side, we expect to see additional advances in level 3+ highway autopilot solutions, extensive tests of fleet services/robotaxis, and the fusion of vision, RADAR, and LiDAR modalities to enable greater situational awareness in autonomous vehicles.

Robotaxis from companies like Baidu and Waymo will bring the next wave of innovation to the transportation-asa-service market and continue to drive the consumer preference shift from car ownership to car access.

4. I, Robot

Significant progress is being made in the area of autonomy and those advances aren’t limited to the automotive market.

Robots, and increasingly, cobots (human-robot pairings) are operating independently of programming more and more as they are equipped with sensors and local, fog, and cloud-based processing power that enables them to rapidly learn and adapt to their environments and circumstances. In 2019, we will see additional advances in the security and safety of autonomous electronics in areas in which humans and robots interact. For example, autonomous robots and cobots able to map their surroundings in 3D through multiple modalities (e.g., vision, LiDAR, time-of-flight, etc.) in real time will become increasingly important as they work in close proximity to humans and need to adjust their operation when human safety is threatened by that operation.

5. Healthcare Becomes Prescient

Spiraling healthcare costs and growing disease prevalence spurred by the effects of modernity are creating a new level of urgency to solve the larger healthcare challenge. The need for economically viable wellness and healthcare solutions will drive strong growth in the adoption of sensing, computing, and mobile technologies. Deeper diagnostics, miniaturization, and connectivity will be the guideposts on the path to healthcare that is increasingly prescient.

As a consequence of this disruption, we are witnessing the birth of a new healthcare era in which clinical-grade healthcare will be available in nonclinical locations and applications.

Biological, gas, and chemical sensors will increasingly provide clinical-grade measurements in form factors and price points that make them more accessible to applications outside of traditional healthcare facilities. When combined with advances in mobility/connectivity

and cloud computing, these advances are making it possible to manage patient diseases in ways that prevent acute events that require expensive hospitalization, not to mention life disruption.

In 2019, we will see more clinicalgrade consumer devices being used in healthcare regimens as insurance companies, hospitals, and government programs like Medicare start to accept this as a valid way to monitor patients and improve healthcare outcomes. This will drive additional advancements in sensor accuracy and data analysis as at-home devices begin to transition from a recreational novelty to a truly critical element of healthcare.

6. Can You Hear Me, Now?

5G, which has been on the horizon for many years, is finally undergoing substantial testing and will begin to be commercially deployed in 2019 if not by the end of 2018. The initial phase of Massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) will provide significant improvements over 4G and eventually, millimeter wave 5G solutions will provide multi-gigabit per second wireless connectivity. As these initial 5G instantiations come online, the impact will be substantial.

Just as previous generations of wireless connectivity have created new markets and business models (e.g., mobile e-commerce, video streaming, etc.), the bandwidth explosion, low-latency speed and responsiveness, and highly configurable network solutions brought by 5G will dramatically remake markets and open new ones. Unlike in previous generations, however, the advances in connectivity enabled by 5G will extend beyond the internet to drive revolutionary changes in automotive, healthcare, and industrial automation markets.

Ultimately, one of the only predictions we can make with certainty is that 2019 will evolve in ways we can’t predict.

Some technologies that seem on the verge of achieving their promise at the start of 2019 will still be on the verge of achieving their promise at the end of 2019. Other technologies will silently reach a tipping point and become part of our everyday experience with hardly a ripple. n

13

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

GALLIUM NITRIDE TECHNOLOGY IN ADAPTER & CHARGER APPLICATIONS The promise of GaN in light of future requirements for power electronics

14

Gerald Deboy Senior Principal Power Semiconductors & System Engineering, Infineon Technologies AG

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

Matthias Kasper Senior Specialist Application Engineering, Infineon Technologies AG

Alfredo Medina Garcia Senior Staff Engineer, Infineon Technologies AG

Manfred Schlenk Senior Principle Power Systems, Infineon Technologies AG

STORY COVER

Abstract

This paper will discuss the benefits of e-mode GaN HEMTs in low power applications such as USB-PD adapters and mobile device chargers. In comparison to the next best silicon alternative, this paper will show quantitatively how much better systems being built with GaN devices will be. It will also provide further insight into corresponding topologies, choice of magnetics and switching frequencies to take the full benefit of the next generation of power devices.

1 Introduction

The commercial availability of wide bandgap power semiconductors with their significantly better figures of merit raises some fundamental questions on the agenda of many customers: how much better are system solutions based on these wide bandgap components in terms of density and efficiency? To what extent can silicon based solutions follow at the potential expense of more complex topologies and control schemes?

This paper tries to give answers to these questions for two application fields, adapters and compact chargers.

GaN HEMTs as lateral power devices have an order of magnitude lower gate charge and output charge compared to their silicon counterparts. Combined with virtually zero reverse recovery charge it enables hard commutation of reverse conducting devices. Thus, GaN supports simpler topologies and an optimization of control methods seamlessly changing between soft switching and (partial) hard switching. Even though hard commutation is acceptable for silicon based power devices in low and medium voltage classes, Superjunction devices as prominent technology in the 600V class prevent any such operation due to losses and voltage overshoots. The designer of AC-DC applications has three choices as next best alternatives to the use of wide bandgap devices: single-ended topologies such as boost converter as a power factor correction stage, strict avoidance of hard commutation through corresponding control methods such as triangular current mode (TCM) operation in totem pole PFC, or the use of cascaded converter architecture where the voltage stress is distributed to several series connected converter stages.

While single-ended topologies may not comply with efficiency targets, alternative solutions such as the dual boost may not comply with space or cost targets.

Even though cascaded solutions have demonstrated their ability to reach both efficiency and density targets [1], control efforts remain challenging and may limit the use of this concept to the high power segment only.

The design options for compact chargers are significantly narrowing down when trying to overcome density targets of 20 W/inÂł for a 65 W adapter. The need to recuperate the energy in the leakage inductance and to provide zero voltage switching in most or all operation conditions rules out much of the singleended topology choices.

This paper explores the value of GaN HEMTs in comparison to next best silicon alternatives.

2 Device concepts

As the race is set between GaN HEMTs versus their silicon counterpart, Superjunction devices being evidently the best alternative, let’s start with a brief review of the latest technology achievements.

Superjunction devices have pushed for more than a decade towards ever lower on-state resistance [2], which in turn reduces the device capacitances and makes the devices inherently faster switching. Figure 1 shows the output capacitance characteristics of three subsequent generations of Superjunction transistors versus an e-mode GaN HEMT. Figure 2 shows the energy stored in the output capacitance.

Figure 1 Development of the characteristic output capacitance of three consecutive technology nodes of Superjunction device in comparison to an e-mode GaN HEMT

Figure 2 Trend for the energy stored in the output capacitance across three consecutive generations of Superjunction devices in comparison to GaN HEMTs Even though the output capacitance of GaN is significantly lower in the low voltage range, the energy stored in the output capacitance is comparatively close to the values achieved by Superjunction devices. Since this energy is dissipated as heat in every switching cycle during hard switching transients, it is already obvious from this graph that the true value of GaN will be in half bridge based circuits and will be limited in single-ended topologies.

Figure 3 shows a comparison of the charge stored in the output capacitance as one of the key parameter for soft switching transitions.

Figure 3 Comparison of QOSS versus voltage for an e-mode GaN HEMT (left) to an advanced Superjunction device (right) Whereas in single-ended topologies the EOSS parameter is governing loss mechanisms, in half bridge based circuits the charge stored in the output capacitance [3] and the reverse recovery charge is commanding the losses. While Superjunction devices are optimized for an extremely low EOSS figure of merit, GaN HEMTs offer a much more favorable QOSS figure of merit, with the first generation already being one order of magnitude better than their silicon counterparts.

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COVER STORY

3 Application examples: universal passively (i.e., natural convection and mobile device charger radiation) without exceeding the thermal To evaluate, quantitatively, the performance improvements offered by wide bandgap power devices, multiobjective optimizations were performed for each application. This method allows us to consider all available degrees of freedom in the converter design such as various topologies, interleaving of stages, switching frequencies, and semiconductor usage, and yields as a result for each potential design efficiency and power density. Such an analysis reveals an envelope function with all Pareto optimal designs and allows an assessment of the trade-off between efficiency and density for an entire application [4].

limit of the case. This clearly shows that the target of highest power density is inevitably linked to highest conversion efficiency, underlining the necessity of a comprehensive multi-objective optimization approach.

3.1 Asymmetrical flyback converter Figure 4 Multi-objective optimization results

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The growing popularity of mobile electronic devices such as laptop, mobile phones, tablets, e-book readers and smart watches has led to a wide range of different charger types. In order to reduce electronic waste and to simplify the user experience, the need for a universal adapter with high efficiency and high power density has become evident. For this purpose the USB-PD standard has been introduced which supports a wide range of output voltages (5 V to 20 V) with power levels up to 65 W. To identify the most suitable topology for a high density USB-PD adapter, several topology options have been evaluated by means of multi-objective optimizations. The considered topologies include: PFC flyback with secondary side power pulsation buffer, flyback converter with a fixed (high) output voltage and subsequent buck converter, flyback converter with wide output voltage range, cascaded asymmetrical PWM flyback converter where the primary side consists of two cascaded half-bridges, and asymmetrical PWM flyback converter. The optimization results are showed in Figure 4 for full load operation at worst case input voltage (Vin = 90 V) and highest output current (Iout = 4 A). In addition, the thermal limit line is showed, which defines the minimum efficiency required for a given power density in order to keep the surface temperature of the adapter below 70 °C. Only designs above this line possess the necessary efficiency required to dissipate the generated heat

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of several different adaptor concepts for full load (Pout = 65 W), Vout = 20 V, and low line (Vin = 90 V) operation The optimization results reveal the asymmetrical flyback (see Figure 5) is the best suited topology among the considered candidates for highly compact chargers since it offers the highest efficiency. This topology features ZVS of the primary side half bridge by utilizing the magnetization current, and ZCS of the synchronous rectification switch, laying the foundation for highest conversion efficiency. The converter is operated with a fixed on-time of the low-side switch of the primary half-bridge, which is determined by the resonance frequency, and a varying on-time of the high-side switch, which depends on the output voltage [5]. This results in a varying switching frequency.

Figure 5 Asymmetrical PWM flyback with synchronous rectification Based on the optimization results, a 65 W prototype employing 500 V/140 mΩ MOSFETs has been developed (see Figure 6) [6]. It supports USB-PD with different output voltage profiles ranging from 5 V / 3 A to 20 V/ 3.25 A. The operation frequency varies from 100 kHz to 220 kHz depending on the input and output

voltages. The prototype achieves a maximum efficiency of 94.8 percent, while the lowest full-load efficiency at Vin = 90 V is 93 percent as showed in Figure 9.

Figure 6 Prototype of the 65 W USB-PD adapter based on the asymmetrical PWM flyback topology. The prototype features a power density of 27 W/in3 (cased: 20 W/in3).

3.2 Modes of operation

The operation of the asymmetrical PWM flyback converter can be explained by using four phases as showed in Figure 7:  Phase 1: energy storage phase  Phase 2: dead time 1  Phase 3: energy transfer phase  Phase 4: dead time 2

Figure 7 Typical waveform of the Asymmetrical PWM fly-back (blue: LC tank current, red: magnetizing current, yellow: secondary current) Phase 1: During this first phase the high-side switch is turned on and the low side switch is turned off. The transformer current increases and resonant capacitor Cr gets charged. The secondary diode is not conducting. No energy is transmitted to the secondary side.

Phase 2: In this phase both switches are turned off. The current in the transformer will force the half bridge middle point to drop until the body diode of the lower MOSFET clamps the voltage.

STORY COVER

Phase 3: During the so called energy transfer phase, the low-side switch is turned on under ZVS condition. The high side switch remains turned off. The voltage in the transformer has reversed; therefore, the secondary diode starts to conduct. The energy stored in the transformer and the resonant capacitor is transferred to the output. The secondary side current is sinusoidal with a resonant frequency which is defined by the resonant capacitor and the leakage inductance of the transformer. For reduced conduction losses on the secondary side, a synchronous rectification MOSFET is used.

Phase 4: In this last phase both transistors are turned off again. The current in the transformer will now force the half bridge middle point to increase its voltage. That will lead to turning on the high side switch under with ZVS condition.

In a standard flyback converter or in an active clamp flyback converter the transformer always has to store all the needed energy. This can lead to a nonoptimized transformer size because of the required input voltage range.

In the asymmetrical flyback converter the energy storage, as well as the energy transfer from the primary to the secondary side, is shared between the resonant capacitor and the transformer.

Therefore, the size of the transformer can be reduced significantly.

As showed in Figure 8 the amount of transferred energy from the transformer and the resonant capacitor depends on the input voltage. The higher the input voltage the more energy is transferred from the transformer to the output.

Figure 8 Energy sharing between transformer and resonant capacitor over input voltage To push the power density to even higher

levels, the use of GaN HEMTs becomes mandatory, as they allow the efficiency of the converter to be increased, and thus to move away from the thermal limit.

The first advantage of GaN is given by the greatly reduced QOSS charge, which enables ZVS with lower magnetization current. Thus, the conduction losses in the switches, as well as the transformer can be reduced. Furthermore, due to the lower gate charge, the gate driving losses are reduced. Last but not least, the losses associated with the charging/ discharging of COSS capacitance of the switches during ZVS are also lower in GaN HEMTs than in Superjunction MOSFETs [7].

As a result, the efficiency of the entire system can be increased by around 0.4 percent at full load over the entire input voltage range, as depicted in Figure 9.

Figure 9 Red curve: measured full load efficiency (Pout = 65 W) of the prototype in dependency of the input voltage for an output voltage of Vout = 20 V. Blue curve: efficiency improvements possibility with 600 V/190 mΩ GaN HEMTs instead of 500 V/140 mΩ Si MOSFETs.

4 Summary

The proposed resonant half bridge flyback converter has been identified as the most promising topology for highly efficient and compact USB-PD adaptors.

This concept offers on one hand a very efficient operation due to ZVS and ZCS switching of the primary and secondary switches and on the other hand an easy controllability of the output voltage by adjusting the duty cycle.

The application studies performed show a clear value for e-mode GaN HEMTs in adapter and charger applications. GaN HEMTs allow us to push both efficiency and density frontiers. For mobile applications GaN offers hitherto unachievable small form factors beyond 20 W/in³ for 65 W USB-PD adapters.

References [1] M. Kasper, D. Bortis, G. Deboy and J. W. Kolar, “Design of a Highly Efficient (97.7%) and Very Compact (2.2 kW/dm3) Isolated AC–DC Telecom Power Supply Module Based on the Multicell ISOP Converter Approach,” in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 32, no. 10, pp. 7750-7769, Oct. 2017.

[2] F. Udrea, G.Deboy and T. Fujihira, “Superjunction Power devices, History, Development and Future prospects”, Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 64, No. 3, March 2017, pp. 713-727.

[3] G. Deboy, O. Haeberlen and M. Treu, “Perspective of loss mechanisms for silicon and wide band-gap power devices”, CPSS Transactions on Power electronics and applications, Vol. 2, No. 2, June 2017, pp. 89-100.

[4] R. Burkart, “Advanced Modeling and Multi-Objective Optimization of Power Electronic Converter Systems”, Dissertation ETH Zurich, 2016 [5] Asymmetrical ZVS PWM Flyback Converter with Synchronous Rectification for Ink-Jet Printer, Jun-seok Cho, Joonggi Kwon, Sangyoung Han [6] A Medina Garcia, M. Kasper, M. Schlenk, G. Deboy, “Asymmetrical Flyback Converter in High Density SMPS”, PCIM 2018, pp.1475-1479 [7] D. Neumayr, M. Guacci, D. Bortis and J. W. Kolar, “New calorimetric power transistor soft-switching loss measurement based on accurate temperature rise monitoring,” 2017 29th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and IC’s (ISPSD), Sapporo, 2017, pp. 447-450.

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BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

THE CONVERSATION

BIOMETRICS ADDRESS PASS WORD FLAWS

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In mid-January, many Hawaiians were stunned to receive a smartphone notification suggesting that their island paradise was under attack. The official notification of an incoming missile strike came from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) via social media and other channel notifications.

Fortunately for the islanders (and possibly the rest of the planet), the scare turned out to be a false alarm. Tech publication The Verge reported that the error was caused by a technician using a ‘live’ template instead of an intended ‘test’ version when originating a notification for a routine drill—which led to the mass distribution of a message ending with the ominous statement: “SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” A few knew quickly that the end was not nigh, such as US Representative of Hawai’i, Tulsi Gabbard, who informed her Twitter followers shortly after the original notification from military officials, who sent

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confirmation that the alarm was false, within just two minutes of the alarm being raised.

Others were not so fortunate: Followers of the Governor of the State of Hawai’i, David Ige, waited seventeen long minutes for the “all is clear” from the governor, and ironically, HI-EMA took thirty-eight minutes to confirm that the message was an error and that Hawaii faced no threat. That’s a long time to hold your breath.

In this age of instant communication, it didn’t take long before journalists were asking why Governor Ige took fifteen minutes to tweet the good news after he was told the skies were clear. Somewhat sheepishly, the politician admitted that the delay was a result of forgetting his Twitter password.

Remembering the Unmemorable

While the Hawaiian missile scare thankfully proved to be a false alarm, delays in communication over matters concerning nuclear weapons are deadly serious. With

many using Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels as their primary source of information, Governor Ige’s memory lapse highlighted a major flaw in password security.

But we shouldn’t be too hard on the governor; it turns out we’re all not-so-great at remembering passwords, even without the pressure of dealing with a ballistic missile crisis. The temptation is to pick one that’s easy to recall (e.g., “password” or “password123” are remarkably popular), but this makes it easy to crack too. And because it’s also common for people to stick to one or two passwords for all their log-in requirements, if the bad guys find one that works for a single online account, chances are they’ll use software to try to access thousands of websites using the same email and password, potentially gaining access to the target’s whole life.

Worse still, it’s not just the hackers we should worry about—according to the welivesecurity blog, over fifty percent of

FEATURE TECH

people use the same password for their home and work accounts, and twenty percent of employees share their passwords with co-workers, leaving companies open to expensive data breaches triggered by their own careless staff.

However, companies and websites are fighting back. For example, many companies and websites no longer allow simple passwords, encouraging instead the use of alphanumeric versions of a minimum length together with frequent renewals.

Yet, even complex passwords are not immune to attack, considering only a relatively modest amount of computing power is required to mount a “brute force” strategy on an alphanumeric password of nine characters or fewer. Some techsavvy websites repel these attacks by only allowing a small number of password attempts before locking access, but not all websites have followed suit.

The result is that security-conscious websites ultimately rely on the idea that you will remember a password that’s not particularly memorable. The alternative is a tedious and time-consuming password retrieval process.

Consigning Passwords to History

Passwords have found favor because the systems are straightforward to implement and require simple technology. But the inherent flaws have forced a rethink.

An alternative is to carry passwords around in your pocket rather than in your head. One commercial solution uses a personalized USB key that plugs into a PC and loads the user’s profile. Once authenticated, the PC gains access to all the user’s logins. The drawback becomes apparent when the key is left at home.

Another option is a password formed using unique information. Some smartphone apps are available, for example, which display a unique image on the screen that is shown to the PC’s webcam to authenticate access.

But these and similar options are yet to gain mainstream adoption. In contrast, biometric technology has hit the mass market. The technology has proven a viable alternative to passwords because humans have unique, individual characteristics ranging from fingerprints and the pattern of the iris to the shape of the ear and even walking gait.

Fingerprint scanners have pioneered biometric security because they are relatively inexpensive, small, fast, and generally accurate. But you do get what you pay for. Cheap scanners can fail to react if dry skin, grease, or dirt is prevalent, yet it can be activated with a severed digit if the bad guys are desperate enough.

Worse still, according to The New York Times, because cheap scanners only look at eight to ten features of a fingerprint, they can be foiled perhaps ten percent of the time by people with similar ridge patterns.

This is not the case with premium smartphones. The fingerprint scanners on high-end devices scan below the skin’s surface (making them less prone to contamination) and (reassuringly) pick up the electrical impulses that are only present in living people. They also consider many more fingerprint features than inexpensive scanners. The chance of a false match from a high-end smartphone scanner is more like one in 50,000 rather than the one in ten for cheap cell phones.

But fingerprint scanners do have one big drawback—they consume screen real estate and every millimeter on today’s smartphone is highly prized.

Some smartphone models overcome the problem by moving the scanner to the back, but such a move makes access less convenient. Devices like Apple’s iPhone X have eliminated the fingerprint scanner altogether and replaced it with facial recognition. Users say the system works well but is slower and less convenient than the previous front-mounted fingerprint scanner. Next-generation smartphones promise to overcome the challenge by embedding the fingerprint scanner into the screen, but that feature will be limited to flagship devices for the immediate term because of the additional cost.

Alternatives to the Fingerprint Scanner

Apart from fingerprint and facial scanning, many other biometric alternatives for accessing secure devices exist. Iris scanning is one. Iris scanning on a smartphone, for example, uses the camera and an app to compare the patterns formed in the iris with those previously stored by the mobile’s rightful owner (Note: Iris scanning is not to be confused with retinal scanning, which looks at the pattern of capillaries in the

back of the eye and is considered more intrusive.). The iris scanning technique works well, but its downsides include the inconvenience of holding the mobile phone close to the face and the time it takes to authenticate compared to a finger scan or even typing in a passcode.

Another biometric technique under investigation is ear shape recognition.

The technology works by identifying the pattern created by the ear when it’s pressed against the smartphone screen. The key advantage is that it can be made to work with the current crop of touch-sensitive smartphone screens, without hardware modifications. The drawback is the tedium of having to lift the device up to the ear to gain access to features that wouldn’t normally require the user to raise the device (i.e., just about everything other than a more private, ear-to-device voice call).

Beyond the smartphone, other security concepts leveraging biometrics include measuring walking gait using a wearable, transferring the information wirelessly to a PC, and comparing the information to a recorded sample for authentication.

An alternative is a wristband that records the unique rhythm of an owner’s heart and again uses the information to authenticate PC access by comparing the heart rhythm reading with a sample.

A novel variation on the theme of biometric comparison—and increasingly the focus of attention as voice assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, extend their reach—comes from the University of Michigan and takes the form of a necklace, ear buds, or glasses. The chosen device records the unique speech-induced vibrations of the user’s body that are then compared with a sample stored on the PC. While passwords offered a decent and inexpensive solution during the early days of the Internet—when there were fewer websites to visit and hackers weren’t quite as smart—their time is nearly done.

Biometric signatures are unique, tough to hack, and can’t be forgotten or left at home. But, which biometric method will prevail is still unclear. The deciding factors will be technology, cost, aesthetics, and convenience.

SOURCE: MOUSER ELECTRONICS

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BIG PICTURE

COMPONENT DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRY HAS UNDERGONE GREAT CHANGES IN RECENT YEARS with multi-channel support to meet our customers’ needs so they can focus on what is important to them.

virtual reality, IoT and industrial control.

Most recently, Farnell element14, elements’ sister company in EMEA, What new technologies or services demonstrated the SmartEdge Agile at did your company introduce in 2018? electronica Munich. This new product, Which application area is it mainly for? which will be available in early 2019, How is the market feedback? is revolutionary product field, bringing artificial intelligence to the edge. The element14 continues to focus on device also supports applications delivering new technologies for design where connectivity is unreliable or engineers to support them as they design where multiple sensors need to operate and manufacture products for market. independently. With easy to use, drag During 2018, element14 has introduced and drop programming, intelligence is new technologies that enable design now there to deploy, even to users with engineers to add intelligence to their no coding experience. products. Early in 2018, element14 What challenges has your company introduced the Graspio CloudIO, a encountered in exploring business Raspberry Pi expansion board with a mobile platform for end to end IoT development in 2018? In which aspects development and deployment. The has your company made improvements/ versatility of GraspIO Cloudio along with enhancements during the process? its ease of use has made it popular with makers and innovators in a wide range The concentration and integration of of application environments. Claudio, the component distribution industry when combined with a Raspberry Pi, continues, with the proportion of original is a Full Stack IoT platform meaning direct sales increasing and the number that you can programme IoT devices of agents decreasing – this presents simply and quickly with drag and drop challenges such as the industry has programming on a mobile app . The never seen before. The component combination of built-in hardware facilities distribution industry has undergone and access to innovative application great changes in recent years and the software has made Cloudio a valuable structure of the electronics industry has addition to the range of tools available changed significantly. New intelligent to developers of projects involving voice, technologies have expanded the market motion, imaging and cloud interaction. and customer needs continue to evolve, with customers demanding different More recently, element14 launched levels of service and support at each the Ultra96 board, jointly created by stage of the product development and Avnet, Xilinx and 96Boards, enabling manufacturing process. In addition to developers to build in intelligence at traditional distribution services, distributors the gateway level. This new, ARM-based ask for support in design services, platform simplifies machine learning for technical information, sub-assembly developers, featuring programmable and supply chain management services. logic acceleration engines which help to What significant measures/actions deliver complexity with simplicity. It allows has your company taken in 2018? software developers to accelerate the development process for applications How about the results? that require intense processing and high performance in areas such as artificial During 2018, we have worked with intelligence (AI), machine learning, colleagues at Avnet to introduce a

Q

Uma Pingali Business President | element14

Q

How about the business performance of your company in 2018? Which business lines contribute most to your business growth?

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element14’s parent company, Premier Farnell, delivered strong performance in 2018. Latest published results for the fiscal year FY19 first quarter ended 30 September 2018 showed global revenue of $379m, up +7.2% year over year (+8.2% year over year on a constant currency basis). Premier Farnell made significant investment across all categories during 2018 which both broadened and deepened the stocking position, and enabled the business to support customers through high demand. This investment has underpinned strong growth in core interconnect, electro-mechanical and semiconductor categories alongside excellent growth in passives and single board computing. In the Test and Tool category, the business also delivered an impressive level of growth, with strength particularly within tools and production supplies supported by recent new supplier additions. element14 continues to focus on delivering a strong portfolio of supplier products and new innovative technologies to customers, coupled

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

Q

Q

PICTURE BIG

process that provides seamless support increased costs. We are positive about to customers as they grow. As a high performance in 2019 as high service service distributor, element14 holds a distributors such as element14 are stocking profile of about a mile wide well placed to work with customers to and an inch deep, allowing customers to identify the most secure supply chain access the broadest range of products and also look for alternatives that help available at the lower quantities that customers manage their businesses our customers seek. As part of the through increased periods of costs and Avnet group we guide customers all reduced supply. the way from early stage design and Which application segments do you low volume production to high volume think will usher in explosive growth production. By monitoring customers buying patterns we can identify when in 2019? What applications will your they are moving into the next phase of company mainly focus and invest in? their journey and introduce them to our sister businesses which can support them The continued reduction in power as they grow further. These customers are consumption combined with wireless now benefitting from access to Avnet’s connectivity will open up a whole new ecosystem at the point where its adds realm of possibilities for connected new value to their business, without the devices that will drive the continued need to onboard a new partner for this adoption of IoT, with a focus on IIoT with the development of smart factories phase of their journey. and implementation of predictive This example is one where we are maintenance. working carefully to use the entire Avnet ecosystem to provide new value and Elsewhere, the adoption of AI in almost benefit to customers. The combination any area of life will lead to the most of Avnet and element14 offers the revolutionary technology/application heavyweight resources needed by developments thanks to the sheer large manufacturers along with the finer access to affordable processing power. touch to work with inventors, makers and The implementation of AI will become engineers to help them turn their ideas more and more prevalent in our daily into prototypes. The ability to engage lives. Within 10-15 years, we might be in the earliest stages of product design headed towards a scenario where AI and development with innovators, is and machine learning has drastically changed how we live and how certain fueling a new chapter of growth. services are performed and we can What do you expect for the business see AI significantly altering our lifestyles, performance of your company in how we commute (transportation), our 2019? Facing the slowdown of global healthcare system – how drugs are semiconductor growth, what measures administered, patients monitored etc. The will your company take to ensure healthy difference we see between the adoption revenue growth? of the IoT and Artificial Intelligence is the availability of products to make AI The semiconductor market continues to a reality – from voice recognition right be strong, driven by increased demands through to machine learning. for semiconductor materials from IoT and Regarding AI, what do you think AI markets, autonomous and electric will be the development track of vehicles and AI-led electronics. The demand for memory products remains AI in 2019? What actions/measures will strong and memory products will become your company take to respond to AI an ever increasing portion of the overall development in 2019? semiconductor market.

In order to respond to the growth in We are beginning to see pressure AI, element14 has launched products on the supply change as jump in with intelligence built in, that enable demand for, for example, capacitors, design engineers to focus on their use has caused extended lead times, and case. New products, such as GraspIO

Q

Q

Q

Cloudio and SmartEdge Agile also allow entrepreneurs to embed intelligence into their devices with little or no coding experience, opening up the market for further growth opportunities.

To help developers identify the right development boards for their AI devices, element14 has created an online tool designed to help engineers confidently select the ideal board for their artificial intelligence projects. Users can select the application that most closely match their requirements from a list including predictive maintenance, voice recognition, object or human recognition, motion recognition and machine learning and add requirements for sensing and wireless connectivity.

Once the requirements have been defined, the AI Configurator identifies boards (including add-on boards necessary to provide the required sensing capabilities) that meet the needs of the design; as well as relevant resources to help speed up the design cycle, including tutorials, case studies or technical documentation, such as Alexa API documentation for voice recognition applications. element14’s AI Configurator can be found at cn.element14.com/ ai-configurator

Q

Currently, is the distribution industry facing even greater challenges than ever before, and why?

The concentration and integration of the component distribution industry continues, with the proportion of original direct sales increasing and the number of agents decreasing – this presents challenges such as the industry has never seen before. The component distribution industry has undergone great changes in recent years and the structure of the electronics industry has changed significantly. New intelligent technologies have expanded the market and customer needs continue to evolve, with customers demanding different levels of service and support at each stage of the product development and manufacturing process. In addition to traditional distribution services, distributors ask for support in design services, technical information, sub-assembly and supply chain management services.

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BIG PICTURE

RAJESH RAM MISHRA President | IESA

IESA SEE ‘PMA’ AN INSTRUMENT TO ENCOURAGE DOMESTIC INDUSTRY GROWTH A direct-speech on the current scenario of the ESDM sector, IESA, lately concluded the ‘Makeathon’ first-ofits-kind initiative in India enabling the maker community in to develop ESDM innovations for India. With Niloy Banerjee, Consultant Editor, BISinfotech, veteran, Rajesh Ram Mishra | President | IESA also highlighted their stance on overcoming the bottlenecks on domestic manufacturing. How the premier association is encouraging State Governments to adopt the PMA policy and also the impact of PMP is incentivizing the domestic growth. Edited Nub.

Q

What is the Institutional Mechanism IESA has undergone to promote ESDM sector including investment promotion & branding?

India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) is the premier trade body committed to the development of a vibrant Indian Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem and evangelizing the dream of establishing “Brand India” that is recognized worldwide as a go-to destination for electronic products. We are a non-profit organization and our vision is to bring the Indian industry, government and academia on a common platform and jointly work towards developing and promoting Made-in-India products for the global markets.

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Our key activities: working with Government on policy, regulatory issues promoting innovation, startups through incubators, accelerators and initiatives such as Makeathon support training, skilling effort in partnership with Electronics Skill Sector Council of India (ESSCI), Universities and other training institutions

PICTURE BIG

Q

How does ‘Makeathon’ like the one concluded by IESA consolidation of demand across the state departments are helps drive-in innovations in the Indian semiconductor going to be instrumental in supporting Make in India. and electronics systems industry?

Do you think Government is in a position where then can levy interest subsidy, credit default guarantee, etc., to "IESA Makeathon" is a first-of-its-kind initiative in India enabling the maker community in to develop ESDM innovations for India. encourage newunits and expansion of existing units? How Intent of this event is to select top teams with ideas to solve closely is IESA working with Govt to underline these proposals? problems across various verticals such as Smart Communications, Agri Tech, Water Management, Urban Traffic, Smart Cars / IESA is working with all relevant Ministries of Govt of India in Vehicles, Robotics, Waste Management, Education, Surveillance ensuring relevant mechanisms are created for fiscal support / Security, Medical / Health …etc and support them in building and for fiscal prudence. As such, yes, we believe Govt can do a lot by defining financial incentives, checks and balances electronic products or systems to address challenges. to foster positive growth of industry.

Makeathon gives young minds an opportunity to nurture How has been the Govt’s approach towards Phased their ideas into reality and solve problems and provide active Manufacturing Programme (PMP) and/or fiscal interventions mentoring as well as electronic component support from the member companies of IESA. Makeathon also fosters active to create a lucrative ecosystem for the ESDM sector? collaboration between industry and universities/colleges to PMP for Mobile Manufacturing is showing great success and further expand talent pool in India. we are working with Govt, along with all other stakeholders, India has entered into Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with to introduce PMP for other segments as well – for eg LED TVs. Thailand, ASEAN, Korea, Japan, etc., wherein import of As stated before IESA believes the right incentives can foster electronic hardware from these countries is at preferential industry growth in a significant manner. duty, lower than normal tariff rate? How is this boasting the Do you think the public bodies have simplified clearance indigenous market? procedure for import of goods required for R&D and design While the tariff rates and preferntial duties do affect domestic activity, including Start-ups and in emerging technology sectors?

ESDM industry, an electronics product is a mix of hardware, software and material technologies. As such for growth of Yes, and the recent announcement to allow used equipment, indigenous products, where significant value can be added machinery for electronics manufacturing is a good example. at all levels starting with system design, leveraging indigenous However, we also feel that effort still needs to be made to software strength and general manufacturing expertise, coupled make processes streamlined, transparent and digital to make with lower cost of operations does make a good case for it easy for everyone and to speed up the processes.

Making in India. While FTAs are needed to ensure geopolitical Are we still on the grounds or manufacturing Export Quality stature of India and open global marketplace, India’s inherent goods in electronics, and how strong is the Merchandize strengths, detailed above, are significant advantages as well.

We at IESA believe, with a concerted effort of Govt & industry, Export from India Scheme (MEIS) of Foreign Trade Policy domestic industry serving the domestic market will be a great functioning to bring a global acquiring market for India? growth story in the next 5-7yrs.

We are moving up and its growing. Electronic goods like What are the challenges the Domestic electronics hardware mobile phones manufactured in India are doing pretty good manufacturing industry is currently facing in terms of, power, in the sub-continent. Yes, we still have a chasm to cross when finance and freight, supply chain, high transaction cost etc. it comes to making ‘Made in India’ a hallmark for quality and to match our competitors, but we are seeing a lot of push for Finance (for large manufacturing projects in electronics world class products esp. from startups & SMEs. & semiconductor), freight and supply chain are still major Has IESA been able to woo the State Governments to challenges the industry is facing. However, we are working adopt the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in proactively with stakeholders such as Govt, Veuture Funds, India) Order 2017 (PPO 2017), in procurement of electronic and others to ease the pain esp. in financing. goods?

How instrumental has IESA been to encourage the State Governments to adopt the PMA policy (protectionist As stated earlier, we are working with States in defining these, policy instrument)? however States also have to keep their geographic location, We at IESA don’t see PMA as a ‘protectionist policy’ but rather existing industry landscape, skill availability, procurement power as an instrument to encourage domestic industry growth and among other things before creating their own Preferential as an incentive to push industry in increasing value addition Market Access (PMA) effort. We at IESA are doing our bit to in ESDM products. As such, we work closely with number of sensitize the States about the benefits of this as an ‘instrument’ state governments in evolving their ESDM policy. PMA and for growth of local industry.

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BIG PICTURE

SATISH R.M

Automotive Product Strategy Group| ROHM Semiconductor India ROHM RECOGNIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF “FUNCTIONAL SAFETY” EARLY ON

Starting 2019 and the epiphany of ideas on EV and foreword of xEV will certainly create a new field-day for semiconductor players. When said, the precursors of modernizing power devices used today and tomorrow notes a name like ROHM. From safety, ADAS or the next-gen vehicles getting electrified, Satish R.M, Automotive Product Strategy Group, ROHM Semiconductor India explains Niloy Banerjee, Consultant Editor, BISinfotech on how the Japanese semiconductor company is blazing a trail on next-gen automotive designs adhering to the current market scenario. Edited Nub.

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What key technologies will rev-up the EV market in Winning a share in the automotive application is challenging, 2019 and what key advancements you foresee in the given carmakers rigorous qualification process and strong automotive semiconductor market alongside? risk aversion (for quality reasons), as well as the industry’s need for long-term supply agreements and lengthy product cycles. How With the shift to xEV due to global environmental regulations, does your company look into these snags? it is expected that automotive electronics are required to be of further higher efficiency and smaller size. In this situation, ROHM has the advantage for important factors, such as quality, ROHM focuses on especially “Main Inverters”, ”DC/DC reliability and long-term, stable supply, for automotive market.

Converters”, ”On-board Chargers” and “Electric Compressors” ROHM has adopted a vertically-integrated production system, in the EV dedicated units. We will contribute to improve from development to manufacturing, within the Group based the unit performance by proposing the solution, combining on a corporate mission of ‘Quality First’ established since the power devices such as SiC, IGBT and SJ-MOSFET, driver ICs company was founded, making it possible to incorporate a and power management ICs to control them and general- high level of quality into each process while achieving accurate purpose products such as power diode and shunt resistor. traceability and an optimized supply chain. In addition, we have also established dedicated production lines for automotive Many semiconductor companies are finding a leading- products and implemented product development that conforms edge in an automotive audio& video system and ADAS to standards related to quality management systems (IATF 16949) and some advantage in the processor market. Will these be and electronic component reliability (AEC-Q100/101). Moreover, the tip for 2019 or any more advantageous segments are in recent years, technical innovation represented by ADAS has expected to park? accelerated, and to ensure the highest level of safety in vehicles it is necessary to achieve safety targets at the semiconductor Technology development in automobile industry has been in level that make up automotive components. So, we received response to increasing requirements for safety, comfort and certification for its development process under the ISO 26262 environmental performance. Although the automotive industry functional safety standard for automotive products by third-party in recent years has been undergoing rapid advancement, certification authority TÜV Rheinland in Germany, ahead of its technological innovation in 2019 will continue to advance competitors. based on these concepts.

With these strengths, ROHM is steadily growing the sales in For example, electronics is playing an increasing role in the automotive sector. As of March 31st, 2018, the automotive sector transition from gasoline-powered to hybrid- and electric-powered accounted for 32% of ROHM’s net sales and is expected to grow vehicles, in order to improve the environmental performance. In up to 34% during this financial year ending March, 2019. We also a broader sense, the evolution of semiconductor components target to achieve 50% in both automotive and industrial sectors will become essential to reducing energy expenditure and by the financial year of 2020. waste.Automotive safety is another equally important aspect.

Future of automotive semiconductor market, and your Recently, ADAS is attracting greater attention in the automotive company’s excellence to be a juggernaut in the coming years? market. Although there are still a number of challenges that must be overcome, the day when automated driving, as seen ROHM has responded to customer satisfaction for many years by in science fiction, becomes reality, is not far.

We believe that our technological innovations contribute to providing discrete products and analog power products such as improve safety, comfort and environmental performance power management IC and motor control IC. The comprehensive solution proposal, combining ICs, discrete and module, is also of cars.

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PICTURE BIG

ROHM is closely tracking the Evolution of Policy framework in India ever since 2017, when NITI Aayog kickstarted its initiatives and dialogue with Key Industry stakeholders, to collectively define a roadmap towards sustainable mobility for the entire nation.

BIG PICTURE

one of our strengths.

In automotive market, accelerated technology development for EV and ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) has resulted in increased number of orders and new demand for electronics.

In this situation, ROHM will expand its market share by advancing technological innovation and increasing production capacity for the small signal discrete (transistors and diodes).

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Lastly, witnessing the current Indian scenario, how you think EV will come up un the Indian market and challenges and Cars with active safety features simply need new equipment scopes it keeps for semiconductor players, deriving, high-efficiency, that does not broadly exist in today’s vehicles, such as cameras, reliability keeping the cost card on deck? radar, lidar and sensor fusions. How prominent is your focus into these technologies alongside the EV proliferation?

ROHM is closely tracking the Evolution of Policy framework in India ever since 2017, when NITI Aayog kickstarted its initiatives and ROHM recognized the importance of “functional safety” early on. dialogue with Key Industry stakeholders, to collectively define a For example, ROHM provides chipsets designed to drive and roadmap towards sustainable mobility for the entire nation. Though control automotive LCDs, including larger high-resolution monitors we see the overall direction and efforts that include key policy used for navigation and instrument clusters. Each IC is designed decisions and attempts in providing incentives to accelerate the to share information as needed, achieving automotive-grade shift to a transformative mobility scenario by 2030, challenges still reliability and for the first time, supporting functional safety in display remain in transitioning to a future driven only by Electric Mobility. devices. This chipset ensures high reliability for LCD monitors used Mass, space and energy efficiency being the main focus for for side mirrors and speedometers. transformative mobility, will require enabling several options In addition, as we mentioned above, ROHM received certification and alternatives for an effective multi modal transport system, for its development process under the ISO 26262 functional safety necessitating long-term clarity with regards to the policy framework standard for automotive products by TÜV Rheinland. As the role and structure of incentives both on the Demand-side and Supplyof electronic parts in vehicles continues to increase, ROHM is side. In addition, developments in the EV Supply Chain and committed to manufacturing products that will contribute to Charging Infrastructure are critical success factors impacting safer, more environment-friendly vehicles in the future. adoption of EV Mobility across Vehicle Segments. Moreover, the impending BS-VI compliance by 2020 and the resulting investments High-quality standards, eminently, offer significant performance and commitment by OEMs in the current value chain will only improvements over current offerings while understanding hinder simultaneous investments and further delay in addressing vehicle usage or specific systems-usage patterns very well are the needs of the EV ecosystem. key, experts mention developing a less expensive alternatives to However new entrants continuously threaten to disrupt the IGBT would be the way. Your comments to it. existing automotive value chain and provide renewed impetus in building the EV ecosystem. Alongside, the innovations in Cost comparison of devices alone is not always the best choice. alternate energy storage mechanisms and varying business For example, if the inverter of electric vehicle utilizes SiC power models challenge the mobility landscape domination only by devices, they enable to make the battery size smaller while EVs. Hence it is prudent to expect the co-existence of Hybrids maintaining the same mileages. By reducing the battery capacity, and Technology Improvements that can Improve Fuel Economy it can lead to an economic benefit if the overall power train and Reduce Emissions at the same time, in the immediate to system is considered. near future.

If SiC power devices are further adopted in the near future and Nevertheless, Urban areas will see an uptake in EV adoption due markets expand as a result, the economic difference for Si IGBT to Policy Intervention in Public Transport and Government Fleet will be small, and their advantage may be further increased operations. Introduction of Charging Stations by Private Parties accordingly. with Laws allowing for resale of Energy from the Electric Grid and emergence of Battery swapping for Public transport and e3Ws Power electronics for 48V mild hybrid and beyond, carefully (rickshaws and autos) will only accelerate this adoption. Furthermore, explaining the rapidly increasing complexity of power circuits commercial usage of 2Ws that may include Rentals, Delivery and and peripherals for these and successor powertrains. Your focus Courier services will most likely create an upswing in adoption of into it?

2W EVs due to lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Ride Sharing ROHM has also focused on 48V mild hybrid vehicles and proceeded will contribute to a similar adoption trend in 4W Passenger Vehicle to product development. segment mainly dominated by the Cab Aggregators, Car Rentals For example, ROHM provides a DC/DC converter with built-in and Corporate Cabs.

MOSFET that achieves the highest step-down ratio in the industry ROHM is carefully monitoring these upcoming trends in EV adoption (at 2MHz) required for these applications. The BD9V100MUF-C and gearing itself to address them sufficiently with an effective Gointegrates ultra-high-speed pulse control technology (Nano To-Market Strategy. ROHM is also aligning with Partners across the Pulse Control) created by combining proprietary circuit design Value Chain in further enabling greater traction with its customer and layout with original processes, enabling low voltage 2.5V base, to adequately overcome the challenges in transitioning to output from 60V (max.) input at 2MHz (resulting in the industry’s an Electric Mobility future in the long term.

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highest step-down ratio: 24:1). This makes it possible to miniaturize peripheral components while configuring voltage conversion from high to low voltages using a single IC whereas 2 or more ICs are required in conventional systems, contributing to greater miniaturization and simpler system design.

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

THE TEST AND MEASUREMENT 2019 PHENOMENON WITH VETERANS

Shelley Gretlein Vice President, Global Marketing National Instruments

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Chandmal Goliya Managing Director KUSAM-MECO

Madhukar Tripathi Head, Optical Business & Marketing and (NI Veteran)

OUTLOOK TEST & MEASUREMENT

Ever since the announcement of bringing 5G to India, 2018 has been the point where almost all the major part of industry have been bullish towards attaining that breakthrough or is preparing for the big change, to say the least.

But unlike other industry domains, Test and Measurement (T&M) is one sector which has a huge potential to grow. The studies revealed, the overall test and measurement equipment market is expected to grow from USD 25.7 billion in 2018 to USD 32.3 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 3.90% during the forecast period, therefore, making it more viable that the industry is headed to become a big business.

An opportunity to sit with the major T&M players in India, Chandmal Goliya, Managing Director, KUSAM-MECO; Madhukar Tripathi, Head, Optical Business & Marketing, Anritsu Corporation; and Ms. Shelley Gretlein, National Instruments, Vice President, Global Marketing, has given me a foresight of the T&M sector in the next few years alongside, some of the major transformations that the sector is likely to undergo.

1) Background of Business in 2018

(cost), distributed vs. centralized (technology), in-house vs. off-the-shelf (strategy). To overcome these challenges and manage the tradeoffs, a software-defined test platform is more critical than ever.

In addition, the IoT will continue to be a major topic of discussion in 2019. The IoT spectrum is made up of “smart” applications, such as smart mobility, smart cities, smart grid, smart manufacturing (also known as Industry 4.0) with a focus on architectures and technologies designed to connect and automate industry as we know it. Wherever an organization may be across that spectrum, there is almost always a need to test your application. Given that a lot of new technologies are coming into play to make these solutions happen, test is playing a bigger role than ever before.

These are very exciting times for engineers and business leaders focused on automated test and automated measurement systems. Rapid technological change requires advanced, forward-looking solutions for automated test and automated measurement. NI is excited to partner with our customers to accelerate their innovation and drive increased business value.

Ms. Gretlein: 2018 was a critical year for NI. While the engineering megatrends were, and still are, making a profound transformation across industries, these trends combined with our customers’ needs allowed us to evolve our system-level offering for automated test and automated measurement applications.

Tripathi: Fifth Generation Network known as 5G is latest and most popular emerging technology in telecom sector. Connected Car will be other technology trend in 2019. Cyber Security, Cloud , IoT, M2M, Artificial Intelligence (AI) ,Blockchain, Industry 4.0 etc will be other popular technological trends in 2019

Tripathi: Anritsu India is focusing Indian operation for better customer services and we have invested in bigger office area, calibration, repair, R&D area in 2018.

Goliya: In future KUSAM plans to introduce Digital Multimeters which would have touch screen for selecting the range to be connected to the Multimeter instead of traditionally rotary switch. Also the trend will be to add more & more functions compacted in one instruments so that the users does not have to carry many instruments to complete a job. It can be accomplished by simply one instrument only.

Goliya: The year 2018 has been a very good year for our company’s growth. We have had a growth of almost 30% over past present year business. Due to the demand from various Industries, Power Sector, Communication Sector, Renewable Energy Sector & the Educational Sector, we have had a good business growth. We feel that almost all the companies in this field who supply high quality products must have also experienced the same. Due to the diversified requirements of the various sectors, we have also expanded our product range as well as capacities.

2) T&M in the Future Ms. Gretlein: As the world eagerly awaits the benefits promised from 5G technology, the complexity of 5G wireless devices will increase as we progress from prototyping to commercial deployment. Engineers are rethinking the highly optimized techniques that have been used to test previous communication standards. New testing methods such as over-the-air (OTA) testing will be crucial to enable the viable commercialization of 5G products and solutions – from consumer to the automotive industry.

Advancements in the automotive industry, from electrification to ADAS and autonomous driving will have a major societal impact if they deliver the safety benefits predicted. There are many technical challenges and tradeoffs with the shift from single-sensor to multi-sensor ADAS—redundancy vs. complement

3) Automotive Sector- The next accomplishment of T&M Industry?

Tripathi: Automotive Industry is growing industry worldwide.

Technology have changed automotive arena and now autonomous car are reality. Connected Car is more popular terms now days. Smart Cities will have autonomous car which will be great combination of technology for smarter life style. Connected car will be having intelligent system for self-navigational support. Connected cars will be less polluting earth and lead to cleaner environment. It will also help for safer society.

Test and Measurement industry is playing important role in connected car eco system. Single dashboard (display cum control panel) will have infotainment system along with navigational support and monitoring all parameters for car maintenance and safe driving.

Goliya: Aligning with the market requirement, KUSAM is adding many products which can be used along with the automation systems. Used not in only Automobile Industry but also in other Industry as well. We have introduced products which have PC connectivity or Analog outputs which can be connected

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TEST & MEASUREMENT OUTLOOK

to PLC’s & Scada Systems.

Further due to non-availability of dedicated skilled labour, most Industries are moving towards automation because of various benefits to them. Hence there will be big demand for instruments like the ones which have been introduced by us recently.

Ms. Gretliein: Technologies and processes are crossing industry boundaries and there will be increased leveraging of test approaches across industries, creating either pain or potential for test leaders in semiconductor, transportation and aerospace industries. We are seeing industries moving closer together as their functional needs are aligning; allowing vendors that offer flexible platforms like NI to serve these industries to increase value in our offerings.

The key driver of growth for the T&M industry next year will be semiconductors and automotive. According to a global survey by accounting firm KPMG in 2017, “diversifying into a new business area” was cited by semiconductor executives as their number one priority for the next three years. As chipmakers continue to expand into new areas in 2019, they’ll need testing and expertise in these new technology domains, meaning they’ll need to make major investments in automated test and automated measurement solutions. The automotive industry – also driving need in semiconductor – continues to experience disruption in test from the electrification and autonomous demands.

4) Reckoning 5G for T&M Goliya: As India is preparing for the 5G technology there are many companies abroad who have started work on providing instruments for such application. A few Japanese companies have already introduced such products in those countries, where 5G technology is already launched or will be launched shortly. Hence, in India, the instrument which will be sold would have been tried & tested elsewhere already.

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Ms. Gretlein: Wireless technology in India today has entered a phase of growth comparable to the Telecom Revolution of the 1990s – with 5G as the predominant driver of this growth.

Educational institutions such as IIT-Delhi have been equal partners with industry players in accelerating 5G research and innovation in the country and in the building of a new ecosystem that can function on upgraded technology.

The T&M industry stands to benefit from these innovations in many ways.

Firstly, upgraded networks will result in a nationwide increase in connectivity, not just with wireless devices but also IoT and IIoT devices. The demand for 5G-compatible devices will catalyze the production cycle for cutting-edge hardware and software compliant with the new standards.

We’ll also see the continued expansion of verticals that can benefit from 5G, for instance, more innovations in the VR and AR space due to lower latency. This advantage will be especially evident on manufacturing shop floors where test engineers who have historically struggled to collate and analyze large data dumps will be able to measure performance much more quickly and effectively. Another area where testing will be affected by 5G implementation will be in the automotive

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

sector where wireless technology has finally allowed for autonomous vehicles to become a viable reality.

Lastly, the diversification of 5G’s impact areas will raise a concurrent need for standardized testing measures and equipment. With increasing wireless device complexity, new testing methods like over-the-air (OTA) testing must be championed. This would require the move towards integrated antenna arrays that utilize contemporary technologies like Multiuser MIMO (MU-MIMO) to deal with an expanded wireless spectrum that encompasses centimeter and millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies.

5G will disrupt multiple industries simultaneously and automated test and automated measurement systems in particular will play a critical role in ushering in this revolution in 2019.

Tripathi: 5G will create a positive impact to Test and Measurement industry. Anritsu developed lab and field testing instrument for 5G technology research development and deployment. We see demand of R&D test and measurement instrument initially and followed by field testing instruments. During 2019 5G test instruments demand will increase since global 5G deployment will increase in 2019.

5) Pacing with the current trends Ms. Gretlein: Across all key industries experiencing change and needing innovation, our customers need an increased focus on software. For NI, this is not new. Software has been at the heart of our offerings throughout the 40-year history of the company.

We have consistently evolved our software offerings to meet customer demand, starting with low-level hardware interface software, changing the industry with engineer-optimized, graphical programming, adding higher level tools for test development and sequencing, and now providing ready-touse solutions for target applications including datalogging and systems management. Our software experience and expertise are unmatched in the industry. A key to our approach is that we enable our customers and third-party companies to access and customize the software, rather than a closed approach like other vendors. This customizability is key to enabling our customers to adapt to the trends of the rapidly changing technology of today. NI will continue to provide higher-level solutions to our customers while maintaining our long-standing open, customizable platform.

Tripathi: Anritsu has been a leading partner of all telecom players enabling them to design, manufacture new technologies including 4G, LTE Advance and 5G. Anritsu invest in R&D for such emerging technologies and provide a cost effective solution.

Anritsu also offer unique value proposition for infotainment system of automotive industry. Anritsu Signaling Testing MF8475A/B has been used for emergency call (e-call) testing.

Goliya: KUSAM-MECO is conscious of the demand of Modern technology & we strive to introduce new products to meet the new demands.

-JYOTI@BISINFOTECH.COM n

UPDATES TEST & MEASUREMENT

FIRST 5G TTCN-3 CONFORMANCE TEST CASE TO 3GPP RAN 5 Keysight Technologies announced the submission of industry’s first 5G TTCN-31 conformance test case to 3GPP RAN52 for 5G new radio (NR) device certification on December 8, 2018.

The 5G NR Non-Standalone (NSA) test case submission was made using Keysight’s 5G Protocol Conformance Toolset, part of Keysight’s 5G Network Emulation Solution portfolio. It is the first 3GPP conformance test case at mmWave frequencies (28 GHz) using an over-theair (OTA) test methodology. Protocol conformance tests are a key enabler for chipset and device manufacturers to validate the performance of new 5G designs.

“Keysight has yet again achieved a key

milestone in helping the industry speed the commercialization of 5G devices,” said Kailash Narayanan, Vice President of Keysight’s wireless test group. “Our close collaborations with market makers across the mobile ecosystem has enabled Keysight to deliver leading 5G solutions

for full radio frequency and protocol conformance test capability.”

In addition, Keysight had also announced that the company’s 5G RF Conformance Toolset was first to gain PTCRB approval for 5G New Radio (NR) device certification earlier this month. Keysight’s suite of 5G Network Emulation Solutions leverages Keysight’s UXM 5G Wireless Test Platform to address the device development workflow from early design, to acceptance and manufacturing.

“We are delighted that Keysight has taken this key step towards verifying 5G protocol test specifications, enabling the mobile industry to accelerate commercialization of 5G technology,” said Jacob John, chair of 3GPP RAN5.

GW INSTEK NEW DUAL-CHAN- JUKI NEW RV-2-3DH 3D VISUNEL DC POWER SUPPLY AL INSPECTION MACHINE GW Instek introduced the PPH-1506D/1510D programmable high precision dual-channel DC power supply.

The high precision measurement capability of both PPH-1506D and PPH-1510D achieves the maximum resolution of 1mV/0.1μA and the smallest pulse current width of 33μs that satisfy customers’ measurement application requirements of high resolution and pulse current.

PPH-1506D and PPH-1510D are equipped with the excellent transient recovery time, which can, in less than 40μs, recover the output voltage to within 100mV of the previous voltage output when the current level changes from 10% to 100% of the full scale. PPH-1506D and PPH-1510D have a rise time of 0.2ms and a fall time of 0.3ms, which are 100 times faster than that of conventional power supplies. Therefore, PPH-1506D and PPH-1510D can provide DUT with a stable output voltage even when DUT is operating under large transient current output.

Unlike batteries, general power supplies, which do not have the characteristics of fast transient recovery time, cannot maintain a stable power supply for cellular phone, wireless device, and wearable device which produce large transient pulse current load for hundreds of μs to dozens of ms when in use. PPH-1506D and PPH-1510D, different from general power supplies, have the characteristics of fast transient recovery time. While simulating battery to output pulse current, PPH-1506D and PPH-1510D can quickly compensate the voltage drop caused by pulse current.

JUKI launched the 3D visual inspection machine RV-2-3DH earlier this December as a 3D high-speed evolving new model for the RV series distributed to electronics companies all over the world. By increasing the speed and precision of inspections and measurements, we are able to improve productivity; quality and SMT line effeciencies throughout the SMD mounting and reflow process.

The RV-2-3DH is the latest imaging system from Juki used for inspecting printed circuit boards during manufacturing and both before and after soldering.

This new 3D SMD measurement system is highly repeatable and has the measurement accuracy needed to quickly eliminate defective SMD part mounting and soldering processes preventing defective board manufacturing from continuing.

Key Features: 1) 12 Mega pixel camera coupled with high-speed image processing algorithms 2) High-resolution lens improves test inspecting and measurement accuracy 3) Two inspection program modes 4) Applicable to use for both measurement and visual quality test inspection

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TECH COLUMN

SIC AND GAN DEVICE MARKET TREND AND LITTELFUSE EXPERTISE

Teddy To Senior Technical Marketing Manager | Semiconductor Business Unit | Littelfuse

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Silicon semiconductor has been dominant in the electronics industry for the last decades and it has formed the core electronic world covering most of the applications in our daily life. Wide band gap electronics, in the form of SiC and GaN, were getting ever increasing popularities due to the advantages where traditional silicon technology cannot overcome.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a semiconductor containing silicon and carbon with chemical formula SiC. It occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite.

Synthetic silicon carbide powder has been mass-produced since 1893 for use as an abrasive. Electronic applications of silicon carbide such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and detectors in early radios were first demonstrated around 1907. For the recent 20years, SiC is used in semiconductor electronics devices that operate at high temperatures or high voltages and very low switching loss.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a type of wide band gap semiconductor commonly used in light-emitting diodes since the 1990s for applications in optoelectronic, high-power and high-frequency devices.

It is also a suitable material for solar cell arrays in satellites, and other military and space. Because GaN transistors can operate at much higher temperatures and work at much higher voltages than gallium arsenide (GaAs) transistors, they make ideal power amplifiers at microwave frequencies. In addition, GaN offers promising characteristics for switching frequency at THz range.

SiC semiconductor type power components such as MOSFET can have a very small gate charge and switching loss, while it is being driven to operate at extended case temperature beyond 150 degree celsius easily. Also, it can easier to increase the working voltage of a MOSFET to 1200V or 1700V range. Thus, there are obvious advantages to have SiC Type MOSFETs over traditional silicon MOSFETs for the same die or package size in some power conversion applications where heat issue would be a big concern.

With more and more SiC / GaN epi wafer availability, commercial SiC and GaN

material have a better cost structure to make SiC devices, like schottky diodes, MOSFET, TVS diodes, ESD diodes…etc Littelfuse is a leading circuit protection product supplier in the market for many years. Starting from 2014, customer is increasing the investment in the power control business development by selfdevelop the power components and by acquiring other third parties component company. Littelfuse expanded the SiC product portfolio by acquiring the majority ownership of Monolithic Semiconductor Inc in 2015; Littelfuse acquired IXYS in 2017, all these steps makes Littelfuse in a more solid position in the power semiconductor business.

In terms of the SiC products, Littelfuse launched first 1200V SiC type Schottky diode series and an important 1200V SiC MOSFET in the market. There is some more exciting product launch in 2018 afterwards, including 1700V MOSFET and Schottky diodes and 650V Schottky diodes.

With respect to market needs and the growth of the EV electric vehicles, 900V MOSFET and 650V Schottky diodes are in the roadmap and be released in the end of 2018 afterwards. Littelfuse very focus on providing SiC type solutions for the EV charging pile & On-board chargers, wind power, solar power, industrial drives, server & internet power supply…etc, those high power efficient conversion systems. Littelfuse will also launch GaN type products in 2019 and beyond.

To conclude, with the IXYS broad product portfolio, Littelfuse will be an important player and supplier in the power semiconductor market.

About the Author

Teddy To is currently the Senior Technical Marketing Manager of Semiconductor Business Unit. He is in charge of the business development of SiC & IGBT power products in Asia. He also owns 4 international patents and 2 Chinese patents in power semiconductor protection. He is also a co-author of the book “Fundamentals of Circuit Protections and Its applications” by Beijing Industry Press in 2010. He can be reached at tto@ littelfuse.com

BIG PICTURE

MINHAJ ZIA

VP Sales for Polycom in South East Asia, India & SAARC OUR MAJOR FOCUS IS ON EXPANDING OUR FOOTPRINT IN THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR Polycom continues to lead the industry with advances in voice, video and content collaboration solutions, enabling organizations to extend this level of seamless collaboration across every team and department, so everyone can work together face-to-face—no matter where they are located. Just on the eve of New Year, BISinfotech’s Sub-Editor, Jyoti Gazmer had a candid chat Minhaj Zia, VP Sales for Polycom in South East Asia, India & SAARC, clearing the ‘Cloud’ from the content collaboration industry and paving the way forward for 2019. Edited Nub.

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New form of businesses and younger workforce demands dynamic, intuitive, high-quality interactive and collaboration solutions. How is Polycom revving-up with these new demands?

As new generations enter the workforce, expectations around being able to connect instantly, from any device or workspace are rising. There is an increasing demand on organisations to provide collaboration tools at the workplace to enable innovation and allow for greater flexibility.

Polycom continues to lead the industry with advances in voice, video and content collaboration solutions, enabling organizations to extend this level of seamless collaboration across every team and department, so everyone can work together face-to-face—no matter where they are located.

Our vision is to empower workers with true location liberation and fulfil their “anywhere working” requirements. Some of our offerings which enable this includer Polycom Pano – content sharing & wireless presentation system - this is the easiest way to share content at work, enabling anyone in a business meeting to share up to four streams of simultaneous content side-by-side, from any device, without the hassle of juggling cables. It comes with rich annotation and interactive whiteboarding features and is designed to make every meeting productive, creative and successful. r P olycom Trio is a “smart phone” for the modern conference room. It is already used by many Fortune 100 companies to lead the digital transformations in their meeting rooms, driving productivity and

meaningful meetings for their teams. The Polycom Trio family integrates natively with Microsoft Teams, as well as Zoom and BlueJeans amongst others. In addition, Polycom Trio also has the recently announced capability for customers to use its innovative user interface as a remote control for their EagleEye IV USB camera. Customers can pinch and zoom using the Polycom Trio UI just like using a smart phone. r RealPresence Clariti- a collaboration infrastructure software that allows co-workers to connect in team environments on virtual boardrooms while seeing each other and sharing ideas visually, no matter what device or technology they are using.

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What are your current market strategies for India and which markets are of your major focus?

India is a priority market for Polycom.

We are focused on helping government and private sector customers accelerate their digital transformation journey with our highquality video, voice and content sharing solutions.

Polycom is a part of Plantronics.

As pioneers in audio and video technology, we at Plantronics and Polycom understand the power of human connection. We are bringing together our portfolio of high-quality, proven products and services to connect people to what matters most—whether it’s their colleagues, customers, playlists or favourite games – wherever, whenever and however they happen.

Polycom India has enjoyed positive growth in the past year. During this time frame, we have won many prestigious projects in the government and private sectors. With respect to critical vertical markets, we witnessed strong traction in the government and education sectors.

Our major focus is on expanding our footprint in the government sector to enable digitisation of the country as there is a huge opportunity for companies like Polycom to provide collaboration technologies that deliver mission critical government services, improving equity of access for all citizens of the country.

Q

Lastly, how are you aligning with Government’s major Digital India and Make in India initiative?

We also see other verticals like healthcare and IT/ITeS looking to our technology to help them bridge location divides and bring their services to more people.

Q

Where does the future take us in collaborative communication and how is Polycom looking into or rather help to connect the future in this market?

Imagine a world where you walk into a conference room, touch your badge to the table, and the system could automatically dial you into the prescheduled call. Or where sensors and AI combine to take roll at a board meeting, producing a real-time transcription and translation of the discussion This is the future of communication.

Our focus will be to develop collaboration solutions that are easy to use, intuitive and are simple to operate. We want to help customers connect with each other and communicate in a way that makes it as real and in-person as possible.

How is the overall business of Polycom in India?

Polycom continues to lead the industry with advances in voice, video and content collaboration solutions.

The Indian government is recognising that access to technology decreases inequality and drives productivity, through programs like ‘Digital India’ and government agencies across the country are using Polycom solutions to bridge the urban-rural divide in the country. Therefore, Polycom is very much aligned with the government’s digital initiatives.

We are also seeing that as networks and infrastructure are improving in the country, there is also an increase in demand for collaboration solutions like HD video, audio and content sharing.

This is a great opportunity for us to provide our solutions.

Many courts and justice systems in the country are also using our collaboration solutions to increase efficiency and productivity. In addition, both public and private sector players in the education sector are digitising their classrooms in the country; they are using video conferencing technology to ensure that they develop their students as global citizens by giving them access to remotely connect with the best trainers across the globe to seek their guidance.

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SEMICONDUCTOR BUSINESS IN 2019 A ‘MIXED-REALITY’ FOR THE INDUSTRY The chip sector slowdown in the current quarter is likely to last well into next year, a Wall Street firm says. Investment bank UBS on Thursday forecast semiconductor industry revenue to decline year-over-year in 2019 for the first time since 2015.

BS sees semiconductor industry revenue dropping 4.3% in 2019, driven by a downturn in memory chip sales. Memory chips account for 34% of total industry revenue, the firm said.

It forecast record semiconductor industry revenue of $473 billion in 2018.

"We expect year-over-year semis revenue growth to trough by Q3 2019, with semis stocks typically in sync or slightly anticipatory of the trend," the UBS analyst team said in a report to clients.

It called the current market "challenging."

Also, in 2019, experts foresee IC and fab equipment industries turbulence.

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Fig. 1: IC Growth Trends Source: IHS Markit

In 2019, the semiconductor market is expected to cool down and grow by 4%, according to IHS. “2019 definitely suffers from a slowing revenue growth in memory. NAND most likely will be in oversupply and DRAM will begin to Few critical issues include: see pricing erosion,” Jelinek said. “The other key issue n The NAND market is projected to move from a period of is the end markets. Handset demand is slowing due to shortages to potential overcapacity in the second half of saturation. And none of the new end-market drivers, such 2018 or in 2019. Then, DRAM prices are expected to erode as IoT, 5G and autonomous driving, are ready to jumpover time. start the industry to take the place of handsets and PCs n F oundries are expected to see a slow transition from in terms of major growth drivers.”

16nm/14nm to 10nm/7nm. In addition, foundries see a In 2019, the growth will be propelled by China, which slowdown at 28nm as customers migrate to 22nm. And is building several new fabs. “We do see a potential 200mm capacity remains tight. slowdown in 2020. But so far, the demand seems solid,” n China and the United States are in the midst of a trade war, Tseng said. Still others see a slowdown, if not a fab tool which impacts ICs and other sectors. downturn, in 2019.

On the other hand, to compliment the semiconductor market, mobile industry will be showing growth, 5G, artificial Fab Equipment Spending intelligence/machine learning, automotive and industrial Total fab equipment spending in 2019 is projected to drop continue to propel demand for chips. Not surprisingly, though, 8%, down from a previous forecast of a 7% increase as fab investment growth has been revised downward for cryptocurrency will be looming.

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

OUTLOOK INDUSTRY

2018 to 10% from the 14% predicted in August, according to the US-based Semiconductor Equipment & Materials International (SEMI).

In its latest edition of the World Fab Forecast Report published yesterday, SEMI said that entering 2018, the semiconductor industry was expected to show a rare fourth consecutive year of equipment investment growth in 2019.

The SEMI World Fab Forecast Report, had forecast in August a slowdown in the second half of 2018 and into the first half of 2019.

“Now, with recent industry developments, a steeper downturn in fab equipment is expected,” it said.

The report shows overall spending down 13% in the second half of 2018 and 16% in the first half of 2019 with a strong increase in fab equipment spending expected in the second half of 2019.

SEMI said plunging memory prices and a sudden shift in companies’ strategies in response to trade tensions are driving rapid drops in capital expenditures, especially among leading-edge memory manufacturers, some fabs in China, and some projects for mature nodes such as 28nm. Industry sectors expecting record-breaking growth in 2019, such as memory and China, are now leading the decline.

perspective, China is the market to keep an eye on.

Talking to Semiconductor Engineering, Gary Patton, CTO at GlobalFoundries said, 5G, the follow-on to the current wireless standard known as 4G, enables faster data rates in phones.

Initially, 5G will be deployed in the sub-6GHz frequency ranges in 2019, with millimeter-wave technology in R&D. “5G will be a big driver. It’s going to be as disruptive as data was to voice in cell phones.”

DRAM over NAND in 2019

DRAM pricing is expected to erode over time. “We are still projecting DRAM pricing will come back on somewhat approaching a normal curve. But even with a projected decline, we’re still above the traditional Moore’s Law curve by a factor of 10,” Gartner Analyst, Bob Johnson said.

Citing the price situation, DRAM revenue is expected to hit a staggering $99.3 billion in 2018, up from $72.1 billion in 2017, according to Gartner. In 2019, DRAM will reach $110.2 billion, according to the firm.

Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Market

SEMI reported that worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment are projected to reach $62.7 billion in 2018, up 10.8% over 2017. In 2019, the market will reach $67.6 billion, up 7.7% over 2018, according to SEMI. In 2018, South Korea will remain the largest equipment market, according to SEMI. China will jump from third to the second spot in 2018, dislodging Taiwan.

Fig. 3: 2Q DRAM Revenue Forecast Source: Gartner Regardless, ASPs are expected to fall by 24% in 2018 and 23% in 2019, according to Gartner. In total, NAND revenue is expected to reach $58.7 billion in 2018, up from $53.7 billion in 2017, according to Gartner. In 2019, NAND will reach $64.5 billion, according to the firm.

Fig. 2: Semiconductor Equipment Growth. Source: SEMI Moore’s Law will see further slowdown. At each node, process costs and complexity are skyrocketing for finFETs, so now the cadence for a fully scaled node has extended from 18 months to 2.5 years or longer.

In addition, fewer foundry customers can afford to move to advanced nodes.

Generally, the next big IC growth drivers are 5G, AI/ machine learning and automotive. And from a regional

Fig. 4: Q2 NAND Revenue Forecast Source: Gartner Many analysts see a slowdown in memory in 2019 or 2020, but one analyst has a different viewpoint. “NAND spot prices have already fallen about 50% this year, so NAND oversupply should begin relatively soon,” said Jim Handy, an analyst with Objective Analysis.

-NILOY@BISINFOTECH.COM

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BIG PICTURE

GAUTAM BRAHMBHATT Head| Quality Engineering | UL

BLUE LEDS WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE IMPACT ON LIGHTING COSTS & THE ENVIRONMENT The role played by phosphorous material in the effectiveness of blue LEDs, improvements in the efficiency of this material will ensure better performance of LEDs cites Gautam Brahmbhatt, Head, Quality Engineering at UL in conversation with Jyoti Gazmer, Sub-Editor, BISInfotech to further analyze the impact of Blue Lights in the LED Industry today.

Q

Can you take us through the major advantages of Blue Lights over the white LED lights?

LEDs emit far less power in comparison to incandescent and fluorescent lamps:

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Light Source

System Level efficacy (lm/W)

Typical Life (hours)

Incandescent lamp

8 - 18

1000

Tubular fluorescent lamp

50-70

5000

Compact fluorescent lamp (CFLs)

50-75

8000

LEDs based lamp

80-120

25000 *

* The life of weakest component in the system define the life of whole system. In the case of LEDs, the control gear is considered weakest link.

There are two ways of producing white light using LEDs. One is to use individual LEDs that emit three primary colours-red, green, and blue, and then mix the colours to produce white light. The other method is to use a phosphorous material as a coating to convert monochromatic light from a blue or UV LED to broad-

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spectrum white light.

Using blue radiation in LED technology offers two specific advantages – one, it consumes lesser power, two, it is more efficient in terms of light output. For instance, from 2014, to 2018, with advancement in phosphor, the efficiency of blue LEDs increased from 130-140 lm/W to 200-210 lm/W. Hence, the use of bright and energy efficient blue LEDs will have a significant positive impact on lighting costs and the environment, especially in developing countries.

Blue LEDs are currently used for Indoor lighting and outdoor lighting, solar based lighting applications and electronic gadgets like TVs, computers and m2obile phones.

Q

On the contrary, some studies have suggested that Blue Lights are unhealthy for human especially the eyes. Any comments on this?

The main determinant of safety for any LED light is compliance with photo-biological requirements.

The IEC standards ( IEC 62471 :2006 and IEC TR 62778:2014) used in most market access programmes, specify hazards like UV radiation and retinal blue light, which affect skin and eyesight, respectively.

Q

Do we foresee any technological progressions in Blue LED domain in the way forward?

Considering the role played by phosphorous material in the effectiveness of blue LEDs, improvements in the efficiency of the material will ensure better performance of LEDs.

Q

In your opinion, how beneficial do you think it would be to add the Blue Lights in car lighting?

Headlamps with blue LEDs have longer life span, suffer less impact due to vibrations and offer better night vision. However, the optical design should be very precise and to

ensure that it does not block vision of oncoming vehicle and pedestrians.

The Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) define the requirements of high beam and low beam pattern for the headlamp, it is important to ensure compliance to AIS standard requirements.

Q

While the traditional lighting s y s t e m s in s t reets, offices, airports,.etc., in India have begun replacing it with LED lights, how prepared is India for the Blue Lights?

Considering the role played by phosphorous material in the effectiveness of blue LEDs, improvements in the efficiency of the material will ensure better performance of LEDs.

With rapid technological advancements in LED technology, the efficacy is improving across lighting applications. This will offer energy saving and durable Lighting products. India being developing country, the opportunity lies in installing new lights as well as in the replacement of old inefficient lighting. Currently in India BIS Compulsory registration scheme is mandatory for safety standards for Self-ballasted LED Lamp and LED Luminaires. The need of hour is to mandate compliance to the photobiological safety, reliability and performance standards covering all type of LED Lighting products including LED Modules.

Q

Lastly, what challenges and scopes do you foresee in 2019?

The market is going to be flooded with different type of Innovative Lighting Products and compliance to safety including photo-biological safety, reliability and performance requirements of standards is of utmost importance. Also, the standardization and regulation has to catch up with the technology to avoid substandard products entering in to the market.

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BIG PICTURE

VICTOR PENG CEO | Xilinx A VERSAL ACAP IS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN A REGULAR FPGA OR SOC

Q

Versal is the first ACAP made by Xilinx. So what is an ACAP? For which applications does it work best?

An ACAP is a heterogeneous, hardware adaptable platform that is built from the ground up to be fully software programmable. An ACAP is fundamentally different from any multicore architecture in that it provides hardware programmability but the developer does not have to understand any of the hardware detail.

From a software standpoint, it includes tools, libraries, run-time stacks and everything you'd expect from a modern SW-driven product. The tool chain, however, takes into account every type of developer—from HW developer, to embedded developer, to data scientist and framework developer.

Q

What are the differences to a classic FPGA and to an SoC?

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A Versal ACAP is significantly different than a regular FPGA or SoC. Zero hardware expertise is required to boot the device.

Developers can connect to a host via CCIX or PCIe and get memory-mapped access to all peripherals (e.g., AI engines, DDR memory controllers).

The Network-on-Chip is at the heart of what makes this possible. It provides easeof-use and makes the ACAP inherently SW programmable—available at boot and without any traditional FPGA placeand-route or bit stream.

No programmable logic experience is required to get started, but designers can design their own IP or add from the large Xilinx ecosystem.

Wi th re gard t o X i linx ’ s ha r d wa r e programmable SoCs (Zynq-7000 and Zynq UltraScale+ SoCs), the Zynq platform partially integrated two out of the three engine types (Scalar Engines and Adaptable Hardware Engines).

Versal devices add a third engine type

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

(Intelligent Engines), but more importantly, the ACAP architecture tightly couples them together via the Network on Chip (NOC) to enable each engine type to deliver 2-3x the computational efficiency of a single engine architecture, such as a SIMT GPU.

Q

Does this mean, Xilinx will address, besides the classic hardware designers, also application engineers in the future?

Xilinx has been addressing SW developers with design abstraction tools as well as its HW programmable SoC devices (Zynq-7000 and Zynq UltraScale+) for multiple generations.

Xilinx has been addressing SW developers with design abstraction tools as well as its HW programmable SoC devices (Zynq7000 and Zynq UltraScale+) for multiple generations. However, with ACAP, SW programmability is inherently designed into the architecture itself for the entire platform including its HW adaptable engines and peripherals.

Q

Can you tell me a little bit about the use of ACAPs for artificial intelligence applications?

Among Versal’s intelligent engines is the AI engine, a key enabler for many of Versal’s target markets.

The software programmable, hardware adaptable AI Engine addresses both the compute density and the memory bandwidth needed for high throughput and low latency machine learning. The massive array of interconnected VLIW SIMD high-performance processors with local memory offer up to 8X compute density for vector-based algorithms vs. programmable logic and at half the power. These engines are optimized for deterministic, real-time DSP and AI/ML computation and suited for applications from cloud, to network, to edge and endpoint.

AI Engine is tightly coupled with adaptable hardware for custom compute and flexible memory hierarchy to maximize performance. Alongside

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these adaptable hardware engines and scalar engines, the AI engine is part of a complete heterogeneous compute platform where deep learning can be infused as “an element” of a larger application that has other pre/post processing requirements.

Q

Are there already benchmarks available, to compare Versal with other devices?

Multiple performance projections for machine learning inference throughput for Versal VC1902 can be found in the media presentation delivered at XDF San Jose 2018.

Xilinx’s initial benchmark ratings show the Versal VC1902 delivering 3.5X low-latency CNN throughput against Nvidia T4 in a 75W power envelope, and 4.2X low-latency CNN throughput against a high-end Volta V100 GPU. These Versal performance numbers assume 60% of the VC1902 device is reserved for user functions, such as network attach or video processing.

5X wireless compute versus UltraScale+ is also cited in the presentation.

From the technology announcement in March of 2018, 20X AI Compute performance is cited in a comparison to Virtex UltraScale+ (VU9P) for Machine Learning inference for image recognition.

Q

What about ACAPS in the classic machine vision application?

Xilinx will be announcing Versal devices for edge applications such as machine vision sometime in the future. These will leverage Versal’s scalar engines, adaptable engines, intelligence engines, and high-throughput connectivity from highest-resolution image sensors to frame grabber cards or industrial networks. Versal will excel in enabling the next generation of smart machine vision for the most compact and capable solution on the market.

Q

Which devices of the Versal series are already available, which will be added in the future?

Versal is comprised of multiple device series, including Versal AI Core Series, Versal AI RF series, Versal AI Edge series, Versal Prime, Versal Premium, and Versal HBM. Product details of Versal AI Core and Versal Prime have been announced. Details of other device series will be disclosed at a later date.

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BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

bisinfotech.com

BIG PICTURE

LED EXPO 2018 DECORATES SMART LIGHTING MARKET WOOING MILLENNIAL DEMANDS The 19th edition of LED Expo 2018 New Delhi will support the need for smart and energy efficient homes of millennials. Located at Greater Noida, the show will host over 300 companies focussing largely on IoT infused lights that will not only help cut down the living cost but also provide convenience.

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Millennials in India are perpetually looking for secure and easy to integrate solutions.

They are extremely tech savvy and understand the need for a functional home that gives them control over the level of customisation, energy efficiency and safety. Lighting is an essential part for any infrastructural project and the demand for smart homes calls for demand in smart lights.

Understanding Millenials need for secure and easy to integrate solutions, LED Expo 2018 New Delhi is all set to decode the emerging trend for better infrastructure.

This year, LED Expo 2018 New Delhi will bring in high-tech lighting solutions and gears from countries like India, China, Finland, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea, Turkey and Taiwan. From 6 – 8 December 2018, the leading show for LED lighting and technology will showcase an extensive array of smart lighting solutions from over 300 companies.

LED lights are no longer at a nascent stage. The usage of energy efficient lights has turned out to be an unceasing growth process and the term LED lights

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

are expected to become common in cities and towns very soon. With the help of initiatives taken by the government and awareness among the millennial generation, LED lights have reached a level above and entered the smart LED revolution.

The millennial generation is now looking for lighting technologies that offer them savings, sustainability (eco-friendly), uncomplicated and affordable solutions.

The 19th edition of LED Expo 2018 will host companies like Juki India Pvt Ltd. Key Operations & Electrocomponents Pvt Ltd, Lumisense Optoelectronics Pvt Ltd, MLTC Energy India Pvt Ltd, Power Integrations India Pvt Ltd, Rabyte Electronics, S R Electro, Semiconic Devices Pvt Ltd, Semitech Opto Solutions Pvt Ltd, Swingtel Communications Pvt Ltd, Tektronics, V-Tac India, Led Fixtures India, Power Palazzo Private Limited, Fulham India and Ltech (Intelligent Lighting Controls) who will showcase lights and gears helping architects and interior designers, lighting engineers, designers professionals, construction and real estate

companies, building contractors and various government bodies working on lighting projects to update themselves with the latest technologies entering the market.

A similar trend is emerging in the commercial sector as well. Businesses these days are using smart and customisation friendly lights that help not only improve the look of their offices but also help improve employee efficiency and performance.

The government of India and associations like ELCOMA and EESL have also taken effective initiatives in changing the lighting trends of the country.

To learn more about the future plans and schemes charted out to build a smart and energy efficient country, the LED Summit will talk about the theme, ‘Creating Solutions for Future Smart Lighting’, where eminent members from various associations and lighting companies will gather. The three-day show will be a perfect mix of knowledge oriented insights, serious business discussion and a gamut of beautifully crafted and at the same time smart lights.

UPDATES LED

AC-DIRECT LED LIGHTING TECHNOLOGY EXPLORED AND EXPLAINED The LED lighting revolution is now a lighting evolution. With LED luminaires progressing from the uncommon and costly to the familiar and economical, both exterior and interior lighting applications are moving towards more effective LED lighting solutions.

LED technology has become more efficient and affordable however, the operating platform has remained the same over the past few decades. An operating platform that has relied on the failure-prone DC driver.

Recent technological advances have led to the elimination of the LED driver resulting in more efficient, longer lifetime and higher efficacy LED luminaires. These driverless LED solutions are easier to maintain and offer extremely long lives, often over 50 years.

The CEU (Continuing Education Units) course, “Re-inventing the LED Luminaire: From DC to AC-Direct”, will examine the state of the LED luminaire industry today with regards to the current construction industry. This course meets the requirements of both IESNA (The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) and the AIA (The American Institute of Architects).

“AC-Direct driverless LEDs are both an industry game-changer and disrupter,” said Roger Whyte, CEO and President of LiteSheet Soutions, a leader in AC Direct LED lighting technology. “Because of AC-Direct’s impact on lighting, LiteSheet decided to create and launch a CEU course that explores and explains this technological innovation.”

There Are Four Learning Objectives For This Course: 1. Identify LED luminaire selection for new construction and retrofit applications and review trends in emerging LED Technology.

2. I dentify concerns surrounding LED fixtures, controls and drivers.

3. Compare the two main technologies, DC and AC LED and the introduce the newest approach, AC-Direct.

4. Review several AC-Direct case studies and discuss the impact of this new technology.

“LiteSheet provides architectural and industrial LED lighting fixtures and dimming capabilities—all using the LiteSheet “AC Advantage” operational platform,” said Whyte. “We are committed to promoting the AC-Direct platform through educational venues.”

OSRAM SPARKS SMART FARMING ROLLSOUT OSLON BLACK SFH 4736 NEAR-INFRARED LED Osram launches the Oslon Black SFH 4736 near-infrared LED (NIRED). When installed in a smartphone or tablet, the Osram NIRED offers a simple way for farmers to scan fruit, vegetable or grain crops, generating reliable information about the sugar, water and fat content.

A key decision for farmers and vineyard owners is picking the right time to harvest, not only ensuring that the produce has the best possible taste but also saving time and money during processing and shipment.

Determining ripeness is made possible by near-infrared spectroscopy.

This process involves scanning the content of various types of fruit, vegetables and grains – and takes only a few seconds. For example, a farmer can select a random ear of wheat, scan it with a smartphone, and just a few seconds later read the results on the display.

The NIRED irradiates the sample with a defined spectrum of light. Depending on its precise composition, the sample will reflect only a certain proportion of that light. The spectrometer then processes the information and integrates it into the smartphone or tablet. The reflected light can be considered as a ‘photometric fingerprint’. These measurements indicate

the existence and quantity of certain nutrients, allowing farmers to take samples and easily monitor the progress of their crops in real time so they can plan the ideal time for harvest.

“By focusing on making progress for farmers, the new Oslon Black SFH 4736 near-infrared LED takes farming technology to the next frontier,” says Karl Leahy, director of Emitters, Lasers and Sensors at Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany. “Our unique NIRED allows farmers to optimize their crop yield, as well as enhance harvest efficiency while keeping costs down.”

In late 2016, Osram Opto Semiconductors unveiled the SFH 4735 as what was claimed to be the first broadband emitter of its kind. This previous model is being used in applications including in SCiO, one of the first near-infrared micro-spectrometers for the consumer market from Consumer Physics, based in San Francisco, CA, USA and Israel.

The SFH 4736, which achieves almost twice the output (due to its newly integrated lens), is also suitable for use in the professional sector and can provide valuable assistance to farmers.

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BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

MESSE FRANKFURT, BISINFOTECH ONE-DAY LED BISinfotech LED Summit – 2018 Ignited

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BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

During 19th edition of LED Expo 2018 New Delhi, BISinfotech (India’s acclaimed Print and Online Magazine on Industrial Tech) with Messe Frankfurt beguiled the LED Summit- 2018 on 7th December, 2018.

The day-long summit bouted 6 major sessions mulling on today and future of LEDs leading extensive technical sessions from 11 major speakers.

The one-day prime event seated more than 70 odd prominent delegates from diverse part of industries discussing on the future of LEDs, trends on Certification, Advance of LEDs, Impact of IoT, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Smart Lighting. Eminent technical sessions also brought key design trends and manufacturer presentations supporting the LED industry in India.

Inaugurated by Raj Kumar Rakhra, Additional General Manager at Energy Efficiency Services Limited, A JV of PSUs under Ministry of Power, Govt. Of India, the veteran embodied on Govt. successful initiative, ‘Ujala’ and how it is changing the power demand of India. Mr. Rakhra also noted plans of Government integrating 10 Lakh smart meters in Haryana. He congratulated BISinfotech and Messe Frankfurt for conducting the LED Summit and said these notions will embark a new generation for lighting in India.

Saurabh Srivastava, Manager, Lighting Business For Tüv Rheinland India, a premier Session Partner of the Event, elaborated on Indian Testing, Inspection and Certification status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and its role to embolden the Indian LED industry. The

SUMMIT BLENDED THE FUTURE-PRESENT OF LEDS a New Regime for LED Business in India stalwart shared presentations on Testing, Inspection and Certification development in India.

Elite Sponsor, Vijay Kumar Gupta, CEO, KWALITY PHOTONICS PVT. LTD, illustrated on their new brand LEDchip Indus, India’s Fully Automatic Global scale LED semiconductor Plant.

Mr. Gupta slated on the strategies of the augmentation of LED – LEDchip Indus & Kwality polyWa. A Gold Medallist in Electronic Engineering and a honcho in the research area of LED and Semiconductor field, talked extensively about the Advances in LEDs, LEDs or Solid-State Lighting (SSL) market. Mr. Gupta enlightened the delegates on the ‘Complexity of Color Measurements’, ‘Standard Deviation Colour Matching’, ‘Evolution of LED Packages’, ‘LED Efficiency’ etc.

Lauded by massive applause, Mr. Gupta concluded on being very bullish about the current scenario of the Indian LED industry and envisions new milestones in coming time for his company and the industry at large.

On the other hand, Prominent Speakers from Philips, Fulham, Frost & Sullivan, Helvar, Cree, UL and Khatod brought the jam-pack interesting sessions for the delegates.

The premier LED-Summit of BISinfotech attracted attendees from diverse areas such as startups, design engineers and developers, lighting experts, educators, original equipment manufacturers, electronic manufacturing services, and technology experts.

Strong Networking Sessions over High-Tea and Lunch further stated the LED industry from being a product-specific market to a service-driven industry.

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BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

INDUSTRY UPDATES

IESA HOSTS NATIONWIDE MAKEATHON India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) announced the winners of IESA Nationwide Makeathon 2018 in New Delhi. Sanjay Prakash and Naveen Kumar from Wearberry Soft Solution India Pvt Ltd, Warangal were declared the winners.

The winning team was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1lakh. The first and second runners up were awarded cash prizes of Rs. 70,000 and Rs. 30,000 respectively. The IESA Makeathon is an initiative that is aimed at promoting innovation in the Indian semiconductor and electronics systems industry. In July 2018, the IESA rolled out a pan-India challenge inviting budding tech entrepreneurs to develop products that will help solve urban challenges across specified verticals - Smart Communications, Agri Tech, Water Management, Urban Traffic, Smart Cars / Vehicles, Robotics, Waste Management, Education, Surveillance / Security, Medical / Health, Smart Communications and Industry Challenges. 19 teams were shortlisted, among 1500 plus applications received, after intense mentoring and evaluation. The shortlisted teams were invited to display their product prototypes at the IESA Makethon grand finale in New Delhi. The IESA Makeathon is supported by ESSCI, Skill India and Startup India and powered by Jain Incubator (JUIncubator).

The event was sponsored by MediaTek, Mouser Electronics, The Gain Global Accelerator and the Industry Partners for the event were, Intel, Texas Instruments, ARM, Cypress. The

Rajesh Ram Mishra, President, India Electronics and Semiconductor Association

Incubation partners for the event were, Electropreneur Park & Delhi University, JU incubator, Incubate Hub, Rajalakshmi Institutions, SR Innovation Exchange and Fundtonic.

MAXIM’S SIMO PMICS SHRINK NEW SINGLE-CHIP MAXTOUCH POWER REGULATOR SIZE TOUCHSCREEN CONTROLLERS

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Maxim Integrated Products has recently launched six new low-power power-management integrated circuits (PMICs) which enables designers of small, battery-powered electronics enhance the user experience by extending battery life and further shrinking device size from.

The MAX17270, MAX77278, MAX77640/MAX77641 and MAX77680/MAX77681 PMICs help to reduce the powermanagement footprint by up to 50 percent for spaceconstrained products such as wearables, hearables, sensors, smart-home automation hubs and internet of things (IoT) devices. They increase the overall system efficiency by nine percent compared to the closest competitive solution, while also reducing heat dissipation, an important consideration for wearable products that make skin contact.

Designers are striving to make electronic gadgets more integral in consumers’ lives by scaling down their form factor, reducing heat, improving efficiency and extending battery life. Meeting each of these criteria is a formidable challenge given the rich feature sets, lower thermal thresholds and smaller capacity batteries required to achieve increasingly compact solution sizes. Maxim is expanding its portfolio of SIMO PMICs to enable designers to overcome these challenges, continuing the compact size and efficiency precedents set

by MAX77650/MAX77651.

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

Microchip has pioneered a new family of single-chip maXTouch touchscreen controllers. Even as touchscreen displays in the car grow larger, drivers expect screens to operate with the same touch experience as mobile phones. However, screens in automobiles need to meet stringent head impact and vibration tests, and consequently have thicker cover lenses that potentially impact the touch interface performance. As screens get larger, they are also more likely to interfere with other frequencies such as AM radio and car access systems.

All of these factors become a major challenge in the design of modern automotive capacitive touch systems. Hence, the maXTouch touchscreen controller from Microchip Technology was designed to address these issues for screens up to 20 inches in size.

The MXT2912TD-A, with nearly 3,000 touch sensing nodes, and MXT2113TD-A, supporting more than 2,000 nodes, bring consumers the touchscreen user experience they expect in vehicles. These new devices build upon Microchip’s existing maXTouch touchscreen technology that is widely adopted by manufacturers worldwide. Microchip’s latest solutions offer superior signal-to-noise capability to address the requirements of thick lenses, even supporting multiple finger touches through thick gloves and in the presence of moisture.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

TWO-THIRD OF GERMANY IS PUSHING FOR E-MOBILITY Infineon Technologies with Statista survey unveils that two-thirds of all German motorists can imagine buying an electric car. Younger drivers are more open to e-cars, and are now boosting e-mobility: In the age group between 18 and 39 years, the approval rate for e-mobility is almost 80 percent.

In the age group of the 60 to 69-yearold, however, only around 50 percent approve.

The willingness to buy e-car increases with income: At 74 percent, participants with a monthly net household income of 4,000 Euro and above show the greatest willingness to buy an e-car.

The participants of the study want in particular “green” electricity for e-mobility. Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed consider this important (27 percent) or very important (30 percent).

It is striking that here; too, the assessment is strongly dependent on age. The younger the respondents, the greater

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Dr. Peter Wawer, Division President Industrial Power Control at Infineon Technologies AG

are the value placed on renewable energy sources as an electricity supplier

for emission-free driving. “Already today, all passenger transport could be powered exclusively by renewable energies,” said Peter Wawer, Division President Industrial Power Control at Infineon.

In 2017, 547 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity were generated in Germany, of which 143 TWh were generated by solar and wind power. This would be enough for around 47.7 million vehicles, with 46.5 million cars currently registered in Germany.* “The biggest challenge in switching from combustion engines to electric motors is to set up a charging infrastructure, and to upgrade existing power grids. In Germany, these are not yet sufficient for the higher performance required by e-mobility. Especially, if the grid is also to tolerate a higher proportion of renewable energies.” Germans would be willing to pay extra for this “clean” e-mobility.

NXP INDIA HOSTS TECHCONNECT INDUSTRY TECHSUMMIT

MOXA'S MODBUS/IEC 101-TOIEC 104 PROTOCOL GATEWAYS

NXP India recently organized the TechConnect Industry TechSummit on ‘Next Generation Product Development Challenges and Opportunities in Automotive, IoT and Networking Applications’ at Manayata Tech Park in Bangalore.

The event featured panelists from leading organizations, such as HCL, LDRA, NVIDIA and Synopsys, and academic institutions, such as IIT-Delhi alongside startups like Orxca Energies, among others.The summit included two panel discussions - ‘Next Generation Product development’ and ‘Verification and Validation’. While the first discussion focused on challenges and opportunities emerging from Connected Infotainment, Autonomous Vehicles, Industrial IoT, e-bike battery innovations, security for IoT, Networking & Automotive applications and Industry-academia partnerships for training newer generations of students in associated technologies; the second panel plunged into the technical challenges associated with security in verification and validation. Some of India’s most valued dignitaries attended the discussions and debated on various product development challenges that have been exponentially increasing, particularly with shrinking geometries.

The panel discussion also brought out the emphasis on addressing security aspects of the new applications at all levels of Hardware and Software abstraction with the paced emergence of autonomous cars, IoT and 5G wireless connectivity.

Moxa launches the MGate 5114 series of protocol gateways – supporting Modbus RTU/ASCII/TCP, IEC 60870-5-101, and IEC 60870-5-104 protocol conversions, helping users establish communications between legacy and upgraded systems in power grid applications.

In addition, the MGate 5114 protocol gateways come with several easy-to-use tools that not only help users finish configuration within five steps, but also make it easy for engineers to identify problems during troubleshooting.

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

Various Protocol Conversions Moxa’s MGate 5114 Series comes with multiple protocol conversion combinations that can fulfill various communication requirements. It supports several commonly used protocols in power-grid applications, including Modbus RTU/ASCII, Modbus TCP, IEC 60870-5-101, and IEC 60870-5-104 protocols.

Easy Configurations Within Five Steps Setting up protocol gateways between two different communication protocols can be a complex task. Our MGate 5114 series of protocol gateways features an easy-to-use wizard tool that is designed with user-friendly interfaces, helping engineers to finish the configuration fast and easy within five steps.

CALENDAR Of EVENTS EMBEDDED TECH EXPO INDIA 2019 Jan-2019 29-31 New Delhi India

INDIA ELECTRONICS EXPO 2019 Feb-2019 04-05

Website : www.embeddedtechexpo.com Phone : 91 11 4279 5035 E-mail : pramitk@eigroup.in

Hyderabad India

CEEAMATECH-2019 Feb-2019 08-10 Pune India

INDIA TECH EXPO Feb-2019 09-11

WEBSITE : www.ceeamatech.com PHONE : 91 22 66562115 E-MAIL : ceeamatech@fairact.in

Indore India

GLOBLE DIGITAL FORUM Feb-2019 12-13 CA USA

Website : www.gdfevent.com Phone : 1 (408) 509 7203 E-mail : contact@gdfevent.com

Bangkok

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION AND CONTROL

Mumbai India

AERO

Website : www.terrapinn.com Phone : 65 6322 27060 E-mail : sheena.tan@terrapinn.com

Friedrichshafen Germany

ELECTRIP POWER

Nevada

Website : www.aero-expo.com Phone : 49 7541 708-404 E-mail : datenschutz@messe-fn.de

SMART CITIES INDIA 2019 EXPO May-2019 22-24

Website : 2019.electricpowerexpo.com Phone : 713 343 1889 E-mail : jcsmith@accessintel.com

New Delhi India

AUTOMOTIVE WORLD Sep-2019 05-07 Portmesse Nagoya, Japan

Website : www.chemtech-online.com Phone : 91-22-40373636 E-mail : conferences@jasubhai.com

APR-2019 10-13

APR-2019 23-26 Las Vegas

Website : www.indiatechexpo.in Phone : 91-93062-48986 E-mail : indiatechexpo@gmail.com

Feb-2019 20-23

TELECOMS WORLD ASIA 2109 Mar-2019 25-27 Thailand

Website : www.indiaelectronicsexpo.com Phone : 91 11 47480000 E-mail : esc@escindia.com

Website : www.smartcitiesindia.com Phone : 91-11-4279 5033 E-mail : aruns@eigroup.in

NEPCON NAGOYA Sep-2019 18-20

Website : www.automotiveworld-nagoya.jp Phone : 81 3 3349 8502 E-mail : car-nagoya@reedexpo.co.jp

Portmesse Nagoya, Japan

Website : www.nepconjapan-nagoya.jp Phone : 81 3 3349-8502 E-mail : visitor-eng.inw-n@reedexpo.co.jp

INDUSTRY UPDATES

STM32 MCUS GETS NEW DESIGN SOFTWARE

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STMicroelectronics is making its STM32 microcontrollers (MCUs) even more attractive to developers of IoT products and other smart devices by providing free software for creating rich, smooth, and colorful graphical interfaces that deliver a great user experience.

The STM32 is one of the most popular Arm Cortex MCU family, with over 800 device variants and a powerful ecosystem comprising tools, middleware, software libraries, sample code, and evaluation boards that simplify product development and accelerate time to market.

Following its acquisition of Draupner Graphics, ST is now making the software available free of charge for production and redistribution with STM32 MCUs. “Many customers have already successfully used TouchGFX to bring smartphone-like experiences to new products running on STM32 microcontrollers,” said Daniel Colonna, Marketing Director, Microcontrollers Division, STMicroelectronics. “By incorporating the latest version in our STM32Cube ecosystem, with no license or royalty fees, and supported by our 10-year longevity commitment, we are making this powerful and innovative solution easily accessible on a global basis.”

TouchGFX is ready to use with STM32 microcontrollers and includes a C++ framework that enables the user-interface

code to occupy as little as 10KB SRAM and 20KB Flash memory. It leverages the Chrom-ART Accelerator featured in STM32 MCUs with advanced graphics capabilities and contains a rendering algorithm that minimizes the number of pixels to be updated, enabling better graphics and smoother animations on a low memory and power budget.

TI’S NEW SMALLEST DATA CONVERTERS

SENSOR FUSION AND TRACKING TOOLBOX

Texas Instruments has introduced four tiny precision data converters, each the industry’s smallest in its class. The new data converters enable designers to add more intelligence and functionality, while shrinking system board space.

The DAC80508 and DAC70508 are eight-channel precision digital-to-analog converters (DACs) that provide true 16- and 14-bit resolution, respectively.

The ADS122C04 and ADS122U04 are 24-bit precision analogto-digital converters (ADCs) that feature a two-wire, I2Ccompatible interface and a two-wire, UART-compatible interface, respectively.

The Key Features of the TI DAC80508 and DAC70508 include: • Reduce system size • Maximize system accuracy and achieve higher reliability The Essential Characteristics of the ADS122C04 and ADS122U04 include: • Minimize footprint • Improve performance Tools and Support to Simplify Design • Evaluate the new data converters with the DAC80508 evaluation module, the ADS122C04 evaluation module and the ADS122U04 evaluation module.

• Engineers can jump-start their designs using the DAC80508 with the reference design for laser diode applications with precisely controlled current requirements.

MathWorks unveils Sensor Fusion and Tracking Toolbox, which is now available as part of Release 2018b. The toolbox extends MATLAB based workflows to help engineers develop accurate perception algorithms for autonomous systems.

The new toolbox is known to equip engineers working on autonomous systems in aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer electronics, and other industries with algorithms and tools to maintain position, orientation, and situational awareness.

Engineers working on the perception stage of autonomous system development need to fuse inputs from various sensors to estimate the position of objects around these systems. Now, researchers, developers, and enthusiasts can use algorithms for localization and tracking, along with reference examples within the toolbox, as a starting point to implement components of airborne, ground-based, shipborne, and underwater surveillance, navigation, and autonomous systems. The toolbox provides a flexible and reusable environment that can be shared across developers. It provides capabilities to simulate sensor detections, perform localization, test sensor fusion architectures, and evaluate tracking results.

“Algorithm designers working on tracking and navigation systems often use in-house tools that may be difficult to maintain and reuse,” said Paul Barnard, Marketing Director – Design Automation, MathWorks.

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

UPDATES INDUSTRY

MEDIATEK HELIO P90 CHIPSET TESTS GOOGLE LENS MediaTek announces that it completed testing and enablement of ARCore and Google Lens on MediaTek’s high performance Helio P90 chipset.

MediaTek worked closely with Google to ensure its newest addition to the successful Helio P series family - Helio P90 - delivers an optimized foundation to enable augmented reality (AR) experiences that transform the way people play, shop, learn, create and experience the world together.

To help device makers get AR and Lens devices to market quicker, MediaTek will provide its customers with robust software support, along with a turnkey reference design supporting ARCore and Lens.

“MediaTek has a long history of working with Google to make advanced, new premium, mobile technology accessible to consumers at mid-range price points.

With our latest collaboration we enable more smartphone users to experience

the power of AR and Lens visual search in their daily lives,” said TL Lee head of Mediatek’s wireless business unit. “Now that Helio P90 is ARCore and Google Lens ready, we’ll be working closely with OEMs to provide them with comprehensive support so they can quickly design and bring devices to market that are optimized for AR applications and Lens.”

MediaTek is enabling this technology across its portfolio and Helio P series with Helio P60, and Helio P70, already certified for ARCore and Google Lens.

ARCore brings powerful AR capabilities to smartphones at Google scale so

developers can build captivating mobile AR experiences without the need for additional hardware or complexity.

The Helio P90 was built to optimize processor performance and power conservation for a more sustainable user experience, even across power-intensive tasks like AR applications.

MediaTek worked closely with Google to pre-test ARCore on its Helio P90 chipset to provide OEMs, developers and users a superior experience.

MediaTek created a turnkey reference design for ARCore which helps OEMs to streamline the design process and speed up time-to-market. MediaTek will also assist its customers with the ARCore certification process based on their unique needs.

MediaTek also optimized the Helio P90 camera software performance to support Google Lens, which lets you search what you see, get stuff done faster, and interact with the world around you.

AUTOMOTIVE GRADE PROXIMI- SIGFOX TRACKERS TO HELP TY AND AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR FIGHT RHINO POACHING The Optoelectronics group of Vishay Intertechnology introduced a new fully integrated Automotive Grade proximity and ambient light sensor with four different slave address options.

The Key Features of the Vishay VCNL4030X01 include: Features Filtron technology, the Vishay Semiconductors VCNL4030X01 combines photo detectors for proximity and ambient light, a signal conditioning IC, a 16-bit ADC, and a high power IRED in one compact 4 mm by 2.36 mm by 0.75 mm surface-mount package.

The AEC-Q101 qualified sensor features an interrupt function and supports I²C bus communication interface for mobile devices and smart home, industrial, and automotive applications.

The device released today can be implemented to provide proximity sensing for touch-screen locking in smartphones and tablets to save power; presence detection for display activation in notebooks, automobiles, and consumer and industrial devices; ambient light sensing for dimming control in displays, keypads, and rearview mirrors; and collision avoidance in toys and robots. All the circuitry needed for these applications is included in one compact package to save PCB space, while its four slave address options provide greater design flexibility in applications requiring more than one sensor.

Sigfox has developed a bite-size tracker that can be inserted into the horns of rhinos to help conservationists monitor and protect the endangered species.

The global number of rhinos dwindled to about 20,000 a decade ago due to relentless poaching, though they have rebounded to about 29,000 thanks to conservation efforts.

Cameras, infrared and motion sensors, electronic bracelets and drones have been used over the years to protect endangered species, but have at times been limited by vast distances and limited resources in the countries concerned.

Sigfox has developed sensors able to give the exact location of rhinos using the firm’s network over a longer period of time.

“We now help rangers and conservation experts to observe from a distance, taking less risk, and especially to anticipate potential dangers that the animal could (face),” Marion Moreau, Head of the Sigfox Foundation, told the sources.

The sensors can alert park rangers when rhinos approach an area identified as particularly dangerous due to previous instances of poaching. Combined with other warning sensors, they can be used to get rescue teams to the location in real time.

“We started a project in Zimbabwe three years ago, inventing a prototype of a captor, inserted in the horn of about 30 rhinoceroses, which emits the exact position of the rhinoceros three times a day, over three years,” added Moreau.

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INDUSTRY KART

MOUSER DISTRIBUTES SAM R34 SIPS FROM MICROCHIP Mouser Electronics is now stocking the SAM R34 LoRa Sub-GHz system-in-package (SiP) family from Microchip Technology.

Delivering industry-leading low-power performance for a wide range of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, the SAM R34 SiP family devices integrate a 32-bit microcontroller, software stack, and sub-GHz LoRa transceiver in a small 6 mm × 6 mm package.

The Key Features of the SAM R34 SiP

Create Smaller Nodes • Integrated 32-bit Arm MCU and Sub-GHz radio • Up to 256KB Flash and 40KB RAM • Compact 6x6mm BGA package Increase Battery Life • Ultra-low power 32-bit Arm Cortex MCU • Sleep currents down to 790nA • Low-power RAM with battery back-up Reduce Your Design Risk • Certified development board • Chip-down design package • Interoperability tested software • Trusted supply chain Mouser also stocks the SAM R34 Xplained Pro evaluation kit, supported by the Atmel Studio 7 integrated development platform. The kit includes reference designs and software

examples that enable engineers to develop SAM R34-based LoRa end-node applications. The kit is certified with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Industry Canada (IC), and Radio Equipment Directive (RED) so designs can meet government requirements across geographies.

PREMIER FARNELL,BINARYBOTS FOUR-IN-ONE ENVIRONMENTAL INKS DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT SENSOR FROM RS COMPONENTS

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Premier Farnell announced a distribution agreement with BinaryBots to distribute their range of STEM products through Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in the Americas and element14 in Asia Pacific.

Chris Burgess CEO and Founder of BinaryBots states: “Our crusade as a business is to give every child in the world the opportunity to learn coding and robotics, being joined on that crusade by Premier Farnell is fantastic and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together with STEM robotics.”

BinaryBots specialize in developing educational robot starter kits to help teachers make Physical Computing and core STEM principles simple and fun for children aged eight years old and above.

With a strong focus on accessibility and affordability, their products include a ‘Cardboard2Code’ beginners range, and the more advanced Planet Totem range of mechanical animals which can be programmed to respond to a variety of real world actions.

Everything required to develop a BinaryBots robotics kit comes in the box, including a BBC micro:bit, step-by-step instructions and online videos, and lesson plans which are mapped to the UK National Curriculum for Computing and STEM (KS2 & KS3). BinaryBots are also compatible with the Raspberry Pi.

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

RS Components is stocking the Bosch Sensortec BME680 fourin-one environmental sensor and associated shuttle board that simplifies product creation. The sensor integrates temperature, humidity, pressure, and gas sensing for energy-conscious, costsensitive and space-constrained applications.

Measuring only 3mm x 3mm x 0.93mm, the BME680 minimizes average power consumption by combining an energy-efficient active mode, called forced mode, and a low-power sleep mode that draws only 0.15µA. In forced mode, the sensor performs one cycle taking temperature, pressure, humidity, and gas measurements in sequence before automatically returning to sleep.

Fast sensor response times minimize the forced mode cycle time, measurements can be individually enabled or disabled to save power, and up to 10 temperature and duration settings can be stored for the internal gas-sensor heater to optimize the energy consumption.

By providing extremely accurate and linear responses, the BME680 serves applications such as air quality measurement or weather monitoring stations, context sensing in wearables or building automation, personal navigation devices, sports trackers, and advanced industrial monitors. The 8-pin LGA metal-lid package ensures high stability and interference immunity, allowing use in challenging outdoor or industrial environments.

KART INDUSTRY

AVNET EYES AI ACQUIRES SOFTWEB SOLUTIONS Avnet announces acquisition of Softweb Solutions- a software and Artificial Intelligence (AI) company that delivers innovative software solutions for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and systems designed to increase efficiency, speed time to market, and help businesses transform.

Building on Avnet and Softweb's track record for bringing IoT solutions to market, today's announcement formalizes a game-changing element of Avnet's overall solutions strategy.

The integration of Softweb's best-of-breed AI software for IoT applications, along with its data services and digital process capabilities, provides Avnet with a rapid design, development, and deployment capability that further enhances Avnet's unique end-to-end ecosystem and provides for new and recurring, marginenhancing revenue opportunities.

"By capitalizing on our longstanding partnership with Softweb, we are adding

new capabilities to Avnet's already robust ecosystem -- combining the power of their software expertise with the strength of our end-to-end hardware 'design to deploy' ecosystem," said Bill Amelio, Chief Executive Officer, Avnet. "Softweb's formidable IoT and data platforms, plus their expertise in AI, data advisory and digital development services, will enable us to bring even greater value to our customers as a single partner resource while accelerating Avnet's growth."

Softweb Solutions has approximately 500 employees who are located in Dallas,

NEW INDUCTORS BY NEW YORKER ELECTRONICS

New Yorker Electronics is distributing the Vishay Dale IHLE-5A Series of Low-Profile, High-Current Power Inductors. The IHLE-5A Series is an automotive-grade, high-current inductor featuring an integrated e-field shield, or “e-shield”, for reduction of EMI. The Vishay Dale IHLE-5A Series is one of the Vishay 2017 Super 12 Featured Product.

Vishay expanded its IHLE series of low-profile, high-current inductors with these new Automotive Grade devices in the 2525, 3232 and 4040 case sizes. Packaged in RoHS-compliant, 100% lead (Pb)-free shielded construction, the inductors offer high resistance to thermal shock, moisture, mechanical shock and vibration. The Vishay Dale IHLE-2525CD-5A, IHLE-3232DD5A and IHLE-4040DD-5A reduce costs and save board space by eliminating the need for separate board-level Faraday shielding. Built on Vishay’s IHLP technology, they feature high efficiency with maximum DCR from 1.66mΩ to 178mΩ and a wide range of inductance values from 0.47µH to 47µH. The Vishay Dale IHLE Series contains the electric field associated with EMI in a tin-plated copper integrated shield, providing up to -20 dB of electric field reduction at 1 cm (above the center of the inductor) when the integrated shield is connected to ground. The four-terminal connection (two ground connection points for the shield) provides extra vibration performance for under-the-hood and chassis-mounted electronic circuits.

Chicago and Ahmedabad, India. The Softweb team has delivered more than 1,400 projects to 600 clients since its founding in 2004.

"We greatly value our existing business partnership with Avnet, and are excited to officially join the Avnet team," said Ripal Vyas, CEO and owner of Softweb Solutions. "We are pleased that Avnet sees the immense value of our AI and software technology services and solutions, and we look forward to leveraging Avnet's vast infrastructure, resources and expertise as a global technology solutions leader that enhances customers' competitiveness and solves today's business challenges."

The transaction is expected to close by the end of December 2018. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The acquisition will be immediately accretive to Adjusted EPS. Softweb is expected to accelerate Avnet's IoT efforts in addition to contributing $0.05 - $0.10 in Adjusted EPS by 2021.

LAUREL J. KRZEMINSKI NEW DIRECTOR OF ARROW Arrow Electronics announced that Laurel J. Krzeminski, has been appointed to the company's board of directors. The addition of Ms. Krzeminski will increase the total number of directors on the board to ten.

On her appointment, Michael J. Long, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Arrow Electronics, said, “I am delighted to have Laurel join our board. She brings tremendous experience as the CFO of a listed company, in-depth knowledge of accounting principles, and experience balancing excellent organic growth with acquisition-led expansion. As we continue to advance our strategy to be the foremost technology lifecycle solutions provider, Laurel will be a valuable addition to our board.”

From 2010 to July 2018, Ms. Krzeminski was chief financial officer of Granite Construction, one of the nation’s largest infrastructure contractors and construction materials producers. She served as Granite Construction’s vice president and corporate controller from 2008 to 2010. Prior to joining Granite Construction, Ms. Krzeminski worked for The Gillette Company from 1995 to 2007 which was merged into Proctor & Gamble (“P&G”) in 2005, where she held several corporate and operational finance positions that included serving as the finance director for the North American business units of P&G’s subsidiaries, Duracell and Braun. Ms. Krzeminski also has public accounting experience with an international accounting firm.

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ICT INSIDER

IT SECTOR WITNESSES POSITIVE MOMENTUM IN 2018 2.5 lakh new jobs expected in 2019 with a 10% to 13% projected increase in salaries

Addition of IT jobs are not just from technology firms but with changing world dynamics even nontechnology firms will contribute to job growth due to the pervasion of digitization across sectors

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Indian IT industry has witnessed major disruption over the past year, with successful adoption of emerging technologies. The industry has been on the cusp of profound change and hiring sentiments have improved across sectors. The Indian IT industry is expected to add around 2.5 lakh new jobs in 2019 further contributing to the growth of the sector. While the ‘Digital India’ initiative has been one of the key contributing factors in the growth of IT, telecom and e-commerce sectors; some other reasons for the optimism in the IT industry has been increasing investments in digitization and automation as well as improvement in financial services and digital businesses. With so many companies embarking on digital transformations, business-IT hybrid roles will emerge to help organizations fulfill their evolving digital visions.

Furthermore the demand in the IT sector has been quite positive the second half of 2018. Investment scenarios have become more conducive and more organizations are coming to play in the sector. In fact, the uptick in hiring is also because of the entry of new players in the sector. Another lookout for 2019 is the run up to the launch of 5G services which will also increase jobs in technology.

Commenting on the growth of the jobs in the sector, Ms. Alka Dhingra, General Manager, TeamLease Services said, “The overall job landscape in the IT sector will undergo radical changes over the next few years and certain job roles will continue to see increased demand. Some of the areas wherein positive growth in hiring is expected are computer, mathematical, architecture and engineering related fields. By 2020, about 2 million job additions are anticipated worldwide of which 13% increase will be in India itself. In fact during the recent financial results, many IT firms have committed to increasing their workforce by 2020.”

Another potentially strong area of employment will be data analytics which is becoming increasingly crucial across multiple industries. By 2020, the demand for data analytics in sectors will continue to increase employment opportunities by 25%. Some prominent roles in demand are computer Software Developers, Information Security Analysts, Machine Learning, Mobility, Cloud Engineer, DevOps, Network Analyst and Cyber Security experts. “Health-Sciences and FinTech are two industries who are going to hire extensively for data analytics and machine learning”, added Ms. Dhingra.

Jobs roles addressing specific skill sets will continue to grow. Few skill areas where strong % job increase will be seen are:

25% increase in big data, business intelligence and analytics 23% increase in cloud computing SAAS 18% increase in mobility roles 15% increase in machine learning engineers 12% global content solutions “Startups will be strong contributors in generating employment because of their expanded adoption of AI, Robotics, Blockchain and IoT. Addition of IT jobs are not just from technology firms but with changing world dynamics even non-technology firms will contribute to job growth due to the pervasion of digitization across sectors,” commented Ms. Dhingra.

The IT industry is also at the onset of momentous creative influx which is paving the way for increase in demand for product designers and specialized sales representatives required to meet the requirements of the dynamic changes across industries.

As the boost in employment opportunities will continue, it is also imperative for employers to keep in demand the skill deficit that India faces. There still is a mismatch between skills which candidates have versus the skills that are required to have in order to meet the demands of the industry.

Companies need to take stronger initiatives and adopt new-age mechanisms to re-skill employees and optimize talent as well as have stronger retention programs. Many organizations today prefer candidates with higher learning abilities (especially in the 0-5 year experience slab. Senior level hiring is likely to witness shrinkage in 2019 as mid-level hiring will continue to rise. “Jobs roles in IT have become multi-dimensional and the industry needs to take a generation leap in 2019 when it comes to re-skilling. To facilitate advanced skilling, it is also crucial for organizations to hire high skilled and technologically sound HR representatives as well as development specialists who can hire the right talent in the ever competitive market.

Investments in IT re-skilling will increase by around 20% in 2019,” added Ms. Alka Dhingra.

Salaries in India are projected to rise by 10% to 13% in 2019, same as the actual increase in 2018. The highest paid technology areas are going to be big data analytics, machine learning and AI developers.

However, automation, artificial intelligence and robotics are expected to reshape workplace culture and skill requirements. Organisations, therefore, should re-examine not just their talent strategies but also their remuneration strategies for creating the workforce of the future. Diversity hiring will also become increasingly important in 2019 and beyond.

INSIDER ICT

ICRA’S YEAR-END OUTLOOK FOR INDIAN IT SERVICES COMPANIES STABLE ICRA has a stable outlook on Indian IT Services industry, expected CAGR for FY2018-2021e to be around 9-12% IT players compared to CAGR of 17.1% over FY2013-2017 The credit profile of Indian IT Services companies remains stable underpinned by its ability to sustain free cash flows despite pressure on revenue growth and margins.

With aggregate operating margins of ICRA sample set at 22.5% for FY2018 coupled with moderate capex (organic as well as inorganic) and working capital requirements, the free cash flows have remained robust historically.

Despite pressures on growth and margins over the medium term, these factors are unlikely to impact the free cash flow generation ability of Indian IT Services companies though there could be moderation in the quantum of such cash flows.

The credit profile is also supported by net cash position with significant liquidity in the form of surplus investments generated out of past cash flows. Our sample set (13 leading Indian companies) reported surplus liquidity (net of debt) of approximately Rs. 1,600 billion March 2018 despite healthy dividend pay-out of approximately 30% (Rs. 206 billion) in addition to share buybacks (Rs. 73 billion).

ICRA expects most large IT services companies to maintain high dividend pay outs and share buybacks, as there are limited avenues for fund deployment. The investment requirements (organic and inorganic) for Indian IT Services in the past have been moderate relative to internal cash flow generation. Majority of the acquisitions done by Indian IT Services players have been to acquire competencies rather than achieve scale and size.

The growth of Indian IT Services companies will be impacted by lower deal sizes in digital technologies, cloud adoption and high competitive intensity from local as well as international players. While companies have increased spending on digital technologies and awarding new contracts, the overall IT budgets have moderated leading to lower incremental spends. Indian IT Services companies are re-orienting their business models focusing more on high end services such as IT consulting & emerging technologies (digital) and have made considerable progress so far, though it currently lags international peers. ICRA expects FY2018-2021e CAGR to be around 9-12% for the Indian IT Services companies compared to CAGR of 17.1% experienced over the FY2013-2017 period.

Margins will be supported by factors such as ability to modify cost structure with rational and variable salaries couples with gradual reduction of high cost resources. Besides deployment of operating levers such as higher share of fixed price contracts, lesser idle resources & automation benefits will also help manage costs. However, these factors will provide limited cushion leading to overall decline in operating margins from 22.1% in FY2018 to 20.8% in FY2021e for ICRA sample companies (13 leading companies).

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SECURITY UPDATES

SIEMENS ACQUIRES COMSA FOR AUTO SYSTEM DESIGNS Siemens announced acquisition of COMSA, a Munich-based company which develops software for electrical systems design and wire harness engineering.

Its LDorado suite is the one of the leader in automotive harness design and engineering software in Germany, reflecting deep local expertise and market presence with a well-established product portfolio and strong emphasis on standards. The COMSA team and technology will join the Mentor business, part of Siemens PLM Software, where it will add key harness engineering and design data analytics capabilities to the Siemens product range.

“The acquisition of COMSA is part of Siemens’ continued investment in technology for the automotive industry,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens PLM Software. “The combination of Siemens and COMSA solutions and specialist staff is unrivaled in the industry. Together, we will take electrical systems and harness engineering to the new levels needed to meet the demands of electric and autonomous vehicle development, and provide deeply integrated technical capabilities that will benefit COMSA and Siemens customers worldwide.”

Through this acquisition, Siemens plans to extend worldwide the delivery of new technology offerings that address disruption in the automotive harness industry caused by megatrends

such as autonomous driving and electric vehicles.

Siemens’ Capital software, part of the portfolio of recently acquired Mentor Graphics, extends from electrical/electronic architecture development through electrical systems design and service into wire harness design and manufacture. The addition of COMSA adds key harness engineering and design data analytics technologies, with strong support for new data standards emerging especially in Europe.

ERICSSON NEW GLOBAL AI ACCELERATOR IN BENGALURU

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Ericsson announces set up a Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (GAIA) in Bengaluru, India.

This innovation hub set up by Ericsson in India will focus on research and development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation.

This newly launched GAIA facility of Ericsson will be key in accelerating the execution of Ericsson’s focused strategy by leveraging cutting edge AI and Automation technologies to create data driven, intelligent, and robust systems for automation, evolution, and growth.

Ericsson has set up Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerators in US and Sweden apart from India this year.

Ericsson’s GAIA in Bengaluru will help create 150 new jobs for data scientists, engineers, ML/AI architects, and software developers in 2019.

“The setting up of Global AI Accelerator in India is testament to Ericsson’s longterm commitment to India, to the rich talent pool as well as the vibrant

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

ecosystem available in the country.

GAIA has been set up as a central unit to be able to accelerate projects across Ericsson’s portfolio across the 4 Business Areas as well as customer projects across the 5 Market Areas.” states Sanjeev Tyagi, Head of Ericsson R&D Bengaluru.

In Ericsson, several projects are already underway to bring in AI and Automation capabilities to the Company’s product portfolio across Business Areas.

The promising, game-changing results demonstrated so far are indicative of the tremendous potential that intelligent leveraging of data can bring to a domain like telecom. “With

the advent of 5G and IoT, we expect to see an explosion in the number of potential ways in which we will use the networks of the future.

The traditional methods of managing and running networks will no longer scale. AI/ML driven automation will be a necessity to manage these networks.

These data-centric technologies also open up the potential to tap new revenue generating opportunities and business models for telecom service providers”, states Sanjeev Tyagi.

The Company intends to explore partnerships with telecom service providers, industry stakeholders, startups and academia to bolster innovation.

With GAIA Bengaluru, the Company’s endeavor is to spur innovations that are easy to use, adapt and scale, enabling its customers to capture the full value of connectivity.

Globally, Ericsson will employ over 300 data scientists, data engineers, ML/AI architects, and software developers across its Global AI accelerators.

INSIDER TELECOM

JUNIPER NETWORKS 2019 PREDICTIONS – TELECOM SECTOR Expect more frenemies in the edge The hyperscale cloud players have clearly demonstrated the power of their massive networks in terms of application hosting and development. But it’s the telcos that have the beachfront property in their established network infrastructure that’s closest to end users. Cloud providers will try to build an edge of their own, but service providers will remain keepers of the edge as they can compete with much better economic scale. Over the next year, service providers and cloud providers will compete to win the edge but expect more cloud-SP partnerships to unfold as the year progresses.

In India specifically, falling data tariffs and smartphone prices have made India the largest consumer of mobile data globally.

To cater to this explosive growth in data traffic while delivering on superior user experience, a rise in the consolidation of data centre colocations and the deployment of micro datacentres can be expected. This is to better enable the implementation of mobile edge computing in order to achieve 5G readiness while improving performance in the existing 4G network.

Pervasiveness of content streaming With 5G comes the rise in IoT and onthe-go video and content streaming.

Sriram T. V, Director of Consulting & Business Development at Juniper Networks, India and SAARC As digital subscriptions increase, service providers in India are focusing on digital subscriber lines and/or Fiber-to-the-home access to deliver higher quality content to their customers. Partnerships with OTT players and content companies are also expected to grow as service providers in India continue to identify new revenue streams.

Asset Monetization Service providers in India are exploring multiple avenues to address the rising cost challenges to address ever growing network demands and also to remain competitive. The focus has shifted from a shared infrastructure to creating subsidiary companies to allow for improved capital structure and lower operating costs.

Encouraged by the success in monetization of their tower infrastructure, service

providers such as Airtel and Vodafone Idea are now also extending the same to fibre network assets as well.

Automation is the secret to customer satisfaction In 2019, automation will be the differentiating factor among service providers. Early software and virtualization technology have provided some relief from stagnant development but this year service providers will fully adopt automated and virtualized cloud platforms that can deploy new services in months, not years. Those who fail to implement automation will find themselves years behind competitors, as end users will find more agility and better service with those who embrace automation.

5G will create a new billion-dollar app economy The first smartphones and eventually LTE networks paved the way for mobile apps as we know them, giving rise to a multitude of new ways companies interact with customers. 5G is poised to go live in many cities across the United States and globally in 2019, and we expect next year to really showcase the economic power of the new mobile technology. This is the year apps start to show their real value in the enterprise and industrial space with a host of new IoT, AR/VR, digital twins and connected-car applications coming to life.

ERICSSON, AIRTEL CONDUCT INDIA’S FIRST LAA TRIAL Ericsson and Bharti Airtel announced that they have successfully conducted India’s first trial of Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) technology over a LIVE LTE network.

LAA is a key technology as operators evolve their networks to achieve Gigabit LTE by opening up previously untapped resources of unlicensed spectrum delivering speeds once thought only possible over fiber.

LAA enables the use of unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz band in combination with the licensed spectrum.

With this, the subscribers get a massively enhanced mobile broadband experience and ultra-fast speeds while, operators make efficient use of unlicensed spectrum resources.

During the trial, data download speeds of over 500 Mbps were recorded on smartphones in an indoor environment.

In outdoor environment, peak download speed of more than 400Mbps was achieved with coverage of about 180 meters from the base station. The trial was conducted in Delhi-NCR. Airtel used one LTE 5 MHz carrier aggregated with three 20 MHz carriers of unlicensed spectrum. Together with 4CC carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM technologies, the trial was conducted using Ericsson Radio System.

Randeep Sekhon, CTO – Bharti Airtel said, “Airtel has always led the introduction of cutting edge network technologies

to serve its customers. We are pleased to partner Ericsson to conduct India’s first LAA trial, which is also a big step towards 5G and Gigabit networks. LAA is an important technology evolution that can truly unlock the power of 4G LTE networks by leveraging unutilized unlicensed spectrum.”

Nitin Bansal, Head of Network Solutions, South East Asia, Oceania and India at Ericsson commented, “LAA is a key evolution of mobile technology and we are pleased to be partnering with Airtel to demonstrate the increased capacity, improved speeds and enhanced user experience through the combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum.”

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SECURITY INSIDER

ALERT! CRITICAL VULNERABILITIES IN MODERN ELECTRONICS Scientists including one Indian from Washington Point out University in the US identified that they could harm the on-chip communications program and shorten the life time of the complete personal computer chip considerably by intentionally including destructive workload.

The experts have found vulnerabilities in substantial-general performance computer system chips that could direct to failures in modern day electronics.

The scientists have been functioning to realize the vulnerabilities of laptop or computer chips as a way to avert malicious assaults on the electronics that make up day to day life.

Some shopper electronics sellers, such as Apple and Samsung, have been accused of exploiting vulnerabilities in their personal electronics and sending software updates that deliberately slow down before telephone types to motivate consumers to acquire new solutions.

Prior researchers have researched laptop or computer chip parts, these as the processors, laptop memory and circuits for security vulnerabilities, but the WSU investigation workforce identified considerable vulnerabilities in the innovative communications spine of high-efficiency computer chips.

“The communications procedure is the glue that holds everything together.

When it begins to malfunction, the

total method is going to crumble,” said Pande.

Significant-functionality computers use a huge amount of processors and do parallel processing for huge info purposes and cloud computing, and the communications method coordinates the processors and memory.

Scientists are functioning to maximize the number of processors and include superior-efficiency capabilities into hand-held gadgets.

They devised 3 “craftily made deleterious” assaults to check the communications method. This additional workload improved electromigrationinduced tension and crosstalk noise.

They discovered that a constrained amount of essential vertical backlinks of the interaction method ended up especially susceptible to fail. Those one-way links connect the processors in a stack and makes it possible for them to converse with every other.

IOT MALWARE OFTEN RELIES ON OLD VULNERABILITIES

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A survey on malware that exploits vulnerabilities in connected devices may explain why this category of systems continues to pose a risk to the network ecosystem. Long delays in releasing patches and difficulty in tracking glitches play important roles in continuing to tag Internet of Things(IOT) as insecure.

Some vulnerabilities affecting Internet-ofThings systems lack an identifier such as the one given for the entries in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) public list. This impedes development of efficient defences, as it could bypass security solutions that rely on specific rules (IDS/IPS, Yara) for identifying and blocking threats.

One key reason is insufficient optimization for the filing or assigning process, which delays the release of a CVE number.

Another would be that researchers simply don’t ask for an identifier, which would make sense considering the large number of security bugs discovered in IoT devices.

Regardless of the root cause, this

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Zakir Hussain, Director BD Software Distribution Pvt. Ltd. creates a messy problem when the infosec community wants to exchange information about vulnerabilities actively exploited by malware, as it is difficult to discuss without a common reference to it.

Because of the huge diversity of IoT systems, creating an antivirus program compatible with all of them is not feasible.

Instead, the antivirus industry has started devising a solution that protects the entire home network.

It has been noticed that writing code

that protected against a known, easyto-exploit vulnerability sometimes took half a year to become publicly available, more than enough time for exploits and IoT threats to emerge and do their work.

Some malware families analyzed exploited vulnerabilities known by the security industry for two years, yet there was no patch for them. At the moment, cybercriminals incorporate a lot more than three exploits into their malicious programs, so they have a wider net for compromising unpatched devices.

Public knowledge for creating defenses against medium- and high-risk IoT security bugs could have been used at least 90 days before the first malware sample that leveraged them appeared.

A window of opportunity this large lets cybercriminals plan and build operations without the pressure of having to act before a patch is released. Until the delay in shipping fixes or defense rules for smart devices is reduced, the bad guys will continue to have a huge market for their business.

INSIDER SECURITY

SOPHISTICATED ATTACKS WILL DOMINATE 2019!

Latest report has now underlined the growing threats faced by consumers and organizations that are exacerbated by the increasingly connected world.

Named, ‘Mapping the Future: Dealing with Pervasive and Persistent Threats’, Trend Micro released its 2019 predictions report, warning that attackers will increase the effectiveness of proven attack methods by adding more sophisticated elements to take advantage of the changing technology landscape.

"As we head into 2019, organizations must understand the security implications of greater cloud adoption, converging IT and OT, and increasing remote working," said Tony Lee, Head of Consulting of Trend Micro Hong Kong and Macau.

"Cybercriminals will continue to follow a winning formula -- exploiting existing flaws, social engineering and stolen credentials -- to drive profits. As both the corporate attack surface and unknown cyber threats increase, it's more important

than ever for organizations to put more resources behind employee education to help protect against these growing attacks."

The role of social engineering in successful attacks against businesses and individuals will continue to increase throughout the year. Since 2015, the number of phishing URLs blocked by Trend Micro has increased by nearly 3,800 percent. This offsets the lessening reliance on exploit kits, which has decreased by 98 percent in the

same time. Additionally, attackers will continue to rely on known vulnerabilities that remain unpatched in corporate networks for 99.99 percent of exploits, as this remains a successful tactic.

Trend Micro also predicts attackers will leverage these proven methods against growing cloud adoption. More vulnerabilities will be found in cloud infrastructure, such as containers, and weak cloud security measures will allow greater exploitation of accounts for cryptocurrency mining. This will lead to more damaging breaches due to misconfigured systems.

Attackers will also implement emerging technologies like AI to better anticipate the movements of executives. This will lead to more convincing targeted phishing messages, which can be critical to BEC attacks. Additionally, it is likely that BEC attacks will target more employees who report to C-level executives, resulting in continued global losses.

GEMALTO DISRUPTS BIOMETRIC NON-CONTACT BANK CARD Gemalto announced that it will provide the first MasterCard biometric contactless bank card to Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest banking group.

The pilot, launched by United São Paulo Bank and MasterCard, is the first to test EMV contactless biometric bank cards in Europe. Consumers simply place the card on any POS terminal and authorize the transaction and complete the payment via fingerprints, combining the convenient user experience with advanced cardholder authentication.

In addition, this bank card is powered by the POS terminal without the need for a battery, so there is no limit to the number of transactions.

Enhanced contactless payment for existing end systems The card is compatible with existing EMV POS terminals, and merchants can easily get a more perfect shopping experience without the need to upgrade existing hardware or software. For card issuers, this technology helps identify and prevent fraud, increase approval rates, reduce

operating costs, and foster customer loyalty.

Safe and secure on-site fingerprint registration Gemalto's solutions include secure onsite fingerprint registration at designated locations, and future users can even complete fingerprint registration at home.

To ensure privacy, biometric data is stored on the card rather than on the bank's server. Personal data is encrypted and stored securely and securely on the card to further enhance security.

Bertrand Knopf, executive vice president of Gemalto Bank and Payments, said:

“Consumers are quickly recognizing that the combination of non-contact technology and biometrics has the power to eliminate security concerns in the payment transaction process.

We are very happy Collaborating with United São Paulo Bank and MasterCard in groundbreaking projects to provide consumers with convenient security through EMV bank cards with biometric sensors. " Cinzia Bruzzone, Retail Manager of the Bank of São Paulo, said: “We are proud to be able to anticipate and promote innovative technologies in daily banking, and to take the lead in piloting such bank cards in Italy, with relevant technologies to bring significant tangible benefits to consumers. Benefits. The joint St. Paul BankMasterCard pilot project was supported by the Mercury Payment System and was inseparable from Gemalto's contribution.

Gemalto provided the technology needed for this new biometric bank card and stored fingerprints in a secure chip-the necessary tools. "

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SECURITY UPDATES

SYMANTEC, FORTINET JOINS FOR CLOUD SECURITY SERVICE Symantec Corp. and Fortinet announce expanded partnership agreement to provide customers with the industry’s most comprehensive and robust security solutions.

Fortinet’s leading Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) capabilities are planned to be integrated into Symantec’s cloud-delivered Web Security Service (WSS).

Additionally, Symantec’s leading endpoint protection solutions are also planned to be integrated into the Fortinet Security Fabric platform.

The technology partnership provides essential security controls across endpoint, network, and cloud environments that are critical to enforcing the Zero Trust security framework.

WSS, Secure Web Gateways, is a simpleto-use, cloud-delivered network security service that provides protection against advanced threats, provides access control, and safeguards critical business information for secure and compliant

cloud application and web use.

The integration of Fortinet’s industry-leading FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall with Symantec’s WSS will result in the most comprehensive set of cloud-delivered threat prevention capabilities in a single service offering on the market today.

“As the first step in this technology partnership, we plan to deliver best-ofbreed security through the combination of enterprise-class advanced firewall controls to Symantec’s industry-leading network security service,” said Art Gilliland, EVP and GM Enterprise Products, Symantec.

“Through this partnership, we hope to provide joint customers the power of Symantec’s Integrated Cyber Defense Platform bolstered by Fortinet’s leading NGFW in an integrated solution that’s easy to use and deploy.”

Additionally, Symantec’s industry-leading endpoint protection solution is planned to be integrated into the Fortinet Security Fabric platform, providing customers with

real-time, actionable threat intelligence and automated response for exploit-driven attacks and advanced malware.

Interoperability between Fortinet’s SDWAN technology will also be certified to work with Symantec’s Web Security Service through Symantec’s Technology Integration Partner Program (TIPP). As part of the collaboration, both companies plan to engage in joint go-to-market activities.

“With today’s announcement, two industry leaders are coming together to provide enterprise-class capabilities across cloud, network, and endpoint security,” said Rajesh Maurya, Regional Vice President, India & SAARC at Fortinet. “Upon completion of the integration, Symantec cloud web gateway customers will be able to benefit from Fortinet’s enterprise-class advanced firewall controls, and for the first time ever, Fortinet customers will be able to purchase the industry-leading FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall via FWaaS.

JUNIPER NETWORKS NEW OFFERINGS TO ITS JATP APPLIANCES

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Updates to the Juniper Advanced Threat Prevention Appliances leverage thirdparty firewalls and security data sources to offer enterprises a fast, flexible and automated defense against malicious activity Juniper Networks announced new offerings as part of its Juniper Networks Advanced Threat Prevention (JATP) Appliances, enabling enterprises to detect malware, understand behavior and mitigate threats with just one touch.

This solution leverages data from any third-party firewall or security data source, avoiding unnecessary vendor lock-in.

Eliminating complex, time-consuming data collection configurations, Juniper is helping security teams improve their organization’s security posture by simplifying and accelerating security operations.

Juniper Networks have revealed new capabilities that build upon the open architecture of its unified cybersecurity platform. With which, now security teams can easily create custom data collectors

BISINFOTECH // JANUARY 2019

right in the JATP Appliances platform, enabling the ingestion of threat data from any Juniper or third-party firewall.

Leveraging an intuitive user interface without the need for custom code or pre-defined integrations, Juniper is simplifying operations in multi-vendor environments. This new capability introduces easy-to-use customization controls for security analysts to collect, parse and pinpoint specific data without relying on outsourced customizations.

It also automatically integrates with the single, comprehensive timeline view offered by the JATP Appliances, streamlining investigation and remediation

by bringing the most important threat behavior details to the forefront more quickly. The JATP Appliances provide up to 12x productivity gains over manual processes for malware investigations.

With the continual advancement of its unified cybersecurity platform powered

by Software-Defined Secure Networks (SDSN), Juniper helps security teams pinpoint evasive threats hiding deep in the network while showing a temporal view of behavior to stop threats as quickly and effectively as possible.

“We are immensely proud of the progress we have made to date with our unified cybersecurity platform and are excited to announce the newest addition to our portfolio, JATP400 Appliance, along with the addition of our latest threat detection capabilities. The new custom data collectors, in particular, will give our customers a fast and flexible way to gain a better view of their network from all angles, using their security data to quickly identify advanced threats directly from the JATP Appliances.

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