Bisinfotech Magazine November Issue 2020

NOVEMBER 2020 80.00

R.N.I. No: DELENG/2019/77352 l VOL 2 l ISSUE 11 l TOTAL PAGES 64 l PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH |WWW.BISINFOTECH.COM

FORCE SENSING Semiconductor Switch Technologies

Hyper Automation

Challenges in

IoT

security

TESTING DATA CENTRE

IoT and Semiconductor Industry in 2020 5G to Become the Backbone for the New Era

SEI SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

Publishing Group

BEST B2B Magazine Converging Technology

Impulse Past and Embed Future of Tech With BISinfotech!

BISinfotech is honored to receive the prestigious award from Media Infoline. The award is a recognition showcasing excellence and achievements in our beat. Delivering impartial, unparalleled information and blending it to the millions of our readers and industry-leaders who has made BISinfotech stand out of their competitors.

Our aptness to deliver news, views, interviews and promptness to propel the complete Tech Industry in the right direction has made us the TOP 10 B2B MEDIA-HOUSE in 2020. Being the first magazine and web portal with Motto ‘Converging Technology of Future’ has driven the complete Tech B2B segment.

BISinfotech has been influencing, introspecting and innovating the gamut of technology with an intuitive and holistic approach may it be (Online, Print, Targeted EDMs, Social Media Expertise, Contests and Awards).

‘Now India’s No.1 Tech & Electronics Media, Embedding The Converged Future!’

Script Tech With BISinfotech.

The Future Stows Here!

Editorial BETA Concludes Celebrating Innovation and Recognition The BETA Awards for Excellence & Technovation is established as a tribute to the Innovators in both component and innovative product manufacturing, and designed to encourage vitality throughout the region. The awards cover a broad range of categories reflecting diverse technological environment and vibrant innovations throughout the spectrum.

Central to the BETA Awards’ ongoing success is the high caliber of jury who preside over the Technovation award entries. The BETA Awards have consistently secured judges from many of the region’s leading organisations – a reflection of the stature of the awards. Jury ensured that entries are analysed and selected according to a demanding set of criteria.

The BETA Awards set a valuable benchmark for the industry, and have become news items in their own right, generating media coverage and attention not only across the Asia-Pacific region, but also on the global arena.

Nitin Kunkolienker, President, MAIT & Director & Board Member, Synegra EMS Ltd | Member Governing Council, Electronics Sector Skills Council of India (ESSCI) was the chief guest for the award show.

Sponsorship is key to ensuring the Award’s growth, BETA has been fortunate in receiving strong support from its platinum sponsors Mouser Electronics & Infineon Technologies this year. As the Awards have grown, so too has the interest from corporations, and next year, we look again to the generosity of sponsors to help us deliver the best Awards we can for the industry.

Finally I would like to congratulate all the winners in this edition and thank the entire industry for coming together and celebrate the evening full of Innovations.

Thank You!

ManasNandi

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

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SUB EDITOR NITISHA DUBEY nitisha@bisinfotech.com

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MARKETING MANAGER ARNAB SABHAPANDIT arnab@bisinfotech.com DESIGN HEAD DEEPAK SHARMA

WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JITENDER KUMAR WEB PRODUCTION BALVINDER SINGH SUBSCRIPTIONS PRIYANKA BHANDARI priyanka@bisinfotech.com MANAGER FINANCE KULDEEP GUSAIN accounts@bisinfotech.com

Bisinfotech is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, Sant Nagar,East of Kailash, New Delhi- 110065 (INDIA), Printed at Swastika Creation 19 DSIDC Shed, Scheme No. 3, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi- 110020 Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and accuracy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions.

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement published in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. BisInfotech 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.

INDIA – Vishay Components India Pvt. Ltd 408, Prestige Towers99, Residency Road Bangalore 560 025, India Tel: +91-80-67640000 Fax: +91-80-67640010 sales.india@vishay.com Tower No.5, Cybercity, Magarpatta City Hadapsar, Pune 411 028, India Tel: +91-20-6746 6200 Fax: +91 20 6746 6297 sales.india@vishay.com

Contents 14

WHITE PAPER

SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCH TECHNOLOGIES

18 AUTOMOTIVE

FORCE SENSING: DISPLAY INPUT OPTION PROVIDES FLEXIBILITY AND RELIABILITY

20 BIG PICTURE

HYPERAUTOMATION HELP COMPANIES DISCOVER & AUTOMATE ALL POSSIBLE BUSINESS PROCESSES

22

VICOR INNOVATING POWER DELIVERY NETWORKS

Sambit Sengupta

Associate Director – Solution Sales, Avnet Asia

50

Manish Bharti

20

Madhukar Tripathi

Head –MARCOM & OPTICAL PRODUCTS, ANRITSU INDIA PVT. LTD

30

26

SMT ELECTRONIC MANUFACTURING TOWARDS HYPER AUTOMATIONMANAGEMENT

30 T&M

TESTING DATA CENTRE INFRASTRUCTURE

36

BIG PICTURE WE STAND BY OUR COMMITMENT TO INDIAN MARKET

45

PROXIMITY SENSORS EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITIES WITH PROXIMITY SENSORS

President - India and South Asia at UiPath

Harsha Jagadish

Pr. Engineer, Marketing, MCU16, Microchip Technology Inc.

46

46

BIG PICTURE THE MAIN CHALLENGES IN IOT SECURITY IS HOW TO ADDRESS THE PARADOX OF CUSTOMIZATION

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EV MORNSUN POWER SOLUTIONS FOR INTELLIGENT POWER MANAGEMENT IN HEV/EV APPLICATIONS

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50 TECH OPED

06

IOT AND SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY IN 2020

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TECHNOVATOR 5G TO BECOME THE BACKBONE FOR THE NEW ERA

VIJAY KUMAR SACHDEVA MD & CEO, LAXMI REMOTE (INDIA) PVT LTD (LRIPL)

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EXPERT COLUMN INDIA CHINA WAR SITUATION IS AFFECTING THE ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY. HOW WILL THE INDUSTRY MANAGE THE LOSS?

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Sudarshan Sivaperumal Security Solutions Architect, F5

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TECH/LEAD PART 1 VISION: POSSIBLE

52

NOVEMBER 2020

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Platinum Sponsor

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NOVEMBER 2020

BISinfotech successfully concluded this year’s BIS Excellence and Technovation Awards (BETA). This year BETA Awards conferred Excellence awards recognizing the leading electronics and semiconductor companies sharing their best approaches and market-leading products driving the next growth of the industry.

Hot on the heels, BETA Awards also extended 11 Technovation awards marking the leading products and solutions developed using advanced electronics and semiconductors.

Nitin Kunkolienker, President, MAIT & Director & Board Member, Synegra EMS Ltd | Member Governing Council, Electronics Sector Skills Council of India(ESSCI) was the chief guest of honor for the award show.

CHIEF GUEST OF HONOUR

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Nitin Kunkolienker

President, MAIT & Director & Board Member, Synegra EMS Ltd,|Member Governing Council, Electronics Sector Skills Council of India(ESSCI

Giving the welcoming note and sharing the current state of affairs of the Indian electronics industry, Nitin stated, “In this outset I would like to thank BISinfotech for giving me this opportunity and also conferring ESSCI with this esteem award. I would take this opportunity to convey my best wishes to BISinfotech as they have become a very popular platform for semiconductor and electronics sector. ESSCI is committed to support the entire ESDM sector of this country leveraging capabilities, experience and rich knowledge base across the country. ESSCI is present all across the country with 4,000 training centres and have trained more than a million candidates in last five (5) years on different electronics job roles. The council has almost 160+ qualification pacts across electronic spectrum and electronic product lifecycle.”

BETA AWARDS was propelled and sponsored by two leading electronics companies, i.e. MOUSER ELECTRONICS and INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES.

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EXCELLENCE CATEGORY

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Global Innovative T&M Company of the Year

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Innovation in BLDC Motor Control

Global Secure Identity Products Provider

Global Innovative Interconnect Solutions Company of the Year

Global Innovative Solder Paste Solutions Provider of the Year

Global Advanced Engineering Solutions Provider of the Year

Global Relay Company of the Year

Global Electronic Component Distributor of the Year

Indian SMT Distributor of the Year

Innovative Relay Modules Company of the Year

Global Communication Testing Company of the Year

Innovation in Power Management & Hot Swap Protection

Innovative Marketing

Campaign of the Year

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32bit MCU Company of the Year

Indian Electronic Component Distributor of the Year

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Innovator in Power for Factorised Power Architecture

Global Discrete Seniconductors & Passive Components Solution Provider of the Year

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TECHNOVATION CATEGORY

12

Global Technovation Award Under AI & ML Category

Proximity Sensor Company of the Year

Excellnce in BLE Networking in Smart Homes

Global Technovation Award Under AUTOMOTIVE Category

Global Technovation Award Under SMART HOME Category

Global Technovation Award Under SECURITY Category

Global Technovation Award Under IOT Category

Global Technovation Award Under AUTOMATION Category

Global Technovation Award Under RENEWABLE Category

Global Technovation Award Under IOT Category

Global Technovation Award Under RENEWABLE Category

Global Technovation Award Under COMMUNICATION Category

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Global Technovation Award Under LIGHTING Category

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NOVEMBER 2020

Semiconductor Switch Technologies

Francesco Di Domenico

Principal Application Engineering, Infineon Technologies

Introduction

Much is made of wide bandgap technologies, especially since GaN and SiC often have a superior performance on paper when compared to classic Si switching devices.

These improvements include lower on-resistance and higher thermal conductivity, features that enable improvements in efficiency and operation at higher temperatures in the end application. In the context of switching power supplies (SMPS) this can mean improved system efficiencies and higher power densities. However, these improvements require more than just replacing Si devices with wide bandgap alternatives.

And, of course, there will be cases where Si actually remains the optimal technology choice.

WHITE PAPER

High-Performance SMPS Design

Over the past years, the industry has converged on a collection of switching topologies that provide an optimal balance between fulfilling the requirements of high-performance SMPS products at price-points that meet the needs of the market.

This applies both to the power-factor correction (PFC) stage and the isolated high-voltage DC/DC (HV DC/DC) converter.

One of the starting points is to perform side-by-side comparisons of the different switch technologies to see whether GaN or SiC deliver benefits over Si solutions.

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Figure 1: Si superjunction and SiC MOSFETs have a vertical structure; GaN MOSFETs on the other hand have a lateral structure.

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The first point to note is that both Si superjunction and SiC MOSFETs have a similar, vertical structure, whereas GaN MOSFETs employ a lateral approach. This means that in Si and SiC devices current flows from the top to the backside substrate through the device. The lateral approach of GaN means that current flows across the device with the source, gate and drain connected to the surface via separate metallisation layers (figure 1). This essentially undoped, lowimpurity crystal structure enables a high mobility of electrons, hence their name: high-mobility electron transistors (HEMT).

This difference in construction, coupled with the differing semiconductor material used, leads to contrasting performance characteristics. These are often viewed in terms of figures of merit (FoM) that combine their conduction (RDS(ON)) and switching losses in order to enable side-by-side comparisons.

Figure 2: Figures of Merit for 600 V/650 V-rated switches in the differing semiconductor technologies.

Considered in terms of drain-source charge (Qoss), recovery charge (Qrr) and gate charge (Qg), SiC MOSFETs have a better FoM than competing Si superjunction devices. However, when it comes to the energy stored in the output capacitance (Eoss), Si devices have the upper hand. In comparison, GaN MOSFETs appear to only deliver benefits when compared to the alternatives. However, it is necessary to dig a little deeper in order to appreciate the bigger picture.

SMPS are increasingly expected to deliver higher quantities of power in ever decreasing volumes of space. This reduction in space between components inevitably leads to higher operational temperatures, a factor that impacts RDS(ON).

Thanks to the low impurity level in GaN HEMTs, RDS(ON) shows a lower temperature dependency than Si devices. However, it is SiC devices that show the least RDS(ON) dependency on temperature. Normalising the values at 25°C, the RDS(ON) of SiC devices can lie 30% below GaN HEMT and 50% below Si superjunction devices at 100°C (figure 3). This implies that a Si superjunction device with an RDS(ON) of 70 mΩ could have a worse FoM than a 100 mΩ SiC device at system operating temperature, something that will impact overall efficiency of the SMPS.

NOVEMBER 2020

5). This demonstrates that, despite their excellent paper-based performance, superjunction Si MOSFETs can still outperform these new technologies in topologies that allow them to operate to their strengths. Of course, it must also be noted that the TCM Totem Pole PFC topology that they were used in is the most expensive approach of those compared and most complex in terms of control.

Figure 3: Normalised RDS(ON) for Si, SiC and GaN at various junction temperatures TJ in °C

Case Study: 3 kW Telecoms SMPS

Figure 4: Efficiency of totem-pole PFCs designs based upon GaN and traditional Si devices can attain >90% efficiency

However, the new GaN and SiC semiconductor technologies do not perform as well in other topologies. A GaN-based CCM half-bridge totem pole saves two switches, but at ~98.8% efficiency it is not suitable for an SMPS targeting efficiencies of 98%. The same applies when using SiC switches in a CCM totem-pole topology, attaining around 98.6% efficiency (figure

This leads us to a critical point of learning: silicon switches currently continue to offer a price advantage at the component level, and design engineers can still utilise their considerable design experience with this technology. However, designers should not underestimate the complexity, in both design and control, these Si-based PFC topologies need to attain the efficiencies that wide bandgap devices can achieve with, by comparison, less effort.

WHITE PAPER

Figure 5: Traditional Si switches, in topologies that play to their strengths, can outperform both GaN and SiC-based PFC alternatives.

The next step is to review the HV DC/DC stage. Again, the goal is to attain the highest possible efficiency in order that the overall goal of 98% at 50% load can be fulfilled, meaning this stage needs to achieve a minimum 99.1% efficiency at 50% load. A half-bridge LLC is perhaps the simplest topology to use, being well understood by designers, and lends itself for use with Si, GaN and SiC. However, it is typically limited by its inability to deliver SMPS peak efficiencies above 97% (50% load), which also depends on the performance of the PFC at the same load condition.

Attaining 98% SMPS peak efficiency at 50% load with sufficient margin is definitely possible with a three-phase interleaved half-bridge LLC, but here there is no need to use GaN and SiC switches as they will not deliver any additional benefits.

There are also some design density advantages to be had here through the integration of the three transformers onto a single core. However, this is not a simple task and demands some significant capability in the analysis of magnetics.

If GaN or SiC devices provide other advantages, such as in their packaging options, then a dual-phased interleaved full-bridge or half-bridge LLC topology is suitable for wide bandgap use. Both approaches, thanks to their interleaving,

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Always-on applications that power services, such as telecoms power supplies, are continuously looking for ways to improve operating costs. Today, 97% efficiency is considered standard while 98% is considered a premium product. Design engineers are challenged with finding the optimal topology and choice of semiconductors so that, in combination, both the PFC and HV DC/DC stages deliver the system efficiency desired.

A 48 Vout, 3 kW telecoms SMPS that need to attain a Ρpeak of 98% at 50% load will need to target 99% efficiency in the PFC stage. Typical approaches will utilise totem-pole topologies, either full or half-bridge in continuous conduction mode (CCM) or triangular current mode (TCM), dual-boost, or an H4/Hbridge. However, not every semiconductor technology is an ideal fit when trying to attain the highest level of efficiency. Of particular note is the use of GaN devices in a full-bridge CCM totem-pole which, at 99.3% efficiency, just edges ahead of the >99% attained with an Si superjunction MOSFET in a TCM totem-pole design (figure 4).

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NOVEMBER 2020

spread the heat generated across the entire circuit. The halfbridge benefits from a lower component count and simpler control approach, while the full-bridge offers better ripple control and a slightly better heat spread.

Of course, power density, if it is also a critical aspect of the design requirements, needs the HV DC/DC stage to operate at a higher switching frequency to bring down the size of the magnetic components. This comes at the price of a loss of efficiency, but the loss varies between Si, GaN and SiC. Si is most adversely impacted as the LLC resonant frequency moves to 300 kHz and then 500 kHz, with less impact on SiC. GaN technology, however, shines through with impressive performance even at 500 kHz (figure 6).

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Figure 6: Impact of resonant frequency on LLC topology’s efficiency for Si, GaN and SiC

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The resulting power density improvement then depend on where the volume can ultimately be saved. SMDs, miscellaneous components, and the auxiliary power supply have little impact.

Volume savings are mostly to be found in the transformers and inductors, electrolytic capacitors, power semiconductors, and heatsinks and cooling implementation. All in all, the potential volume saving will be capped at around 30% for a move from 100 kHz to 300 kHz resonant frequency.

So, which technology is better?

It should be clear that clarity is not to be found simply by choosing the switching technology that offers the best FoM. Traditional Si switches, around which enormous amounts of design and implementation experience is available in the industry, will continue to play at the top table in the most demanding of SMPS designs, quite simply because they deliver the best efficiency in some cases. However, wide bandgap technologies, such as GaN and SiC, can deliver advantages in appropriate topologies and when specific design targets, such as power density (GaN) or operation in harsh and high-temperature environments (SiC), must be attained. The analyses undertaken here underscore the importance of the balanced and open-minded approach needed, in combination with a trusted supplier, when selecting semiconductor switches without giving way to the distraction of shiny advanced technologies that appear attractive simply because they are the newest tool on the shelf.

Please write to ACIN-Sales@anritsu.com for quotation ,demo & application discussion.

Contact : Anritsu India Pvt Ltd Bengaluru : +91 8067281300 Noida : +91120 4211330-32 Hyderabad : +91-40-2311-6104, +91-40-4855-2816

AUTOMOTIVE

NOVEMBER 2020

Force Sensing: Display Input Option Provides Flexibility and Reliability Defining Force Sensing

Force sensing is understood as an input or control function that requires a force or pressure – however strong – to trigger a function. This can be employed so that a false positive can be avoided, as well as expanding on input possibilities, such as Early generation smartphones featured a coupling this with force-sensing home button menu selections. The most common use of force sensing can be found on previous generations of smartphones that required touch to wake-up and perform other functions. Smartphone manufacturers used a static, demarcated area that was pressure-sensitive. Instead of a button that mechanically moves, the home button provided haptic feedback to give users the feel of pushing a button. Even earlier generations of smartphones had home buttons that did deflect upon touch.

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Preventing False Triggers in Automotive Applications

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Many concept cars at CES this year had touch screens that nearly replaced the entire dash. The cluster, climate, and infotainment controls were all replaced by one giant capacitive touch screen. Designers are aware that many current center console touch screens are simply too small. Drivers are required to scroll through several layers of screens to perform what once could be done by a simple push of a button. In addition, by requiring the driver to take their eyes off the road for a

- Jim Toal

significant amount of time, the small screens also pose a safety hazard. The screens had to get bigger.

A capacitive touch screen is susceptible to false triggers — situations when the user comes close to Giant capacitive touch screens featured on the screen with their newer cars are susceptible to false triggers finger or accidentally which can be prevented using a force-sensing brushes the screen. home button If the entire dash is a capacitive screen, there will be too many false triggers that wake up the screen and potentially change settings. Designers needed to establish certain areas of the screen that would function more like a home or “on” button. But the location of these would vary from model to model and could not be demarcated like the smartphone.

Employing a force sensing solution would allow for the reduction of false positives. Automotive designers could create areas where a force was required to turn on portions of the screen. If there is no defined pressure, no function is triggered. Consequently, just touching the device would not trigger a function by mistake. This is especially important at night when errant touches will result in relatively bright, distracting screens. Only a defined pressure or force that causes a minimum deformation of the control surface results in the execution of the desired control action. Just how strong

NOVEMBER 2020

Advantages of Digital Proximity Sensors

There are several ways to create a pressure or force-sensing solution. While a pressure sensor could be used, it would be relatively expensive, require a lot of PCB real estate, and will not be reliable enough to prevent malfunctions or missed operations. An optical solution using discrete infrared emitters and a phototransistor or photodiode is also possible, but may fail VCNL3030X01 proximity sensor can be used because of the very high to sense minute deflections in the screen tolerances and low resolutions that these parts offer. This leaves us with an optical solution that is based on a digital proximity sensor.

Vishay’s digital proximity sensors can provide a cost-effective force-sensing solution. A proximity sensor, like the AEC-Q101 qualified VCNL3030X01, combines an infrared emitter, photodiode, and signal processing IC in a single package.

In the force sensing application, infrared light is emitted on to the back surface of the capacitive touch screen, the light reflects to the sensor, and the sensor receives and processes the signal. The output is a digital count, 0 to 65536 for a 16-bit resolution sensor. An increase in the amount of light reflected from the surface would correspond to the screen getting closer to the sensor, which would result in an increased output count. A driver or passenger pressing on the screen in “home button” areas will deflect the screen by 50 μm to 100 μm. If there is a highly reflective material on the inside of the screen in these areas with a proximity sensor pointed at them, force-sensing areas have been created.

applications the emitter is pulsed, and Vishay’s sensors offer four different duty cycles that can be programmed from 1:40 to 1:160 on / off cycles. The sensors feature 16-bit resolution, which is needed to be able to measure the small deflections in the capacitive touch screen. They have a sunlight cancelling feature, allowing the sensor to function in most any ambient lighting environment. Finally, the sensors allow programmable thresholds that trigger an interrupt signal when exceeded. This eliminates the need for the microcontroller to be constantly polling the sensor.

APPLICATION EXAMPLES

Application examples.

A typical distance curve of the proximity sensor is shown at right. The y-axis is the output count of the digital sensor. The reflective media in this case is a Kodak Gray Card, which is only 18 % reflective. The forward current of the emitter is set at 50 mA. The peak counts occur between 1 mm and 4 mm.

There is also a pronounced (greater than quadratic) dip in the counts value to the right of the peak. To achieve the highest possible resolution with reliable results, the detection range should be selected to be close to the peak value, leaving some tolerance for the mechanical stack up. In this case, this is approximately 2 mm between the sensor and the highly reflective input surface that is to be detected.

AUTOMOTIVE

the force applied needs to be or how far the control surface should deform is dependent on the material used and the trigger points that are defined by the system.

HOW FORCE SENSING CAN USE HIGH SENSITIVITY PROXIMITY SENSORS Output count of VCNL3030X01 versus distance to the 18% reflective Kodak Gray Card where peak resolution occurs at approximately 2 mm

Using an I 2C interface, there are several programmable features of Vishay’s digital proximity sensors that make them ideal for this application. The emitter current is programmable.

Initial design work can establish the optimal emitter current for the screen location. If calibration is required during the manufacturing process, the emitter current can be easily adjusted from 5 mA to 20 mA in 2.5 mA steps. In proximity

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How force sensing can use high sensitivity proximity sensors

For the VCNL3030X01, a resolution of 50 µm can be achieved with about 2 mm to 3 mm between the sensor and a highly reflective object. This then provides at least 200 to 400 digital counts as the output value for each 50 µm step. This is more than enough for reliable detection and accounts for environmental effects such as temperature fluctuations, material changes, and aging.

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NOVEMBER 2020

Hyperautomation Help Companies Discover & Automate All Possible Business Processes Hyperautomation is coming big and every business seems to eyeing at this emerging technology. With the power of robotic RPA at its core, Manish Bharti, President - India and South Asia at UiPath believes hyperautomation to accelerate every organisation’s digital transformation journey. In talks with Niloy from BIS Manish defines the true cognizance of this technology, present possibilities and future prospects.

Edited Nub Below

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BIG PICTURE

1. What is hyper automation and why should companies opt it?

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Hyperautomation is a term coined by Gartner, and according to them, “Hyperautomation refers not only to the breadth of the palette of tools, but also to all the steps of automation itself: discover, analyze, design, automate, measure, monitor, reassess". With robotic process automation (RPA) at its core, hyperautomation expands the automation capability using artificial intelligence (AI), process mining, analytics, and other advanced tools.

Hyperautomation has RPA as its core, and essentially can: ● Discover automation opportunities powered by AI and people ● Build automations quickly, from the simple to the advanced ● Manage, deploy, and optimize automation at enterprise scale

Manish Bharti President - India and South Asia at UiPath

● Run automations through robots that work with your applications and data ● Engage people and robots as one team for seamless process collaboration ● Measure operations and performance to align with business outcomes Automation acts as an accelerant to an organization’s digital transformation efforts by helping deliver faster and more efficient results. It works hand in hand with human employees, leading to a functional, hybrid workforce. While our RPA platform allows robots to do mundane, repetitive tasks (like logging into applications, connecting system APIs, moving files and folders, opening emails and attachments, etc.) at an overarching level, our hyperautomation capabilities help companies discover and automate all possible business processes. It also empowers business as well as IT personnel of an organisation to automate and manage and measure complete automation cycles.

2. What are the trends shaping the Hyper Automation technology?

According to Gartner, hyperautomation will involve the combined usage of technology tools such as machine learning, packaged software, and automation tools to help organisations rapidly identify and automate business processes.

In fact, they predict that by 2024, organizations will lower operational costs by 30% by combining hyperautomation technologies with redesigned operational processes. By that logic, we will see the following trends shaping up: ● Creation of a process automation governance board to drive organisational RPA adoption and avoid potential missteps ● Focus on a wide spectrum of business functions when planning your hyperautomation journey ● A hyperautomation foundation to ensure that there is a structured foundation with less errors. It is important to understand the starting point of your automation journey along with the choices that come with the overall architecture of hyperautomation.

Forrester suggests that with the onset of hyperautomation comes new, unique roles that will act as automation strike teams between traditional IT and domain experts, who will resolve the problem of having multiple copies of the same business information residing in different applications. Organisations will also have to create a post-pandemic employee experience.

For successful automation navigation, companies will have to elaborate and explain to their employees about how the technology will affect their experience in order to achieve a continued and sustainable growth.

NOVEMBER 2020

3. What are the market scopes and challenges (if any) ● Centralize your automation initiatives with UiPath Automation in this domain?

Hub.

Challenges: Most new businesses are keen on adopting automation; however, they may not have the right set of people or infrastructure in place. This delays the company’s journey toward adopting automation. Existing customers are seeking to scale their existing setup; however, it takes longer for customers in India to see a return in investment. In the current scenario, this builds a level of caution in the mind of customers.

4. Your expertise and offering?

The UiPath platform is one of the few platforms that offer an end-to-end solution. It combines a full suite of capabilities, including process mining and analytics that makes it easy enough for everyone to use. To suit different RPA proficiency needs we have multiple options. For example, the UiPath Studio platform offers three packages. For businesses, there is StudioX. For RPA developers we have Studio. And for advanced developers, we have StudioPro. We also have a Community platform that is free to use and it has proven to be a great pick for individual users and small enterprises.

Automation delivers faster and much more efficient results while accelerating digital transformation. When it works with the human workforce, it gives you the benefits of a functional and hybrid workforce. Specifically, our platform can be seamlessly integrated with the existing systems and this allows scalable automation with a proven ROI. With our products and solutions, you can:

● Use AI to analyze tasks to automation opportunities with UiPath Task Mining. ● Use data from back-end systems and application logs to understand what to automate and how to do it best with UiPath Process Mining ● Allow subject matter experts to map a process with UiPath Task Capture.

5. Lastly, the future of Hyper Automation?

It is essential to ensure business continuity in this rapidly changing ecosystem. At the core of every business, regardless of size, sector or scale, three objectives take importance – Cost saving & efficiency, Quality and Satisfaction. With the integration of automation that is intelligent, companies will be able to save time spent on project delivery, and instead apply it toward more strategic tasks like the pursuit of new opportunities. At an organisational level, this will help enable increased saving from reduced costs and higher resource productivity. It will also help improve operational efficiency by enabling faster response time and reduced errors, while also increasing customer and employee satisfaction.

With cloud solutions being the talk of the industry, Automation will be made more accessible. Our Cloud solution allows you to start automating instantly and scale easily. It also simplifies your IT needs and can be trusted to prevent security threats as it is compliant and secure. This low cost of entry option, which has a reduced time to set up as well as reduced administrative costs, helps you automate more without infrastructure requirements and scale your automation with a click of a button

BIG PICTURE

Most GICs have shifted their focus to Intelligent Automation; so much so that ‘A Robot for Every Person’ is becoming a reality.

The BPO market especially is experiencing a high demand for automation and is experiencing maximum growth. The need is to scale and expand the usage of bots. The increased RPA adoption across Indian Billion-dollar Large Enterprises is being propelled by the country’s skilled talent. And intelligent automation is disrupting the workforce globally. In today’s highly competitive landscape, automation is creating space for business innovation.

● Enable everyone in your organization to use automations while RPA Developers design automations visually in UiPath Studio. ● Employees chip in as Citizen Developers by building their own automations and having their own Excel and Outlook tasks in UiPath StudioX. ● Bring business users into the loop with UiPath Action Center. ● Drag and drop AI skills into workflows with AI Fabric. ● Manage and optimize your robot workforce with UiPath Orchestrator. ● Start automating instantly and simplify IT with UiPath Cloud RPA. ● ROI - Measure and analyze automation performance with UiPath Insights.

With innovations like no-code, low-code solutions can be easily made and used. In fact, our UiPath Apps has a lowcode builder that allows the user to build visually appealing professional apps quickly. It can be accessed using a web browser and contains a rich library of drag and drop controls.

These controls can vary from simple experiences like a form or advanced applications that would use multiple screens and tailored business flows. UiPath Apps helps us take automation beyond developers and coders and include the general public as well with its easy to use features.

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Market Scopes: Over the past couple of months, with the onset of the pandemic, we have noted a very high interest in automation, from businesses of all sizes and across sectors. Businesses that have not automated, want to adopt automation and those who are already in the sphere want to scale their solutions.

In most of these established businesses, RPA is now seen as a C-suite priority.

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NOVEMBER 2020

Innovating Power Delivery Networks

Tom Curatolo

VICOR

Principal Field Applications Engineer, VICOR

Every electronic piece of equipment or system has a power delivery network (PDN) made up of cables, bus bars, connectors, circuit board copper power planes and AC-to-DC and DCto-DC converters and regulators. Governing the performance of a PDN is its overall architecture, such as the use of AC or DC voltage distribution, specific voltage and current levels and when and how many times the network needs voltage conversion and regulation. Many PDNs have been standardized in specific industries over many years, such as 270V and 28V in the defense and aerospace industry, the negative 48V used in communications infrastructure applications and the 12V PDN used in automobiles — which then became a standard in computer servers and industrial applications. As a result, billion-dollar industries were built around standard PDNs.

•Vol - 02 / 11

Significant disruption occurs when a standard PDN can no longer keep up with the demands in system power. Along with this disruption comes an enormous opportunity for power system designers to innovate PDNs based on a new standard such as 48V, which is now emerging in the hybrid vehicle, data center, artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator card, lighting and unmanned vehicle industries. As industries transition to new PDNs, there are many opportunities to substantially improve performance with non-traditional power delivery architectures and technologies.

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Figure 1: Typical 3-Phaseto-12V conversion with conventional converter for off-the-grid power delivery, and standard 12V bus feeding downstream pointof load (PoL) converters.

Figure 2: Typical 12V battery source for pointof-load converters. This is a common configuration for vehicle applications due to the proliferation of rechargeable lead-acid 12V batteries.

The function of a PDN

The PDN is designed to provide specific levels of voltage and current to the various loads within a system derived from a bulk power source(s). It must do so under steady-state and peak conditions and under specific low-to-high temperature ranges. As power makes its journey from the source to the load, the PDN’s performance is measured in terms of power loss, its physical size, weight and cost.

Advanced systems in enterprise “ A d v a n c e d s y s t e m s a n d h i g h - p e r f o r m a n c e with their everincreasing computing, communications number of loads and load and network infrastructure, power, pose complex autonomous vehicles and d e s i g n c h a l l e n g e s numerous transportation f o r a c h i e v i n g h i g h applications are just a few performance when the of the high-growth industries PDN is based on 12 volts.” clamoring for more power. These systems with their ever-increasing number of loads and load power, pose complex design challenges for achieving high performance when the PDN is based on 12 volts. Incorporating higher voltages to a PDN has tremendous challenges and there are good reasons to resist change. In some cases, vast ecosystems have been built over decades to support industries’ 12V PDNs.

NOVEMBER 2020

The emergence of 48V

The telecommunications industry has been using a 48V PDN for decades. 48V was the best option because: ■ It is safety extra low voltage (SELV) ■ Small-gauge wire could carry the current that had to run long distances with minimized voltage drops ■ An “always on” requirement drove the industry to utilize large lead-acid rechargeable 48V battery banks As communications networking infrastructure grew in complexity with the advent of the Internet, laptops and mobile phones, leveraging the existing 48V PDN infrastructure to power new equipment made a great deal of sense. However, powering the many new and complex loads consisting of arrays of network processors, memory and control system loads from 48V posed a challenge because the bulk of the available technologies were centered on 12V capabilities with semiconductor converters and regulator components optimized for this operating voltage.

Figure 3: Intermediate Bus Architecture (IBA) with the IBC™ Module intermediate bus converter stepping down the 48V battery voltage to an isolated 12V bus for powering PoL converters. This is a typical PDN for communications and network equipment that became commo place in the 90s after niPoL buck converters became widely available from a multiplicity of sources.

To solve this 48V-to12V problem, an architecture called Intermediate Bus Architecture (IBA) was deployed and quickly became the de facto standard in communications and network infrastructure applications. The type of bus converters used are non-regulated fixed-ratio 1:4 isolated devices and built on an open-frame package that met DOSA and

Power system engineers spend a great deal of time architecting and optimizing power delivery networks to deliver high system performance and reliability. If the system load power is high, designing bulk power delivery with a higher voltage for the intermediate bus reduces the current (I = P/V) the voltage drops (V = I • R) and the power losses (PLOSS = I2R) which reduces the size, weight and cost (cables, bus bars, connectors, motherboard cop- per power planes) of the PDN. Architecting the system to maximize the length of the higher-voltage runs before converting down to lower voltages and higher currents is a big advantage.

Every industry (and application) is different, but standardization around a specific PDN voltage or architecture such as IBA can restrict improving the performance of a PDN. Most often, the need to excel and gain a competitive advantage through new features and functions drive changes to a PDN. For example, advanced applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) in data centers are driving the move from 12V to 48V PDNs and away from IBA to new architectures. The significant rise in processor and associated server-rack power levels have simply exceeded what 12V can deliver.

For the automotive market, the need to meet regulatory standards that required a reduction of CO2 emissions in vehicles was a catalyst to explore vehicle electrification.

Regulatory pressure combined with a demand for higher vehicle performance has resulted in the emergence of 48V batteries to support new mild-hybrid powertrains, safety system and entertainment system designs.

VICOR

This quick history demonstrates the evolution and development of higher-performing PDNs when system power levels increase and dictate change. Supply chain requirements of cost, multi-sourcing and risk create resistance to changing the PDN. However, this resistance can become a limiting factor in system performance and maintaining a competitive advantage.

POLA pinout standards to enable multi-sourcing. Isolation was not a safety requirement for the SELV IBA because positive battery terminals were tied to ground to stop galvanic corrosion, resulting in a negative 48V voltage. By using an isolated fixed-ratio bus converter as a DC-DC transformer, a –48V input can be used to deliver a +12V output for the downstream pointof-load (PoL) regulators.

In large LED-display systems, the classic problem of long cable runs, higher power and the need for SELV has made 48V PDNs the standard in this emerging industry.

New higher-voltage PDNs Many 12V PDNs are designed with a very simple dual structure of AC-to-12V and then 12V-to-PoL. In the case of 12V battery power sources, bulk 12V power distribution feeds 12V PoL converters and regulators.

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Major semiconductor, connector and cabling industries and companies have been built around the supply of components for 12-volt DC networks. This power delivery network emerged in the 1960s in the automobile market. After vehicles quickly exceeded the power that a 6V battery could provide, the PDN changed to 12V, by initially using two 6V batteries connected in series. As 12 volts became the standard in high-volume passenger cars, 12-volt PDN components quickly commoditized to what is now a multi-billion-dollar market with significant barriers to entry. The mass availability of 12-volt components drove the 12-volt standard into industrial and computer server markets, while the truck market drove a 24V standard into higher-power industrial applications.

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NOVEMBER 2020

•Vol - 02 / 11

VICOR

Wi th the advent of higher system power requirements, PDNs based on 380V and 48V are more complex as many industries are still trying to retain legacy 12V PDN infrastructure at the point-of-load.

Additional PDN challenges come in the form of new highvoltage bulk power sources such as 800V batteries in electric vehicle (EV) and high-performance vehicles.

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However, most applications demand higher power density.

Power systems engineers should consider the benefits of using power modules for designing and building these large converters, rather than creating one-off discrete designs.

Power modules in conjunction with innovative architectures, topologies, control systems and packaging offer new ways of improving bulk PDN performance.

If the bulk power source is AC or high-voltage DC, isolation is required. An isolation stage adds power loss in any converter, but regulation may not be necessary if the intermediate-bus PDN contains regulation for the PoL stage (i.e., 48-to-12V).

The two considerations for this approach are: ■ Input range of the power source: the fixed-ratio converter will reflect this input voltage to the output based on its turns ratio or K factor, just like a transformer, In these new systems and and applications, ■ The need for power the PDN can be factor correction broken down into (PFC) in the cases three basic segments: of three-phase and ■ Bulk power conversion to 48V single phase AC ■ Intermediate bus power delivery at 48V followed by conversion power sources. and sometimes regulation to 12V ■ Point-of-load (PoL) power delivery with conversion and Another approach regulation at 12V for capitalizing on the high power density The addition of the extra 48-to-12V conversion step is an added and efficiency of a Figure 4: Lithium-ion and other variants cost with additional power, efficiency and board-space loss. fixed-ratio converter of new battery chemistries provide However, the advantages of high-voltage power delivery to improve the size advantages for producing a high-voltage to the PDN and the overall power savings associated with a and weight of a source. The BCM® Bus Converter maintains high-voltage PDN outweigh the extra conversion-step losses. large bulk power industry-leading efficient power conversion Furthermore there are alternative topologies, architectures converter is to use for a fixed-ratio converter that is compatible and modular power solutions for direct 48V-to-load conversion it as the conversion with the high voltages from a battery to and regulation that enable the best of both worlds. and isolation stage an isolated 48V bus. function where the Innovating bulk power delivery PFC and regulation is ■ The opportunities for innovating bulk power conversion to done by a preliminary stage. he fixed ratio converter is easily an intermediate 48V PDN lie in the following areas: paralleled to deliver very high power due to the positive ■ Achieving higher power density temperature coefficient of the BCM’s output impedance.

■ Deploying a modular approach to achieve redundancy and simplifying thermal management Data centers and exascale computing commonly require ■ Enabling advanced cooling techniques with thermally maximum processing power in a confined space, so they adept planar packaging benefit greatly from high-density component and advanced ■ Using fixed-ratio converters cooling techniques. In some cases, full-immersion cooling is being implemented where the entire server is placed in a bath As power levels continue to rise, the challenges on a bulk power of Fluorinert. Alternatively, other high-performance computing system design get increasingly more complex. Managing the applications are using cooling techniques with heat-pipe and size and weight of the bulk power converter and cooling it coldplate technologies. In these applications a low-profile due to higher power losses are the primary areas of focus in planar package is required for the power-conversion and the majority of applications. If size and weight is not an issue regulation stages of the bulk power system. then very high efficiency can be achieved and thermal management can be achieved with fan cooling.

NOVEMBER 2020

Innovating intermediate bus and point-ofload power converter by 2 to 4% depending on its topology. Regulation delivery also reduces overall power density and increases the thermal

Moving from a 12V intermediate bus PDN to a 48V PDN presents some challenges but also offers significant advantages.

Extending the 48V runs to be as close as physically possible to the PoL regulators will reduce power cable connector and PCB copper power plane, size, weight and cost. PoL space constraints are often problematic, so the converter needs to have a high power density and efficiency. A nonisolated fixed-ratio bus converter is the best option as long as the PoL regulators can handle the voltage variation on their input which is determined by the voltage input range to the bus converter divided by the turns-ratio or K factor (VIN/K = VOUT). If the bulk power converter is designed with reasonable regulation tolerances, then this design approach is both feasible and advantageous.

management challenge of handling power losses in very highpower applications. Finding a regulated 48-to-12V converter with high efficiency and power density in a thermally-adept package is the best option.

But to really advance the PDN design with significantly improved performance and high current density at the PoL, a new architecture to consider is the Vicor Factorized Power Architecture (FPA). With FPA, a new type of converter called a current multiplier, capable of direct 48V-to-load voltage conversion with high efficiency and density, is placed very close to the load. In high-current applications this is very advantageous as it reduces the PDN impedance from the converter to the load which can be a source of very high power losses and also impact di/dt transient performance.

Because the current multiplier is a fixed-ratio converter, its input must be regulated by an upstream regulation stage. To maximize efficiency and density and minimize power losses, the regulator module (PRM) provides 48V-to-48V regulation while the current multiplier’s K factor is chosen to provide the required output voltage level for the load.

Figure 6: This is typical of recent developments in automotive PDN design in regards to maintaining compatibility with legacy 12V electronics in new vehicle systems. The 48V battery voltage is efficiently converted to 12V with the DCM™ DC-DC Converter and the non-isolated NBM™ Bus Converter to address size, weight and power density challenges.

For designs where the bulk power converter or bulk power source (such as a 48V battery) has a wide output voltage range, regulated DC-DC converters may be required depending on the PoL regulator input voltage specification. Adding regulation to the 48-to-12V stage reduces the efficiency of the

VICOR

Figure 5: The 800V DC bus voltage is gaining acceptance in the EV market due to significant advantages in weight savings and battery charging time.

The flexibility of the BCM® Bus Converter provides synergy with the 800V battery source to convert to an isolated 48V intermediate bus.

Conclusion

Adopting a higher voltage PDN eases the numerous challenges power systems engineers face as power levels continue to rise across many industries. Power system engineers should evaluate new topologies and architectures from new suppliers that can deliver appreciable system performance benefits.

Progress, advancement and innovation invariably require new thinking, new ideas and new approaches. As your business requirements change, be open to possibilities. Exploring and researching alternatives can be rewarding in many ways.

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The opportunities for innovating 48V intermediate bus PDNs lie in the following areas: ■ Utilizing non-isolated, fixed-ratio bus converters for 48-to12V conversion ■ Deploying high-power-density, regulated power module converters ■ Incorporating a different architecture from IBA, called Factorized Power Architecture (FPA™)

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NOVEMBER 2020

SMT

Electronic Manufacturing Towards Hyper Automation Abstract

Hyper automation is a dream for industry players, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, investors, technology developers, OEMs, scientists, researchers including you as a reader and me as an Engineer. There was a saying “Imagination always becomes fact “. It is true and witnessed in all sectors. Twenty first century inventions towards Aero Space, Medical, Consumer electronics, Communications, optical, Energy, Automotive, robots, Defence, Renewable energy like many are once dreams which we are benefiting and enjoying today. Still moving towards extended dreams where there is no question of “ Cannot happen”.

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Significant developments happened in semiconductor technology, which forced OEMs to develop automation Equipments and further improvements happened in Electronic manufacturing industry in Twentieth century. Transformation of traditional manufacturing plants into automation was a good achievement and implemented globally. The taste of benefits towards automation, promoted further drive towards automated production lines, flexible manufacturing systems, Smart factory which significantly happened in phase wise.

That means technology driving towards Industry 4.0 .

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Ultimately what is the Goal? The ambition is – switch Off all lights in production lines or even whole manufacturing plant itself and expecting production happen from raw material to finished product as per the programmed schedules without intervention of humans. Which means, material handling,

Adibhatla Krishna Rao

NMTronics India Pvt. Ltd.

moving material, loading, and unloading should happen through robots. All automated assembly Equipments should perform their specific tasks and manage with changes in production mix, production schedule as per demand patterns for different products made on the system change over time.

That means auto changeovers. Similarly, automated machines should be capable for self-monitoring, self-diagnosis , analytical process, and machine to machine communication without intervention of humans. Hence Hyper automation can be most appropriate solution.

Introduction:

Electronic manufacturing PCB assembly automated production lines consists of a series of workstations or several automated machines linked together through automated PCB conveying system to move the PCB assembly between the specific process stages since assembly constructed in step wise .

This process assembly is a combination of Process related machines (such as Screen printers, reflow, Wave soldering) , Component placement machines(such as pick and Place , Auto insertion) , Inspection machines like SPI, AOI, X Ray and testing equipments like and Test and measuring machines like ICT , Flying probe Testers and dedicated test and measuring

NOVEMBER 2020

Automation is very much essential for assembly of electronic Circuit products as assembly involves surface mount components, through hole components, electrical components, mechanical components and harnessing etc. and industrial robots playing vital role to accomplish assembly requirements.

All industrial robot applications, robots provide substitution for human labor because humans cannot operate repetitive, involving same basic work motions every cycle. Sometimes work operation is hazardous or uncomfortable for human worker. For example, placement of surface mount devices for which components dimensions are so tiny, that can neither seen by naked eye nor mount on PCB manually. Similarly, situation is valid for high density , odd form components, fine pitch components etc.

Industrial automation justified its own importance in all aspects. Automation performed manufacturing process with less variability.

Given justice to the terms – consistency, repeatability, productivity, safety, product quality , efficient material handling and most importantly profits.

and industrial internet of things are another set of elements which driving the automation a big success.

Hence the combination of robotic technology and sensor technology, OEMs built their automated equipments as a smart machine. It means machines using self-optimization, self-configuration, and even can handle complex tasks with Internet of things (IoT). Large scale machine to machine communication and IoT are integrated for increased automation , improved communication forced the production of Smart machines that can analyze diagnose issues without need for Human intervention.

Electronic Manufacturing Industry :

SMT

solutions. Apart from these, different types of PCB assembly handling /carrier equipments between stages to handle assembly and to link production line equipments.

Industrial Revolution

Industrial revolution officially initiated from 18th century and more focus from first world war. It was a major shift in revolution phase by phase. The first three revolutions covered almost two centuries 18th and 19th century. Industrial 1.0 was focused on mechanical production in which equipments were powered by steam whereas Industry 2.0 revolution gained towards mass production assembly . equipments required Labor and electrical energy.

Strategic implementation of industry 4.0 transformation towards Electronic Industry manufacturing happening phase by phase.

The countries like Japan, Germany and china adopted the strategy with a concept to increase efficiency, product quality and to reduce cost while the countries UK ,USA focused on developing business and standardization models. Ultimately goal is thriving towards Hyper Automation.

Industry 3.0 witnessed Automated production using electronics and Information and technology. Now we are in aggressive phase of industry 4.0 intelligent production Incorporated with Internet, IoT internet of things, Cloud and moving towards Industry 5.0 along with Big Data, Artificial intelligence.

Technology innovations towards sensors, storage and Industrial robot’s technology, industrial robotic technologies, digital computers and derivation of mathematical algorithms and many others ,altogether contributed to progress in Automation technology. Feedback control system machine programming

Robots are Played major role in implementing Fixed automation.

Robotic applications divided into three categories. 1. Material handling 2. Process operation 3. Assembly and inspection.

Application of Industrial robots used for the purpose of Loading ,Unloading and storing of electronic PCB assemblies through magazines. Similarly, for the process operation auto tooling, back up pin placement. Manual throughput of PCBs eliminated.

Industrial robots used in the form of Placement heads in pick and place machine to perform complex ,high density component placement on PCB assembly. Robots use grippers and Nozzles to grasp the minute, odd shaped, fine pitch components with grippers or with Vacuum technology.

Since robots are programmable, one strategy in assembly work is to produce multiple style in products and reprogramming of

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Automated Production:

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NOVEMBER 2020

robots between Models. For Improvements in accepting and executing the program commands and feedback control system were the major progress towards assembly products.

SMT automated production line, robotic technology applied for Inspection and Measurement for the purpose inspecting solder paste deposition geometry and solder joint inspection after soldering process. Example -3D SPI Solder paste inspection Machine and 3D-AOI Automated optical inspection.

Flexible Manufacturing System FMS :

This is one more advanced technology towards Smart Factory beyond capability of Fixed automation. Technology innovation within the automation equipments where production equipments capable to process more than one product. With help of dual conveyers and multiple robots, at any moment each machine in the system or production line, can process different model product.

SMT

Introduction of dual auto conveyor width adjustment, dynamic head exchange system in Component placement Machines ( Pick and Place) and their versatile capabilities witnessed improvements towards flexibility. OEMs developed dual conveyor process even for Screen printing and reflow, where these are critical process for Electronic production assembly lines. Likewise, PCB depanelling ,solder paste inspection and AOI machines ventured similar technology to cope up advanced automation.

Robots provided substitution for production process operations like functional testing( for example – ICT In circuit Testing, flying probe tester where functional testing can happen through programs without need of fixtures), and adhesive process for the applications conformal coating, underfill and selective dispensing.

Though the technology progress is a part of industry 4.0 road map, but intention of OEMs technology drive seems to be quite different. Consistent productivity, Optimum efficiency, high quality performance, speed and material handling were the main agenda to win the customer satisfaction levels.

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As a result, features like reduction of change over time, automatic data creation, on line machine editing, preventing defects, defect diagnosis capability, development of maintenance tools to work at optimum efficiency and remote monitoring of production state where mangers can check the production status remotely and can issue work instructions instantly Complete solution for automation and labor saving.

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Simultaneously, improvements in sensor technology achieved major revolution in Traceability. , Image processing, machine and product performance index results and analysis and automating production program change by simply scanning the bar code on the PCB. Industrial Internet of things (IIoT) and statistical software packages played vital role based on lean Six sigma approaches and complete digital transformation.

Software solutions is another segment for the success of complete Industrial automation. For example, software

solutions like NEXIM (Integrated Production system), MENTOR (Complete manufacturing, monitoring and control systems), KSMART (smart factory solution suit), TEST AWAY(Design for test analysis tools ) etc. like many are become key elements for the progress of Smart factory concepts.

Smart factory Concept :

A step a head towards hyper automation. Further automation and atomization. ERP, Integrated production systems, Big Data, internet of things and artificial intelligence are integrated with complete automated production to fulfill objectives of Smart factory.

OEMs developed and designed automated production equipments based on Smart factory platform. Service providers and solution providers have come with systematic solutions with automation technology in all processes and segments from planning and production to management and analysis to optimize entire factory.

Automated warehouse , automatic maintenance, progress monitoring entire factory which accumulates the knowledge and closed loop to provide instant optimum counter measure actions and automatically determines the effectiveness of the process.

Detects incidents in real time. Production equipments flexible to support various production types, exchange of material without stropping machines, various types of tools that support production equipments from material preparation for performing maintenance which ensures smooth production that does not depend on skill of operator. Integrated production system software’s are capable for automatic schedule creations where external changeovers , Machine changeovers happen as per programmed product work orders. Similarly, automatic change overs at machine level.

Result in seamless change overs. Means auto tool change, auto conveyor width adjustment, auto backup pin position change, nozzle exchange, placement head exchange and auto program change when ever panel ID differs while sensing.

Automatic parts supply through Industrial robots from automated warehouse to production line, machine to machine , across multiple lines and even unit to unit.

Further anomaly detection using robots . detects error signs using chronological data from devices such as machine sensors.

In nutshell OEMs constantly introducing production equipments with a concept of Artificial intelligence and with newly developed sensing technology.

NOVEMBER 2020

Hence, integrated system should have visibility of production floor and field operations, visibility of manufacturer supply chain and visibility of remote and outsourced operations. If these objectives fulfilled , it means real digital transformation.

Challenges -

High Capital expenditure required to invest in automation.

To adopt Hyper automation solutions, all systems present in the organization shall be integrated and end to end automation for all processes. Around 30% of Entrepreneurs adopted Industry 4.0 globally and witnessed the value for manufacturing Industry that were not imagined. Though digital transformation providing substantial benefits, as per sources, only 5-6 % Electronic manufacturing Industries adopted complete automation. The challenges associated with adoption can be high initial cost, market conditions, lack of established standards, education, and training .

1. Entrepreneurs Adaptiveness There can be many challenges for Small, Medium, or even Big companies when implementing hyper automation concepts.

But their intension towards advanced technology makes a difference. Attitude like “Optimistic” is very important in this age of digitization. Company policies matters a lot. If objectives of company policy towards passion, proactiveness , focus and willingness to uplift company brand, culture, and ethics from beginning to end, then the values of Smart automation come from all levels.

2. Education Though the intention of present industrial revolution is for complete automation, people still need to manage the system. Skilled human labor required to drive most innovation and strategies. Hence lack of qualified employees can be a hindrance for the hyper automation adoption rate.

There is a huge barrier between the present education system and the real world technology . Real life learning projects must for development of competencies required today’s world. So, the necessity of project based, and research driven, relevant, laborious need to be incorporate in present education system to cope up the speed of real world technology.

3. Standards Standards are very much essential to increase hyper automation adoption rate. . Multiple technologies and data flowing between machines, systems, software, or any data exchanges must be within the scope of Automization. We have already experienced impact of non-standardization.

In 1999, Nasa space craft lost in space due to trouble in conversion of Unit measurement metric and Imperial. This is one of the classic examples for Non standardization. Similarly, still there is no common platform for Mobile phone charging Points(Lighting cable for iPhone, USB type C & MicroUSB for other smart phones) power Plug points and Power inputs.

If OEMs and Automation solution Providers make their own protocols , stands on proprietary, then it affects the manufacturer’s choice of interoperability within the manufacturing. So, communication protocols, interfaces, data formats need to be standardized internationally , just like SMEMA , Hermes (IPC – Hermes-9852) IPC standards.

Summary:

Adoption rate in India especially Electronic Manufacturing Industries is less than 5%. Very much behind compared to china, Japan , USA, and some other developed countries. The reasons can be – interested only in short term profits, Inability to perform rapid experimentation, uncertainty about ROI, unstable market trends.

But succuss in business does not require overnight success. To taste fruits of hyper automation, one must adhere to standards, rules and regulations, work ethics, creativity , innovation, and especially quality conscious. There should not be any scope for deviations and adjustments.

IGBTs

Hyper Automation :

Hyper automation is a state in which Organizations use combination of multiple technologies such as Robotic Process automation, Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine learning (ML) collect vast amount of data to repeatedly identify, analyze and automate all possible business processes. It is an end to end automation for all processes that need to be include segments like Intelligent Document processing, Analytics & Insights, and Intelligent process discovery as well.

Simultaneously, Manufacturers, OEMs and service providers should be adherent to Factory, Asset management, Facility Management, Logistics, Predictive maintenance, quality control &production flow of monitoring and most important factor is Customer Preferences.

To step in complete automation, it may require new strategies, wide changes in physical infra structure , organization models etc. but it is not necessary to create new Industries, rather the existing industries and enterprises can be transformed inti digitization phase by phase.

About the Author The author of this report is Mr. Adibhatla Krishna Rao, presently associated with NMTronics India Pvt ltd for 15years having 26 years’ experience in SMT manufacturing and service industry. This technical content includes detailed descriptions about Electronic manufacturing processes and the manufacturing enterprise that can help aspirants, students and readers of these articles will come to know “a little about everything” Chosen Fuji as a role model in this context due to vast experience with Fuji Machines References: The relevant content of this report made based on authors experience on Fuji machines, material absorbed from various articles, white papers, technical documents that are published/ released and uploaded by famous scientists, SMT professionals and design engineers of OEMs.

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Industry 4.0

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NOVEMBER 2020

TESTING T&M

DATA CENTRE INFRASTRUCTURE Madhukar Tripathi

Head –MARCOM & OPTICAL PRODUCTS, ANRITSU INDIA PVT. LTD

The spread of cloud services, Social Networking Sites (SNS), and video streaming is increasing the number of businesses using metropolitan data centers (Metro DC) as interconnects. As Metro DC and data center interconnects (DCI) continue to grow, network installation and maintenance (I&M) is becoming increasingly complex due to the diversifying communications standards, while faster speeds and increased security administration demand more efficient work practices.

Issues in DC Installation and Maintenance

Previously, to leverage the merits of reduced power costs and disaster prevention countermeasures, data centers (DC) have been co-location spaces in large-scale suburban buildings.

However, more recently, smaller-scale DC in city buildings (Metro DC) are more commonly using mesh network connections configured to operate as one virtual DC. This type of Metro DC costs relatively less to install even in a city building and does not require a large installation space.

•Vol - 02 / 11

Previously

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Now and Future

Change in Data Center Configuration and Scale

The interconnects between the Metro DC parts (data center interconnects: DCI) form one virtual DC, but require largecapacity mesh connections between each DC office to assure optimum performance.

The I&M work when configuring this type of Metro DCI faces the following issues.

(1) Requires evaluation of various communications standards and interface circuits

Due to different applications and cost advantages, Metro DC installations are adopting different standards such as fibre channel (FC), 100GbE, 400GbE, etc., for WDM. At Metro DC I&M, various interfaces and communications standards must be tested; providing a separate tester for each standard not only increases work costs but also reduces work efficiency. An all-in-one network tester supporting each communication standard has been urgently needed.

NOVEMBER 2020

(2) Requires efficient I&M under severe security administration

Data center sites are subject to severe security administration requiring I&M work to be performed during restricted time periods. Performing tests of the various communications standards for Metro DCI requires trained and experienced operators with good knowledge about communications and network I&M.

(3) Requires optical fiber maintenance

Metro DCI network configurations use fast high-capacity optical fibers. In addition to conventional optical loss measurements, fast DCI optical fibers must be evaluated for optical reflections.

The IEEE802.3 100GBASE-LR4 and 10GBASE-LR standards specify an optical fiber connector reflection loss of not more than 26 dB. Generally, SPC and UPC fiber connectors have a reflection loss of about 40 dB and 50 dB, respectively, but if the connector end face is contaminated with oil, dust, etc., the optical loss increases due to the increased optical reflections caused by the contamination, resulting in degraded communications quality. Appropriate maintenance at optical fiber I&M is key to preventing communications problems.

Throughput measurement results are calculated for: • Utilization layer, Physical layer, Physical layer excluding preamble, Link layer, Network layer and Data layer • Min./Max./Avg. values Performance (M.2100 type) parameters: ES, SES, ALS, UAT, AVT, EFS Test patterns: PRBS 9, PRBS 11, PRBS 15, PRBS 20, PRBS 23, PRBS 29, PRBS 31, HF test pattern, CRPAT, JTPAT, SPAT, 55 Hex, Fox, 32-bit user programmable User-defined resolution: 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 s, 1, 5, 10, 15, 30 min, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 h Event log: Major measurement events incl. errors and alarms are logged with 1-second resolution

Optical Fiber

Metro DC

Metro DCI Connections

Optical Fiber Cladding

Oil and Dust Contaminauts

Contaminated Optical Fiber End Face

Data Center ToR/Leaf Level Construction/Maintenance

Top of Rack (TOR) architecture is where the cabling between switch and server stays within a rack. This has the benefit of reducing the overall amount of cabling with the downside of reduced efficiency in the usage of Ethernet switch ports which are limited to within a rack.

Following measurements at Data Center (DC) Interconnect I&M are conducted.

• BER: BER is one of the basic measurements and includes include Frame Loss and Sequence Error tests.

• Latency: Network latency is the time it takes for data or a request to go from the source to the destination. Latency in networks is measured in milliseconds. The closer your latency is to zero, the better.

• Throughput: Throughput measures how many packets

Moderns Data Center (DC) are equipped to handle high data rate to meet consumer high bandwidth demand. FEC Analysis is one of the important measurements in DC now a days.

T&M

Optical Fiber

400G Ethernet FEC Analysis Ethernet equipment interfaces use optical modules. With some exceptions, pass/fail verification of optical modules up to 100G is performed simply by measuring the bit error rate (BER) for a fixed period of repeated sending and receiving of signals to confirm the error-free status. Similarly, network throughput and latency are measured using a BERT. However, the 400G Ethernet PMD layer is switching to PAM4 and FEC (Forward Error Correction) to correct errors occurring at optical transceivers and networks transmitting extremely fast signals, and to assure both communications quality and lower costs. FEC is a technology for correcting errors within the correctable range, and assures high reliability as well as extended transmission distance.

•Vol - 02 / 11

Optical Fiber

BER Test: BER test consist of many tests such as Generation and detection of test patterns, Count of errors in received test pattern, Pattern generation: Unframed (Layer 1), Framed Ethernet (MAC) header (Layer 2), Framed Ethernet (MAC) header with IP header (Layer 3) or Framed Ethernet (MAC) header, Framed with IP header and TCP/UDP header (Layer 4), User-defined header pattern (14 byte to 256 byte), Detection of sequence errors, loss of sequence synchronization, Frame loss count and frame loss seconds.

FEC Analysis:

WDM Circuit Metro DC

arrive at their destinations successfully & is measured in bits per second. Packet loss, latency, and jitter are all related to slow throughput speed.

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NOVEMBER 2020

Service Activation Test (Y.1564).

This consist of service configuration and service performance test. These tests include • Color-aware and non-color-aware in combinations (IP DSCP or VLAN PCP) • Test modes: One-way (uni- or bi-directional, symmetrical or asymmetrical), Round-trip • Verification against service acceptance criteria: Information rate, Frame transfer delay, Frame delay variation, Frame loss rate, Availability Optional GPS timing synchronization All services tested simultaneously at CIR • Duration 15 min, 2 h, 24 h, user programmable • Results: Pass/Fail indication, IR (Min./Avg./Max.), FL (Count/ FLR), FTD, FDV (Min./Avg./Max./Current (during measurement)), AVAIL (%), Unavail (s).

Service Disruption Measurement. Service disruption measurement activated as part of BER test includes • Max./Avg. service disruption time, Resolution: 0.1 μs • Number of service disruptions • Disruption Type: Packet, LOS

T&M

Fibre Channel Test:

Installing the Fibre Channel option supports Fibre Channel tests from 1GFC to 16GFC. • Latency measurement • BER tests including service disruption measurement • Performance Test • Buffer Credit environment • Confirming optimum network parameter values

Anritsu Metro DC I&M Solutions

Anritsu's range of testers for resolving the above-described data center I&M issues includes the Network Master Pro MT1040A/MT1000A, Access Master MT9085series, and Fiber Maintenance Master MT9090A listed below.

Data Center I&M On-site Solutions

Network Master Pro (400G Tester) MT1040A

•Vol - 02 / 11

Data Center I&M On-site Solutions

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Measurement Function Features

Features

• Network screen 400G, 100G •Optical fiber evaluation OTDR, Optical Power Meter

All-in-one support for tests from DCI optical fiber installation to 400G network circuits

Measurement Function Features

Features

• Network screen 10M, 25G, 100G •Optical fiber Network Master Pro evaluation ( E t h e r n e t / C P R I / OTDR, Optical Power OTDR Test Equipment) Meter MT1000A

All-in-one support for tests from DCI optical fiber installation to 100G network circuits

Data Center I&M On-site Solutions

Measurement Function Features

• Optical fiber evaluation OTDR, Optical Power O T D R - A C C E S S Meter Master MT9085 Series Data Center I&M On-site Solutions

µOTDR Module™ Series MT9090A

Features DCI optical fiber evaluation Wide dynamic range for longdistance support

Measurement Function Features

Features

•Optical fiber evaluation OTDR, Optical Power Meter

DCI optical fiber evaluation Compact and lightweight with easy to use Fiber Visualizer

Key consideration in selection of testing tool

To assure and improve network quality, operators perform periodic equipment upgrades and maintenance, so they prefer measuring instruments with a variety of interfaces to help assure efficient work in the shortest time.

Here are some key points to consider when selecting any Data Centre Installation & Maintenance tool. i) Data rates & interfaces: Any testing tool must have support of various data rates & interfaces used in todays industry.

Below table shows some interface and supported technology.

ii) Easy to use GUI- Graphical Unser Interface (GUI). Tester must have very user-friendly GUI. This helps to reduce learning curve and expedite testing. This ensure Data Centre is performing well and SLA with customers are met. iii) Automation in measurement process: Many times, field engineer/ technician is not well trained for proper usage/ testing of various test required during installation or maintenance of Data Centre. In such scenario trained engineer can easily configure test instrument to perform required test. Testing procedure is saved in instrument and just one button click is required to test. This helps to achieve better network efficiency & performance.

Traditionally, the operator creates a job ticket explaining the required tests to be completed with simple and clear stepby-step requirements for the technician running the tests.

Commonly the job ticket is provided either as a paper hardcopy or PDF, this work procedure can now be registered in the

MT1000A/MT1040A using the free Scenario Edit Environment Kit MX100003A (SEEK) software for PC, with an intuitive GUI helping lighten the operators workload and ensuring all required testing is completed by the engineer. Automation supports creation of test scenarios without expertise in program language minimizing complexity and user error.

iv) Data storage/ sharing: Testing instrument must have enough storage of measurement data- trace and interfaces to transfer/ share this data for further analysis and reporting. v) All -in- One feature: Test instrument must be able to perform field and lab test, and multi-function, multi feature type so that CAPEX is limited i.e. cost saving. Anritsu Network Master Pro MT1040A supports lower to higher ( 10M to 400G) data rate, Ethernet, OTN test and OTDR test as well in single unit.

Fiber Connector inspection is also possible using Video Probe.

Anritsu Presents Advanced Analyzer-R MP1900A PCI Express

Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI Collaborated to Improve their 5G NR and LTE

Anritsu Corporation has announced strengthened Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A PCI Express receiver tests.

These strengthened functions upgrade the high-quality waveform performance of the PAM4 PPG MU196020A to the latest high-speed, large-capacity PCI Express standards for PCIe receiver tests. As a result, customers planning and developing PCIe Gen6 (PAM4 32 Gbaud) products for data centers and other applications now have an all-in-one measuring instrument covering future PCIe Gen6 upgrades as well as current PCIe 3.0/4.0/5.0 receiver tests.

The Signal Quality Analyzer-R MP1900A series are multichannel bit error rate (BER) measuring instruments required for designing and inspecting next-generation network interfaces, such as 400 and 800GbE, as well as high-speed bus interfaces, such as PCI Express 4.0/5.0, USB3.2/4, Thunderbolt, etc.

These added functions support early-stage development of PAM4 PCIe 6.0 equipment using the PAM4 PPG MU196020A with high-quality data output performance. Moreover, combined use with the existing SI ED MU195040A PCI solution supports PCIe 3.0/4.0/5.0 compliance tests as an all-in-one solution for PAM4 performance evaluations and compliance tests.

Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI Solutions have confirmed their partnership by verifying their respective test equipment on correct implementation for 5G NR and LTE. This exchange between the two companies will help accelerate UE commercialization.

The verification is based on the R&S CMX500 5G NR wideband radio communication tester by Rohde & Schwarz and the TM500 network tester for user equipment (UE) emulation by VIAVI. With the regular exchange between both companies’ development teams, the sharing of knowledge and experience provides a powerful collaboration that helps speed UE commercialization. Charl Cilliers, the Vice President of Engineering at VIAVI, says: “Time to market is the number one priority for our customers and the benefit of this co-operation is that we can accelerate our technical development to launch new 3GPP features at a much earlier stage. This helps our customers achieve their goals. One of the enablers of this cooperation is the 5G testing portfolio offered by Rohde & Schwarz, together with a wealth of experience in wireless technologies in both companies.”

Christoph Pointner, Senior Vice President for Mobile Radio Testers at Rohde & Schwarz, comments, “Rohde & Schwarz is pleased to cooperate with VIAVI as a leading provider of network testing equipment. When two major T&M specialists combine their expertise in joint development, the results benefit both companies and also all their customers in the network and UE testing fields.”

These version upgrades add the following functions: • Equalizer Search function for easy PAM4 BER measurement using high-performance PAM4 ED MU196040B and Eye Contour functions for evaluating PAM4 signal Eye margin characteristics.

• SAS3/4 and DP1.4 receiver tests using PPG/ED MU195020A/ MU195040A.

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NOVEMBER 2020

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NOVEMBER 2020

Transforming How Infectious Diseases Are Detected Through Nanosensor Technology Diagnostics TECH FEATURE

Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI)

What would it take to transform the detection, diagnosis, and surveillance of infectious disease worldwide, and develop a device that could produce accurate, reliable results, quickly?

Recent events surrounding the threat posed by the COVID-19 global pandemic highlight the urgent need for better methods for front-line mass screening to contain the spread of microbial pathogens. Today’s practice of scanning foreheads for signs of fever cannot detect asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections, nor can it distinguish the deadly novel coronavirus from less life-threatening respiratory illnesses. And other diagnostic test methods may be inaccurate or too slow to return results.

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One pioneering biotech company envisioned a bold new solution, a breakthrough concept using portable nanosensor technology diagnostics to pinpoint pathogens in under one minute. But to commercialize its patented technology and bring its life-saving platform concept to market, it needed a strategic partner with deep domain knowledge and fabrication expertise. This would be realized through a partnership with the Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) innovation center—the Analog Garage, and with ADI’s Hillview fab process engineering team.

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Invaders Microbial pathogens, including viruses and bacteria, are responsible for millions of deaths a year. During the last century, the fight to control infectious disease met with numerous successes, including the eradication of smallpox, and the near elimination of measles, mumps, and tetanus. But viral epidemics and pandemics still occur, impacting the lives and economies of nations.

Transmission electron microscope image showing COVID-19 coronavirus emerging from the surface of human cells. (Image: © NIAID-RML)

Fighting Back

How can we keep people safe in the continuing battle to control and eliminate deadly contagions? Front-line mass screenings are one solution. However, current methods for detecting infectious disease in the field take 15 minutes to 4 hours—too slow to control the spread or contain a rapidly advancing pandemic. Furthermore, today’s tests are often inaccurate or expensive and require lab time, trained technicians, and complex sample preparation.

Current Diagnostics • 15 minutes to 4 hours • Impractical for mass screenings Mass Symptom Screenings Today • Only look for fever and cough • Can’t detect cases without symptoms • Can’t distinguish between respiratory illnesses

NOVEMBER 2020

Pinpoint Science, a Northern California healthcare technology startup, envisioned a more effective solution for point of care testing and diagnostics—an easy- to- use, portable reader and plug-in cartridge, armed with an advanced nanosensor.

As an agent for change, the device could quickly detect biomarkers, such as antibodies and antigens, and rapidly identify the specific microbial pathogens responsible for causing sickness and death. Equipped with disposable, targeted pathogen detection cartridges, the reader would generate precise results in the field, with no lab, medical technicians, or sample prep needed.

The science underlying Pinpoint’s nanosensor technology diagonostics was developed by Pinpoint’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Nader Pourmand, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at UC Santa Cruz.

“We started a few years before COVID-19 emerged,” said Pinpoint CEO Lisa Diamond. “We were targeting influenza in humans and bluetongue virus in animals with a nanosensorbased test, a diagnostic using antibodies or synthetic molecules to detect and measure specific proteins to identify infection.

We believe our platform will maintain its value to humanity well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.” Today, Pinpoint is working to commercialize this technology, originally derived from functionalized nanopipettes developed by Dr. Nader Pourmand.

Pinpoint and ADI Join Forces

In early 2019, Pinpoint turned to Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) and its innovation center, the Analog Garage to help transform its dream into a reality. The Garage, together with ADI’s Hillview fab process engineering team, partnered with Pinpoint to mature and bring to market its point-of-care rapid pathogen detection technology.

Pinpoint Science selected ADI for its unique MEMS fabrication capabilities and sensor development capacity and its willingness to invest in emerging technology. ADI’s precision data converters are also a perfect fit for electrochemical platforms such as Pinpoint’s. Pinpoint’s portable reader will be based around one of these products – the ADuCM355 chemical sensing platform.

Early Evaluation Stage

ADI modified its process to custom fabricate the sensor based on the early-stage startup’s design. Pinpoint will do the testing to characterize the sensor’s performance, and if the results are positive, transform it into a functionalized nanoporebased biosensor.

Launching New Companies into the Unknown

ADI first discovered Pinpoint Science through SkyDeck, an early stage UC Berkeley incubator. Pinpoint Science was at SkyDeck for two terms, receiving formative guidance and support from the renowned academic accelerator. ADI was an early investor in SkyDeck–the global hub for entrepreneurship recognized for launching new companies into the world.

“Our collaboration means we can begin to realize the potential of our groundbreaking technology,” commented Lisa Diamond, CEO, Pinpoint Science. “We are still at an early stage. However, if our vision is confirmed in validation testing, we see the immediate real-world need for our platform, especially with the pandemic posed by the novel coronavirus.

Pinpoint's technology holds the potential to address the urgent need for universal COVID-19 testing.”

Pinpoint’s Vision: Simple, Flexible, and Fast Pathogen Detection Pinpoint’s vision is to create a general-purpose platform— swappable cartridges plug into a reader to detect specific pathogens in samples of blood, saliva, or nasal secretions.

The cartridge’s nanosensors can detect specific markers of infectious disease: viral and bacterial proteins and host antibodies. Results are displayed in less than one minute.

TECH FEATURE

Pinpoint: A Breakthrough Change Agent

“Analog Devices believes Pinpoint’s novel nanosensor technology diagnostics holds great promise for a wide range of applications, especially for rapid, low cost pathogen detection, and we look forward to collaboration with Pinpoint in bringing this breakthrough technology to market,” said Nimrode Moreshet, director of emerging business, ADI.

Pinpoint’s novel biosensor technology makes label-free electrical detection of specific biomolecules possible, with high precision and low cost for applications such as point-ofcare diagnostics, pandemic screening, animal health, and food safety.

The Human Impact of Pinpoint’s Nanosensor Technology Diagnostics

Today, as the pandemic spreads across the world, Pinpoint Science is highly focused on COVID-19 virus detection.

Significant technical risks and design challenges remain. But the trusted collaboration between Pinpoint and ADI brings the promise of reducing the time and cost of detecting infectious diseases globally while improving personalized patient care and saving lives.

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A different type of coronavirus test is required to screen the U.S. population on the necessary scale.

What is needed is a test that detects antigens, which would require a major technology breakthrough.

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NOVEMBER 2020

We Stand By Our Commitment To Indian Market With an in-house PCB designing, manufacturing unit and a corporate office indigenously designed, Laxmi Remote (India) Private Limited (LRIPL) is one of the oldest names when we all have these remote controls in our palms. With today’s dynamic changing digital world, Niloy from BISinfotech was eager to know the company’s never-forgotten journey, ahead plans, strategies and their unique offerings. Vijay Kumar Sachdeva, MD & CEO, Laxmi Remote (India) Private Limited (LRIPL) has the sheer prowess in understanding business which has made the company taste success for decades. The untold edited nub below.

We established another manufacturing unit in Noida Phase II, in the year 2006, with a focus on manufacturing remote controls and set-top boxes for our business partners. After achieving tremendous success, we decided to further expand our portfolio by adding FTA set-top box and AV cables in our manufacturing capabilities to cater to the need of end consumers as well as businesses. In 2018, we established our R&D centre at Hyderabad with a more focused approach to drive innovation for setup box & software division. Laxmi Remote India has its own Conditional Access System (CAS) under the brand name of Pro CAS.

BIG PICTURE

An anecdote about Laxmi Remote (India) Private Limited We have spent the past 25 years working hard to build a (LRIPL)? Establishment, key offerings, business model challenging reputation and breakthrough innovations in and footprints across the country. operations and manufacturing. What differentiates us from

Laxmi Remote (India) Pvt. Ltd, a pioneer in remote control technology, is a leading manufacturer of remote controls, set-top boxes, adapters, power supply, mobile chargers & AV cables. The company formerly known as Remotec Industries was rebranded in the year 2000 as Laxmi Remote India Pvt. Ltd. Our trading business came to a halt in 1998 and we debuted into the remote control manufacturing industry. We opened our first manufacturing plant in Bahadurgarh, Uttar Pradesh in the year 2001, and by 2003, we had established our in-house PCB designing and manufacturing unit along with a corporate office in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

other players is that we provide end-to-end solutions to our clients. Our round o'clock support, cost-effective technology and quality assurance make us the trusted OEM/ODM partners to our clients.

Make in India vowing a larger sentiment across the nation, LRIPL role to foster it further and how has been the company playing an instrumental role across the manufacturing sector in India.

With the changing world dynamics and the massive push from the Indian government to create an Atmanirbhar Bharat, India is looking at a big opportunity to be a global electronics manufacturing hub. India is our biggest market and with a focus on Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, we have decided to strengthen our position by bolstering local production and manufacturing of remote controls to more than three million per month. Laxmi Remote today has emerged as a leading Indian OEM, ODM & EMS player, bringing back a focus on boosting local manufacturing and add to the job opportunities in the market.

With a clientele of over 60 companies, LRIPL has partnered with big enterprises such as Daikin, Blue Star, Voltas, Havells, Orient Electric, Bajaj, Luminous, Livpure, Whirlpool, Lloyd, Amber, Usha, Halonix, Carrier Midea, Ricoh, SUN TV amongst others.

The strong customer engagements and services have been a testimony to LRIPL’s 25 years of manufacturing excellence.

With the ever-changing electronics manufacturing world, Laxmi Remote India is ready to meet the needs of the new normal through its advanced and sustainable infrastructure, capacity and manpower. We stand by our commitment to the Indian market and constantly challenge ourselves to deliver the best cost of ownership to our customers. As ‘Make in India’ campaign is making efforts by backing local firms and manufacturers to increase domestic manufacturing in the electronic sector, we will take hold of this opportunity and achieve greater success in our forthcoming endeavours.

Vijay Kumar Sachdeva MD & CEO, Laxmi Remote (India) Private Limited (LRIPL)

NOVEMBER 2020

Given the pandemic situation what shall be the company’s We are expecting the Indian market to bounce back as revenue target and strategies to achieve it? electronic manufacturing in India is expected to grow in the

Given the growing competitiveness, what factors are been kept of pivotal focus to explore new markets and drive holistic growth of the company?

Competition is good, in fact, a healthy competition always challenges you to work smarter and pushes you to offer better services, product quality and customer experience. Our focus has always been on quality, just-in-time delivery and reverse logistics. What differentiates us from our competitors is that we provide end-to-end solutions to our clients. Right from the development of moulds to building sophisticated cabinets, design & development of PCBs to assembly and to manufacturing the final products, after an appropriate stringent quality process, Laxmi Remote India controls the entire production process.

With advanced technologies (IoT, Predictive Maintenance) becoming a new cognizance across the EMS industry.

How do you look into the change and impact of it in the business?

We are constantly working on new technologies and innovations While the winds of change are favoring our country and major economies interested to invest in India, the domestic industry really needs to scale-up vertically and horizontally.

This basically means that we need to size-up our capacities to manufacture quality electronic parts while various sectors need to invest strongly on research and development of trending and emerging technologies. Our factory and production lines will also adopt the latest technologies that will boost production volume and quality of products. There are several domains with strong emerging technologies such as IoT, Automation, 5G etc that can be the biggest demand creators for the electronics manufacturers. By capitalizing on the mentioned technologies, India is soon expected to consolidate its position as a major market leader in the world.

Vijay Sachdeva, you have been a known veteran across the EMS industry. How do you collar defining the strategic roadmap for the organization?

Being responsible for overall growth and development of the company, my main focus will be taking care of scaling up the venture, reinvent business processes, discovering new revenue streams, diversification, strategic alliances and balance risk and reward. At the forefront of the company’s growth, I support, formulate, and implement clear short-term and long-term operational and business strategies. I work closely with my production team to evaluate and ensure that we deliver the most effective production outcome for clients.

There should be a right balance between being ‘customercentric’ and ‘employee-centric’ in order to benefit from and provide benefits to both.

that are approaching the market and training ourselves in order to stay on top of industry trends and opportunities. We keep on upgrading technologies and equipment to best utilise mankind, material and machines. We have built a well-diversified portfolio with time.

In today’s complex marketplace, a well-maintained portfolio is vital to any business’ success. Initially, we started with remote controls manufacturing and moved to the production of set-top boxes. We continued to invest a portion of our assets in other verticals and started producing adapters, power supplies and mobile chargers considering the growth of mobile phones and consumer durables in India. Going forward, we are also planning to expand our product portfolio by foraying into internet-based category products for the Broadcast & Cable industry such as IPTV, Hybrid Box, Android box & other products in the same categories.

BIG PICTURE

Additionally, we are also considering the possibility of entering into LED TV manufacturing business with a manufacturing plant in the near future. Currently catering to 25% of the overall remote control manufacturing demands in India, we are working on technologies like Radio Frequency (RF), Touch Screen, and Voice Control along with Bluetooth technology in the category of remote controls. As the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Industry in India is expected to become the fifth-largest in the world by 2025, we are focusing more on the sectors like Medical, IoT, Consumer Electronics & appliances and working towards manufacturing electronic products to support these segments.

coming months, considering the new schemes and steps recently introduced by the government. We are more focused towards trending and emerging technologies for us to establish ourselves as the leader in electronics manufacturing and further bolstering LRIPL’s position as a global thought partner.

We are going all out in building partnerships with enterprises and different industries and are putting insufficient time and investment into it.

Key markets (cities) in India that is strategically important for LRIPL’s business in 2020-2021?

We have established a strong foundation in India by bringing innovations and services for our clients. We have successfully maintained the right balance between our B2C and B2B businesses. Since customer satisfaction is the absolute core of our business, LRIPL is committed towards understanding their evolving requirement. Impacted by the covid-19 outbreak, we have taken major initiatives for adopting our manufacturing processes as per the new normal to facilitate our clients with their orders with us. We are executing all necessary provisions in manufacturing processes so that we don’t face any halt at any point of time and accomplish our clients’ orders and a

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We are planning to strengthen our facilities and targeting 20% production growth in the near future. In the next 5 years, we aim at becoming a 500 crore company while generating mass scale employment opportunities in the manufacturing and services sectors. With the vision to maximize India’s electronics manufacturing potential, we also aim to lead OEM remote control business.

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NOVEMBER 2020

requirement on time. We cater not only to the local but also to global demands. With a strong pan India presence, we will continue to delight our customers and partners with our range of product line-up. We are proud to manufacture some of the cutting-edge products catering to varied segments, strengthening our portfolio and further consolidating our presence in the industry.

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BIG PICTURE

According to you, what are the major changes and trends you foresee in the industry?

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The electronics manufacturing is yet to see its golden days in India. India’s manufacturing sector is expected to grow with a compound rate of 25-30% in the near future. The industry might witness a huge demand that will certainly shift the trend to automation processes and technology upgradation along with better infrastructural and logistical development. We can expect reform in medical electronics, consumer electronics, communication, broadband equipment and also defence electronics sooner. With a host of benefits they offer, IoT and AI technologies will also have a large role to play. Considering the same, the role of robotics in the manufacturing processes will be encouraged. As the government is focusing more on local manufacturing and rolling out different schemes, we can also think of developing infrastructure for components and other raw materials.

Lastly, what is the major challenge and way out you mull given the current EMS industry?

The dependency on China for components is still there and it will not go down soon. We need to develop an ecosystem for components. It is not possible to reduce dependency on

China overnight. We need to take a comprehensive look at China’s innovative capacity. China has arguably the best technology infrastructure outside the western world.

Backed by its technological dominance, Chinese software developers offer the best services not only technical but managerial too. The Chinese software companies and their cutting-edge technologies and revolutionary ideas are used by several industry giants. Anti-dumping duty on those Chinese manufactured goods which are already being made in India is extremely critical. We need a strict policy to tackle the presence of excessive under value import of raw material and other components.

Apart from components, the shortage of skilled workforce and advanced technology is also a challenge for the EMS industry where it is witnessing irregular demands. The higher cost of infrastructure, logistics inefficiencies and infrastructural bottlenecks, resulting in greater turnaround time and costs.

These issues need to be addressed to further boost the growth of the EMS industry in India. In spite of all the above-mentioned concerns and with the help of appropriate industry initiatives and government interventions, electronics manufacturing is expected to rise in the future. Although the government has come up various schemes and initiatives such as ‘Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat’ to improve the business environment in the country, it further needs to set up a base which can scale up industries and facilitate ease of doing business in India. To further enhance the competitiveness of the Indian electronics manufacturing industry, these initiatives must be sustained with regular monitoring.

NOVEMBER 2020

NEC, Analog Devices to Design 5G Massive MIMO Antenna Unit NEC Corporation and Analog Devices have reported their collaboration to design a 5G Network Massive MIMO Antenna Radio Unit for Rakuten Mobile. The radio unit adopts ADI’s fourth-generation wideband RF transceiver solution to achieve high precision Massive MIMO and possesses a 5G open vRAN (virtual RAN) interface corresponding to Rakuten Mobile’s end-to-end fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network. It delivers large capacity transmission with high efficiency by using 3.7GHz frequency Massive MIMO and digital beam forming technology.

NEC has already started shipping the 5G Network Massive MIMO Antenna Radio Unit to Rakuten Mobile.

ADI’s fourth-generation wideband RF transceiver integrates quad-channel transmitters, receivers and Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) in a single chip. The radio is fully software reconfigurable and covers all sub-6GHz 5G frequency bands, simplifying radio designs.

NEC’s 5G equipment utilizes highly accurate digital beam forming for efficient high-capacity transmission. The system also features seamless installation, achieved through circuit integration.

Updates

TDK Enhances New Power Inductors TDK Corporation has formed new power inductors, BCL322515RT, for use in automotive electronics, intended for insertion into the power line of an automobile electronic control circuit. Using TDK’s proprietary material technologies and structure design, the inductors achieve high inductance (47 μH) in a small size (3.2 x 2.5 x 1.5 MM).

The saturation current is 0.72 A. Also, by using metallic magnetic material as a core material, they were downsized by approximately 35% compared to products that used conventional ferrite material with similar attributes. The rated voltage is 40 V, and they can be used in a primary power supply circuit, which is input directly from an invehicle 12 V battery.

The operating temperature range is from -55 to +155°C (including self-temperature rise), which supports severe temperature environments. Besides, the connection structure between the winding wire and the external electrode is designed to reduce open risks, ensuring high reliability.

Recently, automobiles are increasingly likely to have an electronic control unit for information communication and self-driving, resulting in an increased number of inductors for power supply circuits used in the units. TDK will expand its lineup in the BCL series to meet a variety of customer needs for power inductors to be used in automotive electronics, such as downsizing.

Main applications •Vol - 02 / 11

• ADAS, a range of ECUs (Electronic Control Unit for automobiles)

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Main features and benefits

• 47 μH achieved in a small size, decreasing inductors used • High reliability due to the product structure that reduced open risks

ST Declares Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results STMicroelectronics has presented the U.S. GAAP financial results for the third quarter which ended on September 26, 2020. This press release also contains non-U.S. GAAP measures (see Appendix for additional information).

Jean-Marc Chery, STMicroelectronics President & CEO, commented “As we announced on October 1, 2020, our Q320 net revenues increased 27.8% sequentially, coming in 690 basis points above the high end of our outlook range. This revenue performance was due to significantly better than expected market conditions throughout the quarter. Demand for Automotive products, our engaged customer programs in Personal Electronics, as well as Microcontrollers, were the main factors that contributed to this result. The third-quarter gross margin came in at the mid-point of our range and includes about 140 basis points of un-saturation charges.”

“Looking at the fourth quarter, we expect sequential revenue growth of about 12.0% at the mid-point. All product groups are expected to grow, except for the RF Communications sub-group. Our gross margin is expected to be about 38.5%, including about 70 basis points of un-saturation charges.”

“For the full year 2020, we now expect net revenues at the mid-point to be about $9.97 billion, translating into 4.3% year-over-year growth, with a double-digit operating margin performance.”

ST reported third-quarter net revenues of $2.67 billion, gross margin of 36.0%, operating margin of 12.3%, and net income of $242 million or $0.26 diluted earnings per share.

NOVEMBER 2020

Phase Change Materials: Innovations in Thermal Management Jade Bridges

WHITE PAPER

Global Technical Support Manager

Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are used in electronics applications to improve the efficiency of heat transfer and reduce the operating temperature of a device. They work by improving the conduction of heat through to a heat sink, where the heat is radiated to the surrounding environment by means of convection. Demand for improved thermal management in electronic devices is ever-increasing, particularly in applications where both miniaturisation and high performance are required in one package. A new generation of thermal Phase Change Materials (PCMs) have been developed by Ben Han of Electrolube China (Suzhou) providing practical and effective alternatives to more traditional thermal management solutions, such as non-curing thermal pastes or greases.

A PCM is designed to alter its state at the phase change temperature, meaning that it will transition from a solid material to a softer, conformable interface above the phase change temperature. This allows the product to adapt to the contours of the surface, filling in all voids and small gaps, just like a paste would do on application, allowing for minimal bond line thickness and minimal thermal resistance at the interface.

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Ben Han

Research and Development Engineer from Electrolube UK and China

This formula proves that the bulk thermal conductivity is important but only in conjunction with the thickness of the TIM applied and the uniformity of the TIM across the interface surfaces. The formula also highlights why thermal pastes have continued to be a popular choice, offering good wetting of the contact surfaces for low contact resistance, whilst also offering minimal bond line thickness, addressing the surface roughness of the mating interfaces. However, PCMs have been introduced to provide similar performance to thermal pastes in these areas, whilst also improving on issues, such as the effects of pump-out and thermal stability over time.

The table below shows typical conductivity and resistance values of thermal pastes and gels, compared to PCMs, from Electrolube’s thermal management range:

Enhancing Heat Transfer

Typical applications that will benefit from enhanced heat transfer efficiency include technologies used in smaller electronic devices, such as mobile smart phones, gaming consoles, tablets, etc. These small devices perform many tasks at exceptional speeds and require increased power in order to do so. The size of the device means that the heat generated by the increase in power will have a negative effect on the performance and/or longevity of the device itself. Another significant area that relies on optimum thermal management includes power electronics, which are widely used in applications such as power distribution, sensor technology, electric vehicles and high-powered LEDs, to name just a few.

Selecting the correct TIM for these applications is crucial to the long-term reliability of devices.

The initial selection of suitable TIMs for testing is often conducted on the basis of high bulk thermal conductivity, indicating the efficiency of heat transfer through the TIM itself. However, bulk thermal conductivity alone, could give a false impression of the expected performance. When tests are conducted under application conditions, low thermal resistance of the device indicates the true heat transfer efficiency of the TIM and can be understood using the following formula:

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Total Thermal Resistance of a Device = (BLT/K) + Rc BLT = Bond Line Thickness of TIM K = Bulk Thermal Conductivity of TIM Rc = Total Thermal Contact Resistance at the Interfaces

Pump-out

IGBTs are widely used in power electronics and provide a good example for understanding the effects of pump-out.

They consist of a thermal stack, which includes materials of differing thermal expansion coefficients (CTEs) and a variety of bulk thermal conductivities, leading to temperature gradients throughout the IGBT.

IGBTs and most devices in general will go through some form of thermal cycle, even if it’s as simple as switching the device on and off. When changes in temperature occur, all materials in the unit will expand or contract to a certain degree, depending upon the temperature the device reaches in operation and, ultimately, the temperatures that the individual components reach. The coefficient of thermal expansion will vary from component to component and so

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contraction and expansion can happen at different rates, with adverse effects such as pump-out occurring as a result.

TIM after temperature cycling, high temperature bake and HAST (highly accelerated stress testing), and utilise thermal resistance values as an indication of stability. As can be seen from the graphs below, this accelerated testing provides a greater understanding of the lifetime of a TIM when compared to standard power cycle tests conducted under the exact conditions of use.

WHITE PAPER

When tackling issues with pump-out, it is important to understand the conditions and materials involved. Pump-out happens at the interface between mating substrates moving relative to one another during temperature changes. This results in a shear type action at the surface that can lead to changes in the rheology of the interface material and movement of that material from its original application position. PCMs alter their state above and below the phase-change temperature, so they are able to resist the effects of pump-out and remain more stable over many thermal cycles.

TPM550 – Thermal Resistance after Thermal Cycling

Power cycles also result in temperature changes of the device and in turn, the interface temperature. Powered devices also exhibit their own thermal cycle during use, which can be further exacerbated by external environmental conditions.

Whatever the reason, thermal changes will result in some form of pump-out effect and so the stability of the chosen TIM under end-use conditions is critical to evaluate.

As the application requirements govern the expected environmental conditions, it is typical to see a range of testing conducted in line with the application, rather than a standard set of conditions. Such testing is usually conducted within similar frameworks, illustrating the thermal stability of the

The Importance of Stability

The stability of TIMs can be thought of as a visual test, simply put, has the product stayed in place following the test programme? If an interface material moves during a thermal test, either through pump-out or via the effects of gravity in a vertical orientation, it is likely that the performance of the product will also alter. Simple tests can include applying the product between two substrates and evaluating any movement or separation of the material during thermal shock testing.

This easy test can highlight the importance of application of a thermal interface material, particularly in the case of thermal greases. These non-curing products are designed to be applied in thin films of around 50-100 microns but are often used at much higher thicknesses, which can result in

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Other testing

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the pastes separating or moving relatively easily once the shearing action of pump-out occurs, and the overall efficiency of heat transfer is reduced. A phase change material is not affected in the same way by pump-out and shows greater physical stability than thermal greases.

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WHITE PAPER

In the wider context of TIM choice and material stability, it is important to mention what alternative approaches a user might consider. Electrolube has introduced some novel products that offer the benefits of traditional thermal management solutions while combining the stability required for high thermal cycling applications. These offer a surface cure only and form a stable compound that can be easily removed if rework is required. Other traditional products that provide a complete cure with a high level of stability include single-part silicones or two-part epoxies, however, rework is much more difficult with these products and they are unlikely to achieve the low thermal resistance of a traditional thermal paste.

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Regardless of what the thermal interface material looks like after these tests, the most crucial point is if the thermal resistance at the interface has remained low and consistent, as this is the primary factor that is going to affect the performance of the device. PCMs have shown consistent thermal resistance when used as an interface material under a range of conditions, and are therefore chosen for their stability and capacity to maintain a low thermal resistance. But why do they perform so much better under these challenging conditions than a traditional thermal paste?

A phase change material alters its state from a solid to a softer material above a set temperature, usually around the 50˚C range. This function is achieved by using a polymeric material, rather than a base oil, as the basis of the TIM formulation. The polymer chains provide enhanced stability of thermal filler dispersion during both the solid and softened state. This results in enhanced thermal conductivity and long-term, low thermal resistances, as the material is kept in a more consistent state throughout its lifetime in the device. Thermal pastes on the other hand, are comprised of base oils with shorter molecular chains offering excellent wetting for initial application but possibly leading to issues including pump-out, drying out and oil bleeding over time.

Another important property of PCMs is their ability to store and release energy as the change of state occurs. This results in some thermal absorption and protects the device from sudden spikes in temperature due to rapid changes of power, for example.

When considering which application is appropriate for a PCM, it is essential to have a proper understanding of the temperatures and temperature profiles that the device will be subjected to during operation. For example, while a device subject to thermal cycling or operation at a continually stable temperature will dictate what type of TIM is likely to achieve the most efficient performance, with PCMs there is the additional factor of the phase change temperature to consider. If the continuous operating temperature of the device is below the phase change temperature, the product will not perform at the level normally expected of it.

New Product Introductions

Electrolube recently added two new thermally conductive PCMs, TPM350 and TPM550, to its thermal management portfolio. TPM350 has a thermal conductivity of 3.5W/m.K and becomes workable at approximately 50°C. At this 'softening' temperature it changes state to become a more conformable material, minimizing thermal resistance at the interface and improving thermal transfer. Once it cools, it reverts back to its original state. The material’s advanced formulation ensures minimal contact thermal resistance.

TPM550 has a higher thermal conductivity of 5.5W/m.K and has a softening temperature of 45˚C. In common with TPM350, TPM550 produces no mess due to its thixotropic characteristics, which prevents flow outside of defined interfaces. Both PCMs can be reworked and more applications can be served per kilogram of the materials, reducing production costs.

These new PCMs are silicone-free, have an operating temperature range of -40 to +125˚C and are RoHS compliant.

Both TPM350 and TPM550 are screen printable and, while they do contain small amounts of solvent to improve wettability on application, this rapidly evaporates following application to leave the solid phase change material on the substrate.

Conclusion

PCMs, once heated above their phase change temperature, become highly thixotropic liquids that perform as well as - and sometimes even better than – a traditional thermal grease.

Moreover, their low phase change temperature ensures low thermal resistance over a wide temperature range, safeguarding minimal bond line thickness with improved stability and pump-out resistance. The application methods of PCMs for high volume production mean that most can be utilised in existing production processes with minimal, if any, changes, whilst also allowing for easy rework, offering many of the same benefits of traditional thermal pastes. As they offer greater long-term stability compared with thermal greases, they are better suited to thermally challenging applications where product life expectancy and reliability may be critical; such as automotive electronics or remotely located wind power inverters, for example. Traditional thermal pastes/ greases will continue to be a popular choice, although for some applications, especially those requiring greater longterm stability, a phase change material is likely to win over the crowd.

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Exploring the Possibilities With Proximity Sensors

- OMRON Automation, India

- systems that use the eddy currents that are generated in metallic sensing objects by electromagnetic induction, - systems that detect changes in electrical capacity when approaching the sensing object, and - systems that use magnets and reed switches.

OMRON Proximity Sensors are available in models using highfrequency oscillation to detect ferrous and non-ferrous metal objects and in capacitive models to detect non-metal objects.

Models are available with environment resistance, heat resistance, resistance to chemicals, and resistance to water.

Industry segments utilizing the Proximity Sensors

Packaging, Machine Tools and Molding industries are the notable industries utilizing Proximity Sensors.

The portfolio comprises of the following categories :

- Rectangular : These Proximity Sensors use high-frequency oscillation. There are available in a wide range of sizes to enable selection to match the installation location.

- Cylindrical : These Proximity Sensors use high-frequency oscillation. They resist heat, chemicals, and water better than Rectangular Sensors. They are available in both shielded and unshielded models.

- Separate Amplifier : With these Proximity Sensors (highfrequency oscillation), the Amplifier and Sensor Head are separated to enable downsizing and facilitate adjustment.

- Capacitive : Capacitive Proximity Sensors can be used to detect non-metal objects, such as liquids and plastics.

- Others : Proximity Sensors are also available for special applications in long-distance models, and slim models are available for use combined with Proximity Sensors.ultrasonic

Features of Proximity Sensors

- No abrasion or damage to the object : The Proximity Sensors detect an object electrically without touching it, and so they do not cause abrasion or damage to the object.

- Longer service life : No contacts are used for output. They use semiconductor outputs, so the Sensors have a longer service life (excluding sensors that use magnets).

- Suitability for oil and water environments : Unlike optical detection methods, Proximity Sensors are suitable for use in locations where water or oil is used. Detection takes place with almost no effect from dirt, oil, or water on the object being detected.

- High-speed resonance : They provide high-speed response, compared with switches that require physical contact.

Symbolic Applications

- To detect the presence of cans during conveyance in order to prevent missing print with an ink-jet printer.

PROXIMITY SENSORS

There are three types of detection systems that do this conversion:

- Wide temperature range : They also find a great utility in a wide temperature range (from -40 to 200°C) - Not affected by colors: They detect the physical changes of an object, so they are almost completely unaffected by the object's surface color.

- Affected by ambient conditions : Unlike switches, which rely on physical contact, Proximity Sensors are affected by ambient temperatures, surrounding objects, and other Sensors.

Inductive and Capacitive Proximity Sensors are affected by interaction with other Sensors. Because of this, care must be taken when installing them to prevent mutual interference.

Care must also be taken to prevent the effects of surrounding metallic objects on Inductive Proximity Sensors, and to prevent the effects of all surrounding objects on Capacitive Proximity Sensors.

- To detect presence of a thin aluminum cap on water bottles

- To detect milk/juice inside a non-transparent white tetra pack.

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The term "Proximity Sensor" indicates all those sensors that perform non-contact detection of target objects that are close by or within the general vicinity of the sensor, in comparison to other sensors, such as limit switches, that detect objects by physically contacting them. These Sensors convert information on the movement or presence of an object into an electrical signal.

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The Main Challenges in IoT security is How to Address the Paradox of Customization How complex is design becoming with more and more connected devices getting its place in a chip. In an exclusive interview with Niloy from BIS, Harsha Jagadish, Pr. Engineer, Marketing, MCU16, Microchip Technology Inc. states as more and more devices are connected to the internet, the main cloud providers are encouraging usage of secure elements to secure private keys. Governments are also defining standards and upcoming legislation that will require the usage of a secure element. A lot more is known about IoT in semiconductors and lot more needs to be explored as the below nub wraps up the leader’s notion.

BIG PICTURE

1. Microchip’s expertise in the IoT segment? Offerings, product portfolio and flagship offering.

As embedded applications continue to become more i nterconnected, req uirements a re increa s ing. The microcontroller, which is at the heart of any design, is required to be more flexible and offer the right level of intelligence.

Adding communication must be simple, supporting a wide range of wired and wireless connectivity. With everything connected, secure connections become a universal need for all embedded applications. Whether they’re connecting to other systems, a smartphone or the cloud, these applications now require security to provide IP, brand and revenue protection.

Microchip Technology provides total system solutions for smart, connected and secure IoT designs.

Our broad portfolio of PIC®, AVR® and SAM microcontrollers (MCUs), dsPIC® digital signal controllers and SAM microprocessors (MPUs) enable intelligence in IoT designs, while offering flexible peripherals and functions that let our customers differentiate their designs. Offering a range of wired and wireless connectivity solutions, either as part of the smart controllers or standalone devices, our connectivity solutions enable customers to add robust, reliable, high-speed connectivity and avoid getting stuck in the complex world of communication regulations by offering designs with certified modules.

With Microchip’s security expertise, our experts take the fear out of designing in security and remove the need for our customers to build costly in-house capabilities. From secure encryption to trusted execution environments, we enable security implementations that meet our customers’ unique needs with our wide range of security solutions, offering the right level of protection at the right price.

To accelerate design time, we offer our intuitive development environments, complete reference designs, free software libraries and automatic code generation tools to design IoT applications. Our IoT smart edge nodes, intelligent gateways and authentication solutions support many cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud IoT Core and Microsoft Azure, and they also work with any on premise servers. This complete offering makes the development of IoT designs simple and enables our users to speed up their production and revenue stream.

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2. Complexities arise with opportunities as IoT goes more mainstream. Trends, challenges and way outs Microchip has witnessed in this technology?

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Security is the main concern, and it goes much deeper than just chip level security. It’s about practices. Security is as strong as its weakest link, and humans are just that. There is nothing drastically new to invent in embedded security practices, but there is all the knowledge from the decades of IT security to understand, learn, translate and apply to embedded systems. As more and more devices are connected to the internet, the main cloud providers are encouraging usage of secure elements to secure private keys. Governments are also defining standards and upcoming legislation that will require the usage of a secure element.

Harsha Jagadish

Pr. Engineer, Marketing, MCU16, Microchip Technology Inc.

One of the main challenges in IoT security is how to address the paradox of customization, which is native in security due

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Microchip Technology’s AVR-IoT, PIC-IoT WG and WA development boards have overcome the main obstacles that have, till now, limited the possibilities to accelerate prototyping and innovation in the IoT environment. With Wi-Fi connectivity, security and cloud connectivity, the AVR-IoT and PIC-IoT boards are a perfect starting point when connecting a variety of applications—ranging from wireless sensor nodes to intelligent lighting systems—to the cloud for remote command or control. With the combination of a powerful, yet simple, AVR® or PIC® MCU, a CryptoAuthentication™ secure element and a fully certified Wi-Fi network controller module, these plug-and-play boards make it easy to connect embedded applications to the Google Cloud IoT Core or AWS IoT Core.

The Click™ connector makes them ideal for sensor prototyping, using existing Click modules or by adding the sensor type required to solve the engineering challenge at hand. When using Microchip’s boards, the main connectivity and security obstacles are eliminated. Now developers can quickly design and evaluate new IIoT 4.0 concepts on a small scale in collaboration with industrial partners. This enables rapid learning and fast iterations, quickly and easily turning ideas and concepts into solutions.

Rapid IIoT 4.0 prototyping optimizes a customer’s cost and efficiency greatly, with the potential to create a novel breakthrough in the way the industrial industry operates. For design houses to be successful in driving the IIoT 4.0 innovation, it is important to partner with the right developers. Cloud and cloud processing require skilled software and web developers.

And as data goes from small to big, data analysts and AI experts will also be required.

IIoT providers and industrial companies that do not adopt rapid prototyping to develop advanced automation and monitoring solutions are likely to struggle in today’s competitive marketplace. Very few companies have the skills, time and money to create the secure Wi-Fi solutions required to accelerate prototyping and IIoT 4.0 innovation. Therefore, adopting the building blocks, like Microchip’s AVR-IoT and PIC-IoT development boards, and harnessing the knowhow offered by the right developers, can greatly benefit those companies looking to excel in the industrial market.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted individuals and businesses across the world, we now need new solutions that will help us resume our daily lives and work, while also ensuring safety through the reduction of physical contact. Enabling contactless designs, Microchip Technology offers products and solutions, such as smart and low power microcontrollers, wireless connectivity, wireless power, gesture control and touch solutions, that function even when wearing protective gear.

Our low power PIC®, AVR® and SAM microcontrollers with ultralow power performance enable contactless designs powered by the energy from the low power RFID. For applications requiring higher power, we offer wireless power solutions that range from 15W up to 400W. Our patented gesture control solution - GestIC® technology - is the world’s first electrical near–field (E-field) 3D gesture controllers. They enable user gesture detection and motion tracking as an alternative for almost all contact-based controls where the interaction can be as simple and intuitive as a wave of the hand. Our state-of-the-art metal over cap touch solution enables reliable designs that can work in any environment, even with protective gear such as gloves. Offering a range of wireless connectivity solutions, we enable our customers to design any applications that can establish connectivity remotely, implementing almost any contactless application use case.

5. Security is a major concern in IoT devices, how does Microchip ensure it in its solutions?

Security is a major component in an IoT application. It should be a part of every IoT solution – especially for ensuring system identity and when transferring data. Standards and regulations already request designers to not have malice parts that swipe data or gain access into a network. Microchip offers both integrated and standalone security solutions, like devices with advanced security features as well as our standalone ECC608 secure element device. In addition to silicon, Microchip also offers software example and provisioning services to allow customers an easy, smooth security implementation into their embedded systems. Provisioning (secure programming of the keys, secrets and immutable public data) is a key element for a secure system. It ensures the end product manufacturer that the product is secure from day one of manufacturing.

BIG PICTURE

3. Mention about advanced semiconductor solutions within IOT application from Microchip

4. After this pandemic, contactless & smart devices are driving the way forward. Semiconductor’s growing role and Microchip’s expertise and focus into this nascent sector?

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to the usage of cryptographic keys versus mainstreaming secure embedded systems across a fragmented mass market. Microchip addresses that logistical challenge with the Trust Platform for the CryptoAuthentication™ family of secure elements. It offers a suite of software and hardware development tools, but more specifically it combines our secure elements with our in-house secure key provisioning service.

Our service “loads” the secret keys within our semiconductor supply chain factories and removes the exposure of keys from contract manufacturers or any third party that might be exposed to them. This improves that “air gap” we are looking for between cryptographic keys, firmware and people.

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Mornsun Power Solutions for Intelligent Power Management in HEV/EV Applications When the average consumer thinks of intelligent transportation, they might envision self-driving vehicles dodging obstacles and choosing efficient traffic routes. While that certainly is part of intelligent transportation, there are other critical systems and modules involved that are just as vital but far less recognized. One of the most important systems within automotive applications involves intelligent power management found in HEV (hybrid electric vehicles) and EV (electric vehicles). According to Bloomberg, 57% of all passenger vehicle sales will be electric by 2040 -- making the development and implementation of efficient, compact, reliable power management systems extremely important. In short, power supply solutions are critical for the future of the HEV/EV industry.

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Intelligent Power Management

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An effective battery management system (BMS) in any HEV/EV application involves circuits that are responsible for monitoring both the charging and discharging of batteries, as well as communication with other vehicular systems. In addition to supplying power to HEV/EV systems, other responsibilities of a BMS are:

● Monitoring the state of the battery (e.g., state of function, state of charge, state of capacity) ● Keeping the battery from trying to operate outside of its safety envelope ● Calculating secondary data related to the monitoring and control of the battery ● Communicating both primary and secondary battery data with other systems ● Providing control of the battery based on primary and secondary data ● Balancing the battery system (e.g., keeping the voltages levels the same or preventing batteries from overcharging) Simply put, the BMS ensures the reliability, longevity, and protection of the battery supply for HEV/EV. In terms of intelligent transportation, the BMS performs a vital function — if it fails, not only is the vehicle in danger, but so are its passengers and those nearby.

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automotive applications. The DC-DC converter CF0505XT1WR3 modules shown in the block diagram below are fully IATF16949 compliant and provide continuous self-recovery short-circuit protection. They have a 3500VDC isolation voltage and operate at an average efficiency of 82%. These DC-DC converters are compact with an internal SMD design and an international standard pin-out.

The power supply for an HEV/EV vehicle is heavily dependent on the intelligent charging device which must integrate seamlessly with the BMS. In addition, the power supply must provide current to systems that are safety-critical, such as the electronic accelerator, tire pressure detecting system, control and driving system, and the CAN communication system. Operation of the car itself is heavily dependent on the ECS (engine control system), ignition system, motor voltage monitoring system, and the car meter panel.

Critical Design Aspects for Intelligent Transportation Modules

When designing the circuitry for the various systems involved in the power supply and intelligent BMS for an HEV/EV, engineering considerations include: ● An operating temperature range in accordance with automotive applications ● Compatibility with standard current and voltage requirements ● High isolation voltage ● Protections against potential problems such as short circuits ● Reliability ● High efficiency ● AEC-Q100 approved ● IATF16949 compliant

Figure 2. Block diagram of a BMS Other automotive applications for these converters include motor vehicle communication system controllers, engine control systems, ignition systems, motor voltage monitoring, and automobile tire pressure detection system — all critical aspects of intelligent transportation involving EV/HEV.

Mornsun Provides Power Solutions for Intelligent Transportation

EV

Figure 1. Key modules in an HEV/EV vehicle

As the shift to new energy continues and the need for intelligent transportation in the automotive industry grows, Mornsun is regularly looking for ways to upgrade their designs, providing you with up-to-date converter solutions. Mornsun’s comprehensive power solutions for automotive applications are reliable and compliant with key international industry standards to ensure you have the proper converters for your BMS. Included in our line of products are AC-DC converters (including some models specifically for charging points), DCDC converters, industrial buses, and SiC/GaN driver power supply all well-adapted for use in intelligent transportation.

With comprehensive power product line and advanced application solutions, MORNSUN enables you to meet various power requirements and overcome all HEV/EV applications and EV charging design challenges.

In addition, engineers are typically looking for compact designs that are compatible with standard pin-outs.

DC-DC converters are among the many circuitry components involved in a standard BMS for an EV/HEV. Mornsun offers a series of DC-DC converters that are ideal for intelligent automotive applications, including those involving the BMS. Mornsun’s line of AEC-Q100 approved DC-DC converters has an operating temperature range on the order of -40OCto 105OC and is designed to withstand the harsh conditions of

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DC-DC Converters

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IoT and Semiconductor Industry in 2020 Unlike previous years, in 2020, healthcare was a major sector which was dominant in using and opting IoT technology. Semiconductor industry tapped this opportunity and innovated given the demand of the market. Sambit Sengupta, Associate Director – Solution Sales, Avnet Asia believes the semiconductor industry with its full ecosystem has risen to the occasion to bring out more efficient products.

Sambit in this op-ed piece underlines the trends, challenges, and the market scenario on how the semiconductor market is maturing tapping the potential of IoT.

TECH OPED

Impact of IoT on Semiconductor Industry

IoT as a business driver is a big boon and growth engine for the semiconductor industry. One aspect of the growth factor is the increasing demands of IoT endpoint devices. As more and more devices are getting connected, more use cases are getting realized and the demand for endpoint devices will similarly increase. The semiconductor industry with its full ecosystem has risen to the occasion to bring out more efficient products. The demand from OEMs and ODMs for smarter sensors, more efficient devices are driving the semiconductor industry in whole to innovate. Innovators have been using wireless sensor nodes in designs or use cases for quite some time. However, the impact that the semiconductor industry is seeing is how to solve innovative problems, how to efficiently deploy more IoT endpoint devices and how to provide best in class solutions.

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Security and Expertise Ensuring Security-Front Offerings

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OEMs and ODMs are very conscious of time to market of their products. The monetization of any new idea is typically the primary goal. While doing this, the devices that are at endpoint gets ‘budgeted’ or becomes an after-thought. The priority for security from hardware up is sometimes neglected. When the actual security breaches happen, the OEM is at risk of losing its entire brand value. Designers are already conscious of the step that needs to be taken to secure the IoT endpoint devices and protect them from malicious malware as well as side-channel attacks. They have to budget for the security in the device itself and also think one step ahead of potential hackers. So it is important for them to design the device while keeping in mind the use case. For example, if the use case demands that the deployed IoT device needs to be in the field and requires periodic features update through over the air, then they have to secure the OS as well as ensure that there is no breach during data ingestion in the cloud. In this case, it is not only the hardware which has to be hack-proof but the software as well.

Challenges For Designing IoT Devices And Best Practices For Designers

The main challenge that designers face today is that very early on the design cycle, they are forced to Sambit Sengupta think about the price.

Associate Director – Solution Sales, This practice seems Avnet Asia to be prevalent in many cultures where value for money is prioritized over a quality solution. While economic price point will always be important to ensure business profits, designers should think from a use case point of view and optimum security. The optimum security of devices should be one notch higher than what is required. Designers also have to think about the right semiconductor partner based on technology considerations and not just economic considerations. This is why it is recommended to work with a trusted partner like Avnet that can provide expertise, network and resources to advise and mitigate the security implications of the IoT device’s design and implementation. Designers should also concentrate on unbiased benchmarking and researching their choices in open communities like hackster.io or element14.

Drivers and Trends in IoT Technology For Semiconductor Industry Multiple choices in outdoor connectivity are the real driver in IoT technology. Whether it is LoRaWAN, Sigfox or NB-IoT in low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) or Wifi/ wifi6 - the emerging standards thereof is helping to create a large ecosystem of IoT devices. On the other hand, lifestyle changes are hastening growth. A simple example, an increasing footprint of eCommerce is making asset tracking a big use case. The question from a typical eCommerce business will be: how to have multiple stock-keeping unit (SKU) of asset trackers, operating in both indoors or outdoors be maintained in a single platform. To solve this unique problem there can be multiple options from the semiconductor industry but here a huge ecosystem will play a role in a successful deployment.

Not only a fail-proof, malware proof connected device is required but the semiconductor vendor has to work with alliances – who will provide the software that will reside in the device and also with a cloud service provider. Avnet

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brings together a wide range of ecosystem partners including system integrators, service providers, device manufacturers, cloud platform providers, and components suppliers to help customers simplify the complexities and build a solid business case for IoT.

The Year 2020 and IoT Market

One key trend that has shaped IoT this year is that the healthcare end uses saw a high demand. There was a global requirement of contact tracing, temperature scanners, pulse oximeters for measuring SpO2, temperature sensors etc. There was an uptick in demand for unique SaaS solutions for healthcare requirement. When factories and offices started reopening, the demand for connected sensors needed for handwashing, compliance for mask etc increased. The pandemic may soon subside, but the year 2020 gave a big push to automation in various sectors. This in turn has given a big flip to remote sensing, intelligent and smart devices too.

Avnet’s Expertise

Avnet is a leading technology solutions provider and global distributor for almost 100 years. We are in a unique position to guide innovators in the IoT space to use the best and most effective parts from the world’s best suppliers and also offer

customers an end to end solution through our IoTConnect platform.

When it comes to IoT there is a tremendous amount of information, and we look at the solution beyond the device and into the cloud. As such, some businesses need guidance with regards to IoT and how it can help enable them to move up the value chain. We facilitate the implementation and maintenance of IoT effectiveness in the enterprise, which is a significant task that businesses look for, given the magnitude of IoT investments.

We acknowledge that success in the connected world calls for unique partnerships in the domain of sourcing the most economically priced MCU, processors, secure controllers or eUICC / e-sim connectivity solutions. Avnet’s integrated ecosystem connects the many different parties required for IoT deployment. We support customers with capabilities and services that address the entire range of IoT complexities, such as sensor design and development, infrastructure and gateway solutions, connectivity options, cloud and IoT platforms, and global inventory management.

Microchip Expands its Motor Control Offering with DSC’s

NXP Upgrades its ML Portfolio and Capabilities

Microchip Technology has reported its expansion of motor control offering with digital signal controllers (DSCs) and microcontrollers (MCUs) that are supported by design tools, development hardware, a torque-maximizing algorithm and a refrigerator compressor reference design.

Microchip’s motor control family additions include: • dsPIC DSCs: The cost-optimized, functional safety-ready dsPIC33CK64MC10x DSCs for Field Oriented Control (FOC) motor control is supported by motor control Plug-in Modules (PIMs) for existing motor control development boards and also with a new cost-effective low-voltage motor control development board. MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and MCC support rapid code development while motor Bench Development Suite provides FOC motor control optimized code generation.

• Zero Speed/Maximum Torque (ZS/MT) algorithms: Eliminates hall sensors in applications demanding high torque at a standstill or low speeds for low-inductance motors. Support is provided for the dsPIC33 DSCs, SAM and PIC32MK motor control MCUs • dsPIC33CK Low-voltage motor control development board: Provides a platform for application development and a reference for customer board design for the dsPIC33CK family.

NXP Semiconductors has reported the enhancement of its machine learning development environment and product portfolio.

Through an investment, NXP has established an exclusive, strategic partnership with Canada-based Au-Zone Technologies to expand NXP’s eIQ Machine Learning (ML) software development environment with easy-to-use ML tools and expand its offering of siliconoptimized inference engines for Edge ML. Additionally, NXP announced that it has been working with Arm as the lead technology partner in evolving Arm Ethos-U microNPU (Neural Processing Unit) architecture to support applications processors.

NXP will integrate the Ethos-U65 microNPU into its next generation of i.MX applications processors to deliver energyefficient, cost-effective ML solutions for the fast-growing Industrial and IoT Edge.

By adding Au-Zone’s DeepView run-time inference engine to complement open source inference technologies in NXP eIQ, users will be able to quickly deploy and evaluate ML workloads and performance across NXP devices with minimal effort.

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NEWS UPDATES

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5G

to Become the Backbone for the New Era F5, an American company that specializes in application services and application delivery networking. F5 focus on the delivery, security, performance, and availability of web applications, including the availability of computing, storage, and network resources. During an interaction with Nitisha from BISInfotech, Sudarshan Sivaperumal, Security Solutions Architect, F5 shares his experiences and future plans about 5G Solutions and security.

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TECHNOVATOR

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. Please share your plans for making 5G solutions safer and secure for its users.

As we mark the 25th anniversary of the Internet in India in 2020, we are seeing an increase in economic value and how connectivity is redefined in the urban and rural areas, be it for education, entertainment, or work. We are soon expecting the transition from 4G to 5G happen and telecom providers are now making the necessary infrastructure changes. Networks continue to evolve in the face of ever-growing traffic volume and complexity—as well as the increasing pressure to reduce costs, grow the business faster, and drive profitability. 5G accelerates this transformation of the network. It enables new services and applications, from the radio access network (RAN) to the cloud: connected cars, smart homes, IoT smart meters, and more. With 5G, a host of new business applications are set to come in play, leading to elevated security threat partly because there are more vectors through which adversaries can attack. The technology is set to enable a huge number of connected devices, collectively known as the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT devices are the target for cyber threat actors because they could be taken over to form what’s known as a botnet to perform distributed denial of service, or DDoS attacks to paralyze networks and distrupt application services. We aim to provide end to end solutions for 5G enablement today. We offer service velocity, scale, a unified and easy way to control and manage application services across the network, and the ability to protect network and customers in this era of rapid digital transformation.

Massive scale and performance with the lowest total cost of ownership: 5G networks have ultra-low latency characteristics to handle the growth associated with IoT. To secure future networks, service providers need to increase agility, performance, and security. We aim to offer powerful performance solutions that can scale in concurrent connections and connections per second (CPS) to support the requirements for 5G and IoT.

Sudarshan Sivaperumal Security Solutions Architect, F5

TECHNOVATORS

NOVEMBER 2020

A comprehensive and integrated portfolio of security solutions: The core networks of service providers face risks from multiple points—devices, networks, applications—while network attacks also affect the DNS, control plane, and signaling (including SIP and Diameter). F5’s combined portfolio of L4–L7 services, including the assimilation of CGNAT, provides end-to-end security and delivers a multi-layered solution to protect the application, control plane, and data plane against Advanced Persistent Threats and DDoS attacks. This enables service providers to protect their brand and keep customers by improving the Quality of Experience for their subscribers while future-proofing their network as they develop their network architectures.

Q

. According to you, what will be the demands of 5G in India and how it will work?

5G is expected to form the backbone for the new era of digital economy thereby supporting a much larger range of applications and services, emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine communications, including driverless vehicles, telesurgery, and real-time data analytics. The ultra-low latency offered by 5G makes the technology desirable for such use cases. Latency is the amount of time data takes to travel between its source and destination 5G technology, consumers will be able to download data-heavy content such as 8K movies and games with better graphics in just a few seconds.

But once 5G becomes commercial in India, users will be required to change their current devices in favor of 5G-enabled ones As new 5G-enabled services and applications are realized, new

NOVEMBER 2020

jobs will be created and talent upskilled and reskilled. Integration of 5G and several vertical industries, such as manufacturing, energy, and transportation, break the barriers of infrastructure and exposes the network to more risks. In comparison with traditional telecommunications networks, other business verticals have different security regulations and standards, data protection norms, and security evaluation standards.

Besides, the assets are diversified. The equipment, platforms, and applications in Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) have different owners and users and may also require an operation and maintenance system across multiple organizations. It is for this reason that the traditional security measures might not be enough for 5G. The operators need to work on providing sustainable, credible, and secure network services for the users.

automation for newly virtualized networks without burdensome complexity. F5 offers packaged solutions that are simple to purchase, deploy, manage, and upgrade in a “use before you buy” model with subscription and perpetual licensing options.

This approach is an ideal fit for mobile operators and service providers looking to software-based infrastructures as part of their network evolution. The offerings will boost telcos with:• Optimize the network - Simplify and scale your existing 4G LTE network while transitioning to 5G, leveraging automation, protocol fluency, and high performance virtualized software solutions.

• Monetize new solutions- Accelerate the time-to-market of new, compelling, and differentiated 5G services to your enterprise customers and consumer base • Secure the platform - Protect your 5G network at a massive . How you are going to design security capabilities to scale at every layer and for multiple threats. protect infrastructure? . Please share your experience with the cyber-attacks Deploying 5G infrastructure will be the most challenging and its solutions? next-gen network rollout ever. Service providers will need to meet extreme end-to-end bandwidth and concurrent To give you an example, while one of our customer had put connection requirements and deliver highly responsive, low security measures in place to discover vulnerabilities and latency connections to a multitude of devices and device the risk of penetration,the operator also had to factor in types. At the same time, telcos will need to simultaneously the high-volume traffic with stealthy, application-targeted reinforce and enhance the existing 4G LTE network that most techniques. With F5’s Advanced WAF, we were able to end-users will continue to use for the near term. Much of this empower our customer’s websites and digital solutions with existing network is on old technology platforms that cannot comprehensive and advanced protection to secure their digital universe against data breaches and vulnerability scans, easily scale and cannot support newer 5G technologies.

With the rapid transition to virtualized/cloud-based edge, application-layer Denial-of-Service (dos) attacks. The solution core, and data networks, F5 delivers one of the industry’s also protected the operator against automated attacks by broadest portfolios of Virtual Network Function VNFs, allowing creating a baseline of normal application traffic behavior, brands to seamlessly transition networks to high-performance monitoring, and blocking any anomalous traffic patterns VEs (virtual editions) in the data center or the network edge. or malicious bots, without any human intervention. Through Service providers can scale and simplify their existing 4G LTE the consistent monitoring of server health and security, our network and evolve to 5G with automation, protocol fluency, customer now has greater web attack visibility, providing and high-performance virtualized software. These solutions enhanced safety and high service quality to customers. will help brands to:. How is your company helping to overcome risk for IoT • Simplify your core network architecture and operations and devices which can create a flood of cyber-attacks to reduce costs with the integration of STGi-LAN/N6 services into a single platform, deployable as hardware and virtual take down critical systems?

The 5G infrastructure exposes both mobile operators and appliances.

• Support transition from 4G to 5G and services migration subscribers to significant security threats due to the number through protocol fluency and comprehensive interworking and type of connected devices. Besides, 5G’s high bandwidth capabilities combined with new software-driven network capabilities such as HTTP/2 and Diameter. elements can significantly increase security vulnerabilities. . What kind of offerings you will provide to make 5G more These 5G security vulnerabilities will have an impact on service successful in India? revenues as well as subscriber performance. It is critical to According to the Global Risk Report 2019, released by the provide improved network security with the launch of your World Economic Forum - India had faced the largest data 5G network capabilities. To survive and thrive in the evolving breach in the world due to "lax cybersecurity protocols" 5G/IoT ecosystem, service providers must deliver connectivity resulting in a breach of records of more than 1.1 billion citizens. and become "Value Added Services Providers" through With agility, technological prowess, and innovation being partnerships and tight integration of solutions. To handle the non-negotiable criteria for any successful business in today’s diverse number of IoT devices, coupled with requirements time, it is crucial for organizations to proactively reassess their such as an ultra-low latency for certain use cases, the security strategies. Ensuring cybersecurity in a digital world prioritization of each device, and corresponding requirements should be every leader’s priority and they need to build ‘risk for IoT applications, service providers need to deploy secure, management’ as an integral part of their growth agenda. scalable, available, and high-performance solutions across With F5, organizations can simplify the complete lifecycle their networks—from the device to the applications in data management of VNF services, unlocking essential scale and centers. Service providers will need signaling conformance

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TECHNOVATOR

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NOVEMBER 2020

and security solutions that will protect against protocol-specific attacks targeting protocols such as CoAP, MQTT, SIP, and Diameter. Finally, the network must be able to prioritize which device, corresponding applications, and associated signaling messages have access to the network with application-aware intelligence to optimize performance and improve the quality of experience for users.

Q

. What security trends do you foresee as India’s digital landscape spurs helping develop next-gen networks?

India’s digital landscape is all set to speed up with the ongoing push to develop 5G infrastructure by 2020. India’s new leadership considers the digital economy as a major growth enabler, particularly when Prime Minister Narendra Modi strategically listed “Digital India” among the top priorities for the new central government. It is believed that India’s digital economy has the potential to reach US$1 trillion by 2025 due to the proliferation of smartphones, increased Internet penetration, growth of mobile broadband, growth of data, and social media. Here are a couple of security trends that will shape the next generating networks: Deploying End-to-End App Security Solution: Digital transformation efforts often result in hundreds of apps hosted

NEWS UPDATES

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UNISOC, China Unicom Employs E2E Network Slicing Solution

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UNISOC and China Unicom have utilized the world's first 3GPP-compliant end-to-end network slicing selection solution, enabling 5G smart phone and data terminal network slicing to 3GPP standards.

The solution allows devices to independently and flexibly select network slices through APP ID, FQDN, DNN and other identifiers in China Unicom's 5G SA trial commercial network, bringing broader development prospects for the transformation of industry verticals.

Network slicing is among the most important features of 5G network architecture, the key entry point for 5G to empower thousands of industries. However, network slicing technology is highly complex and a technical solution must run through multiple network levels. Network slicing in devices had become a constraint to the development of end-to-end network slicing, while technical bottlenecks lie in the limitations of chips and terminal operating systems.

In a scheme equipped with the UNISOC 5G chip, this solution supports 5G smartphones and data terminals for all slice selection strategies under 3GPP specifications and optimizes the users' business experience. The two sides have recently completed technical verification on China Unicom Beijing's 5G SA trial commercial network, laying a technical foundation for the diversified development of 5G industrial applications in the future.

across multiple clouds and on-premises. Modern architectures include distributed microservices, containers, and APIs. Combined, these have radically changed the attack surface for applications. Simultaneously, CI/CD workflows make it critical for security to be addressed throughout the life of an app, as the cycle time for moving apps from development to production is declining rapidly. The challenge, then, is how to manage security policies across multiple environments with both consistent controls and operational efficiencies.

F5 is poised to incorporate machine learning and AI into its offerings at a much deeper level. The aim is to provide customers superior application protection that can adapt according to organization needs.

Training and upskilling workforce in cybersecurity skills: The biggest cybersecurity challenge faced by Indian organizations is the shortage of adequately skilled cybersecurity professionals.

In fact according to F5 SOAS report, 56% of security roles pointed to app security as their biggest skills deficit. Realizing the growing gap between demand and availability of cybersecurity professionals, organizations will be proactive with their reskilling and upskilling programs. Organization may have to consider managed security services to help bridge the gap during this transition.

Fujitsu Begins Joint Research with World-Leading Institutions in Quantum Computing Fujitsu Laboratories has initiated three collaborative research projects with world-leading research institutions: one with RIKEN and the University of Tokyo, another with Osaka University, and the other with the Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands (hereafter, TU Delft).

Through this collaborative research, Fujitsu aims to achieve comprehensive and efficient advances in quantum computing.

By applying quantum computing to various fields currently facing problems that are extremely difficult to solve.

By developing the technologies fostered through this collaborative research, Fujitsu aims to commercialize faulttolerant quantum computing solutions in the future.

1. Research project with RIKEN and the University of Tokyo Fujitsu will research superconducting quantum computers, which are currently regarded as the most promising type, with RIKEN and the University of Tokyo, both of which have strengths in superconducting qubit technology. Through a comprehensive undertaking of quantum computing systems covering quantum devices, and electronic control units and software, Fujitsu aims to bring about computer systems that can work in a complementary fashion with conventional computers.

Kunal Nandu

Director, Vinay Electricals Solutions

India China war situation is affecting the Electronic industry. How will the industry manage the loss?

EXPERT COLUMN

NOVEMBER 2020

What good is an idea if it remains an idea? Try. Experiment. Iterate. Fail. Try again. Change the world.

The India-China clash has definitely impacted and would vary from one segment to another, depending on the extent of localisation achieved. For example, import dependence is higher in the electronics as well as industrial, power and automotive electronics segments.

This gives India some leeway to reduce its dependence on imports, and heed growing calls for self-reliance.

However, India has potential to be a global major in Electronics. The players in the market can source this

opportunity and start their own manufacturing unit by supporting ‘Make in India’ movement. There will be a need to develop a complete ecosystem right from manufacturing of semiconductors to mass production of Electronic devices and not in bits and parts. More Collaborations would help in bringing best technology to India which is important to create an Infrastructure and capable of delivering as per the demand. This will surely change the market situation to trade within the country and also compete the global markets. Many Electronic companies have already confirmed their investment for manufacturing in India.

Some of the governments initiatives like production linked incentive would surely lead to growth in the Electronic Industry. The changing work patterns post pandemic outbreak would also ensure growth of the Electronic industry and the early movers would definitely get an advantage over their peers.

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"Simon Sinek" With India toughening its stance against China, it will get increasingly difficult to procure electronics from China in near future. One of the biggest challenges for the Indian electronics manufacturing sector is its excessive dependence on imports. India imports over $ 60 billion worth of electronic components, raw materials, assemblies and electric equipment’s each year from China. This will surely affect business of the Electronics industry in the short term. The economic interdependence of the two neighbours is too deep to be ignored.

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TECH/LEAD

NOVEMBER 2020

part 1

Vision: Possible

The inside story of the world’s first millimeter-wave radar motions of an incapacitated person while the emergency system on chip responder himself is moving. As with many of its applications, When TI innovators created the world’s first millimeter-wave radar system on chip, we enabled our customers to integrate radar sensing technology into an array of applications that help improve safety on the road and in factories, and could even help firefighters see through smoke to save lives.

Imagine a low-cost radar sensor that could be affixed to a firefighter’s helmet in order to detect an unconscious or incapacitated person through walls and smoke.

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TI engineers have created a millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar sensor that in the future could “see” through drywall and other obstructions and provide an audible alert to users based on what is perceived by 3D imaging.

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“mmWave works extremely well at penetrating smoke and seeing through drywall,” said Brian, an innovator on the core team that created TI mmWave technology. “The challenge for this application is that you are trying to detect breathing

mmWave technology will only continue to evolve and improve to overcome challenges and be used in more potentially life-saving applications.”

NOVEMBER 2020

Radar and how it works

The concept of radio detection and ranging, which later became an acronym, RADAR, was invented during World War II to help detect enemy invasion and has been widely used ever since. In addition to its pioneering military uses, radar technology enables air and ground traffic control, weather forecasting and medical monitoring, along with advanced safety features in cars.

Many radar systems of yesterday were large and expensive, with military applications reaching millions of dollars and hundreds of feet in size. They also operated at low frequencies, which produce much-less-precise imaging.

TI mmWave radar sensors operate at 60 GHz or 77 GHz for much higher precision. They are also small and compact, about the size of a quarter, and produce images so detailed that you can see outlines of objects and classify them. mmWave radar works by transmitting a waveform, which goes out, bounces off an object and comes back. The technology is robust and can mitigate interferences, even in degraded environmental conditions.

“We are able to measure the time between when we sent out the waveform and the time we received it back and also the direction that it’s coming, and from there, we are able to ‘see’ what is out there in space,” Brian says.

In a system to detect an unattended child left in an automobile, the waveform would transmit from the ceiling of the vehicle into the cabin of the parked car. If an infant or toddler were in the car, the waveform would bounce off their chest, and the technology would detect their breathing and communicate to the central processor to alert the driver, honk the horn or crack the windows to allow air to come in.

The challenge of CMOS

When the project kicked off in 2009, the team accepted the steep challenge of designing in CMOS (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) technology because they knew

To become familiar with millimeter wave technology, the team worked from 2009 to 2012 to develop a 160-GHz radar for very short distance communications applications.

At the time, no one in the world had built such a system using CMOS technology.

“That was the biggest disruptor – to enable building automotive millimeter wave devices in CMOS,” Brian says. “That by itself took a tremendous amount of innovation across the devices, the circuits and the test solutions.”

And the competitive landscape for radar devices was stiff, Brian recalls.

“Our competitors had the state-of-the-art solutions in automotive radar,” he remembers. “They were built in silicon germanium bipolar technologies, which are more expensive and can be difficult to integrate. At TI, we took a different path and focused exclusively on using advanced CMOS technologies because they have better cost structure, lower power and potentially higher performance.”

The team worked three years to complete its first project. By early 2012, they had proven that they could build mmWave systems in CMOS, and they were trying to figure out the right commercial opportunity to take the technology to market.

TECH/LEAD

When a small research and development team began working on TI mmWave technology in 2009, they didn’t realize the number of applications the technology would one day enable. The original intent of the technology was to provide a radar sensor that was affordable enough to be incorporated into low-cost vehicles. Prior to this technology, radar sensing was only available in very expensive cars.

that this foundational technology was what would make TI mmWave radar affordable to the masses. It was the one thing that would allow the team to bring radar detection capabilities, which were once very costly, to a technology that is affordable enough to easily be incorporated into a $20,000 car.

“We looked at whether we could make an impact in automotive radar for advanced driver-assistance systems and decided we would be able to disrupt that market, to bring in CMOS and really enable higher performance, lower cost and lower power, simultaneously,” Brian says.

Living our passion by making TI mmWave more affordable At TI, our passion is to create a better world by making electronics more affordable through semiconductors. Innovations like mmWave demonstrate our passion in action. Like many TI engineers over the decades who helped lay the foundation for today’s breakthroughs, the innovators who developed this technology did so with a fierce desire to beat the competition and a singular focus on the goal to bring affordable radar sensing technology to mid- and low-end automobiles.

(The article is an original piece written by Texas Instruments.)

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Similar technology is being used by our customers today behind automobile bumpers to see an obstruction on the road to alert the driver. TI mmWave technology is also being designed in to an application that will sense a child left unattended in a car to alert the parent, and is being considered for applications including detecting when an elderly person falls to alert a caregiver and enabling robots to navigate complex factory environments.

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NOVEMBER 2020

OPTIGA Trust Charge for Secure Wireless Charging

Infineon Technologies has enhanced its OPTIGA Trust product family with a dedicated solution for secured inductive charging. The new OPTIGA Trust Charge is the industry’s first embedded security solution that is usable for the Qi 1.3 wireless charging standard.

Features: • Helps to prevent damaging consumer devices with Applications: dangerous, fake chargers and protects consumer Smart phones, ear buds, tablets, brands from reputation issues. wearables or health tech devices • Infineon recommends at least EAL4+ certification on with a charging power of up to 15 W. the hardware that stores keys and certificates.

• For that the protection profiles PP0035 and PP0084 could be used as part of the evaluation.

Availability: Available Now

ST Releases MasterGaN Device

New Launch

STMicroelectronics has launched MasterGaN, the world-first platform embedding and a halfbridge driver based on silicon technology along with a pair of gallium-nitride (GaN) transistors.

Features: • ST is launching the new platform with MasterGaN1 • Contains two GaN power transistors connected as a half-bridge with integrated high-side and low-side drivers.

• The MasterGaN1 contains two normally-off transistors that feature closely matched timing parameters,

Applications: Chargers, power adapters for consumer and industrial applications up to 400W.

Availability: MasterGaN1 is in production now, in a 9mm x 9mm GQFN package only 1mm high. Priced at $7 for orders of 1,000 units, it is available from distributors.

Vishay 40 V MOSFET Half-Bridge Power Stage Vishay Intertechnology has released a new 40 V n-channel MOSFET half-bridge power stage that delivers increased power density and efficiency.

Features: • Integrating high side and low side MOSFETs in one compact PowerPAIR3.3 mm by 3.3 mm package, • The two TrenchFET MOSFETs in the SiZ240DT are internally connected in a half-bridge configuration.

Applications: White goods and industrial, medical, and telecom applications.

Availability: Available Now

Power Integrations New MinE-CAP IC

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Power Integrations launches the MinE-CAP IC for high power density, universal input AC-DC converters. By halving the size of the high-voltage bulk electrolytic capacitors required in offline power supplies, this new type of IC enables a reduction in adapter size of up to 40%.

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Features: • Reduces in-rush current making NTC thermistors unnecessary, increasing system efficiency and reducing heat dissipation.

Applications: Power supplies

Availability: Available Now

NOVEMBER 2020

MORNSUN AC/DC Converter 305RAC Family MORNSUN has introduced its "305RAC (Reliable under All Conditions)" series, which can be understood that the input voltage range is 85-305VAC.

Features: • Handles the voltage fluctuation easily and features best-in-class performance.

• High-input-voltage capability.

• High-low-temperature reliability. High-humidity reliability.

Applications: Meet various power requirements under All Conditions and overcome all challenges in your power designs.

Availability: Available Now

NXP 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth Solutions NXP Semiconductors has released its family of 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Dual-Band + Bluetooth/BLE solutions that are driving a new phase of connectivity innovation.

Applications: Advanced gaming, audio, industrial and IoT markets

Availability: Available Now

New Launch

Features: • World’s first Wi-Fi 6 enabled gaming console.

• Provide increased capacity, efficiency and performance for next-generation connectivity solutions.

Maxim Integrated’s Neural Network Accelerator Chip

MAX78000, Neural Network Accelerator Chip from Maxim Integrated Products moves artificial intelligence (AI) to the edge without performance compromises in battery-powered internet of things (IoT) devices.

Applications: Applications such as machine vision, Features: audio and facial recognition can • Executing AI inferences at less that 1/100th the energy of be made more efficient since the software solutions dramatically improves run-time for batteryMAX78000 can execute inferences powered AI applications. at less than 1/100th energy required by a microcontroller.

Availability: Available Now

HID Global RAIN UHF RFID and NFC Combo Tags

Features: • Improved logistics performance and visibility: RAIN RFID technology enables faster, more accurate RTI processing by simultaneously reading multiple incoming and outgoing containers.

Applications: Advanced supply chain, logistics, inventory management and improved customer engagement for industrial returnable transport items such as bulk containers, gas cylinders, kegs and other curved RTIs.

Availability: Available Now

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HID Global has released HID Keg Tag family of RFID transponders that combine RAIN RFID and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies into a single tag for advanced supply chain management of returnable transport items (RTI).

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NOVEMBER 2020

Digi-Key Ready-to-Use IoT Data Management Solution Digi-Key Electronics announces that it will be the exclusive global distributor of the industry's most affordable ready-to-use IoT data management software for the BeagleBone platform, Machinechat® JEDI One for BeagleBone.

Machinechat's JEDI One is an all-in-one software application for IoT developers and solution architects to provision IoT data collection, visualization, monitoring and local storage capabilities in minutes. Offered as a single binary software application that is installed on-premise, JEDI One for BeagleBone is the industry's most affordable ready-to-use IoT software solution that enables developers and their customers to have complete control over their data, along with an advanced set of data management tools that can be leveraged in minutes.

"We are excited again to be partnering with Digi-Key to deliver a solution that serves the IoT development community," said E.E. Wang, chief marketing officer for Machinechat. "BeagleBone has long been recognized as one of the leading embedded platforms for developing IoT home, industrial and commercial applications. With the availability of JEDI One for BeagleBone, we are delighted to provide a solution that allows BeagleBone developers and enthusiasts to spend more time inventing and less time, money and resources developing data software for their project."

element14 New Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4

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Kart

element14 has unveiled the new Compute Module 4 (CM4) from Raspberry Pi. The CM4 brings the power of the Raspberry Pi 4 to the compute module family and is accompanied by two accessories, the Compute Module 4 I/O (CM4IO) Board and the Compute Module 4 Antenna Kit. Eben Upton, Chief Executive at Raspberry Pi Trading, said: “Since 2014, the Compute Module line has become an increasingly important part of Raspberry Pi’s offering, allowing our customers to leverage the cost, performance and stability of the Raspberry Pi platform in their products, with their form factors. element14 have been at the heart of the Compute Module program, investing to ensure our customers can access the inventory they need when they need it, and providing unparalleled support through the element14 Community. Compute Module 4 extends the range with the power of Raspberry Pi 4, adding RAM density variants, optional wireless connectivity and an even wider range of interfacing options. We’re excited to see what people build with CM4 platform.

CM4 is based on the acclaimed Raspberry Pi Model 4B single-board computer, with an updated form factor accommodating new interfaces such as dual HDMI, PCIe and Gigabit Ethernet, in a reduced footprint. Access to the processor interfaces and GPIO pins is provided via dual 100 pin high-density connectors.

The CM4IO Board has been designed to simplify the development of new products using the CM4. It is suitable for the evaluation and prototyping of new products, serving as a reference design to interface external devices to the CM4 and can also be embedded directly into end products.

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Future Electronics’ Real-Time Global Access Now Available

Future Electronics has offered a real-time availability and access to their inventory across the globe. Future Electronics is a uniquely-positioned company in the electronic components sector to continuously invest and grow their inventory selection across all technologies.

With three modern and highly-automated Distribution Centers strategically located in the Americas, EMEA and APAC, orders can be placed online through an intuitive online Bill of Materials tool or simply by browsing the company’s extensive online part selection.

Future Electronics operates on one fully-integrated global IT platform. Whether purchasing online or offline with the support of Future Electronics sales teams, products can be sourced from their worldwide inventory, allowing its customer base to manufacturer anywhere in the world with confidence and with quality service anywhere.

NOVEMBER 2020

Mouser Awarded Global Electronic Component Distributor of the Year by BISinfotech’s BETA Awards 2020 BISinfotech – The awarded Indian electronics and technology magazine aimed at converging technology announced the BETA AWARDS – The most credible and coveted award for the ESDM and technology industry.

This year BETA Awards recognized Mouser Electronics as Global Electronic Component Distributor of The year for outstanding focus on the rapid introduction of new products and technologies, giving customers an edge and helping speed time to market.

“Its Our honor to receive Global Electronic Component Distributor of The year award specially in this tough time during Covid-19” said Daphne Tien, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development for Mouser APAC. “As Mouser Electronics got ISO 134A5 certified which helped us to supply during the pandemic without any restriction especially to those medical manufacturers. Mouser Electronics will continue to do our best to support our customers”, added Daphne.

TTI Stocks AVX TransGuard VarisNew Yorker Launches MUR30U60PTW5 from Good-Ark tor with EMI/RFI Filtering

Features & Benefits: • High voltage and high reliability • High surge current capability • Ultrafast recovery time • Soft recovery characteristics • Low recovery loss • Low forward voltage • RoHS compliant Applications: • General purpose • Boost diode in PFC • Switching mode power supply • Free-wheeling diode for motor application • Power switching circuits

TTI has stocked the AVX TransGuard automotive series multilayer varistors (MLV). The VCAS and VGAS series provide a wide range of highly reliable overvoltage protection devices which are AEC-Q200 qualified, surface mount, and provides EMI/ RFI attenuation in the off-state. TransGuard MLVs are zinc oxide (ZnO) based ceramic semiconductor devices and have the added advantage of greater current and energy handling capabilities with very fast turn-on times. The AVX VGAS series parts are glass encapsulated and provide the same high reliability as traditional VCAS series parts. The glass encapsulation provides enhanced resistance against harsh environment or process such as acids, salts, chlorite flux.

Both series are available in case sizes from 0402 to 3220, working voltage from 3.3 to 85Vdc, energy rating up to 13J, and load dump rating up to 25J. Operating temperature range is -55°C to +125°C with no derating.

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New Yorker Electronics has unveiled the new Good-Ark Semiconductor MUR30U60PTW5, a 30A, 600V ultrafast rectifier that featuring soft recovery characteristics, outstanding surge current capability and low forward voltage.

Utilizing its silicon nitride passivated ion-implanted epitaxial planar construction; this device is ideal for use as a freewheeling diode for motor applications, boost diode in PFC and many other power switching applications. The low stored charge and ultrafast soft recovery features minimize ringing and electrical noise in many power switching circuits.

In plastic 40.6 x 15.8 x 4.9mm TO-3P package, the Good-Ark MUR30U60PTW5 supplies high voltage and high reliability with low recovery loss and ultra-fast recovery time. This Good-Ark Ultra-fast Rectifier is 600 volts and has a maximum allowable average forward current of 30amps per package, 15 per diode. It has a non-repetitive Peak Forward Surge Current of 180 amps and a Power Dissipation rating of 113 watts.

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NOVEMBER 2020

Telecom

Nokia Partners with Qualcomm to Enhance 5G Smart Node Portfolios Nokia has reported that its market-leading Smart Node portfolio of All-in-One base stations for 5G indoor use will be powered by Qualcomm Technologies’ unique chipsets. The product, which leverages the industry-leading Qualcomm 5G RAN platform for small cells, is designed to deliver ubiquitous indoor 5G coverage for residential and enterprise networks.

Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., said, “We are delighted to be joining forces with Nokia to bring our industryleading 5G RAN innovations to a wider array of use-cases and settings. The flexibility and low-price points of 5G Smart Node products resulting from our close engagement with the team at Nokia will help accelerate the adoption of 5G in the residential and small office markets.”

Tommi Uitto, president, mobile networks, Nokia, said, “We are proud to be working with Qualcomm Technologies to utilize its chipset technology in our 5G Smart Node solutions. The 5G small cells arena is an area we are delivering unmatched innovation and working with Qualcomm Technologies is a

testament to our mission to bring everyone into the world of 5G. We look forward to continuing to work with Qualcomm Technologies and leading the charge to 5G.” Nokia is working with Qualcomm to bring one-of-a-kind 5G RAN technologies into Nokia’s Smart Node portfolio, delivering 5G in a compact, cost-effective plug-and-play package for smaller indoor network use-cases. Nokia’s use of Qualcomm Technologies’ innovations will enable 5G deployment at a significantly lower price point and smaller form factor, lowering the barriers to entry into the 5G-powered world. The working relationship underscores Nokia’s commitment to selecting best-in-class partners for the delivery of unmatched solutions within the industry’s only end-to-end 5G portfolio.

Fujitsu to Introduce Private 5G Services These services will be available from October 8 in Japan.

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Fujitsu will be soon launching its services that realize the use of private wireless systems, such as private 5G and private LTE, in order to accelerate digital transformation (hereafter, DX) for customers.

"Private Wireless Managed Services" provides one-stop services for smooth implementation of private wireless systems and for use in real business operations; including PoC (Proof of Concept), license application and radio wave measurement, design and construction, operation and maintenance of the system.

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"Private Wireless Cloud Services" will be offered on a monthly usage basis to facilitate communications functions and related management functions in private wireless systems.

"Private 5G Partnership Program," a solution cocreation program that takes advantage of Fujitsu's private 5G and other technologies and expertise is launched, as well as the advanced technologies of its partners, to be tested at "Fujitsu Collaboration Lab," a verification facility in Kawasaki, Japan.

In addition, these services will be compatible with the 4.7 GHz band stand-alone (SA) 5G base stations, which are scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, realizing private wireless cloud services to optimize deployment costs and create a flexible communications environment with a view to innovating Fujitsu's customers' businesses and helping solve their challenges.

Under the new organization "5G Vertical Service Office," which was established on May to strengthen vertically integrated services, Fujitsu will continue to expand the lineup of private 5G products, services, and solutions, as well as contribute to its customers' DX through the abundant solutions provided

by Fujitsu and its partners.

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