EEWeb Pulse 119 - Dialog Semiconductor by EEWeb Magazines

Jalal Bagherli CEO of Dialog Semiconductor

Enhancing Factory Performance World's Fastest MCUs

CURVE

Ahead of the How Dialog's Diversified Products Reflect the Industry Trends of the Future

Bringing your

concepts to reality 1.

is as easy as...

Create schematics, technical diagrams, and flowcharts using your browser. • 600+ Symbol Library • Share Schematics Online • Export High Quality Images

digikey.com/schemeit

Free and easy-to-use circuit simulator that runs in your browser. • SPICE Simulator • AC/DC/Transient Sims • Waveform Viewer

partsim.com

3. Full featured online CAD application for designing and manufacturing electronics hardware. • Schematic Capture • PCB Layout • BOM Integration

pcbweb.com

CONTENTS

PULSE

Featured Products

This week’s latest products from EEWeb.

Dell Compellent Automated Flash Solution

Dell promises to change the economics of storage systems to ensure the deliverance of flash to a whole new set of customers.

Jalal Bagherli

CEO of Dialog Semiconductor

A conversation about Dialog's new diversified products and how they are reflecting the industry trends of the future. Changing the Economics of Storage Compellent, acquired by Dell in 2010, has been in the automated tiered storage business since 2002. “Since Compellent was founded, it was a leader in tiering capabilities,” said John Shirley, Senior Product Planning Manager at Dell. The Dell Compellent storage system compliments Dell’s award-winning storage portfolio. The new tiered technology, first unveiled in June at the Dell Enterprise Forum, combines high-speed Single Level Cell (SLC) flash memory with slower but cheaper Multi Level Cell (MLC) flash memory. Dell’s powerful data movement engine automatically tiers data between the SLC and MLC flash memories and to the hard drives, dramatically simplifying management and reducing costs. The result is a high-performance storage array priced under a traditional system using 15,000-rpm hard drives. While the prohibitive cost of flash will likely prevent such storage systems from overtaking all hard drives in the near future,

Shirley envisions Dell Compellent storage as an ideal replacement for traditional high performance 15k drives, “What we do see is that flash will start to overtake some of the performance tuned hard drives—the 10k and 15k hard drives are a really good candidate for us to start looking at being able to deliver this new flash optimized solution.”

It’s All About the Customers At the core of Dell Compellent’s tiered storage is virtualization. Where other storage architectures fall short of true storage virtualization, a completely virtualized environment reduces administrative overhead. As Shirley explained, “The biggest challenge is to make sure that you completely virtualize everything so the customer doesn’t have to get down and manage each individual device.” In the old days, a customer would have to go out and micro-manage a storage array, “And if you think about what a storage

Dialog's SmarteXite Lights the Way

The SmarteXite platform is the first LED driver technology to directly and easily support wireless connectivity. "The biggest challenge

PIC32MZ 32-bit MCU Family is to make sure that you completely virtualize

Microchip's highly integrated MCU family is everything so the customer have for powering the intelligent, an idealdoesn't solution to get down andconnected manage devices of the future. each individual device."

Enhanced Factory Performance Dialog Semiconductor with Queuing Theory

Lights the Way

A new solution to ensure that factory managers have an effective decision making tool to help address capacity constraints.

RTZ

with smarteXite Return to Zero Comic For over twenty years, Dialog Semiconductor has been setting the world alight with award-winning lighting solutions and their recent announcement of the smarteXite™ platform promises to make it even brighter. The smarteXite™ platform is the first LED driver technology to directly and easily support wireless connectivity; digital dimming and intelligent sensor control, enabling a new generation of highly flexible, programmable LED driver ICs for smart lighting applications.

10 18 24 32 42 49

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE Low Voltage 16-bit I/O Expander NXP I/O expanders provide a simple solution when additional I/Os are needed while keeping interconnections to a minimum, for example, in battery-powered mobile applications for interfacing to sensors, push buttons, keypad, etc. In addition to providing a flexible set of GPIOs, it simplifies interconnection of a processor running at one voltage level to I/O devices operating at a different (usually higher) voltage level. The PCA6416A has built-in level shifting feature that makes these devices extremely flexible in mixed signal environments...Read More

Dual Low-Ohmic SPDT Analog Switch The NX5L2750C is a dual low-ohmic single-pole double-throw analog switch suitable for use as an analog or digital 2 : 1 multiplexer/demultiplexer. Each switch has a digital select input (nS), two independent inputs/outputs (nY0 and nY1) and a common input/output (nZ). The NX5L2750C is capable of switching audio signals with negative swing without the need of a coupling capacitor. Schmitt trigger action at the digital inputs makes the circuit tolerant to slower input rise and fall times...Read More

Charger IC with Auto Load Current Distribution R2J20052NS is a semiconductor integrated circuit designed for Lithium-ion battery charger control IC. Built-in constant current and constant voltage control circuit suitable to charge Lithium-ion battery. Built-in dual input (AC adaptor and USB) and dual output (system and battery) control circuit allows to supply the system power and the battery charging power simultaneously from AC adaptor or USB power input. The input current limitation of AC adaptor and USB can be set individually...Read More

Adjustable Boost-Buck DC/DC Converter The LM3248 is a PWM/PFM Boost-Buck DC/DC converter that provides efficient utilization of battery power over a wide voltage range. The device architecture is suitable for advanced RF front-end systems that demand dynamic voltage and current to support converged power amplifier architectures operating in 2G/3G/4G and 3GPP/ LTE modes. For example, the LM3248 is designed to produce higher output voltages while maintaining PFM mode as required by some new reduced-power CMOS PAs. The extremely fast Boost-Buck function reduces RF PA overhead power dissipation, extending battery talk time...Read More

Ultra-Small DAC with SPI Interface The MAX5703/MAX5704/MAX5705 single-channel, low-power, 8-/10-/12-bit, voltageoutput digital-to-analog converters (DACs) include output buffers and an internal reference that is selectable to be 2.048V, 2.500V, or 4.096V. The MAX5703/MAX5704/ MAX5705 accept a wide supply voltage range of 2.7V to 5.5V with extremely low power (< 1mW) consumption to accommodate most low-voltage applications. A precision external reference input allows rail-to-rail operation and presents a 100k立 (typ) load to an external reference...Read More

Visit: eeweb.com

FEATURED PRODUCTS RF MOSFET Gate Driver Dev Boards IXYS announced the introduction of the DVRFD630 and DVRFD631 RF MOSFET Gate Driver Development Boards. These general-purpose circuit boards are designed to demonstrate the performance of the IXRFD630 and IXRFD631 RF MOSFET gate drivers, and provide a building block for high speed power circuit development. The IXRFD630 or IXRFD631 RF MOSFET gate driver is installed and the boards are factory assembled and tested...Read More

3.125 Gbps Parallel CDR Transceiver Fujitsu’s parallel transceiver, which is available in 2/4/8/16-channel width CDR receiver and transmitter arrays, is for ASICs that perform at high bandwidth data communications. The macro meets SONET/SDH OC-48 jitter tolerance mask requirement. The macro has 175mW/ch power dissipation (including Rx, Tx, CDR, bias circuit and PLL, maximum pre-emphasis, 16ch case) and runs under power supply of 1.8V±0.15V, 3.3V±0.30V and junction temperature of -40°C ~ 125°C...Read More

Light Sensor with IR Blocking Filter The ISL29125 is a low power, high sensitivity red, green, and blue color light sensor (RGB) with an I2C (SMBus compatible) interface. Its state-of-the-art photodiode array provides an accurate RGB spectral response and excellent light source to light source variation (LS2LS). The ISL29125 is designed to reject IR in light sources allowing the device to operate in environments from sunlight to dark rooms. The integrating ADC rejects 50Hz and 60Hz flicker caused by artificial light sources...Read More

Driver Core with Electrical Interface The 2SC0635T is the first commercially-available dual-channel IGBT gate driver core for 4.5 kV IGBT with electrical interface and integrated DC/DC converter. This gate driver unit provides functional isolation according to IEC 61800-5-1 and UL-347 and is a cost effective and reliable alternative to more expensive fiber-optic solutions. The core functionality integrates essential control and protection features while maintaining full design flexibility with regard to protection, interfacing and the partitioning of the power inverter... Read More

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE Projected Capacitive Controller The MTCH6301 device is a turnkey projected capacitive touch controller that allows easy integration of multitouch and gestures to create a rich user interface in your design. This controller’s sophisticated combination of Self and Mutual capacitive scanning for XY touchscreens and touchpads enables a host of features including: single and dual-touch drawing, the reporting of 11 single-finger gestures and the detection of up to 10 touches. The MTCH6301 supports sensor designs with up to 13 × 18 channels and cover lenses up to 5 mm...Read More

12-bit Magnetic Angle Position Sensor The AS5161 is a contactless magnetic angle position sensor for accurate angular measurement over a full turn of 360o. A sub range can be programmed to achieve the best resolution for the application. It is a systemon-chip, combining integral Hall elements, analog front end, digital signal processing and best in class automotive protection features in a single device. To measure the angle, only a simple two-pole magnet, rotating over the center of the chip, is required. The magnet may be placed above or below the IC...Read More

LIN System Basis IC The new MLX80050 from Melexis extends its successful LIN transceiver and system basis product line for the simple and effective development of LIN slaves. This IC combines a physical layer LIN transceiver according to LIN 2.x as well as SAEJ2602 with a 5 V voltage regulator with RESET output for the connected microcontroller. This IC is optimized in accordance with the increased EMC requirements for single wire bus systems as well as the “Hardware Requirements for LIN, CAN and Flexray Interfaces in Automotive Applications” defined from German OEMs...Read More

Dual PCM CODEC with Volume AK2303LV is a 3.3V dual PCM CODEC-Filter most suitable for analog line card of PBX switch. CODEC-Filter is compliant with G711/G712 recommendations. It includes Selectable A-law/u-law function, Internal Gain Adjustment from +6dB to –18dB by 1dB step control. All of these functions are controlled by the internal register accessed through the serial interface. Additionally, channel mute and A-law/u-law selection is controlled by the hard pin. PCM interface of AK2303LV supports Long Frame, Short Frame clock formats and GCI format. 4.096MHz, 2.048MHz bit clock input is available for PCM interface...Read More

Visit: eeweb.com

FEATURED PRODUCTS Two-Wire Peak Detecting Sensor The ATS682LSH is a Hall-effect integrated circuit and rare earth pellet combination that provides a user-friendly solution for true zero-speed digital gear-tooth sensing in two-wire applications. This small package with an optimized two-wire leadframe can be easily assembled and used in conjunction with a wide variety of gear shapes and sizes. The integrated circuit incorporates a dual-element Hall-effect circuit and signal processing that switches in response to differential magnetic signals created by ferrous gear teeth...Read More

Omnipolar Detection Hall Effect ICs The demands for extended battery operation, greater reliability and increased features are driving the designs of mobile phones, notebook computers, video cameras, navigation systems and game controllers to use smaller, higher performance components. Ultra-small, hall effect, noncontact switches from ROHM Electronics can simplify and enhance your designs while offering the benefits of high-reliability and low power consumption. The ICs have omnipolar detection, micropower operation, and an ultra-small outline package...Read More

Low Power Digital Audio Interface The EP7309 is designed for ultra-low-power applications such as digital music players, Internet appliances, smart cellular phones or any handheld device that features the added capability of digital audio decompression. The core-logic functionality of the device is built around an ARM720T processor with 8 KB of four-way, set-associative unified cache and a write buffer. Incorporated into the ARM720T is an enhanced memory management unit (MMU), which allows for support of sophisticated operating systems like Microsoft速 Windows CE速 and Linux速. The EP7309 is designed for ultra-low-power operation...Read More

DC-DC Converter with 3 kVDC Isolation Murata announced the MEF1 series of 1 Watt regulated DC-DC converters from Murata Power Solutions. Suitable for use in industrial, automation and instrumentation applications, these tightly regulated single output converters rated to better than 1% of nominal output voltage are packaged in a fully encapsulated single-in-line through-hole format occupying less than 1.17 cm squared footprint. The MEF1 converters are available with either 1kVDC or 3kVDC input to output isolation, the latter model having an enhanced immunity to voltage transients...Read More

Visit: eeweb.com

FEATURED PRODUCTS High Bandwidth Low Latency DMC The CoreLinkTM DMC-400 Dynamic Memory Controller provides support for multiple channels to interface to the full specification of either DDR3, DDR2 or LPDDR2 DRAM. The CoreLink DMC-400 offers excellent integration with the CoreLink 400 interconnect products (CCI-400 and NIC-400) via AMBA3 AXI or AMBA 4 interfaces, sharing QoS mechanisms and power management. The CoreLink DMC-400 is ARM’s fourth generation of Memory Controller. CoreLink DMC-400 has been designed to meet the needs of different masters in the system while trying to achieve maximum bandwidth from the DRAM. CoreLink DMC-400 is a key part of ARM...Read More

100W Single Output Power Supply Astrodyne’s enclosed switching power supplies provide the most flexible OEM system power solutions from 15 W to 2,400 W for industrial control, instrumentation, medical, networking and telecom applications. Most carry full safety certifications and offer wide range universal input and Input/Output screw terminal connections. From the high density PMK and MK series to the low cost AS and RS series, product selections are available in single, dual, triple and quad outputs from 3.3VDC to 48VDC. Some models, such as the PSP series and SP series offer active power factor correction and parallel operation for use in large-system power applications...Read More

Digital Step Attenuator The IDTF1950 is a part of a family of Glitch Free DSAs optimized for the demanding requirements of communications Infrastructure. These devices are offered in a compact 4×4 QFN package with 50 Ω impedances for ease of integration into the radio system. Digital Step attenuators are used in Receivers and Transmitters to provide gain control. The IDTF1950 is a 7-bit step attenuator optimized for these demanding applications. The silicon design has very low insertion loss and low distortion . The device has pinpoint accuracy and settles final attenuation value within 400 ns...Read More

Visit: eeweb.com

Make The

World Your Lab Transform iPad, iPhone, & iPod Into An Oscilloscope • Ultra Portable • Two Analog Channels • 4x Faster Than iMSO-104

oscium.com

PULSE

Dell Compellent

Automated Flash Storage Solution The explosion of virtualization and cloud computing has strained the capabilities of traditional storage products. Those big metal boxes common to enterprise storage date back to the 1980s, but todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s storage requirements are far heavier and more random than storage designers could have imagined 30 years ago. While the need to both read and write colossal amounts of data has propelled the development of flash technologies in an otherwise staid storage industry, sticker shocked IT centers have been reluctant to embrace the benefits. The typical approach to high-performance storage is to utilize caching and storage tiering solutions that place subsets of data into relatively small amounts of flash memory. Although these solutions increase performance without adding significantly to the cost, they fail to deliver the end goal of delivering consisting performance across the entire data set. Dell however has taken a different approach. With the announcement of their all-flash Compellent storage solution, Dell promises to change the economics of highperformance storage systems and ensure the deliverance of flash to a whole new set of customers.

Visit: eeweb.com

TECH ARTICLE

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

Changing the Economics of Storage Compellent, acquired by Dell in 2010, has been in the automated tiered storage business since 2002. “Since Compellent was founded, it was a leader in tiering capabilities,” said John Shirley, Senior Product Planning Manager at Dell. The Dell Compellent storage system compliments Dell’s award-winning storage portfolio. The new tiered technology, first unveiled in June at the Dell Enterprise Forum, combines high-speed Single Level Cell (SLC) flash memory with slower but cheaper Multi Level Cell (MLC) flash memory. Dell’s powerful data movement engine automatically tiers data between the SLC and MLC flash memories and to the hard drives, dramatically simplifying management and reducing costs. The result is a high-performance storage array priced under a traditional system using 15,000-rpm hard drives. While the prohibitive cost of flash will likely prevent such storage systems from overtaking all hard drives in the near future,

Visit: eeweb.com

Shirley envisions Dell traditional high perfor start to overtake some 15k hard drives are a r able to deliver this new

It’s All About the

At the core of Dell Com storage architectures virtualized environme explained, “The bigge virtualize everything s each individual device and micro-manage a s

l Compellent storage as an ideal replacement for rmance 15k drives, “What we do see is that flash will e of the performance tuned hard drives—the 10k and really good candidate for us to start looking at being w flash optimized solution.”

TECH ARTICLE

e Customers

mpellent’s tiered storage is virtualization. Where other fall short of true storage virtualization, a completely ent reduces administrative overhead. As Shirley est challenge is to make sure that you completely so the customer doesn’t have to get down and manage e.” In the old days, a customer would have to go out storage array, “And if you think about what a storage

"The biggest challenge is to make sure that you completely virtualize everything so the customer doesn't have to get down and manage each individual device."

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

"The reliability [of flash storage architected correctly, is exce

array is,” Shirley added, “it’s a large collection of storage devices (up to 960) behind a pair of controllers, which manage those drives. Traditionally, IT administrator would need to manually group hard drives together and assign those resources to a server or application. Changes like adding more storage, adjusting RAID levels, or changing performance characteristics required a lot of manual effort from a storage administrator—it was very time consuming, inefficient, and potentially error prone.” Another core feature of Dell Compellent is Thin Provisioning. Also called Dynamic Capacity, this feature helps optimize disk utilization within the virtualized storage environment, creating a flexible, efficient virtualized environment with the pooled storage resources required of effective tiering. With Thin Provisioning, it is not necessary to hold aside space for snapshots or new writes. Because even free blocks are preformatted during the provisioning process yet no zeroes are written to set aside volume space, administrators can expand or shrink volumes on demand. “It’s very easy to manage it at an administrator level,” Shirley said, “just a couple of clicks and you can provision more storage to a server.”

Data Storage on Ultra-thin Drives The Dell Compellent Storage system can be seamlessly scaled with the latest generation expansion enclosures. Administrators can mix industrystandard drive technologies or introduce new and emerging technologies over time and on the fly to support SAN and NAS environments. The SC200 supports a combination of up to 12 hot-pluggable 3.5” SAS HDDs, and yield a total of 48TB per enclosure with 4TB drives. The SC220 supports up to 24 hot-pluggable 2.5” drives with a total yield of 38.4TB maximum per enclosure. The SC220 also supports flash-optimized solutions using both HDDs and SSDs. To address the needs of growing but less active data, Compellent also offers the SC280 dense enclosure. Up to 2.8 times denser than traditional 2U 3.5” disk-drive enclosure solutions, it can handle up to 336TB of hard drive capacity and provides a cost-effective solution to keeping large amounts of data online in a very dense form factor.

Visit: eeweb.com

The Future of S

According to Shirley correctly, is excellen storage architectur high-endurance fla work load and fill up includes the MLC fl drives are much fa traditional 15K drive their design and res While both SL applications, integr each has put Dell at believe that the Co virtualized and desi we have the best so where that’s headin in the future that w

TECH ARTICLE

systems], if ellent."

Storage

y, “The reliability [of flash storage systems], if architected nt.” With automated tiering, the Dell Compellent reflects re at its best. All incoming data is written to 400GB SLC ash drives, but as these drives absorb the brunt of the p, the data is automatically moved to a lower tier which lash drives. Enormous in capacity, the 1.6TB MLC flash aster, larger, and more cost effective to operate than es and once stored on that tier, the Compellent utilizes sponsiveness for the majority of the read activity. LC and MLC flash are now available for enterprise rating them in a way that maximizes the performance of t the forefront of the industry. As Shirley concluded, “We ompellent architecture was designed to be completely igned for tiering capabilities. We feel very strongly that olution out there. When we look at the flash market and ng, we believe that there’s going to be even more devices we can tier to.”

Click below to watch a video overview:

Visit: eeweb.com

Online Circuit Simulator PartSim includes a full SPICE simulation engine, web-based schematic capture tool, and a graphical waveform viewer.

Some Features include:

• Simulate in a standard Web Browser • AC/DC and Transient Simulations • Schematic Editor • WaveForm Viewer • Easily Share Simulations

Try-it Now! www.partsim.com

Factory Direct Transformers 18 Hour Express Delivery ¥ Buy Online

DIRECT LINKS Power Switchmode Our transformers are 100% final tested for quality. ZERO DEFECTS GUARANTEED

Inductors Audio & Telephony High Speed Data Economy Audio Line Matching

Prem Magnetics, Inc. Johnsburg, IL 60051 USA

Call Us: 815-385-2700

Instrument & Current CRT Display Magnetics

PULSE

CURVE

Ahead of the How Dialog's Diversified Products Reflect the Industry Trends of the Future

Dialog is a diversified semiconductor company that offers integrated mixed signal and analog products to a variety of industries. The company focuses on energy-efficient applications with its technology portfolio ranging from audio, short-range wireless, power conversion and multi-touch products. With the trend of energy-efficiency and smart technology on the rise, Dialog has its eyes set on the future with an array of new applications in the LED lighting, power management, and more. We spoke with Jalal Bagherli, CEO of Dialog Semiconductor, about some of the new products the company is introducing, some of the company's target industries, and the vision of the future for the IC market.

Visit: eeweb.com

INTERVIEW

Jalal Bagherli CEO of Dialog Semiconductor

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

" Dialog's differentiation is that we use patented digital control technology that eliminates many of the secondaryside external components typically required by conventional approaches."

For someone new to Dialog Semiconductor, how would you sum up the product offerings? Dialog Semiconductor is a well-established company, started nearly 30 years ago and has been through various stages of growth. In 1999, the company became independent from Temic-Telefunken through a private equity buyout and is now listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Dialog is also included in the TecDAX Index, which tracks the performance of the 30 largest German technology sector companies. We are best known for power management integrated circuits (ICs) with differentiated power saving technologies for high growth, high volume portable devices, including smartphones, tablets and mobile devices. Most recently, we’ve added digital LED drivers for solid state LED bulb applications, digital AC/DC converter ICs for phone and appliance chargers and adapters, shortrange wireless connectivity ICs, and display sensors for cost-effective, premium multitouch displays in consumer laptops, All-InOne PCs and Ultrabooks™.

Visit: eeweb.com

Some of these technologies were added through our recent acquisitions of iWatt and SiTel Semiconductor. We work primarily with large smartphone and tablet PC providers and sell customized chips that solve specific power needs for smartphone designs. In addition, we provide a range of differentiated standard products.

What markets does Dialog Semiconductor serve? What are some typical applications of your products? Dialog is split into three business groups: mobile systems, power conversion and connectivity, which also includes some legacy automotive and industrial products. The mobile systems group is the largest part of our revenue and the products revolve around personal and portable devices. These range primarily, in terms of volume, from tablets and smartphones to lesser volume products like MP3 players and voice recorders. In the future, we’ll move toward wearable technology and medical applications that will interface wirelessly with portable devices. What we provide is highly integrated power management chips that take care of the power requirements inside

INTERVIEW the devices. Our power management chips are responsible for converting energy from, let’s say, a lithium ion battery in a smartphone, to different voltage levels and current ratings that different components within the smartphone or tablet may require. The degree to which you convert energy may vary, but ultimately, you can help the device achieve a longer battery lifetime through an efficient power management solution. The second group is our power conversion group, which is our latest business venture. This business group was a result of our recent acquisition of iWatt. With, iWatt we acquired two products lines: AC to DC power converter ICs and LED solid state lighting drivers. AC to DC converters target a variety of wall charger and adapter applications for smartphones, tablets, Ultrabooks and home appliances. Our differentiation is that we use patented digital control technology that eliminates many of the secondary-side external components typically required by conventional approaches. Our technology enables accurate voltage and current control for adapters and chargers with a much smaller form factor, reduced cost, lower standby power consumption, and higher efficiency. The second line of products is the drivers for LED solid state lighting. With legislation in most countries banning the use of incandescent bulbs, LEDs are now increasingly used in lighting and we target the high growth of the domestic retrofit bulb market. These two product lines have a lot of synergy and share the core digital power conversion technology. For example, you have to convert the wall AC current to DC before you can do the charging of the battery or driving of the LED. The final group is connectivity, including automotive and industrial products. Automotive and industrial are our legacy product lines that we’ve had for several years. In automotive, we create efficient motor controllers for car windshield wipers, working with Europe’s largest automotive suppliers. The connectivity is the biggest piece, which came from the acquisition of SiTel two years ago. This acquisition brought short-range wireless expertise to our company as SiTel was the leading supplier of digital cordless phone chips. The types of products we are developing today leverage the same technology and include high quality wireless audio headsets that are used in call centers,

banks and offices. In addition, we have brought the expertise and synergies of very low-energy design into this group, which has helped develop the lowest power Bluetooth solutions, which will go into production in Q4 of this year.

Could we talk about some of the new products Dialog is coming out with? LED lighting, as you know, is an area that is about to explode in terms of volume as the majority of governments around the world begin to implement power regulations banning inefficient incandescent lighting and push more efficient, cleaner LED lighting. The increased market growth of LED lighting was one of the biggest attractions to acquiring iWatt.

iWatt LED Driver

iWatt brings both non-dimmable and dimmable solid state lighting LED driver technologies to our portfolio. One problem with LED bulbs is they may not necessarily work with the existing dimmers you may find in your home. However, iWatt LED drivers use our patented intelligent digital dimming control with advanced analytics and algorithms that automatically identify and adapt to the dimmer type, making LED bulbs that use them highly compatible with the majority of dimmers around the world. Our digital technology yields the added benefit of flicker-free dimming across a dimming range of 1-100 percent. An additional feature of our LED drivers is improved thermal management. Heat is the enemy of LED bulbs, particularly in installations Visit: eeweb.com

ger supports precise current/voltage charging as well as pre charge PULSE

hermally regulated enabling higher capacity batteries to be rapidly

where airflow is restricted. Poor thermal design can result in overheating, which can dramatically reduce bulb operating life. The iWatt technology monitors the temperature inside the sealed LED bulbUSB and,suspend rather than just or peripherals and memory running up to 3.6V. mode shutting the light off when conditions get too over-voltage conditions. hot, it allows a “graceful,” stepped reduction of LED current that dims the bulb brightness until the temperature is reduced and it does this in a way barely discernible to users.

CB’s.

n with a full discharged battery. The power efficiency and flexibility

We also recently introduced our latest family of drivers for intelligent LED lighting, which we call smarteXite™. SmarteXite technology is based on fully configurable logic and enables ching/linear regulators may be configured for a variety of start up control of LED bulbs and lighting systems via low energy Bluetooth® or Wi-Fi from your smartphone. Our first product, the iW6401 is the world’s first programmable retrofit LED lamp driver IC, which allows the bulb to be ble on up to four supply domains. Dialog’s patented Smart Mirror configured via software, reducing the bill™ of materials, cost and time-to-market for our customers. Additionally, there is a lot of innovation coming in different forms of digital dimming control, which we also integrate.

Power Management IC Earlier, you mentioned power Available in a 64 WL-CSP 4x4mm, 0.5mm management ICs. What ispackage the vision you see for the future of the IC market? This market is experiencing somewhat secular growth. The reason being that all of us carry mobile and portable electronic devices. Anything that is portable is typically battery powered and if you have a battery, you typically want it to last longer. This means

Visit: eeweb.com

you need a power management chip to convert the energy to power on the device and then to efficiently manage the system power so that you don’t waste energy and can preserve your battery lifetime. For example, smartphones have more features crammed into them with each new generation. All of the new components added to support these features, including advanced multicore application processors require more sophisticated power management. Further, the added components are making the smartphone larger, requiring higher capacity batteries when the drive is to have the phone smaller and thinner. What we do is extremely high integrated power management, which integrates many of these components into a single chip and through smart system optimization can save 30 per cent or more of the power in a system, while also making it much smaller. The power management IC also needs to dissipate a lot of heat because of the peak currents in the system. Phone designs that previously used more discrete power components – like FET transistors –now use integrated single-chip power management ICs with more digital control added on board. In addition, we are developing technology for things like faster methods of charging or intelligent charging where we also analyze the state and health of the chemicals in the battery. We are seeing things like fuel gauging, which means that systems can determine the amount of energy left in your battery very accurately, down to one percent, so you can actually plan your phone calls and music or video playback without running out of battery power at a critical moment. As you can see, there are a lot of compelling features being added to these highly integrated power management ICs from our side compared to what was traditionally, a few simple discrete components performing power management. Giving you a look into the future, typically in a smartphone you have a power management IC that manages battery power. The wall charger is sitting on the wall connected to the mains voltage and converts from 220 or 110 volts down to USB levels of around five volts to power the smartphone or tablet, with no real additional intelligence added. After the acquisition of iWatt, Dialog has solutions for both sides of the wire – the wall charger and the power management system within

INTERVIEW the smartphone. By controlling both sides, it’s also possible to get them to communicate intelligently through a simple digital algorithm and recognize what kind of product you are trying to charge or the size of the battery or type of equipment. If the receiving device is able to be charged at a higher voltage, then the wall converter can dynamically scale the voltage to deliver the exact level required by the phone or tablet at any given time. What this means for the user is a much faster battery charge time – up to 75% faster – safely and conveniently. Several leading industry players have recently developed protocols for fast charging and, through our acquisition of iWatt, we have already delivered some of the first digital AC to DC controllers compatible with them. Fast charging is a compelling feature for consumers and portable device makers. For example, if there is a company that manufactures phones and tablets, they may decide to do one universal charger that can figure out which device it is charging and adjust the current and voltage rating appropriately.

Where is Dialog located? Our official headquarters is in Germany, in a small city called Kirchheim, close to Stuttgart. This is where our biggest facility in terms of manufacturing support, finance and back office operations is located. However, you’ll find us in multiple locations throughout the world as we have offices and design centers in the UK, U.S., Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey, The Netherlands and multiple sites across Asia. While our management team is located across the globe, we collaborate regularly to discuss strategy and hold operational reviews. We made a virtue of the fact that we are distributed around the world in the sense that we are trying to build a major global company. This is part of our culture and we have a pretty flat structure, so the decision making can be quite fast. Each center, apart from one or two, has around 100-150 people, so everyone can recognize each other and knows one another by first name. It is an interesting experiment in organizational design.

"We made a virtue of the fact that we are distributed around the world in the sense that we are trying to build a major global company."

I understand you are a member of the EMEA Leadership Council for the Global Semiconductor Association. From that perspective, could you talk about your role there and what you see as the largest challenge that faces the industry? Yes, that’s right, and until recently I was chairman of the region. The EMEA Council works to replicate the feeling of Silicon Valley in Europe as there isn’t a hub to bring together a lot of semiconductor or high-tech applications. In Europe, you have a large number of small countries and the industry is quite fragmented. To create a closer community and bring leaders of different semiconductor companies together, the council conducts regular forums and networking and business events. One challenge we see, from the perspective of a European-based company, is the lack of funding for start-ups. A few years ago, it was common to invest in semiconductor start-ups in North America, Asia and Europe. However, due to the cost of bleeding-edge technology and the high risk of capital expenditures required to reach success, particularly in Europe, not many venture capitalists invest in semiconductor startups any more. These companies have moved onto mobile or cloud based software investments. Thus, at Dialog for strategic partnerships we look at start-ups not just in Europe but also in the U.S. and Asia to fill this gap. ■ Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

Dial

L 24

Visit: eeweb.com

TECH ARTICLE

log Semiconductor

Lights the Way

with smarteXite For over twenty years, Dialog Semiconductor has been setting the world alight with award-winning lighting solutions and their recent announcement of the smarteXiteâ&#x201E;˘ platform promises to make it even brighter. The smarteXiteâ&#x201E;˘ platform is the first LED driver technology to directly and easily support wireless connectivity; digital dimming and intelligent sensor control, enabling a new generation of highly flexible, programmable LED driver ICs for smart lighting applications.

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE Raising the IQ of Smart Lighting Smart lighting - lighting that automatically dims or shuts off when it’s not needed – represents one of the largest near-term opportunities in energy savings. Stefan Zudrell-Koch, Director of Strategic Marketing and Business Development at Dialog Semiconductor notes “By making smart lighting integral with the Internet of Things, we aim to make light a controllable part of

“The smarteXite™ platform is a new generation of LED driver ICs.” our environment to increase comfort, to save energy, and to make life better.” Although the outlook for smart lighting is strong, the schemas that link the products remain largely proprietary and the incompatibility of smart lighting technologies has hindered its growth. With the smarteXite™ platform, Dialog sought to eliminate these barriers and make smart

Visit: eeweb.com

lighting even smarter. “One of the difficulties that consumers and system providers face is the limitation of traditional dimmers. The opportunity therefore lies in providing technologies to eliminate this particular problem. Our research shows that the whole field of wireless lighting and wireless communication for lighting is one of those technologies, and is estimated to grow within the next 5-7 years,” Stefan told EEWeb. The smarteXite™ platform is a new generation of LED driver ICs that combines Dialog’s strengths in configurable power management with state-of-the-art digital signal processing design. “This platform focuses on two main areas of innovation: a completely new approach in the way lamps can be dimmed with multiple lighting interfaces and a new way of developing and supporting the manufacturing process. Together, these make up our new smarteXite LED driver platform,” said Stefan. The first device from the smarteXite™ family, the iW6401, offers a versatile “one size fits all” platform for a wide range of smart lighting LED applications. Intelligent color or proximity sensing devices can be directly

TECH ARTICLE

connected and powered by the iW6401’s integrated power management unit, reducing external components and cost. Using a standard I2C digital interface, the iW6401 can also serve as a power frontend for a variety of wireless communication modules like low-energy Bluetooth, WiFi, or ZigBee. As Stefan explained, “We decided not to focus on or to integrate one particular technology, but to offer a very flexible interface that makes our LED driver very easy to connect to any kind of wireless communication module. Typically, wireless communication is enabled with modules that [carry the] transmission of wireless data, which is a very specific RF technology. Those modules can easily connect to our LED driver with a flexible digital interface. What is even more important is our driver

provides stabilized and regulated power to the external module.” In addition to supporting a variety of wireless communication modules, the smarteXite™ family also supports multiple dimming interfaces including digital dimming via the new Ledotron™ digital dimming protocol and toggle-switch based dimming. The iW6401’s all integrated digital loadline transmission (DLT) receiver module supports the Ledotron™ IEC 62756-1 dimming protocol as a plug and play solution. – no software design or specific Ledotron™ knowledge is needed. This makes the design of Ledotron™ enabled lamps extremely fast and straight forward. Stefan notes, “Ledotron is a new technology on track to replace traditional dimmers with a digital equivalent in

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

“Ledotron is a new technology on track to replace traditional dimmers with a digital equivalent”

order to remove all of the limitations and compatibility issues with traditional technologies. Ledotron is using the power line to transfer digital information in a different way than traditional modulating power line communication. The big advantage of Ledotron is that it’s fully compliant with all standards in terms of EMI and noise. One of the most important things is that it takes out losses from the lamp. It’s really making the lamp designs very efficient and keeps the performance of the LED at a maximum. Ledotron™ follows a retro-fit approach in replacing phase cut dimmers and by supporting new features like group addressing, scene and color control it’s also a real smart-fit technology. ” Less is Smarter Dialog’s versatile “one size fits all” smarteXite™ technology outsmarts its component heavy opponents by utilizing the full potential of high-density logic. “This allows us to do much more processing on the signals that we get from very few discrete components. Because of this more advanced processing, we get better, more precise and accurate control without the need for external filtering or signal conditioning,”

Visit: eeweb.com

explained Stefan. Combining Dialog’s state-ofthe-art digital signal processing design with configurable power management, speeds development, reduces time to market and ensures the interoperable use of smarteXite based designs with a variety of interfaces. The iW6401 software guides smart lighting developers through the step-by-step process of building and configuring bulbs or LED converters and eliminates the time intensive iterative hardware design process. As Stefan told us, “One of the concepts we have implemented here is what we have called software-defined or data-defined drivers. Instead of having a driver IC setup with given references and control routes where the user has to build his or her hardware around, we assume a

TECH ARTICLE

given hardware, which can be standard over a range of products and the actual operating conditions and references are designed in memory. This makes the whole design so much easier and more straightforward.” Once the user’s design is complete, Dialog’s self-contained design software even generates an optimized bill of materials and a programming data record. Final stage digital calibration allows bulb manufacturers to adjust the illumination calibration settings like brightness and color temperature via the A/C main terminals. This final stage calibration allows lower tolerance LEDs to be used with less binning or waste and can be done even in the installed state, making the iW6401 ideal for Zhaga compliant power supplies. The iW6401 can also be configured to control lamp temperature using an on or off chip temperature sensor together with a configurable temperature control state machine. “This is a complete environment, which helps the designer to make full use of the flexibility while keeping the design process lean, fast and focused,” concluded Stefan.

“Because of this more advanced processing, we get better, more precise and accurate control without the need for external filtering or signal conditioning.” —Stefan Zudrell-Koch

Visit: eeweb.com

+LZPNU @V\Y /HYK^HYL 6USPUL 7*)>LI PZ H MYLL IYV^ZLY IHZLK *(+ HWWSPJH[PVU MVY KLZPNUPUN HUK THU\MHJ[\YPUN LSLJ[YVUPJZ OHYK^HYL ^ ^^ 7 * )>L I JVT

:*/,4(;0* *(7;<9,

7*) 3(@6<;

+0.0 2,@ 05;,.9(;065

+LZPNU T\S[P ZOLL[

9V\[L T\S[P SH`LY

9LHS [PTL PU[LNYH[PVU

ZJOLTH[PJZ ^P[O V\Y

IVHYKZ ^P[O Z\WWVY[

^P[O +PNP 2L` JH[HSVN

MHZ[ HUK LHZ` [V \ZL

MVY JVWWLY WV\YZ HUK

HUK IPSS VM TH[LYPHSZ

^PYPUN [VVS

KLZPNU Y\SL JOLJRPUN

THUHNLY

P C B We b . c o m

PURE DIGITAL POWER ZL8800 Combines Digital Control Loop Technology and PMBus™ Interface for the Industry’s Most Advanced Digital Power Solution Not only can you now track and control every aspect of your power supply without additional monitors or sequencers, the ZL8800’s ChargeMode™ control loop technology delivers best-in-class transient response and eliminates the need for complex compensation. This all adds up to a pure digital solution that lowers system cost, reduces design time and increases available board space.

►INTERSIL.COM/ZL8800 Download Datasheet Read App Note Order Demo Board Watch Videos

Stop Coding and Start Designing with Intersil’s PowerNavigatorTM Download free at intersil.com/powernavigator

New Digital Power Knowledge Center Watch and learn at intersil.com/DigiPowerTraining

PULSE

PIC32MZ Embedd

32-BIT

MCU

With the increasin need for sophistic of a new 24-memb MCUs, has answer Microchipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rich p Flash-IP solutions. integrated archite data bandwidth, an powering the intell

FAMILY is Lea 32

Visit: eeweb.com

TECH ARTICLE

ded Connectivity

ng demand for intelligent electronic devices comes the cated MCUs. Microchip, with their recent announcement ber PIC32MZ Embedded Connectivity (EC) family of 32-bit red the call. The PIC32MZ EC MCU family expands upon portfolio of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and . A leader in its class, the PIC32MZ EC MCU familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly ecture is optimized for high-speed connectivity, optimal nd rich interface support â&#x20AC;&#x201D;making it an ideal solution for ligent, connected devices of the future.

ader of Its Class Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE runs algorithms such as AES but operates in parallel with the core, which frees up core processing bandwidth. It has a lot more on it— it has an external bus interface and parallel master port that, through their flexibility, enable some very economical solutions.” The PIC32MZ MCU Family at a Glance

Applications

The PIC32MZ EC MCU family, built around the 32-bit Imagination Technologies MIPS 200MHz microAptiv core, has taken MCU performance and feature innovation to a new level. “This is a powerful core in that it really does optimize how you mix 16and 32-bit structures, keeping the 32-bit performance but maximizing the ability to get a 16-bit kind of density out of your code. This results in an option that is 30% better than our competitors in this space,” said Rich Hoefle, Marketing Director for the PIC32-bit MCU Division. The agile PIC32MZ EC MCU family integrates large memory stores and a broad range of peripherals for data acquisition, connectivity, and security while delivering 330 DMIPS and 3.28 CoreMarks™/MHz. The microAptiv DSP-enhanced core includes 159 DSP instructions, which in combination with the integrated 28 Msps 12-bit ADC delivers a significant signal-processing platform. As Rich told EEWeb, “We added a lot to this product. This has a 48-channel ADC that measures up to 28 megasamples per second. You can have up to 2 megabytes of flash on board and 512 kilobytes of RAM. That flash can be configured into a dualpanel mode and enables live updates, so you can be updating one side of it while you are executing on the other, and you can switch banks without having to reboot the part. We have a high-speed USB port that can be configured for on-the-go, device and hosting modes. It has an Ethernet MAC on board, with dual-CAN peripherals and has 6 UARTs and 6 SPI ports that can also be configured to I2S and I2CTM. The last major feature is a hardware crypto-engine, so it

The feature rich PIC32MZ EC MCU family is ideally suited for next generation embedded applications that require high levels of performance, memory, and advancedperipheral integration. Moreover, because superior graphics displays, faster real-time performance, and increased security can be achieved with a single MCU, development costs and complexity can be significantly reduced.

Visit: eeweb.com

"This is a powerful core in that it really does optimize how you mix 16- and 32-bit structures."

As Rich told EEWeb, the range of applications are broad, “We’ve already announced and released a certified Bluetooth stack that runs on a PIC32. That enables system designers who want to employ a Bluetooth application to reduce costs, because now they can put a more inexpensive module on where the transmitter is. Now you have the ability, when you start going into the 200 MHz domain, to expand the media aspects of what you can do. So automotive infotainment can be an application. We are already in motorcycle dashboards, which employ the PIC32 to do the graphics and processing of the different sensor data on the bike. Renewable energy is another example. Whether it’s a wind power application or a solar application, there is a need for communication to the remote locations of the installation, such as a central panel for a windmill farm. That

TECH ARTICLE

PIC32MZ EC 32-bit MCU Fa ®

MIPS32 microAptiv™ Core • 200 MHz, 5 Stage Pipeline • 32 32-bit bit it CPU + DSP D Trace EJTAG

D Data Dat Cache Ca ac

Inst. Cache

Instruction Instr Instruc c on ctio

DMA A 8 Ch..

Crypto Engine g

SQI

High Hig h Speed Spee ed USB B

CA CAN AN 2.0b 2.0 0b (2) (2 2)) 2

Ethernet MAC

2 Ch. DMA

2 Ch. Ch h. DMA DMA

8 Ch. Ch h. h DM DMA MA A

4 Ch. DMA

2 Ch. DMA

Data D atta

High-Speed Bus Matrix

Prefeetch Prefetch h

2 MB Flash Dual Panel Live Update

5122 KB B SRAM SR RAM

PPS S

PMP P EBI EB BI

Comparator (2)

12-b 12-bit bi ADC C 28 2 Msps, Msps, 6 S/H S//H H

4-Wiree Debug De g

Peripheral Buses (7) Pe POR Reset

WDT

BO BOR Reset

Output Compare PWM (9)

Timer (9) IC (9)

I2C™ (5) I2S/SP S/SPI (6)

RTCC RT

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

“...Human inte speed proces usin

can be Wi-Fi, CAN or Ethernet, as the PIC32 can run several stacks simultaneously. It can act as a communication vehicle back to the central server over the internet. The PIC32 can also provide a human interface function, so if somebody goes out to the site, they can pull the display and monitor critical parameters using touch capability to access data-logging information.” Microchip tops off the PIC32MZ EC MCU family’s high level of integration with a full-featured hardware crypto engine complete with a random number generator for high-throughput data encryption and authentication (e.g., AES, 3DES, SHA, MD5, and HMAC). This provides the needed security to complement the family’s two separate protected flash banks for liveupdate support. “People are starting to use encryption more and more these days—they are getting tired of being hacked into, so to speak, so

Visit: eeweb.com

everything from secure live updates, secure transmission and uploads, [anywhere] you are trying to get more viable internet security. The nice part about this is that it frees the core up so you can employ that in a very wide set of applications,” explained Rich. Tools to Get Started The PIC32MZ EC Starter Kit provides developers an economical, turn-key option to experience the high performance and advanced peripherals integrated in the PIC32MZ EC MCUs. The basic starter kits, Rich explained, “come in two flavors—one with encryption and one without encryption. Part of that is the simplicity factor. The US government and the European community have some restrictions on where you can and cannot ship a crypto based part. We try to simplify that whole process by offering both.”

TECH ARTICLE

erface, along with highssing, all on one board ng one chip.”

In addition to the basic starter kits, Microchip also offers development tools designed to provide backward compatibility with legacy Microchip products, and extended ability to new technologies as they come available. “We have what is called a PIM, or a Plug-in Module. For instance, if you have been developing software with a dsPIC33 or PIC24based product that Microchip manufactures, you can plug this new 32-bit part into the board and be able to develop code on it. The next component on the list is what we call a multi-media expansion board. This is a building block that plugs into the starter kit and it has a WQVGA Display and has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability. It kind of exemplifies what people are doing with it and that is integrating a lot of connectivity as well has human interface, along with high-speed processing, all on one board using one chip. Last, but not least, we offer the starter kit adapter, which has a lot of

flexibility for adding the rest of the applicationspecific daughter boards that Microchip has introduced over the years. So it does allow a really quick building block approach to putting something together in the lab,” Rich told us. As embedded designers have been increasingly challenged to deliver feature rich products with fewer resources, Microchip has been committed to delivering total solutions aimed at streamlining the development process. “Microchip has always been focused on providing total solutions, involving hardware, software, and libraries, along with technical support, training and documents. We have some of the more robust solutions out there on the market as a company. Along with the new PIC32MZ microcontrollers and the hardware development tools we just discussed, we’re announcing our new software framework called MPLAB Harmony, which utilizes our MPLAB X IDE for development and is supported by Microchip. It is a comprehensive, interoperable and tested software development framework for all PIC32 microcontrollers. The framework integrates both Microchip and 3rd party middleware, drivers, peripheral libraries and real time operating systems, simplifying and accelerating the 32-bit development process. The basic framework and most of the libraries are free. Additionally, there are select tools and premium libraries that are available for purchase. “As we’ve become more engaged in 32-bit, we realized that the complexity of software challenges is increasing very quickly,” said Rich. Software is occupying an increasing percentage of project development time and resource allocation. A recent embedded market survey found that >60% of respondents’ development time is spent on software. MPLAB Harmony provides pre-tested, interoperable software that shortens development time by reducing the risks associated with bugs in production. Often, users are forced to get their embedded-development software from many

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

sources, making both the procurement and support scattered. It became evident with 32-bit development that we needed to take these efforts to the next level, by offering a comprehensive package that provided a single source to the customer for purchasing, licensing, downloading and getting support for both Microchip and third party software. The Harmony framework is now available at www.microchip.com/ Harmony, and that site includes the entire package that we envisioned. MPLAB Harmony takes key elements of modular and object-oriented design, adds in the flexibility to use an RTOS, and provides an environment that is easy to use, is configurable to your specific needs, and has modules that work together in complete, well, harmony. It integrates peripheral libraries, device drivers, middleware and other libraries that use clear and consistent application-programming interfaces, requiring little or no change in your code as you move from one PIC32 MCU to another. Microchip has also been working with industry-leading software and OS specialists to ensure their software is tested and compatible with the Harmony framework. Some of these third-party offerings are sold and licensed directly by Microchip. Others are selling Harmony-compatible software themselves. In either case, Microchip provides direct support for all third-party software that is Harmony compatible. Compatible products include those from Micrium, freeRTOS, OpenRTOS, Interniche, and wolfSSL. Additional third-party solutions will be added to these offerings in the future, including the ThreadX RTOS from Express Logic,â&#x20AC;? Rich concluded.

Visit: eeweb.com

Join Today

eeweb.com/register

PULSE

By Roland E.A. Schelasin, Operational Modeling and Simulation, MaineFab Industrial Engine

Visit: eeweb.com

TECH ARTICLE

Enhanced Factory Performance Through Capacity Modeling and Queuing Theory Due to the high cost of running a factory, semiconductor companies always strive for maximum utilization of their installed equipment base. However, cycle time performance cannot suffer at the hands of maximizing factory utilization, as customer satisfaction is directly related to meeting expected delivery dates. Unfortunately, these two objectives are very much at odds with each other. This makes it essential to monitor both utilization and cycle times and find that operational â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sweet spotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that generates the greatest output (lowest cost) while guaranteeing no degradation in the ability to meet delivery time targets that customers expect.

eering Department Member, Technology and Manufacturing Group Technical Staff Texas Instruments

Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

Factory managers need an effective decision making tool to help them address capacity constraints.

esources are an additional challenge that factory managers face. In the quest for ever-increasing headcount productivity, the number of engineering and operations resources to tackle existing (let alone future) constraint issues is continuously shrinking. This makes it critical to identify where resource allocations will make the greatest contribution to enhanced factory performance. Consequently, factory managers need an effective decision making tool to help them address capacity constraints; a tool that includes both a summary of equipment utilization as well as a cycle time estimate. While utilization estimates can be readily calculated with a good static capacity model, cycle time projections have typically been more difficult to estimate and usually involve time consuming simulation exercises. Enter queuing theory equations with historical factory performance data that can be used to provide cycle time estimates very efficiently. These cycle time estimates are then combined with utilization output from a static model in a visual reporting solution that presents the key information needed to allow for effective constraint management decision making. The result is a complete constraint management decision tool: the Red Box with Performance Gaps and Cycle Time.

Visit: eeweb.com

EQUIPMENT UTILIZATION The Basic Red Box Report: Clarity Through Simplicity In its basic form, this management tool is a graphical representation of the modeled factory capacity utilization in terms of equipment loadings (an example of the basic Red Box report is shown in Figure 1). Individual toolset loadings are presented in descending order from left to right. These toolset loadings are calculated based on modeled wafer start mix and volume scenarios using process flow, planned equipment availability, and planned efficiency data. The static capacity model also uses preconfigured input parameter data sets that can be interactively selected for various starts, tool throughput, and tool count scenarios. This allows for very rapid modeling of many different scenarios to help fine tune factory loadings for maximum capacity utilization. Toolset loadings are calculated as the ratio of Demand OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) over Plan OEE, where Demand OEE is the result of the capacity calculations and Plan OEE is the product of Plan Availability and Plan Efficiency. Plan Availability is based on industry benchmarks. Plan Efficiency is the

TECH ARTICLE product of Plan Rate Efficiency and Plan Quality Efficiency that can be typically expected from each toolset under close to ideal operating conditions given the factoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operational characteristics. The other aspect of Operational Efficiency is Utilization, which is assumed to be managed to 100 percent. Thereby Plan OEE results in the optimal performance target against which losses should be measured. Tool counts are overlaid against a secondary y-axis. Any tool counts with a quantity of less than three are highlighted. These toolsets can have a significant impact on both capacity and cycle time if one or more tools that are part of these toolsets experience a prolonged downtime event. Two lines are shown on the report, one at 85 percent and another at 100 percent. The 85 percent line represents the threshold that should not be crossed in order to maintain factory cycle time at the desired value. This line may vary from factory to factory, but will probably be in the 85 percent range, as this is where many factory performance curves reach the point where cycle time takes off exponentially if loadings are further increased. The Red Box, which gives the chart its name, is then used to highlight those toolsets whose loadings exceed 85 percent. These toolsets not only represent the factoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capacity constraints, but also tend to have the largest impact on cycle time performance. They are therefore labeled as Cycle Time Opportunities. The goal is to manage as many toolsets as possible to fall outside of the Red Box. Ideally the only toolset that should remain in the Red Box is the designed factory constraint. The Red Box Report with Performance Gaps In combination with actual equipment performance data, the Red Box report can be expanded to show what the factory loadings actually 'feel like' due to equipment performance gaps: the difference between planned performance and actual performance. This is done by incrementally adding the percentage gaps between planned and actual availability and efficiency performance to the calculated toolset loadings percentage. An example of the basic Red Box report with performance gaps is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1: Basic Red Box Report

Figure 2: Red Box Report with Performance Gaps

Figure 3: Red Box Report with Performance Gaps and Cycle Time Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE

Figure 4: Red Box Scenario Flow Chart As a one-stop visual representation of factory loadings, the simple Red Box report with performance gaps has been very effective in providing clear visibility to toolset constraints. It also helps prioritize improvement projects to close performance gaps and elevate equipment performance to meet everchanging capacity requirements.

CYCLE TIME Queuing Theory-Based Cycle Time Calculations – Power through Speed While keeping toolset loadings below the 85 percent loading threshold helps to keep factory cycle time in check, it can only be used as a guideline. For improved decision-making visibility to an estimated cycle time, the evaluation of starts mix and volume is needed. The modeling of cycle time has typically been simulated with models requiring a non-trivial amount of resources to create, maintain, and execute. And in order to obtain statistically valid cycle time estimates, simulation models must be run multiple times, which depending on the factory and subsequent model size, can take hours.

Visit: eeweb.com

To provide management with decision-making variables of estimated factory cycle time concurrent with equipment loadings in a time-efficient fashion, the Red Box report must incorporate a faster way of providing cycle time estimates. This is done with equations based on queuing theory [1]. Initial queuing theory equations were based on a simpler form of the Kingman equation for the G/G/m queue as put forward by Hopp and Spearman [2], also known as the VUT equation:

 ca2 + ce2  u 2 ( m +1) −1   te C T q (G / G / m) =    m u 2 ( 1 ) −    Where: CTq = time waiting in queue; ca = coefficient of variation of inter-arrival times into the queue; ce = coefficient of variation of effective process times at each machine; m = number of machines in the equipment set; u = utilization of the equipment set; and te = effective process time.

TECH ARTICLE This equation was later replaced with an improved version developed by Ward Whitt [2]. The improved equation includes additional terms that improve overall accuracy of the calculated cycle time values for a wider range of factory utilization points. Components Needed To Calculate Queue Time To calculate queue time using the aforementioned queuing theory equations, there are five components that must be considered: Process time variability - In most automated factories, process time variability can be readily calculated from figures available in equipment performance databases. Arrival time variability - Li et al [3] suggest to back-calculate arrival time variability from historical queue time data. Future cycle time estimates will be based on historical arrival time variability. Therefore the key to successful future cycle time estimates is a good understanding of how expected factory conditions compare to the known historical factory state used to determine the arrival variability factor. Machine count - Since the equipment portion of the underlying static model is toolset based, machine count must be carefully defined. Whenever multiple equipment types are included within a toolset and can run the same process recipe specification at different throughput rates, equivalency factors must be used to adjust tool counts in order to properly comprehend their respective impact on capacity. Utilization - Utilization is a result of good machine count or toolset modeling as described above, and it also depends on the appropriate selection of process flows that are representative of typical factory product loadings. It is important to note that in order to provide a cycle time that is the result of how loadings actually feel to the factory, the modeled utilization must include the impact of performance gaps. Otherwise the calculated cycle time estimates will be too optimistic and will not reflect true factory behavior.

The improved equation includes additional terms that improve overall accuracy of the calculated cycle time values for a wider range of factory utilization points.

Effective process time - Effective process time is defined as the total time required for a given process step. It includes not just wafer processing time but also other process time adders. These adders comprise of load time, unload time, and transport time between operations. Process time adders can have a potentially significant impact on cycle time accuracy. Pure process time is typically the main component of effective process time and therefore needs to be as accurate as possible. However, for some tool types (e.g. furnaces) the load/unload time may represent an unusually large portion of the overall effective process time and thus needs to be equally well understood. Fortunately in most automated factories this data can be obtained from existing automation databases. Visit: eeweb.com

PULSE The Complete Constraint Management Decision Tool: Red Box with Performance Gaps and Cycle Time Using queuing theory equations to determine individual process step cycle times, effective process times at the recipe spec level are used together with queue time x-factors for each toolset calculated. These are then added together for each process flow to provide an overall cycle time for the major technologies that are running in the factory. The resulting technology specific cycle time estimates are then adjusted to include a percentage of metrology as well as dispatch prioritization weighting that is typical for each technology flow. An average factory cycle time is calculated from the individual technology cycle times weighted by contribution to overall starts volume. This overall factory cycle time is added to the Red Box chart and provides management with critical information to help ensure that the impact of toolset utilization changes does not drive any unexpected cycle time degradation. Figure 3 depicts the complete Red Box report. The cycle time value is shown in the box on the right hand side of the graph in units of days per mask layer (DPML).

CONCLUSION The real power of the Red Box approach for estimating cycle time lies in its speed. The use of queuing theory equations provides instant cycle time answers. Multiple iterations of the process flow depicted in Figure 4 with volume, mix, and tool count changes can be evaluated in a matter of minutes rather than hours or days. Additionally, the cycle time results for each scenario are immediately combined with the chart showing factory capacity constraints. The combination of these major pieces of information help to determine which toolsets require targeted improvement projects to optimize factory capacity and maintain desired factory cycle times. A Pareto of equipment loadings is combined with the associated factory cycle time estimates to provide an ideal one-stop tool for understanding and managing factory capacity and cycle time. The Red Box report shows how increasing production volumes or changes in product mix will affect both capacity utilization as well as cycle time, all on one chart. The combination of a static model with queuing theory-based cycle time estimates provides unparalleled speed for efficiently evaluating multiple capacity scenarios. The report is used on a weekly basis to review the impact of proposed

Visit: eeweb.com

future loadings on factory utilization and cycle time. The management team uses the report to determine which toolsets to focus on for both performance gap closure as well as overall capacity improvement. Teams are launched accordingly and progress of these teams is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that the factory is ready to successfully process the planned loadings. The report has thereby been used very effectively to support management decision-making processes that enhance factory performance.

REFERENCES [1] Schelasin, R. 2011. “Using Static Capacity Modeling and Queuing Theory Equations to Predict Factory Cycle Time Performance in Semiconductor Manufacturing.” Proceedings of the 2011 Winter Simulation Conference, edited by S. Jain, R.R. Creasey, J. Himmelspach, K.P. White, and M. Fu, eds., 2045-2054. Piscataway, New Jersey: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. [2] Hopp, W. J., and M. L. Spearman. 2001. Factory Physics: Foundations Of Manufacturing Management. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. [3] Whitt, W. 1993. “Approximations For The GI/G/m Queue.” Production and Operations Management 2(2): 114-161. [4] Li, N., L. Zhang, M. Zhang, and L. Zheng. 2005. “Applied Factory Physics Study on Semiconductor Assembly and Test Manufacturing.” IEEE International Symposium on Semiconductor Manufacturing, 307310, Downloaded on July 29, 2010 from IEEE Xplore.

About the Author ROLAND SCHELASIN is the site operational modeling and simulation engineer at Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) in South Portland, Maine. He joined TI in 2011 as part of TI’s acquisition of NSC and has been elected a Member of Group Technical Staff within TI’s Technology and Manufacturing Group. He is a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and has presented at IIE’s annual conference. As part of the Industrial Engineering organization at TI he continues to provide modeling and simulation expertise to develop decision making tools that are used to manage and improve equipment and overall factory effectiveness. ■

Fake Degree

Trial & Error

Cheap Tickets - Pt. 1

Join Today eeweb.com/register