The industry should machine vision technology more user-friendly because this cutting-edge field has dramatic and positive potential for embedded applications, writes Stephen Turnbull. At its core, machine vision is simply leveraging the information available in an image to make a decision about what to do next with the object in the image. A simple pass/fail …
Metasurface converts sunlight to heat for electron emission
Researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter have created a metasurface that strongly absorbs light across the solar spectrum but minimises emission of thermal radiation. It uses uses amorphous carbon as an inter-layer between thin gold films with the upper film patterned with a 2D periodic array using focused ion beam etching. Gold is a first step, …
The Mirage
The chip industry has been known to get ahead of itself and, back in 2007, a TSMC exec told a forum on 450mm wafer development that “the industry should begin seeing momentum perhaps by the end of this year.” The exec argued that: “When production capacity of the latest wafer size accounts for more than …
New Amazon EC2 Spot Console Now Supports Spot Fleet and Spot Blocks
Today, we are introducing a redesigned EC2 Spot Requests console , which now supports Spot fleet and Spot blocks , features which simplify and streamline how you use Amazon EC2 Spot instances. Previously, Spot fleet and blocks were available via the AWS CLI and SDK tools only.
Amazon CloudWatch Events Available in the South America (São Paulo) and Asia Pacific (Seoul) Regions
The Amazon CloudWatch Events service is now available in the South America (São Paulo) and Asia Pacific (Seoul) regions.
App note covers charging Vishay supercap-battery hybrid
Vishay has published an app note on charging its 196 HVC Enycap series of hybrid energy storage capacitor-batteries – which combine electrostatic and faradaic energy storage, in its words – as it looks like these components need a little TLC if they are to last. “For applications requiring a constantly high charge state of the Enycap capacitors, such …
TI brings out powertrain motor drivers
TI has brought out two automotive motor drivers that support high-performance powertrain applications – the DRV8305-Q1, a three-phase brushless DC gate driver, and the UCC27211A-Q1, a high-current half-bridge gate driver. For powertrain applications such as transmission pumps or engine cooling fans, the DRV8305-Q1 features a smart gate-drive architecture with programmable slew-rate control that allows easy …
Silego adds to Greenpak line
Silego has added to itSGreenPAK (GPAK) product line. Silego’s GPAK family of Configurable Mixed-signal ICs (CMICs) is designed to easily integrate common discrete ICs and passive components into a single device with programmable Non-Volatile Memory. The SLG46108V brings the functionality and versatility of the GPAK family into the ultra-small 1.0 x 1.2 x 0.55 mm, …
ASML buys Hermes Microvision for $3bn
ASML is to acquire Hermes Microvision (HMI) for $3.1 billion. ASML and HMI are already developing joint approaches that IC manufacturers can use to improve yields. “Our over-arching goal is to serve our customers even better and offer them the tools they need to achieve higher yields at the most advanced nodes,” says ASML CEO …
Imec develops junction-less, gate-all-round, nanowire FETs
Imec has developed junction-less gate-all-around (GAA) nanowire (NW) FETs built in lateral and vertical configurations. With their simplified processing, improved reliability, reduced low frequency noise and lower IOFF values, they are an attractive option for advanced logic, low power circuits and analog/RF applications. Moreover, they enable a simpler path for considerable SRAM scaling via the …