SMIC, has bought a 70% stake in Italy’s small foundry LFoundry for €49 million. LFoundry has total capacity of 40k 8″ wpm. Its 2015 revenue was €215 million. LFoundry mostly makes automotive, security, and industrial ICs including CIS, smart power, touch display driver IC’s and embedded memory. “This allows us to enter the automotive market,” …
Bluetooth beacon turns IoT node into a weather station
For IoT sensor nodes read open-source beacons; to finance a product launch go to a crowd-funding website. Finnish firm Ruuvi Innovations is the latest in a rush of developers to use crowd-finding to get their IoT beacon to market in time for mass take-up. Called, RuuviTag it is a stand-alone Bluetooth 5 ready sensor beacon …
A Raspberry Pi voice control challenge
Hackster.io is running a challenge to add voice control to an internet of things (IoT) project, with support from Raspberry Pi and Amazon Alexa.
Neural Network from CEVA
CEVA has introduced its CDNN2 (CEVA Deep Neural Network), its second generation neural network software framework for machine learning. CDNN2 enables localised, deep learning-based video analytics on camera devices in real time. This significantly reduces data bandwidth and storage compared to running such analytics in the cloud, while lowering latency and increasing privacy. Coupled with …
Ed Warns Vlad
Ed Snowden really is a bit of a boy – after pissing off the US government by revealing the extent of its surveillance he now risks pissing off the Russkies by criticising a new Bill. The Bill, passed by the Duma but not yet signed by Vlad, provides that: Telecoms companies must keep copies of …
NTT uses reflected lasers for encryption
According to the Nikkei, NTT is using reflected laser light for encryption. Random number sequences used in cryptographic systems are usually generated from mathematical formulae but by understanding the algorithms behind the formulae hackers can crack the encryption. Using irregular physical phenomena to generate random numbers can achieve a higher level of unpredictability. NTT has …
Gaggione invents a light input structure
Another one that has been around for a while, but I missed it – get in touch folks. Gaggione has reversed the shape of its collimator input cone to reduce stray light. It is implemented in its LLC66x7 silicone collimator range – presumably the optics would not come out of the mould if they were …
Google Project Bloks for Kids picks Raspberry Pi Zero
Welcome Project Bloks, from Google. Helping kids to get to grips with technology, via modular building blocks, is a crowded space, but that hasn’t stopped Google entering the educational arena.
Industrial-grade lighting strips
Intelligent LED Solutions announce industrial grade flexible LED strips for machine lighting. Branded PowerFlex the range includes constant current drivers, protection diodes and 3M thermal tape. Led-to-led spacings from 7.5 to 25mm are available. Up to 3,500 lm/m and 50,000 hours working life is achievable. “We now have customers using the PowerFlex for machine tool lighting and it is proving …
Magnetic speed sensor rejects offsets
Allegro MicroSystems’ surface-mount magnetic speed sensor contains a compensating circuit that reduces the detrimental effects of magnet and system offsets. “Digital processing of the analogue signal provides zero-speed performance independent of air gap as well as dynamic adaptation of device performance to the typical operating conditions found in automotive applications, including reduced vibration sensitivity,” said the …