June 18, 2007

News      p. 7

Matsushita Recalls 3 Million White Goods Products

Maintaining Fixed Equipment Like Heaters for 10 years to Become Mandatory

Warping of PCBs and Parts to Become a Packaging Problem

Honda to Release CIGS Type Solar Cells from June; Will Compete Directly with Crystalline-Si

Number 2 EMS Flextronics Acquires Number 3, Solectron

NE Interview

Shufuren, Standing Committee Member, Makiko Kawamura: “The Over-the-Air Digital TV Problem Will Become Evident from Here On”      p. 34

Key Person

KFE JAPAN, Junichi Fujioka: “The Impetus for Moving to Management Was a Corporate Bankruptcy”            p. 39

Keyword

10th Generation    p. 41

Cover Story

Making Consumer Electronics by Following the Web   p. 43

There are now many devices on the market that hook up to home networks.  Commercial products have finally materialized from lengthy discussions and a steady rise in popularity looks imminent.  But what’s around the corner?  New devices might appear sporting brand new, innovative functions.  Greater convenience might be sought through the interconnection of devices, which has yet to be achieved.  But at the current rate, we may never fully realize the potential of home networks. 

The Time is Ripe  p. 46

Awaiting the killer app—putting new ideas immediately to the test

Loose Standardization       p. 50

Case-by-case—utilizing the strengths of each device

Special Feature

As Even “Amateurs” Move to Manufacture Solar Cells p. 67

Buoyed by escalating global warming concerns and political endorsement in Europe, solar cells are transforming from a niche technology into a mainstay of the energy industry and the number of manufacturers making a foray into the market is rising rapidly as a result.  This avenue is now open to new entrants, most of which are solar cell amateurs, because equipment manufacturers are commencing full provision of solar cell lines.  At the dawn of an age in which anyone with the funds and land will be able to produce solar cells, the ascendancy of Sharp Corp. and other existing manufacturers of solar cells is already beginning to wane.  Full-scale mass production of new models is getting underway, and there is potential for major changes to who holds sway in the industry.

Rapidly Increasing Noise within Devices Will Determine Wireless Functionality     p. 79

Slower wireless LAN connection speeds and inability to pick up “one seg” broadcasts are the kind of phenomena caused by electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) problems inside equipment, an area now attracting particular interest from designers.  For mobile phone and notebook PC developers, finding ways to counter this so-called “autointoxication” is an urgent necessity.  There is no doubt other products like car navigation systems and a whole range of portable devices are going to be stuck in a similar predicament.  To help combat the problem, progress is being made in the development of techniques for measuring faint electromagnetic noise in the proximity of the equipment.  After applying those techniques to gain a better understanding of the situation, moves similar to existing measures targeting EMC between devices will be taken.

Mobile Phones and Cars Will Take Advantage of VHF/UHF Broadcasting Band      p. 87

A total 130MHz of bandwidth from VHF and UHF frequency bands will be freed up around the time analog broadcasting ends in 2011.  Policy determining how those frequencies should be used, and allocated, has been finalized.  The bands are to be employed for digital broadcasts to mobile phones, vehicle-to-vehicle communication for prevention of head-on collisions, and mobile phone communication, as well as for wireless communication for disaster prevention and other purposes.  Most are new systems and only entering the development stage.  Plans on how to commercialize the designated systems are likely to move into full swing soon.

From SID 2007: Assessing Organic EL as the Stand Out Post LCD Candidate        p. 93

The Society for Information Display’s symposium, seminar, and exhibition, SID 2007, was held May 20-25 in Long Beach, California.  The event highlighted the display industry’s interest in the development of new technologies and new areas of business that will replace liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.  Drawing particular attention were papers and exhibits relating to organic electroluminescent (EL) technology, seen as a strong successor candidate in the post-LCD era.  Commercially, LCD panels still lead the pack in the flat-panel display market, although a maturing technology offers limited research and development potential.  LCD panels are also losing some of their commercial advantage with panel manufacturers, for example, pocketing lower profits.  The situation is driving the whole display industry into the post-LCD era.

From ODS 2007: Optical Discs Face “Tera” Capacities p. 101

The Optical Data Storage (ODS) 2007 international conference on optical disc technology came alive with presentations on elemental technology for achieving terabyte-level data storage.  One optical disc storage medium already out realizes a capacity of 2.4TB by housing multiple discs in a single cartridge.  Raising capacity and lowering cost per capacity unit to a level on a par with tape media would immediately improve the potential for optical discs as long-term storage media, brightening their future.

Documentary

Contactless IC Card FeliCa (Part 3): Reviving the Project, Betting on “Hong Kong”              p. 107

Academy

Tutorials of Embedded System (Final): Handling Interrupts and Reply Delay         p. 118

NE Tutorial

Introduction to Mobile Power Electronics (Part 3): Knowledge of Power Module Packaging and Breakdown Mechanism Will Ensure Reliability p. 124

The third installment in this series explains packaging design for power modules, which are a core component of mobile equipment.  To ensure reliability, awareness of failure mechanisms within a wide variety of usage environments is required.  We delve into packaging technology that is specific to power modules, while looking at thermal, thermal stress and electromagnetic issues.

An Intellectual Property Course (Final): Merit Determination Test             p. 134

In this tutorial, we explain the intellectual property basics for engineers by solving problems at the level of an intellectual property exam (level 2) run by a private sector organization.  The final tutorial consists of a test with 15 questions so that you can check your knowledge.  Using the answer key and commentary at the end, find out how much you know about intellectual property.

World Report

From US: Pay Raise Negotiation Information for Working in Silicon Valley            p. 148

For further information, please contact:

Nikkei Electronics

1-17-3, Shirokane

Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8646, Japan

Vox: +81-3-6811-8141, Fax: +81-3-5421-9100

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/