August 13, 2007

News      p. 7

With a “USB 3.0” Vision Emerging, Some Gigabit/Sec Is Put in Perspective

The Three Companies Bump into Discord over Cooperative Development of 32nm LSI

Sharp to Build a New Plant for the 10th-Generation LCDs

Toyota Starts Demonstration Tests of its Plug-in Hybrids

Sony Hastens to Reinforce CMOS for its Image Sensor Business

RHOM Makes a Decision over Power Semiconductor

NE Interview

Texas Instruments Inc., Senior Vice President，Chief Technology Officer, Hans Stork: From the “Technology to Make” to the “Technology to Use”    p. 30

Key Person

DCM Co-Founder & General Partner, Katsujin David Chao: Make a Challenge into the Global Market p. 35

Keyword

Internet Protocol Version 4 Address p. 37

Cover Story

Hammering Out a Thermal Design   p. 39

Consumer electronics are being plagued by heat problems more than ever before.  The tireless pursuit of smaller products with more sophisticated functions only exacerbates heat generation in a device while the amount of heat radiated from a diminishing surface area keeps falling.  The limitations in heat dissipation have been drawing nearer.  Now is the time for electrical, mechanical and creative designers to join together in “thermal design,” taking into consideration heat from the design stage.

Transformation    p. 42

Battle against heat intensifying

Methods and focus are changing

The Approach      p. 49

Predicting inputs and outputs of heat

Establishing heat dissipation channels

Fresh Tactics       p. 56

Add-ons are no longer acceptable

All components must contribute to heat release

Special Feature

Functional Glass Optical Element Realized by Imprinting          p. 77

Optical elements made of glass are employed in audio-visual equipment such as digital cameras, optical disk drives and projectors because of their resistance to heat and light as well as their high refractive index.  Many such elements perform processes for realizing special functions.  Development of technology employing imprint lithography to create microstructures on glass is progressing as a way to cut manufacturing costs of audio-visual equipment and optical devices.  Commercial application of imprint lithography for fabricating microstructures only several microns in size is already underway.  If it was possible to mass-produce periodic structures smaller than one micron, in other words smaller even than the wavelength of light, the scope of applications would dramatically expand.

Relaxed GPLv3 May Affect Embedded Development     p. 87

Gratuitous provision of software patents, disclosure of methods for embedding software in devices, and prohibition of application to digital rights management (DRM) technology—version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL), the open source software license used by the Linux operating system and other software, has been released.  Several aspects, including the matter of how to address patents, will have an effect upon embedded device manufacturers.  The extremes of the original draft have been diluted, but there are still points that need be noted.  While the Linux kernel is not expected to change over to the new license, more than 200 software applications have already made the switch.

Can Japan-Made Software Business Make a Leap in the World? p. 93

Aplix Corporation has grown rapidly through the deployment of Java operating environments for mobile phones.  Now the company expects to book .6 billion in extraordinary losses for the year ending December 2007, about the level of annual sales.  What happened to this leader in Japan’s mobile phone software industry, a title it shares with Access Co, Ltd.?  This disappointment gives us a glimpse of how difficult it is for Japanese players in the software business to compete globally.

Embedded Java Virtual Machine: Aiming to Expand into Devices Other than Cell Phones   p. 101

Java was developed as a program operating environment for embedded systems.  Effort is going into resolving problems relating to performance and real time capability.  Java has established itself as a cell phone program operating environment and is starting to expand into other fields, including Blu-ray Discs.

Documentary

The Chip that Popularized CMOS (Part 2): The Technology Sprung Out of a Playful Spirit   p. 107

Tutorial

Introduction to Mobile Power Electronics (Part 7): The Control Technology of Motors         p. 118

Motors for mobile equipment need to be able to endure harsh environments and respond as the operator demands.  When designing the control systems, attention must be paid to disturbance suppression characteristics, command response characteristics and robustness.  This installment explains methods for designing such control systems for motors.

MIMO—From the Basics to Measurement (Part 2): How MIMO Is Used in Different Standards             p. 128

Application of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology to new wireless broadband communication systems has commenced, but there are a number of methods.  MIMO technology is employed differently according to the type of system.  The methods also affect signal processing algorithm and upper layer protocol implementation in both transmitter and receiver in various ways.

World Report

From Russia: Consumer Electronics Plants Are Concentrating in “Enclaves”        p. 143

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