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Nikkei Electronics

March 28 2005 Issue

What’s New. . . p. 36

• Next Generation Game Consoles Will Bring HDTV and New User Experience to the Living Room
• Dissonance between Companies and Engineers Shows Up in a Conference to Decide on the Value of Inventions
• What Will the Combination of Mobile Phones and Wireless LAN Be Used for?
• Serial Interface for DRAM Modules to Bring Higher Speeds and Greater Capacity
• METI Establishes a Standard to Measure Power Consumption for Flat Panel TV’s
• NEC Develops a High Speed Serial Technology with Transfer Speed of 12 Gbps Over 1m
• Dai Nippon Printing Develops a Metallic Material Able to Create 0.3mm Thick Packages
  
  

Leading Trends

Samsung Launches a Major Attack as the European Mobile Phone and Digital CE Markets Develop . . . p. 65
The world’s leading electronics manufacturers have gathered for CeBIT 2005, an electronics and IT-related trade show for exhibiting the latest technologies and products.
South Korea’s Samsung Corporation made a particular effort to emphasize its presence. Numerous new products including mobile phones and large-screen televisions with the “world’s first” performance or functions astonished visitors.

Use of Vegetable Resin Increases in Electronic Devices . . . p. 75
Electronics makers are increasingly turning their attention to vegetable resins made from materials such as corn and sugar cane. Compared to petroleum-base resins, CO2 emissions are lower, which means reduced environmental impact.
These materials are being adopted for electronics device bodies and components. At the same time, research and development to improve shock resistance and incombustibility is heating up.

Cover Story

The Wits Will Determine the Winner in the Flat Panel TV Market
. . . p. 103

Strength . . . p. 106
PDP and LCD Fostered in Japan
Confronting Dropping Prices
The market for large-screen flat-panel televisions will grow substantially in the future. This is a core business essential to Japanese manufacturers of home appliances. Manufacturers have been increasing investment in flat panels and business integration to remain key players in the television business.
The goal, based on economies of scale, is to create structures with adequate cost competitiveness and to combine expertise in order to survive. Manufacturers are undertaking large-scale capital investment, acquiring engineers and expertise, and utilizing intellectual property rights.
These three pillars form the foundations of their knowledge-based contest.

Knowledge . . . p. 112
Cost-Cutting Methods Turn the Corner
Component and Materials Progress
Cost-cutting methods for PDPs and liquid crystal panels have reached a turning point. The limitations of traditional cost-cutting methods have come into view.
The center of focus now is reviewing components and materials. Manufacturers are employing their ingenuity in developing new methods involving materials manufacturers.
PDP makers are looking to halve current materials costs by 2007 or 2008 by reviewing peripheral circuits. Liquid crystal panel manufacturers too are advancing cost cutting without relying on making larger glass substrates.

Resolution p.118
Matsushita and Sharp Show Confidence in Large-Screen Market

Matsushita Bets on PDP: “We Will Drive a Market of 10 Million Units”
Fumio Ohtsubo, Senior Managing Director of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and President of Panasonic AVC Networks Company

Sharp Bets on LCD: “We Are Looking for Alliances”
Shigeo Nakabu, Corporate Senior Executive Director of LCD Business and Group General Manager of AVC Liquid Crystal Display Group, Sharp Corporation

Guest Paper

Developing a Software Platform for Multicore: Implementation in a Mobile Phone . . . p. 125
NEC Corporation and NEC Electronics Corporation have developed the industry’s first application processor for mobile phones that adopts a multi-core architecture and have created a software platform for the processor.
As the electronics industry is facing the limitations of single-core technologies in a variety of fields, the time for serious consideration of multi-core technologies in embedded fields as well has arrived.
Why are multi-core architectures needed for embedded devices?
What exactly is a multi-core architecture for embedded devices?
Both companies have accumulated extensive multiprocessing technologies with super computers and servers, and they discuss the details of optimal multi-core architectures for future embedded devices such as digital home appliances, mobile phones, and car navigation systems as well the background to development and mounting methods.

NET's Seminar

The History of Benchmark Testing (Part 1): Since No Infallible Benchmark Exists, Selecting the CPU Is a Difficult Job . . . p. 138
It appears that improvements in microprocessor processing capacity will continue. There is movement to replace hard-wired logical circuits with software, and the selection of CPU cores as a part of LSI design will have a significant impact on the device performance.
We receive an historical explanation of benchmark tests that support CPU core selection.

How to Control Leak Current (Part 5): Using Adaptive Reduces Electrical Power by 1/3 . . . p. 147
We have explained the use of adaptive control that dynamically changes power supply voltage or threshold voltage as a countermeasure against leakage current. This time, we look at the method of changing power supply voltage (Vdd) according to the load on the LSI.
This method has been applied in some instances to reduce drops in LSI consumption power, including drops caused by leakage current.

Tech Tale

DLP — the People Who Inherited Light (Part 3): “This Isn’t Good, the Mirror Has Stopped” . . . p. 175
Commercialization of mirror devices are coming closer through the efforts of Larry J. Hornbeck and others at Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). As its name indicates, the digital micromirror device (DMD) successfully makes the major transition from analog to digital.
The next step is to show the appeal of the DMD to device manufacturers and promote its adoption. TI personnel will bring DMD to Japan, the Mecca of digital home appliances makers.

Interview

Matsushita’s Senior Managing Director, Fumio Ohtsubo
Matsushita Bets on PDP: “We Will Drive a Market of 10 Million Units”
. . . p. 119

Sharp’s Corporate Senior Executive Director, Shigeo Nakabu
Sharp Bets on LCD: “We Are Looking for Alliances” . . . p. 122

What's New:	36	For further information, please contact: Nikkei Electronics 2-1-1, Hirakawacho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8622, Japan Vox: +81-3-5210-8141, Fax: +81-3-5210-8510 http://ne.nikkeibp.co.jp/
Selected Shorts:	51
New Products:	59
Leading Trends:	65
Cover Story:	103
Guest Paper:	125
NET's Seminar:	138
Tech Tale:	175
Interview:	119
Coming Next:	171
From the Readers:	168
From the Editors:	169
Calendar:	170
Announcement:	167