What’s New in Electronics Jun 2012

Ubiquitous global connectivity for m2m becomes reality

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June 2012

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on the cover 4 Shelve the idea of a simple rack 6 Remote asset control is changing our lives (Part 2) 14

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short circuits 18 US electronics industry faces major challenges 24 Will Samsung spin off its LCD panel division? 31 Radio waves trigger insulin

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on the cover

How global connectivity can become a reality The arduous task of connecting machine-to-machine (M2M) data applications easily and effectively - virtually anywhere in the world - is said to be simplified through KORE Global Connect.

By offering a single SIM solution, enhancing manufacturing quality controls, integrating with business logic and delivering intelligent pricing, the company says it provides true global connectivity.

Delivering this connectivity is challenging. There are many factors to consider when evaluating application service providers.

By offering connectivity through one SIM that connects to 400+ GSM/ GPRS/3G networks around the world, the company provides the simplicity of having only one standard product, SKU. From a communications standpoint, users can ship devices knowing they will function effectively in the destination country in which they need to operate.

Manufacturers benefit from integrating the SIM card directly, during the manufacturing process - eliminating the current problems of adding the network component as an afterthought.

Additionally, devices using a company SIM are supplied with limited testing functionality so they can be tested during manufacturing for quality assurance, then deactivated until they are sold.

Since it is always easier to find and correct a problem during manufacturing, rather than have failures and potential returns from the field. This benefit adds to both quality control and (lower) total cost of ownership.

It is simple to incorporate the activation and management functions of the Global Connect services into back office software and processes using the PRiSMPro API. For example, a user could simply log-on to a website overseas, after buying, enter purchase validation details and the web-based software would complete the device activation process, including downloading and updating firmware, reporting schedule and more.

This entire process can happen within just a few minutes of the device sale - 24 hours a day, seven days a week - in any country with coverage.

Now that is ubiquitous global connectivity.

IntelliRate is a pricing innovation invented by the company. Put simply, it means that the more data one uses in any given month, the less the cost per MB for that data. Think of it as ‘plan pricing with pay per use flexibility’.

Eliminated is the need to commit to using a particular level of data or a plan - the rating automatically adjusts to what the plan price would

4 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

be, based on how much each device uses in a month.

If it uses 100 KB of data one month, the per MB rate is X if the same device uses 2 MB, the next month the rate is Y - automatically adjusting for each subsequent month. Onerous overage charges are eliminated - permanently.

Need connectivity outside terrestrial cellular network range? No problem. Global Connect also integrates satellite services to complement the cellular coverage. Satellite services access the Iridium low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network using short burst data services to provide lower bandwidth, M2M specific, two-way coverage globally - pole to pole - with latencies, typically under 15 seconds, and message delivery confirmation.

Satellite services are available as a standalone product or in dual mode products allowing for GSM/GPRS/3G usage and satellite SBD data usage via one consolidated plan and invoice.

This is suitable for devices that travel across continents and countries through harsh terrain or in and out of GSM network coverage areas for example Australia has less than 20% of its land mass covered by a mobile network and this figure is replicated to varying levels around the world.

Looking for an easy to implement, innovative and ubiquitous global connectivity solution? KORE Global Connect provides global wireless network services on land, at sea, or in the air.

KORE Wireless Asia Pacific www.korewireless.com.au

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Name Hector Guajardo Betancourt, Certified LabVIEW Architect Job Title Automated Test and Control Engineer Area of Expertise Manufacturing Test LabVIEW Helped Me Reduce test time by more than 10X Latest Project Building a vision-based inspection system for washing machine drums

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Racks and data centres

Shelve the idea of a simple rack There is much more to the 19″ rack than just a place to park equipment. This humble piece of hardware is often overlooked. But in today’s world, energy efficiency, security, expansion possibilities, strength and flexibility are just some of the factors to consider when choosing a rack. In fact, there is little that is simple about the modern rack. In this article, Rittal looks in depth at the requirements of a modern rack and the duties it is expected to perform in a data centre.

Racks represent the mechanical backbone of all business-relevant IT installations. One criterion which should be top of the list when selecting a rack is stability. Space-saving arrangement of the components in an IT rack, with heights up to 42U, achieves a high packing density and lower operating costs per rack.

The practical consequence is that a server rack must often handle loads of up to 1000 kg, so it is essential for the structure to include a welded frame with multifold profiles, onto which side and door panels can be mounted.

At the same time, the component shelves and slide rails must also be designed for heavy loads. Top-quality racks support up to 150 kg per shelf or rail. Open frames with a 19″ level and high load-bearing capacity can be deployed in air-conditioned IT rooms with access control, where they make installation work easier and allow unobstructed air circulation.

The depth of a rack is also important, as there must be sufficient space behind and in front of the systems for power distribution, cabling and unhindered cooling air flows. Depths of 1000 mm are already standard. Some manufacturers offer their racks additionally with depths up to 1200 mm.

A symmetrical rack design guarantees a flexibly usable installation space and provides suite interconnection in all directions - side by side, around corners and even in stacked configurations.

If such expansion is possible without interrupting operations, this has a positive effect on costs and IT availability.

Interconnected suites and unrestricted expandability, as is the case with the TS 8 racks from Rittal, for example, are furthermore crucial for high-performance rack-based cooling concepts in which the cooling air from air-water heat exchangers is blown 6 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

in horizontally from the side in front of the 19″ installation level.

The contents of server and network racks are generally valuable and data centres must be protected. Modular security rooms serve as a protective enclosure.

Whether high-security data centre or racks accommodated in an office, the varying demands of the specific business call for individual security concepts with different protection classes.

The choice ranges from basic protection measures to high-availability security rooms with near-zero failure tolerances.

To enable adequate reaction to changing corporate needs, economical concepts are modular and can be tailored to the building and availability requirements, for example with a ‘room-within-a-room’ solution.

Freely accessible installation locations, such as offices or collocation rooms, call for corresponding precautions at rack or enclosure level. A robust four-point locking system provides mechanical protection against unauthorised access.

For maximum security, company-wide access solutions integrate a variety of locking and authorisation systems, such as contactless transponders or biometric solutions. www.electronicsonline.net.au

Racks and data centres

© iStockphoto.com/Baris Simsek

Another alternative is an IT safe, as all-round protection for critical servers.

This ‘protective jacket’ is an economically interesting possibility for small and midsized businesses. IT safes offer protection against physical threats and can be supplied as modular and basic safes.

In addition to the physical enclosure, diverse configuration options for cooling, power distribution, power backup and monitoring expand the safes into fully featured compact data centres. The Micro Data Centre, developed by the company for SMEs as a joint concept with IT service provider Bechtle, goes one step further still. It is delivered as a complete package and as a plug-and-play system that is available in three configurations with different levels of system redundancy.

Not only access, but also the operating conditions of IT infrastructures must be monitored constantly. One high-performance solution for this task is the company’s CMC III. Sensors provide permanent monitoring of temperature, pressure and humidity. Any deviations are reported immediately.

The management software RiZone builds on the CMC functionality and integrates also the server management level via intelligent interfaces. This permits a holistic view of the data centre status at any time.

The responsible staff are informed automatically as soon as any of the monitored parameters are exceeded. It is even possible to trigger automatic countermeasures. This brings tangible benefits not only in terms of security, but also for efficiency.

There is generally no shortage of cooling demand in a data centre. For low thermal loads up to a maximum of 800 W/m2, room climate control can be achieved with a raised floor and air circulation, for example.

For high-performance blade servers, which can easily produce over 20 kW of www.electronicsonline.net.au

waste heat per rack, on the other hand, that is not enough. To avoid heat-induced failure of the IT systems in such cases, liquidcooled rack-based climate control solutions such as liquid cooling packages are used.

These can also be used without a raised floor and can supply a cooling capacity of up to 60 kW per rack. The cold air from an interconnected air-water heat exchanger is blown directly in front of the servers installed in the enclosure via perforated side panels.

Such high cooling outputs, however, are only necessary in exceptional cases and where particularly high computing power is accommodated in individual racks. These rack-based cooling units are also frequently “Careful comparison thus pays off. found as energy-efficient ‘suite-based’ solu- Every rack needs a suitable power tions in conjunction with aisle containment.

A modular configuration adapted to the distribution system.” arising heat loads and spatial circumstances serves to exclude hot spots and server failures, but at the same time also precludes cost-intensive over-dimensioning of the climate control.

An uninterruptible power supply is an absolute must for every data centre. If preference is given to scalable and energy-efficient rack-based solutions in the initial planning, then the configuration can later grow at favourable cost as demands increase - the PMC product family, for example, supplies up to 240 kW per UPS rack, compliant with the highest reliability standard VFI-SS 111.

The efficiency attained is 95%.

Especially compared to older UPS systems, even a 2% increase in efficiency can add up to a four-figure annual saving in electricity costs.

Careful comparison thus pays off. Every rack needs a suitable power distribution system. From the fused low-voltage distribution, via flexible plug-in socket modules with integrated redundancy to the UPS, it is important that the components are properly matched to each other.

Whether for a large-scale data centre or a single server enclosure, the decision for a 19″ rack system is not simply a question of choosing a particular brand name.

As an integral part of the IT infrastructure, the rack interacts closely with other essential components, such as climate control and monitoring systems, and optimum matching of all individual components is imperative as a basis for trouble-free functioning.

This is especially important from the economic perspective, to guarantee flexible scalability and long-term investment value.

Rittal Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N894

June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

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newproducts Embedded computer The AFB100-D27, a fanless eFlex embedded computer by iBase Technology, provides a comprehensive platform for connections between full-sized computers and micronised systems.

The increased connectivity includes a front panel I/O for express card, audio jack, DVI-I, gigabit ethernet, COM, 3 x USB 2.0 and DC-in connector. It also uses a speedy onboard Intel Atom Processor D2700, 2.12 GHz and an internal expansion socket for mSATA.

EPDU upgrade

New functionalities have been announced for intelligent enclosure power distribution units (ePDUs), including support for Cisco EnergyWise power management, the ability for users to define customised outlet groups, a power scheduling function for planned shutdowns, and mass configuration and mass upgrade of ePDUs. These functionalities enhance the Intelligent Power distribution capabilities of Eaton ePDUs and are available for the recently launched set of managed, advanced monitored and switched ePDU product ranges via firmware updates.

Cisco EnergyWise allows companies to manage, switch and control the power consumption of their infrastructure in an EnergyWise-enabled data centre. EPDU integration allows further power usage management and in-depth monitoring of consumption down to the individual server level.

The ePDUs offer intelligent power distribution and can measure consumption of volts, watts, amps and kilowatt hours in individual servers with 1% accuracy (over 2 A).

Through the addition of Cisco EnergyWise, ePDUs work as an end point in the network and can be accessed directly from any EnergyWise-enabled management application.

They allow Cisco’s management stations to query and collect information on power consumption from the individual outlet level and aggregate this information over multiple ePDUs in the network so that it is available at a glance.

In addition, the ePDUs provide control over power usage by enabling the EnergyWise network to securely switch individual outlets on or off.

Eaton Industries Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N509

The compact form factor has a 4 Gb DDR3 SO-DIMM memory capability. With an operating temperature of 0 to 45°C, a storage temperature of -20 to 80°C and a relative humidity tolerance from 5 to 90% at 45°C (non-condensing), the computer is able to function in a number of varied environments.

It has a construction of aluminium and steel and comes in black or silver in a slim design with mounting holes. It has been designed for applications such as digital signage, automation and process control.

Backplane Systems Technology Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N671

Lightning protection The Times Protect LP-BTR surge arrestor series addresses applications in the 200-1000 MHz range. The DC blocking employed provides optimum isolation of the antenna port from the protected equipment port for maximum surge protection.

The protectors are available with N connector configurations for various installation requirements.

Rojone Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N381

Industrial server The KISS 1U short KTQM67 is the latest addition to the industrial silent server (KISS) family in 1U mini 19″ rack format.

Robust, compact and low-maintenance, the industrial rackmount server is suitable for demanding application areas such as industrial automation, process control, transportation and building automation. Its quiet operation (about 35 dBA) is suitable for noise-sensitive environments.

Developed for high-availability applications with long product lifecycles, the KTQM67 is equipped with a range of interfaces and customer-specific extension options suitable for industrial environments.

It has a 25% reduced installation depth and offers high packing density and computing performance with 2nd generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors.

The server has up to 3.8 GHz processors and offers, in combination with the Intel QM67 controller hub, a maximum of 32 GB DDR3 RAM. One PCI Express x16 extension slot for graphics and framegrabber cards allows for user-specific system designs with standards-based extension cards.

For data storage, there is a shock-resistant internal 3.5″ slot plus slots accessible from the front for a 3.5″ hard disk and a slim DVD drive.

Integrated HD Graphics with DirectX10.1 and OpenGL 3.0 support offers the 2D and 3D graphics performance equivalent to dedicated graphics cards. The integrated turbo boost 2.0 and vector extensions allow applications to benefit from faster floating point operations and vectorial calculations at lower power consumption.

It can run multiscreen applications with simultaneous display of two different HD video streams or innovative 3D applications without having to add additional components and it supports monitor standards without additional adapters.

Kontron Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/M581

8 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

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Meet the Cost and Carbon Challenge with Hybrid Power Solutions

newproducts Ceramic inductors

Gateway and nodes A wireless gateway and two new measurement nodes extend the capabilities of the wireless sensor network (WSN) platform.

With LabVIEW system design software, engineers can easily integrate wired and wireless measurement and control systems and deploy autonomous programs to WSN nodes that perform local control, data analysis and event-based alarming or notification.

Features of the NI 9795 C series gateway include: aggregate measurement data from distributed WSN nodes, making data available within deployed LabVIEW Real-Time applications running on CompactRIO; adds to existing programmable and nonprogrammable WSN gateways to offer choices for cost and flexibility.

The WSN-3230 (1-port RS232) and WSN-3231 (1-port RS485) serial nodes feature one serial port and two digital I/O channels for discrete inputs, event detection and programmatic control; and embed query and parse algorithms directly on WSN node with LabVIEW WSN module to create autonomous programmable interface to a variety of serial-based instruments, sensors and control boards.

TDK has released the MHQ1005P series of multilayer ceramic inductors with a Q factor that, depending on the type, is as good or much better than comparable, wirewound inductors.

The new components are suitable for use in low-loss RF matching circuits in devices such as smartphones and conventional mobile phones.

The series features a Q factor that is at least about the same as the value of a comparable wirewound inductor with the same inductance and in the same footprint. For example, the MHQ1005P2N7 type with an inductance of 2.7 nH offers a Q factor of 108 at 2.4 GHz. The high Q achieved is due to materials technology and innovations in the internal structure of the inductor. The use of new materials has produced an electrode with a smoother surface that raises the device’s Q factor and lowers the dielectric constant to deliver a better self-resonant frequency.

National Instruments Australia Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N751

Coax prep tool The CST-600 all-in-one combination prep tool for use with LMR-600 low loss coaxial cables is claimed to have the following advantages: combination feature allows preparation of LMR-600 cables for either crimp or clamp connector attachment; suitable for use with all LMR-600 connectors; provides consistently sharp cut of dielectric for best VSWR performance; includes a built-in debur tool eliminating the need for a separate debur tool; rugged, lightweight construction.

Rojone Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N504

Enhancements to the internal structure of the inductor - including thicker inner electrodes and L-shape terminals to improve magnetic flux - also help to raise the Q factor of the multilayer ceramic inductors.

The inductors are available in 27 values from 1 to 15 nH and in three tolerance levels.

TDK Australia Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N609

tel: 08 8240 2244

Standard and modified diecast aluminium, metal and plastic enclosures

www.hammondmfg.com 10 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

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newproducts Handheld oscilloscopes

Synchronous DRAMs

Two oscilloscopes have been added to Agilent’s range of handheld instruments.

The 100 MHz U1610A and the 200 MHz U1620A are the first handheld units to include a colour VGA display.

With up to three viewing modes (indoor, outdoor and night vision), these instruments enable users to view signal waveforms by zooming in to capture glitches under all lighting conditions. The outdoor viewing mode, coupled with the 5.7″ transflective display on these instruments, makes it possible to read waveforms even in bright sunlight.

Ke y m e a s u r e m e n t capabilities include a sampling rate of 1 or 2 GSa/s and two safety-isolated input channels. Analysis capabilities include deep memory, 1000-times zooming and dual zoom windows for overview and detailed displays.

Alliance Memory has introduced three, high-speed CMOS synchronous DRAMs (SDRAM) rated for the industrial temperature range of -40 to 85°C. They offer densities of 64 MB (AS4C4M16S-6TIN), 128 MB (AS4C8M16S-6TIN) and 256 MB (AS4C16M16S6TIN). The devices are optimised for high-temperature industrial applications, in addition to high-performance PC, communications, medical and consumer products requiring high memory bandwidth.

Packaged in a 54-pin, 400-mil plastic TSOP II, the devices offer a fast access time from clock down to 4.5 ns at a 5-ns clock cycle and clock rates of 166 MHz. Internally configured as four banks of 1, 2, or 4 word x 16 bits with a synchronous interface, the SDRs operate from a single +3.3 V (± 0.3 V) power supply and are lead- and halogen-free.

Agilent Technologies Australia Pty Ltd

Future Electronics

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June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

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newproducts USB isolators B&B Electronics’ one-port Ulinx UHR401 and two-port Ulinx UHR402 USB isolators are designed to isolate and protect connected equipment from surges, spikes and electrostatic discharges carried on USB cable.

The isolators also protect themselves by virtue of their tough construction. They are equipped with high retention ports that hold USB cables firmly in place to eliminate data loss and, in extreme cases, the risk for fire caused by loose cables and arcing.

Key features include: temperature range -40 to 80°C; level 4 ESD protection (15 kV air, 8 kV contact); 4 kV isolation between upstream and downstream USB ports; downstream ports provide full 500 mA to connected devices; the included external power supply has US, EU, and UK blades.

B&B Electronics Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N382

Intelligent panel meter Futek has released the IPM650 intelligent panel meter to gradually replace the IPM5490/IPM500 family.

Improvements include: 24 bits internal resolution (20 bits noise free); compatible with the entire company transducer portfolio; and various outputs, including 0-5 VDC, +/-5 VDC, 0-20, 4-20, 0-25, 5-25 mA. The meter also provides alarm relays, TEDS and USB output, ASCII stream, data logging (21 k points), is CE approved and LCD capable to display multiple lines plus unit of measurement.

Accessories included in the package: power supply adapter; black USB cable (2 m); eight pin connector plug; six pin connector plug; and four pin connector plug.

Metromatics Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N859

4 GHz oscilloscope

Dawar’s multitouch projected capacitive touch screen provides a combination of functionality, sensitivity and optics in an all-glass solution for medical, instrumentation and industrial applications.

The screens support four simultaneous touch points with full gesture support - tap, flick, pinch, click, expand and rotate. Input is with finger, glove or conductive stylus and the system provides optics with 90% light transmission, clarity of ≥97%, a rapid response and good accuracy (no linearity calibration required).

The all-glass construction delivers surface durability of ≥9H pencil hardness and dependable performance over a wide operating temperature range.

The screens are available in a range of standard sizes - 4.3 to 24″ for controller boards and 4.3 to 17″ for chip-on-flex. They are available in both standard (4:3) and wide aspect ratios, and can provide custom features such as a decorative front lens for the tablet PC look.

All are Windows 7 HID-compliant - with drivers available for most other operating systems - and support multiple interfaces (USB, RS232 and I2C).

A 4 GHz model has been added to the Rohde & Schwarz RTO oscilloscope family. Together, the RTO1044 and RT-ZD40 differential probe (4.5 GHz bandwidth) are tools for developing digital, analog and RF designs.

The latest oscilloscope has 20 GS/s sampling rate and addresses a wide variety of applications: The RTO1044 is suitable for analysing fast signals and steep edges.

It can handle different data interfaces up to a data rate of 1.6 Gbps and can also be used to test fast clock signals up to a frequency of 800 MHz. User benefits of the family include: high sensitivity and measurement accuracy of typically low-amplitude <1 V signals.

Due to the extremely low-noise frontend, the full measurement bandwidth of 4 GHz is available at even the smallest scaling (1 mV/div).

The 10 GHz single-core A/D converter provides dynamic range (ENOB >7 bit). Another characteristic is the high acquisition and analysis rate of 1 million waveforms/s.

The digital trigger system can accurately pinpoint narrow glitches (down to 50 ps) and their origin. An adjustable trigger hysteresis allows users to optimise the trigger sensitivity to the signal characteristics.

The combination of fast FFT analysis, high dynamic range and a wide bandwidth makes the 1044 suitable for frequency domain measurements: when verifying circuit designs and during debugging, even sporadic EMI interferers can be detected.

The spectra of up to four RF signals can be seen in parallel and phase-coherent.

The company’s oscilloscopes feature touch-screen operation and the screen, with its semitransparent dialog boxes, dragand-drop measurement windows, configurable toolbar and preview icons with live waveforms allows users to accomplish even complex measurement tasks quickly.

Future Electronics

Rohde & Schwarz (Australia) Pty Ltd

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N661

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Touch screens

12 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

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newproducts PX server

Power transistors

Iomega has launched StorCenter PX server class series of network storage products, a range of desktop and rackmount NAS devices using server class drives and offering high levels of performance and data protection for small- to medium-sized businesses, remote offices and distributed enterprises.

Designed with EMC storage technology, it incorporates a new version of EMC LifeLine software with advanced computing features as well as 1, 2 and 3 TB server class SATA drives for higher reliability and continuous operation in business functions such as ‘always on’ video surveillance applications.

The new high performance line of Iomega NAS products includes competitively priced four-bay and six-bay desktop models that range from diskless to 18 TB of network storage and four-bay and 12-bay rackmount models that range from diskless to 36 TB of network storage.

Eight devices constructed with gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon carbide (SiC) form a family of power transistors that targets L- and S-band applications from 960 to 3500 MHz. The devices offer 50 V operation with greater than 175 W breakdown voltage, are offered in thermally enhanced Cu/Mo/Cu flanged ceramic packages and are EAR99-compliant.

Features of the MAGX-000912-125L00 and MAGX-000912-250L00 include: 969-1215 MHz frequency range; GaN on SiC HEMT 125 and 250 W pulsed power transistors; internally matched; common source configuration; good power added efficiency: 60%; developed for avionics applications, including Mode-S, TCAS, JTIDS, DME and TACAN. Features of the MAGX-001220-100L00 include: 1200-2000 MHz frequency range; GaN on SiC HEMT 100 W power transistor; high gain, efficiency and ruggedness over a wide bandwidth; drain efficiency: 55%; will withstand 10:1 load mismatches.

Features of the MAGX-002731-030L00 and MAGX-002731-100L00 include: 2700-3100 MHz frequency range; GaN on SiC HEMT 30 and 100 W pulsed power transistors; extreme ruggedness; up to 175 V breakdown; developed for pulsed radar.

Ingram Micro Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N299

Wireless Components Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N660

3-LEvEL POwEr MOduLES up to 1500 v dC link

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June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

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Asset control

© iStockphoto.com/Vladislav Ociacia

Remote asset control is changing our lives Part 2

M2M communications is the networking of intelligent, communications-enabled remote assets. It allows key information to be exchanged automatically without human intervention and covers a broad range of technologies and applications which connect the physical world - whether machines or monitored physical conditions - to a back-end IT infrastructure.

Various governments and regulatory bodies around the world are enacting regulations that mandate functionality of the type enabled by cellular M2M. For example, Sweden has decreed that all its utilities must read their electricity meters at least once a month. Swedish utilities are using cellular connectivity as part of the advanced metering infrastructure solution, and other Scandinavian countries are expected to follow suit.

M2M can be used to help restructure and improve business relationships; for example, by replacing regular servicing with ondemand servicing.

Rather than removing equipment from service for scheduled monthly maintenance, built-in diagnostics can schedule minor servicing to be done on an ad hoc basis and major servicing only when it’s necessary. It can also record a full audit trail of defects, usage, maintenance activities and any external inputs.

Many industries are now using specialised M2M-enabled badges or more generic ‘man-down’ solutions to ensure that employees away from the office are adequately protected.

We need smart metering because climate change, population growth and the availability of primary fuels mean that how we satisfy our energy needs is changing and that delivering sustainable, affordable, secure energy requires action.

Some companies are leading the way in tackling energy wastage by using M2M technology to monitor their property assets. Information collected from light and heat sensors throughout buildings can be processed and monitored. Instructions can be transmitted back to individual devices to recalibrate their settings, thereby reducing energy consumption and costs.

M2M can be used to strengthen and differentiate service offerings and add greater value to the end user. Sensors built in to a vehicle, for example, can be used to add new functionality such as ‘infotainment’ and navigation services, and to enable the vehicle 14 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

to self-diagnose and warn the driver of potential difficulties before a long journey is undertaken.

When built into an end-to-end logistics system, more advanced M2M solutions can be extended to provide additional benefits such as producing information for customs officers or providing confirmation that a shipment has satisfied environmental constraints and has not been tampered with en route.

Some solutions offer the ability to continuously monitor and ensure compliance of remote assets regardless of location.

By automatically collecting business distance information, for example, a company can produce employee kilometre claims and tax deduction confirmation without waiting for the employee to submit an expense form.

For those businesses involved in transport and logistics, this easily extends to confirming compliance with drive time regulations, CO2 emissions, working hours and corporate responsibility for occupational training.

An enterprise commissioning an M2M solution will face unique challenges compared with traditional IT projects.

While IT projects range widely in terms of the lifetime of the project from systems www.electronicsonline.net.au

Asset control

planning to retirement, M2M systems generally have lifetimes of 10 years or more. The build phase alone can take a year or longer.

Once up and running, these systems need maintenance and upgrading so as to be able to incorporate the new technologies that may come along in the interim.

Global M2M deployment is not a trivial task, especially for companies whose core businesses are in non-technical areas. Business terms, device certification requirements and technical configurations can change from one country to the next.

Sourcing communications through a single global supplier can dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of global M2M deployment.

Having a single global M2M solution provider will help facilitate multinational deployments, ease negotiations and technology selection, and simplify ongoing management.

By negotiating centrally, deployment cycles can be reduced and seamless cross-border coverage achieved.

The cost of cellular M2M solutions can be an inhibitor for some applications.

However, the cost of connecting remote assets has fallen, which means that M2M can be considered not just for the most important production assets but for almost every other physical asset an organisation owns or services it provides.

The number of interfaces linking the components (not to mention the M2M collection network itself) make it vulnerable to security breaches. Hence it is important to ensure that the data have been transmitted safely and securely and no data have been lost.

Tools and techniques used to monitor and troubleshoot network performance are just as necessary here as with all telecoms networks.

Data security is a major issue for applications that involve sensitive information such as healthcare records, financial transactions and types of commercially sensitive data.

Encryption, secure password authentication and low-cost, easily deployed, firewall/ antivirus products can be deployed to prevent security breaches or hacking into remote devices.

The challenges involved in exploiting M2M are significant but the potential benefits are even greater. For the enterprise there is the potential for greater efficiency, improved business processes and innovative new business models.

The net result is lower costs, faster response times, better service and, most importantly, higher revenue. www.electronicsonline.net.au

M2M communications present a challenge for multinational business.

There are many different solution providers and even more branded solutions to choose from.

From the business model to the supply chain and ongoing support for devices thousands of kilometres away, simply purchasing a data plan is not enough. You need the tools, technology and best practices to ensure profitability for your connected device initiatives.

Solutions are determined by the target application and the industry as well as the technologies used along the way. Designing the solution involves optimising all of these components and the way in which they interact.

Some solutions are very specific, such as applications in telemedicine.

Others such as the smart grid are long range and large scale and must interconnect with existing, non-M2M-specific systems.

Developers of M2M projects face a two-fold challenge: to address the technical issues for each part of the chain, and to ensure the whole functions properly.

Partnering with a solution provider that has proved M2M global deployment expertise will help to eliminate the challenges and complexity and ensure that any solution implemented can scale globally.

Global M2M solutions are highly specialised, so choosing the right partner, one that fully understands the different components involved and that is financially stable, is critical to successful deployment.

Whichever partner you choose, as a minimum they must be able to: “Some companies are leading the • Satisfy the enterprise of its financial and way in tackling energy wastage by corporate stability; • Demonstrate that it has highly extensive using M2M technology to monitor M2M knowledge, skilled people with good their property assets.” experience and a proven methodology; • Provide a full range of M2M services and capabilities, including proof of concept or testing of M2M applications in a test or live network; • Provide consistent services, support and account management on a local, regional and global scale; • Have direct influence and control over the network design and functionality; • Be of a stature that enables global influence with other operators if needed; • Demonstrate how it will be able to remove cost and complexity from the enterprise’s operations; • Guarantee quality of service.

To gain maximum return, a global, business-wide identification of potential M2M candidates and solutions should be undertaken.

This review should aim to identify system synergies across the enterprise; for example, it might be appropriate to integrate the results of a monitoring system with an engineer job despatch system.

When making the case for a global M2M deployment, it is essential to identify a realistic scope for any proposed solution and the investment needed, together with a clear understanding of the returns that the investment will generate.

In this company’s experience, an ROI showing payback within a short term, for example 12 months, is more likely to justify and create successful adoption.

As well as the cost benefit and ROI calculations, it is important to consider the end user of the service. This means thinking about how user-facing applications will be sold, and how they will work, be maintained, charge for and so on.

Having identified that M2M is viable, it is vital to ensure that the solution has the flexibility and scalability to evolve to meet the changing needs of the business and maintain a consistent end-user experience.

June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

15

Asset control

The embedded hardware must work and continue to work, even in harsh environments with excessive heat, vibration or dirt.

It is vital to fully understand how the devices behave on the network under many different scenarios. This information can be used to improve connectivity performance and optimise the total data consumption of the device.

The SIM card in the sensor must support the mobile network and spectrum ban employed in the area the remote asset is located. It must also be fully functioning and working before final shipping. The network infrastructure used for communication must be secure, responsive, reliable and impervious to natural disasters and tampering.

The wireless technology chosen must be appropriate for the application in terms of speed, bandwidth, cost and quality of service.

There must be no coverage, roaming or interoperability challenges.

Controlling how, when and where remote devices access the network will help to contain costs, particularly for applications where roaming is involved.

Enterprise data tariffs can provide price predictability and simplify the management and complexity of a global deployment.

It is vital to review, test and finetune devices in the field. If possible, benchmark M2M deployment elements against other organisations, industry best practice and industry trends.

It is worth ensuring that a target-based service level agreement is in place covering ongoing performance levels.

In 2009, Vodafone launched its global M2M service platform designed for multinational corporations looking to deploy and manage large, wireless M2M projects.

Today, the company provides users a single point of contact to manage the complex area of M2M connectivity, from early concept development to support for national and multinational deployments.

The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s M2M global service platform provides corporate users with managed connectivity for M2M smart service deployments and contains a set of management tools to control all aspects of M2M communications in real time.

The company has also put in place a global M2M team to develop services designed to match specific industry needs alongside flexible commercial models.

Vodafone Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N907

Energy measurement

Embedded controller

The MCP3911 features two 24-bit, delta-sigma ADCs that operate at 3 V with 94.5 dB SINAD and 106.5 dB THD accuracy.

This provides better energy meter and power monitoring performance by accurately measuring from start-up to maximum current, enabling faster calibration during production. Four different power modes offer the flexibility of enabling either low power designs, to 0.8 mA per channel, or designs for higher speed signals and harmonic content.

The extended temperature range allows operation from -40 to 125°C.

The energy-measurement front end also features 2.7 to 3.6 V analog and digital operation, which simplifies the interface by running off the same power rail as the microcontroller. An internal, low temperature coefficient voltage reference, along with PGAs on each channel, further enables metering and monitoring designs.

The PXIe-8115 embedded controller features the latest dual-core, 2nd generation, Intel Core i5 processor, which helps reduce test times and is suitable for multicore applications.

The device features a rich set of peripheral I/O ports with six USB 2.0 ports. These onboard peripheral ports minimise the need for external peripheral adapters and help engineers build hybrid systems.

To improve the serviceability and minimise downtime, the controller features In-ROM and hard drive diagnostics to determine the controllerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health.

By combining the controller with LabVIEW system design software, engineers can gain efficiency in a variety of test, measurement and control applications.

The processor gives the controller a 2.5 GHz base clock frequency and uses Intel Turbo Boost to automatically increase the clock frequency, based on the application type.

This flexibility makes the device suitable for a variety of applications, including high-performance automated test and industrial control.

The controller also features: six USB 2.0 ports; two display ports, to connect to multiple monitors; dual-gigabit ethernet; GPIB; and serial and parallel ports. This peripheral I/O no longer requires the purchase of individual PXI modules. Engineers can optimise use of the slots in a PXI chassis because the slots are available for measurement modules rather than standard I/O. For memory-intensive applications, the controller is supplied with 2 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory, with up to 8 GB of maximum memory and support for Windows 7 64-bit operating system.

To improve the reliability of PXI systems, the device features In-ROM and hard drive diagnostics for serviceability of the PXI embedded controller. With this new feature, engineers no longer have to use third-party tools to determine the health of the memory and hard drive.

Microchip Technology Australia

National Instruments Australia

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N835

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N836

16 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

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newproducts Monitoring wireless LANs Fluke Networks has released another version of its wireless local area network (WLAN) security and performance monitoring solution, AirMagnet Enterprise, Version 10.

It has the first software sensor agent, letting users use both software and hardware sensors to optimise cost, deployment and security monitoring.

Organisations can now turn a Windows PC into a softwarebased WLAN sensor. This deployment option lets network professionals choose between standard hardware sensors, which are the core technology for monitoring WLANs, and a software alternative for multisite healthcare, retail and concession operations needing basic PCI or HIPAA compliance monitoring.

The software sensor is one of several new capabilities included in AirMagnet, which also includes performance monitoring and WLAN platform support.

The software agent incorporates the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rogue detection and performance management capabilities to ensure the highest levels of security.

This version of AirMagnet also features a management screen that provides a consolidated view of all data and controls to simplify investigation and containment of rogue devices.

In addition to the software agent, version 10 also features what it is claimed to be the first automated health check capability for proactively monitoring WLAN network health from the end-user device to the cloud.

Network professionals can now pinpoint root cause issues, such as wireless authentication failures, download speed degradation and application system outages, before they impact the organisation.

Safety relay

The SIL 3 safety relay is for use in the emergency shutdown of plants and plant components in the process industry.

The device meets the requirements of EN61508 as well as the safety demands of Safety Integrity Level 3.

The relay guarantees safe electrical isolation of the safety PLC to the field and initiates protective measures or immediately cuts the energy supply.

In the output of the safety circuit - the SIL circuit - there is a redundant connection of three relays to guarantee reliable isolation within the output circuit.

The relay is fitted with gold-plated contacts and an additional switching current range of 6 mA up to 5 A of the monitoring circuit permanently guarantees reliable reaction of the emergency shutdown system. The time span between relay ON and response is 4.5 ms (230 V AC) and 5.7 ms (120 V AC).

Weidmuller Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N825

Fluke Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N616

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June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

17

Robotics teams announced

© iStockphoto.com/Baris Simsek

The participating teams for the annual National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition, a student robotics competition designed to encourage development and innovation in the field of robotics, have been announced.

A total of 24 teams will take part in this year’s event, representing universities from across Australia and New Zealand. The competition, which begins in April and concludes in September 2012, will involve each team developing an autonomous robot that will ultimately compete in a live competition with the aim of autonomously completing a set of predefined tasks in the shortest time and earning the most points.

The theme for the 2012 NI ARC is ‘Search and Rescue’.

The students, working alongside NI engineers, will have the opportunity to showcase their robotics talents in front of a large audience from industry and academia at the live competition on 21 September 2012.

Emerson certification Emerson Network Power has received ISO 13485 certification for the manufacturing of medical power supplies in its factories in the Philippines.

ISO 13485 is an internationally recognised quality standard that requires an organisation to demonstrate that it has the comprehensive quality management systems in place to consistently meet the specific customer and regulatory requirements applicable to medical equipment.

Record claimed for solar cell

18 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

© iStockphoto.com/Daniel Schoenen

Teams from the following universities and tertiary institutions will be competing: Auckland University of Technology; University of Canterbury; Curtin University of Technology; Griffith University; Macquarie University; Massey University; University of Newcastle; Queensland University of Technology; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Swinburne University of Technology; NSW Western Sydney Institute of TAFE - Mt Druitt College; The University of South Australia; The University of NSW; University of Auckland; University of Tasmania; University of Technology Sydney; Victoria University of Wellington; University of Wollongong; Charles Darwin University.

Within the theme, the robotics application areas of focus will be navigation, obstacle avoidance and object handling. Participating teams have each received a development kit featuring a CompactRIO embedded acquisition and control system and the LabVIEW 2011 Robotics Suite for developing their robots. Maxon Motor has also provided each team with a gift voucher to buy Maxon motors.

The winning team will receive $3000 cash and the runners-up will be awarded $1500 courtesy of National Instruments Oceania. There is also a cash prize for the most aesthetically pleasing robot.

Additionally, all teams that successfully complete the tasks in this competition, regardless of their finishing position, will keep their development kits valued at over $26,000.

Training, mentoring and competition objectives will be provided

by NI application engineers who specialise in robotics applications.

A certified world record of a 9.1% efficient polymer/fullerene organic solar cell, has been claimed by Polyera. The cell was made using inverted bulk heterojunction architecture and ActivInk PV 2000 semiconductor material.

An inverted cell architecture is claimed to provide commercially relevant benefits, such as making solar panels easier to manufacture and improving their useful life. The company's active layer materials can also be deposited using a broader range of film thicknesses, without lowering cell efficiency. This improves yields and further simplifies manufacturing.

The materials can also be processed at low enough temperatures to be compatible with a wide range of simple printing processes and common, inexpensive plastic substrates like PET or PEN.

www.electronicsonline.net.au

Survey winner announced The winner of the What's New in Electronics Survey is Christopher Murman from Floating Point Pty Ltd. As the winner, Christopher receives an Apple iPad 2.

Thank you to all the readers that participated in this survey.

Advantech joins recycling scheme

Christopher Murman from Floating Point Pty Ltd.

RF catalogue available Samtec has introduced its RF interconnect catalogue that includes standard RF applications and solutions for high-density and custom challenges. The company offers free samples and quotes in 24 h, no minimum order quantities and a 2- to 3-day lead time on standard products.

One new product featured is an SMP board-to-board and cable assembly system with flexibility to meet virtually any design challenge.

In addition, a high-density BNC, with four times the panel density of traditional BNCs, offers true 75 Ω performance with additional strain and space constraints.

Complete interconnect solutions encompass 50 and 75 Ω board mount connectors, cable components and assemblies, as well as IsoRate isolated signal systems and Bull’s Eye test point systems.

For more information, see www.samtec.com/rf. www.electronicsonline.net.au

Advantech has become a member of an Approved Co-Regulatory Arrangement under the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme.

The Scheme involves a combination of government regulation and industry action to reduce television and computer waste going to landfill and to increase the recovery of resources.

The Scheme aims to boost the recycling rate of these products from 17% in 2010 to 80% by 2021-22.

Under the Scheme, householders and small businesses can drop off televisions, computers and computer products such as keyboards and mice, free of charge at designated collection points across the country.

Collection services under the scheme will be progressively rolled out by industry from 2012, expanding across metropolitan, regional and remote areas of Australia by the end of 2013.

Advantech has joined DHL Supply Chain’s Product Stewardship Arrangement to fulfil its obligations under the government’s Product Stewardship Act 2011.

Kyocera acquires LDC firm Optrex Kyocera in Japan has acquired LCD manufacturer Optrex to form Kyocera Display Corporation.

Kyocera includes over 200 companies worldwide that manufacture a wide range of products including industrial ceramic materials, semiconductor components, motor vehicle components, communications equipment and LCDs. With the acquisition, Kyocera will expand its LCD product range and manufacturing capabilities for motor vehicle and industrial applications.

Kyocera will also complement its range of resistive and capacitive-type touch-screen panels with Optrex’s touch-screen bonding capabilities.

June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

19

newproducts High power diode The high power laser diode PL TB450 is mounted in a compact TO-56 package and features an optical power of 1.4 W, making it suitable for high quality, professional projectors, such as those used in offices, conference rooms and home cinemas.

The latest in the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portfolio of lasers on indium-gallium-nitride substrates, the diode also has a range of other applications from laser systems for stage and decoration illumination to medical applications.

Professional projectors with a luminous flux of more than 1000 lm are the main area of application. With a wavelength of 450 nm, it produces the exact blue laser light desired and, with 1.4 W (at room temperature and a current of 1.2 A), the high optical power required.

Efficiency of 27% (the ratio of light produced to electric power consumed) and the temperature of the laser will rise only slightly when in use, giving it a service life of up to 10,000 h at 40°C in continuous operation.

Osram Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N832

Video/audio capture card

IEI Technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IVCE-C604, PCIe video/audio capture card has a four-channel video/audio input and total 120 fps at D1 for four channels (NTSC).

It features a PCI Express interface for higher bandwidth capabilities. The card is Windows 7 (64-bit/32-bit), XP and Linux compatible, supports multiple cards and up to 64 channels for video/ audio input.

The device has an optional, external GPIO daughter board that contains four bits input and four bits output. This capture card supports multiple cards, one digit LED for card identification and has a rotatable switch for card changeability.

The card is adaptable and suitable for use in multiple industries. It can be used for intelligent transport systems, motor vehicle video surveillance, banking security, building, airport and road surveillance, industrial automatic inspection systems, face detection, reorganisation and identification.

ICP Electronics Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N553

Grounding wire

Software success

The ongoing volatility of copper pricing has created a major concern for the telecommunications industry in which telecoms operators traditionally use copper ground wire for network grounding and bonding.

CommScope has developed a copper-alternative grounding wire designed to deter copper theft and lower maintenance costs for telecoms and data applications.

GroundSmart copper clad steel has been designed for use in subsurface grounding grids, as well as inside and outside plant bonding applications.

It is an electrical conductor that has copper metallurgically bonded to a solid steel core and has been specifically designed to disperse fault currents and lightning strikes at a lower total cost of ownership than pure copper.

This makes it less susceptible to theft by increasing the resistance to cutting and decreasing the scrap value. The wire can be jacketed with a polyethylene coating and printed to disguise and distinguish the wire from solid copper alternatives.

For inside plant bonding and grounding applications, the company produces a copper clad aluminium version.

MathWorks has announced that Docomo Beijing Communications Laboratories has adopted MatLab to develop and verify algorithms for developing new physical layer mobile communications technologies for standards such as LTE-A. MatLab has allowed labs to cut development time by 50% compared with its previous C and C++ development methods and allowed researchers to develop new algorithms for link- and systemlevel simulations.

To verify algorithms developed in MatLab, the Docomo engineers used a simulation frame that was built on a complete transmit and receive chain using MatLab, Signal Processing Toolbox and Communications System Toolbox. The team then used Parallel Computing Toolbox to parallelise communications algorithms and scale them, without code changes, to a 32-core cluster running MatLab Distributed Computing Server, reducing the time for the completion of extensive simulations from weeks to hours.

This speedup has helped to verify more than four times the test cases, parameter settings and operating scenarios than was previously possible.

CommScope Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd

MathWorks Australia

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/M792

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/M790

20 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

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newproducts Vibration monitoring

Cloud router

The Dytran 3059A is a low profile IEPE accelerometer featuring a thru hole 1/4-28 mount and radial two-pin MIL-C-5015 connector. This configuration allows the sensor to be turned 360° before securing, for easy installation.

Available with a sensitivity of 100 mV/g, the device incorporates a ceramic shear sensing element packaged in a rugged stainless steel housing. With a low-end frequency response of 0.5 Hz and good low noise performance, the sensor is suitable for vibration monitoring of slowly rotating machinery and other equipment.

Units are hermetically sealed and are internally case isolated to avoid EMI/ground loop interference.

Features include: single axis; low profile; 360° cable orientation; low noise; case isolated; and IEPE.

The N600 wireless dual-band router - premium edition (WNDR3800) is said to be the first home router to offer Clear Channel Selector and the first to create private cloud file sharing through the company's ReadySHARE cloud service.

Clear Channel Selector, previously available only in more costly wireless routers for businesses, automatically detects when the Wi-Fi channel in use becomes overcrowded and switches to another less-crowded channel. The device creates a more reliable home Wi-Fi network by reducing sudden disconnects and slowdowns.

ReadySHARE Cloud transforms a USB hard drive or flash drive, plugged into the USB port of the N600 premium edition, into a private cloud storage system to provide secure access and sharing within the home network or across the internet.

Shared files can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection, as well as through apps from the company for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android smartphones and tablets.

The router can be configured through a simple browserbased interface accessible on PCs, Macs, smartphones, the iPad and other tablets.

It is built around a 680 MHz processor backed by 16 MB of flash memory and 128 MB of RAM.

Metromatics Pty Ltd

Netgear Australia

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N856

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/P016

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June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

21

newproducts Serial interposer LeCroy has announced a PCI Express 2.0 CompactPCI serial interposer for the Summit PCI express protocol analyser range.

The interposer provides a dedicated probe that makes it easier to analyse in-band PCI Express data traffic between a CompactPCI serial card and its system chassis.

The CompactPCI Serial specification, also known as PICMG CPCI-S.0, was adopted

by PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group) in March 2011 and is a next-generation CompactPCI system that offers support for switched fabrics such as PCI Express over a new high-speed rugged connector.

It incorporates a star architecture made up of serial point-to-point connections where one system slot can control up to eight peripheral slots. Mobile and stationary applications in real-time control and monitoring, data acquisition and instrumentation, and simulation and test are the primary focus for this technology.

Target applications include robotics, machine control and industrial automation via research, computer telephony and telecommunication, medical engineering and energy sector, to ground transportation, avionics and shipbuilding and any type of mobile machine or vehicle.

The card supports PCI Express data channels with lane widths up to x8 at data rates up to 5 GT/s. element14 Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N619

High-power modules Seven high-power modules for the N6700 modular power system expand the ability of test-system integrators and R&D engineers to deliver multiple channels of high power (up to 500 W) to devices under test.

The modules give a choice of 34 for the N6700 system.

The modules, together with the 27 modules already offered, comprise a family ranging in power from 18 to 500 W at four different performance levels: basic, highperformance, precision and source/measure unit.

Engineers can mix and match any of these modules in any of the four MPS mainframes (three for automated test and one for R&D ) to create a unique DC power system.

Benefits and features include: fast output changes (0 to 50 V in less than 2 ms) that are up to 50 times faster than other programmable power supplies; fast digitised measurements that extend from milliamps to 50 A; autoranging output capabilities that enable one power supply to do the job of several traditional supplies; highspeed test extensions that offer an oscilloscope-like digitiser that simplifies system configuration and increases measurement accuracy; with a single command, the ability to switch the output from a positive voltage to a negative voltage without changing wiring due to optional built-in polarity reversal relays.

All the N6700 mainframes are compliant with the LXI class C specification. They have USB 2.0, 10/100 Base-T ethernet and GPIB interfaces as standard features and can also be remotely operated from any web browser.

Agilent Technologies Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/Q032

22 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

CPU card ICP Electronics has released the full-sized PICMG 1.3 CPU card, the PCIE-H610.

The card has an LGA1155 Intel Core i7/ i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron processor supported and features a dual-channel 1333/1066 MHz DDR3/DDR3L SDRAM, which can store up to 16 GB of memory.

The card has increased connectivity, with 2 x RS232, RS422/485, 4 x SATA 3GB, LPT, FDD and a 6-pin wafer for KB/MS. There are also 8 x USB 2.0 ports (two by rear I/O, four by onboard pin header, four by backplane pin header via golden finger).

It features the One Key Recovery solution with a TPM V1.2 hardware security function supported by the TPM module for increased security. The card is also software programmable and supports from 1 to 255 s system reset.

It features Intel HD graphics technology to integrate high-performance graphics and media processing, and it can be used for digital signage, graphic design and media processing.

ICP Electronics Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N688

Dishwasher-safe keyboard The EKFT-108 IP67 waterproof USB keyboard is designed for clean office and light industrial environments and is a fulltravel board.

Built with a watertight sealing around the electric circuitry and a removable USB protector, it can be cleaned with spray disinfectants, water submersion or by placing on the top rack of a dishwasher.

It has 108 keys that include a 17 key numeric keypad and 12 function keys and is supplied with a 1.8 m USB interface cable and is compatible with the IBM PC standard and all Windows operating systems.

Interworld Electronics & Computer Industries Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N848

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newproducts Cooling systems The liquid cooling packages (LCP) platform of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Blue Eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; generation is made up of four different climate control systems: the LCP, the LCP Inline, the LCP T3+ and the LCP LWWT. They all share a common architecture and interchangeable components.

The LCP models offer an extended power range, from 10 to 60 kW. They can be scaled in steps from 10 to 20 or to 30 kW or from 40 to 50 or to 60 kW. This is a benefit if heat losses in the enclosure rise, for example, due to additional servers.

With the LCP platform of the Blue E generation, despite the standardised construction, different user requirements can be met.

Consumers of high levels of computing power generally cause high power losses. These are met by the rack-based LCP, which offers 30 to 60 kW. The LCP Inline cools all the rows of racks by blowing cold air to the front in the partitioned cold aisle. It is available with an output of 30 to 60 kW. THe LCP T3+ has a similar construction to the LCP. It ensures higher fail-safe rates, as the cooling water and electrical supply are a redundant design.

The LCP LWWT has an output of 20 kW with no fans. The energy-saving version of the LCP Next Generation has a passive air-water heat exchanger in the rear door of the server enclosure.

The LCP DX (direct expansion, direct evaporation) is suitable for smaller applications where space is limited. It uses a refrigerant instead of water and can be installed quickly.

Rittal Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N649

RF cables, connectors and assemblies RG6 RG11 RG58 RG142 RG174 RG179 RG213 RG316 LMR series Leaky cables and more

U.FL SMA BNC TNC N Type F Type and more

Ampec Technologies Pty Ltd

Unit 1, 63-79 Parramatta Road, Silverwater, NSW 2128 Tel: +61 2 8741 5000 E: sales@ampec.com.au W: www.ampec.com.au

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June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

23

US industry

© iStockphoto.com/daneger

© iStockphoto.com/gyener

US electronics industry faces major challenges John MacWilliams, Bishop & Associates

The electronics industry has grown outwards from North America, Europe and Japan to manufacturing centres in Taiwan, Korea, China, India and South-East Asia. Most high volume assembly of electronic products is now done in the East and design and research developments are growing in these areas as well. But does that mean we’ve reached the end of the story for North American electronics manufacturing? An overview of the world’s manufacturing centres finds that things are continually changing in all locations.

Shifts in technology, labour and economics, as well as growing concerns about intellectual property and skill preservation, mean that no region has reached a point of predictability.

In the US and North America, electronics manufacturing should continue to play a role in the future growth of the economy and employment.

However, massive outsourcing, particularly to China, has caused infrastructure problems that are moving toward an end-game scenario. North American manufacturing capability and know-how has shrunk, in some cases past the point of no return.

This has happened in other industries too, but the size and sophistication of the US economy means manufacturing is still possible in some markets, such as transport, heavy equipment, agriculture/food and pharmaceuticals - and high-tech/low mid volume and niche market electronics.

Europe has adjusted its electronics manufacturing posture to focus on regional markets and many niche sub-markets, notably motor vehicle, appliance, industrial and medical, and is expanding into Eastern Europe. The ongoing fiscal crisis remains an issue.

24 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

Japan remains strong in manufacturing, and has automated its production to retain strategic markets, but it has come under pressure from other Asian economies, particularly Korea.

Other Asian regions, specifically Taiwan and Korea, have had major success, using government cooperation in specific target market dominance, such as computers and displays, and recently have used outsourcing to their advantage.

In Taiwan, they call outsourced production to China ‘manufacturing value.’ Companies like Foxconn, Asus, and Quanta have prospered, serving North American OEM customers with Chinese assembly plants.

China has been the recipient of highvolume, low-cost electronics assembly from all over the world. Central planning appears www.electronicsonline.net.au

© iStockphoto.com/bamlou

US industry

to have helped, although there are issues resulting from China’s rapid build-up.

At this juncture, it will be very difficult for other regions to catch up, as China is beginning to automate with the latest equipment, to counteract wage inflation.

According to Ray Alderman, executive director of the VITA association for Embedded Computer Products and Standards, during boom times, it could be argued that it was a good business decision to move manufacturing offshore, especially to Asia.

The cost of labour was such that the cons of moving could be overlooked by the cost saving of labour.

“Now, that picture has changed. Labour costs in Asia and India are growing at high rates and when you look at the whole labour cost picture, it doesn’t add up.

Labour intensive, high unit volume products can still benefit from the labour costs savings, but the VME industry is not high unit volume and the products are, for the most part, assembled by robots.

The cost of quality, inventory, shipping, protection of intellectual property and user responsiveness all make in-house manufacturing a vital part of the business strategy for VITA members.

Many VITA members keep their manufacturing in-house or use small local manufacturers. These companies are now enjoying the benefits of localisation and are better able to manage costs during an economic slowdown.”

The current scenario, for many companies, is a mix of North American and Asian manufacturing, depending on the type of product. Low volume/high mix production remains in North America for now, while high volume, cost-sensitive manufacturing goes to Asia.

After several years of this activity, foreign recipient locations develop unique expertise in areas such as small form factor manufacturing, use of operator-assisted bench assembly of small electronic parts and associated enabling technologies, such as tool and die making, surface mount assembly and electronic components, which are warehoused or manufactured in local sites.

A wild card in this scenario is semiconductor manufacturing, which is also global, but is still a major North American industry; because it is high tech with low labour costs.

Companies like Intel, TI, and Micron are investing in new fabrication facilities in the US, while continuing to make lower-tech, low-cost products and packaging/test offshore.

This industry remains strong in North America, with 50% or more of its products exported.

But it also has seen a major shift in manufacturing, to where two-thirds of semiconductor products are now made www.electronicsonline.net.au

outside North America, including many foundry operations - the IC industry’s equivalent of outsourcing.

To their credit, semiconductor makers have not stood still on promoting domestic manufacturing. They have been particularly vocal on the need for more graduate engineers and scientists to fuel domestic IT developments.

To support investment in US-based, growth-oriented industries, Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced a $US3.5 billion venture capital initiative during a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, last year, along with a commitment to increase the number of jobs available for recent college graduates.

Intel made this pledge as part of the Invest in America Alliance, which it leads, and is supported by top venture capital firms and corporations.

The alliance aims to further anchor the nation’s competitiveness on the global stage. It wants to serve as the private sector’s complement to existing State and federal job creation programs.

It will make long-term investment in industries and talent poised to produce the next breakthroughs in technology innovation, including jobs in current “The current scenario, for many and future industries such as molecular diagnostics, bioinformatics, electric vehicle companies, is a mix of North ecosystem and wireless infrastructure.

American and Asian manufacturing, “Strong, enduring economies grow out of depending on the type of product.” a culture of investment and a commitment to innovation,” said Otellini.

“We simply must have a clear, consistent strategy to promote innovation, investment and start-up companies. There are things business can do, and ought to do, independent of what government achieves.

It would be a long-term mistake to let our future scientists and engineers sit idle after graduation. Today’s announcements are both an investment in the country’s innovators and a signal to the global market about America’s commitment to innovation and future competitiveness”.

Intel, IBM, New York State, and others, are also investing in a $US4.4 billion semiconductor initiative in the State and an equally large investment is being made in NYC to start a new Cornell-NYUCarnegie-Mellon technical institute on Roosevelt Island.

These, and other investments, are aimed at increasing America’s competitive edge in the electronics, and other, industries via advances in technology and MS-PhD personnel, which have recently lagged MBA and other curricula in North American universities.

Employment in the electronics industry is one measure of the ongoing prospects for this industry and its ability to maintain leadership in a global market.

There has been a steady decline, over recent years, as productivity increased and more work was moved offshore.

At the component level, companies must follow their OEM users who are assembling boards and finished systems in Asia, thus reducing domestic employment, transferring job skills to Asia and eliminating some domestic subcontract work, like tool and die making.

According to the US Census Bureau, employment in the computer and electronic product manufacturing industry (NAICS 334) is forecast to decline by 12% between 2006 and 2016, compared with an ambitious projected overall increase of 11%.

Employment will decline as a result of continued productivity growth, increases in imports of electronic and computer products and outsourcing and offshoring by OEM/EMS users to locations such as mainland China.

Component makers, such as the connector industry, have no choice but to follow their users to new manufacturing locations.

Although much of this design work still takes place in the US, there is ‘leakage’ as manufacturing processes move overseas. Offshore movement will continue to do so as more manufacturing is done in China.

June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

25

© iStockphoto.com/madarakis georgios

US industry

The projected change in employment over the 2006-2016 period varies by industry segment.

Although demand for computers should remain relatively strong worldwide, employment is expected to decline 33.5% in computers and peripheral equipment and 13.7% in semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing.

Declines in both will be due to the introduction of new technology and automated manufacturing processes, as well as a slowdown in the growth of output in these segments from previously high levels.

These segments will continue to face strong foreign competition and massive offshore assembly: • Computer and electronic manufacturing (all) 2006-2016: -12.0%; • Communications equipment 2006-2016: 0.4%; • Magnetic and optical media 2006-2016: -3.7%; • Computer and peripheral equipment 2006-2016: -33.5%; • Semiconductors 2006-2016: -13.7%; • Audio and video equipment 2006-2016: -21.1%.

Statistics on electronic-related manufacturing tell a mixed story.

Apple certainly knows what is best for its business and shareholders and the company’s P&L statement speaks volumes about its success. Companies in “There has been a steady decline, this industry are global enterprises and, over recent years, as productivity as such, need to be low-cost producers. increased and more work was There is a long litany of reasons why people manufacture offshore via moved offshore.” outsourcing, not the least of which is it frees up domestic resources to focus on marketing, engineering and future products.

But that does not mean that under the right circumstances, products for the North American market (or for export) cannot be made in the US. What needs to happen to improve domestic manufacturing employment and the North American trade balance includes the following: • Someone, whether it is Apple, Dell, HP, Microsoft, Vizio or Google needs to take a leadership position to manufacture a high volume, next-generation consumer product in the US, to show it can be done.

• Government support is needed in the form of industry-led planning, research, investment tax breaks, lower energy costs, world-leading broadband internet and the promotion of US manufacturing.

• Industry leaders need to discuss the requirements for worldclass domestic manufacturing. Intel may have taken a leadership position here, but more needs to be done.

• Strategic technologies and US manufactured products, needed for future world leadership, must be identified and pursued with vigour.

This last point, while critical, is difficult and multifacetted, as companies must compete and want to keep their own developments secret. Most likely, any major new thrust would attract lots of international competition.

26 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

Examples of this include LEDs, battery technology and solar panels. US-based companies have no particular incentive to manufacture if it does not benefit their bottom lines. Also, the technologies needed for success may be long-term incubator projects that detract from today’s ROI. Domestic manufacturing would also need to be done by EMS suppliers (outsourcing is here to stay) who: (a) have invested heavily in Asian plants; and (b) operate on thin margins not conducive to major new investments without immediate payback. But they know how to do it because they are in Asia.

The difference would be tweaking their processes to accommodate higher cost direct labour.

Bishop & Associates comments: • It is a tough road, but there is still great potential to transform the industry. It’s essential to continue to maintain and grow domestic engineering, product development and R&D, along with manufacturing. They go hand in hand.

• Industry needs to support programs that increase the supply of engineering talent, including manufacturing automation and robotic assembly. Universities and trade schools need to team with industry.

• We need to use strong domestic component product capabilities in semiconductors, connectors, materials technology and research.

• Rebuilding the North American industry starts with cooperation and common purpose between OEMs and component producers. Think big.

• Identifying strategic technologies is a company, industry and national imperative.

• Since we are inevitably in a globally connected economy, companies need to do what is necessary to be competitive and seek global markets. Protectionism won’t work.

• What will it take to form a national commitment to strengthen our regional manufacturing capabilities, to maintain leadership, and to ensure the future progress of our domestic industry?

Robin Pearce, Bishop & Associates rpearce@bishopinc.com

www.electronicsonline.net.au

newproducts Profibus extender The SHDSL high-speed modem has been certified for railway applications in accordance with EN 50121-4.

The modems for ethernet and Profibus have two DSL ports to commission pointto-point connections, link redundancy, as well as line and star topologies.

Depending on the interface being used, data rates of up to 30 Mbps can be achieved on existing copper lines. At lower data rates, it can bridge distances of over 20 km in the field.

This modem has the following features: user friendliness, network transparency, diagnostic functions, two configurable alarm outputs, as well as two SHDSL ports on each device. The device no longer has to be configured using dip switches.

Phoenix Contact Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N612

www.electronicsonline.net.au

AC-DC power supply Emerson Network Power has announced a high-efficiency 100-150 W AC-DC power supply that can be used for power-over-ethernet applications.

The LPS109-M supply is suitable for powering PoE-enabled networking devices such as ethernet switches or applying a DC voltage to CAT5 cable for powering remote devices such as IP security cameras, WLAN access points and VoIP phones.

The main output meets the electrical isolation requirements of the IEEE 802.3at-2009 PoE standard. The supply also carries both information technology equipment and nonpatient contact and non-patient critical medical safety approvals, making it suitable for a diverse range of low power applications.

It has a typical full load efficiency of 88% and a power density greater than 0.88 W/cm3. It can be accommodated in 1U high rackmount and low-profile equipment. A metal safety enclosure kit (LPX50) is also available.

The device has a universal 90-264 VAC input, enabling it to be used almost anywhere in the world without adjustment and is also capable of operating from a 120-300 VDC input.

The supply produces a main output of 54 VDC, rated at 1.85 A continuous with convection cooling, which can be uprated to 2.8 A with forced air cooling.

It also produces an isolated 12 VDC fan output, at 1 A. The main output is regulated to within Âą2% and can be adjusted over the range 48.6 to 59.4 VDC. Remote sense is provided to compensate for a drop of up to 0.5 V between the main output connector and the load. The supply will operate without remote sense connected.

Active power factor correction minimises input harmonic current distortion and ensures compliance with the EN61000-3-2 standard. The supply has a maximum safety-ground leakage current of 275 ÂľA and the main output has a hold-up time of 10 ms minimum when delivering its full 150 W of output.

Emerson Network Power Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N655

June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

27

newproducts Power for hazardous zones Quint DC/DC converter power supplies equipped with selective fuse breaking can be used in hazardous zones and in shipbuilding.

The converters trip circuit breakers reliably. Faulty circuits are selectively shut down so that the fault is localised and important system components remain operational.

With rated output currents of 5 to 20 A, the devices supply peak currents of 30 to 120 A for 12 ms to magnetically trip circuit breakers. The converters operate with DC input voltages of between 18 and 32 VDC and the range is expanded to between 14 and 32 VDC during operation.

Depending on the device type, potentiometers at the front of the device can be used to adjust the output voltage for the ranges 5 to 18, 18 to 29.5, and 30 to 56.

By boosting the voltage on long supply lines, the modules change the voltage level or compensate for loss-related voltage drops. As a result of the electrical isolation, they separate circuits to decouple and protect sensitive loads.

Phoenix Contact Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N666

Motor catalogue

Rectifier stack Westcode Semiconductors has introduced a standard assembly module that provides the basic building block for the Westack range of assemblies of up to 10,000 A. Assembly modules can either incorporate single or dual devices and allow for building: single-phase diode and thyristor bridges; three-phase diode and thyristor bridges; six-phase single-way diode and thyristor assemblies.

Westcode has an extensive range of power semiconductor devices, modules, capsules, fuses, capacitors and gate drive units, and a custom-built assembly meets specific needs. Cooling can either be natural or by fan or water.

Semikron Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N604

Video chip

Dunkermotor has released its 2012 catalogue of low-voltage brushless DC and intelligent servo motors.

The publication includes detailed specifications on custom-configurable BLDC motors, controls, gearheads, brakes, encoders and accessories and is available free at the M Rutty website.

The product range is based on five frame sizes of high power density, lowvoltage BLDC motors, ranging from 32 to 75 mm with continuous output ratings up to 530 W (0.7 hp).

They are available as motors only or can be configured in infinite varieties with separate or integral controls, incremental or absolute encoders, matched parallel shaft and right-angle gearing, as well as power-off or poweron brakes.

New features in the 114-page catalogue include: addition of integral commutation electronics option to 32 and 42 mm BLDC motors to permit simple two-wire operation in many commercial and industrial pump applications; Profibus and EtherCAT interface options added to integral control 45, 65 and 75 mm BLDC motors to allow slave operation in motion control network; 20 new pages of information and specifications on five sizes of planetary gearheads, including special low-noise versions, with continuous torque ratings to 160 Nm; BGE 30100 standalone control added for use with battery-powered brushless motors up to 500 W; compact CANopen-Profibus gateway to allow CANopen motors slave operation in a Profibus network.

Axis Communications has introduced its ARTPEC-4 chip, the latest version of the system-on-chip for network video products that enhances image quality and video analytics in the company’s network video cameras and video encoders.

The device is designed to offer video with lower noise and higher light sensitivity for sharper images of moving objects. The chip is a key enabler of Lightfinder technology, which allows cameras to ‘see’ clearly in dark and low-light conditions.

In this latest chip, H.264 compression has been improved and it supports simultaneous H.264 and motion JPEG streams. The built-in multiple streaming means that video streams can be optimised individually. All in all, this leads to better HDTV images, increased flexibility and lowered costs for network and storage.

With a CPU and coprocessor for accelerating video analytics, it also has more processing power for intelligent video analysis.

The device is optimised for the company’s branded video encoders and cameras, and will complement the existing chip portfolio, which also includes what is claimed to be the first HDTV-enabled network camera chip, the ARTPEC-3.

M Rutty & Co Pty Ltd

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/M565

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N662

28 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

Pacific Communications

www.electronicsonline.net.au

newproducts Touch panel PC

Backplane Systems Technology Pty Ltd

Circuit performance software

DATE. 14.09.2010 JOB SIZE. 297mm(h) x 70mm(w) JOB NO. REV. CLIENT. JOB NAME. 024965r03_EBMP_Electronics_Ads

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N752

93 MONTAGUE ST. STH MELBOURNE VIC 3205 AUSTRALIA PH. (03) 9686 7766 | W. WWW.OD.COM.AU | E. PRODUCTION@ OD.COM.AU

The LPC-1203 touch panel PC is powered by an Intel Atom N270 processor that reduces the power usage. The decrease of thermal energy makes the computer a high safety and green product under a fanless condition.

The device is supplied with a 12″ touch panel LED backlit screen, which supports a resolution up to 1024 x 768.

Using the modular system-onmodule design, the PC supports diversified performance levels such as COMe/ETX CPU modules and lower scalable baseboard. It also allows the user to group the boards according to individual needs.

Its modular design enables it to be upgraded at any time. Based on a diversified I/O, the device fulfils serial port connectivity of industrial control for multi-equipments.

The PC is waterproof, including front panel, rear data transmission connectors and power sources. Featuring an IP65 safety rating, it is suitable for use in highly rigorous environments such as the navy.

National Instruments Australia

© OPTIMO 2008

Multisim 12.0 with specialised editions for circuit design and electronics education has been introduced.

Multisim 12.0 Professional Edition is based on SPICE simulation and optimised for usability. Engineers can improve design performance to fit their applications by minimising errors and prototype iterations with Multisim simulation tools that include both customisable analyses developed in LabVIEW graphical system design software and standard SPICE analyses and intuitive measurement instruments.

Multisim also provides integration with LabVIEW for closed-loop simulation of analog and digital systems.

Using this design, engineers can validate field-programmable gate array digital control logic alongside analog circuitry (such as for power applications) before leaving the desktop simulation stage.

The package is optimised for layout routing and rapid prototyping needs, making seamless integration possible with NI hardware such as the reconfigurable I/O (RIO) FPGA platforms and PXI platforms for prototype validation.

The Education Edition incorporates features specialised for teaching and is complemented by a solution of hardware, textbooks and courseware. This integrated system helps educators engage students and reinforce circuit theory with an interactive, hands-on approach to investigating circuit behaviour.

The new capabilities facilitate student comprehension of topics in mechatronics, power and digital curricula, expanding the use of a single environment throughout engineering education.

Professional Edition includes: system-level, closed-loop simulation of analog and digital applications with Multisim and LabVIEW saves time in the design process; database enhancements including electromechanical models, AC/DC power converters and switchmode power supplies for designing power applications; more than 2000 new database components from Analog Devices, National Semiconductor, NXP and Philips; 90+ new pin-accurate connector symbols make custom accessory design for NI hardware easier.

Education Edition includes: easier student project facilitation and design with new pinaccurate connectors to NI educational hardware including NI myDAQ; power and machine components for teaching mechatronics and power electronics theory; improved support for digital theory curricula with the latest Xilinx FPGA tool support (12.x and 13.x); analog and digital system-level simulation with LABView for simulating complete laboratories via desktop to teach controls, energy, power and mechatronics theory.

S Force The Ultimate Performer Superior air flow • Steep pressure generation • Superb efficiency • Silent running • Sturdy design •

The engineer’s choice. www.ebmpapst.com.au

Ph: 1800 764 440 or (03) 9360 6400

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N640

www.electronicsonline.net.au

June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

29

NEW White Papers

now available online!

Project 25 and radio dispatch consoles Project 25 (P25) is a user-driven standard in two-way radio, meaning that local and state public safety agencies and many federal agencies define its features. This white paper provides background and information relating to radio dispatch consoles for those who specify, procure and use these systems.

Preparing your network infrastructure for UC collaboration and video deployment When migrating to unified communications (UC) technologies, it is important to review your existing network and security infrastructure. Many organisations try restricting their initial UC implementations to voice-over-IP capabilities but few have implemented business to business (B2B) collaboration. This white paper provides more information.

Controlling data proliferation and reducing storage complexity with unified storage management The amount of data downloaded is massively increasing, which means that IT departments must collect, secure and archive more content than ever before. The management, protection and mining of this data will replace basic device configuration and backup as the primary task for storage administrators.

newproducts Server blade A server blade introduced by Emerson Network Power extends the processing, memory and I/O capabilities available to designers of AdvancedTCA (ATCA)-based telecom servers, supporting demanding control plane applications.

The ATCA-7370 uses the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 family in a blade design that optimises the flow of data between processors, memory devices, the backplane and rear transition modules.

The processor, which features up to eight cores per socket and four channels of high-speed DDR3-1600 memory interfacing directly to an integrated memory controller, offers reduced latency and increased performance.

Dual eight-core processor devices running at 1.8 GHz, linked via a dual QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) interface, are matched with eight DIMM sockets offering up to 128 GB of main memory.

The blade design makes use of the processor’s PCIe terminations to speed internal data flows. Dual 10G ethernet ATCA fabric interfaces using the Intel 82599 (formerly Niantic) network interface controller provide in-shelf data fabric connectivity, while an additional 36 lanes of PCIe Gen 3 can carry a huge traffic flow of up to 288 Gbps onto and off the board.

The blade is backwards compatible with all the current generation of the company’s rear transition modules and will also support a new family of extended capacity options including a 6 x 10 Gbps ethernet termination module.

The blade implements the Intel C604 chipset, a peripheral controller hub optimised for the Xeon processor E5-2600 family that includes support for enterprise-grade storage capability for telecom server applications.

This can be mated with a new RTM carrying dual hot-swappable SAS hard drives of up to 900 GB each. A low-profile, solid-state disk of up to 128 GB capacity can also be fitted directly to the front board.

Networking voice communication and control systems

Emerson Network Power

Facing the challenge of networking voice communications and control systems in a mission-critical environment requires careful planning, product selection and implementation. This technical paper steps through a real-life case study which culminated in a hybrid voice communication and control system (VCCS) with a fully digital, totally non-blocking voice communication system with a distributed, parallel operating core that provides high-reliability, fault-tolerant voice communications.

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N360

Power supply module

For these and more White Paper downloads, visit www.electronicsonline.net.au/white_papers

DLPC Pty Ltd

30 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

Mornsun’s PV series is a power supply module range designed for renewable energy solutions. It provides a stable DC voltage platform and has undervoltage, overcurrent, overvoltage, short circuit protection which ensures the module works with stability and safety under abnormal conditions.

The series has an ultrawide input voltage of 200-1200 VDC, operates over a wide temperature range -40 to 70°C without degrading and efficiency up to 83%, 4 KVDC I/O isolation, low ripple and noise, with high capacitive load capability and fast start-up.

The series is designed to be widely used in renewable energy system applications such as solar energy and wind power generation that requires wide-ranging and high-voltage input, high reliability and complete protection. The series can convert power directly from the PV array, making it suitable to build standalone PV systems.

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N710

www.electronicsonline.net.au

LCD manufacturing

© iStockphoto.com/Darko Novakovic

Will Samsung spin off its LCD panel division?

David Hsieh - vice president, Greater China Market and Yoonsung Chung director, large-area displays & FPD materials, NPD DisplaySearch

Reports on rumours that Samsung Electronics is considering spinning off its LCD manufacturing division are starting to be published.

There is speculation that such a spin-off could be the first step of a restructuring in the company’s display business, with the end goal of a new display company consisting of Samsung Mobile Display (SMD, an independent company that is the leading manufacturer of AMOLED displays) and Samsung LCD. This could be the biggest display company covering the key flat panel technologies from small to large sizes.

Samsung Electronics is considering how to make the transition from LCD to AMOLED in the most efficient way possible, by holding on to its leading position in each technology while minimising losses through manufacturing and procurement, as well as business synergies, including support of the company’s wide array of branded products (TVs, monitors, notebook and tablet PCs, smartphones) and external sales. www.electronicsonline.net.au

What is new is that the timeline seems to be moving up, and the restructuring could take place as soon as the middle of 2012.

It is surprising to consider that Samsung might not merge the OLED business into its LCD business, but rather spin off its LCD business and then merge it with the OLED business.

This is a subtle but important difference, reflecting a significant change in Samsung’s flat panel strategy, putting LCD and OLED in an equal position.

DisplaySearch’s research finds that Samsung’s LCD division is the biggest LCD panel maker in terms of revenues and is a key supplier for all applications, not only for its own products, but also many other brands, including Apple’s iPad, Lenovo and HP’s PCs, and many TV makers.

A stand-alone LCD will mean a change in its sales and component sourcing strategies, because its strategy would need to be focused on profitability, rather than supporting the broader electronics strategy, so it should maximise its user base.

In this sense, the new company is likely to care more for nonSamsung users, and act as an independent and neutral LCD and AMOLED supplier. The new company would continue to be an important supplier of the LCDs and OLEDs needed by the Samsung group, but it will have to live on its own financials, which will have an impact on market prices for panels.

June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

31

LCD manufacturing

Also according to the research, Samsung’s TV business sources over half its LCD TV panels internally (57% in 2011 and plans call for 53% in 2012). The company also buys millions of panels internally for its notebooks, monitors and tablet PCs. Its TV manufacturing has been increasing its vertical integration, purchasing more LCD cells/open cells instead of LCD modules.

If the LCD business is spun off, it could be easier for the company to shift panel buying towards competitors “This would be an indication in Taiwan, Japan or even China. In the past, Taiwanese panel makers often had lower use that the future display direction rates than Samsung, because Samsung tended of the Samsung group is to prioritise its own LCD production during AMOLED rather than LCD.” times of oversupply. The spin-off may change this dynamic.

Another aspect of Samsung’s vertical integration has been in supporting component, materials and equipment suppliers. As an independent, the new company will likely put great pressure on its suppliers to drive down its costs.

This could involve buying from non-Samsung suppliers, especially in semiconductor parts, mechanicals, chemicals, optical films and possibly even glass substrates.

If Samsung spins off its LCD business and merges it with SMD, the new company could use resources from LCD - including revenues, cash flows, fabs and engineering - to move towards large-size AMOLED production.

This would be an indication that the future display direction of the Samsung group is AMOLED rather than LCD.

SAW filters

Richardson RFPD has released three RF surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters from TriQuint Semiconductor.

The filters are suitable for wireless infrastructure applications, including 3G standards, such as wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA); 4G standards, such as long term evolution (LTE); multistandard platforms, as well as repeaters and other general-purpose wireless applications.

The filters, 856977, 857019 and 856934, offer benefits including low insertion loss, high attenuation, good power handling, drop-in compatibility with competitor parts and, in the case of the 857019 and 856934, no matching is required. All three of the filters are available in 3x3 mm hermetic ceramic packages.

Wireless Components Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N636

For Samsung Electronics, spinning off its LCD business would likely improve its financial metrics, because the LCD division has been losing money due to ongoing large capital expenditures and falling panel prices.

The flip side of this is that - to fund investments needed for AMOLED - the new company will need new funding sources, including a public listing, since it will be an independent company without the financial support of Samsung Electronics.

The LCD market has been in oversupply since Q2’10, and panel makers have suffered losses during that time. At the same time, AMOLED has matured and gained market acceptance. Panel makers are changing their strategies to reverse their losses and with the most substantial resources in AMOLED, the Samsung group is moving fast to make big changes.

A spin-off of the LCD division will not be the end, but rather the beginning of another big transition in the display industry.

NPD DisplaySearch http://www.displaysearch.com/

Variable attenuator PMI PVVAN-0R4G6G-40-MP-1 is a nonreflective, linearised, voltage-controlled pin diode attenuator that operates over the 400 MHz to 6.0 GHz frequency range and provides up to 40 dB attenuation range from 0 to +10 VDC control voltage.

Typical insertion loss is 2.8 dB with a typical speed of 1 µs. Operating power levels are up to +23 dBm CW. Mostyn Enterprises (Technologies) Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N513

Testing Wi-Fi Fluke Networks has released version 2.0 of the software that powers its AirCheck Wi-Fi tester.

The tester features a one-button autotest that automatically conducts wireless tests for interference, network quality and rogue access point detection to more quickly and consistently validate wireless network performance, and discover security threats and other issues.

In addition to the autotest feature, the tester also provides increased visibility of client devices, such as laptops and printers, and lets users track them, making it easy to identify and solve wireless connectivity problems.

It includes an onboard security configuration feature that lets users configure the tester on the fly to access secure networks, without having to use a PC. Fluke Australia Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N658

Check out this magazine’s sister website.

newproducts Waveguide switches

Embedded controller

Link Microtek has released a series of waveguide switches that offer sealing to IP65.

Primarily aimed at automatic transfer applications in redundancy systems, the AMWGS series of switches is suitable for use in civil or military satellite-communications ground stations.

The devices are available in a wide range of rectangular waveguide sizes covering microwave frequencies from 2.6 to 40 GHz, typically for applications in the C, X, Ku and Ka bands.

Incorporating a small, lightweight motor, these electrically actuated devices offer tellback functionality to confirm switch status and can also be operated manually if there is a power failure.

The GES-5500F advanced, eco-friendly, embedded controller from Aaeon is a standalone embedded PC featuring Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processor support, fanless operation, compact size, robust construction and low power requirements.

It is supplied with either a i5 520M 2.4 GHz processor or a i7 620M 2.66 GHz processor to provide an energy efficient embedded PC platform. It is equipped with two SODIMM sockets, supporting up to 8 GB of DDR3 system memory, two 10/100/1000Base-TX RJ-45 ethernet connectors, six USB 2.0 ports, three RS-232 ports, one RS-485 port and one eight-channel digital I/O port.

A 2.5″ SATA hard drive can be internally mounted for operating system and data storage. System expansion is possible via an internal mini-card slot. Other I/O includes dual display VGA and DVI graphics connectors, audio line-in, line-out and mic and PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors.

The PC can operate from a wide range, 10 to 30 VDC power source, making it suitable for vehicle intelligent transportation systems as well as factory control applications. It can also be supplied with an external AC power adapter.

Interworld Electronics & Computer Industries Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N838

Simpler compiler range MPLAB XC, a simplified range of C compilers that provides good execution speed and code size for all ~900 PIC microcontrollers and dsPIC digital signal controllers, offers reduced complexity for 8-, 16- and 32-bit designers, with three optimisation levels - free, standard and pro. It supports Linux, Mac OS and Windows operating systems, enabling designers to use their platform of choice for embedded development.

The device makes it easy to move code from any of the company’s existing compilers. Additionally, it completes the tool chain of compatible compilers and debugger/programmers that operate within the universal, cross-platform and opensource MPLAB X integrated development environment. MPLAB XC compilers are also compatible with the legacy MPLAB IDE.

They can be specified with a 12 or 28 operating voltage and a choice of connectors such as SMA, N-type and TNC. Optional features include choke flanges, pressurised waveguide sections and failsafe or latching operation.

Allied Technologies Group Pty Ltd Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N648 LPM_2_ol.pdf 9/05/2012 4:37:54

Microchip Technology Australia PM

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/N613

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June 2012 - What's New in Electronics

33

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Medical applications

Radio waves trigger insulin production Radio waves have been used to remotely switch on engineered insulinproducing genes in mice. The work could one day lead to medical procedures in which patients’ genes are triggered on demand.

Jeffrey Friedman, a molecular geneticist at the Rockefeller University in New York and lead author in the study, says that in the short term, the results will lead to better tools to allow scientists to manipulate cells non-invasively. Longer term, he expects that by refining the system medical applications may be possible.

The researchers coated iron oxide nanoparticles with antibodies that bind to a modified version of the temperature-sensitive ion channel TRPV1, which sits on the surface of cells. They injected these particles into tumours grown under the skins of mice, then used the magnetic field generated by a device similar to a miniature magnetic-resonance-imaging machine to heat the nanoparticles with low-frequency radio waves.

In turn, the nanoparticles heated the ion channel to its activation temperature of 42°C. Opening the channel allowed calcium to flow into cells, triggering secondary signals that switched on an engineered calcium-sensitive gene that produces insulin.

After 30 minutes of radio-wave exposure, the mice’s insulin levels had increased and their blood sugar levels had dropped.

“The great thing about this system is that radio-wave heating can penetrate deep tissue, and TRPV1 can focus that stimulus very locally to just where you have the nanoparticles,” says David Julius, a physiologist who studies TRPV1 at the University of California, San Francisco.

Friedman says that his team did not develop the method as a way of managing diabetes. Insulin and blood sugar levels simply provide convenient physiological readouts for checking that the remote control is working.

“There are many good treatments for diabetes that are much simpler,” he says. However, the system could potentially be engineered to produce proteins to treat other conditions.

In control experiments, the researchers showed that the radio waves heated only cells that contained nanoparticles, and the heat neither 34 What's New in Electronics - June 2012

killed the specialised cells nor spread to neighbouring, unmodified ones.

“Magnetic fields are a good way to develop enough energy without doing harm,” says Arnd Pralle, a biophysicist at the State University of New York at Buffalo, who has worked on stimulating neurons using nanoparticles heated by radio waves. However, he says, more research is needed to characterise fully how the nanoparticles absorb, retain and distribute heat.

The researchers also experimented with cultured cells genetically engineered to make their own nanoparticles and found that they could stimulate a weaker insulin secretion in these cells, too. “What I found most novel about this is there’s no need for any chemicals or small molecules to be administered,” says Ed Boyden, a neurobiologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, who helped to pioneer a method of using fibre optics to control neural activity with light.

Friedman’s current method is not practical for use in the clinic because it is unethical to grow tumours in humans, so the researchers are planning to test alternative delivery systems for the nanoparticles.

Rockefeller University www.rockefeller.edu

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