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March 27
- MEMS micro-tweeter loudspeaker works from 1Vrms
➀ xMEMS has developed a micromachined silicon earbud loudspeaker that operates without a booster amplifier;
➁ The speaker, known as Lassen, runs on a standard 1Vrms audio signal and delivers up to 115dB SPL across 6kHz to 20kHz;
➂ It is designed for two-way 'true wireless stereo' (TWS) earbuds and is available for mass production in September 2025.
- Runnier silicone potting gels for faster filling
➀ Wevo has introduced a new series of runnier silicone potting gels for faster filling;
➁ The Wevosil series offers lower viscosity than standard products, improving air bubble elimination;
➂ The gels cure into gels rather than elastomers, providing effective protection against environmental influences.
- Printed RFID ICs from Pragmatic
➀ Pragmatic Semiconductor has announced a new RFID tag product line for marking retail items.
➁ The product line, branded 'NFC Connect', is a passive IC powered and read using near-field communications.
➂ It is compliant with ISO15693 and NFC Forum Type 5 standards and can be easily integrated into existing workflows.
- Integrating InP and SOI for multi tera-bit photonics SoCs.
➀ X-FAB, SMART Photonics, and Epiphany Design are collaborating to develop a photonics integration platform that combines InP and SOI technologies for multi tera-bit data rates.
➁ The platform aims to address customer requirements for high-speed data rates and energy efficiency in the manufacturing of optical transceivers.
➂ The collaboration has resulted in the development of a design flow and PDK that enables the design of photonics circuits integrating InP chiplets on an SOI platform.
- Headset shipments returned to growth in 2024 but due for a dip in 2025
➀ After two years of decline, AR/VR headset shipments grew by 10% in 2024, according to IDC.
➁ Meta leads the market with a 74.6% share, followed by Apple, Sony, ByteDance, and XREAL.
➂ Meta and XREAL are the only two among the top five companies that recorded year-over-year growth.
- EnSilica opens second Brazilian design centre
➀ EnSilica, a mixed-signal ASIC designer, has opened a second design centre in Brazil;
➁ The new centre is in Campinas, São Paulo State, complementing the company's existing facility in Porto Alegre;
➂ The expansion is driven by a multimillion-pound contract from an optical computing systems customer and aims to meet the growing demand for a resilient European-based supply chain.
- Putin’s Power
➀ On March 26, 2000, Vladimir Putin won the Russian presidential election, succeeding Boris Yeltsin.
➁ Over the next 25 years, Putin has tightened his grip on power, switching roles between president and prime minister.
➂ In 2020, Putin amended the constitution to allow him to run for re-election in 2024 and 2030, potentially extending his rule until 2036.
March 26
- Astute Group buys Copper & Optic
➀ Astute Group, a distributor and supply chain partner, has acquired Copper & Optic, an expert in cable and harness assembly.
➁ The acquisition enhances Astute's custom-design capabilities, particularly in aerospace and defence sectors.
➂ The integration aims to create a strong synergy between the two companies, with a focus on quality and flexibility.
- 5mm tall dc-dcs convert 48V to 12V at up to 2kW
➀ Vicor is targeting 48V to 12V conversion with a range of surface-mount DC-DC converter modules.
➁ The company is shifting from 12V to 48V architectures for higher efficiency.
➂ The modules offer a regulated output adjustable across 10V to 12.5V and can deliver up to 2kW.
- IAR adopts subscription model for cloud-embedded tools
➀ IAR宣布从销售具有永久所有权的单个产品过渡到提供平台上的整个工具箱，作为客户友好的订阅服务；
➁ 这些可扩展的软件设计工具包括公司的嵌入式工作台、C/C++编译器和公司的构建工具；
➂ 这些工具旨在为汽车、医疗和工业自动化领域的嵌入式开发设计。
- Alphawave Semi sampling photonics interconnect ICs for hyperscalers
Alphawave Semi is sampling its portfolio of optoelectronics products targeting the high-speed interconnect semiconductor market, expected to exceed $4 billion by 2028. The portfolio includes DSPs for PAM4 and emerging Coherent-lite modulation, using PAM4 SerDes with its WidEye DSP architecture and EyeQ diagnostic technology. The 800G and 1.6T interconnect products support up to 20km optical reach based on PAM4 and Coherent-lite solutions.
- 2% 2025 growth forecast for front-end fab equipment
➀ SEMI announced a 2% year-over-year growth forecast for front-end fab equipment spending in 2025, reaching $110 billion;
➁ This growth is driven by demand in HPC and memory sectors, as well as the increasing integration of AI;
➂ The Logic & Micro segment is expected to be a key driver of growth, with investments reaching $52 billion in 2025 and $59 billion in 2026.
- European Space Agency looks ahead with ESA Strategy 2040
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) has released its ESA Strategy 2040, outlining its approach to the challenges and opportunities of space up to 2040.
➁ The strategy is framed around five goals: protecting the planet, exploring and discovering, strengthening European autonomy, boosting growth and competitiveness, and inspiring Europe.
➂ The strategy aims to accelerate innovation, strengthen industrial capacity, position Europe as a commercial hub in the global space economy, and establish Europe as a space research hub.
- Q4 Top Ten Foundries
➀ This article lists the top ten foundries based on a report by TrendForce.
➁ The list highlights the leading companies in the semiconductor industry.
➂ It is part of a series that focuses on the top performers in various technology sectors.
March 25
- US Service Personnel Deployed Overseas
➀ Japan hosts the third highest number of active U.S. troops deployed overseas, with 52,852 personnel;
➁ The total number of active U.S. personnel overseas is 165,830 as of June 2024, increasing to 1,294,191 when including those in the U.S.;
➂ This figure includes all branches of the military, State Department personnel, and excludes temporary duty and contingency operation personnel.
- DVCon Europe confirms research papers deadlines
➀ The organizers of this year's Design and Verification Conference & Exhibition Europe (DVCon Europe) have announced the deadline for abstracts for engineering papers and tutorials for this year's event.
➁ Abstracts need to be submitted by 22 April, with full engineering and research papers required by 30 June.
➂ DVCon Europe will be hosted by Accellera Systems Initiative and will take place at the Holiday Inn Munich, Germany from 14 to 15 October.
- ESA selects Tyvak for Ramses Mission CubeSat involving asteroid flyby
➀ The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Tyvak to build the first CubeSat for the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses).
➁ The mission aims to rendezvous with the asteroid 99942 Apophis and study its surface and internal structure.
➂ Tyvak will develop a hybrid CubeSat, combining technologies from previous missions.
- RANsemi joins ACES for Saudi Arabian O-RAN partnership
➀ RANsemi, a British wireless semiconductor innovator, announced a strategic partnership with ACES, a leading Saudi Arabian neutral host operator, specializing in 5G Open RAN baseband technologies.
➁ The partnership is supported by the Saudi Arabian National Technology Development Programme (NTDP) and aims to advance 5G Open RAN and small cell technologies.
➂ The project aims to develop a class-leading 5G Open RAN neutral host small cell system, combining RANsemi's 5G baseband expertise with ACES' RF design capabilities.
- Start-up which turned down $$23bn last July sells for $32bn
➀ Wiz, a cybersecurity provider for cloud-based businesses, has been acquired by Google for $32 billion after rejecting a $23 billion offer last July.
➁ Wiz offers cloud-agnostic security solutions by supporting multiple cloud providers including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud.
➂ Wiz was founded by a team that previously sold a company, Adallom, to Microsoft for $320 million.
- Diamond-on-Si process for quantum magnetometers
➀ DeteQt，一家传感初创公司，已从澳大利亚的Main Sequence Ventures和ATP Fund获得750,000美元的种子前融资。
➁ DeteQt是悉尼大学纳米研究所的衍生公司，其拥有一种‘钻石硅’技术，用于制造量子磁力计。
➂ 该公司的CEO，悉尼大学兼职教授Jim Rabeau，将在本周的量子澳大利亚会议上宣布这项投资。
- Foundry 2.0 to grow 11% this year
➀ The Foundry 2.0 market is projected to reach $298 billion in 2025, with a year-over-year growth of 11%;
➁ TSMC is expected to expand its market share to 37% in 2025, driven by robust orders for AI accelerators;
➂ The non-memory IDM sector is expected to grow modestly at 2% in 2025, despite Intel's aggressive promotion of its process technologies.
- Surrey SEL joins Satellite Applications Catapult’s UK wide network
➀ The University of Surrey’s Space Enterprise Lab (SEL) becomes the newest part of the Satellite Applications Catapult’s UK wide network.
➁ The lab is part of the Surrey Technology Centre (STC) in Guildford, Surrey Research Park, on the University of Surrey campus.
➂ The lab provides equipment for those looking to benefit from space data and technologies, offering free access to digital technology for collaborative work, hybrid meetings, and events.
- Fishing
➀ A trawler caught 7 1/2 times as much fish as with conventional driftnet methods using new electronic fish-finding equipment developed by Kelvin and Hughes (Marine) limited;
➁ The story dates back to 65 years ago, when CERES (Combined Echo Ranging Echo Sounding) equipment was introduced;
➂ CERES combined echo-ranging and echo-sounding to improve fishing efficiency.
March 24
- Organic conductor dissolves for deposition
➀ Researchers at Ritsumeikan University have developed an organic conductor that can be solution processed;
➁ The material is called ‘benzoporphyrin gold complexes’ and pairs gold ions with various anions;
➂ The team led by Professor Hiromitsu Maeda enhanced the solubility of the material by combining it with appropriate counter-anions.
- 2024 saw biggest fall in telecom equipment sales for 20 years
➀ The telecom equipment industry experienced its biggest decline in 20 years with a 14% drop in total equipment revenue in 2024;
➁ The decline was driven by factors such as excess inventory, challenging macro environment, and difficult 5G comparisons;
➂ Despite the decline, Huawei and Ericsson saw improvements in their positions in the global market.
- Webinar: Introducing the next-gen FlexIC design platform
➀ Pragmatic Semiconductor and Electronics Weekly are hosting a webinar on the next-gen FlexIC design platform.
➁ The webinar is aimed at IC Designers, ASIC Engineers, and R&D professionals.
➂ It will cover the capabilities of the Pragmatic FlexIC Platform Gen 3, including rapid design and manufacturing of flexible mixed-signal ASICs.
- Humanoid robots to be $4bn market by 2028
➀ The market prospects for humanoid robots have improved with Jensen Huang's introduction of an open source foundational model called Isaac GR00T N1.
➁ TrendForce projects the total market value of the humanoid robot industry to reach nearly $4 billion by 2028.
➂ The Nvidia model, featuring comprehensive datasets and adaptable training capabilities, is expected to accelerate market adoption by speeding up AI model training and reducing time-to-market.
- Ed Tackles PIP
➀ Ed向他的日记透露，执政不到一年的工党政府正在削减福利预算；
➁ 总理认为Ed是一个多面手，经常找他解决问题，Ed成了他的跑腿；
➂ 总理希望Ed帮助解决长期病假人员的问题，以减少福利预算开支，并避免政府形象受损。
March 21
- Sensing fluids in space
➀ Swiss company Sensirion's sensors are being sent into space this month as part of the Wobble2 experiment;
➁ The purpose of the experiment is to improve fuel delivery in zero-gravity conditions by using a better propellant management device (PMD);
➂ Sensirion is providing its SLF3S-4000B flow sensors for the experiment.
- How Neil Armstrong earned his exes
➀ Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, spoke at the 2006 Freescale Technology Forum, downplaying the significance of his 'giant step for mankind'.
➁ Armstrong discussed the risks involved in the moon landing, including the computer system disagreement during the final approach and landing.
➂ He recounted the first experiment on the moon, which was to set up mirrors for laser measurements, and humorously mentioned the challenge of correctly determining the location of Mount Hamilton.