Category Archives: New Products

Toshiba develops CMOS image sensorToshiba Corporation announced the development of a CMOS image sensor with a small area and low power pixel readout circuits. A sample sensor embedded with the readout circuits shows double the performance of a conventional one. Toshiba presented this development at ISSCC 2013 in San Francisco, CA on Feb. 20.

As demand for commodity mobile phones takes off in emerging markets, CMOS image sensor need to be smaller, consume less power and offer low noise performance. The pixel readout circuits of CMOS image sensors are largely noise reducing correlated double sampling (CDS) circuits, along with a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) and an analog to digital converter (ADC). Serial signal processing architecture is best suited for securing conventional CMOS image sensors with a small area and low power pixel readout circuits, because a PGA and ADC can be shared by many CDS circuits placed in each column area of the sensor. However, smaller size and lower power are still challenges, since noise reduction circuits occupy a large area in the readout circuits, and PGA and ADC have high power consumption.

Key key technologies to overcome these challenges:

1) Column CDS circuits primarily made up of aria-efficient PMOS capacitors. The area of the CDS circuits is reduced to about half that of conventional circuits.

2) In the readout circuits, a level shift function is simultaneously achieved by a capacitive coupling through the PMOS capacitors, allowing adjustment of the signal dynamic range between the column CDS circuits and the PGA and the ADC. This achieves low power and low voltage implementation of the PGA and ADC, reducing their power consumption by 40%.

3) Implementation of a low power switching procedure in the ADC suited to processing the pixel signals of CMOS image sensors. This reduces the switching power consumption of the ADC by 80%.

Toshiba has integrated the three technologies in a sample sensor and confirmed that they double the overall performance of the sensor core. The company now plans to apply CMOS image sensors with the readout circuits to low cost mobile phones and medical cameras in fiscal year 2013.

Toshiba Corporation today announced the development of an innovative low-power technology for embedded SRAM for application in smart phones and other mobile products. The new technology reduces active and standby power in temperatures ranging from room temperature (RT) to high temperature (HT) by using a bit line power calculator (BLPC) and a digitally controllable retention circuit (DCRC). A prototype has been confirmed to reduce active and standby power consumption at 25°C by 27% and 85%, respectively.

Toshiba presented this development at the 2013 International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, CA on February 20.

Longer battery life requires lower power consumption in both high performance and low performance modes (MP3 decoding, background processing, etc.). As low performance applications require only tens of MHz operation, SRAM temperature remains around RT, where active and leakage power consumptions are comparable. Given this, the key issue is to reduce active and standby power from HT to RT.

Toshiba’s new technology applies a BLPC and DCRC. The BLPC predicts power consumption of bit lines by using replicated bit lines to monitor the frequency of the ring oscillator. It minimizes the active power of the SRAM in certain conditions by monitoring the current consumption of the SRAM rest circuits. The DCRC greatly decreases standby power in the retention circuit by periodically activating itself to update the size of the buffer of the retention driver.

Toshiba will continue to develop technologies that contribute to high performance, low power system LSI for mobile products.

ion gunThe Hiden IG20 high-brightness gas ion gun is further enhanced by the introduction of a new beam optic and ion source configuration to enable both increased beam brightness and beam contrast, together with a significant reduction in ultimate spot size.

With a raster scanning area of 4x4mm, the IG20 is equally suited to depth profiling and to surface imaging applications and is the preferred gas ion gun for secondary ion and secondary neutral mass spectrometry, for Auger and for XPS. Parameter selection and gun operation are fully under PC control, and the gun is operable with both oxygen and with inert gas primary sources.

Two interchangeable ion sources are available for operation with the same beam optic configuration. One is optimized for general analysis with maximum brightness and a beam current of 800nA; one is optimized for high dynamic range depth profiling applications with minimised beam scatter and supporting a beam current of 200nA within a beam diameter of just 80 micron.

The IG20 ion gun is differentially pumped and includes full raster scanning, incorporation of a neutrals dump, DN-35-CF (2.75 inch diameter) Conflat-type mounting flange and simple replacement of the ion source yttria-coated iridium twin-filament. Companion products include the IG-5C metal ion gun with caesium source and a choice of quadrupole SIMS detectors.

BioMEM for cardiac resynchronization therapyImec demonstrated a low-power (20µW), intra-cardiac signal processing chip for the detection of ventricular fibrillation at this week’s International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC 2013) in San Francisco with Olympus. An important step toward next-generation cardiac resynchronization therapy solutions, the new chip delivers innovative signal processing functionalities and consumes only 20µW when all channels are active, enabling the miniaturization of implantable devices.

Robust and accurate heart rate (HR) monitoring of the right and left ventricles and right atrium is essential for implantable devices for cardiac resynchronization therapy. And accurate motion sensor and thoracic impedance measurements to analyze intra-thoracic fluid are critical for improving clinical research and analysis of the intra-cardiac rhythm. Moreover, extreme low-power consumption is required to further reduce the size of cardiac implants and improve the patient’s quality of life.

Imec’s low-power integrated circuit features three power-efficient, intra-cardiac signal readout channels (or in short: ECG channels). Each of the three ECG channels is equipped with a precision ECG signal readout circuit with very low-power consumption and an analog signal processor to extract the features of the ECG signal for detection of ventricular fibrillation. The feature extractor achieves only 2ms latency to facilitate responsive cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Additionally, the chip includes unique features that improve the functionality of cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. First, the low-power accelerometer readout channel enables rate adaptive pacing. Secondly, to handle intra-thoracic fluid analysis, the chip includes a 16-level digital sinusoidal current generator and provides 82db wide dynamic range bio-impedance measurement, in the range of 0.1Ω－4.4kΩ with 35mΩ resolution, and achieves best-in-class accuracy (>97%).

Click here to view slideshow of more highlights from ISSCC 2013.

Imec, in collaboration with Panasonic Corporation, has presented at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC 2013) a 60GHz radio transceiver chipset with low power consumption that delivers high data rates over short distances. Imec drastically boosted the link budget of the system by introducing beamforming into the radio architecture. This multi-Gbit 60GHz chipset paves the way toward small size, low-power, low-cost, high-data rate solutions for battery-operated consumer devices, such as smart phones and tablets.

“Exchange of gigabytes of data between mobile devices requires a viable 60GHz technology that balances cost, size and power consumption,” said Liesbet Van der Perre, program director of green radios at imec. “Imec’s prototype transceiver chipset enables multi-gigabit wireless connectivity for ‘true mobile’ devices thanks to its very low power consumption. More demanding applications such as high-definition video streaming and gaming with low latency, proximity computing and wireless docking can also be built on our technology.” 

The prototype chipset consists of a receiver and a transmitter chip, and these are based on a direct conversion architecture combined with an on-chip phased-array architecture. This makes it suited for implementation in 40nm low-power digital CMOS technology targeting low-cost, mass market production. The receiver and transmitter chips are implemented for 4 antenna paths, but they are easily extendible to more antenna paths thanks to the beamforming at analog baseband, rather than at RF. The chip size is kept low through the use of lumped components even at 60GHz, and very compact mm-wave CMOS layout techniques. The transmitter chip consumes 584mW and the receiver chip 400mW at 1.1V power supply. The chipset is integrated with a 4 antenna array in a compact module and demonstrated in a wireless link. With QPSK modulation, a data rate of 2.31Gbps is obtained, and with QAM16 modulation, a data rate of 4.62Gbps is achieved. No bit errors were found when transmitting packets of 32,768 symbols over a distance of 3.6m with QPSK modulation and 0.7m with QAM16 modulation. Thanks to the beamforming a 3dB scan angle range around 120º is achieved with 11dBi antenna gain.

The imec receiver and transmitter chips are designed for the IEEE802.11ad  standard. The receiver and transmitter chipset has been tested with a IEEE 802.11ad PHY/MAC baseband chip developed by Panasonic, demonstrating the complete system for IEEE 802.11 applications. The beamforming functionality is also verified in these system tests.

StMicro fuel gauge for mobileSTMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor supplier, has unveiled its latest battery fuel-gauging device featuring patented innovations that improve long-term accuracy. This tiny chip, the STC3115, can be used in high-volume handheld electronics, and has already been selected by Samsung for some of its recent smartphones. Battery charge indicators — or fuel gauges — have become essential for managing devices such as smartphones, laptops or digital cameras. Accurate "time-remaining" predictions enhance the user’s experience, and can be critical in certain types of portable electronics such as medical devices. Even so, many of today’s fuel-gauging electronics are susceptible to errors caused by battery aging, reduced charging efficiency, leakage, variations in system power demand, and temperature effects.

To enhance fuel-gauging accuracy, ST has combined several important advances in its latest adaptive fuel-gauge IC, the STC3115. Until now, devices have used Coulomb counting to monitor energy entering and leaving the battery, and periodic voltage-mode state-of-charge measurements to adjust the Coulomb counter for accuracy. The STC3115 uses both sets of measurements continuously, with OptimGaug, an adaptive algorithm that tracks the state of charge and corrects the battery model.

The STC3115 further enhances accuracy by measuring true initial battery open-circuit voltage and preventing measurement disruptions when connecting the charger or launching an app. The charging inhibitor is a patented feature that significantly improves accuracy. Aging and temperature compensation are built in, and the voltage measurement accuracy is 0.25%.

Additional value-added features of the new IC include a low-power mode that reduces operating current to only 0.45µA while continuing to monitor the battery, and a 2µA standby mode. An Under-Voltage Lockout, or UVLO filter prevents short-term fluctuations in battery voltage from causing unwanted system resets. In addition, the STC3115 saves bill-of-materials costs by operating directly from the battery voltage without requiring its own voltage regulator.

Key features of STC3115 include the OptimGauge algorithm, which adjusts the battery charge/discharge model over the battery’s life; the industry-standard I2C connection to application processor; programmability with different battery profiles at manufacture; able to monitor batteries up to 4.5V; able to monitor multi-cell packs when used with TS941ILT low-power buffer; dedicated "battery-present" input, and dedicated alarm output, which activates if battery voltage falls below threshold level.

MEMS APIX new productAnalytical Pixels Technology (APIX) today announced the release of its first commercial product: GCAP, a gas chromatography device designed for a variety of industrial and petrochemical applications, including process monitoring, energy distribution, safety and security and environmental control.

This device, designed, assembled and tested by APIX, is based on nano-scale silicon components licensed from the CEA-Leti and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The silicon components are manufactured in Leti’s advanced semiconductor facility in Grenoble and system assembly and test are performed in APIX’s facility in Grenoble.

“GCAP’s very flexible, versatile architecture, based on high-density silicon columns and sensors, means GCAP can be configured to perform in a number of different modes, including conventional, multi-dimensional or concurrent analysis,” said Dr. Pierre Puget, APIX co-founder and CTO. “This makes it the ideal tool for research laboratories, advanced gas analysis, and complex applications such as biomedical screening.”

“One of GCAP’s key features is its ability to work with a number of different carrier gases,” Puget continued. “This is made possible by the extreme sensitivity of the silicon nano-scale sensors at the heart of the system.”

In particular, the ability of GCAP to work with scrubbed air as a carrier gas in lieu of expensive, cumbersome bottled gases allows easy in-situ deployment, nearly real-time analysis, and a significant reduction in operating costs.

Additional major features of GCAP include its ability to:

–      separate and precisely quantify individual molecules among hundreds of interfering substances, depending on architectural configurations

–      limit detection for most chemical compounds below 1 parts-per-million without pre-concentration and in the parts-per-billion range with pre-concentration

–      reduce the volume of analyte required to less than 10 microliters, and the volume of carrier gas to less than 1 milliliter

–      analyze most chemicals is less than one minute

The performance of GCAP, which is available for beta testing, has been demonstrated with alkanes, permanent gases, volatile organic compounds and other materials. 

Analytical Pixels Technology (APIX) was created in 2011 to manufacture and sell gas chromatography products based on joint research by CEA-Leti and Caltech. APIX-designed silicon devices are manufactured at Leti’s Grenoble, France site. APIX is headquartered in Grenoble and has engineering and business operations in the United States.

MOCON, Inc., a manufacturer of package integrity instrumentation, is launching a new system to measure the water vapor transmission rate, or WVTR, of ultra-high barrier films with greater sensitivity than ever before possible. 

The new generation AQUATRAN Model 2 WVTR measurement instrument targets commercial or developmental ultra-high barrier structures which are being engineered to push the performance envelope.  These include flexible films for organic light-emitting display (OLED), solar and similar demanding applications, which require accurate and extremely sensitive instrumentation to build performance statistics.

The AQUATRAN Model 2 uses proprietary technology to accurately and repeatably measure WVTR down to 5×10-5 g/(m2-day). This is one order of magnitude lower than its very successful predecessor the Model 1, which was launched in 2005. 

The Model 2 uses propriety technology to increase sensor sensitivity and reduce the possibility of ambient humidity interfering with test results.  Further, the AQUATRAN Model 2 is the only system available for measuring trace WVTR that is not calibration dependent, providing more accurate and repeatable results.

The AQUATRAN Model 2 utilizes MOCON’s newest AquaTrace Gold coulometric longer-life sensor which is based on Faraday’s Law. Every water molecule entering the sensor is directly converted to a measureable charge.  No calibration is necessary, assuring an accurate test result.

Transient data also is quantifiable and can be viewed during or after the test. (Analysis of transient data can yield important information about an OLED structure such as detecting defects and voids in the applied coatings.)

Additional enhancements to the AQUATRAN Model 2 include improved electronics,  enhanced block and valve design, and the introduction of TruSeal™ technology which reduces seal-edge leaks due to ambient humidity.

The AQUATRAN Model 2 is available in two versions. The G system operates between 35 and 90 percent relative humidity (RH) and a temperature range of 10 to 40 centigrade.  The W version offers 100% RH and a temperature range 10 to 50 centigrade.

CoorsTek, one of the largest technical ceramics manufacturers, today announced introduction of aluminum nitride substrates. Ideal for the rapidly growing LED market and other markets where high heat dissipation is useful, these ceramic substrates boast a thermal conductivity of 170 W/m K.

CoorsTek AlN (aluminum nitride) ceramic substrates feature a very high dielectric strength, are a non-toxic alternative to BeO (beryllium oxide), and exhibit a thermal expansion coefficient similar to Si, GaN, and GaAs semiconductors.

“While we already offer an extensive line of ceramic substrates, our new high performance aluminum oxide substrates cover high heat dissipation applications,” says Andrew Golike, electronics general manager for CoorsTek, Inc.

Established in 1910, CoorsTek is one of the largest technical ceramics manufacturer in the world with over 40 facilities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Microchip Technology Inc. introduced three new SPI Flash memory devices yesterday. The devices, named the SST25PF020B, SST25PF040B and SST25PF080B, offer two, four and eight Mbit of memory and are manufactured with Microchip’s high-performance SuperFlash technology, a split-gate, NOR Flash design with thick-oxide tunneling injector for superior quality and reliability.

“With their extended voltage, smaller footprint and low power consumption, this SST25PFXXXB SPI Flash family provides designers with even simpler, more economical and more innovative memory solutions for their embedded designs.”

With their extended operating voltage range from 2.3 to 3.6V, extremely low power consumption, small-footprint packaging, and fixed super-fast program and erase times, these SPI Flash memory devices excel in a variety of applications. The memory is partitioned into uniform 4 Kbyte sectors, and 32 and 64 Kbyte blocks, offering flexible erase capabilities and seamless partitioning for program and data code in the same memory block. All three devices enable designers to reduce their overall product design cycles and total system costs while improving product performance. The extended voltage range provides designers with a wider set of options on the power-supply voltage for their chipsets and board designs, and reduces overall power consumption, making these memory devices especially well-suited for battery-operated accessories, sensors and equipment.

The SST25PF020B, SST25PF040B and SST25PF080B SPI Flash devices offer flexible erase and program performance, including erasing sectors and blocks as fast as 18 ms, erasing the entire Flash memory chip in 35 ms, and a word-programming time of 7 µs using Auto Address Increment (AAI). The devices also offer superior reliability of 100,000 endurance cycles, typical, and greater than 100 years of data retention. The active read current of these devices is only 10 mA, typical, at 80 MHz, and standby current is only 10 µA, typical.

All three devices excel in a broad range of applications, including those in the consumer-electronics and industrial markets. Examples of ideal end applications include smart meters, wireless products for sports/fitness/health monitoring, digital radios, low-power Wi-Fi® products, GPS, and a wide array of battery-operated products. Additionally, these SPI Flash memory devices are well suited for use in medical applications, such as glucose meters, hearing aids and wireless sensors.

“Newer designs requiring greater mobility, along with more compact form factors, are driving lower-power and extended-voltage requirements,” said Randy Drwinga, vice president of Microchip’s SuperFlash Memory Division. “With their extended voltage, smaller footprint and low power consumption, this SST25PFXXXB SPI Flash family provides designers with even simpler, more economical and more innovative memory solutions for their embedded designs.”

Pricing & Availability

The SST25PF020B starts at $0.53 each, in 8-lead 150 mil SOIC, 8-contact USON (3×2 mm), or 8-contact WSON (6×5 mm) packages, in 10,000-unit quantities. The SST25PF040B starts at $0.66 each, in 8-lead 150 mil SOIC, 8-lead 200 mil SOIC, or 8-contact WSON (6×5 mm) packages, in 10,000-unit quantities. The SST25PF080B starts at $0.81 each, in 8-lead 150 mil SOIC, 8-lead 200 mil SOIC, or 8-contact WSON (6×5 mm) packages, in 10,000-unit quantities.