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ProPlus Design Solutions, Inc. announced today it expanded its sales operations to Europe.

Micke Wersall and Johan Gardelius have been named European Sales directors. They will be manage all customer accounts in European countries and have responsibility for growing the European customer base for ProPlus’ Giga-scale SPICE simulator, SPICE modeling tools and DFY solutions.

European expansion comes at a time when the new NanoSpice parallel SPICE simulator, NanoSpice Giga, a unique Giga-scale SPICE simulator, and 9812D 1/f Noise Analyzer, the latest generation wafer-level 1/f noise measurement system, are gaining widespread adoption in the U.S. and Asia. All are receiving growing interest in Europe as well.

“European companies are working on leading-edge semiconductor process technologies and products that can benefit from our advanced modeling, simulation and DFY solutions,” remarks Dr. Zhihong Liu, chairman and chief executive officer of ProPlus Design Solutions Inc. “We are increasing our investment in Europe since so much activity and innovation on advanced technology nodes are going on in this region. Micke Wersall and Johan Gardelius are two recognized sales executives who are excellent additions to our operations.”

According to Micke Wersall: “ProPlus’ DFY solutions are critical components to all design and verification flows and I expect European engineers quickly will come to understand the benefits that our DFY solutions can provide for getting their products to market faster.”

“Yield improvement is a recurring theme I hear with all kinds of project teams,” adds Johan Gardelius. “ProPlus is offering DFY solutions that will appeal to a wide range of applications. I’m very delighted to be part of this growing company.”

SEMI, the global industry association for companies that supply manufacturing technology and materials to the world’’s chip makers, today reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$ 9.62 billion in the second quarter of 2014. The billings figure is 5 percent lower than the first quarter of 2014 and 28 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. The data is gathered jointly with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from over 100 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

Worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings were $9.96 billion in the second quarter of 2014. The figure is 9 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago and 1 percent higher than the bookings figure for the first quarter of 2014.

The quarterly billings data by region in billions of U.S. dollars, quarter-over-quarter growth and year-over-year rates by region are as follows:


Region


2Q2014


1Q2014


2Q2013

2Q14/1Q14
(Qtr-over-Qtr)

2Q14/2Q13
(Year-over-Year)
Taiwan

2.48

2.59

2.73

-5%

-9%
North America

2.32

1.85

1.16

25%

101%
Korea

1.73

2.03

1.22

-15%

42%
China

1.03

1.71

0.84

-40%

23%
Japan

1.00

0.96

0.74

4%

35%
Europe

0.57

0.58

0.36

-3%

58%
ROW

0.50

0.42

0.51

18%

-2%
Total

9.62

10.15

7.54

-5%

28%

Source: SEMI/SEAJ September 2014

Note: Figures may not add due to rounding.

MEMS Industry Group (MIG) will host MEMS Executive Congress US 2014, an annual business conference and networking event for the MEMS and sensors industry, November 5-7, 2014 in Scottsdale, AZ.

Spanning environmental sensors for safe drinking water to personalized healthcare, cybersecurity for connected systems, and spectral imaging in wearable devices, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors enable human-machine interactions in unprecedented ways.

“This year’s MEMS Executive Congress US speakers reflect some of the most fascinating uses of MEMS and sensors in commercial applications,” said Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS Industry Group. “Ayasdi is tracking disease via smartphone. MoboSens uses a smartphone sensor to monitor nitrate in drinking water. VTT’s microspectromers are likely to be used for skin cancer analysis, among many other uses. GE is advancing MRI. Wurldtech’s technology protects critical infrastructure for oil and gas, smart grid and medical devices. And those are just a few of our speakers who will enlighten the C-level audience about maximizing the potential of MEMS and sensors — the theme of this year’s MEMS Executive Congress. Equally exciting, Congress attendees will also hear from entrepreneurs, academic innovators and one of the world’s largest foundries, TSMC.”

Featured Events

For the third year in a row, MIG’s popular MEMS and Sensors Technology Showcase will give Congress attendees an up-close and personal experience with some of the most compelling MEMS- and sensors-enabled products ever invented.

MIG’s second annual Elevator Pitch Session will give early-stage MEMS and sensors companies a platform for reaching potential investors.

MIG’s annual Best in MEMS and Sensors Innovation Awards will celebrate outstanding achievements in the MEMS and sensors industry.

Now in its tenth year, MEMS Executive Congress is an annual event that brings together business leaders from a broad spectrum of industries: automotive, consumer goods, energy/environmental, industrial, medical and telecom. It is a unique professional forum at which executives from companies designing and manufacturing MEMS/sensors technology sit side-by-side with their end-user customers in panel discussions and networking events to exchange ideas and information about the use of MEMS and sensors in commercial applications.

For the complete agenda, visit: http://us2014.memscongress.com/agenda/.

The Plastics Electronics Conference and Exposition will co-locate with SEMICON Europa. Plastic Electronics 2014 (PE 2014) is themed “Enabling Applications beyond Limits in Electronics” and will be held at Alpexpo in Grenoble on 7-9 October. PE2014 is an ideal forum to meet technology leaders and professionals from industry, academia, and research organizations focused on developing the next-generation of plastic and organic electronics.

According to analysts, the plastics electronics market is growing rapidly and is expected to reach $13 billion by 2020 driven by increasing applications in the semiconductor and electronics market. Applications like large area displays, solar panels and printed electronics are now responsible for a substantial portion of the PE market, and emerging applications like OLED, thin-film batteries, and sensors are emerging growth opportunities.

Manufacturability of Plastic Electronics has made major steps in the last year, moving from research level to industrial relevance.  Still, numerous barriers to commercialization must be overcome — from material development to integration, manufacturing, processing, and assembly issues. PE2014 covers these issues currently driving development and impeding progress.

Plastic electronics’ imminent transition from the R&D phase to the industrialization stage is highlighted by several keynote presentations at the PE2014 (www.plastic-electronics.org).  Fiddian Warman, founder and managing director, SODA, will present on, “How design type approaches can be effective in facilitating innovative technological development and open up new markets and opportunities,” and John Heitzinger, president, Soligie, Inc., will delve into “Advances in Additive Manufacturing of Electronics.”

The exposition and conference cover the entire span of Plastic Electronics —Hybrid and Heterogeneous Integration; Organic Electronics; OLEDs, Displays, and Lighting; and Flexible Photovoltaics — offering the latest developments for engineers, material experts, manufacturing professionals and industry strategists. Highlights are:

  • Business Case session —  speakers from imec, ISORG, Nokia, Philips Research, Plastic Logic, SODA, STMicroelectronics, Valeo, and Yole Developpement.
  • Manufacturing Panel Discussion on “Building a Leadership Position in PE” — panelists from Bosch, Cambridge, CEA, Joanneum Research, and Ynvisible.
  • Manufacturing Session — presenters from Applied Materials, Beneque, CEA Tech, Dupont Teijin Films UK Ltd, Joanneum Research, NovaCentrix, Roth and Rau B.V.,  Soligie, Universal Laser Systems, Ynvisible — as well as Cambridge University, the European Commission, and VTT (Finland).
  • Technologies/Materials Session — features speakers from Arkema, Arizona State University, CEA-LITEN, Corning, Fraunhofer, imec, and Sunchon National University.

The Plastic Electronics Exhibition & Conference 2014 is hosted by SEMI and representatives of leading industry companies, research centers and institutes. SEMI focuses its activities on roadmaps, standardization, research and statistics, conferences, exhibitions and public policy worldwide.  For more information on the conference, presenters, topics, events and exhibitors, visit www.plastic-electronics.org.

During the three days of SEMICON Europa 2014 (www.semiconeuropa.org), more than 8,000 visitors from all over the world are expected at the trade fair. The combination of SEMICON Europa with Plastic Electronics offers visitors and exhibitors excellent synergies and opportunities.

S2C, Inc. announced today the opening of a direct sales and support office in Seoul, Korea, appointing Suk-Ha Lee (SH Lee) as country manager.

“We’ve had numerous requests for our systems in Korea – this is clearly an opportunity for us,” said Toshio Nakama, CEO of S2C. “Opening an office in Seoul is a natural decision. A lot of high-end consumer products are developed in Korea, all built upon complex SoCs driven by sophisticated software. Our solutions meet this challenge perfectly.”

Heading the new office is SH Lee – a professional with 24 years of sales and customer support experience in the Korean EDA market. “I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity,” said Lee. “Customer satisfaction is always first and foremost in my mind. S2C has the right product at the right time – I look forward to supporting our customers with this important technology, insuring their experience is positive and productive.”

Prior to his position at S2C, Mr. Lee was the country manager for Forte Design Systems in Korea. Previous positions include country manager for Synplicity Korea, and Major Accounts Manager for Synopsys Korea. Mr. Lee’s experience includes ESL solutions, FPGA applications, and ASIC design flows.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, S2C provides SoC prototyping solutions.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.41 billion in orders worldwide in July 2014 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.07, according to the July EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 1.07 means that $107 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in July 2014 was $1.41 billion. The bookings figure is 2.8  percent lower than the final June 2014 level of $1.46 billion, and is 17.1 percent higher than the July 2013 order level of $1.21 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in July 2014 was $1.32 billion. The billings figure is 0.7 percent lower than the final June 2014 level of $1.33 billion, and is 9.4 percent higher than the July 2013 billings level of $1.20 billion.

“Order activity for semiconductor equipment has held at a steady level so far for 2014,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “This trend, along with improvements in semiconductor device sales and unit shipments, is consistent with our outlook for strong equipment sales growth this year.”

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

 

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
February 2014

1,288.3

1,295.4

1.01
March 2014

1,225.5

1,297.7

1.06
April 2014

1,403.2

1,443.0

1.03
May 2014

1,407.8

1,407.0

1.00
June 2014 (final)

1,327.5

1,455.0

1.10
July 2014 (prelim)

1,317.6

1,413.7

1.07

Source: SEMI, August 2014

New Japan Radio Co., Ltd. and United Microelectronics Corporation, a global semiconductor foundry, today announced that the two companies have successfully collaborated to achieve high-volume manufacturing for NJR’s MEMS microphone products. Adding UMC’s MEMS manufacturing capabilities to NJR’s Fukuoka and Kawagoe fabs will ensure NJR’s smooth and scaled production ramp to address this rapidly growing market. To date, NJR has already surpassed 100 million shipments for MEMS microphone ICs.

Mr. Takaaki Murata, NJR Director & Manager of its corporate office said, “NJR’s rapid growth in the MEMS microphone business cannot be achieved without UMC’s close support, technical expertise and manufacturing capability. Porting MEMS devices to foundry is extremely difficult since MEMS ICs contain mechanical modules, which cannot be electronically simulated as semiconductor devices. UMC’s superior process control expertise and manufacturing capability ensured a perfect performance match, equal to that of our own mother fab. With UMC’s strong support, we expect NJR’s MEMS shipments to continue its growth, enabling us to gain market share.”

The MEMS microphone market is experiencing high growth, as conventional ECM (electro condenser microphone) is being phased out in favor of MEMS for today’s most popular smartphones. To accommodate NJR’s current and future MEMS growth and help NJR maintain a market leadership position in the sector, UMC expanded its MEMS manufacturing capacity and resources, positioning the foundry as NJR’s joint process development center for future generations of high performance MEMS for microphones and other applications.

J H Shyu, senior vice president of Production and Operation Integration at UMC, commented, “NJR has been a wonderful UMC partner for many years. We have achieved several significant goals together, including the delivery of the world’s lowest noise OpAmp to market. It is a great pleasure to add another important area of corroboration in the form of MEMS devices. We look forward to continuing our partnership with NJR in both process technology and manufacturing to realize additional milestones in the future.”

In its recent market research report, ABI Research forecasts automotive camera sensor shipments to reach 197 million by 2020. Main optical sensor suppliers include Aptina (recently acquired by ON Semiconductor), OmniVision, Sony, STMicro, and Toshiba. LiDAR and IR sensor uptake will remain limited during the forecast period due to its high cost.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are essentially driven by a sensor fusion revolution combining radar, camera, infra-red (night vision), ultrasonic (automated parking), and LiDAR sensors.

While radar will remain a key technology, boosted by the 79 GHz spectrum band expected to become available globally, camera sensors and machine vision technology hold the promise of propelling ADAS into the mainstream because of its lower cost, flexibility, and multi-purpose character.

“Advances in RF transceivers, microcontrollers, and open platforms are also critical as they allow cost reduction through ECU consolidation by sharing MCUs across multiple sensors, and the promise for car OEMs of the availability of end-to-end solutions via ecosystems of software and application vendors. This is illustrated by Freescale’s recent partnerships with CogniVue, Neusoft, and Green Hills,” comments VP and practice director Dominique Bonte.

However, the arrival of autonomous driving will be the single biggest driver for the uptake of ADAS, which will be a critical component of driverless car technology. In the meantime, ADAS should be seen as a precursor of self-driving vehicles and is already becoming the subject of regulation, with the European NCAP including the presence of Speed Assistance Systems, Autonomous Emergency Braking, and Lane Departure Warning/Lane Keep Assist as criteria to determine safety ratings. In the United States similar initiatives are being discussed by NHTSA which recently proposed changes to its five-star safety program.

These findings are part of ABI Research’s Automotive Safety and Autonomous Driving Market Research which covers OEM and aftermarket telematics solutions, ADAS and active safety and autonomous vehicles.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $82.7 billion during the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 5.4 percent over the previous quarter and a jump of 10.8 percent compared to the second quarter of 2013. Global sales for the month of June 2014 reached $27.57 billion, marking the industry’s highest monthly sales ever. June’s sales were 10.8 percent higher than the June 2013 total of $24.88 billion and 2.6 percent more than last month’s total of $26.86 billion. Year-to-date sales during the first half of 2014 were 11.1 percent higher than they were at the same point in 2013, which was a record year for semiconductor revenues. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“Through the first half of 2014, the global semiconductor market has demonstrated consistent, across-the-board growth, with the Americas region continuing to show particular strength,” said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “The industry posted its highest-ever second quarter sales and outperformed the latest World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) sales forecast. Looking forward, macroeconomic indicators – including solid U.S. GDP growth announced last week – bode well for continued growth in the second half of 2014 and beyond.”

Regionally, sales were up compared to last month in the Americas (4.9 percent), Asia Pacific (2.1 percent), Japan (2.1 percent), and Europe (1.9 percent). Compared to June 2013, sales increased in the Americas (12.1 percent), Europe (12.1 percent), Asia Pacific (10.5 percent), and Japan (8.5 percent). All four regional markets have posted better year-to-date sales through the first half of 2014 than they did through the same point last year.

June 2014
Billions
Month-to-Month Sales
Market Last Month Current Month % Change
Americas 5.09 5.34 4.9%
Europe 3.13 3.19 1.9%
Japan 2.89 2.95 2.1%
Asia Pacific 15.76 16.09 2.1%
Total 26.86 27.57 2.6%
Year-to-Year Sales
Market Last Year Current Month % Change
Americas 4.76 5.34 12.1%
Europe 2.84 3.19 12.1%
Japan 2.72 2.95 8.5%
Asia Pacific 14.56 16.09 10.5%
Total 24.88 27.57 10.8%
Three-Month-Moving Average Sales
Market Jan/Feb/Mar Apr/May/June % Change
Americas 5.08 5.34 5.1%
Europe 3.08 3.19 3.5%
Japan 2.81 2.95 4.9%
Asia Pacific 15.18 16.09 6.0%
Total 26.15 27.57 5.4%

The number of smart cities worldwide will quadruple within a 12-year period that started last year, proliferating as local governments work with the private sector to cope with a multitude of challenges confronting urban centers, according to a new report from IHS Technology.

There will be at least 88 smart cities all over the world by 2025, up from 21 in 2013, based on the IHS definition of a smart city. While the combined Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region represented the largest number of smart cities last year, Asia-Pacific will take over the lead in 2025. In all, Asia-Pacific will account for 32 smart cities of the total in nine years’ time, Europe will have 31, and the Americas will contribute 25, as shown in the figure below.

Smart_City_JPEG

“Smart cities encompass a broad range of different aspects, but IHS has narrowed the definition of the term to describe cities that have deployed—or are currently piloting—the integration of information, communications and technology (ICT) solutions across three or more different functional areas of a city,” said Lisa Arrowsmith, associate director for connectivity, smart homes and smart cities at IHS. “These functional areas include mobile and transport, energy and sustainability, physical infrastructure, governance, and safety and security.”

These findings are available in the report entitled, “Smart Cities: Business Models, Technologies and Existing Projects,” from the Information Technology service of IHS Technology.

City projects in the Americas are typically somewhat narrower in scope than those found in Europe. Unlike broad projects underway in cities like Vienna or Amsterdam, U.S. projects will often focus on a single functional area, such as mobility and transport.

Meanwhile, many of the budget issues facing government expenditures in the well-developed economies of Europe are not found to the same extent in the Asia-Pacific region. In effect, this has the potential to create more scope for investment in smart city projects in Asia-Pacific, where projects are sometimes based around creating new infrastructure, rather than replacing legacy systems.

Under the smart city definition of IHS, annual investment on smart city projects reached slightly over $1 billion in 2013, but will go on to surpass $12 billion in 2025.

Why smart cities? 

Smart cities are emerging in response to an increasingly urbanized world dealing with scarce resources, along with the desire to improve energy efficiency. By providing appropriate technologies and solutions, smart cities can deal with issues such as congestion and energy waste, while also allocating stressed resources more efficiently and helping to improve quality of life.

For instance, as an increasing proportion of the world’s populations live in cities—3.42 billion in urban areas vs. 3.451 billion in rural areas as of mid-2009, according to the United Nations—services such as public transportation, energy provision or the urban road network are inevitably strained. Smarter solutions can be deployed to lessen the negative effects of growing urbanization, including the use of sensors to monitor traffic, or the implementation of smarter ticketing solutions to improve the use of public transport.

Smart cities can also help achieve energy-efficient targets. London, for example, is retrofitting both residential and commercial buildings to lessen carbon dioxide emissions. The city is also adopting charging infrastructure to support the introduction of 100,000 electric vehicles.

For areas of the world where water is a scarce resource, smart cities can allocate this precious resource, using sensors to manage water use or provide critical information on water-storage levels. In Santander, Spain, soil-humidity sensors detect when land requires irrigating for more sustainable water use.

Smart cities also can provide other benefits. They can generate new employment opportunities through the creation of projects, prevent citizens from moving away by improving quality of life within their jurisdictions, and reduce costs. In the case of cost reduction, cities are discovering the benefits of light-emitting diodes (LED) in street lighting, an area that can take as much as 40 percent of a city’s energy budget.

Figuring out investment returns

When considering the long-term viability of smart city initiatives, it is important to assess not just direct revenue-generating opportunity but also the broader return on investment, Arrowsmith said. This has implications for both the public and private sectors collaborating on smart city projects.

Because cities continue to face budget constraints, quantifying the level of cost reduction that can come about must be a top priority. Here the obvious effects of cost savings and other benefits can be measured.

Just as significant, however, are the intangible benefits to be derived. If city denizens feel that smart cities improve their way of life, the likelihood of them leaving is reduced, helping the city maintain revenue through the taxes that are collected. Meanwhile, territories can attract new talent or businesses dazzled by the prospect of living in a smartly functioning city. Ultimately, the intentions of smart city projects—and the associated return on investment—will depend on the smart city technologies being put to use, IHS believes.

Various business models offer opportunities

Smart city projects are typically deployed via partnerships between the public and private sectors. The main business models include build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-operate-comply (BOC) and municipal-owned-deployment (MOD).

The most common model is BOT, where city planners work closely with an external private partner that, in turn, develops the services and deploys the necessary infrastructure. The third party is also responsible for the operation and continued management of the infrastructure, until such time when it is transferred back to the city.

The BOC and MOD models, in comparison, assign varying levels of responsibility in the building, operation or maintenance of smart city projects for the public and private sectors that are involved in those works.