ICs & Semiconductors

Freescale Semiconductor and embedded system solutions provider MicroSys Electronics are collaborating to establish the industry’s most integrated development platform for functional safety. The move comes in response to the growing number of stringent functional regulations and the demand for shorter development cycles. Both trends are putting pressure on designers developing industrial equipment systems and driving the demand for integrated solutions with easy to use software.

Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has launched a three-phase brushless sensorless emotor controller IC with integrated pre-drivers for automotive applications. The new TB9061AFNG IC has been designed to enable cars equipped with an idling reduction system cut out to easily switch the power source for oil and engine cooling pumps from the engine to an electric motor when the system is activated.

Toshiba Electronics Europe has launched a new VGA, 1/4 inch CMOS image sensor for automotive applications including rear view cameras for parking assist systems, surround view systems and side view systems. The TCM5126GBA integrates a high dynamic range (HDR) function that reproduces high quality images of objects backlit by the sun and vehicle headlights. The CMOS image sensor boasts a pixel size of 5.6µm and a full resolution frame rate of 60fps.

LSI Corporation has unveiled the third generation of its SandForce flash controller line, currently the industry’s most widely deployed flash management technology for driving PCIe and SATA solid state drive (SSD) and flash card solutions. Designed to support power-sensitive client computing applications, the new SandForce SF3700 flash controller family provides increased levels of flash performance, reliability and endurance.

Microchip has unveiled the new 24-member PIC32MZ Embedded Connectivity (EC) family of 32-bit MCUs. Designed to support increasingly complex application the MCU provides 330 DMIPS and 3.28 CoreMarks/MHz, in addition to dual-panel, live-update Flash (up to 2 MB), large RAM (512 KB) and the connectivity peripherals - including a 10/100 Ethernet MAC, Hi-Speed USB MAC/PHY, which is a first for PIC MCUs, and dual CAN ports.

Intersil Corporation has just introduced the ISL29035, a new and highly compact ambient and infrared sensor. According to Intersil it is the industry’s smallest 6-lead digital light sensor and looks to address the requirements for angular response and sensitivity to various light sources in handheld, PC, TV and industrial display applications.

NXP Semiconductors has announced that it has launched its new SmartMX2-P40 platform of chip card microcontrollers for large-scale projects in the rapidly growing banking and electronic-Government (eGov) markets. The move comes in response to global concerns about identity theft, fraud and privacy.

OmniVision Technologies has launched the OV13850, a new PureCel 13-megapixel CameraChip sensor for high-performance mobile devices. The OV13850 combines OmniVision’s advanced process technology and design methods to enable best-in-class low- and high-light performance. In addition to enhanced pixel performance, the sensor offers improved power efficiency, making it suitable for high-end smartphones and tablets.

Synopsys has made available the first products in its new DesignWare ARC HS processor family. The 32-bit ARC HS34 and HS36 processors are the highest performance ARC processor cores developed so far, capable of delivering 1.9 DMIPS/MHz at speeds up to 2.2 GHz in typical 28 nanometer (nm) silicon.

Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) is expanding its range of Enterprise-class SSDs with the launch of a new range of Enterprise Endurance SSDs which have been designed for use in business-critical server and storage platforms.