ICs & Semiconductors

Microcontroller (MCU) and touch technology company, Atmel, has become the newest member of the G3-PLC Alliance, an international organisation set up to promote the G3-PLC Communications standard that ensures interoperability across new smart grid ecosystems. Members are selected and approved by the G3-PLC committee.

New research from IHS suggests that growth in the industrial electronics semiconductor market is set to fall short of previous expectations in 2012, as the business is buffeted by weakening global economic conditions. Revenue for industrial semiconductors is projected to finish the year at $31.4 billion, up 3 percent from $30.5 billion in 2011. This compares with a solid 9 percent increase last year and the surge of 35 percent seen in 2010 immediately after the recession. It also represents a significant downgrade from the previous forecast of 7.7 percent growth issued in July.

ON Semiconductor has introduced a highly integrated capacitance-to-digital converter IC that looks to speed up the implementation and reduce the component count of electrostatic capacitance touch sensor applications. The LC717A00AR, which is the first in a series of ON Semiconductor touch sensor integrated circuits, simplifies the replacement of mechanical switches with capacitive touch sensors for applications including home appliances, audio/visual equipment, computer peripherals and automotive instrument panels.

Soitec, a leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, has more than doubled production of bonded silicon-on-sapphire (BSOS) substrates to meet increased demand from its strategic partner, Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation.

Renesas Electronics has expanded its RL78/L13 Group of low-power microcontrollers (MCUs) with the introduction of an on-chip LCD controller that offere up-to 376 segment drive capability in an 80-pin package. These new MCUs are suitable for consumer, health and industrial equipment that are equipped with an LCD panel.

Fujitsu Semiconductor has launched a new FM4 Family of 32-bit general-purpose RISC microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M4 processor core, as well as a new FM0+ family, which utilises the Cortex-M0+ core. Fujitsu plans to start releasing sample quantities of products in these new families in summer 2013. Combined with the current FM3 Family of microcontrollers, the Cortex-M4, M3, and M0+ processor core product group will comprise a broad-based line-up of more than 700 different products.

Implementing instant, high-speed Near Field Communication (NFC) between two independent devices has been made easier and cheaper with the introduction of the AS3953 interface chip from ams. The new AS3953 offers a high data-rate interface between a NFC device such as a smartphone and any host microcontroller with a standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).

The market for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) used as pressure sensors in medical electronics is forecast to grow 7 percent this year, aided by the use of disposable devices as well as respiratory monitoring, according to new research from IHS iSuppli. Revenue for pressure sensors in medical electronics applications is expected tp reach $137.6 million in 2012, up 6 percent from $129.2 million in 2011. Growth will be steady over the next few years, with revenue projected to reach $186.7 million by 2016.

STMicroelectronics has added the STDP43 series of products to its DisplayPort portfolio. These Systems-on-Chips (SoCs) are, according to the company, the world’s first high-speed active-protocol bi-directional media-routing devices that manage audio and video data from various sources and send this data to multiple displays.

Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced its first analogue front end (AFE) that integrates digital I/Q demodulation and decimation to reduce FPGA processing requirements in ultrasound systems as well as ultrasonic applications, such as sonar and non-destructive testing.