Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Cypress ships 1 billionth capacitive touch unit

SAN JOSE, USA: Cypress Semiconductor Corp. it has shipped over 1 billion capacitive touch units. Included in the billion units are Cypress’s TrueTouch touchscreen controllers; CapSense controllers for mechanical button, slider and switch replacement; and trackpad units for cursor navigation in laptop computers.

Cypress shipped its first touch-sensing solutions in 2005 with a CapSense mechanical button and slider replacement for a popular portable music player. Cypress introduced its first TrueTouch touchscreen solutions in 2007. The company added trackpads to its offerings in 2010.

The rapid ramp of these solutions is attributable to numerous technical innovations, which have yielded 50 touch-centric patents granted and well over 200 in process. Cypress’s market penetration has included a wide variety of end-products, including high-volume mobile handsets, tablets, automotive applications, consumer electronics, white goods, industrial products and many more.

“Our touch-sensing business is a prime example of the success of our programmable product strategy, and Cypress’s ability to scale successful technologies,” said Cathal Phelan, executive VP of Cypress’s Consumer and Computation Division. “Leveraging our PSoC platform, we were able to quickly enter, and then dominate, multiple, fast-growing touch-sensing markets. As a result, we now have a strong leadership position in these markets with a deep IP portfolio.”

GreenPeak launches GP710: first dual-protocol ZigBee chip

IBC2012, UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS: GreenPeak Technologies, a leading Smart Home RF-communication semiconductor company, announced the launch of the new GP710, a dual-protocol ZigBee communications controller with simultaneous support for ZigBee RF4CE and ZigBee IP/ZigBee PRO protocols.

The GP710 communication controller is targeted for set-top boxes, gateways and Smart Home controllers and designed for supporting simultaneously ZigBee RF4CE applications – such as remote controls – as well as ZigBee IP or ZigBee PRO Smart Home applications such as security, home care and energy management.

The benefits of this GreenPeak dual-protocol communication chip are much simpler product design, cost reduction of the total product bill-of-material (single silicon) and a less complex PCB and antenna that makes it simpler and faster for developers to integrate ZigBee into their set-top box or gateway designs.

“The GP710 provides a low cost solution that combines different ZigBee Network protocols into a single chip,” said Cees Links, founder and CEO of GreenPeak. “GreenPeak has developed special hardware features to enable multi-protocol support, minimizing the interrupt load on the set-top box processor, and allowing simultaneous RF4CE and other ZigBee protocol operations. This is a first for the industry! Because of GreenPeak’s superior range that covers the whole home and its ultra-low power consumption for long battery life, the GP710 is the best in class choice for integrated low cost Smart Home ZigBee applications.”

He continues: “Many large operators already support ZigBee RF4CE in the set-top box and remote controls and have an urgent need to broaden the service offering to their customers. GreenPeak’s GP710 communications controller will make new Smart Home service offerings less expensive because new residential applications can all be controlled from the set-top box or gateway using a single device.”

"This solution leverages the growing availability of ZigBee RF4CE in the market,” said Tom Kerber, director, Research, Home Controls & Energy, Parks Associates. “Adding ZigBee IP/ZigBee Pro to the ZigBee RF4CE silicon will make it easy for service providers already using ZigBee RF4CE remote controls to add home automation devices - now an area of significant focus by communications service providers."

Monday, September 3, 2012

IXYS offers 1kV/30A Q3 HiPerFET power MOSFET in surface mount lightweight package

MILPITAS, USA & BIEL, SWITZERLAND: IXYS Corp. announced the availability of its Q3 HiPerFET Power MOSFET in a Surface Mount package called SMPD, the MMIX1F44N100Q3. Available with a blocking voltage of 1kV and current rating of 30A, the device can be easily surface-mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) using a standard pick-and-place and reflow soldering process.

No costly screws, cables, bus-bars or hand soldered contacts are needed. Weighing only 8g, it is much lighter (typically by 50%) than comparable conventional power modules, thereby enabling lower weight power systems for the IXYS customers. This is one of the key “Green” initiatives of IXYS Corporation in developing new products for the Cleantech industry that are lighter in weight.

Due to its new compact and high performance SMPD package, the MMIX1F44N100Q3 MOSFET exhibits a low package inductance and high current handling capability. A ceramic isolation of 2.5kV is achieved with the DCB substrate technology --- an electrically isolated tab is provided for heat sinking.

“This unique device is part of our initiative of taking power systems on a diet, literally, with the aim of reducing the weight of the power semiconductors in a typical power system. Weight reduction is a key effort in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the production, shipment and use of power products,” commented Dr. Nathan Zommer, founder and CEO of IXYS. “Our lighter products use less material, require less energy to ship, and result in lower weight products for our customers, a critical desired feature in a lot of applications, including portable equipment, and for the automotive and transportation industry.”

The Q3-Class is a direct result of combining the latest PolarHV technology platform with advanced double metal construction, resulting in an optimal combination of low on-state resistance and gate charge. Additionally the device has a low gate-to-drain (Miller) charge and low intrinsic gate resistance. These enhancements lower gate drive requirements and switching losses.

Additionally, the power switching capability and ruggedness of the device are further enhanced by the proven HiPerFET process, yielding a power MOSFET with a fast intrinsic rectifier. The result is a low reverse recovery charge, an ability to sustain hard-switching operations and an excellent rate of rise of the drain-source voltage (up to 50 Volts per nanosecond).

These featured diode properties translate into a faster transient response, an increase in power efficiency and higher operating frequencies. Other beneficial product features include a low junction-to-case thermal resistance of 0.18 degree Celsius per Watt and high avalanche energy rating of 4 Joules. The high avalanche energy rating enables operation at higher voltage ratings without snubbers or other protection devices. It can absorb transients and thus enhance the reliability of the designed system.

In addition to other applications, the new Power MOSFET is well suited for DC-DC converters, inverters, battery chargers, switch-mode and resonant power supplies, motor drives, E-bikes, and electric and hybrid vehicles (EVs and HEVs). In particular, the enhanced dv/dt rating and high avalanche energy capability mean additional safety margins for stresses encountered in high voltage industrial switching applications, thus improving the long-term reliability of these systems.

Tianyu ventures into SiC epitaxial business for SiC power device

DONGGUAN, CHINA: Dongguan Tianyu Semiconductor Technology Co. Ltd (Tianyu), the first SiC epitaxial wafer company in China, has started to expand its SiC epitaxial wafer business globally after the completion of three contracts prior to this in August 2012.

"The prospects of the SiC are bright," said Li Xiguang, GM of Tianyu. "SiC substrate is getting better, larger and cheaper; more attention is paid on this market. SiC device will show more competitiveness in the global market." SiC device will be netting a billion dollars in a decade according to a market analyst of Yole Developpement.

SiC epitaxial wafers are used in producing Schottky diodes, MOSFETs, JFETs, and BJTs over a wide voltage range and customized wafers for thyristors, GTOs and IGBTs over a wider voltage range for medium to very high voltage power conversion system applications. These devices are used for energy efficient power electronic devices for numerous applications, such as air-conditioning, solar and wind turbine inverters, hybrid and electric vehicles, high speed trains, smart grids and high-voltage DC power transmission. SiC-based semiconductor devices can reduce energy losses and system size, leading to overall reduced system costs and enhanced reliability.