It has been many years since the Internet of Things (IoT) has become a reality, and system architectures have undergone many adjustments to meet the latest challenges. Because of these, the idea of edge computing was born. As the computing power of edge devices increases, the overall performance of systems has also improved. However, high computing power naturally increases power consumption. In addition, as the number of network devices gets larger, their locations more dispersed, and their deployment environments more varied, supplying power to devices has become increasingly challenging. As a power supply veteran, FSP foresaw new power supply demands and launched myriad products to meet the edge computing needs of customers. In recent years, the company has joined hands with partners of the 5G Ecosystem Alliance to create the most suitable solutions for different sectors.In its early days, IoT primarily operated using a centralized computing architecture, wherein an upper cloud platform was in charge of centrally computing the data returned from all the edge devices. This approach not only overburdened the upper cloud platform with heavy computing demands, but the greatly increased bandwidth requirements and signal travel time caused an increase in system latency, resulting in poor performance. To solve this problem, edge computing was introduced. With an edge computing architecture, edge devices and the cloud platform are both assigned important roles. Since the edge device has a certain degree of computing power, it is able to immediately respond and give feedback to user needs, while the cloud platform only needs to receive the filtered and processed data from the edge device then store that data for long-term analysis. This approach is able to enhance the overall system performance and efficiency. Many fields have already adopted an edge computing architecture. One notable example would be facial recognition devices, which are now commonly used in access control systems. Other fields, including transportation, manufacturing, retail, medical, gaming, and many others have also found ways to apply this architecture.While edge computing can significantly improve system performance, it also poses a challenge to the power supply design of end devices. FSP pointed out that under a centralized computing architecture, edge devices only need to acquire and transmit data; in addition, the relatively simple functions of the devices have kept power supply designs simple. Now in the edge computing era, however, existing general-purpose power supplies are increasingly unable to meet market demands. First, the hardware and software functions of edge devices under the edge computing architecture are very different due to the multiple purposes they serve. Second, as the number of connected devices continues to increase and the environments they are located in are more diverse, managing the devices has also become extremely difficult. Finally, edge devices are usually small in size, which makes it exceedingly challenging to satisfy the efficiency and heat dissipation standards for their power supplies. Thankfully, FSP's product layout can solve all these problems.In order to meet the needs of edge computing, FSP has developed three product strategies: small-volume PSUs with variable power density, high efficiency, and manageability. In terms of small-volume PSUs with variable power density, FSP has a complete product line from which equipment manufacturers can easily select power supplies that best meet their size and power density needs. In terms of high efficiency, FSP also works closely with partners to draw from their expertise and FSP's own design capabilities to provide solutions that can effectively dissipate heat in high-intensity operations to enhance system stability. As for manageability, FSP products support a wide range of mainstream industrial protocols in the market to facilitate the management of distributed edge devices.FSP further pointed out that the company not only engages in equipment manufacturing, but is also actively developing its own FSP-branded products. This proximity to market demands means that FSP's products can meet client demands both in terms of specifications and price. Additionally, the company's leading position in the market has been cemented by the breadth and depth of its product layout. This allows edge device equipment manufacturers to quickly create an edge-computing architecture solution that meets customers' needs by using FSP's one-stop-shop service. In addition to its own technical capabilities and product layout, FSP has actively engaged in cross-field collaborations. In recent years, the company has joined hands with partners of the 5G Ecosystem Alliance, including JPC, Chenbro, and ADLINK to integrate their products into solutions. According to FSP, the alliance members are all similarly positioned in each of their respective markets, which is why their combined efforts can create an even more impressive synergy. As for its future plans, FSP will continue to invest in R&D, expand its product line, and deepen collaboration with the 5G Ecosystem Alliance members to provide power supplies that excel in both performance and stability.While edge computing can significantly improve system performance, it also poses a challenge to the power supply design of end devices

JPC Connectivity is well known for its connectors and cables. However, as early as 2000, JPC stepped into manufacturing peripherals like mice and speakers, and then even expanded its product lines to the areas such as wireless charging. Today, JPC Connectivity is solid on the development of consumer IoT products.Four key techniques support JPC's success in maintaining a stable development of its IoT business for many years. They are wireless interfaces, energy management, sensors, and user experience (UX).Mastering 4 major niches and strengthening the design capabilitiesThe wireless interface is always the most critical part of an IoT product. This is why JPC continuously invests considerable huge resources into the development of wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, infrared, Bluetooth, LoRa, and NB-IoT. As for energy management, JPC also keeps a clear focus on improving the charging with high energy efficiency when JPC was developing its first wireless charging stations for smartphones and tablets back in 2007 and 2008.Even though the market of sensor modules is dominated by the major chip vendors, JPC still keeps the design capability on integrating the wireless parts with sensor components for flexible designs to meet different customization requests. Based on JPC's experience by working with major consumer electronic brands, JPC is highly capable of deriving a thorough understanding of product usage scenarios and creating the optimal user experience which matches best the user needs.An impressive product portfolio may support the evidence of JPC's success. For example, JPC worked with a major smartphone manufacturer to make the Qi charging docks and phone cases. JPC also manufactured the AC adapters for Russian telecommunication companies, designed the charging docks for name-brand tablets, and produced universal AC/DC adapters for laptops.JPC was also the first company to be certified by the Windows Media Center. As one of the pioneers in developing Infrared remote controllers, JPC develops products from its proprietary protocols to its modern Bluetooth frameworks. It built a wireless presentation remote controller, which was a multi-function pioneer in the remote market.From the early days of the 21st Century, JPC has acted mainly as a manufacturer of OEM and ODM products after it steps into the IoT industry.Innovative technologies enable local smart control sustained when the WAN is offline.JPC has great experience collaborating with major e-commerce platforms. Not only was JPC one of the first companies to make a bar code scanner that is equipped with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but it was also manufacturing OEM smart buttons and IR blasters to improve the shopping experiences for end customers by creating a convenient smart home way.Currently, wireless modules, sensor modules, and 2-in-1 wireless accelerometers are the main products of JPC. JPC specializes in making customized proof of concept (POC) prototypes with those modules to help customers to accelerate product development or even to combine them with other products to form complete smart terminal devices.Recently, JPC also entered the market of consumer devices, such as smart plugs and sensor hubs, which can be used as fundamentals to meet more advanced needs such as the replacement cycle tracking for water filters or the water level detection of fish tank/bathtub.In addition, the sensor hubs are the pride of JPC, as they adopt a patented "Sensor Cube" technology, which allows for five different sensors to be controlled through one single control board unlike traditional one-to-one sensor control IC chips.Overall, JPC has a clear R&D focus on sensors as its IoT strategy, which includes both sensors and module products. In the future, JPC aims the vertical integration with smart edge gateways, cloud technology, user interface, and more comprehensive environmental monitoring solutions to move consumer applications onto industrial applications such as smart factories.The common environmental detection solutions in the industry nowadays rely on the instructions delegated from the cloud. The disadvantage to this approach is that once the device loses WAN connection, the user loses its ability to control peripheral devices, which does not meet the public's expectations of smart control. To overcome this, JPC combines network gateways, AI, and edge computation technology to fulfill meaningful smart control, so the users can keep the control capabilities and applications of smart home or smart factory functions locally the WAN connection is off.In conclusion, JPC demonstrates its capabilities from design to manufacturing from extensive experience. It plans to leverage its resources to maximize its developing capability and flexibility to build tailored IoT solutions for its customers.JPC Connectivity continuously enhances the capability on developing IoT products with its solid expertise and experiencePhoto: Company

In the post pandemic era, global supply chains are restructured and dramatically changed. As industries around the world accelerate their digital transformation to create new business opportunity, the technologies of 5G and AIoT are becoming the key driving forces. The mainstream sectors such as healthcare, retail and manufacturing continue increase the market demands. SYNNEX, an industry leader in IT distribution, hosts 5G and AIoT on-line event named "High speed connection to enable smart applications" in December 2021. The invited keynote speakers are from Microsoft Taiwan, Intel and ITRI. This event focused on several key topics including 5G, Robotics Operating System (ROS), Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing to help industrial players to enhance global competitiveness by applying smart applications.Gartner has positioned Microsoft Azure IoT as a Leader of platformDaniel Li, the director of Taiwan's Microsoft IoT Center of Excellence, in his keynote speech session, noted that 5G and AIoT technologies accelerating digital transformation. According to 2021 Magic Quadrant for Industrial IoT Platforms report, Gartner has positioned Microsoft Azure IoT as a Leader outperform other 11 industrial platforms. As Microsoft invested in capabilities to build Industrial IoT Platform, there were several key tenets including "Security first," "Open and Interoperable," "Edge and Cloud" and "Partner Led."Microsoft Taiwan teams are execution-focused. While a rare rise in Taiwan community COVID-19 transmissions starting mid-May in 2021, the Taiwan Technical partners and Microsoft join development to deliver several software projects for helping to combat the epidemic, Li highlights. The results are fruitful. The first is the intelligent face mask body temperature detection system. This software package is published in the Github sites for free. The second system is monitoring silent hypoxia phenomenon. The third is social distancing detector and object detection model to segregate humans warning system. The forth is the use of the HoloLens 2 mixed reality headset for critical patient care to reduce the pressures on burnt out hospital staff.In the other hand, he looks at 5G use cases with lots of viable high-speed data networking applications. Especially in the edge computing sectors, more and more AI-enabled inference systems emerge. The examples showing in his slides are ATTABOTICS's AGV systems, Tagtile's mixed reality training systems and Everseen's visual AI solution to detect and reduce customer errors at self-checkout gasoline stations.Talking about Microsoft Azure for Operators offerings, this is dedicated for Telecoms to drive digital transformation and turn 5G mobile networks into new service revenue with new business models. Meanwhile, in the Azure security offerings provide highly secure cloud security and compliance standards products for enterprises and government organizations.Azure IoT solution enabling more creative biz models for transformation5G technologies enable not only mobile business but also private networks and IoT applications. Terry Chang, Microsoft Asia IoT Partner specialist from Global Partner Solution Team, talked about Azure IoT well-architected framework and solutions with use cases sharing.The current Azure IoT framework provides multiple services including THINGS, INSIGHT and ACTION. These approaches will link IoT devices, platforms and applications. For example, the use of IoT Provision Services is very powerful platform to link massive devices. And Azure IoT Hub plays the role for bridging the key features such as DIGITAL Twins and IoT Edge in Action. There is a good example to show how MAERSK, a leading global integrated logistics company, using IoT Hub services to track container ship locations and schedules.The existing pace of development for IoT solutions are based on tracking events to get the data for enhancing insights to better process utilization and decision making. For best fitting this requirements, Azure IoT offers built-in security features with data privacy and protection from smart edge nodes to the cloud. Taking smart scenarios of office space utilization as an example, Once Azure IoT Hub detecting the connected devices, the systems will consolidate the data of the consecutive events including people, locations and objects from Azure Digital Twins and Azure Data Service. This design is transforming office space Into Smart Space applications with Azure for improving business process by increasing working efficiency of stuff members and having better interactive actions with customers.ROS with Azure showcasing AI edge applications for good landing use casesTommy Wu, Microsoft Senior IoT Technical Specialist from Global Partner Solution Team, gave his speech for the computer vision applications with ROS devices based on Azure AI/ML edge solutions. His focus is Azure IoT Edge to create a computer vision landing solution with trained AI models in the cloud environment. The benefits of an edge system are low latency performance and advantage. Computer vision leveraging the Azure AI spatial analysis feature offers the ability to understand people's movements in a physical space, significantly increasing efficiency to detect social distancing and object detection for counting humans across the different locations. Talking about AI model training, the Custom Vision Service is an image classifier that is trained in the cloud. This high efficient tools give the possibility to run AI model next to robotic cameras to recognize the objects for avoiding collision.Azure IoT Security with a Zero Trust security model builds secure architectureBurt Lien, Microsoft Senior IoT Technical Specialist from Global Partner Solution Team, talked about topic of Azure IoT Security. Microsoft has adopted a Zero Trust strategy to secure corporate and customer data from OT networks. It will help to protect data, people, devices and applications.In this event, there was one session to talk about Azure Digital Twins. Philip Chen, Microsoft IoT Solution Architect does the presentation. Azure Digital Twins is a platform that creates a digital representation of real-world things, places, business processes, and people. Chen highlights DTDL, the language to describe models for simulating, learning, analyzing and predicting. After Chen's talk, National Measurement Laboratory (NML) Senior Engineer Lin showcases medical use case to apply Azure Digital Twins in surgical operation room. .Intel offers ONNX Runtime to accelerate AI Inference from cloud to edgeThe last session is presented by Neo Wong, Intel platform R&D manager. He talked to use Intel OpenVINO Toolkit for developing ONNX models, which is an open format built to represent machine learning models. Intel and Microsoft form the software stack bringing Interoperability to machine learning frameworks for accelerating AI at the edge. The AI models that are trained in the cloud need to be optimized to take advantage of the combination of the AI hardware and software. Then, running ONNX Runtime will apply AI inferencing at the edge nodes. This approach enables current ONNX models could running on many Intel hardware platforms including CPUs, GPUs and VPUs with ONNX Runtime and the Intel OpenVINO execution tools.The combination of edge computing and powerful AI engines is becoming a key aspect of a successful digital business model for enterprises. And open source tools are at the heart of nearly every innovation in cloud computing. Meanwhile, the coming 5G and AIoT innovative business development environment and Azure cloud services empower enterprises to enable digital transformation. Leveraging Azure products and services to build applications make it easy to take advantage of this innovation and create the immense values.

World-leading PC brand MSI hosts virtual events to unveil the MSI-VERSE and the latest innovations for the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. The online events allow MSI to provide consumers with an immersive and interactive experience beyond the limitations of distance and time.MSI Vice President of Marketing Sam Chern said, "The mystery of the origins of the universe, time, and space have always spurred our interest. With the help of aesthetics and science, we can begin to understand these mysteries. Combining aesthetics and technology to make cutting-edge products has always been our mission and core value. As a premium brand, MSI has continuously evolved its gaming and creator series lines to the next level. MSI infuses different domains, including aesthetics, science, and music, to create a strong immersive atmosphere, which expresses and even stimulates our understanding of the universe, leading us into a new era of the metaverse. By making best-in-class products for gamers and content creators, MSI is ready to help users go beyond their limits. No matter if you are a 2D or 3D designer, VR user, or building your own metaverse, you will find high-quality, low-latency performance in all of our selections."MSI-VERSEMSI-VERSE consists of three series: Gaming, Content Creation, and Business and Productivity. Users can explore the latest hardware & software solutions, join streaming activities, play games, earn virtual coins, and get a chance to win grand prizes in an immersive and interactive way through the MSI-VERSE.MSI latest products and innovations for CES 2022 include:MSI Stealth GS77 Gaming LaptopStealth GS77 is armed with the latest 12th Gen. Intel Core i9 processors and powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics. Supreme performance with ultra-lightweight design, the Stealth GS series brings infinite possibilities for businesspeople-slash-gamers. Highlights include the Phase Change Liquid Metal Pad, 99.9Whr capacity battery and Wi-Fi 6E.MSI Raider GE76 Gaming LaptopRaider GE76's ultra-high performance and solid build provide a gaming experience beyond the limitations of space. Equipped with the latest 12th Gen. Intel Core i9 processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics and the Phase Change Liquid Metal Pad, Raider GE76 incarnates like a spaceship soaring through the boundless space. The Raider GE76, which represents the concept of MSI's continuous evolution, will lead gamers in their exploration of the unknown universe!MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Extraction Edition Gaming LaptopMSI has teamed up with Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction to release the all-new limited Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Extraction Edition. Unknown forces are invading, and the user is the last hope for mankind. They are armed with the discreetly developed advanced gaming weapon - Crosshair 15 Rainbow Six Extraction Edition. Equipped with up to the latest 12th Gen. Intel Core i9 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics, get ready to aim, fire, and retake your position!MSI MEG Aegis Ti5 Gaming DesktopSetting the trends of the future and breaking through the traditional gaming machine concept, MSI MEG Aegis Ti5 will bring a new user experience. Inheriting the Aegis series' avant-garde design, the MEG Aegis Ti5 is even more futuristic. MSI designed the exclusive Gaming Dial, so users can view the status of Aegis Ti5 from the front panel. Moreover, MEG Aegis Ti 5 12th features the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors, and the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card, so 3A games can run smoothly. Built with the latest technology, the all-new MEG Aegis Ti5 allows players to explore the new era.MSI MAG Trident S 5M Cloud Gaming DesktopMSI MAG Trident S 5M Cloud Gaming Desktop offers true immersion in cloud gaming with just one gaming controller. Through the exclusive "Game Stadium" application, gamers will enjoy cloud gaming, mobile games, PC games, and more on different platforms in the Windows system with one controller. And last but not least, there's a variety of entertainment software that awaits users to continue the fun!MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD Gaming MonitorOptix MPG321UR-QD gets users ready for the next level of gaming. The best solution for console gaming and PC gaming at 144Hz at 4K resolution, the Optix MPG231UR-QD is the experience users deserve.MSI Intel H670 / B660 / H610 Series MotherboardsThe latest Intel H670 / B660 / H610 Series motherboards provide both DDR5 and DDR4 versions to meet the demands of all users. The new motherboards feature mighty power phases up to 14 Duet Rail Power System, Memory Boost, and optimized thermal solutions which guarantee system stability along with high performance. The latest specifications such as 2.5G LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, and USB 3.2 Gen2 x2 are included to further improve the experience for gamers.MSI Intel H670 / B660 / H610 Series MotherboardsMSI's motherboard and PC case cooperate with EKMSI and EK released their first jointly-commissioned cooling part, debuting in early 2022. Designed in partnership with EK, MSI MEG PROSPECT 700 Series can install the EK-Quantum Reflection2 MEG Prospect 700R PWM D-RGB – Plexi and the MPG Z690 CARBON EK X and MAG Z690 TORPEDO EK X motherboard. It is a dream rig for the next generation.MSI x EVANGELION e:PROJECT Co-branding EditionMSI is also excited to partner with EVANGELION e: PROJECT to announce a collaboration for a motherboard, liquid cooler, power supply, and PC case. EVANGELION e: PROJECT is an e-sports brand that incorporates the world of EVANGELION. The design adopts the appearance of the Evangelion Unit-01, with its iconic purple and green color scheme that is worthy of helping DIY users build their own iconic Evangelion-inspired gaming system.EVANGELION e: PROJECTMSI SUPRIM Graphics CardThe MSI SUPRIM X graphics card intertwines performance and prestige in a culmination of decades of advanced circuit design and cooling development.MSI SPATIUM M480 PLAY SSDMSI SPATIUM M480 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 PLAY sports a sleek black aluminum heatsink that was designed for use with the PS5. With a lower profile, the new dual-finish heatsink ensures maximum performance across all gaming platforms. Compliance with PCIe Gen 4 and NVMe 1.4 standards unleashes extreme sequential read speeds up to 7000MB/s.MSI GK71 Sonic Gaming KeyboardMSI GK71 Sonic Keyboard is a mid to high-end gaming keyboard that aims to enhance the user's experience by focusing on comfort, practicality, and aesthetics. The exclusively-developed MSI Sonic Red mechanical switches so gamers can achieve "Light Touch, Instant Kill."MSI IMMERSE GH50 WIRELESS HeadsetMSI Immerse GH50 Wireless is MSI's first wireless gaming headset utilizing a small form-factor ceramic antenna to provide ultra-low latency, expanded wireless range up to 65ft (20m), a premium immersive 7.1 spatial audio experience with 50mm neodymium drivers, and an advanced software application.MSI IMMERSE GV60 STREAMING MICMSI Immerse GV60 Streaming Mic, MSI's first streaming microphone, brings the studio anywhere by incorporating all the core features streamers and content creators want – high-resolution sample rate, versatile pickup patterns, and real-time monitoring in a sleek matte-finished aluminum design. Product available in early Q1 2022.MSI Modern DM10 DesktopThe MSI Modern DM10 desktop PC pushes the boundaries of computing performance with incredible speed and intelligence. Designed with professionals in mind, the Modern DM10 brings users a powerful professional experience with technologies such as Neural Noise Suppression, audio background blur, video super-resolution support, and the latest in video codecs to foster productivity and add efficiency to critical tasks.MSI Creator Z16P LaptopThrough the beauty formed by the "Golden Ratio", the new Creator Z16P applies even more advanced technology than the last generation. It comes in a gorgeous Lunar Gray and CNC uni-body chassis with the latest 12th Gen. Intel Core i9 processor performance, up to the 16:10 golden ratio Display, pen support option, and smart vapor chamber cooling.MSI Creator Z17 LaptopThe Creator Z17 is the 1st 17-inch Pen Touch Laptop in the world, and comes in CNC uni-body chassis with the latest 12th Gen. Intel Core i9 processor performance. The 16:10 golden ratio Pen touch display and Trinity+ cooler boost that define the experience of Technology Meets Aesthetic.Personalized Your Surround Sound, Match Your UniquenessMSI's selected laptop speakers have been further optimized with Nahimic Audio by SteelSeries. Nahimic innovative surround sound personalization feature is designed to adapt to all types of ears and heads, thanks to a dynamic adjustment of the sound waves. Users can simply listen and choose one profile that fits their needs. Sound perception is forever changed.Laptop Launch Event – MSIOLOGY: MSI GAMEVERSEDate: Jan 4th 13:00PM PSTLocation: https://msi.gm/MSIology2022Virtual Event: MSI-VERSE:Date: Jan 5th 10:00AM PSTLocation: https://msi.gm/msi-verse2022

SYNNEX invited Microsoft IoT Center of Excellence and Intel to co-host event named "The Making of IoT Hackers" in Taiwan. This was for the purpose to cultivate talents using AIoT technologies and upgrade ecosystem value chains bringing together local partners and global tech giants. Market demand for increasingly sophisticated devices and applications plays to Taiwan's strengths by deepening Taiwan's talent pool in the fields of AIoT trends.This hackathon event took place from December 7 to 9, 2121 at Microsoft Taiwan headquarters in Taipei. There were total 10 teams joining the event. Through Azure IoT platform and services, Intel OpenVINO toolkits, and solution team experts with team coaching to bring hands to help them, the participants learned to collaborate on solving problems, generating new ideas and building business models.Daniel Li, the director of Taiwan's Microsoft IoT Center of Excellence, talked about the event and pointed out that 5G and AIoT technologies accelerating digital transformation. Leveraging the powerful Azure IoT services including Digital Twins, Azure IoT Hub to develop landing applications, AI technologies play an important role to introduce multiple scenarios into smart use cases. This momentum drives multiple talents across manufacturing, engineering, developing and healthcare categories together to bring new brilliant ideas for digital transformation into reality.HTC creates smart factory solution with MetaverseThe top three winner teams came up to stage receiving awards. HTC team, winning the first place, fires up smart factory solution leveraging Metaverse concept. The idea is applying virtual reality concept to demonstrate the usability of real and virtual scenarios with different view angels switching from production line workers and supervisors while implementing process simulation and monitoring. It is creating an environment where physical and virtual objects can exist and interact in real-time. With HTC's VIVE tracker device, the software will take the human tracings into account in the entire design flow. The team provides the software with features empowered by Azure Digital Twins services and tool sets. This makes the software to draw interests from other team members. Now, the next steps for the future development is looking at the use cases of smart applications that make virtual reality technologies a huge number of potentials. This is also the reason why the first award comes to HTC.CTCI REI builds construction safety monitoring platform improving safetyThe second prize-winner was CTCI Resources Engineering Inc. The company builds the sensor networks in the construction site using Azure IoT Hub and Device Provisioning Service (DPS). The massive collected data will include readings of rebar stress meter, strut strain gage, groundwater level observation well and piezometer etc. Leveraging Azure Digital Twins models, the system will apply the collected data to predict the risks and trigger the warning management control. Then it will present the warning situation by BIM 3D modeling tools for demonstration. This monitoring system will reflect the company's values of "Where There is CTCI, There is Sustainability and Trust".JelloX Biotech focus on AI-based Pathological examination solutionJelloX Biotech Inc won the third prize. The company is a startup looking for up-to-date healthcare solutions at AI-powered Pathological Examination that automates the recognition process of tumor tissues. Due to this AI-enabled solution requiring to analyze a large amount of 3D imaging data, the company uses 3x less time to run the AI inferencing tasks by taking the advantage of Azure cloud platforms and Intel OpenVINO systems. At the same time, the company builds edge computing systems for improving recognition outcomes by applying Azure innovative cloud platform and services to perform more complicated inferencing technologies. Azure platform is becoming popular in healthcare sector because the powerful API and software tools for helping startups ramp-up software production development.This event was hosted by SYNNEX and DIGITIMES together with Microsoft, INTEL, FET and IoT Edge solution partners including AAEON, AOPEN, ADVANTECH, Congatec and DFI. The 3-day hackathon program showcased desired outcomes. The skilled software developers create brand new business opportunities by introducing AIoT use cases and applications. And the most important thing is creating an opportunity to flex skills, demonstrate potential, and expand supply chain networks, as well as allow participants to reinforce their culture around innovation and technology.Leveraging Micorsoft Azure IoT cloud services and Intel OpenVINO development Kits, the successful event of "Making of IoT Hackers" showcases participating teams to create applications of Metaverse Smart Factory, Construction Safety Monitoring platform and AI-based Pathological Examination.

While the pandemic has changed many aspects of life, it has also accelerated the development of AIoT in different verticals. As more companies and developers dedicate themselves to deploying this new technology, it brings with new opportunities and emerged challenges. On October 30, Arm held the Arm DevTalks 2021 annual developer meetup. The discussions centered around "Development, Intelligence, and a New Future" and explored the diverse business opportunities in the rising AIoT era.Arm is paving a barrier-free way for IoT developers to innovate for global impactCK Tseng, President of Arm Taiwan, stated that this year marks the 31st anniversary of the company's founding. Arm is uniquely positioned to unite software and hardware developers; its technology is at the heart of the computing and data revolution. To address the future demands driven by AIoT, Arm is delivering full stack solutions to significantly accelerate IoT product development and improve product value. Arm believes these solutions will fuel a new IoT economy.Taiwan's position in the tech sector has been well known for its hardware manufacturing capability and mature supply chain ecosystem. The outbreak of the pandemic created an unprecedented demand for digital technology and diverse applications. In addition, hot topics like the reshuffling of the global supply chain brought by the geo-trade dispute and the semiconductor supply shortage all highlighted the importance of Taiwan in the global technology supply chain.Therefore, Tseng said with confidence, "The decade from 2020 to 2030 will be a golden age for Taiwan's technology industries."Which verticals will we next see AIoT chips adopted in? According to Tseng, smart factories, smart healthcare, and self-driving vehicles are all very promising. AIoT has rapidly developed and been applied to automated inventory management, automated guided vehicles (AGV), and smart logistics for smart factories. For smart healthcare, wearables that monitor physiological information and telemedicine might be popular soon. The development of self-driving vehicles is likely to boost battery management, crewless fleets, and the Internet of Vehicles (IoV).Grow talent with software & hardware capabilities through industry-academia collaborationA group of domain experts took part in the Arm DevTalks 2021 to discuss several topics, such as AIoT market trends and technology, talent development, and the ecosystems for incubation. The speakers included Arm FAE Director, David Hsu; iThome Deputy Editor in Chief & Lead Researcher of the Editorial Dept., Ray Wang; MakerPRO Editor in Chief and Co-founder, Owen Ou; Vice President of Microcontroller Application Business Group of Nuvoton Technology Corporation, Jason Lin, and Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University, Yun-Nung Vivian Chen.With increasing demands for chip features, Jason Lin stated that the development environment should integrate software and hardware capabilities. Besides computing performance, lower power consumption, and security, the development platform should also provide hardware virtualization. As chip design becomes system-oriented, it is clear that application software development is more critical than ever. And this is one of the core advantages of Nuvoton that focus on software and system development. In addition to the chip design, there are development teams providing software development environment, unique development tools for the software and hardware, and handling the Linux and RTOS support, as well as upper layer middle-ware support to ease the development of IoT device makers to focus only on application development.From an academic perspective, Vivian Chen stated that even though enterprises hope to hire engineers with both software and hardware backgrounds, these two domains are managed differently in academia. For example, many computer science departments focus on developing software expertise rather than training students to meet specific job descriptions for existing job openings.Chen recommends a two-fold solution. First, enterprises should hire software-oriented talent, then offer on-the-job training to improve their understanding of hardware. Second, universities can partner with industries for designing curricula to ensure students obtain the knowledge from these two areas through the course.Tackling AIoT fragmentation through standardized platformsDue to a wide range of AIoT use cases, developers are often faced with challenges such as fragmented development and inconsistent industry standards, causing difficulty integrating resources. This will further block innovation."The fragmentation of the AIoT world was inevitable. In terms of technical specifications, there will be more considerations and demands for the different use cases where AIoT can be applied." Tseng stressed that Arm believes standardization is critical for scale and is now actively establishing industry initiatives to unify development environments, significantly reducing resource waste due to compatibility issues, and shortening development time when switching platforms.Take Arm's Project Cassini for example. It includes Arm SystemReady, a foundational compliance certification program to help software work across a diverse ecosystem of hardware, as well as the PSA Certified security certification program. By delivering a seamless cloud-native software experience to the edge for devices based on Arm Cortex-A, Project Cassini aims to accelerate IoT and infrastructure edge deployment. Jason Lin said that along with the progress of AIoT development, it had created higher demands for OS integration and middle ware, standardized API for the cross-platform development, network and device security, and related tools. Customers need not only chips but also an all-featured development platform. Nuvoton decided to participate in Project Cassini to shift its focus from the fundamental development environment provider to the higher level of eco-system engagement with standard defined API stack and jointly provide developers with a more comprehensive solution.Moreover, Arm announced Arm Total Solutions for IoT in October to lay the foundation for a new IoT economy. This includes Arm Virtual Hardware which removes the need for application developers to build and test software on physical silicon, bringing modern agile software development methodologies to IoT and embedded platforms, without developers having to invest in complex hardware farms. Arm Total Solutions for IoT also includes Project Centauri, which will drive the standards and frameworks needed to grow serviceable markets and scale IoT software innovation across the extensive Arm Cortex-M ecosystem. The offering will simplify and modernize software development, resulting in accelerated time to market for developers, OEMs and service providers at all stages of the IoT value chain and a reduction in product design cycles by up to two years.AIoT will undoubtedly play a key role in the golden age ahead. Lin stressed that Nuvoton would continue to work towards a more secure and more comprehensive environment for developers to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving AIoT application market. Tseng emphasized that Taiwan has a robust semiconductor industry and provides extensive chip manufacturing services, which gives Taiwan companies the opportunity to tap into the AI and IoT markets. Silicon design companies, hardware manufacturers, and system integrators can all take full advantage of the Arm ecosystem backed by an entire portfolio of Arm IP to spark developers' potential, leading to more innovation in an evolving and promising future of AIoT in Taiwan.From right to left: CK Tseng, Arm Taiwan President, and Jason Lin, Vice President of Microcontroller Application Business Group, Nuvoton Technology Corporation

In order to improve service, the global testing certification institution, DEKRA, established Taiwan's first high frequency EMI noise absorber automatic storage anechoic chamber. Breaking from traditional manual placement, the site can be automatically controlled like a stage and the high frequency EMI noise absorber can be elevated in 1 minute and 40 seconds. Not only can it shorten the 1 hour site configuration time, it can also reduce human errors in placement, helping customers to save time and costs and improve testing accuracy.DEKRA established Taiwan's first high frequency EMI noise absorber automatic storage anechoic chamber, which only needs 1 minute and 40 seconds to complete the automatic deployment and storage of the high frequency EMI absorberKilian Avilés, Senior Vice President of DEKRA Asia Pacific and Managing Director of Taiwan, stated that with the trend of digitization, smartification, and implementation of IoT, the EMC in our environment is getting more complicated. Therefore, the need for global EMC and RF testing is reaching new heights. So, in recent years, DEKRA has been actively establishing more anechoic chambers and expanding more advanced lab equipment. DEKRA has created various anechoic chambers in Hsinchu, Huaya and Linkou, to provide customers with complete electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing services for electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic susceptibility (EMS).Daniel Lee, General Manager of DEKRA Taiwan Product Testing Operations, stated that besides creating Taiwan's first automatic high frequency EMI noise absorber storage function for anechoic chamber, the new 10-meter anechoic chamber in Linkou is also integrated one multi-use turntable system in 3 meter and 6 meter diameter concentric circles. The turntables can be used flexibly depending on the size of the product. The testing service covers products from consumer electronics, mobile phones, computers, to large products, even servers can be tested. The chamber utilizes dual-antenna testing, which can complete horizontal and vertical polarized testing at the same time, greatly reducing testing times. Furthermore, in order to save the customer's time and protect the products, the anechoic chambers are designed with no barriers so that trucks can drive directly into the lab to place the products, eliminating the time and trouble needed for manual transportation. Daniel Lee further emphasized that with the corporate principle of "Customer Focus", DEKRA is continuously upgrading its lab equipment and service procedures, in order to provide the customers with more customized, professional and digitized services and testing certification service.the new 10-meter anechoic chamber

As global warming continues to intensify, and due to the impacts of El Niño and La Niña, abnormal climate events such as the Australian bushfires are increasing in frequency. For this reason, sustainable development has risen to the forefront for countries and corporations. For example, following international pressure at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), both China and India have agreed to set net-zero carbon emission targets for 2060 and 2070, respectively. Merry Electronics, whose business philosophy focuses on "transparent and sustainable operations, and a sense of responsibility towards the wellbeing of our country and society," has recently announced that it will become Taiwan's first electro-acoustic solution provider to join the RE100 initiative.As a world-leading electro-acoustic solution provider, Merry Electronics has long placed emphasis on global environmental issues despite being in the electro-acoustic industry—an industry that traditionally consumes less energy and produces fewer carbon emissions. The company began to work on its carbon inventory as early as 2007, and obtained the ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Verification) to confirm its emission inventory and understand the energy consumed in the manufacturing of its products and workplace environments. Since 2009, the company has invested in the research of renewable materials, made plans to implement a carbon footprint in 2014, and evolved by introducing the ISO14067 certification system. Moreover, in 2016, the introduction of ISO 50001 energy management systems to the company's headquarters in Taiwan systematically implemented company-wide energy conservation and carbon reduction measures by continuously updating energy conservation equipment.Merry Electronics stated that corporate sustainability has always been embedded in the company's core values. Since its inception, the company has integrated green concepts into its product design, raw material procurement, product manufacturing, marketing processes, and services when developing electro-acoustic products for its clients. This ensures that its entire supplier-to-client processes meet green requirements. In addition, the company has always complied with the latest international laws and client requirements to actively and gradually eliminate toxic substances for humans or the environment. The company has also invested heavily in sustainable supply chain management, which increases product performance and reduces energy consumption, to achieve sustainable operations while ensuring that its products comply with green standards.In terms of sustainable supply chain management, the company has enhanced its supply resilience, reduced its carbon footprint from the procurement and transportation of raw materials and parts, and minimized its environmental impact. Furthermore, Merry Electronics prioritizes suppliers with local production plants and requests that they all follow a strict code of conduct to avoid the social costs caused by climate change and resource depletion.Reducing Energy Consumption and Increasing the Renewable Energy RatioOver the years, Merry Electronics has gradually replaced old chilled water and air conditioning units with COP value and energy-conserving systems that reduce consumption and help realize environmental sustainability. For instance, replacing the central air conditioning system of Merry Electronics Shenzhen in 2020 saved 45.2% of energy compared to the previous system. In addition, the installation of a heat exchange system to reduce indoor temperatures, setting air conditioners to 26 degrees, and the continuous use of LED light bulbs have further helped conserve electricity.According to the 2020 sustainability report by Merry Electronics, despite energy consumption density reaching 2.89 (GJ/million NTD) in 2020 (a 38.63% increase from 2.08 in 2019), energy management performance was affected by several events, including Merry Electronics Vietnam's first year of production, Merry Electronics Thailand's first year of official mass production, Merry Electronics Shenzhen's projects with affiliated companies, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on management activities. In 2020, Taiwan's R&D headquarters used 1,312.58 kWh of electricity, a slight decrease of 9.18 kWh (a 0.69% reduction) compared to 2019. If factors such as monthly temperature and labor hours are included in a regression analysis, 2020 had an average of 4.29% energy decrease in terms of energy conservation benefits.Merry Electronics stated that all of its production bases have implemented green factory plans. In addition to setting an annual electricity conservation target of 1.5%, the concept of renewable energy has been integrated into the operations of all factories by proactively monitoring carbon emissions from products and workplaces. There are also plans to install solar energy equipment in suitable areas. The 30-year renewable energy project will begin in 2021. By 2030, 60% of the company's total energy consumption will come from renewable energy sources; in 2040, this percentage will reach 90%, and finally 100% in 2050.Promoting a Design Framework for Sustainability to Enhance Product PerformanceIn addition to reducing energy consumption and increasing the ratio of renewable energy usage, Merry Electronics is also working to lower its environmental impact by increasing efficiency. The focus of the company's Design Framework for Sustainability begins with product design through goals such as the integration of miniaturized functions, human factors and ergonomics, differentiation of software/firmware, smart electro-acoustic platforms, and batteries. In 2020, Merry Electronics established short-, mid-, and long-term strategies for sustainable product design to further improve production technologies and product design capabilities, save on manufacturing materials, use renewable materials and low-impact packaging, and implement phased reductions for decreasing power consumption to ensure that products can contribute their sustainable value to the society and environment.According to the 2020 sustainability report by Merry Electronics, the design and structural optimization of circuits in new products has reduced the overall outer diameter by 10% and lowered power consumption, allowing an increase from 6.5 to 8.6 hours of use with the same battery capacity. Furthermore, the cases of e-sports gaming headsets are made of 12% recycled plastics, while the charge/discharge conversion efficiency of 1000Whr energy storage products was found to be 0.9-3.9% superior to other products in the market after internal testing.Merry Electronics plans to continue implementing the three major strategies outlined above to provide customers with exceptional solutions while creating products that have sustainable value to the environment and society.The newly designed Merry Electronics building was inspired by the concept of "intangible sound." The building highlights the accompaniment behind a main melody, alternately fusing into a minimalistic and modern design.

Driven by leading edge investment, global semiconductor equipment billings increased 38% year-over-year to US$26.8 billion in the third quarter of 2021, and an 8% rise from the prior quarter to register the fifth consecutive quarter-over-quarter record high, according to the SEMI report on December 1st 2021. This is continuously on track to register a rare three consecutive years of record highs in fab equipment spending from 2020. Strong demands for IC chips across a wide range of markets including high performance computing (HPC), 5G communications, artificial intelligence (AI) and automotive applications have fueled this tremendous increase of growth for semiconductor equipment. The equipment market's booming growth is the envy of industries around the world.An interview with Peter Karl Loewenhardt, Senior Vice President at Tokyo Electron Taiwan (TEL in Taiwan), takes a closer look at why this industry is so exciting. Co-optimized devices driven by huge demands of 5G, AI and HPC chips, as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, accelerated the Digital Transformation of Society which is accelerating the whole industry.This brings new challenges for equipment makers and supply chains that not only need to deliver leading edge process technology, but also excellent manufacturability to be able to have repeatable performance in every device. Nowadays, rapidly evolving manufacturing technologies have become more and more key as the complicated nature of all these devices has grown, as well as continuously reducing the impact on the environment of all these processes. "It is now all these areas that TEL is focused on, and we are excited to contribute to our customers and to the industry," he adds.The global shortage of chips that has forced automakers to limit or halt production has brought attention to Taiwan's supply chains in semiconductor manufacturing. It is very impressive that some Taiwan foundries have been very successful at gaining and maintaining their customer's trust, continually developing new technologies and making them well manufactured both in the advanced and legacy nodes and being able to support a large number of products and customers all at the same time. Being competitive in all these areas at the same time while also being profitable is how some Taiwan foundries have become very successful and will remain successful, Loewenhardt observed.Atomic level-controlled processing technologies aiming at next generation film deposition and removal technologyTalking about new developments in advanced nodes, as simple feature size shrinking can no longer alone meet requirements anymore, new 3D structures and material systems have become important as new devices emerge. With intense collaboration with customers, TEL actively provides process solutions for 3-dimensional structures. From atomic level-controlled deposition/coating to atomic level-controlled removal, this technology becomes a unique tool for producing or removing very thin, highly conformal coatings with a thickness controlled at the atomic level. TEL has developed and continues to develop technologies to address these challenges.Apart from 3D structures, regarding future trends there is a growing importance of Advanced Packaging and Systems integration. Heterogeneous integration of different dies together in 3D can help continue the density increase in a more economically feasible way, as well as continually advancing the on-chip technologies. TEL has developed wafer bonder equipment for 3D integration. This area will continue to get a lot of attention going forward.Sustainable Development Goals reducing the impact on the environmentThe Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight the world's shared plans and environmental issues and are a call to action for governments, industrial players, civil society and the technical community to achieve a better and more sustainable future. Semiconductor fabs consume large amounts of electricity, water, and chemicals. As a leading equipment manufacturer, TEL contributes by focusing on semiconductor production equipment that can manufacture devices in a way that reduce the impact on the global environment.On the other hand, Digital Transformation, in particular, plays a significant role in achieving the SDG targets by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of sustainable development. TEL recently established a Digital Design Square in Sapporo as a new base for further digital transformation activities enabling AI technologies.For example, in developing a baseline process for a low-stress film, whereas engineers typically took about 50 experiments to get to the desired baseline process, using Machine Learning technologies the optimal process conditions were arrived at in only 3 experiments, thereby using less wafers and resources. This was not only faster, but also minimized the use of electricity, gases, and silicon substrates, resulting in significant savings of energy and resources. Faster, and less impact on the environment.Other examples using technology come from all the product areas TEL has items in various stages of development which are; reducing wet clean chemistry usage; reducing deposition heater power; idling components when not being used; sharing components. Relentlessly improving TEL tools' manufacturing performance thereby increasing customer's output so there is less waste.Additionally, TEL has set its Sustainable Development Goals to add focus on how to deliver leading edge technology while also having the industry's equipment and processes reduce the impact on the environment. TEL last year revised its mid-term environmental goals for 2030 to be industry leading. The intention is to take the lead in achieving SDGs to support aggressive information and communication technologies in the Digital Transformation of society while also reducing the impact on the environment. Achieving SDGs are now critically important for the semiconductor industry, and TEL will continuously work on advanced node devices and contribute to SDGs for building a resilient supply chain in which economic activities do not stop under any circumstances.Peter Karl Loewenhardt, Senior Vice President at Tokyo Electron TaiwanPhoto: Company

With the rise of smart devices, applications for semiconductor components are quickly expanding. The requirements for chip size, information transmission speed, and power in network communications, automotive applications and manufacturing are also becoming more stringent. However, traditional packaging methods cannot keep up with the new market demands. Therefore, wafer level packaging and Fan Out Panel Level Packaging (FOPLP) have gradually become the focus of 5G, AIoT and high performance computing (HPC) companies when purchasing chips. Redistribution layers (RDL) is a core technology during the production of these chips, an it has also become a key area of focus of the industry in recent years. However, FOPLP demands a relatively high level of customization in its equipment. The Vice President of Sales at Manz, Adam Jian, stated that companies who intend to introduce this technology must focus on design and integration verification when selecting an equipment supplier.The Director of Technology at Manz, Dr. Eric Lee, explained the importance of RDL to semiconductors. He pointed out that the size of semiconductors is quickly decreasing. Traditional wire bonding and flip chip packaging can no longer be applied to these smaller chip sizes to improve the efficiency of electronic systems. Therefore, the company developed Fan-In WLP for packaging on wafers, achieving the goals of miniaturized packaging and lowering costs. Although Fan-In WLP possesses the advantages described above, there are still many potential problems during production. The biggest challenge is with soldering. If existing solder balls are used, the dimensions of these solder balls make it impossible to place them on miniaturized chips. On the other hand, the use of smaller solder balls would incur additional costs. In order to solve this problem, semiconductor companies began developing Fan-Out packaging.The technology is split into Fan Out Wafer Level Packaging (FOWLP) and Fan Out Panel Level Packaging (FOPLP). FOPLP has become the focus of the market due to its suitability for mass production and miniaturization and its low cost. Dr. Eric Lee stated that currently chip substrates still use organic materials. Because 10 microns is the limit for wire production and the size stability is relatively poor, producing thin circuits on the substrates is relatively difficult. Panel level RDL uses comparatively less material, therefore the thickness can be greatly reduced to between 2 to 10 microns. Alongside the large surface area glass substrate production technology, the packaging process can provide thin circuits and cover large surface areas. He compared FOWLP and FOPLP, which both use RDL technology for packaging. FOPLP can be used for 500mm x 500mm or 600mm x 600mm surface areas, which are 4 to 6 times larger than the current 300mm x 300mm wafer substrate. Therefore, it can provide cost advantages to companies with high yield rates and good integration capabilities.Regarding integration, Dr. Eric Lee also stated that it is another advantage of FOPLP. Currently, chips that use RDL for integration include power chips, radio frequency chips, base band chips and application processors with high pin counts in mobile phones. Additionally, in order to provide compact sizes and high efficiency, the applications of System in a Package (SIP) are quickly increasing, and the thin circuits and large surface area of FOPLP can satisfy the needs of SIP. He mentioned that the constantly miniaturizing semiconductor production process is nearing its physical limits. Therefore, packaging is now regarded as an area of focus for extending Moore's Law. RDL can help SIP conduct heterogeneous integration. In future 5G and AI integrated application electronics, MCUs, memory, and other digital computing components and sensors can be integrated, thereby reducing the signal transmission distance. Additionally, the thinner packaging can help with heat dissipation, thereby providing better efficiency and performance than existing packaging methods.Although FOPLP has many advantages, it is difficult for semiconductor companies to introduce the technology. The current wafer level packaging used by the companies has different surface areas and materials compared to FOPLP. Therefore, it can easily cause warping in the boards, uneven coatings, and other problems. Furthermore, because the packaging sizes have not been standardized, the production processes of each packaging company are different. Companies must find their own solutions and suitable equipment. Therefore, in the semiconductor RDL production equipment sector, Manz is focused on designed services, which can satisfy the need for customization in the market. However, Adam Jian specifically pointed out that semiconductor companies do not only require a single machine for FOPLP, instead they need a partner who can provide turnkey solutions. He stated that to reach the mass production standards for FOPLP yield, companies need more than RDL packaging equipment. The surrounding machinery must also support the functions. He used the coating process as an example. Uneven coating has always been a big problem for packaging companies. In response to this problem, Manz developed patented technologies for electroplating equipment, which can provide a coating evenness of 95%, greatly improving the yield and efficiency of production.Adam Jian said that Manz has been deploying FOPLP technology for many years and started offering related services in 2015, and has successfully applied this technology in real-world applications. Besides semiconductor companies, other companies have also incorporated the technology in recent years. For example, LED companies plan to use panel level packaging to electroplate circuits onto glass, optimizing the performance of MiniLED displays. Passive component suppliers hope to use the capacity and inductance of the product to expand the application scope. Facing the diverse needs of the market, Adam Jian stated that besides continued investments in technology development, in the future, Manz will actively expand the reach of its partnerships to help companies in different fields construct high performance FOPLP production systems, seizing the numerous opportunities in smart devices.Vice President of Sales at Manz, Adam Jian (left) and Director of Technology at Manz, Dr. Eric Lee (right)