KLA is proud to be part of the most significant technological breakthroughs that help create the devices and ideas that transform our current life and shape our future. One of the latest emerging trends is a renewed focus on microLED technology.What is a microLED, and why is the industry focusing on this technology?As the name suggests, a microLED, or µLED, is a light-emitting diode (LED) – roughly 100 times smaller than conventional LEDs. MicroLEDs can be arranged into arrays to make high-resolution displays for applications ranging from smartwatches to very large displays – unlike conventional LEDs, which are suitable only for very large displays like billboards or stadium screens.MicroLED technology was invented in 2000. However, it wasn't until 2012 that a major consumer electronics company demonstrated a 55-inch, high-definition microLED TV. Other companies followed with their own demonstrations in 2018 and 2019 at retail prices of $80,000 for 89-inch models, making the technology out of reach for most consumers. Although microLED can potentially offer significant advantages over LCD or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, technology issues and production costs have prevented widespread commercialization.KLA – which has supported the global display industry for more than 40 years – has during the past decade been helping leaders in microLED technologies to overcome many of the obstacles to mass production and reduced costs."Our proven process and process control products are designed to meet the unique and demanding challenges of the complex microLED production flow to help accelerate wide market adoption," said Chet Lenox, KLA fellow, industry and customer collaboration.While more products, based on slightly larger "miniLEDs" (typically ~50µm-300µm square), have been brought to market successfully in recent years as a way to improve on traditional LED backlighting for LCD displays, screen manufacturers and their supply chain are still committed to developing the more advanced microLED technology. In addition to the key goal of reducing product cost for consumers, companies are investing heavily in microLEDs for use in small products like watches and augmented reality (AR) headsets because they deliver better energy efficiency, consistent pixel quality and other key benefits as shown in the graphics below.The potential market is huge. Shipping for microLED displays is expected to total 5 million and generate $7 billion in revenue by 2025, rising to more than 11 million units shipped in 2027, according to global technology research firm Omdia.A key factor behind the industry's focus on microLEDs is that LCD and OLED displays are produced on large substrates, where all layers are deposited one after the other. The larger the substrate, the more efficient the process – but large single displays can be difficult to handle and ship. MicroLEDs displays, however, can be produced using seamless tiling of small modules into larger displays.Comparison of MicroLEDs, OLED and LCD DisplaysThe schematic cross-section of a typical microLED display (below) shows the simpler and thinner structure of a microLED compared to a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) or OLED display, with the red/green/blue LED chips and a single electrode encased between the substrate and glass cover. The precise arrangement of the red, green and blue sub-pixels will vary among models and may even be stacked on top of each other.Schematic (not to scale) cross-section through a typical TFT LCD, OLED and microLED pixel illustrating the relative simplicity of a microLED display.MicroLEDs offer viewing performance equivalent to or, for some criteria such as brightness and refresh rate, better than OLED and LCD technologies. They also offer a longer life than OLED, thinner packaging and generally better energy efficiencies.Relative benefits of microLEDs versus TFT LCD versus OLED technologies and where they overlap.The industry must overcome significant manufacturing challenges to achieve acceptable yields and a viable cost point, including:*Baseline yield optimization at each process step*Selecting known good die with fully functioning red/green/blue microLEDs to be transferred*Flawless backplane circuit design and patterning – in-process inspection, testing and potential repair*Mass transferring millions of micro-sized red, green and blue microLEDs in the desired arrangement and precise locations (Solutions to avoid this might include the use of white or blue microLEDs with color conversion, growing uLEDs directly on silicon backplanes or using wafer-bonding of epi layers on the backplane.) *New manufacturing technology adoption, new supply chains and cost of changeKLA Solutions for MicroLED ManufacturingEach of the above would seem to add cost and make LCDs and OLEDs more economical. However, KLA's metrology, inspection, wafer processing and repair solutions are critical to helping microLED manufacturers address these challenges, optimize yields, reduce the need for built-in redundancy and reduce expenditures to help microLED displays become a viable alternative to the established technologies.KLA's comprehensive portfolio of solutions for microLED manufacturing provides a pathway to yield improvement throughout the entire process – from epitaxy wafer to final display. KLA's proven process and process control products are designed to meet the unique and demanding challenges of complex microLED production.Author: Carolyn Short, technical communications manager, EPC Group, KLA

The electric vehicle (EV) industry has developed a wide range of multi-wheeled electric vehicles, including self-balancing unicycles, two-wheeled scooters, electric motorcycles and bicycles, three-wheeled tuk-tuks and also four-wheeled new energy vehicles. According to TrendForce data, the total global sales of new energy vehicles in the first quarter of 2022 will reach 2 million units, with pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs) seeing the strongest growth, with sales reaching 1.5 million units. However, the problem of insufficient charging piles and the inconvenient location of charging stations has created what is known as user "range anxiety". Therefore, the demand for smart home charging and portable EV charging equipment in commercial and residential facilities is rapidly increasing. According to Grand View Research, the global electric vehicle charging infrastructure market size was valued at USD 19.26 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6% from 2022 to 2030.Holtek Semiconductor has already released and entered volume production of several generations of 8-bit ASSP MCUs directly aimed at one to three-wheeled electric vehicle chargers. This device range is known as the HT45F5Q-x series, for which more information on these complete charger solutions can be found on the Holtek website. To complement this, Holtek also provides a "Charger Development Workshop" which greatly assists customers to rapidly develop their charger products. When used together with the "Charger Volume Production Tool Fixture", it can significantly reduce the time required for factory calibration, thereby increasing production capacity and reducing costs. For four-wheeled electric vehicle charging equipment, HOLTEK has already released different types of Arm Cortex-M core 32-bit based MCUs. These 32-bit devices, such as HT32F50230, HT32F50241, HT32F6771, meet the needs of portable charging guns, wall-mounted chargers and standalone charging pile applications for various types of AC charging equipment. Holtek's HT32 MCU and its NFC Reader controller, the BC45B4523, have already been successfully used in charging equipment products of well-known EV charging companies both in Europe and the US.There are four main common EV charging modes. According to the IEC 61851 specification, the external charging equipment includes:*Mode 1: here the EV is directly connected to a standard home electrical socket via a charging cable (current ≤ 16A). As such cables have no protection features, many countries have banned or restricted their use in public localities.*Mode 2: here the EV is connected to the household AC power grid (current ≤ 32A) via a charging cable equipped with a control and protection device (IC-CPD). This protection device can detect and monitor ground connections, over-current, over-temperature and other protection conditions. This not only ensures safer charging but also complies with electrical specifications. As for common products on the present day market, these include portable charging guns which offer slow AC charging. Mode 3: here the EV is connected to stationary AC power supply equipment (EVSE) through a charging cable. These offer PWM communication, various types of control and a range of protection functions which can meet public safety requirements.*Mode 3 (current ≤ 250A) charging is compatible with Mode 2 (current ≤ 32A) charging. Here common market products include wall-mounted charging piles which have a power of 7KW~11KW and include both AC fast charging and AC slow charging.*Mode 4: this is an external charging device mode which has a DC output. The DC current directly charges the battery without passing through any on-board charger (OBC). Generally, the power provided by EVSE is much larger than that of OBC, which can greatly reduce the required charging time. It requires a higher-level of communication and more stringent safety features. The charging cable is permanently connected to the power supply equipment. A representative product here would be DC super charging piles, which have a general power capability of around 30KW or more, which puts it into the fast DC charging category.Although DC charging piles have high power capabilities and faster charging features, their installation costs are higher and with the number of installation sites being limited, this will make them more difficult to expand. Contrary to this, AC charging equipment has the advantages of lower cost and easier equipment installation. For this reason, wall mounted and standing charging piles will continue to see an increased presence in households, communities, office building and car parks, etc. As for portable AC chargers, in being able to be conveniently carried and the ability to effectively charge almost anywhere, this greatly resolves the mileage anxiety pain experienced when using electric vehicles.HOLTEK is a professional leading MCU IC design company with highly proficient and experienced technical support teams and a global sales and business service system. Holtek's full series of Arm Cortex-M 32-bit MCUs have already entered volume production and have passed UL/IEC 60730-1 Class B software certification, therefore they can provide relevant and complete self-inspection procedures. All of these combined advantages gives Holtek the drive to make serious inroads into the home smart wall-mounted EV charging pile and lightweight portable EV charger market area.HOLTEK 32-bit MCU electric vehicle charging equipment solution

Affected by the epidemic in recent years, not only the commerce and logistics industries but also more and more manufacturers have decided to introduce AGV and AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) to improve production efficiency and reduce human resources or accidents. AMR can assist operators in picking materials and carrying out actions with laser guidance. These robots can also communicate with each other and cooperate to complete tasks. And reducing the flow of people could also save time and costs. It can even combine AMR with robotic arms and apply it to the production line by connecting WMS (Warehouse Management System) and MES (Manufacturing Execution System) in series, which can assist operators in completing material distribution to the machine and -production at the designated location.Such applications are one of most people's expectations for the future of life. From an industrial perspective, various technologies required by robots are gradually available. Still, service-oriented AMR applications are diverse, and the architecture and functions needed for each field are not the same, which hinders the overall development. SINTRONES recently launched the ABOX-5211 series of industrial computers to quickly create a carrier-type or service-type AMR that meets market needs and implements delivery applications such as classified picking, environmental disinfection, and hazardous material removal.SINTRONES' new ABOX-5211 series industrial computer is equipped with the 10th generation Intel Core™ i9 processor, eight GbE, and optional eight PoE (Power-over-Ethernet), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for various automated factories and mass transportation. Equipped with dual SIM card slots to support 5G and LTE communication, it can quickly achieve stable and efficient wireless network transmission.ABOX-5211 has a unique "One-sided I/O Focusing" integrated design, and all critical external device connection interfaces are designed on the same side, which makes subsequent expansion and maintenance easier. Various arrangements and technical integrations are designed to meet the needs, specially tailored for the advent of the AMR generation.Taiwan's industrial computer industry has attracted worldwide attention. Among the many vertically integrated application fields, smart transportation has always been the main application with much-anticipated profitability. SINTRONES started with the manufacture of In-Vehicle Computing systems. Since its establishment in 2009, it has accumulated more than ten years of complete R&D experience and successfully opened new ground in important markets such as Europe and the United States. Through long-term accumulated design practical experience of cooperating with end customers in Europe and the United States, we get the interaction and inspiration of countless precious customers' first-hand feedback and then continue to accept the next challenge. Continue to develop various vital products that SINTRONES' all products can use in harsh vehicle situations.For more information, please visit the SINTRONES website.https://www.sintrones.com/ABOX-5211.htmlSINTRONES' ABOX-5211 Series, the fanless box PC for edge AI GPU computing, is ideal for factory automation, service robots, smart retail, AIoT, and cellular V2X applications as critical industrial IoT deployments with an operating temperature of -40~70°C.

Digi-Key Electronics, which offers the world's largest selection of electronic components and automation products in stock for immediate shipment, celebrated the ribbon cutting of its Product Distribution Center expansion (PDCe) today, expanding the company's headquarters' footprint by 2.2 million square feet for a combined total of more than 3 million square feet. The new facility allows Digi-Key to pick, pack and ship nearly three times the previous daily average of 27,000 packages to customers in more than 180 countries around the world.Digi-Key celebrated the opening event with an official cutting of tape from a Digi-Reel and ceremonial first package handoffs to each of the company's four carrier partners: DHL, FedEx, UPS and USPS. Remarks were given by Digi-Key President Dave Doherty, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Commissioner Steve Grove, Thief River Falls Mayor Brian Holmer, and several other Digi-Key executives, as well as video messages from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz."This is a significant milestone for all Digi-Key employees and our community," said Doherty. "Our new product distribution center expansion will help us continue to deliver excellence to our customers for many years to come. As exciting as this expansion is for us, our hope is that our customers truly don't notice a difference – the transition for them should be seamless, and if anything, result in an even better customer service experience than they are already accustomed to. For us, it's deeper roots in Thief River Falls and a commitment to continue investing in this community and the state of Minnesota."The PDCe building was designed by Minnesota-based Widseth, and McShane Construction served as general contractor on the project. KNAPP, a leader in warehouse logistics and automation, partnered with Digi-Key on internal automation and operational equipment."The state of Minnesota is thrilled to celebrate Digi-Key's growth milestone today," said Grove. "Growth at this level is a win for the employees of Digi-Key, it's a win for the Thief River Falls community and it's a win for the state of Minnesota. The opening of this facility is made possible by local and state economic support which will contribute an additional $500 million in economic output, as well as the addition of more than 1,000 new jobs."The opening of the facility comes at a time of record growth for the company – Digi-Key wrapped up 2021 growing faster than ever before with a 65% growth rate, and bookings in 2022 are up more than 25% over last year. This year has also been one of the largest years for supplier additions for the company with 250 suppliers already added for the year. Since construction began in 2018, Digi-Key has added 1,500 suppliers and 1.5 million part numbers to their inventory.The new facility is nearly fully automated, the only task that is truly done by hand is the actual picking of parts. Among the racks of components, carts are wire-guided so that the only thing a cart driver will have to worry about is where to stop. The wire-guided system will save more than 10% of the time and is significantly safer.The product distribution center expansion features two primary conveyor systems to provide redundancy in the case of a breakdown and provide opportunities for future growth. Scalability and growth were top of mind in the plans and design of the new building, and the majority of the fourth floor is currently open for the time being. There are over 27 miles of automated conveyor belts in the new facility, and an average order will travel more than 3,200 feet inside the building.The building features six backup diesel engines and pumps along with a water tank built for fire suppression. It also has its own storm sewer and run-off ponds so as not to contribute to any flooding or storage concerns in the community.The state-of-the-art facility features multiple common work areas and breaks rooms with oversized windows for optimal natural sunlight, as well as the Two Rivers Café that features a range of food options from ready-to-eat salads and wraps to burgers and paninis cooked to order. Local vendor, Las Ranitas, serves authentic Mexican options from the café a couple of days per week as well. Digi-Key is recognized by the state of Minnesota as a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace and has 16 private Mother's Rooms throughout the PDCe for employees returning to work after parental leave. The building also has a spacious Quiet Room for employees to take their breaks, relax and recharge.Outside of the new building, there is a new Community Garden where employees can adopt a plot for the summer and plant seasonal flowers, fruits, and vegetables. In the Skybridge connecting the original PDC to the PDCe building, there is a "Digi-Walk" mapped out from end to end, offering a great place for employees to get in some extra steps during their breaks.Sustainability was also considered during the planning and construction of the facility. The roof has a white membrane to reflect the sun's heat, sensor-activated LED lights to minimize electricity usage, and a specially designed conveying system that maximizes energy usage as well as efficiency.

As the COVID-19 pandemic starts to level off in 2022s, LitePoint hosts the Innovation and Testing Technology Forum in Taipei and Hsinchu city on August 2 and 4 respectively. This annual event is targeted to share the latest trends in wireless technologies including 5G frequency range expansion, 5G O-RAN white-box solution, the early specification for super-fast Wi-Fi 7 and the latest ultra-wideband (UWB) use case applications. LitePoint provides a complete wireless test solution that enable customers to test wireless devices with optimized test time reduce to capture the latest market trends and opportunities.Elvin Ren, LitePoint's General Manager of Sales in Taiwan, India and South East Asia, gave his welcoming speech to kick-off the forum this year. Driven by 5G and Wi-Fi technologies, Taiwan networking OEM/ODM vendors have a strong growth potential and can benefit from the upcoming location awareness applications with Internet of Things (IoT). LitePoint sees a positive trajectory in business opportunity in wit UWB with many new customers approaching LitePoint for UWB test solutions. To meet the testing challenges and expand business opportunities, LitePoint's strategy help the electronics supply chain accomplish rapid volume manufacturing through optimized test equipment and turnkey test automation.Simplicity Through Innovation to lead test automation developmentThe keynote speech of Dr. Rex Chen, LitePoint's Director of Strategic Business Development for 5G, share insights on the latest trends in 5G mobile, CPE and O-RAN development as well as the challenges ahead in the 5G deployment journey. As global mobile data traffic doubles roughly every three years, the exponential data consumption drives the demand to open up more frequency bands and 5G infrastructure deployments. This has created new opportunity for various wireless products, especially the rapid growth of 5G CPE devices in FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) applications in North America as many households are upgrading their residential broadband Internet access.5G FWA CPE devices integrate both 5G and Wi-Fi technologies into a single device and accelerates the broadband coverage in rural and suburban areas. On the other hand, 5G Small Cells solves the "Density Problem" and small cells play an important role to solve the "5G Infrastructure Problem". Essentially, small cells are enablers for better network coverage, address the high data rate concern, and boosts the business in O-RAN solutions.His presentation also cover several mainstream wireless technologies including the latest development of Wi-Fi technology with Wi-Fi 7 getting the most attention and will debut on the market in 2024 or 2025 for volume production. Another highlight is UWB device shipment growth is expecting a 35% CAGR through 2025. The driving force is the huge adaptation of automotive, mobile payment and IoT applications.Leveraging the product strategy of "Simplicity Through Innovation", LitePoint simplifies wireless testing with a single-box test solution that is easy to use and high optimized for production floor. This approach is expanding the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency bands, supporting accomplish effective mass production through multi-DUT (Devices Under Test), OTA (Over the Air) testing, and production line testing with automated test equipment. LitePoint is monitors the advancement of different wireless technologies closely to move quickly develop a more cost-effective test solutions that customers can benefit from as well.Latest developments of Wi-Fi 7 and testing solutionsYoung Huang, Deputy Manager of LitePoint Application Engineering Department, continue the discussion with Wi-Fi 7. The released Draft 2.0 specification has attractive features with data speed reaching 46 Gbps which is 4.8 times of Wi-Fi 6. New features such as MLO (Multi-Link Operation, will be able to transmit and receive on both the 5 GHz and 6 GHz multiple frequency bands simultaneously and enhance the throughput of a single data session and avoid unpredictable channel blocking or frequency interference. With standard specification of maximum bandwidth at 320MHz and modulation of at 4096 QAM and up to 16×16 MIMO, the technology supports new emerging applications that require very high rate rates such as multiple-user AR/VR, cloud gaming, and 8K media streaming applications.Talking about important testing cases in this session, Huang highlighted technologies such as EHT packet formats, IEEE channel distribution and Wi-Fi 7 data transmission speed. With a denser constellation, test equipment requires higher transmitter accuracy to measure Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)and raise the testing barriers in Wi-Fi 7.With global Wi-Fi 7 chipsets expecting to sample chips in 2023, LitePoint test solution offering ranges from IQxel series models including IQxel-M4W 6G for testing Wi-Fi 6 devices, IQxel-MW 6G, IQxel-MW 7G for testing 160MHz bandwidth feature, and IQxel-MX for testing 320MHz bandwidth requirements. For production, the IQxel-M8X and IQxel-M16X models are will be suitable for volume production.Recent trends and advances in UWB positioningChris Chao, Engineering Manager of LitePoint Application Engineering Department, share insights on Micro-Positioning by connecting the rapid growth of the UWB market. The success of UWB can largely be attributed to the popularity of 3D positioning, indoor precise positioning, smart home applications and automotive use cases. In China, UWB has emerged as a promising navigation technology with a rapid market growth and his talk address the three major product trends in UWB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11az.Further, Chao introduce four major distance measuring technologies including Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Time of Flight (ToF), Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Channel Sounding/ Phase. UWB chips are integrated with mainstream devices like smartphone, wearable and other mobile devices to provides accurate 3D positioning within 5 to 10 cm accuracy with lower power consumption, high security and high interference resistance functions.The Wi-Fi 802.11az specification, or called Next Generation Positioning (NGP), is highly regarding as next generation positioning technology for indoor use case. The core distance detection scheme is based on ToF. Major Wi-Fi chip makers are preparing to launch new products based on market needs. Another unique feature of 802.11az enabling multiple device positioning identification through one UPLINK signaling sequence in OFDMA and this feature has triggered a surge of versatile new applications in the market.LitePoint provides comprehensive testing solution to test the devices with various mixed positioning technologies. The IQxel-MW 7G and IQxel-MX are targeted for Wi-Fi and BT's high accuracy distance measurement. LitePoint's IQgig-UWB tester is used to fulfill the Conformance Test following FiRa Certification. and for UWB device characterization and design verification in R&D. LitePoint is a market leader and dominant player for UWB test solutions.IQ3107 RF-Port Switch and APLC 2.0 solving more 5G bands and cable lossFrank Hung, LitePoint Senior Engineer, share test solutions that extend beyond 5GHz frequency bands. The 3GPP R17 standard has released new frequency bands including FR1 spectrum band n96 ranging from 5.925 to 7.125 GHz with 1200 MHz bandwidth. 5G FR2 band n263 will extend to 57 to 71 GHz and reserve another 14GHz bandwidth to support new metaverse applications.Overall, the frequency bands for 5G New Radio (5G NR) extends from 400MHz to 70GHz. LitePoint test solution address the entire spectrum covering these 5G frequency ranges with the IQxstream-5G, IQgig-IF and IQgig-5G among its product portfolio.Wider frequency bands combined with more antennas design for user devices have result in new technical challenges for 5G device testing. For example, in production lines more antennas will require test equipment with adequate RF ports. At the same time, it will increase the path loss affecting the measurement accuracy and consume more setup time. To solve these problems, LitePoint's IQ3107 RF-Port switch for RF test port expansion from from 4 to 16. The IQ3107 also enable Multi-DUT device testing to for improve volume test efficiency. To deal with path loss problems in production setup, LitePoint uses Auto Path Loss Calibration(APLC) software to lower setup cost and high precision automatic calibration capabilities.One Box testing solutions for Small Cell and O-RAN RU device TestsThe last speaker was Vito Liao, Deputy Manager of LitePoint Application Engineering Department. His presentation address the topics of CPE, Small Cell and O-RAN Radio Unit device testing solution.Liao introduce the important test items and use cases for small cell and O-RAN testing per 3GPP 38.141 specification. These testing scenarios cover both Tx and Rx such as Total Power Dynamic Range(TPDR), Time Alignment Error(TAE), Cumulated Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio(CACLR) and Operation Band Unwanted Emission(OBUE) among others.LitePoint's IQxstream-5G+ is a one box tester solution to address these market segments and test requirements such as 1024 QAM modulation and 2x2 MIMO testing. Because the complete setup procedures for each test item is complex to setup and install, LitePoint provides IQfact5G Shop Floor software tool to make the entire procedures easier to manage including calibration and parameter setting. Furthermore, LitePoint's IQmi software tool is designed to support customers to implement customized auto-testing procedures or process flows.The Evolving Roles of Small Cells in Wireless InfrastructureThe last session for the day was an industry panel to discuss the opportunities and challenges of 5G deployment and in particular with Small Cell and O-RAN. Eric Huang, DIGITIMES Vice President moderated this panel among with panelist guests that include Jacky Chou from Qualcomm, Dr. Rex Chen from LitePoint, Selena Hsu, from Auray Technology and Tsaiyu Huang from Alpha Networks. The panel discussed about the industry trends in O-RAN and the requirements for successful roll-out that is scalable and cost effective.The panelists share insights about the role the Taiwan OEM and supply chain can play a role in the overall O-RAN ecosystem. First, system integration is critical to support multi-vendor model across the value chain from both the hardware site as well as software component.. Further, the shift to open software and server-based platforms make O-RAN deployment very cost effective but it also raises quality checks and cybersecurity risk assessment that need to address the critical issue.One way that Taiwan can become a major value chain provider in 5G O-RAN is by establishing local test laboratory and certification capability for the industry. This test service provider can help OEM's and ecosystem partners to verify the compatibility and system performance before launching on a major global telecom network provider. And at the same time, these testing help solution providers to identify and fix issues early on and enable a smoother working relationship with the right partners to penetrate the target global markets.Meanwhile, participating in O-RAN PlugFest events offered by regional telecom operators and players is another way to accelerate development of O-RAN technologies. From LitePoint product offering, a simplified and highly reliable single box test solution simplifies the test challenges for customers in launching their 5G O-RAN and small cell products out in the market.Elvin Ren, LitePoint's General Manager of Sales in TaiwanDr. Rex Chen, LitePoint's Director of Strategic Business Development for 5GYoung Huang, Deputy Manager of LitePoint Application Engineering DepartmentChris Chao, Engineering Manager of LitePoint Application Engineering DepartmentFrank Hung, LitePoint Senior EngineerVito Liao, Deputy Manager of LitePoint Application Engineering DepartmentPanel discussion: Eric Huang, DIGITIMES; Tsaiyu Huang, Alpha Networks; Selena Hsu, Auray Technology; Rex Chen, Ph.D., LitePoint (from left to right)

The miscellaneous applications of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and autonomous-driving systems in the automotive market range from in-vehicle entertainment, mobile office and navigation, to name a few. This has lifted the curtain on the surging growth of this area, as well as the rapid emergence of secure automotive memory to satisfy the storage needs for low-level code, data and parameters. Moreover, it plays a key role in several segments, such as advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), heads-up display (HUD), electronic dashboard, navigation, infotainment, and transmission systems. Behind such prospecting smart vehicle solutions, a very real concern is information protection and cybersecurity under the hood.To guard drivers' and passengers' rights and promote the awareness of cybersecurity in car manufacturers and supply chains, beginning July 2022 car manufacturers must comply with regulations before engaging in the design of new models in Europe, Japan and Korea. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) further specified, in Regulation No. R155 and No. R156, the rules governing the automotive cybersecurity management system in the car manufacturing supply chain. From July 2024, all new cars in the world should be compliant with this new cybersecurity regulation. International car brands therefore require automotive semiconductor sectors to deliver products that meet the International Organization of Standards' ISO/SAE 21434 framework.In the North American market, the launch of the ISO/SAE 21434 standard is in full swing. Vehicle information protection and cybersecurity standards will dominate the automotive electronics and semiconductor sectors. In future smart vehicles, whose electronic devices are connected to a network, a semiconductor embedded will be mandated to be equipped with cybersecurity. Information protection and cybersecurity, therefore, have become a fundamentally vital element in automotive electronics.ArmorFlash series of secure flash memory expands its touch with ISO/SAE 21434 certificationDr. Donald Huang, director of product marketing at Macronix International, pointed out in a recent interview the pressing need for memory security to achieve confidentiality, integrity and availability of automotive electronic data. Macronix has developed a family of secure flash memory solutions: the ArmorFlash portfolio, with features that include building keys, encryption, decryption, authentication, and anti-tempering. In addition, the memories have "unpredictable" physical properties that cannot be copied, which enables high-level encryption and various applications related to confidential information.Many leading technologies have leaned towards using biometric sensors in chips as the foundation of coding. Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are employed to program and generate "fingerprints" for chips. An essential secure component is added to the memory chip as a secure ID or key that applies to an array of identity authentication or mechanisms, such as crypto keys or security boot. Highly favored by international graphics processor unit (GPU) and automotive microprocessor (MPU) foundries, these functionalities lead their way to the supply chain of automotive market seamlessly.The ISO/SAE 21434 standard, announced in August 2021, covers the complete life cycle of a vehicle and emphasizes the requirements for cybersecurity risk management. Macronix immediately formed a project team to gear up for intensive planning to adhere to the standard. ISO/SAE 21434 includes 15 clauses, detailing engineering requirements for cybersecurity risk management. Among those 15 requirements, conducting a threat analysis and risk assessment (TARA) is of particular significance for compliance.TARA compliance report for ArmorFlash accelerates the certification of ISO/SAE 21434Macronix initiated a verification activity of ArmorFlash for ISO/SAE 21434 at the end of 2021. In May 2022, the company accomplished TARA and received a report, showcasing plenty of scenarios where threats and attacks could happen. The verification of TARA is needed at the development phase of automotive design to identify underlying threats and vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, a common framework would be defined to support the requirements of cybersecurity and risk management from the fundamentals.Attaining the TARA compliance report for ArmorFlash has marked a new milestone for Macronix and its secure memory for automotive applications. The company is conducting ISO/SAE 21434 process certification, followed by the ISO/SAE 21434 product certification specifically for the ArmorFlash™ MX78 flash memory series. The goal is to provide secure flash memory solutions compliant with international information security standards to fulfill the requirements of the automotive industry.The ArmorFlash portfolio has already achieved various industry safety certifications, including "functional safety" steered by ISO 26262, CAVP of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), FIPS 140-2 Level 2 under CMVP, and Arm PSA Level 1. With each step, the Macronix memory portfolio has served as a shining example in the collaboration with international GPU and automotive MCU chip foundries. Their offerings have been adopted by top-tier car manufacturers and automotive electronics manufacturers, helping them produce phenomenal revenue.Dr. Huang stated that Macronix memory solutions have been widely used in major brands worldwide across computers, communications, consumer electronics, 5G, medical, automotive, and various industrial-control sectors. As the needs for information protection and cybersecurity in IoV and smart vehicles escalate, a strong memory demand is inevitably soaring in the automotive market. ArmorFlash can help Macronix win top-tier car manufacturers' continuous trust to address broad applications, and as a result, bolster its global reach.Macronix ArmorFlash completed ISO/SAE 21434 TARA

Synopsys today announced its collaboration with Saigon High-Tech Park (SHTP) to advance IC design talent in Vietnam, with Synopsys supporting SHTP's establishment of a chip design center through donations from its University Software Program. The collaboration aims to cultivate advanced IC design talent and facilitate semiconductor development in Vietnam.Dr Robert Li, Synopsys Sales Vice President of Taiwan and South Asia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on August 26 with Dr Nguyen Anh Thi, President of SHTP in Vietnam. Through Synopsys Academic & Research Alliances (SARA), Synopsys will provide its University Software Program, which includes curriculum, educational resources, and "Train the Trainers" program to the SHTP for setting up its chip design center. SHTP will invest in the IT infrastructure of setting up the design center in the next three years."Synopsys is known for its industry-leading semiconductor design software, IP and software security solutions," said Nguyen Anh Thi. "The collaboration for SHTP chip design center in Vietnam can benefit from the company's world-class design technology by cultivating our future chip designers with the latest industry trends while they are still in school. The cooperation can also help facilitate the development of Vietnam's semiconductor industry.""SHTP is the innovation hub of Vietnam's high-tech industry and we are happy to support SHTP's establishment of chip design center with Synopsys advanced technology and University program initiatives," said Robert Li. "Throughout recent years, Synopsys has introduced many innovative technologies to our Vietnam partners to help them strengthen IC design capability and shorten time-to-market. We hope the collaboration with SHTP will not only bring new technologies to our partners in Vietnam, but also cultivate young talent and help thrust the development of Vietnam semiconductor industry."SHTP has become the economic, technological, and intellectual base of Ho Chi Minh City and the Southern Economic Region of Vietnam in recent years. SHTP chip design center is authorized to welcome lectures from three universities belonging to Vietnam National University at HCM City, including HCM City University of Technology, University of Science and University of Information Technology, to attend the Synopsys train the trainers program and also do the training at SHTP chip design center, according to the MoU.Synopsys is committed to helping the Vietnam semiconductor industry cultivate its IC design talent through ongoing cooperation with both academia and business. Li added that "The successful development of the semiconductor industry requires teamwork among government, research universities and entrepreneurs collaborating together. Synopsys will work closely with the SHTP to help fortify semiconductor industry development and further its leadership in the region."Dr Robert Li (frond left), Synopsys Sales Vice President of Taiwan and South Asia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on August 26 with Dr Nguyen Anh Thi (front right), President of SHTP in Vietnam.

AEWIN Technologies Co, Ltd (doing business as AEWIN), founded in 2000, has over 20-year experience in designing and manufacturing High-Performance Network Appliance. The wide range of product portfolio includes Network Appliance, Servers, and expansion cards such as NIC (Network Interface Card) and Accelerator cards. AEWIN provides the support of customized design and technical supports to satisfy diverse demands from various industries. The reliable systems have been trusted by some of the top Network Security experts as the foundation of their network solutions.AEWIN joined Qisda group in 2019 becoming one of the hardware providers in Qisda BSA (Business Solutions Alliance) and worked with software provider of AI application to build Edge AI innovative solutions and integrated with 5G/CPE provider under Qisda to offer complete Open RAN solutions. The support of verification and optimization of GPU computing resources help to accomplish multiple smart solutions."AEWIN offers products featuring the full range of Intel and AMD processors from ultra-compact desktop platform to high-performance rack-mount servers. Integrated with AEWIN self-design network interface modules ranging from 1G to 100G, customers' individual requirements can be satisfied with excellent efficiency," says Tiana Shao, Product Marketing Manager at AEWIN. "In addition, AEWIN provides services of customization, software verification, and configuration optimization. As a response to the market demands, AEWIN expands the product lines to General Purpose Server and Edge AI Server. We commit to be the reliable all-round partners in Networking, IoT, Cloud/Fog Computing, and more."The maturity of technologies of 5G, AI, and Edge Computing brings the rapid development of Metaverse and further digital innovation applications. All of these require efficient CPU and GPU resources. AEWIN cooperates with InfinitiesSoft Solution Inc. (doing business as InfinitiesSoft) to provide the ultimate development environment to assist industry to create more valuable applications through the integration of AEWIN Edge AI Server and the AI-stack of InfinitiesSoft, the Machine Learning Development and Operations Management Platform.As InfinitiesSoft has cumulated countless experience in supporting the collaboration on GPU management and AI model and application development, the integration of its AI-Stack with AEWIN Edge Server allow the GPU resources be used in a more efficient way and make AI development/management easier and more efficient through web-based platform. It helps enterprises to speed up the whole process of AI implementation from AI model building to the edge applications. In Smart City Intelligent Medical applications, AEWIN Edge AI Server with AI-Stack platform enables the management of multiple servers to strengthen the overall resources for high-efficient operation and build up win-win solution for customers.AEWIN Edge AI Server with InfinitiesSoft AI-stack enables efficient development and management of intelligent applications in various industries.Shao also mentioned that there are many success stories of AEWIN Edge AI Server and MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) in addition to the popularity of Network Appliances from global Network Security Experts. One of the hottest applications is the traffic management in Smart City. The enormous data requires extremely high computing power to handle with. AEWIN Edge AI Server allows the machine learning and re-training of AI model to be completed simultaneously.The real-time analysis of the streaming of traffic flow, pedestrian flow, traffic signals and parking information can assist the city manager to build a better plan/strategy with advanced AI recognition, predictive abnormal alarm, intelligent decision-making, etc. AEWIN products such as SCB-1739, SCB-1826, SCB-1932, SCB-1937 include Intel/AMD platforms with single or dual CPUs, providing outstanding performance for real-time inference and model training.AEWIN Edge AI Servers with INFINITIES AI-Stack accelerates AI adoption in diverse vertical markets.Regarding one of the hot topics, Intelligent Medical Management, in recent years, AEWIN offers high-performance Edge AI Server with short-depth design to implement great computing power of CPU/GPU to the Edge to achieve real-time intelligent recognition/analysis and AI model training. Taking the application of cancer inspection as an example, the Edge AI helps to scan and analyze hundreds of CT rapidly and provides inference results as a reference to further save doctors' valuable time. Moreover, the AI models can continuously evolve with the latest big data and further push the developments of the Smart Medical to the next-level applications."Every touch point of IoT can be the target of cyber-attack. AEWIN offers reliable solutions of Network Appliance/NIC/Accelerator cards featuring rapid encryption, high throughput network transmission, and extraordinary performance of computing to fulfill the demands in cybersecurity. Responding to the explosion of the data growth, deploying the high-speed analyzing power at the edge can accomplish the low-latency innovative applications. Furthermore, processing the data at edge can filter the critical information before uploading the data to the cloud to ensure the overall maintenance of cyber security," Tiana Shao reminds.

Inventory cycles swing from "just-in-case" to "just-in-time," but recent trends are pushing manufacturers to amass unnecessarily large inventories. Stockpiling can seem like a beneficial safeguarding measure, but experience has shown that it can backfire and create instability while furthering inflation.There is a viable substitute for both the just-in-case and just-in-time methods. Instead of hoarding to safeguard resources, manufacturers should leverage vendor and supplier relationships to find stability when the scales of supply and demand invert.Buffers Become BarricadesAs demand outpaces supply within the semiconductor industry, the disparity has driven up prices and lead times - a costly consequence for those who cannot afford to wait for product.Buying buffer stock is a key part of the just-in-case management model. It entails carrying larger inventories in case supply chains fail. However, over-ordering further depletes market supply, which subsequently increases prices and extends lead times.In such scenarios, carrying costs are high and buyers may utilize 3rd-party warehouses for storage. This turns buffer stock from a benefit into a liability, as it constricts cashflow and causes logistical complications.Restored Supply Means Trouble for StockpilersWhen supply chain disruptions start to dissipate, companies realize the downfalls of the stockpiling strategy. In today's market, demand is softening. Inflation and events like the Russia-Ukraine conflict have driven commodity prices higher and consequently reduced consumer spending. Consumer electronics are likely to suffer the most, as these purchases tend to trend downward first. This shift is hurting manufacturers, particularly after they experienced heightened demand during the peak of the pandemic.The impact is reflected in reduced business outlooks. Micron, which produces DRAM chips for technology like personal computers and smart phones, announced a drastic cut in production after projections showed a 3-8% price drop for DRAM chips.Although Micron will need to hold the already produced chips, this production slowdown preserves Micron's control over supply, mitigating excess and ensuring better prices.How to Build a Healthy InventoryPreemptively planning a holistic inventory strategy builds a foundation for success. Work closely with strategic suppliers to strengthen the supply chain and make securing allocation easier. Engage strategic supplier relationships during periods of inflation to ensure proper budget investment, as a dependable supplier relationship reduces costs by committing to orders in advance.Plus, providing transparency on component lists helps suppliers better understand your needs and proactively offer supply. Buyers should limit excess supply to a 1-2-month period to avoid disruptions and additional carrying costs.Price changes and shortages are unpredictable, but it is important to pay attention to consumer behavior and market movements. Independent distributors with market intelligence teams are especially valuable, as they can be your eyes and ears on the market and give recommendations.Maintain Balance StrategicallyNavigating between supply and demand is a balancing act; be sure to use every tool available to you to stabilize inventories. A company's best resource is its supply source, so work closely with strategic partners to control your inventory, instead of having it control you.

Germany-based Beckhoff Automation, an automation solution specialist founded in 1980 and headquartered in Verl, has been operating in the field of industrial automation for over 40 years. Its experience built and technologies developed during these years have earned the company partnerships and trust from the industrial big names such as Canadian machinery supplier Husky, Switzerland-based Georg Fischer and German robot manufacturer Kuka Robotics.Beckhoff Automation's engineering team and experience also enabled the company to invent technologies such as EtherCAT and innovations based on the communication fieldbus that are being broadly used among machine builders and IPC companies.Hans Beckhoff, owner and managing director of Beckhoff Automation, pointed out during an interview that Beckhoff Automation is an automation company that delivers the intelligence, power and anything that is needed to control a machine, a building, a windmill or others.He founded Beckhoff Automation in 1980 and started the business with microprocessor-based controlled systems in the early period of the company's operation, but in 1986, the company turned specifically to PC-based control technologies - implementing real-time software onto hardware of an industrial PC to enable typical automation functionalities like PLC and motion.With the PC-based control technologies, Beckhoff Automation managed to gain the ability to control machines via PCs in very early days and this allowed the company to bring a lot of unique features of machine control to its customers.Today, with all the communication, data handling and analytics features, and modern control needs, Beckhoff Automation's technologies over PC-based control have further advanced. Beckhoff Automation's clients can now simply download programs from the company website and install onto their PCs to transform their PCs into a high-end machine control while maintaining all the features of a standard PC.The software TwinCAT is the heart of Beckhoff Automation's business philosophy - to become a software-oriented company, but the software still needs a lot of supporting hardware to be able to perform its control ability on clients' high-quality machinery hardware. Therefore Beckhoff Automation has started expanding the development and production of its own-brand industrial PCs, I/O and fieldbus components, drive technology as well as control cabinet-free automation.Beckhoff Automation is a company with deep technologies. What that means is that Beckhoff Automation is fully capable of developing motherboards for its industrial PCs by itself. It is producing the motherboards at its plants in Germany and has its own BIOS software and a team of operating system experts and engineers that are able to cut down the reaction times of its IPCs to only 100 microseconds. Beckhoff also has specialists for automation software as well as specialists for applications such as packaging, milling and assembly.However, Beckhoff Automation does not only want to sell hardware and software to its customers; the company also wants to sell trust to them. Automation is a high-end technology, making it rather complicated and requiring close collaboration between its supplier and user.The supplier and user have to work together and develop a close relationship in order to make most advanced projects to work. In Taiwan, Beckhoff Automation also has high-end supporting engineers that are ready to provide any assistance to its customers.Beckhoff Automation's business strategy and structure helps it go through the difficult time during COVIDDespite the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on different industries over the past months, Beckhoff Automation still managed to achieve revenue growth in 2020 and further growth in 2021.Commenting on Beckhoff Automation's excellent performance in 2021, the founder Beckhoff said that the company currently has around 5,000 employees worldwide and more than 2,000 of them are engineers. It also has 24 sales offices spreading around Germany, as the company hopes to be as near to its customers as possible, and many subsidiaries in 40 other markets outside Germany, including Taiwan.Beckhoff Automation also has distributors and channel partners in more than 75 countries around the world to handle its product distribution and marketing. The company's sales increased to EUR1.182 billion (US$1.18 billion) in 2021, a record high with an on-year growth rate of 28% thanks to its employees' and partners' hard work.Over the more than 40 years of operation, Beckhoff Automation enjoyed annual revenue growth for most of the years, but there are still some years when "we experienced a drop from or stay on par with the previous year's numbers because of a major financial crisis around the world," said Beckhoff. On average, the company still saw a revenue growth of 15% a year since 2000.Beckhoff Automation has also been pushing to keep all its existing customers, and continue to win over new ones. Over the past 20-30 years, Beckhoff Automation has seen an increasing number of customers choose to stay with the company as they have great confident over the quality and pricing provided by Beckhoff Automation's solutions.In Germany, Beckhoff Automation has stable teams of engineers and workers, which allow the company to develop and build innovative technologies and products. The company's structure as a family-owned business also provides many benefits in its operation. Beckhoff Automation is completely self-financed and does not need to face pressure from investors or banks.With complete control of the company's business direction, the company can follow through its inventory strategy of maintaining four to six months of raw materials at its warehouses during the worst moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, while most other enterprises are instead trying to lose as much inventory as possible. In the end, the decision paid off and helped Beckhoff Automation through the crisis.Another advantage the company has as a privately-owned company is that the management team does not treat the results as the ultimate goal as it is also looking for long-term developments to maintain its technological leadership.The company's target each year is to launch new products with evolutionary features and to create something revolutionary every 5-7 years. Beckhoff Automation has already been doing so for many years and the strategy helped the company to create the principle of the PC-based control, the invention of bus terminals, linear motor and magnetic levitate movement technologies.Another revolution is the new MX-System, which was introduced in November 2021. The system offers a flexible, space-optimized and intelligent system solution and sets a new level in industrial automation by completely replacing the conventional control cabinet.This is also a duty for Beckhoff Automation: to bring new ideas to customers and to fulfill their needs and expectations. The development also helped the company to attract more new clients.The warehouse policy helped Beckhoff Automation during the crisis, but the company is now also gradually seeing longer lead times for its shipments due to insufficient production capacity. For that, Beckhoff Automation already started an expansion project with the new capacity set to be online by the first quarter of 2022 and volumes doubled compared to the beginning of 2020, to allow the company to delivery more products.With the increase in capacity, the lead time for orders is expected to return to normal in the second half of 2022. Clients' orders placed with Beckhoff Automation increased more than 60% on year in 2021, while its capacity only picked up 25%, but the gap will be narrowed in 2022.Since automation is a technology that can be applied in a lot of industries such as healthcare, water treatment and entertainment, automation companies are expected to enjoy a bright future because of enormous demand from all over the places.Beckhoff Automation offers one-of-a-kind solutions to satisfy increasing demandTaking the COP26 event for an example, the discussion in Glasgow was about how "engineers have to save the world," says Beckhoff. "We need to invent new technologies that can make machines and manufacturing processes more effective and use less energy and raw material, and all the companies have to do this on a steady basis."With the goal, more electric vehicles (EV) are expected to appear, which will require more semiconductors for production and relatively benefit the semiconductor and automation industries. Beckhoff Automation is delivering a lot of control systems to the semiconductor industry and also the assembly industry, because of the new manufacturing architecture coming to the market.With Beckhoff Automation's powerful IPCs, the customers are able to correlate over 100 axes together, build complicated machinery and run the axes in very short cycle time of 100 microseconds.This means that the machine can react faster and has higher production efficiency. The system also features IoT functionality that can collect data and store them to backend platforms for analysis.Beckhoff Automation also has a lot of built-in measurement technology that the company believes should be integrated into the control and not as an extra machine. The company is offering packages with variety of choices customer can choose that suit them better.Beckhoff Taiwan sees many business opportunities in the marketFor the business in Taiwan, managing director of Beckhoff Automation Taiwan Phylex Ong talked about the branch office's status, successful cases, as well as the key factors hindering Taiwanese enterprises from adopting smart manufacturing applications and the company's solutions to help resolve the problem.Ong noted that Beckhoff Taiwan was founded in 2018. The office is located in central Taiwan as he believes the place is the best to help cover all its clients in the market.At the moment, Beckhoff Taiwan has around 19 employees with six of them being engineers and five salespeople. Apart from their own sales team, the company is mainly working with one distributor, which had partnership with Beckhoff Automation long before the branch office was established in Taiwan. The distributor has a total of five sales offices throughout the major cities of Taiwan.Beckhoff Taiwan has also achieved many successful cases during its operation since 2018. It has partnered with Shieh Yih Machinery Industry (Seyi), one of the major servo press machine builders in Taiwan. In one of its machines, the company used Beckhoff's CX5140 embedded PC with a 15-inch Control Panel CP6902, supporting EtherCAT with TwinSAFE terminals within the same fieldbus. It has also acquired Beckhoff Automation's TwinCAT licenses that cover the HMI and TwinSAFE for the machine.Since Seyi's machine requires huge servo model and drive that run up to 165KW, which is beyond Beckhoff's current portfolio, the company has sought a third-party servo machine that is running on EtherCAT to fulfill client's demand.EtherCAT is one of the major inventions Beckhoff introduced to the market in 2003 and is the abbreviation for Ethernet for Control Automation Technology. It is based on standard Ethernet technology, but with intelligence, which makes it perfect for performing machine I/O. It is also widely recognized by worldwide IPC and machinery communities.Beckhoff Taiwan also assisted Seyi in conquering many technical challenges such as deploying more sensors on its production lines to collect data for analysis, improving performance of its machines to meet safety standards and making its platform compatible with worldwide standard to satisfy clients in Europe, the US and Japan.However, Beckhoff Taiwan itself still faces many challenges in the market. When the company first started in the market in 2018, the brand awareness of Beckhoff Automation was not very high in Taiwan's automation machine market, which has been dominated by Japanese and local brands.To break through, the company decided to invest primarily in marketing in order to create differentiation from its competitors. Another key factor that slows down the company's expansion in Taiwan is that most automation users in Taiwan are more familiar with the PLC platform and it will require some time for them to learn more about Beckhoff Automation's PC-based control systems.Therefore, Beckhoff Taiwan has been hosting bi-weekly TwinCAT workshops for local engineers and customers and is now seeing more of them turning to embrace TwinCAT thanks to the technology's advantages and benefits.Pricing is another key challenge Beckhoff Taiwan is facing at the moment. Many Taiwanese and Japanese IPC players in Taiwan are usually offering rather competitive pricing for their products as compared to European players in the industry.The machine building clients that procure cheap IPC solutions are often those who wish to compete against competitors in China who offer extremely cheap products, but these clients' cost cutting would usually turn out to erode their own profitability instead in the long term with their prices still being outmatched by the Chinese competitors.For Beckhoff Taiwan, helping these clients to advance from competing in the low-end sector to the midrange and high-end ones is one of the key tasks. Since the proportion of Taiwanese machine builders who primarily focus on the high-end sector is still rather low, this means that the company still has a lot of room for growth.The method is also how Beckhoff Automation was able to gradually grow its share in Germany's automation IPC industry. With Beckhoff Automation's technology breakthrough, the company believes its clients will choose to stay and continue to grow along with Beckhoff Automation.Beckhoff Automation's technologies and innovationsBeckhoff Automation's various technologies can assist Taiwanese machine builders to accomplish their automation demand. Many companies have already joined EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) to use EtherCAT, which has released up to 1Gbit/s and 10Gbit/s, up from the standard 100Mbit/s, for their machines.Meanwhile, Beckhoff Automation is also offering many types of motors such as rotary and linear ones. A few of the innovations Beckhoff Automation has introduced are the XTS transport system (2012) and the XPlanar (2018) planar motion system with stationary coils and moving magnets. The XPlanar is a new way to perform intellectual conveyor functionality inside a machine as the system can control each mover individually by controlling the magnetic fields, which are generated by the stationary coils.Users can perform interesting moving patterns with the technology that can be applied to food and drug packaging. Beckhoff Automation will also demonstrate the system at an upcoming show to present its leadership in automation innovations.For Taiwan's semiconductor industry, EtherCAT has already become the standard communication terminal for the industry and the XPlanar will also be a perfect solution for semiconductor manufacturing because of dust-free requirement.Beckhoff MX-System for control cabinet-free automationPhylex Ong, managing director of Beckhoff Automation Taiwan