Macronix International, a leading integrated device manufacturer in the non-volatile memory (NVM) market, has announced its ArmorFlash MX75 series NOR Flash received PSA Certified Level 1 status at the device level, where the NOR Flash is integrated within a larger system. Achieving the PSA Certified distinction at the device level ensures designers have high degrees of security when selecting ArmorFlash MX75 memories for demanding applications such as Internet of Things (IoT) and other systems requiring robust data security.PSA Certified's webpage on the ArmorFlash MX75 can be viewed at: www.psacertified.org/products/armorflash-mx75-series.ArmorFlash is Macronix's family of highly secure and configurable NOR Flash devices for code and data storage used in a broad array of applications: IoT, automotive, computing, industrial, healthcare, wearables, smart homes, and smart cities. The devices include both standard and advanced security features and are available in a range of densities and temperature grades.Founded by a diverse roster of industry luminaries including semiconductor and software design leader Arm and six other security-certification specialists, PSA Certified offers a concise security framework for connected devices, from analysis through to assessment and certification. The multi-stage certification process aims to mitigate fragmentation of IoT requirements and eliminate security threats as barriers to product development."The IoT ecosystem is expanding at an astounding rate, and with that growth comes the enticement for 'bad actors' to prey on the billions of devices that comprise it," said Macronix Vice President of Marketing F.L. Ni. "Data storage is particularly alluring, given its rich collection of information. That's why Macronix is as committed as ever to ensuring our NOR Flash solutions, such as the ArmorFlash MX75, are designed for optimal security. Toward that, we've worked diligently with PSA Certified to achieve device-level certification and provide designers with the verified assurance of security."Security remains a top priority throughout the IoT market, as more than 20 billion devices are expected to be deployed by the year 2025. A survey of several-hundred security professionals found that more than fourth-fifths of organizations have IoT devices on their corporate networks, yet over half had insufficient security measures.A recent TechOnline webinar presented by Macronix Senior Technical Marketing Manager Jim Yastic and Arm System Architect Andrew Jones, titled Secure Flash Memory in Emerging Electronic Systems: Automotive Markets, Applications, Use Case Scenarios, highlights ArmorFlash and PSA Certified evaluations' importance to automotive applications. It can be viewed here.For more information on the ArmorFlash MX75 and Macronix's entire NOR Flash solutions, please go to www.macronix.com/en-us/products/Pages/ArmorFlash.aspx.

The manufacturing industry is rapidly moving towards smartification. The two major areas of IT and OT (operations technology) have begun to be integrated into IIoT architecture, and the efficiency of the production line has been greatly improved through the uninterrupted flow of on-site information. However, as networks become integrated, problems have emerged in information security, problems far more complex than those addressed by the manufacturing industry of the past. The DataHub middleware solutions provided by Skkynet for embedded systems, cloud applications, and local platforms, meet these challenges. Using DataHub software, manufacturers can implement secure network connection mechanisms to create a smart factory that excels in both performance and safety.Previous OT systems in the manufacturing industry tended to be mostly closed architectures in which all the machines and equipment were interconnected only on-site, meaning there was no need to communicate or connect with external networks. However, Industry 4.0 is all about making proper use of internal data in the corporation to reduce production costs and strengthen industrial efficiency. In response to this trend, OT systems must be integrated with IT systems to provide added value. Taking the recent COVID-19 pandemic as an example: companies have constructed external networks over which systems can remotely monitor automated equipment on the production floor, allowing the production line to maintain normal operations even during the pandemic.While opening up, OT systems are also facing security threats that are common to IT systems. Since OT equipment is a manufacturer's most important asset, an attack on OT would cause major losses to the corporation. Aiming to solve this problem, manufacturers have now begun to strengthen the information security of their IIoT systems. However, most companies currently have only set up VPNs, or use MQTT outbound connections to prevent intrusion of malicious programs. In the face of ever-evolving hacking techniques, using a single firewall as the sole protection mechanism cannot easily meet the needs of the manufacturing industry. Skkynet's DataHub uses the DHTP protocol that allows bidirectional data communications between different networks through proxy servers and DMZs, ensuring that network architectures in the manufacturing industry can operate stably over the entire environment.Skkynet's software and services have been applied in various industrial fields, such as energy, petrochemicals, minerals, manufacturing, medical and pharmaceuticals, and transportation. Major overseas firms, including Siemens, GE, ABB, Fuji Electric, Boeing, and other benchmark operators, use Skkynet's software. And in Taiwan, Chang Chun Group, China Motor Corporation, Taiwan Power Company, Formosa Plastics Group, and other large manufacturers in various fields have also imported Skkynet's DataHub to build their externally connected IIoT systems. As a result, they have given new life to the value of data, improved operational efficiency, and reduced operating costs on the production floor.According to Skkynet, DataHub software is a secure-by-design middleware platform designed for industrial systems. Considering that Taiwan is a global base of equipment manufacturing, the company provides an Embedded Toolkit (ETK) designed for industrial equipment manufacturers. The ETK platform can help industry operators to optimize product communication capabilities and significantly shorten time-to-market. Skkynet hopes to use its comprehensive products and services to strengthen the cooperative relationship with Taiwanese system integrators and industrial software companies, and together seize on opportunities in smart manufacturing.Paul Thomas, President of SkkynetPhoto: Company

While malware has been constantly evolving in recent years, the threat of never-before-seen malware is only poised to become an even bigger problem for IT and information security specialists as ultra-fast 5G communications becomes the norm and as the industry enters the age of the Internet of Everything (IoE). Founded in Calgary, Canada, Wedge Networks is a network security appliance provider focused on providing real-time threat prevention solutions. The company founders, Hongwen Zhang and Husam Kinawi, believe that the need to shorten this network security gap is best met through real-time protection technologies.The patented technology platform offered by the company can stop malware (most importantly customized or targeted "never before seen malware") and ransomware in real-time before they even enter a company's network, effectively securing the network from all cyber-attacks.The uniqueness of Wedge Networks' solutions lays on their proprietary and patented innovations, and unique application of artificial intelligence and autonomous machine learning to allow its Wedge Absolute Real Time Protection (Wedge ARP) platform to constantly learn and evolve. These solutions can protect an entire network and all its endpoints through a single point of deployment either in the cloud, in an endpoint, or through remote access. Furthermore, the solutions offered by Wedge Networks not only effectively filter and eliminate threats in Internet traffic, but also its proactive approach and high degree of automation greatly reduces the need to hire expensive network specialists to inspect, remediate and fix up any issues.The biggest difference between the company and other suppliers is that Wedge Networks follows the technological approach of "detect and block," unlike other solutions providers that "detect, quarantine and remediate." This means that Wedge Networks' solutions do not rely on network behavior anomaly analysis to detect zero-day exploits, but instead use patented innovations embedded with AI machine learning to detect and block unknown malware and attacks in real-time before they have a chance to enter and infect the network. This is possible because Wedge Networks' solutions are deployed inline mode with network traffic, so they can filter all threats and impurities.Zhang and Kinawi originally started the company in 2002 as an R&D organization focused on developing telecommunication technologies, but shifted to the development of innovations specific to the field of network security in 2008. With extensive experience in R&D and commercializing products, Wedge Networks already has a presence in North America, the Asia-Pacific region, the EU and the Middle East/North Africa. The company is currently in the expansion phase of development commercialization and hopes to introduce Wedge Networks' technologies and solutions to companies, strategic partners, and investors in Taiwan by participating in the Canadian Technology Accelerator Program in Taiwan.Wedge Networks is planning to scale and grow globally, focusing on Asia as a key region and Taiwan playing the role of the strategic core. The company's 24-month plan includes: raising capital, expanding the roster of its strategic channel partnerships, increasing recurring revenue, and widening its cash flow. In addition, Wedge Networks will be receiving a capital injection from venture capital firm Trend Forward Capital, and the two parties have signed an LOI. Trend Forward Capital is the venture capital arm of network security firm Trend Micro. For Wedge Networks, this will bring significant capital support and help to raise exposure of Wedge Networks in the Asian market and its channel partners.Hongwen Zhang, co-founder, CEO, CTO and director of Wedge Networks

iCatch Technology recently launched a 4K AI smart tracking video solution that supports multiple cameras. After announcing an AI video camera solution and cooperating with international IT leaders for mass production last year, iCatch has continued to develop new technology and improved the overall solution with new features which includes dual camera sensor input, HDR videos, AI auto human tracking, and other high-quality images functions.iCatch's AI accelerator solution can track attendees automatically and keep the speaker in the center of the display. This feature is like the Center Stage function of the new iPad Pro which Apple launched lately in April. iCatch's solution can further calculate the total number of people in the video, and the camera will zoom to display all the participants in the screen automatically. If someone is speaking, the camera will focus on the speaker, which is very practical for video conferencing application.iCatch's new AI 4K video conferencing solution can support dual image sensor input, ultra wide viewing angle and 360-degree surround view function. The user can select a preferred viewing angle from the captured panoramic scene. This also allows the developers to diversify their product design for different conferencing scenarios.The product using iCatch's AI video conferencing solution has passed Zoom's official hardware certification at the beginning of this year, and can perfectly match the Zoom video conferencing software with the AI Auto Frame function. The new solution can also assist customers to pass the Zoom's official hardware certification. Furthermore, it can be used with other mainstream video conferencing software solutions, too.iCatch provides an integrated AI solution package which includes AI firmware tools, chip development boards, as well as reference circuit diagrams and documents. Clients can develop their AI imaging products quickly up to their requirements.For more information about iCatch's AI imaging solutions, please visit www.icatchtek.comMore about end product partner information, please contact www.unison-tech.comiCatch 4K AI Smart Tracking Video Conferencing Dual Camera SolutionSource: iCatch TechnologySource: Unison Technology

Veeam has been named by Gartner as a Magic Quadrant Leader for the fifth consecutive time and positioned highest in ability to execute two years in a rowVeeam Software, the leader in backup, recovery and data management solutions that deliver Modern Data Protection, today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders quadrant of the 2021 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup and Recovery Solutions. Not only does this mark the fifth time Gartner has recognized Veeam as a Magic Quadrant Leader, but it is the second consecutive year Veeam is positioned highest overall in ability to execute; the company had the greatest shift to the right in completeness of vision of all vendors mentioned. Veeam believes this recognition further validates the company's investment and commitment to protecting customer's data and delivering a complete Modern Data Protection portfolio, as well as its decade-long reputation for innovation and product excellence."Now more than ever, organizations expect and demand Modern Data Protection that is simple, flexible, reliable and powerful," said Danny Allan, CTO and Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Veeam. "As a Magic Quadrant Leader for the fifth year in a row, Veeam is continually innovating and executing, and setting the industry standard. With $1B+ in annual bookings and 400,000+ customers, Veeam will continue to provide its community with the most advanced data protection across all environments – Cloud, Virtual, Physical, SaaS and Kubernetes – and the highest levels of customer-support."Veeam released Veeam Backup & Replication v11 earlier this year, enabling the most advanced data protection solution for Cloud, Virtual, Physical and Enterprise workloads. With more than 200 new features and enhancements, the single solution for comprehensive data management is powerful and flexible enough to protect each phase of the data life cycle, while handling all the complexities of a multi-cloud environment for AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. Veeam recently surpassed 1 million active Veeam Backup & Replication installations since the inception of its flagship product 13 years ago.The report included analysis of 12 enterprise data backup and recovery solutions vendors. Access the full report here: https://www.veeam.com/2021-gartner-magic-quadrant.html.For more information, visit https://www.veeam.com.Supporting Quotes"Veeam is widely recognized for cloud data management, so we know that piece of the puzzle is there when we need it. We're counting on Veeam to help us ensure all data is available whether it's on-prem or in a cloud." – Bill Healy, Director of Operations, City of New Orleans"I'm looking forward to trying Instant VM Recovery for Microsoft SQL Server with v11 because SQL Server underpins our ERP system. Being able to recover instantly ensures ERP availability, which helps us meet customers' supply chain demands." – Ken Miller, EDI & Database Administrator, Heidtman Steel Products, Inc."Like most education institutions, we experience a high rate of phishing attempts. It only takes one student, faculty or staff member clicking on one phony link to give cybercriminals free reign for destruction. Veeam lets us create air-gapped tape backups, recover from them quickly and avoid paying ransom. That's priceless." – Mark Dean, Senior Systems Administrator, Morehouse School of MedicineGartner Disclaimer:Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.Gartner and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.About Veeam SoftwareVeeam is the leader in backup, recovery and data management solutions that deliver Modern Data Protection. The company provides a single platform for Cloud, Virtual, Physical, SaaS and Kubernetes environments. Veeam customers are confident their apps and data are protected and always available with the most simple, flexible, reliable and powerful platform in the industry. Veeam protects over 400,000 customers worldwide, including 82% of the Fortune 500 and 69% of the Global 2,000. Veeam's global ecosystem includes 35,000+ technology partners, resellers and service providers, and alliance partners and has offices in more than 30 countries. To learn more, visit www.veeam.com or follow Veeam on LinkedIn @veeam-software and Twitter @veeam.Veeam named by Gartner as a Magic Quadrant Leader for the fifth consecutive time and positioned highest in ability to execute two years in a rowSource: Gartner

The highly anticipated 5G telecommunication technology has features such as high bandwidth, broad data connection, and low latency. Since its advent in 2019, 5G has been viewed as a crucial technology for smart services such as smart cities and smart transportation. However, 5G telecommunication technology has a narrower band signal coverage, compared to 4G. Given that some applied services, such as smart transportation, have extremely high requirements for network latency, telecommunication companies must build a wide range of small base stations to meet the needs of edge computing.Hence, Chenbro launched the RM252/RM352 series server chassis which are designed specifically for the telecommunication industry. The edge computing base station solution was designed based on the O-RAN architecture. This solution has high usability and conforms to the telecommunication industry regulations. The RM252/RM352 can provide resources for edge computing and assist telecommunication companies to seize the immense business opportunities in the 5G era.Chenbro's Product Development Project Manager, Lee Yu-Tzu, stated that although the RM252 and RM352 have slight differences in product positioning, they are all specifically designed for the telecommunication industry. First of all, both products adopt the OTII (Open Telecom IT Infrastructure), jointly developed by Intel and China's telecommunication industry, which reduces operating costs and enhances business agility. Secondly, the products adopt a 450mm ultra-short depth chassis design with a dual-processor motherboard that supports the SSI EEB specification. In addition to providing high-performance computing capabilities, it can also optimize space in the data center.Thirdly, the RM252/RM352 series offer FIO (Front I/O) and RIO (Rear I/O) connection mechanisms, allowing operators to have a full understanding of the devices' operating status at the front end. Operators can also install additional devices. Besides meeting the requirements of different application scenarios, the two products can also reduce operating costs. In order to facilitate the maintenance of equipment, the two products adopt the latest disassembly tool-free design in addition to a dual redundant power supply with built-in hot-swap functions. This not only greatly reduces maintenance time but also improves the reliability of the system. It is worth noting that the two products adopt a flexible fan design, which was designed based on the limited space for microcell base stations and the relatively harsh environments where they are deployed. This design allows the RM252/RM352 to operate normally even in a scorching-hot environment without air conditioning.Tom Tsai, Project Manager at Chenbro, said that in addition to enhancing the reliability of the products, many components in the two products adopted modular designs. In other words, when encountering unfortunate incidents, such as hardware equipment failures or when needing to install an expansion card, an operator can replace or add components in the shortest amount of time, lowering service interrupted time to the minimum.The RM252 series server is 2U in height and is equipped with two 800W power supplies. It can be installed at most three full-height or seven half-height PCIe expansion cards, such as the FPGA accelerator to boost edge computing performance. The product comes with a SATA hard-disk drive by default. If you need to store large amounts of data, you can also use an NVMe all-flash hard-disk drive to enhance overall I/O performance. The RM352 series server is 3U in height and is equipped with two 1600W power supplies, which can be installed at most eight full-height PCIe expansion cards, such as the GPU or FPGA accelerators to boost machine learning performance.According to Chenbro's plans, the Company will continue to build small base stations according to the requirements of the telecommunication industry. The Company will adjust the specifications of the RM252/RM352 series server chassis and add more model types to assist telecommunication companies to seize the immense business opportunities in the 5G era.Chenbro released a 2U highly expandable server chassis and a 3U GPGPU server chassis, providing more options for edge computing deployment

Blockchain technology is based on programmed computation and cryptography, and its transactions are both immutable and irrevocable. The technology also makes use of peer-to-peer network (P2P) protocols to ensure that the functionality of the entire network remains highly stable even when any individual node is damaged or lost. When applied to innovative business models such as charging stations in the electric vehicle (EV) market, blockchain technology provides a stable, secure, and large-scale management system for different consumers such as vehicle manufacturers, government regulators, energy providers, banks, and the general public.The mobility industry is in the midst of a revolutionary change driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and self-driving technology. The active development of blockchain technology has given rise to important opportunities, signaling the start of a software-driven evolution. The booming electric vehicle market is one such example, wherein it created a successful business model that generates profit by introducing software upgrades and value-added services. The future development of the entire automotive industry will likely hinge on such profit models as well.Because the mobility industry is so large, accounting for 10-15% of the global GDP, the business opportunities it presents are also staggering. Be it electronic payments, data exchange, and information sharing and preservation, blockchain technology will be playing an emerging and crucial role. Thus the establishment of an industry standard for blockchain technology has consequently become a pressing necessity. The Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) was established in 2018 as a nonprofit organization to set new standards for blockchain technology in the mobility market, with the expectation that a universal standard will allow the industry to jointly develop value-added services that use blockchain technology for more efficient, lower cost, greener, and safer intelligent transportation.VID standard creating new profit modes MOBI co-directors and founders Chris Ballinger and Tram Vo jointly attended this interview. MOBI currently has six working groups in charge of setting blockchain-based standards, with their foremost important standard being the Vehicle Identity, or MOBI VID. Other standards the initiative have created include Usage-Based insurance (UBI) and Electric Vehicle Grid Integration (EVGI), and an effort to set a standard in the globally recognized fields of carbon tracking and smart contracts is also underway. Digital wallet and electronic payments for the data market as well as integrated standards for supply chains are also prospective areas for the initiative. MOBI is leading the conversation in the global mobility industry and has created significant investment and business opportunities in booming start-ups.MOBI's first-generation VID standard was announced in August 2020, and Ballinger noted that MOBI has integrated the standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to quickly reach the market. For the industry, the increasing ubiquity of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) allows vehicles to share real-time services such as weather, traffic, maps, and parking information on public networks with complete security. While IoV makes a variety of other smart services possible as well, reliable identification is indispensable for business applications such as electronic payment or applications in insurance and finance.As VIDs create reliable vehicle and passenger information, new forms of application have also been emerging. Take for example the cooperation between auto brands, banks, and insurers: VID has allowed for more flexible terms in car insurance and travel insurance policies that can better meet client demands. At the same time, the second generation of the VID standard has been released. It aims to quickly realize other forms of application such as used car trading by allowing for the exchange and sharing of car maintenance data. The current scope of applications includes the fields of insurance, IoT, supply chain, finance, and asset securitization.BiiLabs cuts out the middleman between owners and service providers with its digital wallet serviceTram Vo believes that the most important contribution of MOBI standards is implementation and integration of services. The mobility industry has a market worth hundreds of billions of dollars and is highly influential. To enable such an influential market to rapidly integrate various established technologies and communities, MOBI is now actively promoting mobiNET infrastructure and Citopia Applications Marketplace Platform. mobiNET aims to establish a B2B network between industries and encourage data interoperability and integration through open application programming interfaces (APIs), while the Citopia Platform provides a public trading model for different terminal software in the large and competitive market of telematics software, helping to make MOBI standards more widespread.The introduction of blockchain technology has been met with some resistance because it has not been as immediately successful commercially as other emerging technologies that have been able to quickly capture large amounts of revenue. Given this, Ballinger believes that while the technology does contain a very high potential for profitability, its main strength will derive from the interconnection and collaboration between communities to create killer applications in the industry. Tram Vo adds that she has seen government agencies around the world start to use blockchain for new applications. The South Korean government, for example, is already using it to issue digital driver's licenses and for highway toll payments. Nearly 100 related proposals and initiatives have also been popping up in different markets around the world, demonstrating a truly uplifting landscape for innovative applications of blockchain technology in the future.New startups are also investing in the MOBI standards in full swing. BiiLabs, a Taiwanese startup company, is reducing meaningless middleman fees by applying blockchain applications to mobility technology and driving behaviors. The company is already making a name for itself in China's charging station services, helping energy service providers and car brands create electronic wallets exclusively for charging stations and vehicle owners. The code-based car charging payment technology restores the simplicity of offline payments and improves convenience for both parties. With such collaborations between the private sector and the government, MOBI standards are aiming to become an important driver for change in the smart mobility industry.MOBI was established in 2018 as a nonprofit organization to set new standards for blockchain technology in the mobility market

The whole world is striding towards digitization and adopting smart technologies is the key strategy for sustainable development of manufacturers. Coretronic is an expert in the field of optoelectronics, as evidenced in the market share of its high-quality audiovisual products. However, the company not only seeks to continue advancing its optoelectronics business, but also develop unique advantages in the manufacturing sector.Smart systems have been deployed in its factories to enhance production yield and efficiency. What's more, these systems now work as solutions for smart factories, smart warehouses, industrial artificial intelligence (AI), fully-automated smart transportation, and private clouds in the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), in order to offer well-rounded assistance for manufacturers to successfully intelligentize and digitize their business.Eric Wu, president of Coretronic MEMS Corporation, stated that Coretronic decided to establish two subsidiaries, Coretronic MEMS Corporation and Coretronic Intelligent Logistics Solutions Corporation, in addition to Coretronic Intelligent Robotics Corporation to provide comprehensive smart solutions to manufacturers. The experience of these enterprises in the combination of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems has been leveraged to create a central control dashboard system that can maximize production efficiency with physical-virtual integration and cloud data.Wu further expressed that the smart manufacturing sector can be roughly categorized into four layers: sensing, communications, cloud, and applications. Sensing is what initiates the entire system, the first step, and is responsible for collecting the data of manufacturing equipment on site. Communications technology then transmits such data to the back office. Nevertheless, the front office equipment produces massive amounts of data that could hugely burden the bandwidth and back office cloud platform. The Jupiter industrial equipment inspection solution is Coretronic MEMS Corporation's response to this challenge, based on its wealth of experience in the field. It can discern which equipment data is meaningful from the very first moment, thereby enhancing equipment effectiveness in the entire framework. The solution's MEMS vibration sensor is based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) multilayers technology, which brings a wide range of advantages in terms of performance: compactness, instrumental precision, and anti-interference ability against temperature and stress. Customers can gain access to an all-encompassing industrial AI solution by further combining the edge computing device and AI algorithms to effectively accomplish early warning and prognostic maintenance tasks of production lines.Furthermore, there are numerous production lines dedicated to precision finishing in Taiwan, which are heavily reliant on the skills of expert craftsmen to manufacture high precision products. Shortage of manpower, however, poses a great risk for the transmission of these techniques as expert craftsmen have no one to pass on their knowledge to. Coretronic MEMS Corporation has also found an answer for this problem by collaborating with customers and successfully internalizing the experience of expert craftsmen, turning it into a smart solution: built-in AI algorithms. Quantitative database indices help customers address staffing shortage and attain capacity expansion.With regard to intelligent robotics, the fully-autonomous mobile platform, comprised of an unmanned vehicle and autonomous mobile robot (AMR), is seen as a smart terminal essential to intelligentization in the industrial sector. Mac Chiang, general manager, Coretronic Intelligent Robotics Corporation, stated that the company's autonomous mobile robot (AMR) forklift and transporter is equipped with core technologies that encompass an interprocess communication (IPC) platform with in-built AI functions, 2D/3D simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) advanced navigation technology, AI-enabled image recognition, and a self-produced movement control and motor driver module. It is the optimal setup for a fully-automated smart transportation solution. With self-navigation functions, a 3D high precision map, and an accurate positioning of up to +/-10 mm, it is no longer necessary to manually install sensors, 2D positioning barcodes, or other outside equipment, allowing for more flexible planning of the production line.This AMR forklift and transporter can also automatically avoid obstacles. It intelligently stops whenever it encounters a human or an obstacle, waiting until the object is removed before automatically resuming motion to complete its task, fulfilling the requirements of unmanned systems. Furthermore, it can operate both indoors and outdoors without being affected by natural light rays, making it ideal for use by logistics and warehousing operators who need to work over large spaces. Coretronic's AMRs currently play an important role in the commercial operations of numerous Taiwanese manufacturers and logistics operators of various sectors. The AMR forklift, in particular, has been deployed by a large Tier 1 supplier of electronic vehicles in southern Taiwan. With the ability to judge whether there are any moving vehicles or humans, it journeys between the indoors of two big factories through the outdoors, even crossing streets on its own. It successfully saves factory staff efforts by autonomously transporting and stacking metal cages totaling up to 2 metric tons.In terms of business management, Coretronic has already set up enterprise resource planning (ERP), advanced planning and scheduling (APS), and product lifecycle management (PLM) systems to get exact information about the situation on site. Machine monitoring vibration censors, an equipment data network, and fully-autonomous mobile robots, among other OT terminal equipment have been deployed in factories. Recently, Coretronic has integrated these two system categories and by adding logistics into consideration, created a CiLS digital management platform that can single-handedly deal with people, machines, materials, regulations, and the environment. K.C. Yeh, Chief Digital Officer of Coretronic Intelligent Logistics Solutions Corporation, commented that this framework contains everything necessary, from the most basic edge computing and platform as service (PaaS) to the most advanced software as service (SaaS) and other cloud platforms, which enables the company to build the most adequate smart solution tailored to each manufacturer's actual needs. The company's AI technical team has already helped several Taiwanese semiconductor leaders build smart sensing devices that can obtain data from existent OT terminal equipment and integrate vertically with the IT system to form a platform for manufacturing monitoring and decision-making.Finally, K.C. Yeh said that the production processes and corporate workflows vary largely among manufacturers so there is a large demand for customizable manufacturing systems. Coretronic Intelligent Logistics Solutions Corporation has the ability to provide well-rounded, professional services whether in the deployment of smart technology for an entire new factory or the expansion and upgrade of an existent plant, making possible flexible system planning and assisting businesses to start their intelligentization and digitization with the right step.Eric Wu, president of Coretronic MEMS Corporation

YCTek, the world biggest micro heat pipe manufacturer, has reached a formal patent license agreement with NeoGene Tech to adopt PWS (Print Wick Structuring) approach and MagicWick-Inside Technology Platform. Adopting such patented technology along with domestically-made fully automated production lines, YCTek is able to deliver ultra-thin vapor chamber devices with thickness of under 0.25mm in mass production.NeoGene Tech, a technology platform startup located in Guangzhou Science City in China has been devoted to revolutionizing the way of designing and fabricating ultra-thin vapor chambers devices for 5G mobile computing applications. It unveiled its PWS approach as well as MagicWick-Inside Technology Platform for this regard in third-quarter 2020.More and more heat is generated in compact devices, particularly in 5G mobile computing. Thermal management is emerging as a vital issue for all brands. Both micro heat pipe and vapor chamber are two-phase flow devices commonly used in electronics cooling, and ultra-thin vapor chamber devices are becoming necessary for smartphone and slim notebook applications. More and more smartphones adopt ultra-thin vapor chamber for thermal management, but the thickness is at above 0.3mm. The thickness of vapor chamber devices has to be as thin as possible but the size has to be as big as possible.For 5G smartphone applications, the thickness of the vapor chambers will be migrating down to 0.25mm and below. Large area is also needed in the device for effective heat dissipation. The trend of device thickness and sizes is becoming a very tough issue in making ultra-thin vapor chamber with the traditional copper mesh wick structure approach due to the limitation of capillary force and lack of production automation."NeoGene Tech's mission is to change the DNA of making wick structure as well as device itself. Optimal flow channels design and wick structure fabrication are becoming crucial means to make it easier to produce ultra-thin vapor chamber with better performances. The wick structure inside the vapor chamber, called MagicWick, can be made by using a magic paste material and automatic screen printing and sintering processes. So far, we have around 10 players, including major thermal module manufacturers in Taiwan, Japan, the US, and China, that have adopted such technology sampling MagicWick-Inside VC, "said Jeffrey Chen, CEO of NeoGene Tech."YCTek is a pioneer company that adopts PWS approach and MagicWick-Inside Technology Platform to develop and sample a variety of ultra-thin vapor chamber devices, and we have the advantage of being the first to move into fully-automated production. For manufacturing such ultra-thin VC devices, a fully automated production line adopting print wick structuring (PWS) and continuous diffusion bonding process has been built and had trial runs at YCTek's Zhongshan plant in Guangdong province in June, 2021. The number of operators in the labor-saving full production line is very limited. The production capacity of ultra-thin MagicWick-Inside VC in full production automation is initially two millions pieces per month and it will be ramping up to six million pieces per month by third-quarter 2022. Capital investment for exclusive production lines can be also arranged without limitation to fit customers' special requirements," said David Wang, chairman of YCTek.YCTek has implemented fully-automated productionPhoto: Company

Electric vehicles (EV) have been regarded as the mainstream of next-gen automobiles. According to the statistics by DIGITIMES Research, with a global annual growth rate of 19% in 2020, electric vehicles will hit the tens-of-millions scale by 2025. Global environmental awareness and new emerging technologies are the two driving forces behind this rapid growth. When it comes to technology, electric vehicles' power management has been a major industry focus in recent years. Therefore, FTEX's GaNFET powertrain solution, which extends driving range by 30%, has become the center of attention.Hailing from Canada, FTEX specializes in EV power management solutions. During its early years, the company focused on applications for e-scooters, e-bikes, and electric motorcycles. FTEX later expanded its product portfolio to include larger vehicles as its technology matured. FTEX's core products are smart dynamic motor drives built using GaNFET technology, which increase the range of today's batteries by 30%.FTEX's solution can be divided into two facets: hardware and software. The hardware increases vehicles' driving performance by improving the powertrain. The company pairs a GaNFET motor controller and a DC/DC converter, which allows the system to adjust its voltage dynamically, thus greatly increasing controller efficiency. In terms of software, FTEX uses its proprietary smart algorithm to control the DC/DC voltage output and the motor controller to continually reoptimize the powertrain in real time and increase efficiency, range and power. Furthermore, this software can monitor electric vehicles' environment variables, such as battery health and temperature, which boosts stability and increases battery life.This integration of hardware and software allows FTEX to offer excellent power management solutions for electric vehicle industry players. In the future, the company plans to fortify its software-oriented groundwork. Through continuous data collection and machine learning, FTEX will be able to fine-tune its ability to modulate battery power and use the full range of motor power. Through this, FTEX can optimize motor performance for a much greater range of speeds and torques. Currently, FTEX has integrated its proprietary technologies into one solution and released its Dynamic Drive. This product can be applied to many types of electric vehicles, and is seamlessly linked to the software platform that FTEX specially designed for OEM businesses, providing an optimized end-user experience.In recent years, investment in the electric vehicle market by businesses in Taiwan has been accelerating. According to FTEX, with strong technology capabilities, these businesses are sure to have a promising future in this market. FTEX products can further increase the value of these businesses. Presently, FTEX divides the applications of its products into 100V and 600V solutions. The company's ultimate vision is to offer more solutions that boost vehicle performance, and to become the go-to third-party technology provider for electric vehicle manufacturers seeking better power management solutions. FTEX is actively opening up the Taiwanese market. The company hopes to collaborate with manufacturers interested in entering the electric vehicle market to develop market-ready products. By combining the technical capabilities of Canada and Taiwan, we will seize the coming EV business opportunities.Operation team of FTEXPhoto: Company