Secure-IC, a world-leading provider of embedded cybersecurity for best in class protection technologies, integrated secure elements and security platforms, with security evaluation tools for certification readiness and assurance and consulting expertise and security assessment services, today announced a collaboration with Winbond, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions and a pioneer in certified secure memories, to enhance embedded software security in automotive and other connected industries. Under the partnership, Secure-IC will offer an enhanced security platform that supports the whole security lifecycle in complementary fashion with the use of Winbond TrustME Secure Flash Memory.Secure-IC and Winbond's collaboration will provide cybersecurity offerings that leverage Winbond's TrustME Secure Flash Memory with Secure-IC's Securyzr integrated security service platform. Secure-IC's secure element is an integrated security service platform to provide security from chip to edge and cloud, composed of 1) (ISE) Integrated secure element, 2) Associated service stack, (Firmware including secure connectivity libraries, 3) Server security lifecycles such as key management). Securyzr is a major enabler for complete customer ownership of security. The family of Winbond's TrustME Secure Flash Memory combines its leading edge NOR flash manufacturing process and state-of-the-art hardware security technology. The company's offerings range from the world's first and most secured EAL5+ Common Criteria certified flash memory device to cost-effective EAL2 memory devices that address the security challenges and requirements in different application scenarios.Secure-IC's integrated secure element, combined with Winbond's TrustME Secure Flash Memory offers the host system various services all along the life of the system: Key provisioning and management, Secure Boot and Firmware update, Lifecycle management, memory access management, etc. The combined solution is compliant with the highest levels of security certification and performance requirements."Teaming with a world class pioneer in certified memories enables us to improve security while maintaining the high-performance characteristics required in a number of markets, said Yan-Taro Clochard, North Asia Sales Director & Corporate Marketing Director. Our offering brings key provisioning and full lifecycle security credentials management. Partnering with Winbond, with its certified secure memories, strengthens our commitment to offer state-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions and increases customer trust by reducing its amount of work for certification""Providing a proven and certifiable solution to customers significantly reduces product time to market as privacy and cybersecurity regulations are becoming mandatory." said Hung-Wei Chen, Marketing Director at Winbond. "As a certified and scalable secure memory subsystem, Winbond's TrustME Secure Flash Memory is complementary to Secure-IC's Securyzr architecture as a complete system to serve a wide range of embedded applications."In an increasingly connected world, a significant amount of sensitive data shall be securely managed by a number of applications and across several devices. Secure-IC in this partnership offers access to an integrated design for secure provisioning of cryptographic keys and subsequent security assets management.Security is everyone's business, and every layer must take part in securing the overall system, so memory with built-in security is becoming indispensable. Winbond's Common Criteria certified production site guarantees secured production, software programming, and key provisioning for connected systems. Partnering with Secure-IC complements the security offers and leverages the trusted firmware that comes as essential part of the solution.You can learn more by visiting Secure-IC at Embedded World 2020 in Nuremberg from February 25-27 where demonstrations of Securyzr will be available.

Winbond Electronics Corporation, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions, today extended its innovative family of certified TrustME Secure Flash memory chips by introducing the W77Q series for IoT and smart connected consumer and industrial devices.The new W77Q provides hardware root-of-trust and secure, encrypted data-storage and data-transfer capabilities. By ensuring robust, end-to-end security in IoT devices it enables:*Secure code updates, including over-the-air updates, via an end-to-end secure channel between an update authority and the W77Q even when the host processor or SoC has been compromised.*Secure boot and root-of-trust*Authenticated and encrypted data transfer between the Flash device and the host*Secure Execute-in-Place (XiP) of boot and application code *System resilience, supporting the key security functions of protection, detection and recoveryThe W77Q series products are supplied in industry-standard packages and pin-outs, and feature a standard single/dual/quad/QPI serial peripheral interface (SPI). This means that they can be used as a simple drop-in replacement for non-secure SPI NOR Flash devices.Independent security certificationThe W77Q and W75F are designed to cover the whole range of assurance levels mandated by the European Cybersecurity Act and other regulations. The W77Q is intended for use in consumer and industrial devices which need the security functions required for compliance with the Substantial and Basic assurance levels specified in the Act. The W77Q supports conformance to the Common Criteria EAL2, SESIP and Arm Platform Security Architecture (PSA) security specifications.The W75F is certified for Common Criteria EAL5+, which means it is suitable for use in payment and communications devices, and in applications requiring the High assurance levels specified in the Cybersecurity Act.Hung-Wei Chen, Marketing Director for the Secure Flash product line at Winbond, said: 'The W77Q is a game-changer product, a follow-on to the existing W75F which offers the industry's strongest security in an SPI Flash memory, suitable for the most sensitive financial and communications applications. Now, with the W77Q, Winbond is meeting the need of customers to protect and authenticate any kind of smart, connected device used at home or in the factory.Comprehensive security functionalityThe W77Q offers the secure storage and data-transfer capabilities needed to protect IoT devices and user data. Its main security features include:*Hardware-based Root-of-Trust engine *TCG DICE-like device attestation *Cryptographically secured Write protection *Secure code updates with roll-back protection *Secure boot from Flash*Authenticated watchdog timer *Secure interface: -End-to-end encrypted and authenticated data transfer -Replay Protection Monotonic Counter (RPMC)*Incremental Security -Fail-safe (in-field) configuration updates -Secure symmetric key management *Secure unique device IDThe W77Q also provides the high speed, long data retention and strong data integrity of Winbond's standard SPI Flash memory ICs. Its specifications include:*66MHz operating frequency at Double Transfer Rate/133MHz at Single Transfer Rate *20 years' data retention *100,000 Program/Erase cycles *Wide operating temperature range of -40 degree C to 105 degree CThe W75F will be demonstrated in an Arm PSA security application running on the Arm TF-M operating system.The first W77Q part, in a density of 32Mb, is available for sampling now. The W75F is available in production volumes. More information may be found at www.winbond.com.Winbond TrustME Secure Flash memory chips

Dekra, the world's leading expert organizations in testing, inspection, and certification announces today, that they will further strengthen the strategic alliance with Integrated Service Technology Inc. (iST) in Taiwan, in order to provide the most comprehensive one-stop wireless communication testing service.Apart from the existing regulatory testing for international market access (FCC, ISED, CE and so on), mobile communication conformance testing program (PTCRB, GCF and many others), IoT wireless communication conformance testing (Bluetooth, LoRa, Wi-Fi, etc), Dekra now expands its service scope of CTIA OTA Testing for antenna performance, customized Wi-Fi performance testing, to penetrate the market of wireless terminal and 4G, 5G mobile communication testing and certification.As the world's largest unlisted expert organization in the TIC (testing, inspection, and certification) industry, Dekra continues developing testing capabilities in Asia. Thus, Taiwan, which has the most completed semi-conductor industry clusters and specializations, is undoubtedly one of its key markets. Dekra provides comprehensive IoT and IoV TIC services, and since it established the joint venture Dekra iST with iST in 2015, they have started close collaborations. Recently, the integration of the wireless communication testing capabilities and laboratories has been done, so as to offer all-round IoT solutions. Meanwhile, Dekra has made large investments in 5G and V2X testing and certification instruments, speeded the deployment of testing environment, and will launch related services in the near future.Dekra's history begins in 1925, and its business extends around the globe. At the moment, it has a workforce of around 46,000 people working in over 60 countries. In 2019, the company has grown for the 16th year in a row, with an expected consolidated revenues EUR 3.43 billion (around TWD 115 billion). Dekra has several branches in Linkou, Hsinchu and Taipei, including EMC/RF Lab, Wireless Communication Conformance Lab, IoV Lab, System Reliability and Failure Analysis Lab, providing EMC/RF mandatory regulations testing services, IoT wireless communication compatibility testing services, IoV testing service like automotive EMC testing, military EMC testing and car maker testing, and LED, PCB, PCBA, system reliability verification and failure analysis services. Dekra also provides Electrical Safety, Functional Safety, Rail services, as well as Export Support Services.iST (3289) is the largest and most comprehensive laboratory of semiconductor industry in Asia, and also has been accredited by multiple international well-known and credible organizations including IEC/IECQ, TAF. Meanwhile, it plays the role of independent quality testing laboratory for OBM outsourcing products and associations. iST offers services such as Failure Analysis(FA), Reliability Assurance(RA) and Material Analysis(MA), as well as full-scope verification and analysis services to the IC engineering industry. Its customers cover the whole spectrum of the electronics industry from IC design to end products, and iST also established Automotive Electronic Verification Platforms and High-speed transmission signal testings. The revenue of iST in 2018 is over TWD 3.02 billion.Dekra provides one-stop wireless testing to assist 5G development in collaboration with iST

YC Synergy (YCS) announces new fuel cell power system solution, Rick-II series. The new solution greatly upgrades the fuel cell performance for better automobile application. The Rick-II series provide power range from 45KW to 60KW, IP-67 protection, and better power dynamic performance. With over 20% power density improvement from the previous version, Rick-II is even more compact and easy for installation on heavy duty vehicles including buses, trucks, multi-purpose vehicles and maritime application.The Brand-new Rick-II series comply with the GB and SAE standards for better safety and reliability. And with better durability, it provides up to 400,000 kilometers drive-range performance warranty. Rick-II is also capable of full range flow adjustment which allows full power range utilization, from 20% to 100%, creating optimal fuel efficiency in different power output and different driving scenarios. At the same time, it also largely reduces the supporting battery needed on a fuel cell vehicle. The Rick-II series can also go with YC Synergy's self-developed supporting system for operation temperature control, power hybrid, safety assurance device, full-function control system and communication systems. The complete turn-key-solution assures easy product adoption and installation for various vehicles. The vehicle makers or OEM can simply install Rick-II fuel cell system by connecting cables and fuel tube, while the other supporting subsystems are all well-positioned on the total-solution system YCS provide.YC Synergy (YCS) provides not only fuel cell system product but also complete fuel cell solution for vehicle, stationary, maritime and also special purpose applications. YCS provides full support from feasibility evaluation phase, installation phase, to after service phase for assuring the best customer support. YCS will exhibit the most updated fuel cell system and solution at the FC Expo 2020 in Tokyo, World Energy Week from Feb 26 - 28, Feb. About YC Synergy, please visit website for more information.YC Synergy's Rick-II series

Winbond Electronics Corporation, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions, today announced the introduction of a new high-speed OctalNAND Flash which makes high-density serial NAND Flash a viable low-cost alternative to today's Octal NOR Flash.The world's first x8 Octal interface for NAND Flash, Winbond's OctalNAND Flash enables automotive and industrial manufacturers to provide code storage in high density without having to pay a premium and any special hardware change for NOR Flash, a fast memory technology which scales poorly at densities above 512Mbits.The first Winbond product to include the new interface, the 1Gbit W35N01JW, offers a maximum continuous Read throughput of 240Mbytes/s, three times faster than the earlier high-performance W25N-JW QspiNAND Flash family. The single-die W35N01JW is also 50% faster than Winbond's W72N-JW family of Dual QspiNAND devices, which have dual dies in a single package, and a more complex x2/x4/x8 I/O architecture.Manufactured in Winbond's proven 46nm Single Level Cell (SLC) NAND fabrication process, the W35N-JW OctalNAND Flash offers excellent data integrity and more than ten years' data retention. It is specified to perform more than 100,000 Program/Erase cycles, providing the high level of endurance and reliability required in mission-critical automotive and industrial applications.Fast execution of boot codeWinbond developed OctalNAND Flash because automotive and industrial OEMs are reaching the limits of NOR Flash technology's ability to scale cost effectively while being assembled in industry standard packages. In applications such as automotive graphics displays and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), boot code size is often larger than 512Mbits. Customers have traditionally used NOR Flash for code storage, because it is highly reliable, and its fast Read throughput supports fast boot performance. At densities above 512Mbits, however, NOR Flash scales poorly, and die size and cost become excessive.Because NAND Flash technology scales well, its cost is more attractive at densities of 1Gbit and higher, but conventional NAND Flash has been too slow for functions such as shadowing boot code to DRAM.Takehiro Kaminaga, Deputy General Manager of Winbond, says that the new OctalNAND Flash squares the circle. He says: 'Customers in the automotive and industrial markets can now benefit from 240Mbytes/s Read performance in devices with 1Gbit-4Gbit density at a fraction of the cost-per-bit that they pay today for similar performance from an Octal SPI Flash device.'The new OctalNAND Flash from Winbond offers partial compatibility with Octal NOR Flash, easing replacement of NOR Flash devices in existing designs. The industry-standard 8mm x 6mm BGA package of the W35N-JW device is footprint-compatible with serial NOR flash products, and is fully pin-compatible with that of Xccela Flash and OctaFlash NOR products on the market today. Lead automotive customers are using the 1Gbit W35N01JW OctalNAND Flash to replace Octal NOR Flash memory products in new designs, benefiting from a shorter boot time and lower bill-of-materials cost.The W35N-JW parts include a Reset pin, a hardware feature which supports customers' approach to compliance with automotive safety requirements. This Reset pin is compatible with the pin-out of equivalent NOR Flash devices, enabling customers to retain existing serial NAND software for triggering a system re-boot.Excellent performance characteristicsThe W35N-JW family operates at up to 166MHz in single data-rate mode, and up to 120MHz in double data-rate mode. It operates from a supply voltage of 1.7V-1.95V. Data integrity is maintained by the on-chip 1-bit Error Correction Code (ECC). Data from ECC operations help optimize the chip's bad block management.Fast program and erase performance - the W35N-JW achieves a maximum Write speed of 16.9Mbytes/s - supports over-the-air firmware updating in vehicles and also improved manufacturing throughput.More information about the Winbond OctalNAND Flash and the W35N-JW family may be found at website.Winbond OctalNAND

As the final step in the production process, inspection is of critical importance to the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers generally allot adequate staff resources to perform inspection for the purpose of safeguarding product quality. However, there is a limit to what people can do and human visual inspection may be error-prone.To address the issue, LEDA Technology adopted ADLINK's machine vision system and built a smart inspection solution for use as part of a contact lens manufacturing process. According to LEDA Technology CEO Che-Hsian Huang, aside from quickly catching product defects through machine vision-based inspection, the solution can also collect data from individual inspection devices and conduct AI training to keep strengthening the inspection performance.Starting out as a developer of image processing technologies, LEDA has been expanding into artificial intelligence (AI) technology research as smartization becomes a trend in manufacturing in recent years. It is working on solutions that capture and feed image data to the system to do further processing, the result of which then serves as the basis for making process improvements. LEDA currently focuses on technology development and system application for the manufacturing industry, including defect inspection of LED, metal work pieces and contact lenses. In particular, its solution used in the contact lens manufacturing process is a benchmark representative of LEDA's incredible achievement in AI-enabled machine vision.The CEO said that consumer demand for contact lenses is on the rise for style and convenience reasons. To keep up with the increasing demand, manufacturers need to produce them at a rapid rate. As contact lenses are made from transparent materials, making machine vision-based inspection very challenging, inspection has generally been performed by humans. Furthermore, manufacturers conduct 100% full inspection on contact lenses as opposed to most other products for which sampling inspection is more common. Due to production in a large quantity and at a rapid rate in addition to 100% full inspection, inspectors have to visually check about 4,000 small contact lenses a day, which causes the rates of false discovery and missed detection to remain high. LEDA's solution can improve inspection performance for manufacturers with help from ADLINK's hardware platform and professional technical support.According to LEDA CTO Si-Syuan Huang, to improve manufacturing system performance, instabilities on the production line need to be kept to a minimum so that data can be steadily generated and accurately tracked and then used to calibrate the production process for maximum benefits. Human visual inspection is the main cause of instability in the current manufacturing process, especially in the case of contact lens production lines where mass-quantity inspection is conducted. In view of this, LEDA first introduced a machine vision system to replace human visual inspection and then used the digital data gathered by the system to develop AI algorithms, thereby building a smart manufacturing system from the bottom up.LEDA's AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses built on top of ADLINK's EOS-i6000 vision system features the Intel Movidius accelerator, the 9th generation Intel Core i7 processor and support for Intel OpenVINO. The system comes preloaded with a validated AI development platform so it can reduce the efforts needed for testing and integration, thereby significantly shortening the development cycle. EOS-i6000 is optimized for machine vision applications and fully supports a wide variety of deep learning applications. With proven track records in energy consumption, heat dissipation and compatibility, the platform is an ideal edge device complementing a smart manufacturing system.The CTO indicated that due to the complexity of production line configurations and the diversity of factory equipment, when setting up machine vision systems for customers, system providers often have to test all kinds of industrial cameras with different specs and features. If the test results are not as good as expected, the engineering team will have to study the cameras under test again until the system performance meets expectation. ADLINK's EOS-i6000 comes with a built-in GigE camera interface and image capture app along with its proprietary ADLINK Edge development kit, allowing quick and easy connection to other equipment and cloud, so that the LEDA team can focus on algorithm development and shorten the time it takes to get the system up and running.With ADLINK's help, LEDA successfully developed the AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses, which allows users to configure the standard on defect detection and precisely screens products based on the user-defined standard. It solved the problem of high false discovery and missed detection rates with human visual inspection. The system can also keep inspection logs which serve as product traceability records for customer reference. In addition to precise product inspection, LEDA's solution also leverages EOS-i6000's features to build deep learning systems for customers.The precision of deep learning hinges not only on the algorithm but more importantly on the data. Only with a sufficient amount of high-quality data can the model training results be accurate. However, due to manufacturing systems' limited capabilities, AI system providers generally have to wait until a certain amount data has been accumulated from the manufacturing process and then send the data back to do training. The back-and-forth process is time-consuming and it takes a long time to get the system up and running. To address this issue, LEDA makes use of EOS-i6000's strength to allow its machine vision system to collect data on the production line and tap into the customer's servers to perform deep training. According to the CEO, in its early development stage, LEDA's AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses first learned from humans by having the AI system operate alongside experienced human inspectors who would correct and mark the mistakes the AI system made. The approach enabled the system to develop the rules and logics of the deep learning algorithm while accumulating adequate data for the system to keep improving its precision.The AI-enabled machine vision inspection system for contact lenses LEDA built is now in operation on its customer's production line. LEDA was able to get the system up and running within a short period time. The CEO attributed the success to ADLINK's full support. He pointed out that although there is a wide selection of AI-enabled visual hardware platforms on the market, very few vendors have the expertise in both AI and machine vision. With years of experience in machine vision and a team of AI experts, ADLINK gave LEDA its full support throughout their collaboration. This allowed LEDA to significantly cut down the development time and cost. Going forward, the two firms will continue to engage in close partnership, crafting tailor-made smart systems suited to customer needs.Explore the contact lens inspection solutions, please visit the page.LEDA Technology Che-Hsian Huang (left) and CTO Si-Syuan Huang (right) both point out that AI-enabled machine vision not only ensures stable product quality but also aggregates data for use in process improvementLEDA Technology adopted ADLINK's machine vision system and built a smart inspection solution for use as part of a contact lens manufacturing process

Celebrating its 30th anniversary as a leading brand of Taiwan's aviation industry, EVA Air is not only named one of the World's 50 most valuable airline brands in 2019 but also ranked among Skytrax's list of the world's top 10 airlines in 2019. Its brand and service have deeply impressed consumers.Keeping abreast of the times and technological advances, EVA Air embraces innovations and changes and stays connected to the world. It has joined forces with Chunghwa Telecom IDC to ensure its top-quality services remain uninterrupted and to make every flight a perfect experience.It is general knowledge that the aviation sector often faces a race against time. Especially in Asia, airline companies engage in cutting-throat competition and thus strive for operation efficiency as well as service quality. As a leading brand of Taiwan's aviation industry, EVA Air offers a wide range of premium hardware and software services in the air and on the ground. It continues to expand its route network, connecting passengers to more and more destinations. Not only has it gained recognitions from passengers worldwide, it has also won numerous international awards honoring its achievements in flight safety, overall services and cabin amenities.Uninterrupted premium services 24 hours a day, 365 days a yearGoing into its 30th year, EVA Air is devoted to refining its passenger services in every way. For example, to offer passengers convenient and speedy access to its diverse services such as on-line booking or check-in as a way of coping with the large amount of passenger traffic during Chinese New Year, summer and winter vacations or a sudden spike in passenger traffic arising from flight schedule changes. In order to meet those real-time services, EVA Air, engaging help from Chunghwa Telecom IDC's professional consulting team, has built the most suitable server room and network infrastructure. "When planning digital services for our passengers, we need to take into consideration the requirements with respect to high transaction processes and information security architecture. Chunghwa Telecom IDC is able to meet our high quality demands for operation management, network performances and reliability so that we can offer EVA Air passengers smooth, seamless access to our website and mobile services from every corner of the world," noted Hsien-Yu Hou, the Senior Vice President of EVA Air.In terms of hardware features, Chunghwa Telecom IDC's server room infrastructure is equipped with comprehensive protections against floods and earthquakes to prevent disruptions to network services in the case of such natural disasters. In recognition of its soft power, Chunghwa Telecom IDC has certified Service Organization Controls (SOC) report and received the 2019 Taiwan IDC Provider of the Year from Frost & Sullivan. Fully capable of providing professional server room services, Chunghwa Telecom IDC employs a team of professionals experienced in server room and equipment operations, a team of experts skilled in network surveillance and information security and a team of specialists focused on server room planning and consultation. Working around the clock, these teams provide one-stop total solutions for clients.Services from server room to cloud enable EVA Air flights to bring people worldwide closer togetherStaying true to the commitment to provide professional services, Chunghwa Telecom IDC not only helps EVA Air build server room infrastructure with expansion flexibility to accommodate future growth but also offers "Smart Hand" services, which include facility management and remote operation services. Furthermore, with remote backup being an important part of enterprise risk management, Chunghwa Telecom IDC additionally helps EVA Air plan future remote server room and cloud architecture. Leveraging AWS Direct Connect to help EVA Air tap the worldwide public cloud, Chunghwa Telecom IDC enables EVA Air to effectively connect global markets, significantly reduce network costs and raise system performance. With its extensive experiences in international data center certifications, Chunghwa Telecom IDC is capable of offering EVA Air consultation services on information system certification, allowing EVA Air to expand its footprint abroad while perfecting its digital services with even better quality, reliability and safety for passengers."For three decades, EVA Air continues to grow on the foundation of its commitment to safety, service and innovation. Going forward, EVA Air will uphold the same principle and exert all efforts to make itself a world-leading aviation brand and every flight an immaculate performance," said Hou.About Chunghwa Telecom IDC, for more information, please visit website or contact customer service at +886 800-080-365.Hsien-Yu Hou, Senior Vice President of EVA Air

Unitech, a global solution provider of automatic identification and data capture technologies, announced it is an official partner for Android zero-touch enrollment that streamlines the process and enhances efficiency for businesses.As a zero-touch reseller, Unitech offers various zero-touch-enabled Android devices. For businesses, just purchase the zero-touch-enabled Android devices from Unitech, and Unitech can add devices into an organization's zero-touch enrollment account to make them ready for configuration. Next, their IT team can configure and deploy thousands of devices instantly, simply, and securely online without manually configuring the devices. For employees, they can just power on the devices and start their work immediately.By adopting zero-touch enrollment, Unitech will enable enterprises to mobilize their employees at once by shipping these pre-configured devices to setup effortlessly on boot. It reduces human efforts, increases productivity, and speeds up your time to market.For more information about unitech, please visit www.ute.comUnitech offers Android zero-touch enrollment

NEXCOM, the leading provider of network and communication solutions, announces its new partnership with O'Prueba Technology Inc, a spin-off from the reputed Networking Benchmarking Lab (NBL) at National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan, to create cloud-based automated test solutions.To address the increasing need to simplify testing processes without sacrificing quality assurance and to minimize the risk of human errors in parameter settings, NEXCOM and O'Prueba introduce an automatic control testing solution run on NSA x86-based rackmount appliances, ranging from entry-level agent A308 (based on NSA 1160), to mid-range A528 (based on NSA 5160), to performance A702 (based on NSA7145) integrated with NEXCOM LAN Modules."High port density and flexibility of NEXCOM's network appliances enable us to offer customers a great variety of configurations for both hardware and software, since testing and validation requirements are very confidential and proprietary for each customer," points out Gavin Hsu, CEO of O'Prueba. "Modularized design, reliable quality, and great technical support are also why we decided to form a long-term partnership with NEXCOM.""We are thrilled to see the adoption of NEXCOM network appliances for such innovative, cloud-based automatic control testing systems by O'Prueba, a breakthrough in managing testing methodology and data that helps customers to reduce overall expenditures associated with NPI validation and production testing. In this process of co-creation between NEXCOM and O'Prueba, we have brought and will continue to bring more solutions that answer the agility of today's networks," says Allan Chiu, ODM1 BU Head of NEXCOM's Network & Communication Solutions Group.Details about the platform solutions' performance and corresponding white paper are available on NEXCOM's official website: http://www.nexcom.com/news/Detail/cutting-edge-and-affordable-network-performance-testing-solutionsAbout NEXCOMNEXCOM was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Integrating diverse capabilities, NEXCOM operates six global businesses, including the Network and Communication Solutions (NCS) unit, which focuses on high performance computing and network technology and is committed to helping customers build network infrastructure. NCS' network application platform is widely adopted in CDN, Cyber Security, Load Balancer, uCPE, Router, SD-WAN, Edge Computing, Storage, NVR, and other network applications.About O'PruebaO'Prueba Technology Inc.(O'Prueba) was founded in 2018 as the first spin-off research service company of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan. O'Prueba is dedicated to building easily used and cost-effective testing solution for network and communication industry. The focused areas are including SDN, NFV and 4G/5G systems. O'Prueba designed a series of testing methodologies, frameworks and services as the solution to connect the related technologies to the future network.Allan Chiu, Head of NCS ODM1 BU, NEXCOM International (left), and Gavin Hsu, CEO, O'Prueba Technology Inc

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies play a critical role driving the transition to Industry 4.0. In particular, their use in combination with machine vision has become the first step that most manufacturers are taking to incorporate smart systems into their production process. By leveraging deep learning algorithms, machine vision systems can learn by themselves to determine the quality of the device under test. However, there are certain barriers to overcome before manufacturers are able to make use of AI technologies, according to Kai-Hsiang Hsu, senior product manager, smart machinery business and product center, ADLINK. To help manufacturers make a smooth transition to smart manufacturing, ADLINK has introduced AI-enabled machine vision solutions developed by combining its accumulated strength in machine vision and AI. ADLINK's plug-and-play (PnP) solutions make it easy for manufacturers to make the first move toward smart manufacturing.AI technologies are mainly used in the manufacturing sector for machine vision and robotic arms. Deep learning algorithms are being used for predictive maintenance of production equipment, optimization of production efficiency and improvement of product quality. Taking the PCB and the plumbing parts sectors for example, Hsu noted PCBs are printed with fine and intricate circuits and are produced at a rapid rate. Plumbing parts are characterized by curved surfaces. AI technologies will be the key to enhancing inspection system efficacy for the two types of products as they require high-performance inspection systems. Aside from examining items on the production line, AI-enabled machine vision systems can also be used for factory management, for example, to perform image analysis on factory floor operators to ensure labor safety or recognize objects in the factory to help control the work environment for better management efficiency.With AI's strong performance and diverse applications, manufacturers largely agree that AI will be the way to go. However, when attempting to incorporate AI, most manufacturers will find a gap between idea and execution. ADLINK assistant manager Chia-Wei Yang pointed out the challenge is that AI is not just a device equipped with accelerators but a complete hardware and software architecture implementing highly-specialized know-hows such that AI-enabled machine vision systems are intelligent enough to achieve smart manufacturing.Extending on Yang's view, Hsu talked about proof-of-concept (POC) systems of AI-based machine vision emerging on the market in recent years. With their current model training process, they have been unable to meet expectation when put to practical use on the factory floor. This is mainly due to a lack of professional know-how. According to Hsu, successful AI implementation requires both industry-specific know-how and AI expertise. Each specialty of manufacturing has its own unique production process and every factory has different production equipment. Every piece of new machinery including AI-based systems needs to work in synergy with the existing equipment and production model. However, most AI system providers lack a full grasp of industry-specific knowledge. As to AI systems, it requires highly specialized expertise to build a system with an ideal hardware and software combination best suited to the production line. According to Hsu, neural networks carrying out deep learning algorithms are very complex. On top of that, the different AI accelerators designed by leading chip makers, including Google's TPU and NVIDIA's GPU as well as Intel's and AMD's AI processors, may deliver different performances on the same neural network due to their individual characteristics. As such, AI system developers not only need to know about deep learning and neural networks but also fully understand the features of AI accelerators on the market so as to come up with the best solution that meet the system requirements while working with the end equipment in accordance with expectation.However, to build up the manufacturing know-how and AI expertise needed to implement a precise AI-enabled machine vision system requires tremendous resources and time. Engaging professional third-party vendors will be a smart move to most system developers and manufacturers. Ming-Chang Kao, R&D manager, industry platforms, ADLINK, noted starting out as a provider of automation solutions, ADLINK has built up extensive experience and knowledge in the manufacturing sector. ADLINK also has established an AI team long dedicated to the R&D of various software and hardware solutions so it is capable of designing tailor-made AI-enabled machine vision solutions for all kinds of manufacturing specialties.Kao added that with a full understanding of deep learning algorithms and hardware accelerators on the market, ADLINK can put together an AI-enabled machine vision system that closely matches customers' production line needs and thereby boost the operation success rate on the factory floor. Furthermore, ADLINK provides a highly integrated hardware and software solution, allowing customers to make a one-stop purchase of an all-in-one system. The plug-and-play system is ready to use, helping manufacturers quickly get the system up and running, calibrate the parameters at any time and flexibly reconfigure the production line. ADLINK's machine vision solution perfectly meets manufacturers' every expectation.ADLINK's AI-enabled machine vision solutions have been used in manufacturing systems at home and abroad. According to Che-Hsian Huang, CEO of LEDA Technology, a close partner with ADLINK, on top of its years of experience in machine vision, ADLINK is making additional efforts toward AI research in recent years. With a dedicated AI team, ADLINK is able to design hardware products that quickly satisfy system vendors' needs so that system vendors can focus on developing the algorithms. ADLINK's team of experts also offers consultation services to customers to help with their system design and shorten their development cycle. ADLINK is committed to assisting manufacturers as they make the first step on the transition to smart manufacturing.ADLINK assistant manager Chia-Wei Yang (right), senior product manager Kai-Hsiang Hsu (middle) and R&D manager Ming-Chang Kao (left) talk about ADLINK's extensive experience in AI and machine vision and how its solutions can help customers quickly build up smart systems