Taiwan-based Delta Group, a supplier of power, thermal management and automation solutions, is showcasing its latest integrated solutions and framework for smart manufacturing at the SPS/IPC/Drives/Nuremberg 2017 (SPS 2017) exhibition in Germany.This framework covers new automation technologies and products, including a cloud-based IIoT platform as well as data transmission, industrial control, drive devices and motion systems, and flexible production solutions that create a path toward smart manufacturing, the company said.Delta is also highlighting its EtherCAT motion controller AH10EMC for smart machines. This new motion controller facilitates motion control system with up to 32 axes of motion drives synchronously, while controlling other devices and transmitting equipment data onto a management platform via EtherNet/IP network for remote monitoring."Delta seeks to provide 'new' smart manufacturing models with our strong capabilities in the industrial automation field," said Andy Liu, general manager of Delta's Industrial Automation Business Group. "With our two decades of experience in this industry, Delta has successfully assisted many customers build highly automated machines and factories with our complete range of automation products, software, and solutions. Now, we think it's time to take it to a higher level on which flexible, smart, green manufacturing can be implemented to enhance customer competitiveness while solving the issue of worldwide labor shortages. For example, Delta's Smart Manufacturing Model Production Line for power supplies in Wujiang plant, China consists of six robot workstations with 30 SCARA robots for a complete operation that enhances quality, flexibility, and production efficiency, achieving up to 60% manpower replacement."The highlights at Delta's booth include: The Smart Factory Monitoring Solution which features the DIACloud platform and data transmission devices (e.g. routers, Ethernet switches) for equipment data collection and analysis to achieve real-time monitoring of the facility and production process. If users add the DIAView SCADA System into the solution, they can acquire detailed machine operation information and analysis to achieve live monitoring and management of all facilities, production lines and factories, according to Delta.Delta's Multi-Angle Insertion Robot Workstation integrates the articulated robot DRV90L series and robot controller DCV series for multi-angle insertion operation, as well as the machine vision system DMV 2000 series for work piece detection. The DMV2000 series is equipped with four lenses for various inspection tasks (e.g. appearance and color); it can quickly identify the size, color and position of each workpiece, and enable the robot controller to command the robot to execute precise and accurate pick-and-place and insertion operation, said Delta.
The global printed circuit board (PCB) industry went into a slightly decline in 2016. According to the research report from the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK), the value of PCB production in 2016 was US$ 58.2 billion, representing a 1.9% decline compared to the previous year. But 2017 has brought about a change as the industry faces both challenges and opportunities. The recently released iPhone 8 and iPhone X require high-end HDI (High Density Interconnect) PCBs using advanced technologies such as mSAP (modified semi-additive process), which is a substrate-like PCB (SLP) process.These new flagship smartphones combine the cutting edge features of bezel-less OLED display screens with larger batteries which require more PCBs in the same space, including flexible printed circuit boards (FPC) and Rigid-Flex PCBs. These advanced PCB products have become a massive growth momentum driving the future PCB market towards a very promising direction.Process equipment and material suppliers play an important role in facing the challenges posed by mSAP. The need to control costs continues to be a priority for PCB makers, while new technologies which enter the landscape provide revenue opportunities but require manufacturers to partner with leading process solution providers. In a recent interview with Mr. Arik Gordon, Corporate Vice President and President of Orbotech's PCB Division, he talks about the development of new process-enabling solutions for mSAP PCB manufacturing. Orbotech has been developing leading yield-enhancing solutions for the manufacture of electronics products for over 30 years. Through its long-turn partnership with Taiwan PCB makers, Orbotech has helped the Taiwanese EMS industry to maintain its leading position in electronics manufacturing.However, the yield improvement process of mSAP PCBs is more challenging than the yield improvement process of other technologies, Gordon mentioned. mSAP production relies on equipment offering fine resolution (L/S=10/15µm) with high imaging quality and performance. This critical fine resolution process translates into more steps and greater complexity in the manufacturing process, with attendant process variations that kill the yields. The yield ramp-up challenges take time to overcome, and this raises the overall cost of the mSAP process.Working continuously with PCB makers has enabled Orbotech to develop a wide range of solutions designed specifically to make the demanding requirements of mSAP and advanced HDI PCBs. Orbotech offers an entire suite of solutions for the mass production of mSAP, including DI (Direct Imaging), AOI (Automated Optical Inspection) and AOS (Automated Optical Shaping) - the 3D shaping of opens, shorts and nicks. Furthermore, some of Orbotech's solutions, such as inkjet printers, are not dedicated for mSAP technology but are highly suitable and in great demand from PCB makers.New released Ultra Dimension Series - A revolution in the AOI room workflowOrbotech launched the Ultra Dimension Series, the 4-in-1 AOI solution, and the new manufacturing workflow of the AOI room at TPCA 2017 Show in Taipei. The Ultra Dimension is a single solution that combines four different systems - high precision high quality pattern inspection, single scan laser via (LV) inspection, remote Multi-Image Verification (RMIV) and automated 2D metrology - in one piece of equipment. Orbotech's Ultra Dimension creates a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, as each part works in perfect synergy with the others. In doing this, Orbotech also creates new quality and functionality standards for the AOI workflow. This new AOI solution allows manufacturers of advanced PCBs using mSAP the flexibility to inspect a variety of applications and materials, and reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO).Gordon highlights that Orbotech's Remote Multi-Image Verification feature enables the remote verification of multiple image defects, which are automatically and simultaneously acquired during the AOI inspection process in PCB manufacturing fabs. This technology provides benefits to the In-Process Quality Control (IPQC) inspection operators who accurately differentiate between real and false defects, which are then sent to offline RMIV stations. The Ultra Dimension with RMIV also reduces the number of verification stations required, thereby freeing up valuable floor space in the AOI room and allowing manufacturers to cut their overall labor and operational costs significantly.Smart Factory software solutions boosting data analytics technologiesSoftware systems are more important than ever in the age of Industry 4.0, Gordon mentioned the further development of advanced technology trends. Orbotech Smart Factory software suite is an Industry 4.0 compliant manufacturing solutions that optimizes production services and data management. The software suite connects to all Orbotech's solutions and collects production data. It enables seamless integration into the production environment, serving as an interface with systems like MES.Meanwhile, Orbotech's InCAM series products are software solutions for rigid, flex and rigid-flex PCB production. InCAM is a dedicated CAM solution that combines analysis and editing capabilities with automatic production data optimization to perform high-precision CAM tooling PCB manufacturing. InCAM provides features with automatic design-for-manufacture optimization to help PCB manufacturers achieving high yields and a competitive edge for next generation product design.Continuous innovation in smartphones enables new features, and mSAP PCBs are being used in more and more of the leading global smartphone brands.With more than one billion handsets a year, it is likely that this trend will have an enormous impact on the manufacturers of PCBs and components for smartphones, and Taiwanese PCB makers have already started preparing their production to fit these requirements.It will be interesting to see how the market will develop over the next two or three years and how this trend will affect growth, especially of Chinese smartphone brands. The major Chinese vendors have been busy establishing signature products following the government's push for more innovation. Gordon sees that the positive development of the PCB market will expand Orbotech's presence in Asia, and that PCB makers both in China and Taiwan will continue strengthening their market position in close collaboration with Orbotech.Arik Gordon, Corporate Vice President and President of Orbotech's PCB division, is very optimistic to see Orbotech solutions in advanced PCB sectors and gain high market share.
Balazs, the leader of Air Liquide analytical service offerings for its electronics customers, expands its activities in Asia and introduces new laboratory and services capabilities in Taiwan. Utilizing experience and expertise from its extensive history in the semiconductor industry, Balazs Asia will be able to support the semiconductor and high technology industries in Asia through a local laboratory, chemists and experts.This Taiwan-based laboratory comes after several decades of experience and presence in the USA with extensive expertise in identifying ultra-low level contamination in a variety of gases, liquids, solids and materials used by high technology and semiconductor industries. Beyond simply performing chemical analyses and providing results, the global Balazs offer and capabilities helps customers solve chemistry and contamination related issues.Balazs Asia has established its office and laboratories in the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) of Taichung, Taiwan. Utilizing the same analytical methods and drawing on expertise from their current laboratories, the Balazs Asia lab will start serving customers immediately. With a local presence, the analysis expertise of Balazs Asia looks forward to serving customers and growing its services portfolio throughout Taiwan and Asia.Scott Anderson, General Manager of Balazs Asia, commented: "In solving problems and providing complete answers, Balazs helps customers understand their various process steps, possible contamination, and gain insight into their product with improved control and yield among other benefits. It is this type of partnership and problem solving with customers that has gained Balazs thousands of customers throughout the world with many industries."Balazs expands its advanced analytical services footprint in Taiwan
The current manufacturing system using the power semiconductor equipment control driver has reached the goal of power consumption optimization, and such semiconductor components are extremely sensitive to damages caused by short-circuiting; therefore, there is a need to achieve the protection effect with a faster response speed. Accordingly, the performance demands for fuses are relatively stricter. If such short-circuit protection elements are absent, then these important power system faces the risks of machine malfunction and shutdown.For semiconductor equipment protection demands, CONQUER introduces the BMC series of fuses. Its product design is equipped with the low heat of fusion value (I2t) for overload current fast response in order to achieve the performance demand of high isolation capability with safe malfunctioning current cut-off in order to satisfy the protection performance. The product complies with the lead-free and halogen-free standards of RoHS, and it also qualifies for the international safety standards of the U.S. UL and Canada CAS with the Recognized Component and the China Compulsory Certification.CONQUER ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. is the most outstanding fuse manufacturer in Taiwan, its manufactured fuse components are widely used in various types of electronic equipment in the markets of industry, computation, automobile, consumer electronics, telecommunication, military, aviation and medical devices. We are specialized in branded products and OEM manufacturing, integration of research and development, design, manufacturing, marketing and services of fuse related components and products. We are committed to the green manufacturing process through technologies complying with the international environmental protection regulations along with the goal on automatic production and research and development of inspection equipment. With our consistent satisfaction of customer demands and enhancement of the safety of passive components, we are able to compete with international giants in the industry and to engage with the most advanced technologies in order to become the world-class professional research and manufacturing giant of fuses. For relevant details about Conquer, please visit our internet website at: http://www.conquer.com.tw.For the broad applications of the semiconductor equipment industry, including power rectifier, motor driver, AC/DC driver, power converter, Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) system, vehicle AC charging module, etc., the BMC Series product is the most ideal application choice.
Taiwan based digital TV modulator maker VATek announced it is working with leading manufacturers testing its new flagship modulator product. In response to the growing demands of DVB-t2 head-ends, the company is about to introduce VATek 3rd Gen modulator chips to the market before the end of the year. These soon-to-be released DVB-T2 modulator chips will be industry's first announced non-FPGA DVB-T2 solution that can help manufactures to build the most competitive digital TV modulators.VATek has been a driving force behind the movement of TV modulation technology, and it is now raising the bar by addressing the unique challenges to integrate DVB-T2 function into its newest product line. DVB-T2 is the latest commercial operated digital TV standard as an extension of existing DVB-T, allows a better use of the spectral resources. The technology has been widely used in many countries especially in Europe and Southeast Asia. The implementation of DVB-T2 relied on complex signal processing that keeps DVB-T2 head-end products' price very unfriendly. VATek has successfully built the very first non-FPGA DVB-T2 modulator - A3 & B3 modulator chips, which are going to be the most cost-effective solution in the market. Besides that, some additional features have been upgraded to the new chips. Including new stream engine in A3, capable to edit, filter or add PSI in real-time. The B3 ENMODER equipped with new H.264 @ 60fps encoder that make video looks better on TVs. After the reveal of DVB-T2 engineering sample earlier at Broadcast Asia, Singapore, VATek is starting to work with leading manufacturers to conduct the final test to the new chips, plans to bring the chips to market before the end of this year.VATek is deeply engaged with several manufactures to develop digital TV modulator based on the VATek's ENMODER turnkey platform, which already been introduced to the manufactures in 2017. The technical detail of the solution is fully open-source, helps manufactures to develop competitive head-end products and integrated with hospitality system to deploy advanced digital TV services to through coax cable network. The ENMODER based products are already been installed in the hotels, schools in many countries.VATek is also planning to bring its advance broadcast technology to different application fields. The company is working on the project to design an Android broadcasting platform that connects VATek USB modulator to SoCs and easily transforms any Android devices into a smart broadcaster or digital signage system. This can be the game changer to the media delivery industry.VATek powered the revolution of digital TV. it pioneered first generation digital TV standards, and now, we are leading the way to DVB-T2 and bring the industry to a new era. VATek products are revolutionizing the way engineers design headend product, allowing broadcasting system became simple and smart in ways never before imagined. For more information, visit VATek's website.VATek DVB-T2 modulator
United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that its 300mm Fab 12X in Xiamen China, has gained LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council. The state-of-the-art fab achieved the highest combined score among all 300mm foundry fabs in China, including a perfect score for Water Efficiency. This milestone further demonstrates UMC's commitment to green building and environmentally sustainable operations.M.L. Liao, vice president in charge of manufacturing resources integration and the environmental committee at UMC said, "UMC has initiated and implemented green measures not only to enhance energy-conservation for existing fabs, but also to ensure that new fabs meet and exceed the latest green building standards. Fab 12X's LEED Gold certification is a significant milestone in our efforts to promote sustainable manufacturing. Going forward, UMC will continue to fulfill its responsibility as a corporate citizen and base its development on green building concepts to promote the formation of a low-carbon, sustainable society."UMC's Fab 12X is southern China's first 300mm foundry facility. The fab is in mass production for 40nm and 28nm technologies, with a maximum design capacity of 50,000 wafers per month. The Xiamen based fab is a short distance from Taiwan, allowing seamless support from UMC's Taiwan headquarters. Fab 12X offers diversified 300mm manufacturing in addition to UMC's two other 300mm fabs in Taiwan and Singapore, and complements Hejian fab in Suzhou, China, which provides 8" foundry services.UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.
Benefiting from steadily growing demand in automotive electronics, telecommunication and network equipment, green energy and power supply markets, leading aluminum electrolytic capacitor manufacturer Lelon Electronics has posted record-breaking revenues two months in a row. September consolidated revenues reached NT$696 million, up 33.1% on year and 7.2% from the previous month. Cumulative revenues for the first nine months of 2017 totaled NT$5.22 billion, up 16.4% from the corresponding period of last year.Lelon enjoyed a significant increase in sales of polymer capacitors and snap-in aluminum electrolytic capacitors in the first nine months of the year thanks to steady growth of telecommunication and network equipment, green energy and power supply markets. Shipments of polymer capacitors soared more than 50% from the level of the previous year and sales of snap-in aluminum electrolytic capacitors also hiked nearly 40%.With respect to its strategy for polymer capacitors, the acquisition of polymer capacitor manufacturing equipment from Matsuki Polymer and the completion of its capacity expansion projects will make Lelon a non-Japan-based leading provider of SMD polymer capacitors. Recently launched Apple iPhones come with the support for quick charging, which is officially confirmed to also work with third-party chargers. Apple's continuing advancement in charging technologies is giving a boost to the quick charging market. Quick chargers impose more stringent requirements than conventional chargers in terms of their operating conditions and therefore need to use polymer capacitors to ensure higher product reliability and safety. The booming quick charging market will help make polymer capacitors a major growth driver of Lelon's revenues.Lelon has been stepping up efforts toward high-end electronics and power supply markets in recent years. Among them, original automotive electronics will be a focus of its strategy. Having made its way into the supply chain for tier-1 American and European automotive electronics providers, Lelon will strive to penetrate into the Japan market in the future. Advancing IoT technologies are pushing the demand for smart telematics systems. The number of electronic control units (ECU) will grow with developments in ADAS, autonomous driving, IoV and electric cars. The number of automotive displays which present safety information collected by ADAS is expected to top 50 million units with a total value reaching US$11.6 billion by 2017 and US$21 billion by 2022, a growth rate of nearly 10%, according to IHS. In particular, center information displays and instrument panels will account for the largest share of market value. With the demand for automotive displays steadily on the rise, the aluminum electrolytic capacitor market can expect to grow as well.The market of telecommunication and network equipment also fuels Lelon's growth momentum. Lelon has been performing outstandingly in China thanks to long-term partnerships and R&D collaborations between the company and local ICT solution providers. China is actively building up its 5G infrastructure and has announced the completion of phased 5G development and testing objectives with commercial operation planned for 2020. The market of telecommunication and network equipment will keep expanding with China's 5G investments ramping up.Lelon has amassed excellent manufacturing and development capabilities. Its R&D team has engaged in long-term collaboration with Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan to jointly research on critical technologies. It is also actively participating in research projects of customers and material suppliers to develop products catering to market needs. Japanese technical consultants are employed to help refine Lelon's technology and quality systems. Its flexible production model enables the production line to be adjusted quickly to accommodate order changes so it can agilely meet customer's delivery schedule and provide a stable supply.Lelon's subsidiary aluminum foil producer Liton Technology is expected to generate higher second-half 2017 revenues compared to the first half thanks to strong market demand and added production capacity. Lidon Electronics Technology, a joint venture by Liton and China's largest formed foil producer HEC Technology, will also ramp up production of low voltage etched aluminum foil with plans to add capacity by 200,000 to 300,000 square meters of etched aluminum foil after volume production kicks off early next year.Lelon is shifting development focus toward high-end products, targeting high-growth sectors including original automotive electronics, advanced telecommunication equipment and cloud data centers. The company will endeavor to develop new products to meet market demands and can enjoy significant growth this year with these markets continuing to expand.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of things (IoT) are seeing an explosion of growth and applications. It is changing our life every day. The flood of data that is generated and collected every second and the computations required to allow smarter algorithms to manage that data more cost-effectively driving AI development and cloud solutions at a rapid pace. With such advances come new technology challenges and enable the disruptive innovations across data centers and edge computing nodes. The ear of Big Data is coming.As companies of all sizes begin their digital transformation journey, the amount of data we're now generating is astonishing. Accessing electronics files, videos, digitized records and other digital format data from smart devices around the globe, it is reaching Petabyte based IP traffic in the data centers. Furthermore, the immense unstructured data makes the exponential growth of computer server systems. Data analytics infrastructures need to become faster, smarter and more robust than ever before.Socionext Inc., one of major Japanese IC design houses with unique strength to designing imaging, networking, computing system-on-chip (SoC) products and solutions, maintain a high level of visibility in semiconductor industry. Facing these strong needs of new servers to address such a key role of Big Data and analytics solutions, Socionext set a very different approach to develop new creative ideas of server system.In a recent interview, Shuichi Yamane, SynQuacer Sever project leader of Socionext, talked about the evolutions of server systems in the Big Data era. Yamane has long time involvement and well-recognized expertise in ARM based SoC projects. Through his years of participation in the Silicon Valley and witness first-hand server industry development, he has unparalleled experience with various types of SoC chips design experience and market trends.Facing the impact of Petabyte based data volume growth, the enterprise is migrating to the cloud services and gaining the benefits of cost reduction, high efficiency and massive control upgradation. According to IDC report, there will be one-third of data stored in the cloud servers by 2020. This trend will drive the Big Data revolution to build the next generation of server systems and services to satisfy immense needs ahead of competition.However, the penetration rate of ARM cored servers are still low in the market, Yamane added. Most of the ARM cored CPU chip makers use Cortex-A57 or Cortex-A72 to build the server CPU chips. But Socionext enters server SoC market with a very different product idea. Large number of little cores on a single chip will have almost the same performance of big core CPU by leveraging parallelization strategies. Socionext builds its new SynQuacer SC2A11 server SoC featuring 24 ARM Cortex-A53 cores, which are the 64-bit, v8-based, small die-sized low power cores.Data centers aiming the solutions to fit Petabyte data analytics needsThe first thinking behind the idea to use little cores to replace big cores is energy efficiency goals. The higher the performance, the higher the power consumption and heat generated of a high clock rate and big core CPU. From one typical performance calculation, Yamane highlights, six SC2A11 chips are equivalent to the performance of Xeon E-type middle-end server CPU. Each SC2A11 SoC consumes 5 Watts of power. And six SC2A11 SoCs will spend 30 Watts power. Comparing with 100 Watts power consumption of Xeon E-type server CPU, the Socionext server SoC solutions will have two thirds of total power saving.The second, to achieve more computing performance of multiple CPU server systems, Socionext builds up hyper scale parallel computing servers by inventing the new technology called Direct Data Transaction or DDT. This is a core concept of SynQuacer server systems. DDT is a proprietary data transaction protocol for handling Petabyte data throughput between multiple CPU chips in the server system. In the general server systems, the technology of 40Gbps Ethernet technology will have an effective data bandwidth around 4-Gbps because the protocol overhead of TCP/IP handshaking, Yamane explained. Socionext provides a real 10-Gbps bandwidth by leveraging DDT strength. This is a massive breakthrough of data handling capability in server systems.Energy saving and high speed data throughput with proprietary DDT will provide a very massive strength when Socionext decided to enter the server systems market sector. At this moment, Socionext has verified the operation of sixty-four SC2A11 chips working in parallel. With this innovative scalability, the SynQuacer SC2A11 achieves the optimum balance between performance and power consumption, in a wide range of applications from the gateway, the edge, to the cloud.Aiming AI server and indexing server for processing big data demandsSocionext is aiming two major high demand applications. The first is the indexing server. Search engine relies on indexes of most of the files to improve content searching performance. As the data growing in a very fast path, the index server needs the solution to handle Big Data. And Socionext hyper scale parallel computing servers are very suitable for this application.The second target is AI applications. AI counts on various neural network frameworks to develop smart algorithms. Through the Deep Neural Network (DNN), the system will be trained to learn to solve the problems while massive data processing. Today, the data centers use neural network frameworks such as TensorFlow to deal with metadata for hyperparameter optimization. Leveraging the Multi-node hyper scale parallel computing structure, the SynQuacer server systems save tens of time to perform the AI training. It massively reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) and increases performance of overall systems.In the data center, engineering teams use TensorFlow and Spark together to train and apply deep learning models. Through Spark and a cluster of servers to improve deep learning pipelines with TensorFlow, there are more use cases to find the best set of hyperparameters for neural network training and leading to a great reduction in training time and lower error rate. This called Hyperparameter tuning, which means the process to pick the right parameters leads to high performance.When applying a trained neural network models at scale to the edge nodes, considering lots of battery powered devices equipped in the client sides, it is essential to consider a very low power consumption design to meet the requirements. In the recent demonstration cases, the third party developers present facial recognition solutions by implemented a unique design to use three or four SC2A11 chips for edge server or micro server and integrated with Socionext Hybrid Codec technology and dedicated chipset. This design approach not only cuts down the training time but also improves accuracy and gives a better performance to leverage the efforts of data centers. The configurable SynQuacer server systems to use different number of SC2A11 chips give a very good flexibility for fitting many demanding applications of AI development.SynQuacer server systems will be launched in the first quarter of 2018Yamane talks about advanced development of SynQuacer SoC planning. Socionext is thinking to integrate more little GPU cores through the same idea of hyper scale parallel processing technology. This will provide new solutions to fit strong needs for future edge servers having a combination of CPU and GPU together along with sufficient memory makes it a perfect testbed for deep learning. Socionext is pushing the optimum balance design for taking consideration of power consumption and computing performance.One of the most prominent trends that have recently emerged in order to deal with Big Data is the growing importance of AI on Hadoop. The developer is looking for servers with High Performance Computing technologies fitting the requirements of AI infrastructure capable of quickly incorporating large amounts of data from a wide range of sources. For this reason, Socionext is planning to introduce DDT2 technology for preparation of dealing with the data volume of Zetabyte in the future.Socionext is creating a new path for new AI server systems by introducing brand new server architecture with hyper scale parallel processing and high data bandwidth. Building this new server system, Socionext brings together the solution expertise of the Taiwan ecosystem partners to ensure the product quality to deliver the excellent performance. Meanwhile, Fujitsu, one of the key investors of Socionext, provides technical and market consultant to help to find the better market segment in Japan.Socionext will begin mass production of SC2A11 SoC in October 2017. And the SynQuacer server systems will be released to market in the first quarter of 2018. For achieve this goal, Socionext has sent engineering teams to Taiwan and has close cooperation with Taiwan ecosystem partners to explore the potential business opportunities of AI server business. Big data and advanced analytics have swiftly moved to a set of capabilities that need to be deeply embedded across data handling and computing performance. Socionext takes a brave step to embrace this emerging market sector.For more product information, please visit Socionext official web site at http://www.tw.socionext.com/. Linkage to Facebook page, please check https://www.facebook.com/socionext.twMr. Shuichi Yamane, SynQuacer Server project leader of Socionext, talks about the development of SynQuacer Server systems showcasing Petabyte scale data processing strength.
The highly competitive intelligent voice service market has seen tech giants keenly rolling out solutions and devices, such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple's Siri. UnlimiterHear, which specializes in hearing aid algorithm, is also catching up with the trend by launching a series of intelligent voice service solutions with which a simple press on a button on a Bluetooth headset can activate various intelligent voice services on the cloud, turning a set of traditional headphones into an intelligent voice assistant.In 2016, about 20% of mobile device searches were done with voice input at a 95% accuracy. Market research firm IHS Markit predicts that by the end of 2017, more than 4 billion consumer devices will support voice assistant functionality. Dr. Yang Kuo-Ping, chairman for UnlimiterHear, believes that in the IoT era, the exchange of conversational voices is indispensable for large-scale cooperation between people and devices.This year, UnlimiterHear has been focusing on the research and development on listening and hearing device solutions, and one of the solutions allows users to directly press a button on a Bluetooth device to activate voice assistant services offered by major brand vendors. Currently it supports services offered by Amazon, Google and Apple and in the future will also support Baidu, iFLYTEK and others with third-party developers expected to build thousands of life and interaction skills. Dr. Yang further notes that each voice assistant solution has its own focus on specific areas: Google's strengths is in search engine; Microsoft's is good at scheduling; and Amazon's can link to shopping and other life applications, which is believed to be the most promising services compared to others.Amazon recently unveiled a range of smart home devices, with Alexa responsible for voice activation. Such a voice assistant fad is expected to benefit Taiwan's supply chain. UnlimiterHear owns more than 100 audio patents including several patents for smart voice-enabled Bluetooth headphones. The company is actively working with international semiconductor chip vendors and in fact eight of them are incorporating UnlimiterHear's technology into their new products. Bluetooth headphones have been around for nearly 20 years, mainly for listening to music and answering the phone. With the rise of the intelligent voice services, now Bluetooth headphones can interact with apps and cloud platforms, and will soon become major functions for next-generation smart Bluetooth headphones.UnlimiterHear CEO Tony Huang notes that Taiwan's manufactures has been focusing mainly on hardware, namely smart speakers, while UnlimiterHear last year decided to focus on actively developing and importing intelligent voice assistant applications into smart Bluetooth headphones, smart Bluetooth speakers and other portable Bluetooth devices. For example, UnlimiterHear's internally-developed EarCommand "tap to talk" intelligent voice assistant is featured in smart speakers and smart headphones. The two kinds of device technically have several differences. Smart speakers use Wi-Fi and far-field voice recognition; they don't need app support; and they work on a closed platform. Smart headphones are Bluetooth-connected and can be activated by tapping; they need app support and require tuning for different mobile phone hardware or firmware; they work on near-field voice recognition and an open platform.UnlimiterHear's "tap to talk" intelligent voice assistant solution requires just a press on the button to activate the voice assistant service, without the need to articulate a wake word. Dr. Yang points out that the wake-word mode consumes more power because it must constantly monitor the external environment, and is prone to making identification errors. The tap-to-talk mode doesn't have the problems typical of the wake-word mode. The current market trend also prefers tap-to-talk to the other. This is because users can quickly select and switch the mainstream voice assistants, and can call voice assistants even when the screen is off. Also, users do not need to remove the phone from the pocket or bag and still can call voice assistants, making it more convenient.UnlimiterHear has also developed a proprietary acoustic algorithm simulation system for Bluetooth headsets to support different situations of audio input, simulation of thousands of different sound environment conditions, and the establishment of sound models that speed up the voice response time. The company's internal tests compared iOS Alexa app and its own algorithm, and the results showed that UnlimiterHear's algorithm is 25% faster in response time.In the future, UnlimiterHear will focus on putting hearing algorithm and MFA (Millisecond Frequency Adjustment) into EarCommand. For example, calls to Alexa Smart Voice Assistant on the cloud will shift the high frequency sound, so that people with hearing impairments can hear more clearly. In addition, the artificial intelligence acoustics simulation system will be enhanced to improve the performance of devices associated with Alexa, allowing people to hear low tunes and whispers.Comparison of the smart speaker and smart headphone technology
ThroughTek, a leading IoT (Internet-of-Things) platform and cloud solutions provider, announced that it was granted the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001 certification by the British Standards Association (BSI) after nearly a year of independent, external assessments. The ISO 27001 certification includes the Kalay Platform's cloud services and information management systems.Patrick Kuo, CEO at ThroughTek, along with the company's newly established security management team accepted the ISO 27001: Information Security Management certification earlier this month. The certification ensures that ThroughTek's cloud service platform and information management systems are in line with international standards to deliver secured cloud services for businesses and provide a higher-level of assurance for consumers using IoT services and products.ThroughTek's accreditation of ISO 27001 entails two main categories, including development of the Kalay Platform, system operation and management of network and servers."We strive to achieve excellence in providing video streaming data. As the number of data being collected from IoT devices and surveillance cameras continues to increase, the security of video data and account information becomes more important than ever. The most common question we hear from our customers is about security, so providing security solutions has always been part of our continuous effort," said Patrick Kuo, CEO of ThroughTek.To ensure that data is well protected on the Kalay Platform, Patrick Kuo has requested the R&D team for software and firmware to strengthen the security mechanism and implement tighter security controls and management verified by ISO international standards.The verification process of ISO 27001 requires examination of internal and external risks and potential threats and identifies security vulnerabilities to ensure that ThroughTek and the Kalay Platform can prevent security incidents and provide tight security measures. In the future, ThroughTek will continue to commit to improving security management and data protection to meet international standards.Please visit ThroughTek for more information.
