Clientron Corp., a global leading provider of POS (point of sales), Thin Client and embedded systems, announced the launch of the Bello620, a new POS terminal model in the Bello series, featuring an ultra-compact & sleek design and a 12" bezel-free touch screen, while retaining the practical design of optional dual customer displays for improving the customer experience. The Bello620 POS series is aimed at retail and hospitality industries for optimizing store management and expanding business.Featuring a lightweight and slim design, the Bello620 is designed with a solid aluminum enclosure for better heat dissipation; small footprint design for counter space saving and offers IP64 water & dust-proof front panel protection. With streamlined capability and innovation, the multi-functional POS terminal Bello620 series takes advantage of power-efficient Intel quad-core processors with speeds up to 2GHz to deliver outstanding computing, graphical and media performance in a compact, economically efficient form factor and a fanless architecture. In addition, the system power switch of the Bello620 is designed with a touch-control pad that does away with mechanical structures, adding to the excellent durability and sturdiness of the device.The Bello620 series offers users optimal ease of management; maintenance is easy and the installation of key components is simple. Moreover, the system provides rich I/O ports and optional built-in peripherals, enabling flexibility for users in a variety of POS applications. With state-of-art configurations, POS peripheral options include MSR, iButton, smart card reader, RFID reader, fingerprint reader and barcode scanner. Moreover, its smart mechanical design supports attached VFD and 8"/10" customer displays for the most demanding hospitality and retail environments.Bello620 samples are available now. For more products information, visit the Clientron website: http://www.clientron.com/.About ClientronClientron was founded in 1983. The company is dedicated to providing global intelligent solutions to our clients. With design, manufacturing and service abilities, Clientron offers high-quality and high-performance computing platforms including Thin Client, POS and Intelligent Systems. We are steadfast in our commitment to develop and provide even more advanced IoT client solutions and services for our partners and customers to build an intelligent e-World. Visit us at http://www.clientron.com/.Clientron introduced new 12" All-in-One POS Bello620 with lightweight and ultra-slim design.
The fast growing economy has increased energy use and resulted in problems including pollution and resource depletion. Reducing energy consumptions and carbon emissions has therefore become a worldwide effort. An analysis on the overall power consumption distribution shows that air conditioners and their most energy-hungry chiller units constantly account for more than 40% of electricity use so they have become the top priority in the mission to save energy.Sweltering temperatures in summer bring skyrocketing electricity consumption by air conditioners and people can forget about the goal to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. In response, the international community is starting to promote the new cooling seasonal performance factor (CSPF) standard, which can more accurately evaluate operating efficiency of air conditioners in real-life use scenarios compared to the conventional energy efficiency ratio (EER) that is calculated based on fixed criteria without considering ambient temperature and the variation of indoor cooling load. To keep up with international standards, the Ministry of Economic Affairs established CNS 3615 and started to include CSPF in Taiwan's national standards on January 1, 2016.CSPF plays an important role in helping push the introduction of highly energy-efficient air conditioners, indicated Min-Yu Liou, manager, Commercial Air Conditioning Design Department, Tatung Company. Based on the current EER standard, Grade 1 water-cooled packaged air conditioning units are required to have an EER higher than 5.14. Manufacturers will have difficulty meeting the Grade 1 requirement if not using variable frequency technology. To a certain degree, CSPF offers some freedom for manufacturers to have better chances at challenging the highest grade product design. In addition, consumers also have more opportunities to choose a truly energy-efficient model.Air-cooled chiller unit – a very attractive choice for its space saving featureLiou continued to point out that Tatung has been making all efforts in developing air conditioning products with optimum energy efficiency in accordance with national energy standards. In terms of commercial air conditioners, the website of the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs has a list of the manufacturers who have products meeting the energy efficiency standards for chiller units of air conditioning systems, and Tatung has obtained a total of 65 certificates, far surpassing competitors. It should be noted that Tatung is one of the only two manufacturers that have received certificates for air-cooled fixed capacity chiller units.In general, Tatung offers a wide variety of chiller units and has the highest number of models meeting energy efficiency standards, which represents their reliable quality and performance, commented Chien-Hsiu Huang, manager, Air Conditioning Business Planning Department, Tatung Company.Chiller units with air-cooled condensers are distinguished from common water-cooled units in that they do not need cooling water towers but only require essential components including air handling units and indoor air supply units. This means savings on both cost and space for business owners as they will not need to build an equipment room and can place the chiller unit at an outdoor location with natural ventilation. Tatung has accumulated 23 energy efficiency certifications for its air-cooled chiller units. These products with their built-in advantages are extremely competitive for use at small- to medium-sized commercial areas. For example, a university recently purchased two Tatung 20-ton air-cooled chiller units in consideration of the cost and space saving advantages.Liou indicated that besides focusing on air-cooled chiller units, Tatung is also developing small water-cooled chiller units that offer space saving features to encourage more business owners to opt for highly energy-efficient air conditioners.Special parallel design raises energy-efficiency by over 30%Another highlight of Tatung's commercial air conditioning systems is the use of parallel chiller units with chilled water as the conductive medium, achieving an energy saving efficiency surpassing common chillers by over 30%.Huang explains the parallel system design is similar to the VRV variable-frequency and multi-connected air conditioner. The VRV design aims to allow multiple compartments to simultaneously cool down when one of the connected units is in operation. Tatung's parallel system has a similar structure except it uses chilled water as the medium while the VRV uses refrigerant. Take the 40-ton conventional chiller unit for example. Usually, one 10-ton compressor and one 10-ton heat exchanger make up an independent system and four such independent systems form a chiller unit. In order to obtain 100% heat exchange capacity, there is no other way but to run four compressors at the same time. Parallel chiller units offer a breakthrough from such limitation.Compared to the same 40-ton conventional model, although Tatung's parallel system also comprises four compressors, it abandons the independent system design and its four compressors share the use of a large 40-ton heat exchanger. This design allows the user to achieve 100% heat exchange capacity with only one or two compressors running at a low cooling load. This translates to 1/3 to 1/2 savings on the electricity use without diminishing the cooling effects at all.Despite the design similarity between parallel chiller units and VRV units, the two target different market segments. VRV units aim to replace large-scale packaged air conditioners while parallel chiller units look to take over conventional chiller units with independent structural design. Unlike VRV units, the manufacturing of parallel chiller units does not involve complicated processes, such as refrigerant pipe covering, filling and welding so the production costs are lower than VRV units. The largest parallel chiller unit Tatung offers now is a 120-ton system that is suitable for spaces from 1,587 square meters to 1,984 square meters, if not considering factors such as sunlight exposure and heat insulation.Chien-Hsiu Huang (left) and Min-Yu Liou, managers of Tatung Company.
Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857) will exhibit the industry's widest range of test solutions for diverse applications throughout the Internet of Things (IoT) at this year's SEMICON Japan trade show, coming December 14-16 to Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo, Japan. Again this year, Advantest is a gold sponsor of the show.In booth #2445 in Hall 2, Advantest will showcase both its newest test solutions and its market-proven products. Displays will be organized into four general categories of IoT applications: Industrial, Wireless/Wearables, Connected Homes, and Connected Automobiles. Featured products and services will include industry-leading test and measurement platforms, performance-enhancing modules and channel cards, e-beam metrology and lithography tools, test handlers, downloadable test programs, burn-in test systems, probe cards and field-services.Technical insight will be provided through live and virtual-reality demonstrations as well as digital graphics, allowing visitors to learn all about the latest IC test innovations offered by Advantest worldwide."We are committed to providing our customers with solutions for measuring the connected world and everything in it," said Judy Davies, vice president of Global Marketing Communications at Advantest. "Our exhibit at this year's SEMICON Japan tradeshow embodies that commitment in ways that will be both informative and entertaining for new and continuing customers alike."On December 15 at 2:20 p.m., Shin Kimura, vice president of Advantest's ASD Test and Measurement Business Group, will present a paper on "IoT Society and Test Technology" during the half-day Autonomous & Connected Car Forum in Reception Hall A of the conference tower. In addition to being a presenter, Advantest is a sponsor of this forum.Connect on Social MediaFor the latest information on test solutions from the industry leader, follow Advantest on Twitter @Advantest_ATE.About Advantest CorporationA world-class technology company, Advantest is the leading producer of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the semiconductor industry and a premier manufacturer of measuring instruments used in the design and production of electronic instruments and systems. Its leading-edge systems and products are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor production lines in the world. The company also focuses on R&D for emerging markets that benefit from advancements in nanotech and terahertz technologies, and has introduced multi-vision metrology scanning electron microscopes essential to photomask manufacturing, as well as groundbreaking 3D imaging and analysis tools. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest established its first subsidiary in 1982 in the USA and now has subsidiaries worldwide. More information is available at http://www.advantest.com/.
ISO 20000, published in December 2005 and developed based on the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) framework, is an international standard for IT service management that includes audit and certification processes for organizations and companies. Once service providers are certified, it means they are capable of providing services with high reliability and availability.The continuing advancement in technological innovations is driving more and more businesses to improve and perfect IT service mechanisms and this spurs increasing demand for deployment of information systems and equipment that are growing in scale and complexity. Now companies are turning to premium information service providers to help them reduce service costs, boost service quality and eventually reach the goal of raising productivity.In view of this, IT departments of businesses, governments, and academic institutions are progressively seeking ISO 20000 certification to ensure they provide IT services that are compliant with their objectives and their information management architecture follows the ITIL practice to enhance system and service reliability as well as availability. Furthermore, some information service providers are implementing ISO 20000 for the purpose of creating differentiating services and values to win customers' trust even though they have a much broader and complex customer base than just IT departments at their clients.Tatung System Technology Inc. (TSTi), as a system integrator, is one of the few ISO 20000 certified information service providers in Taiwan. Mark Chen, Vice President, Software & Service Center, TSTi, stated information products have clear specifications and customers can easily tell between good and bad products. Services, on the other hand, are intangible and to enable customers to visualize service quality, a set of international requirements needs to be followed to guarantee the service procedures are on par with world-class standards. This was exactly why TSTi stepped up efforts to go for ISO 20000 certification in November 2013.The 10-month long implementation poses tremendous demand on the physical and mental strength of the TSTi teamAny organization or company setting a goal to obtain ISO 20000 Certification has to undergo a rigorous process. It is not easy as the devotion of considerable resources and months of preparation is a must. Brad Yu, Director, Customer Service, Software & Service Center, TSTi, drawing on the company's experience, commented the preparation for ISO 20000 certification took 10 months, the first two of which were spent on training to promote employee recognition on ISO 20000 values and then willingness to fully commit to its implementation. Thereafter, the TSTi team took the initiative to gather a large amount of information to help build up the ITIL system and embraced changes to the operation procedures.After establishing a common ground, TSTi started the preparation of related specification documents based on ISO 20000 framework and practice. The construction of its service management system (ITSM) is focused on four key procedures – emergency and service request management, service standard management, service availability and sustainability management, and supplier management. ITSM meticulously logs the deployment, changes and repair requests related to customers' systems, so TSTi can deliver services meeting customers' needs.After 10 months of hard work, TSTi successfully completed multiple stages of the certification process including preliminary review, reexamination, documentation review and on-site audit and was awarded the ISO 20000-1:2011 information service management system certificate in September 2014. Keeping on perfecting its flow, TSTi passed audits again two years in a row in 2015 and 2016, which shows TSTi's persevering commitment to providing top quality services and fail-proof IT management systems.Chen added that in order to really make ITIL practice a part of its corporate culture that energizes the technical support team to strive for perfection, TSTi bases a part of employee evaluation on their compliance with ISO 20000 requirements. If an employee fails to follow the ISO 20000 standard when carrying out a task and this results in a customer complaint, there will be negative an impact on his or her job evaluation.An increasing rate of successful off-site support cases translates to lower service costs and higher competitivenessSummarizing on the actual benefits of ISO 20000 certification, Chen said, first of all, TSTi's service efficiency is boosted as it keeps track of all events, issues, and changes, and augments its ability to respond to and troubleshoot customer issues through the accumulated records. The introduction of ISO 20000 has benefited TSTi with a 6% annual increase in successful off-site support cases, reducing the costs of having to provide on-site services otherwise.Another benefit that ISO 20000 brings is enabling TSTi services to be visualized through complete reports generated by its ITSM for customers to help with evaluation and planning. For example, customers can find out from the reports which equipment tends to have a higher failure rate and likely to cause service interruption and therefore they can plan a replacement schedule to increase operation efficiency.Last but not least, ISO 20000 ensures high service availability for customers. TSTi uses Availability and Continuity Management to guarantee the continuous and timely availability of its human & material resources, customer service systems, network, power supply, and other resources to prevent any interruption to customer operations. The ISO 20000 implementation has generated impressive results as customer service availability and continuity is up from 98.9044% to 99.45206%, in complete correspondence to the 24/7 service level agreement engaged with customers.Mark Chen, Vice President, Software & Service Center, TSTi
Litemax Electronics Inc., a world leading embedded solution provider and a member of the Intel Internet of Things Solutions Alliance unveils its newest embedded single board computers, AECX-APL0, which equipped with the latest Intel Apollo lake processor to the market. This new SBC is designed for dealing with rising demands on low power consumption, small size but steady system performance and expect to offer users a new solution for cost-effective IoT applications.AECX-APL0, a 3.5″ single board computer integrates Intel's next-generation power-efficient Apollo Lake SoC processors, including Atom™ E3950/E3940/E3930, which provides up to 30% more CPU and GPU performance, lower power consumption and supporting 4K/60Hz resolution over DisplayPort.In addition, it supports wide voltage input and wide temperature options which provide rock-solid and industrial-grade performance for harsh environment. Also, a highly-integrated Mini-PCIe/mSATA expansion socket is equipped for SSD storage and a variety of wireless connections, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, satellite navigation, NFC, digital radio, WiGig or WWAN. Those features make it an ideal platform allowing developers to build more compact or thinner embedded devices.AECX-APL0 is expected to release in months and more Apollo Lake-based embedded boards/systems will be available soonAbout LitemaxFounded in 2000, Litemax Electronics (stock code: 4995) has grown from pioneering the sunlight readable, high brightness industrial display market to one of the global leaders in intelligent vertical market platforms. Our technology and innovation can be found in our high-performing, ultra-efficient solutions for transportation, industrial, marine, digital signage, rugged portable and data mining. By merging WynMax, a well-known IPC designer, in 2016, we provide industrial motherboards, box PCs, panel PCs and various other industrial computing solutions. Litemax has developed a global operation infrastructure with extensive marketing and distribution channel relationships, and our products are available through leading distributors and retailers in over sixty countries worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.litemax.com/Litemax Electronics INC. unveils the latest Intel Apollo Lake 3.5" embedded motherboard AECX-APL0 with HDMI/DP/LVDS, 3 COM, 6 USB, Dual GbE LAN.
Macronix, the world-leading non-volatile memory (NVM) solution manufacturer, today unveiled its new-generation 12 pin-count bus interface called OctaBus. This breakthrough design delivers the high speed, high efficiency features of Macronix OctaFlash products, while incorporating OctaRAM into the same data I/O bus, reducing the pin count to 12, thus enabling simplicity in system design while optimizing PCB space, resulting in significant cost savings and at the same time dramatically improving performance.Macronix introduced OctaFlash, the world's fastest, high-efficiency 8 I/O Serial NOR Flash with 400MB/s data transfer rate in 2015. The booming development of IoT, the Automotive Electronics markets, the increasing demand for "instant-on" and an "interactive graphical user interface, has driven Macronix to introduce the new low pin-count, high-performance OctaBus memory interface. The new bus interface keeps the low pin count feature of OctaFlash and combines both OctaFlash and the new OctaRAM components on a single bus. The two products can share the same data I/O and some signal control pins and are designed to be compatible with each other with regards to their modified memory protocols. This enables chipset providers to combine PCB layout designs for OctaFlash and OctaRAM or even use a common PCB design.In the new OctaBus memory subsystem, OctaFlash is recognized as an industry leader based on its 200MHz high performance frequency; in tandem OctaRAM will enable designers to optomise their system design, giving significant cost savings through efficient pin sharing. With its design changed from parallel to serial interface, OctaRAM delivers a performance comparable to DDR2 and in addition allows an improved ease of system design, thus the embedded systems adopting OctaRAM will have a cutting edge advantage. Macronix's new interface is expected to lead the industry evolution to high speed and highly efficient system design in the same way as when Macronix was the leader who pioneered the NOR Flash transition from parallel to serial interfaces.OctaBus memory holds more advantages in MCP chip marketWith its strengths in low pin count and sharing of the I/O bus, OctaBus memory is expected to achieve great success also in the MCP (multi chip package) market that MCU and core chip vendors are closely watching. The original design of MCP chips, using separate buses, typically requires a BGA package with 80 pins. A design adopting OctaBus can have the package dimension reduced from 9x9mm to 6x8mm. In particular, an MCP combining OctaBus advantages of OctaFlash and OctaRAM in KGD form (known good die), provides even further simplicity of design and reduced complexity to satisfy system manufacturers' critical demands of cost reduction and design flexibility. Macronix strongly believes that this interface offers such a significant system improvement to designers that the company is promoting OctaBus memory as an open standard.Macronix's OctaBus memory subsystem will include three major product lines: Macronix's own OctaFlash series, an OctaMCP product line and a discrete OctaRAM line provided by other memory ecosystem and supply chain partners.•OctaFlash: 64Mb to 2Gb Package: 24BGA (all), 16SOP (256Mb-512Mb) Availability: 512Mb in production; rest sampling• OctaRAM: 32Mb-128Mb 3V/133MHz, 1.8V/200MHz Package: 24BGA Availability: 64Mb sampling• OctaMCP: 512Mb (OctaFlash) + 64Mb( OctaRAM), 3V Package: 24BGA Availability: ES (Engineering Samples) by Jan/2017Macronix OctaBus Memory SolutionsElain Shih, product marketing manager, MXIC
VIA Technologies has announced its latest kiosk solution, the VIA Artigo A830, featuring anti-static lightning and surge protection to ensure maximum reliability and durability in demanding indoor and outdoor environments.With HDMI and LVDS touch panel dual-screen support, a 5W amplifier and rich I/O set to connect and control a wide range of peripheral devices, the VIA Artigo A830 can be quickly tailored to meet the demands of almost any smart community application, said the company.To meet demand for smart community service hubs, VIA StreetWise IoT solutions combine an ultra-reliable, high-performance system hardware platform with a stable Android software framework that enables the rapid development of multimedia-rich applications and services, using touch, voice, and wireless interfaces.VIA Artigo A830 IoT kiosk solutionPhoto: Company
In response to the rapid advancement and increasingly sophisticated functions of automobile electronic systems, ISO 26262 standard, which was released in 2011, provides a complete functional safety design process and certification system to ensure the safety of car driving, and has been accepted by major car makers and suppliers around the world. For Taiwan makers, it's the time for them to take actions to comply with the standard, so that they can move into the growing automobile electronics market and grab more business opportunities.The Scope of ISO 26262 Standard"Automobile electronic systems comprise a wide range of electronic, electrical, software, and machinery components and subsystems. Any mistake of the system design may result in functional failure and cause serious damages," Gerhard Rieger, Branch Manager of Functional Safety Division at TUV NORD Systems, said. "Therefore, how to ensure the functional safety of automobile electronic systems have become one of the top design tasks for car makers."The current ISO 26262 standard is in its 2011 version, which applies to safety-related systems that are installed in production passengers cars with maximum gross vehicle mass up to 3.5 ton. Those systems are of safety level from ASIL A (lowest) to ASIL D (highest), including electronic control unit (ECU), microcontroller, battery management system, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), safety-related software development tool, and so on.It is expected that its latest version will be released in 2018, in which motorcycles, trucks, and buses will be also included. For car makers, complying with the state-of-the-art ISO 26262 showcases that they have taken the full responsibility to ensure the safety of product designs and to protect customers' rights. Therefore, in the future, developments and implementations of new products in automobiles must be compliant with ISO 26262 to be accepted by the global market.According to Rieger, ISO26262 aims to protect the following three safety risks. Firstly, common cause failure, which is resulted from the external factors such as temperature, environment. Secondly, random failure, which is caused by aging of hardware components and can be mitigated by quantitative calculation. The third one, and also the most important one, is systematic failure, which is due to the manual errors in development and production processes and will cause the highest level of risks.In order to cope with the different levels of functional failure risks, ISO 26262 has established a comprehensive safety design processes and guidelines to guarantee the functional safety of the overall safety chain.Starting from car OEMs' concept design, they will first conduct risk analysis for the safety design of the system, and then tell their first-tier suppliers about the system demands. The demands will be passed on to second-tier suppliers, including chip, sensor, and development tool vendors, and production contractors such as packaging, testing, and foundry makers."ISO26262 is a broad and complicated standard which covers the complete functional safety confirmation from the concept design to final product," Rieger stressed. "Additionally, it also defines DIA (Development Interface Agreement) to clarify responsibilities among suppliers in case of system malfunction. In fact, the implementation of the standard is a top-down management practice, which clearly specifies the rules and liabilities among suppliers of different levels and can be used to as a reference for future insurance claims."Functional Safety MattersIn recent years, many recalls in automobile industry are due to the malfunction of electronic/electrical systems. This not only jeopardizes consumers' individual safety, but also impacts car makers' corporate images and will cause expensive handling costs. As a result, ISO 26262 has become the prevailing standard in automobile industry nowadays."At first, ISO 26262 was mainly driven by European car makers," Kevin Huang, Great China Functional Safety Product Manager, said. "Now, as the functions of automobile electronic systems get increasingly complicated, any hardware, software and system failure may cause fatal incidents. Therefore, ISO 26262 has become a global standard after it was finalized. At present, car makers in the US and Japan also have adopted this standard. Moreover, China has considered it a national standard."ISO 26262 is not a mandatory standard or legal requirement. However, because it is widely accepted around the world and it provides a means of improving safety and reducing recalls in the future, all manufacturers are now integrating the standard into their products and processes.On the other hand, with the rapid progress of connected and self-driving cars, the safety risks of automobile electronic systems will be much higher. "Self-driving car is a revolution as well as a brand new challenge for automobile industry," Rieger stressed. "Currently, major car makers are heavily investing in this technology and will bring new business opportunities for suppliers. Take Ford as an example, the company plans to launch self-driving cars by 2021. It is expected that this application will get matured in five years.""Its next version, 2.0, will include all these more advanced systems. For suppliers of automobile electronic systems, now it's the right time for them to implement the standard."According to Huang, "Some Taiwan makers already received inquiries that ask for ISO 26262 compliance. We believe that as the applications of connected cars get more popular, such inquiries will also be on the rise. If companies want to move into the automobile supplier chain, they have to integrate the standard into their product designs from now, otherwise, they may lose huge business opportunities in the future."ISO 26262 aims to provide regulations and recommendations throughout the product development process. Therefore, major car makers and their supply chain vendors are taking actions to comply with the standard. However, this is not the case for vendors of after-service market, because their products don't have to meet OEMs' safety requirement. As for Taiwan market, semiconductor companies, including assembly and testing, foundry, and IC design, will all be impacted.TUV NORD Understands and Helps Customers Move into Automobile Supply Chain"Taiwanese companies used to focus on consumer market in the past. But as automobile market rises, it is inevitable for them to comply with the standard of functional safety procedures," Rieger said. "In practice, for those who already have ISO 9001 or ISO TS certifications, they can consider the parallel approach. It means that companies can still use their existing processes to develop consumer products, so there is no need to change in this regard. But, they will need to implement new processes for automobile products. By using two design flows separately, companies can have better flexibility and cost effectiveness."The implementation of new standard will surely increase the development cost. But the cost will be justified if companies consider the risks of future recalls, failure liabilities, and the possibilities of losing business. Moreover, as the number of design projects increases, eventually companies will have a better return on the investment.Rieger introduced that TUV NPRD functional safety team is a third-party accreditation organization ensured by Germany authority DAkks. We provides personnel, process, product, tool, SEooC(Safety Element out of context) certifications, as well as consulting and coaching services for component manufacturers. With rich and in-depth experiences, we have customers all over the world, including leading car makers, system suppliers, chip vendors, tool providers, and major electrical vehicle makers in China."We have deployed Chinese experts in Great China market. Together with our strong Germany teams, we can truly understand customers' requirements and make the best efforts to help them integrate ISO 26262 into their design processes. Also, we will conduct gap analysis for customers to help them analyze the gap between their existing design flows to those of ISO 26262 in detail and then come up with an implementation plan accordingly. Our certification services also include functional safety management certification, functional safety product certification, and development tool certification."He stressed that having comprehensive certification services is one of TUV NORD's key advantages. "Not only automotive, we provide certification services for medical, railway, aviation, process control technology and more. Our customers can obtain certifications for other industries in a more cost effective way when they get the automotive certifications, so that they can expand their target markets more easily."Gerhard Rieger, branch manager of functional safety division & Kevin Huang, Great China functional safety product manager
Digitalization is transforming the economy and society more profoundly than any other advance in the history of technology. Increasing interplay across a wide array of digital technologies is sparking disruption and innovation at an unprecedented pace. The sweeping transformation is revolutionizing the way people interact with devices and machines, and another embodiment of the change is the interplay between brick-and-mortar and virtual realities. At CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, the digital transformation takes front and center stage.The impact of digital transformation is tangible everywhere. Particularly in the economy, it is busting open and reinventing inherited processes and structures as well as the existing barriers between different sectors of industry. The limits of collaboration across company and industry borders are being redefined – including the human-technology interface. New forms of work and business models are arising.As the world's foremost event devoted to the digitalization of business, administration and society, CeBIT 2017 will focus on the wealth of opportunities inherent in the digital transformation. "The keynote theme of 'd!conomy – no limits' stands for the opportunities which have opened up for companies via digitalization and new technologies," explained Oliver Frese, Managing Board Member at Deutsche Messe, in a recent interview, continuing: "The keynote theme in 2017 also stands for the fact that the human/machine interface is undergoing a profound shift, as is the traditional distinction between reality and virtual reality. As designers of the digital age, people should not limit themselves in terms of new ideas and options, but should open-mindedly assess the possible options and take on an active role in shaping the transition."Digital transformation is being driven by new technologies and opportunities: Developments like artificial intelligence, virtual & augmented reality, autonomous systems, 3D printing, humanoid service robots and drones are the current drivers of the trend. An increasing number of application scenarios in the Internet of Things are enabling positive interaction and new types of cooperation between people and technology. As Frese put it: "IoT applications and new technologies open up new horizons in the truest sense of the word. Our task now is to turn these technologies into business opportunities."That is why next year's CeBIT will have an even stronger focus on appli¬cations, said Frese: "Our exhibition halls will serve as showcases for highly relevant, real-world examples of digitalization in a number of different sectors, including automotive, banking and insurance, retailing, healthcare and administration, in an impressive demonstration of the way digitalization is impacting every conceivable area of business and society," he remarked.As the "Global Event for Digital Business" – featuring the keynote theme of "d!conomy – no limits!" – CeBIT is positioning itself as the flagship event for digitalization and the digital transformation of the economy, public administration and society. This focus provides orientation for all decision-makers involved in shaping the digital enterprises and digital public administrations of the future.Frese pointed out that the prerequisite for success in the "d!conomy" lies in creativity, an openness to change and a new entrepreneurial spirit: "But it is also a question of new skills and qualifications which will be driving the world of 'Work 4.0'. We need to witness the interplay of these new technologies in order to recognize and exploit the business and social opportunities arising from it."Next March at the Hannover Exhibition Center, CeBIT 2017 will be showcasing these new technologies in an application-centric way, with new, data data-driven business models and value chains featured in a big way. Special highlights will be presented by exhibitors within the scope of the "discover d!conomy" tour introduced this year as a virtual guide to showcases dedicated to individual sectors. The tour provides a framework for connecting players from business, politics and society as well as for an often controversial discussion among internationally leading visionaries, top executives and creative thinkers with respect to standardization and the legal and regulatory framework."Digitalization is not a condition or a process which suddenly comes to fruition," explained BITKOM Executive Director Bernhard Rohleder, adding: "CeBIT is the ideal place for essential networking among global players, SMEs and startups, for building a bridge between suppliers and users of digital solutions, and for the necessary dialogue between innovators from Germany and abroad.""Our featured CeBIT Partner Country, Japan, will surely put a great deal of spin on the show's keynote theme. When it comes to digitalization, Japanese society demonstrates a very open and innovative mindset. Europe can take its cues from Japan with regard to pursuing creative new approaches and welcoming new technologies with an eye toward the potential they offer," remarked Frese.CeBIT – Global Event for Digital BusinessCeBIT is the world's foremost event on the wave of digitalization revolutionizing every aspect business, government and society. The show features an annual lineup of over 3,000 exhibitors and attracts some 200,000 visitors to its home base in Hannover, Germany. The spotlight is on all the latest advances in fields such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, virtual and augmented reality, humanoid robots and drones. Trending topics like Big Data, Cloud Applications, the Internet of Things, Mobile Solutions, Security and Social Business are covered in a rich array of application scenarios. Thanks to CeBIT's special mix of exhibits, conferences and networking opportunities, it is a perennial must on the calendars of IT solution providers and users from around the globe. The startup scene also receives major emphasis at CeBIT, with the SCALE 11 showcase sporting more than 400 aspiring young enterprises. The next CeBIT will be staged from 20 to 24 March 2017, with Japan as its official Partner Country.
Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857) has begun taking orders for its new T2000 AiR system, a compact, air-cooled system optimized for low-cost testing in R&D and high-mix, low-volume production. Shipments to customers are expected to begin in the first quarter of calendar year 2017.Global market demand continues to grow for smartphones and other mobile electronic devices as well as consumer and enterprise services offered over the internet. This trend is driving increased production of complex semiconductor devices and modules that integrate MCUs and application processors to perform multiple functions, including telecommunications, power management and sensing.Advantest's new T2000 AiR offers broad test coverage for these diverse modules and system-in- package (SiP) devices. With its modular architecture providing maximum flexibility, the tester can be configured with up to six discrete air-cooled measurement modules. This enables single-system test coverage for a wide array of highly integrated, multi-functional devices. Designed to perform digital functions and SCAN testing over as many as 512 channels in parallel, the system can test high-voltage devices up to 2,000 volts, high-precision DC converters, automotive DC devices, mixed-signal ICs with bandwidths up to 100 MHz, RF communication chips and CMOS image sensors.The new tester can be integrated with the M48xx series of handlers to create a highly efficient, zero-footprint test cell solution, which Advantest refers to as its Integrated Zero Test Station. Because the T2000 AiR does not require water cooling, it can be installed anywhere. Additionally, the system's software environment is fully compatible with the highly scalable T2000 series, making it capable of conducting massively parallel testing and facilitating smooth production ramps to help customers reduce their newest products' time to market."With the new T2000 AiR, we continue to extend the capabilities of our established T2000 platform to serve the testing needs of IDMs, foundries and fabless semiconductor companies making IoT-enabled devices," said Masayuki Suzuki, senior vice president of the SoC Test Business Group at Advantest.About Advantest CorporationA world-class technology company, Advantest is the leading producer of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the semiconductor industry and a premier manufacturer of measuring instruments used in the design and production of electronic instruments and systems. Its leading-edge systems and products are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor production lines in the world. The company also focuses on R&D for emerging markets that benefit from advancements in nanotech and terahertz technologies, and has introduced multi-vision metrology scanning electron microscopes essential to photomask manufacturing, as well as groundbreaking 3D imaging and analysis tools. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest established its first subsidiary in 1982, in the USA, and now has subsidiaries worldwide. More information is available at http://www.advantest.com/.Integrated Zero Test Station Zero-Footprint Test Cell SolutionT2000 AiR SoC Test System
