AIC's server team has announced the new storage system SB302-CP2, SB401-CP2 and 402-CP2 combined with Intel EPSD server board solution to shorten the validation process, and meet strong market demand.Designed with significant advantages to customers in performance, flexibility and reliability, SB302-CP2, SB401-CP2 and SB402-CP2, majorly focused on cloud computing market. "AIC and Intel jointly support, endorse, and recommend every unit of these Storage Server. We are ready to help customer's Cloud Architecture hardware setting. Suffice to say, speed is one of the main attributes on this cooperation. The combination can shorten product sourcing, validation and verification." said David Huang, AIC Sales Director.SB302-CP2, SB401-CP2 and SB402-CP2 covered from 3U to 4U form factor and supported up to 144TB of storage capacity throug twelve to thirty-six 3.5" drives and two 2.5" drives with onboard flash boot support includes eUSB SSD and SATA DOM, incl. Intel Trusted Platform Module (Intel TPM) header for Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel TXT) support. SB302-CP2, SB401-CP2 and SB402-CP2 can reduce data lost and improve data access efficiency, offering total integration with Intel server board S2600CP2. Supported for Intel Xeon processor E5-2600/E5-2600v2 product family and sixteen memory sockets support LR/U/R-DIMMs, the latest storage server series delivered up to 512 GB memory capacity.AIC storage server solution is ideally built to meet the needs of enterprise-level cloud storage application and various purposes. AIC storage server solution is ideally built to meet the needs of enterprise-level cloud storage application and various purposes. Incorporating with Intel Server Board, SB302-CP2, SB401-CP2 and 402-CP2 offer high versatility and expansion capacity to meet the evolving needs of vary-sized business and create a three-win situation for the booming demand of cloud architecture.Incorporated with Intel Server Board to provide powerful and high efficiency solution for cloud related application

Having established an early entry into the smartphone market, Taiwan-based power inductor manufacturer Chilisin delivered strong revenue performance in 2012. To sustain this growth momentum, Chilisin is now targeting the tablet market, a prominent and growing segment in the portable device market.According to the latest forecasts by the research institute, Gartner, tablet shipments will reach 197 million units in 2013, representing a year-on-year growth of 69.8%. Optimistic about the tablet boom, Chilisin notes that the tablet market is still at its high-growth stage and compared to makers from other application segments, tablet firms give priority to steady components supplier, hence pricing competition is not as severe. Chilisin has been establishing a strong position in the tablet market, and expects the tablet segment's share of total revenues to increase from 3% to 10-15%. Consequently, it expects the handheld device segment, including smartphones, to contribute 30% of the company's overall revenues.Miniaturized power inductors in demand to fit limited space in tabletsTablet shipment data has shown that 7- and 8-inch models are becoming mainstream. Chilisin provides various solutions such as power inductors, common mode filters, and high-frequency inductors for comprehensive tablet products. Chilisin states that because two thirds of the space inside a tablet is occupied by battery, the space left for circuit board is limited. Even a tiny fraction of an inch makes a big difference. As such, components must be shrunk to the smallest size possible.Catering to the miniaturization trend, Chilisin has developed shielded power inductors as small as 2.5x2.0x1.0mm specialized for large currents. Chilisin has also developed shielded low-DC-resistance power inductors as small as 4.0x4.0x1.2mm. In addition, Chilisin offers miniaturized closed magnetic circuit power inductors and ultra-small high-frequency power inductors. These power inductors effectively support the reduction of the PCB surface area and satisfy the growing demand for lighter, thinner, shorter and smaller devices offering higher performance yet consuming less power.In response to the growing demand for Full HD content, Chilisin is also introducing a solution for MIPI interfaces – the CMF11, a multilayer common mode filter that can reduce common mode interference. Chilisin emphasizes that compared to traditional wire-wound common mode filters, the CMF11 is produced using magnetic materials and multilayer technology. The multilayer technology allows the component to be soldered after etching, thereby accelerating production and effectively reducing cost.Comprehensive technologies enable one-stop shoppingChilisin has various types of production technology capable of providing comprehensive inductive solutions to its customers. In addition to wire-winding and multilayering technology, Chilisin also has the molding technology. Among inductor manufacturers, few firms are capable of boasting all three types of production technology. To make its product portfolio even more comprehensive, Chilisin has also been developing thin-film power inductors specializing in higher precision inductance. The newly developed thin-film inductors are expected to enter into mass production stage in the fourth quarter of 2013.One of Chilisin's key competitive advantage is its technology and ability to produce key materials such as ferrite powders and ferrite cores in-house. The mixing of raw materials can be tuned to cater to suit different products, applications and customer needs. Having a well-established vertical integration is one of the key factors that have helped Chilisin to serve many international brands.Dynamic and flexible strategy to target Japanese and South Korean marketsA while before the smartphone boom, Chilisin was early to foresee that the PC market was on its decline, setting the path for an early entry into the handheld sector. Leveraging the foundation it has laid in the smartphone market, Chilisin aims to focus on both China and other major brands in South Korea and Japan.Chilisin currently supplies power inductors in volume to various notable Chinese tablet brands. Chilisin is expecting Northeast Asian market shipment growth in the second half of the year. As smartphones and tablets continue to penetrate the consumer electronics industry, product life cycles will continue to shorten as product launches occur frequently. As such, demand for miniaturized power inductors has been consistently growing. With a comprehensive product portfolio and a sharp sensitivity for market trends, Chilisin expects equally strong performance in the tablet market.Chilisin eyes strong prospect of tablet market, expects strong growth

With unique loosely coupled wireless power technology, New Zealand-based PowerByProxi has been a promising up-and-comer in the industry recently. According to Greg Cross, Chaiman & CEO of PowerByProxi, the company has taken the lead to develop in-device charging solutions for consumer applications with better safety and efficiency.In order to expand this new market, he is looking for the opportunity to work with Taiwan makers by leveraging Taiwan's strong manufacturing capabilities and supply chain advantages.PowerByProxi was founded in 2007, and has raised USD 10M in funding in 3 rounds. The company is based in New Zealand with its R&D center, and has already set up sales office in Silicon Valley, US. It is planned to establish a new office in Taipei in the near future."PowerByProxi was a spun-out of University of Auckland, the leading wireless power research center over 30 year", Cross said. "We lead the industry with the most comprehensive technology and over 100 patents worldwide."Wireless charging technology with unique advantageHe emphasizes that PowerByProxi focuses on delivering more practical solutions for customers. For the wide adoption of wireless power, functionality will be a major driver to boost the take-off of the new applications.PowerByProxi has been delivering its solutions for industrial customers for four years to work in demanding mission critical environment from wind turbines to process automation. It is proved that its technology can perform with high level of efficiency from power source to device even in demanding variable load applications.As for consumer electronics, the company started an R&D program three years ago. "Unlike the existing tightly coupled solutions, our miniaturized loosely coupled or highly resonant wireless power can be integrated in even the most space constrained CE devices", Cross said."It means that CE devices can be charged with any orientation. With this spatial freedom, our solution really helps maximize customers experiencer with wireless power."Another feature of PowerByProxi's technology is that its industry-leading transmitter has the ability to charge one to multiple devices simultaneously. Moreover, it can intelligently detect foreign objects, so even conductive objects won't get hot. "This high level of safety and flexibility is the key to the wide adoption by consumers", he stressed.Promising outlook for consumer applicationsPowerByProxi has developed the world's first wireless rechargeable AA battery, Proxi-Fi AA. Cross explained that AA batteries are widely used in various CE devices, such as TV remote controllers, digital cameras, and hand-held game consoles. This solution can make in-device charging a ubiquitous reality for literally millions of existing devices.As for smartphones, PowerByProxi has also developed an integrated solution that meets safety standards. According to Cross, current wireless power solutions for smartphones are provided as an accessory rather than a built-in solution, which has slowed its wide adoption. PowerByProxi's technology, which is featured with miniaturization and effective heat management, can be directly integrated into a smartphone.With PowerByProxi's integrated receivers and Proxi-Fi AA wireless rechargeable batteries, Cross believed that, the in-device charging solution will be getting more popular as the technology matures. As a result, there will be a new product category such as transmitter stations emerging in the future.Cross foresees that, in the future, many wireless charging stations will be required in every household, so that consumers can put their TV remotes, cell phones, game controllers or cameras on/or in the station for charging at any time.Seeking for partnerships with Taiwan makersPowerByProxi is ready to offer the technology solutions, and the company is now ready to move into commercial production. Eyeing the strong manufacturing capabilities and supply chain advantages that Taiwan has, Cross believed that it is important for PowerByProxi to develop commercial opportunities with Taiwan's OEM partners in smartphone, tablet and battery markets.Cross has been visiting Taiwan frequently in recent times and they have begun talks with several local makers. In addition to building up partnerships, PowerByProxi also has plans to establish a product development center here. Moreover, he is looking at the potential of an IPO in Taiwan, as it represents a strong and knowledgeable market for hi-tech companies like PowerByProxi in terms of manufacturing and capital raising.In particular, he believes that the wireless power transmitter will become a whole new industry. "The demand will be huge as more in-device wireless charging solutions are available", Cross said. PowerByProxi will take the lead to drive the readiness of this new product and expects to work with Taiwan OEM partners in transmitter manufacturing and distribution in the future.Greg Cross, Chaiman & CEO of PowerByProxi

German-based AZZURRO Semiconductors, a leading provider of high-quality GaN-on-Si Epi wafers, announced that, the company has successfully achieved superior electrical performance and established a volume production track record for large size high voltage wafers. It is expected that this leading production technology will drive a new wave of demands for the high performance and cost-effective power devices.According to Erwin Ysewijn, VP Sales and Marketing of AZZURRO, under the mega trend of energy-saving, the power efficiency requirement for various electronic devices is getting higher, and the new applications, such as electrical vehicles and smart grid, will also drive the new demands for high voltage semiconductor market.Unlike silicon material, which has inherent limitations for fast switching at high voltage, GaN can meet these performance requirements with its excellent breakdown voltage and low leakage characteristics. At present, the availability in the industry is still limited for production suitable 6" (150 mm) wafers to fabricate GaN High voltage devices. AZZURRO's large-size GaN-on-Si technology will help customers boost the cost effectiveness of power devices to next level."By adopting GaN-on-Si technology, it is possible to develop power semiconductors up to 1700V, whereas our target market currently is 600 V", Ysewijn said. "It can replace current solutions across a broad range of power levels and targets various applications, such as hybrid and electric vehicles, solar and power supplies, SMPS (switched mode power supply), PFC (power factor corrector), and SFC (static frequency converters/inverters). Also, because GaN has higher switching speed, it can further realize the design goals of system miniaturization and cost-down."GaN-on-Si has significant advantages, it will see the initial adopted phase by the industryin 2014, technical difficulties have been overcome at AZZURRO. The main challenge was how to overcome the bows and cracks that are formed during manufacturing process. These defects are resulted from the different thermal expansion coefficients between the silicon substrate and GaN layers.After successful completing the first runs for GaN-on-Si at lab in 2003, AZZURRO already have accumulated around ten years of experiences in this technology. The company began pilot production in 2009 and continuously improved reproducibility. After that, two production lines were set up in Dresden in 2011 and moved to volume manufacturing in 2012, as well as transfer technology to multiwafer tool."AZZURRO can address the industries requirements, today!" Ysewijn stressed.He explained that factory requires large diameter GaN-on-Si technology for mass production, and the technology must be CMOS friendly, so that they can use standard silicon foundries. The most importantly, we need to help customers produce wafers with stress free and low bow wafers to meet their quality requirements."AZZURRO now can address large diameter (up to 200mm) GaN-on-Si technology. With own patented interlayers process, we can grow thick buffer layers on silicon substrates to achieve best crystal quality and excellent device performance."Thickness homogeneity is also important for high voltage devices, which have stricter requirements on breakdown voltage and leakage for each device manufactured on the wafer. AZZURRO's patented technology can achieve superior homogeneity for yield breakthroughs, and is ready for standard silicon process lines."In order to adopt existing CMOS lines, it is required that the GaN-on-Si wafer should be lower than 50μm", Ysewijn said. "Our production results show that bow is excellent managed per wafer, as well as per run. Take 150mm wafer as an example, AZZURRO can grow 6μm thick GaN layer with only 1.4% deviation of uniformity."In terms of material quality, AZZURRO can also achieve superior low tilt, twist, and defect level, with smooth and crack-free surface. As for leakage performance, the leakage current at 1000V is less than 100 nA/mm. Also, it also shows excellent breakdown characteristics regardless of gate width up to 100mm.Moreover, for 200mm GaN-on-Si HEMT wafers with breakdown voltage large than 600V, the result shows that wafers with total thickness of 5.6μm are crack-free and have wafer bow lower than 20μm."It's a quantum leap in material quality and device performance for large-size GaN-on-Si wafers with yield rate up to more than 70%, average size devices are meeting yields close to 90%." Ysewijn stressed. With high volume support capabilities, proven reproducibility and SPC data, AZZURRO will take the lead to drive the broad adoption of its leading GaN-on-Si technology and bring more innovative applications for high voltage semiconductor market.

Advantech (TWSE: 2395.TW) today announced the availability of a new 6U CompactPCI board based on fourth generation IntelR Core i5 and i7 processors. The MIC-3396 is designed for OEMs looking to benefit from the performance improvements, power efficiency and scalability of the latest IntelR processors.The new processors, based on 22nm technology support up to four cores / eight threads at 2.4GHz and 6MB last level cache boosting MIC-3396 computing performance while enabling the latest virtualization techniques and CPU enhancements. Onboard soldered low voltage DRAM with ECC is supported for maximum reliability and optional memory expansion via an SODIMM socket extends the capacity to up to 16GB for the most demanding applications in high performance or virtualized environments. Dual channel design and memory speeds up to 1600MT/s along with increased cache size and enhanced cache algorithms guarantee maximum memory performance.The MIC-3396 meets the growing needs for higher performance CompactPCI solutions offering faster floating-point arithmetic support. FMA3 (Fused Multiply/Add) accelerates floating point operations for signal processing algorithms which are used in graphics, imaging, instrumentation, industrial control, audio processing and medical applications. The new processor core also introduces full 256-bit AVX2.0 instruction extensions that improve parallel processing performance and result in smaller code for embedded tasks, particularly in CompactPCI-based security and surveillance equipment where faster encryption, compression and face detection are needed. New BMI (Integer Bit Manipulation) instructions optimize cryptography and help make solutions more secure. Other BMI instructions speed up TCP/IP operations in storage and networking applications, broadening the adaptability of the MIC-3396 to a wider variety of embedded applications. The processor's integrated enhanced graphics engine offers twice the performance over previous generations and improves video transcoding throughput. In addition, triple independent display support, makes the MIC-3396 an ideal fit for demanding industrial workstation applications.Combined with the powerful IntelR QM87 chipset, the 4th generation IntelR Core processors offer improved I/O performance by leveraging 5GT/s DMI, USB3.0 and 3rd generation PCIe interfaces. An onboard XMC/PMC site with PCIe x8 gen.3 connectivity is designed to host high speed offload or I/O mezzanines such as the MIC-3666 dual 10GE XMC card. With onboard SATA-III support at up to 6Gbps, OEMs can take advantage of the latest enhancements in storage technology such as high speed SSDs or enterprise HDDs. A CFast socket provides the ability to add industrial flash storage. For applications requiring the highest reliability and tolerance to environmental conditions an onboard soldered SATA-II SSD can be used. When higher performance and reliability is required, an RIO-3315 rear transitionmodule supports a 4-port SAS controller with RAID and failover.Five Gigabit Ethernet ports based on the latest gigabit Ethernet controllers from IntelR are employed for PICMG 2.16, front and rear connectivity, and ensure best in class network connectivity.Reliability, Availability, Serviceability, Usability and Manageability (RASUM) features integrated in the CPU and chipset combined with PICMG 2.9, IPMI-based management make the MIC-3396 a highly available and reliable computing engine.The RIO-3316 RTM module supports one PS/2 connector with both keyboard and mouse ports, one USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 ports, two RS-232 ports, two SATA ports, two DVI ports, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports.The MIC-3396 is available for OEM sampling now with comprehensive software support from Advantech's ecosystem alliance partners for WindowsR, Linux and VxWorksTM.MIC-3396 extends CompactPCI product line with significant gains in processing performance, security and graphics

Advantech (TWSE: 2395.TW) today announced the Q2 availability of a new product line based on the CompactPCI PlusIO and Serial standards, responding to a growing customer demand for a backwards compatible migration path from legacy PCI to PCIe and other serial technologies including Ethernet, SATA/SAS and USB. CompactPCIR PlusIO enables platforms that combine existing, legacy PCI based peripheral cards based on CompactPCIR as well as newly designed, high speed serial peripherals based on CompactPCI Serial.CompactPCI PlusIO makes use of the rear I/O pins available on CompactPCI system slots in order to support high-speed serial signals without interfering with legacy PCI signals. This allows interoperability with all other PICMG CompactPCI 2.xx standards which do not use these pins. A new Ultra Hard Metric (UHM) connector was introduced to transport these high-speed signals. The UHM connector was designed to mate on all deployed backplanes which comply with CompactPCIR base specification. System slot boards equipped with this high-speed connector can be used in existing 32-bit systems and support differential signals up to 5 Gb/s per pair."The transition to serial interfaces does not happen overnight. Customers have made significant investment into the CompactPCI platform, both in hardware and even more importantly the related software. With CompactPCI PlusIO we can offer a soft migration paththat protects our customers' investments but also takes them a step forward - by giving them the ability to utilize the latest high speed bus interfaces in the same system that hosts their legacy IO boards." said Peter Marek, Senior Director x86 Solutions, Advantech Networks and Communications Group. "Re-using well qualified platform building blocks like special purpose I/O cards along with the related software in these hybrid systems helps users to stay within their R&D budgets, meet their time to market objectives and mitigate risk."In addition to the parallel PCI bus architecture PlusIO allows the use of the CompactPCI system slot to provide a simple star architecture based on the applicable serial bus standard. A hybrid backplane features a CompactPCI PlusIO compliant system slot and a combination of legacy 32bit CompactPCI as well as CompactPCI Serial peripheral slots. For closely coupled extensions,PCI Express based I/O can used to implement interfaces requiring higher bandwidth and to upgrade legacy PCI functions which are reaching the end of their lifespan. For storage, SATA or SAS on the backplane now allows for RAID systems to be built-in. USB facilitates the integration of off the shelf wireless modules like WiFi or cellular network mezzanines for applications such as M2M."In the same way as VMEbus users can migrate to VPX or PCI/104 users to PCIe/104 our CompactPCI customer base now wants to leverage serial bus technologies more. But unlike VPX, which breaks backwards compatibility with legacy VME,CompactPCI PlusIO paves a backwards compliant upgrade path." added Marek.Full details concerning the first products to be released will be announced early in the second quarter with sampling expected shortly afterwards.

AMD has unveiled two new members for its FX family of CPUs: the FX-9590, which AMD claims to be the world's first commercially available 5GHz CPU processor, and the FX-9370. The AMD FX-9000 series CPUs will be available initially in PCs through system integrators.The new 5GHz FX-9590 and 4.7GHz FX-9370 feature the Piledriver architecture, and are unlocked for easy overclocking. Additionally, these processors feature AMD Turbo Core 3.0 technology to optimize performance across CPU cores.The new AMD FX CPUs will be available beginning this summer. AMD new FX-9000 series CPU specifications Model Number of core Clock speed Architecture FX-9590 8 5GHz Piledriver FX-9370 8 4.7GHz Piledriver Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, will present some of its leading power technologies at the CIRED conference and exhibition being held in Stockholm from June 10-13, 2013.CIRED is a biennial event and provides a key platform for the discussion of global trends, technologies and future developments in the electricity distribution sector, with delegates attending from all over the world. In addition to presenting a number of technical papers, ABB will exhibit a range of products that enable a stronger and smarter power network.A focal point will be the showcasing of UniGear Digital which combines medium voltage air-insulated switchgear with an innovative solution for protection, control, measurement and digital communication to enable a safe, flexible, eco-efficient and smart electrical network that can deliver power reliably and efficiently. Enabled with IEC 61850 communication protocol, UniGear Digital's advanced design and components help reduce resources and minimize environmental impact.Also on display will be the new SafeRing Air portfolio using 'dry air' as the insulation medium for applications up to 12 kV. The switchgear design is based on a completely sealed system with a stainless steel tank containing all live parts and switching functions. SafeRing Air is the arguably the most compact solution of its kind, making it ideal for use in compact secondary substations, light industry, building and infrastructure applications, among others.ABB will also showcase the latest developments in grid and network automation and distribution management addressing areas like fault management, outage response and reporting and network planning. Other exhibits include an active arcing fault protection system for dry-type transformers – or an Ultra-Fast Earthing Switch (UFES) that enhances safety and prevents serious damage caused by high pressure build up when an arcing faults occurs in an electrical installation. Energy storage solutions and the Gotland smart grid demonstration project will also be featured at the ABB pavilion.ABB (http://www.abb.com/) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people.

The LVC-5570D4-CA and the LVC-5770-7A are high performance ruggedized platforms ideal for integrating a range of in-vehicle data needs, including surveillance (both digital and analog), digital signage and video capture, vehicle location, and driver behavior monitoring."These two products are a perfect fit for multitasking in-vehicle computing," said Eric Chiu, Director of the Vehicle Computing Division at Lanner. "The modern passenger or freight vehicle needs a range of computing services, and the powerful LVC-5570 and LVC-5770 are built to cover security, entertainment, and performance monitoring. With a range of options to configure the I/O and the CPU, the LVC-5570 and LVC-5770 can be finely-tuned to meet the needs of vehicle operators."Conforming to the exacting MIL-STD-810G for both vibration and shock, and incorporating ignition control functionality, the LVC-5570 and LVC-5770 are built for in-vehicle use, which can also be deployed in conjunction with external CAN bus devices to provide a complete driver behavior monitoring platform, thanks to the on board GPS and G-sensor. Speed, acceleration, deceleration, vehicle orientation, and vehicle position can all be recorded using this system.The LVC-5770-7A is equipped with 8 PoE LAN ports, and functions as a highly capable Mobile NVR in conjunction with remotely-powered IP cameras. The LVC-5570D4-CA is more suited to analog video use, functioning as a Mobile DVR, and offers superb extensibility through its 4 mini-PCIe slots and 2 removable storage bays. With pin-to-pin compatibility a range of CPU options are available depending on the needs of the end user.

Apple has showed a sneak peek into the future of the pro desktop with a first look at the next-generation Mac Pro. Designed around a unified thermal core, the Mac Pro introduces a completely new pro desktop architecture and design that is optimized for performance. The new 9.9-inch tall Mac Pro features next-generation Xeon processors, dual workstation-class GPUs, Thunderbolt 2, PCI Express-based flash storage, and ECC memory,.The next-generation Mac Pro is architected around a unified thermal core that allows the desktop to efficiently share its entire thermal capacity across all the processors. Next generation Intel Xeon E5 processors with up to 12 core configurations deliver double the floating point performance. With two AMD FirePro workstation-class GPUs, the all-new Mac Pro is up to 2.5 times faster than the current Mac Pro and delivers up to seven teraflops of compute power, said Apple. The new Mac Pro also features PCIe-based flash storage that is up to 10 times faster than conventional desktop hard drives and includes four-channel ECC DDR3 memory running at 1866MHz to deliver up to 60GBps of memory bandwidth.With six Thunderbolt 2 ports that can deliver up to 20Gbps of bandwidth to each external device, Mac Pro is able to connect to external storage, multiple PCI expansion chassis, audio and video breakout boxes, and the latest external displays, including Ultra HD desktop displays. Each of the six Thunderbolt 2 ports supports up to six daisy-chained devices, giving users the ability to connect up to 36 peripherals. Thunderbolt 2 is completely backwards compatible with existing Thunderbolt peripherals.The next-generation Mac Pro will be available later in 2013.Apple next-generation Mac ProPhoto: Company