The CMEF (China International Medical Equipment Fair) is one of the biggest exhibitions of its kind in the world and always shows the latest professional medical equipment available on the global market. The 2021 exhibition will be held between May 13 and 16 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). Tens of thousands of professional medical products from producers all around the world will be exhibited. More than 4,200 global medical, industrial and commercial medical equipment enterprises and R&D units will be represented.APD is a leading brand of customized power supplies for medical devices and a long-term partner of many major global medical equipment companies. APD has been developing medical power supplies for more than 20 years and will be showing a full range of highly reliable medical power supplies. Among these will be our lithium-ion UPS (uninterruptible power supply) products which are a new trend in customized medical power as well as being useful in practically all other industries. Visit us at booth number: 8.1 D17 to see these special new products."High stability and reliability", power supplies that put the minds of medical clients at easeMark Tang, Vice President of the APD Department of Power System Business says, "What medical industry customers care most about is the quality, stability and reliability of power supplies. APD can satisfy the most rigorous customer requirements for medical power that is how we have earned the long-term trust of major medical equipment manufacturers".This is indeed the case. APD is committed to providing customized medical power solutions and concentrates on innovative R&D in the network communications and medical fields. We have won the approval of our customers many times over with outstanding product quality and R&D capability. APD has received the "Best Product Quality" and "Best Partner" awards from major global network communications and medical equipment manufacturers year after year. The APD production base has passed the ISO 13485 medical device quality management system certification and our full range of highly reliable medical power supplies comply with the IEC60601-1-2 4th Edition global medical safety standards. All our products have a lifespan of more than 10 years and are widely applied for use with CPAP machines, ventilators, oxygen concentrators, humidifiers, medical monitors, syringe pumps, portable ultrasound equipment, hospital electric beds, endoscopes, IVD and many other medical applications.Small and lightweight products appearanceThe "small size and light weight" of the highly reliable APD medical power supply series is their main feature and allows them to be used in a wide range of small portable devices. This series also has integrated LED operating status indicators and they are dust- and water-proofed to class IP22. The device housings are made of UL94V0 fire-proof grade material, which has a higher safety specification than the standard and all casings are given an anti-wear protection treatment. The patented anti-rupture output cable arrangement allows for multiple bends and is used to ensure the greatest convenience and product durability.Multiple safety protection mechanism designsAll APD medical power supplies have multiple safety protection: very low leakage current, high tolerance to electrostatic discharge, as well as protection against over-voltage, over-current and over-temperature. They can be used on any kind of medical instruments and devices without any risk of electric shock for patients or operators. Another thing worth mentioning here are the excellent cooling arrangements and the anti-electromagnetic interference design. These open frame power supply products have better than normal cooling and anti-interference performance, are extremely safe, and can be used with any fan-less medical equipment.Peak current can be more than 300%The peak current of the APD medical power supplies can be more than 300%. This allows a stable response to transient high current requirements generated by medical equipment. This series of power supplies is also very quiet. Operation noise is extremely low and does not interfere with the quiet healing atmosphere needed in the patient environment.Lithium battery applications are becoming a trend, and the global sales of APD lithium-ion UPS ranks among the highestThe rapid development of lithium battery technology and significant improvement in safety has resulted in lithium-ion UPS applications becoming the trend. APD has extensive experience in the R&D of power supply products and is actively developing a range of lithium-ion UPSs. We have earned the trust of many major global first-line manufacturers with our outstanding customized R&D capabilities. The pace of R&D at APD is ongoing and we have become leaders in the global sales of lithium-ion UPS products for medical equipment, industrial automation, security monitoring and transportation.APD will be launching several new lithium-ion UPS products for medical applications at the 2021 CMEF exhibition in Shanghai. These new products are all simple, quiet and white, to match the overall environment of the medical facilities where they are meant to be used. More importantly, these devices are small, lightweight, and have long usage lifespans. They will undoubtedly become the first choice power supplies for medical equipment.Small, lightweight, and a long usage lifespanThe useful life of an APD lithium-ion UPS is up to 3 times that of a traditional lead-acid battery UPS. Furthermore, the volume of a lithium battery is about 1/3 that of a lead-acid battery of the same capacity. This means that the APD lithium-ion UPS can be much more compact and lightweight. These smaller devices can be easily placed in narrow spaces such as nursing stations and on medical equipment pedestals. They are suitable for installation on medical trolleys and other mobile diagnosis and treatment equipment.Safe and quiet, with smart controlThe APD lithium-ion UPS design (T-48V480WL) is fan-less and the devices are practically silent in operation. This ensures that when they are installed near patients, they will cause no disturbance. The low leakage current design also ensures the safety of patients as well as personnel. The smart BMS battery management system can monitor the battery status in real-time, making the battery status very easy to control.An uninterruptible power supply is very important for medical facilities. Medical equipment, diagnostic, clinical, or surgical, all need stable constant power supplies, as do data centers and terminals. According to Peter Hu, the General Manager of APD Uninterruptible Power Supply Systems, APD lithium-ion UPS products are widely used on medical diagnosis and treatment trolleys, in medical electrical rooms, medical records departments, self-service patient registration machines, hospital incubators, hospital isolation wards and others. They provide the best customized lithium-ion UPS solution for all medical applications.During the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for medical UPS systems related to wards, medical equipment and control rooms etc., has remained high. Now, with the global pandemic pressure going down in many places the medical equipment and instrument market is recovering to a degree. APD is optimistic about our future market share in the medical power field and this will be reflected in our new range of products that will be shown at CMEF 2021 in the spring.APD lithium-ion UPSHighly reliable medical power supplies from APDAPD grabbed attention at CMEF 2021

Changes in consumption habits are urging retailers to accelerate the pace of smartization. Under this trend, the weight carried by POS systems and kiosks, which play important roles in the operation of physical stores, will gradually increase. As a major IT system provider for retail and catering industries, DataVan International Corporation recently acquired industrial computer manufacturer Maincon Corporation in order to strengthen product layouts and service capabilities.DataVan International Corporation's Executive Director Mao-cheng Hsu of the Technology Department and Vice General Manager Yi-ching Chen of the General Administration Department both expressed that the two companies will perfectly complement each other in the areas of technology and product marketing, leading to more comprehensive solutions for clients.DataVan International Corporation has many years of experience in the fields of IT systems for catering and retail industries, including POS systems and kiosks. The company's overall business performance has maintained steady growth despite the fact that many clients have been merged into other companies during the wave of mergers and acquisitions that started in the past few years. Yi-ching Chen stated that the company's main target markets are mostly occidental countries, and the x86 architecture is the focal point of its technology. Recently, the company has decided to expand into the Asian market and increase the proportion of its Android products, therefore, the decision to acquire Maincon Corporation was made. DataVan International Corporation has acquired 60% of Maincon Corporation's equity for now. Mao-cheng Hsu also stated that Maincon Corporation not only has all-round marketing networks in several Asian markets including Japan and Southeast Asia, but also has established great collaborative relationships with local major manufacturers. In terms of technology, Maincon Corporation has a strong foundation in the Android field. In recent years, Maincon Corporation has seen positive results of its substantial investment in AI; it already has practical solutions that can be implemented. These strengths will complement DataVan International Corporation.After the acquisition of Maincon Corporation, DataVan International Corporation will use Maincon Corporation's marketing networks in Asia to allow its products, including POS and kiosk systems, to smoothly enter the local markets. In addition, Maincon Corporation's Android and AI technologies will be utilized to create smart retail solutions, which will also be promoted in the existing European markets. Mao-cheng Hsu mentioned that Maincon Corporation has many successful cases of smart solutions under its belt. It previously worked with NESIC, a subsidiary of Japanese IT company NEC, in launching a smart epidemic prevention system. In addition to its success in the retail industry, Maincon Corporation also has substantial achievements in other fields, including industrial control and transportation. In the industrial control domain, the company has worked with AsusTek Computer in building an industrial safety surveillance platform; in the transportation domain, the company has assisted Malaysia in building a smart transportation system.Regarding future plans, Yi-ching Chen believes that smartization is an irreversible trend in the market, so DataVan International Corporation will integrate AI technologies and launch smart POS terminals as well as other retail equipment. In fact, in 2018 the company had already developed a smart solution that builds AI machine vision into POS machines. It allows quick product identification and speeds up checkouts. However, the global market was affected by the pandemic in 2020, forcing product plans to be suspended. Depending on market recovery, the plans will resume in the future. Moreover, DataVan International Corporation will also launch POS machine models with remote monitoring. The function enables mangers to control POS devices located at different places and get hold of the devices' operating statuses via an online platform.In addition to smart POS systems, DataVan International Corporation also plans to extend its technology into other areas of the retail industry, including warehousing and logistics. Mao-cheng Hsu mentioned that, as the retail industry steps into the O2O era, online and offline transactions have begun to be tightly integrated. This trend has made it difficult for a POS system to satisfy the demands of a physical store. Upstream and downstream systems, including logistics and warehousing, must integrate to allow the seamless flow of information. This aids the creation of more diverse services. For example, smart shelves can enable the warehousing system to automatically generate the data of purchases, inventories and sales, which can be utilized by the store and logistics service providers.In another project of DataVan International Corporation, the company worked with an American client in creating an inventory-tracking smart robot system. Robotics and kiosks are the two main technologies integrated in this system. During the opening hours of a store, various product information and services are provided through kiosks; at night, robots automatically go around the store and track the types and numbers of products on the shelves. At present, DataVan International Corporation has shipped the kiosks to the United States, and the integrated inventory-tracking smart robot system is still in progress. In the future, aided by Maincon Corporation's AI technology, DataVan International Corporation will optimize the functions of the robots and market the product to the European market. Mao-cheng Hsu and Yi-ching Chen both stated that this project is the best example of how DataVan International Corporation and Maincon Corporation complement each other with their strengths. Projects similar to this one will emerge quickly as the pace of smartization accelerates in the retail market. DataVan International Corporation will use this investment plan to expand the company's operational arrangements and satisfy market demands with integrated solutions.DataVan International executive director of Technology, Mao-cheng Hsu (right) and vice GM of General Administration, Yi-ching Chen (left) both express that the strengths of their company and Maincon will complement each other; DataVan will let this investment plan be the core of the company's operational arrangement expansionPhoto: Digitimes, April 2021

In this 5G era, diverse environments have led communications systems and equipment suppliers to find different development opportunities. Also, as private business network applications gradually lean towards white-box and intelligent products, networks communications and electronic manufacturing companies in Taiwan are entering the information and communication technology field to compete for opportunities in equipment for 5G terminals, base stations, private business networks, core networks, or cloud datacenters.As high-speed data transmission enhanced the performance of processors, heat dissipator designs also improved greatly and pushed the thermal module market to grow many-fold. Intel and AMD multicore processors, for instance, contain additional units crammed into smaller sizes, so challenges for heat dissipation design have skyrocketed. Ricky Yu, Product Consultant Deputy Manager at T-Global, stated in our interview that with 5G communications initiating large-scale business transformation, the IoT and base station equipment supporting 5G technology will have increased heat sources and generate enormous opportunities for heat dissipation solution providers.Heat dissipation starts with conduction, and TIM is the keyT-Global started as a materials supplier. Thermal interface material (TIM) is mainly used to fill in microvoids between jointed materials and pores on object surfaces in order to reduce contact thermal resistance.Yu explained that heat dissipation begins with heat conduction, so by supplying materials like thermal tape and thermal grease, T-Global quickly became an important link in the electronics ecosystem. The company integrates different heat dissipation technology, combining them into customized solutions or even exclusive features for client products, which are then patented by the client to improve the product's competitiveness.T-Global knows their heat dissipation and conduction technologies. For example, thermal grease contains volatile silicone oil and has limited warranty periods, so for professional industrial computers and systems requiring 3, 5, or up to 10 years lifespan, development and wide application of thermally conductive silicone sheets have become the next trend.Based with metallic oxides such as aluminum oxide, thermal-conductive powders such as boron oxide, and silicone, the product has good heat conductivity, low thermal resistance, and withstands electrical voltage. It performs a variety of functions by reinforcement with different materials, and, being highly customizable, is highly adaptable in a wide range of scenarios according to the client's heat source wattage, target temperature, and thermal dissipation area. Therefore, it is greatly valued in the industry.By continuously building up practice in different areas, T-Global's engineering team participates in design and service to understand client needs and to raise precise proposals. The current main objective is to apply varied technologies with good integration plans, so that as the market grows rapidly, T-Global may transform into a heat dissipation solution provider and take off on enhanced business. With the widespread use of smart devices and the surge of IoT applications in everyday life, lightweight small electronics are in huge demand and their heat dissipator designs need to keep up with the times.Heat pipe and vapor chamber technologies each have their advantagesToday, metal heat pipe and vapor chamber technologies have leapt to front page. Ultra-thin heat pipes and vapor chambers both have nearly hundred-fold the heat dissipation performance of pure aluminum, and heat pipe technology is already mature. In the past year, the cost of raw materials like copper has risen, and to help clients face impacts caused by pandemic-related raw material price fluctuations, T-Global endeavored to respond with innovative developments that balances lacking resources with those plentiful, thus reducing cost burdens for clients and proactively addressing designs like server rooms that rely mainly on fans, cooling fins, and heat pipe technology.Furthermore, Yu points out, with the growth of 5G base stations and subsequent high-speed gateways going strong, business in vapor chambers has increased rapidly in the past 5 years, and future development opportunities are also increasing. Outdoor 5G base stations, for example, require waterproof and dustproof designing for the outdoor infrastructure and devices. As the specialized sealed design permits no ventilation, TIM specifications are the key to success.Heat dissipation performance with 3 or 4 mm vapor chambers is good, but there is still much room for improvement. T-Global uses ultra-thin vapor chambers that are less than 0.4 mm, and developed the first TIM in the market with over 18 W/m.K. Vapor chambers are quickly becoming the new favorite, but they require up to 2.5 times the cost of heat pipes, and its production yield has always been a formidable challenge, so they are the center of attention for market competition.High investments in software and testing equipment help clients avoid failure5G base stations for high-speed data transmission as well as automotive control systems containing sensors and cameras with IoV and numerous devices are becoming increasingly large heat sources, and the number of heat dissipation cases for 250 W and up have surged. To create optimal designs that address performance and cost, diverse heat dissipation combinations including advanced technology such as vapor chambers are in high demand and require comprehensive designing and testing support.From obtaining reliable high-quality ceramic powder and recipes from Japan or Europe, to providing thermal modules and solutions, T-Global has it all down to a T, and it all comes from the practical and designing experience accumulated over a long time. Yu explains using a computer thermal module as an example: the polished metal surfaces of the aluminum base and cooling fin seem to be closely joined against each other, but research reports that the effective thermal conductive area between to two is 10% or less, while up to 90% of heat is accumulated on the metal surfaces. So the design and modeling of each and every heat removal solution are extremely important starting points.Based on equipment differences in heat dissipation requirement and its overall environment, complex system parameters and specifications need to be considered, and a complete design model must be made with professional heat transfer analysis software. Costly software including Flotherm XT was purchased to create key design profiles and architecture to reduce designing time greatly.T-Global runs actual tests simultaneously with lab machines and a testing chamber to verify engineering designs and save clients a great deal of developing time and costs. The company also offers multiple design proposals and helps the supply chain prepare early for the end client's future product designs.T-Global's clients now extend across industrial computer, automotive electronics, NB, display panel, smart LED lighting, networks and communication system, and IoT industries. For the next stage, the 5G application, electrical cell, power storage, and electric vehicle industries are important links that T-Global will actively involve in its supply chain. The company will help clients avoid unsuccessful trials, and create continuous opportunities.MIT engineering team that collects practical experience in different areasDiverse thermal conductive materials and productsVapor chambers have quickly become a favorite in the industry

Zymergen, a biofacturing startup located in the United States, is showcasing its new film at Touch Taiwan 2021, the world's leading exhibition for the display industry supply chains. Hyaline Z2, Zymergen's first product for electronics applications, is a new polyimide film developed by Zymergen - delivering a premier combination of high transparency and mechanical properties that is engineered to enable more design freedom for electronics products.Zymergen is a science and material innovation company founded in 2013. The company partners with nature to design, develop, and commercialize bio-based breakthrough products, fundamentally changing not only how things are made but what they are made of. Zymergen's proprietary biofacturing platform merges advances in automation, machine learning, and molecular biology to design breakthrough products. Its innovative materials are applied to a wide spectrum of categories including electronics materials, agricultural solutions, personal care products, and beyond.With employees currently in Japan, Zymergen recently established an additional presence in Taiwan to engage a broader number of customers, suppliers and product manufacturers. Touch Taiwan is an opportunity to both showcase the first in a new Hyaline family of films and engage companies from across the electronics ecosystem.Zymergen is inspired by nature to develop Hyaline (polyimide films) familyZymergen

As the US-China trade war continues to exacerbate tensions between the countries, the formulation of a clean supply chain - whereby the manufacturing, assembly, testing, and packaging of products all take place in Taiwan - has become an important national security and economic strategy for the United States. Over the past 30 years, Taiwan has built a complete semiconductor industry chain that provides global customers with advanced manufacturing and R&D support. In light of this, Martin Lin, marketing director at Macronix, says that now is the time for Taiwanese industry players to continue actively expanding their business layout and take the initiative to wield their competitive advantages.To address the needs of its immense domestic market, over the past few years China has created a red supply chain that has become a formidable presence for all industries across the globe. Multinational companies, including those from Taiwan, have set up production sites in China, and the global economy is becoming increasingly dependent on the mainland. Circumstances have drastically changed, however, following the United States' launch of the trade war in 2018. As Lin indicates, at the time, the Trump administration made all-out efforts to promote its clean supply chain policy in 2020 to maintain the US's dominating position in technology and economy. In particular, the two most important actions taken were to tighten export restrictions on China's major technology companies and to prohibit the export of key semiconductor-manufacturing equipment to China. These two policies have prompted major technology companies in various countries to shift their focus to resources outside of mainland China, a move that has in turn shifted the spotlight to Taiwan where the semiconductor industry chain has become increasingly mature over the past few decades.Taiwan began developing its semiconductor industry in the 1980s. Some semiconductor manufacturers began focusing on optimizing the manufacturing process after assuming their roles as OEM wafer manufacturers, while others focused on the research and development of proprietary products, such as memory market leader Macronix. Apart from continuing to invest in R&D and manufacturing technology, the company has also formulated a complete product layout. European and American companies, on the other hand, focus on IC design, contributing to the division of labor in the semiconductor industry of which Taiwan plays a crucial part and to an industry that has been flourishing for 30 years.As manufacturing processes continue to evolve, the demand for capital and technology in semiconductor manufacturing is rapidly increasing. As such, semiconductor manufacturing has become one of the world's most advanced and sophisticated industries. In addition to semiconductor manufacturing, IC design, packaging, testing, and assembly are of equal importance. Based on current industry conditions, Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain is able to provide complete, vertically and horizontally integrated services within an area of just 36,000 square kilometers, and it is this advantage that enables Taiwan to play a significant role in the clean supply chain.Lin states that Taiwan's semiconductor industry chain has three advantages in terms of its role in the clean supply chain. First, IC design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, along with other semiconductor manufacturing processes, have already formed an industrial cluster in Taiwan. As such, suppliers are not only technologically advanced but also have sufficient production capacity. Second, Taiwanese industry players have always remained closely aligned with the international community and are, therefore, not only familiar with the rules of the game but have also established trusting, cooperative relationships with customers. Last but not least, they are able ensure compliance with the conditions and requirements of a clean supply chain. In view of these three advantages, therefore, Taiwan is perfectly poised to become a safe and reliable partner for industries across the globe.Even with these apparent advantages, however, Lin believes that Taiwanese companies must strengthen their product layout so as to further expand their niche, citing as an example the trend of "intelligentization" that has emerged in recent years. In the past, products manufactured by the electronics industry were primarily used in computer, communication and consumer - also known in Taiwan as 3C - products. With the advent of intelligentization, however, the application of semiconductor components began to diversify. Market needs such as in the industrial, medical and automotive segments gradually emerged, and the types of components required by these markets became so diverse that only manufacturers with complete product lines can satisfy supply. Macronix, for instance, has a comprehensive line of memory products that offers customers a full range of solutions and services that is rare within the industry.Lin said that, in the past, product R&D conducted by memory manufacturers were mostly oriented toward the optimization of compatibility. Macronix, however, adopted a different strategy by choosing to provide differentiated design services that fulfill the needs of leading chip manufacturers in the industry and create the most suitable product solutions for different fields of application. Under this strategy, Macronix was able to forge an even more complete product line layout, particularly with regard to its two main product lines, NOR Flash and SLC NAND, offering customers corresponding products ranging from the most basic to the most advanced specifications. In terms of manufacturing processes, Macronix's NOR Flash is manufactured using a 55-nanometer process that will be upgraded to 45-nanometer. SLC NAND, on the other hand, is produced using a 19-nanometer process and has also entered mass production. The company's 48-layer 3D NAND Flash is also ready to be launched and will be joining Macronix's line of memory products to better meet diverse customer needs.In addition to the complete product line, Lin pointed out that non-consumer applications, such as automotive electronics, industrial control, medical systems, and other applications have stringent requirements for product reliability. To remain competitive in this supply chain, advanced technology is a prerequisite, not an advantage, while unwavering quality and long-term stable supply capabilities are additional keys to success. Macronix, as a manufacturer fulfilling all of the above three criteria, has long been affirmed by customers in this field with whom the company has established profound partnerships.As competition between the United States and China grows stiffer, calls for the establishment of a clean supply chain has also become more urgent. Under these circumstances, Lin foresees that, with its advanced and complete semiconductor industry cluster, Taiwan will play an important role within the global clean supply chain. As such, industry players should grasp this golden opportunity to formulate development strategies that maximize and fully exert their advantages.Martin Lin, Marketing Director, Macronix

Manz AG is the wet chemistry process leader in Taiwan and China for production of displays panels, printed circle boards and advanced semiconductor packaging technology. The product offerings include solutions for cleaning, coating, plating, etching and stripping of various substrates, and the production automations. As Industrial 4.0 revolution and smart manufacturing swept through the global manufacturing industries, Manz leveraging intelligent technologies, production equipment and modular software design provide streamlined production automation systems to help Asia's customers for quickly expanding manufacturing capacity and production lines. Outstanding cost performance ratio and optimal productive time ensure excellent returns with consistent product quality.In an exclusive interview, Robert Lin, General Manager of Manz Taiwan, talked about the new development of Manz product strategy before Touch Taiwan 2021 exhibition. Over two decades, Manz delivered automation equipment to Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. Nowadays, Manz's intelligent production solutions provide the automated handling services for display panels ranging from 4-inch to G10.5 generation line for big 8K TV manufacturing tasks. Moreover, the tailored solutions to fit different requirements of various customers are most welcomed.Manz highlights intelligent vertical handling systems for display industryManz is benefiting from the strong hardware and software design capability of its high-tech engineering teams. The new intelligent vertical handling systems showcase unique features with high stability, high availability, low glass breakage rate and high precision vertical handling capability. More than this, the teams create a close partnership between the company and the customers. The increasing trend towards automation in the production processes of Asian customers, Manz uses its long-standing technological expertise to collaborate with customers to provide tailored production solutions and tight integration in the processes. Following the company's successful development of intelligent production automation projects, the minimal breakage rates are achieved through material and chemical transport optimized to the process and substrate. Manz has gained customer trust from around the world.Moreover, these new intelligent production solutions are leveraging PC-based controller from Beckhoff, another Germany-based automation firm to utilize open architecture and popular IT protocols as a design basis. The systems are providing high precision positioning features by an accurate replica of human hand positions, even at high throughput, minimal breakage rates are achieved through material and chemical transport optimized to the process. There are four major unique features highlights including real-time data collecting and analyzing, modular software design, high stability and great integration of Electro-Mechanical Integration systems. The solutions will help customer to achieve shortening time-to-market goal.The automated projects in Taiwan are mainly focus on upgrades of 8.5th generation ("G8.5") facility. In China, due to the lack of flexibility and cost concerns, the new investment of G10.5 panel production lines are becoming more conservative. But the G8.6 investments are getting more attractive in China. Although, various automation solution providers with unique strength in the market already, the high value-added of Manz product offerings attract key customers because the requirements of high precision, speed and stability through long time establishment of corporate credits. Despite a high level of exposure to US-China tensions, European vendors like Manz still have good potential in China market while China panel makers beginning to focus more on high-end and advanced equipment.Taiwan panel makers show innovative Micro and Mini LED displayLin highlights smart manufacturing is a technology massively driven by automation. Thanks to the cross-strait customers welcomed AI-based technology to ramp up the speed of manufacturing optimization during the course of industrial upgrading. In the other hand, recently, the new display technology, especially Mini and Micro LED technologies, has emerged as a significantly driving force to push advanced production solutions. It is foreseeing the mass production of Mini LED display modules in this year. Taiwan panel makers are ready to launch mini LED backlighting applications targeting the smartphone, touchpad and TV market. And the Micro-LED display is also under developing to solve the technology challenges of Mass Transfer issues. The future growth of Taiwan panel makers is relying on this.From perspectives of production solutions, the change of process equipment making mini LED panels is limited. During development of the processes, the use of the equipment in the process of Color Filter and TFT Array may be not much changed. The automation solutions perform good results including robust production, easy operation and high reliability, as well as production yield. For the coming Micro LED display technology, Manz is highly participating to design the solutions for proofing in the experimental production lines.5G technology upbeat IC Substrate demandsManz provides wet chemical processing solutions for the Printed Circuit Boards. In the higher end PCB sector, there is strong demands from IC Substrate leveraging the hot trend of 5G technology. Taiwan-based IC substrate providers are poised to enjoy a particularly strong orders in the first half of 2021, thanks to robust demand for high-end substrates PCB boards. This is benefiting to Manz production solutions in the semiconductor production solutions. As the advanced packaging and testing solutions getting more sophisticated, Manz is maintaining the continuous investments of production solutions for further increase the competitiveness and win the market. An explosive opportunities of electric vehicle and lithium-ion batteryChina is the world's largest electric vehicle market. Taiwan is also continuing to expand its scale of operations and grow into the lithium-ion battery cells and modules as well as for the assembly of battery packs for electric vehicle industry. These are huge business opportunities. Manz already entered into a strategic cooperation in the field of lithium-ion battery systems and portfolio enabling innovative, integrated turnkey production solutions. Meanwhile, Manz Taiwan is joining the MIH Alliance to jointly build an Electric Vehicle open platform for entering this potential business and introduce Manz automation solutions to Asia maker for gaining next boost in the business.For further highlighting the new development of Manz production solutions and automation systems, during 2021 Touch Taiwan events, Manz will showcase at its booth a full range of products at Nangang Exhibition Hall 1 at fourth floor, booth no. M520. Manz sales and product teams warmly welcome you to visit the booth to experience more innovative solutions.Robert Lin, General Manager of Manz Taiwan

With the advent of the audio-visual era, whether for consumer use or commercial applications in retail, F&B or factory manufacturing, the demand for high image quality is ever-increasing. In recent years, moreover, breakthroughs in LED display technology have been rapidly and successively made, resulting in brightness, color gamut, and color contrast that are greatly superior to that of LCD displays.Focusing exclusively on the high-quality, high-performance mini/micro-LED market, Yenrich Technology Corporation has recently launched ultra-fine pitch LED solutions ahead of market contenders. Through its advanced technology, comprehensive services and extensive product line, it will be able to reduce system operator development cost and shorten time-to-market, allowing it to grasp next-gen business opportunities with its highly competitive advantages.The global market for large-size displays has been shifting since 2018 as LED screens that used to be installed outdoors began to move indoors, providing users with better display technology. In the past, indoor displays were mostly comprised of LCDs. Li-yuan Huang, VP of Sales and Marketing at Yenrich, nevertheless pointed out that LCDs designed with backlight architecture have certain limitations in terms of both color contrast and brightness. With regard to brightness, for instance, even though mini-LED light sources have become increasingly prevalent in backlight modules these past couple of years, the increased brightness - from 500 nits to 1000 nits - is still far from comparable with the 2000 nits of Yenrich's LED products. The lifetime, screen area and transportation convenience of LCD displays are moreover inferior to that of LED displays, therefore it is expected that mini-LED displays will dominate even in the market for high-end, large-size commercial displays.Li-yuan Huang went on to say that although LEDs will be the mainstream in the market for indoor / large-size displays, this does not mean that the technology can be directly replicated and applied to this field. Due to the different viewing distances between outdoor and indoor scenarios, user's perception of display resolution also differs. At present, the pixel pitch of outdoor LED displays is 10mm-2.5mm, but if used indoors, an even smaller pitch must be adopted, usually between 1-2.5mm. The flip-chip RGB mini-LED die used by Yenrich enables the company to make ultra-fine pitch screens with pitch below 1mm.Li-yuan Huang further indicated that under the demand for high-end audio-visual and digital transformation, boutique flagship stores, government agencies, and large enterprises have all begun to install LED screens in interior spaces for marketing advertisements or war room use. This trend has completely opened up the market for ultra-fine pitch LED displays, and garnered the interest of related industry peers. Most manufacturers, however, are currently still using conventional face-up LED dies to build their displays, a technology that can only achieve a minimum pitch of 0.8mm. In comparison, Yenrich's industry-leading four-in-one flip-chip RGB mini-LED package can achieve a pitch of 0.6mm or even smaller to further improve LED screen resolution.Yenrich Technology Corporation, a member of Ennostar Group, utilizes flip-chip RGB mini-LED dies as an important weapon for achieving ultra-fine-pitch displays. The high-quality flip-chip dies are the achievement of years of development conducted by EPISTAR, another member of Ennostar Group. Ever since it was founded, Yenrich has been focusing on next-gen packaging and expanding its market share with the flip-chip dies developed by EPISTAR. As all relevant materials and technologies are now readied, the company has been receiving orders from several end-customers. Li-yuan Huang stated that, in addition to advanced mini-LED packaging technology, Yenrich is also committed to providing clients with various solutions. Currently, the company has established joint ventures with partners in mainland China to offer customers a variety of advanced mini-LED packaging services and solutions, including advanced mini-LED packaging production lines and SMT lines equipped with capacity of 800kk monthly. Customer products can enter mass production upon completion of design, greatly shortening time-to-market.Even as it enhances its technology over production, Yenrich has also actively engaged in configuring its IP deployment. With confirmation in 2016 the company's mission is to produce high-brightness and high-tech displays, Yenrich has been continuously applying for patents for its research and development outcomes. At such, currently the company's ultra-fine pitch and advanced mini-LED packaging technology has been under patent protection in both the European and American markets. At this year's Touch Taiwan exhibition, Yenrich's new technological prowess will be unveiled. 0.46mm ultra-fine pitch products can be combined with 5G technology to make 8K resolution LED screens, stretching the limits of current LED technology. Another 0404 RGB LED package developed by Yenrich focuses on surface treatment technology, and is able to enhance visual uniformity while in off-state and correct color shift of the LED screen, creating a spectacular visual experience.Li-yuan Huang explained that, since its establishment, Yenrich has been deeply committed to creating high-quality products with advanced technology. As past research and development has now yielded fruitful results, the company has been able to offer solutions that indisputably lead the market in terms of technology. Moving forward into the future, Yenrich will continue to uphold existing strategies, utilizing its advantages of advanced packaging technology and comprehensive production line to provide customers with the strongest and most reliable support.Yenrich Technology Corporation has launched ultra-fine pitch LED solutions ahead of market contenders

Smartization has become a critical initiative to the healthcare industry in recent years. The incorporation of diverse innovative technologies, including LED, has given a boost to healthcare service quality. According to EPISTAR senior director Dr. Shao-You Deng, LED beams of different wavelengths used to measure physiological signals of the human body stand a chance of replacing the conventional invasive approaches to become the mainstream medical measurement technology. EPISTAR has built up strong LED technology and capacity advantages that will continue to step up efforts toward this market segment.Before seeing the doctor, people usually need to have their physiological signals such as heart rate and blood pressure measured by specific instruments. To make the process easier, high-tech firms have been marketing wearable devices including smart watches and wristbands that use LED light sources to detect the user's heart rate and aggregate the measurements for big data analytics to guide subsequent care plans.According to Dr. Deng, the physiological signals are now generally measured using specific devices such as blood pressure gauges and blood glucose meters and the measurements only indicate the health condition of the person at the time when he is tested. With wearable devices emerging, continuous measurements become available. However, network communication quality and charges prevent the continuous measurements from being uploaded to the backend management platform in real time so there is a limit to the benefit of wearable devices. This may be overcome with the advent of 5G communication, which features high bandwidth, high-speed data transfer and massive connectivity. Wearable devices will be able to maintain uninterrupted connection with the backend platform to allow the system to constantly monitor the user's physiological signals and instantly respond to emergencies.Smart watches introduced by leading tech firms including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi all come with a heart rate monitoring feature. For example, Mi Band, Apple Watch and Amazon Halo use green 520-540 nm LED for photoplethysmogram (PPG) based heart rate monitoring to enable their healthcare features. EPISTAR senior engineer Dr. Yung-Hsin Lin noted such non-invasive health monitoring solutions are a clear trend now and LED technology will play a critical role to these solutions. Having built up robust LED technological capabilities through years of efforts, EPISTAR is a strong support for smart healthcare device manufacturers.When LED technology was first being adopted in smart healthcare solutions, EPISTAR had begun to work with customers looking to expand into the market segment, said Dr. Lin. After a period of testing, EPISTAR found the most suitable LED technology for use in end devices. For example, 620 - 1000 nm red and infrared light became the LED market standard for heart rate and blood oxygen level monitoring. Aside from the applications of LED with different wavelengths, EPISTAR has also developed products that meet power consumption requirements by wide-ranging healthcare devices. For instance, EPISTAR offers LED products for wearable devices that combine precision and energy efficiency. Visitors to Touch Taiwan 2021 will see EPISTAR's LED solutions for healthcare devices covering a full spectrum of wavelengths.Not only does EPISTAR hold strong advantages in product portfolio and production capacity, but it is also among the very few Taiwan-based LED suppliers that offer LED products covering all wavelengths. For short-wave infrared (SWIR) light, which will be used in smart healthcare applications going forward, it has developed the first-generation transmitter sensor. According to Dr. Deng, SWIR is classified to have wavelengths above 1,100 nm and requires the use of InP substrates. EPISTAR is also one of the few LED suppliers capable of producing SWIR sensors spanning across 1,100 nm, 1,300 nm and 1,500 nm ranges. Furthermore, its unique epitaxy process enables EPISTAR to make SWIR LEDs that deliver 10% to 15% higher power and require 5% to 10% lower voltage compared to products of Japanese manufacturers. More importantly, it is capable of large-scale production, ahead of most other LED suppliers in the world.Leveraging its strength in capacity, technology and quality, EPISTAR will aggressively grab the smart healthcare market. Initial-stage efforts will focus on consumer products that do not require certifications, with plans to expand into professional-grade medical devices going forward. In conclusion, Dr. Deng and Dr. Lin noted that despite the promising outlook for non-invasive LED-based measurement in the smart healthcare market, the performance of LED-based measuring devices will hinge on the precision and energy efficiency the LED can deliver. EPISTAR's expertise in LED and healthcare will make it a strong support for device makers, helping them capture rising opportunities.Source: EPISTARSource: EPISTAR

With the convergence of 5G, AI, IoT and hyperscale computing, what will computing needs look like in the next decade? As the heart of the computing and connectivity revolution, and the developer of widely used processor architecture, Arm has outlined its vision over the next decade through the recent launch of the Armv9 architecture.CK Tseng (left), President of Arm Taiwan, and Dr. JC Hsu, Corporate VP and GM of MediaTek's Wireless Communications Business Unit (right)As AI-powered compute becomes ubiquitous, CK Tseng, President of Arm Taiwan, expected that another 300 billion Arm-based chips to ship during the next decade and could be widely used in end devices, data networks, edge computing or in the cloud. After a holistic consideration of the balance between general purpose and specialized processing as well as factors such as safety, performance, ease of development and power efficiency, Armv9 is the solution developed to address this unprecedented opportunity for innovation. How to leverage Arm architecture and its strong ecosystem to make innovations is what the whole industry can think about to identify and size up the business opportunities.Computing needs and challenges for the next decadeIt has been 10 years since Arm launched Armv8 architecture. More than 180 billion Arm-based chips have been shipped over the past 30 years, Tseng said. From sensors, edge, networks to the cloud, the vast majority of shared data today are processed by Arm processors at some stage through its lifecycle. Therefore, when we started developing the Armv9 a few years ago, we have been thinking about what's the biggest challenge over the next decade? How can we help developers prepare for the future?Shipments of Arm-based chips are expected to reach 300 billion in the next decade for diverse innovative solutionsFirst, information security is the biggest challenge. "Data has become an important asset for individuals, whether in consumer, industrial or commercial applications, ensuring privacy and security is an urgent issue." In addition, with the growing innovative applications and the cost to launch an app is getting lower, there will be more and more people engaged in software development. In the future, the number of software will increase greatly, how to prevent important information from being stolen and make the development of applications easier and seamless is a matter to be considered.In the meantime, the popularity of AI and hyperscale computing applications will continue to drive the development of edge AI, and the market has endless demand for lower power consumption and higher performance. Arm is developing technologies to increase efficiency, bandwidth, cache size and reduce memory latency to maximize the performance of Armv9-based CPU to collaborate with partners to react to challenges.Another challenge posed by the ubiquity of AI in computing is that the requirements for specialized processing solutions will become higher. Different market segmentation, performance and use cases will bring different computing requirements. How to flexibly utilize the hardware and software capabilities of CPU, GPU and NPU processors to optimize the AI workload in the optimal solution is also a problem to be solved.The future of specialized computing delivers enhanced security, AI and system performanceTherefore, in addition to enhancing security and core performance, Arm is also trying to create solutions that meets the needs of specialized computing under the general-purpose and flexible hardware architecture to achieve the optimal "system-level" performance.Tseng said that in anticipation of this trend, Arm has changed to define the organizational structure from an application point of view rather to define from product lines to cater for the specific needs of computing technologies for different applications.David Hsu, Arm FAE Director, added that specified processing is needed to respond to the diverse needs for future chips. That's why Arm integrates Arm CPU, GPU and NPU platforms to deliver greater efficiency, scalability and flexibility. In addition to hardware, Arm has also put a lot of efforts in building a software ecosystem. "The future is an era of contextual optimization, moving beyond individual IP specification, where software will play a much bigger role."To this end, Arm introduces SystemReday program. As long as hardware and underlying software comply with defined system standards, all operating systems can run on top of them and can be compatible with Arm-based hardware, from sensors, edge to the cloud. Based on the concept of a software-defined device, the adoption of the Arm architecture, which is widely used in the industry, will ensure that developers can maximize their software investment, Tsang said. "Since we can't anticipate the performance of the end devices, in order to achieve the best performance, self-developed software and cloud software will co-exist in the future. There'll be more and more cloud-native software running on the edge devices, and we encourage partners to join."The Arm SystemReady program achieves balance between standardization and flexibility, helping partners innovate with differentiated designsHsu emphasized that for Arm, these efforts are all about trying to strike a balance between standardization and flexibility. Through standardization of hardware and underlying software, such as defining the standards in the Base System Architecture (BSA) and Base Boot Requirement (BBR), it will be easier for companies to port software and allow them to focus on application innovation and design differentiation.On the security front, Armv9 introduced the Confidential Compute Architecture (CCA), introducing the concept of dynamically created Realms for the first time to protect data in use. The main difference between Realms and the existing TrustZone technology is that the latter believes the underlying operating system is secure while isolating secure world from non-secure world. On the other hand, the protection in CCA is to transfer data to its own Realms through an additional address translation, making it hard for the operating systems to probe the code and data executed in the Realms. Therefore, even if an operating system is compromised, the data and codes in Realms can still be ensured.The Arm Confidential Compute Architecture (CCA) introduces a new concept of dynamically created RealmsRealms are an evolution of TrustZone. By being isolated from the operating system, Realms provide an additional layer of protection for software. Even dynamically downloaded apps on mobile phones can gain higher confidentiality by introducing the Realms. In addition, the Armv9 architecture provides enhanced support for Memory Tagging Extensions, which protects data passed from the CPU to the memory by allowing software to associate a pointer to memory with a tag to counter attacks on memory security vulnerabilities. Security is enhanced through the various protection mechanisms in hardware and software.In digital signal processing (DSP) and AI computing, Arm partnered with Fujitsu to create the Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) technology, which is at the heart of the Fugaku, the world's fastest supercomputer. Building on that work, SVE2, an enhanced version of SVE developed for Armv9, enables support of vector length from 128 bits to a variable of 2048 bits.Hsu said that such a large amount of parallel computing power enables Armv9 to work well for 5G systems, virtual reality, augmented reality and also for machine learning workloads. Over the next few years, Arm will further extend the performance with substantial enhancements in performing Matrix Multiplication within the CPU. In addition to expanding AI capabilities, AI innovations in Mali GPUs and Ethos NPUs will continue.Leverage Arm ecosystem to accelerate product innovation and differentiationThe release of the Armv9 architecture is just a start. The industry will continue to see Arm roll out new products and technologies to propel Arm's vision: specialized processing, built on the economics, design freedom and accessibility advantages of our ubiquitous computing platform, enabling our partners to deliver best in class solutions across all markets. The first Armv9-based product will be available this year.Armv9's advanced architecture opens up more innovation possibilities and new opportunities for Taiwan's technology industry. Tseng said Taiwan's technology sector had performed well in 2020, but the challenge of moving beyond existing business models to increase business value in response to the needs of the new generation of computing remains to be solved. "Taiwan companies have been very well versed in technology. Facing various opportunities such as 5G, IoT, cloud, automotive and others, they need to develop long-term profitability models and increase investment in innovation to lay the foundation for future growth.""In Arm's case, we started investing in Armv9 research and development a few years ago to keep pace with the trends and partner needs. The opportunity Armv9 brings to Taiwan is about providing more value and the possibility of differentiation, which is the key to success," Tseng said.Hsu explained, "In the case of smart camera, Taiwan companies has built strong capabilities from chip design, software to the machine. The competitive advantage can be further improved by taking advantage of Armv9's enhanced security and AI performance to take the lead in developing more powerful and more secure products, for example, achieving higher recognition accuracy in AI, in line with the special use case, or increasing product security.""Arm has been deeply cultivated in Taiwan for more than 20 years, and we have been committed to helping our customers expand the market and drive business value." Tsang said. "Taiwan has built up strong design capabilities and already been a critical part of global high-tech supply chain, and we look forward to helping partners speed up time to market for new products through Armv9's excellent features and enhanced connection of ecosystem.""We see great opportunities in areas including smart cameras, smart surveillance, PC, laptop, edge computing, data centers, automotive, and industrial computers for Taiwan companies." Tseng explained.MediaTek took the lead in adopting Armv9 and the new product will be available at the end of this yearMediaTek has become quite the household name in 5G mobile communication technology over recent years. Apart from just smartphones, Arm's collaboration with MediaTek on new Armv9 architecture products extends throughout its product range. "The Arm Neoverse solution supports more cores at constant thermal design power (TDP), improves energy efficiency and performance to offer greater potential for workloads such as high performance computing and machine learning. We are in ongoing discussion with MediaTek in consumer electronics and communication areas such as 5G wireless base stations, enterprise private networks, edge computing, core networks and data centers, etc., and look forward to more cooperation opportunities," said Tseng.At the global launch of the Armv9, MediaTek announced that their first Armv9-based smartphone product will be available by the end of 2021. "MediaTek has built up an abundance of product lines encompassing mobile devices, home entertainment applications, wireless connection technologies and IoT markets over the years. The scalability of the Arm architecture, along with excellent performance and design innovation are key as we expand the MediaTek portfolio," said Dr. JC Hsu, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Communications Business Unit.JC Hsu believes that the support and advice provided by the Arm team has indeed played a key role in enabling MediaTek's continued innovation and product enhancement. He thinks very highly of the Armv9 architecture in terms of its better security, computing performance and energy efficiency. Through Arm's multiple solutions, including high-efficiency, low-power design and the scalability of the system platform, MediaTek will continue to work closely with Arm in all fields going forward.This echoes what Tseng has stressed all along -- the hope of helping Arm partners to leverage Arm core architecture, the powerful ecosystem and software support to expand markets and generate business opportunities. It is expected that Armv9 will become the foundation for next-generation chip designs as well as the opportunity for enterprises to enhance their competitiveness and technological innovation.Click here to get more details on the Armv9 architecture

Eyeing the huge market demand, FSP Group provides the industry's fullest range of open frame power supply for networking switch and PoE switch applications. The model series comes with a complete assortment of wattages that meet all relevant terminal applications' power supply needs.FSP Group has recently launched new FSP250-H24 and FSP260-P35 models. FSP250-H24 is a single-output model with 250W output power and a dimension of 2"x 4" x 1.283". The model series include 12v, 24v, and 54v. Specially designed for Networking Switch and PoE Switch, they feature A/C and HVDC (high-voltage d/c) voltage input functions.FSP260-P35 is a single-output model with 260W output power and a dimension of 3" x 5" x 1.34". the model series include 12V/18V/24V/54V output voltage options. The products are intended for networking switch, PoE switch, and docking applications.The two product series can maintain full power output at the fixed operating temperature of 50 degree C and 90-264Vac (128-370Vdc) without de-rating. Under standby mode, the input power consumption is less than 0.5W. In line with EMI EN55032: Class B specifications and in compliance with CB 62368-1, UL/cUL, and CE global safety regulations, terminal products are provided with the highest security guarantee.FSP group launch new open frame power supply