Taiwan is located in Circum-Pacific Belt and has been suffering from frequent earthquakes. The damage caused by large earthquakes is devastating and therefore, seismological study is one of the major academic scientific researches in Taiwan. The precise measurement of the P and S waves will help seismologists to calculate the distance from the epicenter of an earthquake. To analyze seismic data could conduce to better understanding of warning signs of an earthquake. And combining with data of precise earthquake waves will improve accuracy and speed of early warning systems.The interpretation of seismic wave motions takes a lot of efforts, especially the P and S wave records from multiple seismographs, which takes time for experienced analysts or engineers to pick and analyze the data for further calculation and explanation. Compared with the P waves which are easier to analyze, the standard for S waves will have certain variations among different seismologists.Taiwan government has deployed more seismograph stations in the island to gather huge data than before. Dealing with big quantities of data under the conditions of time constraint and analysts shortage, it is an intense pressure for public sectors including Taiwan Central Weather Bureau (CWB). When earthquake happens, the immense data travels from different stations. The potential of using automation systems to assist or even replace the traditional manual operation is becoming an important trend. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is a new star to assist solving the needs.The ARRU seismic phase picker project of Earth Sciences Department at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) is aiming to use Deep Learning models to select right waves from massive data. The project leader is Will Liao, who is PhD student in his first year. In this interview, he highly appreciates the effort and time devoted by Central Weather Bureau and research colleagues in the community to work on keeping the seismic data of earthquakes over the past decades. These efforts also allow the following researchers to continue the works as if standing on the shoulders of these giants.Liao explains the detection rate of traditional automatic analysis method for P-Wave is around 75% while there is only 30% for S-Wave because of refraction or interference from P-Wave. To improve this phenomenon, the analysts and engineers take lots of time to correct the errors by re-checking and re-annotating in order to obtain a reasonable digit. The traditional automation method is to solve the issues, but it's not handy and instead cause more errors because of high variation of S-Wave. Some will even get more errors while multiple earthquakes happen in a short period of time; therefore the results of the automation method were far behind compared with human working results.This AI-related project will include the seismic data from Central Weather Bureau and other research organizations. There are about 30 to 35 gigabyte data files reserving for use in the AI training. Those big data sets require huge GPU computing power. Initially, Liao used GeForce RTX 2080Ti GPU accelerator card in NCKU laboratory which took two weeks for just running the AI training, but things have been improved. Through participating in the AI start-ups TWCC STAR TREK" hosted by National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC), this project gets support from Taiwan Computing Cloud (TWCC) platform, and now the AI training takes only 4 or 5 days which is inspiring.The current stage is using TWCC's single GPU accelerator card for the first trials. In the next step, it will enable multiple GPU accelerator cards for AI training by modifying the Python codes. The target is to train more than 100 AI models. So far, with about two weeks trail experience, Liao has seen preliminary results. In the coming stages, it's expected to achieve more than 5-times computing performance with the help of V100 GPU and more memory capacity. The preliminary results using current effective AI models have fairly improved of P-wave and S-wave detection rate which ramping up to 98% and 90% respectively. Compared with previous results of 75% and 30%, the outcomes are very impressive. Combined with the conventional physics models, it is showing the convincing results and has better usage in the study of earthquake models which is associated with seismogenic structures. This research has been submitted to Q1 ranking journals in October 2020. The future goal for this project will aim to bring AI inference system to Edge Computing platforms and deploy to different sites for helping Taiwan Central Weather Bureau to increase the accuracy and speed of earthquake detection.Will Liao, PhD student at National Cheng Kung University

Winbond Electronics Corporation, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions, has announced that its W75F, the industry's first Secure Flash memory device with Common Criteria EAL5+ certificate, has now achieved the ISO26262 ASIL Grade D safety certification.For automotive market, the W75F Secure Memory is compliant with the AEC-Q100 and is now officially certified ASIL-D. The W75F device provides fault detection capabilities covering more than 99.9% of failures ranging from flash array cells, through the physical interface, and all the way to the host. The safety rating for the W75F surpasses that of internal embedded Flash memories while offering much more storage capacity that can potentially be scaled up to even higher densities.Winbond said, "The W75F is the ideal external secure memory companion, offering high level of security assurance at Common Criteria EAL5+. Now with the addition of ASIL Grade D certification, the W75F is even more beneficial for automotive platforms, which have to meet stringent requirements for security and functional safety. Winbond is the only flash vendor with the proven capability of designing devices that can bridge the gap between high safety and high security levels without compromising either."The W75F has also been certified with the Security Evaluation Scheme for IoT Platforms (SESIP) scheme for IoT and smart connected devices up to Level 3 with physical attacker.The W75F Secure Memory is the industry's proven secure external Flash device for code and data storage. It offers a dependable solution for manufacturers of connected systems, which want to defend their products against threats such as replay, rollback, man-in-the-middle, sniffing, side-channel and fault injection attacks.It is available in densities of 4Mb, 16Mb and 32Mb and is available in industry-standard SOP16, QFN32, and WLCSP packages.Key features of the W75F include:*Secure eXecute-in-Place (XiP) *Tamper-resistant *Code and data confidentiality and integrity *Mutual authentication with SoC *Shared memory architecture for multiple domains *21MB/s secured and authenticated throughput *100,000 program/erase cycles *20-year data retentionWinbond's W75F Secure Memory Element is in mass production. More information can be found at www.winbond.com.The W75F Secure Memory is the industry's proven secure external Flash device for code and data storage

The completion of 5G NR R16 standard from 3GPP has been announced the freeze in early July 2020. It is establishing aggressive targets for low latency and massive connection scenarios. The global telecoms are introducing a multitude of applications and use cases that most associate with 5G NR specification and boosting revenue to enable B2B commercial deployments to begin. Taiwan industries take a look at the possible potentials in smart manufacturing and smart healthcare sectors.Meanwhile, as millimeter wave technologies fast forwarding into the future with 5G landing applications, some IC design companies are working together to figure out the new direction to link with low orbit satellite communication technologies and seeing what it will be. The vertical integration of 5G service is getting more attentions.Auden Techno Corp. together with the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) co-organized the fifth symposium in Taipei on the topic of "SmartLife for Next Generation - Quantum Leap in Linking 5G Science and Technology" on September 10, 2020. The full event, hosted at Hua Nan Bank International Convention Center, began with General Session of Technologies and Bio-electromagnetic Keynote Speeches and Technical Sessions with three major tracks.Dr. Ruey-Beei Wu, TEMIAC Coordinator, Dr. Li-Fung Chang, Chief Architect of the 5G program Office in MOEA, Dr. Zse-Hong Tsai, Executive Secretary of Taiwan Executive Yuan Office of Science and Technology, Dr. Tzong-Lin Wu, Associate Dean of College EE & CS of NTU, Nain-Ling Jou, Assessor, A2LA American Association for Laboratory Accreditation and Daniel Chang, CEO of Auden Group (from left to right)Auden Group establishing communication platforms for 5G technologiesDr. Tzong-Lin Wu, as the moderator of the symposium, invites Mr. Daniel Chang, CEO of Auden to give the welcome speech. This is the fifth time for Auden Group to Co-host this event at Taipei. Due to the coronavirus pandemic still at risks, there are more than 300 attendees and 30 honor guests from sector of government, industry and research institute in this event. Chang hopes the facilitating government-industry-academia idea exchange communication platforms of this event will help Taiwan industries to gain the development momentum to 5G and Bio-electromagnetic technologies.Dr. Zse-Hong Tsai, Executive Secretary, Taiwan Executive Yuan's Office of Science and Technology, points out 5G enabled applications with potential and rapid development in many categories. He further emphasizes the growing role of low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites and millimeter wave technology. Both create the great potentials of new business opportunities. Taiwan government's policy is promoting cooperation among industries and academia.The consecutive invited honor guests to give the welcome speech include Dr. Li-Fung Chang, Chief Architect of the 5G program Office in the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Dr. Ruey-Beei Wu, TEMIAC Coordinator, and Mr. Nain-Ling Jou, Assessor A2LA American Association for Laboratory Accreditation.This yearly symposium is the 5th times for Auden Group to co-host the event. There are more than 300 participants join the eventAuden Techno Corp, founded 1990, provides R&D services to help customers to build and manufacture antenna systems to fit the requirements of mobile communications, automotive electronics and industrial applications. For providing better service to the customers with complete front-end design, pre-development testing and product authentication, Auden invests several compliance testing laboratories cross Taiwan straits including the first SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) testing Lab in Taiwan. By actively leveraging the testing lab efforts and RF technology core strength, Auden tries to help Taiwan ICT industry to shorten the gap to develop bioelectronics medical devices aiming the professional medical solutions.The electromagnetics measurement of Wireless Power Transfer and charging systemsThe first keynote speech presented by Professor Niels Kuster, ZMT's President of the Board. He is the founding Director of IT IS Foundation with well-known research on the exposure of a mobile phone user to radiofrequency energy. Professor Kuster also highlights the status of current SPEAG's effort to develop various validation systems for measuring SAR and help standard associations of US, Germany, China and Swiss to setup regulations and specifications.His presentation over video conferencing is a lecture related to the electromagnetics measurement of Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) systems. The interaction between human and electromagnetic fields have been highly considered by research institutes and technology industries. This is an overview of his latest research results covering WPT applications from wireless power transfer to electrical car charging systems. The measurement system is leveraging SPEAG's Magnetic Amplitude and Gradient Probe System (MAGPy) for fast and reliable compliance testing. The results will be sent by Sim4Life software for further comparison and evaluation study. The current tentative test standard for WPT is based on IEC/IEEE 63184. It will be scheduled in the third quarter of 2022 for the first draft version.Nokia looks at 5G nextNigel Chan, Nokia Taiwan Regional Head of Technology, presents the comparison of 5G markets in Korea, China and Taiwan as a start. There is noted good news to see Taiwan 5G download speed wining the global top 4 position according to OpenSignal statistical reports. This speed is 6.5 times of 4G/LTE speed marks in Taiwan. And the number of 5G global penetration rate will be exceeding 50% in 2023.Talking about major millimeter wave applications targeting low latency and smart manufacturing sectors, he shows current private networks use cases including sport stadiums, factories, harbors and mining fields. Meanwhile, in the Industrial Internet of Things sector, the new specification of NR-Lite is getting more attention. This new technology is aiming to co-exist with NB-IoT standards and addressing the new IoT devices to expand 5G to all industrial usages considering cost effective and mass deployment requirements.He also talks about the hot topic of low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites for enabling real global coverage of mass IoT devices deployment. The new technology of NTN (Non-Terrestrial-Networks) is catching sight. For predicting the near future, he states the next big things from 2020 to 2023 from Nokia point of views. This will include several high potential technologies such as new spectrum technology to detect physical objects leveraging MIMO, ORAN, AI/ML air interface, low power technology plus security and trust.Nigel Chan, Nokia Taiwan Regional Head of Technology speaks of what comes next while 5G continuing to evolveMediatek looks at the new technology trends beyond 5GDr. I-Kang Fu, Director of standard strategy, Mediatek, speaks 5G standardization development and experience of Mediatek active participation in the meeting and contributed to 3GPP work. He involved the works of standardization from 2G to 5G generation. For the past decade, he noted the main stream of mobile technology is focus on transferring wired Ethernet networks to wireless format. But the 5G technical evolution will drive by creating higher value of data and help telecoms to gain more incomes. In short, he states the real difference between 4G and 5G is "Data Differentiation". Furthermore, he highlights the value of data bits transmitted could have huge different when you compare mobile phone use case and smart manufacturing scenarios.The 5G networks contain a multitude of data usage and characteristics. One of the most exciting concepts enforced in 5G is one network fits all applications. That's the reason why 5G infrastructure designed by several sub-systems to fulfill different needs of data requirements. It combines with 4G/LTE networks because the return of previous investment does matter. From business model perspectives, 5G use cases won't all be ready at the same time. The end customers won't be equally applicable to or profitable in all markets. And each will require a different kind of 5G networks to work best. Pushing eMBB applications is the first focus of Telecoms while launching 5G services in the first phase. In this period of time, the driving force of high data speed will drive end customers to buy 5G phones for generating immense revenue incomes for Telecoms and investing 5G infrastructure construction more.The next phase, it will come to the stage of selling the value of "Data Differentiation". The focus will shift to the URLLC applications such as industrial automation or smart manufacturing. It will also boost the use cases of NB-IoT and eMTC to connect more devices for creating more data value.The eMTC applications raise the 5G coverage issues while current mobile network coverage is only 40% of land space in the earth. For expanding connection to all IoT devices, satellite networks can easily to provide the broad outdoor coverage to connect massive IoT devices. MediaTek is pushing the boundaries of advanced IoT 5G satellite communications with a successful field trial that transfers data through Inmarsat's Alphasat L-band satellite, in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) 35,000 kilometers above the equator. The results of MediaTek and Inmarsat's IoT field test will be contributed to the 3GPP's Rel-17 standardization work on Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN). The successful test builds the foundation for satellite and cellular networks to enable new 5G IoT services at a global scale. Mediatek is pushing the boundary of technology and find new path to lead further success.Dr. I-Kang Fu, Director of standard strategy, Mediatek, talks the 5G Satellite IoT technology5G Private Networks seeing the future trendMr. Tim Lou, General Manager, Transnet Corporation presents the topic related to build 5G enterprise private networks and solutions. His presentation is looking at two major focuses of smart manufacturing and smart healthcare. Germany and Japanese governments lead policy of 5G private networks. Both countries opened a process to allow private companies applying for private 5G licenses without having to resort to public mobile networks.The 5G private networks have strong potentials to promote smart manufacturing and smart healthcare to help industries to find path to grow new business and help people to live more valuable life. Both are the important investment for nations.The importance of 5G enterprise private networks are welcomed by Taiwan ICT and OEM/ODM industries. Transnet is conducting the Proof of Concept (PoC) projects to verify possible opportunity to kick starting the business. The integration tasks are involving RU, DU and CU plus combining MEC to form an end-to-end solution in the next year.Tim Lou, General Manager, Transnet Corporation, speaks the private 5G networksMillimeter wave technology applying to Minimally Invasive Spine SurgeryProfessor Sheng-Fuh Chang, NCCU, shares his PoC to provide an alterative smart healthcare solution for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery use case. He uses 4 Frequency Modulated Continuous- Wave or Continuous-wave (FMCW/CW) radars using 24GHz millimeter wave technology for fine positioning in surgery. The surgical operation was conducted in Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. The results were reaching the accuracy to 1.8 millimeter precision range. This successful PoC project builds the possible use case for millimeter wave solution enabling new ideas of high precision positioning in a cost effective manner.In parallel technical sessions, there are three Tracks covering 15 key topics with the technical subjects - Track A: Millimeter Wave Beamforming technologies and AiP design, Track B: 5G NR technology and Conformance Test, and Track C: Smart Healthcare Solutions. The invited speakers are, Professor Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim, Feng Chia University, Professor Chao-Kai Wen, NSYSU, Dr. Alex Chou, Auden Techno. CTO, Professor Tzyh-Ghuang Ma, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Dr. Jie-Ying Zhong, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy, Dr. Bin-Chyi Tseng, ASUSTeK Computer Inc, Prof Han-Nien Lin, Feng Chia University, Dr. Alan Tang, Auden Techno. Vice President, Professor I-Fong Chen, Jinwen University, Dr. Eric Chen, A Test Lab, Vice President, Dr. Antonino Cassara, IT'IS Foundation & ETH Zurich, Dr. Yue-Loong Hsin, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Nathan Lin, WHALETEQ General Manger, Professor Shuenn-Yuh Lee, National Cheng Kung University, Professor Jin-Chern Chiou, National Chiao Tung University.This symposium is widely addressing the advanced topics of 5G and Bio-electromagnetic technologies. There are more than 300 participants to attend separated sessions and exchange ideas for further discussion. The demonstration booths also showcase the instruments and solutions to test various design of RF PCB boards, AiP modules. As Dr. Tsai, Zsehong, Executive Secretary, Office of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan, talking in his welcomed speech, 5G applications will open up several growth opportunities and lead to the emergence of a large business scale and large scale development. The industry, academia, and government collaboration will be a game changer for Taiwan economic future and help Taiwan industries to grasp the further growth.Professor Sheng-Fuh Chang, NCCU, shares his PoC project in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

Harvatek Corporation has introduced a new LED product in chip scale package (CSP). This LED has high brightness with low power dissipation and there are no wire bonding which reduces the processing time.It has a high package density with a thickness of 0.15mm which is thinner than most LED products in the market. It can be use on a variety of applications that have tight space requirements.The product has many unique features including using flip chip technology. This means the chip on the LED have low thermal resistance. CSP can provide wide viewing angle with great color uniformity. Harvatek wants to create a product that enables our customers to be more customizable with our LEDs. Therefore the product's specifications can be tailored and changed to the customer's content.Harvatek Corporation new chip scale package

NeoGene Tech has unveiled a breakthrough technology to fabricate a porous wick structure with thickness at only 10-micron, enabling ultrathin vapor chamber devices in large area with thickness of 0.15mm and even thinner.The ultrathin porous wick structure, called MagicWick, can be easily made in large area by adopting automatic Print Wick Structuring (PWS) approach, said the company, which is based in Guangzhou, China. The company said it is devoted to revolutionizing the way of making ultra-thin vapor chamber devices for 5G mobile computing applications by promoting its novel PWS approach and MagicWick-Inside Technology Platform.The 10-micron thick three dimensional porous wick structure is formed by a very tiny semiconductor crystal powder during a reactive sintering process. A proprietary Magic Paste is used in the PWS process to make the MagicWick such thinner, said the company.Heat management is crucial to smartphones with OLED displays, which are emerging as the leading phone screen technology. The world's most popular phone vendors are all shipping AMOLED smartphones.The useful life and brightness of OLED is very temperature sensitive. The brightness will decay and cannot be reversed in higher temperature operation. The design of 5G smartphone is compact and the power heating is double that of 4G devices. Integrating a large-area ultrathin vapor chamber on the backside of the AMOLED panel seems a good solution for thermal management but ultra-thin porous wick structure will be a vital issue in such application, said industry experts."It is impossible to make highly porous wick structure at such ultrathin thickness by using traditional copper mesh or copper sintered powder technology. Thanks to NeoGene Tech's revolutionary PWS and Magic Paste technology, the MagicWick structure at 10-micron thickness can be realized. It makes the ultrathin MagicWick-Inside VC devices at under 0.15 mm possible. NeoGene Tech is planning to offer this ultrathin MagicWick solution to major smartphone brands and vapor chamber manufacturers in early 2021," said Jeffrey Chen, CEO of NeoGene Tech.NeoGene Tech unveils MagicWick technology at 10-micron thickness to support ultr-thin vapor chamber devices

As high as 90% of the traffic accidents are related to driver's status, such as fatigue or distraction. Studies have shown that by monitoring driver's behavior and status, the traffic accidents can be greatly reduced by as much as 20%. Hence, the world's leading safety assessment institutions and most countries around the world are evaluating the benefit drivers can get by enforcing driver monitoring systems on all vehicles.Among all types of vehicles, commercial fleets are especially exposed to the potential threats of driver fatigue and distraction due to long driving time and distance. Global brand name customer has adopted iCatch Technology's intelligent automotive imaging SoC as the heart of fleet management dash camera to combine iCatch Technology's expertise in image processing and video recording with customer's own fleet management system and AI algorithm in the cloud. Both the front and in-cabin camera video streams are not only recorded on the local memory but also live streamed via 4G connectivity to the cloud for video backup and live review.iCatch Technology's intelligent automotive imaging SoCs can support multi-channel video recording with a total of 4Kp30 processing throughput. With the capability of supporting up to 4-channel video inputs, iCatch Technology's SoC provides various system architecture options to the customers, from one-camera front recording all the way to four camera surround recording. The built-in high performance ISP can provide state-of-the-art HDR imaging to overcome the high contrast scenes on the road. The embedded H.264/H.265 CODEC can minimize the video file size to maximize the recording time on the memory and to save data cost on video transmission via 4G.The combination of iCatch Technology's image processing and end customer's cloud integration and AI algorithm becomes a new fleet management solution to all fleets running on the road. Fleet managers have real time visibility to each driver and have the video files as evidences for driver coaching and performance review. The high-risk drivers will be identified and highlighted by end customer's advanced AI algorithm to minimize the efforts searching through the videos. This solution enables the fleet owner to take a proactive approach to improve driver behavior before costly accidents happen.For more information about iCatch Technology's products, please visit: www.icatchtek.com. For sales contact, please leave your message at: www.icatchtek.com/RequestsiCatch Technology intelligent automotive imaging SoC is widely adopted for fleet management application

Global Unichip Corp. (GUC), the advanced ASIC leader, disclosed today that it has successfully demonstrated the silicon-proven GLink (GUC multi-die interLink) interface using TSMC 7nm process and TSMC InFO_oS advanced packaging technology for AI, HPC and networking applications to do multi-die integration for system scaling.GLink over InFO_oS is adopted due to InFO_oS cost efficiency for modular, scalable and high-yield multi-die ASICs. GLink over CoWoS is adopted by customers using multi-die ASICs with HBM memories. GLink's low area/power overhead for high throughput interconnect enables efficient multi-die InFO_oS and CoWoS solutions up to 2500mm2.Error-free communication between dies with full duplex 0.7Tbps traffic per 1mm of beachfront, consuming just 0.25pJ/bit (0.25W per 1Tbps of full duplex traffic) was demonstrated. Testing results are fully correlated with pre-silicon simulations in all process-voltage-temperature corners. Early adopting customers are provided with detailed testing reports.GLink's power consumption is 6-10 times lower than alternative solution using ultra-short reach SerDes-based communication through package substrate. For every 10Tbps of full duplex traffic it consumes 15-20W less power than alternative SerDes-based interface. GLink IP occupies twice less silicon area and it supports both InFO_oS and CoWoS die integration platforms.Next generation GLink IP supporting 1.3Tbps error-free full duplex traffic per 1mm of beachfront with the same 0.25pJ/bit power consumption is already available using TSMC 5nm process. Following generation of GLink supporting 2.7Tbps/mm error-free full duplex traffic with the same 0.25pJ/bit power consumption using TSMC 5nm and 3nm process will be available during 2021. Such low power/area and traffic per beachfront efficiency makes GLink IPs perfect for AI, HPC and networking applications.SerDes-based chips consume constant power according to absolute worst case traffic scenario. GLink-based chips consume power according to actual traffic and data pattern. SerDes-based interfaces randomize data and consume constant power according to worst case data pattern. They always consume the same amount of Watts even when traffic is reduced and data is not random. GLink parallel bus doesn't randomize data, it consumes power proportionally to actual data toggle rate and even further reduces the toggle rate using DBI. It allows our customers to consume 15-20 times less power in practical use cases than if they used SerDes-based links."Having a full set of best-in-class and silicon proven HBM2E/3 PHY/Controller, GLink, CoWoS and InFO_oS expertise, package design, electrical and thermal simulations, DFT and production test under one GUC roof allows our ASIC customers quick design cycle, fast bring up and production ramp up. Strong momentum of GLink adoption by our AI, HPC and networking customers supports our commitment to building wide IP portfolio and deepening GUC design expertise focusing on advanced packaging revolution" explains Dr. Ken Chen, president of GUC."We leveraged expertise from five generations of our HBM PHYs and Controllers in order to define a new class of high traffic density, low power, low latency, error-free GLink interfaces. We are committed to keep doubling GLink traffic density every year while keeping the same power and latency. Starting from 2021 we are going to complement HBM3 and GLink with GLink-3D bringing order of magnitude higher traffic density, order of magnitude lower latency and many times lower power using TSMC 3DFabric technology" said Igor Elkanovich, CTO of GUC.Key highlights- Error-free, full duplex 0.7Tbps traffic per 1mm of beachfront- 0.25pJ/bit (i.e., 0.25W per 1Tbps of full duplex traffic) - Testing results fully correlated with simulations in all PVT corners - PPA advantage over SerDes/Package Substrate 1. 6-10 times lower power consumption 2. For every 10Tbps of full duplex traffic it consumes 15-20W less 3. Twice less silicon area- GLink's low area/power overhead for high throughput interconnect enables efficient multi-die CoWoS and InFO_oS solutions up to 2500 mm2GLink evaluation board and InFO_oS engineering samplePhoto: Company

Digital technologies such as 5G, big data, and AIoT have driven the continuous update of displays and smart applications with reach extending to many vertical markets, one of which is the key market of transportation. During "AUO Tech Forum 2020" hosted by AU Optronics Corp, a dedicated subforum was held for "smart transportation."Huge potential in rail transportation is a new blue lake for digital commercial displaysEric Su, Director of the Public Information Display Division at AUO stated that the company has invested heavily in transportation over the years and has gradually identified a "blue lake" in rail transportation. The company will continue to develop business opportunities in relevant infrastructure and focus on working with companies dealing in passenger information systems (PIS) in the future.Eric Su emphasized that PIS is one of the fields that best exemplifies the commercial value of displays. Using the example of light boxes which were previously dominated by mono color LED, the company is seeing more and more LCD products being implemented. However, traditional LCD products attempting to enter the field of transportation face many challenges such as space restrictions, harsh environments, and high customization requirements.Despite the many challenges, these hurdles are perfect for showcasing the capabilities of AUO's display technologies such as maximum support of 2,500 nits, readability under direct sunlight, and compliance with new trends such as wide temperature range and green energy. More importantly, AUO has developed the industry leading and revolutionary technology TARTAN and the ability to offer stretched display panels as well those with special aspect ratios such as square and round shapes that can meet client requirements with diverse customizations.Dr Andy Cheng, Industrial Technology Research Institute Deputy Director of the Vehicle Information and Control Systems Group, dissected the current status and outlook of self-driving buses. He mentioned while many believe that displays are not necessary in self-driving vehicles, the opposite is true; as self-driving vehicles cannot be entirely driver-less when initially entering roads, accompanying staff require display panels to keep up to date with dynamic vehicle information.In the field of self-driving vehicles, buses have great potential due to their fixed routes, which can reduce environmental complexity. Therefore, the Industrial Technology Research Institute delved into self-driving buses in specific Level 4 areas and began closed testing in the first half of the year; Soon, they will work with the Hsinchu County Government in Taiwan to launch self-driving shuttle buses from Hsinchu THSR station to Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel and perform the nation's first self-driving tests on open road environments.Smart Internet of Vehicles greatly enhances operation efficiency of fleetsADLINK Director of Internet Communications and Infrastructure Business Dr. Henry Hu gave a talk about "Self-driving Vehicles are Simple." He mentioned that based on U.S. statistics, traffic consumes the amount of time equal to the lifespans of 162 people making it clear that traffic has a significant impact on a country's competitiveness and that self-driving cars can ease this issue; he points out that self-driving technology is not far away in the future but already present in everyday life. Farmers in the U.S. and Japan use driver-less vehicles to harvest crops, spray pesticides, and turn soil while closer to home, the MRT Wenhu line in Taipei has also been self-driving since 2016.Many in the public believe that self-driving technology is challenging mainly because while Waymo, a self-driving technology company obtained their license for driver-less vehicles in 2012, there has been no massive commercial conversion; on the other hand, the driver of a renowned electric vehicle brand activated the autopilot function on the freeway and crashed into a truck that was laying on its side, showing that even with Level 2 self-driving there are many challenging aspects. Dr Henry Hu believes that if we choose "limited areas" and reduce complicated variables, such as dedicated lanes for self-driving buses, it's possible to massively reduce the obstacles to viability.ADLINK purchased a company specializing in IoT data distribution service (DDS) and made the technology open source. This became the communication architecture for the robot operating system ROS 2.0 while Autoware, the world's largest open source software for self-driving vehicles is also based on ROS architecture. ADLINK has forged a series of ecosystem partners in self-driving technology and can provide comprehensive hardware/software integration to help clients compete for self-driving opportunities in limited areas.Sintrones Sales Manager Derek Ho introduced in-vehicle computing solutions. The development of in-vehicle computing is closely related to internet technology. The 3G era saw computers integrated with 3G, GPS, and Wi-Fi with support for diverse applications; during the 4G era, we began to receive video that satisfied requirements for surveillance and recording; as we enter the 5G era, we can not only capture video but also combine them with AI modules for inferential analysis.The key to self-driving technology, whether we're between Levels 2~5, is data collection. When looking at the 3 major fields of application in C-V2X, this defines the data collection requirements before, during, and after an accident; this requires in-vehicle computing to connect with radar, cameras, GPS, or 4/5G data to ensure there are no communication obstacles between the driver, vehicle, networks, and mobile base stations.AUO Senior Director of Transportation Solutions Jackson Weng provided details on the value of AUO's internet-of-vehicles solutions. He pointed out that network connectivity makes vehicles smarter and increases operational benefits. AUO is currently developing an AIoV total solution package for internet-of-vehicles that encompasses cloud-to-ground, software and hardware, AI and vertical applications that provides the level of customization that satisfies the management requirements of vehicle operators.The AIoV cloud platform provides a wealth of management tools and AI added-value functionality that can connect the vehicle, dashboard, PIS, sensors, cameras, and CAN bus. The system is supported by high brightness AUO vehicle displays with support for TARTAN technology, providing operators with 5 major benefits including monitoring and optimization, fuel or battery consumption, and reducing operating costs; the platform collects driving records for different periods and routes to use as a basis for analysis for load efficiency or fuel consumption; monitor emergency braking activity performed by the driver and activate remote control at any time; monitor health status of sensors and parts for early repair; enhance safety by monitoring driver activities such as use of smartphones or falling asleep to reduce the costs of insurance and traffic tickets.Looking towards the future, the opportunities of self-driving vehicles, buses, rail transportation, and internet-of-vehicles will inevitably grow with limitless potential; For this end, AUO has provided advanced vehicle display technologies, forged alliances, and called on our partners in various fields to collaborate and satisfy the demand for application development in smart transportation.AUO TARTAN displays are available in diverse ratios and sizes and can be applied in the display of transportation informationAUO and ADLINK demonstrate AIoV and self-driving solutionsAUO Director of Public Information Display Division Eric Su explains how display technology is one of the keys of smart transportation systems

IoT application has an enormous impact in different industries nowadays. Since the pandemic COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, IoT technology becomes a necessary tool for everything. However, with many years of development, IoT technologies and solutions have gradually matured but the applications are not able to be used as everyone expected. The reason behind it is that most of the IoT solutions are often created by startup teams, which are likely to run out of resources in the early stage of development and unable to proceed to pilot production or field testing, not to mention mass production, rapid replication and application scope expansion.In order to help IoT startups overcome challenges and successfully bring their products to mass production, IoT Service Hub was launched under the organization of Institute for Information Industry (III) and with the support from Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs. IoT Service Hub has assisted more than 300 startup teams since its establishment. A success story among them is Oready Innovation Lab's O-take high-end virtual reality (VR) gloves.Before joined IoT Service Hub, O-take was made by a motorcycle glove connected to a development board without ID design to cover the exposed wires. IoT Service Hub introduced the development kit DSI5168 (RTL8711 AM chip) and brought in a service team to help with PCB design and layout (Chyi Jiunn Technic and SMTEK) and ID/mechanical design (Omima Design) to make a prototype glove with patented approved. In order to process the prototype to mass production, IoT Service Hub introduced IoT Integrated Service Center (IisC) of Industrial Technology Research Institute, which co-operation with Oready to modify the finger sensing performance, battery and ID design. Although O-take was under the modify stage to mass production, it already attracted some buyers to use it as a trial marketing strategy.Three major services bring IoT innovations to mass productionAccording to Ming-Hung Tsai, director, Digital Service Innovation Institute (DSI), III, the flourishing startup scene has given rise to a great number of incubators and accelerators in Taiwan. They mostly guide startups from the perspective of business operation and management, provide education training or free co-working space, or simply serve as matchmakers bridging startups and vendors. In contrast, IoT Service Hub is positioned as an accelerator that drives IoT solutions toward mass production and therefore offers services that are distinguished from conventional startup incubators. Its services centered on the idea of being a hub that aggregates co-working space and incubator guidance. The goal is to offer comprehensive guidance to help startups with promising potential optimize their creations toward marketable products, which are then handed over to IisC for further enhancement on functionality and performance until they can proceed to mass production. In sum, IoT Service Hub provides three major services - a project manager, IoT service team and domestically produced IC development kit.After a startup submits an application to join IoT Service Hub, a project manager will make an initial assessment to determine which stage of development the startup's product is in, for example, conceptualization, prototyping, small-volume pilot production or field testing, and what challenges or obstacles the startup needs to overcome. The project manager then finds vendors from the IoT service team that can help the startup tackle the challenges or obstacles and continue with their product development.The IoT service team now comprises more than 200 vendors across wide-ranging sectors. Capable of providing assistance in industrial / mechanical design, circuit design, firmware development, prototyping, certification and marketing, the team can help startups resolve whatever problems they run into during the product development cycle.IoT Service Hub's domestically produced IC development kit accelerates the progress to mass productionIoT Service Hub's domestically produced IC development kit combines the strength of Taiwan's IC industry and offers cost effective development toolkits to help startups to address the cost issue in the commercialization process. Tsai notes that startups tend to put efforts on developing the product without considering the pricing for the final marketable product. More often than not, they don't realize the cost goes too high until the stage of mass production. Then, they have to go back to searching for cheaper IC chips and try to reduce the cost so that their product can be made available at an affordable price acceptable to potential customers.IoT Service Hub's domestically produced IC development kit includes a development board made up of IC chips from Taiwan-based IC suppliers. Startups will be able to incorporate IC chips with a cost effectiveness right from the early stage of development. They only need to concentrate on miniaturization and exterior design when proceeding into mass production.Aside from a cost effectiveness, Tsai highlights three more advantages enabled by IoT Service Hub's IC development kit integrating domestically produced IC chips:First, the kit is based on a general-purpose ARM microcontroller featuring low power consumption as well as support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NB-IoT communication to accommodate IoT application development needs targeting a diversity of fields.Second, local technical support teams offer not only real-time services but also all kinds of reference designs, including how-to guides for DSI5168, DSI2598, DSI2599 and DSI5188 development boards and prototype development example documents or videos to lower the technological barrier for product development and shorten time-to-market.Third, IDEAS Chain, an IoT data platform, provides an independent cloud space for data collection. It is open to connection by an unlimited number of devices, supports multiple sensor interfaces and provides device management, graphical user interface and workflow script editor for startups to easily meet their cloud-based data gathering and processing needs during their IoT product development.Agile and iterative development makes IoT products more in line with market needs IoT Service Hub has guided more than 300 startups. To help the teams make products that are more in line with what the market needs, IoT Service Hub launched the "Enterprises raise problems; startups propose solutions" initiative in 2020. Based on future industry development and market needs and themed on smartization for specific fields, IoT Service Hub will interview enterprises to find the problems and pain points they encounter in the field, then search for solutions from the startups' products and identify and guide teams with promising potential. Through match-making events, enterprises can spot suitable products and further verify if the products match their needs. On one hand, enterprises can reduce or eliminate the trouble of incorporating digital transformation technologies themselves. On the other hand, startups can design products with market needs in mind right from scratch and keep the costs of trial-and-error to a minimum.Tsai emphasizes that going forward, IoT Service Hub will incorporate the agile and iterative development paradigm, where in startups' products will undergo field testing so that adjustments to product functions and designs can be made to cater to field requirements and the development cycles for IoT products can be shortened. The aim is to create a diversity of complete IoT solutions, which can then be quickly customized for use in different fields. Furthermore, IoT Service Hub will also actively connect with international markets and include the challenges facing overseas channels and fields in the scope of IoT solutions to be developed while forwarding the feedback from international markets to Taiwan-based IC suppliers. It is hoped that these efforts will not only help drive startup teams' IoT innovations to mass production but also help Taiwan-based IC suppliers build up their competitive edge and global presence, enabling them to capture the rising wave of IoT opportunities.Ming-Hung Tsai, director, Digital Service Innovation Institute, Institute for Information Industry

Intelligentization has become a key global trend in every industry. AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), a company that has thrived for many years in the field of optoelectronics, recently hosted the "AUO Tech Forum 2020" which invited experts from industry, academia, and government to speak about exciting developments in 4 major fields of intelligentization.In terms of smart manufacturing, Wang Shou-tian, Director of AI Platform at Edgetech, a subsidiary of AUO, gave a talk on "Smart Industry Services Under an Oasis Sky" and introduced AUO Group's current deployment and solutions in the field. He pointed out that AUO established subsidiaries Mega Insight and Edgetech to assist manufacturers in taking the first successful step towards intelligentization by providing comprehensive AIoT solutions for smart factories.Both of the companies have defined positions within smart manufacturing. Mega Insight is a company built to help the industry sustainably develop self-driven smart ecosystems, integration methods, and industrial software that provide indispensable smart manufacturing services. Edgetech's vision is to implement AI technology solutions that are innovative, practical, and competitive by fully integrating technologies and platforms to assist businesses in building an all-encompassing manufacturing platform.Based on the goals and visions above, both companies each released smart manufacturing solutions. Mega Insight's industrial AIoT platform integrates the maturation levels of various industries with industrial software and provides professional consulting to assist manufacturers in building optimized smart manufacturing systems. Edgetech focuses on AI, allowing manufacturers to build self-learning, self-training AI systems. Combining the platforms of Mega Insight and Edgetech enables manufacturers with a comprehensive smart manufacturing architecture from cloud to edge that successfully activates their digital transformation.In order to realize the visions of intelligentization, it's imperative to identify pain points to pinpoint a company's requirements and build suitable systems. During the topic of "Next Gen Smart Factory," ADLINK IoT Solution & Technology Director Yang Jia-wei spoke about the necessary concepts needed by manufacturers in the smart era. He mentioned that 3 major factors are critical in building smart systems, including equipment data, professionalism in the manufacturing industry, and field of manufacturing; once these 3 requirements are met, it's possible to select functions according to requirements. Based on the experience of ADLINK, the basic smart manufacturing functions currently available in the market include the 5 aspects of AI imaging, inspection robots, connected equipment, advanced diagnosis for equipment, and virtual repair. These technologies are mature with many application scenarios and are suitable as the basic system for manufacturers looking to take the first step towards their smart transformation. A method that caters both stability and innovation is expanding with additional systems once the foundation is stable and benefits are observable.In addition to visions and platforms, another major issue is how to assist clients achieve smart manufacturing. During his talk on "Ubiquitous Edge AI", Vincent Tseng, General Manager of APAC Region at ADLINK shared many successful cases including details on how their company helped partners integrate software and hardware to help land smart manufacturing. For instance, designing non-invasive systems to reduce the rate of erroneous reports. By adding plug-ins to existing AOI systems, solutions can be rapidly implemented and used while also protecting a company's previous investments. The result is effectively reducing more than 90% of erroneous reports, shortening processes, and improving unit production capacity. Vincent Tseng also introduced AI anomaly detection software and a smart hearthstone vibration monitoring platform. Both systems were smart manufacturing solutions built in collaboration between ADLINK and partners that allowed existing production systems to generate significant benefits.Robotic arms have long been viewed as the representative technology in automation. Based on their long years of experience in collaborative robots, Techman Robot has risen to the world's second largest brand in industrial cobots. During the forum, Techman Robot Director Hsiao Yi-lung spoke at length on the "Vision of Robotic Manufacturing". He points out that the manufacturing industry has changed from mass production to a production model with high variation and low volume. Due to this trend, traditional robotic arms can no longer satisfy the flexibility requirements of manufacturing systems. This will give rise to cobots that are lightweight, allow human collaboration, can be used across production lines, and are simple to control; these robots will play a key role in future production lines. At the same time, he expressed that robotic arms will transform from being hardware oriented to focus on hardware software integration in the smart era to expand the diversity and value of equipment.MIRLE is one of the leading domestic companies in the field of automation; over the recent years, the company has been assertive in promoting smart manufacturing strategies. During his talk on "Intelligentization, New Logistics - Smart Factory Solutions", Marketing Director Chen Jian-sheng of MIRLE pointed out that their company began in the production of traditional manufacturing equipment before pivoting and launching excellent products in the 3 major fields of semiconductors, optoelectronics, and new logistics. In terms of logistics, he introduced the company's "Automatic Material Handling System" (AHMS) which is widely implemented in semiconductor manufacturing by assisting clients in building a material transport system that maximizes the use of space. Due to the fact that this system is closely related to the design of manufacturing sites, MIRLE provides a detailed assessment plan to help clients successfully implement the system to maximum efficiency and gain a stable foothold in their highly competitive markets.Edgetech Director of AI Platform Wang Shou-tian gave his talk "Smart Industry Services under an Oasis Sky" at AUO Tech ForumAUO subsidiaries Mega Insight and Edgetech provide comprehensive AIoT smart factory solutionsADLINK and partners demonstrate various smart manufacturing solutions