ICs & Semiconductors

Two new factory one-time programmable linear Hall-effect sensor ICs which eliminate the need for customers to optimise or program the devices for their finished sensor assemblies are now available from Allegro MicroSystems Europe. The A1318 and A1319 provide a low-noise temperature-stable output, and are targeted at high-bandwidth displacement and angular position sensing applications involving a 3.3 V supply rail.

Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe (FSEU) has introduced a new series of 32-bit RISC microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, expanding the Fujitsu FM3 MCU family to around 500 products in total. This new MCU series includes the MB9BF121JWQN model, which features low-pin-count QFN packaging and has been optimised for system control in household appliances, office automation systems and industrial equipment.

Microchip is expanding its 8-bit PIC16F178X enhanced Mid-Range core microcontroller (MCU) family with increased Flash memory densities; intelligent analogue and digital peripherals, such as on-chip 12-bit Analogue-to-Digital Converters (ADCs), 16-bit PWMs, 8-bit and 5-bit Digital-to-Analogue Converters (DACs), operational amplifiers, and high-speed comparators with 50 ns response time; in addition to EUSART (including LIN), I2C and SPI interface peripherals.

OmniVision Technologies, a developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, has unveiled a cost-efficient and compact 720p high definition (HD) CameraChip sensor, that has been designed specifically for secondary cameras in notebooks, tablets and smartphones, as well as the rapidly developing smart TV market. The OV9728 uses a 1.75-micron OmniBSI+ pixel to deliver improved HD video performance that exceeds the premium specifications for video quality.

Samsung Electronics has begun production of ultra-high-speed four gigabit (Gb) low power double data rate 3 (LPDDR3) mobile DRAM, which is being produced at a 20 nanometer (nm) class process node. The new 4Gb LPDDR3 mobile DRAM enables performance levels comparable to the standard DRAM utilized in personal computers, making it a solution for multimedia-intensive features on next-generation mobile devices.

NXP Semiconductors has made available the TJA1083, TJA1085 and TJA1086 FlexRay transceivers extending further its comprehensive portfolio of FlexRay transceivers to the automotive market. Fully compliant with JASPAR and EPL 3.0.1 certifications, NXP’s complete FlexRay portfolio is expected to help promote the adoption of FlexRay technology within the global automotive industry.

Expanding its low-cost microcontroller (MCU) development ecosystem with sensor fusion technology, Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced the Sensor Hub BoosterPack for the Tiva C Series TM4C123G LaunchPad. This new Sensor Hub BoosterPack is a cost-effective, plug-in daughter card that allows ARM Cortex-M4 MCU developers to create products with up to seven types of motion and environmental sensing capabilities.

Wolfson Microelectronics has announced that its WM5102 High Definition (HD) Audio System-on-a-Chip (SoC), and its WM2000 earpiece driver with its ambient noise cancellation (ANC) technology built-in, has been selected by Lenovo for its latest flagship smartphone, the IdeaPhone K900.

Worldwide shipments of ICs that include Bluetooth technology are set to rise to 3.1 billion units in 2017, up 91 percent from 1.6 billion in 2011, according to a new report entitled Bluetooth—Classic or Smart Ready from IMS Research. The growth in the market for Bluetooth semiconductors is expected to be driven by demand for wireless combination integrated circuits (ICs) and mobile system-on-chip (MSoC) devices with integrated wireless connectivity that are used in mobile devices like smartphones and media tablets.

Microchip has launched the OS81118, the first MOST150 Intelligent Network Interface Controller (INIC) with a USB 2.0 high-speed device port and an integrated coax transceiver. The MOST150 technology was first successfully deployed in car models in 2012 and now Microchip has unveiled the latest member of its MOST150 INIC family.