Новини світу мікро- та наноелектроніки
QPT joins Polytechnic of Coimbra’s academic business incubator INOPOL
Riber reports positive earnings in first-half 2024, as revenue grows by 13%
TRUMPF improves performance of datacom VCSELs with proprietary subwavelength surface-grating technology
10 Major Lithium-ion Battery Companies in USA in 2024
The United States of America is one of the lithium-ion battery powerhouses in the world. Besides the domestic lithium-ion manufacturing companies, it has the presence of all major lithium-ion companies from across the globe.
Market-size of lithium-ion batteries in the United States of America
The United States of America is one of the largest lithium-ion batteries market in the world. Speaking specifically about the market-size of the lithium-ion batteries in the USA, it was worth US$ 13.7 billion in 2023. By 2032, its market size is expected to be worth US$ 71.6 billion. Hence, from 2023 to 2032, the market-size of lithium-ion batteries in the USA is expected to witness a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20.1%.
Ranking of the United States of America in the world as per the market size of lithium-ion batteries
As per the BloombergNEF’s ranking, China has the largest market of lithium-ion batteries in the world. It is followed by the United States of America. Hence, the USA has the second largest lithium-ion market in the world.
10 Major Lithium-ion Companies in the USA in 2024
The 10 major lithium-ion manufacturing companies in the world are as follows:
- Tesla, Inc.
It is an American multi-national company. It manufacturers batteries for cars and home power storage, solar panels, and electric automobiles.
It was incorporated in July, 2003, as Tesla Motors. It was named so after a Serbian-American inventor, Nikola Tesla.
Its head-office is in Austin, Texas.
It invests hugely in developing new lithium-ion technologies. For instance, in 2016, it had set-up a five-year research and development collaboration with Dalhousie University.
It has also acquired many battery manufacturing companies in the past. For instance, Maxwell Technologies, Hibar Systems, and Springpower International.
Its lithium-ion batteries are known for using majorly two types of cathodes. First, nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) cathodes. And second, lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cathodes.
Its lithium-ion batteries are known world-over for their high quality and durability.
For the production of lithium-ion batteries, it has established its Gigafactories across the world. They are in Austin, New York, Nevada, Fremont, Shanghai, and Berlin-Brandenburg. Besides these, it is also establishing a new Gigafactory at Neuvo Leon, Mexico.
- EnerSys
It is among the leading lithium-ion battery companies in the world. It supplies lithium-ion batteries to customers in more than 100 countries of the world.
Its manufacturing process is certified as per the ISO 9000, ISO 9001-2015, ISO 14001-2015, ISO 13485-2016, AS9100D, and IATF 16949.
It is headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. Besides, it has two regional headquarters. One in Zug, Switzerland. And the other in Singapore.
It manufacturers the famous NexSys® iON series of lithium-ion batteries. They are produced using Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) chemistry.
The speciality of these batteries is that they are ideal for applications in heavy-duty operations. Besides, they recharge at a very fast pace, are very durable and have low-upkeep. These qualities lower down the operational costs and make the entire production process very economical.
Owing to all these qualities, its lithium-ion batteries are used in appliances that find applications in grids, telecommunications, medical safety, and climate change. Besides, it is a major producer of lithium-ion batteries for energy storage solutions.
- Panasonic Holdings Corporation
It is a Japanese multinational electronics company. It was established in 1918.
Back then, it was called Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works. It was established at Fukushima, Osaka, Japan. It was renamed as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., in 1935. Similarly, it was renamed as Panasonic Corporation in 2008. In 2022, it became a holding company and was renamed as Panasonic Holdings Corporation.
Its head-office is at Kadoma, Osaka, Japan.
The lithium-ion batteries are manufactured by Panasonic Holdings Corporation’s constituent company, Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd. It was incorporated in April, 2022. It is also based out of Osaka0, Japan.
It manufactures a wide range of lithium-ion batteries. Its cylindrical lithium-ion batteries are used in automotive. Besides, they are used as primary batteries and in storage battery modules.
- LG Energy Solution, Ltd.
It is a lithium-ion battery manufacturing company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.
It was founded in December, 2020, when LG Chem Energy Solution Business Division, which had started its operations in 1992 shut down its operations in 2020, and transformed into a new company- LG Energy Solution, Ltd.
Its specialisation is the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
- Duracell, Inc.
It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 2016.
It manufacturers lithium-ion batteries in a range of sizes. A few such models are known as CR2, 123, 245, and 1/3N. Besides, it manufacturers lithium coin button batteries in a range of products- 2016, 2025, 2032, and lithium-ion button batteries such as LR44, 364, 362/361, 371/370, 377. Also, it manufacturers special lithium-ion batteries such as MN21, CR2, 123, 223, 245, 1/3N, AAAA.
It manufacturers ultra-light lithium ion batteries in three ranges- 28L, 223, and 245.
One of its premium and most famous products is the Duracell High Power Lithium 123 batteries. Its special feature is that they are made up of high-purity lithium. They have long guarantee and lasting power for a range of devices. For instance, sensors, smoke detectors, photo flash, keyless locks, flashlights, electronic dog collars, and bike accessories.
- Volkswagen Group
It is a world-famous automotive company. It is based out of Wolfsburg, Germany. Its American subsidiary company is named Volkswagen of America, Inc. Its head-office is based out of Reston, Virginia. It has established its advanced manufacturing facility at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Its speciality is that it manufactures very high-quality solid-state lithium-ion batteries for a wide range of applications. It manufactures these lithium-ion batteries by its battery innovation start-up QuantumScape.
- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL)
It is a Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company. It was founded in 2011. It specializes in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for use in three domains- electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and battery management systems (BMS).
It has established a lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Detroit, a city in the Michigan province of the USA. This plant supplies lithium-ion batteries to all the world-renowned car manufacturers. For instance, BMW, Daimler, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen.
- Wanxiang A123 Systems Corp.
It is a subsidiary of the Chinese Wanxiang Group Holdings. It was established in 2001 by three people- Bart Riley, Ric Fulop, and Yet-Ming Chiang.
It specialises in the manufacturing of nano-iron phosphate lithium-ion batteries. They are used in a wide range of applications- both appliances and energy storage devices.
- Lithion Battery, Inc.
It is head-quartered in Nevada, Henderson, USA. It has its production facilities in eight different locations across the world.
It has established a highly advanced manufacturing and testing facility for lithium-ion batteries at Henderson, Nevada, USA. It is dedicated to the production of lithium-ion cells and battery pack.
Its manufacturing process adheres to the Battery Council International (BCI) standards.
It manufacturers highly differentiated lithium iron phosphate cells, modules, and battery packs.
10. Toshiba Corporation
It is a Japanese multi-national company. It is head-quartered at Minato City, Tokyo, Japan.
It manufacturers the world-famous SCiB
lithium-ion batteries. It uses lithium titanium oxide as anode. This enables it to achieve its desirable characteristics. For instance, long life, fast charging, safety, and high input/ output power.
Its SCiB lithium-ion batteries are used in a wide range of applications. Such as automobiles, vehicle, power plants, elevators, and other industrial and infrastructure applications.
The post 10 Major Lithium-ion Battery Companies in USA in 2024 appeared first on ELE Times.
Source Photonics unveils 1.6T and 800G PAM4 transceiver family at ECOC
EPO dismisses Everlight’s invalidation action against Seoul Semi’s ‘No Wire LED’ patent
Low Pins...
 | The TPA broke inside of the connector, apparently the pin recessed after plugging in to the tester. [link] [comments] |
EEVblog 1641 - How DC Solar Isolators Work (TEARDOWN)
Raytheon completes first AN/TPY-2 radar for Saudi Arabia
OpenLight and Epiphany partner on PIC design
CML’s SµRF range of sub-GHz MMICs gains 2W linear power amplifier to ease UHF system development
Diagnosing and resuscitating a set of DJI drone batteries
A couple of months ago, spurred into action by U.S. House of Representatives passage of legislation banning ongoing sales of DJI drones (and the still-unclear status of corresponding legislation in the Senate), along with aggressively-priced promotions on latest-generation products (likely related to the aforementioned legislative action), I decided to splurge on an upgrade to the Mavic Air that I mentioned back in October 2021 that I’d recently bought.
Truth be told, the Mavic Air was still holding its own feature set-wise, more than six years after its January 2018 introduction. It supports, for example, both front and rear collision avoidance and accompanying auto-navigation to dodge objects in its flight path (APAS, the Advanced Pilot Assistance System), along with a downward-directed camera to aid in takeoff and landing.
And its 3-axis gimbal-augmented front camera shoots video at up to 4K resolution at a 30-fps frame rate with a 100-Mbps bitrate.
That all said, its diminutive image sensor leads to notable image quality shortcomings in low ambient light settings, for example. Newer drones also extend collision avoidance capabilities to the sides, along with augmenting conventional cameras with LiDAR. And other recent government regulatory action, details of which I’ll save for a dedicated writeup another day, has compelled me to purchase additional hardware in order continue legally flying the Mavic Air in a variety of locations, along with needing to officially register it with the FAA per its >249 g weight.
Still, I plan for the Mavic Air to remain in my aviation stable for some time to come, alongside its newer sibling, details of which I’ll also save for a dedicated writeup (or few) another day (or few). After all, with greater weight frequently also comes greater wind resistance. And as regular readers already know, I’m loath to ditch perfectly good hardware. As such, after pressing “purchase” on my new toy, I decided to pull the Mavic Air out of storage, dust it off and fire it up again (I’d admittedly barely used it since acquiring it more than three years back). At the time I bought it, I’d also purchased three factory-refurbished spare batteries (a key addition for long operating sessions given its ~15 minute per-battery flight time) from a reputable eBay dealer.
The original battery installed in the drone still held a modicum of charge, I was happily surprised to see when I fired it up, and it also recharged back to “full” just fine. Here’s what it looks like:
Here’s a closeup of those markings:
See: still alive!
And here’s where it fits in the drone body cavity:
The three additional batteries, on the other hand (knowledgeable readers are already shaking their heads in shared sorrow at this point)…dead as a doornail (or, if you prefer, a parrot), all three of ‘em, with no LED illumination whatsoever in response to front button presses. And, for what it’s worth, I’m not alone in my woe.
My subsequent research (PDF) informed me that per Battery Storage list entry #3, “the battery will enter hibernation mode if depleted and stored for a long period…leave the battery unattended for 5 minutes, and then…recharge the battery to bring it out of hibernation.” Unfortunately, that didn’t work for me, even after an hour’s worth of charger tethering. Which led to Battery Storage list entry #2: “DO NOT store the battery for an extended period after fully discharging it. Doing so may over-discharge the battery and cause irreparable battery cell damage.” Readers of my recent post on SLA and lithium-based batteries may be feeling more than a bit of déjà vu at this point.
What I initially figured had happened was something analogous to a situation I’d diagnosed more than six years ago, involving a wireless charging-capable battery case for my wife’s iPhone that wasn’t able to recharge itself over Qi because it its integrated battery cells had drained beyond the point where they could even power the charging circuitry itself. Reality, it turns out, was even more complicated than that due to the DJI battery pack’s multi-cell structure and the consequent need for an integrated battery management system (BMS) analogous to, albeit somewhat simpler than, the one discussed in a recent EDN writeup by another author.
How did I learn about this quirk? Reluctant to just toss the batteries and replace them with (pricey) new(er) ones, I came across someone online who was offering a resurrection service. My eventual savior, who I’ve agreed to only refer to by his first name Erik (and I’m referencing anonymously otherwise because, in his own words, “I don’t want to bring any attention to what I do because I don’t want to risk DJI unleashing their might upon me”), explained it this way:
The cells have likely been discharged below the threshold where the BMS sets a fault and keeps you from charging them. I don’t know how low they’ve drained until I open them up but, more often than not, they end up being just fine after a nice balanced charge and a few charge/discharge cycles before the BMS is reprogrammed. There’s no design fault in these batteries. The BMS is pretty standard and the cells are actually very high quality.
Upfront, I paid $34.99 per battery (minus a modest quantity discount; also note that he offers a full per-battery fee refund for any batteries that he can’t fix), plus $9 for quantity-independent return shipping, along with $22.80 to ship the batteries to him in the first place. They arrived on a Friday, and he’d successfully resuscitated, tested and shipped them back to me by the next Monday. Here’s how he described the background and the process in his own words (with only light-touch editing by yours truly…note that he in-advance agreed that I could republish them):
They all have been successfully repaired, bench tested and test-flown.
Getting a bit of the battery’s history and the problem doesn’t hurt, but it’s unnecessary. The BMS stores all the information I need. It’s like pulling codes from your car with an OBD2 computer, and like repairing a car, it’s up to the technician to interpret them.
When a battery arrives, I physically inspect it and make sure I didn’t get a battery that works fine. It’s happened before.
After that, I heat the back cover using a heating mat to loosen up the glue that secures it. I use 40°C for 20 or 30 minutes. The cover is also secured with a half dozen tabs that need to be worked on. An X-Acto knife and a flat plastic spatula do the job. I try to use plastic tools in order to not puncture the battery contents or short-circuit anything.
Once it’s all opened, the cells need to be tested. I made an adapter so I can connect all three cells to a LiPo balance/charger, bypassing the circuit board. I use it to cycle the cells twice by charging them at 0.25C the first time and 1C the second. Discharges are done at 1C the first time and 4C the second time. I use 4C the second time because it’s how much current the drone “pulls” while at flight. [Editor note: he’s referring here to the so-called C-rate]
If the cells check out ok, I proceed to working on the BMS. I look to see if the cells balance correctly within 0.2 – 0.3v and if there isn’t much voltage sag. These cells seem to be of good quality and are therefore very resilient, but again remember that your and others’ cells haven’t been cared for and are not brand new, so I do not expect them to work as if they were.
To connect, gain access, and communicate with the BMS, I use the EV2400 from Texas Instruments. Communication is done via SMBus. That said, any SMBus-capable interface adapter could conceivably be used.
Access to the proprietary BMS is protected by passwords. You either already have them or you need to “break in” in order to gain access. I can’t tell you my passwords, but I know of programs out there that will “generate” codes and let you in.
I use BQStudio, also by Texas Instruments, to tweak parameters and code as needed to “erase” the permanent faults (PF). Doing so enables the associated MOSFETs to open or close, thereby once again successfully enabling charges and discharges.
After reprogramming it’s time to charge the battery, now using the DJI charger, to see if it’s successful. If it charges as it should, good!
Now, I put the battery in the drone and check for firmware updates via the relevant DJI application.
Finally, it’s time for the first flight. I like to fly low and slow for the first couple of minutes. After that, I fly normally and, if it all checks out, I fly enough until the battery reaches 50 – 60% charge left. I like to ship these batteries at about 50% charge which is about 3.85 V per cell. That’s the manufacturer’s recommended storage voltage.
It’s also recommended that these batteries be recharged every 4 or 6 months when not in use so that the voltage doesn’t fall below the BMS’s threshold, which would cause a PF flag to once again be set by the BMS. This goes for all “smart batteries”, i.e., batteries with built-in BMSs.
Safety is a must. Lithium batteries are flammable, so great care must be taken and common sense must be used when attempting to repair, charge, or use these batteries, and they must never be charged unattended. I’ve had two incidents happen, and it’s a little scary. I didn’t get hurt, but I had to buy a few new instruments for my lab.
I’ll augment Erik’s wise words with two additional quotes from the earlier referenced DJI documentation:
Discharge the battery to 40%-65% if it will NOT be used for 10 days or more. This can greatly extend the battery life. The battery automatically discharges to below 65% when it is idle for more than 10 days to prevent it from swelling. It takes approximately one day to discharge the battery to 65%. It is normal that you may feel moderate heat emitting from the battery during the discharge process.
and
Fully charge and discharge the battery at least once every 3 months to maintain battery health.
Likely unsurprisingly to many of you from what you’ve already read, Erik also noted in a subsequent message:
The components on the [battery] board are off-the-shelf. Both the system chip and microcontroller are from Texas Instruments.
And Erik even shared some photos with me, to subsequently reshare with all of you, of the various disassembly, rejuvenation and reassembly steps:
As mentioned upfront, I’m not the only person who’s been struck by “dead DJI battery” lightning. And, as it turns out, Erik’s not the only one who’s figured out how to revive ‘em. Check out, for example, this chronologically ordered series of videos from an outfit in New Zealand who specializes in such services (among other drone-related things):
In one of the videos, the technician even uses TI’s EV2400; the others, to Erik’s comments that “any SMBus-capable interface adapter could conceivably be used,” showcase an inexpensive USB-to-SMBus bridge board based on Silicon Labs’ CP2112 IC. And as far as software goes, the most common approach leverages a freeware utility called “DJI Battery Killer”. The tool’s lineage is unknown, although it seems to have originally come from Ukraine, and it’s seemingly disappeared from sites that originally hosted it (although in at least one case, I happen to know that it’s still downloadable via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine intermediary), so consider yourself duly warned, and no, I’m not going to provide any direct links. I’ll only note that the utility’s documentation (which, yes, I now have a copy of) specifically mentions that it supports several battery management controllers: the BQ30Z55, BQ40Z50 and BQ40Z307 (BQ9003).
In closing, I’ll repeat for emphasis one phrase from Erik’s earlier in-depth commentary:
It’s also recommended that these batteries be recharged every 4 or 6 months when not in use so that the voltage doesn’t fall below the BMS’s threshold, which would cause a PF flag to once again be set by the BMS. This goes for all “smart batteries”, i.e., batteries with built-in BMSs.
That last-sentence reality check is both validating and deeply disturbing. To my right as I type these words, in addition to various drones’ batteries, is my expensive set of multi-cell D-Tap video batteries that I mentioned at the end of last year and again a month later, along with a variety of cameras and proprietary batteries for them. In front of me, of course, is my integrated multi-cell battery-based laptop computer. And to my left are multiple wireless headphone sets. More generally, scattered around the house (including in long-term storage) are any number of devices that run on Li-ion, LiPo and other battery chemistries, with most of those cells fully integrated and difficult-to-impossible to replace.
All of them, it seems based on this and past experiences, are essentially ticking time bombs, just sitting there waiting to die if they’re not regularly topped off. While I’m not so cynical as to knee-jerk label them all as examples of “obsolescence by design”, I’m also not a Pollyanna inclined to completely discount this possibility in all cases. Regardless of whether it’s an upfront intention or just an unfortunate side effect of today’s dominant power source technology, it’s a sooner-or-later source of outrage for consumers, not to mention a root reason for premature, excessive landfill donations. I welcome others’ perspectives, including insights into up-and-coming battery technologies and implementation techniques that don’t exhibit this Achilles heel, in the comments.
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.
Related Content
- Oh little drone, how you have grown…
- SLA batteries: More system form factors and lithium-based successors
- Solving a wireless charging mystery
- Automate battery management system (BMS) test with a digital twin
- An assortment of tech-hiccup tales
- Prosumer and professional cameras: High quality video, but a connectivity vulnerability
- Battery life management: the software assistant
- Obsolescence by design: The earbuds edition
The post Diagnosing and resuscitating a set of DJI drone batteries appeared first on EDN.
Toshiba’s launches 1200V third-generation SiC Schottky barrier diodes
ST unveils fourth-generation silicon carbide power technology for next-gen EV traction inverters
New Family of Voltage-Controlled Saw Oscillators with Ultra-Low Phase Noise Performance for Radar Applications
Microchip’s VCSO 101765 devices are available in 320 MHz and 400 MHz with a small form factor
Mission-critical applications like radar and test and measurement require specialized components with precise frequency control and ultra-low phase noise to enhance signal clarity, stability and overall system performance. To provide the aerospace and defense market with specialized technology for generating precise signals and frequencies, Microchip Technology today announces its new 101765 family of Voltage-Controlled SAW Oscillators (VCSOs) designed to deliver ultra-low phase noise and operate at 320 MHz and 400 MHz.
The 101765-320-A VCSO delivers ultra-low phase noise performance of 166 dBc at 10 kHz offset and a 182 dBc floor. Low phase noise is crucial for improving the lower limit of detection in radar and other sensing applications. These devices are optimal for radar and instrumentation systems such as Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) that demand high fidelity in critical phase-locked loop timing applications.
Available in a small form factor, 1 inch × 1 inch hermetic Kovar package, the VCSOs are designed for applications where Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) are important factors. The VCSOs are offered with supply voltages from 4.75–15.75V and a supply current of 111 mA to provide a power-efficient timing solution.
“Microchip continues to deliver ultra-low phase noise and high-performance timing products at a competitive price point to meet the needs of our customers,” said Leon Gross, corporate vice president of Microchip’s discrete products group. “Customers can choose Microchip for their timing needs and select other components for their application including FPGAs, MPUs, MCUs, RF, power management, security and connectivity.”
For aerospace and defense customers who require a higher degree of reliability, the 101765 VCSOs are available with MIL-PRF-38534 screening. The screening process is designed to ensure only the highest reliability components are used in critical applications where failure is not an option, such as in military and aerospace systems.
The 101765 VCSO family is a fresh addition to Microchip’s family of SAW products for aerospace and defense applications, which are designed to offer levels of high reliability for robust and mission-critical environments. They are available in a wide range of package options for ruggedized applications and support a center frequency range from 30 MHz to 2.7 GHz. Additionally, Microchip can address ITAR, EAR, and classified specifications for hardware to meet the customer’s security requirements.
Development ToolsThe VCSO devices are supported by the 101765-320-A-N-S-TB and 101765-400-B-N-S-TB test boards to enable customers to test the parts during the design phase.
Pricing and AvailabilityThe VCSO 101765-320-A and 101765-400-B are available now for purchase. For additional information and to purchase, contact a Microchip sales representative or authorized worldwide distributor.
The post New Family of Voltage-Controlled Saw Oscillators with Ultra-Low Phase Noise Performance for Radar Applications appeared first on ELE Times.
EDOM Technology Creates Resource Exchange Platform to Help Developers Quickly Get Started with AI Applications Using NVIDIA Jetson
Focusing on the development needs of edge AI applications, EDOM Technology has set up a microsite specifically designed to provide the latest hardware information and software development kits (SDKs) offered with the NVIDIA Jetson platform for edge AI and robotics. The microsite also provides rich content such as solution examples for diverse application scenarios, ecosystem partner resources, market information, etc., which can help developers to easily implement various innovative projects on the Jetson platform.
EDOM Technology has been an authorized distributor of the NVIDIA Jetson platform for over 20 years. NVIDIA Jetson offers complete systems-on-module (SoMs), including CPU, GPU, memory, various accelerators, built-in power management, and a variety of high-speed interfaces and external peripheral connections. The Jetson family of SoMs provides different levels of performance and energy efficiency to meet the development needs of different projects. From software services to hardware resources, NVIDIA Jetson modules have a complete set of compatible products, which can help developers obtain corresponding resources and accelerate project development.
In addition to various NVIDIA Jetson software and hardware resources, EDOM Technology’s microsite links to NVIDIA’s online forum, allowing developers to discuss and interchange ideas, solve development problems, and accelerate project progress. Manufacturers or developers who want to join the Jetson platform ecosystem can establish contact through the website to obtain corresponding technical support or development assistance.
Jeffrey Yu, CEO and President of EDOM Technology, said: “Our new exchange platform for NVIDIA Jetson meets the various needs of developers, helps solve the problem of resource dispersion, and ensures that developers can continue to obtain the latest technology information and trends. With years of collaboration with NVIDIA, EDOM Technology assembles a comprehensive and prosperous network of hardware and software resources, providing curated information on the latest AI models, libraries & SDKs from NVIDIA Metropolis, Isaac and Holoscan, from the cloud to the edge, and solutions for applications including robotics, vision AI, edge computing, and generative AI. Whether you are a novice developer or an experienced expert, you can find suitable tools to get started quickly according to your own needs.”
NVIDIA Metropolis offers powerful developer tools to supercharge vision AI applications, making the world’s most important spaces and operations safer and more efficient. NVIDIA Isaac is an AI robot development platform that offers more acceleration libraries and optimized AI models for robotics applications, like autonomous mobile robots and robotic arms. The NVIDIA Holoscan SDK provides a sensor processing platform with an optimized library for data processing and AI, especially for low-latency video processing applications, like medical devices.
By creating the microsite and integrating it with the NVIDIA Jetson AI Lab, EDOM Technology provides developers with a one-stop solution to help users get started quickly on generative AI and complete projects smoothly. In addition, users who log in to the website and subscribe to the newsletter through the “Lucky Draw Form” before the end of September 2024 will have a chance to win an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano developer kit.
The post EDOM Technology Creates Resource Exchange Platform to Help Developers Quickly Get Started with AI Applications Using NVIDIA Jetson appeared first on ELE Times.
Resonac and Soitec to jointly develop bonded substrates for SiC power semiconductors
IGBT that exploded
 | submitted by /u/SkyClimber99 [link] [comments] |
The life and chip works of Marvell co-founder Sehat Sutardja
Amid the steadily increasing talk about Moore’s Law of transistor scaling hitting the wall, Marvell co-founder and CEO Sehat Sutardja presented the idea of modular chips (MoChi) at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in 2015. This eventually culminated into what’s now widely known as chiplets.
He later discussed the idea of these daisy-chain multiple chips with AMD’s CTO Mark Papermaster, who thought the name was too complicated, calling them chiplets. Sehat’s passion and dedication to cobbling different pieces of silicon into a single package eventually led him to cofound the first chiplet foundry Silicon Box in 2021.
Sehat Sutardja, co-founder of Marvell and Silicon Box and investor and backer of several semiconductor startups, passed away on 18 September 2024. He was known as one of the pioneers of the modern semiconductor industry. “I am a bit narrow-minded. I only see things in terms of electronics,” he was quoted in a profile story, “Sehat Sutardja: An Engineering Marvell,” published in IEEE Spectrum in October 2010.
Born in a Chinese family in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1961, he was drawn to the wonders of electronics early in his childhood. While in sixth grade, he visited his younger brother Pantas Sutardja, who lived with their grandparents in Singapore. During this time, he got hold of Pantas’ hobbyists DIY books and magazines and was fascinated by the idea of building a Van de Graaff generator. The two siblings ended up developing a crude but functioning device.
From Van de Graaff generator to storage chips
When back in Jakarta, Sehat started building a miniature version of the Van de Graaff generator. After a little research at a bookstore, he discovered that the improved device would require replacing mechanical switches with transistors. That led him to a nearby radio shop, and in a year or so, he’d received a radio repair license.
Figure 1 Sehat was very fond of the radio repair license he received at the tender age of 13; his wife kept a copy in her purse in case he wanted to show it to people. Source: Marvell
While playing with transistors, he often encountered company names such as Fairchild, National Semiconductor, Motorola, and Texas Instruments. These were all U.S. companies, which led to his inclination toward studying in the United States. A friend of his brother was enrolled at the University of San Francisco, and that connection took him there in the summer of 1980.
What happened next clearly shows Sehat’s intimate bond with electronics. After disacovering that the university doesn’t have electrical engineering program, he moved to Iowa State University and earned his bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 1983. Then he moved to the University of California, Berkley, where he completed his master’s in 1985 and Ph.D. in 1988 in electrical engineering and computer science.
That’s where he also met his wife, Weili Dai, who was a computer science major. Sehat began his professional career as an analog circuit designer with two Bay Area companies: Micro Linear and Integrated Information Technology. At Micro Linear, he worked on digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and other chips for hard disk drives (HDDs).
Next, at Integrated Information Technology, he worked on circuits for digital video compression and decompression, a technology that ended up in AT&T’s infamous VideoPhone. Meanwhile, his wife Weili wanted them to start their own company, so in 1995, they founded Marvell Technology Group along with Sehat’s brother Pantas Sutardja. The name Marvell came from their quest to create “marvelous” things; it ended with “el” following the names of successful tech companies like Intel, Novell, and Nortel.
Birth of Marvell
Pantas, who had recently left IBM’s Almaden Research Center, had worked on hard drive technology at IBM. That, combined with Sehat’s stint at Micro Linear and expertise in mixed-signal chips, led them to develop digital read channels for hard disk drives. At that time, analog read channels from companies like Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and TI depended on amplitude peaks to decode HDD data.
On the other hand, digital technology could utilize the newly arrived CMOS technology scaling to define bit patterns on a hard disk track. So, Marvell used high-speed sampling and DSP filtering to introduce digital read channels that significantly increased disk drive data densities. That put TI out of read-channel business.
Figure 2 Weili Dai, Sehat Sutardja, and Pantas Sutardja founded Marvel in February 1995 with their savings and money from Weili’s parents. Source: IEEE Spectrum
They had working chips by Christmas 1995, and Seagate became Marvell’s first customer. Marvell has dominated the disk drive controller market since then. The timing was impeccable from two standpoints. First, the fabless design movement was just taking off, and Marvell became one of the early success stories in the emerging fabless semiconductor business model.
Second, by adopting CMOS technology for its debut chip for a hard disk drive, Marvell became one of the early adopters and beneficiaries of the historic transition from bipolar to CMOS chip manufacturing. Marvell followed the CMOS-centric approach on other products like Ethernet switches and transceivers to create faster and more power savvy chips.
However, Marvell and Sehat kept a relatively low profile while laser focused on the company’s product and technology roadmaps. Sehat, known as humble and down to earth, didn’t make splashes in trade media like many other founders and CEOs of successful chip companies.
Then, in 2016, Marvell’s intensely quite world was hit by an accounting scandal. Though president and CEO Sutardja and his wife, Dai, chief operating officer, were cleared of any financial misconduct, the pressure on sales teams to meet revenue targets led both Sutardja and Dai to leave their respective positions. Sutardja remained the chairman of the board.
The chiplets man
In the aftermath of this accounting investigation, Sutardja and Dai remained highly respected in semiconductor industry circles. After turning a scrappy little startup into a formidable semiconductor outfit, the husband-wife duo had engaged in over dozen startups, including Alphawave and DreamBig.
They also co-founded a specialized fab built around chiplet and advanced packaging technologies. Silicon Box, after building a fab in Singapore, is setting up another chiplet fab in Northen Italy to better serve European chip companies.
Figure 3 Sehat Sutardja, known for his humility, kindness and generosity, made significant gifts to the University of California, Berkeley. He is seen here with his wife and two sons at the grand opening of UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Dai Hall on 27 February 2009. Source: University of California, Berkeley
Sehat’s focus on chiplets shows his foresight on the future of semiconductors. To express his relationship with semiconductor technology and how it kept him going, he once said, “I don’t know anything else.”
Related Content
- Marvell Acquires Radlan
- Marvell’s President & CEO Resign
- Marvell CEO: The Tinkerer at The Top
- Ethernovia, Marvell Aim to Revamp Car Networks
- Marvell Unleashes High-Performance Preamplifier
The post The life and chip works of Marvell co-founder Sehat Sutardja appeared first on EDN.
New i.MX MCU serves TinyML applications
NXP’s has extended its ultra-low power i.MX series line with the RT700, this device incorporates AI processing via the integrated eIQ® Neutron neural processing unit (NPU), enhanced compute with five total cores including two Arm® Cortex®-M33 cores and Cadence® Tensilica® HIFI1 and HIFI4 DSP blocks. The chip is designed to optimize time spent in sleep mode for up to a 50% improvement in power efficiency. With over 7.5 MB of SRAM, designers can split up the memory to either lock it down to either core or separate it to be shared between them. The large memory ensures users do not have to prune their NPU model or real-time operating system (RTOS) to fit the memory, easing the design process. The RT700 supports the embedded USB (eUSB) standard in order to connect to other USB peripherals at the lower 1.2 V I/O voltage instead of the traditional 3.3 V. Finally, an integrated DC-DC converter allows users to power up the onboard peripherals. A block diagram can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Block diagram of the new i.MX RT700 crossover MCU with an upgrade in the number of cores, amount of memory, advanced peripherals, as well as a new NPU. Source: NXP
The crossover MCUsNXP’s crossover family of MCUs were created to offer the performance of an applications processor, or a higher-end core running at higher frequencies, with the simplicity of the MCU. It is a direct alternative to customers that purchase low-end microprocessors with memory management units (MMUs) to run rich OSs where external DDR is often necessary as well as the desire to use an RTOS. Instead, crossover MCUs streamline this task by bumping up the performance of the MCU and including high speed peripherals such as GPUs. In essence, a microprocessor chassis with a RTOS running on an MCU core as the engine.
Enhanced performanceWhile the 4-digit category of this crossover lineup concentrates more on performance running from 500 MHz to 1 GHz, the 3-digital subcategory is specialized for battery-powered, portable applications. The RT500 was optimized for its low-power 2D graphics capabilities while the RT600 introduced higher performance DSP capabilities, the RT700 combines the power efficiency and performance of these two predecessors (Figure 2). The five cores in the RT700 means the M33 can do the RTOS work with two DSPs and the 325 MHz eIQ Neutron NPU alongside them to accelerate complex, multi-modal AI tasks in hardware.
Figure 2: The i.MX, RT700 family combines both existing RT500 and RT600 families, offering even lower power consumption while adding more performance through the increase of cores and other architectural enhancements. Source: NXP
Power optimizationThe design revolves around NXP’s energy flex architecture with heterogeneous domain computing to size the power consumption to the application’s specific compute needs, all built optimized based upon the RT700’s specific process technology. Two different power domains, the compute subsystem and the sense subsystem, serve high-speed processing and low-power compute scenarios respectively.
The RT700 can use as little as 9 µW in sleep mode while having more than 5 MB of memory content retention, ensuring that the device consumes as little power as possible in a deep sleep state with a short wakeup time while still retaining information within SRAM as it was kept on. The run mode power consumption has been reduced to 12 mW from the previous 17 mW of the RT500 (Figure 3).
Figure 3: The i.MX RT700 exhibits a 30% improvement in power consumption while in run mode and a 70% improvement in sleep mode.
The aptly named sense subsystem is generally geared towards sensor-hub type applications that are “always on”. The eIQ NPU will further optimize power consumption by minimizing time spent in run mode and maximizing sleep mode. Figure 4 shows the power consumption executing a typical ML use case on the Arm Cortex-M33 and the power consumption after the algorithm has been accelerated with the eIQ Neutron NPU with dynamically adjusting duty cycle.
Figure 4: eIQ Neutron NPU acceleration will maximize the amount of time the device spends in sleep mode, ensuring processing is done as rapidly as possible to switch back into low power sleep modes. Source: NXP
BenchmarksBenchmarks performed on MLPerf tiny benchmark suite for anomaly detection, keyword spotting, visual wakewords, and image classification on the Arm Cortex-M33 and the eIQ NPU can be seen in Figure 5. There is an immediate contrast showing up to 172x acceleration on models with the NPU.
Figure 5: MLPerf tiny benchmark showing improvements in standard ML models for anomaly detection, keyword spotting, visual wakewords, and image classification. Source: NXP
This is a critical enhancement in the RT700 over previous generations as use cases for smart AI-enabled edge devices are cropping up exponentially. This can be seen with the increase in worldwide shipments for TinyML, or types of ML that are optimized to run on less powerful devices often at the edge compared. TinyML is a large shift in the conventional view of AI hardware with beefy datacenter GPUs for data-intensive deep tasks and model training. The rise of edge computing shares the processing burden between the cloud and the edge device, allowing for much lower latencies while also removing the bandwidth burden required to constantly communicate data to the cloud and back. This opens up many opportunities however, it does force a higher burden on smart data processing to optimize power management. The RT700 attempts to meet this demand with its integrated NPU while also easing the burden on developers by using common software languages for more simplified programmability.
Aalyia Shaukat, associate editor at EDN, has worked in the design publishing industry for nearly a decade. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and has published works in major EE journals.
Related Content
- Ultra-wideband tech gets a boost in capabilities
- The AI-centric microcontrollers eye the new era of edge computing
- Industrial IoT SOM pairs edge processing with wireless connectivity
- AI hardware acceleration needs careful requirements planning
- System-on-module enables machine learning at the edge
The post New i.MX MCU serves TinyML applications appeared first on EDN.
Сторінки
