european www.electronics-eetimes.com September 2015 business press 3D CURSOR TACKLES AUGMENTED REALITY Special Focus: Energy Harvesting FREE SHIPPING CEO interview: Ambiq’s Mike Noonen ON ORDERS OVER €65! DIGIKEY.COM/ EUROPE 020212_FRSH_EET_EU_Snipe.indd 1 2/2/12 12:37 PM 150429_SUPR_EET_EU.indd 1 4/28/15 10:42 AM WHICH SINGER WORE A MEAT DRESS? RIGHT, AND WHICH MICROBIOLOGIST MAKES CLOTHES OUT OF MILK YARN? #WHYISIT Why is it that most of us know the woman who caused quite a stir when she pioneered a dress made out of meat, but nobody knows the woman who transforms fermented milk into yarn? Isn’t it time we recognized the people who invent the things that make our lives better? People like Anke Domaske, whose biopolymers, made from fermented milk, represent a natural alternative to traditional plastics, and could be used to make textiles and electronics more sustainable. Let’s celebrate the heroes of innovation. arrow.com/whyisit ARO=CC_15_2_17_Domaske_200x297mm.indd 1 27.08.15 16:39 WHO SAID “HASTA LA VISTA, BABY”? AND WHO SAID, “ ANYONE CAN PROGRAM A ROBOT”? #WHY ISIT Why is it that most of us know a fictional robot with a thick Austrian accent, but we don’t know the German engineer who makes real robots more intelligent? Isn’t it time that we recognized the people, whose inventions improve the world? People like Dr. Rainer Jäkel, who teaches industrial robots new workflows by physically demonstrating them. Let’s celebrate the heroes of innovation. arrow.com/whyisit ARO=CC_15_2_17_Jaekel_200x297mm.indd 1 27.08.15 16:40 SEPTEMBER 2015 OPINION 24 Motion engine beats gestures 4 Is 3D XPoint based on phase-change memory? 26 Augmented theatre: a 100% French feat 50 Let consumers figure out a use case for EEG During this summer’s Avignon festival, French cultural startup Theatre in Paris provided foreign theatre goers see- NEWS & TECHNOLOGY through and customizable surtitles. 6 Ex-Google engineers promise 26 A 3D cursor for a 3D world ultra-low cost Android PC With the advent of smartphones and smartwatches, how users 8 Sensors, liquid crystals make interact with computers or smart “omnifocal” glasses devices in an inherently 3D world Perfect vision – all the time begs rethinking. – is the claim from startup Deep Optics Ltd. 27 Startup revives smartphones’ joysticks: rear-mount 10 Fraunhofer rolls security platform for cars - ENERGY HARVESTING 12 CEO interview: Ambiq sees 30 An adaptive power management broader options for low voltage solution for energy harvesting Mike Noonen from Ambiq Micro, discusses the focus and opportu- 34 TNatcore takes silver out of photovoltaics nities for his company designing circuits that can operate below the 34 Paper-thin solar charger fits threshold voltage its transistors. inside a notebook 14 Automotive electronics complexity at tipping point 35 ‘Aqueous solar flow’ battery lasts longer 14 ‘Test city’ opens for autonomous cars 36 Thin film solar cells may rival silicon 16 3D fingerprint scanner beats Apple’s Password security is already becoming - MICROWAVE & RF CIRCUITS a thing of the past with biometrics taking their place. 38 IoT network concerns The Internet of Things lacks a wide area network with 17 CoolCube circuit stacking moves to FinFET process broad coverage and low cost, according to a panel of expert working to bridge the gap to fuel IoT deployments. 17 3D printing for photonics: a British initiative 40 Millimeter waves hitch a ride 18 Is NextInput next winner in Apple products? 41 Changes to radio rules 18 Notebook displays shrink, Chromebook’s 11-inch a winner, says IHS 42 5G the Free WiFi Killer 5G may be not much more than a moniker for what 20 Drones’ agenda: new spectrum comes after 4G, but Intel clarified its vision recently at As the term UAV (unmanned aerial a keynote during the Intel Developer Forum 2015. vehicle) suggests, drones are sup- posed to fly autonomously. And 43 ‘Funtenna’ hack turns IoT devices into radios there’s the rub. DESIGN & PRODUCTS READER OFFER SPECIAL FOCUSES: 46 This month, Altera is - HAPTICS & USER INTERFACES giving away three of its second-generation Nios II 22 Haptic prosthesis gives back Embedded Evaluation Kit natural feel for missing limb (NEEK), worth $359 each, Austrian researcher develops a for EETimes Europe’s sensor-laden artificial limb able to readers to win. let the wearer feel the surface he or she is walking on. 49 DISTRIBUTION CORNER 3 Electronic Engineering Times Europe September 2015 www.electronics-eetimes.com Is 3D XPoint based Unlocking The Insights on phase-change memory? That Inspire Your Next By Peter Clarke hat would be the simplest way to explain the technol- directly or if they are written more generally about non-volatile “Eureka!” Moment—Sooner ogy behind 3D XPoint non-volatile memory; a scaled memory, reference PCM/PCMS as a specific embodiment. version of phase-change memory? On top of this there are many similar patent applications not WIntel and Micron chose not to reveal the materials they are yet granted. using or the switching mechanism at play in their 3D XPoint And it is harder to find mentions of other non-volatile memory non-volatile memory launched earlier this summer. But there types in those same searches. The frequency with which PCMS is some circumstantial evidence for it being phase-change comes up seems to support the view that phase-change is the memory technology implemented in a 2Xnm or 1Xnm manu- likely mechanism behind 3D XPoint memory but is not conclu- facturing process. The scaling, novel mixes of chalcogenide sive. glass and other developments may have provided the claimed The executives in the press conference described 3D XPoint Keysight's leading-edge measurement tools and sophisticated, future- performance improvements. as fundamentally new technology and yet a single-layer PCMS friendly software cover all phases of the 5G development cycle. memory was shown more than five years ago in October 2009 The 2Xnm feature size can be derived from calculations prior to the presentation of PCMS at IEDM in December 2009. Offering expertise you can leverage based on a typical die size, the assumption of a 4F2 memory I guess it depends on your definition of new. cell, and the given information of two This is happening in aerospace and defense applications where Benoit Neel increasingly realistic signal simulations are accelerating the planes of 64 billion memory cells in the Durcan was asked in the press Vice President and General Manager 128Gbit 3D Xpoint memory. A die area conference to compare 3D-XPoint with Keysight Technologies, Inc. development of advanced systems that protect those who go in of 1 square centimetre yields a feature phase-change memory and say why harm’s way. It’s happening in research labs where our tools help turn size of 19nm or less. A larger die would 3D-XPoint would be more successful. scientific discovery into the discovery of new sciences. push the upper limit up to the 27nm He said: “Relative to phase-change, It’s taking place with 400G Ethernet and the enabling PAM-4 For more than 75 years we have been helping you unlock region. which has been in the marketplace technology, where our end-to-end solution ranges from simulation measurement insights, first as the electronic-measurement businesses before and Micron has some experience of new designs to characterization of hardware inputs, outputs and of Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies, and now, as Keysight The secrecy has given rise to much with, this is a very different architec- connectors. And in wireless communications we’re providing leading- Technologies. speculation about the underlying 3D ture in terms of where it sits in memory edge measurement tools and sophisticated, future-friendly software XPoint technology. Rob Crooke, general hierarchy because of the dramatic im- From Day 1, there have been two sides to the story. One is the that cover all phases of the 5G development cycle. manager of the non-volatile memory provements in speed and volatility and work we do, creating leading-edge instrumentation and software. Within these application areas, there are often more standards than a group at Intel, and Mark Durcan, CEO performance.” The other is the work you do: designing, developing, debugging, single engineer can keep up with. That’s why so many of our people of Micron, described it as a fundamen- troubleshooting, manufacturing, testing, installing and maintaining are involved in standards bodies around the world. We’re helping tal breakthrough. They also said it was This appears to support the idea that components, devices and systems. “bulk switching” suggesting a non- 3D XPoint is not PCM but improves shape those standards while creating the tools needed to meet the Those seemingly unrelated activities are actually connected by filamentary behaviour. upon it. toughest performance goals. something profound: the “Eureka!” that comes with a moment of Phase-change memory has a long Through our global presence, we also have measurement experts near insight. When those happen for us, the results are innovations that Intel did say that 3D XPoint should and difficult history and perhaps Intel you: our application engineers have the skills and experience to help “What properties would a memory cell help you reach new breakthroughs. not be described as a ReRAM but the and Micron choose to define 3D XPoint you unite the hardware and software solutions that meet your unique nomenclature definition of what is or is to be something different to PCM? have if made of multiple interleaved Enabling the right idea at the right time requirements. not a resistive RAM is not formal. Intel also said the 3D XPoint memory cell chalcogenide and metal-oxide Micron had previously tried to sell This is our legacy.