A new website launched on the 1st June 2001 by procurement specialist First Index will serve as a single, easily entered electronic gateway to the full range of the company’s services.
A new website launched on the 1st June 2001 by procurement specialist First Index will serve as a single, easily entered electronic gateway to the full range of the company’s services for buying and selling nonstandard or bespoke components for the engineering industry. Besides offering an integrated portal, it provides a connection to the company’s four major business centres in the UK, Germany and the USA (East and West Coast). The new website (www.firstindex.co.uk) will provide swift access to the latest version of First Index’s top-line sourcing service, ‘findFAST Online 2.0′, launched in March this year.

Hosted by the company, the database linked to findFAST Online 2.0 contains information on more than 40,000 suppliers in this country and abroad, together with details of their capability to make or supply nonstandard and custom manufactured components.

“Finding standard or commodity parts via the Internet is now relatively easy, but when something that is not readily available must be found or needs to be specially made, then people like design engineers, buyers and suppliers, in companies large and small, need a different kind of service”, said Hans Wigart, a founder and the chief executive officer (CEO) of First Index.

“This issue is crucial because it represents a recurring and often major demand on time and resources.

The new website portal from First Index provides a fast and easily navigated path to a cost-effective solution”, he said.

Of the many services available via the new First Index website, other important sources of information include details of current contracts and live requests for quote (RFQ) opportunities.

In addition, besides the First Index directory of suppliers, the PROfiles feature enables a buyer to build a personalised record of information on supplier companies by creating his or her own database within ‘findFAST Online 2.0′.

Records can be updated by the buyer to make a note of new details about the process capability and any additional information provided by the supplier.

The personalised feature means that time is saved when using the service again because there is no duplication of previous steps.

Integrated Measurement Systems and Schlumberger Probe Systems have announced a joint initiative to provide IC debug and characterisation using latest generation debug and validation products.
Integrated Measurement Systems and Schlumberger Probe Systems have announced a joint initiative to provide IC debug and characterisation services using latest generation debug and validation products. The service couples IMS’ Vanguard 500MHz IC validation system with the Schlumberger IDS PICA probe system, to provide customers access to state-of-the-art technology while minimising capital investment. These systems provide engineers developing the most advanced IC designs with a high speed, completely interactive diagnostic and debug system to accelerate their time to market.

The Schlumberger IDS PICA probe system is the first and only commercially available tool to use advanced PICA (Picosecond Imaging Circuit Analyser) technology licensed from IBM, harnessing light emissions to track electrical signals as they travel through semiconductor devices.

The IDS PICA system can help speed new products to market by dramatically easing the difficult and time-consuming process of gathering timing data and finding faulty areas of leading-edge IC designs.

The IMS Vanguard IC validation system offers up to 500MHz/1Gbit/s datarates with up to 512 I/O channels and provides an easy to use, interactive validation platform to stimulate devices being analysed by the IDS PICA system.

IMS’ Vanguard is designed to direct dock to the IDS PICA system for easy setup and high bandwidth.

The Vanguard/IDS PICA system can be operated from a single common workstation and a number of software test development and data analysis tools are provided for the customer.

The Vanguard/IDS PICA system enables the user to accurately stimulate a device, while capturing the light emissions from the active CMOS transistors without invading the device operation.

Since it analyses signals emanating from the device itself, the IDS PICA instrument can probe devices of any size circuit geometry with unmatched accuracy.

“Products like IMS’ Vanguard and the Schlumberger IDS PICA are breakthroughs in IC debug capability.

They are technology-enablers for customers who are pushing process technology to 0.13-micron and SOI.

The IDS PICA/Vanguard combination offers the customer a flexible solution capable of rapidly debugging these problems in a high-speed high-accuracy totally noninvasive massive observation approach.

Offering the two products combined, in a Service business, with on-site applications expertise available to the customer is a great way for customers to quickly get access to this capability while still keeping capital costs low”, stated Jack Frost, General Manager of IMS’ SoC Validation Division.

“One of our goals is to bring the IDS PICA technology to a large audience, including fabless customers.

Forming an alliance with IMS gives our customers the benefits of state-of-the-art probing technology, along with the flexibility and performance to get critical answers quickly.

A key benefit of this venture is to colocate application teams in order to provide a one-stop solution”, stated Michel Villemain, Vice President, Probe Systems, Schlumberger Semiconductor Solutions.

The service includes customer support, device preparation and training to create an extensive device IDS PICA performance database.

The service also provides a software license for offline analysis of the performance.

Device fixturing, pattern translation and test optimisation services are also available.

Texas Instruments has announced a worldwide initiative that extends development support and training capabilities for TI’s OMAP processing platform.
Texas Instruments has announced a worldwide initiative that extends development support and training capabilities for TI’s OMAP processing platform. The new network of TI-licensed companies, called Independent OMAP technology Centres, will enable wireless handset manufacturers to rapidly take to market advanced and differentiated 2.5G and 3G wireless products based on TI’s OMAP architecture, and allow software developers to quickly create multimedia-rich applications such as streaming video, video conferencing and high-fidelity audio. TI has contracted with the first two Independent OMAP Technology Centres, BSQUARE and Productivity Systems (PSI), to accelerate development efforts for select wireless handset manufacturers and application developers.

“OMAP technology has become the de facto standard for 2.5G and 3G wireless applications, and Independent OMAP Technology Centres give wireless handset manufacturers and application developers a very powerful tool for delivering advanced OMAP products to market quickly”, said Alain Mutricy, general manager of TI’s OMAP platform.

“Independent OMAP Technology Centres greatly extend our development support capabilities by bringing together a variety of hardware, software and systems integration expertise, giving customers access to an entire palette of current and future OMAP development technologies”.

Independent OMAP Technology Centres provide wireless handset manufacturers and developers access to a broad range of wireless system expertise, including systems integration, OMAP development training, and OMAP support products like reference designs and compilers.

Operating system support is available for Microsoft’s Windows CE, symbian OS and other familiar high-level operating systems.

BSQUARE and PSI bring extensive system integration, OS system expertise, training and product support to 2.5G and 3G wireless handset manufacturers and OMAP developers.

“Our goal is to get our customers’ multimedia-rich smart devices to market quickly”, said Scott Bufkin, vice president of professional engineering services of BSQUARE.

“As an Independent OMAP Technology Centre, we can use our extensive Windows embedded expertise, products and services to create unparalleled OMAP solutions”.

“Independent OMAP Technology Centres provide wireless handset manufacturers and OMAP developers immediate access to a comprehensive community of development technologies”, said Ken Milburn, president of PSI.

“By giving customers a complete set of integration and development services, we will enable the rapid mass market development of new OMAP technology-based products”.

Research among manufacturers conducted by First Index indictates that buyers see e-sourcing, the ability to automate requests for quotes and supplier relationship management as key drivers.
Research among manufacturers conducted by First Index indictates that buyers see e-sourcing, the ability to automate RFQs (request for quotes) and supplier relationship management (SRM) as key drivers of their online strategy. The research - among 180 buyers already posting RFQs in First Index’s findFAST e- marketplace - was conducted as part of the development of a suite of web-based software aimed at the contract manufacturing market. The research and the product will debut at the Manufacturing Week exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham on 30th October.

Early results from the survey highlight four clear buyer requirements: to pool buyer experience across large buying organisations via an organised, easy to use supplier database; to automate the RFQ process for existing and new parts combined with a way to facilitate online collaboration with suppliers throughout the RFQ process; to use online means to build long-term relationships with preferred suppliers that shortens product development lifecycles; and to be able to evaluate supplier performance and ensure value for money in sourcing.

The research was conducted as part of the process of developing a new product, findFAST PRO, a web-based suite of e-sourcing, RFQ automation and supplier relationship management (SRM) tools, that will be launched at the show.

The suite is aimed at buyers who purchase made-to-order direct materials in, among others, the global automotive, aerospace and defence and electronics sectors.

It complements First Index’s established findFAST e-marketplace solution which has over 2000 supplier members that benefited from the 28,000 RFQs posted in the last year.

An innovative solution that allows digital images to be combined into a wide angle or panoramic view by emulating 3D surroundings has been created by offshore outsource developer iDeveloper Network.
An innovative solution that allows digital images to be combined - or “stitched” together - into a wide angle or panoramic view by emulating 3D surroundings has been created by offshore outsource developer iDeveloper Network. Called QuickStitch, the solution was developed for Enroute Imaging by iDeveloper Network and is now incorporated within Ricoh digital cameras. The user interface features an easy-to-use “drag-and-drop” feature, powerful image layout capability, a variety of interface customisation options and image filters.

With a development centre in Moscow, and offices in the UK, Denmark and the USA, iDeveloper Network has been active in Europe for more than four years and has successfully completed projects for many of the countries’ major organisations.

iDeveloper Network was created by British company Connected Place and Russian offshore specialist SoftLogic Group.

The company offers a unique approach to software development and provision of services that combines extremely competitive rates with very high quality development personnel.

Its UK presence and client reporting methods ensure that while projects may be completed offshore this is transparent to clients.

With hourly rates for senior IT professionals typically as low as US $25 to $35 and $20 to $30 for web design, the company recently launched an aggressive marketing campaign in the UK.

Cadence Design Systems has opened a new centre in Shanghai.
Cadence Design Systems has opened a new centre in Shanghai. The Cadence High-Speed Technology Centre will serve a growing customer base in Asia-Pacific with training, education programmes, and methodology and consultancy services. The objective is to increase the productivity of high-speed printed circuit board (PCB) companies and to develop the skills of designers and engineers by providing education as well as customised design solutions.

The computer, communications, and networking markets’ demand for compact, faster products challenge design engineers to put more features into smaller PCBs within a shorter design time.

To help meet the resultant design challenges, Cadence created the High-Speed Technology Centre.

The centre will use the Cadence SPECCTRAQuest design and analysis environment as a standard platform to develop customised design flows and methodologies that will enhance productivity in customer-specific industrial applications.

Technologies of importance in this market include high-speed buffer modelling, advanced simulation techniques, signal integrity, EMC and power delivery design and analysis, silicon-package-board interconnect design, and design kit development for regional integrated circuit suppliers.

“Cadence opens the new High-Speed Technology Centre in response to China’s rapidly growing electronics business”, said Mike Bosworth, executive vice president of the Cadence System Solutions Business.

“From Shanghai, we will be able to better focus on the business and technical needs of our customers in the region who are working on leading-edge designs”.

“The technology centre is a first-of-its-kind in Asia Pacific”, said Matthew Chan, president, Cadence Asia Pacific.

“Our goal is to increase the productivity of our customers by optimising their design flows, allowing them more time to focus on their primary business”.

In the initial stage, the technology centre will serve three markets: wireless communication, wired communication, and computing applications.

The scope of service will expand to advanced packaging design and digital consumer applications over the next two years.

The High-Speed Technology Centre is part of a focused Cadence investment in China announced in December 2001.

The company intends to invest US $50 million to enhance sales, support and services in China’s booming electronic design market.

With offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen and a new wholly owned subsidiary, Beijing Cadence Electronic Technology Company, the company is now implementing plans to establish training and research and development centres in China.

To that end, in April 2002, the company announced a joint venture between Cadence Design Systems Asia and Beijing Zhongguancun Software Education Company that will establish a software institute in Beijing to train post-graduate-level engineers in electronic design.

Bay Microsystems has recently made the first customer shipment of its “right first time” 10Gbit/s Montego internetworking processor, developed using SynTest’s DFT tools and services.
Bay Microsystems has recently made the first customer ship of its “right first time” 10Gbit/s Montego internetworking processor, developed using SynTest’s DFT tools and services. This ultra-high performance packet-processing device was implemented using 0.18-micron semiconductor process technology and was completed in record time. This portentous achievement resulted from an accelerated bring up time, facilitated by the DFT tools supplied by SynTest Technologies.

With the release of Montego, Bay Microsystems has created a new class of network processor that combines scalability, intelligence processing and ultra-high performance in highly integrated single chip solutions, that scale from “access to long haul”.

SynTest’s tools and services proved invaluable by improving testability and reducing test time, thereby enabling Bay to meet its aggressive market window for release.

Tony Chiang, Vice President of Engineering at Bay Microsystems said, “We are very happy with our choice of SynTest, as our DFT partner.

By providing exemplary DFT services, and installing their tools at our site, they enabled us to test various modules on command, drastically reducing down time and maximizing our productivity.

The compact ATPG patterns generated by SynTest’s TurboScan-ATPG software allowed us to reduce time-to-market using ATE to test the structural reliability of our chip design”.

Dr LT Wang, President, SynTest, said: “We would like to congratulate Bay Microsystems, Tony Chiang and his team, on their stellar achievement.

We are very honored and happy that Tony put his confidence in SynTest and that we were able to contribute to their success”.

To ensure a predictable outcome and eliminate potential design flaws at the last minute, and to achieve high fault coverage, Bay Microsystems chose to use DFT methodology for a scan-based design from the very beginning.

It selected SynTest’s TurboScan scan insertion and ATPG tool, and SynTest’s services, as well as SynTest’s Turbo BSD, for boundary scan synthesis, to facilitate the testing of it’s memory BIST and full scan chains on multiple-linked modules.

Tony Chiang noted, “With the goal of minimising the drain on our internal resources, we decided to look for a partner with a complete set of proven and easy-to-use DFT tools, who could support our efforts”.

“Our primary concern was to take action up front to detect errors and to avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes, down the road.

It was crucial not to get bogged down with lots of debugging after the chip had taped out.

We would lose the valuable time gained by using a modular approach.

The chip was going to be complex and huge and we knew that functional tests would not be adequate and reliable.

We had to have high fault coverage and compact ATPG patterns.

SynTest helped our stellar design team achieve our goals”.

GSPK Design has teamed up with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) at the University of Sheffield to help to guide entrepreneurial students to realise their potential.
GSPK Design has teamed up with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) at the University of Sheffield to help to guide entrepreneurial students to realise their potential. The university annually matches students to Yorkshire based companies to give them the opportunity of a work placement over the summer months and GSPK Design is a dedicated sponsor of this scheme. GSPK Design invited Richard Drake, an electronics engineering student from the EEE Department at the University of Sheffield, to tap into the facilities and expertise provided by engineers working on the GSPK Technology Park to assist with his final year project.

Such was the success of Drake’s project that he won himself a place at the STEP Awards (Shell Technical Enterprise Programme) held in London on 27th September last year, a competition run through University centres with a focus on electronic and electrical engineering.

The competition was sponsored by New Electronics on Campus, a University magazine and it awarded the highest achieving students.

Says Drake: “Working with GSPK Design has given me an insight into the world of consumer driven electronics and an invaluable chance to get hands on experience with real electronics design projects.

I have been able to work alongside electronics experts and finally put the theory into practice”.

Graham Whitby, GSPK Design’s Managing Director, adds: “This project and collaboration with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield has not only given us a great opportunity to give something back to the community, but also to invest time and skills in the electronic designers of the future.

We have been assisting Richard with his project using solar cells to power Luxeon Lumileds for road traffic, school crossings and road sign lighting, in combination with LumiDrives, the LED lighting specialists, also based on the technology park.

Having volunteered the time and effort of our experts on site to the disposal of the University of Sheffield lecturers and students, this has given GSPK Design Ltd the opportunity to nurture and encourage, in a practical way, the bright young entrepreneurs of the future”.

Professor Tony Cullis, Drake’s Project Supervisor says: “We are extremely pleased to have these close collaborative links with GSPK Design, and indeed the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering regarding such interactions with industry as part of its overall remit”.

The research project undertaken by Richard Drake has led to the development of a solar power battery recharge system for remote LED lighting capabilities.

As a result of this research, the company is endeavouring to launch a system that is capable of battery recharge throughout the day ready for powering LEDs at night.

For those of us who are “green”, this research and development will prove to bring huge benefits for the environment.

Design in distributor GD Technik has developed a LCD driver board for a major brewing equipment manufacturer in Tyneside.
Design in distributor GD Technik has developed a LCD driver board for a major brewing equipment manufacturer in Tyneside. The company used off-the-shelf components to build a tailor-made board to drive a graphical user interface (GUI) for a brewing process controller, providing the optimum cost effective solution in record time. The GUI components comprise a 5.7in monographic quarter VGA display combined with a touchscreen interface.

The display features a back lit cold cathode fluorescent tube (CFL) and transflective screen technology, providing low-power consumption, yet bright and sunlight readable display.

As well as supplying the GUI, GD Technik needed to design, develop and test a working driver board to mount at the back of the display, which interfaces with the microprocessor-based brewing process controller.

To link the display module with the brewing process microcontroller is an Epson S1D13305 graphics controller, which provides data and control signalling together with control and access of stored data in the driver’s 64Kbyte of SSRAM.

While the driver board requires a 5V power supply, the BIAS PSU generates locally the -24V power supply for the LCD.

Power sequencing is controlled by an Atmel 8bit AVR RISC microcontroller, which also provides in-system-programmable Flash memory.

A particularly important feature of the circuit, improving reliability is an optional self-test unit, facilitating testing during manufacture.

One of the most important challenges facing GD Technik’s design team was to interface the touch screen to the brewing process microcontroller.

The company’s engineers turned to Atmel’s AVR microcontroller, programmed to scan the touch screen via its I/O ports and convert the information into five-packet-protocol, demanded by the customer’s microcontroller’s serial interface.

After successful delivery of this custom solution, GD Technik has found further interest from the market place and is currently working on a colour LCD version of its GUI driver.

Gothic Components has invested over GBP 100,000 in a programming centre at its Wokingham facility, to service customer requirements for ready-configured programmable components.
Gothic Components has invested over GBP 100,000 in a programming centre at its Wokingham facility, to service customer requirements for ready-configured programmable components. The programming centre is equipped for Actel FPGAs, Zilog OTP microcontrollers and Epson programmable oscillators - all available from the distributor’s linecard. “We see programming as an essential value-add service to support the programmable components in or portfolio”, said Geoff Clarkson, Director, Gothic Components.

“We keep pace with the volume requirements of our customers and with new component technologies through continuous investment in equipment, software and operator training”.

The programming centre, which is ISO9002 certified, is currently programming over 20,000 Actel devices each month, with device marking also offered for all components.

“Actel components account for the lion’s share of the programming, and we have over GBP 100,000 of Actel programming equipment capable of programming up to 28 devices simultaneously.

We can quickly turn orders round, including production quantities”, comments Clarkson.

Gothic customers currently using the programming service include manufacturing services companies, OEMs and developers requiring small quantities for development and prototyping purposes.

According to Geoff Clarkson, around 50% of all programmable components supplied by Gothic are programmed in the centre.

“The service can significantly reduce time to market for our customers, for example when a quick turnaround is required for prototyping”, he adds.