Cover Story
Touch Sensors Lead to Input Innovations
A New World Discovered through Touch
Part 1: Trends
Touch Sensors becoming the Key Components in Development
Portable Devices Driving the Market
The full-scale use of touch sensors, such as touch panels and touch switches, in electronic devices has begun. Not only do touch sensors provide a simple user interface to any user but they also add new value to devices through the addition of new functions and improved design freedom. For device manufacturers, the environment for utilizing touch sensors will continue improving.An era will arrive when manufacturers’ ability to skillfully utilize touch sensors will determine the success or failure of new product development.
Part 2: Technologies
Resistive-film Type also Supporting Multi-touch
Progress in Improving Tactile Feedback
The pace of touch sensor technology development is accelerating, with approaches taking two main directions. The first is to individually solve the issues inherent in the resistive-film type and in the capacitive type, and the second is to overcome the issues common to both. The ultimate goal is the development of a touch sensor that can convey the texture of objects through the screen.
Special Feature
ITS at Crossroads--Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication to Help Achieve Commercialization
A dark cloud is forming over the fate of the safe driving support system using radio waves that was scheduled for commercialization by 2010. A new 700-MHz band has emerged, in addition to the existing 5.8-GHz band, delaying the decision on the communication media to be used. Consequently, the installation of roadside equipment, which is the key element for starting a commercial system, will likely be delayed as well. However, it is too early to give up. Another option that could start in 2010 would initially utilize vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which does not depend on roadside equipment.
DRAM Industry Reorganization to Reduce Number of Groups from 5 to 4-- Significance of Elpida-Qimonda Collaboration
Consolidation of the DRAM industry has begun. In late April 2008, two cases of collaboration within the five major DRAM makers suddenly became public, one involving Elpida Memory, Inc. and Qimonda AG, and the other, Micron Technology, Inc. and Nanya Technology Corporation. The five major groups that existed before have now been reorganized into four.
Hydrogen to Remain Part of the Solution
The need for weaning automobiles off petroleum is becoming urgent. By 2020, automobiles will account for 80% of total petroleum consumption and 30% of CO2 emissions. While electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles are gaining attention, they are not capable of reducing CO2 emissions sufficiently on their own, due to poor secondary battery performance. To achieve sustained advances for automobiles, finding a new energy source, in addition to electricity, is essential. Ultimately, that source will have to be hydrogen.
Guest Paper
GPU-based Parallel Processing to Accelerate Physical Simulation Speeds
Prometech Software, Inc., developer of physical phenomena simulation technologies and computer graphic processing technologies, has developed a technology that uses a graphic processing LSI (GPU), designed for PCs, to increase the speed of physical simulations. By modifying the structure of software designed for analyzing the behavior of particles to suit GPU-based execution, the company achieved more than a 100-fold improvement in speed, compared to cases in which microprocessors designed for PCs are used. We asked the company to explain how it had modified the software in order to efficiently utilize the large number of processor cores provided in the GPU.
Documentary
Developing Human Resources (2nd Half): Even Google Still Uses Paper
Tutorial
Device Development
Instant-startup Technology for Digital Home Appliances Using Hibernation in Linux-based Devices
This is the last in the series introducing the methodology that utilizes patent information to investigate technological trends. This issue focuses on the cell phone field. For semiconductor manufacturers, the cell phone market is attractive, but intense competition can be expected at the same time. The author has created three hypotheses that for these manufacturers to emerge as winners in this market, and will verify their validity based on patent information.
High-speed Transmission Related Design and Evaluation (Last): Use of Average Waveform in Evaluating Data-dependent Components; Effects of Measurement Instruments on Random Components must be Eliminated
This is the last in the series of articles explaining the key points in the design and evaluation of high-speed transmission systems that exceed several gigabits per second. This article describes a procedure for utilizing a previously explained method that separates various types of jitter and noise from a signal waveform, to actually extract data-dependent components, cyclic components, and random components from a signal waveform, and analyze these components.
Keyword
Dubbing 10
Key Person
Cerevo’s Takuma Iwasa:Why I Left a Consumer Electronics Maker
NE Interview
Ayatomo Kanno: Software Still Has Many Lessons to Learn from Hardware
World Report
From South Korea: Beam of Hope on Horizon for Korean Version of WiMAX, with 400,000 Members, Mostly University Students, Expected by End of 2008
News
- Seiko Epson Develops Frontlight Employing Organic EL
- ROHM Commercializes Logic Circuit that Uses Ferroelectric Elements
- Sharp Uses Passive Direct-Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC), Achieving Output Density Exceeding that of Lithium Ion Rechargeable Batteries
- Tel Aviv University Develops Solar Cell with Photosynthetic Protein
- Trigence Semiconductor and Hosei University Develop Digitally Driven Speaker
