Cover Story
Prius, the People’s Car
Part 1: Trend
Curtain Opens on Price Competition in Hybrid Vehicles with 2.05 Million Yen Prius
The price of the 3rd-generation Prius, at only 2.05 Million, is astounding.This price proves that hybrid vehicles are currently the best solution for simultaneously achieving economy and fuel efficiency.Gasoline-powered vehicles will now lose the leading role they have played for so long, and intense competition among hybrid vehicles will begin.
Part 2: Thorough Analysis
Toyota will not hesitate on internal production; Honda is focusing on streamlining its system
This article explores the latest technical trends in both hybrid vehicles, using the examples of Toyota’s Prius and Honda’s Insight,and electric vehicles, using Mitsubishi Motors’ i-MiEV and Fuji Heavy Industries’ Plug-in STELLA.
Special Feature
Will the AV Interface “DiiVA” Developed in China Threaten HDMI?
A new high-speed interface standard is about to emerge in the world of AV devices.The “DiiVA” interface, whose formal specifications were established at the end of April 2009, offers a higher speed than HDMI and network functions equivalent to those of the Ethernet.Because governmental institutions and industry organizations in China have expressed their support for DiiVA, it is sometimes referred to as the “Chinese HDMI,” but major AV device manufacturers in both Japan and Korea are backing it as well.DiiVA poses apotential threat to the existence of HDMI, which has been the leading interface for AV devices until now.
HD Mobile to Go Beyond the “Galapagos Islands”
HD mobile phones capable of processing HD images are being launched one after another.For mobile phones, which normally have WVGA displays, HD compatibility seems like an unnecessary function at the outset.As a matter of fact, some ridicule this trend as another clear example of “GalapagosIsland mobile phones,” which have been following a unique evolutionary path inside Japan.HD compatibility, however, will not likely stop with Japanese mobile phones alone.Taking advantage of HD image capability, mobile phones will move on to connect to a wide variety of digital devices, eventually joining the ranks of the HD network of digital AV devices.
3D Cells to Clear the Way for T-bit NAND Flash
How far will future size reduction proceed for the current NAND flash memory? In response to this question, the two major NAND flash memory suppliers - Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Toshiba - both answered “to the 2x-nm generation.” This response was heard at the rump session of the 2009 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits, an international conference on semiconductor manufacturing and circuits held in June 2009. Given that mass production of the 2x-nm-generation of products will not occur until 2011 or 2012, a new capacity-increasing methodology that can replace feature size shrinkage will be needed as early as 2013. One of the most promising candidates is the so-called 3D cell technology, which stacks memory cells in all three directions. Efforts to develop this new technology are beginning to pick up speed.
Invited Paper
New Reliability Evaluation Methodology Sheds Light on Interactions among Design Factors
During device development, the interaction of a large number of design parameters can make it extremely difficult to predict the physical phenomena that may result, leading to design difficulties.To solve this problem, a new design support methodology called CAP combines simulations with statistical analyses to help designers better understand problem mechanisms and incorporate their findings into their designs.In this article, we use a surface-mount component called a BGA packageas an example to explain the benefits of introducing CAP, along with the actual development flow.The authors are developers of the CAP methodology.
NE Academy
Intensive Analog Seminar: Session 7:Why Continuous-Time ΔΣ A-D Converters Are in the Spotlight Now (Part 1)
Simultaneously achieving high performance and low power consumption has always been the goal of designers and developers of A-D converters.Among the various technologies designed to achieve this ideal, the architecture recently capturing the limelight is the continuous-time, ΔΣ-type A-D converter.This converter is configured to possess the advantages of both a pipeline-type A-D converter and a successive approximation A-D converter.In this and the next session, an engineer who is actually developing a ΔΣ-type A-D converter at a company explains why this converter is gaining so much attention.
Seminar for Developing Project Management Ability + Communication Skills (Session 1)
Electronics engineers’ jobs are becoming more and more difficult. The required technical skill level has certainly increased, and project sizes are becoming larger while the development period is getting shorter. As a result, project management and coordination among the involved parties have become more important. In this series of articles, we explain project management and communication in specific terms that can be easily understood even by those engineers who feel uncomfortable in these areas, and show how these techniques can be applied in actual work situations.
Interview
Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Senior Executive Officer, Hisao Watanabe: “Smart Grids Are Not Limited to Power Grids.”
Tokyo Gas Company has become the first in the world to begin selling its ENE-FARM, a fuel-cell cogeneration system for home use, to general consumers. The company is also active in other new areas, for example, taking a first step toward establishing an international standard for the communication method to be used for remote gas meter reading. We asked the General Manager of the Technical Development Headquarters about the company’s initiatives in new areas.
Documentary
Programmer Kunihiro Ishiguro’s Creation (Part 2 of 2)
Kunihiro Ishiguro (current Director and Chief Technology Officer of ACCESS Co., Ltd.) still feels a deep sense of indebtedness to open source software, which helped shape him as a programmer.In addition to starting a business in Silicon Valley, Ishiguro has joined the ranks of his great predecessors by opening to the public the software he put his heart and soul into developing, yet still continues to write programs.For Ishiguro, the driving force behind all his accomplishments has been the “joy of creation.”
Keyword
HTML 5
Achieving High-Functionality Web Applications without Flash
Closeup
Home Appliances: More Personal Computers Entering U.S. Living Rooms
Semiconductors: Atom Processor Competitors Launched One after Another
Energy: “PV2030+” is New Development Goal for Photovoltaic Cells
World Report
From South Africa: World Cup Giving Momentum to Communication and Broadcasting Sectors
NE Reports
- Government Fiscal Stimulus Policy Boosts Demand for Home Appliances
- NEC and NICT Develop Terahertz Camera with 100X Higher Sensitivity
- “Shingled Write” Increases Surface Recording Density of HDD
- Olympus’ Resurrection of the “Pen” May Start Trend toward Larger-Area Imaging Elements
