Mitsubishi Electric to Double Satellite Component Production Capacity
The factory is Mitsubishi Electric’s core production and testing site for solar array panels, structural panels and other satellite components. The new facility, which will commence production in October 2017, is expected to help the company continue growing its share of the global satellite market.
Mitsubishi Electric manufactures satellite components, most notably structures made with advanced composite materials for the global market.
The new facility will introduce a number of advanced manufacturing machines, which will help the factory to double its production capacity, while existing machines currently dispersed throughout the factory will be concentrated in the new facility.
Learn more at Mitsubishi Electric’s website.
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase in Second Quarter
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing the U.S. in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached USD $79.1 billion during the second quarter of 2016, an increase of 1.0 percent over the previous quarter and a decrease of 5.8 percent compared to the second quarter of 2015. Global sales for the month of June 2016 reached $26.4 billion, an uptick of 1.1 percent over last month's total of $26.1 billion, but down 5.8 percent from the June 2015 total of $28.0 billion.
Cumulatively, year-to-date sales during the first half of 2016 were 5.8 percent lower than they were at the same point in 2015. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.
For more information, visit semiconductors.org.
New Scope Offers Signal Visualization Starting at $1,200
Tektronix, provider of digital measurement solutions, recently introduced the TBS2000, a basic oscilloscope featuring signal evaluation and troubleshooting. This addition to the Tektronix portfolio includes the ability to use a range of Tektronix probes.
Design engineers use general-purpose oscilloscopes to prototype, debug and validate designs of new products and for general troubleshooting. In education, oscilloscopes give students hands-on experience in electronics engineering and educators need to efficiently mentor and monitor large groups of students.
The TBS2000 meets all these requirements. Other features include:
- Models available with 70 MHz or 100 MHz bandwidth and with 2 or 4 channels.
- A 9-inch WVGA display, the TBS2000 can display 15 horizontal (time) divisions.
- A 20 Mpoint record length with single-knob pan and zoom provides the ability to capture long time duration signals and navigate to find important details.
- Support for the Tektronix VPI probe interface.
- New HelpEverywhere context-sensitive, configurable help provides on-screen tips for important settings.
- Wi-Fi dongle support enables wireless connectivity so educators can set up electronics engineering labs or engineers can take advantage of the instrument's LXI-compliant interface to control the oscilloscope remotely.
The TBS2000 is be available at Tektronix distributors worldwide. Starting price is $1,200 US MSRP.
Phononic Unveils Pico-TEC Series Thermoelectric Module for Optical Electronics
Phononic has announced its pico-TEC series solid-state thermoelectric module (TEM) designed to provide temperature control in order to meet the thermal management requirements of optoelectronics and fiber optic modules.Phononic’s pico-TECs have a device height of less than 0.7mm with a typical ΔT max of 65°K and a Qc max of 25 W/cm2 or more. In addition to the small footprint, the pico-TECs offer temperature control, reduced power consumption and application specific design options.
Other features include:
- Metalized and bare ceramic headers
- Wire bondable interconnects
- Application and customer-specific device designs
- RoHS compliant components
The new pico-TEC series complements Phononic’s current product series of mini- and micro-TECs, scalable bulk devices, as well as heat pumps as the company’s smallest TEC to date. This proprietary technology is manufactured in Phononic’s ISO 9001:2008-certified facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.
For more information, visit the Phononic website.
Semtech LoRa RF Technology for IoT Used in Compact Wireless Module from Murata
Semtech Corporation has announced that its LoRa wireless RF technology is integrated into a compact module from Murata, a manufacturer of electronic components, modules and devices, for use in a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications.
The LoRaWAN module, scheduled to begin production in October, is expected to support a wide range of sensors for IoT applications, including smart meters, wearables and tracking devices. It is able to operate within a wide range of temperatures. Its memory is capable of supporting a range of applications and its flexible data rate is designed to increase battery life and optimize long-range communication.
This module, integrated with a STMicroelectronics STM32L0 series ARM Cortex M0+ 32bit microcontroller, is aimed to ease integration into a variety of sensors. Semtech’s SX1276 long-range transceiver is included in the module to provide spread spectrum communication, high interference immunity and minimized current consumption.
For more information, visit the Semtech product website.
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