THE SEMICONDUCTOR EVENING NEWS
September 15th, 2005
Atom Chip Corporation, which has reserved a booth to exhibit its
terabyte memory chips at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, indicates on its web site that it has
quantum based memory chips priced at $2.50 per Gigabyte. The price is far below the $45 a Gigabyte equivalent
monolithic chip price and the $80 plus one has to pay for one Gigabyte flash cards on the retail market.
Atom Chip’s technology is based on solid state optoelectronics
and does not have moving parts. The Quantum Optical Memory can be used as RAM and the basis for hard disk drive free PCs.
The specifications that the company lists for its Non-Volatile Quantum RAM Storage device include a standby current of less
than 0.5 uA, a read time of 60 nanoseconds and an update time of 120 nanoseconds. The shock specification is given at 2000
G, max.
The price set for the Terabyte chip is $6000.00. One terabyte is
equal to 1,000 gigabytes – more than enough memory for most people, for now – the Internet on a Chip anybody?
STMicroelectronics, a semiconductor companies with revenue of $8.76
billion in 2004, through its Microfluidic Division has reported on the development of a DNA based analysis MEMS chip. The
new chip is expected to be the basis for a PC compatible portable device platform called In-Check.
The chip and interface is the result of a long-standing relationship
between STMicroelectronics and Mobidiag, a bioassay company. Anton Hofmeister, Group Vice-President and General Manager for
STMicroelectronics Microfluidic Division emphasized the affordability of the new device. "We believe that affordable, user-friendly,
and portable devices like the In-Check are set to make a critical difference in a growing number of diagnostic applications."
Noting that the In-Check system will speed and improve healthcare
was Jaakko Pellosniemi, CEO of Mobidiag "Early detection of systemic bacterial infections is essential for the successful
management of antibiotic therapy, and we look forward to addressing the needs of laboratories that perform millions of blood
cultures every year in our target markets. The In-Check platform is ideally suited to exploit the advantages of Mobidiag's
unique diagnostic microbiological panels. Our product will markedly improve the quality of treatment choices, leading to better
patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs."
In-Check is expected to offer a much more reliable solution at a
lower cost than typical laboratory systems used today. The platform has been designed to enable the fast analysis of bacteria
and to enable the correct and best selection of an antibiotic to fight specific bacteria. A pathogen panel developed by Mobidiag
is used to identify sepsis-causing bacterial species and the methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus.
Mr. Hofmeister also spoke about the MEMS and biological technology
used to build the chip, "The unique combination of ST's leading-edge semiconductor and MEMS expertise with Mobidiag's know-how
in microbiological diagnostics opens new possibilities for effective detection and treatment of infectious diseases at the
point of need."
ST’s lab-on-chip platform amplifies DNA samples through the
popular Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The MEMS based solution contains a microarray along with microreactors that are within
the MEMS chip. The sample (often a blood sample from the patient) along with reagents are circulated through the MEMS’
microreactors and are heated with on-chip heating elements (resistors) to perform the needed PCR temperature cycling. To further
control the miniature, self-contained reaction, the lab-on-chip interfaces to a Thermal Control System that monitors and adjusts
parameters to optimize the reaction. The platform also performs optical signal acquisition that is processed with STMicroelectronics’
bioinformatics software.
The chips still have a few milestones to cross before reaching the
market. Presently the first In-Check lab-on-chips need to be validated by Mobidiag. Clinical trials are planned for early
2006 and the resulting platform with software scheduled for launch later in that year.
Envivio, Inc. has announced that it has shipped its 1,500th MPEG-4
encoder chip. Julien Signes, President and CTO of Envivio indicated that the chip enables service providers to offer competitive
digital services, "With cost effective HD MPEG-4 set-top box silicon now available, service providers will be able to adopt
end-to-end MPEG-4 systems that support both HD and SD streams, thus allowing them to offer extremely competitive digital video
service. The HD3 offers low bit rate, high quality MPEG-4 video at resolutions up to 1080i, making it an excellent fit for
applications from contribution to distribution."
Envivio also announced its Broadcast Series real time MPEG-4 HD
encoder, the 4Caster HD3, as well as its SD encoding system, the 4Caster B3. The 4Caster HD3 offers picture quality at transmission
speeds less than 10 Mbps.
CURRENT Communications Group, LLC, a broadband over powerline (BPL)
service provider, has selected Intellon's Turbo chipset (INT5500CS) as the basis for its powerline communications products.
CURRENT’s products enable utility companies to offer electric socket based Internet communications and improve the overall
efficiency of the utility’s electric distribution networks. These systems gives utilities the capability to read electric
meters, identify power outages, monitor utility capacitor banks and manage security cameras.
CURRENT’s broadband systems also permit high-speed broadband
access over every electrical outlet in a customer’s home. According to Richard Goldstein, CEO of CURRENT "Intellon's
HomePlug chipsets provide a cost-effective, robust networking solution that enables our BPL infrastructure to serve multiple
purposes for utilities and end-users. We have been a long-time supporter of HomePlug technology. One important factor we considered
in our selection of a powerline technology was that Intellon's solution is based on the HomePlug industry standard, thus ensuring
end-to-end compatibility with existing and future HomePlug-enabled devices, while providing a cost-effective 85Mbps infrastructure
solution."
Samsung Electronics has announced the development of a 256 Mbit
PSRAM chip based on a 90-nanometer process technology. With the announcement, the company reported that it would begin sampling
cellular phone manufacturers later this month and then go into mass production by the end of 2005.
The new JEDEC compliant PSRAM, called the 256 Mb UtRAM, has
an operational speed of 133 MHz. It is available in a stand-alone version or can be combined with different types of memory
chips such as flash in multi-chip packages (MCP). The high-growth 3G mobile phone market segment is expiated to be a major
market for the chip.
PSRAMs are generally defined as DRAM chips with on-chip DRAM controllers. That architecture simplifies
the design of cellular phones and lowers the power consumption consumed by memory when compared to SRAM chips.
Although main stream multibillion dollar fabs get most of the attention,
there are numerous chip companies that have profitable, small to medium sized wafer fabrication facilities. These fabs serve
the mixed signal, mature digital and digital chip aftermarkets.
Evergreen Enhancement is a start-up that caters to these fabs and
tier-two fab lines at tier one semiconductor companies. According to William Kerr, Evergreen Enhancement Founder and CEO,
"While taking care of legacy equipment is hardly as sexy as working with state-of-the-art 'bleeding edge' products, many high
tech manufacturers such as microchip and integrated circuit makers are dependent on older systems. They simply can't change
to the newest equipment overnight and expect to meet deliveries and remain competitive.
Mr. Kerr went on to say, "Unfortunately, many of the engineers responsible
for these embedded technology systems are long gone. And the original manufacturers usually only want to see an update replacement.
That's where Evergreen Enhancement comes in, with outsourced engineering for legacy equipment and systems."
Evergreen indicates it applies the latest technology to give old
fabs new features, such as Internet based diagnostics. Mr. Kerr explained "In effect, it's like old wine in new bottle - bringing
the best solution to users who simply cannot replace legacy systems without major disruptions, downtime, lost business and
impending calamities."
Other policies that Evergreen emphasizes include risk reduction,
cost avoidance and system uptime. The company uses its expertise to predict equipment and fab line failures before they occur
– allowing fabs to keep manufacturing costs low.
Biophan Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:BIPH in conjunction with New Scale
Technologies, Inc., announced that New Scale has obtained a patent for its SQUIGLE motor, a high-performance ultra-small motor
with applications in the health care market, specifically in Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems.
Biophan, which has exclusive worldwide distribution rights for all
medical applications for the motor, indicated the product had numerous applications in the medical market. According to Michael
Weiner, Biophan, CEO, "Now that the U.S. Patent office has issued the fundamental U.S. patent for the SQUIGGLE motor, Biophan
and New Scale hold key intellectual property protection as we continue to develop products based on the SQUIGGLE motor. We
believe the motor's unique features and capabilities will allow the development of significantly improved solutions for existing
multi-billion-dollar health care markets, as well as the development of applications for promising new product areas in medical
technology."
Specifically, the companies noted that the SQUIGGLE motor has applications
in implantable and wearable drug-delivery pumps. As well the motor can be used in operations that involve the use of Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems because it is made from non-magnetic ceramics. As a result, remote-controlled robotic
surgical devices can be developed for the treatment of brain tumors in an MRI environment.
New SQUIGGLE models from New Scale are expected to range in size
from 4 millimeter in diameter to 12 millimeter in diameter, with a variety of ranges of motion. The company reports
that the SQUIGGLE motors, which are moved through ultrasonic vibrations, are smaller than conventional motors but larger than
MEMS devices. MEMS based micromotors are another emerging miniature motor technology. That technology has been developed over
the years at Sandia National Laboratories.
Other industry applications for the SQUIGGLE motor Biophan
points to include camera zoom lenses for cell phones.
