Wave Report

The final 2004 issue of the WAVE Report will be published on December 17. There will be no issues on December 24 and December 31. We will resume publishing on January 7, 2005 with conference reports from Ambient Intelligence, Electronica and IST 2004.

***Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Resource Kit Containing a Threat and Vulnerability Tool Is Released by Janco Associates, Inc.

Janco Associates has released its Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Resource Kit (ver 2). Included in this release is a new version of the Threat & Vulnerability Assessment Tool with a defined scoring mechanism to rate risks faced.

Electronica is showcased as one of the largest electronics shows in the world, and it is. Filling 14 massive halls at the New Munich Trade Fair Center, the exhibits seem to go on forever. We have been to other electronics shows in Asia and this is different. While the events in Asia are about miniaturization, Electronica is about large scale and, in particular, automotive electronics. No this is not an automotive electronics show per se, but the needs of this industry are evident everywhere. Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese companies are here to show their electronics products but at a scale much smaller than CeBIT or CEATEC.

We were particularly impressed with the state of sensor technology and the increasing use of MEMS.

Let there be no doubt that Samsung has become a powerhouse in electronics technology. They are seeking to be better than Sony and with each event we become more impressed. Here at Electronica, they showed both Vixlim and a stunning OLED panel at 17” UXGA.

Though the Samsung booth had many examples of its technology, only a few would be considered futures, i.e., research examples.

Mitsumi has a continual stream of technology which we noted at CEATEC and again here at Electronica.

ST Microelectronics was showing its home solutions. One of which is an ADSL 2+ Headend and WLAN 802.11 a, b, and g access point.

The big print adjacent to the demo said “UWB Solution Hear and Now’ but the small print said 220Mb/s in early 2005 which is claimed to be based on second generation chips. Also in the booth were some of the first ZigBee chips we have seen. Freescale stated: True one-stop shop:

Hosiden had one of the most complete miniature microphone product lines we have seen. This included a MEMS based mic and even a stereo microphone set.

The WAVE probed on the business of media cards and connectors. Here are some of our findings.

This Taiwanese company had many examples of EL (Electro-Luminescent) lighting in the booth. This is basically sheet lighting. This can be used for rear illumination, signs and tables. The sheets of light can be as large as 150 X 110 cm. The booth was very well lit up.

Silicon Sensing provides some of the inertial sensors for the Segway Human Transporter. They had one in the booth and many miniature sensor products on display and these included:

We see this event through the color glasses that are tinted by the many conferences attended by the WAVE Report. These glasses here at Electronica see the automobile as one of the first implementations of ubiquitous computing. We came away amazed at the depth of penetration of electronics in the car. Yes, this is the subject of much press and how the Europeans are falling down in reliability due to the “over use of electronics.” But more importantly what is the value of the electronics? Some see the “simpler” Japanese cars, which are less aggressive in their use of electronics, as being more reliable and practical. We come back to points made in a number of recent conferences:

The automobile is a work function and may of the components are in direct support of work. ABS microcontrollers improve braking. Transmission electronics improve and make more efficient the management of the drive ratio. Of course, engine control makes engines more efficient and drive better.

There is no issue on the value of engine control systems. This has brought increased reliability, longer maintenance cycles and better drivability. The situation is not quite as clear as the level of electronics penetration increases. For example, the value of entertainment systems are related to personal tastes and demographics.

Given that high levels of electronics integration is happening in high end automobiles one has to assume no for most applications. At the replacement level all auto electronics are disproportionately expensive.

One of the events at Electronica was called Automobile Software Management. A sign of the time.

Thus, the automobile and its use of embedded processors, electronics and networking is a market in progress which illustrates ubiquitous computing and even ambient intelligence.

DisplaySearch indicated in its latest Quarterly Desktop Monitor Shipment and Forecast Report that worldwide LCD desktop monitor shipments rebounded in Q3'04, overtaking CRT monitors with a 50pct to 49pct advantage on 12pct Q/Q and 31pct Y/Y growth to 16.9 million units. While Q3'04 witnessed significant panel price reductions beginning in June, these prices were not passed along to consumers and corporate buyers at a street price level until later in Q3'04 due to high channel inventories, causing shipments to fall below 16pct Q/Q growth expectations. Q4'04 LCD monitor shipments are expected to rise even faster, growing 18pct Q/Q to 19.9M units to earn a 54% share.

The inability of the market to quickly adjust to the lower panel pricing helped accelerate CRT demand and sales in Q3'04, but not enough to allow CRTs to outsell LCDs as they did in Q2'04. CRT shipments did rise 3pct Q/Q in Q3'04 to 16.4 million units and are expected to rise again in Q4'04 to 16.6 million units on steady demand from emerging countries and in the US where the sub $499 PC bundle became an important benchmark for the holiday season. With a sub $499 bundle now achieved with LCD based monitors, however, CRT monitor demand is expected to drop dramatically in 2005.

The Q3'04 LCD monitor supplier rankings and market share results are shown in the following table:

The Quarterly Desktop Monitor Shipment and Forecast Report includes shipment and forecast data for LCD monitors, CRT monitors, LCD PCs, and TFT LCD monitor modules. The Quarterly Desktop Monitor Shipment and Forecast Report also provides cost forecasts of TFT LCD monitor modules, LCD monitor interface electronics, and LCD monitors.

***DSL Hits 85 Million Global Subscribers, As Half a Million Choose DSL Every Week

North American DSL Surpasses 15 Million in 3rd Quarter 2004 While Latin America Grows DSL Subscriber Base by 72pct

A total of 85.3 million DSL subscribers globally exhibits a growth of more than 39pct so far in 2004, according to the latest data produced for the DSL Forum by industry analyst Point Topic. DSL - the world's most popular broadband technology - added another 24 million subscribers in the first nine months of 2004, as more than half a million people each week are choosing digital subscriber line (DSL) around the world.

In North America, DSL gained almost 3.5 million new subscribers in the first three quarters, to achieve 15.1 million by the end of September 2004. The USA alone added 3.2 million to reach a total of 12.6 million DSL-enabled phone lines, raising DSL's broadband market share by 3.8pct. In Canada, DSL now has a 48pct market share after adding 120-thousand subscribers in the quarter.

Latin America is now emerging as a DSL market, adding 1.2 million subscribers from January to September 2004, a growth in subscribers of more than 72pct. Brazil is leading the way, gaining over 620,000 DSL subscribers, and three countries, Mexico, Argentina and Peru, have experienced more than 50pct growth since the beginning of the year.

According to the data, DSL is also acquiring an even bigger market share in other countries with high cable penetration.

European Union (EU) countries currently make up the largest regional DSL population worldwide, adding more than 9.25 million subscribers in the first three quarters of this year, to reach 26.5 million. The EU's position as the number one DSL region is reflected in substantial increases in both subscriber numbers and market penetration, with 11 countries in the top 20. The Netherlands achieved 15.52pct penetration of phone lines, France 15.45pct and Italy 13.41pct, with the UK, at 9.49pct, moving into the top 20 for the first time.

Middle East and Africa recorded DSL subscriber growth of 59.5pct in the first three quarters of 2004, led by Israel, now with 600,000 and Turkey, with almost 200,000.

Asia Pacific added almost four million subscribers, with two countries reaching the DSL Forum's first stage target for a global mass-market for broadband DSL (20pct of all phone lines): South Korea (28.88pct) and Taiwan (22.14pct). Even with its high penetration rate, South Korea is still growing and added 280,000 to its DSL market by September 2004. Hong Kong (20.14pct) also achieved mass-market status, and an additional 15 countries have a penetration of more than 10pct of telephone lines.

China, adding 5.14 million new DSL subscribers by the end of September 2004, is the world's largest DSL population with a total of 13.7 million subscribers, accounting for more than 90pct of the South and South East Asia total. Six countries now have greater than five million subscribers, and another seven countries have over a million.

The ten largest DSL population countries now account for more than 80pct of DSL subscribers worldwide.

Canon has licensed its 3D Software Object Modeller (3DSOM) technology to a UK startup company, Creative Dimension Software Ltd. The technology allows 3D models of a real object to be easily created from digital photographs. The models can be used on websites or other multimedia projects. Canon launched the original 3DSOM product in the UK in July 2003 and is no longer selling the software itself.

However, Creative Dimension Software Ltd has already released a new upgrade and is also using the technology in-house to offer a 3D modeling service.

The latest version has an improved model generation engine and the software now includes the ability to publish direct to the web using the 3DSOM java viewer (no plugin required). A new feature is the ability to author "hotspots" on the 3D model so that website authors can incorporate their 3D models in an interactive dynamic environment -- For example clicking a button on the model can modify the surrounding web page to show a description of a particular feature with a close-up image.

Canon has announced that support for existing customers will be provided by Creative Dimension Software Ltd.

More information and examples of this technology in action are available from the new 3DSOM homepage at

***ORAD Announces Reseller Agreement with Premier 3D Visualization Solution Provider Fakespace Systems, Inc.

Orad Hi-Tec Systems has announced an agreement allowing Fakespace Systems to provide Orad DVG high performance image generators to their customer base worldwide. Further, ORAD systems are now supported by Fakespace’s Conduit software.

Conduit is an exclusive Fakespace technology that enables Virtual Reality (VR) interaction features in software applications that do not have “native” support for clustering or for immersive viewing. With Conduit, multi-mode computing platforms such as the Orad DVG can support VR interaction features such as stereoscopic imaging, motion tracking and immersive viewing in environments such as the multi-wall CAVE. Fakespace recently announced Conduit for Dassault Systemes V5 PLM applications.

With over 600 installations throughout the world, Fakespace Systems is the leader in the development and deployment of interactive and immersive advanced visualization environments. Fakespace’s experience with consulting and all elements of visualization solutions allows them to specify best of breed components essential to meeting customer needs and expectations.

The DVG from Orad provides visualization scalability by chaining two or more PCs with COTS (“commercial off the shelf”) video cards and combining their video outputs for a single display projector. Additional PCs can be added to increase performance in geometry calculation, pixel/texel fill rate or volume rendering to match the requirements of the application. No longer does software need to be modified to match graphics hardware architecture, the hardware itself can adapt to the application. The DVG provides several means of chaining the PCs together, time division, sample division, screen division, eye division and image division. Each one provides a different mechanism for scalability depending upon the needs of the application.

Renesas Technology Corp. has announced the development of a high-speed, high-reliability MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory) technology for SoC (system-on-a-chip) use.

Using this technology, Renesas Technology fabricated a prototype 1-Mbit MRAM employing a 130 nm (nanometer) CMOS process. Investigation showed the prospect of high-speed operation with an operating frequency of 143 MHz or above at a 1.2 V operating voltage, and measurements in a one-trillion-rewrites experiment confirmed that there was no degradation.

Renesas Technology achieved these results through joint research with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and announced them on December 14 at the 2004 IEEE International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM).

The functions and performance of mobile devices and digital consumer appliances have improved remarkably in recent years, and this trend will continue in the future. As higher performance and functionality, lower power consumption are required in product development, there is a demand for technologies that will make this possible.

Memory elements used for data storage and others play an important role as a key technology supporting higher product functionality and performance, and various types of memory elements have been developed to date. To meet future needs, efforts are being made to improve various kinds of conventional volatile and nonvolatile memory elements on the one hand, at the same time as research is being conducted into new types of next-generation memory offering novel characteristics.

One such new kind of memory, MRAM, is nonvolatile memory that enables data to be retained when power is cut while also providing high-speed operation capability. This ability to implement functions provided by various kinds of conventional memory has led to high expectations of MRAM as next-generation memory.

1. Establishment of an optimization method for realizing maximum performance.

MRAM stores data by using magnetic material often used in hard disk read magnetic heads, and an MTJ (Magnetic Tunnel Junction), which comprises a tunnel layer. Its performance depends on the composition and structure of this MTJ. The joint development team looked at the relationship between the magneto-resistance (MR) ratio and resistance-area (RA) in the MTJ, and by further applying correlativity with read speed, the team established an original method of finding the optimal conditions for achieving high speed.

This optimization method was developed ahead of other manufacturers, and was established by making clear the universal relationship that exists between electrical resistance and the magneto-resistance ratio. Use of this method makes it possible to determine the best combination of electrical resistance and magneto- resistance ratio.

2. Use of magnetic material enabling high speed plus tunnel layer optimization.

The MTJ structure comprises a free layer, tunnel layer, and pin layer. With conventional Renesas MRAM, CoFe (ferrocobalt: magnetic material), AlOx (alumina), and CoFe are used respectively, and high-speed operation with an operating frequency exceeding 100 MHz has been confirmed in trial production.

In order to attain still higher speed, it is necessary to achieve a higher magneto-resistance ratio, but investigation with the optimization method showed that it is difficult to improve the magneto-resistance ratio with CoFe. For this reason, the following techniques were studied and applied in order to achieve higher speed.

a. Use of CoFeB (ferrocobalt boron) as magnetic material.

With the above optimization method, material-related studies can be conducted simultaneously. As a result, it was found at the same time that CoFeB rather than CoFe is suitable for realizing a magneto-resistance ratio that enables high-speed operation. As predicted by the optimization method, the use of CoFeB improved the magneto-resistance ratio by approximately 30pct to 70pct.

b. Optimization of tunnel layer thickness.

Although simply changing the magnetic material to CoFeB increases the magneto-resistance ratio, electrical resistance also increases, and higher speed cannot be achieved. On the other hand, electrical resistance can be lowered by making the tunnel layer thinner, but an excessively thin tunnel layer leads to reliability problems. Using the present optimization method, the development team found the right tunnel layer thickness that enables both high speed and reliability. This has made it possible to realize a high magneto-resistance ratio and low electrical resistance at the same time.

Use of the above approach gives a cell sensing time (data read time) of 5.2 ns, presenting the prospect of achieving a read cycle of approximately 7 ns and an operating frequency in excess of 143 MHz. Furthermore, an experiment in which one trillion write cycles were executed in a high-temperature environment of 150 degrees C showed almost no degradation. This confirmed that high reliability can be achieved despite reducing the thickness of the tunnel layer.

Using the technology, a prototype MRAM was fabricated using 4-layer Cu wiring, and its effects were studied. Using a 1T-1MTJ structure comprising one transistor and one MTJ for the memory cells, a TMR (tunnel magneto-resistance) element size of 0.26 x 0.44 um2 and the world's smallest memory cell size of 0.81 um2 were achieved.

***ASNA Forecasts Significant Adoption of Microsoft .NET Software Platform by IBM iSeries Owners in 2005

ASNA has announced that it is forecasting significant adoption in 2005 of Microsoft .NET as a platform of choice for iSeries users. Many of IBM's midrange systems customers are currently evaluating options to migrate or extend legacy IT assets, and to strategically implement Web services and service-oriented architectures (SOA).

ASNA is basing its outlook on a combination of new migration and extension technologies - including ASNA Monarch(TM) - keen interest expressed in the company's daily dialogue with IBM customers, and the industry's recently formed Midrange Alliance Program, which was co-founded by ASNA and Microsoft.

ASNA Monarch delivers a market-leading platform for enterprises to extend or migrate legacy midrange systems to .NET, enabling modern Web services and SOA while negating the need for short-term, disposable approaches such as screen scraping and Web facing. It includes everything from analysis of legacy assets to an implementation roadmap and the technologies required for execution. Significantly, enterprises using ASNA's approach can undertake extension and migration to .NET at a pace that complements their business needs - without sacrificing the inherent strengths of the iSeries, such as reliability and security.

The Midrange Alliance Program is a strategic initiative by software developers and IT services companies to help enterprises worldwide reduce the risks and high cost of maintaining, extending and migrating aging IBM midrange systems. It establishes the technical foundation for these enterprises to efficiently move to .NET and includes ASNA Monarch as a cornerstone enabling technology.

According to a recent survey of U.S. corporate information technology departments by industry analyst Forester Research, a majority (56 percent) intends to do most future technology development on the Microsoft platform.

The ASNA approach provides standards-based applications, performance enhancing middleware and reliable processes that can result in powerful business strategies for extending and migrating every element of a legacy portfolio. These elements include data, applications, business processes and the skills of about 250,000 current RPG programmers. ASNA Monarch positions ASNA as the only company with a standards-based extension and migration path for thousands of businesses that rely on "green screen" IBM midrange systems.

In conjunction with the Midrange Alliance Program, ASNA and Microsoft are co-sponsoring AppEvo, a series of half-day executive seminars focusing on application evolution processes and how ASNA's .NET solutions can generate an improved return on investment. Locations scheduled for the first quarter of 2005 are Orange County, Calif., Jan. 19; Detroit, Feb. 23; St. Louis, Feb. 24; and Charlotte, Mar. 25.

***Camera Phone Market Continues to Boom -- In-Stat/MDR Reports 200 pct Growth in Annual Shipments

The camera phone market is skyrocketing with worldwide annual shipments up more than 200 pct in 2004, according to In-Stat/MDR. This rapid success is being fueled by manufacturers offering camera features in most new models, and improving image quality.

Despite the popularity of the picture phones, the hoped-for economic boost from photo sharing, storage, and related applications has yet to take hold for many carriers. Carriers need to reduce the prices for these services to encourage more consumers to use them.

The report, "Getting the Picture: What's Behind the Camera Phone Boom" (#IN0401703WH), includes information about US consumer opinions about camera phones and US early-adopter usage of camera phones, as well as a regional breakdown of camera phone shipments, OEM market shares and handset revenue projections.

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