The Kynix Blog

What if you could stick an OLED panel on your wall with a magnetic mat? A detachable OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panel that would just as easily be taken off as stuck on the wall? Reports surfaced on Tuesday that South Korea-based LG Display has fashioned just the thing, a 0.97 mm thick 55" flat OLED TV panel and only 1.9 kilos (4.2 pounds). LG Display showcased the screen in Korea.By comparison, LG Display's existing 55-inch OLED panel is 4.3 mm thick. Engadget's Jon Fingas said that "it raises the possibility of big-screen sets that easily blend into your living room's décor." That's the good news. The sad news is that there is no word about when such displays will make it to retail shops.The unveiling was part of a broader announcement to showcase the company's plans for the future, which center on OLED tech, said Don Reisinger in CNET. The screen was presented as one of the company's future displays at the media event. Using a magnetic mat, the screen can easily be stuck to—or removed from— a wall. To remove the display from the wall, said Reisinger, you peel the screen off the mat. The Yonhap News Agency report carried a photograph of a model gently lifting the detachable wallpaper OLED panel at the event in Seoul on Tuesday. Yonhap News Agency referred to the LG Display screen as a "wallpaper OLED panel." Don Reisinger of CNET referred to it as press-on wallpaper TV.Strategically, the unveiling tells us something about LG Display, said reports; the company appears to view high-end displays as a growth engine. (They released 55-inch, 66-inch and 77-inch OLED models earlier in the year, said Yonhap News Agency.) The showing also indicates that LG Display continues to focus attention on OLED.Reisinger offered reasons for why OLED "is widely believed to be the next frontier." He said, "The technology adds an organic compound layer that allows not only for exceedingly thin screens, but for those displays to be curved. The organic material also emits its own light, eliminating the need for a backlight. That allows for such thin screens and has made OLED a desirable choice not only for televisions, but for a wide range of wearables and other mobile products."While the wall-sticking panel is a delight to view, Ryan Waniata, writing in Digital Trends on Tuesday, expressed his view that "Such a display probably won't be used in a TV anytime in the near future; it's more likely to end up in wearable technology, automobile manufacturing, and commercial applications." Still, he added, "we could conceivably see such technology (paired with an outboard processing unit) becoming the TV of the future."  

Nowadays,almost all the focus in transportation is on self-driving ars with more and more similar initiatives with google car.Trucks, however, could also benefit from extra automation and connectivity to enable preventive maintenance, improve safety, efficiency and cost. Might we therefore one day soon see trucks on our roads with no driver in the front seat?  Jörg Rüger's comment “Not for at least 10 years; I don’t think the public would accept it,” argued Jörg Rüger, president of commercial vehicle and off-road at Bosch Mobility. “If we’re talking autonomous driving for trucks, we’re talking about motorways, not inter-urban traffic. For that, it’s not realistic from today’s point of view because when the truck leaves the motorway, it would need someone to take over.” This is because the current level of technology doesn’t provide for this degree of autonomy – yet. While Europe is in the driver’s seat when it comes to standards for increasing road safety, legislation is lagging behind the level of sophisticated solutions being developed – solutions which could lead to fully autonomous trucks. Legislation is currently being written for stop and go control systems and turn assist systems, which Rüger believes will appear in the next couple of years. Dr Thomas Dieckmann's comment “WABCO has developed its own urban turning assist collision avoidance system,” said Dr Thomas Dieckmann, leader of advanced development at WABCO. “OnCity is a single-sensor solution and the first to use LiDAR (light imaging, detection and ranging) technology.” LiDAR measures distances by illuminating a target with a pulsed laser light and measuring the reflected pulses. “The system alerts the driver visually and acoustically to a potential collision, both right before and during a turning manoeuvre,” Dr Dieckmann added. “In the future, it will be able to apply the brake autonomously to prevent collisions, should the driver fail to take corrective action.” The next level up in terms of automation – though only currently envisioned on motorways – is platoons: convoys of trucks linked and controlled electronically through short range vehicle-to-vehicle communications. Led by the front vehicle, this communication, coupled with technologies such as forward collision avoidance systems, enables the trucks to accelerate or brake simultaneously and to follow each other more closely. Potential benefits include: better fuel economy due to reduced air resistance; reduced congestion; fewer collisions; and less pressure for drivers, who could, instead of driving, plan routes, process shipping documents or simply take a break. Several trial platoon runs have been conducted in Europe – including the European Truck Platooning Challenge – but legislation is still wanting. “Platooning needs legislation to allow trucks to drive at a distance of eight to 10m, much closer together than it is currently legal,” Rüger explained, pictured left, “and to allow drivers to be on standby. “There will eventually be mixed platoons and that needs a standardised protocol. The expectation is to see these platoons on the road between 2023 and 2025.” Not everyone is keen on the idea however. The Road Haulage Association believes platooning is not feasible.  Rod McKenzie's comment “Causing queues for vehicles trying to join and leave the motorway will simply create even more congestion,” cautioned Rod McKenzie. “Of course, the auto-pilot facility has the ability to remove human error and mistake – but what happens if the engine goes wrong?” As drivers won’t be concentrating on the road, they might not be able to react as quickly when there’s a system failure, for example. Another downside is that systems could potentially be hacked. How to resolve these issues To resolve these issues, Volvo Trucks is concentrating on improving human machine interaction to ensure good usability. “We provide training and methods for continuous improvements along with supporting tools to assist planning and driving,” said Michael Gudmunds, product manager, soft products. While the practicality of platoons is open to debate, commercial vehicles are already benefitting from increased connectivity and automation. “Commercial vehicles can already upload data into the cloud and download automated software updates,” said Rüger. “Infotainment is becoming more connected with smartphone integration, voice control and a Bluetooth hands-free system. Navigation systems are being used to optimise engine use and fuel consumption by providing the driver with road and environment mapping information in advance.” Real-time information about road conditions – such as the presence of black ice – can be shared between trucks via data collected by the sensors, then processed and stored in the cloud and retransmitted. Legislation for advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS) and lane departure warning (LDW) has been in place since 2015. Commercial vehicle technology supplier WABCO offers an LDW system called OnLane, which detects road markings and vehicle position, and warn the driver of imminent lane departure via visual, audible and haptic signals. The camera-based solution can distinguish between a deliberate lane change and an unintentional drift by identifying the driver’s turn signal usage.Lane keeping support takes LDW one step further by not only warning the driver but also, if no action is taken, by taking steps to ensure the vehicle stays in its lane. Volvo Trucks’ Dynamic Steering – which combines conventional hydraulic power steering with an electric motor fitted to the steering gear (pictured below) – also provides lane keeping support.  The electrical control unit processes data from multiple sensors and controls the motor at 2000Hz to work out the truck’s direction and the driver’s intentions. A principle called ‘torque overlay’ corrects unintentional steering movements to keep the truck dead on course. Some trucks are already ‘smart’, benefitting from advancements in automation and connectivity, and companies are more than eager to take these capabilities to a higher level. Conclusion But there is a long path to full autonomy and, as Ruger says: “A 40tonne autonomous truck frightens people.” Autonomous commercial vehicles therefore will not appear tomorrow. “Development will be steady,” Dr Dieckmann concluded. “We will see an increase in partial automation, then further developments in the areas of manoeuvring and highway driving.” 

(A test sample comprised of a thermal chip, a heat spreader and a microcooler demonstrates the efficiency of diamond for removing heat from hotspots in semiconductor electronics.) Powerful electronic components can get very hot. When many components are combined into a single semiconductor chip, heating can become a real problem. An overheating electronic component wastes energy and is at risk of behaving unpredictably or failing altogether. Consequently, thermal management is a vital design consideration. This becomes particularly important in devices made from gallium nitride. "Gallium nitride is capable of handling high voltages, and can enable higher power capability and very large bandwidth," says Yong Han from the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics. "But in a gallium nitride transistor chip, the heat concentrates on tiny areas, forming several hotspots." This exacerbates the heating problem. Han and co-workers demonstrate both experimentally and numerically that a layer of diamond can spread heat and improve the thermal performance of gallium nitride devices. The researchers created a thermal test chip that contained eight tiny hotspots, each 0.45 by 0.3 millimeters in size, to generate the heat created in actual devices. They bonded this chip to a layer of high quality diamond fabricated using a technique called chemical vapor deposition. The diamond heat spreader and test chip were connected using a thermal compression bonding process. This was then connected to a microcooler, a device consisting of a series of micrometer-wide channels and a micro-jet impingement array. Water impinges on the heat source wall, and then passes through the micro-channels to remove the heat and keep the structure cool. Han and the team tried their device by generating 10–120 Watts of heating power in test chips of 100 and 200-micrometer thickness. To dissipate the heating power, the diamond heat spreading layer and microcooler helped maintain the structure at a temperature below 160 degrees Celsius. In fact, the maximum chip temperature was 27.3 per cent lower than another device using copper as the heat spreading layer, and over 40 per cent lower than in a device with no spreading layer. The experimental results were further confirmed by thermal simulations. The simulations also indicated that the performance could be improved further by increasing the thickness of the diamond layer, and that good bonding quality between the gallium nitride chip and the diamond heat spreader was crucial to obtain the best performance. "We next hope to develop a novel micro-fluid cooler of higher and more uniform cooling capability, and to achieve thermal management using a diamond layer of high thermal conductivity near an electronic gate," says Han. Ref.KY56-MJL4302AKY56-PZTA06KY56-FZT958TA  

A new, electronic skin microsystem tracks heart rate, respiration, muscle movement and other health data, and wirelessly transmits it to a smartphone. The electronic skin offers several improvements over existing trackers, including greater flexibility, smaller size, and the ability to stick the self-adhesive patch -- which is a very soft silicone about four centimeters (1.5 inches) in diameter -- just about anywhere on the body. （A research team led by Professor Kyung-In Jang of Robotics Engineering collects, analyzes, and diagnoses bio-signals wirelessly transmitted to mobile application from the soft electronic skin.）   The microsystem was developed by an international team led by Kyung-In Jang, a professor of robotics engineering at South Korea's Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, and John A. Rogers, the director of Northwestern University's Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics. The team described the new device in the journal Nature Communications.   The electronic skin contains about 50 components connected by a network of 250 tiny wire coils embedded in protective silicone. The soft material enables it to conform to body, unlike other hard monitors. It wirelessly transmits data on movement and respiration, as well as electrical activity in the heart, muscles, eyes and brain to a smartphone application.   Unlike flat sensors, the tiny wires coils in this device are three-dimensional, which maximizes flexibility. The coils can stretch and contract like a spring without breaking. The coils and sensor components are also configured in an unusual spider web pattern that ensures "uniform and extreme levels of stretchability and bendability in any direction." It also enables tighter packing of components, minimizing size. The researchers liken the design to a winding, curling vine, connecting sensors, circuits and radios like individual leaves on the vine.   The key to creating this novel microsystem is stretching the elastic silicone base while the tiny wire arcs, made of gold, chromium and phosphate, are laid flat onto it. The arcs are firmly connected to the base only at one end of each arc. When the base is allowed to contract, the arcs pop up, forming three-dimensional coils.   The entire system is powered wirelessly rather than being charged by a battery. The researchers also considered key electrical and mechanical issues to optimize the system's physical layout, such as sensor placement or wire length, to minimize signal interference and noise.   The electronic skin could be used in a variety of applications, including continuous health monitoring and disease treatment. Professor Jang states "Combining big data and artificial intelligence technologies, the wireless biosensors can be developed into an entire medical system which allows portable access to collection, storage, and analysis of health signals and information." He added "We will continue further studies to develop electronic skins which can support interactive telemedicine and treatment systems for patients in blind areas for medical services such as rural houses in mountain village." The microsystem could also be used in other areas of emerging interest, such as soft robotics or autonomous navigation, which the team is now investigating.   Ref. KY32-AD22050RZ KY32-AD9945KCPZ

（Metal-semiconductor-metal junction (tunnel barrier) incorporated into a single graphene nanoribbon: The atomic and electronic structure of the nanoribbons can be probed with atomic resolution using advanced microscopic techniques.）   Essential electronic components, such as diodes and tunnel barriers, can be incorporated in single graphene wires (nanoribbons) with atomic precision. The goal is to create graphene-based electronic devices with extremely fast operational speeds. The discovery was made in a collaboration between Aalto University and their colleagues at Utrecht University and TU Delft in the Netherlands. The work is published in Nature Communications. The 'wonder material' graphene has many interesting characteristics, and researchers around the world are looking for new ways to utilise them. Graphene itself does not have the characteristics needed to switch electrical currents on and off and smart solutions must be found for this particular problem. "We can make graphene structures with atomic precision. By selecting certain precursor substances (molecules), we can code the structure of the electrical circuit with extreme accuracy," explains Peter Liljeroth from Aalto University, who conceived the research project together with Ingmar Swart from Utrecht University. Seamless integration The electronic properties of graphene can be controlled by synthesizing it into very narrow strips (graphene nanoribbons). Previous research has shown that the ribbon's electronic characteristics are dependent on its atomic width. A ribbon that is five atoms wide behaves similarly to a metallic wire with extremely good conduction characteristics, but adding two atoms makes the ribbon a semiconductor. "We are now able to seamlessly integrate five atom-wide ribbons with seven atom-wide ribbons. That gives you a metal-semiconductor junction, which is a basic building block of electronic components," according to Ingmar Swart. Chemistry on a surface The researchers produced their electronic graphene structures through a chemical reaction. They evaporated the precursor molecules onto a gold crystal, where they react in a very controlled way to yield new chemical compounds. "This is a different method from that currently used to produce electrical nanostructures, such as those on computer chips. For graphene, it is so important that the structure is precise at the atomic level and it is likely that the chemical route is the only effective method," Ingmar Swart concludes. Electronic characteristics The researchers used advanced microscopic techniques to also determine the electronic and transport characteristics of the resulting structures. It was possible to measure electrical current through a graphene nanoribbon device with an exactly known atomic structure. "This is the first time where we can create e.g. a tunnel barrier and really know its exact atomic structure. Simultaneous measurement of electrical current through the device allows us to compare theory and experiment on a very quantitative level," says Peter Liljeroth.  Source:Aalto University Ref.MN3306STTH2002G-TR 

Companies have developed the industry’s first intelligent always-on visual sensor specifically designed to overcome the power and cost constraints of vision processing for IoT applications. The companies will showcase the WiseEye IoT sensor at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017, January 5-8, 2017 in Las Vegas.The WiseEye IoT sensor solution is purpose-built from the ground up with always-on, low power visual sensing in mind. By integrating Himax’ unique low power CMOS Imager Sensor, CEVA’s low power vision DSP technology and emza’s unique machine vision algorithms, the result is a powerful solution capable of detecting, tracking and recognising its environment in an extremely efficient manner using a few milliwatts of power.This disruptive sensor allows low-cost IoT systems to employ advanced always-on intelligence which can, among other things, detect, track and identify objects, people and animals. This intelligence is applied locally on the device, passing only relevant information up to the network.This is fundamental to reducing the bandwidth and cost of deploying visual sensing networks. Target applications include virtual assistants, wearable devices, connected home sensors, residential security, protection of elderly, automotive, smart buildings systems and smart city infrastructure.“Our image sensors have long been among the leanest in the industry in terms of power consumption. We have leveraged our vast expertise to develop an ultra-low power sensor specifically for IoT,” said Amit Mittra, CTO of Himax Imaging.“Our collaboration with CEVA and emza tightly integrates our sensor with the best-in-class processor and machine vision that allows us deliver a truly unique always-on, contextually aware sensor solution that is affordable for almost every application.”“Machine vision based sensors enhance the intelligence and functionality of any device, and our WiseEye IoT solution aims at bringing these capabilities to the vast and largely untapped IoT space,” said Yoram Zylberberg, CEO of emza Visual Sense. “In Himax and CEVA we have two of the leading experts in sensors and vision processing, and the ideal partners to realise the industry’s first always-on intelligent visual sensor.”“Low power intelligent vision processing is a key component of our strategy to enable a smarter, connected world, and we’re excited to work with emza and Himax to introduce a unique and revolutionary solution for always-on intelligent visual sensing,” said Ilan Yona, vice president and general manager of the Vision Business Unit at CEVA.“A purpose-built solution such as the WiseEye IoT will help to truly realise the potential of machine vision in IoT by delivering the performance and battery life at a price point that supports mass deployment.”Reference:OVM7695-RAEAOV09726-A40A-1DMT9V011P11STC:B