Author Archives: david manners

RoboCup Final sees Australian win

The 2015 RoboCup Final took place in China

The 2015 RoboCup Final took place in China

The 2015 RoboCup Final has been won by a team from the University of New South Wales.

It was the 19th RoboCup and took place in Hefei City in East China. The first RoboCup was held in 1997 in Japan.

The robots for this event in the RoboCup are standard with every team using the same robots. The competing teams programme the robots.

In the final, the Australians beat a German team 3-1.

Sean Harris, a member of the winning team, attributed their success to greater speed.

“Everyone has the same robots, so it’s all about how you program them and the intelligence,” explained Harris, “but we are fast. We have a really fast walk. So we are fast, we get to the ball first. And we can play in the direction we want to. So that’s really advantageous to us to be fast and that’s what wins us most of the games.”

david manners

China Mobile tops subscriber league

China Mobile tops subscriber league

China Mobile tops subscriber league

China Mobile has more subscribers than anyone else, reports Ovum, followed by Vodafone and Bharti Airtel.

As China Mobile, with 633 million proportionate subscriptions at end-1Q15, and China Unicom, with 299 million, only operate in China, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel are the largest and second largest international mobile operating groups in the world, respectively, because they both operate in multiple markets.

At end-1Q15, Vodafone had 408 million proportionate subscriptions and Bharti Airtel had 314 million.

Bharti Airtel’s telecoms investments are spread across 20 countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. The groups’ purchase of Zain Africa subsdiaries in early 2010 was its first step in pushing the group up the rankings, as it had gained a footprint in 15 new markets.

Following this, Bharti continued to expand in the region: it announced the acquisition of Warid Congo in November 2013, following on from its acquisition of Warid Uganda in April 2013.

More recently, Bharti Airtel signed a definitive agreement in September 2014 to acquire Essar Telecommunications in Kenya.

Meanwhile, Vodafone has maintained its position as the second largest global investor over the last five years, with its main investments in Africa and Europe. America Movil and Telefonica at the end of 1Q15 ranked as the fifth and sixth largest mobile operating groups respectively.

david manners

China Mobile tops subscriber league

China Mobile tops subscriber league

China Mobile tops subscriber league

China Mobile has more subscribers than anyone else, reports Ovum, followed by Vodafone and Bharti Airtel.

As China Mobile, with 633 million proportionate subscriptions at end-1Q15, and China Unicom, with 299 million, only operate in China, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel are the largest and second largest international mobile operating groups in the world, respectively, because they both operate in multiple markets.

At end-1Q15, Vodafone had 408 million proportionate subscriptions and Bharti Airtel had 314 million.

Bharti Airtel’s telecoms investments are spread across 20 countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. The groups’ purchase of Zain Africa subsdiaries in early 2010 was its first step in pushing the group up the rankings, as it had gained a footprint in 15 new markets.

Following this, Bharti continued to expand in the region: it announced the acquisition of Warid Congo in November 2013, following on from its acquisition of Warid Uganda in April 2013.

More recently, Bharti Airtel signed a definitive agreement in September 2014 to acquire Essar Telecommunications in Kenya.

Meanwhile, Vodafone has maintained its position as the second largest global investor over the last five years, with its main investments in Africa and Europe. America Movil and Telefonica at the end of 1Q15 ranked as the fifth and sixth largest mobile operating groups respectively.

david manners

ARM warms to FD-SOI

Pete Hutton - EVP and President of Product Groups

Pete Hutton – EVP and President of Product Groups

FD-SOI is becoming an interesting technology for the mobile SoC market, reckons ARM.

I think it’s very interesting,” ARM evp Pete Hutton told Electronics Weekly, “if you look at low-power/low-cost a lot of people are sticking at 28nm and not moving to 16nm finfet because it’s much more expensive. 22nm FD-SOI gets you the performance and it’s not much more expensive than 28nm.”

A couple of weeks back GloFo went big on FD-SOI announcing a 22nm process offering 70% power reduction over 28nm planar, while delivering finfet equivalent performance with a 50% reduction in masking layers

Asked if FD-SOI could become the mainstream mobile SoC process technology, Hutton replied: “It’s a technology that’s higher performance than 28nm and lower cost than 16nm finfet.”

Asked if Intel’s mobile SoC efforts were gaining traction with ARM’s chip-set manufacturing customers, Hutton replied: “They say they are having some success but we’re not seeing it.”

Asked if the chip-set companies were still getting the same level of contra-revenues from Intel, Hutton pointed to a lower level of mobile losses reported by Intel but added: “They’re still on the same path but it’s not affecting our customers.”

As to the effect of the Altera take-over by Intel, Hutton pointed out that Intel’s CEO has stated several times that they are aiming to retain and enhance Altera’s ARM-based FPGA line.

ARM-based microcontrollers continue to soar, growing 60% in unit volume this year and accounting for 1.4 billion units out of 3.4 billion ARM-based ICs shipped this year.

Asked if ARM is accounting for server-based revenues yet, Hutton replied: “We are, but I’m not telling you how much.”

More ARM stories on Electronics Weekly »

 

david manners

ARM warms to FD-SOI

Pete Hutton - EVP and President of Product Groups

Pete Hutton – EVP and President of Product Groups

FD-SOI is becoming an interesting technology for the mobile SoC market, reckons ARM.

I think it’s very interesting,” ARM evp Pete Hutton told Electronics Weekly, “if you look at low-power/low-cost a lot of people are sticking at 28nm and not moving to 16nm finfet because it’s much more expensive. 22nm FD-SOI gets you the performance and it’s not much more expensive than 28nm.”

A couple of weeks back GloFo went big on FD-SOI announcing a 22nm process offering 70% power reduction over 28nm planar, while delivering finfet equivalent performance with a 50% reduction in masking layers

Asked if FD-SOI could become the mainstream mobile SoC process technology, Hutton replied: “It’s a technology that’s higher performance than 28nm and lower cost than 16nm finfet.”

Asked if Intel’s mobile SoC efforts were gaining traction with ARM’s chip-set manufacturing customers, Hutton replied: “They say they are having some success but we’re not seeing it.”

Asked if the chip-set companies were still getting the same level of contra-revenues from Intel, Hutton pointed to a lower level of mobile losses reported by Intel but added: “They’re still on the same path but it’s not affecting our customers.”

As to the effect of the Altera take-over by Intel, Hutton pointed out that Intel’s CEO has stated several times that they are aiming to retain and enhance Altera’s ARM-based FPGA line.

ARM-based microcontrollers continue to soar, growing 60% in unit volume this year and accounting for 1.4 billion units out of 3.4 billion ARM-based ICs shipped this year.

Asked if ARM is accounting for server-based revenues yet, Hutton replied: “We are, but I’m not telling you how much.”

More ARM stories on Electronics Weekly »

 

david manners

ARM sales leap, record processor licences signed

ARM Q2 2015 - Revenue analysis

ARM Q2 2015 – Revenue analysis

ARM saw Q2 revenues rise 15% to $357 million and profits rise 32% to $192 million.

A record 54 processor licences were signed and one new subscription licence was signed with a major Chinese OEM.

Other points highlighted by ARM include:

7 ARMv8-A processor licences signed, including three lead licences for next-generation processors

9 Mali multimedia processor licences were signed, including three licences for future technology

5 POP IP licences signed, including one for a future processor optimised for a FinFET process

Simon Segars ARM CEO

Simon Segars ARM CEO

3.4 billion ARM-based chips were shipped, up 26% year-on-year.

Royalty revenue rose 30% to $175 million and licensing revenue rose 3% to $151 million.

Gross margin was 96.3%. Operating margin was 52.9%.

£93.3 million cash was generated in the quarter. Net cash at 30 June 2015 was £903.8 million compared to £861.7 million at 31 December 2014.

“Q2 2015 has been a strong quarter for ARM with a highly diverse range of leading companies choosing to license ARM’s latest processors and physical IP for their future product developments. ARM has been investing in advanced technology products for mobile devices, automotive applications and enterprise infrastructure, and in Q2 ARM signed licences for many of these new products. This licensing activity will help to grow the royalty revenue opportunity for years to come,” says ARM CEO Simon Segars.

“As the addressable market for ARM technology grows, we continue to invest in the development of innovative products to support long-term returns for shareholders.”

david manners

ARM sales leap, record processor licences signed

ARM Q2 2015 - Revenue analysis

ARM Q2 2015 – Revenue analysis

ARM saw Q2 revenues rise 15% to $357 million and profits rise 32% to $192 million.

A record 54 processor licences were signed and one new subscription licence was signed with a major Chinese OEM.

Other points highlighted by ARM include:

7 ARMv8-A processor licences signed, including three lead licences for next-generation processors

9 Mali multimedia processor licences were signed, including three licences for future technology

5 POP IP licences signed, including one for a future processor optimised for a FinFET process

Simon Segars ARM CEO

Simon Segars ARM CEO

3.4 billion ARM-based chips were shipped, up 26% year-on-year.

Royalty revenue rose 30% to $175 million and licensing revenue rose 3% to $151 million.

Gross margin was 96.3%. Operating margin was 52.9%.

£93.3 million cash was generated in the quarter. Net cash at 30 June 2015 was £903.8 million compared to £861.7 million at 31 December 2014.

“Q2 2015 has been a strong quarter for ARM with a highly diverse range of leading companies choosing to license ARM’s latest processors and physical IP for their future product developments. ARM has been investing in advanced technology products for mobile devices, automotive applications and enterprise infrastructure, and in Q2 ARM signed licences for many of these new products. This licensing activity will help to grow the royalty revenue opportunity for years to come,” says ARM CEO Simon Segars.

“As the addressable market for ARM technology grows, we continue to invest in the development of innovative products to support long-term returns for shareholders.”

david manners

SEMI book-to-bill languishes

SEMI book-to-bill languishes

SEMI book-to-bill languishes

The SEMI book-to-bill was 0.98 in June. So far this year it has been 1.04 in January , 1.03 in February , 1.10 in March , 1.04 in April and 0.99 in May.

June bookings were $1.51 billion – 2.6% down on May’s $1.55 billion, and 3.5% higher than the June 2014 bookings of $1.46 billion.

June billings were $1.54 billion – 1% down on May’s $1.56 billion, and 16.2% higher than the June 2014 billings level of $1.33 billion.

“The June book-to-bill saw slight declines in the three-month averages for both booking and billings compared to May,” says SEMI CEO Denny McGuirk. “Both figures, however, are above the trends reported one year ago and the first half of the year has been one of positive growth.”

david manners

SEMI book-to-bill languishes

SEMI book-to-bill languishes

SEMI book-to-bill languishes

The SEMI book-to-bill was 0.98 in June. So far this year it has been 1.04 in January , 1.03 in February , 1.10 in March , 1.04 in April and 0.99 in May.

June bookings were $1.51 billion – 2.6% down on May’s $1.55 billion, and 3.5% higher than the June 2014 bookings of $1.46 billion.

June billings were $1.54 billion – 1% down on May’s $1.56 billion, and 16.2% higher than the June 2014 billings level of $1.33 billion.

“The June book-to-bill saw slight declines in the three-month averages for both booking and billings compared to May,” says SEMI CEO Denny McGuirk. “Both figures, however, are above the trends reported one year ago and the first half of the year has been one of positive growth.”

david manners

Silicon Labs adds Energy Profiler to design platform

Silicon-labsSilicon Labs has added an energy profiling tool to its Simplicity Studio development platform.

The Energy Profiler tool has an Energy Score feature which enables developers to benchmark the energy efficiency of their system designs.

The Energy Score helps developers determine which design iteration provides the highest score directly correlated to battery life. A higher score (on a 0 to 10 scale) indicates lower energy consumption and longer battery life.

The tool also allows developers to save sessions, enabling them to compare relevant data from their saved sessions to gain a better understanding of how design modifications impact overall energy efficiency.

According to Silicon Labs, the tool has the look and feel of an oscilloscope. The developer can now zoom in on the X (time) and Y (power) axes of the energy graph to analyse the details of energy consumption with greater precision.

It also provides a direct correlation between the energy graph, function analyser and application code. This three-way correlation capability enhances the developer’s ability to optimize designs for ultra-low energy consumption.

The size of the Simplicity Studio installation package has been reduced by a factor of ten, this means it can be downloaded and running in less than ten minutes, says the supplier.

Also the most frequently used tasks, such as software examples and demos, now run up to three times faster than they did in the previous version.

david manners