Marvell announced an updated version of its popular 88SS1074 SATA SSD controller in the 88SS1079

in General January 26, 2017

At CES, Marvell announced an updated version of its popular 88SS1074 SATA SSD controller in the 88SS1079. There’s no significant change to performance or features as far as we are told, but it moves a few components that were required on the PCB side onto the controller die, saving cost and perhaps to a small extent, power. Fewer components on the PCB will also make layout a bit easier for an M.2 SSD, but the space saved is not so large as to allow for an extra NAND package, We’ve seen the 88SS1074 on popular SSDs such as the Crucial MX300, SanDisk X400 and WD Blue, and we expect the successors to these drives to adopt the 88SS1079. Some SSD vendors may update their products relatively soon to cut costs as soon as possible and to offset the price impact of the ongoing NAND shortage, but at the very least all current users of the ‘1074 controller can be expected to use the ‘1079 when moving to the next generation of 3D NAND that will be hitting the market later this year. This is still a play for cents per GB, so a few cents off the cost of the controller will be helpful, especially for the mid-range SATA SSDs that aim to offer a significant performance boost over DRAM-less designs for a small extra cost.

While we saw a solution using the controller in our meeting with Marvell at CES, we were told to wait for partners to announce their solutions before taking pictures. When we get the 88SS1079 drives in to test, it will be interesting to see if any performance change has occurred (remember, Marvell stated that this should perform the same) or if any power difference to the 88SS1074 is observed due to moving components on die. While no retail SSDs with the new controller have been announced and Marvell cannot comment on their customers’ roadmaps, it shouldn’t take long for manufacturers to integrate the new controller into their designs given the slight hardware changes and the ability to use existing firmware as-is. We expect new products using the 88SS1079 controller to be announced by the middle of this year.

Qorvo® Expands Capabilities of Voice-Activated, Smart Home Assistants

in General November 17, 2016

MUNICH, Germany – November 7, 2016 – ELECTRONICA 2016 – Qorvo® (NASDAQ: QRVO), a leading provider of innovative RF solutions that connect the world, is helping to advance smart home networking with a radio chip and software that significantly expand the ability of consumers to control their homes with spoken commands.

The GP712 radio chip supports multiple communication protocols in a single-chip design suited to connected-home applications. It was introduced earlier this year by GreenPeak Technologies – now Qorvo’s Low Power Wireless business – and is now in production.

When integrated into Virtual Personal Assistants (VPAs), the GP712 enables the VPA to respond to voice commands and communicate directly with millions of smart-home devices that use ZigBee® and Thread protocols. Previously, a separate gateway was required to connect the VPA speaker with the ZigBee and Thread sentrollers.

VPA-enabled wireless speakers – such as Amazon Echo and Google Home – have microphones that link consumers directly to cloud services using voice commands. According to ABI Research, more than 120 million voice recognition-enabled devices are forecast to ship annually by 2021*.

Cees Links, general manager of Qorvo’s Low Power Wireless business, said, “This new capability allows designers to create more capable voice-controlled smart home assistants that directly support a wider variety of devices and standards. It enhances the user experience, advances the Internet of Things (IoT) and brings us closer to the fully networked home.”

Live demonstrations of smart home applications, as well as other innovative solutions from Qorvo, will be featured at the company’s booth during Electronica in Munich, Nov. 8-11, 2016, Hall A3 Booth #142.

Qorvo’s Low Power Wireless business is one of the leading developers of wireless semiconductor system solutions for connected devices, with a broad range of advanced RF chips and software for smart home data communications and the IoT.

About Qorvo

Qorvo (NASDAQ:QRVO) makes a better world possible by providing innovative RF solutions at the center of connectivity. We combine product and technology leadership, systems-level expertise and global manufacturing scale to quickly solve our customers’ most complex technical challenges. Qorvo serves diverse high-growth segments of large global markets, including advanced wireless devices, wired and wireless networks and defense radar and communications. We also leverage our unique competitive strengths to advance 5G networks, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and other emerging applications that expand the global framework interconnecting people, places and things. Visit www.qorvo.com to learn how Qorvo connects the world.

Qorvo is a registered trademark of Qorvo, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries.
* Voice Integration and Control in the Smart Home, 3Q 2016, ABI Research

Qorvo Smart Home Gateway Platform Earns Industry’s First ZigBee 3.0 Certification

in General September 8, 2016

ZigBee-certified solution accelerates adoption of standard-compliant smart home devices

AMSTERDAM, IBC 2016, Netherlands – September 7, 2016 – Qorvo® (NASDAQ: QRVO), a leading provider of innovative RF solutions that connect the world, today announced that its Low Power Wireless business unit (formerly GreenPeak Technologies) is the first in the industry to receive the ZigBee 3.0 certification for its smart home gateway platform. A certified ZigBee 3.0-ready platform enables software developers to quickly integrate the standard into their smart home applications.

ZigBee 3.0 combines the best capabilities of the existing ZigBee smart home profiles in a single unified protocol. It also includes ZigBee Green Power, which supports battery-less, energy harvesting devices. ZigBee 3.0 facilitates communication and interoperability among a wide variety of smart devices for home automation, light control, building automation, retail services, health care and telecommunication services.

“Certified platforms are important tools for ZigBee 3.0 developers,” says Lee Ratliff, principal analyst for connectivity and IoT at IHS Markit. “Platforms such as this allow more companies to participate in the ZigBee ecosystem by reducing complexity and shortening time-to-market for developers. This is especially important for the newly revised ZigBee 3.0 standard which helps address the pent-up demand from developers eager to introduce compliant products.*”

“Receiving the industry’s first ZigBee 3.0 certification underscores Qorvo’s leadership in providing complete solutions for the IoT market,” says Cees Links, General Manager of Qorvo’s Low Power Wireless business unit. “Our ZigBee 3.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) for smart home gateways allows software developers to use a mature and well documented model to deliver solutions quickly and cost effectively. Together, our SDK and Qorvo’s multi-channel and multi-protocol GP712 communication chip enable gateways to handle a variety of different connectivity standards. Developers can now plug in different application protocols as needed. Multiple leading gateway manufacturers have started the development of a ZigBee 3.0 gateway with Qorvo’s GP712.”

The new ZigBee 3.0 SDK for smart home gateways provides an optimized design template enabling a quick system integration. Developers can focus on building a system without needing to dig into the details of the ZigBee 3.0 standard. By incorporating the GP712 radio communication controller chip in the new ZigBee 3.0 SDK for smart home gateways, multi-channel radio support is guaranteed. It allows seamless communication with various sensors, controllers and systems. Its multi-stack protocol capability and the scalable software architecture enable application developers to smoothly integrate current and upcoming standards

Versatile Solution: Modular Rear Axle System by ZF

in General February 18, 2016

Innovative passenger car axle combines driveline and chassis technology in a single system

Can be upgraded in accordance with customer requirements by adding an electric or conventional drive module as well as Active Kinematics Control (AKC) rear axle steering
Can easily be used as a variant to the twist beam axle or link SLA axle

Friedrichshafen. The ability to offer driveline and chassis technology from a single source has always been one of ZF’s major strengths – especially in the e-mobility era. ZF uses a new modular rear axle concept to demonstrate how a modular system architecture translates into even greater customer benefits. This innovative solution enables a vehicle with a twist beam axle or link SLA rear axle to be converted easily to a steerable rear axle concept with just a few modifications to the body. This is based on a non-driven basic axle in which an electric axle drive or a conventional rear axle drive as well as the AKC rear axle steering can be integrated, depending on customer requirements. Thus, vehicle manufacturers can respond extremely flexibly to various market requirements with just one body variant.

“With the new rear axle system, we are offering our customers wide-ranging applications in disparate vehicle segments. The solution can be used in hybrid, fuel-cell, and battery-powered vehicles and can be combined with conventional all-wheel modules or with our active rear axle steering AKC,” explains Uwe Coßmann, Head of the ZF Car Chassis Technology division. Development costs are also reduced considerably for automotive manufacturers: ZF handles the individual coordination of the internal interfaces in the axle construction kit.

The basic axle entails a modular further development of a Semi-Trailing Arm Rear Suspension (mSTARS). As part of this setup, the rear of the two outboard kinematics points of the lower control arm were replaced with an integral link and a toe link added. The toe link defines the track across the wheel hub and enables the toe-in to be adjusted precisely. As an alternative to a suspension strut, which tends to be used on semi-trailing link axles, the integral link in an extreme outboard position enables separate springs and dampers to be used. This solution tends to be cheaper and also provides more width between the wheel arches in the trunk.

Integrated electric axle drive system

The basic axle can be combined, for instance, with the electric drive module positioned centrally on the axle; this module features an electric motor configured as a high-revving asynchronous motor. The electric motor, the single-speed transmission with differential, housing, and cooling unit, as well as the power electronics complete with control software form an integrated, extremely compact unit.

Steering impulses from the rear

The basic axle can also be combined with ZF’s AKC (Active Kinematics Control) rear axle steering. In this case, the rear wheels actively assist the front steering angle and the passenger car enjoys enhanced agility or stability, depending on the road speed, when changing direction.

Tips For Developing An Effective BI Roadmap

in General January 7, 2016

By Sat Kana – BI Practice Lead

Business Intelligence (BI) tools are effective only when they are able to meet the major three key expectations of any business. What are those expectations and how to prepare an effective BI roadmap is what you are going to learn in this blog.

What are the 3 key expectations of businesses from their BI Solution?

Every BI manager must be aware of the 3 most important expectations of any business group. A business expects its BI infrastructure to provide:

Availability of Data- When does relevant data become useful? When it is readily accessible whenever required. Data being available within a business but not accessible for effective decision making is deemed useless.
Reliability of Data- Inappropriate data leads to inappropriate decisions. Hence, ensuring data quality is important for effective decision making.
Completeness of Data- Incomplete data only facilitates partial comprehension of truth. This hinders holistic understanding of data which is crucial for effective decision making.

Therefore, Availability of Data, Reliability of Data and Completeness of Data act like 3 gears which support each other to enhance overall organizational efficiency. They do so by effectively streamlining processes from data delivery to data governance. The explanation is beautifully portrayed in the illustration below-

If the BI Solution fails to do justice to even one of the above 3 aspects, the business fails to take the right decisions. Do you know what makes a complete BI Solution? The right BI tools. However, it is very easy to get confused considering the wide pool of BI tools available. If you want to learn to be able to integrate the right BI tools to enhance your business productivity, contact us to set up a complimentary consultation, we’re happy to help!

You should be now pretty well acquainted with the 3 key expectations your BI solution must meet for effective decision making.

Now let’s understand how BI managers can ensure perfect match with their target organizational goals?

The solution is to develop a BI Strategy or BI Roadmap. This will give your BI activities the required structure and a focus.

What does a Business Intelligence (BI) Roadmap include?

The BI Roadmap includes creating a BI framework. This framework supports not just architectural components but also includes the overall processes and technologies which hold the components together.

Below are the essential tips to develop an effective BI Roadmap:

Alignment of goals– List down your business goal and IT goal next to each other. Now ensure that the BI or IT goals are in alignment to your organizational objectives.
Design a “Levels of Analytics” blueprint- Creating such a blueprint is crucial to determine the effectiveness of your current BI architecture. It is an enhanced visual representation of how your business currently accesses data for analysis and reporting; what improvements can or must be made? It will also show you the different data needs across diverse business groups and divisions. In easy words, a Level of Analytics blueprint displays the level and effectiveness of your organizational BI maturity.

Have a look at the below illustration and you will know how valuable it is-

How does the Level of Analytics (LOA) blueprint help your business?

The LOA blueprint is feasibly the most effective and easiest way to help your business grow because:

You get to know the business problems instantly. Also you become aware of different business groups facing different issues in accessing data for analysis and reporting. In simple terms, the shortcomings of your current BI system are transformed into valuable assets.
You will easily be able to foresee challenges and risks and instantly develop a contingency plan. This will help you mitigate or evade any losses and add to your organizational revenues.

Qorvo Drives GaN into Ka-band to Improve Satellite Internet

in General October 6, 2015

High Frequency GaN Enables VSAT Power Efficiency Improvements

PARIS, FRANCE – September 8, 2015 – Qorvo™, Inc. (Nasdaq: QRVO), a leading provider of RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and aerospace/defense applications, today announced a new highly cost effective, high performance Ka-band 3 watt GaN power amplifier for commercial VSAT satellite ground terminals transmitting high speed internet data.

“Qorvo’s 0.15um high-frequency GaN process delivers three times the power density of past generation GaAs pHEMT solutions. With unmatched, power, device gain and reliability, the technology is ideal for both saturated and linear high power amplifier for Ka-band satellite ground terminal transmit applications,” said Gorden Cook, general manager of Qorvo’s transport business unit. “Supporting both saturated and linear applications, the TGA2636-SM delivers 3 watts of peak output power for traditional saturated power VSAT ground terminal applications, and when operated in a ‘linear power back-off mode’ required for higher–order modulation systems, enables more effective use of the Ka-band spectrum, resulting in higher data rates delivered to the user.”

The TGA2636-SM GaN PA is fabricated utilizing Qorvo’s 0.15-micron gallium nitride on silicon carbide (GaN on SiC) process, and operates across a 28 – 31 GHz frequency range while delivering 3 watts of saturated output power and 25dB linear gain at 30% power-added efficiency (PAE) in a compact 5x5mm surface mount package.

Qorvo’s new GaN VSAT power amplifier will begin sampling in the current quarter 2015, with production quantities available in the first quarter of calendar 2016.

Qorvo is showcasing its GaN power amplifiers at stand C307 at European Microwave Week, September 8-10 at the Palais de Congrès in Paris, France.

IDT Expands VersaClock 5 Family

in General July 9, 2015

IDT Expands VersaClock 5 Family to include Devices with Additional Outputs Supporting PCI Express Timing

The Latest Versions of the Leading Programmable Clock Generator Reduce Board Space and BOM for Designs Requiring Multiple PCIe Clocks

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 30, 2015 – Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT®) (NASDAQ: IDTI) announced today the expansion of its VersaClock® 5 family of programmable clock generators with new devices that simplify the creation of PCI Express® clocks while providing the flexible outputs for which VersaClock is known. The new members of the high-performance VersaClock 5 family feature dedicated low-power HCSL (LP–HCSL) outputs that reduce board space and bill of materials (BOM) by providing an integrated clock generation and distribution solution for PCIe designs.

The 5P49V5907 and 5P49V5908 devices have three outputs that can generate any frequency up to 350 MHz in various output types, and an additional four or eight LP–HCSL outputs specifically for PCIe clocking. They possess the same best-in-class jitter and power performance as the original 5P49V5901 device.

“IDT continues to develop technology that enables engineers to build highly flexible low-power timing systems with ultra-compact footprints,” said Kris Rausch, general manager of IDT’s multi-market timing division. “With these new devices, design teams building PCIe-based systems enjoy the superior performance of the original VersaClock 5 device as well as tighter integration that shrinks board space and BOM.”

VersaClock 5 programmable timing devices feature excellent jitter performance at half the power of competing devices. With RMS phase jitter of less than 0.7 picoseconds over the full 12 kHz to 20 MHz integration range, the products are ideal for such markets as high-end consumer, networking, computing, industrial and communications.

Will the Large Hadron Collider and IDT finally agree that the answer is 42?

in General May 5, 2015

Will the Large Hadron Collider and IDT finally agree that the answer is 42?

Most of us have heard of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern in Switzerland, the machine tasked with job of smashing particles of matter together to simulate the conditions in the moments after the Big Bang, generally regarded as the creation of the Universe.

However, for some of us, the legendary author of the excellent Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, already answered the “Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything.”

In Adams’ world a supercomputer, Deep Thought, churned away for 7½ million years to compute and check the answer and concluded it was 42. Deep Thought did point however out that the answer was meaningless because the beings that instructed it never actually knew what the question was.

So, back to the real yet somewhat science fictional world of the LHC. In addition to being the largest single machine in the world, the LHC is also one of the most computationally demanding when it comes to analysing its findings. The experiments in the Large Hadron Collider produce about 15 petabytes of data per year and in July 2012 it was revealed that the operators of the LHC collected about 200 petabytes of data from the 800 trillion collisions created looking for the Higgs boson.

Just to put that in perspective, I petabyte equals 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes so we are talking about biblical amounts of number crunching.

To help with this, US electronics company Integrated Device Technology (IDT) has signed up to a three-year agreement with CERN to provide low-latency RapidIO interconnect technology. This will be employed to improve the efficient analysis of mass data from the LHC.

Teams from IDT and CERN will use the IDT technology to improve the quality and timeliness of this data collection, as well as the initial analysis and reconstruction work at the experiments’ data farms and the CERN Data Centre.

The LHC produces millions of collisions every second and generates approximately one petabyte of data per second. The RapidIO technology provides a low-latency connection between clusters of computer processors. Used for 4G base stations, IDT’s low-latency RapidIO products can also enable real-time data analytics and data management.

IDT’s current RapidIO 20 Gbps interconnect products will be used in the first stage of the collaboration with an upgrade path to RapidIO 10xN 40 Gbps technology in the future as research at CERN progresses.

Because of the volume of real-time data CERN collects, current implementations use custom-built ASIC hardware. Using algorithms implemented in hardware, the data is sampled, and only 1% is selected for further analysis.

The collaboration is based on industry standard IT form factor solutions suitable for deployment in HPC clusters and data centers. Engineers will use heterogeneous servers based on specifications from RapidIO.org that are targeted towards the Open Compute Project High Performance Computing initiative that IDT co-chairs.

The computing platform used for the collaboration is based on commercially available RapidIO-enabled 1U heterogeneous servers capable of supporting industry-standard servers, GPU, FPGA and low-power 64-bit SoCs, as well as top-of-rack RapidIO switches available from Prodrive Technologies.

Marvell’s IoT Platform is Industry’s First to Offer Full HomeKit Support to Hardware Manufacturers

in General April 14, 2015

Marvell’s SDK for HomeKit includes EZ-Connect IoT platform with 88MC200 microcontroller, advanced Avastar 88W8801 Wi-Fi SoC and EZ-Connect software

Santa Clara, California (March 10, 2015) – Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL) — a worldwide leader in providing complete silicon solutions from mobile communications to storage, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud infrastructure, digital entertainment, in-home content delivery and Kinoma® software enabling the “Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle”— today announced that it is the industry’s first silicon vendor to develop a fully supported SDK for HomeKit. HomeKit from Apple is a framework in iOS 8 for communicating with and controlling connected accessories in a user’s home. Marvell’s SDK for HomeKit is available on its EZ-Connect™ IoT Platform, including Marvell’s 88MC200 microcontroller and advanced Avastar® 88W8801 Wi-Fi system-on-chip (SoC). The SDK is already being used by several hardware manufacturers and paves the way for the first HomeKit accessories to be brought to market.

“At Marvell we aim to expand the role of IoT in the home, which is a significant trend in the new era of ‘Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle,’” said Weili Dai, President and Co-Founder at Marvell. “By adding HomeKit support, we hope to empower millions of consumers around the world with innovative connected applications and experiences.”

Marvell’s EZ-Connect Wi-Fi Microcontroller IoT platform features a powerful Cortex-M3 microcontroller (88MC200) and a best-in-class 802.11n wireless radio (88W8801) that together provide the essential pieces for enabling a HomeKit solution. Marvell’s SDK for HomeKit is built on top of the field-proven and industry-leading EZ-Connect Software SDK and greatly simplifies the development of HomeKit accessories. Hardware manufacturers using Marvell’s SDK for HomeKit benefit from the complete, supported implementation of the HomeKit framework and are able to save months of development effort and can instead focus their efforts on innovative product features or providing great user experiences.

Marvell’s Wi-Fi microcontroller IoT platform powers many IoT products available in the market and has been adopted by many industry leaders developing connected home products such as appliances, lighting, and home-automation as well as products in other IoT markets such as toys, wearables, accessories, and commercial applications.

For more information about the Marvell’s IoT solutions, please visit: http://www.marvell.com/solutions/internet-of-things/

Qorvo’s New High-Performance RF Filters

in General April 8, 2015

Qorvo’s New High-Performance RF Filters Provide Faster Data Throughput and Longer Battery Life for Next-Generation 4G Smartphones

As the global transition to LTE accelerates, Qorvo’s proprietary filter technologies solve increasingly complex interference problems to enhance the mobile user experience

GREENSBORO, N.C. and HILLSBORO, Ore. – February 4, 2015 – Qorvo, Inc. (Nasdaq: QRVO), a leading provider of RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and aerospace/defense applications, today announced several new high-performance RF filters that provide faster data throughput and longer battery life for next-generation 4G smartphones and other mobile devices. Setting new bars in performance and size, these latest additions to Qorvo’s fast-growing line of premium filters leverage the company’s proprietary filter technologies to enhance the overall mobile user experience and optimize efficient use of limited spectrum.

“The global transition to 4G is just beginning, and higher filter performance is a critical enabler in LTE and TD-LTE solutions,” said Eric Creviston, President of Mobile Products. “Qorvo is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the growing need for highly specialized filtering solutions, given our filter technology leadership, broad product portfolio, systems-level expertise, and high volume manufacturing scale.”

Industry analysts forecast robust demand for high-performance filters. “Smartphones with more LTE bands and carrier aggregation for higher data rates are pushing OEMs to use more high-performance RF filters and duplexers. We expect the total market for standard and premium RF filters in cellular devices to grow above 25 percent per year from 2014 to 2019,” said Christopher Taylor of Strategy Analytics.

As performance requirements tighten and RF complexity increases, Qorvo’s proprietary LowDrift™and NoDrift™ filter technologies solve the industry’s most challenging LTE system and chipset problems. “LTE-Advanced will usher in more sophisticated carrier aggregation and MIMO techniques in the years ahead, and Qorvo is committed to setting the industry standard for performance and size.” said Glen Riley, General Manager of Filter Solutions. “Qorvo is redefining filter performance in small form factors and achieving unmatched temperature stability to extend battery life, improve insertion loss, limit service disruptions and reduce dropped calls.”

Three of the filters are shipping in quantity, and the remaining two – the TQQ1007 and TQQ0041T – are expected to commence volume production in the March 2015 quarter.

Additional information about Qorvo’s LowDrift™ and NoDrift™ premium filters can be located at http://www.triquint.com/products/lowdrift-nodrift-filters. Qorvo’s newest e-books – RF Filter Technologies For Dummies® and RF Filter Applications For Dummies®, written in conjunction with John Wiley & Sons, Inc., are available at http://www.qorvo.com/filters-for-dummies.

#Qorvo is presenting the Company’s expanding portfolio of high performance RF solutions for smartphones, tablets, and other broadband mobile devices at the 2015 GSMA Mobile World Congress #MWC2015, March 2-5, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. See more at: http://www.qorvo.com/mobile.

To locate Qorvo’s distributors, resellers or field sales representatives, please visit http://www.qorvo.com/how-to-buy.

About Qorvo

Qorvo (Nasdaq:QRVO) is a leading provider of core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and aerospace/defense applications. Qorvo was formed following the merger of RFMD and TriQuint, and has more than 6,000 global employees dedicated to delivering solutions for everything that connects the world. Qorvo has the industry’s broadest portfolio of products and core technologies; world-class ISO9001-, ISO 14001- and ISO/TS 16949-certified manufacturing facilities; and is a DoD-accredited ‘Trusted Source’ (Category 1A) for GaAs, GaN and BAW products and services. For the industry’s leading core RF solutions, visit www.qorvo.com.

Qorvo Media Contact:
Rob Christ
Product MarCom Director
+1.503.615.9751
rob.christ@qorvo.com