Six Channel LED Driver From Supertex Provides Robust Fault Protection for LED Strings
Supertex, Inc. /quotes/zigman/78541/quotes/nls/supx SUPX +4.19% , a recognized leader in high voltage analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (ICs), today introduced HV9957, a six channel LED driver that provides strong protection from faulty LED strings with patent-pending technology. HV9957 combines a switch-mode boost converter and six low dropout, linear current regulators to deliver high efficiency and precise current control in an LED driver.
The IC can drive up to six strings of LEDs at 30mA each, which is well-suited for battery-powered LED backlighting applications. Temperature-triggered fault protection combined with an 'outlier' approach to indentify faulty strings overcomes problems inherent with ordinary fault protection. Faulty strings are turned off only when absolutely necessary. HV9957 provides protection from fault conditions such as over- and under-voltage supply, over-current, and over-temperature. When a fault is detected, the affected LED string is removed from feedback and the rest of the strings continue normal operation.
"By providing superior fault protection, HV9957 offers manufacturers a precise LED driver that can handle difficult fault conditions in individual LED strings," states Stephen Lin, Vice President of Marketing for Supertex. "HV9957 also features sophisticated digital circuitry to provide frequency control, fault protection, and phased dimming that is controllable to very low duty cycles for high dynamic range in today's LED backlighting drivers."
HV9957 is available in a 24-lead QFN package (HV9957K7-G). The part is RoHS compliant. Samples are available now. Lead-time for production quantities is 4-6 weeks ARO. Pricing is US$1.43 each for the HV9957K7-G in 1K quantities.
About Supertex Supertex, Inc. is a publicly held mixed signal semiconductor manufacturer, focused in high voltage analog and mixed signal products for use in the medical, LED lighting, printer and display, industrial, and telecommunication industries. Supertex product, corporate and financial information is readily available
Thursday 30 June 2011
Monday 27 June 2011
Energy efficiency industry to get incentives from the government
Energy efficiency industry to get incentives from the government
The government is set to provide incentives to the emerging energy efficiency industry including Light Emitting Diode (LED) under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE). To funds - Partial Risk Guarantee Fund and Venture Capital Fund --- have been set up under the m
ission to provide financial incentives necessary to kick start a new industry.
"Both these instruments is ensuring public money towards energy efficiency," said Ajay Mathur, Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the body mandated to implement the mission.
Under the partial risk guarantee fund, the government will pay for first loss of up to Rs 10 crore and half of any loss suffered thereafter. The government has decided to provide Rs 100 crore for this fund.
From the second fund the government will provide some equity to start an energy efficiency unit. "Many banks are not ready to pay loans for companies in energy efficiency sector because the risk has not been evaluated," Mathur said.
In addition to it, the bureau has also asked the government to lower excise duty on energy efficient appliances to make them market competitive with non energy efficient appliances where are less costlier.
The LED, which is about 90 % more energy efficient than Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) but costs six times more, is expected to get a big leap. "We are looking at making LED cost effective in the next two years through market intervention and a labeling regime," Mathur said.
A 40 Watt LED light, which used to cost Rs 1,200 a year ago now sells at around Rs 500. The BEE believes that its price will further go down in the next two years with the demand rising. Already, municipal bodies of Kolkattta, Bhopal and Gwalior are using the lights for streetlights and others are expected to follow suit.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has already come out with specifications for LED lights and the government has created a testing facility at Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) to examine LED lights to the star rating.
The government is set to provide incentives to the emerging energy efficiency industry including Light Emitting Diode (LED) under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE). To funds - Partial Risk Guarantee Fund and Venture Capital Fund --- have been set up under the m
ission to provide financial incentives necessary to kick start a new industry.
"Both these instruments is ensuring public money towards energy efficiency," said Ajay Mathur, Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the body mandated to implement the mission.
Under the partial risk guarantee fund, the government will pay for first loss of up to Rs 10 crore and half of any loss suffered thereafter. The government has decided to provide Rs 100 crore for this fund.
From the second fund the government will provide some equity to start an energy efficiency unit. "Many banks are not ready to pay loans for companies in energy efficiency sector because the risk has not been evaluated," Mathur said.
In addition to it, the bureau has also asked the government to lower excise duty on energy efficient appliances to make them market competitive with non energy efficient appliances where are less costlier.
The LED, which is about 90 % more energy efficient than Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) but costs six times more, is expected to get a big leap. "We are looking at making LED cost effective in the next two years through market intervention and a labeling regime," Mathur said.
A 40 Watt LED light, which used to cost Rs 1,200 a year ago now sells at around Rs 500. The BEE believes that its price will further go down in the next two years with the demand rising. Already, municipal bodies of Kolkattta, Bhopal and Gwalior are using the lights for streetlights and others are expected to follow suit.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has already come out with specifications for LED lights and the government has created a testing facility at Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) to examine LED lights to the star rating.
Thursday 16 June 2011
BUISNESS AS USUAL: Is Nigeria lagging behind in African technology?
In the last few years, the African technology space has received increasing spotlight in the international press. Led by innovations in Kenya such as M-Pesa, the renowned mobile money platform and Ushahidi, the Kenyan crowd-sourcing platform that maps crisis information, the continent has received a slew of positive media spotlighting these technologies. This is welcome given the continent's prior problems with attracting negative press globally. The African ICT space appears to be one of the key sectors leading the rebranding of the continent as a place of opportunity and not solely of war, hunger and misery.
This is exciting and given the steady efforts at expanding broadband access in various countries, these positive ICT stories are likely to continue.
In the evolving narrative in the African ICT sector, certain trends appear to be emerging. As mentioned earlier, Kenya and particularly, Nairobi is becoming a hub for technological innovation. Its early successes appear to have piqued the interest of developers, entrepreneurs and corporations and set off what seems to be a culture of coders, technology entrepreneurs and innovators. Global technology companies like Google, Cisco and Nokia Siemens have set up shop in Nairobi as their continent-wide headquarters and the stage seems set for the churning out of Africa's next technology talents and startups from the city.
Similarly, South Africa appears to have steadily set itself apart as a leading African technology hub. It boasts of success stories such as MXit, a mobile social network that is currently more popular than Facebook among South Africans and upcoming technology platforms such as Motribe, another social network that boasts about 1.5 million users and growing.
However, South Africa's greatest value proposition to both entrepreneurs and corporations alike appears to be not so much its prior history of innovation but its rich intellectual capital. Cities such as Cape Town are home to world-class computer science faculties and have gradually developed an ecosystem of people, ideas and resources. Not surprisingly, Google recognised this rich evolving ecosystem when it set up Umbono, its first technology incubator globally in Cape Town to provide monetary and technical support for entrepreneurs earlier this year.
Collectively, the sorts of competencies that cities like Nairobi and Cape Town are developing are the kinds that matter. Features such as a strong community of innovators and a strong educational foundation that strengthens the quality of human capital ensure that startups that emerge have a greater likelihood of being world-class.
As Africa's leading Internet market (according to some industry reports), it is a bit surprising that Nigeria is not at the forefront of technological innovation on the continent. Though success stories in areas such as the transaction switching and payment processing space through companies such as Interswitch are present, follow up game changing innovations in other areas have been few and far between.
Earlier, the Nigerian Government set up the Abuja Technology Village, reported as modelled after Silicon Valley in the US. Although the technology village has been running since 2009, including its in-house incubation programme for entrepreneurs, called Enspire, it is not clear if the initiative has been able to spur the sort of community and vibrancy needed to position Abuja as a prominent technology hub.
In Lagos, some vision-driven private sector individuals are at the forefront of creating hubs that can foster the sort of community that have been developed in places like South Africa and Kenya. However, infrastructural challenges that significantly increase the cost of running these creative spaces remain an issue. There is also the problem of world-class human capital.
Is Nigeria lagging behind in African tech? Given the evolving trends, it appears we have some catching up to do.
This is exciting and given the steady efforts at expanding broadband access in various countries, these positive ICT stories are likely to continue.
In the evolving narrative in the African ICT sector, certain trends appear to be emerging. As mentioned earlier, Kenya and particularly, Nairobi is becoming a hub for technological innovation. Its early successes appear to have piqued the interest of developers, entrepreneurs and corporations and set off what seems to be a culture of coders, technology entrepreneurs and innovators. Global technology companies like Google, Cisco and Nokia Siemens have set up shop in Nairobi as their continent-wide headquarters and the stage seems set for the churning out of Africa's next technology talents and startups from the city.
Similarly, South Africa appears to have steadily set itself apart as a leading African technology hub. It boasts of success stories such as MXit, a mobile social network that is currently more popular than Facebook among South Africans and upcoming technology platforms such as Motribe, another social network that boasts about 1.5 million users and growing.
However, South Africa's greatest value proposition to both entrepreneurs and corporations alike appears to be not so much its prior history of innovation but its rich intellectual capital. Cities such as Cape Town are home to world-class computer science faculties and have gradually developed an ecosystem of people, ideas and resources. Not surprisingly, Google recognised this rich evolving ecosystem when it set up Umbono, its first technology incubator globally in Cape Town to provide monetary and technical support for entrepreneurs earlier this year.
Collectively, the sorts of competencies that cities like Nairobi and Cape Town are developing are the kinds that matter. Features such as a strong community of innovators and a strong educational foundation that strengthens the quality of human capital ensure that startups that emerge have a greater likelihood of being world-class.
As Africa's leading Internet market (according to some industry reports), it is a bit surprising that Nigeria is not at the forefront of technological innovation on the continent. Though success stories in areas such as the transaction switching and payment processing space through companies such as Interswitch are present, follow up game changing innovations in other areas have been few and far between.
Earlier, the Nigerian Government set up the Abuja Technology Village, reported as modelled after Silicon Valley in the US. Although the technology village has been running since 2009, including its in-house incubation programme for entrepreneurs, called Enspire, it is not clear if the initiative has been able to spur the sort of community and vibrancy needed to position Abuja as a prominent technology hub.
In Lagos, some vision-driven private sector individuals are at the forefront of creating hubs that can foster the sort of community that have been developed in places like South Africa and Kenya. However, infrastructural challenges that significantly increase the cost of running these creative spaces remain an issue. There is also the problem of world-class human capital.
Is Nigeria lagging behind in African tech? Given the evolving trends, it appears we have some catching up to do.
Monday 13 June 2011
Q+A-How will Thailand's election affect listed companies?
Thailand holds a general election on July 3 and, given the political turbulence over the past five years, foreign investors have been selling stocks this month to limit risk, offloading $682 million in the past seven sessions.
However, elections have tended to push up the stock market in the past, and the retail sector outperformed around the seven polls from 1992 to 2007.
Here is a look at shares that may win or lose this time.
WILL RETAIL, MEDIA BENEFIT?
Retail and media stocks are seen as the best plays since consumer spending should rise as political parties and state agencies spend on election campaigns.
The state planning agency is reported as saying election activities could lead to spending of up to 30 billion baht ($1 billion), higher than in the previous poll in 2007.
Top convenience store chain CP All is among the top picks in the retail sector. Its shares hit a record high on May 25 after it told Reuters it expected a strong second quarter because of election spending. .
Among other stocks singled out by analysts are motorcycle-loan provider Thitikorn Pcl and top mobile phone firm Advanced Info Service (AIS) .
Advertising spending, which rose 12 percent in April from a year before, should also post strong growth in the second quarter. This is positive for broadcasters BEC World and MCOT , cinema chain Major Cineplex and television programme producer Workpoint Entertainment .
About 1 billion baht of spending is expected to flow into the printing industry, which should benefit printer T.K.S. Technology .
WHICH COMPANIES ARE IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR POLITICAL LINKS?
The telecoms sector is highly linked to politics because of the regulatory system, under which companies pay concession fees to state firms TOT and CAT Telecom for the right to operate.
Thailand is in the process of setting up a new telecoms regulator, now expected in the third quarter of 2011. Political turbulence and frequent changes of government have delayed reform, in particular stalling the introduction of 3G telephony.
True Corp , the country's largest integrated telecoms provider, appears to have done well under the current Democrat-led government.
After the collapse of a tender for new 3G bandwidth amid regulatory wrangling, True signed deals with CAT Telecom that effectively extended its concession by 15 years and enabled it to be the first to launch nationwide third-generation services on an existing network.
True is part of unlisted food conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, which is among the big donors to the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra made his fortune in the telecoms sector with Shin Corp . His family sold a controlling stake in Shin Corp to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in 2006, which triggered events that led to his ouster by the military in September of that year.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled Thaksin had concealed ownership of shares in Shin and tailored government policies to benefit Shin and its satellite arm Thaicom when in office.
The Shin group, including affiliates top mobile firm AIS and Thaicom, denies any connection with politics and says a recent rise in its share price reflects the performance of the two units. Even so, some investors seem to think it might benefit under a government that backs Thaksin.
Also in the spotlight is SC Asset Corp , the property arm of the Shinawatra family. Its shares hit a seven-year high in May just before its president, Yingluck Shinawatra, was selected as Puea Thai's candidate to be prime minister.
Yingluck is Thaksin's sister. Although she will cease to be the president of the company before the election, some investors feel SC Asset will benefit if she leads the next government.
Her husband is Anusorn Amornchat, president of handset distributor M-Link Asia Corp . M-Link was founded by Thaksin's other two sisters.
However, elections have tended to push up the stock market in the past, and the retail sector outperformed around the seven polls from 1992 to 2007.
Here is a look at shares that may win or lose this time.
WILL RETAIL, MEDIA BENEFIT?
Retail and media stocks are seen as the best plays since consumer spending should rise as political parties and state agencies spend on election campaigns.
The state planning agency is reported as saying election activities could lead to spending of up to 30 billion baht ($1 billion), higher than in the previous poll in 2007.
Top convenience store chain CP All is among the top picks in the retail sector. Its shares hit a record high on May 25 after it told Reuters it expected a strong second quarter because of election spending. .
Among other stocks singled out by analysts are motorcycle-loan provider Thitikorn Pcl and top mobile phone firm Advanced Info Service (AIS) .
Advertising spending, which rose 12 percent in April from a year before, should also post strong growth in the second quarter. This is positive for broadcasters BEC World and MCOT , cinema chain Major Cineplex and television programme producer Workpoint Entertainment .
About 1 billion baht of spending is expected to flow into the printing industry, which should benefit printer T.K.S. Technology .
WHICH COMPANIES ARE IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR POLITICAL LINKS?
The telecoms sector is highly linked to politics because of the regulatory system, under which companies pay concession fees to state firms TOT and CAT Telecom for the right to operate.
Thailand is in the process of setting up a new telecoms regulator, now expected in the third quarter of 2011. Political turbulence and frequent changes of government have delayed reform, in particular stalling the introduction of 3G telephony.
True Corp , the country's largest integrated telecoms provider, appears to have done well under the current Democrat-led government.
After the collapse of a tender for new 3G bandwidth amid regulatory wrangling, True signed deals with CAT Telecom that effectively extended its concession by 15 years and enabled it to be the first to launch nationwide third-generation services on an existing network.
True is part of unlisted food conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, which is among the big donors to the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra made his fortune in the telecoms sector with Shin Corp . His family sold a controlling stake in Shin Corp to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in 2006, which triggered events that led to his ouster by the military in September of that year.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled Thaksin had concealed ownership of shares in Shin and tailored government policies to benefit Shin and its satellite arm Thaicom when in office.
The Shin group, including affiliates top mobile firm AIS and Thaicom, denies any connection with politics and says a recent rise in its share price reflects the performance of the two units. Even so, some investors seem to think it might benefit under a government that backs Thaksin.
Also in the spotlight is SC Asset Corp , the property arm of the Shinawatra family. Its shares hit a seven-year high in May just before its president, Yingluck Shinawatra, was selected as Puea Thai's candidate to be prime minister.
Yingluck is Thaksin's sister. Although she will cease to be the president of the company before the election, some investors feel SC Asset will benefit if she leads the next government.
Her husband is Anusorn Amornchat, president of handset distributor M-Link Asia Corp . M-Link was founded by Thaksin's other two sisters.
Harvick messes with Kyle Busch; Busch fails post-race inspection
He only led two laps and was never really a major threat to win at Pocono on Sunday, but Kyle Busch nonetheless found himself once again in the spotlight, and once again for all the wrong reasons.
Busch, barely a week removed from his already-infamous fight with Richard Childress, ran into trouble with one of Childress' drivers almost immediately. On Pocono's 3,000-foot-long straightaway, Kevin Harvick took a long, sloping line that forced Busch almost all the way into the infield.
In the ensuing laps, Harvick bumped Busch several times, making it clear he was attempting to rattle the 18's driver and crew. Harvick continued until NASCAR officials told the teams to knock it off, and they raced the rest of the afternoon without incident.
Afterward, Busch noted that it appeared Harvick "was trying to make it awfully difficult on me." Measuring his words carefully, Busch added that "maybe [that style of racing] kind of shows his character and who he is, how he feels he needs to race on the racetrack. But it's not my fight. He's trying to turn it into one."
Harvick, meanwhile, freely admitted he was trying to get into Busch's head. "He knows he has one coming," Harvick said, according to ESPN's David Newton. "I just wanted him to think about it."
After the race, the news got worse for Busch, as NASCAR inspectors found the left front of his car to be too low. NASCAR will take the No. 18 back to its R&D Center for further inspection and, if necessary, issue a penalty later this week. The severity of the penalty will depend on the violation, and since NASCAR has not yet laid out the points breakdown for penalties under the new points system, the exact possible penalties are still a mystery.
So how low was it? "Doesn't matter, it's too low," NASCAR VP of Competition Robin Pemberton said. "Outside the tolerances."
Busch finished third in the Pocono race. This penalty isn't severe enough to strip him of his finish or anything like that; it's more likely he'll be penalized somewhere in the five-to-15-point range, if necessary.
Busch, barely a week removed from his already-infamous fight with Richard Childress, ran into trouble with one of Childress' drivers almost immediately. On Pocono's 3,000-foot-long straightaway, Kevin Harvick took a long, sloping line that forced Busch almost all the way into the infield.
In the ensuing laps, Harvick bumped Busch several times, making it clear he was attempting to rattle the 18's driver and crew. Harvick continued until NASCAR officials told the teams to knock it off, and they raced the rest of the afternoon without incident.
Afterward, Busch noted that it appeared Harvick "was trying to make it awfully difficult on me." Measuring his words carefully, Busch added that "maybe [that style of racing] kind of shows his character and who he is, how he feels he needs to race on the racetrack. But it's not my fight. He's trying to turn it into one."
Harvick, meanwhile, freely admitted he was trying to get into Busch's head. "He knows he has one coming," Harvick said, according to ESPN's David Newton. "I just wanted him to think about it."
After the race, the news got worse for Busch, as NASCAR inspectors found the left front of his car to be too low. NASCAR will take the No. 18 back to its R&D Center for further inspection and, if necessary, issue a penalty later this week. The severity of the penalty will depend on the violation, and since NASCAR has not yet laid out the points breakdown for penalties under the new points system, the exact possible penalties are still a mystery.
So how low was it? "Doesn't matter, it's too low," NASCAR VP of Competition Robin Pemberton said. "Outside the tolerances."
Busch finished third in the Pocono race. This penalty isn't severe enough to strip him of his finish or anything like that; it's more likely he'll be penalized somewhere in the five-to-15-point range, if necessary.
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