According to semiconductor market watcher, iSuppli Corp. of El Segundo, CA (www.isuppli.com), chips carrying voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) technology are about to demonstrate hockey-stick growth. Worldwide shipments of IP phones hit a quiet 2.5 million in 2002, but they're set to reach 20 million by 2006. Presently, 15% of cable modems have phone ports. That percentage is set to hit a hefty 66% by 2008. Does this mean you'll soon plug your phone into your HBO connection? Not necessarily. According to Texas Instruments Inc., much of the growth in VoIP is driven by traditional phone companies switching to VoIP technology for the savings. "The demand is mostly coming from the large carriers—the Baby Bells, Sprint, and AT&T," says Phil Simmelink, general manager of TI's voice-over packet business. "We're over our budget for revenues on VoIP chips." Much of the demand for VoIP chips is coming from the East. "The strongest initial growth is occurring in the Asia Pacific region," says Dharmendra Patel, senior manager of VoIP products at Agere Systems Inc. (www.agere.com) in Allentown, PA. As for consumers plugging their phones into their cable modem, that's expected to come from Asia as well. According to Steve Rago, principal analyst for networking and optical service at iSuppli, much of the VoIP chips are going into cable modems headed for the Asia Pacific region. The idea is that marketers will be able to convert consumers to cable-based phone easily if their cable modems are already equipped to handle voice.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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