Evaluation Engineering - 2

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RNELSON@ENDEAVORB2B.COM

Three-way race to the future
A little over a year ago on this page
(October 2018), I looked toward the future
of 5G, autonomous vehicles, and manned missions to Mars. Widespread practical applications of 5G communications and autonomous
automobiles remain in the future, as does any
manned mission to Mars (or even the return
of men to the moon). Nevertheless, progress
is occurring on all fronts, with 5G likely to be
the first to make a significant impact on our
lives.
Shortly after I wrote my October 2018 editorial, NASA announced that its InSight had
signaled from the Martian surface that its
solar panels had opened and were collecting sunlight.1 Shortly after, InSight began
transmitting photos and videos with audio.
You can hear some of the "peculiar" sounds
InSight has captured at the Mars InSight
Mission website.2 InSight is also delivering
weather reports for Elysium Planitia. As I
write this on October 1, the high is -15°F, and
the low is -155°F.
As for autonomous vehicles, expectations
that level 4 or level 5 self-driving cars will
soon appear have waned, mostly because of
safety concerns. Researchers are working
on both sensors and software to overcome
current limitations, and it's possible that the
traditional vision, radar, ultrasonic, and lidar
sensors might need to be augmented with
additional technology.
A recent New York Times article3 outlines
the initiatives that several companies are taking on the sensor front. Companies including
AdaSky, FLIR, and Seek Thermal, for example,
offer infrared sensors that perform well in
rain and at night. WaveSense offers groundpenetrating radar that could be adapted to
automotive applications. Meanwhile, makers of lidar and radar sensors are working to
improve their technology as well. As for the
software that ties sensor systems together,
Yole Développement sees a role for artificial
intelligence in the autonomous-automobile
market.4
Considerable progress is occurring in 5G,
with test-and-measurement instruments

EVALUATION ENGINEERING NOVEMBER 2019

playing a key role. "Within the high-performance signal-generator area, it is all about
5G as demand increases for complete testing solutions for 5G products," says James
McGregor, global head of test, tools, and
production supplies at Newark, in the special report on signal generators in this issue.
A key trend is a move to smaller footprints.
"This trend is apparent in the drive to support
5G and other emerging technologies as more
and more functionality is implemented in this
compact package," adds Jon Semancik, director of marketing at Marvin Test Solutions.
Of course, frequency range is an issue as
well. "5G FR2 applications currently aim for
frequencies up to 44 GHz, and 6G will presumably use even higher frequencies," notes
Simon Ache, director of signal-generation
product management at Rohde & Schwarz.
Did Ache mention 6G? Yes, he did, and work
on the technology is commencing. To that
end, in September, NI announced a real-time
sub-THz software-defined radio (SDR) for 6G
research built on NI's mmWave Transceiver
System (MTS) and Virginia Diodes' radio
heads. "Now that 5G is becoming mainstream, communications research must move
deeper into the millimeter and submillimeter
wavebands," said Gerhard Schoenthal, COO of
Virginia Diodes, in a press release. "It seems
D-Band is now the new E-Band."
So, which will appear first-humans on
Mars, fully autonomous automobiles, or 6G
networks? It will be an interesting three-way
race to watch.
Rick Nelson
Interim Chief Editor

53.4 BILLION
Inverter market in 2018

17.5 BILLION
Power semiconductor
devices market in 2018

23%
Percent of total market
occupied by IGBT modules
Source: Yole Développement

136

Number of 300-mm
semiconductor fabs/lines
in operation in 2019

172

Number of 300-mm
semiconductor fabs/
lines expected to be in
operation in 2023
Source: SEMI

REFERENCES

1. "InSight is catching rays on Mars," EE-Evaluation
Engineering Online, November 28, 2018.
2. "NASA's InSight 'Hears' Peculiar Sounds on Mars,"
InSight Mission News, NASA, October 1, 2019.
3. Quain, John R., "These High-Tech Sensors May Be
the Key to Autonomous Cars," The New York Times,
September 26, 2019.
4. Artificial Intelligence Computing for Automotive
2019, i-Micronews, February 2019.

1.02
August North American Printed
Circuit Board Statistical
Program book-to-bill ratio
Source: IPC

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Evaluation Engineering

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