Pile it high, sell it cheap [consumer electronics]

This article gives an overview of the changing economics of the consumer electronics sector, which increasingly resembles a commodities market. While consumer electronics still seems to have plenty of room for growth, the downward pressure on prices has grown to the point where time-to-market really is becoming a matter of months and for technology suppliers, the rate of unit shipments will have to increase very rapidly just to keep revenue growth on an even track.     

为什么我们还只卖手机

在通信制造业的一片萧条中，国产手机生产企业的日子却相对来说好过得多，一些手机生产商的股价都有不同程度的上涨。与此相关的事实是，被我们当成竞争对手的国外手机制造商们已经不把手机销售当成征战的唯一市场，而是逐渐将兵力向手机应用开发平台，甚至手机开发芯片等更加高端的市场转移。爱立信在遭遇手机市场的挫折后，将手机终端业务与索尼合璧，并成立了爱立信移动平台公司（EMP），专事手机开发平台供应业务。目前已经与索尼爱立信、LG、台湾的GVC、芬兰Microcell、Benefon以及TCL签署了手机技术转让和许可协议。而实际上，…     

Japanese power retailers sell new energy

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) plans to oblige power retailers from FY 2003 to sell certain amounts of energy generated by solar, wind and other renewable sources, according to a draft bill.     

How to make an ideal HBT and sell it too

New technology of active packaging (AP) is proposed. It permits the implementation of device structures that require lithography on opposite sides of a thin semiconductor crystal layer. A major goal of the AP technology is to integrate III-V devices with silicon integrated circuitry on a single substrate; the purpose, however, is not only to “teach the old dog new tricks” but also to greatly expand the assortment of tricks available. The concept is illustrated by describing a process for the fabrication of a collector-up InP heterojunction bipolar transistor, capable of oscillation in the frequency range of 300-400 GHz. An attractive application for this technology is the implementation of millimeter and submillimeter phased antenna arrays, in which beam steering is accomplished by amplitude modulation of array elements at a fixed phase difference. Focal plane antenna arrays on a silicon chip should have important applications in automobile collision avoidance and early warning systems, as well as satellite communication systems     

Home fuels cells to sell in Japan - [update]

After a number of false starts in the United States and elsewhere, fuel cells scaled to home heating and electrical needs may be nearing a commercial debut?at least in Japan. During the last four years the Japanese government has spent more than US $100 million on a program to demonstrate such systems, supporting the work of five companies, including Toyota and Toshiba. Now Matsushita Electric plans to start mass production of the system it developed in the program, with an admittedly modest sales target of 1000 units in 2009. Two other participants, Ebara Corp. and Eneos Celltech, are also reportedly preparing for full-scale manufacturing and marketing in 2009.     

基于汽车销售组织结构上的分解组合算法研究

通过利用销售组织结构,对不适合充分利用运输车辆运能的配送计划进行了组合优化,并在分解组合过程中参考了运输车辆的前期表现等因素。分解组合结果充分利用了运输车辆的运能,节约了运输成本。     

GEMNET: a generalized, shuffle-exchange-based, regular, scalable,modular, multihop, WDM lightwave network

GEMNET is a generalization of shuffle-exchange networks and it can represent a family of network structures (including ShuffleNet and de Bruijn graph) for an arbitrary number of nodes. GEMNET employs a regular interconnection graph with highly desirable properties such as small nodal degree, simple routing, small diameter, and growth capability (viz. scalability). GEMNET can serve as a logical (virtual), packet-switched, multihop topology which can be employed for constructing the next generation of lightwave networks using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). Various properties of GEMNET are studied     

Thermodynamics of copper matte converting: Part III. Steady-state volatilization of Au,Ag, Pb,Zn, Ni,Se, Te,Bi, Sb,and As from slag,matte, and metallic copper

A comprehensive compilation of various thermodynamic data required for a complete analysis of copper matte converting reactions is presented. The data comprise estimated free energies of formation for such gases as SeO, SeS, TeO, TeS, BiO, BiS, SbO, SbS, AsO, and AsS, as well as activity coefficients in dilute copper alloys and vapor pressures of various elements and compounds. The volatilization of minor elements in steady-state reactors comprising gas and several condensed phases is mathematically formulated, and a parameter which governs the volatilization in such reactors is defined and named volatilization constant. The vapor pressures of various volatile species are calculated thermodynamically for the Noranda Process reactor by assuming equilibrium conditions. The volatilization constants of various minor elements are expressed explicitly as functions of oxygen and sulfur activities. Formerly Associate Professor, Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT     

Bits, symbols, bauds, and bandwidth

The use of clear, concise, and unambiguous language in telecommunications engineering is vital to communicate a desired meaning and understanding. Terminology should be based on rigorous engineering principles and traceable to well known and dependable sources. This article deals with four everyday terms commonly encountered in the popular semi-technical press as well as in serious engineering periodicals. The misuse of these and other terms can lead to low-balled cost proposals, court litigation, and patent infringement cases. Imagine how an engineering student can be confused when she/he typically encounters bandwidth measured in bits per second     

Novel planar, square-shaped, dielectric-waveguide, single-, and dual-mode filters

This paper presents a novel concept of a square-shaped dielectric-waveguide resonator, which can easily realize a dielectric-waveguide cross-coupled filter or a dielectric-waveguide dual-mode filter, using the conventional printed circuit board (PCB) process. This planar dielectric-waveguide resonator has a higher Q value than a microstrip resonator. The physical mechanisms of both single- and dual-mode filters are elucidated. Some new coupling structures are developed for undergoing the PCB process. Filter design procedures are detailed. Design curves for the coupling coefficients of internal- and external-coupling structures are determined by full-wave finite-element-method electromagnetic calculations. Measurement results are highly consistent with theory for all trial filters. This study offers an effective means of producing low-cost high-performance planar circuit filters.     

PBX技术.市态.营销.选购

本文介绍了ＰＢＸ交换机的技术及市场需求态势。并提出ＰＢＸ产品的营销要素及其用户在选购时应遵循的原则。     

Dilemmas,uncertainty, risks,and board performance

This paper traces the origins of the words risk, uncertainty, governance and development and argues that a deeper understanding of each allows more effective decision taking in the boardroom. It argues that the role of the board of directors is to balance and rebalance continuously their irresolvable dilemma — ‘how do we drive our enterprise forward while keeping it under prudent control?’ It argues that it is the board’s role to focus on uncertainty, rather than risk, and this requires a different set of intellectual skills from board members to be able to cope with monitoring a range of diverse scenarios. This is crucial for a board to develop stronger ways of both leading their organisation and of ensuring the connectedness of the learning within and between the board and the operational unit’s risk taking. It advocates that to achieve this a board must develop new ways of learning — especially of thinking strategically and becoming more sensitised to the dynamics of their changing external environments. This will take them well beyond the comforts of their specialist managerial disciplines and into the true world of directing. The paper demonstrates the importance of continuous learning in reducing organisational uncertainty and risk. It uses the ‘Learning Board’ process and model as the central processor of both strategic and operational learning to create an annual rhythm for the board’s year.