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TDK buys InvenSense for push towards Sensor Fusion
but is also widely used in applications like indoor navigation, augmented reality, sports training equipment and vehicle advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Following the purchase by TDK, the combined sensor portfolio offers more opportunities for combining sensors in this way. InvenSense will operate as a
subsidiary of TDK. The transaction is expected to complete in Q3 2017.
InvenSense has invested in sensor fusion technology.
TDK has agreed to purchase InvenSense in a deal worth around USD $1.3 billion. MEMS specialist InvenSense
are best known for their MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers which have found their way into leading smartphone designs. However, InvenSense also makes pressure sensors and microphones, amongst others. This portfolio should fit nicely alongside TDK’s pressure, temperature and current sensing technologies, and there is a great deal of synergy to be had in the customer base; Apple is already TDK’s largest customer (11% of sales) while it is reportedly responsible for more than half of InvenSense sales. InvenSense has been looking for
buyers for a while after finding its margins squeezed as MEMS sensors have started to become commodity products. As a bid to add value to their MEMS sensor chips, InvenSense has therefore been investing in sensor fusion technology, purchasing software company Movea in 2014. Sensor fusion combines data from multiple sensors, either to provide more accurate data, or to enrich the data with more context about what is happening. It’s an essential technology for the internet of things
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Antwerp becomes Living Lab for wireless and sensor technologies IMEC, the nanoelectronics research centre, has begun a project to transform the Belgian city of Antwerp into a Living Lab for large scale testing of internet of things (IoT) technologies. The idea behind the City of Things project is to experiment with technologies to make urban life more enjoyable and sustainable, prioritising mobility, security, sustainability and digital interaction with Antwerp’s inhabitants. The City of Things already has
several interesting projects running. To monitor the air quality around Antwerp, two postal vans belonging to Bpost (the Belgian postal service) have been fitted with wireless carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide sensors from Brussels-based start- up Communithings. Bpost vans are ideal for data gathering as they cover every street in Antwerp on a daily basis. The eventual aim is to reduce the city’s pollution levels. Ion sensors are also installed at a sampling plant at the Scheldt river to monitor water pollution. Wireless network technologies
are also being trialled as part of the City of Things. Imec already has 60GHz wireless backhaul installed in Antwerp to expand the available communication bandwidth seamlessly for major events or emergencies. Network operator Orange is studying how NB-IoT (narrow band IoT) technology could be implemented
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to provide low power connectivity for hard to reach places. And a city-centre LoRa wireless network is being deployed to enable efficient gathering of data from large scale sensor projects; the LoRa network will eventually be opened up to researchers and start-ups/SMEs to use. Transforming an entire city into
a test bed for wireless and sensor technologies is a big task but it is really the only way to test how well IoT technologies intended for the smart cities of the future will work in the real world. In the mean time, the city of Antwerp can attract technology researchers, tech companies and start-ups to the area, bringing jobs and other advantages to the local economy, while experimenting with ways to make life better for everyone who lives there. Smart move! “For the cities of tomorrow it’s all
about the survival of the smartest,” says Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever. “Monitoring is the key to knowledge – so that’s exactly what we are going to do. Thanks to this unique collaboration, Antwerp is heading for a new golden age. In the coming years, the city will build a strong position in smart city technology, nationally and internationally. It is also the first step in putting Flanders firmly on the world map as a knowledge region: Smart Flanders, we call it.”
FTDI spins out HMI and MCU divisions FTDI Chip has spun out two of its business units into a completely new company, BridgeTek, to allow FTDI to focus on its successful USB interconnection IC products. “By spinning out our MCU and HMI divisions into a new brand, we will be much better positioned, both strategically and logistically speaking, to explore the multitude of opportunities now opening up within contemporary embedded design,” says Fred Dart, FTDI Chip’s CEO and
January 2017
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