Page 45 - EETEurope FlipBook February

EE|Times EUROPE 45
Even Technology Can’t Eliminate Fear of the Covid-19 Unknown

more transmissible mutation of the virus. Our period of self-isolation was effectively enough knowledge to deal with it effectively.
The U.K. test-and-trace app simply enables like a house arrest, on top of the general That lack of knowledge means you can use
the smartphone to generate an anonymous lockdown we’d already been living under. technology only to the extent that you can
token once a day and a second one that That positive Covid-19 test added a layer of measure what you know. But there is still too
changes every 15 minutes. Anyone else using complexity to living. Our date for “release” much unknown for technology to be com-
the app within the distance range of your was Dec. 28. The date you’re given assumes pletely effective.
Bluetooth signal exchanges the anonymous that you all come out well on the other side of Let’s hope that 2021 brings us more than
tokens and then stores the updated token the isolation period and recover. But as with just the vaccine. We need to understand how
(the one that changes every 15 minutes) for many parameters in this unknown territory of to deal with the virus better, too, if we happen
two weeks. If you test positive for Covid-19, the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s not that simple. to catch it. And then we can overcome the fear
you enter the test result code in your app. In our case, it took a few more days than the of that unknown. ■
This way, all the phones that stored the target date, but recover we did, eventually.
anonymized tokens from your phone because Technology in itself is really useful in deal- Nitin Dahad is editor-in-chief of Embedded.
you were in proximity over the last two weeks ing with modern life challenges. But in the This article was originally published on
would then also be alerted to self-isolate. case of Covid-19, society still hasn’t gained EE Times.

MARKET & TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
EE Times Conference to Map

the Road Ahead for EVs, AVs

By Junko Yoshida and Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio

In a virtual event in March, a lineup of industry luminaries and tech experts
will examine the outlook for ‘infusing cars with sparks and senses.’
“ lectrification” and “automation” are for “eyesight” that works in all weather, on all an EE Times columnist (“Egil’s Eye”)
• Egil Juliussen, an auto industry analyst and
terrain, and all day long.
the buzzwords defining the automotive
• Colin Barnden, lead analyst at Semicast
Next-generation vehicles not only will
industry in 2021. Worldwide, carmakers
Eare off to the races on next- monitor conditions outside the car but will Research and an EE Times columnist (“Seri-
generation EVs and AVs, though in many cases, keep an eye on the people and things inside. ously Skeptical”)
the engineering crews are still tinkering with Furthermore, to achieve higher levels of • Ana Villamor, technology and market
the designs. To assess where the industry is automated driving, vehicles will have to think analyst for Power Electronics & Compound
headed on EV and AV development, including ahead. To do so, they will need to detect, clas- Semiconductors at Yole Développement
the remaining roadblocks and the potential sify, and track objects, and then predict where • Alex Q. Huang, professor at the University
strategies for dismantling them, EE Times and how those objects are likely to move next. of Texas at Austin
is presenting “Roadmap to Next-Gen EV The connection between the automotive • Anup Bhalla, vice president of engineer-
& AV,” a virtual conference scheduled for industry’s two hottest trends — EVs and ing at United Silicon Carbide Inc. (UnitedSiC)
March 23–25. The conference will offer three AVs — is a dramatic change in electrical and • Ivo Marocco, director of marketing and
half-days of programs that will discuss and electronics (E/E) architecture. Carmakers are business development, Battery Automotive
showcase the technologies that the automo- marshaling more compute power, seeking to Products for EV/HEV at Texas Instruments
tive industry needs to “infuse cars with sparks add such features as connectivity and over-the- Other speakers and panelists will examine a
and senses.” air software updates while upgrading safety. range of powertrain technologies and explore
To enable electric vehicles to charge faster Automotive OEMs will leverage the compute how wide-bandgap semiconductors are mov-
and drive farther, designers are pursuing power at their disposal to differentiate their ing e-mobility development forward.
power-conversion efficiency. EV powertrain vehicles while maximizing EV mileage. In- Registration for the conference will open
technologies are also accelerating the indus- vehicle power management becomes increas- soon; visit eetimes.com for updates. And to
try’s move toward a more sustainable future. ingly important in this scenario. read up on the topic before the conference,
The performance keys in EV design are the “The Roadmap to Next-Gen EV & AV” will see the first two books in our “AspenCore
battery and the propulsion system. Potential offer vehicle designers the informational Guide” series: “Sensors in Automotive: Mak-
solutions in several powertrain stages include building blocks for developing power- ing Cars See and Think Ahead” and “Gallium
wide-bandgap semiconductors — silicon efficient, advanced EVs with automated fea- Nitride: A New Era for Power Electronics,”
carbide and gallium nitride — to achieve the tures. Industry luminaries and EV technology both available at eetimes.com/shop/. ■
required performance. Compared with silicon, experts are among the scheduled keynote
SiC and GaN enable higher efficiency and speakers, including: Junko Yoshida is global editor-in-chief of
switching frequency, along with higher operat- • Phil Koopman, co-founder of Edge Case AspenCore.
ing temperature and higher operating voltage. Research, professor at Carnegie Mellon, and a
In parallel, to make highly automated vehi- safety expert Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio is editor-in-chief of
cles see better, carmakers are on the lookout • Phil Magney, founder of VSI Labs Power Electronics News and EEWeb.

www.eetimes.eu | FEBRUARY 2021