電源コードが好きな人には、まだ会ったことがありません。

Written By Sanjay Gupta, VP Product Management, WiTricity

While the possibilities of magnetic-resonance-based wireless charging are very exciting, the technology is frequently misunderstood by those not involved in the industry.

Consider the devices we use every day: From smartphones and smartwatches and potentially electric vehicles, electronics are becoming as mobile as people themselves. We rely and expect our devices to be charged at all times, ready-to-use when needed. But as it currently stands, we still must plug in our phones, our electric cars, and our smartwatches, tethering us to cords and cables, triggering range anxiety and obsessing about the remaining juice on our devices.

Televisions can get their content wirelessly, but there is one set of wires they still need: those in their power cord. The consumer electronics industry has floated ideas for freeing TVs from their power cords, but this goal remains elusive. There are several reasons, such as the difficultly of meeting high-power requirements for large-screen TVs and the need for identifying an economical technology. Nevertheless, eGaN FETs could play a role in making TVs truly cordless devices.

Every year in January 2017, the world’s consumer electronics community gathers in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to see, learn and discuss the latest innovations and products available in the world of electronics.

More than 3,800 exhibitors spread out across 2.47 million net square feet of exhibit space, is the location where over 170,000 industry professionals, 50,000 outside of the U.S. wander, ogle, and “play with” the latest electronic devices.

2016年1月、私は、そのとき、来る年のいくつかの予測をしました。無線充電、拡張現実、自動運転車、医療診断やインターネット・アクセスの進歩など、新しい市場に対する予測をしました。これらの市場における進歩は、すべての面で、予想よりも、時にはより速く、時にはより遅くなりました。そして、ここで、私たちは、まさに新しい年を迎えようとしており、おそらく、愚かなことに、私は、再び未来を予測しようと思います。

GaN technology is disruptive, in the best sense of the word, making possible what was once thought to be impossible – eGaN® technology is 10 times faster, significantly smaller, and with higher performance at costs comparable to silicon-based MOSFETs. The inevitability of GaN displacing the aging power MOSFET is becoming clearer with domination of most existing applications and enabling new ones.

Drones are on the rise. In fact, use of drones is only limited by our imagination – from merely recreational (think “drone races”) to delivering packages (as promised by Amazon) to a range of life-saving military uses (such as real-time battlefield imaging). Emerging high speed, small size, and highly efficient gallium nitride power semiconductors are key contributors to the expansion of drone applications, including onboard equipment such as LiDAR imaging and navigation systems and 4G/5G communication transmitters. Let’s take a look at how GaN technology and the expansion of drone applications intersect.

A drone, or more technically, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft without a pilot on board. Control of the drone is accomplished either under remote control from the ground or under control of an onboard computer.

Although drones originated mostly in military applications, civilian drones now vastly outnumber military drones, with estimates of over 9 million consumer drones to be sold in 2016 world wide for a total market value of near $3 billion.

The contribution that gallium nitride semiconductor technology is making in medical applications can be measured not only in dollars saved, but also more importantly in its contribution to the speed of intervention, diagnostic accuracy and patient comfort. Because of its superior performance and small size, GaN components (FETs and ICs) are enabling end applications such as wireless power charging, higher resolution diagnostics, and precision surgical robotics. These applications are improving ways health care is being provided.