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Omnitron Sensors’ test structure for process verification of its step-scanning MEMS actuator

Claiming a New MEMS Topology, Startup Promises ‘Disruption’

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What’s at stake?
The performance of MEMS devices has stagnated because MEMS manufacturing process technologies have failed to advance significantly. An Los Angeles-based startup believes it can fix that. Omnitron Sensors claims to have proven its new process technology through development of an optical subsystem for MEMS lidar. Industry experts want to see Omnitron’s patents before judging whether “disruptive” is the word that applies to the new manufacturing process technology.

The semiconductor industry has Moore’s Law and process nodes. Both help chip developers gauge progress and advance chip designs.

But what about micro-mechanical systems, or MEMS?

Eliyan founders (from left): Syrus Ziai, Ramin Farjadrad, Patrick Soheili

Eliyan Goes Do-or-Die with Die-to-Die Interface Technology

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By Junko Yoshida.

What’s at stake?
Chiplets are emerging as the go-to technology for advanced SoCs designed for AI accelerator, data center and cloud computing applications. Despite years of implementation, these chiplets still face many challenges, including interconnect interfaces and protocols, packaging and quality control. Startup Eliyan is confident it has a technology that helps chipmakers overcome those hurdles.

Kelly Peng Sees Smart Glasses in Your Future

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By Rebecca Day

What’s at stake:
While augmented-reality smart glasses have found adopters in industry, thus far consumers have largely failed to see the appeal. Kura Technologies asserts that its Gallium glasses overcome the performance, comfort and privacy hurdles that earlier entries failed to clear, and it is confident that the expanding metaverse will enable applications that will convince the public of smart glasses’ utility. Whether consumers will find smart glasses as indispensable as they now view their phones by the end of the decade, as Kura’s CEO predicts, remains to be seen. But they will get an early glimpse of the Gallium glasses in limited public demonstrations over the next couple of years.

FinFET-on-GaN wafer from Finwave Semiconductor

Finwave Looks to Disrupt RF Markets With First FinFETs on GaN

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By Adele Hars

What’s at stake:
While carriers have tried to roll out the superfast millimeter-wave part of the 5G promise, they’ve been hampered by hot and power-hungry uplink technology in handsets. Finwave says its FinFET-on-GaN power amplifiers will fix that problem, and more.

ZiGGY charging station from EV Safe Charge

EV Charging Stations Go Mobile

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By Rebecca Day

What’s at stake?
Carmakers are investing big sums in EVs, but charging anxiety has many U.S. consumers hesitant to buy in. Could a charger robot be a solution.

Closeup of kid's helmet and bike on a pedestrian lines after danger incident with a car

Startup’s Automotive Radar Sees People in the Dark

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By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake?
Not all advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are created equal. Automatic emergency braking, particularly, is known to hit pedestrians and cyclists at night. A Texas startup thinks its new radar is the answer.

tire pressure safety using existng auto sensors

Rubber Meets Road for Tire Safety Startup

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By Rebecca Day

What’s at stake:
Vehicle sensors measure multiple functions in the car, but monitoring critical tire and road conditions haven’t been part of the diagnostics picture. Startup Tactile Mobility claims it has a solution for that.

homophobic encryption developed by Cornami

Startup Aims to Build the First ‘Unhackable’ Encryption System

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By Bolaji Ojo

A breakthrough appears imminent in the search for fully homomorphic encryption, which could put an end to the data security nightmare companies and governments face. Will Cornami be the startup to deliver this important innovation?

AON: ‘Edge AI’ Done Right

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By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake?
“Edge AI” is the latest trend to sweep the Internet of Things (IoT), embedded and AI markets, lending urgency to the need to examine how one edge AI approach differs from another. A startup called AONDevices is taking a pragmatic path with an ASIC that excels in power consumption, processing power and recognition accuracy.

PreAct Going Close-Up to Cut Lidar Cost

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By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake?
Elon Musk once famously called lidars a “fool’s errand,” a claim that has yet to be entirely disproven. Despite their high-precision performance advantages, lidars remain too costly to become an indispensable sensing modality in ADAS. Against the odds, a startup called PreAct sees a volume opportunity for “dirt-cheap” near-field lidars, not the long- or medium-range lidars most other players are pursuing.