ARLINGTON, VA -- The pending merger of the National Electronics Distributors Association and the Electronic Components Association is on track to take place in January, the trade groups said.

RICHARDSON, TX – Asset InterTech has partnered with Flextronics to accelerate the adoption of IEEE P1687 Internal JTAG (IJTAG).

The Flextronics Center of Excellence in Austin will collaborate with Asset on the development of tools supporting the standard for Asset’s ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments.

The firms also will undertake joint marketing activities on the lifecycle value of deploying validation and test strategies based on the standard. They both have plans to conduct seminars, author joint white papers, present technical papers on IJTAG technology, and compile application notes. 

Once ratified next year, the standard will specify an open architecture and interfacing mechanisms for instrumentation embedded into semiconductor chips, simplifying the use of these embedded instruments to validate, test and debug chips, circuit boards and systems.

It will enable efficient use of embedded instruments throughout a product’s lifecycle, including circuit board validation during design, board test in manufacturing, and maintenance diagnostics in the field.

LAGUNA, PHILLIPPINES – IMI and its subsidiary Speedy-Tech Electronics have obtained in a US patent describing a self-coupled driver used in dual-switch forward power converter.

A dual-switch forward power converter, and a method of operating the same, employs a self-coupled driver to achieve higher efficiency, lower part count and component cost.

The transformer has two serially connected primary windings, with the first winding connected to a first switching transistor, which is biased by a pulse controller; the second winding couples the voltage across the first winding to bias the second switching transistor.

The circuit on the primary side of the transformer comprises means of dissipating magnetization current, and the circuit on the secondary side comprises a rectifier and a low-pass filter.

The US Patent no. is 7787265.

BANGKOK -- Fabrinet reported September quarter GAAP net income  was $15.2 million, up 146% from last year.

SAN JOSE -- Sanmina-SCI swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $31 million on higher demand for communications and industrial products. The contract assembler lost $33 million a year ago.

SHENZHEN -- Nam Tai Electronics reported third-quarter net income of $7.6 million, up 68.9% from last year on higher sales.

JOHOR, MALAYSIA -- Flextronics' medical business unit will open a dedicated, 180,000 sq. ft. facility in Senai, the contract electronics assembler's second major expansion in a year.

SAN JOSE -- The 90-day moving average worldwide semiconductors sales reached $26.5 billion in September, up 2.9% sequentially and 6.1% year-over-year, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today.

LOS ALTOS, CA – After a rare two-year drop in global communications equipment production, hardware OEMs are headed for a strong rebound this year.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – Several new topics and features have been incorporated into 2011 IPC International Technology Roadmap to provide data and comparisons between technologies and reliability.

The latest Roadmap, which is set to be published next spring, expands the regional analysis and comparisons. The substrate and assembly sections, for example, provide insight into the regional differences in capability between Asia, Europe and North America.

Another addition is the link of emulators to industry standards and specifications. A new section discusses changes needed in industry standards to make them relevant to tomorrow’s needs.

The committee invites anyone interested in joining the final meetings from November through January to contact JeanneCooney@ipc.org.

The roadmap will be unveiled at IPC Apex Expo in April.

SINGAPORE – Venture Corp. Ltd. reported revenue of $524.1 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 3.7% sequentially.

BEIJING – China will reduce rare earth export quotas 30% next year to protect its precious metal supplies, the China Ministry of Commerce said.

China already cut 2010 production and export quotas 72% for the second half to 7,976 tons, based on ministry data.

If the current rate of production holds steady, medium and heavy rare earths reserves could dry up within 15 to 20 years, an anonymous spokesperson says, according to published reports. China produces 95% of the world supply.

Domestic deposits fell to 27 million tons by the end of last year, 30% of the world's total explored reserves, down 37.2% compared to levels in 1996. 

The US holds an estimated 15% of the world's reserves, but relies on imports.