Research and Development

Research and Development (Vol. 17 No. 3) The complexity of modern electronics has brought together chemists, physicists, mathematicians, engineers and others as the fields of development widen, research, development and production are now more closely integrated. It is hoped that the data collected will be found useful, both as a source of reference and as a review of electronic development. The following table shows the investment in Research and Development undertaken by various companies throughout the world.

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

12

15

20

29

38

177

221

248

275

285

75

85

85

102

130

EDO Corp (US$ million)

2

3

3

3

3

EECO lnc (US$ million)

3

5

4

4

3

1359

1638

1973

2355

2798

369

397

414

422

451

3582

4200

4723

Analog Devices (US$ million) Burroughs (US$ million) Data General (USS million)

Ericsson (SK million) Honeywell (US$ million) IBM (US$ million) Motorola (US$ million)

251

275

336

425

464

Northern Telecom (US$ million)

182

241

325

432

586

195

216

243

251

442

573

100

111

RCA (US$ million) Siemens (DM million) Son)' (Y billion)

62

77

89

Taiwan invests NT$4.3 billion in R&D

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has decided to appropriate NT$4.3 billion (US$107.5 million) in fiscal 1987 for the development of 21 projects related to information machinery communications and teclmologies. Most of the projects approved

by the Ministry are related to technologies which will be used by the nation's industries in the future. Some of the new items are also included in research projects budgeted for 1986 such as development of electro-optics, digital net-

MICROELECTRONICS JOURNAL Vol. 17 No. 3 ~) 1986 Benn Electronics Publications Lid, Luton 51

works and metal technologies. MOEA will pay special attention to the evahmtion of these projects to make sure that its research results will be transferred to and effectively used by the private sector.

US Defence Department to spend $1 billion on GaAs IC research The Defence Department plans to spend nearly $1 billion over the next 5 years on basic and exploratory research and engineering into all types of advanced gallium arsenide integrated circuits. The VHSIC office will launch a new $135 million MMIMIC (microwave and millimetre wave monolithic integrated circuit) programme to develop the next-generation of analogue GaAs ICs. An initial $11 million is requested in the fiscal 1987 budget to kickoff the new GaAs project. MMIMIC will follow the same Phase 1 and Phase 2 approach of the VHSIC developments on silicon devices, leading to brassboard prototype circuits. The new advances are needed in analogue GaAs ICs for high-speed, low-noise communication programmes and for electronic warfare and radar systems. The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency is the executive agency heading GaAs digital IC developments, with Rockwell and Honeywell funded to set up prototype production lines. The digital GaAs circuits are eyed for new-generation, highspeed computers- particularly for processors needed in the Strategic Defence Initiative ballistic missile defence network. The DOD hopes the $1 billion military investment in GaAs development will lead to technology spinoffs for the commercial market.

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High gross profits needed to fund R&D Gross profit projections of at least 23% and as high as 40% are needed to tempt firms to finance research and development from new borrowings, in a 'dear money' situation. This is one of the findings of a 'Survey on Research and Development' carried out by the British Electrotechnical and Allied Manufacturers' Association (BEAMA). The survey of small and medium-sized electrical manufacturing companies was initiated by BEAMA as there was an absence of up-to-date primary data on the attitudes and perceptions of companies towards basic research and product development. BEAMA therefore was unable to meet requests for in-depth commentaries on the priority areas to which Government aid should be directed. Of the companies responding to the survey, 57% undertook no basic research and 31% indicated an annual expenditure of less than s the mean spending being s Any statistical connection between Government funding and basic research in a company seems unlikely, states the survey, as nearly one half of the companies which did spend on research had received no form of Government aid in the previous three years. Investment on production development, however, was undertaken by 96% of the responding companies, with an average of s a year. Product development expenditure was related to turnover: for companies with a turnover of less than s million, the majority spent less than s while at the other end of the scale the majority of companies with a turnover of s million to s million spent more than s a year. Nearly 30% of companies were involved in shared research and/or development with other manufacturing companies, while nearly 28% collaborated with universities or polytechnics, which are regarded as alternatives to independent research organisations, such as ERA and PERA. Academic institu-

tions, accor.ding to the replies, may not readily recognise the importance of time and of cost-reducing approaches to product development. Conversely, there was no comment that the independent research organisations may be too commercial. Nearly 30% of companies contracted work to the independent research organisations. Projects commissioned by a group of companies through trade associations were referred to as being of value. Almost all the companies fund R&D from revenue and a high proportion of small companies fund innovative projects on the basis of that which can be afforded, especially when interest rates for borrowing are upwards of 12%. The survey recommends that Government support for R&D should continue for small and medium-sized firms and that centralised R&D advisory services would perhaps be useful.

Surge in Japanese research spending Japanese innovation will increase markedly over the next few years. Between 1984 and 1988, at least 76 basic research laboratories will be opened by the country's electronics industry, on which $1.9bn to $2.5bn will be spent. Most leading edge technologies will be investigated, from very large scale integration for computer 'chips' to expert systems which attempt to encapsulate segments of human expertise in a computer system. The Japanese are also likely to attack computer aided design, which they have barely tackled so far.

Commission call to double R&D spending The European Commission has drawn up plans to double spending on EEC research programmes over the next five years, with a

new bid for Ecu 9bn (s in cash from the 12 member states. It also wants Ecu 1.35bn more as a reserve fund. The new framework programme, still in outline form, would cover the five years from 1987 to 1991, in comparison with the present four-year Ecu 3.75bn programme running from 1984 to 1987. Top priorities in the research and development to be financed would be enhancing European industrial competitiveness in such areas as information technology, telecommunications, biotechnology and marine technology. Those areas would absorb 60 per cent of the total, compared with 28 per cent in the present programme. Energy programmes, including nuclear energy and alternative energy sources, would receive decreased emphasis. The big increase in funds sought by the Commission for its own present and future projects, like the Esprit programme for information technology, the Race programme on broadband telecommunications, and the Brite programme on basic industrial research, seems certain to be greeted with scepticism by several member states. The growing conviction, expressed in the Eureka debate, has been to promote research by creating a favourable industrial climate, rather than by proposing large centrally-funded schemes.

MIETEC appointed leader and coordinator of race project on large area flat panel display MIETEC, Belgium's first semiconductor manufacturer and the first European start-up to be dedicated to Application Specific ICs (ASIC), has been appointed to lead and coordinate the section of the RACE programme dealing with Large Area Flat Panel Displays. Display types included are LCD, electroluminescent and Plasma. 53

MIETEC's strong involvement in this area arises because of its ability to manufacture display drivers ICs to drive several different types of Flat Panel Displays, particularly those requiring high voltages up to 400 V. The prime objective of the one year project entitled "Technology Survey and Critical Evaluation of Large Area Flat Panel Displays of I.B.C.'s", is to survey the application areas, High Definition T.V. (H.D.T.V.), Enhanced T.V. (E.T.V.), Viewphone and Alphagraphic displays and to provide RACE with inputs for the direction of future development work towards the Integrated Broadband Communication (IBC) system to be established community-wide by 1995. Ten European Partners, each with extensive experience in display technolgy, have been brought together to form the consortium on Flat Panel Displays. They are, apart from MIETEC: for England: G.E.C., Thorn-Emi and Mari, for France: Thomson (Sintra), Matra Communications, CNET and LETI, for the Netherlands: OCE and for Belgium: Barco-Industries. The cost of the project is approximately 1.2m Ecus.

Europeans in s

research consortium

Computer integrated manufacturing systems are to be developed by a consortium of three European companies and two universities in a s project within the Esprit programme. The three companies are ICL, Dextralog, a UK leader in real time production control systems and Krupp Atlas Datasysteme, the recently re-formed Krupp information technology group. University contributions will come from the expert systems and knowledge engineering group of Delft, and the production engineering laboratories of Twente, in Holland.

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The object of the programme is to make major advances in the integration of computer systems on or near the shop floor at a level which so far "has not been achieved in any commercial system." It will embrace production planning, scheduling, database management, supervisory control and factory floor data collection. Then, says the consortium, it will become possible to aquire a system able to provide small to medium-sized batch production runs (where 70% of Europe's industrial production takes place), with flexible manufacturing.

EECC OKs $19M for Component R&D The European Economic Community has approved $19 million in funding for 31 component-level research and development projects for the initial phase of its Advanced Communications Technologies for Europe (RACE) programme. The projects involve 109 companies, which will match the EEC grant. Future race grants are expected to total as much as $500 million. Five U.S. companies- IBM, AT&T, IT-F, GTE and Hewlett-Packard - are among those participating in the projects. ITT will be involved in 13 studies through various European subsidiaries, while the AT&T and Philips Telecommunications joint venture will participate in four ventures. IBM France is involved in a single software project, although it had reportedly submitted three proposals. A total of 171 organisations submitted 80 proposals to the EEC last fall for inclusion in the so-called definition phase of Race. Although some European companies have objected to the presence of American firms in Race, the EEC demands only that applicants have R&D facilities in Europe.

The largest project to receive funding is headed by GEC of the UK and involves 29 other companies. With EEC backing estimated at $2.7 million, this group will develop subscriber interface specifications for voice, data and video terminals.

government is doing its utmost to slash almost all categories of public expenditure. That includes civil service lay offs and substantial reductions in the amount of money available for education, health, social welfare and cven defence.

The Race programme is a multi-faccted effort to coordinate the development of a highly-advanced broadband telecommunications network in Europe by 1995, and the approved projects form part of the definition phase which will last until the end of this year, focusing on the development of highspeed ICs, ICS integrated with optoelectronics broadband switching, passive optical components, componets for high-bit-rate long-haul links, dedicated communications software and large-area flat panel display technology.

Those cuts, however, have not affected the sections that deal with industrial research and development in the government's draft budget for 1986/87, now under consideration by the Knesset. Because applied R&D is one of the most potent factors for economic growth, amounts allocated for its support are expected to remain, at the very least, at last year's level.

A second aspect of the Race definition phase is the development of a reference model defining the technical and service characteristics and the user requirements for an integrated broadband network. Although no long-term funding level has been formally established, an EEC spokesman said the goal was a $500 million budget which again would be matched by participating companies, making the Race programme as large as the ongoing Esprit project in information technologies.

Israel R&D funding In spite of heavy pressures on the Israel government's budget, there will be no shortage of funds for industrial research and development, in fiscal 1986/87. Sufficient means will be available to finance extensive activity toward the development of new products - in the country's industrial firms, in institutions of higher education and in the many public R&D institutes. In its struggle to achieve two separate aims - an end to inflation and the reduction of Israel's chronic foreign payments deficit - the

The Office of the Chief Scientist in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, remains the most important single factor, in this sphere. Established in the 1960s, when policy makers here first began to realise the importance of research for the country's economic future, the support it makes available is instrumental in turning many good ideas into industrial reality. Usually awarded on a matching funds basis, the Chief Scientist's grants are expected to amount to the equivalent of $45m during the coming year. Another large source of public R&D financing are the tax credits, available to Israelis under the "Elscint law". That measure provides for the immediate deduction from taxable income of any amount invested in specific government approved share and bond issues by high technology firms, proceeds from which go only to finance those companies' research and development projects. The number of firms with access to this programme is quite limited. However, there are more than many observers thought likely when the Elscint Law was first proposed. Minimum qualifications for benefits under this measure - advanced product exports in excess $20m during the preceding year, and an R&D programme of at least $7.5m -were advisedly pegged beyond the reach of most producers here. Nevertheless, a growing number of high tcch companies such as Elscint, Elbit, Tadiran, EIOp, Scitex and 55

Fibro.nics have entered the field, or are planning to do so. Smaller, but still very significant amounts of cash are also available from othcr departments of the Israel government. The Ministry of Energy, for instance, supports work for the development of alternate energy resources, including some that develop into export products. The Ministries of Agriculture, Transportation, Housing and so forth, help to finance R&D efforts in their spheres of responsibility. Such governmental sources are now augmented by funds from binational R&D units. The Israel-US Binational R&D Foundation has been active for some years, and joint efforts with other countries - for instance Canada, France, West G e r m a n y - a r e gradually gathering speed.

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There also is h significant influx of capital from abroad. Companies of international renown have set up Israel subsidiaries, many of which engage in research and development. One noted example is National Semiconductor, which developed revolutionary 16 and 32 bit microprocessors at its Israel facility, j But not only the giants come here, to benefit from this country's R&D potential. Many smaller investors, most of them from the United States, participate in Israel research projects through limited partnerships. All these development lend substance to the expectation that product oriented R&D will continue to expand in Israel in 1986/87, in spite of belt tightening measures elsewhere in the economy. B o t h - austerity and expanding industrial research - are aspects of the same effort, aimed at the achievement of Israel's economic health and independence.