Japan English
EDGE Vol.23
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Action for dealing with global-scale environmental problems continues to ramp up. In our daily lives we regularly see or hear key phrases that relate to energy issues, such as global warming, oil prices, recycling, and renewable resources such as biofuels. The various ways that people everywhere are responding to environmental problems reflects the true positive nature of humanity. The way that Renesas is addressing them is a measure of our status as a leading international semiconductor manufacturer, and the products we produce evidence our success.
It's a corporate policy to strive to help make people's lives more comfortable and secure. However, factors that are detrimental to the environment seem to be integral to achieving progress in this area. For example, as society moves toward a world of ubiquitous networking, more and more products are incorporating our semiconductor devices. The increased demand for chips boosts the energy used in our wafer fabrication lines, device packaging processes and distribution activity. Further, the proliferation of electronic systems is likely to raise the consumption of electric power. These types of environmental issues have inspired the concept of "green IT," a global movement aimed at ensuring that information technology is developed in responsible, earth-friendly ways. Within Renesas, relevant activities are underway on many different fronts.
One obvious area in which our company can make significant positive contributions to the environment is "energy conservation" — that is, we can produce devices that use less power. In striving to do so, we are challenged to overcome significant technical difficulties. One challenge arises from the fact that advances in semiconductor technology often tend to raise power consumption, not decrease it. Greater miniaturization results in higher leak currents, for instance. Another difficulty is that on a system level, enhanced computation capabilities and greater integration of sensors, communications and other functions boost chip power requirements. Fortuitously, though, Renesas is a leading supplier of solutions for mobile applications. To serve that market we have funded numerous technology initiatives over the years that have produced innovative techniques for reducing the power consumed by circuits and systems that use our ICs and discrete devices. A primary goal of our R&D activities today is to decrease the amount of power used per unit of performance.
Our customers have achieved impressive practical results by taking advantage of the accumulated know-how and significant advances Renesas has developed in process, circuit, and software technologies. We work with customers to identify factors and situations that tend to raise the power consumed in diverse applications, then devise solutions for producing green IT products that implement optimized, energy-efficient hardware and software combinations.
The Special Feature section in this issue of EDGE magazine spotlights many measures for decreasing power consumption. It looks toward the future of IT, reconfirms the role semiconductors can play in achieving environmental gains, and presents examples of energy-saving solutions for major market segments. Other stories highlight additional technology developments Renesas has announced and some of our latest products.
| Advances in Energy Conservation |
| Interview: The Future of Semiconductors and the Need for Lower Power Consumption Insights on power-saving techniques for advanced electronic equipment  |
| R&D Update - Advanced Technology for Reducing Power Consumption Circuit technology improves on-chip control of power supply voltage |
| Solutions for the Latest System Designs |
| Techniques for creating power-saving semiconductors . . . |
| - for Mobile products |
| - for Home Appliances and Consumer Electronics |
| - for Automotive applications |
| - for Power Supplies |
System Solution
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