Applications focus for Electronica in 2004

Electronica 2004, the International Trade Fair for Components and Assemblies in Electronics, will take place at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre from 9th to 12th November.

Electronica 2004, the International Trade Fair for Components and Assemblies in Electronics, will take place at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre from 9th to 12th November.

It is the most important event in this field, worldwide, and this year the focus is on applications.

There are separate areas devoted to wireless communications, MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems), and automotive applications, each with exhibitions and lectures.

Embedded systems will be covered by Embedded in Munich (Hall A6) and the Embedded in Munich Conference in the ICM (International Congress Centre Munich).

A new feature this year is the EMS Village, with contract manufacturing at the centre of attention.

Over 3000 companies and more than 500 additionally represented firms and organisations took part in Electronica 2002.

The number of visitors - over 77,000 from some 27,000 companies - reflects the importance of Electronica and confirms its status as the number-one communications platform for the global electronics market.

The user forums "Automotive innovation" and "World of MEMS" were successfully introduced at Electronica in 2002.

In 2004 they will continue to emphasise the growing significance of automotive electronics and micro-electromechanical systems to the entire industry.

For example, semiconductors for cars show an average growth rate of around 12% and boast a 17% share of the worldwide semiconductor market.

Additionally, the demand for microcontrollers and sensors is growing rapidly.

The "Automotive innovation" segment in Hall C2 will show components and subsystems for use in vehicles and, in particular, the fast-growing fields of driver communications, active and passive safety systems, and comfort.

The exhibition will be backed up by its own programme of lectures and a two-day conference in the adjacent ICM.

The "World of MEMS" is also being staged as a separate user forum (Hall A3) for the second time.

This will include trend-setting MEMS components and subsystems for use in mobile radio, industrial sensor technology, optics and data transmission, automotive and medical technology, as well as the food industry.

The centre of interest at the specialist lectures held in the forum will be MEMS sensors, RF (radio-frequency) MEMS, micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS), bio-MEMS and MEMS packaging.

A highly topical user forum and new this year will be "Wireless communications" in Hall A4.

The programme of exhibitions and lectures will cover the technological developments in wireless LAN, Bluetooth and UMTS, as well as matters of security and navigation - topics that attract considerable public interest.

One of the most promising mass markets in future, however, is machine-to-machine communications (M2M), which can be used, for example, in automobile diagnostic systems.

Soon the volume of mobile M2M communications links will exceed the number of human telephone conversations: by 2020 it is expected to be 30 times as many.

Embedded technologies are covered at Electronica 2004 as "Embedded in Munich".

In Hall A6, specialist visitors will find embedded solutions in the form of semiconductors and processor modules, development environments, hardware and software tools.

Particular emphasis is placed on solutions for industrial electronics, communications, automotive electronics, optimised software development, new development tools, and standardisation in the embedded environment.

The associated congress will complement the exhibits and will take place in the nearby International Congress Centre Munich.

Starting on 8th November, a day before the fair opens, design engineers, technical managers and software developers will meet here for specialist lectures and technical seminars.

CEMs (contract electronics manufacturers) and providers of EMS (electronics manufacturing services) will be presenting their services in a special "EMS village" in Hall B1.

The concentration of exhibitors underlines the increasing status and importance of such services; it allows interested visitors a comprehensive overview of the market and easy access to this segment of the electronics industry.

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