People all over the world are dealing with the new and challenging environment of the epidemic. I am more fortunate, I only need to share my home office with a first-level distance teacher!

In reality, companies are trying to continue to serve the market and customers. Now that we have been living in this new reality for half a year, the trend of the industrial market has become increasingly clear.

One comment you will often hear is that the epidemic has accelerated many trends that are already going on, and the same is true for the industrial market. All trends have a common theme, which is resilience.

Let us analyze the trends in these key market segments in the industrial market: cloud networks, energy infrastructure, and industrial automation.

Cloud Network

Due to the blockade and quarantine in the last 6 months, the application of the Internet has developed and improved more than before. There are many people who order daily necessities online and deliver them to their door, and they will never step into the grocery store again. Our work, socializing, education, entertainment, and organizational work almost exceeded our expectations, and we were forced to learn and adapt to related tools.

Fortunately, our communication and information network infrastructure has responded incredibly, maintaining good conditions under the increased traffic and load. The growth of network usage has stimulated investment in this critical infrastructure, the deployment of 5G infrastructure has accelerated, the expansion of cloud computing data centers, and even the purchase of notebook computers have also increased.

Cloud computing and edge computing and 5G networks are the key application areas of ON Semiconductor’s products, including high and medium voltage MOSFETs for power conversion, multiphase controllers and DrMOS power stages for core computing capabilities, as well as support for main Point-of-load devices with numerous peripherals and auxiliary functions of computing and networking. Other key components we provide include timing, clock distribution and signal integrity to ensure a good flow of data between the ASIC and the processor, as well as eFuse and bus protection devices to improve reliability and prevent damage to sensitive circuits.

Energy Infrastructure

The downturn in fossil fuel prices may lead people to think that the purchase of coal energy and internal combustion engine vehicles will re-emerge. However, the reduction in electricity demand has increased the proportion of renewable energy used because solar and wind energy assets are "must take", and if these energy sources are not used, they will be lost. As the deployment of utility-scale energy storage grows, excess solar power during the day will be more easily used for peak demand at night when the sun goes down.

In the past decade, the price of renewable energy has fallen rapidly. Similarly, the price of battery technology has also fallen in the past few years, and these benefits will continue. In some cases, building a new solar farm is cheaper than continuing to operate an existing coal power plant. Compared with fossil fuels, the cost of fossil fuels is unstable and is greatly affected by market conditions. But the cost of renewable energy is lower and more stable.

ON Semiconductor is one of the leaders in enabling solar energy, energy storage and electric vehicle charging stations. Our wide range of power devices, such as super junction MOSFETs, IGBTs, SiC diodes and MOSFETs, provide basic building blocks for power conversion, deliver renewable energy power to the grid, and store and release it from batteries, pumps, and even dropped concrete blocks. Our power switch is integrated into the module to provide DC-DC boost and inverter topology. The system is completed by an isolated gate driver to control the topology, a highly stable operational amplifier to achieve accurate and reliable feedback, and use Switches and controllers for auxiliary power supplies.

automated industry

After the floods in Thailand, the Japanese tsunami, and the recent increase in trade tensions, a resilient supply chain has become a physical priority for the board of directors of various companies. This means redundant and flexible production, which can be quickly repurposed. If coupled with the concern about disease transmission and social distancing, then increasing the automation of logistics and manufacturing becomes a top priority.

Automated warehouses and delivery robots, as well as collaborative manufacturing robots have been deployed to reduce costs and improve quality. This situation is accelerating, and it can be seen from a large number of companies that both design and manufacture robot target subsystems and integrate them into machines for specific applications.

The core of an intelligent robot is a digital brain, but ON Semiconductor's products can empower every other function of the robot. Our leading image sensor is optimized for a wide dynamic range and has a global shutter to maximize accuracy and throughput. We provide various solutions for motor drives, supporting DC, stepping and brushless DC (BLDC) motors through our gate drivers, MOSFETs, power modules and integrated motor drivers. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Zigbee connection solutions and AC-DC conversion devices support other key functions of the robot.

Conclusion

Pandemics have changed lives in many ways and have accelerated trends that are already brewing. ON Semiconductor is already contributing to these trends, and we are ready to support customers in transitioning to the new world.