• ETRI Journal
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.491-504
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• 2020

We present AB9, a neural processor for inference acceleration. AB9 consists of a systolic tensor core (STC) neural network accelerator designed to accelerate artificial intelligence applications by exploiting the data reuse and parallelism characteristics inherent in neural networks while providing fast access to large on-chip memory. Complementing the hardware is an intuitive and user-friendly development environment that includes a simulator and an implementation flow that provides a high degree of programmability with a short development time. Along with a 40-TFLOP STC that includes 32k arithmetic units and over 36 MB of on-chip SRAM, our baseline implementation of AB9 consists of a 1-GHz quad-core setup with other various industry-standard peripheral intellectual properties. The acceleration performance and power efficiency were evaluated using YOLOv2, and the results show that AB9 has superior performance and power efficiency to that of a general-purpose graphics processing unit implementation. AB9 has been taped out in the TSMC 28-nm process with a chip size of 17 × 23 ㎟. Delivery is expected later this year.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.302-324
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• 2022

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate exposure to occupational carcinogens in the nationwide electronics industries and to establish a strategy for control of occupational carcinogens in South Korea. Methods: We evaluated occupational carcinogens as defined by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) using a nationwide work environment measurement database on the electronics industry in South Korea measured between 2013 and 2017 in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Results: The number of occupational carcinogens found in the electronics industry in South Korea were: 20 for IARC Group 1, 14 for Group 2A, and 30 for Group 2B. The occupational carcinogens (Group 1) most frequently exposed were strong-inorganic-acid mists containing sulfuric acid (sulfuric acid), welding fumes, mineral oils (untreated or mildly treated), nickel compounds, silica dust, crystalline substances in the form of quartz or cristobalite, formaldehyde, arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds, chromium (VI) compounds, trichloroethylene, cadmium and cadmium compounds, vinyl chloride, ethylene oxide, wood dust, beryllium and beryllium compounds, 1,3 butadiene, benzene, and others. Among them, the carcinogens (Group 1) exceeding the acceptable standard were trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, and ethylene oxide. The working environment measurement system as regulated by Occupational Safety and Health Act is not properly assessed and managed for occupational carcinogens in South Korea. A component analysis for all materials used should be set up to practically reduce occupational carcinogens. A ban on the use of occupational carcinogens and the development of alternative materials are needed. The occupational carcinogens below the acceptable standards should be carefully examined and a new standard for exposure needs to be established. Conclusions: The Occupational Safety and Health Act should be improved to identify and monitor occupational carcinogens at work sites. A strategy for occupational safety and health systems should be provided to give direction to workers' needs and right to know.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.695-703
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• 2010

Training is one of the representative application fields of virtual reality technology where users can have virtual experience in a training task and working environment. Widely used in the medical and military fields, virtual-reality-based training systems are also useful in industrial fields, such as the aerospace industry, since they show superiority over real training environments in terms of accessibility, safety, and cost. The shipbuilding industry is known as a labor-intensive industry that demands a lot of skilled workers. In particular, painting jobs in the shipbuilding industry require a continuous supplement of human resources since many workers leave due to the poor working environment. In this paper, the authors present a virtual-reality-based training system for spray painting tasks in the shipbuilding industry. The design issues and implementation details of the training system are described, and also its advantages and shortcomings are discussed based on use cases in actual work fields.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technology Innovation Society Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.154-173
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• 2000

Since computerized numerical controller (CNC) emerged as a result of the fusion of the electronics technology and the mechanical technology, there has been continuous evolution of CNC technology in the mechatronics industry. The industry is recently developing a new control system based on the fusion of personal computer (PC) and CNC. Upgraded PC has now integrated into CNC, making various machines possible to exchange data, software and hardware, and to greatly improve man-machine interface. The fusion of PC and CNC can form a new paradigm in technological innovation of not only control system but also whole machinery industry in near the future. Korea lagged behind the developed countries in the development of open control system with the fusion of PC. Turbo-tek, Hyundai Motor and Daewoo are leading companies, but their commercial possibility seems to be low because domestic market is too small to reap a commercial benefit. Nevertheless, the development of the system is an essential step for Korea to embark on a future technological paradigm of the machinery industry. The government needs to play some role for the development, for instance, government R&D projects, institutional building and training of related technicians.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technology Innovation Society Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.227-245
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• 2000

Korean firms have attempted to catch up in the aircraft industry during last quarter century. Korean firms have built up their capabilities by moving from parts manufacturing through subassembly to system integration. The number of projects carried out and the intensity of technological effort undertaken by firms strongly influences market position and firm performance. However, successful catching up is not simply dependent on capability building within the firm. The national environment (Porter, 1990) in which firms are located plays a pivotal role. The Korean government has been effective in creating a favorable environ-ment in many areas, but has not been able to replicate this success in the aircraft industry. Opportunities for learning in the aircraft industry have been hampered by the small size of the Korean civilian aircraft market and the sophisticated requirements of military systems. A policy of domestic rivalry in airframe manufacture has created too many firms for such a small market. The ability of Korean firms to catch up in the aircraft industry depends on both the internal capabilities of firms as well as appropriate government policies and the involve- ment of government research institutions and universities over an extended period of time. There have been many studies about the catching up of developing countries in mass production (such as automobile, consumer electronics, and recently DRAM), but few in complex systems, such as aircraft.

• 전자공학회논문지 IE
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.33-39
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• 2011

Field training system is an establishment for improving practical ability of college students. That system is a learning experience that are relative to university's regular educational curriculum and industry field training. In order to practice an effective field training system, lots of helps from company, college, students and government's interest are needed. But, in most industry fields, it is hard to accept field training manpower in condition of that has no extra guaranteed budget or staff for field training. Because of it, the biggest matter of college the industry field training is to maintain industry fields. Although students want to be paid properly in industry fields where are furnished the advance facilities and equipments and participated in practices, it is extremely hard situation to achieve it in reality. In this way, the management of industry field training has realistic difficult problems, but it is a necessary system. Therefore, in this paper, methodology and model for industry field training management process are suggested in order to administer effective industry field training. If the industry field training are managed by those system mentioned above, students will have chance to exert their creativeness and speediness through field experience, and industry fields where students can get various dimensions of education are expected to manage.

• IE interfaces
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.140-152
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• 2006

Today, many companies realize that the effort to develop new products / services faster that customers want and continue to purchase is crucial for their survival. As the service sector is rapidly growing, one of the challenges faced by the service industries is the lack of effective methodologies for new service development. This paper proposes a systematic framework for developing new service concepts, with an emphasis on generating innovative, convergence-type service concepts from the customer‘s perspective. The framework consists of three phases-identification of customer needs (Phase I), extraction of new service opportunities (Phase II), and generation of new service concepts (Phase III). The proposed framework is demonstrated through a case study in the telecommunications industry. In the case study, a survey was conducted on ten customers to identify the latent customer needs; 61 new service opportunities were extracted; and 129 new service concepts were generated.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.238-243
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• 2021

Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide baseline data for the assessment of exposure to indium and to prevent adverse health effects among workers engaged in the electronics and related industries in Republic of Korea. Methods: Total (n = 369) and respirable (n = 384) indium concentrations were monitored using personal air sampling in workers at the following 19 workplaces: six sputtering target manufacturing companies, four manufacturing companies of panel displays, two companies engaged in cleaning of sputtering components, two companies dedicated to the cleaning of sputtering target, and five indium recycling companies. Results: The level of exposure to total indium ranged from 0.9 to 609.3 ㎍/m³ for the sputtering target companies; from 0.2 to 2,782.0 ㎍/m³ for the panel display companies and from 0.5 to 2,089.9 ㎍/m³ for the indium recycling companies. The level of exposure to respirable indium was in the range of 0.02 to 448.6 ㎍/m³ for the sputtering target companies; 0.01 to 419.5 ㎍/m³ for the panel display companies; and 0.5 to 436.3 ㎍/m³ for the indium recycling companies. The indium recycling companies had the most samples exceeding the exposure standard for indium, followed by sputtering target companies and panel display companies. Conclusions: The main finding from this exposure assessment is that many workers who handle indium compounds in the electronics industry are exposed to indium levels that exceed the exposure standards for indium. Hence, it is necessary to continuously monitor the indium exposure of this workforce and take measures to reduce its exposure levels.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.54-63
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• 2021

Since the recent COVID-19 pandemic, countries have been strengthening trade protection for their security, and the importance of securing strategic materials, such as food, is drawing attention. In addition to the cultural aspects, the global preference for food produced in Korea is increasing because of the Korean Wave. Thus, the Korean food industry can be developed into a high-value-added export food industry. Currently, Korea has a low self-sufficiency rate for foodstuffs apart from rice. Korea also suffers from problems arising from population decline, aging, rapid climate change, and various animal and plant diseases. It is necessary to develop technologies that can overcome the production structures highly dependent on the outside world of food and foster them into export-type system industries. The global agricultural industry-related technologies are actively being modified via data accumulation, e.g., environmental data, production information, and distribution and consumption information in climate and production facilities, and by actively expanding the introduction of the latest information and communication technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence. However, long-term research and investment should precede the field of living organisms. Compared to other industries, it is necessary to overcome poor production and labor environment investment efficiency in the food industry with respect to the production cost, equipment postmanagement, development tailored to the eye level of field workers, and service models suitable for production facilities of various sizes. This paper discusses the flow of domestic and international technologies that form the core issues of the site centered on the 4th Industrial Revolution in the field of agriculture, livestock, and fisheries. It also explains the environmental awareness production technologies centered on sustainable intelligence platforms that link climate change responses, optimization of energy costs, and mass production for unmanned production, distribution, and consumption using the unstructured data obtained based on detection and growth measurement data.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2019

Since the late 20th century, there has been rapid development in the display industry. Only 30 years ago, we used big cathode ray tube displays with poor resolution, but now most people use televisions or smartphones with very high-quality displays. People now want images that are more realistic, beyond the two-dimensional images that exist on the flat screen, and digital holography-one of the next-generation displaysis expected to meet that need. The most important parameter that determines the performance of a digital hologram is the pixel pitch. The smaller the pixel pitch, the higher the level of hologram implementation possible. In this study, we fabricated the world-smallest $3-{\mu}m$-pixel-pitch holographic backplane based on the spatial light modulator technology. This panel could display images with a viewing angle of more than $10^{\circ}$. Furthermore, a comparative study was conducted on the fabrication processes and the corresponding holographic results from the large to the small pixel-pitch panels.