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ASIC, STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY

For over six years our electronics and computer R&D department has worked along a continuous line of technological development centred on semi-custom chips: ASIC.   ASIC technology makes it possible to implement operating features that are custom-made and highly optimised, leading to product lines that are highly efficient and competitive. This work involves close collaboration between MACPUARSA and the University of Seville, which acts as an external support centre for ASIC development. This kind of work requires heavy investment, from the time the design idea is born and the ASIC developed until the product is fully industrialised: between 25 and 50 million pesetas. This means that we must accurately determine the functions to be introduced into the chip during the design phase, to guarantee a successful end product. As of today, four projects have been completed or are underway:   SYMAC 2000: A system for receiving and remote control of digital signals with a high degree of immunity in data transfer. Used as a call-extension circuit for the Microbasic controller (AMB1).   ASITRON: Intelligent co-processor for controlling asynchronous motors, using fuzzy logic, encoder-speed reading, vector control and read-out of motor phase intensity. It is currently the heart of the 3VFMAC frequency changer.   SLESS: A system for estimating the revolution rate of asynchronous motors without using encoders. It calculates the motor's revolution rate by analysing electrical voltage and intensity. Currently in the final testing stage.   ASITRON II: Universal intelligent system for optimised control of electric motors. Includes the latest world-wide technology for regulating electric motors.   Project in design stage.

NEW DIRECTIVE: MP MACPUARSA IN THE FRONT LINE

The 1st of July 1999 went by and MACPUARSA achieved its objective of complying with the principles of Directive 95/16/EC of 29 June 1995. Involved as we are in the technical and legal complications entailed by the standard, we cannot overlook one of the new Directive's main objectives: the free movement of goods over the length and breadth of the European Union.   In order to effectively achieve this free movement, MACPUARSA has set up a European-wide technical and commercial organisation to serve as a springboard for a direct dialogue between manufacturers and customers, which will help us to understand local needs, as always, thinking in terms of service. The keys to this dialogue lie basically in:   Establishing appropriate communication channels in day-to-day dealings with customers, which will stress periodic quality meetings. Provision of immediate service in giving price quotes and handling technical or commercial queries - Proper sending of all orders to the factory office using pre-established formats and clearly indicating the terms of sale. - Training for customers in the use of our products and efficiently solving any technical problems. - Proposal of local engineering adaptations to technical personnel in the factory and up-to-the-minute information on new market trends for R&D personnel.   This work is being done daily by all the people working in our European offices, and in others that will undoubtedly be set up in the coming years, not only within the present European Union but also in the enlarged Union; we are already present in some of these countries. MACPUARSA is thus becoming a European enterprise that will make the new Directive's spirit a reality.   José María Compagni. North of Europe Area Manager

EMC LABORATORY

MACPUARSA is gearing up to be ready for the stringent EU requirements on electromagnetic compatibility. If electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) involves an additional barrier for the proper design of any electronic item, it is even more so for those of us in the lift industry, since we do installation work. MACPUARSA has long followed a policy of eliminating technological barriers, ever since we began installing EMC instrumentation with the publication of RD 444/1994 in April 1994, which did away with the European EMC directives existing at the time.   In August 1998, coinciding with the publication of the new EN-81, the specific standards on EMC for lifts and escalators were published: EN-12015 on emissions and EN-12016 on immunity.   The requirements in the standards, along with our own design standards, are the main reasons behind our heavy investment in laboratory equipment. Today MACPUARSA has an EMC laboratory equipped with a semi-anechoic chamber for testing sound emissions with an NSA of _ 6 dB for 30-300 MHz and _ 4 dB for 300-1000 MHz. The chamber can be made fully anechoic for radiation immunity testing with certification levels (in compliance with CISPR-16).

The high cost of the semi-anechoic chamber makes it the most outstanding part of our laboratory, but we also have all the instruments needed for the following tests:   A) Immunity to: - rapid transient bursts - electrostatic discharges - micro cut-offs, interruptions and variations in line feed - harmonic and inter-harmonic frequencies - voltage fluctuations - frequency variations   B) Emission: - conducted - radiated - harmonic currents - voltage fluctuations and flicker   Ignacio Chozas. Electronics and Computers. Hardware Area.