b'SMART SEMICONDUCTORSFOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATIONIndustrial automation is leading the way to the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. It is the essential driver for efficiency in global productivity; a growing number of smart factories all over the world increasingly rely on automation. At its core, industrial automation helps companies use all resources for manufacturing and other value-generating processes as efficiently as possiblefrom base materials to energy.Big Data analytics lets manufacturers not only continuously improve their products and processes, but also lets them develop new services such as predictive maintenance and automated software updates. Smart semiconductor solutions are the essential gatekeepers for these developments and innovations. At many automation touchpoints they ensure efficient and secure data flow, control the speed of industrial motors and facilitate unexpected gains in overall flexibility.INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION RELIES ON ALL KINDS OF SEMICONDUCTORSSuccessful industrial automation is linked to powerful, secure and smart components. Looking at typical applications, industrial automation ranges from simple thermostats in single devices to large industrial control systems which include tens of thousands of input measurements and output control signals. They also include sensors, isolated interfaces for sampling measurement data, control applications in remote clients, classic PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) and other edge-control elements to the cloud for processing data.There are power semiconductors such as IGBTs and MOSFETs, gate drivers and dedicated controllers in theBROAD PORTFOLIO FOR OPTIMIZED EFFICIENCYfield of motion control and robotics. While fully focusingInfineon power semiconductors connect the real and this portfolio on the efficient use of energy, Infineon canthe digital world in the industrial space at the highest address the entire range of applications including robotics,possible energy levels and reduce energy losses in all machine tools, pumps, fans and high-power drives, and canapplications. For example, power semiconductors and enable more while using less. related gate drivers from Infineon control the variable speed of industrial motors. Sensors measure motor speed as well as the environmental and internal conditions of a machine. Isolated interfaces operate systems in high-voltage domains, interacting e.g. with motors and low-voltage domains where controllers perform safe system operations. There are microcontrollers that perform control algorithms or AI to operate machines. Furthermore, there are connectivity devices in the area of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for the Industrial Internet of Things as well as security devices which guarantee safe operation restricted to authorized users only and use of only properly certified original system elements.'