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Reclocker / redriver devices extend reach with USB 3.2-compatibility

Wed, May 17, 2023

Suitable for automotive and industrial applications, Microchip’s EQCO510 and EQCO5X31 devices offer a two-channel option to engineers wishing to send high-speed data signals up to 15 meters in both directions

While the standard universal serial bus (USB) connection transfers data between two devices, the increase in electronic components in applications across the automotive, industrial and consumer industries has spurred the need for far-reaching USB cabling products. Microchip Technology announces two new reclocker / redriver devices for long range, reliable USB operations in industrial and automotive applications.

The automotive EQCO510 and industrial EQCO5X31 reclocker / redriver devices extend USB coverage up to 15 meters – rather than the standard three meters – for maximum reach and are compatible with the USB 3.2 Generation 1 SuperSpeed protocol.

The USB reclocker / redriver devices can send high-speed data signals at a rate of 5Gbits per second in both directions. The reclocking feature includes a bit-level clock data recovery (CDR) that is used to restore signal timing and prevent jitter accumulation. The redriving feature restores the levels and shape of the signal being driven into the next segment, such as a cable or PCB trace, thus compensating for signal degradation due to cable attenuation, explained Microchip.

“Our customers now have the capability to implement a fast, reliable and long-distance USB connectivity solution of up to 15 meters, extending the three meter standard by five times,” said Matthias Kaestner, corporate vice president of Microchip’s automotive infotainment systems business unit. These devices also reduce board space because of the on-chip clock and small form factor, he added.

The USB devices are equipped with EyeOpen cable compensation at the receiver to automatically adjust for frequency dependent losses in the cable and adjusting the signal strength between 0 and 24dB with 1.0dB steps. The devices also feature MarginLink signal integrity testing, which allows runtime evaluation of the integrity of the whole signal path.

The EQCO510 and EQCO5X31 ICs support shielded twisted pair and coax cables. The devices include an integrated crystal-less CDR, which reduces the need for additional components and overall board space.

Both USB devices are available in a 20-pin, 4.0mm QFN package with wettable flanks. The automotive EQCO510 complies with AEC-Q100 Grade 2 and operates in temperatures ranging from -40 to +105 degrees C.

Target applications are in automotive infotainment systems, data communication modules and real-time video systems. In industrial applications and consumer products they can be used in machine vision, gaming accessories and smart cables.

Microchip offers two evaluation boards for the EQCO5X31, which include the EVB-EQCO5X31 USB Type-C cable extender or the EVB-EQCO5X31 USB Type-C cable repeater to demonstrate use with longer cables.

http://www.microchip.com

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Thin magnetic sheets have high permability for NFC

Wed, May 17, 2023

Noise suppressing / magnetic sheets by TDK have high permeability and low magnetic loss for NFC (near field communication) applications. The IFQ06 thin magnetic sheets are flexible and can be easily formed to a desired shape, said the company.

The sheets are suitable for 13.56MHz NFC applications and protect the system from metal objects located directly behind coils.

The latest addition to the Flexield family of magnetic shielding materials, the IFQ06, has high permeability and low magnetic loss, said TDK and provides highly effective protection against performance-reducing design features that can complicate NFC designs, such as metal objects directly behind the antenna.

These hazards are becoming increasingly common as electronic devices evolve to be smaller and more multi-functional, making it increasingly difficult to keep advanced functionalities from interfering with each other. NFC uses electromagnetic induction where the antenna receiving a carrier wave from a reader / writer allows the on-board IC chip to perform signal processing.

Metal objects, in particular, can absorb or disturb the magnetic flux lines of the generated H field, creating eddy currents which reduce effective range. These disturbances can also shift the inductance value and self-resonance frequency, reducing performance because of tuning issues between the two antennas. In some cases, metal close to the antenna will carry an induced current that produces a countering magnetic field, shortening the communication distance and making communication impossible.

Placing the IFQ06 material between the antenna coil and any metal surface confines the magnetic flux within the magnetic shield generated by the reader / writer. As a result, the generation of an induced current on the metal surface is eliminated and optimum 13.56MHz communication conditions can be maintained.

TDK lists other benefits of the IFQ06 series as its ability to shape / direct the magnetic H field, influence the quality factor (Q) of the inductive antenna, increase the coupling factor (K) between two antennas, help set the inductance value (Ls) for resonant tuning, complete the magnetic field path and to improve security by encapsulating the magnetic field and its respective information.

TDK’s IFQ06 flexible magnetic sheet materials are offered in a choice of three formats: roll or sheet materials for prototyping, lower volumes or where large areas need to be covered and custom cut parts which exactly match design requirements for higher volume or automated assembly options.

Standard thicknesses available are 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2mm. Thicknesses of 0.065 and 0.075mm are available on request.

High surface resistivity is above 10 MOhm allowing for direct contact to metal antennas.

The material is available with an optional high temperature resin [IFQ06S] that supports applications up to +125 degrees C.

http://www.tdk.com

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ST’s second generation industry 4.0 edge AI processors are SESIP 3-certified

Tue, May 16, 2023

STMicroelectronics has introduced its second generation of industry 4.0-ready edge AI powered microprocessors, the STM32MP2 series of 64-bit microprocessors. They are supplied with SESIP Level 3 certification, industrial-application-ready interfaces and dedicated edge AI acceleration.

The second generation of STM32 microprocessors are based on a new architecture built upon the same ecosystem and raising performance and security for applications at the industrial and IoT edge.

They also integrate advanced security features in hardware ensuring SESIP Level 3 certification with Arm’s TrustZone architecture and resource isolation framework (RIF). There is also secure key storage, secure boot, device ID in one-time programmable (OTP) memory, hardware cryptographic engines, and on-the-fly DDR encryption / decryption.

The 64-bit microprocessors are suitable for emerging opportunities in secure Industry 4.0, IoT, and rich user-interface applications, said the company.

The first product in this new generation, the STM32MP25, is available with single or dual 64-bit Arm Cortex-A35 cores running at 1.5GHz, complemented with a 400MHz Cortex-M33 embedded core for real-time processing. A dedicated neural processing unit adds up to 1.35TOPS (tera-operations per second) computing performance optimised for edge AI acceleration in applications such as advanced machine vision and predictive maintenance, said ST. There is also support for 32-bit DDR4 and LPDDR4 memories.

The processors also feature Gigabit time sensitive networking (TSN) support and a two-port Gigabit Ethernet TSN switch, with PCIe, USB 3.0 and CAN-FD peripherals for connectivity required for real-time industrial applications, data concentrators and gateways, and communication equipment. According to ST, the combined processing and networking capabilities enhance detection and feature recognition for security applications and industrial automation. For example, said ST, the processor can acquire video from a 5Mpixel sensor at 30 frames per second (fps), perform analytics with the edge AI accelerator, and send relevant video (encoding with an HW encoder) with detection metadata leveraging Gigabit Ethernet TSN, all in real-time streaming mode.

A 3D graphics processing unit (GPU) with 1080p resolution for graphics and video capabilities permits rich user interfaces, with support including Vulkan real-time graphics for Android applications. A1080p encoder/decoder and multiple display connections including LVDS, four-lane MIPI DSI and a MIPI CSI-2 camera interface are included to simplify connecting displays and digital cameras including raw-Bayer image sensors.

The STM32 microprocessors are specified over the extended temperature range from -40 to +125 degrees C, easing thermal management and enhancing reliability in industrial environments, said ST. The STM32MP2-series microprocessors are supplied with ST’s 10-year longevity commitment.

Package options include a 0.8mm-pitch chip-scale package (TFBGA). This helps ease PCB design routing, said ST, and allows economical designs down to four layers avoiding costly laser vias.

The STM32MPU ecosystem contains the OpenSTLinux distribution that includes the complete AI framework (X-Linux-AI), as well as the STM32Cube development tools. The STM32Cube firmware will run bare metal or RTOS on the Cortex-M33 embedded core.

ST is now delivering samples of STM32MP25 devices along with evaluation boards to select OEM customers. Volume production of chips and boards is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2024.

http://www.st.com

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Advantech’s edge computer is based on Nvidia L4 GPU for industrial AI

Mon, May 15, 2023

The MIC-770 V3 has been developed by Advantech with the Nvidia L4 Tensor Core GPU as a compact, modular, industrial computer for factory automation, autonomous vehicles and automated optical inspection.

The modular industrial PC with MIC-75M20 expansion i-Module is compatible with the Nvidia L4 Tensor Core GPU which has 7,424 CUDA cores and 24Gbyte GDDR6 GPU memory. In addition it delivers 30.3TFLOs and consumes only 72W of power. The compact, scalable PC design, paired with the efficiency of the Nvidia L4 GPU can exploit AIoT (artificial intelligence of things) for diverse deep learning and edge inference applications in factory automation, autonomous vehicles, automated optical inspection (AOI) and AI prediction in medical equipment, as well as smart city video surveillance and transportation.

Other features include the use of 12th Gen Intel Core i9 / i7 / i5 / i3 processors (LGA 1700) and support for Advantech’s iBMC 1.2 remote management on WISE-DeviceOn.

The MIC-770 V3 is designed as an open source x86 platform capable of enabling the quick development of GPU-accelerated solutions. It uses MIC-75M20, a two-slot expansion i-Module, to create an integrated PC that is compatible with the Nvidia L4 Tensor Core GPU for AI-based edge computing and inference. It delivers energy-efficient universal acceleration for AI inference, video, and graphics applications and is suitable for global deployment in enterprise, cloud, and edge applications with limited space.

The MIC-770 V3’s modular design delivers enhanced functionality and flexibility for PCIe expansion via Advantech i-Modules and Flex I/O in the front panel. Adding a PCIE-1674 vision frame grabber card enables the connection of four cameras when used in autonomous vehicles, advised Advantech. Adding four GbE Flex I/O (98910770301) enables this controller to connect to lidar systems, thus enabling it to detect distances and shapes in its environment then pass on data to the Nvidia L4 GPU for the rendering of 3D models based on graphics analysis.

Operating temperature range is 0 to 40 degrees C. A dedicated server-grade air duct design improves the thermal management of the GPU, said Advantech and maintains a GPU IC operating temperature below 70.5 degrees C in environmental conditions up to 40 degrees C to deliver clock frequency residency.

The Advantech MIC-770 V3 compact industrial computer (with MIC-75M20 i-Module) is available for order now.

http://www.advantech.com/en-eu

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Reclocker / redriver devices extend reach with USB 3.2-compatibility

Thin magnetic sheets have high permability for NFC

ST’s second generation industry 4.0 edge AI processors are SESIP 3-certified

Advantech’s edge computer is based on Nvidia L4 GPU for industrial AI

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