Panasonic have announced a new ultra-compact air quality sensor

With the release of the new SN-GCQB1 laser type air quality sensor, Panasonic Industry marks a leap forward in air quality monitoring technology.

Engineered to provide precise measurements of particulate matter, temperature, humidity, and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), this sensor might re-define the perception and management of air quality in different environments.

One of the standout features of Panasonic’s SN-GCQB1 is its precision coupled with an ultra-compact housing, making it one of the smallest on the market. With optimized air pathway structure to minimize dust accumulation – and thus to protect electronic components.

Designed to detect particulate matter in three key classes – PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10 – this sensor utilizes a high-precision optical sensor and a unique optical design for enhanced small particle detection. Moreover, its auto-calibration feature guarantees long-term detection accuracy, providing reliable data over extended periods.

In addition to particulate matter detection, the SN-GCQB1 monitors temperature, humidity, and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Equipped with a special resin outer shell, it is protected against electromagnetic waves, ensuring improved long-term drift performance, measurement stability, and response time.

With a projected lifetime exceeding 10 years, this sensor offers unmatched longevity, making it an ideal choice for various applications such as factory clean air management, environmental sensing, HVAC installations, room air conditioners, air purifiers, and more.

By providing accurate data on air quality parameters, including estimated carbon dioxide concentration calculated by TVOCs and IAQ levels according to UBA standards (German Environment Agency), this latest air quality monitoring innovation from Panasonic will offer an unrivalled level of sensor precision, reliability, and versatility for a vast field of relevant product designs.
For more information about the new SN-GCQB1 Laser Type Air Quality Sensor and its applications, please visit AIR QUALITY SENSOR

https://industry.panasonic.eu

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ST announces availability of low-power, long-range wireless microcontrollers

ST has announced general availability of STM32WL33 wireless microcontrollers (MCUs), integrating its latest-generation sub-GHz long-range radio, Arm Cortex-M0+ core, tailored peripherals for smart-metering applications, and power-saving enhancements. The new MCUs greatly simplify the design of wireless solutions, reduce time-to-market, and prolong battery life.

These new IoT-focused devices are used in smart utility meters, alarm systems, smart-building equipment, asset-tracking, and proximity detection. Among many other applications in cutting-edge, smart use cases, they are ideal for monitoring and control in smart cities, smart agriculture including reporting soil condition and animal welfare, forest-fire detection, water metering, and leakage detection.

Designers creating new products can take advantage of flexible options, ultra-low-power architecture, best-in-class radio efficiency, and innovative features to optimise the wireless range, simplify the design and extend battery lifetime.

A unique analog flow-sensor controller, LCSC, is integrated to streamline and optimise the design of water metering devices. The LCSC integrated circuitry can operate in conjunction with traditional coil-based mechanical meters, measuring fluid flow without any MCU intervention and providing a suitable anti-tampering feature. With these properties, the LCSC provides safety-proofing and can further enhance battery lifetime to more than 15 years while optimising the integration and cost structure of water metering devices.

In addition, there is an ultra-low-power (4.2µA) receive-only wideband radio that listens for a wake-up signal while the main communication radio is turned off to save power. This always-on radio has negligible impact on battery consumption and provides a standby mode that can quickly react upon receiving a suitable RF wake-up signal. Application use cases include drive-by reading in metering devices or wake-on-service capability in battery-operated monitoring solutions to permit applying firmware upgrades. Moreover, the wake-up signal generated, for instance, by a fixed-position beaconing tag, can transport OOK-modulated information, providing a convenient solution for asset-tracking or location-tags in logistics and warehouse applications.

A comprehensive set of integrated programmable memories, peripherals and security options let developers build richly featured applications with minimal external circuitry. These include 256Kbyte Flash, 32Kbyte SRAM and flexible peripherals including a 16-segment LCD driver, 12-bit 1Msample/s analog-to-digital converter (ADC), analog comparator, digital-to-analog converter (DAC), multiple timers, and a real-time clock (RTC). Security services include secure-boot, secure firmware updates, 128-bit AES, and a random-number generator (RNG).

All the MCUs can operate in either of the 413-479 MHz or 826-958 MHz license-free bands. A special variant, the STM32WL33CCV6A, operates in the 169MHz band.
The device embeds two programmable power amplifiers allowing a selectable RF output power of either +14dBm or +20dBm, further optimising power efficiency during active transmission time. In EU, Korea and Japan, legislation restricts the maximum to +14dBm for energy saving, while North America and Asia-Pacific allow +14dBm or +20dBm for longer range. With their dual power output, STM32WL33 wireless MCUs can be deployed worldwide and provide roaming capability for global tracking applications.

The widely configurable radio allows multi-protocol support and multi-modulation flexibility including 4-(G)FSK up to 600kbit/s, 2-(G)FSK, (G)MSK, DBPSK, DSSS, and ASK. A programmable and autonomous state-machine, the Radio Sequencer, automates common radio operations such as frequency-hopping low-duty-cycle operations, LBT, RX Sniff, auto-ack and many more saving MCU intervention and boosting radio efficiency.

With receive sensitivity of -132 dBm @300 bit/s 433 MHz OOK and -128 Bm @300 bit/s 868 MHz 2(G)FSK, the radio ensures robust communication over long distances. At +20 dBm output power and -128 dBm of sensitivity at 868 MHz, 300 bps GFSK makes it possible to achieve a link budget that supports a wireless communication range of over 1 Km.

There is also an IQ interface for custom modulation schemes and to further enhance reception sensitivity, enabling post-processing exploration with GNURadio or similar tools prior to embedding optimised protocol libraries. Supported standard protocols, besides the fully customisable proprietary options, includes wM-Bus, Mioty, Wize, Sigfox, 6LowPAN as well as Wi-SUN Home-Area-Networking (HAN).

This wireless SoC can combine seamlessly with ST’s MEMS inertial and environmental sensors, leveraging ML/AI algorithms and toolsets provided by ST. This facilitates development of applications that require positional and contextual awareness, as well as battery-operated remote monitoring and wireless sensors in industrial, smart-city or agricultural applications.

As an all-in-one system-on-chip (SoC), the STM32WL33 series connects developers with the extensive STM32 ecosystem. This now includes device-specific STM32CubeWL3 software and middleware, the NUCLEO-WL33CC1 board for 868/915MHz development, and NUCLEO-WL33CC2 for 433MHz. Also, dedicated matched filters (MLPF-WL-01D3/02D3/04D3) are now available for these MCUs, built with ST’s integrated passive device (IPD) technology, that deliver a simple and space-saving solution to optimise RF performance. In addition, a set of reference designs (STDES-WL3xxxx) saves R&D and simplifies RF design, further easing the path to market for new products. Pre-certified and fine-tuned for the STM32WL3 series, these reference designs cover several options including frequency band, RF power, MCU package, and two-layer or four-layer PCB.

The Wireless Studio Environment (STM32CubeWiSE), a graphical-UI based toolset, greatly boosts the learning curve and out-of-the-box experience. This includes the WiSE-RadioCodeGen, a code generator for RF-protocol automation that comes with the dedicated WL33 Radio Sequencer, and the WiSE-RadioExplorer. The explorer helps users make the most of the cutting-edge radio features and navigate the RF testing and certification process.

https://www.st.com

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u-blox launches its first LTE Cat 1bis module with embedded eSIM

u-blox has launched the SARA-R10001DE, a LTE Cat 1bis module featuring an embedded eSIM with Wireless Logic connectivity designed to improve the robustness, reliability, and resilience of IoT applications. The integral eSIM ensures flexible connectivity management and gives customers the ability to switch to the best network in terms of coverage and cost. Offering faster deployment and reliable connectivity regardless of geography, the SARA-R10001DE offers multiple benefits in applications including asset tracking, telematics, micro-mobility, solar technology, smart homes, and cities, and point of sales.

The new u-blox SARA-R10001DE provides full LTE Cat 1bis band support and an eSIM with multi-IMSI technology and eUICC capability. The eSIM is already profiled with a series of Wireless Logic SIM profiles but can also be remotely profiled via OTA using Remote SIM Provisioning.

The multiple SIM profiles stored in the Wireless Logic eSIM allow the module to connect to the best network automatically. This gives confidence that the module will always connect to the best network and that the eSIM will maintain reliable connectivity by switching automatically to a different operator if any issues arise.

The embedded eSIM simplifies customer logistics because it minimises the time and effort involved in managing SIM procurement and eliminates the need to source companion components such as SIM holders.

Additional savings are possible because the SARA-R10001DE allows customers to simplify logistics and reduce complexity. Bundling an IoT module with flexible connectivity allows customers to use a single SKU instead of having several SKUs with different SIM cards in the warehouse, simplifying stock itineraries and reducing storage requirements.

The embedded eSIM enhances robustness for reliable operation in harsh environments. Unlike plastic SIMs that can warp and fail, the eSIM component is soldered in like a standard electronic component to guarantee permanent electric contact.

Designed to provide LTE global coverage, the SARA-R10001DE provides an easy migration path for legacy 2G and 3G devices to 4G LTE global coverage.

https://www.u-blox.com

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IO-Link actuator board from ST delivers turnkey reference design for industrial monitoring and appliances

ST has introduced an IO-Link reference design for industrial beacons and home-appliance alarms, delivered ready-to-use as a fully built board complete with protocol stack and application software.

The EVLIOL4LSV1 board leverages ST’s L6364Q dual-channel IO-Link transceiver to handle communications and the IPS4260L intelligent low-side power switch for driving the indicator lights. The board can be directly connected to signaling systems such as smart tower lights used in factory automation, funnel material alarms for quantity-remaining or urgency-level awareness, and other system warnings. It also provides a fast way to test the IPS4260L and L6364Q ICs and has a 4-pin M12 connector for an IO-LINK master and a 5-pin SWD connector for programming.

An STM32G071CB microcontroller, which hosts the ST proprietary IO-Link demo stack and the application software, handles system control and diagnostics, communicating with the transceiver and low-side switch.

The L6364Q transceiver is fully protected and supports standardised IO-Link communication speeds including 38.4kbit/s COM2 and 230.4kbit/s COM3. The transceiver can operate in single or multibyte mode, as well as in transparent mode delegating control of IO-Link communications to the microcontroller by a simple URT interface. The in-built protection ensures EMC immunity up to 2.5kVpk surge pulse/500Ω coupling without additional protection elements.

The IPS4260L low-side driver has four outputs for driving loads with one side connected to supply voltage, each individually controlled by a signal such as a digital microcontroller output. It has a wide operating-voltage range, from 8V to 50V, and the current for each output can be independently programmed from 0.5A to 3.0A. The IC integrates overload and overtemperature protection for each channel and provides open-load, overload, and overtemperature diagnostic signals to aid system management and enhance reliability. The reference design also features ST’s SMBJ30CA TVS (transient-voltage suppression) diode to withstand surge pulses with 2Ω coupling on the supply rail.

https://www.st.com

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