Smart watch and LoRaWAN monitor patients’ safety

French management group, Domitys has installed a private LoRaWAN (long range wide area network) in one of its residences in Mauritius where patients wearing smart watches by Life Plus, a provider of support and remote patient monitoring systems..

Unlike projects in France where there is a public LoRaWAN available, in Mauritius it was necessary to create a private LoRaWAN bubble to ensure coverage of our apartment building and its surroundings. 

Using Actility’s ThingPark Enterprise IoT platform, Life Plus deployed a private LoRaWAN to cover the whole facility which consists of two buildings with 120 two or three room apartments. Eight gateways have been installed, six indoors and two outdoors, as part of a network which covers all apartments, lifts and surrounding outdoor areas. The project created a 10km wide network around the residence.

Most of the currently available devices were found to be only for raising assistance (SOS and falls) and were deemed to be stigmatising and with a low use rate.

At this facility in Mauritius, Domitys wanted to make sure the residents were secure while helping to maintain their autonomy. They wear a smart watch which alerts staff as soon as something goes wrong (such as a fall or unusual activity) or if the resident sends an SOS. The smart watch is customisable to fit preferences, such as a dial, bracelet, display design.

Life Plus co-creates products with real users – seniors, caregivers, geriatricians, general practitioners, physiotherapists, dietitians and neuropsychologists, allowing it to develop an easy to use device with a customisable design that is used by 87 per cent of residents every day.

Within the facility, small beacons are placed in apartments and shared areas, for the system to precisely locate residents inside the building, in a non-intrusive way, and only in case of problems. Bluetooth location beacons do not require wiring and are battery operated. This therefore brings flexibility in their positioning in all rooms and in the hotel park, and the most discreet integration possible.

The smart watch uses Dona Care, a cloud data and software service. The personalised smart watch and digital platform also provides customised coaching and automatic data transmission such as activity and health monitoring.

Residents are motivated to exercise more thanks to a personalised coaching focused on physical activity: walking and active walking durations, number of steps, and a daily walking goal that can be set up, pushing them to achieve it. This program can be extended to cognition activities and nutrition advice too, to support caregivers and help maintain autonomy.

A ThingPark Market demo kit is now available for purchase powered by Actility.

https://www.actility.com

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Antenna meets radio traffic increase for mission-critical networks. 

Radio traffic continues to grow and so does the requirement for a broader range of frequencies, observed Huber+Suhner. The company has developed the LTE700 antenna, claimed to enable reliable communication for private and mission critical networks.

The LTE700 antenna operates between a range of 698 to 960MHz and is able to empower private networks across a number of verticals, from private business operations such as water metering and smart grids, to emergency services’ communications traditionally found in the lower frequency bands. 

The antenna features integrated remote electrical tilt (RET) which enables operators to remotely adjust the antenna’s angle between 0 and 10 degrees, eliminating the need for manual adjustments, reducing downtime and maintenance costs.

The LTE700 replaces the existing narrow band antenna in the 790 to 960MHZ range.

Swiss company Huber+Suhner develops and produces components and system solutions for electrical and optical connectivity. The company serves the three main markets industry, communication and transportation with applications from the three technologies of radio frequency, fibre optics and low frequency. 

Huber+Suhner products are designed for reliable and long service lives – even under the most demanding conditions, said the company. 

There is a network of subsidiaries and representatives in over 80 countries.

https://www.hubersuhner.com

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STMicroelectronics offers two reference designs to simplify motor drive designs

Two reference designs from STMicroelectronics have been developed to simplify building complete industrial or home appliance motor drives for compressors with its STSPIN32 motor control system in package (SiP). 

Each integrates the motor controller with a three-phase inverter to power the motor, and an offline converter and auxiliary circuitry. A production-ready PCB design and motor-control firmware are also included.

The STEVAL-CTM011V1 targets general industrial compressors up to 250W and the STEVAL-CTM012V1 meets the stringent eco-design regulations for use in home appliances. 

The two reference designs combine with a host system to start driving a motor and allow customers to fine tune settings for optimal performance. Both ensure average efficiency greater than 96.5 per cent, said ST.

Each is based on ST’s STSPIN32F0601Q motor-control SiP which contains an STM32F031 Arm Cortex-M0 microcontroller to customise the motor control to specific end application needs and a rugged 600V three-phase gate driver for the inverter. The firmware provided includes high-efficiency sensorless field oriented control (FOC). The SiP is a compact and thermally efficient quad flat no-lead (QFN) device that meets high creepage requirements for safety and reliability.

The offline AC/DC converter is a VIPER122 analogue converter that integrates control logic with an 800V avalanche rugged power section. Frequency jittering prevents interference with other equipment, while inherently low power consumption and support for burst-mode operation at light load help comply with energy-saving regulations.

The inverter stage of the 250W STEVAL-CTM011V1 reference design for industrial and general-purpose applications comprises six rugged STGD5H60DF insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). They are engineered to maximise efficiency at high switching frequencies, allowing smaller capacitive and magnetic components. The low package thermal resistance is claimed to enhance reliability while tight parameter distribution assists safe paralleling in high power applications.

For home appliances, the STEVAL-CTM012V1 reference design contains six STPOWER STD8N60DM2 600V N-channel MDmesh DM2 power MOSFETs. These are suitable for high-efficiency converters, including zero voltage switching (ZVS) phase -shift converters, and combine high speed, low loss switching performance and low on state losses.

The production-ready circuit-board design saves significant development time, advised ST, because it avoids complex layout and signal routing challenges. The compact 112 x 75mm board outline helps meet industrial and consumer-appliance form factors.

Both reference designs are available now and the STSPIN32, VIPER122, IGBTs, and MOSFETs are in production now. 

http://www.st.com

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Multi-layer chip antennas expand Würth Elektronik portfolio

Multi-layer chip antennas have been added to the range available from Würth Elektronik, contributing to the miniaturisation of radio applications. 

Measuring just 40 x 6.0 x 5.0mm, the WE-MCA antenna (7488918022) covers the 700 to 960MHz and 1710 to 2690MHz frequency ranges. The form factor and slender profile mean the antenna offers an “excellent size-to-performance ratio”, said Würth.

WE-MCA is suited for applications such as GSM 900, WLAN / WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS / GNSS, ZigBee, and mobile communication (4G / LTE). Würth Elektronik offers products for the development of radio applications, including a variety of radio modules and EMC products for high frequency applications, in particular compact IoT and smart building applications. The chip antennas are robust, with an operating temperature range from -40 to +85 degrees C.

To help customers with the layout of miniaturised radio applications and the selection of suitable inductors and capacitors, Würth Elektronik offers antenna matching and characterisation support for its range of multi-layer chip antennas.

The WE-MCA chip antennas are supplied packaged in reels for surface mount assembly, with no restrictions regarding the number of items. Free-of-charge samples are available on request.

Würth Elektronik eiSos Group is a manufacturer of electronic and electromechanical components for the electronics industry. Würth Elektronik eiSos is one of the largest European manufacturers of passive components and is active in 50 countries. Production sites in Europe, Asia and North America supply a growing number of customers worldwide.

The product range includes EMC components, inductors, transformers, RF components, varistors, capacitors, resistors, quartz crystals, oscillators, power modules, wireless power transfer, LEDs, sensors, connectors, power supply elements, switches, push-buttons, connection technology, fuse holders and solutions for wireless data transmission.

Würth Elektronik is part of the Würth Group, specialising in assembly and fastening technology. 

http://www.we-online.com

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