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Eight-bit MCU development board connects to 5G LTE-M NB-IoT networks

Thu, Jun 23, 2022

Microchip Technology’s AVR-IoT cellular mini development board is the latest to join its ABR family. It is based on the AVR128DB48 eight-bit microcontroller (MCU). It provides a platform to start building sensor and actuator nodes on 5G narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) networks.

The small form factor board aimed at developers who want to connect IoT devices to an available 5G network. This is an essential feature for devices on the go or located in remote areas with limited availability of long range (LoRa) networks or other low power wide area networks (LPWAN).

The AVR128DB48 eight-bit MCU family includes security protection with Microchip’s ATECC608 CryptoAuthentication device. The ATECC608 can be configured to most major cloud service providers through Microchip’s IoT provisioning tool.

“Microchip continues to expand its family of AVR eight-bit MCUs for developers to implement a variety of embedded designs with ease and flexibility,” said Greg Robinson, vice president of marketing for Microchip’s eight-bit MCU business unit.

The ability to connect remote and mobile devices to a 5G narrowband network with an eight-bit MCU opens up new opportunities for battery-operated devices due to the low power combined with high-quality analogue peripherals, he added.

The AVR-IoT cellular mini development board comes pre-configured to send data from on-board light and temperature sensors to the cloud, viewable using Microchip’s sandbox portal. The sandbox portal lets customers track and monitor their device in real time from a remote location.

This functionality covers the core requirements of many applications in various industries including agriculture, industrial and energy, as well as consumer spaces such as transportation of goods, alarm systems, building automation and remote monitoring.

To provide an easier, more efficient and more cost-effective solution for connecting IoT devices to 5G using the AVR128DB48 MCU, Microchip has partnered with Sequans to include its Monarch 2 GM02S single-chip radio equipped with 5G LTE-M and narrowband IoT. Microchip also partnered with Truphone to provide the SIM card for cellular service that offers coverage worldwide.

The Monarch 2 GM02S is a 5G-ready LTE-M and NB-IoT solution on a single chip, designed specifically for NB-IoT applications, including sensors, wearables and other low data, low power devices. By partnering with Microchip on its AVR-IoT cellular board, Sequans claimed to simplify and lower the costs of IoT device design.

“Owning and operating all elements of the eSIM ecosystem in-house coupled with access to a large number of low-power cellular networks through a single SIM SKU, provides Microchip customers looking to connect IoT devices a future proof cellular service.” said Steve Alder, chief business development officer of Truphone.

The AVR-IoT cellular mini development board fits the Adafruit Feather form factor. It features a Qwiic/Stemma I2C connector for easy functionality extension, creating a clear path to production. It is also Arduino-compatible and is supported by Microchip’s Github Library, which provides functionality for HTTPS, MQ telemetry transport (MQTT), and low power.

Users can access the Microchip sandbox page for a tutorial on how to get up and running and establish a connection with the AVR-IoT cellular mini development board.

Microchip Technology provides smart, connected and secure embedded control, serving more than 120,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defence, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers technical support along with dependable delivery and quality.

https://www.microchip.com

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PXI microwave MUX to support 5G and semiconductor test sectors

Thu, Jun 23, 2022

Pickering Interfaces has augmented its 4x-785C range of SP4T and SP6T microwave multiplexers with the addition of 67GHz terminated SP4T/SP6T modules to support the latest requirements of the 5G and semiconductor test sectors.

The 40-785C (PXI) and 42-785C (PXIe) modules feature internal relay terminations that can improve signal integrity. Devices feature panel and remote mount options that enable users to locate the switches at the most convenient location for their application; remote mount options occupy a single chassis slot but can control up to three switches, saving space.

The 4x-785C family is based on Radiall mechanical microwave switches. The addition of 67GHz 50 Ohms internally terminated switches allows unused channels of a test system to be terminated in the characteristic impedance of the signal path, maximising signal integrity.

Remote mount options connect each switch to the control module via a 1.5m cable to provide flexibility in switch positioning. This reduces the length of RF connections, maximising performance and minimising cabling costs. The chassis slot count is minimised as only three slots are required for a single configuration – or six slots for dual panel mount switch – or just a single slot for the remote mount versions.

Steve Edwards, switching product manager at Pickering Interfaces, said: “To aid with test system health monitoring, the 4x-785C family is provided with a switch cycle counting feature. Determining the number of operations per channel can help manage the wear-out process by allowing alternate lower usage paths to be substituted for high use channels.”

Pickering also offers interconnection cables to support RF applications, and its standard three-year warranty covers all modules.

Pickering Interfaces designs and manufactures modular signal switching and simulation for use in electronic test and verification. It claims to offer the largest range of switching and simulation products in the industry for PXI, LXI, and PCI applications. It also provides cables and connectors, diagnostic test tools, and application software and software drivers to support these products. The company operates and serves all electronics industries, including automotive, aerospace and defence, energy, industrial, communications, medical and semiconductor.

The 4x-785C range of SP4T and SP6T microwave multiplexers will debut at International Microwave Symposium (IMS), (19 to 24 June) at the Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado, at booth 11006.

https://www.pickeringtest.com

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Renesas’ SmartBond DA1470x SoCs are integrated for wireless connectivity

Wed, Jun 22, 2022

Renesas Electronics has announced the SmartBond DA1470x family of Bluetooth low energy (LE) integrated SoCs for wireless connectivity.

Renesas claimed the DA1470x family to be the only device in the Bluetooth LE space to integrate a power management unit, a hardware voice activity detector (VAD), a graphics processing unit (GPU) and Bluetooth LE connectivity all into a single chip.

This combined functionality provides smart IoT devices with advanced sensor and graphical capabilities and seamless, low power, always-on audio processing. The SoCs are suitable for wearables, such as smart watches and fitness trackers, glucose monitor readers and other consumer medical and healthcare devices, home appliances with displays, industrial automation and security systems, and Bluetooth consoles such as e-bikes and gaming equipment.

“The DA1470x family … enables developers to push the boundaries of connected consumer and industrial applications and future-proof their IoT products to fit the needs of multiple applications, while optimising their bill of materials,” commented Sean McGrath, vice president of the connectivity and audio business division in Renesas’ IoT, Industrial and Infrastructure business unit.

The high level of integration results in “significant cost savings” on the bill of materials (BoM), enabling cost-effective system solutions, according to the company. It also reduces component count on the PCB, enabling smaller form factor designs and freeing up space for additional components or larger batteries. With fewer components on the PCB, the reliability of the system improves, it claimed, delivering a further reduction in the total cost of goods sold (COGS) of the end product.

The wireless SoCs feature a multi core system – with an Arm Cortex-M33 processor as the main application core and Cortex -M0+ as the sensor node controller.

An integrated 2D GPU and display controller supports DPI, JDI parallel, DBI and single / dual / quad serial peripheral interfaces (SPIs) and there is a configurable Mac supporting Bluetooth LE 5.2 and proprietary 2.4GHz protocols.

An integrated 720mA JEITA-compliant USB charger supports rechargeable Li-ion / Li-Po batteries, while an integrated low quiescent current SIMO DC/DC converter of the PMU supplies internal system and external components.

Low power hardware VAD enables seamless and always-on audio processing.

The DA1470x family consists of four new devices, all of which are in mass production and available now.

The DA14706 has already been used in the Xiaomi Mi band 7 wearable activity tracker with a 1.62-inch, 192×490 Amoled display, 120 sports modes and a 15-day battery life for typical use.

The DA1470x family will be demonstrated at Embedded World (21-23 June) in Nuremberg, Germany, at Booth Hall 1-234.

A provider of microcontrollers, Renesas combines its expertise in embedded processing, analogue, power and connectivity to deliver complete semiconductor solutions. These combinations accelerate time to market for automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT applications.

http://www.renesas.com

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Two automotive processors from NXP deliver GHz speeds

Wed, Jun 22, 2022

NXP Semiconductors has launched two processor families that extend its S32 automotive platform with high-performance real-time processing.

The S32Z processors can be used for safety processing and domain and zonal control, while the S32E processors are for electric vehicle (xEV) control and smart actuation. The software-compatible S32Z and S32E processors help enable software-defined vehicles, reduce software integration complexity and enhance security and safety, said the company.

These processors feature the critical deterministic behaviour of safe MCUs, but combine gigahertz speed, multi-application isolation and memory expansion. They are suitable for the safe integration of cross domain vehicle functions for software-defined vehicles and are scalable, 16nm S32Z and S32E processor families with a roadmap to 5nm solutions.

Domain and zonal architectures enable carmakers to optimise wiring harnesses, reduce cost and weight, and implement a more scalable and cost-effective, software-centric approach for developing and updating intelligent vehicles. This transformation requires processors that offer higher performance, application isolation and memory expansion.

Robert Bosch GmbH was a key partner in the collaborative design process.

“We collaborated closely with NXP on the two new processor families,” said Axel Aue, vice president of engineering at Bosch. “The S32Z and S32E processors offer a performance increase of a factor of two compared to embedded NVM MCUs, key integration platform features and scalable memory with LPDDR4 DRAM and flash. It’s also ideal for embedded integration and allows the consolidation and isolation of vehicle functions with very high performance that previously required multiple MCUs.”

NXP’s S32Z and S32E processors offer eight Arm Cortex-R52 processor cores with split-lock support that operate at up to 1GHz to address safely integrating deterministic, high-performance real-time applications. The processors isolate independent real-time applications with “core-to-pin” hardware virtualisation and resource firewalls for freedom of interference.

The processors come with up to 64Mbyte of integrated flash memory for large, zero-downtime over-the-air (OTA) updates and support LPDDR4 DRAM and flash expansion memory with execute-in-place (XiP) mode for large applications and Autosar adaptive applications. A communications accelerator (FlexLLCE) supporting 24 CAN interfaces, along with a Gigabit Ethernet switch supporting time sensitive networking (TSN), provides vehicle data to “virtual ECUs” to improve efficiency and streamline software development, said the company.

A hardware security engine (HSE) supports secure boot, accelerated security services and key management. The S32Z and S32E processors are certified to ISO/SAE 21434 for cybersecurity and ISO 26262 for Asil D functional safety.

The S32E processors add smart actuation capabilities, specifically in the form of advanced timers and high resolution ADC and 5V analogue and I/Os, for xEV integration applications with direct-drive motor control.

The S32Z and S32E processors enable OEMs and tier ones to develop a wide range of new vehicle architectures with diverse real-time processing needs.

NXP offers system support for S32Z and S32E processors to accelerate customer designs, including the co-developed FS86 Asil D safety system basis chip (SBC) and PF5030 power management IC (PMIC) with enhanced safety features and in-vehicle networking support with Ethernet switches and PHYs and CAN transceivers, along with other analogue companion chips, such as the GD3160 IGBT/SiC high-voltage inverter gate driver and MC3377x battery cell controllers.

Silicon evaluation, software development and rapid prototyping can be accelerated using the GreenVIP vehicle integration platform software with the GreenBox 3 development platform, supported by software and tools, claimed NXP. NXP will present a technical paper on “Key Technologies for Enablement of Multi-Core, Real-Time Domain Controllers” and showcase the S32E processor in action with a “Safe Multi-ECU Integration” demonstration focused on multi-core performance and fault-tolerance at Embedded World (21-23 June) in Nuremberg, Germany, at Hall 4A-222.

http://www.nxp.com

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Eight-bit MCU development board connects to 5G LTE-M NB-IoT networks

PXI microwave MUX to support 5G and semiconductor test sectors

Renesas’ SmartBond DA1470x SoCs are integrated for wireless connectivity

Two automotive processors from NXP deliver GHz speeds

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