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Zener diodes prolong battery time and save PCB space

Fri, Jan 28, 2022

Low current regulator diodes are available from Nexperia in three surface mount package options. The 50 microA Zener diodes are available in three surface mountable package options: SOT23 (BZX8450), SOD323 (BZX38450) and SOD523 packages (BZX58550) and leadless DFN1006BD-2 (BZX8850S) package.

They are also available as Q-portfolio parts, meeting the AEC-Q101 and ISO/TS16949 automotive quality standards. Nexperia explained that more non-automotive applications require additional quality-related services and extended longevity, and these needs will be met by these Q-portfolio parts.

Specified at a low test current (50 microA), the efficient diodes are ideal for low bias and portable battery-powered devices in mobile, wearable, automotive and industrial applications.

“The DFN1006BD-2 packaged parts with side-wettable flanks (SWF) address the concerns of various sectors, such as size, performance and ruggedness, and match many diverse applications,” says Paula Stümer, product manager at Nexperia.

There are 40 types per package option covering nominal working voltages from 1.8 to 75V. The Zener diodes feature a non-repetitive peak reverse power dissipation of up to or equal to 40W, total power dissipation up to or equal to 300mW and low dynamic resistance.

The DFN package dimensions are 1.0 x 0.6 x 0.47mm and are suitable for replacing bulky leaded packages on PCBs. The package can save up to 60 per cent of real estate. It features side-wettable flanks (SWF), which ensure the solder flows up the side of the chip when it is soldered onto the PCB. This technology facilitates automated optical inspection (AOI), satisfying the automotive industry’s high safety, reliability and quality requirements. The high P(tot) of the DFN-packaged Zener diodes also run cooler than leaded parts, therefore improving system reliability.

The 50 microA Zener diodes are available as samples and in volume production quantities.

Nexperia produces essential semiconductors, with an extensive portfolio which includes diodes, bipolar transistors, ESD protection devices, MOSFETs, GaN FETs and analogue and logic ICs.

Nexperia, a subsidiary of Wingtech Technology Co., Ltd. (600745.SS), has an extensive IP portfolio and is certified to IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. It operates in Asia, Europe and the USA.

http://www.nexperia.com

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IP enables secure communications between chiplets

Thu, Jan 27, 2022

Secure die-to-die communication between chiplets can be achieved with the Fortrix SecureD2D IP, says CEVA. The IP enables secure authentication and firmware boot / code load between chiplets in a heterogeneous SoC (HSoC).

The cost of developing monolithic SoCs at advanced nodes has increased, and coupled with long design cycles and manufacturing lead times, this has led to the emergence of chiplets as a viable, cost-effective alternative, explains CEVA.

Security and assurance are key considerations for the adoption of HSoCs as the chiplet dies can originate from different vendors and different global supply chains. This is a key consideration for the deployment of chiplets in the aerospace and defence, industrial and automotive markets as well as in any IoT-related application where HSoCs are targeted.

CEVA, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Intrinsix, offers the Fortrix SecureD2D IP to enable secured communication between chiplets in an HSoC.

The Fortrix SecureD2D IP consists of a controller communicating over a secure fabric to hardware-based crypto accelerators which perform rapid encryption and decryption to enable cryptographic functions such as ECDSA, SHA2 and AES. A low-level firmware API and a customisable high-level application allow rapid integration into secure chiplets and the IP implements both leader and follower termination points.

Fortrix SecureD2D IP is available for licensing today. Deliveries include RTL, SDC constraints, firmware and documentation. The IP is suitable for any semiconductor process, confirmed CEVA. The company also provides design services to help integrate and support the security IP and chiplet development in addition to full HSoC design and delivery.

The IP was selected and deployed as part of the Department of Defense State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integrated Packaging (SHIP) program and has already been adopted by Lockheed Martin and a world-leading semiconductor company, reported CEVA.

CEVA is a licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies and integrated IP. It provides DSPs, AI engines, wireless platforms, cryptography cores and complementary software for sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice input and AI. These technologies are offered in combination with our Intrinsix IP integration services, to help customers address complex and time-critical IC design projects.

The company’s DSP-based solutions include platforms for 5G baseband processing in mobile, IoT and infrastructure, advanced imaging and computer vision for any camera-enabled device, audio / voice / speech and low-power, always-on / sensing applications for multiple IoT markets. For sensor fusion, its Hillcrest Labs sensor processing technologies provide a range of sensor fusion software and inertial measurement units (IMUs) for markets including hearables, wearables, AR / VR, PCs, robotics, remote controls and the IoT. For wireless IoT, it supplies platforms for Bluetooth (low energy and dual mode), Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E (802.11n/ac/ax), Ultra-wideband (UWB), NB-IoT and GNSS.

http://www.ceva-dsp.com

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Interference waveform pattern software targets 5G and LTE testing

Thu, Jan 27, 2022

Tools which generate 3GPP interference waveform patterns for testing the receiver sensitivity and throughput of both 5G and LTE user equipment (UE) and modules using the Vector Signal Generator MG3710E are available from Anritsu.

Installing the Interference Waveform Pattern for 5G NR receiver test MX371055A and Interference Waveform Pattern for LTE receiver test MX371054A software in the MG3710E used in combination with the Radio Communication Test Station MT8000A and Radio Communication Analyzer MT8821C facilitates easy interference evaluation tests required by the 3GPP RF compliance test.

The tools are designed to support both in-house pre-testing for confirming compliance of Sub-6GHz 5G and LTE UE and modules before the official 3GPP compliance test as well as for R&D to improve receiver sensitivity and throughput performance.

Anritsu developed these two 3GPP-compliant interference waveform pattern tools to help engineers without specialist skills generate interference waveforms for easy interference tests.

In parallel with increasing 5G smartphone shipments, annual shipments of 5G customer premises equipment (CPE) are increasing based on mobile operator fixed wireless access (FWA) services. Manufacturers of automotive electronic equipment are developing 5G communications modules, such as the telematics control unit (TCU). Alongside the growing market for 5G UE and modules, the same manufacturers are developing LTE UE and modules for mobile operators who have not started 5G services yet.

Anritsu provides communications test and measurement solutions for 125 years. It helps customers develop wireless, optical, microwave / RF and digital solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation and maintenance applications, as well as multi-dimensional service assurance solutions for network monitoring and optimisation. Anritsu also provides precision microwave / RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. The company develops advanced solutions for 5G, M2M, IoT, as well as other emerging and legacy wireline and wireless communication markets.

http://www.anritsu.com

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Silicon Labs brings AI and ML to the edge

Tue, Jan 25, 2022

Two families of 2.4GHz wireless SoCs are for Bluetooth and multiple-protocol operations with Matter-Ready Platform
The BG24 for Bluetooth and MG24 for multiple-protocols designs have been released, together with a software toolkit by Silicon Labs. The company says the co-optimised hardware and software platform will help bring AI/ML (artificial intelligence / machine learning) applications and wireless high performance to battery-powered edge devices.

The low power BG24 and MG24 SoCs incorporate PSA Level 3 Secure Vault protection, making them suitable for a range of applications in smart home, medical and industrial applications.

Together with what are believed to be the industry’s first integrated AI/ML accelerators, the 2.4GHz wireless SoCs have support for Matter, Zigbee, OpenThread, Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth mesh, proprietary and multi-protocol operation. They also have the largest memory and flash capacity in the Silicon Labs portfolio, says the company.

The software toolkit helps developers to quickly build and deploy AI and ML algorithms using some of the most popular tool suites, like TensorFlow.
AI and ML has the potential to bring even greater intelligence to edge applications like home security systems, wearable medical monitors, sensors monitoring commercial facilities and industrial equipment, but there are performance and energy penalties for anyone considering deploying AI or ML at the edge, reports Silicon Labs.

The company has developed the BG24 and MG24 as the first ultra-low powered devices with dedicated AI / ML accelerators built-in to alleviate those penalties. The specialised hardware is designed to handle complex calculations quickly and efficiently, with internal testing showing up to a four times improvement in performance along with up to a six-fold improvement in energy efficiency. The ML calculations are performed on the local device rather than in the cloud, meaning that network latency is eliminated for faster decision-making and actions, says the company.

The large flash and RAM capacities mean that the device can evolve for multi-protocol support, Matter and trained ML algorithms for large datasets. PSA Level 3-Certified Secure Vault, the highest level of security certification for IoT devices, provides the security needed in products like door locks, medical equipment, and other sensitive deployments which required hardening the device from external threats.

In addition to native support for TensorFlow, Silicon Labs has partnered with AI and ML tools providers, SensiML and Edge Impulse, for a toolchain claimed to simplify the development of ML models optimised for embedded deployments of wireless applications. Developers can use the AI/ML toolchain with Silicon Labs’ Simplicity Studio and the BG24 and MG24 families of SoCs, to create applications that draw information from various connected devices, communicating with each other using Matter to then make intelligent ML-driven decisions.

An example of a target applications would be commercial office buildings, where lights are controlled by motion detectors that monitor occupancy- which are connected to audio sensors through the Matter application, so that someone sitting at a desk typing is not plunged into darkness because the additional audio data (the sound of typing) can be run through an ML algorithm for the lighting system to make a more informed decision about whether the lights should be on or off.

ML computing at the edge enables other intelligent industrial and home applications, including sensor-data processing for anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, audio pattern recognition for improved simple-command word recognition and vision use cases like presence detection or people counting with low-resolution cameras.

The single-die BG24 and MG24 SoCs combine a 78MHz Arm Cortex-M33 processor, 2.4GHz radio, 20-bit ADC, a combination of flash (up to 1536kbyte) and RAM (up to 256kbyte), and an AI/ML hardware accelerator for processing ML algorithms while offloading the Arm Cortex-M33.
The EFR32BG24 and EFR32MG24 SoCs are available in 5.0 x 5.0mm QFN40 and 6.0 x 6.0mm QFN48 packages. They are shipping today to alpha customers and will be available for mass deployment in April 2022. Multiple evaluation boards are available and modules based on the BG24 and MG24 SoCs will be available in the second half of 2022.

http://www.Silabs.com

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Zener diodes prolong battery time and save PCB space

IP enables secure communications between chiplets

Interference waveform pattern software targets 5G and LTE testing

Silicon Labs brings AI and ML to the edge

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