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IAR Embedded Workbench supports Arm Cortex-55 core for AI

Mon, Nov 08, 2021

Support for the latest Arm Cortex-M55 processor has been announced by IAR Systems. The latest version of IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm adds support for the Arm Cortex-M55 processor. In addition, version 9.20 of the toolchain includes support for latest microcontroller devices from several semiconductor vendors.

The Arm Cortex-M55 processor is Arm’s AI-capable Cortex-M processor and the first to feature Arm Helium technology, M-Profile Vector Extension (MVE). It is characterised by energy-efficient digital signal processing (DSP) and machine learning (ML) capabilities. The IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm toolchain delivers powerful optimisation capabilities to assist developers in getting the most out of the performance of the microcontroller while maintaining energy efficiency. To ensure code quality, code analysis tools are completely integrated with IAR Embedded Workbench.

The support for Cortex-M55 is intended to help early development based on the core in the ecosystem.

In a simultaneous announcement, the company announced that the latest IAR Build Tools for Arm provides support for Linux and Windows installations, which enables implementation in cross platform-based frameworks and large-scale deployments of critical software building and testing.

IAR Systems says it supplies future-proof software tools and services for embedded development, enabling companies worldwide to create the products of today and the innovations of tomorrow. Since 1983, IAR Systems’ solutions have been used in the development of over one million embedded applications.

The company is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden and has sales and support offices all over the world. In 2018, Secure Thingz, the global domain expert in device security, embedded systems, and lifecycle management, became part of IAR Systems Group AB.

http://www.iar.com

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Face recognition uses 3D SLM camera and NXP’s i.MX RT117F crossover MCU

Thu, Nov 04, 2021

A 3D face recognition access control systems uses NXP Semiconductor’s crossover MCU with a 3D camera to enable faster secure face recognition under challenging lighting conditions.

The 3D structured light module (SLM) camera is combined with the i.MX RT117F crossover MCU and is believed to be the first time a 3D SLM camera has been combined with an MCU to deliver the performance and security of 3D face recognition at the edge. It therefore removes the need to use an expensive and power-hungry Linux implementation on a microprocessor which is conventionally the case with high-performance 3D cameras, reports NXP.

The i.MX RT117F MCU is part of the i.MX RT1170 family of crossover MCUs. It is based on an Arm Cortex-M7 CPU with 2Mbyte of on-chip SRAM, running at up to 1GHz.

The turnkey system is the latest EdgeReady solution from NXP. It enables developers of smart locks and other access control systems to add machine learning-based secure face recognition quickly and easily to smart home and smart building products. Reliable 3D face recognition can be achieved in indoor and outdoor applications, across varied lighting conditions, including bright sunlight, dim night light, or other difficult lighting conditions that are challenging for traditional face recognition systems.

The use of a 3D SLM camera enables advanced liveness detection, helping distinguish a real person from spoofing techniques, such as a photograph, imitator mask or a 3D model, to prevent unauthorised access.

The i.MX RT117F uses an advanced machine learning model as part of NXP’s eIQ machine learning software running on its CPU core.

Advanced liveness detection and face recognition are performed locally at the edge, making it possible for personal biometric data to remain on the device. This helps address consumer privacy concerns, while also eliminating the latency associated with cloud-based solutions.

The development kit for this 3D face recognition system, the SLN-VIZN3D-IOT, will be available later in November from NXP and authorised distributors.

The i.MX RT117F includes a license to use the NXP 3D face recognition software development kit (SDK), and is available in consumer, industrial and automotive temperature grades.

http://www.nxp.com

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DC/DC converter can extend industrial devices’ battery life by up to 20 per cent

Thu, Nov 04, 2021

Boasting low quiescent current (IQ) of 60nA, the TPS61094 buck/boost converter can extend the battery life of industrial applications, says Texas Instruments. The bi-directional buck/boost converter’s IQ is one-third that of competing boost converters, says the company. It integrates a buck mode for supercapacitor charging while providing low IQ, to extend battery life by as much as 20 per cent when compared to commonly used hybrid-layer capacitors (HLCs). Supercapacitor charging and discharging help support peak loads and backup power, which are important for continuous operation in battery-powered industrial applications such as smart meters, smoke detectors and video doorbells, as well as medical applications.

Engineers designing battery-operated systems frequently face a common design challenge: a need to achieve high efficiency at no- or light-load conditions, in the low milliampere or microampere range. This requires power supplies to regulate their output while maintaining low supply current in the nA range.

Today’s lithium thionyl chloride (Li/SOCl₂) battery-based designs often manage peak load with HLCs. This are expensive and not optimal for controlling charge current, explains TI. The TPS61094’s combined low IQ and supercapacitor charging and discharging allow HLCs to be replaced with supercapacitors for peak load support and to extend battery life in applications that must run on a single battery for 10 years or more.

The TPS61094 can provide back up power in applications that require safe power-down or last-gasp communication during a power outage.

In addition to extending battery life, the buck/boost converter has a 2.0A inductor current limit in boost operation, which doubles the output current of competitive boost converters, according to the company.

The additional output current enables the TPS61094 to support radio standards – such as narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), LTE-M, Wi-SUN, MIOTY, Bluetooth and wireless M-Bus – over a wider input voltage range. For example, it can support more than 250mA of output current down to an input voltage of 0.7V.

Typical industrial applications such as smart meters require several power components for back up power features or peak load support. Integrating a buck charger and a boost converter into a single IC removes the need for a discrete buck charger, inductor and two external capacitors.

The integration of the buck charger and boost converter also allows design engineers to easily control the handshake between all functions, for a seamless transition between operating modes.

The TPS61094 is now available through TI and authorised distributors in a 2.0 x 3.0mm, 12-pin very thin, small outline no-lead (WSON) package. Full and custom quantity reels are available and there is also the TPS61094EVM-066 evaluation module.

http://www.TI.com

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SerDes transmit and channel test are included in Keysight’s automotive suite

Thu, Nov 04, 2021

Automotive serialiser/deserialiser (SerDes) transmit and channel test applications, as well as an automotive adapter portfolio to verify mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) A-PHY and Automotive SerDes Alliance (ASA) standards have been developed by Keysight Technologies in association with Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Rosenberger.

High-speed automotive SerDes interfaces enable transport data streams to make in-vehicle video, audio and communication possible. The high bandwidth, reliability and performance of SerDes serial links are key requirements in automotive applications, which enable advanced infotainment and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in vehicles.

Tests performed by Keysight’s AE2010T automotive SerDes transmitter test application enable customers to automatically configure each result utilising a Keysight Infiniium UXR-series oscilloscope. Tests performed by Keysight’s AE2010L automotive SerDes channel test application enable customers to automate network analyser tests. Together, these applications provide critical information to maintain data integrity and low loss networks, while meeting current automotive SerDes specifications, says Keysight.

Keysight and Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation are collaborating to bring the industry’s vision of standardised automotive SerDes to market. This will have benefits for chipset vendors and OEMs, bringing unified test results and requirements.

“Automotive SerDes standards are important to our strategy of embedding a serialiser on our image sensors. We are pleased to work with Keysight to validate our design against emerging SerDes specifications,” said Kenji Onishi, general manager, automotive business department, Sony Semiconductor Solutions.

Keysight has also partnered with Rosenberger to offer customers industry accepted adapters for automotive SerDes and high-speed data links. “Our customers will benefit from testing solutions for all automotive connector interfaces, which are either standardised or accepted to become global standards for automotive high-speed data transmission soon,” said Hauke Schütt, executive vice president of test and measurement at Rosenberger. “This includes . . . for coaxial and differential transmission channels, such as FAKRA, HFM, HSD or H-MTD,” he said.

Keysight’s SerDes transmitter and channel test applications offer automatic configuration and calibration cues of all required test equipment to reduce overall test time. They also offer an extensive range of tests for standards conformance of MIPI A-PHY and ASA, to reduce cost and save multiple installations and license purchases. The test framework to report multi-trial results includes a full array of statistics for each measurement. They also offer quick, accurate, and repeatable test results for validation and debugging, says Keysight.

Channel test software runs on a E5080B ENA Vector Network Analyzer, PXI Vector Network Analyzers, or Streamline Series USB Vector Network Analyzers and provides the framework for connectors, cables, and harnesses to quickly test automotive SerDes links.

http://www.keysight.com

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IAR Embedded Workbench supports Arm Cortex-55 core for AI

Face recognition uses 3D SLM camera and NXP’s i.MX RT117F crossover MCU

DC/DC converter can extend industrial devices’ battery life by up to 20 per cent

SerDes transmit and channel test are included in Keysight’s automotive suite

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