CrossLinkPlus FPGAs speed and enhance video bridging

Lattice Semiconductor has introduced the CrossLinkPlus FPGA family for MIPI D-PHY based embedded vision systems. The new devices are low power FPGAs featuring integrated flash memory, a hardened MIPI D-PHY and high-speed I/Os for instant-on panel display performance, and flexible on-device programming capabilities.

Developers want to enhance the user experience by adding multiple image sensors and/or displays to embedded vision systems, while also meeting system cost and power budgets.

Key features of the CrossLinkPlus family of FPGAs include on-device reprogrammable flash memory to enable instant-on (< 10 ms), hardened, pre-verified MIPI D-PHY interface supporting speeds up to 6 Gbps per port and broad support for high-speed I/O interfaces such as LVDS, SLVS and subLVDS.

Power consumption can be as low as 300 microwatt (standby) or 5 microwatt (operating).

Lattice also provides ready-to-use IPs and reference designs to accelerate implementation of enhanced sensor and display bridging, aggregation, and splitting functionality, a common requirement for industrial, automotive, computing, and consumer applications. There is a comprehensive IP library, including MIPI CSI-2, MIPI DSI, OpenLDI transmitters and receivers. These IPs are compatible with other Lattice FPGAs for easy design portability.

This new series is fully compatible with the Lattice Diamond design software tool flow, from synthesis and design capture through implementation, verification, and programming.

CrossLinkPlus uses its on-chip flash to support instant-on (minimising visual artifacts that detract from the user experience) and flexible device reprogramming in the field.

“The use of MIPI D-PHY in applications ranging from industrial control equipment displays to AI security cameras is booming as OEMs look to capitalize on the economies of scale driven by the MIPI ecosystem,” said Peiju Chiang, product marketing manager, Lattice Semiconductor.

“Lattice’s new CrossLinkPlus FPGAs combine the flexible programmability and speedy parallel processing of FPGAs with vision-specific hardware, software, pre-verified IPs and reference designs. This lets OEMs devote more time to building innovative applications and less time enabling standard functions that don’t offer any competitive differentiation.”

http://www.latticesemi.com

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Sensor module boost to light curtain applications

A series of infrared (IR) sensor modules in five compact package types from Vishay have entered the market.

Featuring a fast 300 microsecond reaction time, Vishay Semiconductors TSSP9xxx AGC 0 devices deliver long range presence and proximity sensing up to 2m, and a range up to 30m for light curtain and perimeter guard applications.

The fixed-gain sensors provide higher interference strength without spurious signals and an output pulse width closer to the optical burst length, claims the company. They offer an almost constant detection threshold over their -25 degrees C to +85 degrees C temperature range and can detect a valid IR signal up to a higher DC illuminance level.

The TSSP9xxx AGC 0 suits fast proximity applications (~15 ms) by using a burst pattern with variable intensity. The devices are suitable for sensing the distance to objects for toys, drones, robots, and vicinity switches. They may also be used as reflective sensors for hand dryers, towel or soap dispensers, water taps, toilets, vending machine fall detection, and security and pet gates.

To simplify designs in these applications, TSSP9xxx series devices feature a PIN photodiode and sensor IC in compact Minimold (TSSP930..), Mold (TSSP940..), Heimdall (TSSP950..), Panhead (TSSP960..), and Minicast (TSSP980..) packages.

The modules operate at a supply voltage range from 2.0V to 3.6V, feature a low supply current of 0.8mA, and offer carrier frequencies of 38 kHz and 56 kHz. The sensors are designed to receive IR pulses from an emitter with a peak wavelength of 940 nm.

The devices are insensitive to supply voltage and ripple noise and provide shielding against EMI, while an IR filter suppresses visible light.

The series is RoHS-compliant and halogen-free.

Samples and production quantities of the new sensors are available now, with lead times of four weeks.

Vishay Intertechnology is a leading manufacturers of discrete semiconductors (diodes, MOSFETs, and infrared optoelectronics) and passive electronic components (resistors, inductors, and capacitors).

https://www.vishay.com

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Adaptable buck-boost converters deliver up to 2.5A in tiny packaging

A family of four high-efficiency, low-quiescent-current (IQ) buck-boost converters that feature tiny packaging with minimal external components for a small solution size is now available from Texas Instruments (TI).

The integrated TPS63802, TPS63805, TPS63806 and TPS63810 DC/DC non-inverting buck-boost converters offer wide input and output voltage ranges that scale to support multiple battery-driven applications, helping engineers simplify and accelerate their designs.

Each of the devices automatically selects buck, buck-boost or boost mode according to the operating conditions. Their complete solution size of 19.5 square mm to square mm 25 is a result of compact packaging, an advanced control topology requiring few external multilayer ceramic capacitors, and tiny 0.47-microH inductors.

The devices offer a 1.3-V to 5.5-V input and 1.8-V to 5.2-V output voltage range, to help engineers speed their designs and encourages reuse across multiple applications.

These DC/DC converters are the latest addition to TI’s low-IQ power-management portfolio, providing low 11- to 15-microA IQ for light-load efficiency while minimising power losses and extending run times in battery-driven applications such as portable electronic point-of-sale terminals, grid infrastructure metering devices, wireless sensors and handheld electronic devices.

The TPS63802 is a 2-A buck-boost converter with low 11-microA IQ consumption suitable for pulsed-load applications such as industrial Internet of Things devices. The TPS63805 is a 2-A buck-boost converter with a 22-microF output capacitor and 0.47-microH inductor resulting in a small solution size of 19.5 mm squared that meets the requirements of handheld industrial and personal electronics applications.

The new series also includes the TPS63806, a 2.5-A buck-boost converter with a focus on improved load-step regulation for applications with an aggressive load profile that require tight regulation, such as time-of-flight sensors in smartphones, cameras or augmented reality devices. And the

TPS63810 is a 2.5-A buck-boost converter with I2C interface for dynamic voltage scaling through either a two-wire interface or the VSEL pin, enabling the device to serve as a pre-regulator or voltage envelope tracker for systems found in smartphones, wireless hearing aids or headphones.

http://www.ti.com

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Software uses AR to automate manual operations into 4.0 environment

FactoryOptix from Aegis Software is a technology that integrates human assembly operations directly into the automated Industry 4.0 environment, using augmented reality (AR) as an additional method to deliver FactoryLogix paperless work instructions.

Aegis FactoryLogix, IIoT-driven MES, brings two digital worlds together in a single solution, for automation featuring the IPC connected factory exchange (CFX), and for human assembly, test and inspection operations featuring AR.

FactoryOptix uses the same internal digital product model to provide all the data and documentation needed for AR to work. The company says this means that cost of ownership and configuration is unchanged from the existing best-in-class FactoryLogix paperless work instruction solution.

This technology can double the productivity of human operators by enabling the use of both hands at all times, not having to pick up barcode readers, use keyboards or a mouse, nor having to look away to read work-instructions from a screen.

This latest AR hardware is claimed to have good battery life and is light enough to allow long-term usage throughout the day without fatigue, in the same way as a heads-up display that features in many cars.

The view through the AR glasses provides critical step-by-step instructions, with confirmation from the operator that each operation is done. Feedback from the operator is captured using voice recognition for commands and actions, with barcodes read by the glasses automatically when instructed to do so.

The automated environment for the operator equates to less dependency on narrowly focused specific skills, meaning that operators are more flexible to work on different tasks, products and variants, without risk of “memory-driven defects”, says Aegis.

Human operators become more broadly skilled, providing flexibility in the factory to adapt to changing manufacturing demands as is to be expected in the high-mix Industry 4.0 environment.

Founded in 1997, Aegis Software is headquartered in Philadelphia PA, with international sales and support offices in Germany, the UK and China.

https://www.aiscorp.com

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