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Compact, low power RF sensors detect position and passenger movement

Wed, May 31, 2023

RF ranging sensors for automotive applications in the SC1260 series use the 60GHz frequency band. Socionext has also integrated time division multiplexing (TDM-MIMO) operation with multiple transmitting and receiving antennas to detect the position and movement of passengers in a vehicle with maximum accuracy.

The SC1260 incorporates antennas and radar signal operation circuits for maximum detection accuracy in a low power, compact package. The sensors use a wide band of 6.8GHz (57.1 to 63.9GHz), TDM-MIMO and built-in radar signal operation circuits for range-finding and angle calculation.

TDM-MIMO operation enables high-precision sensing, such as the detection of passengers when three people are sitting in a row inside the vehicle, added Socionext.

The sensors are claimed to enable easy acquisition of 3D position information without requiring advanced expertise in high frequency devices and signal operation. Each sensor combines antennas, RF circuits, ADCs, FIFO memory, an SPI and intelligent power control sequencer for flexible duty cycle control. The sensor requires only 0.72mW at 0.1 per cent duty cycle operation.

The sensors are suitable for a range of automotive applications, such as tracking the position and movements of passengers in a vehicle while suppressing the load on the vehicle battery when the engine is off, said Socionext.

The SC1260 series complies with the global broadband 60GHz radio equipment standard. Sample and evaluation kit shipments are scheduled for June, with production volumes to be available in Q1 2024.

The company is believed to be the first to develop compact, low power 60GHz RF ranging sensors with built-in radar signal operation circuits for range-finding and angle calculations. It used its experience and knowledge accumulated through the development of millimeter-frequency wireless communication ICS and 24GHz radio-frequency ranging sensors, observed Teruaki Hasegawa, head of Socionext’s IoT & radar sensing business unit.

The sensor is supplied in a FC-BGA with dimensions of 6.0 x 9.0 x 1.2mm.

Socionext Europe is a fabless SoC supplier. Its headquarters is in Frankfurt, Germany with offices in Munich, Germany and Maidenhead, UK.

The Munich Design and Support Centre, specialises in hardware and software product development for the automotive sector. Maidenhead supports Socionext’s IP Development & Engineering Centre with a focus on high speed data conversion IP.

https://www.socionext.com/en/

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Edge sensors in AMD’s Artix UltraScale+ family are ADAS-optimised

Fri, May 26, 2023

Addressing market needs for faster signal processing and smaller form factors in systems using edge sensors, such as lidar, radar and 3D surround-view camera systems, AMD has added two edge sensors to its Automotive XA Artix UltraScale+ family.

The XA AU10P and XA AU15P processors are cost-optimised processors, which is a requirement in the consumer driven automotive market. They are automotive-qualified and optimised for use in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) sensor applications. The Artix UltraScale+ devices join the automotive-grade Spartan 7, Zynq 7000 and Zynq UltraScale+ product families.

The XA Artix FPGAs are shipping now. They offer high serial bandwidth and signal compute density in an compact form factor. The Artix UltraScale+ devices maximise system performance via DSP bandwidth for cost-sensitive and low-power ADAS edge applications including networking, vision and video processing and secure connectivity.

XA Artix UltraScale+ processors are certified for functional safety up to ASIL-B, which is critical for automotive ADAS sensors from cameras to lidar systems, said AMD, for use in vehicles and robotaxis, for example.

“As automotive systems have grown in complexity, safety is more critical than ever before with automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers requiring ASIL-B certification for LiDAR, radar and smart edge sensor applications,” said Ian Riches, vice president, global automotive practice, TechInsights.

Automotive designers can use XA Artix UltraScale+ devices for sensor fusion, bringing in data from multiple edge sensors and performing image and video processing before porting it to an external SoC. The new XA Artix UltraScale+ devices can also be connected to multiple displays in the vehicle to enhance infotainment features, advised AMD.

http://www.xilinx.com

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Battery-operated video camera systems add AI for cloud IoT devices

Thu, May 25, 2023

InnoPhase IoT adds AI and solar panel augmentation to battery-operated video camera system via the Talaria TWO ULP (ultra low power) Wi-fi-optimised reference kit for cloud-connected IP video IoT devices.

In addition to applications such as battery-operated video cameras, smart video doorbells, wearables, smart appliances, home security cameras and in-vehicle dashboard monitoring devices, OEMs and ODMs are introducing new categories of video devices with designs that use solar technology and AI, said InnoPhase IoT.

Based on the Talaria TWO ULP Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) platform, the reference kit consists of dual stack, power optimised software combined with an advanced digital polar radio design to address the challenges involved with yesterday’s power-hungry processing of video IoT designs with a multi-protocol, cloud connected camera system, said the company.

The InnoPhase IoT Talaria TWO wireless platform for video supports up to 2K camera resolution and has an integrated microcontroller which enables off-loading of TCP-IP networking and cloud connectivity stack when ISP (image signal processing) is powered down. An always on, always connected enables low latency and mitigates image loss issues and the low power Wi-Fi at BLE power levels enables a two to four times improvement in battery life.

Until now, untethered wireless cloud connectivity and a long battery life were major design barriers for video IoT. Approximately 10 per cent of video cameras are currently battery-operated primarily because of battery life limitations, reported InnoPhase IoT. Moving to a wireless format wasn’t possible since ubiquitous Wi-Fi is inherently power hungry, rapidly draining video camera’s batteries. The possibility of adding even more features such as AI would mean an even shorter battery life.

The new InnoPhase IoT video reference kit address all of these challenges and provides 40 per cent lower power consumption and a battery life in excess of one year. The company also said it offers device developers a variety of market ready solutions from OEMs and ODMs.

“Using InnoPhase IoT Talaria TWO and an Ingenic T31 integrated reference design, we have been able to build an AI-enabled smart video camera with battery life two to three times longer than today’s solutions. We’re also achieving multi-year battery life when augmented with a solar panel”, said Larry Yang, product manager of smart product line at CE-Link, a wireless video camera OEM. The reference design can be customised, enabling customers to quickly bring branded wireless camera systems to market, he added.

According to Jason Lim, CEO at Kenxen, Taiwan, a smart video camera ODM, the Talaria TWO Wi-Fi / BLE module enables low power, direct-to-cloud connectivity for battery operated cameras. “This allows us to offer quick time to market video products for our end customers,” he added.

InnoPhase IoT president and COO, Wiren Perera, said: “InnoPhase IoT’s Talaria TWO untethers cameras from all wired power and network connections, resulting in more accurate data for cloud processing. It supports the addition of enhanced features such as artificial intelligence and unleashes design creativity only possible with the low-power, long battery-life model.”

The reference kits are currently available for evaluation. Each includes hardware and software integration with an image signal processor, cloud connectivity software and access to ODMs.

http://www.innophaseiot.com

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SigmaSense partners with NXP Semiconductors for future sensing systems

Fri, May 19, 2023

Texas company, Sigma Sense has developed a sensing technology which it says will improve the performance of practically anything with a touchscreen, for example mobile phones, automotive, industrial, gaming, wearables, digital signage, industrial / IoT and even improve the performance of EV batteries.

SigmaSense’s technology intends to ‘shake up’ the industry in which the underlying technology behind most of today’s touch sensing devices has changed little in decades.

It said its approach captures more granular data from the physical world making interactive advances possible. The technology makes possible high speed touch interfaces of all sizes and shapes, new surface materials beyond glass, operation in rain and with gloves, economical large format interactive displays with the speed of a mobile experience.

SigmaSense has announced a license and co-development deal with NXP Semiconductors to transition from traditional touch interfaces to multi-dimensional sensing. It has licensed its technology to NXP, and the companies will collaborate on high-performance sensing products for specific applications, in particular those with demands for faster, more robust, fully immersive software-defined experiences.

“The next generation of smart devices and applications are demanding data for enhanced functionality that requires an entirely new software-programmable approach to sensing,” explained Lars Reger, CTO of NXP Semiconductors.

Rick Seger, CEO of SigmaSense, added: “Our co-development with NXP marks the transition to a universe of new data-centric design options driven by software-defined sensing.”

SigmaSense’s multi-dimensional sensing works through many different surfaces, shapes, and materials, enabling previously impossible designs. It makes it possible to extract “vastly more” data from the physical world for a wide range of products and systems, said the company. With the ability to measure current direct-to-digital, SigmaSense claimed to deliver an industry first of low voltage, frequency domain sensing. Fast, continuous, high-fidelity data capture with intelligent digital signal processing moves analogue challenges to the digital domain, where design flexibility can deliver orders of magnitude improvement, continued SigmaSense. The technology has the potential to change system designs “from foldable displays to EV batteries,” said the company.

SigmaSense invented software-defined sensing which achieves breakthrough levels of speed, accuracy, resolution, and noise immunity previously deemed impossible for sensing systems. Sensing through the noise, SigmaSense products increase the depth and quantity of data that can be captured from the physical world to enable exciting new experiences in a wide range of devices including mobile, automotive, battery sensing, digital signage, wearables, and all sizes of IoT touch displays.

SigmaSense is headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, with offices in Boise, Idaho and Taipei, Taiwan.

https://sigmasense.com

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Compact, low power RF sensors detect position and passenger movement

Edge sensors in AMD’s Artix UltraScale+ family are ADAS-optimised

Battery-operated video camera systems add AI for cloud IoT devices

SigmaSense partners with NXP Semiconductors for future sensing systems

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