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Prototyping board simplifies IoT end point development

Fri, Dec 06, 2019

For rapid product development, Renesas has introduced the RL78/G14 Fast Prototyping Board. This inexpensive, function-rich board is designed to enable rapid product development for IoT endpoint equipment. Quicker development prototyping and lower costs allows users to respond to rapid changes in technology and market needs, and reduces the time to market window for new products, says the company. Renesas also introduced the RL78/G1D BLE Module Expansion Board, which users can combine with the new prototyping board to easily add Bluetooth Low Energy wireless communication functions.

The new prototyping board is based on the RL78/G14 microcontroller, which provides the richest set of functions in the low-power RL78 family. It is suitable for motor control in portable equipment and IoT sensors as well as a wide range of IoT endpoint equipment, such as home appliances, industrial equipment, building automation and healthcare equipment.

Previously, the RL78/G14 starter kit and target boards required an external emulator. There were additional costs associated with high performance versions. The RL78/G14 Fast Prototyping Board is priced to be affordable, says Renesas and has an on-board emulator circuit with the same functions as the E2 Emulator (E2 Lite), so the user does not have to purchase additional debugging tools. The board provides access to all of the RL78/G14 signal pins and includes Arduino and Pmod interfaces for easy functional expansion.

By combining a Semtech SX1261 or SX1262 LoRa transceiver with this prototyping board, it is possible to prototype for IoT sensor devices using wireless communication based on LoRa with extended period battery drive, advised Renesas. The company also provides circuit diagrams, parts lists and user manuals necessary to jump-start development, in addition to sample code and application notes related to these products.

The RL78/G14 is the most powerful microcontroller in the RL78 family, achieving a numerical processing performance of 51.2DMIPS at 32MHz. It includes up to 512kbyte of flash memory and up to 48kbyte of RAM. It provides functions such as timers and 8-bit DACs. In particular, it achieves the industry’s lowest levels of current drain, 66 microA/MHZ, when the CPU is operating and 240nA in standby mode. This microcontroller is optimal for battery-powered portable equipment and IoT sensor terminals, as well as a wide range of IoT endpoint equipment.

Both boards are available now.

http://www.renesas.com

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Farnell expands AI products and resources

Thu, Nov 28, 2019

As artificial intelligence (AI) grows, Farnell and elemen14, an Avnet community, are expanding the AI products and resources available to engineers. This includes availability of the BeagleBone AI single board computer (SBC) and online resources to help overcome the complexity, cost and power challenges of developing for AI.

The BeagleBone AI, one of the newest AI products available from Farnell. The SBC allows developers to have their automation for industrial, commercial and home applications designs up and running within five minutes.

element14 community members can learn the fundamentals of AI in a free online course. The AI Essentials Course covers algorithms, the Bayes Theorem, machine and deep learning and typical AI applications and gives makers and engineers the tools they need to further incorporate AI into designs.

There is also an interactive tool, the AI Configurator, which enables engineers to quickly determine the most appropriate products and solutions for AI projects. New products such as the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Computer, Ultra96 V2 development board and BeagleBone AI are incorporated into the tool. The AI Configurator is part of Farnell’s AI Resource Page.

The new element14 Artificial Intelligence page features all of the latest element14 AI content including a range of member projects, Tech Spotlights, blogs and products. This area will also feature the element14 Presents weekly video series, with videos focusing on the new BeagleBone AI. Community members can sign up to receive updates when new AI-related content is added.

Farnell is the only high service distributor with a dedicated AI space and a community of 650,000 members with an ongoing focus on AI applications.

Farnell has more than 80 years in the high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Farnell supports its broad customer base, from hobbyists to engineers and from buyers to maintenance engineers. The Development Distributor works with leading brands and start-ups alike to develop new products for market and supports the industry as it seeks to develop the current as well as next generation of engineers.

http://www.element14.com/news

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Fanless embedded system is palm-sized for digital signage

Fri, Nov 22, 2019

The latest fanless embedded system from Advantech is the EPC-U2117. The palm-sized system uses the latest Intel Atom E3900 processor technology to give a 30 per cent CPU performance enhancement and a 45 per cent graphic performance boost, says the company.

The EPC-U2117 is designed with dual display output, multiple I/O and a wide range of 12 to 24V DC power inputs, making it suitable for smart vending machines, digital signage and smart kiosks. The EPC-U2117 is compatible with Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, and Linux OS and has Advantech’s WISE-PaaS DeviceOn intelligent software integrated for remote system monitoring and management.

The EPC-U2117 is a palm-sized metal chassis which measures only 170 x 117 x 52.6mm for mounting as a desktop PC, or via wall, or DIN-Rail mounting. The aluminium, passive heatsink thermal management is designed for -20 to around 60 degrees C.

There are two expansion slots including one M.2 for Wi-Fi or GPU module, and one full size Mini PCIe for 3G/LTE connection or mSATA storage. EPC-U2117 reserves four antenna apertures to support wireless connection.

The thermal design and two independent add-on modules enable the EPC-U2117 to be used in outdoor or harsh environments and in space-limited applications, such as outdoor vending machines and passenger information systems.

Customers can directly use the EPC-U2117 system from different power supplies without extra adapters. EPC-U2117 has multiple connectivity and expansion options including one RS-232 and one ccTalk. Intel’s latest Intel Atom E3900 processor suits the graphic and processing parameters of smart vending machines or smart kiosks and digital signage. The COM port can also be customised to MDB and RS-422/485 for device control and payment device. There are also four USB 3.0 ports, one audio jack, dual gigabit LAN ports and CANBus for general system control.

Multiple storage is supported, including on-board eMMC up to 128Gbyte, mSATA, and 2.5-inch SSD/HDD for flexible storage options. Customers can install operating systems and key data in eMMC for security protection and reliability, assures Advantech. If a customer requests larger storage capacity and high data transfer, they can use mSATA or SATA SSD.

EPC-U2117 comes with Advantech’s WISE-PaaS DeviceOn software, which offers remote management, system monitoring for better device performance, security, and reliability, and predictive maintenance. WISE-PaaS also supports BIOS/FW OTA to upgrade the system and devices with latest firmware to keep everything running at peak performance.

http://www.advantech.e

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Arm and Green Hills Software collaborate on functional safety design

Mon, Oct 14, 2019

Software and tools by Green Hills are now part of Arm’s Functional Safety Partnership Program, announced at Arm TechCon 2019.

The software company has supported the Arm architecture since 1997 for safety-critical embedded systems for automobiles, building security, aircraft, surgical devices and industrial machinery.

Arm helps its customers enable functional safety on next-generation SoCs through a range of IP, design tools, support and involvement with international safety organisations. Arm’s Functional Safety Partnership Program promotes proven partners such as Green Hills Software in the categories of Software and Tools, Design Services and Training Services.

Green Hills provides safety-certified real-time operating system (RTOS) for critical embedded applications. The Integrity and Integrity-178 tuMP RTOS with secure Multivisor hypervisor technology and Multi C/C++ compilers and run-time libraries have achieved certification for avionics (RTCA/DO-178B/C Level A), automotive (ISO 26262 ASIL D), industrial (IEC 61508 SIL 3) and railway (EN 50128 SIL 4).

Founded in 1982, Green Hills Software specialises in embedded safety and security. In 2008, the Green Hills Integrity-178 RTOS was the first and only operating system to be certified by NIAP (National Information Assurance Partnership comprised of NSA and NIST) to EAL 6+, High Robustness, the highest level of security ever achieved for any software product. The open architecture integrated development solutions address deeply embedded, absolute security and high-reliability applications for the military/avionics, medical, industrial, automotive, networking, consumer and other markets that demand industry-certified solutions, says Green Hills.

The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, USA and has its European headquarters in the United Kingdom.

http://www.ghs.com

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Prototyping board simplifies IoT end point development

Farnell expands AI products and resources

Fanless embedded system is palm-sized for digital signage

Arm and Green Hills Software collaborate on functional safety design

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