Embedded Archives - Page 83 of 92 - SmartCitiesElectronics.com

Aitech integrates RedHawk Linux to Jetson-powered supercomputers

Mon, Mar 18, 2019

Two Nvidia Jetson TX2-based small form factor supercomputers have been introduced by Aitech. The military-grade A176 Cyclone and the industrial-focused A177 Twister enhance real-time computing for mission-critical applications with RedHawk Linux real time operating system (RTOS).

The combination of Jetson TX2 and the advanced development environment of RedHawk Linux are increase the power-to-performance ratio, explains Aitech.

“Guaranteeing real-time processor performance, low process-dispatch latencies and minimal process run-time jitter are challenging in a real-time operating environment,” said Dan Mor, GPGPU and HPEC product line manager at Aitech. He adds: “Using NVIDIA’s CUDA driver, combined with Concurrent Real-Time’s RedHawk Linux distribution, we can overcome many of these computing obstacles.”

Incorporating the Linux RedHawk RTOS into the Jetson artificial intelligence (AI) platform, helps advance real-time computing power. It offers field-proven, open-source Linux technology, advanced GUI debugging and analysis tools, and multi-core architecture support, to support high performance embedded computing (HPEC) systems.

RedHawk is also beneficial for complex embedded projects such as intelligent devices, advanced robotic systems and other autonomous applications. It has low latency, high determinism and debugging tools to support emerging Jetson-based products.

The compact A176 Cyclone is a military-grade, fanless, conduction-cooled, rugged general purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) small form factor (SFF) supercomputer that measures only 5.0 square inches (3225 square mm), while providing 1TFLOP of parallel processing, drawing less than 17W and weighing less than 2.2lbs (1kg).

It has multiple hardware I/O and software options (1553, ARINC 429, camera link/HD-SDI or composite frame grabbers) as well as internal microSD storage. The able to scale to more complex, compute intensive applications, enables fast integration that saves development time and money.

The A177 has the same functionality as the A176, but is designed for less rugged industrial environments. It handles complex computational requirements, such as managing multiple data and video streams and can also reach 1TFLOPS, while consuming only 17W. It weighs the same as the A176.

The two low-cost, low-power, size, weight and power (SWaP) -optimised) SFF GPGPUs use CUDA, deep learning acceleration capabilities and the real-time Linux software to ensure hard real-time performance, while several demanding embedded applications are running.

Typical uses include high data throughput and processing, such as image and data manipulation, application of digital filters, image and frame object edge detection, image recognition and data analysis, in a number of military (A176) and industrial (A177) applications.

https://www.rugged.com

> Read More

Nvidia-based modules deliver AI to the edge

Wed, Feb 27, 2019

Four carrier boards and a finished system from Diamond Systems are all targeted at delivering artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge computing. The family is based on Nvidia Jetson TX2, TX2i and AGX Xavier modules and target industrial and military applications, particularly those in harsh environments such as vehicles and other outdoor applications.

The Ziggy (pictured) and Jethro carriers are designed to work with the Jetson TX2 and TX2i system on modules (SoMs). Stevie and Elton implement AGX Xavier. Elton is distinguished by a PCI/104 Express expansion socket. According to Diamond Systems, Elton bridges Ai and machine learning (ML) with the durable, rugged industrial PC/104 computing ecosystem.

Elton provides support for PCI-104, PCIe/104 type 2 (x8 lane), and PCIe/104 OneBank expansion modules (4 x1 lanes), for the rapid creation of rugged, custom-configured PCIe-based computing using off-the-shelf I/O modules from a large number of manufacturers.

Another feature of all four modules is the data acquisition circuit with analogue input, analogue output and digital I/O to interface to analogue and digital sensors and controls. There is a programming library with support for custom development and an application with graphical user interface (GUI) for real time control of the data acquisition I/O and data logging.

Ziggy is the carrier for Jetson TX2 and TX2i. It is compact, measuring just 50 x 87mm. The compact ZiggyBox computer system houses the Ziggy carrier and Jetson module and has DIN rail mounting capability, both characteristics that make it suitable for equipment racks and cabinets.

Jethro measures 76 x 107mm – slightly larger TX2/TX2i carrier – and offers more I/O and expansion capability, as well as a rugged connector scheme, explains Diamond Systems. It includes a PCIe MiniCard socket, an M.2 SATA flash socket, and a LTE modem socket designed to work with Nimbelink SkyWire cellular modems. Pin headers can accommodate both low-cost, traditional connector technology, or more rugged latching connectors where resistance to vibration and shock are required

Stevie is a translator board that enables the Ziggy and Jethro TX2 carriers to be used with the higher performance AGX Xavier module. It is the same size as Xavier (87 x 100mm) and adds an M.2 PCIe NVMe flash socket, two CAN ports, and an additional USB 3.0 port, as well as a socket for connecting high performance cameras.

Finally, Elton is a rugged carrier board for NVidia’s Xavier SoM. It uses a PCB that is around 50 per cent thicker than the others in the family, and has latching connectors and the rugged PCI/104-Express expansion bus for the most demanding compute-intensive harsh-environment applications. It is larger too, measuring 102 x 152mm which allows it to include all the I/O and expansion of Diamond’s other carriers, namely data acquisition, M.2 and PCIe minicard sockets, and LTE modem socket.

Visit Diamond Systems at Embedded World (Hall 2, stand 2-350) for a chance to win one of three ZiggyBox Nvidia Jetson TX2 embedded computers.

http://www.diamondsystems.com

> Read More

Microcontroller has virtualisation assist for self-drive vehicles

Wed, Feb 20, 2019

For next-generation automotive architectures, Renesas Electronics has introduced a 28nm microcontroller with virtualisation-assisted functions. The 600MHz flash microcontroller combines enhanced built-in self-test (BIST) and a Gbit Ethernet (GbE) interface.

The company described the verification of the automotive test chip as a technological stepping stone toward the realisation of next-generation automotive-control flash microcontrollers employing a 28nm low power process.

The microcontroller has four 600MHz CPUs with a lock-step mechanism and a large flash memory capacity of 16Mbyte as well as virtualisation-assisted functions. This technology allows multiple software components to run on a single microcontroller without interfering with each other to satisfy the requirements of the highest automotive safety integrity level specified under the ISO 26262 functional safety standard for road vehicles, ASIL D.

The enhanced BIST functionality allows for microcontroller self-diagnostic fault-detection, which is necessary to implement ASIL D. The newly developed standby-resume BIST (SR-BIST) function is executed during the standby-resume period.

There is also enhanced networking functionality, including a GbE interface for high-speed transfer of sensor information.

Automotive microcontrollers need to meet the requirements of running software components with varying safety integrity levels simultaneously and without interference. Automotive control requires software independence as well as real time responsiveness. To meet these next-generation requirements, Renesas has developed new technologies led by virtualization-assisted functions for automotive-control MCUs, as demonstrated in the new test chip.

Typically, software-based (hypervisor) virtualisation requires greater processing time as it has to emulate hardware virtually. The increased processing time is problematic for automotive-control microcontrollers that must maintain real time responsiveness. The hardware-based virtualisation-assisted functions were developed to reduce the virtualisation overhead and boost responsiveness. Allowing software components to operate independently makes it possible for the microcontroller to deliver both virtualisation and real-time performance as required by ASIL D.

One way to avoid disturbing a CPU processing period is to to perform self-diagnostics in the period between when the microcontroller enters the standby state and when resume occurs. There is, however, limitation regarding current fluctuations, meaning that the increase in the current fluctuation rate caused by resume due to self-diagnostics is a concern. Renesas has developed SR-BIST to minimise the current fluctuation rate. SR-BIST runs before the CPU begins operating each time there is a transition from standby to resume. To ensure rapid start up, the on-chip oscillator supplies a clock for the fault diagnostics. An N/M divider is used to gradually increase the frequency of the clock, reducing the current fluctuation rate when SR-BIST is executing. As a result, it allows functional safety that meets the requirements of ASIL D, confirms Renesas.

Ethernet will be the high-speed communication interface to handle the volume of data generated by connected vehicles. Renesas has developed a GbE interface using 5V transistors that supports the Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII) standard and provides electrical noise tolerance. To deal with deterioration of the signal bandwidth due to the use of 5V transistors, dedicated circuits were added for receiver and driver. This results in signal quality that complies with the SGMII standard, says Renesas.

Renesas presented the test results at this week’s International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2019, in San Francisco, USA.

http://renesas.com

> Read More

Compact LoRa module uses Renesas Synergy

Tue, Feb 19, 2019

Hardware and software supplied by Renesas Electronics is used by Miromicro following the companies’ collaboration to develop an enhanced LoRa module, based on Synergy.

The compact and low-power FMLR-61-x-RSS3 module is based on LoRa devices and wireless radio frequency (RF) technology. The Miromico module enables customers to connect easily to LoRaWAN-based networks and uses the Synergy platform to give customers access to microcontrollers (MCUs) and a large production-grade software package.

Engineers can use the S3A6 MCU on the LoRa-based module to handle various tasks, while seamlessly streaming data across a LoRaWAN-based network to the cloud. The LoRaWAN protocol is quickly becoming the de facto standard to connect the ‘things’ of the IoT across long distances (up to 50km), flexibly and securely, while keeping batteries alive for years.

The FMLR-61-x-RSS3 measures only 14.2 x 19.5mm. Operating voltage is 1.8 to 3.3V and power consumption ranges from 1.4 microA in sleep mode to 25.5mA (typical) in TX mode (14dBm). Receiver sensitivity is -148dBm in LoRa mode SF12 at 10.4 kHz and operating temperature range is -40 to +85 degrees C.

The licensed LoRaWAN stack has firmware over the air (FOTA) capabilities. The module’s specifications make it suitable for urban as well as rural sensing applications such as metering, asset tracking, building automation, security, wearables and predictive maintenance, says Renesas.

The FMLR-61-x-RSS3 module employs the S3A6 MCU with integrated 48MHz Arm Cortex-M4 core, and features 256kbyte code flash memory, 8kbyte data flash, and 32kbyte SRAM. Most MCU signals are available at the module level to make them externally accessible.

Manufactured in a low- power process, the S3A6 peripheral set includes analogue features such as a 14-bit SAR ADC, 12-bit DAC, op amps, and comparators. Timer channels and serial ports, USB function, CAN, DMA, and powerful safety and security hardware makes the S3A6 suitable for battery-operated applications. As part of the Renesas MCU portfolio, the S3A6 can be scaled up for more functionality or scaled down for cost optimisation.

The Renesas Synergy Platform features production-grade software in the Synergy Software Package (SSP). This includes the ThreadX RTOS and associated middleware such as a file system, USB stack, graphical user interface (GUI) software, application frameworks and functional libraries that can be used for encryption and DSP functions.

Samples of the FMLR-61-x-RSS3 LoRa module are available now from Miromico and distributor, Avnet Silica. Mass production is scheduled to start in Q2 2019.

Both Renesas and Miromico are LoRa Alliance members.

The FMLR-61-x-RSS3 demo kit will be on display at the Avnet Silica at Embedded World 2019, in Nuremberg, Germany (Hall 1 – Stand 1-370).

http://www.renesas.com

> Read More

Aitech integrates RedHawk Linux to Jetson-powered supercomputers

Nvidia-based modules deliver AI to the edge

Microcontroller has virtualisation assist for self-drive vehicles

Compact LoRa module uses Renesas Synergy

About Smart Cities