ICs & Semiconductors Archives - Page 111 of 227

RA6T2 MCUs raise performance for motor control, says Renesas

Mon, Dec 13, 2021

Motor control in inverter appliances, building automation and industrial drives can benefit from the RA6T2 family of microcontrollers (MCUs), says Renesas Electronics. They are claimed to achieve higher performance and cost-efficient motor control and are supported with motor control tools and design kits.

The RA6T2 MCUs feature peripheral functions and hardware accelerator designed specifically for motor control. They are intended for used in motor control designs in home appliances, smart home, industrial and building automation as well as inverter control.

The 32-bit MCUs are based on the 240MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core, with 512kbyte flash ROM, 64kbyte SRAM and 16kbyte data flash.

Two independent ADC units offer high-speed conversion with a maximum speed of 0.16 microseconds and include a simultaneous sample and hold function for three channels to detect the three-phase current of a motor. Integral amplifiers can set gain according to the input voltage range and analogue components that were previously external are incorporated, including comparators which detect abnormal voltage input and over current. An adjustable PWM timer makes it easy to port existing algorithms. It also provides a PWM output cut-off safety function in the event of an abnormality. This feature set allows a single RA6T2 MCU to simultaneously control up to two brushless DC (BLDC) motors, says Renesas.

The embedded hardware accelerator includes both a trigonometric function unit (TFU) and an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter to offer increased performance and reduced CPU load enabling parallel tasks such as communication.

The TFU performs high speed calculations without the need for lookup tables, for effective use of ROM. The IIR filter offers co-efficient setting methods that make it easier to port from existing algorithms, says the company.

The RA6T2 MCUs are available in five package options, which are a 100-pin LQFP, 64-pin LQFP, 48-pin LQFP, 64-pin QFN and 48-pin QFN.

They are supported by Renesas’ Flexible Software Package (FSP) for porting designs from other Renesas MCUs.

Renesas is also offering a range of design tools, including the RTK0EMA270S00020BJ motor control kit, a CPU board, an inverter board and a motor work bench graphical user interface (GUI) tool with real-time debugging and digital oscilloscope functionality.

http://www.renesas.com

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Microchip grows its GaN RF power portfolio

Wed, Dec 08, 2021

Microchip Technology has expanded its gallium nitride (GaN) radio frequency (RF) power device portfolio with new monolithic microwave integrated circuits and discrete transistors that cover frequencies up to 20 GHz. The devices combine high power-added efficiency and high linearity for applications ranging from 5G to electronic warfare, satellite communications, commercial and defence radar systems and test equipment.

The devices are made using GaN-on-silicon carbide technology that Microchip says provides “the best combination of high-power density and yield”, as well as high-voltage operation and longevity of more than 1 million hours at a 255 degrees C junction temperature.

The line-up includes GaN MMICs covering 2 to 18 GHz, 12 to 20 GHz, and 12 to 20 GHz with 3dB compression point (P3dB) RF output power up to 20W and efficiency up to 25 per cent, as well as bare die and packaged GaN MMIC amplifiers for S- and X-band with up to 60 per cent PAE, and discrete high electron mobility transistor devices covering DC to 14 GHz with P3dB RF output power up to 100W and maximum efficiency of 70 per cent.

“Microchip continues to invest in our family of GaN RF products to support every application at all frequencies from microwave through millimetre wavelengths, and our product portfolio includes more than 50 devices, from low-power levels to 2.2 kW,” said Leon Gross, vice-president of Microchip’s discrete products business unit. “Together the products announced span 2 to 20 GHz and are designed to meet the linearity and efficiency challenges posed by the higher-order modulation techniques employed in 5G and other wireless networks, as well as the unique needs of satellite communications and defence applications.”

Microchip’s portfolio of RF semiconductors in addition to GaN devices ranges from gallium arsenide RF amplifiers and modules to low-noise amplifiers, front-end modules, varactor, Schottky, and PIN diodes, RF switches and voltage variable attenuators.

Go to https://www.microchip.com

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Version 3 NanoEdge AI Studio offers streamlined solution

Tue, Dec 07, 2021

The shift of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities from the cloud to the edge has given rise to this new version of NanoEdge AI Studio from STMicroelectronics to help simplify the creation of machine learning, anomaly learning, detection and classification on any STM32 microcontroller. This new release also includes prediction capabilities such as regression and outliers libraries. The tool, says the company, makes it easier for users to integrate such machine-learning capabilities quickly, easily and cost-effectively into their equipment. It emphasises that no data-science expertise is needed. There is improved support for anomaly detection, which ST says is particularly useful for predictive maintenance to anticipate wear-and-tear phenomena or to better deal with equipment obsolescence.

Adding native support for all STM32 development boards, ST has also eliminated the need to write code for its industrial-grade sensors with new high-speed data acquisition and management capabilities.

Regression algorithms have been added to extrapolate data and predict future data patterns for energy management or forecasting remaining life of equipment.

Applications include connected devices, household appliances and industrial automation.

Steve Peguet, scientific director, innovation department of Alten Group, an international technology consulting and engineering company, said: “We had the opportunity to use NanoEdge AI Studio with one of our major aerospace customers. For machine drilling during the manufacture of expensive parts, where a worn drill-bit or the slightest anomaly can have significant consequences, Alten used NanoEdge AI Studio to integrate Machine-Learning algorithms into the drilling equipment. The solution tested on a production line was so effective that Alten has launched a practice around this technology to support its customers and to industrialise these first results to deploy a disruptive solution of drilling tools prescriptive maintenance in their factories.”

Deepak Arora, president and chief executive officer of Wearable Technologies Inc, said: “To protect our loved ones so that they can have a healthy and fulfilling life, NanoEdge AI is empowering us to reduce the machine-learning development time for our next-generation personal-safety devices. AI running at the edge on our devices will allow us to make informed decisions promptly with higher accuracy and reduced false-positives.”

Go to https://www.st.com

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αMOS5 super junction MOSFET series for high-efficiency and high-density needs

Tue, Dec 07, 2021

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor has announced the 600V low ohmic and fast body diode αMOS5 super junction MOSFET series. αMOS5 is AOS’s latest generation of high-voltage MOSFET, designed to meet the high-efficiency and high-density needs for quick charger, adapter, PC power, server, industrial power, telecom and hyperscale datacentre applications.

The AOK040A60 is a 600V 40m-Ohm aMOS5 low ohmic device with the industry-standard TO-247 package tailored to address the thermal challenges of high-power AC/DC, DC/DC and Inverter stages.

As the EU ERP Lot9 regulation pushes the efficiency of single power supply units to titanium level, AOS aMOS5 600V low ohmic family offers a solution for single, interleaved, dual boost, totem-pole, and Vienna PFCs, as well as other hard-switching topologies. The 40mOhm product, followed by the upcoming 31mOhm, 65mOhm, and 80mOhm products, aims to provide customers with multiple choices to deal with different power ratings and efficiency requirements. The optimised capacitance of AOK040A60 offers hard and soft switching performances, with fast turn-on/turn-off behaviours while avoiding the risks of self-turn-on or shoot-through.

The AOK042A60FD is a 600V 42mOhm fast body diode device, designed to handle the repetitive hard commutation scenario, where the MOSFETs freewheeling body diode is reversely recovered in half-bridge or full-bridge topologies. The aMOS5 600V FRD solution is expected to further increase the system reliability as a solution for HB/FB topologies where hard switching happens during abnormal operations, such as short-circuit or start-up transients. The low Qrr of AOK042A60FD is expected to help to significantly reduce the losses during reverse recovery.

Besides server and telecom power supplies, the AOK040A60, AOK042A60FD and their derivatives will also target the demanding EV DC charging and solar inverter applications.

The 600V aMOS5 family will be expanded, including more low-ohmic and FRD products arriving early next year. As with most of the aMOS5 products, these new devices will also be made in 300mm facilities, with the intention of providing better supply elasticity during the global power semiconductor shortages.

Go to http://www.aosmd.com

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RA6T2 MCUs raise performance for motor control, says Renesas

Microchip grows its GaN RF power portfolio

Version 3 NanoEdge AI Studio offers streamlined solution

αMOS5 super junction MOSFET series for high-efficiency and high-density needs

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