ICs & Semiconductors

Ethernet PCIe bridge IC anticipates zoning in automotive networks

Thu, Jan 13, 2022

Anticipating the movement towards zonal architecture in automotive design, Toshiba Electronics Europe has developed the TC9563XBG Ethernet bridge IC.   

It incorporates two 10Gbits per second Ethernet media access controllers (MACs) supporting USXGMII (universal serial 10 Gbit media independent interface), XFI (the 10Gbit serial interface), the SGMII (serial Gbit media independent interface) and the RGMII (reduced Gigabit media independent interface) Ethernet interface standards.

Both ports support Ethernet IEEE802.1 audio/video bridging (AVB) for real time processing and low latency IEEE802.1 time sensitive networking (TSN) for synchronous processing. The ports also support single root I/O virtualisation (SR-IOV) on PCIe devices.

The IC is intended for use in automotive zonal-architecture, infotainment, telematics or gateways as well as industrial equipment. Toshiba said automotive networks are evolving toward zonal architecture that requires real time transmission between the zones using multi-gigabit Ethernet communication. It developed the TC9563XBG with dual 10Gbits per second AVB and TSN-capable Ethernet interfaces for this networking technology.

The TC9563XBG includes a PCIe Gen 3 switch with three external ports for communications with the host controller SoC and additional devices equipped with PCIe interfaces like 5G-modem modules. The PCIe switch upstream port supports up to four lanes (32G transfers per second) for connection with the host SoC. Depending on the configuration, the downstream ports can connect with one and two lanes to PCIe-capable devices.

As automotive communication requirements increase in terms of the amount of data as well as the required speeds, the bridge IC will support various automotive applications including in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and telematics. It can also replace Toshiba’s Ethernet-to-PCIe TC9560 and TC9562 bridges, to upgrade system throughput and performance.

The use of PCIe interfaces has proliferated for device-to-device communication such as Wi-Fi, which can occupy PCIe interfaces on the host SoC. Using the TC9563XBG’s three-port PCIe switch function for these connections addresses this conflict.

Housed in a 10mm x 10mm, 0.65mm pitch P-FBGA package, the TC9563XBG bridge IC will be compliant with AEC-Q100 (Grade 3).

Samples are shipping now and volume production ramp-up will be in April 2022.

http://www.toshiba.semicon-storage.com

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Infineon expands Aurix microcontroller family with electrification in mind

Thu, Jan 06, 2022

At CES 2022, Infineon has introduced the TC4x series of Aurix microcontrollers. They target trends in e-mobility, advanced driver assists systems (ADAS), automotive electric-electronic (E/E) architectures and affordable AI applications. 

The scalable family allows for a common software architecture, adds Infineon, for dependable electronics and software-based applications. The  Aurix TC4x offers enhanced connectivity, advanced safety and security, says Infineon, while new software over the air (SOTA) features are intended to meet car manufacturers’ demands for fast and secure car-to-cloud connection, with updates in the field, as well as diagnosis and analysis when the vehicle is in use.

Infineon Technologies manufactures semiconductors “that make life easier, safer and greener”. 

http://www.infineon.com

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Monolithic radio supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.15.4

Wed, Jan 05, 2022

Believed to be the first secure tri-radio device, NXP has introduced the IW612 at CES 2022, in Las Vegas. It enables simultaneous transmit and supports Matter, the interoperable, secure connectivity standard for smart homes. 

It supports the Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.15.4 protocols for seamless, secure connectivity for smart home, automotive and industrial use cases, says the company. 

Consumers are therefore not restricted to single protocol ecosystems but can access different ecosystems and wireless network technologies. The three protocols can work together: Wi-Fi 6 reduces network congestion, extends range, improves robustness and lowers power; Bluetooth 5.2 is suitable for audio (A2DP, LE Audio), voice and network commissioning; and 802.15.4 is suitable for Matter with Thread mesh networking.

One of the primary challenges facing the IoT is limited interoperability, which can restrict the consumer’s ability to mix smart home products from different companies. Matter is a new standardised IoT connectivity protocol, designed by a consortium which includes NXP, which unifies how devices communicate, independent of the manufacturer or wireless technology. The protocol creates more connections between more objects, to simplify development for manufacturers and compatibility for consumers.

The IW612 overcomes hardware co-existence challenges that developers face today, while also enabling advanced security protocols to tackle security threats faced by the IoT, explains NXP.

It offers secure boot, debug and over-the-air firmware updates for ongoing protection, as well as WPA3 security and hardware encryption engines. 

“With the IW612, developers can leverage different wireless connectivity protocols on a single device to create an easy-to-use, secure product for smart home, industrial and automotive use cases,” said Larry Olivas, vice president and general manager for Wireless Connectivity Solutions, NXP Semiconductors. The tri-radio technology can operate across door locks and smart speakers to in-vehicle entertainment and telematics, he added.

“Interoperability has been a key challenge that has fragmented the smart home market for years, but Matter-enabled devices can change that,” confirms Jonathan Collins, research director at ABI Research.  

The IW612 can be used for border routers, bridges and gateways in the smart home that require connecting Thread or Bluetooth devices to the cloud using the integrated Wi-Fi 6 radio. Additionally, the IW612 enables communication between Matter devices regardless of whether the devices use Wi-Fi or Thread. This allows Matter-over-Wi-Fi products to control and monitor Matter-over-Thread devices, and vice versa. 

The IW612 is sampling now.

http://www.nxp.com 

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SoC can support the Bluetooth LE spectrum, says Infineon

Wed, Jan 05, 2022

The Airoc CYW20829 Bluetooth LE (low energy) SoC is a Bluetooth 5.3 core spec-compliant device for IoT, smart home and industrial applications, introduced by Infineon. It is designed to support Bluetooth LE use cases for home automation, sensors, lighting, Bluetooth Mesh, remote controls and any other Bluetooth LE-connected IoT application, says the company.

The SoC has efficient peripheral design, low leakage silicon with scalable and efficient MIPS, and a low power Bluetooth radio, said Sonal Chandrasekharan, vice president of the Bluetooth product line at Infineon. It is claimed to offer superior RF performance for reliable, robust connections, he added.

The Airoc CYW20829 integrates a power amplifier with 10dBm of transmit output power and has receive sensitivity of -98.5 dBm for LE and -106 dBm for LE-LR 125kbits per second, making it the best link budget in Infineon’s Airoc Bluetooth portfolio. The RF performance offers reliable, robust connectivity without compromising low power, says the company, making the SoC suitable for a range of applications in smart home, smart building, medical, industrial, mesh and human interface devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, remote control).

The CYW20829 is the first Infineon Airoc Bluetooth SoC to use the Arm Cortex M33. The Bluetooth LE sub system includes an optimised radio and an Arm Cortex M33 core as the Bluetooth controller. A second Arm Cortex M33 with a floating point unit can be clocked up to 96MHz to provide high performance compute at low power.

The application sub system has configurable serial communication blocks that can be turned into UART, I2C or SPI as needed. It also has multiple timer / counter pulse-width modulators, I2S, PDM, CAN and LIN interfaces. For security, there is a ROM-based root of trust, a TRNG, eFuse for custom keys and cryptography acceleration. The SoC also supports XIP from external flash and encryption on the fly for content on the flash.

The AIROC CYW20829 is supported by ModusToolbox – a collection of software and tools for the development of Bluetooth-enabled IoT designs. 

The Airoc CYW20829 Bluetooth LE SoC is currently sampling to select customers. 

http://www.infineon.com

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