ICs & Semiconductors Archives - Page 124 of 227

Low power asset tag excels with five year battery life, says onsemi

Thu, Sep 16, 2021

Battery life has been a major obstacle to asset tag adoption, particularly within industrial sectors where reducing maintenance efforts and associated costs are a primary concern, acknowledged onsemi, introducing the RSL10 asset tag, which is claimed to overcome this challenge.

The asset tag is claimed to offer an industry-leading battery life of up to five years, compared to one year or less.

Contributing to this performance are an RSL10 Bluetooth 5 radio SoC and firmware enhancements. There is also a three-axis accelerometer and environmental sensors (motion, pressure and temperature) to provide data and insights on an asset’s environment, condition and orientation. Each sensor is powered by a dedicated MOSFET load switch, controlled by the RSL10. This design enables system power consumption to be controlled on a per-sensor basis, which decreases the total power used.

An inexpensive antenna, matching circuit optimised for Bluetooth Low Energy transmissions, a multi-purpose dome switch and a 10-pin debugger can be removed depending on the needs of the application.

The RSL10 can be used in indoor localisation beacons to track and monitor hospital equipment. The tags can be IP67-rated to meet the stringent sterilisation requirements of healthcare environments.

The RSL10 asset aag is available with a suite of development tools that include multi-protocol wireless support for Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity and the Quuppa Intelligent Locating System real time localisation services (RTLS) Intelligent Locating System RTLS (real time localisation services). Within the CMSIS-Pack, included with the evaluation board, onsemi has developed a custom application that demonstrates the low power features and capabilities of the platform in an asset tracking use-case.

The RSL10 asset tag is available now.

onsemi addresses vehicle electrification and safety, sustainable energy grids, industrial automation, and 5G and cloud infrastructure with a portfolio to create intelligent power and sensing technologies.

http://www.onsemi.com

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ToF sensor with multiple sensing zones elevates automation

Mon, Sep 13, 2021

Distance sensing takes on new scope with the first multi-zone FlightSense time of flight (ToF) sensor from STMicroelectronics. The VL535CX also has up to 64 sensing zones (8×8) and can be used gesture recognition and complex scene analysis as well as for general purpose applications in the consumer and industrial markets.

The VL53L5CX’s multiple sensing zones offer multi-target detection, distance measurement up to four meters in each zone, and a wide square-edged field of view with 63 degrees diagonal. The sensor can be used for gesture recognition and complex scene analysis including 3D room mapping for robotics, storage-tank level monitoring to assist in inventory management, liquid-level control, and waste-bin-level monitoring used in smart refuse collection.

By supporting gesture recognition and automatic human-presence detection, the VL53L5CX enables safe, touch-free operation and saves power when used for waking-up publicly accessible equipment such as self-service payment terminals, and a variety of IoT-enabled, smart consumer products and domestic appliances. The sensor uses ST’s proven histogram processing which reduces the impact of cover-glass crosstalk. As a result, the sensor can be integrated and hidden behind front panels. A motion-indicator allows the sensor to detect if the target has moved or not.

The number of sensing arrays is programmable and the sensor can provide up to 60 frames per second in 16-zone (4×4) mode for fast-ranging mode. Simple software configuration enables it to reach high resolution of 8×8 zones. This is particularly useful to assist keystone correction for video projectors, for example, and provides a mini depth-map for augmented reality and virtual reality (AR / VR) applications.

The VL53L5CX contains a low power microcontroller and is capable of autonomous operation to conserve energy in power-saving applications. It is supplied in an integrated 6.4 x 3.0 x 1.5mm module that contains an infra red vertical cavity surface emission laser (VCSEL) emitter and a receiver with embedded single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) and histogram-based ToF processing engine.

For prototyping, ST provides an evaluation and calibration tool. Development boards designed to integrate easily into larger prototype systems are also available. There is also the P-NUCLEO-53L5A1 evaluation kit and X-CUBE-TOF1 software expansion pack to develop ToF applications.

All parts are in production now.

http://www.st.com

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Renesas adds GUI and design parameters to Lab on the Cloud environment

Fri, Sep 10, 2021

Testing for voice and mobile applications are design parameters that Renesas Electronics has added to its Lab on the Cloud environment to simplify configuration and testing, while accelerating time to market.

The Lab on the Cloud environment enables customers to remotely access, configure, test, monitor and measure Renesas products instantly 24/7 in a cloud-connected lab. There, users can find evaluation boards for popular devices, together with proof of concept boards from Renesas and its partners. Users can access the physical lab through a PC-based graphics user interface (GUI) that enables them to immediately begin configuring and testing designs without requiring a physical board.

The GUI introduces parameters for control and additional results for monitoring. The ergonomic lab layout combined with an intuitive user interface have been designed to make it easier for users to quickly navigate the environment, said Renesas. For instance, the centralised live camera feed gives users a view of the complete lab set up and results; it also has the ability to zoom in and out on real time testing and data capture readings.

There are advanced implementations in test set ups and control for voice recognition, mobile application and power supply which enable users to complete complex testing such as transient performance in a few mouse clicks, Renesas continued.

New options include the Femtoclock2 point of use timing devices, which is claimed to be the smallest and lowest power clock generation and jitter attenuation device available, at less than 100fs.

Developers can test these and other devices via Lab On the Cloud to ensure stringent performance requirements are met, as well accelerating time to market.

New sections in the Lab on the Cloud suite including timing, power supply, voice recognition and control, healthcare, safety and surveillance, industrial communication, and IEEE 1588/5G computing and communication.

There are also a further 14 evaluation boards that have been added to the Lab on the Cloud environment, bringing the total to 23, covering IoT battery systems, industrial CAN sensor networks, voice recognition, air quality and capacitive liquid level indication, surveillance camera with CMOS sensor and a super capacitor-based terminal back up power supply.

According to Renesas the enhancements of an advanced GUI and new design parameters create a more engaging and ergonomic user experience, and offer designers greater configuration flexibility.

http://www.renesas.com

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Toshiba adds 20 microcontrollers to TXZ+ family for high speed data processing

Fri, Sep 10, 2021

Toshiba Electronics Europe has added 20 microcontrollers to its TXZ+ family. The M4G group microcontrollers use Arm Cortex-M4 microcontrollers for data processing and are manufactured using a 40nm process.

The microcontrollers, in common with existing TXZ+ devices can be used for high speed data processing applications, for example in IoT equipment, building automation, factory automation, home appliances, AV equipment, multi-function printers and other office equipment.

In addition to the Arm Cortex-M4 core, the new microcontrollers include a floating point unit (FPU) that runs at speeds up to 200MHz. They also integrate 2048kbyte of flash memory for code, a further 32kbyte of data flash with 100k write cycles endurance and 4kbyte of user data flash. They also incorporate multiple interfaces and various communication options.

As with the other devices in the M4G group, the latest additions have enhanced communication functions integrated as a serial memory interface. Among the standards supported are quad / octal SPI, audio interface (I2S), UART, FUART, TSPI and I2C. A three-unit DMAC and bus matrix structure is claimed to “significantly” improve communication throughput, compared to conventional products.

The new microcontrollers have a high speed, high precision 12-bit ADC to support a variety of sensing applications. The ADC allows individual sample-and-hold times to be set for each input channel with up to 24 channels. If integrated with Toshiba’s advanced programmable motor driver (A-PMD), the devices can also be used in AC motor, brushless DC (BLDC) motors, said the company.

Self-diagnosis functions for ROM, RAM, ADC and the clock contribute to the devices’ IEC60730 Class B functional safety certification. The microcontrollers maintain good compatibility with devices within the existing TXZ family M4G group.

Comprehensive documentation, sample software (with examples of actual usage), and driver software for each peripheral are available for free download on the company’s website. Additionally, evaluation boards and development environments are provided in co-operation with Toshiba’s global ecosystem partners.

The new microcontroller products are in mass production now.

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

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Low power asset tag excels with five year battery life, says onsemi

ToF sensor with multiple sensing zones elevates automation

Renesas adds GUI and design parameters to Lab on the Cloud environment

Toshiba adds 20 microcontrollers to TXZ+ family for high speed data processing

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