ICs & Semiconductors Archives - Page 134 of 230

Compact battery chargers are dedicated to charging in tight spaces

Wed, Jul 07, 2021

As wearable, medical and smart sensor products use streamlined power management for energy harvesting hardware, e-peas has developed a family of battery charger devices, dedicated to charging. The company’s existing power management ICs (PMICs) offer direct power delivery to the application, as well as the charging of energy storage elements (such as Li-Ion batteries or super capacitors), but the AEM10900, AEM10300 and AEM30300 are fully dedicated to the charging function. This allows them to be used where a simpler implementation can be used and where there are space or cost constraints.

The PMICs achieve zero quiescent current draw from the battery. In other words, if energy harvesting stops for a prolonged period of time, the energy stored into the battery will not be wasted supplying the PMIC.

Working in conjunction with a single-cell photovoltaic panel, the integrated AEM10900 PMIC boost converter is optimised for solar-based energy harvesting implementations. It has a fast maximum power point tracking (MPPT) functionality designed for objects in movement. This allows the device to get the most energy from the ambient illumination available, storing as much as possible. It also has a 250mV cold start capability, which means it can commence with charging the battery even when light intensities are very low. AEM10900 introduces an I²C interface to minimise the pin count and to offer a larger set of potential configurations. The PMIC includes battery thermal protection, a joule counter to let the user know the amount of energy harvested, and a shipping mode in which the battery cannot be charged. The AEM10900 is suitable for wearable consumer products and body-worn medical monitoring equipment.

The AEM10300 and AEM30300 PMICs both have built-in low power DC/DC converters supporting operation over an input voltage range of 100mV to 4.5V. Adaptive energy management permits these devices to automatically switch between boost, buck-boost and buck operational configurations as deemed appropriate. This ensures that optimal energy transfer is always maintained between the respective inputs and the storage element.

The AEM10900, AEM10300 and AEM30300 battery chargers PMICs only require three external components, advises e-peas, for energy harvesting to be added while keeping the bill of materials costs low and taking up very little board space.

Geoffroy Gosset, CEO and co-founder of e-peas said: “Following on from in-depth consultations with our customer base, it became clear that having compact solutions for charging only was going to be of real value.”

The AEM10300 and AEM30300 PMICs are supplied in a 28-pin QFN package format, measuring 4.0 x 4.0mm and the AEM10900 is available in either the 28-pin QFN package or a 16-pin WLCSP (with 2.0 x 2.0mm dimensions).

http://www.e-peas.com

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Optical front end IC gives a LiFi boost to any mobile device

Mon, Jul 05, 2021

At MWC21, LiFi specialist, Oledcomm, unveiled Gigabit OFE, an ASIC that turns any mobile device into a Li-Fi-powered device, says the company.

Li-Fi (light fidelity) allows devices to be connected to each other using light. Li-Fi transmits data by modulating light signals from a light source, the light signals are received and converted into data using a dongle connected to the device.

The 1.5 x 2.5mm ASIC can be seamlessly integrated into smartphones, laptops and tablets, says the company, eliminating the need for the dongle. It can be coupled with photodiodes and light source like LED or VCSEL to achieve a 1Gbit per second point to point connection at a distance of one to five metres. The OFE can be used with a G.99991 baseband as well as a 802.11 baseband which is already present in most of today’s mobile devices.

Benjamin Azoulay, president of Oledcomm, said the Gigabit OFE will radically change the end user experience. Dongles will no longer be required as the Li-Fi is natively integrated into devices, bringing a “light-based, fast, secure and healthy wireless connectivity anywhere WiFi/4G/5G radio waves are not suitable”.

Oledcomm is based in Paris, France and specialises in data exchange solutions using light (Li-Fi). It designs complete solutions for Li-Fi operation, including microcontrollers (modems), Li-Fi photoreceivers (dongles and bridges) and software platforms (Li-FiCloud and software development kits).

The potential market for Li-Fi is huge, says the company: with 14 billion points of light worldwide which could become a powerful, safe and radio-free communication network.

Oledcomm holds more than 28 patents (supported by France Brevets) and has partnered with Ariane Group, Thales Alenia Space, OneWeb, French space agency CNES and Ford.

In January 2018, Oledcomm launched MyLiFi, the first luminaire accessible to the general public, the following year, it launched the LiFiMAX website, the first internet access point through invisible light.

In October 2019, an Air France A321 plane equipped with Oledcomm Li-Fi modems flew from Paris to Toulouse.

Oledcomm is certified ISO9001 and ISO14001.

http://www.oledcomm.net

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RTG4 Sub-QML is claimed to be first rad-tolerant FPGA in a plastic package

Wed, Jun 30, 2021

Microchip’s RTG4 Sub-QML FPGA has been qualified to JEDEC standards in a flip-chip 1657 ball grid array plastic package, with 1.0mm ball pitch. The low-power RTG4 FPGA offers new space system designers the industry’s highest reliability at lowest cost with shortest lead times, says Microchip Technology.

The radiation tolerant (RT) FPGA offers developers of small-satellite constellations and other systems used in new space missions the low cost of a JEDEC-qualified plastic package with the reliability of RTG4 FPGA technology and decades of spaceflight heritage, eliminating full Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) procedures.

“This is a major milestone for system designers who need large volumes of space-grade components at low unit cost, and reduced lead times so they can keep pace with shorter service launch cycles,” said Ken O’Neill, associate director, space and aviation marketing for Microchip’s FPGA business unit.

The RTG4 Sub-QML FPGA is pin-compatible with the company’s QML Class V-qualified RTG4 FPGAs in ceramic packages, making it easy for developers to migrate their designs between new space and more rigorous Class-1 missions. The RTG4 Sub-QML FPGAs in plastic packages are also available as prototypes in small quantities, allowing designers to evaluate the product and prototype their systems before committing to large volumes of flight models.

Other Microchip products available in plastic packages for spaceflight systems include its LX7730 telemetry controllers, LX7720 position sensing and motor controllers, and high-reliability plastic versions of its microcontrollers, microprocessors, Ethernet PHYs, ADCs, EEPROM and flash and memory.

The JEDEC-qualified RTG4 Sub-QML FPGA in the 1657 ball plastic BGA package is available in production volumes.

Microchip Technology offers development tools and a comprehensive product portfolio and serves more than 120,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defence, communications and computing markets.

http://www.microchip.com

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Payment bracelets interpret gestures and use biometric data

Tue, Jun 29, 2021

Collaboration between Italian start-up, DEED and Infineon Technologies, is showcased at MWC21. The get bracelets interpret human gestures and use biometic data to pick up a call or make payments.

At the core of get is a system consisting of components from Infineon that enable the wearable with connectivity, computing, sensing and security capabilities. Infineon’s Secora Connect supports the payment functionality based on lowest power consumption to achieve longest battery life for the consumer. Infineon’s Xensiv MEMS technology provides high-fidelity voice recording during phone call. The PSoC 6 microcontroller family which uses a high performance dual-core M4/M0 architecture is paired with Infineon’s Airoc Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for secure, low power connectivity.

According to Edoardo Parini, CEO and founder of DEED, the bracelet’s pioneering features include new and higher security standards, an ID acquisition method for contactless payment and there is no screen. “It is the perfect bridge between ‘you‘ and ‘your’ digital-self!” said Parini.

Patented techniques have been used to create a seamless, light and water resistant wearable wristband, made up of several layers, based around a rigid-flex PCB. The intuitive human machine interface (HMI) allows for natural operation because the wearer does not have to swipe on screens or touch any display. Motion sensors with artificial intelligence (AI), for gesture recognition allow it to interpret human gestures, for example, to pick up a call, to check the time or to make payments. Consumers can use it to listen to audio or answer calls by holding their finger to their ear by ‘wrist bone conduction’, sending the sound through the body to the inner ear. Contactless payments can be released after individual electrocardiogram-based biometric identification. The bracelet also allows fitness and health monitoring.

http://www.infineon.com

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Compact battery chargers are dedicated to charging in tight spaces

Optical front end IC gives a LiFi boost to any mobile device

RTG4 Sub-QML is claimed to be first rad-tolerant FPGA in a plastic package

Payment bracelets interpret gestures and use biometric data

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