AI controller and software detect humans, using less energy

Claimed to be the lowest power person detection system, the combination of Maxim Integrated’s MAX78000 artificial intelligence (AI) microcontroller and Aizip’s Visual Wake Words model bring human-figure detection to IoT imaging and video with a power budget of just 0.7 mJ per inference. This, says Maxim, is a 100 fold improvement on the performance of conventional software, making it “the most economical and efficient IoT person-detection solution available”.

The MAX78000 neural-network microcontroller detects people in an image using Aizip’s Visual Wake Words (VWW) model at just 0.7 mJ per inference. This allows 13 million inferences from a single AA/LR6 battery and is 100 times lower than conventional software solutions. It is, says Maxim, the most economical and efficient IoT person-detection solution available. The low-power network provides longer operation for battery-powered IoT systems that require human-presence detection, including building energy management and smart security cameras.

The MAX78000 low-power, neural network accelerated microcontroller executes AI inferences at less than 1/100th the energy of conventional software solutions to improve run-time for battery-powered edge AI applications, continues Maxim. The mixed precision VWW network is part of the Aizip Intelligent Vision Deep Neural Network (AIV DNN) series for image and video applications and was developed with Aizip’s proprietary design automation tools to achieve greater than 85 per cent human-presence accuracy.

The extreme model compression delivers accurate smart vision with a memory-constrained, low-cost AI-accelerated microcontroller and cost-sensitive image sensors, says Maxim.

The MAX78000 microcontroller and MAX78000EVKIT# evaluation kit are available now directly from Maxim Integrated’s website and through authorised distributors.

AIV DNN series models, tools and services are available directly from Aizip.

Aizip develops AI models for IoT applications. Based in Silicon Valley, Aizip provides design services with superior performance, quick turnaround time, and “excellent [return on investment] ROI.

Maxim Integrated offers a broad portfolio of semiconductors, tools and support to deliver efficient power, precision measurement, reliable connectivity and robust protection along with intelligent processing. Designers in application areas such as automotive, communications, consumer, data centre, healthcare, industrial and the IoT.

http://www.maximintegrated.com

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Infineon combines MEMS and automotive expertise for Xensiv microphone

High performance, low noise MEMS microphones are increasingly popular inside and outside of vehicles because of noise quality and hands-free operation. Infineon says it has combined its expertise in the automotive industry, with its MEMS microphones technical know-how to develop the Xensiv IM67D130A. It is claimed to be the first microphone in the market to be qualified for automotive applications.

The Xensiv IM67D130A microphone has a wide operating temperature range of -40C to +105 degrees C for use in harsh automotive environments. The high acoustic overload point (AOP) of 130dB sound pressure level (SPL) allows the microphone to capture distortion-free audio signals in loud environments, enabling it to be effective whether placed inside or outside of the vehicle. The IM67D130A can be used for in-cabin applications such as hands-free systems, emergency calls, in-cabin communication and active noise cancellation (ANC). For exterior applications, it can be used in, for example, siren or road condition detection. Its use allows sound to be a further, complementary sensor for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and predictive maintenance.

The high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 67dB combined with low distortion level are designed for optimum speech quality and speech intelligence for speech recognition applications. The microphones have tight sensitivity matching allowing optimised beamforming algorithms for multi-microphone arrays, added Infineon.

The Xensiv MEMS microphone IM67D130A is qualified for the AEC-Q103-003 standard for automotive applications and available now in PG-LLGA-5-4 package.

http://www.infineon.com

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MxFE digitiser targets aerospace and defence applications

From Analog Devices comes a 16-channel, mixed-signal front-end (MxFE) digitiser for aerospace and defence applications, including phased array radars, electronic warfare, and ground-based satellite communications.

The new digitiser includes four AD9081 or four AD9082 software-defined, direct RF sampling transceivers. It is designed to accelerate customer development by providing reference RF signal chains, software architectures, power supply designs, and application example code.

ADI has also introduced a digitising card to complement the platform and facilitate system-level calibration algorithms and demonstration of power-up phase determinism.

The ADQUADMXFE1EBZ 16-channel, mixed-signal front-end digitiser offers 16 FR receive (Rx) channels (32 digital Rx channels) and 16 RF transmit (Tx) channels (32 digital Tx channels). It provides application-specific examples in MatLab application scripts and a GUI, and has flexible clock distribution.

The ADQUADMXFE-CAL digitising card key provides both individual adjacent channel loopback and combines channel loopback options, combined Tx and Rx channels output via SMA connectors and on-board log power detectors with AD5592R digitisation.

Analog Devices is a global high-performance semiconductor company dedicated to solving tough engineering challenges.

http://www.analog.com

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Sondrel presents its second reference platforms for faster ASIC design

Sondrel has launched the second in its family of reference designs for ASICs that provide a framework to support a customer’s own IP. The SFA250A is aimed at functional safety (FuSa) applications such as advanced driver assistance systems and contains an independent FuSa monitor compliant to ISO 26262 ASIL D – ASIC safety subsystem. Individual subsystems are responsible for the detection and, where applicable, the correction of errors. The SFA 250A has been designed to be easy to adapt to suit the support needs of the customer’s IP as it is scalable, both in terms of function and performance, as well as modular as multiple versions can be combined to form larger solutions.

“So often a customer has created innovative IP but has no idea how to implement this in a chip which is a high-risk scenario,” explained Graham Curren, Sondrel’s CEO. “We are a very safe pair of hands as we have done this hundreds of times over the years for customers. We have drawn on this experience to create the Architecting the future family of IP platforms that are each targeted at specific application areas. Each platform has been designed so that the customer’s IP can easily be integrated into it giving up to 30 per cent reduction in costs, risk and time to market.”

Ben Fletcher, Sondrel’s director of engineering, added: “Reducing risk is massively important for any complex chip design. Sondrel is constantly refining and improving processes to keep increasing the reliability and predictability of the work that we do, and avoid costly delays to customer schedules. Our detailed design practices help us to more easily deliver demanding projects that require the added dimension of functional safety.”

Sondrel emphasises that for those that work in a functional safety environment, safety has to be a top priority. This philosophy has enabled the company to work on FuSa designs for many companies including automotive designs to the ISO 26262 standard.

To further reduce risk and time to market, Sondrel offers a full turnkey service that turns designs into fully tested, shipping silicon.

http://www.sondrel.com

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