ICs & Semiconductors Archives - Page 174 of 235

Wireless software stack meets Open Metering System specification

Fri, Jul 03, 2020

A wireless M-Bus (wM-Bus) software stack leverages the integrated sub-GHz radio and multiple modulation schemes supported by STMicroelectronics’ STM32WL microcontrollers in smart metering systems.

According to ST it reduces the bill of materials costs for smart metering. The wM-Bus stack has been developed by Stackforce to comply with most of EN 13757-3/-7, covering the upper layers of the Wireless M-Bus protocol stack, as well as the lower layers (EN 13757-4) and its wM-Bus modes S, T, and C used throughout Europe in the 868MHz band. The mode N for operation at 169MHz is also an option. Other metering standards, including the most common Open Metering System (OMS) specification, as well as more specific standards like Dutch Smart Meter Requirements (DSMR) or CIG Italian Gas Committee specifications, are also met, adds ST.

Hakim Jaafar, marketing manager, STM32 Wireless products at STMicroelectronics said: “Thanks to our collaboration with Stackforce, STM32WL is reaching a new level of multi-protocol compatibility. With this wireless wM-Bus stack, the STM32WL can become the key product for a wide range of smart metering applications such as electricity, gas and water metering”.

Supported by the STM32 development ecosystem, STM32WL microcontrollers are low power devices incorporate a sub-GHz radio with a wide linear frequency range, dual power output. It can satisfy EN 300 220, FCC CFR 47 Part 15, ARIB T108, and other radio-equipment regulations, including China regulatory requirements. It also has an integrated switched-mode power supply (SMPS) and hardware cryptographic accelerators.

STM32WL devices with up to 256kbyte flash and a BGA73 package are in production now and are supported by ST’s 10-year product-longevity commitment

David Rahusen, managing director at Stackforce, said: “We will shortly add a wM-Bus over LoRaWAN stack that utilises . . . STM32WL features to merge the benefits of wM-Bus for seamless integration into metering infrastructure with the long-range capability of LoRaWAN urgently needed for metering applications”.

The Stackforce wM-Bus stack is available immediately. The wM-Bus over LoRaWAN stack will be available at the end of July 2020.

http://www.st.com

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Bluetooth LE mesh networking accelerates building automation

Wed, Jun 24, 2020

Based on ON Semiconductor’s low power RSL10 system in package (SiP), the RSL10 Mesh platform allows engineers to implement low power mesh networking, using Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) technology, and move quickly towards full deployment, the company claims. Target applications are smart homes, building automation, industrial IoT, remote environment monitoring, asset tracking and monitoring.

The platform consists of two RSL10 mesh nodes and a Strata Gateway for connectivity to the Strata Developer Studio.

Complementing the RSL10 SiP, an array of sensing and indicator devices has been incorporated into the node hardware, including an ambient light sensor (LV0104CS), temperature sensor (N34TS108), magnetic sensors, LED indicators and a triple-output NCP5623B LED driver (for colour mixing). There is also a built-in battery charger either li-ion or li-poly batteries.

The mesh nodes can be configured to take on different roles and functions. The Strata Gateway allows evaluation processes to be carried out using the intuitive Strata Developer Studio. The cloud-connected software enables provisioning of additional mesh and supports firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) updates.

Virtual workspaces for common mesh networking examples, including a smart office, can be used by developers to access sensor data and trigger settings. The energy- efficient RSL10 radio is supported by an Eclipse-based integrated development environment (IDE), a mobile application for provisioning, configuring and controlling a Bluetooth LE mesh network and a Mesh Networking software package which is compliant with the Bluetooth SIG.

“Operational constraints and ease of implementation still represent major challenges,” said Wiren Perera, head of IoT at ON Semiconductor. “Through this new platform we are helping to dramatically accelerate mesh networking development, so that nodes can be more rapidly deployed which push the performance envelope in terms of range, resiliency and power budget.”

ON Semiconductor offers a portfolio of energy efficient, power management, analogue, sensors, logic, timing, connectivity, discrete, SoC and custom devices for automotive, communications, computing, consumer, industrial, medical, aerospace and defence applications.

The company has a network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and design centres in key markets throughout North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific regions.

http://www.onsemi.com

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Microcontroller increases equipment uptimes, says Maxim

Tue, Jun 23, 2020

Industrial, healthcare and IoT applications can benefit from low power consumption and small form factors, using the MAX32670 microcontroller, says Maxim Integrated.

The Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller reduces the power consumption and size while increasing the reliability of industrial, healthcare and IoT applications and protects all embedded memory for both flash and SRAM with error-code correction (ECC).

In many industrial and IoT applications, high energy particles and other environmental challenges can threaten to bombard memory and create bit flips during the normal course of operations – especially as process nodes drop to 40nm and below, warns Maxim. This can disrupt microcontroller operation and produce incorrect results. The MAX32670 protects its entire 384kbyte flash memory and 128kbyte SRAM with ECC. With this protection, single-bit errors are detected and corrected by hardware.

Active power consumption is just 40 microW/MHz and the MAX32670 executes commands from flash at 40 per cent lower power than the closest competitive industrial microcontroller, claims Maxim. It is also claimed to be the lowest power device available for battery-operated sensor applications. It is supplied in a 1.8 x 2.6mm WLP and 5.0 x 5.0mm TQFN and claimed to be 50 per cent smaller than the closest competitor, offering reductions in overall size as well as material costs.

The MAX32670 is available now and there is also an evaluation kit, the MAX32670EVKIT#.

Maxim Integrated develops analogue and mixed-signal products and technologies to make systems smaller and smarter, with enhanced security and increased energy efficiency. Maxim’s customers operate in the automotive, industrial, healthcare, mobile consumer and cloud data centre sectors.

http://www.maximintegrated.com

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Microcontroller increases equipment uptimes, says Maxim

Tue, Jun 23, 2020

Industrial, healthcare and IoT applications can benefit from low power consumption and small form factors, using the MAX32670 microcontroller, says Maxim Integrated.

The Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller reduces the power consumption and size while increasing the reliability of industrial, healthcare and IoT applications and protects all embedded memory for both flash and SRAM with error-code correction (ECC).

In many industrial and IoT applications, high energy particles and other environmental challenges can threaten to bombard memory and create bit flips during the normal course of operations – especially as process nodes drop to 40nm and below, warns Maxim. This can disrupt microcontroller operation and produce incorrect results. The MAX32670 protects its entire 384kbyte flash memory and 128kbyte SRAM with ECC. With this protection, single-bit errors are detected and corrected by hardware.

Active power consumption is just 40 microW/MHz and the MAX32670 executes commands from flash at 40 per cent lower power than the closest competitive industrial microcontroller, claims Maxim. It is also claimed to be the lowest power device available for battery-operated sensor applications. It is supplied in a 1.8 x 2.6mm WLP and 5.0 x 5.0mm TQFN and claimed to be 50 per cent smaller than the closest competitor, offering reductions in overall size as well as material costs.

The MAX32670 is available now and there is also an evaluation kit, the MAX32670EVKIT#.

Maxim Integrated develops analogue and mixed-signal products and technologies to make systems smaller and smarter, with enhanced security and increased energy efficiency. Maxim’s customers operate in the automotive, industrial, healthcare, mobile consumer and cloud data centre sectors.

http://www.maximintegrated.com

> Read More

Wireless software stack meets Open Metering System specification

Bluetooth LE mesh networking accelerates building automation

Microcontroller increases equipment uptimes, says Maxim

Microcontroller increases equipment uptimes, says Maxim

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