ICs & Semiconductors

Microcontroller is optimised for automotive radar applications

Wed, Oct 16, 2019

Designed to address automotive 77GHz radar applications such as corner radar systems for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving, the TC3A has been added to Infineon Technologies’ Aurix family.

The TC3A includes a new signal processing unit, a large SRAM dedicated to radar and four TriCore processors running at 300MHz with two additional lockstep cores.

The TC3A’s signal processing unit, the SPU 2.0, is an evolution of Infineon’s accelerator for radar processing with reduced latencies for fast fourier transform (FFT) processing, extended capability for interference mitigation and different modulation schemes to improve radar resolution at lower cost, explains Infineon.

ADAS will mean that more cars will be equipped with more radar units to perceive their surroundings.

The microcontroller joins the TC39, TC35 and TC33 Aurix devices for long-, mid- and short-range radar application. The TC3A is based on the TriCore architecture and has four cores, two lockstep ones running at 300MHz. The SPU 2.0 has extended features for real-time interference mitigation and lower resources consumption while 6Mbyte of embedded SRAM stores data during processing.

The high-speed radar (monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) interface has up to 600Mbits per second.

For security the microcontroller is hardware security module (HSM) -compliant with EVITA full specification.

Samples will be available to selected customers in 2022.

http://www.infineon.com

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Efficient NFC programming method for LED drivers

Fri, Oct 04, 2019

For fast implementation of near field communication (NFC) programming for LED drivers, Infineon Technologies has developed the NFC-PWM series NLM0011 and NLM0010.

The devices are NFC wireless-configuration ICs with configurable PWM output, primarily designed for LED applications. They enable NFC programming implementation by using a PWM signal directly to control the analogue driver IC.

Both devices have two operation modes, passive and active. In the passive mode, the LED driver module is not powered, and the PWM-related parameters can be configured wirelessly via the NFC interface. In the active mode, as soon as the V CC voltage supply is powered, a PWM output is generated according to the stored parameters. With an external R/C filter, the PWM signal is converted to the desired DC voltage to control the current output of an LED driver.

An integrated constant lumen output (CLO) function compensates the luminous flux drop (ageing effect) of the LED module by automatically adjusting the LED current to the ageing characteristics of the LEDs. With an integrated operation-time counter and stored LED degradation curve in the CLO table, NLM0011 automatically adjusts the PWM duty cycle to compensate for the LED degradation.

Fitting seamlessly to the mainstream analogue driver ICs, there is no need for firmware development input and, says the company, it   adopted into existing designs to replace the “plug-in resistor” current configuration concept. Non-volatile memory including unique identification data and 20 bytes free memory for user data is also featured in the devices.

The NLM0011 and NLM0010 can be ordered now in a SOT23-5 package.

NFC programming is an emerging technology designed to replace the “plug-in resistor” current setting method via contactless NFC interface. Besides improving the operational efficiency by enabling automatic programming in the manufacturing line, it can create significant flexibility in the value chain. With this it reduces the LED driver variants, simplifies the selection of LED modules, and allows end-of-line configuration.

http://www.infineon.com/nfc-pwm

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Buck-boost converter improves portable device efficiency

Thu, Oct 03, 2019

With a low quiescent current (IQ) in its class of 6-microA and a high peak efficiency of 96 per cent, designers can now maximise a portable device’s battery life with the MAX77827 buck-boost converter from Maxim Integrated Products.

This 1.5A high-efficiency, compact converter allows 1.8V to 5.5V input and 2.3V to 5.3V output, while providing the system stability needed to minimise abrupt or unexpected shutdowns.

During mode transition when VOUT is set to 3.3V with a 15 microsecond rise/fall time, the ripple is less than 1 per cent of the output voltage, says the company. Fast load transient response provides stable system voltage from transient loads pulling down the system voltage. In extreme harsh conditions of going from 0A to 1A load in 15 microseconds, MAX77827 undershoot is controlled to six per cent of the output voltage where the undershoot of the competitive solution is 12 per cent with a longer recovery time.

The MAX77827 addresses the power requirements of low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) applications, asset tracking devices and a variety of Internet of Things applications.

This converter is a suitable solution to support applications with low power requirements because, regardless of the battery voltage variations, it can automatically transition between buck and boost modes to provide a consistent output power supply.

This converter supports space-constrained designs as its WLP measures 2.04mm x 1.64mm and it is less than 15mm² total solution size. It features a single external resistor to set the output voltage to provide additional savings to an external component and board space.

“High adoption of lithium ion batteries in smart consumer electronics is driving the increasing demand for this market, which is projected to reach $106,493 million by 2024,” said Rishab Sharma, analyst for P&S Intelligence. “Complementary technologies that help prolong battery life and stability can only contribute to their continued growth.”

“For any system design where battery life is critical, there is no better solution than the MAX77827,” said Eric Pittana, director for Mobile Power Solutions at Maxim Integrated. “With the lowest quiescent current and highest efficiency, designers can truly optimize their solutions and maximize their system performance. Specifically, for applications such as GPS asset tracking devices with single-use discharge, prolonging battery life is essential.”

http://www.maximintegrated.com

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CrossLinkPlus FPGAs speed and enhance video bridging

Wed, Oct 02, 2019

Lattice Semiconductor has introduced the CrossLinkPlus FPGA family for MIPI D-PHY based embedded vision systems. The new devices are low power FPGAs featuring integrated flash memory, a hardened MIPI D-PHY and high-speed I/Os for instant-on panel display performance, and flexible on-device programming capabilities.

Developers want to enhance the user experience by adding multiple image sensors and/or displays to embedded vision systems, while also meeting system cost and power budgets.

Key features of the CrossLinkPlus family of FPGAs include on-device reprogrammable flash memory to enable instant-on (< 10 ms), hardened, pre-verified MIPI D-PHY interface supporting speeds up to 6 Gbps per port and broad support for high-speed I/O interfaces such as LVDS, SLVS and subLVDS.

Power consumption can be as low as 300 microwatt (standby) or 5 microwatt (operating).

Lattice also provides ready-to-use IPs and reference designs to accelerate implementation of enhanced sensor and display bridging, aggregation, and splitting functionality, a common requirement for industrial, automotive, computing, and consumer applications. There is a comprehensive IP library, including MIPI CSI-2, MIPI DSI, OpenLDI transmitters and receivers. These IPs are compatible with other Lattice FPGAs for easy design portability.

This new series is fully compatible with the Lattice Diamond design software tool flow, from synthesis and design capture through implementation, verification, and programming.

CrossLinkPlus uses its on-chip flash to support instant-on (minimising visual artifacts that detract from the user experience) and flexible device reprogramming in the field.

“The use of MIPI D-PHY in applications ranging from industrial control equipment displays to AI security cameras is booming as OEMs look to capitalize on the economies of scale driven by the MIPI ecosystem,” said Peiju Chiang, product marketing manager, Lattice Semiconductor.

“Lattice’s new CrossLinkPlus FPGAs combine the flexible programmability and speedy parallel processing of FPGAs with vision-specific hardware, software, pre-verified IPs and reference designs. This lets OEMs devote more time to building innovative applications and less time enabling standard functions that don’t offer any competitive differentiation.”

http://www.latticesemi.com

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