ICs & Semiconductors Archives - Page 39 of 227

Novosense announces quad-channel digital isolators for industrial and automotive applications

Thu, Jan 18, 2024

Novosense Microelectronics has expanded its family of digital isolators with quad-channel devices that provide the performance and protection demanded by the latest industrial and automotive applications. The new NSI824xWx high-reliability digital isolators provide compact and efficient protection and level shifting in applications ranging from solar inverters and energy storage to industrial automation and electric vehicles.

UL1577-qualified for safety, the ultra-wide body NSI824xWx industrial and automotive grade isolators combine robust EMC performance with high levels of protection against system-level electrostatic discharge (ESD), electrical fast transients (EFTs) and voltage surges. Each device offers an insulation voltage up to 8kVrms, chip-level ESD HBM protection to ±8kV and common-mode transient immunity (CMTI) up to 200kV/μs.

The isolators are available with options for four forward channels, three forward and one reverse channel or two forward and two reverse channels. Default output state on power loss can be set to low or high. Channel speeds up to 150Mbps are supported, while a wide input voltage range of 2.5V to 5.5V simplifies level shift operations by ensuring compatibility with a wide variety of digital interfaces. A low power consumption of 1.5mA per channel (at speeds of 1Mbps) helps designers to meet system efficiency targets.

As with all members of the range, the latest NSI824x devices employ an adapted capacitive isolator technology in which the digital signal undergoes modulation by an RF carrier generated on the transmitter side and is then demodulated on the receiver side. Subsequently, the signal is transmitted via a capacitive isolator and demodulated on the receiver side. Use of Novosense’s proprietary Adaptive OOK modulation technology is key to robust performance, which includes high noise resistance and low EMI.

The devices are supplied in an SOWW16 package, can support 15mm creepage distance and operate across a wide temperature range of -55℃ to 125℃, and are fully compliant with all relevant UL, CQC, CSA and VDE safety standards. In industrial automation systems, they can be used for industrial control, industrial motor drive applications, industrial transportation, instrumentation, industrial field instruments, isolated SPI, RS232, and RS485 applications, universal multi-channel isolators, and motor control. Automotive targets will include automobile sensors, electric drives and power supplies and battery management systems.
https://www.novosns.com/en

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Next-Gen ethernet switches from Microchip feature time sensitive networking and scalable port bandwidths

Wed, Jan 17, 2024

The growth of the industrial automation market encompasses innovative technologies like Machine Learning (ML) and robotic systems. Embedded solutions with deterministic communication are essential for industrial automation applications to control, monitor and process data. To provide designers with a reliable and robust network solution with deterministic communication, Microchip has announced its next-generation of LAN969x Ethernet switches with Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), scalable bandwidths from 46 Gbps to 102 Gbps and a powerful 1 GHz single-core Arm® Cortex®-A53 CPU.

For applications that require greater redundancy, the LAN969x Ethernet switches can be configured with High-availability Seamless Redundancy (HSR) and Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP). HSR and PRP are hardware protocols that provide zero-loss redundancy in Ethernet networks. The LAN969x Ethernet switches support multiple HSR and PRP Redundancy Box (RedBox) instances that can operate in parallel and in series, as well as at Ethernet port speeds from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps.

The LAN969x can implement a QuadBox, which is a function that connects two HSR networks to each other. This feature is particularly useful in applications where high reliability and zero downtime are critical. Alternative solutions that implement a QuadBox typically require multiple different components that can drive up design complexity and system costs.

“Prior to the introduction of Microchip’s LAN969x Ethernet switches, customers who wanted to implement TSN and HSR/PRP features required multiple ICs. Microchip’s new LAN969x solution is a single chip that can reduce the number of components and system level costs,” said Charles Forni, vice president of Microchip’s USB and networking business unit. “These devices are also supported with our VSC6817SDK IStaX Linux® application software package that can enable designers to quickly bring products to market.”

The LAN969x Ethernet switches are highly configurable with options of up to 30 ports. The Ethernet ports support multiple interfaces including RGMII, SGMII, QSGMII, USGMII, and USXGMII. The LAN969x family targets secure and safety-critical applications where high- port-count 10M/100M/1G/2.5G/10G switching links are required.

The LAN969x family is available with security add-ons such as secure boot and secure firmware execution based on the customer’s root-of-trust manufacturing process. Security is provided through Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM)-based frame processing using a Versatile Content Aware Processor (VCAP), Arm Trusted Firmware methodology for fast secure boot, crypto libraries and hardware security accelerators for boot and code encryption, and one-time programmable immutable key storage.

The new family of LAN969x mid-range Ethernet switches rounds out Microchip’s portfolio of TSN switches. The SparX-5i family supports up to 64-ports and 200 Gbps of switching bandwidth, while the LAN9662 and LAN9668 support from 4 to 8 ports and 4 to 11 Gbps of switch bandwidth.

The LAN969x family of Ethernet switches is supported by the EV23X71A Evaluation Board. Other resources include the IStaX VSC6817SDK Linux Application Software Package to support TSN standards and HSR/PRP redundancy.

https://www.microchip.com.

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Renesas launches RZ/G3S 64-bit microprocessor with enhanced peripherals for IoT Edge and gateway devices

Tue, Jan 16, 2024

As the latest addition to Renesas’ RZ/G Series MPU, the RZ/G3S is designed to meet the demanding requirements of modern IoT devices, offering power consumption as low as 10µW (microwatts) in standby mode and fast startup for the Linux operating system. The new MPU comes with a PCI Express interface that enables high-speed connectivity with 5G wireless modules. Additionally, the device boasts enhanced security features such as tamper detection to ensure data security. These features make the device ideal for IoT applications such as home gateways, smart meters, and tracking devices.

“Renesas’ RZ/G has seen a steady increase in adoption in the global industrial human machine interface market,” said Daryl Khoo, Vice President of Embedded Processing 1st Division at Renesas. “The RZ/G3S represents the next generation products that will extend our reach to the rapidly growing 5G IoT and Gigabit Wi-Fi 7 gateway markets. Renesas has been aggressively expanding our connectivity portfolio in these markets through strategic acquisitions to offer advanced connectivity solutions that are power efficient at the system level and enhance data utilisation.”

The RZ/G3S employs an Arm Cortex-A55 core as the main CPU with a maximum operating frequency of 1.1 GHz and two Cortex-M33 cores as sub-CPUs operating at 250 MHz. Users can distribute the MPU’s workloads to sub-CPUs, allowing the device to efficiently handle tasks such as receiving data from sensors, controlling system functions and managing power systems. This reduces the workload on the main CPU, resulting in fewer components, lower costs and a smaller system size.

The device’s newly added power management system is designed to reduce power consumption to extremely low levels — less than 10 µW. The MPU also supports the DDR self-refresh function which allows to retain DRAM data, while also enabling fast Linux startup. The fast startup allows IoT devices, which frequently operate intermittently, to save power and significantly extend the runtime of battery-powered devices. Moreover, the device offers a standby mode that can maintain sub-CPU operation at a power level as low as 40 mW, offering the flexibility to optimise power consumption based on the specific operating requirements of each application.

The RZ/G3S is equipped with a wide range of peripheral functions including Gigabit Ethernet, CAN, USB, as well as the PCI Express interface. By connecting with 5G communication modules, the device can achieve high-speed communication at Gigahertz levels.

Similar to other RZ/G devices, the RZ/G3S features an ECC (Error Correction Code) function in both internal memory and external DDR interface to maintain data integrity. The Verified Linux Package (VLP) based on the industrial-grade Linux software (Civil Infrastructure Platform™ (CIP) Linux) is available for the RZ/G3S. With VLP, developers receive over 10 years of maintenance support, ensuring long-term protection against security threats. The device also provides tamper detection along with secure boot, secure debug and more. RZ/G series products are already Level 2 PSA Certified from Arm and Renesas has plans to include the RZ/G3S in the future.

Renesas has combined the new RZ/G3S MPU with optimised power management ICs and clock products to develop the “Single Board Computer Gateway”. The RZ/G3S’s rich set of interfaces allows the device to connect with various sensors via USB, CAN, RS485, UART, and I2C. It also offers high performance wireless connectivity options to build a robust network for home automation or IoT applications. Its multicore design allows for real-time processing of data while being power efficient with its advanced sleep mode functions. The Winning Combinations are technically vetted system architectures from mutually compatible devices that work together seamlessly to bring an optimised, low-risk design for faster time to market. Renesas offers more than 400 Winning Combinations with a wide range of products from the Renesas portfolio to enable customers to speed up the design process and bring their products to market more quickly. They can be found at renesas.com/win.

https://www.renesas.com/rzg3s

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HaiLa showcases first Wi-Fi-based extreme-low-power backscatter chip

Mon, Jan 15, 2024

HaiLa Technologies has announced the availability of the BSC2000 RF evaluation chip development and demonstration kits. Presto Engineering successfully collaborated with HaiLa to develop the first complete analog and digital implementation of HaiLa’s passive backscatter technology adapted to Wi-Fi RF bands.

Supporting an SPI interface, the chip brings seamless connectivity to a wide range of IoT devices, such as multi-channel temperature and humidity sensors. The joint partnership to develop the BSC2000 demonstrates the path to extreme-low power in IoT devices used in building, home and industrial automation; consumer electronics and wearables; smart transportation; agriculture; medical; and automotive markets.

“HaiLa is pleased to have collaborated with Presto Engineering on the silicon implementation of the BSC2000, and we’re excited to showcase our technology at CES 2024,” said Derek Kuhn, President and CEO, HaiLa Technologies, Inc. “This is another step forward in our mission to enable sustainable scaling of IoT over existing wireless infrastructures, helping end-users meet their net-zero goals through a massive reduction in battery waste. Presto’s long experience in ultra-low power RFID and NFC allowed HaiLa to complement its team with expert resources embedded into the development process, delivering the completed BSC2000 ASIC as one team.”

According to Cedric Mayor, CEO, Presto Engineering, “We are proud to support HaiLa on a key industry initiative to help reduce carbon footprint of connected objects. This project has shown that pushing the limit of IoT power efficiency is not only possible but a game changer for mitigating the cost and waste of battery usage.” Mayor adds, “With our deep expertise in RF mixed-signal chip design and ultra-low power architectures, we look forward to extending our partnership with HaiLa to jointly address new business opportunities leveraging their unique IP in future projects.”

HaiLa’s passive backscatter foundational technology is protocol-agnostic. As the most common wireless local area network (WLAN) technology in residential, enterprise and industrial environments globally, HaiLa has focused its first adaptation on Wi-Fi as a key infrastructure enabler for IoT deployments.

https://www.haila.io

https://www.presto-eng.com

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Novosense announces quad-channel digital isolators for industrial and automotive applications

Next-Gen ethernet switches from Microchip feature time sensitive networking and scalable port bandwidths

Renesas launches RZ/G3S 64-bit microprocessor with enhanced peripherals for IoT Edge and gateway devices

HaiLa showcases first Wi-Fi-based extreme-low-power backscatter chip

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