ICs & Semiconductors Archives - Page 62 of 230

Renesas adds three motor control MCU groups drawn from multiple families

Wed, May 31, 2023

Targeting motor control applications, Renesas Electronics has introduced three microcontroller (MCU) groups, including devices from its RX and RA families.

There are two new MCU groups from the RA family of Arm Cortex-M devices. The RA4T1 Group delivers 100MHz performance with up to 256kbyte of flash and 40kbyte SRAM. The MCUs are based around 100MHz Arm Cortex-M33 CPU cores with TrustZone and have integrated flash memory options from 128kbyte to 256kbyte and 40kbyte SRAM. In addition to an integrated trigonometric function unit as a hardware accelerator, they feature integrated analogue functions, including 12bit ADC, PGA, comparator and 12bit DAC. The MCUs are available in 32- to 64-pin packages options.

The second addition is the RA6T3 Group which offers 200MHz operating frequency and provides 256kbyte of flash and 40kbyte SRAM. These are based around a 200MHz Arm Cortex-M33 CPU core with TrustZone and have integrated flash memory of 256kbyte and 40kbyte SRAM. They have the same analogue functions as the RA4T1 Group and integrated communications options including USB 2.0, CAN FD, I3C, SCI and SPI. They are available in package options from 32- to 64-pin.

Both new groups offer features and functions specifically for motor control applications, including trigonometric function units (TFUs) for acceleration, advanced ADC with integrated PGA (programmable gain amplifier), with a choice of communication interfaces including CAN FD.

The MCUs are supported by the Renesas Flexible Software Package (FSP) to allow designers to port designs from other RA family devices.

Another introduction is the RX26T Group of MCUs from the RX family operating at 120MHz with up to 512kbyte of flash memory and 64kbyte SRAM. Renesas claimed that it has industry-leading real-time performance of 120MHz with no-wait flash memory access. The MCUs support 5.0V power supplies with high noise immunity and control accuracy, added Renesas. They also provide TFUs, on-chip timing, and interrupt control. Designers using Renesas’ RX24T MCUs can scale designs to the RX26T devices to take advantage of existing design software while realising performance and control efficiency improvements, said Renesas.

All of the new MCUs are available now and supported by Renesas’ Flexible Motor Control development kit that enables easy evaluation of motor control using permanent magnet synchronous motors (brushless DC motors), and the Renesas Motor Workbench development tool.

http://www.renesas.com

> Read More

Synopsys and Arm push on with next-gen mobile SoC designs

Wed, May 31, 2023

Synopsys combines EDA and IP with Arm’s Total Compute Solutions at Computex Taipei. The AI-enhanced design collaboration tackles mobile chip designs on advanced nodes down to 2nm. At the show, Synopsys announced Synopsys.ai full-stack AI-driven EDA suite, Synopsys Interface and Security IP and Synopsys Silicon Lifecycle Management PVT IP have been optimised for the highest levels of performance and power for Arm’s latest compute platform

These advancements continue the decades of collaboration between the two companies to accelerate customers’ delivery of Arm-based SoCs for smartphones and VR / AR applications.

Shankar Krishnamoorthy, general manager of Synopsys EDA group, commented: “Collaborating with Arm to optimise our EDA and IP solutions enables mutual customers to tackle some of the toughest multi-die system integration challenges from design, IP integration and verification to software development. The addition of the Synopsys.ai EDA suite starts a new phase, where co-operative keystone companies, like Synopsys and Arm, align expertise to help mutual customers turbo-charge the delivery of their Arm-based SoC designs.”

Arm announced its Total Compute Solutions 2023 (TCS23) platform at the show in Taipei. “The new TCS23 platform delivers a suite of segment-specific technology, designed with the system in mind, so that our customers can tap into the compute performance required for the next generation of visual computing experiences,” said Chris Bergey, senior vice president and general manager, client line of business, at Arm.

For TCS23, the Synopsys.ai full-stack AI-driven EDA suite leverages the power of AI from system architecture through manufacturing to optimise power, performance and area (PPA) and enhance time to market, said the company.

The Synopsys Verification family accelerates architecture exploration, software development and verification throughput for Arm SoCs containing Arm Cortex-X4, Cortex-A720 and Cortex-A520 CPUs and Immortalis-G720 and Mali-G720 GPUs.

Early adopters of TCS23 are using Synopsys virtual prototypes with Arm Fast Models, Synopsys hardware-assisted verification and verification IP for the latest Arm AMBA interconnect to deliver SoCs to market faster.

Synopsys Interface and Security IP for PCI Express 6.0 with Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE), CXL 3.0 with IDE, DDR5 with Inline Memory Encryption (IME) and UCIe, are all optimised for performance with Arm-specific features and for pre-silicon interoperability with Arm cores to minimise risk and to accelerate time to market.

The Synopsys Silicon Lifecycle Management Family PVT monitor IP can be integrated into Arm cores to monitor chip health from development to the field to measure and optimise performance.

Synopsys Fusion QuickStart Implementation Kits (QIKs) are tuned to extract maximum entitlement from the latest five, four and 3nm process technologies. They provide the most efficient path to realising optimally scaled compute architectures for the most demanding end-user applications, said the company.

Synopsys QIKs include implementation scripts and reference guides that enable early adopters of the newest Armv9.2 cores to accelerate time to market and achieve their demanding performance per Watt targets. These QIKs are available today by request through the Arm support hub or from Synopsys SolvNet.

Synopsys also incorporates the latest Arm Fast Models for virtual prototypes and delivers verification IP for the latest Arm AMBA interconnect, emulation and prototyping hardware to accelerate hardware-software bring-up and power and performance validation, resulting in shorter time to market.

Synopsys IP for PCI Express 6.0 with IDE, CXL 3.0 with IDE, DDR5 with IME and UCIe are available now.

http://www.synopsys.com

> Read More

Compact, low power RF sensors detect position and passenger movement

Wed, May 31, 2023

RF ranging sensors for automotive applications in the SC1260 series use the 60GHz frequency band. Socionext has also integrated time division multiplexing (TDM-MIMO) operation with multiple transmitting and receiving antennas to detect the position and movement of passengers in a vehicle with maximum accuracy.

The SC1260 incorporates antennas and radar signal operation circuits for maximum detection accuracy in a low power, compact package. The sensors use a wide band of 6.8GHz (57.1 to 63.9GHz), TDM-MIMO and built-in radar signal operation circuits for range-finding and angle calculation.

TDM-MIMO operation enables high-precision sensing, such as the detection of passengers when three people are sitting in a row inside the vehicle, added Socionext.

The sensors are claimed to enable easy acquisition of 3D position information without requiring advanced expertise in high frequency devices and signal operation. Each sensor combines antennas, RF circuits, ADCs, FIFO memory, an SPI and intelligent power control sequencer for flexible duty cycle control. The sensor requires only 0.72mW at 0.1 per cent duty cycle operation.

The sensors are suitable for a range of automotive applications, such as tracking the position and movements of passengers in a vehicle while suppressing the load on the vehicle battery when the engine is off, said Socionext.

The SC1260 series complies with the global broadband 60GHz radio equipment standard. Sample and evaluation kit shipments are scheduled for June, with production volumes to be available in Q1 2024.

The company is believed to be the first to develop compact, low power 60GHz RF ranging sensors with built-in radar signal operation circuits for range-finding and angle calculations. It used its experience and knowledge accumulated through the development of millimeter-frequency wireless communication ICS and 24GHz radio-frequency ranging sensors, observed Teruaki Hasegawa, head of Socionext’s IoT & radar sensing business unit.

The sensor is supplied in a FC-BGA with dimensions of 6.0 x 9.0 x 1.2mm.

Socionext Europe is a fabless SoC supplier. Its headquarters is in Frankfurt, Germany with offices in Munich, Germany and Maidenhead, UK.

The Munich Design and Support Centre, specialises in hardware and software product development for the automotive sector. Maidenhead supports Socionext’s IP Development & Engineering Centre with a focus on high speed data conversion IP.

https://www.socionext.com/en/

> Read More

Edge sensors in AMD’s Artix UltraScale+ family are ADAS-optimised

Fri, May 26, 2023

Addressing market needs for faster signal processing and smaller form factors in systems using edge sensors, such as lidar, radar and 3D surround-view camera systems, AMD has added two edge sensors to its Automotive XA Artix UltraScale+ family.

The XA AU10P and XA AU15P processors are cost-optimised processors, which is a requirement in the consumer driven automotive market. They are automotive-qualified and optimised for use in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) sensor applications. The Artix UltraScale+ devices join the automotive-grade Spartan 7, Zynq 7000 and Zynq UltraScale+ product families.

The XA Artix FPGAs are shipping now. They offer high serial bandwidth and signal compute density in an compact form factor. The Artix UltraScale+ devices maximise system performance via DSP bandwidth for cost-sensitive and low-power ADAS edge applications including networking, vision and video processing and secure connectivity.

XA Artix UltraScale+ processors are certified for functional safety up to ASIL-B, which is critical for automotive ADAS sensors from cameras to lidar systems, said AMD, for use in vehicles and robotaxis, for example.

“As automotive systems have grown in complexity, safety is more critical than ever before with automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers requiring ASIL-B certification for LiDAR, radar and smart edge sensor applications,” said Ian Riches, vice president, global automotive practice, TechInsights.

Automotive designers can use XA Artix UltraScale+ devices for sensor fusion, bringing in data from multiple edge sensors and performing image and video processing before porting it to an external SoC. The new XA Artix UltraScale+ devices can also be connected to multiple displays in the vehicle to enhance infotainment features, advised AMD.

http://www.xilinx.com

> Read More

Renesas adds three motor control MCU groups drawn from multiple families

Synopsys and Arm push on with next-gen mobile SoC designs

Compact, low power RF sensors detect position and passenger movement

Edge sensors in AMD’s Artix UltraScale+ family are ADAS-optimised

About Smart Cities