ICs & Semiconductors

InnoPhase IoT, Nuvoton and Eoxys deliver a low-power Wi-Fi module for intelligent and secure IoT device applications 

Fri, Feb 10, 2023

InnoPhase IoT, a fabless semiconductor company specialising in low-power Wi-Fi IoT solutions, Eoxys, an IoT solution provider, and Nuvoton, a microcontroller unit (MCU) supplier, are targeting intelligent and secure IoT devices for smart home, industrial and medical automation applications.

The Eoxys’ Xeno + Nano ML module integrates InnoPhase IoT’s Talaria TWO low- power Wi-Fi and BLE5.0 solution with Nuvoton’s NuMicro M2354 secure IoT MCU. It accelerates customers’ deployment of IoT sensor products by leveraging the intelligent compute with the security and wireless connectivity of the Xeno+ Nano ML module, freeing the customer to focus only on adding sensors and their secret sauce.

InnoPhase IoT’s Talaria TWO multi-protocol Wi-Fi and BLE5-long range module integrates digital, programmable RF and dual-stack architecture, which addresses the variable throughput and low-power needs of IoT applications. This is claimed to reduce battery usage by two- to eight-times compared to current Wi-Fi products and enables 10-plus years of connected sensor battery life. The Talaria TWO’s low-power wireless module allows customers to add AI and ML processing on IoT sensor devices while meeting stringent battery life requirements. The ubiquity and high data transfer rates of Wi-Fi eliminate the need for an additional gateway device, providing less complexity and lower cost.

InnoPhase IoT specialises in low-power wireless connectivity solutions for IoT products. Its award-winning Talaria TWO Wi-Fi modules with BLE5 enable battery-based, intelligent, always-on, cloud-connected IoT products by increasing battery-life performance by up to eight times current solutions with its patented digital radio design. It is ideal for remote security cameras, video doorbells, connected sensors, wearables, lossless audio and other energy-critical wireless IoT devices.

https://innophaseiot.com

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STMicroelectronics reveals scalable, automotive high-side drivers 

Thu, Feb 09, 2023

STMicroelectronics has released single-, double- and four-channel automotive high-side gate drivers in a common PowerSSO-16 package style, with pin assignments that simplify scaling circuit designs to add more driver channels.

The gate drivers target applications throughout the vehicle, including safety, comfort and powertrain, body electronics, infotainment and driver assistance systems.

Meeting the automotive industry’s LV124 test schedule for deep cold cranking permits use with heavy loads such as engine starters and ensures reliable operation even in extreme winter conditions. With very low standby current, at just a few microamps, these drivers minimise the drain on the battery when the vehicle is turned off and not being used.

The drivers are manufactured using ST’s proprietary VIPower M0-9 technology , which permits extensive integration within a small die size in addition to high current capability and high efficiency. On-chip features include protection such as load-current limiting, load-dump protection up to 35V and limiting of fast thermal transients. Flexible reset management lets the designer configure the driver’s responses to faults and so best meet the needs of the application. The drivers provide reverse-battery protection through self-turn-on capability, which limits the power dissipation on the PCB to a survivable level.

In addition, diagnostic capabilities include proportional load-current sensing that permits detecting malfunctions in the load, such as disconnection of an LED string. There is also overload, short-to-ground, short-to-VCC and off-state open-load detection. All diagnostics are maintained whether the driver is turned on or off, permitting faults to be detected even when the load is not supplied.

The series comprises five single-channel drivers: VN9004AJ; VN9006AJ; VN9008AJ; VN9012AJ;  and VN9016AJ. The dual-channel drivers are the VND9008AJ, VND9012AJ, VND9016AJ, and VND9025AJ. The VNQ9025AJ and VNQ9080AJ each have four channels. All are housed in the PowerSSO-16 package, which has a space-saving 6.00 x 4.9mm footprint, is only 1.7mm high and is pin-to-pin compatible. They are also compatible with the previous- generation M0-7 family.

https://www.st.com/

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STMicroelectronics reveals single-chip antenna-matching ICs for easier, faster design with Bluetooth LE SoCs and microcontrollers

Tue, Feb 07, 2023

STMicroelectronics has extended its range of single-chip antenna-matching ICs that simplify RF-circuit design with two new devices optimised for BlueNRG-LPS system-on-chip ICs (SoCs) and STM32WB1x and STM32WB5x wireless microcontrollers.

The MLPF-NRG-01D3 for BlueNRG-LPS and MLPF-WB-02D3 for STM32WB integrate the complete filtering and impedance-matching network needed for best RF output power and receiver sensitivity with an external antenna. Each has 50Ohm nominal impedance on the antenna side. The chip-scale package has a minuscule footprint, 0.4mm bump pitch and a profile of only 630micro after reflow soldering. Also featuring a 2.4GHz low-pass filter, ST’s antenna-matching ICs ease compliance with worldwide radio regulations, including FCC, ETSI, and ARIB specifications.

The circuit elements are fabricated on a glass substrate leveraging ST’s integrated passive device (IPD) technology, which, the company claimed, minimises insertion losses and outperforms circuits built with discrete components. Integration on the same die is said to ensure consistent component parameters for end-product quality. In addition, ST’s IPDs help accelerate time to market, reduce bill-of-materials costs and miniaturise circuit dimensions.

The BlueNRG-LP and Blue NRG-LPS  SoCs and STM32WB1x  and STM32WB5x contain ST’s energy-efficient 2.4GHz radio IP and come with royalty-free protocol stacks and dedicated software tools. They help developers quickly design state-of-the-art wireless products, even without having extensive RF-design skills. Both provide on-chip features such as memory, peripherals, communication interfaces, power regulation and advanced hardware security including encryption, memory protection and public key acceleration (PKA).

BlueNRG-LPx SoCs can be used in standalone or network processor applications and support Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 features including point-to-point and mesh communications, advertising extensions and direction finding. 

The MLPF-NRG-01D3 IPD is compatible with all variants, comprising the BLUENRG-3x5Vx, BLUENRG-3x5Ax and BLUENRG-332xx in UFQFPN and WLCSP packages.

The STM32WB5x and STM32WB1x MCUs are Bluetooth 5.3, Zigbee 3.0 and OpenThread certified and feature an Arm Cortex-M4 core for application processing with a Cortex-M0+ dedicated to managing the radio. They are available in WLCSP and UFBGA packages that connect directly to the MLPF-WB-02D3 IPD. A different IPD is available for other MCU variants in UQFN and VQFN packages.

The MLPF-NRG-01D3 and MLPF-WB-02D3 single-chip antenna-matching ICs are available from $0.14 for orders of 1,000 pieces.

https://www.st.com/

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Multi-channel LED driver addresses RGB and single colour solid state lighting

Fri, Feb 03, 2023

A linear current LED driver, the AL5887, offers a simple way of driving numerous LEDs to enable complex colour mixing and different lighting patterns, said Diodes. It integrates two interface options (I2C and SPI) for system design flexibility. It delivers a wide colour range and an extensive dynamic range of brightness levels, making it suitable for use in smart home appliances, electric vehicle charging stations, infotainment displays, IoT information indicators, and computing hardware.

The AL5887 has 36 independent programmable channels and can drive up to 12 RGB LED modules or 36 single-colour emitters. It features an internal 12-bit pulse-width modulation (PWM) for colour and 6-bit analogue brightness control, which can be accessed through either the SPI or I2C interface.

There are three programmable banks for software control of each colour for ease of programming and setting lighting module patterns. An independent colour-mixing and brightness register per channel enables better colour-mixing schemes, said Diodes. The dimming function relies on a PWM duty cycle from three to 100 per cent. Once the duty cycle goes below three per cent, internal circuitry converts the output to analogue dimming, maintaining linearity. By combining PWM and analogue dimming functions, a dimming ratio greater than 100K to 1 can be achieved.

The AL5887’s diagnostics with fault-reporting functions are combined with built-in protection capabilities, which include short-circuit and open-LED protection, as well as over-temperature shutdown. The pre-event over-temperature shutdown warning also results in earlier system protection.

Using the two external hardware address pins, up to four of these devices can be connected together in I2C mode. An internal 16MHz oscillator avoids the need for an external high-precision clock and therefore reduces the bill of materials (BoM) cost.

The AL5887 LED driver is supplied in a 52-pin wettable QFN package, with exposed pad for better heat dissipation.

http://www.diodes.com

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