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Trio combine engineering and IoT expertise for wireless multi-sensor modules

Wed, May 20, 2020

Arrow Electronics, Panasonic Industry and STMicroelectronics have collaborated to provide low power, wireless, multi-sensors, edge intelligence modules for smart factory and smart home applications.

Arrow contributes engineering and global distribution capabilities for Panasonic Industry’s IoT modules which are based on the ST Microelectronics BlueTile (STEVAL-BCN002V1B) multi-sensor development kit. The kit is designed to enable customers to test ideas and bring IoT products to market faster.

The IoT Solution Module features ST’s latest BlueNRG Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 SoC, paired with inertial, environmental and audio sensors. The on-board sensors enable the cost-effective delivery of a range of IoT applications for smart factory and smart home applications.

The module reduces bill of materials cost by combining an accelerometer and gyroscope with time of flight, pressure and humidity sensors with Bluetooth communications. The low power design enables OEM customers to “dramatically slash time-to-market and reduce design expense and complexity using certified modules,” said Arrow.

“The modern embedded design requires sensors and wireless connectivity. This is accelerating based on the breadth of wireless standards being integrated into products. However, using sensors and designing the supporting circuitry for the task would take a lot of time and resources to develop,” explained Matthias Hutter, vice president of product management and supplier marketing at Arrow Electronics in EMEA.

“Additional certification time is needed . . . . Using pre-qualified wireless sensor modules in the system design [saves] development time and budget which speeds up time to market for our customers. By working with ST and Panasonic we are bringing the fundamental sensor and wireless building blocks in a great package for accelerated design,” he concluded.

Distributor Arrow Electronics liaises with 175,000 leading technology manufacturers and service providers.

Panasonic Industry Europe is part of the global Panasonic Group and provides automotive and industrial products and services in Europe.

The company’s portfolio covers key electronic components, devices and modules up to complete solutions and production equipment for manufacturing lines across a broad range of industries. Panasonic Industry Europe is part of the global company.

STMicroelectronics is a semiconductor company, specialising in intelligent and energy-efficient products and solutions, enabling smarter driving and smarter factories, cities and homes, along with the next generation of mobile and IoT devices.

http://www.arrow.com

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NXP enhances Bluetooth microcontroller family

Tue, May 19, 2020

Bluetooth 5.0 long range capabilities and Bluetooth advertising channels have been added to NXP Semiconductors’ KW3x family of microcontrollers. The KW39, KW38 and KW37 microcontrollers extend the wireless microcontroller family.

They offer seamless migration with hardware, software and tools compatibility with the previous generation of devices, KW34, KW35 and KW36. The connectivity microcontrollers allow Bluetooth LE devices to communicate at distances of more than a mile and increase the amount of Bluetooth advertising channels and advertising data within the Bluetooth standard, says NXP.

The KW39, KW38 and KW37 wireless microcontrollers are designed with automotive and industry-grade hardware and software, along with robust serial communications with CAN-FD peripherals. They are suitable for automotive applications, such as keyless entry, sensors and wireless onboard diagnostic functions. They also enable industrial applications such as building control and monitoring, fire and safety, home and institutional healthcare, asset management and monitoring.

NXP claims that the KW39, KW38 and KW37 deliver best-in-class RF performance, with extreme RX sensitivity to allow for the long range Bluetooth LE connections. They achieve -105 dBM RX sensitivity with LE-coded 125kbits per second data rate, for example, allowing for connections in harsh environments and at extended distances. The radio supports up to eight simultaneous secure connections in any master/slave combination, allowing multiple authorised users to communicate with the device. The microcontroller’s data stream buffer allows the capture of radio parameters without stalling processor or DMA operations, enabling high-accuracy measurements needed for distance and angle approximations.

NXP’s MCUXpresso tool suite features a certified Bluetooth LE software stack with application programming interface calls. The KW39, KW38 and KW37 microcontrollers extend the previous generation of devices with hardware and software compatibilities for faster design cycles. In addition, the KW38 microcontroller integrated FlexCAN, enables seamless integration into an industrial CAN communication network or an automobile’s in-vehicles network. The FlexCAN module can support CAN’s flexible data rate (CAN FD) for increased bandwidth and lower latency. In addition, the KW38 integrated FlexCAN, enables seamless integration into an industrial CAN or an automobile’s in-vehicles network. The FlexCAN module can support CAN’s flexible data rate for increased bandwidth and lower latency.

The KW39, KW38 and KW37 wireless microcontrollers feature AEC-Q100 Grade 2 and industrial qualifications for exceptional durability and performance for safety-critical applications

RF transmit power and receive sensitivity enhancements, including -105dBm typical Bluetooth LE sensitivity in 125kbits per second, -98dBm typical Bluetooth LE sensitivity in 1Mbits per second, -101dBm typical generic FSK (at 250kbits per second) sensitivity and +5dBm maximum transmit output power provide an advanced link budget that helps ensure long range of communication and a high immunity to interference

The AES-128 accelerator is a true random number generator for fast encryption/decryption, using hardware security algorithms for network commissioning and transmission of supported protocols.

The microcontrollers are supplied in a 7.0 x 7.0mm wettable flanks 48HVQFN package with up to 512kbyte flash memory with ECC and 64kbyte SRAM, allowing space for protocol stacks, application profiles and custom user firmware.

http://www.nxp.com

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Nvidia prepares for data centre growth with latest NIC

Mon, May 18, 2020

Claimed to be the industry’s first secure Ethernet smart network interface controller (NIC), the Nvidia Mellanox ConnectX-6 Lx SmartNIC is designed to meet the growth in enterprise and cloud scale-out workloads.

The 25/50Gbits per second Ethernet smart NIC is the 11th generation product in the ConnectX family. It is designed for data centres, where 25Gbits per second connections are becoming standard for handling demanding workflows, such as enterprise applications, artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time analytics.

The ConnectX-6 Lx SmartNIC SmartNIC extends accelerated computing by leveraging software-defined, hardware-accelerated engines to offload more security and network processing from CPUs, explained Nvidia.

Accelerated security features such as IPsec in-line cryptography and hardware root of trust, and a 10-fold performance improvement for connection tracking, enable zero trust security throughout the data centre.

According to the company, best-in-class remote direct memory access (RDMA) over converged Ethernet (RoCE), provides GPUDirect RDMA acceleration for NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) storage, to accelerate computing and high-speed video transfer applications and to offload networking. The zero touch RoCE (ZTR) affords scalable, easy-to-deploy, best-in-class RoCE without switch configuration, added Nvidia.

The Mellanox ConnectX-6 Lx provides two ports of 25Gbits per second, or a single port of 50Gbits per second and Ethernet connectivity with PCIe Gen 3.0/4.0 x8 host connectivity.

Accelerated switching and packet processing (ASAP2), with built-in SR-IOV and VirtIO hardware offloads for virtualisation and containerization, to accelerate software-defined networking and connection tracking for next-generation firewall services

ConnectX-6 Lx is sampling now, with general availability expected in Q3 2020.

Mellanox SmartNICs and software are used in cloud, hyperscale and enterprise data centers, high-performance computing, cybersecurity, and financial services systems around the world.

Nvidia is credited with inventing the graphics processing unit (GPU) in 1999. The GPU is credited with sparking the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics, and revolutionised parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI — the next era of computing — with the GPU acting as the brain of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand the world.

(Pic credit: Vladimir_Timofeev)

http://nvidianews.nvidia.com

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Robust connectors provide high-speed transmission for industry, says Hirose

Mon, May 18, 2020

The ix Industrial series of I/O connectors have been developed by Hirose for use in space-constrained industrial applications requiring high-speed signal transmission up to 10Gbits per second.

The connector series reduces functional space by up to 75 per cent and footprint by two-thirds compared to RJ45 solutions, says the company. They also support CAT5e (1Gbits per second) and CAT6A (10Gbits per second) cabling.

The ix Industrial series I/O connectors’ EMI/ESD shielding design is optimised for secure data transmission up to 10Gbits per second.

The series is compliant with the standard IEC 61076-3-124. Models in the range have receptacles and plugs with two keying codes, differentiating Ethernet according to IEEE 802.3 from other applications.

There are two receptacle types within the variations. The upright right angle type can be mounted in parallel with a pitch distance of only 10mm to save space. The vertical type allows the mating plug to be mated from the top giving design flexibility.

A horizontal right angle type is currently being developed. This model is designed with a height of 5.7mm, less than half the height of Hirose’s RJ45 connector. This version is intended for use in devices where height is limited. It can also be used for thin-type control panels and FA control equipment.

The receptacle shell is mounted on the board via through-hole solder legs to enhance the retention to the board and to resist the wrenching of the cable assembly, protecting the surface-mount contacts.

The plugs are available in IDC and solder type. The wire-termination unit and cable clamp are integrated into a continuous metal shell, which prevents the connecting part of the cable assembly from being affected by the load on the cable.

Other design features are 10 contact, and a current rating of 1.5A or 3.0A if only fur pins are used.

The voltage rating is 50V AC / 60V DC. The robust connectors are tested to 5,000 mating cycles and to withstand an insertion/extraction force of 25N.

The connectors are RoHS-compliant and have an operating temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C.

Target applications include factory automation controllers, servo amplifiers, industrial robotics, servers, programmable logic controllers and security systems.

http://www.hirose.com/eu

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Trio combine engineering and IoT expertise for wireless multi-sensor modules

NXP enhances Bluetooth microcontroller family

Nvidia prepares for data centre growth with latest NIC

Robust connectors provide high-speed transmission for industry, says Hirose

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