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QuickLogic partners with Nuance Communications for voice recognition

Fri, Sep 13, 2019

Multi-core, voice-enabled SoCs, embedded FPGA IP, and endpoint AI provider, QuickLogic is partnering with conversational AI and ambient intelligence specialist, Nuance Communications, to deliver low power, wake word and voice command technology for power-sensitive applications, such as hearable and wearable devices.

Nuance’s voice recognition technology and QuickLogic’sEOS S3 voice and sensor processing platform will provide customers an end-to-end, reliable hardware and software voice recognition solution, says QuickLogic.

The low power Nuance voice recognition technology has been integrated with QuickLogic’s advanced EOS Voice and Sensor Processing SoC. The SoC’s architecture is claimed to enable the industry’s most advanced and compute intensive sensor processing capability at a fraction of the power consumption of competing technologies.

The Nuance technology provides the performance and low power consumption required for always-on wake word detection, and specifically supports the Alexa wake-word protocol. Technical enhancements enable it to improve voice recognition accuracy in difficult or noisy environments.

The integrated system supports always-on, always-listening fixed triggers, user defined triggers and phrases, and commands that can be accurately detected in silent to extremely noisy environments.

Scott Haylock, director of product marketing at QuickLogic, explains:”In response to customer demand, and the growing hearables market, we’ve augmented the EOS S3 OPEN Software Platform to include Nuance’s technology. This addition helps QuickLogic address the largest possible product mix of new and existing voice-controlled end-products.”

The EOS S3 platform with integrated Nuance voice processing is available now.

QuickLogic is a fabless semiconductor company that develops low power, multi-core semiconductor platforms and IP for artificial intelligence (AI), voice and sensor processing. It supplies embedded FPGA IP (eFPGA) for hardware acceleration and pre-processing, and heterogeneous multi-core SoCs that integrate eFPGA with other processors and peripherals. The Analytics Toolkit provides sensor algorithms using AI technology.

http://www.quicklogic.com

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ON Semiconductor’s digital image sensor enables AI vision systems

Thu, Sep 12, 2019

Intelligent vision systems for viewing and artificial intelligence (AI) can be implemented using the low power 0.3Mpixel image sensor announced by ON Semiconductor.

The ARX3A0 digital image sensor has 0.3Mpixel resolution in a 1:1 aspect ratio. It can perform like a global shutter in many conditions, with up to 360 frames per second (fps) capture rate, yet with the size, performance and response levels that relate to being a back-side illuminated (BSI) rolling shutter sensor, explains ON Semiconductor. It has a small size, square format and high frame rate, making it particularly suitable for emerging machine vision, AI and augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) applications, as well as small supplemental security cameras.

To meet the demands of applications that provide still or streaming images, the ARX3A0 is designed to deliver flexible, high-performance image capture with minimal power. It consumes less than 19mW when capturing images at 30 frames per second, and just 2.5mW when capturing one frame per second.

The 1/10 in square format enables low height modules and the 3.5 mm die size helps maximise the sensor’s field of view. It can therefore be used in emerging applications where orientation is not fixed but space is limited, such as AR/VR goggles, monitoring the wearer’s eye movement. Eye movement data can be used to adjust the image viewed and possibly mitigate motion sickness. Another application is simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM), which can also capitalise on the ARX3A0’s size and low power.

The monochrome sensor is based on a 560 by 560 active-pixel array featuring ON Semiconductor’s NIR+ technology, giving it high sensitivity at near IR wavelengths for performance in no-light conditions or when lighting is used that is non-detectable by the human eye.

Power management features include the ability to automatically wake from a low power mode when detecting motion or lighting changes in the scene. This allows the sensor to become the main source of wake for an entire camera system saving even more system power.

Gianluca Colli, vice president and general manager, Consumer Solution Division of Image Sensor Group at ON Semiconductor said: “As we approach an era where AI is becoming an integral part of vision-based systems, it becomes clear that we now share this world with a new kind of intelligence. The ARX3A0 has been designed for that new breed of machine, where vision is as integral to their operation as it is ours.”

The ARX3A0 is available in both chip scale package and reconstructed wafer die. Evaluation boards running on ON Semiconductor’s industry leading PC-based DevWare system and prototype modules are also available through ON Semiconductor and authorised distributors.

http://www.onsemi.com

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Smartrac steps up security with NFC PRO tags

Fri, Sep 06, 2019

RFID technology and IoT specialist, Smartrac has launched the Pro series of NFC tags and inlays. The Circus Pro NFC tag, equipped with NXP’s NTAG 424 DNA IC, will be the first member of the new product series optimised for highly secure product authentication.

By embedding Circus, or subsequent Pro inlays or tags, into physical products, customers can turn products into secure digital platforms. Smartrac says they can deliver value during the product lifetime, from point of manufacture, through the supply chain, distribution channels, point of sales, customer use, to reselling and recycling. Secure product authentication protects against counterfeiting and diversions and also provide exclusive content and rewards for consumer engagement and customer loyalty programs.

“As the number of connected objects is expected to reach a record 40 billion by 2022, organisations of all sizes are seeking not just feature-rich, connectivity solutions but ones that can securely protect their brand, their products, and their customers,” said Philippe Dubois, vice president and general manager of IoT Security, Smart Mobility and Retail at NXP.

Smartrac’s Circus Pro inlays and tags with NXP’s NTAG 424 DNA ICs work with all NFC-enabled devices and support real-time tag and message authentication based on AES-128 encryption on attack-resistant certified silicon. The secure unique NFC (SUN) authentication enables authentic, integrity protected and confidential data exchanges between tags and servers. This high-end security IC offers enhanced privacy features and a sensitive on-chip data storage, says Smartrac, protected by a sophisticated three-pass mutual authentication scheme.

Future Pro features and options will include different security layers, allowing customers to enable secure product authentication for a range of applications. Smartrac will soon introduce further Pro versions of its popular NFC inlays and tags such as Bullseye and Midas, the company confirmed.

NFC-based secure product authentication can be achieved through a choice of verification services to comply with individual customer requirements. The secret keys cannot be copied or tampered and physical product authenticity can be proven once the Pro inlays and tags are irremovably embedded into or attached to the physical product.

Smartrac’s Circus Pro NFC inlays and tags with NTAG 424 DNA will become available in large quantities in Q3 2019 as wet inlays and the Circus Pro Flex wet inlays, which come with an additional protective layer for the IC and antenna connection area for enhanced durability.

http://www.smartrac-group.com

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ON Semiconductor uses PoE to meet IoT endpoints’ power demands

Thu, Sep 05, 2019

Using the new IEEE 802.3bt standard, Power over Ethernet (PoE) can be used to deliver high-speed connectivity up to 90W of power over local area network (LAN) connections. ON Semiconductor has announced that controllers and MOSFETs not only support the new standard power limit, but extends it further to 100W for systems including telecommunications and digital signage.

The IEEE 802.3bt standard for PoE enables more sophisticated endpoints operating across larger networks, explains ON Semiconductor. The IEEE 802.3bt standard optimises energy management through the new Autoclass feature, which enables powered devices (PDs) to communicate specific power needs to the power sourcing equipment (PSE). This in turn allows each PSE to allocate just the right amount of power to each PD, maximising both the available energy and bandwidth.

Three times the power is available with IEEE 802.3bt (90W, compared to the 30W provided by the IEEE 802.at standard, or PoE+). IEEE 802.3bt can provide both power and connectivity to new applications that would otherwise require a dedicated and typically off-line power source. PoE will simplify network topologies and provide a more robust plug-and-play user experience, explains ON Semiconductor.

ON Semiconductor offers the NCP1095 and NCP1096 interface controllers. Both incorporate all of the features needed to implement a PoE interface, including detection, auto-classification and current limiting. The controllers employ either an external (NCP1095) or internal (NCP1096) hot-swap FET. The integrated hot-swap FET in the NCP1096 features the lowest on-resistance available in a Type 3 or Type 4 PoE controller

The controllers are complemented by the NCP1566 DC/DC controller, the FDMC8622 single MOSFET and the FDMQ8203 and FDMQ8205A GreenBridge Quad MOSFETs. These have been developed to provide a more efficient alternative to a diode bridge in PoE applications. Together, these devices enable highly efficient PoE interfaces with up to the standard limit of 90W or to a proprietary 100W.

The company believes it offers a complete family of IEEE 802.3bt-compliant products, to make the technology more accessible and enable more connected devices with guaranteed interoperability.

“PoE is one of the fastest-growing markets for power semiconductors today, with a compound average unit growth rate of 14 per cent expected from 2017 through to 2022,” said Kevin Anderson, senior analyst, power semiconductors at business information provider IHS Markit. “The additional power-delivery capability defined in IEEE 802.3bt enables new applications, such as higher-powered connected lighting, networked high-resolution surveillance cameras and high-performance wireless access points.”

http://www.onsemi.com

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QuickLogic partners with Nuance Communications for voice recognition

ON Semiconductor’s digital image sensor enables AI vision systems

Smartrac steps up security with NFC PRO tags

ON Semiconductor uses PoE to meet IoT endpoints’ power demands

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