IoT

Low-cost RFID ICs bring flexible electronics to everyday objects

Fri, Feb 08, 2019

Cost-effective digital traceability and interactivity can be introduced to everyday objects with the ConnectIC family of flexible RFID circuits, says PragmatIC.

The flexible IC company introduces the first products in the ConnectIC family, the PR1101 and PR1102 flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs). They are designed for use in closed high frequency, radio frequency identification (HF RFID) systems. The company expects the ConnectIC family to accelerate the smart packaging market.

They FlexICs have been developed using PragmatIC’s patented technologies and the ConnectICs are claimed to deliver connectivity at the lowest cost point in the market. These FlexICs are thin and flexible, making them suitable for embedding into a range of substrates, including paper and plastic. They reduce the complexity of inlays by using single layer antennae, which further reduces the cost to brand owners and retailers.

The ConnectICs can be used for high volume, fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) and other mass market applications; PragmatIC believes they mean that electronic connectivity no longer limited to high value, luxury items.

The PR1100 is designed for proximity identification, with rapid detection of objects when one or more low-cost custom readers are integrated into the system. They can be used for hierarchical inventory management, item identification and tracking, supply chain assurance and brand authentication. They are targeted at market segments such as food and beverage, personal and home care, pharmaceutical and healthcare. They also support the introduction of digital interactivity into physical toys and games.

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https://www.pragmatic.tech

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Location-aware sensors distribute data in smart factory

Thu, Jan 31, 2019

Location-aware wireless sensors from Nanotron target manufacturing, healthcare and mining, while the company’s 360° Edge Analytics tools process data from any sensor in conjunction with any location radio technology.

Location-aware sensors report their location and executing data analytics at the edge of the IoT means real-time performance with low-latency location-awareness for the industrial IoT (IIoT), reported Dr Jens Albers, CEO at nanotron. He went on to say that Nanotron’s 360° Edge Analytics delivers 360° visibility of events related to people, assets, machines and vehicles.

Location-aware sensors are built on Nanotron’s swarm bee tag-ready, smart RF modules, using a common API. Available deployment and productivity tools enables customers to scale up, to increase the number of tracked objects and the size of the monitored area. Offering a per-node coverage range of up to 500m, the solution tracks objects with an accuracy down to 100mm. It leverages the advantages of concurrent data communication, ranging and tracking and provides a power-efficient approach for extended battery life of mobile devices.

Functions can be as straightforward as automatic collision warning and real-time tracking. More sophisticated and powerful sensing and location-awareness capabilities can be added at deployment or in the future. Nanotron believes its step-by-step implementation simplifies the deployment process as well as software integration to minimise time to market.

Nanotron is a provider of electronic location awareness solutions to deliver position data augmented by context information in real-time.

http://www.nanotron.com

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Wireless Gecko software exploits Bluetooth 5.1 direction finding feature

Thu, Jan 31, 2019

Bluetooth software for Silicon Labs’ Wireless Gecko portfolio, has the direction finding feature which was added to Bluetooth 5.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specification on Monday 28 January.

Targeting location services, the direction finding feature in Bluetooth 5.1 allows devices to determine the direction of a Bluetooth signal.  The feature supports multiple methods for determining signal direction including angle-of-arrival (AoA) and angle-of-departure (AoD). Silicon Labs’ implementation of the feature enables detection of signal direction within five degrees. To date, Bluetooth asset tracking and indoor positioning solutions have typically provided location accuracy within a range of three to four metres. Using the Silicon Labs Bluetooth 5.1 solution, developers can create products that improve location accuracy down to the sub-one meter level. The addition to the Blutetooth specification is described as a “huge leap in location services accuracy for the industry” by Matt Johnson, senior vice president and general manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs.

In addition to improved location services, Bluetooth 5.1 also helps developers to reduce power consumption with sleep clock accuracy updates, improve smart home connection performance using GATT caching functionality and to optimise beaconing for Bluetooth mesh in crowded RF environments with the advertisement channel index feature.

Silicon Labs’ direction finding software, including support for the AoA method, is available today to selected customers through the Silicon Labs Simplicity Studio development kit.

Silicon Labs provides silicon and software for connectivity for the IoT, internet infrastructure, industrial automation, consumer and automotive markets.

http://www.silabs.com

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Kit evaluates microcontrollers to jump-start development

Thu, Jan 31, 2019

The One-Board Discovery Kit from STMicroelectronics contains three eight-pin STM8 microcontrollers and is offered for sale by STMicroelectonics for less than $10.00.

The STM8-SO8-Disco 8bit microcontroller Discovery Kit lets users evaluate all three STM8 variants currently available in the popular eight-pin SO8 package, says STMicroelectronics.

The simple kit has a single button and indicator LED for interacting with the board, while the embedded STLINK/V2 and USB port simplify in-circuit debugging and programming from a connected PC. The microcontrollers are soldered onto individual break-offs that can be separated from the compact main board as pluggable DIL-8 modules ready to start prototyping.

The supported MCUs are the STM8S001J3M3, STM8L001J3M3, and STM8L050J3M3. The STM8S001J3M3 delivers affordable performance with features including advanced 16bit timers with three comparator outputs, three capture-compare channels, a 10bit ADC, and an 8bit timer. The low-power STM8L001J3M3 consumes just 0.3 microA in ‘halt’ mode and integrates 8- and 16bit timers and two comparators. The STM8L050J3M3 adds a 12-bit ADC and four-channel DMA controller for low-power technology.

The microcontrollers have the STM8 core, running at 16MHz, and 8kbyte on-chip flash. System-control features include watchdog and clock control, and popular communication interfaces including UART, SPI, and Fast I2C. The microcontrollers have up to six user I/Os, making them suitable for use in industrial sensors, home-automation devices, smart lighting, access cards, battery chargers, or smart printer cartridges.

http://www.st.com

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