LoRa Connect LR1121 lowers power consumption and extends range

The LoRa Connect LR1121 transceiver for use in IoT end points is claimed to bring the best LoRa transceiver RF performance to date, combined with a multi-band versatility which allows a single, low power chip to be used anywhere in the world, said Semtech.

LoRa enables data communication over a long range while using very little power. LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN standard are flexible for everything from long distance rural to indoor use cases in a wide range of industries including smart cities, homes and buildings, communities, agriculture, metering and utilities, healthcare, environment and supply chain and logistics.

The LoRa Connect LR1121 is pin-compatible with the current LoRa Edge devices, allowing module makers such as Murata to have a single hardware design for a wide range of applications, with global connectivity, advised Semtech. Similarly, integrated passive devices such as those from Johanson Technology can be used with the LoRa Connect LR1121 to offer a smaller footprint, reduce time to market and minimise design iterations, according to Semtech.

The highly integrated LoRa Connect LR1121 transceiver provides LoRaWAN connectivity for terrestrial low power wide area networks (LPWAN) operating at 470, 868 and 915MHz. It also provides LoRa 2.4GHz and the S-band for direct connection to satellites. 

“Semtech’s LoRa Connect is targeting the connectivity challenges faced by the industry today enabling widespread adoption and reinforcing LoRa’s position as the de-facto platform for IoT,” said Robert Comanescu, senior director of the IoT chips business at Semtech. He added, the company is continuing to invest and adding products “with multi-band LoRa support and LoRa Cloud services that will provide best in class, sustainable, ubiquitous and global IoT connectivity.” 

New modules and reference designs, developed in partnership with Johanson and Murata, are ready at launch and offer a smaller form factor, lower assembly costs and faster time to market. 

Murata’s Type 2GT module, supporting the LoRa Edge LR1110 and LR1120 products, now supports the LoRa Connect LR1121, for a pre-certified LR1121 variant that is  readily available.

Johanson Technology’s integrated passive device range is also compatible with the LR1121 and replaces many RF passives, allowing a smaller form factor and lower assembly costs. A reference design is available now on the Semtech website.

https://www.semtech.com 

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Wireless modules combine Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN

Exploring new opportunities in wireless communication, Murata has developed the LBES5PL2EL module. It is, said the company, optimised to the demands of IoT hardware and anticipates the demand for Matter connectivity.

The LBES5PL2EL is based on a highly-integrated IW612 single chip 2.4 / 5.0GHz device from NXP, which covers a broad array of wireless protocols, allowing Murata to incorporate 1×1 dual-band Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax), Bluetooth 5.3 and IEEE 802.15.4 into the Murata tri-radio module.

Bluetooth Low Energy Audio functionality has also been included with a view to its use in voice-controlled products. This latest generation of Bluetooth technology delivers heightened performance, while drawing less power, and is predicted to replace many of the current BR / EDR (basic rate / enhanced data rate) Bluetooth-based audio connections.

Murata has also introduced the LBEE5PL2DL module, based on the NXP IW611 device. It also features both Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 support.

The wireless combination modules can be used in home automation equipment, digital assistants, smart domestic appliances, lighting gateways, climate control systems and EV charging points. FCC/IC and TELEC certification plus conductive tests for CE are all available, to assist in accelerating time to market, while keeping product development costs down.

The Murata LBES5PL2EL and LBEE5PL2DL wireless combo modules are each supplied in compact surface-mount packages, with dimensions of just 8.8 x 7.7 x 1.3mm.

“There are still only a few Matter-compliant solutions on the market, yet the potential for it to deliver convenience and comfort to the places in which we live is huge,” states Akira Sasaki, director of the communication module division at Murata. “Thanks to the introduction of the LBES5PL2EL, we are now able to provide full support for Matter, including Thread, alongside Wi-Fi 6. This will be a real value to engineers developing hardware for home/building automation, as well as for numerous other purposes.”

http://www.murata.com

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Vision processor family brings scalable edge AI to smart cameras

Vision capabilities and AI processing for up to 12 cameras is afforded by the AM6xA family of vision processors released by Texas Instruments. They are designed for use in building, industrial and retail automation applications.

The family consists of six Arm Cortex-based vision processors that allow designers to add more vision and artificial intelligence (AI) processing at a lower cost, said TI. It is also defined by better energy efficiency which can be applied across the scale of vision applications whether video doorbells, machine vision or autonomous mobile robots.

The four AM62A versions, the AM68A and the AM69A processors are supported by open-source evaluation and model development tools, and common software that is programmable through industry-standard APIs, frameworks and models. 

The vision processors are affordable, said Sameer Wasson, vice president, processors at Texas Instruments. He continued, saying the “highly integrated SoCs will enable the future of embedded AI by allowing for more cameras and vision processing in edge applications.”

The AM62A3, AM62A3-Q1, AM62A7 and AM62A7-Q1, support one to two cameras at less than 2W. The low power devices target applications such as doorbell cameras and smart retail systems. The AM62A3 is claimed to be the industry’s lowest-cost 1-TOPS vision processor.

The other members of the family are the AM68A, which enables one to eight cameras in applications like machine vision, with up to 8 TOPS of AI processing for advanced video analytics.

The AM69A, which achieves 32 TOPS of AI processing for one to 12 cameras in high-performance applications such as edge AI boxes, autonomous mobile robots and traffic monitoring systems.

Processors feature an SoC architecture with integrated components including Arm Cortex-A53 or Cortex-A72 central processing units, a third-generation TI image signal processor, internal memory, interfaces, and hardware accelerators delivering AI processing for deep learning algorithms.

Beginning in Q2 2023, designers can accelerate time to market for their edge AI applications with a public beta of TI’s free open-source tool, Edge AI Studio. This web-based tool allows users to develop and test AI models quickly and easily using user-created models and TI’s optimised models, which can also be retrained with custom data.

AM68A processors are available now through TI and authorised distributors in production quantities. Pre-production samples of the AM62A and the AM69A are available through TI. Starter kits are available on TI.com for the AM62A, AM68A and AM69A.

http://www.TI.com

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2GHz real time spectrum analysis is for satellite communications

A software-based, real time spectrum analyser developed by Keysight, monitors satellite signals and interference. It supports industry-leading wide bandwidth analysis up to 2GHz, reduces analysis time, and improves probability of intercept, said Keysight Technologies. It also speeds design and testing of satellite payloads, lowers prototyping costs, and accelerates time-to-market through digital twins technology, added the company.
The N9042B UXA signal analyser is a 2GHz real time spectrum analysis (RTSA) instrument. The software-based analyser monitors satellite signals and interference, allowing satellite network operators to provide the highest quality of service (QoS) to users.
As the satellite communications (satcom) industry moves to high throughput satellites, satellite network operators are experiencing increased satellite signals and interference. Signal interference has been further complicated for satellite operators with the auction of traditional satcom frequency bands to terrestrial wireless operators. To ensure high QoS, satellite operators need to perform rigorous and accurate signal interference monitoring in real-time to identify anomalies and mitigate service degradation.
Keysight’s RTSA addresses this challenge by enabling the N9042B UXA signal analyser to conduct continuous, gapless capture and analysis of elusive and transient signals with industry-leading optical data interface (ODI) streaming up to 2GHz.
According to Keysight, benefits include reduced analysis time through Keysight’s advanced FPGA technology which enables a multi-threaded and parallelised RTSA measurement up to 2GHz bandwidth to minimise the time gap between processing / rendering and re-capturing signals. This reduces analysis time and improves the probability of intercept.
Support for ODI streaming at up to 2 GHz to RAID storage enables rapid, wide bandwidth streaming and capture of hours of signal recordings for analysis.
Keysight’s design and emulation has been used to for using digital twins that speed design and testing of satellite payloads, lower prototyping costs, and speed time-to-market.
The RTSA software is designed to run on the N9042B UXA signal analyser which  tests mmWave performance in 5G, satellite, and radar. When combined with the V3050A frequency extender for unbanded frequency coverage to 110GHz, the U9361 RCal receiver calibrator, the M9484B VXG signal generator, and the powerful PathWave X-Series and PathWave vector signal analysis measurement applications, the N9042B UXA provides real-time spectrum analysis bandwidth to 2GHz and streaming bandwidth to 2GHz for satellite communication systems.

Keysight showcased the real time spectrum monitoring capabilities of the Keysight RTSA test solution at Satellite 2023 (13 to 16 March) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Centre in Washington, DC, USA – Hall A & B, booth 1520.
http://www.keysight.com

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