onsemi combines low power consumption and security in BLE MCU family

The NCV-RSL15 combines the industry’s lowest power consumption and latest in embedded security, claimed onsemi. The low power automotive-grade wireless microcontroller with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity is designed for vehicle manufacturers using wireless connectivity to reduce the cost and weight of excess cabling as the number of sensors and in-vehicle communication grows. It also addresses heightened security concerns resulting from more sensors and increased attack vectors.

They can be used, for example in tyre monitoring systems and other applications which use multiple sensors. Some applications now have a requirement for a 10-year battery lifetime. The NCV-RSL15 is certified by the EEMBC as the industry’s lowest power secure, wireless microcontroller, reported onsemi. It also features the proprietary smart sense power mode.

Its small size also makes it suitable for portable remote access devices and other space-constrained in-tyre and in-vehicle locations, said Michel De Mey, vice president of the Industrial Solutions Division at onsemi

As the number of access points increases, so does the number of potential attack vectors that must be secured to protect against unauthorised wireless access to the vehicle’s central body computer or central processing unit. The NCV-RSL15’s embedded security is based on the Arm CryptoCell featuring hardware-based root-of-trust secure boot, many user-accessible hardware-accelerated cryptographic algorithms, and firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) capabilities to enable future firmware updates and deployment of security patches.

The software development kit has a library of sample code.

onsemi focuses on automotive and industrial end-markets and says it is accelerating change in megatrends such as vehicle electrification and safety, sustainable energy grids, industrial automation, and 5G and cloud infrastructure. Onsemi’s product portfolio includes intelligent power and sensing technologies.

http://www.onsemi.com 

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Two IC families are for small form factor IoT devices

The xG27 family of Bluetooth SoCs and the BB50 microcontroller are designed for the smallest IoT devices, said Silicon Labs.

The xG27 and BB50 families range in size from 2mm2 up to 5 mm2. They offer IoT device designers energy efficiency, performance and security, and in the case of the xG27 family, wireless connectivity. Both families are suitable for tiny, battery-optimised devices like connected medical devices, wearables, asset monitoring tags, smart sensors, simple consumer electronics like toothbrushes and toys.

The ICs are intended to help developers build exciting new devices while also simplifying their development processes, all while maintaining the low-power and small form-factor requirements for extremely small devices,” said Matt Johnson, CEO.

The xG27 family of SoCs comprises the BG27, for Bluetooth connectivity, and the MG27, supporting Zigbee and other proprietary protocols. Built around the Arm Cortex M33 processor, the BG27 and MG27 are supplied in  wafer-level chip scale packaging, down to 2.3 x 2.6mm, suitable for compact and unobtrusive devices like medical patches, continuous glucose monitors, wearable electrocardiograms, and asset tags in retail and agriculture.

The integrated DC/DC boost allows the devices to operate on batteries as low as 0.8V and the integrated coulomb counter is for battery level monitoring to avoid battery depletion during use.

Silicon Labs’ Secure Vault with virtual security engine (VSE) ensures secure boot and debug which are hardened against glitch attacks, tamper protection. There are also features designed to protect the device and its users’ data from local and remote cyber threats, said Silicon Labs.

They also have shelf mode, which reduces energy use to less than 20 nanoA so that devices can be transported and stocked on shelves while maintaining nearly full battery life for the end-user.

The BB50 8-bit microcontrollers have a high performance core, optimised for a large number of single cycle instructions to improve operating efficiency. They also have wide operating voltage ranges and low power modes to improve energy efficiency. 

They operate with Silicon Labs’ Simplicity Studio and a fully-featured 8-bit compiler.

http://www.silabs.com

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IoT sensor hubs monitors remotely for smarter data collection

Encouraging sustainability through smarter data collection, Danish company, MicroTechnic has unveiled its latest generation of IoT sensor hubs. Skylark is a enables the monitoring and collection of data from any remote application. 

It is simple to set up and connect to any sensor, said Micro Technic and is supplied with a device management platform to ensure cyber-safe data transmission at the edge. According to the company, Skylark is also an extremely low power, sustainable IoT gateway that can be powered by battery or solar energy. 

Potential applications are an IoT datalogger to provide early warning signs of changes to weather conditions.

The Skylark does not need a traditional power supply, which means that devices can be deployed on the highest mountains, the stormiest coastal areas or the most remote regions in the world,” said Micro Technic’s CEO, Frank Max Laursen.

Skylark can also be used to analyse traffic patterns by collecting critical data. This enables planners to find smarter ways to manage and improve the infrastructure and traffic. By taking this approach, cities can be made smarter and more sustainable, and the number of deaths from road accidents can be reduced.

In manufacturing, Skylark helps manufactures to monitor any process in the production line and make sustainable choices to improve productivity and reduce downtime. It can optimise resources and eliminate inefficient production processes, said Micro Technic. It can be retrofitted to existing equipment, thereby increasing machine lifetime and supporting circular business models. “As well as ensuring product efficiency during its life, IoT can give manufactures insight as to when products are no longer being used, and can also tell the manufactures where their old hardware is located, via the internet-connectivity of the products. This means we can provide a ‘cradle-to-grave’ service,” said Laursen.

http://www.micro-technic.com

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Aurix and Traveo MCUs support IEC 61508 for SIL-3 safety

Industrial control systems must have a minimal error rate even in harsh environments. Infineon has announced that its Aurix TC3x and Traveo T2G microcontroller families address these requirements with a wide range of integrated hardware functional safety and cybersecurity features. Infineon has extended support from ISO26262 to IEC61508 hardware and software metrics, including all documentation required for functional safety certification, for both microcontroller families. In addition, Infineon’s AutoSAR Microcontroller Abstraction Layer (MCAL) low level driver software product supports the IEC 61508 metrics.

The driver software has been deployed in the mobility market and now enables other functional safety applications including medical devices, industrial drives, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), robotics together with indoor applications such as lifts/elevators or machinery.

Ralf Koedel, vice president, microcontrollers, at Infineon, commented: “The demand for minimal errors in harsh environments has tightened up the requirements for industrial control systems. With the . . . extended support for IEC 61508 metrics, however, developers can count on a series of proven microcontrollers to design safety-critical applications and rely on the available diagnostic analysis documentation (FMEDA and safety manual).”

The failure modes effects and FMEDA documentation shows IEC 61508 failure rates and safety metrics calculated at both MCU and basic function levels. By extending the support of the Aurix TC3x and Traveo T2G microcontrollers from ISO26262 to IEC61508 metrics, developers can achieve SIL-1-3 for industrial applications. 

Infineon added that it has created a strong ecosystem of design partners to pave the way for safety-critical designs up to SIL-4 and offers reliable support for functional-safety certification.

The Aurix TC3x and Traveo T2G microcontrollers will be exhibited at Embedded World 2023 (14 to 16 March 2023) in Nuremberg, Germany at the Infineon stand Hall 4A – 138.

http://www.infineon.com

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