Sector News

Gigabyte unveils servers for HPC, 5G edge and green computing at MWC 2023

Tue, Feb 21, 2023

At next week’s MWC in Barcelona, Gigabyte will present 5G edge and green computing servers. 

There will be a new server series aimed to deliver impact in high performance computing (HPC), AI development and cloud computing. The servers are for a academic institutions, and a variety of industries, such as aerospace centres, public cloud services, semiconductor companies and animation studios.

Gigabyte’s edge data centres will accelerate the 5G ecosystem growth, said the company. They can process data with “exceptional transmission speed and computing performance using less energy”. The short depth chassis design allows the servers to fit into limited spaces near data sources. They support a large amount of IoT devices in real time.

With growing coverage of 5G networks, smart manufacturing, automotive technology and smart cities are all driving increasing demand for edge data centres. Gigabyte said its edge servers are aimed to empower enterprises and institutes to unlock the infinite 5G-related business opportunities.

Another industry trend addresses by Gigabye is for “green” computing to boost data centre performance with a smaller carbon footprint and to contribute to meeting net zero targets. Electricity price hikes and extreme weathers make data centre cooling a critical demand in IT strategy. Gigabyte’s immersion cooling and compatible servers have been adopted by an IC foundry to improve its HPC data centre’s carbon emission and heat dissipation. Its PUE (power usage effectiveness) was significantly lowered to under 1.08 and the performance of HPC processors was boosted by over 10 per cent, reported Gigabyte.

Gigabyte has over 30 years’ of experience in motherboards and graphics cards, and provides businesses with server and data centre expertise. The company is devoted to inventing smart solutions that enable digitalisation from edge to cloud, and allow customers to capture, analyse, and transform digital information into economic data.

Visit Gigabyte at MWC 2023 (27 February to 02 March) Hall 5-5F60

http://www.gigabyte.com

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Software has a vision for programming industrial robots  

Fri, Feb 17, 2023

Mitsubishi Electric has updated its RT Toolbox3 and iQ Works2 to offer a new visual editor for programming SCADA and six-axis industrial robots. It has been designed with operators that are new to robotics in mind, and is designed to help users streamline the set-up of automated applications.

Both entry-level and experienced users can benefit from the new additions to RT Toolbox3 and iQ Works2, said Mitsubishi Electric. The latest update adds an intuitive GUI (graphical user interface) that features drag-and-drop building blocks to the programming environment. This enables the creation of flowchart diagrams to quickly set up and simulate robot workflows without requiring any specialist knowledge, said Mitsubishi Electric.

The pre-coded modules feature a configuration wizard that helps users to insert the parameters needed for the machine to move, pick, pause and repeat. As a result, it is possible to customise the robot actions for flexibility to make it easier to deploy industrial robots. 

The tool mirrors the framework used to set up and run the MELFA Assista collaborative robot (cobot). This means any operator that has experience with this system will be able to interact with industrial robots using a familiar environment with the option to compare the visual flowcharts with the automatically generated scripts. This will support users advance programming skills and offers an educational platform to interact with the two programming forms and develop a company’s future workforce.

Barry Weller, robotics product manager at Mitsubishi Electric, commented: “Industrial robots are generally misperceived as time, resource and cost intensive as well as too complex to be used for entry-level applications”. These additions expand the tools available, and with the graphical programming interface, targets novice users for ease of configuration and installation of any type of industrial robot, said the company.

“More experienced engineers can also benefit from this update, as it can help simplify and reduce their programming time,” said Weller. This is why Mitsubishi Electric has made the new functions available to new and existing customers. “We want to maximise accessibility to help companies improve and futureproof their operations,” he added.

The update is automatically included in recently purchased robot packages.

https://gb.mitsubishielectric.com 

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STMicroelectronics releases nine RF integrated passive devices (RF IPDs)

Fri, Feb 17, 2023

Nine RF integrated passive devices (RF IPDs) from STMicroelectronics combine antenna impedance-matching, balun, and harmonic filter circuity optimised for STM32WL wireless microcontrollers.

The STM32WL MCUs combine application-level processing and wireless communication for smart, connected devices. They integrate an Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller with a sub-GHz long range radio managed by a Cortex-M0+ core. The radio is LPWAN-compliant, supports multiple modulation schemes, and comes with LoRaWAN and Sigfox stacks included in the STM32CubeWL microcontroller software package.

The RF IPDs are in tiny chip scale packages. They connect the STM32WL microcontroller to its antenna and help maximise the RF performance. By integrating all the components on one die, STMicro said performance is consistent and avoids the process variations that affect conventional matching networks built with discrete components. They also simplify circuit design, save on bill of materials, and permit a smaller form factor, added ST.

The nine RF IPD variants let designers choose the optimum parameters according to the RF frequency range and power, microcontroller package type, and two- or four-layer PCB. 

The series comprises the BALFHB-WL-01D3 through BALFHB-WL-06D3 for applications at 868MHz and 915MHz. The BALFLB-WL-07D3, BALFLB-WL-08D3, and BALFLB-WL-09D3 are optimised for 490MHz. Each integrates the complete receive and transmit signal paths between the microcontroller and antenna. The integrated filter provides high attenuation of unwanted transmitter harmonics, for designers to satisfy the regulations set by radio licensing authorities worldwide.

All devices are in production now. They are offered in a 2.13 x 1.83mm eight-bump wafer-level chip-scale package with a profile below 630 micron after reflow. 

http://www.st.com

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SiT7910 Super-TCXO sets timekeeping benchmark, says SiTime 

Fri, Feb 17, 2023

Designed for aerospace and defence applications, the latest member of the Endura family by SiTime enables faster GPS signal acquisition and locking. The SiT7910 sets a new performance benchmark for timekeeping components, said the company.

The SiT7910 is part of the SiTime Endura ruggedised family in aerospace and defence devices which use global positioning system (GPS) signals, such as ruggedised handheld radios, ground vehicles and sensors. All can acquire and lock to GPS more quickly and securely with the 25 times higher precision of this Super-TCXO, said SiTime.

 “The GPS signal is ubiquitous and is a crucial part of national security, everyday communications, financial systems, and power grid operations,” said Piyush Sevalia, executive vice president of marketing at SiTime. “However, it is susceptible not just to environmental disruptions but also to jamming and spoofing”. It requires precision timekeeping, which ensures the faster and more secure acquisition of, and locking to GPS signals, even in the harshest of environmental conditions. The SiT7910 Super-TCXO uses SiTime’s MEMS, analogue and systems technologies.

Key features include 32.768kHz frequency and ±0.2 ppm frequency stability over -55 to +105 degrees C with performance up to 25 times better than legacy quartz technology, reported SiTime. The device maintains one second of accuracy for one year, versus legacy quartz devices that can only maintain it for one to 14 days.

The SiT7910 also has 20 ppb per g g-sensitivity for resilience in high-vibration environments. It also has low power consumption, typically 6.0 microA and ±5 ppm frequency ageing over 20 years.

Operating supply voltage is 1.62 to 3.63V.

The Super-TCXO is packaged in a space saving 2.5 x 2.0mm package and is Pb-free, RoHS, and REACH-compliant

The Endura SiT7910 is sampling now. Volume production is expected in Q2, 2023.

SiTime is a precision timing company, with products designed to enable customers to differentiate their products with higher performance, smaller size, lower power, and better reliability. 

http://www.sitime.com

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