Sector News

Wireless modules offer direct to cloud connectivity

Fri, Dec 03, 2021

Two wireless modules, smaller than the earlier Talaria TWO models, have been announced by InnoPhase. The fabless semiconductor company has introduced the 

Talaria TWO INP1014 and INP1015 Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth Low Energy 5 modules.

They combine wireless connectivity and an integrated microcontroller for edge-of-network IoT devices that require low power consumption and a direct-to-cloud connection, says the company. The modules ar3 40 per cent smaller than the INP1010 and INP1011 models introduced in 2020. 

The Talaria TWO INP1014 and INP1015 Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth Low Energy 5 modules are designed for the development of smart IoT products, such as connected sensors, security cameras, asset tracking devices, health monitoring wearables and audio speakers.

The INP1014 and 1015 modules are claimed to provide the industry’s lowest power Wi-Fi connectivity by virtue of its programmable, digital radio architecture. They include multi-protocol Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy 5 long range for wireless data transfer, an embedded Arm Cortex-M3 for system control and user applications, plus advanced security elements for device safeguards. They can operate in standalone mode, in conjunction with an external microcontroller or in a hybrid mode. The miniaturised form factor includes various antenna options and global certifications for extended battery life. 

“By 2025, ABI Research expects the IoT Wi-Fi segment that can benefit from such low power innovations to reach over 1 billion devices,” said Andrew Zignani, principal analyst, ABI Research. 

To showcase the ease of integrating the INP1014 and INP1015 into smaller IoT devices, InnoPhase developed a low power sensor board reference design that enables product creativity and shortens time to market.

InnoPhase is headquartered in San Diego, California, USA and is a fabless wireless semiconductor platform company specialising in extreme low power wireless IoT solutions. It developed the Talaria TWO multi-protocol chipset with what is claimed to be the world’s lowest power Wi-Fi radio using a programmable digital polar radio architecture. 

http://www.innophaseinc.com 

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Infineon partners with AWS to accelerate IoT product development

Thu, Dec 02, 2021

Support for the AWS IoT ExpressLink standards and specifications has been announced for the AIROC IFW56810 cloud connectivity manager by Infineon Technologies.

The combination enables developers to connect products such as industrial sensors, home appliances, irrigation systems and medical devices to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Developers can also use it to implement IoT applications to offload the complex work required to securely connect devices to AWS. According to Infineon, this allows developers to focus on core competencies to build products, while reducing design efforts and accelerating time to market. The cloud connectivity manager is pre-certified with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

“Traditionally, connecting devices to the cloud has been a difficult and time-consuming process that requires developers to possess a wide range of technical competencies in Wi-Fi, embedded systems, antenna design and cloud configuration along while creating complex code,” said Rob Conant, vice president of Software and Ecosystem at Infineon. “We are excited to continue our work with AWS to help engineers focus on building products that get to market faster and to create new revenue streams,” he said.

The AIROC allows developers to use simple configuration commands, such as “connect” and “send” to establish a connection and start streaming data to AWS. This can be done within hours, instead of weeks, says Infineon.

It also enables OEMs to transform products into IoT devices without merging large amounts of code, or without requiring a deep understanding of the implementation. There is also the ability to connect various devices to AWS, while preserving the original application software and avoiding costly redesign.

The system is software upgradable via over the air (OTA) upgrades and there is also support for host OTA upgrades for security and future proofing. Regardless of scale, data is securely transmitted to and from the cloud via Wi-Fi, confirms Infineon.

The system supports CIRRENT Cloud ID, which ensures that each device has a unique identity and assignment to a product company stored in a secure hardware element to ensure a fail-proof mechanism.

Infineon’s AIROC wireless products, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combinations. The family leverages a common software framework across Android, Linux, RTOS platforms and are pre-integrated with Infineon’s ModusToolbox software and tools. 

http://www.infineon.com

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People counting keeps the workplace safe

Wed, Dec 01, 2021

For people detection and counting in indoor spaces, such as office space and municipal areas, Analog Devices has developed the EagleEye ADSW4000 which uses the PeopleCount algorithm.

It is the first in a series of application-level software algorithms forming part of the ADI EagleEye platform that includes a hardware subsystem based on ADI’s Blackfin embedded DSP and a set of application-level software building blocks enabling users to quickly develop their own people counting system. The ADSW4000 algorithm provides system edge node analytics to allow intelligent insight into use of space, and how people move safely within that space with distance monitoring. It is also useful to gather intelligence on the energy efficiency of spaces within ‘smart’ buildings. 

The EagleEye counts people in indoor areas, based on the x and y co-ordinates of a person’s location. It uses zoned performance, enabling multiple areas for wider coverage and edge processing. The metadata is output over UART and no captured images are transmitted. 

EagleEye can solve workspace needs and maximise worker wellbeing and productivity, says ADI. For maximum coverage area applications, accuracy of 80 per cent can be achieved in a 5m radius.

The Eval-ADSW4000KTZ evaluation kit with embedded ADSW4000 algorithm and cloud dashboard access is available now. 

Analog Devices offers a suite of analogue and mixed signal, power management, radio frequency (RF), and digital and sensor technologies for customers in the industrial, communications, automotive, and consumer markets. 

http://www.analog.com

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Versatile automotive touchscreen controller includes functional safety support

Wed, Dec 01, 2021

Multiple communication options, ISO 26262 functional safety support and flexible RF emission control are offered in the maXTouch touchscreen controller, says Microchip Technology.

According to the company, it allows automotive designers to satisfy various aspect ratios for touch displays in cars and, in response to requests by OEMs,  includes additional functional safety support.

The MXT1296M1T can reconfigure its driving and receiving touch channels to match the exact screen format, from 1:1 to 5:1 aspect ratio, i.e., including the popular 8:3 automotive aspect ratio. This allows the customer to efficiently use the number of touch channels available, without needing a larger, more expensive touch controller. Customers can save additional development and validation time, as well as resources, by reusing a common PCB design to support different touch sensor aspect ratios. The MXT1296M1T is believed to be an industry first in that it enables the sensor channel reconfiguration by parameters. Settings do not require firmware modification, which reduced the design risk and also the time to market.

Clayton Pillion director of the human machine interface (HMI) business unit at Microchip Technology, observed: “Products with enhanced diagnostic features are a significant advantage to customers who are designing with unique features and increasing ISO 26262 functional safety requirements in mind”.

The MXT1296M1T maXTouch touchscreen controller offers two communication interfaces operating simultaneously, which allow a bridgeless connection to the back channel of the LVDS video link for touch information and a connection to a local microcontroller. The bridgeless topology reduces touch latency to improve the user experience. It also guarantees compatibility with the maXTouch software driver, available for all major automotive operating systems, including Linux, Android and QNX. 

When connected to an appropriate local microcontroller, the second interface offers a number of benefits. Firstly, it offers a redundancy link to the head unit through a CAN bus or 10BASE-T1S automotive Ethernet link for increased functional safety at the system level. There is also local access and control of the maXTouch touchscreen controller’s features, for example, capacitive keys report, live touch sensor diagnostics and raw data for external and custom post-processing. 

Finally, there is over the air (OTA) and secure firmware update capability using Microchip’s TrustAnchor100 companion chip

The MXT1296M1T embeds various functional safety features to constantly check the integrity of the touch controller operation, as well as that of the connected touch sensors. The failure modes effects and diagnostic analysis (FMEDA) and functional safety manual support the customer in designing, building and certifying a system for Automotive Safety Integrity Level B (ASIL-B) applications to the ISO 26262 standard.

The MXT1296M1T allows for high resolution transmit waveform control to lower RF emissions and avoid interference with the car radio or RFID systems. As screen sizes  increase in cars, RF emissions generated by the projected capacitive touch technology are growing. (Emission limits vary in amplitude, frequency and bandwidth for each major car manufacturer.) The MXT1296M1T uses a dedicated on-chip 64-level DAC to accurately shape the waveform of the transmitting lines. As a result, designers can precisely control the frequency response and optimise the harmonic emissions to meet specific OEM-defined limits.

The MXT1296M1T configuration and tuning is supported by the latest release of maXTouch Studio integrated development environment (IDE). Microchip also offers the 

ATEVK-MXT1296M1T-A evaluation kit for order. This includes a development board with USB bridge, 12.3-inch / 8:3 format / 1.1mm OGS (one glass solution) touch panel, and touch key add-on boards for mutual and self-capacitance. 

There is also the ATMXT1296M1T-I2C-PCB development board for connection to a customer’s touch sensor

The MXT1296M1T is now available in volume production. ISO 26262 FMEDA and Functional Safety Manual will be available for purchase Q1, 2022. 

http://www.microchip.com

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