Sector News Archives - Page 324 of 607 - SmartCitiesElectronics.com

Infineon adds sound to ADAS systems

Wed, May 19, 2021

Adding the sense of hearing to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), Infineon Technologies has partnered with Reality AI to integrate its Xensiv MEMS microphones to vehicles’ sensor systems. It enables cars to “see” around the corner and to warn about moving objects hidden in the blind spot or approaching emergency vehicles that are still too distant to see. Typically ADAS is based on cameras, radar or lidar so target objects have to be within the line of sight to be recognised by the system, which has proved a weakness for emergency vehicles as these can be heard much earlier than they can be seen and are therefore “invisible” to ADAS for a period of time.

Infineon’s Xensiv MEMS microphones are combined with Aurix microcontrollers and Reality AI’s automotive see-with-sound (SWS) system. Using machine learning-based algorithms, the system is able to detect emergency vehicles, cars and other road vehicles, even if they cannot be seen by drivers or detected by the sensors incorporated in the vehicles’ ADAS. Machine learning also ensures that the country-specific sirens of emergency vehicles are recognised around the world.

The automotive-qualified Xensiv MEMS microphone IM67D130A has an increased operating temperature range from -40 to +105 degrees C for use in harsh automotive environments. The low distortions (THD) and the high acoustic overload point (AOP) of 130dB SPL enable the microphone to capture distortion-free audio signals in loud environments for a reliable classification, even if the siren sound is hidden in high background or wind noise, says Infineon. This sound-base sensing technology can also enable other applications in vehicles such as road condition monitoring, damage detection or even predictive maintenance.

For processing the audio signal, the Reality AI software uses Infineon’s Aurix TC3x family of microcontrollers. The scalable microcontroller family offers a range from one to six cores and up to 16Mbyte of flash with functional safety up to ASIL-D according to the ISO26262 2018 standard and EVITA full cybersecurity.

The Xensiv MEMS microphone IM67D130A can be ordered now in a PG-LLGA-5-4 package.

http://www.infineon.com

> Read More

Magnetic position sensor meets ASIL-D for ADAS applications

Wed, May 19, 2021

The latest addition to the 3DMAG family of rotary and linear magnetic position sensor ICs for automotive and industrial applications has been announced by Allegro Microsystems. The A31315 sensor delivers the accuracy and performance needed to meet stringent ASIL-D requirements of safety-critical automotive applications, says the company.

Allegro’s 3DMAG sensors combine its planar and vertical Hall-effect technologies to measure magnetic field components along three axes (X, Y, Z). This enables true 3D sensing capabilities with a wide magnetic dynamic range without saturation, says Allegro.

The A31315 sensor is claimed to address the functional safety challenges posed by advances in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems, by delivering the measurement accuracy necessary to meet the stringent requirements of safety-critical steering, braking, transmission and throttle systems.

The sensors’ flexible 3D Hall-effect front end and configurable signal processing architecture enable highly accurate, absolute linear position and rotary position measurements up to 360 degree. Existing Allegro 3DMAG devices, such as the ALS31300 and ALS31313 sensors, also support 3D magnetometer applications in which all three magnetic components (BX, BY, BZ) are required to track complex magnetic movements.

The A31315 is a highly accurate A31315 position sensor, says Allegro. It contains advanced on-chip diagnostic features to ensure reliable, safe operation and supports both rotary and linear position sensing with native angle error over temperature in any plane (less than 1.2 degrees over the operating temperature range). Following Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) functional safety guidelines, the A31315 supports ASIL-B (single die) and ASIL-D (dual die) system level integration in accordance with ISO 26262. It is also automotive-qualified to AEC-Q100 Grade 0.

The A31315 sensor is available as a single die in a compact SOIC-8 package, and as a fully redundant stacked dual die in a TSSOP-14 package for applications requiring redundancy or higher levels of measurement. Allegro says its stacked die construction closely aligns the sensing elements of both die, ensuring the measurement of nearly identical magnetic fields. This design enables the dual-die A31315 sensor to offer superior channel matching performance and tighter channel comparison thresholds common in fully redundant safety systems.

The 3DMAG sensors have a wide range of programmable channel trim and linearisation options which can be adjusted to the magnetic circuitry to optimise the sensors for accuracy and manufacturing efficiency in end-of-line programming times for specific applications. The sensors also offer low power consumption and flexible power management options, enabling battery life optimisation in portable applications, says Allegro.

The 3DMAG sensors support flexible low-voltage programming through sensor outputs regardless of the interface (e.g. analogue, SAE J2716 SENT, PWM, I2C), allowing direct programming by a microcontroller in embedded designs and simplifying the interface for end-of-line system calibration. This low-voltage programming option also opens up new system architectures with remote field-replaceable sensor module designs that can be programmed by the electronic control unit (ECU).

http://www.allegromicro.com

> Read More

Multi-sensor module from Sfera Labs uses Raspberry Pi 4 computing

Wed, May 19, 2021

Edge-based hardware features in the Exo Sense Pi multi-sensor module from Sfera Labs. The compact wall-mount unit features a 64-bit quad core Arm Cortex-A72 processor running at up to 1.5GHz. According to Sfera Labs, this is “way beyond what other sensor modules on the market can deliver”.

The module is in four version and with up to 8Gbyte of RAM and 32Gbyte of embedded multimedia controller (eMMC) flash memory reserves. There are also different connectivity options, for example, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless interfaces, an RS-485 serial bus and dedicated I/O lines. All of these options enable data transfer across standard protocols (like Modbus, I2C, 1-Wire, Wiegand) for system integration. There is a micro USB port for flashing the Raspberry Pi eMMC and a microSD card slot for attaching an external flash memory.

Sensors in the module include temperature, humidity, air quality and light intensity measurement, as well as PIR-based motion detection. A microphone is also incorporated for audio processing and voice control. Other custom sensors can be added as required, for example CO2 monitoring, seismic monitoring (earthquake detection) and vibration measurement.

The Exo Sense Pi are CE- and FCC-compliant and can be used for both residential and commercial use. Typical application are home or building automation, environmental monitoring, Bluetooth Low Energy positioning, people counting, room management, asset tracking, alarm reporting and access control. Other key functionality integrated into the module includes a Microchip ATECC608A secure element chip, a GPIO-controlled LED indicator, a piezoelectric buzzer and a real time clock (RTC) with replaceable back-up battery.

Internal temperature sensors allow heat compensation to be undertaken, there are also surge and reverse polarity protection mechanisms. The modules run from a standard 9.0 to 28V DC supply.

The Exo Sense Pi is supplied in an 80 x 80mm form factor for installation in space restricted locations.

Using the Raspberry Pi development ecosystem, engineers will be able to use Exo Sense Pi as the basis for creating sensor-driven edge computing applications, says Sfera Labs. Software libraries for this module are all open source and may be freely accessed via Github. To support OEM requirements, Sfera Labs can provide custom casing and logo printing services.

https://www.sferalabs.cc

> Read More

Synopsys claims ‘breakthrough’ emulation for ZeBu EP1 system

Fri, May 14, 2021

Emulation performance of 10MHz with the ZeBu EP1 emulation system speeds hardware and software verification of complex SoCs in areas such as high-performance computing (HPC), 5G, GPU, artificial intelligence (AI) and automotive development, says Synopsys.

ZeBu EP1 is part of ZeBu, part of Synopsys Verification Continuum Platform, claimed to be the industry’s highest-performance, highest-throughput emulation platform.

It includes the industry’s first 10MHz emulation system, using Synopsys’ proven direct-connect architecture, optimises design communication to accelerate hardware and software verification for SoC designs of up to 2bn gates.

Manoj Gandhi, general manager of the Verification Group at Synopsys, said: “ZeBu EP1 represents the convergence of multiple hardware and software technologies to deliver breakthrough performance and debug. The . . . fast emulation capability . . . is enabling electronics companies to develop and verify the most advanced SoCs with full software stacks.”

Synopsys’ latest generation emulation and prototyping systems incorporate the Xilinx Virtex UltraScale+ VU19P device. The collaboration between Synopsys and Xilinx drives continued innovation on FPGA compile, runtime performance and at-speed debug.

ZeBu also includes the ZeBu Empower emulation system, believed to be the industry’s first SoC power-aware emulation system, enabling multiple iterations per day with actionable power profiling in the context of the full design and its software workload.

Another part if ZeBu System Level Debug, for complex SoCs with billion-cycle software workloads. It leverages high-bandwidth host interface for continuous data streaming and deterministic replay for eliminating redundant emulation runs.

The ZeBu Hybrid Emulation, with Virtualizer virtual prototyping, is supported by an extensive library of virtual processor, memory and interface models, delivers 70 to 100x throughput gain for OS boot enabling more complex software validation and earlier tape-out.

There are also ZeBu Virtual Host and Device models for PCIe 5.0, USB3, SATA, Ethernet, and NVMe which enable validation of the host to device software stack with real OS, driver, and application software of complex SoCs.

ZeBu Simulation Acceleration technology with unified testbench and design compile, and speed optimised protocol transactors provides 100x speed up for simulation for faster RTL regression performance and environment bring up.

Finally there are ZeBu Speed Adapters which connect ZeBu emulation systems to real-world environments for in-circuit emulation (ICE). Based on proven Synopsys DesignWare IP, they support PCIe, CXL 2.0, Ethernet, USB, SATA and display port as well as 5G testers, networking testers and customer specific hardware.

“Computing innovation is happening at a rapid pace across the Arm partner ecosystem,” said Tran Nguyen, senior director of design services, Arm. “As more software-intensive Arm-based HPC, 5G, GPU, AI and automotive applications are developed, there is an increasing demand for faster emulation and accelerated verification, and we continue to work closely with Synopsys to address that need for our mutual customers.”

“Xilinx and Synopsys’ deep technical collaboration over many years has accelerated broad industry adoption of and innovation around FPGA-based emulation and prototyping,” said Vamsi Boppana, senior vice president, Central Products Group at Xilinx.

http://www.synopsys.com

> Read More

Infineon adds sound to ADAS systems

Magnetic position sensor meets ASIL-D for ADAS applications

Multi-sensor module from Sfera Labs uses Raspberry Pi 4 computing

Synopsys claims ‘breakthrough’ emulation for ZeBu EP1 system

About Smart Cities