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SiPM array is qualified for automotive lidar use

Tue, Mar 02, 2021

Lidar capabilities have been added to ON Semiconductor’s intelligent sensing portfolio, with the addition of the RDM-series silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM) array. The ArrayRDM-0112A20-QFN is the first automotive-qualified SiPM product in the market, claims ON Semiconductor.

The monolithic (1 X 12) array of SiPM pixels, enables high sensitivity to near-infra red (NIR) light to achieve 18.5 per cent photon detection efficiency (PDE) at 905nm. The high internal gain of the SiPM allows sensitivity down to the single photon level, which, combined with the high PDE, detects the faintest return signals for a longer distance range, even with low reflective targets, says ON Semiconductor.

SiPM technology has become the sensor of choice for depth sensing applications. They can deliver the highest signal-to-noise performance for long distance ranging in bright sunlight conditions. They also have low supply biases and low sensitivity to temperature changes, making them suitable upgrades for systems that use legacy avalanche photodiodes (APDs). The high volume CMOS process production contributes to the low detector cost, adds ON Semiconductor.

Lidar is used in vehicles to improve safety and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), as well as for fully autonomous driving use cases, such as robotic transportation, to safely navigate the environment in real time.

The ArrayRDM-0112A20-QFN’s high PDE allows lidar systems supporting these functions demonstrated a distance range of over 300 meters. The greater distance gives vehicles more time to respond.

The ArrayRDM-0112A20-QFN is AEC-Q102 qualified and developed in accordance with IATF 16949.

ON Semiconductor supplies semiconductor-based solutions, offering a comprehensive portfolio of energy efficient, power management, analogue, sensors, logic, timing, connectivity, discrete, SoC and custom devices. The company’s products are used by engineers in automotive, communications, computing, consumer, industrial, medical, aerospace and defence applications.

ON Semiconductor operates a responsive supply chain and quality program, a robust compliance and ethics program, and a network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and design centres in key markets throughout North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific regions.

http://www.onsemi.com

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Application processors bring security to the edge with NPUs

Tue, Mar 02, 2021

NXP has introduced the i.MX 9 applications processors, which integrate dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) to accelerate machine learning (ML).

The i.MX 9 series is NXP’s first implementation of the Arm Ethos U-65 microNPU, which makes it possible to build low cost, highly efficient AI in embedded devices. They also implement NXP’s Energy Flex architecture which can be used by developers to optimise energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprint while extending battery life, says the company.

The i.MX 9 series is intended to expand machine learning capabilities at the edge for performance-intensive systems which require low power connectivity and machine learning acceleration options. Typical uses will be factory and process automation, transportation, robotics and industry 4.0, together with machine learning with time sensitive networking (TSN) technology, they will enhance performance graphics, vision and enable emerging technologies.

Specific i.MX 9 applications processors will also enable advanced machine learning, including multi object, multi-face recognition with inference in milliseconds and voice based system which will recognise natural language and accents. There will also be sequence analysis for gesture recognition and processors will be able to detect anomalies in industrial systems for predictive maintenance and in synthetic sensors for smart homes and other IoT applications.

The first families in this series will be built in 16/12nm FinFET process technology with specific low power optimisation. The i.MX 9’s Energy Flex architecture combines heterogeneous domain processing (independent applications processor and real-time domains with a separate low power, multimedia domain), design techniques, and process technology to maximise performance efficiency, explains NXP.

For example, low power audio use cases can be powered by the real time domain, where audio can run when the rest of the processor is switched off. The real time domain is also suited to industrial applications such as the CAN network which requires a fast boot (less than 100 milliseconds).

Also included in the i.MX 9 processors is the EdgeLock secure enclave. This is a self-managed, autonomous on-die security IP in the SoC architecture. It simplifies the implementation of complex security with autonomous management of security functions, including silicon root of trust, run-time attestation, trust provisioning and SoC secure boot enforcement. There are also crypto services for advanced attack resistance and to simplifying security certifications. The EdgeLock secure enclave intelligently tracks power transitions when end-user applications are running on the device to help prevent new attack surfaces from emerging.

For edge to the cloud security, specific members of the i.MX 9 series will be Microsoft Azure Sphere-certified.

The i.MX9 application processors will find applications in smart homes, smart cities and public safety systems, fleet management, farming and agriculture, consumer audio, healthcare and energy applications where low power connectivity and machine learning acceleration options are necessary.

http://www.nxp.com

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VadaTech bases AMC on Altera Arria-10 GX1150 FPGA

Tue, Mar 02, 2021

Embedded board manufacturer, VadaTech, has announced the AMC539 module which is based on the Altera Arria-10 GX1150 FPGA in F1517 package.

The AMC has dual front panel embedded SFP/SFP+ GbE/10GbE fibre and complies to AMC.1, AMC.2, AMC.3 and/or AMC.4 specifications.

The on-board, re-configurable FPGA interfaces to the AMC FCLKA and TCLKA-D via an MLVDS cross bar switch (CBS). The module includes an oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) clock reference which generates precise protocol-fixed clocks routed to the FPGA to support SyncE over GbE and 10GbE. The module is also equipped with two banks of DDR4 (64-bit wide) giving 16Gbyte total memory. This is sufficient to allow for large buffer sizes to be stored during processing as well as for queuing the data to the host, says VadaTech.

The backplane fabric selection includes FPGA load, including support for dual x4 PCIe.

VadaTech specialises in the embedded computing sector, offering board-level products, chassis-level platforms, to configurable application-ready systems.

The company offers a product selection and expertise focused on AdvancedTCA, MicroTCA, VPX and PCIe solutions. It combines electrical, mechanical, software, and system-level expertise to provide customised commercial or rugged computing solutions to meet the most complex customer requirements.

VadaTech also offers specialised products for VME, CompactPCI, and other architectures.

A member of PICMG and VITA, VadaTech has headquarters, design and manufacturing facilities in Henderson, Nevada, USA with design, support and sales offices in Europe and Asia Pacific.

http://www.vadatech.com

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Multi-node, multi-GPU system sets new benchmark for video streaming

Fri, Feb 26, 2021

Claimed to offer energy efficiency for video streaming, cloud gaming and social networking, the 2U, two-node, multi-GPU server from Supermicro Computer is based on Nvidia’s A100 GPU system.

The company says that its multi-node GPU server has high performance, energy efficiency and saves resources, making it suitable for data centres for video streaming, cloud gaming and social networking applications.

The multi-node GPU-server saves up to 10 per cent of the total cost of ownership, through shared power and cooling. The 2U two-node, energy-efficient system is powered by AMD EPYC 7002 series and designed with up to 64 cores and 128 PCIe 4.0 lanes with three double-width PCIe 4.0 GPUs or six single-width PCIe GPUs at full speed per node.

The GPU server also has thermally efficient, streamlined airflow, says the company. It is also equipped with Supermicro’s advanced I/O module (AIOM) for fast and flexible networking capabilities. The system can also process massive dataflow for demanding AI/ML applications, deep learning training, and inferencing.

The multi-GPU node design allows for serviceability. The two-node drawers in the 2U system can be pulled out for service because power and cooling resources are shared. According to Supermicro, accessibility to the GPUs lowers the cost of maintenance and upgrades. This feature is of particular benefit for GPU-accelerated applications, such as cloud gaming which typically require sustained high power usage and frequent maintenance.

Supermicro Computer develops and supplies high performance, high efficiency server and storage technology. It provides its advanced server Building Block Solutions for enterprise data centre, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and edge computing systems worldwide.

Supermicro is committed to protecting the environment through its We Keep IT Green initiative and claims to provide customers with the most energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly solutions available on the market.

http://www.supermicro.com

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SiPM array is qualified for automotive lidar use

Application processors bring security to the edge with NPUs

VadaTech bases AMC on Altera Arria-10 GX1150 FPGA

Multi-node, multi-GPU system sets new benchmark for video streaming

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