Sector News

DC/DC converters simplify design of smart industrial applications

Tue, Feb 11, 2020

High efficiency at all loads, with a maximum value of 95 per cent is maintained byt eh L6983 38V/3.0A synchronous DC/DC converters, says STMicroelectronics.

They are integrated with synchronous MOSFETs on-chip to save external components and to simplify design.

The L6983 converters have low quiescent current of just 17 microA. Two variants, the low current consumption L6983C and the low-noise L6983N, are available. The L6983C enters pulse-skipping mode when the load current is below 0.6A while the L6983N, stays in PWM (pulse-width modulation) mode at all loads to minimise electromagnetic disturbances, making it suitable for noise-sensitive applications.

The L6983 converters have a wide input range from 3.5 to 38V, and are suitable for use over in 12 and 24V industrial bus-powered systems, battery-powered equipment, decentralised intelligent nodes such as smart-building controllers, and always-on devices including smart sensors. They can be ordered with 3.3V, 5.0V, or adjustable output voltage.

All L6983 converters have a ‘power-good’ output pin that can be used for power-up/power-down sequencing, enabling logic circuitry, or as a fault indicator. In addition, integrated feedback-loop compensation, over-voltage protection, and soft-start circuitry simplify the design of a complete power supply system. The switching frequency is programmable from 200kHz to 2.2MHz. Frequency spread-spectrum operation and external frequency synchronisation ease electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliance.

ST has also released the STEVAL-ISA208V1 evaluation board to help accelerate device selection and power-supply development using the L6983.

The L6983C and L6983N are in production now, packaged in 3.0 x 3.0mm QFN16 packages.

http://www.st.com/l6983-pr

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0.5mm FFC/FPC connector has single action lock

Tue, Feb 11, 2020

Able to withstand high operating temperatures, the FH67 series flat flexible cable/flat printed circuit (FFC/FPC) connectors have been introduced by Hirose Electric.

It can withstand higher operating temperatures than the standard FFC/FPC connectors, says Hirose, citing temperature ranges of up to 125 degrees C. With this heat resistance capability ensures the connector satisfies the needs of severe automotive requirements, adds the company.

The 0.5mm pitch FH67connector has a one-action lock which allows a FFC/FPC to be inserted into the connector without opening the actuator. This can be done with one hand or by automated machinery to save assembly time and reduce mating failure. Removing the connector can be done by one hand or by robot.

The FH67 series has an independent two-point spring contact design, which includes a wiping element that reduces contact failure due to dust intrusion.

The ground contacts allow a shielded FFC to be used which prevents electromagnetic interference (EMI).

The FH67 connectors are designed with 30 contacts and are low in height (5.2mm), for space constrained applications such as automotive equipment, smart home devices, medical equipment and other portable devices. The maximum rated current is 0.5A and operating voltage is 50V AC/DC. Operating temperature is -55 to +125 degrees C.

Hirose Electric is a Japanese manufacturer of high-quality connectors. Established in 1937, it uses advanced engineering services and worldwide manufacturing capabilities to provide technically advanced connector solutions for many industries including industrial, automotive, consumer, testing, broadcasting, and telecommunications. It prides itself on its customer service.

European offices were established over 30 years ago and in 2010, the various European offices were merged to form Hirose Electric Europe. The European headquarters is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Other European branches are located in Germany, the UK, France and Italy.

http://www.hirose.com/eu

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Senseeker claims DROIC is world’s first eight micron pitch, dual-band version

Tue, Feb 11, 2020

Claimed to be the first dual-band, infra red imaging digital read-out integrated circuit (DROIC) the Oxygen RD0092 is shipping now from Senseeker Engineering.

The specialist in digital infra red image sensing technology, says it is the first eight micron pitch dual-band DROIC, to be available in the industry. It supports a 1280 x 720 frame size at over 500 frames per second and dual-polarity inputs to provide compatibility with all industry-standard direct-injection detector materials. It was designed to optimise infra red imaging system performance through multiple operating modes.

The company’s custom products are used in proprietary designs, so it was a natural progression to create an off-the-shelf version, said Kenton Veeder, Senseeker Engineering’s president. “This allows infra red image system developers to get immediate access to the latest technology without the cost and risk associated with custom designs,” he added.

In infra red search and track systems, the global shutter mode and windowing capability enables an unlimited number of 32 x 32 windows at over 8,000 frames per second to detect and track multiple objects in real-time. This is particularly targeted at surveillance and reconnaissance applications.

For situation awareness applications, where threat detection is critical, high dynamic range (HDR), dual integration mode can expand the possible dynamic range over 110dB. This mode runs two integration times simultaneously on a checkerboard pattern of pixels to optimise range, resolution and detection sensitivity of the system.

The Oxygen RD0092 DROIC supports time of flight or range gated imaging, through asynchronous integration and only a propagation delay between clock input and pixel operation.

The operating modes or window sizes can be changed on-the-fly, and users can toggle detector polarity or checkerboard integration pattern between frames, “by flipping just a few bits,” explained Dr Thomas Poonnen, director of engineering at Senseeker.

Applications also include infra red search and track and infra red astronomy.

Senseeker Engineering is a US-owned transducer IC semiconductor company that specialises in the design of digital imaging sensors and read-out integrated circuits for hybrid infra red image sensing arrays. Senseeker’s products and intellectual property (IP) are used by designers in a variety of infra red image sensing solutions.

http://www.senseeker.com

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Arm adds IP and processors to its to AI offering

Mon, Feb 10, 2020

For on-device intelligence for IoT applications, Arm has announced new IP and a neural processor to boost machine learning performance.

In a single announcement, the company introduced machine learning (ML) IP, the Arm Cortex-M55 processor and Arm Ethos-U55 neural processing unit (NPU).

The IP and supporting unified toolchain enable AI hardware and software developers what Arm describes as “unprecedented levels of on-device ML processing” for small, power-constrained IoT and embedded devices.

Explaining the need for AI, Dipti Vachani, senior vice president and general manager, Automotive and IoT Line of Business, Arm, said: “Enabling AI everywhere requires device makers and developers to deliver machine learning locally on billions, and ultimately trillions of devices”.

As the IoT intersects with AI advances and the rollout of 5G, more on-device intelligence means that smaller, cost-sensitive devices can be smarter and more capable while relying less on the cloud or internet for greater privacy and reliability.

Arm explains that this intelligence on microcontrollers designed securely from the ground up, reduces silicon and development costs and speeds up time to market for developers.

The Arm Cortex-M55 is described as Arm’s most AI-capable Cortex-M processor. It is the first to be based on the Armv8.1-M architecture with Arm Helium vector processing technology. Cortex-M55 delivers up to a 15-fold uplift in ML performance and a five-fold uplift in DSP performance, with greater efficiency, compared to previous Cortex-M generations, reports Arm.

Additionally, Arm Custom Instructions will be available to extend processor capabilities for specific workload optimisation.

The Ethos-U55 is Arm’s first microNPU (neural processing unit) for Cortex-M. It is designed to deliver a combined 480x leap in ML performance to microcontrollers.

Paired with the Cortex-M55, it can deliver a combined 480-fold increase in ML performance over existing Cortex-M processors.

The Ethos-U55 is highly configurable and specifically designed to accelerate ML inference in area-constrained embedded and IoT devices. Compression techniques save power and reduce ML model sizes significantly to enable execution of neural networks that previously only ran on larger systems.

The Cortex-M55 and Ethos-U55 are supported by Arm’s Cortex-M software tool chain. This ensures a unified development flow for traditional, DSP and ML workloads. There are specific integration and optimisations for leading machine learning frameworks (e.g. TensorFlow Lite Micro).

The processors and the accompanying Corstone reference design work with Arm TrustZone to ensure security can be more easily incorporated into the complete SoC.

Ecosystem partners, include Amazon, Alif Semiconductor, Bestechnic, Cypress, Dolby, Google, NXP, Samsung and STMicroelectronics.

http://www.arm.com

 

 

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