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Biosensor module integrates PPG and ECG for mobile use

Thu, Jan 10, 2019

To deliver both photoplethysmogram (PPG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements for health monitoring from a mobile, battery-powered device, Maxim Integrated Products has unveiled the MAX86150 at CES.

It is believed to be the first biosensor module to comprise internal LEDs, photodetectors and an ECG analogue front-end (AFE) to provide FDA-certifiable PPG and ECG performance in compact, power-saving designs.

Designed for mobile phones, laptops, tablets and smart speakers, it delivers synchronised PPG and ECG measurements without using two separate biosensors that together consume more board space and power than a mobile device can typically afford. As well as space, the design challenge has been to achieve high accuracy in the measurements, particularly in cases where sensor sensitivity might be impacted by low perfusion levels or dry skin.

The MAX86150 overcomes these challenges, sampling both PPG and ECG simultaneously to provide the highest sensitivity of pulse transit time. To reduce battery drain, the module can be shut down through software with near-zero standby current, allowing the power rails to remain powered at all times.

The MAX86150 is available in a 3.3 x 6.6 x 1.3mm, 22-pin optical module.

The module is accurate with common mode rejection ratio (CMRR), a measurement of noise rejection, of at 136dB, the module’s; the highest on the market, says Maxim. Its 100mA-capable, high-dynamic-range LED driver enables higher sensitivity on an array of skin types. In addition, a low-impedance contact for the ECG sensor enables more accurate measurements, even in cases of dry skin, says the company.

It minimises battery drain with low shutdown current of 0.7 microA typical and low power consumption extends battery life compared to competitive solutions.

The module’s dry electrode operation eliminates the need for gels, fluids and sticky or wet pads on other parts of the body to obtain accurate readings.

The MAX86150 is available now and the company also offers the MAX86150EVSYS# evaluation kit.

http://www.maximintegrated.com

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Xiaomi Selects Bluetooth Mesh Technology from Silicon Labs for New Smart Home Products

Thu, Jan 10, 2019

Xiaomi launches new smart home products using Bluetooth mesh networking technology from Silicon Labs. The new products from Mi Ecosystem partners include smart LED light bulbs, candle bulbs, downlights and spotlights. The voice-assistant XiaoAi smart alarm clock serves as a gateway to control smart Bluetooth mesh lights through voice commands.

“Silicon Labs is a valued technology partner providing best-in-class wireless hardware and software, development tools and local engineering support for Mi Ecosystem partners in the China market,” said Yanlu Zhang, RD Director of Xiaomi IoT platform. “Silicon Labs’ Wireless Gecko platform provides the connectivity options, design flexibility, ease of use and security features our ecosystem partners need to simplify smart product design and accelerate time.”

The new Xiaomi smart home products use EFR32BG Wireless Gecko system-on-chip (SoC) devices running Silicon Labs’ Bluetooth mesh protocol stack. Wireless Gecko SoCs offer an optimal combination of features and capabilities including high transmit power and a +125 ^oC temperature rating for Xiaomi’s application requirements.

“We are seeing increasing deployment of Bluetooth mesh in China’s fast-growing smart home market, and Xiaomi is poised to ship mesh-enabled smart home products at scale, driving further adoption of this versatile, ubiquitous wireless technology,” said Matt Johnson, Senior Vice President and General Manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs. “We look forward to collaborating with Xiaomi and Mi Ecosystem developers on future products leveraging our Wireless Gecko hardware and software platform.”

Silicon Labs is a leader in Bluetooth innovation, delivering ultra-small Bluetooth SiP modules, multiprotocol SoCs supporting Bluetooth commissioning, and software tools and stacks to simplify Bluetooth development. Silicon Labs is also the leading supplier of silicon and software for mesh networking applications. The company has shipped more than 150 million mesh networking SoCs and modules and has more than 15 years of experience in developing standards-based mesh networking solutions for customers worldwide.

https://www.silabs.com

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Qualcomm and Green Hills Software Team Up to Deliver Advanced Platforms for Next-Generation Automotive Cockpits

Thu, Jan 10, 2019

Companies Offer High Performance Solutions to Support Safe and Secure Consolidation of Android and Linux-based Infotainment with Safety-Critical Applications

Green Hills Software, the worldwide leader in embedded safety and security, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), announced today their efforts to support global automakers and Tier-1 suppliers with purpose-built, scalable solutions, designed to support a safe, secure consolidation of Android and Linux-based infotainment processing with critical ASIL-certified vehicle services into a single multicore-based electronic control unit (ECU). As a part of the relationship, Green Hills is working with Qualcomm Technologies to feature the Green Hills INTEGRITY^®real-time operating system (RTOS), INTEGRITY Multivisor™ secure virtualization, and integrated MULTI^® ASIL D-qualified software development environment as part of the new Qualcomm^®Snapdragon^™ Automotive Cockpit Platforms. Designed with a focus on production-readiness and consolidation of diverse safety and security requirements, customers can quickly and confidently design, develop and deploy these high performance, complex next-generation automotive systems.

Green Hills Software’s INTEGRITY RTOS and Multivisor virtualization solutions are the certified software foundation that safely and securely combine open-source Linux and Android infotainment environments with critical vehicle functions such as vehicle gateways, instrument clusters, telltales, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and heads-up displays (HUD), which in many cases, require adherence and certification to the ISO 26262 automotive safety standards.

Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms

The Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms are the third-generation automotive platforms from Qualcomm Technologies. Designed to support future intelligent automotive cockpits to meet rich intuitive user experiences and stringent automotive industry standards, the third-generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms are engineered with immersive graphics, multimedia, computer vision and artificial intelligence capabilities and feature truly heterogeneous computing capabilities, leveraging the multicore Qualcomm^® Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine, Qualcomm Spectra^™ Image Signal Processor (ISP), fourth generation Qualcomm^® Kryo^™ Central Processing Units (CPU), Qualcomm^® Hexagon™ DSP and sixth-generation Qualcomm^® Adreno™ Visual Subsystem. The Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms also feature the Qualcomm^® Secure Processing Unit (SPU), engineered to help protect personal and vehicle data, and Qualcomm^® Vision Enhanced Precise Positioning solution’s camera sensors and computer vision capabilities to enable differentiated use-cases on lane-level navigation and crowdsourcing of drive data for building high definition map layers.

The new Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms also provide fully scalable architecture with differentiated experiences, leveraging the same software architecture and framework allowing consumers to enjoy a harmonized user experience independent of the vehicle tier while leveraging the same software framework.

“Today’s integrated cockpits mandate a scalable software architecture to safely and securely combine Linux and Android infotainment functions with critical vehicle functions that require automotive-grade safety and certification. When used with a third-generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platform, the breakthrough INTEGRITY RTOS and Multivisor virtualization solution allows global Tier 1s and OEMs to overcome this challenge,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We look forward to further strengthening our relationship with Green Hills as we share the commitment to offer the highest levels of safety-conscious and security-rich, performance solutions that define the future of high-performance, scalable vehicle cockpits.”

INTEGRITY Safe and Secure Consolidation

The INTEGRITY RTOS architecture was designed from the beginning for use in the most life-critical, mission-critical embedded systems. Its impenetrable separation partitions help software teams to safely and securely partition software running at different levels of criticality on the same multicore processor while guaranteeing the system resources required for the proper execution of applications. When Linux or Android environments are added, the INTEGRITY Multivisor secure virtualization safely runs these high-level operating systems in safe, secure partitions, assuring freedom-from-interference while achieving near native execution speeds, secure and flexible inter-process communications and the option to share GPU or other critical acceleration resources on the Snapdragon Automotive platform.

“The third-generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms are based on an impressive high-performance multicore automotive grade system-on-chip. With customers already deploying our solution built with the Qualcomm^® Snapdragon^™ 820A platform, we are pleased to be using these highly advanced automotive platforms with our safe and secure software solutions for inclusion in potentially millions of vehicles starting in 2020,” said Dan Mender, vice president, business development, Green Hills Software. “The INTEGRITY RTOS with Multivisor secure virtualization provides the essential software foundation to protect and partition the complex, mixed-criticality integrated cockpit software components.”

INTEGRITY with Multivisor secure virtualization and Green Hills Software’s award-winning MULTI IDE development tools for the third-generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms and Snapdragon 820A Automotive platform are currently available.

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CUI includes digital and analogue MEMS microphones for portable devices

Wed, Jan 09, 2019

MEMS microphones from CUI are designed for portable devices. The CMM series has been added to CUI’s Audio Product group. They are compact, with a low profile and measure just 2.75 x 1.85 x 0.95mm.

The reflow solder compatible components can be used where surface mount assembly is required, such as audio recording and voice capture in smart phones, tablets, smart home devices and wearables.

The MEMS microphones are omni-directional and available in analogue or digital pulse density modulation (PDM) output types with top or bottom port locations. Offering round or rectangular form factors, the CMM series models carry sensitivity ratings from -44 up to -26dB and signal to noise ratios from 57 up to 65dBA. The MEMS microphones are also claimed to deliver reduced vibration sensitivity, low current draw down to 80 microA, and operating temperature ranges from -40 up to +105 degrees C. Sensitivity tolerances are as low as ±1.0dB, making the CMM series particularly suitable for performing functions such as beam forming and noise cancellation.

The inner chamber construction provides a stable performance, claims CUI, and protects the silicon-based microphones against moisture and dust.

The CMM series is available immediately.

https://www.cui.com

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Biosensor module integrates PPG and ECG for mobile use

Xiaomi Selects Bluetooth Mesh Technology from Silicon Labs for New Smart Home Products

Qualcomm and Green Hills Software Team Up to Deliver Advanced Platforms for Next-Generation Automotive Cockpits

CUI includes digital and analogue MEMS microphones for portable devices

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