Smart Cities

Infineon claims 1Mbit automotive-qualified serial F-RAM is an industry first

Tue, Jul 18, 2023

Infineon claims to offer the industry’s first 1Mbit automotive-qualified serial F-RAM. It has introduced two ferroelectric RAM (F-RAM) devices in 1Mbit and 4Mbit densities. The 1Mbit (CY15B201QN-50SXE) and 4Mbit (CY15B204QN-40SXE) are intended to meet demand for specialised data logging memories that instantly capture and reliably store critical data for decades and which are used in automotive event data recorders (EDRs).

The two F-RAMs are AEC-Q100 Grade 1-qualified and support an extended temperature range of -40 to +125 degrees C. They join Infineon’s portfolio of automotive F-RAM products ranging from 4kbit up to 16Mbit densities. The two new F-RAM devices have fast and highly reliable read/write performance at speeds up to 50MHz in SPI mode and up to 108MHz in quad SPI mode. They also have an endurance performance of 10 trillion read/write cycles to support data logging at 10 microsecond intervals for over 20 years.

Accounting for the increased demand, Ramesh Chettuvetty, vice president RAM Solutions at Infineon said that automotive industry is specifying the use of high-reliability non-volatile memories in airbag safety systems, along with engine control and battery management systems. “The demand for memory densities tailored to specific use cases has grown as the number of applications requiring data logging have increased,” he said.

The zero delay write capability of Exceleon F-RAM allows system data to be captured and recorded up to the last instant before an accident or other user-defined trigger event. Both new F-RAM devices operate from 1.8V to 3.6V and are supplied in a standard eigt-pin SOIC package. Infineon confirmed that its F-RAM is designed to retain data for more than 100 years after loss of power.

Infineon’s CY15B201QN-50SXE (1Mbit) and CY15B204QN-40SXE (4Mbit) Exceleon Auto F-RAM devices are now in volume production. Infineon also expects to release the quad SPI interface version of both devices by the end of this year.

http://www.infineon.com

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Super-Short Channel technology protects mobile devices’ batteries

Thu, Jul 13, 2023

Super-Short Channel is Magnachip’s latest design technology to reduce MOSFET  resistance by shortening the channel length between the source and the drain. It is used in its seventh generation MXT LV MOSFET range extending its portfolio for battery protection circuits of mobile devices.

The Ron of these new MOSFETs has been reduced by 24 to 40 per cent, compared to previous generations, improving battery performance with low power losses when a battery is charging or discharging.

In addition, Magnachip provides customised design service, based on the application specifications and battery capacities. As a result, the company said, the sizes of the MOSFETs can be reduced by five to 20 per cent respectively.

Magnachip said it provides technical capabilities, flexible design and compact size options, for the extended MXT LV MOSFET line-up to satisfy the various technical requirements of a range of mobile devices, from premium foldable phones to wireless earphones.

The company has released five new MXT LV MOSFETs for battery protection circuits in 2023.

The 12 V MDWC12D028ERH, MDWC12D044E and 22V MDWC22D020E MOSFETs are available in a WLCSP. The 24V MDW24D048E and MDW24D150E are supplied in wafer form.

Magnachip Semiconductor designs and manufactures analogue and mixed signal semiconductor platform solutions for communications, IoT, consumer, computing, industrial and automotive applications. The company owns a portfolio of approximately 1,100 registered patents and pending applications.

http://www.magnachip.com

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Coin cell battery life and power booster reduces waste in the IoT

Thu, Jul 13, 2023

The NBM7100 and NBM5100 are battery life boosting ICs designed by Nexperia to extend the life of a typical non-rechargeable lithium coin cell battery by up to a factor of 10 compared to competing solutions. It also increases peak output current capability by up to 25x compared to what a typical coin cell can deliver without a battery booster, said the company.  This extension in working life will significantly reduce the amount of battery waste in low power IoT and other portable applications, claimed Nexperia. It will also make coin cells a viable power source for applications which could previously only operate from AA or AAA batteries.

CR2032 and CR2025 lithium coin cells have high energy density and a long shelf life, which means they are typically used in low power applications, including devices with low power Wi-Fi, LoRa, Sigfox, Zigbee, LTE-M1, and NB-IoT transceivers. The batteries have relatively high internal resistance and chemical reaction rates, however. This can reduce their usable capacity when under pulsed-load conditions. Nexperia designed the NBM7100 and NBM5100 containing two high efficiency DC/DC conversion stages and an intelligent learning algorithm.

The first conversion stage transfers energy from the battery to a capacitive storage element at a low rate. The second stage uses the stored energy to provide a regulated (programmable from 1.8 to 3.6V) high pulse (up to 200mA) current output.

The intelligent learning algorithm monitors the energy used during repetitive load pulse cycles and optimises first stage DC/DC conversion to minimise the residual charge in the storage capacitor. In standby state, these devices consume less than 50nA.

Both devices are specified over a temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C, making them suitable for commercial indoor and industrial outdoor environments. A low battery indicator alerts the system when the battery reaches its functional endpoint. Brownout protection inhibits charging of the storage capacitor when the battery is near the end of its life.

A serial interface is included for configuration and control by a system microcontroller. This is I2C in NMB7100A and NBM5100A and serial peripheral interface (SPI) in NMB7100B and NBM5100B versions.

The ICs can extend the lifetime of energy dense lithium primary batteries, including coin cells, lithium thionyl (ex: LS14250 1/2 AA) and emerging paper printed battery types.

The NBM5100A/B additionally includes a capacitor voltage balancing pin for super-capacitor-based implementations.

The NBM5100A/B and NBM7100A/B battery boosters are available in a small DHVQFN16 package measuring 2.5 x 3.5 x 0.85mm.

http://www.nexperia.com

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Starter kit for R-Car S4 speeds up prototyping software development

Wed, Jul 12, 2023

A development board for automotive gateway systems is now available from Renesas. The R-Car S4 starter kit is an inexpensive, development board for building software using the Renesas R-Car S4 SoC.

The SoC delivers high computing performance and an array of communication features for both cloud communication and safe vehicle control. The starter kit is less expensive than the earlier R-Car S4 reference board, which provides a development environment including an evaluation board and software. Engineers can use the kit to start the initial evaluation of car servers, connected gateways, connectivity modules for rapid application development.

The R-Car S4 starter kit includes essential R-Car S4 interfaces such as Ethernet TSN switch and CAN FD, as well as memory such as 4Gbyte of LPDDR4, 128Gbyte of UFS (Universal Flash Storage), and 64Mbyte of Quad SPI flash memory. Users can expand peripheral functions by using expansion connectors and customise the hardware to meet specific application requirements, advised Renesas.

The R-Car S4 Whitebox software development kit is an open source automotive development environment for the R-Car S4, which can be combined with the R-Car S4 starter kit. The software development kit consists of FoC (free of charge) software and can be used without the need for complicated license agreements. The software development kit (SDK) includes sample software, test programs, and resource monitoring tools for OTA (over-the-air software updates), IPS (intrusion prevention system), and IDS (intrusion detection system) for network security, allowing for various prototyping and evaluation.

There is also sample software which can be used as a base to develop applications. According to Renesas, the kit shortens development time and reduces energy consumption.

The R-Car S4 starter kit is available from major distributors or via a Renesas local sales representative.

The R-Car S4 whitebox SDK will be available by the end of August.

https://www.renesas.com

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