Octavo Systems bases SiP devices on AMD-Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC 

The OSDZU3 family of SiP devices by Octavo Systems uses the AMD Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC architecture.

SiP is based on the AMD-Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC ZU3 and integrates LPDDR4, EEPROM, QSPI, MEMS oscillators and more than 100 passive components in a single BGA measuring 20.5 x 40mm.

According to Octavo, the OSDZU3 is about 60 per cent smaller than an equivalent system design with discrete components. As well as addressing SWaP (size, weight and power) of a product, the SiP removes the need to design complicated power systems of DDR, saving customers up to nine months in design time, said Greg Sheridan, vice president of strategy and marketing at Octavo Systems.

The OSDZU3 provides access to all the interfaces and features on the AMD-Xilinx ZU3. The 1mm pitch, 600 pin ball map provides access to every I/O on the ZU3 in just two PCB layers using low-cost design rules. The power system also allows the designer to leverage all the power modes the ZU3 supports.

“System-level solutions are increasingly important to our customers, as they seek to deploy cutting-edge embedded computing and machine learning capabilities within increasingly compressed development timeframes,” said Hanneke Krekels, vice president of Core Vertical Markets, Adaptive & Embedded Computing Group, AMD. “In-line with these objectives, we have worked closely with Octavo Systems to bring the first System-in-Package solution based on the powerful Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC. This offering enables our users to accelerate innovation and simplify system design for the most size constrained applications.”

The OSDZU3 is compatible with the AMD-Xilinx development tools, Xilinx Vivado Design Suite and Xilinx Vitis unified software platform. 

Octavo Systems worked closely with DesignLinx, an AMD-Xilinx Premier Design Service partner, to develop the base software platform needed to ensure the SiP integrates into the standard AMD-Xilinx tool flow.

To accompany the OSDZU3 SiP, Octavo Systems will be releasing the OSDZU3-REF reference platform. It features popular interfaces like USB-C, USB 3.0, SATA Host, 1Gb Ethernet, and an FMC LP Connector. It also supports displays through Display Port and a LVDS touch display connector. It will ship with a PetaLinux Distribution and demos that are also developed by DesignLinx.

Octavo Systems has also franchised Avnet as a global distributor for the OSDZU3 SiP. Engineering samples are available today through the beta program. Design engineers who are interested in gaining access to the beta program can contact their local Avnet, Octavo Systems, or AMD-Xilinx sales representative.

The reference platform will be available to the general market in Q3 and the OSDZU3 will be in production by the end of the year.

https://octavosystems.com

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High speed jumper cable supports PAM4

At next week’s DesignCon 2022, Yamaichi and JAE will show the jointly developed high speed jumper able interconnect which supports the 112Gbits per second PAM4 signal. 

It has been developed to meet the need for increased data transmission speeds for network equipment such as the routers and switches as the 5G network expands and the industry moves towards 6G technology. To fulfill this market demand, said Yamaichi, it has teamed up with JAE to developed the interconnect, combining both company’s design expertise.

As requirements for data transmission speed reach upper limits of existing PCB technologies, it is becoming more difficult to realise constant and reliable data transmission performance. To solve this problem, the two companies have jointly developed a jumper cable interconnect product which can perform stable data transmission at 112Gbits per second PAM4 signalling.

The interconnect has been designed with a compact connector in order to fit in high-density designs. It can be used for direct jumper cabling from the front panel pluggable I/O to host chip, or for internal chip to chip connection.

Yamaichi supplies high speed connectors for data networking market and JAE specialises in connector and cable harness products for a range of market segments including 5G data networking market. 

The high speed jumper able interconnect will be demonstrated at the Yamaichi booth #960) at DesignCon2022 in Santa Clara, California, USA from 5 to 7 April.

http://www.yamaichi.eu

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Jetson AGX Orin developer kit increases OPS for robotics and edge AI

At GTC 2022, Nvidia has announced the Jetson AGX Orin developer kit, claiming it is the most powerful, compact and energy-efficient AI supercomputer available for advanced robotics, autonomous machines, and next-generation embedded and edge computing.

Jetson AGX Orin delivers 275 trillion operations per second, (OPS) exceeding its the processing power of its predecessor (Jetson AGX Xavier) by a factor of eight, while maintaining the same palm-sized form factor and pin compatibility. It is also offered at “a similar price”. The developer kit features an Nvidia Ampere architecture GPU, Arm Cortex-A78AE CPUs, next-generation deep learning and vision accelerators, high speed interfaces, faster memory bandwidth and multi-modal sensor support to feed multiple, concurrent AI application pipelines.

“As AI transforms manufacturing, healthcare, retail, transportation, smart cities and other essential sectors of the economy, demand for processing continues to surge,” said Deepu Talla, vice president of Embedded and Edge Computing at Nvidia. “The availability of Jetson AGX Orin will supercharge the efforts of the entire industry as it builds the next generation of robotics and edge AI products.”

Customers using Jetson AGX Orin can leverage the full Nvidia CUDA-X accelerated computing stack, the Nvidia JetPack software development kit (SDK), pre-trained models from the company’s NGC catalogue and the latest frameworks and tools for application development and optimisation such as Isaac on Omniverse, Metropolis and the TAO Toolkit. According to Nvidia, this ecosystem reduces time and cost for production-quality AI deployments, and offers access to the largest, most complex models needed to solve robotics and edge AI challenges in 3D perception, natural language understanding or multi-sensor fusion.

The Jetson embedded computing partner ecosystem includes a range of services and products, including cameras and other multi-modal sensors, carrier boards, hardware design services, AI and system software, developer tools and custom software development.

The Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin developer kit is available now. Production modules will be available in Q4.

http://www.nvidia.com

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50W GaN converter is compact for consumer and industrial applications

Single switch topology, with current sensing and protection circuitry are integrated in the VIPerGaN50 converter. According to STMicroelectronics, it simplifies building single switch flyback converters up to 50W and integrates a 650V GaN power transistor for energy efficiency and miniaturisation.

The VIPerGaN50 is in a compact and low-cost 5.0 x 6.0mm package. The speed of the integrated GaN transistor allows a high switching frequency with a small and lightweight flyback transformer, said ST. Minimal additional external components are needed to design an advanced, high-efficiency switched mode power supply (SMPS), added the company.

Designers can leverage GaN wide-bandgap technology to meet increasingly stringent ecodesign codes that target global energy savings and net-zero carbon emissions. The converters are suitable for consumer and industrial applications such as power adapters, USB-PD chargers, and power supplies for home appliances, air conditioners, LED lighting equipment and smart meters.

The converter operates in multiple modes to maximise efficiency at all line and load conditions. At heavy load, quasi-resonant (QR) operation with zero voltage switching minimises turn-on losses and electromagnetic emissions. At reduced load, valley skipping limits switching losses and leverages ST’s proprietary valley lock to prevent audible noise. Frequency foldback with zero-voltage switching ensures the highest possible efficiency at light load, continued the company, with adaptive burst mode operation to minimise losses at very low load. Power management cuts standby power to below 30mW.

Built-in features include output over-voltage protection, brown-in and brown-out protection and input over-voltage protection. Input-voltage feedforward compensation is also provided, to minimise output peak-power variation, as well as embedded thermal shutdown, and frequency jittering to minimise EMI.

The VIPerGaN50 is in production now and available in a 5.0 x 6.0mm QFN package. It is in a free-sample programme and can be ordered online.

http://www.st.com 

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