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Wireless charging transmitter coil driver is in QFN3x3 package

Fri, Oct 01, 2021

The first in a family of coil drivers from Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS) that are supplied in a thermally enhanced QFN3x3 package are suitable for wireless charging transmitter circuits in a variety of space constrained applications.

The AOZ32033AQI is an integrated half-bridge gate driver capable of driving high-side and low-side N-channel MOSFETs. The coil driver offers 30V, 11 mOhm in a QFN3x3 package. It features slew rate control (SRC) to adjust sink / source current and provide a trade-off between efficiency and EMI optimisation in the design of wireless charging transmitter (TX) circuits, explains AOS.

The coil driver is intended for use in wireless charging TX circuits used in cordless power tools, vacuum cleaners, drones, and other consumers’ electronic equipment which use full-bridge topology with a resonant tank circuit for power conversion efficiency.

The integrated package offers a part count reduction of up to 40 per cent compared to traditional approaches, says AOS. The AOZ32033AQI enables PCB space savings and higher performance in wireless transmitter circuits with high wattage of up to 30W. To ensure the design is robust, the coil driver has multiple protection functions such as high side and low side under-voltage lockout and over-temperature protection. The coil driver can be used for a wide range of input voltages from 4.0 to 28V.

“Wireless charging is offered at increasingly higher power levels as the benefits of eliminating physical connectors and cables are being realised by more end applications,” says said Colin Huang, power IC marketing manager at AOS. This, the first member announced of the company’s coil driver product family, will provide an efficient, power-dense, and cost-effective solution for wireless charging TX circuits, he continues. “The integrated approach offers protection features not possible by using a discrete approach while reducing engineering design cycles and complexities,” he says.

The AOZ32033AQI is immediately available in production quantities with a lead-time of 12 weeks.

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS) is a designer, developer, and global supplier of a broad range of power semiconductors, including a wide portfolio of power MOSFET, IGBT, IPM, TVS, HVIC, SiC/GaN, power IC, and digital power products. AOS has developed extensive IP and technical knowledge to introduce innovative products to address the increasingly complex power requirements of advanced electronics.

AOS’s portfolio of products targets high-volume applications, including portable computers, flat-panel TVs, LED lighting, smartphones, battery packs, consumer and industrial motor controls, automotive electronics, and power supplies for TVs, computers, servers, and telecommunications equipment.

http://www.aosmd.com

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Reference design develops 3D spatial audio in headsets and earbuds

Fri, Oct 01, 2021

Three companies have collaborated to bring 3D spatial audio hardware and software together in a reference design for consumer electronics OEMs and ODMs.

Wireless connectivity and smart sensing specialist, Ceva, has partnered with wireless communications company, Beken and 3D spatial audio expert, VisiSonics to offer a 3D audio reference design to accelerate development and deployment of headsets and true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds for use in gaming, multimedia and conferencing.

The reference design leverages Beken’s BK3288X Bluetooth Audio SoC series featuring the Ceva-X2 Audio DSP running VisiSonics’ RealSpace 3D audio software, together with Ceva’s MotionEngine Hear head tracking algorithms. OEMs and ODMs can use the ready-to-deploy SoC with any audio encoding format, to introduce 3D audio for VR, AR and the new generation of motion-aware earbuds. The single chip-based reference design provides a self-sufficient 3D audio solution, residing on the headset side, without the need for a 3D audio rendering engine on the host device. As well as being cost-efficient, this also enables a lower latency design, says Ceva.

Weifeng Wang, vice president of engineering at Beken, comments: “Spatial audio brings the wireless audio user experience to the next level and we’re pleased to partner with Ceva and VisiSonics to make it easy for our customers to leverage this exciting new technology in a cost-effective, power-efficient turnkey offering”.

“Spatial audio is an incredibly hot market right now as the Android and PC ecosystems look to build on the industry momentum behind its use in music and gaming to create immersive audio experiences,” adds Moshe Sheier, vice president of marketing at Ceva.

The 3D Audio Reference Design is available now directly from Ceva, and the associated software package combining VisiSonics’ RealSpace 3D audio with Ceva’s MotionEngine Hear is available now for licensing by Ceva and VisiSonics.

Ceva licenses wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies. It provides DSPs, AI engines, wireless platforms, cryptography cores and complementary software for sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice input and artificial intelligence.

DSP-based solutions include platforms for 5G baseband processing in mobile, IoT and infrastructure, advanced imaging and computer vision for any camera-enabled device, audio / voice / speech and low-power always-on / sensing applications for multiple IoT markets.

https://www.ceva-dsp.com

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MEMS timing accelerates wireless charging says SiTime

Thu, Sep 30, 2021

For power-sensitive and space-constrained mobile and IoT applications, the SiT3901 uPower digitally controlled MEMS oscillator (DCXO) has been introduced by SiTime. It improves wireless charging speed by up to 25 per cent while reducing the overall timing solution area by up to 90 per cent, says the company. The MEMS oscillator is suitable for wireless charging systems for smart watches, activity trackers, hearing aids, and wearables.

“The power and size requirements of new wireless applications demand a new approach to timing,” says Piyush Sevalia, executive vice president of marketing at SiTime. “The SiT3901 DCXO is the industry’s first µPower digitally controlled oscillator, and it delivers by improving charging efficiency and reducing the area,” he adds.

Wireless charging standards such as Qi and AirFuel rely on resonant power transfer to enable proximity charging. However, environmental interference may dynamically impact the resonant charging frequency, which slows down the charging process. The SiT3901 enables the charger to dynamically tune the resonant frequency, maximising power transfer and delivering up to 25 per cent faster charging. The digital control feature on the SiT3901 DCXO eliminates the need for additional passive components on the board, reducing the timing solution area by up to 90 per cent. The resulting charging system works better and is smaller, more manufacturable, and more reliable, claims SiTime.

The SiT3901 DCXO extends SiTime’s µPower MEMS oscillator family targeting power and space-constrained wearable, hearable, IoT, and mobile applications. The µPower MEMS oscillators consume up to 90 per cent less power and up to 90 per cent less space compared to quartz oscillators, enabling environmentally friendly electronics. The SiT3901 offers high resilience to analogue noise and includes low 105 microA current consumption (typical), a wide digital pull range (up to 15 per cent) for output frequency and a programmable frequency of 1.0 to 26MHz. They are stable over temperature of ±50 and ±100 ppm and have a wide operating temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C.

The oscillators are supplied in a small 1.5 x 0.8mm package size.

http://www.sitime.com

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RX140 microcontrollers bring advance touch sensing to home and industry

Thu, Sep 30, 2021

Renesas Electronics has announced low power RX140 microcontrollers which are claimed to improve noise tolerance and sensing accuracy, with improved performance and power efficiency than the company’s RX130 group of microcontrollers.

The low power, 32bit microcontrollers are the latest addition to the entry-level RX100 Series. They are built around Renesas’ powerful RXv2 CPU core, and operate at up to 48MHz with a CoreMark score of 204, equivalent to approximately twice the processing performance of the RX130 group. The RX140 MCUs also boost power efficiency by over 30 per cent compared with RX130 microcontrollers, achieving power consumption as low as 56 microA/MHz when the CPU is in active mode and as low as 0.25 microA in standby mode. The RX140 microcontrollers can be used in home appliances, industrial and building automation.

The RX140 microcontrollers have capacitive touch sensing units, offering customers an enhanced user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). They also fulfill the IEC EN61000-4-3 level 4 (radiated) and EN61000-4-6 level 3 (conducted) capacitive touch noise tolerance requirements. This proves they are less susceptible to electromagnetic noise, allowing them to detect changes in water level by directly measuring changes in capacitance through high-precision sensing.

Built-in multi-scan functionality and automated sensing enable customers to improve sensitivity through simultaneous measurement using multiple electrodes. This allows for automatic touch detection even in standby mode, for touchless operation or proximity sensing.

The RX140 microcontrollers are part of Renesas’ RX capacitive touch microcontroller offering and are suitable for use in home appliances such as microwave ovens, refrigerators, and induction heat cooking stoves, as well as manufacturing equipment, building control panels, and devices that can detect remaining quantities of water or powder on surfaces.

The RX140 microcontrollers also feature improved peripheral functions. For example, the number of I/O ports has been increased to allow control of more sensors or external components, and CAN communication support for real-time operation has been added. A built-in AES encryption accelerator and true random number generator (TRNG) reduce the risks of security threats such as data leakage or manipulation.

The RX140 microcontrollers maintain pin compatibility with the RX130 for ease of upgrades.

Renesas also introduced the Target Board for RX140, which provides access to all signal pins, for initial evaluation work. The board is equipped with a Pmod connector to allow easy connection of sensor modules. To simplify evaluation of capacitive touch applications even further, Renesas plans to introduce the Capacitive Touch Evaluation System for RX140 (Note 1). Customers can use the RX140 devices with the e2 studio integrated development environment (IDE), the Smart Configurator code generation support tool, and the QE for Capacitive Touch support tool to shorten development time, reduce the total cost, and improve software quality.

The RX140 group of MCUs is available now in 32- to 64-pin packages with 64kbyte of flash memory. Mass production for additional configurations and memory sizes over 128KB will be available starting in February 2022.

http://www.renesas.com

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Wireless charging transmitter coil driver is in QFN3x3 package

Reference design develops 3D spatial audio in headsets and earbuds

MEMS timing accelerates wireless charging says SiTime

RX140 microcontrollers bring advance touch sensing to home and industry

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