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ST expands STM32WB’s development tools and software

Mon, Sep 20, 2021

Firmware and tools for the STM32WB wireless microcontrollers have been added by STMicroelectronics. The wireless microcontrollers can be incorporated in economic, power-efficient wireless equipment for smart buildings, smart industrial systems and smart infrastructure.

The integrated STM32WB contains a 2.4GHz radio and Arm Cortex-M4 and Cortex-M0+ microcontroller on the same chip, which eliminates RF circuit design challenges which can impede a design project. A small number of external components are needed, such as an antenna, to complete the hardware design, says ST. The microcontroller includes a 12-bit ADC, digital interfaces and a crystal-less USB 2.0 full speed interface in selected models. It supports Bluetooth Low Energy 5.2, Zigbee, OpenThread and proprietary protocols, including combinations of protocols with concurrent modes.

Development tools and software in the STM32Cube ecosystem is supported by third party developer resources.

The STM32WB ecosystem provides all the necessary embedded software bricks and tools to get users started easily with their applications. The STM32CubeWB microcontroller package has examples and a set of peripheral drivers, together with radio stacks including Bluetooth 5.2, Zigbee 3.0, OpenThread v1.1 and 802.15.4 MAC for proprietary protocols, as well as example implementations of several concurrency models (static and/or dynamic) for these stacks.

Software tools like STM32CubeMX and STM32CubeIDE offer direct support of the radio stacks in their GUI (graphical user interface) for easy access and configuration. Users can select and configure profiles and clusters for popular standards and access ready-to-use examples.

Extra controls for the power estimation tool contained in the STM32CubeMX configurator help calculate the RF-subsystem contribution to overall power consumption budget. Users can set up various scenarios to assess battery runtime.

Another introduction is the STM32CubeMonitor-RF evaluation tool. Supporting Bluetooth Low Energy and generic 802.15.4 radio technologies, STM32CubeMonitor-RF performs transmission / reception tests and RF measurements. It also assists writing test scripts and testing protocol and command sequences. The latest version introduces a sniffer capability for 802.15.4 protocols to develop products for mesh networks.

All tools and radio protocol stacks within the STM32CubeWB wireless ecosystem are appropriately certified and provided free of charge, along with documentation detailing the accompanying Bluetooth 5.2 and 802.15.4 certification items.

Evaluation boards for STM32WB wireless microcontrollers are the P- NUCLEO-WB55 pack with Nucleo-64 board and USB dongle, NUCLEO-WB55RG and NUCLEO-WB15CC Nucleo-64 boards, and STM32WB5MM-DK Discovery kit.

http://www.st.com

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Cryptographic controller protects with lowest power budget, claims Analog Devices

Thu, Sep 16, 2021

Claimed to provide 30 times lower power and industrial-grade protection for battery-powered devices, the MAXQ1065 has been released by Analog Devices.

The low power cryptographic controller features ChipDNA PUF (physically unclonable functionality) technology, which is claimed to offer the strongest protection for edge to cloud IoT nodes, including medical and wearable devices, against invasive security attacks. The security co-processor provides 30 times lower power when compared to similar products, claimed ADI and its extended lifetime and operating range make it suitable for long-term deployments in harsh environments.

The MAXQ1065 security co-processor provides turnkey cryptographic functions for root of trust, mutual authentication, data confidentiality and integrity, secure boot, secure firmware update, and secure communications. It includes standard algorithms for key exchange and bulk encryption, or complete transport layer security (TLS) support. The device integrates 8kbyte of secure storage for user data, keys, certificates and counters with user-defined access control and life cycle management functionality for IoT equipment.

The MAXQ1065’s small footprint and low pin count allow for easy integration into medical and wearable devices. The MAXQ1065 life cycle management allows flexible access control rules during the major life cycle stages of the device and end equipment, enabling it to be used for long-term operation in harsh environments. In addition to the proprietary PUF technology to resist attacks, the MAXQ1065 is also supported by Analog Devices’ secure key pre-programming service for customers who want keys, data and life cycle state initialised prior to shipment to a contract manufacturer.

Analog Devices has a comprehensive suite of analogue and mixed signal, power management, radio frequency (RF), and digital and sensor technologies. ADI serves 125,000 customers worldwide operating in the industrial, communications, automotive, and consumer markets.

https://www.analog.com

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Low power asset tag excels with five year battery life, says onsemi

Thu, Sep 16, 2021

Battery life has been a major obstacle to asset tag adoption, particularly within industrial sectors where reducing maintenance efforts and associated costs are a primary concern, acknowledged onsemi, introducing the RSL10 asset tag, which is claimed to overcome this challenge.

The asset tag is claimed to offer an industry-leading battery life of up to five years, compared to one year or less.

Contributing to this performance are an RSL10 Bluetooth 5 radio SoC and firmware enhancements. There is also a three-axis accelerometer and environmental sensors (motion, pressure and temperature) to provide data and insights on an asset’s environment, condition and orientation. Each sensor is powered by a dedicated MOSFET load switch, controlled by the RSL10. This design enables system power consumption to be controlled on a per-sensor basis, which decreases the total power used.

An inexpensive antenna, matching circuit optimised for Bluetooth Low Energy transmissions, a multi-purpose dome switch and a 10-pin debugger can be removed depending on the needs of the application.

The RSL10 can be used in indoor localisation beacons to track and monitor hospital equipment. The tags can be IP67-rated to meet the stringent sterilisation requirements of healthcare environments.

The RSL10 asset aag is available with a suite of development tools that include multi-protocol wireless support for Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity and the Quuppa Intelligent Locating System real time localisation services (RTLS) Intelligent Locating System RTLS (real time localisation services). Within the CMSIS-Pack, included with the evaluation board, onsemi has developed a custom application that demonstrates the low power features and capabilities of the platform in an asset tracking use-case.

The RSL10 asset tag is available now.

onsemi addresses vehicle electrification and safety, sustainable energy grids, industrial automation, and 5G and cloud infrastructure with a portfolio to create intelligent power and sensing technologies.

http://www.onsemi.com

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SOAFEE brings cloud-native design to vehicles, says Arm and partners

Thu, Sep 16, 2021

To address the software-defined needs of cars today quickly and seamlessly, a standardised framework will enhance proven cloud-native technologies that work at scale with the real time and safety features required in automotive applications. The same framework can also benefit other real -time and safety critical applications, such as robotics and industrial automation.

Vehicle manufacturers, system integrators, semiconductor manufacturers, software developers and cloud technology companies have worked together to define SOAFEE (Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge), for the software-defined vehicle. The SOAFEE reference implementation will be free open source software aimed at allowing broad prototyping, workload exploration and early development.

Building on Project Cassini and SystemReady from Arm, which enable a standards-based cloud-native experience at the edge, SOAFEE enables cloud concepts like container orchestration with automotive functional safety and in real time. Arm said it is working with commercial solutions providers to maximise compatibility and provide a faster route to functionally safe designs.

The immediate availability of SOAFEE will empower cloud-based developers to apply their expertise and contribute to vehicle electronics and software-architecture requirements, and driving the industry to a software-centric future.

“At AWS, we’re committed to innovation with key industry players like Arm to help solve complex challenges for delivering software-defined vehicles with a service-oriented architecture,” said Bill Foy, director, worldwide automotive business development at AWS. “In collaboration with Arm, and AWS’s Arm-based AWS Graviton2 instances, we . . . make it possible to run applications on the same architecture in the cloud and at the automotive edge to simplify developer workflow.”

AdLink’s new SystemReady-compatible development platform is powered by Arm Neoverse-based Ampere Altra cores and will allow workload exploration and development on Arm-based silicon using the SOAFEE reference software stack for applications such as cockpit, ADAS, powertrain and autonomous driving. The development platform comprises a developer workstation and a rugged in-vehicle product. It is available for pre-order, with general availability expected in Q4 2021.

Also announced today are the AVA developer platform – a 32-core scalable compute system built for lab-based development. It is capable of running autonomous workloads and allows developers to leverage accelerator hardware to complement CPUs.

For in-vehicle prototyping and testing, the AVA-AP1 has 80 cores for increased CPU performance, extra I/O capabilities and a safety processor to enable in-vehicle execution using real sensors.

In addition to support from AWS, ADLink, Ampere and CARIAD, the initiatives have received broad support from leaders across the supply chain including Apex.AI, Continental, Green Hills Software, Linaro, Marvell, MIH Consortium, Red Hat, SUSE, Woven Planet and Zing Robotics.

http://www.arm.com

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ST expands STM32WB’s development tools and software

Cryptographic controller protects with lowest power budget, claims Analog Devices

Low power asset tag excels with five year battery life, says onsemi

SOAFEE brings cloud-native design to vehicles, says Arm and partners

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