Smart Cities

HDMI module connects and controls to CEC standard

Tue, Aug 04, 2020

Based on its HDMI controller IC, the cecTalker HDMI module is designed to integrate HDMI-equipped devices, says Socionext.

The module connects, controls and links devices that have HDMI terminals, such as audio and video equipment.

It uses CEC (Consumer Electronics Control), a communication standard of HDMI to connect devices via HDMI cables. Users can integrate HDMI- compliant devices, even if they originated from different manufacturers and without the standard linkage functionalities. cecTalker can be used for PCs and supports development platforms such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino and SPRESENSE. The cecTalker module will be certified to the HDMI standard and can be used either in standalone mode or built into other products with added features and applications.

Applications include connecting audio and video equipment with smart appliances, building home IoT systems, and using video streaming services, medical imaging and industrial applications.

The cecTalker family includes the HDMI model with HDMI input and output terminals, and the V-by-One model with the added V-by-One and HDMI conversion functionality.

Both require a 5V/1A input.

Both models are currently being delivered as samples. Volume production and shipping are scheduled to start in January 2021.

Socionext designs, develops and delivers SoC solutions to customers worldwide. The company is focused on technologies that drive todayʼs leading-edge applications in consumer, automotive and industrial markets. Socionext has an extensive IP portfolio.

The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. It has offices in Japan, Asia, United States and Europe to lead its product development and sales activities.

http://www.socionext.com

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32bit microcontroller brings sound to home, offices and industry

Mon, Aug 03, 2020

Microcontrollers from Epson can bring sounds to home appliances and other equipment in a variety of settings. The Arm Cortex-M0+ based S1C31D51 microcontroller has dedicated hardware which can play sound on either a speaker or buzzer.

The S1C31D51 is suitable for a variety of applications and environments. Epson says it can be used to integrate sound into home electronics, remote controllers for home appliances, industrial devices, health and fitness equipment with guidance systems, or alarms in office buildings, shopping complexes, and factories.

An Arm Cortex-M0+ processor integrated with a dedicated hardware processor provides two-channel sound on a single microcontroller chip. There is a variety of speech and audio playback functions, two-channel mixing sound (for playing background music and voice) and voice speed conversion, with a playback speed that is adjustable in five per cent increments between 75 and 125 per cent.

It is possible to output voice guidance sound like error and warning messages on a buzzer instead of a speaker. Epson says it has improved buzzer sound output performance, which can often be poor because of low volume and limited bandwidth, by using a combination of software and hardware support.

The hardware processor plays sound without requiring CPU resources, so these can be allocated to other processes even during sound playback. The use of a high data compression algorithm (16kbits per second at 15.625kHz) reduces the size of sound data memory, making it possible to provide a large amount of sound data and sound data in multiple languages.

Epson`s Voice Creation PC software tool will be provided free of charge to customers. It is a simple development environment for creating sound data for 12 languages without studio recording. Existing WAV data can also be used.

The S1C31D51 has a self- memory check function that can detect failures in built-in RAM, built-in flash, and external QSPI-flash memories without using CPU resources.

There is a variety of ways to play back sound: electromagnetic buzzer, piezoelectric buzzer and a speaker.

The S1C31D51 evaluation board includes the electromagnetic and piezoelectric buzzer by TDK that allows quick audio testing along with the pre-set demonstration.


http://www.epson-electronics.de

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Collaboration bring ‘ready made’ IoT edge gateways for retail and industry

Mon, Aug 03, 2020

In a collaboration to bring hardware and software for IoT edge gateway devices together, Beechwoods Software and GigaPic believe they provide a complete solution for retail and industrial applications.

The IoT Edge software is based on Beechwoods’ Edge Optimised Software (EOS) which is a supported edge computing platform which includes a pre-packaged Linux distribution, integrated edge analytics, dashboard application software and a setup configuration console. There is also support for leading cloud service providers like Amazon IoT Core, Azure IoT Hub, Google IoT Core and IBM Watson IoT for hybrid cloud use case scenarios.

The EOS software has been validated on GigaPic’s industrial motherboard which is powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 and R1000 Series processors. The processor provide the performance and capabilities required to securely manage data processing, aggregation and analytics at the edge as well as headroom for future proofing, assures GigaPic.

According to Michael Daulerio, Beechwoods’ vice president, marketing and business development: “We’re pleased to join forces with GigaPic to provide a product-ready IoT edge solution based on AMD Ryzen Embedded Processor technology.”

GigaPic is an independent spin-off from GigaByte. It was established in 2018. It has an award-winning Taiwan-based manufacturing facility, synchronising with its R&D department to deliver high quality and reliable products. The company says it aims to offer not only high-quality computing platforms but also world-class service and support.

Beechwoods Software provides software development services and solutions for businesses and OEMs developing embedded and resource-constrained products. Its team provides services across multiple domains: embedded software development, engineering, integration and stack hardening, IoT platform solutions, integration and interoperability, video processing, rendering, and transport, set top box (STB) development lifecycle (inception to customer deployment) and mobile application development (iOS, Android). It also contributes to open source projects and organisations (OCF, RDK, LF Edge).

http://www.gigaipc.com

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High Precision RV1S9353A modulator lends a hand to robotic arms

Thu, Jul 30, 2020

To meet the demand for high-accuracy optical isolation to improve accuracy control in industrial instruments, Renesas Electronics has introduced the RV1S9353A. It is claimed to provide best-in-class precision sensing features, including lower offset voltage drift, higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), lower reference voltage drift verus temperature and higher input resistance.

The optically isolated delta sigma modulator is claimed to deliver the industry’s highest accuracy compared to other 10MHz clock output optically isolated devices. It includes a precision ADC with, typically, 13.8 effective number of bits (ENOB) for converting an analogue voltage input into a digital output one-bit data stream across the isolation barrier. The RV1S9353A connects directly to Renesas’ RZ/T microprocessor and RX72M microcontroller, or other microprocessors, microcontrollers, SoCs and FPGAs with a digital filter. The RV1S9353A is used in robotic arm controllers, as well as AC servo controllers and NC servo controllers in a range of smart factory equipment.

To standardise designs during development and design certification, the RV1S9353A has 500kOhm typical input resistance making it capable of both current sensing and voltage monitoring for easier design, explains Renesas. The delta sigma modulator’s digital output and connected digital filter removes the need for complex multi-component designs that use a traditional analogue isolation amplifier with analogue filter and several other components.

Chris Stephens, vice president of communications and motor control, industrial and communications business division at Renesas, elaborates: “Its higher input resistance and ability to provide both current sensing and voltage monitoring simplifies design and saves costs while meeting the UL, CSA and VDE safety standards.”

The RV1S9353A modulator has an input offset voltage drift versus temperature (max) of 2.5 microV per degrees C and a typical SNR of 85dB. Reference voltage (max) gain error is ±0.5 per cent and typical reference voltage drift versus temperature is 30ppm per degrees C. High input resistance is rated at 500kOhm (typical) and the high common mode transient immunity is typically 25kV per micro second

The RV1S9353A is supplied in an eight-pin SDIP with 1.27mm pin pitch.

The RV1S9353A delta sigma modulator is available now from Renesas’ worldwide distributors.

http://www.rensas.com

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