Smart Cities

Anticipating optical and data communications for outdoor 5G deployment, SiTime introduces the SiT9501 differential MEMS oscillator. It is based on SiTime’s third generation MEMS technology.

The SiT9501 oscillator is intended for use in 100 to 800G optical modules. It is supplied in a 2.0 x 1.6mm package to achieve up to 50 per cent space savings, although other industry standard packages. The device’s smaller size allows customers to integrate more features and reduce development time, adds SiTime.

SiTime claims the SiT9501 differential oscillator offers the lowest jitter in the presence of environmental stressors, and the smallest size.

It operates over popular networking frequencies from 25 to 644.53125MHz with

70 femtoseconds of RMS phase jitter. It has a wide operating temperature range of -40 to +105 degrees C.

There are on-chip voltage regulators to filter power-supply noise, to enhance power integrity for module designs, says SiTime, together with FlexSwing driver which reduces power consumption by 30 per cent. It also integrates source-bias LVPECL resistors.

The SiT9501 can be used for high-performance applications, such as data centre switches, telecomms routers, edge servers, artificial intelligence (AI) or graphics cards and storage controllers in addition to optical modules for outdoor 5G deployment.

According to Rajesh Vashist, CEO of SiTime, this third generation MEMS delivers up to seven times better phase noise at half the power. “The SiT9501 is the first of many products to use this technology. . . In space-constrained applications, such as optical modules, the SiT9501 delivers an unmatched combination of higher performance and smaller size,” he said.

Outdoor 5G infrastructure is subject to environmental stressors such as high-temperature, vibration and airflow that can degrade throughput. Increased data rates and potential environmental stressors, contribute to shrink timing margins which requires lower jitter oscillators to ensure the same quality of service.

In optical modules, a third of the PCB area is consumed by the optical sub-assembly, leaving little room for data processing electronics. This also makes a small form factor, a critical factor in oscillator selection.

The SiT9501 oscillator is sampling now. Production quantities are planned to be available in Q1 2021.

https://www.sitime.com

Automatic identification and authentication of Bluetooth Low Energy, IoT devices is now possible, says Murata, following its collaboration with VitaNet Suite.

Murata’s MBN52832 embedded Bluetooth module is compatible with VitaNet Suite, the secure IoT platform from Californian company, VitaNet.

The addition of VitaNet’s middleware into the MBN52832 will give Bluetooth Low Energy IoT device manufacturers easy access to the conversion of industrial components into secure IoT devices. This will enable functionality such as remote status monitoring and automated data collection. Cloud-based, remote and secure control of industrial equipment has been highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as the industry seeks to reduce manual intervention to reduce the risk of spread of infection.

The MBN52832-VitaNet is based on the attachment of a QR code which contains device information on pumps, motors, and other industrial components. This eliminates the need for the LCD panel or operation buttons conventionally required for Bluetooth operation. A VitaNet authentication key request is required once, at the system initialisation stage and cached VitaNet authentication key information is used during subsequent operation. According to Murata, this is the first time that security and pairing have been automated and integrated with AES-128 packet encryption supported by the Bluetooth standard.

Incorporating the Murata Module allows encrypted two-way communication with IoT devices to be performed from a cloud server. This enables secure remote control and management of large numbers of IoT devices, including alive monitoring, automatic data collection, and other operational tasks, Murata explains.

The VitaNet Suite is a platform service consisting of middleware that runs on each gateway and IoT device, and cloud-based protocol conversion support. VitaNet’s patented technology converts protocols between IP networks and non-IP Bluetooth, to connect hundreds of IoT devices with secure two-way encrypted communication via a single gateway. 

The MBN52832 Bluetooth Low Energy module enables low power connectivity for data communications. It integrates a Nordic Bluetooth Low Energy IC, RF front end, and crystal into a very small form factor. There is also an Arm Cortex M4 core with 64Kbyte RAM and 512KBbyte of flash and a choice of interface for IoT applications, including medical and healthcare and machine to machine (M2M) applications.

http://www.murata.com