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Signal conditioner IC targets industry 4.0, medical and IoT sensor applications

Thu, May 14, 2020

The latest addition to the sensor signal conditioner (SSC) range is the ZSSC3240. According to Renesas, it delivers high accuracy, sensitivity, and flexibility for sensor applications such as resistive pressure sensors and medical infra red thermometers. It is also claimed to deliver best-in-class performance and speed with up to 24 bits analogue to digital conversion (ADC) resolution.

The ZSSC3240 has a flexible sensor front end and a range of output interfaces, enabling the SSC to be used for nearly all types of resistive and absolute voltage sensor elements. Engineers can develop complete sensing platforms from a single SSC device, said Renesas. It is also small in size, for use in a variety of sensor-based devices for the industrial, consumer, and medical markets, including smart meters, continuous smart health monitors, factory automation devices, industrial pressure transmitters, HVAC sensors and weight scales.

Unlike micro-machined and silicon-based sensing elements which provide mostly non-linear and very small signals, which need to be converted into a linearised output, the ZSSC3240 SSC provides programmable, wide gain and quantisation functions, combined with powerful, high-order digital correction and linearisation algorithms, explained Renesas. High performance, and flexible sensor front end configuration and analogue output options enable sensor platform design using a single IC, allowing users to leverage the SSC cost effectively for a wide variety of sensor elements that have different characteristics.

The ZSSC3240 SSC has a high-gain analogue front end supporting up to 540V per Volt (V/V) and an integrated 26bit DSP for high-precision sensor calibration. Current loop output is 4.0 to 20 mA.

The ZSSC3240 SSC is available now in a 4.0 x 4.0mm, 24-lead QFN package. The SSC is also available in bare die format.

http://www.renesas.com

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Foxconn, Socionext and Hailo collaborate for edge video analytics

Thu, May 14, 2020

Smart manufacturing specialist, Foxconn, video and imaging SoC company, Socionext and artificial intelligence (AI) chip manufacturer, Hailo, have partnered to introduce Boxiedge AI edge computing for energy-efficient, standalone, AI inference nodes.

Foxconn’s high-density, fanless Boxiedge edge computer is combined with Socionext’s SynQuacer SC2A11, high-efficiency parallel processor and the Hailo-8 deep learning processor. According to the trio, the combination provides market-leading energy efficiency for standalone AI inference nodes, in smart cities, smart medical, smart retail applications and the industrial IoT.

It is designed to address the need for cost-effective multi-processing capabilities required in video analytics, image classifications and object segmentation in these compute-intensive applications. The robust, Boxiedge AI edge computing product is capable of processing and analysing over 20 streaming camera input feeds in real-time, at the edge. The result is a high-density, low-power, local video management system (VMS) server, ensuring top performance for video analytics and privacy, including image classification, detection, pose estimation, and various other AI-powered applications – all in real time.

Hailo’s specialised Hailo-8 deep learning processor features up to 26 Tera operations per second (TOPS). Its architecture enables edge devices to run sophisticated deep learning applications that could previously only run on the cloud. Its structure translates into higher performance, lower power and minimal latency, enabling enhanced privacy and better reliability for smart devices operating at the edge, said the company.

Gene Liu, VP of semiconductor sub group at Foxconn Technology, said: “We recognise the great potential in adopting AI solutions for a multitude of applications, such as tumor detection and robotic navigation. . . our edge computing solution combined with Hailo’s deep learning processor will create even better energy efficiency for standalone AI inference nodes to positively impact rapidly evolving [market] sectors.”

“We are very pleased with this joint effort by the companies, and to officially announce our strategic partnership with Hailo,” said Noriaki Kubo, executive VP at Socionext. “This collaboration will lead to more innovative solutions that specifically address the growing demand from our AI customers in multiple sectors. We are confident that this product will enable endpoint devices to operate with better performance, lower power, more flexibility, and minimal latency.”

The next generation of the Boxiedge AI computing is equipped with applications for a broader market relying on low latency, a high data rate, high reliability and quick processing at the edge. Smart retail and smart cities, for instance, require hundreds of cameras – either in-store or in traffic monitoring – to generate video streams that need to be processed locally, quickly, and efficiently with minimal latency.

Similarly, for industrial IoT, data acquiring, processing, inferencing, and presenting on the production floor rather than in the cloud translates into significant cost savings along with more efficient processing for tasks such as inspection and quality assurance.

http://www.socionext.com

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Picocom uses Arteris IP FlexNoC in 5G NR

Wed, May 13, 2020

Picocom has licensed Arteris’ FlexNoC Interconnect IP for use in its 5G new radio (5G NR) small cell, baseband SoC. It was chosen to enable the complex high-speed yet flexible design for open small cell radio access networks (RANs), says the company.

The network on a chip (NoC) was selected by Picocom to meet the evolving 5G NR standard for its silicon. “It is enabling us to manage our on-chip SoC bandwidth and complexity, whilst allowing us to retain design flexibility,” said, Yingbo Jiang, CEO of Picocom. “In addition, it has helped us reduce development time, a crucial achievement in the fast-paced 5G NR market.”

Will Robbins, vice president of silicon at Picocom, added that the Arteris IP is a key component and Arteris has provided technical support.

Semiconductor company, Picocom, designs and markets open RAN standard-compliant baseband SoCs and carrier-grade software products for 5G small cell infrastructure. The company was founded in 2018, and is headquartered in Hangzhou, China. It has R&D engineering sites in Beijing, China and Bristol, UK. Picocom is a member of the Small Cell Forum, O-RAN Alliance and Telecom Infra Project wireless industry associations.

Arteris IP provides network on chip (NoC) interconnect IP to accelerate SoC semiconductor assembly for a range of applications from artificial intelligence (AI) to automobiles, mobile phones, IoT, cameras, SSD controllers and servers for customers such as Mobileye, Samsung, Huawei / HiSilicon, Toshiba and NXP. Arteris IP products include the Ncore cache coherent and FlexNoC non-coherent interconnect IP, the CodaCache standalone last level cache, and optional Resilience Package (ISO 26262 functional safety), FlexNoC AI Package, and PIANO automated timing closure capabilities.

http://www.arteris.com

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Renesas extends Bluetooth 5.0 security to RA 32-bit microcontrollers

Mon, May 11, 2020

Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity has been extended to the RA family of 32-bit microcontrollers by Renesas Electronics, with the introduction of the RA4W1, with an Arm Cortex-M core.

In addition to the 8MHz, 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 core, it has an integrated Bluetooth 5.0 low energy radio and is delivered in a 56-pin QFN package. The RA4W1 microcontroller and Flexible Software Package (FSP) enables engineers to immediately begin development with Arm ecosystem software and hardware building blocks, says Renesas. FSP features FreeRTOS and middleware for device-to-cloud development. Renesas also points out that options can be replaced and expanded with any other RTOS or middleware.

The RA4W1 microcontroller allows embedded designers to develop safe and secure IoT endpoint devices for industry 4.0, building automation, metering, healthcare, consumer wearable and home appliance applications. It is intended for engineers developing IoT edge devices for wireless sensor networks, IoT hubs, an add-on to gateways and an aggregator to IoT cloud applications.

Sakae Ito, vice president of IoT Platform Business Division at Renesas, said that customers can use the on-chip features, such as Renesas’ Secure Crypto Engine. This feature supports customers with symmetric encryption and decryption, hash functions, true random number generation (TRNG), and advanced key handling with key generation and microcontroller-unique key wrapping for strong key management for IoT security. It also has what is claimed to be best-in-class output power consumption and sensitivity for secure, longer range applications.

The Arm Cortex M4 core and Bluetooth 5.0 core are housed in a 7.0 x 7.0mm 56-pin QFN. The single-chip RA4W1 48MHz microcontroller features 512 kbyte flash memory, 96 kbyte SRAM and connectivity such as USB, CAN and Renesas’ HMI capacitive touch technology.

Bluetooth 5.0 support includes 2 Mbits per second data throughput, all advertising extension functions with maximum advertising length (1,650 byte), periodic advertisements and channel selection algorithm #2 for applications requiring large amounts of traffic. The RA4W1 also offers low peak power consumption at 3.3mA during receiving and 4.5mA (at 0dBm) while transmitting. Renesas claims its sensitivity of -105dBm in 125 kbits per second mode is an industry best and is achieved without additional loss from external components.

Renesas provides several API functions that conform to all standard profiles, including a heart rate profile (HRP), an environment sensing profile (ESP) and an automation I/O profile (AIOP), to allow users to quickly start and speed up prototype development and evaluation.

Renesas’ Smart Configurator GUI generates Bluetooth code and microcontroller peripheral function driver code as well as pin settings for the e2 Studio integrated development environment (IDE). The Renesas QE tool for Bluetooth LE generates programs for custom profiles and embeds them in user application programs to support application program development. The Bluetooth Trial Tool Suite GUI allows users to perform initial wireless characteristics evaluations and Bluetooth functional verification. Users can typically have the RA4W1 evaluation board up and running with the downloadable smartphone applications demo in less than 30 minutes, says Renesas.

Integrating a high-precision, low-speed on-chip oscillator, an RF oscillator adjustment circuit and on-chip matching circuit for easy antenna connection reduces both bills of materials costs and circuit board area.

http://www.renesas.com

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Signal conditioner IC targets industry 4.0, medical and IoT sensor applications

Foxconn, Socionext and Hailo collaborate for edge video analytics

Picocom uses Arteris IP FlexNoC in 5G NR

Renesas extends Bluetooth 5.0 security to RA 32-bit microcontrollers

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