Smart Cities

Aaeon designs compact board for edge computing

Wed, Feb 12, 2020

Designed for embedded artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing, the PICO-WHU4 is the latest compact board available from Aaeon. It is built on the PICO-ITX form factor and powered by eighth generation Intel Core processors.

The PICO-WHU4 features the eighth generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 and Celeron processors (formerly Whiskey Lake) with support for up to 16Gbyte of DDR4 RAM. The computing power, despite the compact PICO-ITX form factor, allows the PICO-WHU4 to power AI and edge computing applications. It has a wide operating temperature range of 0 to 60 degrees C. It offers an I/O configuration designed to integrate with almost any embedded application, says Aaeon. There are two Ethernet ports, two HDMI ports, and four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. The board also has two COM headers, supporting RS-232/422/485 serial port operation.

The PICO-WHU4 can be expanded with an M.2 slot providing support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. An mSATA/mPCIe slot can support expansions such as the AI Core X with Intel Movidius Myriad X.

Aaeon can also custom-configure the PICO-WHU4 to suit specific customer projects, helping to reduce development time and time-to-market.

The PICO-WHU4 is also available as a turn-key solution, the PICO-WHU4-SEMI compact embedded system. It has a compact chassis, which is described by Aaeon as easy to set up and deploy.

The PICO-WHU4 can be used in a variety of vertical markets, including smart retail and smart cities.

Established in 1992, Aaeon designs and manufactures professional intelligent IoT solutions. It provides industrial motherboards and systems, industrial displays, rugged tablets, embedded controllers, network appliances and related accessories, as well as integrated solutions. The company also has the hardware and services for premier OEM/ODMs and system integrators worldwide.

As an Associate Member of the Intel Internet of Things Solutions Alliance, Aaeon offers customised end-to-end services from initial product conceptualisation and board product development to mass manufacturing and after-sales service programs.

http://www.aaeon.com

> Read More

DC/DC converters simplify design of smart industrial applications

Tue, Feb 11, 2020

High efficiency at all loads, with a maximum value of 95 per cent is maintained byt eh L6983 38V/3.0A synchronous DC/DC converters, says STMicroelectronics.

They are integrated with synchronous MOSFETs on-chip to save external components and to simplify design.

The L6983 converters have low quiescent current of just 17 microA. Two variants, the low current consumption L6983C and the low-noise L6983N, are available. The L6983C enters pulse-skipping mode when the load current is below 0.6A while the L6983N, stays in PWM (pulse-width modulation) mode at all loads to minimise electromagnetic disturbances, making it suitable for noise-sensitive applications.

The L6983 converters have a wide input range from 3.5 to 38V, and are suitable for use over in 12 and 24V industrial bus-powered systems, battery-powered equipment, decentralised intelligent nodes such as smart-building controllers, and always-on devices including smart sensors. They can be ordered with 3.3V, 5.0V, or adjustable output voltage.

All L6983 converters have a ‘power-good’ output pin that can be used for power-up/power-down sequencing, enabling logic circuitry, or as a fault indicator. In addition, integrated feedback-loop compensation, over-voltage protection, and soft-start circuitry simplify the design of a complete power supply system. The switching frequency is programmable from 200kHz to 2.2MHz. Frequency spread-spectrum operation and external frequency synchronisation ease electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliance.

ST has also released the STEVAL-ISA208V1 evaluation board to help accelerate device selection and power-supply development using the L6983.

The L6983C and L6983N are in production now, packaged in 3.0 x 3.0mm QFN16 packages.

http://www.st.com/l6983-pr

> Read More

0.5mm FFC/FPC connector has single action lock

Tue, Feb 11, 2020

Able to withstand high operating temperatures, the FH67 series flat flexible cable/flat printed circuit (FFC/FPC) connectors have been introduced by Hirose Electric.

It can withstand higher operating temperatures than the standard FFC/FPC connectors, says Hirose, citing temperature ranges of up to 125 degrees C. With this heat resistance capability ensures the connector satisfies the needs of severe automotive requirements, adds the company.

The 0.5mm pitch FH67connector has a one-action lock which allows a FFC/FPC to be inserted into the connector without opening the actuator. This can be done with one hand or by automated machinery to save assembly time and reduce mating failure. Removing the connector can be done by one hand or by robot.

The FH67 series has an independent two-point spring contact design, which includes a wiping element that reduces contact failure due to dust intrusion.

The ground contacts allow a shielded FFC to be used which prevents electromagnetic interference (EMI).

The FH67 connectors are designed with 30 contacts and are low in height (5.2mm), for space constrained applications such as automotive equipment, smart home devices, medical equipment and other portable devices. The maximum rated current is 0.5A and operating voltage is 50V AC/DC. Operating temperature is -55 to +125 degrees C.

Hirose Electric is a Japanese manufacturer of high-quality connectors. Established in 1937, it uses advanced engineering services and worldwide manufacturing capabilities to provide technically advanced connector solutions for many industries including industrial, automotive, consumer, testing, broadcasting, and telecommunications. It prides itself on its customer service.

European offices were established over 30 years ago and in 2010, the various European offices were merged to form Hirose Electric Europe. The European headquarters is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Other European branches are located in Germany, the UK, France and Italy.

http://www.hirose.com/eu

> Read More

Senseeker claims DROIC is world’s first eight micron pitch, dual-band version

Tue, Feb 11, 2020

Claimed to be the first dual-band, infra red imaging digital read-out integrated circuit (DROIC) the Oxygen RD0092 is shipping now from Senseeker Engineering.

The specialist in digital infra red image sensing technology, says it is the first eight micron pitch dual-band DROIC, to be available in the industry. It supports a 1280 x 720 frame size at over 500 frames per second and dual-polarity inputs to provide compatibility with all industry-standard direct-injection detector materials. It was designed to optimise infra red imaging system performance through multiple operating modes.

The company’s custom products are used in proprietary designs, so it was a natural progression to create an off-the-shelf version, said Kenton Veeder, Senseeker Engineering’s president. “This allows infra red image system developers to get immediate access to the latest technology without the cost and risk associated with custom designs,” he added.

In infra red search and track systems, the global shutter mode and windowing capability enables an unlimited number of 32 x 32 windows at over 8,000 frames per second to detect and track multiple objects in real-time. This is particularly targeted at surveillance and reconnaissance applications.

For situation awareness applications, where threat detection is critical, high dynamic range (HDR), dual integration mode can expand the possible dynamic range over 110dB. This mode runs two integration times simultaneously on a checkerboard pattern of pixels to optimise range, resolution and detection sensitivity of the system.

The Oxygen RD0092 DROIC supports time of flight or range gated imaging, through asynchronous integration and only a propagation delay between clock input and pixel operation.

The operating modes or window sizes can be changed on-the-fly, and users can toggle detector polarity or checkerboard integration pattern between frames, “by flipping just a few bits,” explained Dr Thomas Poonnen, director of engineering at Senseeker.

Applications also include infra red search and track and infra red astronomy.

Senseeker Engineering is a US-owned transducer IC semiconductor company that specialises in the design of digital imaging sensors and read-out integrated circuits for hybrid infra red image sensing arrays. Senseeker’s products and intellectual property (IP) are used by designers in a variety of infra red image sensing solutions.

http://www.senseeker.com

> Read More

About Smart Cities

This news story is brought to you by smartcitieselectronics.com, the specialist site dedicated to delivering information about what’s new in the Smart City Electronics industry, with daily news updates, new products and industry news. To stay up-to-date, register to receive our weekly newsletters and keep yourself informed on the latest technology news and new products from around the globe. Simply click this link to register here: Smart Cities Registration