Weartech-ICs & Semiconductors Archives - Page 13 of 41

Mouser signs global distribution agreement with Ambiq to deliver ultra-low power AI microcontrollers

Wed, Jan 03, 2024

Mouser has announced a new global distribution agreement with Ambiq, a leading supplier of low-powered, AI-enabled microcontrollers for wearables, hearables, IoT, edge devices and mobile edge computing applications.

“We are pleased to announce our partnership with Ambiq, which furthers our commitment to providing the latest products and technologies to our customers worldwide,” said Kristin Schuetter, Vice President of Supplier Management at Mouser Electronics. “We look forward to providing engineers and buyers worldwide with their innovative embedded solutions, backed by Mouser’s best-in-class logistics and unsurpassed customer service.”

“Mouser is well-known for its worldwide distribution and support system,” said Mike Kenyon, Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Ambiq. “We are excited to enter into this relationship. With distribution through Mouser, we can draw on their expertise in delivering leading-edge technologies and expand our global customer base.”

Among the Ambiq products now available from Mouser are the Ambiq Apollo4 Blue Lite system-on-chip (SoC) and the Ambiq Apollo4 Blue Lite evaluation board. The Apollo4 Blue Lite SoC features a 32-bit Arm® Cortex®-M4 core with a Floating-Point Unit, along with a Bluetooth® Low Energy 5.1 radio with robust RF connectivity. This SoC is ideal for use in battery-powered endpoint devices, including smartwatches, fitness bands, animal trackers, voice-activated remotes and digital health products. The Ambiq Apollo4 Blue Lite evaluation board offers a complete demonstration and development platform for the Apollo4 Blue Lite device.

Mouser also offers the Apollo3 Blue Plus evaluation board and the Apollo3 Blue Plus SoC. The Apollo3 Blue Plus device is based on Ambiq’s Voice-on-SPOT (VoS) platform, making it the perfect microprocessor for enabling always-on voice assistant integration and command. The Apollo3 Blue Plus evaluation board enables quick and easy prototyping of the SoC. The Apollo3 Blue Plus Voice-on-SPOT kit, also available from Mouser, facilitates demos, evaluation, and the development of ultra-low power audio and voice capabilities on the Apollo3 Blue Plus SoC. The kit provides always-on voice capability with options for one or two microphones, signal processing, wake word/command detection, codec, and Bluetooth Low Energy communication.

The Artasie AM1805 evaluation board offers an easy method to measure and evaluate Ambiq’s AM18x5 real-time clocks. The evaluation board includes on-chip oscillators to provide minimum power consumption, full RTC functions including battery backup and programmable counters and alarms for timer and watchdog functions, and a PC serial interface for communication with a host controller.

To learn more about Ambiq products available from Mouser, visit https://www.mouser.com/manufacturer/ambiq/.

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Nordic-powered module provides Bluetooth LE audio connectivity

Tue, Dec 19, 2023

Wireless communications company Rayson Technology has released a multiprotocol module based on Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF5340 System-on-Chip (SoC). The SoC is designed for advanced Bluetooth LE audio applications, as well as sophisticated metering, wearable, smart home, industrial, and medical use cases. Measuring just 16.5 by 13.0 by 2.5 mm, the ‘BTM-N340X’ module supports LE Audio and its Low Complexity Communication Codec (LC3), which together enable higher quality, lower power wireless audio streaming compared with existing Classic Bluetooth audio solutions.

The module employs the nRF5340 SoC’s dual Arm Cortex-M33 processors – providing a high performance application processor capable of DSP and Floating Point (FP) alongside a fully programmable, ultra low power network processor. The application core manages the LC3 codec, while the Bluetooth LE protocol is supervised by the network processor.

“The BTM-N340X module has been designed for a wide range of applications, aiming in particular to provide enhanced audio experiences via Bluetooth LE Audio,” says Bob Wu, CTO at Rayson Technology. “It enables one device to stream audio to multiple pairs of wireless headphones, and can facilitate audio broadcasts through public address systems, such as in airports and museums. This module is also compatible with smart speakers and home audio systems.”

The module’s ultra-low power consumption is made possible due to the nRF5340’s power-optimised multiprotocol radio, which offers a TX current of 3.4 mA (0 dBm TX power, 3 V, DC/DC) and RX current of 2.7 mA (3 V, DC/DC). The sleep current is as low as 0.9 µA. Additionally, because the cores can operate independently, developers have the flexibility to optimise performance for power consumption, throughput, and low latency response.

Two flexible antenna options are available for the module—a pre-certified U.F.L Connector and a PCB pin out—depending on the product application. The module is designed to operate within a temperature range of -40 to +85°C.

“The dual processors made the nRF5340 SoC an excellent choice for this module’s LE Audio applications,” says Wu. “The large memory capacity, radio sensitivity, and low power consumption were also major drawcards. In addition to the excellent technical capabilities of the chip, the high level of support from Nordic was a key factor when making our selection.”

https://www.nordicsemi.com

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ITEC claims latest RFID inlay die bonder is fastest and most accurate yet

Tue, Nov 21, 2023

According to ITEC, its ADAT3 XF Tagliner is the industry’s fastest and most accurate RFID inlay die bonder. It has placement speeds of up to 48,000 units per hour (UPH), with positional and rotational accuracies better than nine microns and 0.67 degrees at one sigma. It is three times faster and 30 per cent more accurate than other die bonding equipment, claimed the company. “

The ADAT3 XF Tagliner is fully automated, with yields in excess of 99.5 per cent. It is also claimed to have the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership for equipment of this type, enabling it to bring a “significant competitive advantage” through lower manufacturing costs, said the company. It can be used in a broad range of new RFID applications including retail and automotive labels, access control, railway tickets, airline luggage tags and shipping containers.

ITEC has over 30 years’ experience in RFID, installing high-volume semiconductor chip-attach systems in multiple markets. The ADAT3 XF Tagliner includes semiconductor industry-standard features like automatic wafer change (for eight- and 12-inch wafers) and multiple high-resolution cameras inspecting before and after every process step.

The machine’s high-precision glue curing system has only two thermodes. This results in fewer moving parts for improved reliability and maintainability. The curing time of 65 milliseconds is two orders of magnitude lower than other RFID die bonders (typically several seconds), which increase operating efficiency.

The ADAT3 XF Tagliner can accommodate a diverse range of transparent and opaque web materials. That gives it another advantage over incumbent RFID die bonding equipment, said ITEC which can only use transparent material. The system integrates BW Paper systems winders and Voyantic readers, which allows it to be used with emerging and more sustainable substrate materials like paper, which are gradually replacing PET plastics. Even up to a web pitch of 50.8mm, it mains a speed of 48,000 UPH, confirmed ITEC.

The RFID die bonder has been qualified for qualified for major chip suppliers and meets the industry’s most rigorous temperature, humidity, and mechanical reliability requirements, said the company. Today it can place dies with dimensions as small as 200 microns, and this figure will improve over time. Upgrades over the course of the ADAT3 XF Tagliner’s lifetime will further optimise operation and boost performance, said the company.

Headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, ITEC is a back-end semiconductor equipment manufacturer specialising in high-volume production of semiconductors. ITEC provides the highest productivity assembly, test, inspection, and smart manufacturing platforms, targeting mass volume manufacturing from small signal to power MOS devices.

ITEC is rooted in semiconductor manufacturing, combining over 30 years of equipment and automation expertise as partner to Philips and Nexperia. In 2021, ITEC became a separate legal entity.

http://www.itecequipment.com

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Two data lane ReDriver supports MIPI D-PHY 1.2 protocols

Wed, Nov 15, 2023

A low power, high performance MIPI D-PHY 1.2-compliant signal ReDriver by Diodes, the PI2MEQX2503, regenerates signals transmitted at data rates up to 2.5Gbits per second from cameras to displays. It is suitable for various applications, including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, IoT devices, commercial displays, augmented reality headsets, drones and robots.

It has a dual data lane equaliser and a single clock lane. The PI2MEQX2503 compensates for PCB, connector, cable and switching-related losses. This ReDriver enables optimum electrical performance from a CSI2 source to a DSI sink. It operates at up to 2.5Gbits per second to comply with the MIPI D-PHY 1.2 specification for camera images with increasing numbers of pixels.

The 120mW active-mode power consumption of the PI2MEQX2503 is more power efficient compared to a ReTimer, said Diodes. The low power (5mW), ultra low power (2mW) and shutdown (0.2mW) modes of operation offer further power savings, helping to extend battery life. It also has programmable receiver equalisation, output swing and pre-emphasis to compensate for channel loss with low latency over longer length traces while minimising power consumption.

For added robustness, the PI2MEQX2503 supports a -40 to +85 degrees C operating temperature range for industrial applications. The ReDriver is supplied in a small X1QFN-24 (XEA24) package measuring only 2.0 x 4.0mm.

Diodes is a Standard and Poor’s SmallCap 600 and Russell 3000 Index company, which delivers semiconductor products to companies in the automotive, industrial, computing, consumer electronics and communications markets. It leverages an expanded product portfolio of discrete, analogue and mixed-signal products and packaging technology to meet customers’ needs. The company has 32 sites worldwide, including engineering, testing, manufacturing, and customer service, to serve high volume, high growth markets.

http://www.diodes.com

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Mouser signs global distribution agreement with Ambiq to deliver ultra-low power AI microcontrollers

Nordic-powered module provides Bluetooth LE audio connectivity

ITEC claims latest RFID inlay die bonder is fastest and most accurate yet

Two data lane ReDriver supports MIPI D-PHY 1.2 protocols

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