HaiLa showcases first Wi-Fi-based extreme-low-power backscatter chip

HaiLa Technologies has announced the availability of the BSC2000 RF evaluation chip development and demonstration kits. Presto Engineering successfully collaborated with HaiLa to develop the first complete analog and digital implementation of HaiLa’s passive backscatter technology adapted to Wi-Fi RF bands.

Supporting an SPI interface, the chip brings seamless connectivity to a wide range of IoT devices, such as multi-channel temperature and humidity sensors. The joint partnership to develop the BSC2000 demonstrates the path to extreme-low power in IoT devices used in building, home and industrial automation; consumer electronics and wearables; smart transportation; agriculture; medical; and automotive markets.

“HaiLa is pleased to have collaborated with Presto Engineering on the silicon implementation of the BSC2000, and we’re excited to showcase our technology at CES 2024,” said Derek Kuhn, President and CEO, HaiLa Technologies, Inc. “This is another step forward in our mission to enable sustainable scaling of IoT over existing wireless infrastructures, helping end-users meet their net-zero goals through a massive reduction in battery waste. Presto’s long experience in ultra-low power RFID and NFC allowed HaiLa to complement its team with expert resources embedded into the development process, delivering the completed BSC2000 ASIC as one team.”

According to Cedric Mayor, CEO, Presto Engineering, “We are proud to support HaiLa on a key industry initiative to help reduce carbon footprint of connected objects. This project has shown that pushing the limit of IoT power efficiency is not only possible but a game changer for mitigating the cost and waste of battery usage.” Mayor adds, “With our deep expertise in RF mixed-signal chip design and ultra-low power architectures, we look forward to extending our partnership with HaiLa to jointly address new business opportunities leveraging their unique IP in future projects.”

HaiLa’s passive backscatter foundational technology is protocol-agnostic. As the most common wireless local area network (WLAN) technology in residential, enterprise and industrial environments globally, HaiLa has focused its first adaptation on Wi-Fi as a key infrastructure enabler for IoT deployments.

https://www.haila.io

https://www.presto-eng.com

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Prophesee claims event-based vision sensor is world’s smallest 

Claimed to be the world’s smallest and most power efficient event-based vison sensor, the GenX320 brings intelligence, privacy and safety to consumer edge AI devices, claimed Prophesee.

The company’s latest event-based Metavision sensor has low power, low latency, high flexibility for efficient integration in AR/VR headsets, security and monitoring/detection systems, touchless displays, eye tracking features and always-on smart IoT devices, said the company. 

It is, said Prophesee, the industry’s first event-based vision sensor developed specifically for integration into low power edge AI vision devices. The fifth generation Metavision sensor is available in a tiny 3.0 x 4.0mm die size.   

The 320 x 320 6.3 micron pixel BSI stacked event-based vision sensor offers a tiny 1/5 inch optical format. It has been developed with a specific focus on the requirements of efficient integration of event sensing in energy-, compute- and size-constrained embedded at-the-edge vision systems. It enables robust, high-speed vision at ultra-low power and in challenging operating and lighting conditions, added the company.

Features of the GenX320 include low latency microsecond resolution timestamping of events with flexible data formatting. There are also on-chip intelligent power management modes reduce power consumption to as low as 36 microW and enable smart wake-on-events. Deep sleep and standby modes are also featured.

Ease of integration/interfacing with standard SoCs with multiple integrated event data pre-processing, filtering, and formatting functions minimises external processing overhead. In addition, MIPI or CPI data output interfaces offer low-latency connectivity to embedded processing platforms, including low power microcontrollers and modern neuromorphic processor architectures.

The GenX320 is AI-ready, with on-chip histogram output that is compatible with multiple AI accelerators. For security, sensor-level privacy is enabled via the event sensor’s inherent sparse frameless event data with inherent static scene removal.

There is also native compatibility with Prophesee Metavision Intelligence event-based vision software suite, which is available free of charge and is used by community of 10,000+ users.

The high speed eye-tracking allows for foveated rendering for seamless interaction in AR/VR/XR headsets. The low latency touch-free human machine interface is suitable for consumer devices (TVs, laptops, game consoles, smart home appliances and devices and smart displays. The event-based sensor is also suitable for smart presence detection and people counting in IoT cameras and other devices as well as for always-on area monitoring systems and fall detection cameras in homes and health facilities.

The GenX320 is available for purchase from Prophesee and its sales partners. It is supported by a complete range of development tools, including a comprehensive evaluation kit housing a chip on board (COB) GenX320 module, or a compact optical flex module. In addition, Prophesee is offering a range of adapter kits that enable seamless connectivity to a large range of embedded platforms, such as a STM32 MCU, enabling faster time-to-market.

Prophesee creates neuromorphic vision systems. It developed an event-based vision approach to machine vision which allows for significant reductions of power, latency and data processing requirements to reveal what was invisible to traditional frame-based sensors until now. Prophesee’s patented Metavision sensors and algorithms mimic how the human eye and brain work to dramatically improve efficiency in areas such as autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, IoT, mobile and AR/VR. Prophesee is based in Paris, with local offices in Grenoble, Shanghai, Tokyo and Silicon Valley.

http://www.prophesee.ai

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IMU is equipped with six DoF sensor to measure slow and fast motion

IMUs (inertial measurement units) from Epson now include the M-G370G, which has been added to the company’s portfolio. 

It allows users to select an accelerometer output range of either ±8G or ±16G and offers 0.05 per cent non-linearity of the full scale range of the gyroscopic sensor. In this way, the M-G370G IMU measure all types of motion, from slow to fast, said Epson.

The IMU is compact, with dimensions of 24 x 24 x 10mm3 and is backwards compatible with the M-G330 and M-G366, M-G370 and M-G370S IMUs which will sharply reduce development costs and evaluation time, noted Epson. 

It has a low current consumption of 16mA, making it suitable for vibration damping for cameras and antennas, unmanned vehicles (industrial drones, terrestrial vehicles, sea probes), vibration, angle, trajectory measurement of industrial equipment and for navigation systems (GNSS, INS4, high-precision locators).

Epson will exhibit the M-G370G at Maintenance and Resilience Tokyo 2023 26 to 28 July, at Tokyo Big Sight.

First launched in 2011, Epson’s IMUs have been used in an array of customer applications, from precision agriculture (GNSS2) and industrial drones to camera and antenna platform vibration control and stabilization, earning an excellent reputation for outstanding performance and quality. Epson has a full range of IMUs, from basic models to high-spec models. All are based on a platform that measures about one inch along the sides, the standard form factor for IMUs.

The M-G370G will enter volume production this month.

Epson Europe Electronics is the European headquarters for electronic devices of Seiko Epson, Japan. It is located in Munich, Germany and has several European sales representatives and a European-wide network of distributors. 

Epson Europe Electronics provides value added services for timing devices, semiconductors, sensors and sensing systems targeted to various markets like industrial, automotive, medical and communication. 

Epson’s goal is to become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050.

http://www.global.epson.com

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Small and versatile geo-location tracker has temperature sensor

Netherlands based SkyNet IoT claims that the LoRaWAN NanoTag is the smallest, most affordable, and most versatile Geo-location tracker and temperature sensor with international LoRaWAN coverage.

Suitable for remote temperature monitoring, the LoRaWAN NanoTag provides geo-tracking and temperature monitoring in a miniature format of just 98 x 130 x 1.5mm.

The NanoTag sticker is a compact, thin, cost-effective temperature sensor with a resolution of 0.1 degrees C. Described as the smallest, most affordable, and most versatile geo-location tracker and temperature sensor in the world, the NanoTag can be used for temperature conditioned transport and logistics as well as for monitoring temperatures in heating and cooling installations.

It has adjustable measurement intervals to provide users with full control. The measurement intervals can be adjusted remotely, allowing users to receive the necessary data exactly when needed. With a measurement interval of, for example, 15 minutes, the NanoTag has a lifespan of several years. This makes it suitable for long term tracking and/or temperature monitoring projects.

The NanoTags are connected to the SkyNet IoT LoRaWAN network as standard. This network provides maximum international coverage and offers secondary network roaming across various connected networks. This is something individual LoRaWAN providers do not offer, said SkyNet IoT. With more than a million connected LoRaWAN gateways from various network providers worldwide, SkyNet IoT claims to offer the maximum coverage and redundancy in LoRaWAN connectivity on the market.

LoRaWAN is the fast-growing IoT standard for sensor connectivity, characterised by its long-distance communication performance with low energy consumption and deep indoor range. Unlike individual LoRaWAN providers, the SkyNet IoT network offers roaming across various connected networks, providing maximum international connectivity. 

Although the SkyNet IoT network offers maximum coverage, there may be areas where the (indoor) coverage is absent or limited or where accurate Geo-Location is desirable, said the company. In such cases, the SkyNet IoT network can be expanded to unlock a (larger) (indoor) area and/or to achieve accurate Geo-Location. Although SkyNet IoT offers maximum international coverage, the NanoTags are bound to the frequency bands of specific continents, said the company. For this reason, SkyLab can provide a multi-band solution if required.

The LoRaWAN NanoTag is a versatile tool for refrigerated transport, where temperature and location monitoring are crucial when transporting medicines, organs, chemicals, or fresh products like vegetables and fruit.

SkyLab B.V. offers the NanoTag in a complete package with a customer IoT Dashboard and the SkyNet IoT network, for a one-time fee of $60 each (the price is lower for large quantities). This all-in package contains no hidden costs and is valid for the full lifespan of the NanoTag. Demo NanoTags are available for evaluation.

https://www.skylab.nl/  

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