Electronica Azi International no. 5 - 2020 by Electronica Azi

5/2020

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A PAN EUROPEAN MAGAZINE

https://international.electronica-azi.ro

http://electronica-azi.ro

PRODUCT NEWS

Microchip Delivers First 8-bit MCU Family for CAN FD Networks Automotive designers can now increase system capabilities with flexible and easy to use CIPs while connected to a high performing network Meeting the demand for increased bandwidth and flexible data rates in evolving automotive applications like safety and communication, while further supporting the development of advanced driverassistance systems (ADAS), Microchip Technology Inc. announced its PIC18 Q84 family — the first PIC18 microcontroller

Additional code is not required. Available peripherals include a 32-bit Cyclic Redundancy Check with Scan (CRC/SCAN) and a Windowed Watchdog Timer (WWDT) for functional safety capabilities, and a Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) interface to implement industrystandard testing and debugging.

(HPC) Development Board. A plug-in module (PIM) is also available for the Automotive Networking Development Board and for use with Microchip development boards. Software includes Microchip’s MPLAB® Code Configurator (MCC). Microchip also provides a broad family of CAN FD transceivers & CAN FD controllers.

(MCU) family that can be used to transmit and receive data through a Controller Area Network Flexible Data-Rate (CAN FD) bus. Accompanied by an extensive array of Core Independent Peripherals (CIPs) that handle a variety of tasks without requiring CPU intervention, Microchip’s PIC18 Q84 family cuts both time and cost when connecting systems to a CAN FD network. The family provides a simple solution for transporting sensor data to a CAN FD bus, without the need for gateways or sophisticated network switching techniques. In addition, its configurable CIPs make it easy to create custom hardwarebased functions for automotive and industrial designs with near-zero latency.

“CAN FD will continue to play a critical role in delivering faster data transfer rates for applications, ranging from the connected car to industrial automation and smart homes,” said Greg Robinson, associate vice president of marketing for Microchip’s 8-bit microcontroller business unit. “Microchip is furthering the adoption of this protocol with our latest 8bit PIC® MCU family, helping designers create cost-effective network nodes at scale.”

To learn more about Microchip’s complete CAN and CAN FD offering, visit Microchip’s CAN technology design center.

https://international.electronica-azi.ro

Development Tools and CAN FD Product Support The PIC18 Q84 family offers both hardware and software support. Hardware includes a Curiosity Nano Development Board and a Curiosity High Pin Count

Pricing and Availability The PIC18 Q84 family is available in volume production starting at $0.78 in 10,000-unit quantities. For additional information, contact a Microchip sales representative, authorized worldwide distributor or visit Microchip’s website. To purchase products mentioned here, click to order now or contact a Microchip authorized distributor. Microchip Technology https://www.microchip.com 3

Electronica Azi International » TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 | Microchip Delivers First 8-bit MCU Family for

26 | Machine learning helps make motion sensors

CAN FD Networks

energy-efficient

6 | Hot stuff for extreme temperatures

28 | The Key to Successful Project Management for

8 | World’s First Safety Certified Capacitive Touchscreen Controller Family for the Home Appliance Market

Engineering Students? Using the Right Tools. 32 | Maxim Integrated’s Health Sensor Platform 3.0 Reduces Development Time of Healthcare

Wearables by At Least Six Months

9 | All-in-one solution featuring the highest efficiency class: solar inverter from Fronius uses CoolSiC™ MOSFETs 10 | Maxim Integrated Announces Industry’s First Li+ Fuel Gauge IC Featuring Continuous Internal

36 | Infineon launches industry’s first authentication solution OPTIGA™ Trust Charge for secured wireless charging 37 | Brand protection is buyer protection: SECORA™ Blockchain

Self-Discharge Monitoring and Protection 12 | Advanced DC/DC Converters Simplify Industrial, Medical, and Transportation Power System Design

makes the origin and history of a product visible 38 | State-of-the-art photography results and immersive

20 | On the road to 99% efficiency in a Smart World!

AR experiences: Infineon and pmd offer 3D-imager

24 | Renesas Extends RA MCU Family with RA6T1 MCU

with longest range in the market

Group for Motor Control and AI-based Endpoint

Predictive Maintenance

39 | Record-breaking drone show enabled by u-blox 24

25 | Renesas Introduces Scalable AI SMARC SoM Winning Combination Solution for Accelerating Time to Market of HMI and Embedded Vision Systems

positioning technology 40 | Renex assembly and disassembly equipment 45 | Martin offers an innovative solution to gently extract residual solder

® Management Managing Director - Ionela Ganea Editorial Director - Gabriel Neagu Accounting - Ioana Paraschiv Advertisement - Irina Ganea Web design - Eugen Vărzaru

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Contributing editors Cornel Pazara PhD. Paul Svasta PhD. Norocel Codreanu PhD. Marian Blejan PhD. Bogdan Grămescu

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Electronica Azi International is published 6 times per year in 2020 by Euro Standard Press 2000 s.r.l. It is a free to qualified electronics engineers and managers involved in engineering decisions. Copyright 2020 by Euro Standard Press 2000 s.r.l. All rights reserved.

Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

Hot stuff for extreme temperatures New congatec modules with 11th Gen Intel Core processors for outdoor and in-vehicle applications congatec – a leading vendor of embedded and edge computing technology – introduces six new Computer-on-Modules with 11th Gen Intel Core processors for the extended temperature range. Built with high-quality components designed to withstand extreme temperatures from -40 to +85°C, the new COM-HPC and COM Express Type 6 Computer-on-Modules provide all features and services required for reliable operation in the most challenging environments.

This impressive technical feature set is complemented by a comprehensive service offering that includes temperature screening, high speed signal compliance testing along with design-in services and all training sessions required to simplify the use of congatec’s embedded computer technologies. Typical use cases for the new industrialgrade COM-HPC and COM Express modules can be found in any kind of rugged applications, outdoor edge devices and

applications such as the energy, oil and gas sector, mobile ambulance equipment, telecommunication, or security and video surveillance, to name just a few. Based on the new low-power high-density Tiger Lake SoCs, the new modules for wide temperature environments offer significantly greater CPU performance and nearly 3x higher GPU performance [1], along with state-of-the-art PCIe Gen4 and USB4 support. The most demanding graphics and compute workloads benefit

The value package includes rugged passive cooling options, optional conformal coating for protection against corrosion due to moisture or condensation, a list of recommended carrier board schematics and suitable components for the extended temperature range for highest reliability.

in-vehicle installations, which increasingly leverage embedded vision and artificial intelligence (AI) functions for which congatec provides extensive support as well. Typical verticals are industrial automation, railway and transportation, smart infrastructure including mission critical

from up to 4 cores, 8 threads and up to 96 graphics execution units for massive parallel processing throughput in an ultrarugged shape. The integrated graphics can be used as parallel processing unit for convolutional neural networks (CNN) or as an AI and deep learning accelerator.

Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

Using the Intel OpenVINO software toolkit that includes optimized calls for OpenCV, OpenCL kernels, and other industry tools and libraries, workloads can be extended across CPU, GPU and FPGA compute units to accelerate AI workloads, including computer vision, audio, speech, language, and recommendation systems. The TDP is scalable from 12W to 28W, enabling truly immersive 4k UHD system designs with passive cooling only. The impressive performance of the ultrarugged conga-HPC/cTLU COM-HPC module and the conga-TC570 COM Express Type 6 module has been made available in a real-time capable design and also includes real-time hypervisor support from Real-Time Systems for virtual machine deployments and workload consolidation in edge computing scenarios. “Services and support are absolutely key for standard based products. That’s why we complement our rugged product offering for all the new edge applications in challenging environments with a comprehensive eco system for each product.. This includes optimization for real-time computing – including support for Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), Time Coordinated Computing (TCC) and RTS Realtime Systems Hypervisor, remote management support and finally all required signal compliance services as high-

speed signaling with PCIe Gen 4 and USB4 is a serious challenge these days, making carrier board design tasks increasingly complex,” explains Andreas Bergbauer, Product Line Manager at congatec. The feature set in detail The conga-HPC/cTLU COM-HPC Client Size A module, as well as the conga-TC570 COM Express Compact module will be available with new scalable 11th Gen Intel Processor

Cores/ Threads

Intel Core i7-1185GRE Intel Core i5-1145GRE Intel Core i3-1115GRE

4/8 4/8 2/4

in the COM-HPC version, and HDA on the COM Express modules. Comprehensive board support packages are provided for all leading RTOS, including hypervisor support from Real-Time Systems as well as Linux, Windows and Android. The two 11th Gen Intel Core processor based COM-HPC and COM Express Compact Type 6 modules are available in the following extended temperature range options:

Frequency at 28/ 15/12W TDP, (Max Turbo) [GHz] 2.8/1.8/1.2 (4.4) 2.6/1.5/1.1 (4.1) 3.0/2.2/1.7 (3.9)

Core processors for extreme temperatures ranging from -40 to +85°C. Both modules are the first to support PCIe x4 in Gen 4 performance to connect peripherals with massive bandwidth. In addition, designers can leverage 8x PCIe Gen 3.0 x1 lanes. Where the COM-HPC module offers latest 2x USB 4.0, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, and 8x USB 2.0, the COM Express module offers 4x USB 3.2 Gen 2 and 8x USB 2.0 in compliance to the PICMG specification. For networking, the COM-HPC module offers 2x 2.5 GbE, whereas the COM Express module executes 1x GbE, with both supporting TSN. Sound is provided via I2S and SoundWire

Cache [MB] 12 8 6

Graphics Execution Units 96 80 48

Further information on the new congaHPC/cTLU COM-HPC Client module can be found at: www.congatec.com/ en/products/com-hpc/conga-hpcctlu/ The conga-TC570 COM Express Compact module has its landing page here: www.congatec.com/en/products/comexpress-type-6/conga-tc570/ Further information about congatec’s Intel Tiger Lake UP3 launch can be found on the main landing page: https://congatec.com/11th-gen-intel-core/ congatec https://www.congatec.com

SCHURTER adds world-leading computer module vendor to its line card congatec signs SCHURTER to extend its Italian sales partner network congatec – a leading vendor of embedded and edge computing technology – is expanding its Italian sales partner network by entering into a distribution

agreement with SCHURTER Electronics S.p.A., a member of the SCHURTER Group. In partnership with congatec, the SCHURTER line card now incorporates

From left: Marcelo Soares (Management Director Schurter Italy), Roland Judith (Sales Director EMEA congatec), Antonello Martegani (Managing Director Schurter Italy) Diethard Fent (Manager Sales Partner congatec), Denny Amberger (Sales Partner Manager congatec) https://international.electronica-azi.ro

the embedded computing portfolio of the worldwide leader in the field of x86 and ARM Computer-on-Modules. Next to the very latest SMARC, Qseven, COM Express and COM-HPC modules, the portfolio also includes the entire range of accessories and comprehensive services provided by congatec. For customer designs, SCHURTER not only bundles the most diverse electronic components, but also enriches its offering with services from design-in through to system integration on the basis of Computer-on-Modules as the central processing unit. congatec’s distribution agreement with SCHURTER Electronics S.p.A. comes into force immediately. congatec https://www.congatec.com 7

PRODUCT NEWS

World’s First Safety Certified Capacitive Touchscreen Controller Family for the Home Appliance Market Microchip’s new MXT336UD-MAUHA1 family offers IEC/UL 60730 Class B pre-certified solutions for OEMs, eliminating the need for a separate emergency stop or unlock buttons on touch enabled appliances To reduce the risk of fires in the kitchen and also floods in the laundry room, European IEC 60730 and U.S. UL 60730 Class B specifications require safety mechanisms in home appliances, such as ovens, cooktops, washing machines and clothes dryers. Helping designers meet these functional safety requirements in touch screen enabled appliances, Microchip Technology Inc. announced its maXTouch® MXT336UD-MAUHA1 capacitive touchscreen controller family — the

and associated microcontroller (MCU). They also allow an appliance to detect a touchscreen or appliance failure and shut down automatically through a variety of self-testing capabilities. For example, if the glass breaks on a cooktop, the touchscreen will turn dark and shut off the machine, eliminating accidental damage in the home. As the number of touch enabled home appliances continue to increase, the MXT336UD-MAUHA1 family shifts the required safety functionality to

eases the design and qualification process for touch enabled appliances, ultimately putting safety first, while reducing costs and enabling modern user interface solutions.” In addition, this new family leverages a high signal to noise ratio (SNR) design and proprietary differential mutual acquisition scheme. This allows the machine to reliably detect and track multiple fingers on surfaces exposed to moisture, water, grease and more — even if the user is wearing gloves.

market’s only touchscreen controllers to offer pre-certified, Class B firmware. The family includes three controllers, the MXT112UD-MAUHA1, the MXT228UDMAUHA1 and the MXT336UD-MAUHA1, each fulfilling different screen size needs, ranging from 2-to 8-inches. The Class B certified touch controllers offer unique safety-related features that enable system shut off through an intuitive soft button on a touchscreen, removing the requirement for an external safety certified stop or cancel button

a simplified single touchscreen interface, helping OEMs reduce costs and improve time to market. “Due to the risk of house fires caused by home appliances, appliance manufacturers must add functional safety to their machines, and Microchip’s MXT336UDMAUHA1 touchscreen controller family is already certified for these required safety standards,” said Fanie Duvenhage, vice president of Microchip’s human machine interface business unit. “Integrating Class B certification into our touch controllers

Development Tools Software and hardware tools are available. Software tools include maXTouch Studio and maXTouch Analyzer. Hardware tools include an evaluation kit, available upon request.

Pricing and Availability The MXT336UD-MAUHA1 family is available in volume production starting at $1.82 in 10,000-unit quantities. Microchip Technology https://www.microchip.com Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

All-in-one solution featuring the highest efficiency class: solar inverter from Fronius uses CoolSiC™ MOSFETs Joint press release of Fronius International GmbH and Infineon Technologies AG A few weeks ago Fronius International GmbH launched the Symo GEN24 Plus solar inverter. Its Multiflow technology makes it suitable for a wide range of applications supporting energy self-sufficiency. Not only does it provide power for direct use in the household, but it also offers an interface for energy storage systems. In addition, the hybrid inverter is designed for water heating and the charging of electric cars, and can be connected to external systems. All this thanks to silicon carbide (SiC) from Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) with an efficiency of over 98 percent. In combination with the high voltage storage from BYD, the Symo GEN24 Plus achieved a record value in the System Performance Index (SPI) of 94 percent in the 10 kW class. It was the only one in this combination to achieve Class A energy efficiency. “SiC modules can be used to build very energy-efficient, robust, and reliable inverters,” said Andreas Luger, Head of R&D Power Electronics from the Solar Energy Business Unit at Fronius. “This technology enables a significant increase in switching frequency. Compared to the previous generation, the functionality is significantly improved, while its size remains comparable. Each device now also has an output for a secure power supply, and backup power, in addition to the standard connection options for a hybrid inverter.” “To maximize the advantages of SiC, engineers from Fronius and Infineon have jointly optimized the layout and chip assembly of

the modules,” said Peter Wawer, Division President Industrial Power Control at Infineon. “Ultimately, the close communication between the development teams enabled system advantages that correspond to customer needs. Based on our tried and tested Easy module, the inverter's booster stages now use 1200 V CoolSiC™ MOSFETs in combination with CoolSiC diodes. This full-SiC solution thus ensures maximum efficiency.”

of Fronius. The NPC1 topology combines silicon-based 650 V TRENCHSTOP™ 5 IGBTs and rapid diodes with CoolSiC Schottky diodes. The modules are controlled in all stages with an EiceDriver™ IC gate driver. The combination of SiC MOSFET modules in the booster and battery input with hybrid modules in the inverter stage ensures the best possible ratio of efficiency and cost. As Infineon's SiC power semiconductors have a high power density,

Full-SiC is also used for the battery stage. One Easy 1B 1200 V with an R DS(on) of 45 mΩ is used in the bidirectional DC/DC converter. The inverter stage implements a SiC hybrid solution in an Easy 2B module, which has also been tailored to the needs

the Symo GEN24 Plus from Fronius offers many functions such as backup power, storage connection, multi-MPP tracker, and energy management. The inverter weighs only 24 kg and has a small volume (HWD 594 × 527 × 180 mm3). Its active aircooling can reduce the temperature of the power electronics parts, and thus extend service life. The inverter is available in the power classes 6, 8, and 10 kW. Fronius supplies this inverter primarily in Europe, South America, and Australia.

About Fronius Solar Energy The Fronius Business Unit (BU) Solar Energy has been developing photovoltaic energy solutions and distributing its products through a global network of expert installation, service and sales partners since 1992. More than 24 Solar Energy subsidiaries, an export ratio of over 95 percent and a total output of more than 17 Gigawatts from installed inverters are testament to this. Its mission is to achieve 24 hours of sun. Day after day Fronius is hard at work turning this vision of a future in which 100% of the world’s energy needs are covered by renewable sources into a reality. With this in mind, Fronius develops energy solutions to generate, store, distribute and consume solar energy economically and intelligently. About Fronius International GmbH Fronius International is an Austrian company with headquarters in Pettenbach and other sites in Wels, Thalheim, Steinhaus and Sattledt. Founded by Günter Fronius in 1945, this long-standing company with a rich tradition will be celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2020. What began as a local one-man venture has grown into a global player with more than 5440 employees worldwide working in the areas of welding technology, photovoltaics and battery charging systems. Its export ratio of around 93 percent is achieved with 34 international Fronius subsidiaries and sales partners/representatives in more than 60 countries. Moreover, its innovative products and services and its portfolio of 1264 registered patents make it an innovation leader on the world market. https://international.electronica-azi.ro

More information about Infineon's CoolSiC range is available at www.infineon.com/coolsic-mosfet. Further information on the Symo GEN24 Plus from Fronius is available here. Infineon Technologies https://www.infineon.com 9

PRODUCT NEWS

Maxim Integrated Announces Industry’s First Li+ Fuel Gauge IC Featuring Continuous Internal Self-Discharge Monitoring and Protection MAX17320 2 to 4 series cell Li-ion fuel gauge IC is industry’s first to monitor self-discharge during operation while extending battery life with highest accuracy and lowest quiescent current The new MAX17320 high-accuracy fuelgauge and protection circuit from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. extends runtime on multi-cell battery-powered prod-

factory. However, until now there were no solutions for detecting self-discharge that develops during normal usage of the battery. The MAX17320 warns the system and

ucts while also monitoring against selfdischarge hazards. The MAX17320 is a pack-side fuel gauge and protector IC for 2 to 4 series Lithium-ion (Li+) cells (2S-4S) and is part of a family of ICs equipped with Maxim Integrated’s patented ModelGauge™ m5 EZ algorithm that delivers 40 percent more accurate stateof-charge (SOC) readings than competitive offerings, eliminating the need for battery characterization for most common Li+ cells. This fuel gauge also offers the industry’s lowest quiescent current (IQ), which is 85 percent lower than the nearest competitor and features SHA-256 authentication to safeguard systems from counterfeit batteries.

disables a leaky battery before a potentially hazardous outcome. This is in addition to the most advanced battery protection that uniquely allows fine tuning of voltage and current thresholds based on various temperature zones. The IC also provides a secondary protection scheme that permanently disables the battery by assisting a secondary protector or blowing a fuse in severe fault conditions.

For hand-held devices with 2S-4S Li+ batteries in the computing, internet of things (IoT), power tool, consumer, healthcare and mobile device categories, ensuring customer safety is top of mind for designers. Damaged or defective batteries may develop an internal cell leakage which can progressively get worse and can result in dangerous outcomes, including fire or explosion. This can endanger consumers and tarnish brand value for manufacturers. Stringent factory screening may prevent leaky cells from getting shipped out of the 10

As with any mobile device, manufacturers aim to deliver products that have longer battery life than the competition. Devices also need to have accurate SOC information to determine the remaining run-time. As part of a family of ICs with ModelGauge m5 algorithm, the MAX17320 allows designers to enable the longest run-time and avoid premature or sudden shutdown, while delivering the most accurate SOC in the industry. The MAX17320 can run in an ultra-low-power mode, enabling the system to read the SOC instantly as it wakes up without being disconnected from the battery cells during shipment or when stored on the shelf. With the lowest IQ in the industry at 85 percent lower than the leading competitor, the MAX17320 supports longer product shelf life.

Key Advantages • Highest Protection: Ensures safe charging and discharging in 2S-4S Li+ battery applications by protecting against abnormal voltage, current and temperature conditions. Internal self-discharge detection provides systems with an early warning and cuts off potentially hazardous batteries. Delivers protection against cloning with SHA-256 authentication while providing unique or dynamic key for every battery. • Highest Accuracy: ModelGauge m5 algorithm delivers 40 percent better SOC accuracy than competitive offerings. • Lowest IQ: Supports long product shelf-life and runtime with operating IQ that is 85 percent lower than the nearest competitor. Commentary “It is important to ensure consumer safety for portable Li+ devices,” said Kevin Anderson, practice leader at Omdia. “Providing multiple levels of battery protection and safeguarding from counterfeit products will help designers prove their safety claims for their brands.” “Maxim Integrated’s fuel gauge ICs are the industry’s safest and most accurate,” said Bakul Damle, business management director, Mobile Power Business Unit at Maxim Integrated. “The MAX17320 ICs provide additional safety by detecting internal leakage and preventing potentially hazardous outcomes, while enhancing user experience through the industry’s highest accuracy for 2S-4S Li+ battery powered devices using Maxim Integrated’s ModelGauge m5 algorithm.” - The MAX17320 is available at Maxim’s website for $1.55 (1000-up, FOB USA); also available from authorized distributors. - The MAX17320X2EVKIT# evaluation kit is available for $89. - To order MAX17320 or learn more, visit https://maxim.click/MAX17320_Product Maxim Integrated https://www.maximintegrated.com Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

Maxim Integrated’s Automotive Sequential LED Lighting IC Cuts Size in Half and Reduces Cost by 25 Percent MAX25605’s hardware programmability simplifies design and saves design time by eliminating microcontroller and software from designs of animated turn signals The MAX25605 sequential LED controller from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. allows easy and cost-effective addition of

automotive sequential LED lighting features. It saves development time and reduces design complexity by eliminating the need for a microcontroller or software. In addition, the MAX25605 reduces design space by up to 50 percent and slashes bill-

of-materials (BOM) costs by up to 25 percent compared to the closest competing solution. Sequential LED lighting features used to be exclusive to high-end vehicle model segments due to complexity in design and cost constraints. The MAX25605 now simplifies designs, allowing more midrange and economy models to adopt their own animation signatures. It controls LED current up to 750mA versus 100mA for competing solutions, thus providing more flexibility in the lighting design. The MAX25605 integrates six switches, manages up to three LEDs per switch and can be daisy-chained up to 16 devices without the need for a microcontroller or software.

With this comprehensive solution, designers can accurately program sequence timing, direction and linear or log dimming, while also easily detecting fault conditions. This component reduction cuts BOM costs and saves time and effort by eliminating the need for software. Key Advantages • Reduces Design Space: Space savings up to 50 percent and high integration simplifies design • Lower Cost: Reduces component count to save BOM costs up to 25 percent • Saves Time: Eliminates need for a microcontroller or software which cuts design complexity and improves time to market • The MAX25605 is available at Maxim Integrated’s website for $2.19 (1000-up, FOB USA) Maxim Integrated https://www.maximintegrated.com

Broad Selection of White LEDs Würth Elektronik expands its WL-SWTP LED series Würth Elektronik has doubled its product range of SMT assembly white top view LEDs to 30 models. The 3014, 3030 and 5630 packages of the WL-SWTP product group have been expanded to include the "A series". These new LEDs in PLCC

able on the market with typical values from 175 lm/W. The long-life, slimline LEDs are suitable for many types of lamps, status displays, backlighting, industrial and consumer products for both indoor and outdoor use. They are characterized

color homogeneity can be achieved for each CCT group without compromising efficiency. Würth Elektronik provides developers with free samples. In addition, Würth Elektronik offers a design kit with free refilling, as well as demo boards for

WL-SWTP SMT LED series in 3014 package

WL-SWTP SMT LED series in 3030 package

WL-SWTP SMT LED series in 5630 package

Image source: Würth Elektronik

packages feature the best possible lumen per watt ratio and MacAdam binning, thus achieving the maximum homogeneity in color perception. The A series (identified by an A at the end of the product code), as part of the WLSWTP series, is one of the top LEDs availhttps://international.electronica-azi.ro

by a high color rendering index (CRI) and low energy consumption. The LEDs are available in five different color temperatures: Cool White (6000 K), Daylight (5000 K), Moonlight (4000 K), Warm White (3000 K) and Sunrise (2700 K). Using 3- and 5step MacAdam binning, the ultimate

PLCC LEDs. Along with the entire product group, the highly efficient A series LEDs are now available from stock without minimum order quantities. Würth Elektronik eiSos GmbH https://www.we-online.com 11

POWER MODULES

Advanced DC/DC Converters Simplify Industrial, Medical, and Transportation Power System Design Author: Rolf Horn Contributed by Digi-Key's North American Editors

With the increased use of electronics across industrial, transportation and medical applications, designers of the supporting power subsystems need to ensure high performance in physically and electrically demanding environments, while also meeting strict regulatory and safety requirements. At the same time, they must stay within ever tightening budget and design schedule constraints. The DC/DC converter has evolved dramatically over time to meet many of these requirements. They have decreased in size for higher power density, to save space, and offer wide input ranges to simplify inventory and lower the bill of materials (BOM). Other enhancements to make a designer’s task easier include low-noise outputs, tighter load regulation, strong protection and safety features, and remarkable attention to thermal management. However, as designers might expect, not all DC/DC converters are the same, requiring them to be discriminating in their selection to ensure design and application success. HOW DC/DC CONVERTERS WORK As the name implies, a DC/DC converter takes a voltage as input from a DC source and converts it to an output that is at another DC voltage. The output can be either lower (buck converter) or higher (boost converter) than the input voltage. DC/DC converters are either isolated or 12

This article will feature DC/DC converters from Bellnix, HVM Technology, Murata Power Solutions, Vicor and XP Power that are compact, ensure low ripple noise, and cater to single and dual-output voltages. It will also highlight and explain features and enhancements, and how they can help designers boost power adjustment capabilities, lower noise, ensure self-protection, and provide better thermal management. non-isolated. An isolated DC/DC converter uses a transformer to eliminate the DC path between input and output (Figure 1). In contrast, non-isolated DC/DC converters, often used when the change in voltage is small, have a DC path between input and output. KEY PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS Key performance characteristics of DC/DC converters include efficiency, current rating, ripple voltage, regulation, transient response, voltage rating, size, and weight. For more on these, see “Introduction to DC/DC converters.” Designers also need to be concerned with a converter’s ability to support a wide range of nominal input voltages.

Figure 1

This allows one converter to support many applications – reducing inventory and logistics – assuming it’s also able to provide the necessary output voltage and current rating required for the expected loads. Depending on the application and the nature of the power source, protection against overvoltage, undervoltage, reverse polarity, short circuit, and over temperature conditions are also crucial. Likewise, good electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) compliance are a must. This is particularly important given that the switching power supplies used in DC/DC converters can introduce noise directly into the load and can emit RF noise that can affect the stability and accuracy of nearby circuits.

This DC/DC converter is isolated, as indicated by the transformer between the input and output stages.

(Image source: XP Power)

Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

DESIGN SOLUTIONS » Advanced DC/DC Converters

SMALLER IS BETTER FOR DC/DC CONVERTERS Several applications demand DC/DC converters in compact form factors to save space and simplify installation. For such applications, Bellnix engineered the OHV series of 1.5 watt medium-to-high voltage DC/DC converters specifically to reduce the mounting area required by nearly 60%, compared to modules available at the time of development. Figure 2

nents to further reduce noise and also reduce input impedance (Figure 3). For example, to reduce the input impedance caused by extended distance between the converter and the power supply, capacitor C1 can be added at the input. This capacitor should be placed on the terminal side of the converter to reduce lead inductance. (Image source: Bellnix)

(Image source: Bellnix)

Figure 3

The ultra-compact OHV12-1.0K500P converter from Bellnix measures 44 × 16 × 30 mm and outputs 1000 volts at 1.5 mA. A sample device is the OHV12-1.0K1500P, a system-in-package (SiP) that measures 44 × 16 × 30 millimeters (mm) and which outputs 1000 volts at 1.5 milliamperes (mA) (Figure 2). Bellnix also designed the series to keep the ripple noise to as low as 5 millivolts (mV) peak-to-peak (P-P). The series operates off an 11 volt to 13 volt input at 0.28 amperes (A). From this it can output between zero and ±1000 volts (0 to 1.5 mA), 1500 volts (0 to 1.0 mA), and 2000 volts (0 to 0.7 mA), depending on the model. The devices’ low ripple noise of 5 mVP-P is important for applications such as instrumentation, where any instability in the high-voltage power supply can induce noise and affect the accuracy of the equipment. Bellnix has developed its own circuit technology to keep noise to a minimum, and while the devices are self-contained – with no external components required – designers can add compohttps://international.electronica-azi.ro

To reduce noise, a capacitor (C2) can be placed carefully near the load such that it has minimum input-output wiring, with special attention to creepage and spatial distances. All devices in the line have built-in short-circuit and overcurrent protection, and they further boost the reliability of the power supply with a fivesided metal case that uses additional shielding to safeguard the device against excessive heat and temperature. The output voltage on the OHV series can be controlled from 0 V to 2000 V by an external voltage or an external variable resistor. Figure 4

For designers of battery-powered devices, HVM Technology’s nHV series offers precision regulated power of 100 milliwatts (mW) at up to 1 kilovolts (kV) in a package measuring 11.4 mm × 8.9 mm, with a height of 9.4 mm. Specifically, the load regulation is < 0.2% (typical) from no load to full load.

To reduce input impedance due to lead length between the supply and the converter, designers can add capacitor C1 on the terminal side. To further reduce noise, C2 can be added across the load. The nHV series takes a 5 volt input (4.5 volts ±0.5 volts). Depending on the model, the output voltage ranges between -1200 volts (NHV0512N) and 1200 volts (NHV0512) at 83 microamperes (μA), to -100 volts (NHV0501N) and 100 volts (NHV0501) at 1 mA. The series employs a high impedance programming input (100 kilohms (kΩ)) to make the devices easy to install and eliminate the need for a low-impedance adjustable power source voltage. The output voltage is independent of the input voltage and is instead proportional to the programming voltage to ensure robust linearity. (Image source: : XP Power)

Finally, designers should carefully review the thermal characteristics of the converter in the context of the application’s design and operating conditions so that adequate ventilation and other thermal management techniques can be applied as needed.

The ultra-compact OHV12-1.0K500P converter from Bellnix measures 44 × 16 × 30 mm and outputs 1000 volts at 1.5 mA. 13

POWER MODULES

WIDE INPUT RANGE Like the nHV series, XP Power’s DTJ15 and DTJ20 series of 15 watt and 20 watt DC/DC converters are also miniaturized for easy installation and power-efficient operation, but with a twist: they can be installed to a chassis or DIN rail and connected via screw terminals (Figure 4).

Figure 5

ants with single-output devices providing voltages of 3.3 volts, 5.0 volts, 12.0 volts and 15.0 volts, and dual-output devices providing ±5.0 volts, ±12.0 volts, and ±15.0 volts, respectively (Figure 5). A remote ON/OFF function allows the DC/DC converters to be controlled by software, which helps control overall

PROTECTION FEATURES PORTFOLIO Power system designs for railway, industrial, and transportation applications demand fast settling times to transient step loads.

The DTJ15 and DTJ20 series DC/DC converters are notable for their wide input voltage range, as well as their output range, the latter giving a total of 14 variants. Image shows output for DTJ15, 15 watt converter.

Notes: 1. Input current measured at nominal input voltage. 2. Typical values. 3. For optional version fitted with DIN Clip add suffix '-D' e.g. DTJ1524S12-D.

Figure 6

(Image source: Murata)

The IRE-Q12 series converters go through extensive testing to ensure that they can withstand the harsh environmental conditions typically found in railway and industrial applications. Besides easy installation, what’s important about these power converters is their ability to cover a wide DC voltage input range, spanning from 9 volts to 36 volts, and 18 volts to 75 volts. A variety of input sources, including multiple nominal battery voltages and vehicle supplies, allow these converters to serve a broad range of industrial, commercial, and communication applications. Together, the DTJ15 and DTJ20 series DC/DC controllers offer a total of 14 vari14

DTJ15 and DTJ20 series controllers include short-circuit protection and input reverse polarity protection.

4. For optional factory fitted heatsink add suffix '-HK' e.g. DTJ1524S12-HK or DTJ1524S12-HKD with DIN clip. 5. Input curent is typically 2.0mA at nominal input voltage when output is remotely turned off. 6. Per output.

(Image source: XP Power) (Image source: Vicor)

Figure 7

The DC-ZVS topology enables DCM2322 converters to achieve up to 93% efficiency.

power consumption, allowing remote installations to operate efficiently. Another important feature of the DTJ15 and DTJ20 series DC/DC converters is the soft start that ramps the output voltage by modulating the internal error amplifier reference. This causes the output voltage to approximate a piecewise linear ramp, which finishes when the voltage reaches the nominal output voltage. Other protection features offered by the

Other transient events such as oscillations in the input and output voltage make the self-protection features critical for the safe and reliable operation of DC/DC converters. In current limiting, also referred to as power limiting, as soon as the output current increases to approximately 130% of its rated value, the DC/DC converter will go into a current-limiting mode. Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

DESIGN SOLUTIONS » Advanced DC/DC Converters

As a result, the output voltage will start decreasing proportionately to maintain somewhat constant power dissipation. If environmental conditions cause the temperature of the DC/DC converter to rise above its designed operating temperature, a precision temperature sensor will power down the unit. Once the internal temperature decreases below the threshold of the temperature sensor, the DC/DC converter will self-start. Murata’s IRE-Q12 Series of isolated DC/DC converters feature self-protection features to ensure that there are no adverse effects from higher capacitive loads (Figure 6). For example, the IRE-12/10-Q12PF-C incorporates all relevant self-protection features while meeting the EN50155 requirements for facilitating nominal battery voltages during brownout and transient conditions.

STANDALONE AND ARRAY POWER MODES Vicor’s DCM2322 is an isolated DC/DC converter series that operates from unregulated DC inputs ranging from 9 volts to 50 volts to generate an isolated 28 volt output (Figure 7). It’s based on the company’s double-clamped zero-voltage switching (DC-ZVS) topology that helps it deliver a high efficiency of 93% across the full input voltage range. The DC/DC converter module (DCM) units, such as the DCM2322T50T3160T60, leverage the thermal and density benefits of Vicor’s ChiP packaging technology that distributes the internally generated heat evenly across the surface of the package. The ChiP technology also enables the DCM converters to offer flexible thermal management options with very low top and bottom side thermal impedances. Figure 8

limit, a temperature fault is registered, and the powertrain immediately stops switching. The converter waits for the internal temperature to return to the given threshold and then restarts. Moreover, these DC/DC converters provide integrated EMI filtering, tight output voltage regulation, and a secondary referenced control interface while retaining the fundamental design benefits of the conventional brick architecture. In applications that call for more power than a single DC/DC converter can deliver, such as data centers and telecommunication gear, multiple devices can be used in parallel. Multiple DCM converters can be paralleled in array mode for higher power capacity via load sharing, even when they are operating off different input voltage supplies. Vicor has qualified arrays of up to eight DC/DC converters for 480 watt capacity. CONCLUSION For designers of power supplies to support electronic systems for industrial, medical, transportation, and instrumentation applications, the complexities and associated costs are many, from the need for wide input voltage ranges to thermal management and load sharing. However, as shown, DC/DC converters have evolved into ever-smaller, easy-to-install, self-contained power supplies that eliminate many of those complexities.

The DCM converters facilitate fault monitoring handling capabilities, as well as safety features that include current limiting and soft-start control. (Image source: Vicor) The IRE-Q12 Series converters provide a single 120 watt isolated output from an input voltage range of 9 volts to 36 volts in a standard eighth-brick package and footprint. It also provides two baseplate options, one for minimal board space consumption, the other a slotted flange for mechanical fixing to a heatsink. The output of these DC/DC converters can be trimmed ±10% to ensure fast settling times to transient step loads. Furthermore, all of the converters are tested and specified for input reflected ripple current, input terminal ripple current, and output noise. https://international.electronica-azi.ro

The efficient thermal distribution allows the DCM units to feature connectivity from a variety of unregulated power sources to the point-of-load. They provide both input and output overvoltage fault protection and other fault handling mechanisms that shut down the converters when a fault is detected (Figure 8).

Still, for designers looking for better performance, additional components can be added. Also, where more flexibility is required, remote and programmable features are increasingly available to carry out impedance compensation and facilitate a variety of protection features to avoid burnouts, respond to transient conditions, and reduce overall system power consumption. Further reading: Introduction to DC/DC converters Digi-Key Electronics www.digikey.com

These features allow the DCM converters to provide a regulated output voltage around defined nominal load line and temperature coefficients. If the internal temperature of the converter exceeds its 15

PRODUCT NEWS

Kontron Industrial AI Platform for easy integration of Artificial Intelligence Kontron, a leading global provider of IoT/Embedded Computing Technology (ECT), is now supporting companies with a compact platform for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. It integrates all Google TensorFlow Lite applications and enables rapid development of custom AI-applications. The Google Coral Edge TPU (Tensor Processing Acceleration Unit) with up to 4TOPS (trillion operations per second) ensures higher speed in image and video data processing.

Compared to an application with simple USB-cameras without TPU at approx. 6 frames/s, the TPU accelerates to a speed of 30 frames/s, so five times faster. Artificial Intelligence in the Intelligent Edge is gaining more and more importance in industrial automation. The new compact Kontron AI platform consists of an M.2 module with the Google Coral accelerator chip for the software ecosystem TensorFlow Lite on a 2.5" pITX SBC from Kontron with an NXP i.MX8M processor. The TPU supports small and low power applications and requires only 1 Watt for 2 TOPS, so 2 Watt for 4 TOPS. All current applications of TensorFlow Lite as well as pretrained models can be downloaded free of charge. This allows a fast and

uncomplicated development of own neural networks with AI/ML/DL applications, and thus a significantly reduced time-tomarket. In the context of Industry 4.0 applications, topics such as object recognition and classification as well as quality inspection of objects and predictive maintenance, which are based on AI-algorithms, are increasingly being addressed. Artificial Intelligence is also playing an increasingly important role in point-of-sales applications in order to place advertising and relevant information in a more targeted manner. Kontron's solution can also be flexibly customized to meet specific application needs. The platform is suitable for use in harsh environments with extended temperatures ranging from -40° to + 85° Celsius and supports Yocto Linux with the latest kernel. The platform will also be available on other Kontron systems within the first quarter of 2021. Kontron https://www.kontron.com

Digi-Key Electronics to Distribute Mag Layers USA MMD Series Through the Digi-Key Marketplace Digi-Key Electronics, which offers the world’s largest selection of electronic components in stock for immediate shipment, announced that it has expanded its product portfolio to include a global

Mag Layers USA MMD Series is now available through Digi-Key Electronics 16

distribution of Mag Layers USA MMD series molded power inductors. This partnership is part of Digi-Key’s global Marketplace initiative to broaden the product offering now available for customers, making Digi-Key more of a one-stop-shop than ever before. Mag Layers USA’s molded power inductors have a magnetic metal powder core and internal wire coil in a shielded construction for today’s DC/DC applications and power supplies. The MMD series of inductors are produced on state-ofthe-art manufacturing lines utilizing second generation automotive grade robotics. These shielded power inductors feature soft saturating core materials in consumer, industrial and automotive grades.

“We are pleased to include Mag Layers USA in our Marketplace solution,” said David Stein, vice president of global supplier management for Digi-Key. “Mag Layers USA’s offerings for a variety of consumer, industrial and automotive grade clients further round out our power inductor offerings and feature many high levels of compliance that our customers are looking for, from no conflict minerals to Reach and RoHS compliance.” The typical applications for the MMD Series include laptop, desktop and server power, as well as high current power supplies, battery powered devices, and PMIC applications. The MMD series are RoHS/Reach compliant, halogen free, low resistance and offer high current ratings. Mag Layers USA offers sizes from 4x4mm to 17×17mm. For more information about Mag Layers USA and to order from their product portfolio, please visit the Digi-Key website. Digi-Key Electronics https://www.digikey.com Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

AMD Unveils AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Processors with Enhanced Performance and Power Efficiency AMD launched a new product in its highperformance Embedded processor family, the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series processor. Built on the innovative 7nm process technology, ‘Zen 2’ cores and high-performance AMD Radeon graphics, the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series provides a new class of performance with 7nm technology, incredible power efficiency and continues to deliver enterprise-class security features for embedded customers. The AMD Embedded Ryzen V2000 family is designed for embedded applications such as Thin Client, MiniPC and Edge systems. Equipped with up to eight CPU cores and seven GPU compute units, a single AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series processor provides 2x4 the multi-threaded performance-per-watt, up to 30 percent5 better single-thread CPU performance and up to 40 percent6 better graphics performance over the previous genera-

tion. For customers and applications that need high-performance display capabilities, the Ryzen Embedded V2000 series can power up to four independent displays in 4K resolution.

In addition to providing customers with generationally improved performance and efficiency, the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series processor continues providing advanced security features, helping to defend against unauthorized access to memory or critical software. Similar to the

AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 and R1000 Series, the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 will support AMD Memory Guard, a suite of security features including Secure Boot and Secure Memory Encryption, in which stored memory is encrypted to help prevent an attacker from accessing the data, as well as helps to mitigate cold boot attacks. With support for rich multimedia capabilities, the AMD Ryzen Embedded processor ecosystem includes a strong roster of key customers and partners who rely on the AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 and R1000 Series processors. Initial launch partners of the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 series include Advantech, ASRock Industrial, iBase and Sapphire, with numerous other ecosystem partners pledging their support. AMD https://www.amd.com

Digi-Key Electronics Introduces Refreshed Quote Manager Tool Free self-service customer tool will allow for faster and easier quoting experiences Digi-Key Electronics, the leading global electronic components distributor, announced that it has launched a refreshed Quote Manager tool for customers. Digi-Key’s self-service tool allows customers to quickly and easily generate quotes with secure pricing, accessible from any device or location. “We’re excited to share the refreshed look and feel of Quote Manager to give our customers a more consistent and easy-to-use expereince,” said Ian Wallace, director of EMEA business development for Digi-Key. “We know that our customers want access to all of our pricing, availability and quoting information instantly, and are excited about this option for those who don’t want to wait

for an email quote or phone inquiry to be returned. The tool allows our customers to receive the information they want instantly, and secure the pricing they receive for 30 days.” The recently refreshed Quote Manager tool allows any registered customer who is logged into the website the ability to generate an official Digi-Key quote for any project, component or BOM. Customers can upload and download lists, with PDF format available. Quote Manager also features the ability to secure pricing for 30 days on every item in the quote, and the downloadable quotes are sharable with colleagues and other collaborators. The tool is now available in all global languages and currencies. “I love the new design for quotes,” said Jennifer Priebe, test solutions engineering for IBM. “Digi-Key has the most user-friendly site I work with, especially for being able to create and email myself quotes.” Digi-Key offers the largest selection of electronic components in stock and available for immediate shipment, and with customers able to instantly procure secure quotes on these products, they will be able to receive quoted products that much faster with in-stock items arriving in 48 hours or less to most parts of the world. To learn more about the Quote Manager tool, as well as other new customer self-service tools, please visit the Digi-Key Quote Self-Service page.

Digi-Key’s Quote Manager has been updated for a better experience and faster, secured pricing https://international.electronica-azi.ro

Digi-Key Electronics https://www.digikey.com 17

PRODUCT NEWS

Wide Screen All-in-One PC series with PoE functionality 16:9 aspect ratio, increased performance through Whiskey Lake CPU and upgradeable Power over Ethernet functionality. These are the three advantages of the new AFL3 All-in-One PC series from ICP Germany. The 16:9 aspect ratio and the display diagonals of 15.6", 18.5" and 21.5" offer plenty of space for application information

or a larger display of content. More CPU performance is provided by the 8th generation of Intel® CoreTM i5 ULT processors. In addition to a higher turbo clock frequency, doubling from two to four processor cores is also part of the new processor generation. The three variants AFL3-W15C-ULT5, AFL3-W19C-ULT5 and AFL3-W22C-ULT5 are delivered with an Intel® CoreTM i5-8365UE with 15 Watt TDP and 4GB DDR4 SO-DIMM memory as standard. The main memory can be extended up to 32GB. The PCAP (Projected Capacitive) touch offers an antiglare, anti-UV coating and through the 10 finger touch operation an especially good interactivity. Storage media can be installed on the M.2 2242/2260/2280 slot with PCIE Express 3.0 x4 signal and in the SATA 3Gb/s 2.5" drive bay. The AFL3s are also equipped with one Intel® i219 GbE and two additional Intel® i210 GbE network ports, which can be expanded with Power over

Ethernet IEEE802.3af/at/bt functionality. Using the optional Power over Ethernet module results in a reduced cabling effort. The internal module expands the network connection and thus enables the system to be supplied with power. In this case, the classic external power supply can be dispensed with. WLAN IEEE802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth in version 4.1 are available for wireless communication. Further peripheral devices can be connected to the four USB3.2 Gen2 and to the RS232/422/485 or RS-232 interface. The additional HDMI connection and the audio functionality with two 3 Watt internal speakers complete the offer. The AFL3 All-in-One series can be mounted on the wall, on stands or in hole cut-outs. The systems are designed for fanless operation and can be operated in a temperature range from -20 °C to 50 °C. On request, ICP delivers the AFL3 All-in-One series preinstalled and pre-parameterized with industrial storage media and operating system as a ready-to-use system. ICP Deutschland GmbH www.icp-deutschland.de/en/home

Industrial Coffee Lake ATX Mainboard with Dual Thunderbolt Functional upgrade for the Intel® Coffee Lake ATX motherboard IMBA-Q370, which has been in the product range of ICP Germany since 2018: the projectbased Thunderbolt PCIe x4 plug-in card TB3-40GDP extends the IMBA-Q370 by two Thunderbolt 3 interfaces.

Thunderbolt 3 offers transfer rates of up to 40Gbit/s and thus the possibility to transfer data faster than with USB3. The Thunderbolt card can be used to control displays with 4K, Ethernet or PXI measurement acquisition systems. With the integrated USB3.1 functionality the user has additional transfer rates of 10 Gbit/s on both ports available. The compatibility with USB-C is an advantage here, because the USB-C connector can be used on the TB3-40GDP without an additional adapter. The mainboard itself is equipped with the Intel® Q370 chipset and supports CoreTM i9/i7/i5/i3, Celeron® and Pentium® processors of the ninth and eighth generation. The IMBA-Q370 supports up to 64GB DDR4 memory in dual channel operation on the four slots. In addition, the IMBAQ370 offers two configurable M.2 ports that provide SATA, USB 2.0, PCIe signals.

The system is flexibly expandable by one PCIex1, x8, x16 and two PCIe x4 slots as well as two PCI slots. Further interfaces are eight USB 2.0, four USB 3.0, four RS232, two RS-232/422/485, one LPT port and eight digital I/O. If you don't want to use Thunderbolt for connecting displays, there are three independent display outputs with a maximum resolution of 4K UHD (4096x2304) available. These include one HDMI, DP++, VGA or internal DisplayPort (iDP) each, which can be converted to different I/O such as LVDS, DVI or DP using an adapter module. Six SATA 6Gb/s connectors with RAID 0/1/5/10 functionality are used to connect mass storage devices. The system can also be secured by an optional TPM module. Upon customer request, ICP Germany assembles the IMBA-Q370 with matching RAM and CPU, so that the CPU board can be used directly at the customer's site. ICP Deutschland GmbH www.icp-deutschland.de/en/home Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

SiPM dToF LiDAR Platform from ON Semiconductor Provides Readyto-Use Design for Industrial Range Finding Applications ON Semiconductor, driving energy efficient innovations, has introduced a single point direct Time-of-Flight (dToF) LiDAR solution enabled by the company's Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) technology. The application of light detection and ranging, or LiDAR, is growing across all sec-

tors, including robotics and industrial proximity sensing where millimetre range accuracy is mandatory. It is typically based upon the dToF method, which measures the time it takes for a pulse of light, normally in the Near Infrared (NIR) wavelength range, to travel to and from an object. While the principle is simple, its application can pose challenges, for example, environmental factors such as high levels of ambient solar light. To determine range accurately, the receiver needs to capture as much of the signal as possible. Traditional photodiodes suffer here, in terms of response time and sensitivity. The Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) sensor developed by ON Semiconductor, overcomes these shortfalls by providing faster response times and high detection efficiency. The reference platform uses the RB-Series, ON Semiconductor's second

generation of SiPM sensors, which deliver improved performance in red and the NIR range. The SiPM dToF LiDAR Platform developed by ON Semiconductor provides a complete solution for low cost, single point LiDAR that OEMs can adapt and take into production to create industrial range finding applications. It includes the NIR laser diode, SiPM sensor and optics, as well as the digital processing necessary to convert the detected signals into elapsed time, and elapsed time into distance. To accelerate customers' time to market, ON Semiconductor has made all of the design data for the reference platform available, covering the schematics, BoM, gerber files, and PCB design files. A PC-based GUI is also accessible, which provides a graphical representation of the measurements over time. The histograms generated provide further evidence of the system's capabilities in applications such as range finding, collision detection and 3D mapping. ON Semiconductor https://www.onsemi.com

Motor Development Kit from ON Semiconductor Prioritizes Energy Efficiency ON Semiconductor has introduced its advanced and flexible Motor Development Kit to accelerate the development of more efficient motor control solutions for applications ranging from less than 1 kW to over 10 kW. Electric motors account for over half of all

https://international.electronica-azi.ro

the power generated and consumed by industrialized countries. The majority of those motors are AC induction motors, which have an average efficiency of just 44%. In order to improve efficiency, motor drives designers must understand how these and other types of motors operate under all load conditions, and intelligently compensating for variable conditions. The Motor Development Kit addresses the urgent need for improved energy usage. The Motor Development Kit (MDK) comprises one of a growing number of Power Boards, connected to a Universal Controller Board (UCB). The Power Boards feature various incarnations of ON Semiconductor inverter solutions for motor drive, from high voltage integrated modules to low voltage, discrete MOSFETs. The UCB is a common control platform that interfaces with any

Power Board to enable engineers to evaluate alternative motor control techniques for various types of motors and at a wide variety of power levels. Intelligent motor control requires a flexible and programmable approach. The UCB is based on the Zynq®-7000 SoC family from Xilinx, Inc. This powerful device integrates two ARM® Cortex™-A9 processor cores alongside an FPGA fabric, providing the optimum combination of software and hardware configuration. The board also features a 10-channel differential ADC, 12 PWM channels and a number of configurable digital peripherals. Communication ports include USB, JTAG and UART, as well as a Gigabit Ethernet PHY. Efficient motor control represents a major focus of ON Semiconductor. The company is applying its extensive experience and large portfolio of discrete devices, Intelligent Power Modules (IPMs) and Transfer Molded Power Integrated Modules (TMPIMs) to increase efficiency. ON Semiconductor https://www.onsemi.com 19

POWER SUPPLIES

On the road to 99% efﬁciency in a Smart World! Author: Patrick Le Fèvre Chief Marketing and Communication Officer Powerbox (PRBX)

With the growing concern for the environment and reducing energy consumption, the need to meet governmental regulations, and of course individual initiatives, the demand on power designers to develop very efficient power solutions has been great. But simultaneously and creating even more difficulties, emerging applications have required smaller power supplies with unprecedented power density expectations.

From the very early days when power electronics equipment utilized vacuum tubes, power engineers have been concerned with energy efficiency, power optimization and how to make power supplies more reliable, smaller and smarter. Probably few of us remember the introduction of the Thyratron or the 1925 patent by Julius Edgar Lilienfeld for the Field Effect Transistor (figure 1 – figure 2), but the electronics industry is full of amazing inventions and innovations all contributing to achieving the mythical 99% efficiency level. The laws of physics are the laws of physics, and despite many evolutions in switching topologies, power designers have run into road blocks requiring a solution that is able to switch faster, with less power losses and if possible maintaining good performances at higher temperatures. Despite technological advancements in conventional semiconductors, it became difficult to increase the switching frequency by a magnitude of 10 while reducing the

physical size of the power supplies while also reducing power losses. Among the different routes taken to achieving this, the exploration of materials offering higher performance such as higher-energy electronic band gaps has revealed the potential of Gallium Nitride and Silicon Carbide. Both materials have been used before e.g. SiC diodes and GaN LEDs, but the use of Wide Bandgap FET appeared relatively recently in the power electronics history.

Figure 1: From Mercury rectifier to FPGA, 90 years of evolution 20

Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

DESIGN SOLUTIONS » Wide Bandgap (WBG) technologies

As for all new technologies, GaN FET and SiC FET went through the classic process starting with the Innovators, to the early adopters and now reaching the early majority. What is very interesting is that probably due to a large number of innovators, GaN and SiC manufacturing was very quick off the mark in addressing niches markets with a very high growth potential. Wide Bandgap (WBG) technologies have been presented at many conferences but I consider the real kick-off to have taken place in 2018 when “challengers” demonstrated the commercial potential of WBG technology. It is impossible to name all of them but among the leaders promoting GaN, I would say that the Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Idea to implement GaN in LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) (figure 3) was really interesting, especially with that technology becoming preponderant in the new generation of vehicles. 2018 was also the year in which USB adapter manufacturers started to consider implementing WBG. Navitas is another example of an innovative company, which in the early days pushed GaN integration to a higher level by packaging drivers and switches on same substrate. If today, intelligent GaNFET is becoming a standard, it was not the case when

Navitas introduced that concept. If WBG is a very promising technology, we should keep in mind another symbolic milestone for a technology called ‘Digital Power’ that emerged in 2003 as a promising technology. As it was for digital power 17 years ago, GaN, having started its journey only a few years ago has followed a similar path, gradually migrating from a ‘technical curiosity’ to a ‘commercial product’. Digital power and GaN are both technologies that were challenged and highly debated when introduced to the market, and it is interesting to link both of them in this way, especially when the outcome of combining the best of the two technologies results in truly outstanding commercial products. STEP BY STEP TO MATURITY As it is for any new technology - especially when disruptive – the transition from research level to high volume production is a long process, one that includes new learning for electronics engineers and in the case of GaN, the implementation of zero-voltage switching topologies requiring very specific drivers and new ways of controlling them. Despite the huge benefits of GaN transistors, for many years the lack of drivers limited the interest level from industrial designers.

Thankfully, the increased number of semiconductors players investing in GaN in the last two years has made this technology simpler to implement. Many technical barriers have been removed. Manufacturing processes have gradually been optimized to increase yield and reduce cost, quality processes specific to this technology have been implemented, and in November 2017 the JEDEC organization announced the formation of a new committee to set standards for Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductors (JC-70). Following on, February 2019 saw the release of the publication JEP173: Dynamic On-Resistance Test Method Guidelines for GaN HEMT Based Power Conversion Devices. Step by step, the puzzle is being solved and if GaN has been widely used in LED and RF applications for many years, power supply manufacturers for commercial products deployment are now adopting it. DIGITAL POWER COMBINED WITH GAN HEADS TOWARDS 99% EFFICIENCY What makes power designers’ lives so exciting is the ever-present levels of innovation making it possible to improve performance levels, thus contributing to reducing our environmental impact and the creation of a sustainable society.

Figure 2: Energy regulations, digital power, wide bandgap semiconductors contributing to lower the energy consumption and to increase energy efficiency. https://international.electronica-azi.ro

POWER SUPPLIES

Combining the benefits of digital power with GaN performance and the ability to switch at high frequencies with low power losses makes it possible for designers to develop very high power density units.

We are all aiming to break limits and there is no doubt we are moving fast towards the 99% efficiency, but as power designers we have to consider a new dimension that includes a larger eco-system.

Figure 3: GaN in LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) very promising and foreseen as high volume application for GaN power semiconductors That combination results in smaller products with lower power dissipation that are ready for stringent, future regulations foreseen in the coming years (e.g. microamps for standby power). One practical example is USB chargers where by combining digital and GaN, several companies are in some cases almost tripling the power density for a standard USB charger. That is without talking about multi kilowatts power factor correction equipment fitting into an existing 500W footprint.

SMART POWER BECOMING A REALITY WBG and digital power have brought strategic, exiting technologies to the power designers’ toolbox, and every day we are achieving new limits, but in today’s world and as an effect of the industry’s transformation, power supplies have to be both energy efficient and perform equally well within the eco-system in which they are integrated. From a USB-PD +PPS for charging and communicating with a battery, to a huge factory automation system

where all power supplies are dynamically controlled and optimized to reduce factory energy consumption, power supplies designers will have to include a new dimension when designing the next generation of power solutions. If previously, the well-known PMBus communication between a power supply and a power/site manager was well understood, then including Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication with direct control of the power supply is relatively new and only at the beginning of its journey. Industry 4.0 will introduce a higher level of software integration and if many power supplies remain as standalone units, we foresee a significant number of applications requiring power supplies to interoperate within their eco-system in a very advanced way (figure 4). Smart Power for a Smart Industry is becoming a reality, and a very exciting one at that. IN CONCLUSION Smart Factories will use Smart Power solutions designed by Smart Power Designers all aiming for 99% efficiency, but with another eye on the ambitious target of 99.99%! About the author: Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Powerbox, Patrick Le Fèvre is an experienced, senior marketer and degree-qualified engineer with a 35-year track record of success in power electronics. He has pioneered the marketing of new technologies such as digital power and technical initiatives to reduce energy consumption. Le Fèvre has written and presented numerous white papers and articles at the world’s leading international power electronics conferences. These have been published over 250 times in media throughout the world. He is also involved in several environmental forums, sharing his expertise and knowledge of clean energy. Powerbox (PRBX) www.prbx.com

Figure 4: PRBX intelligent battery charger with radio communication interfacing with the factory Hub Process Controller (HPC). The unit communicates with its ecosystem and information exchanged with other power units to optimize e.g. charging profiles. Smart power supplies include very advanced energy management controller, optimizing performances to loads and environment. 22

Editor's Note: Article reproduced with courtesy of Power Electronics News (www.powerelectronicsnews.com) and Powerbox (PRBX) (https://www.prbx.com) Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

Renesas Extends RA MCU Family with RA6T1 MCU Group for Motor Control and AI-based Endpoint Predictive Maintenance Renesas Electronics Corporation announced the extension of its microcontroller (MCU) portfolio designed for motor control applications targeting smart homes, industrial automation, and building automation. Featuring a rich set of peripheral functions and AI-based failure detection, the four new RA6T1 Group MCUs are the latest members of Renesas’ rapidly expanding Arm®-based RA Family, and the first RA MCUs designed for the unique needs of motor control in home appliances, HVAC, solar inverters, and AC drives.

smart home and Industrial IoT applications,” said Ian Nappier, Product Manager at Google. “Integrating our open-source TensorFlow AI framework with Renesas’ powerful RA6T1 MCUs brings breakthrough intelligence to motor control equipment.”

“As home appliances and building and industrial automation equipment become smarter and more complex, manufacturers are grappling with rising BOM costs to support increasing motor performance demands,” said Roger Wendelken, Senior Vice President of Renesas’ IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit. “The RA6T1 MCUs combine the superior performance and flexibility of the Arm-based RA Family with Renesas’ long-standing motor control expertise. In addition, with the emergence of AI-based needs, Renesas is excited to complement Google’s TensorFlow Lite supported platforms with the RA6T1 motor control and predictive maintenance solution.”

log significantly reduce bill of materials (BOM) cost while boosting motor control performance. For example, a single RA6T1 MCU can simultaneously control up to two brushless DC (BLDC) motors. In addition, the Google TensorFlow™ Lite Micro framework for TinyML applications adds enhanced failure detection to the RA6T1 MCUs, offering customers an intelligent, easy-to-use, and cost-effective sensorless motor system for predictive maintenance. The Tensor Flow AI framework detects potentially detrimental anomalies in motor systems earlier and more accurately to help customers improve their predictive maintenance processes and reduce maintenance costs.

“AI and machine learning are taking predictive maintenance to the next level as the industry advances toward Maintenance 4.0. We are excited to join forces with Renesas and accelerate the adoption of

Key Features of the RA6T1 Group • 120 MHz Arm Cortex-M4 with floating point unit • Scalable from 64-pin to 100-pin LQFP packages

Based on the Arm Cortex®-M4 core, the new RA6T1 32-bit MCUs operate at 120 MHz and feature a rich collection of peripherals optimized for high performance and precision motor control. The integrated peripheral functions with high-speed ana-

• 64 KB RAM and scalable from 256 KB to 512 KB Flash • 32-bit PWM timer with advanced functions, including support for seven types of complementary PWM modes for the carrier generation • 250 usec sampling period when used with the motor control solution bundle • High-speed 12-bit ADC with a maximum speed of 0.4 usec and a sample/hold function that allows simultaneous acquisition of 3 shunt currents • 6-channel programmable gain amplifier

• Supports IEC 60730 standard for functional safety in home appliances Renesas also offers a new Renesas Solution Starter Kit (RSSK) for developers working on a motor control solution using the RA6T1 MCUs. The RSSK offers easy motor control debugging and allows customers to immediately begin evaluating their motor control design, executing real-time analysis and tuning to accelerate development. The easy-to-use motor solution includes an RA6T1 CPU card and 48V-compatible inverter board, along with a GUI tool for motor workbench, and a sensorless vector control sample program with three-shunt method that corresponds with the Flexible Software Package (FSP). Using the RA Family FSP makes it easy for customers to port the sample code to their program. Renesas Electronics Corporation https://www.renesas.com Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

Renesas Introduces Scalable AI SMARC SoM Winning Combination Solution for Accelerating Time to Market of HMI and Embedded Vision Systems Renesas Electronics Corporation introduced a scalable System-on-Module (SoM) Smart Mobility ARChitecture (SMARC) Winning Combination board solution comprised of 10 Renesas ICs, including microprocessor (MPU), power and analog ICs. The board solution speeds the development of artificial intelligence (AI) IoT face/object detection, image processing, and 4K video playback applications, including surveillance cameras, inspection equipment, and a range of industrial and building automation HMI and embedded vision systems.

MPU with up to 35.6K DMIPS performance, plus 2GB to 4GB LPDDR4 RAM memory, and 32GB eMMC. Each RZ/G2 MPU is capable of running edge video analytics and AI frameworks. The MPUs feature an integrated AI software library, comprehensive set of interfaces, error checking and correction (ECC) protection on both internal and external memories, Linux OS, and a Verified Linux Package (VLP) tested and maintained by Renesas. The solutions also feature Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP) Super Long-Term Support (SLTS) ker-

(PMIC) for delivering power to multiple supply rails • Two clock sources supplied by Renesas small form factor VersaClock® 3S programmable clocks with integrated 32.768kHz DCO powered by a single coin cell battery during a power failure • PCIe clock is generated with the Renesas 9FGV0641 supporting six 100 MHz differential clock outputs, with PCIe Gen 1-4 support • Easy connection to two external cameras and LCD panel with capacitive touch

The Renesas scalable SoM winning combo board is based on the SMARC 2.0 industry standard, which specifies an 82mm × 80mm form factor. The SMARC SoM board offers designers a choice of three different scalable versions of the Renesas 64-bit RZ/G2 MPU: a RZ/G2N dual core Arm® Cortex®-A57 MPU operating at 1.5 GHz for mid-range performance; the RZ/G2M MPU with dual-core Arm CortexA57 and quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 (1.2 GHz) for high performance; and the RZ/G2H MPU with quad-core Arm CortexA57 and quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 for ultra-high performance. All three MPUs (two cores up to eight cores) feature integrated 600 MHz PowerVR 3D graphics and a 4K UHD H.265 and H.264 codecs to satisfy the needs of different computer processing requirements. The SMARC SoM winning combo board offers designers their choice of RZ/G2

nel, and a Linux kernel bundled with a software development environment. Best of all, the SMARC SoM board provides an optimized power and programmable timing tree to assist the RZ/G2 MPU with a wide variety of applications.

The Scalable AI SMARC SoM Winning Combo Solution board was designed by Renesas and developed through a collaboration with RelySys Technologies.

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Key Features of the SMARC 2.0 SoM Board • Supports dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) for wireless communication • Fast communication interfaces such as USB, SATA, LVDS, HDMI, CSI, I2S, PCIe, and Gigabit Ethernet are easily accessible through the SMARC 2.0 connector • Fast start up boot from QSPI or eMMC memory • Features ISL1208 low-power real time clock for calendar-based applications powered by a small 400nA battery, or supercapacitor during a power failure • Features P8330 power management IC

Availability The Scalable AI SMARC SoM Winning Combo Solution Board and design files are available from Renesas’ worldwide sales and global distribution partners. For more information, please visit: SMARC SoM Winning Combo Solution. The Scalable AI SMARC SoM board is also available for purchase from RelySys Technologies. Please visit: www.relysystech.com/rzg2smarc-som-module. Renesas Electronics Corporation https://www.renesas.com 25

LSM6DSOX BY STMICROELECTRONICS

(Image source: STMicroelectronics)

Machine learning helps make motion sensors energy-efﬁcient

Inertial measurement units comprising an acceleration sensor and gyroscope have gained widespread (Image source: Bluetooth SIG) acceptance in applications for capturing movements, determining spatial orientation as well as stabilizing images and objects. To reduce power consumption and to improve the quality of data capture, ST has integrated machine-learning technologies into its latest sensor. Authors: Maria Alejandra Salazar Martinez, Product Sales Manager Analog & Sensors, Rutronik Werner Neumann, Technical Marketing, STMicroelectronics Up to now, reducing the power consumption of inertial measurement units (IMUs) has been an unsolved dilemma. That is because it involves either sending vast quantities of captured raw data – an energy-intensive process – or pre-processing this data in the host microcontroller, an operation that is no less power-hungry. With the new MEMS sensor LSM6DSOX from the iNEMO family, ST has provided an elegant solution to this ‘Gordian knot’: Here, a machine-learning core works with finite-state machines (FSMs) and classifies motion data based on known patterns along a decision tree. As a result, the main processor no longer needs to perform this 26

first level of activity tracking. The result? Power consumption is reduced while at the same time detection is improved, which increases the processing speed of apps such as fitness trackers, apps for wellness monitoring, navigation or the fall detection function in smartphones, wearables or game controllers. DECISION-TREE LOGIC FOR QUICK AND EFFICIENT PROCESSING A decision tree is a tool that supports mathematical differentiations. It consists of multiple configurable nodes. At each node, a statistical parameter is compared with a threshold value and the next node

is selected based on the result. If this ultimately reaches a leaf – one of the last nodes of a tree – the decision tree generates a result that can be read by a specific device register. With the help of the decision tree, the sensor processes an inductive algorithm with a fraction of the normal power consumption. The system can not only detect movements such as walking, running, jogging, cycling or immobility, but can even count bicep curls, squats, push-ups and other movements during a workout, for example – all on the basis of learned patterns. The choice of data is critical in order to achieve a highly accurate result: Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

DESIGN SOLUTIONS » Machine learning

Data that characterizes the required class of a movement must be collected. Since it is highly complex to describe these classes manually in software, machine learning tools are used here, which greatly simplify the programming. ST uses the publicly available machine learning tool “Weka” and a dedicated development environment that converts the acquired parameters into register settings of the sensor. This means that the developer can simply concentrate on the functionality without first having to evaluate the collected data. The LSM6DSOX can be configured to process up to eight decision trees simultaneously and independently of one another. PROGRAMMABLE INTERRUPTS In addition, the LSM6DSOX can issue an interrupt for specific user-defined movements. For this purpose, the finite-state machines can be independently programmed for specific motion detection types, such as a glance at a display, a turn of the wrist, a shake, double shake or picking up the device. Each of the 16 finitestate machines has its own memory area and is executed independently from the others. The interrupt is triggered once the final movement state has been reached. Other configurable functions are predefined to trigger interrupts for free falls, motion detection, 6D/4D orientation as well as clicks and double-clicks. The LSM6DSOX can also be used for closed-loop control applications, for example, for stabilizing moving industrial controllers. Special cases of this application are optical and electronic image stabilization (OIS and EIS) in camera systems.

These functions are supported by an additional auxiliary SPI output that provides data without routing it via FIFO registers, thus guaranteeing rapid reaction times of the duration required, for example, in optical image stabilization. ALWAYS-ON USER EXPERIENCE WITH LOW POWER CONSUMPTION The LSM6DSOX is a System-in-Package (SiP) with a combined mechanical 3D acceleration sensor and 3D gyroscope together with a low-power CMOS-ASIC for

evaluation in a small plastic land-grid array enclosure (LGA-14L). Its acceleration range of ±2/4/8/16g and the angular rate range of ±125/250/500/1000/2000 dps are dynamically selectable. The high-performance mode ensures high performance at a power consumption of just 0.55 mA. With its extremely low-noise acceleration sensor and gyroscope, the sensor combines an always-on user experience with low energy consumption and outstanding measuring accuracy.

(Image source: STMicroelectronics)

PART NUMBER STEVAL-MKI197V1 X-NUCLEO-IKS01A2 STEVAL-MKI109V3 STEVAL-MKSBOX1V1

DESCRIPTION LSM6DSOX adapter board for a standard DIL24 socket Motion MEMS and environmental sensor expansion board for STM32 Nucleo Professional MEMS tools board Ready-to-use box kit with wireless IoT and wearable sensor platform to help customers use and develop apps based on remote motion and environmental sensor data, regardless of the level of expertise The sensor hub can also be used to connect an external sensor, e.g., a magnetometer. With all of these features, the LSM6DSOX opens up a vast spectrum of applications – not only for motion detection but also for managing user interfaces, protecting laptops, detecting motion patterns and vibration for robots, machine controllers and forklift trucks all the way to the detection of aircraft movements such as take-offs and landings. Rutronik www.rutronik.com

(Image source: STMicroelectronics)

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ONLINE TOOLS

The Key to Successful Project Management for Engineering Students?

Using the Right Tools.

Author: Y.C. Wang, Director, Global Academic Programs, Digi-Key Electronics

It’s that time of the year again. We can hear the stirring of imagination as thousands of students from around the world brainstorm cool ideas for their final year projects. Through this process, we see teams being formed: project leads, finance officer, mechanical genius, electrical savant, programming guru, technical writer… students picking up roles they aspire to in the real world. Fantastic designs form in their minds, solving problems ranging from the mundane to potentially world changing. Then after the initial excitement simmers down, they get to work. Some projects fizzle out while others succeed beyond the design teams’ wildest imaginations; some even become actual products and picked up by big companies or receive funding from venture capitalists. Many students tackle a problem they have never encountered before. Something that was only hinted at through brief hazy glimpses during engineering lab work. Only to manifest in a terrible form to strike down those not organized or disciplined to tackle it. This something is: Project management. In engineering design, project management is that deceptively simple yet amorphous concept of taking an idea from concept to reality. It is a tricky skill to master, requiring finesse and an understanding of human nature. Human nature by the way plays a big role in all of this, people tend to underestimate the number of tasks needed to meet milestones and projects get bogged down in quick order. “Hurry up and wait,” they say, to those self -motivated enough to zoom through their tasks, only to sit and wait for other team members to complete their part. Many tools have been created since antiquity 28

to tackle complex projects. The most (in) famous being the Gantt Chart found in numerous presentation slide decks, those fancy looking bars and timelines showing a projected idealized view of progression.

Like most models, the first to fall apart the moment reality sets in. It is in the design team’s best interest to then understand the key steps of a project, the earlier the better to plan ahead and side-step potential traps along the way.

Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

DESIGN SOLUTIONS » Project management

There are 10 major steps along the development process, each equally important. Namely: • • • • •

Concept Research Evaluation Design Prototyping

• • • • •

Funding Marketing Production Distribution Support

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The right project management tools can make all the difference. One platform that can be helpful for project management is Digi-Key’s Maker Roadmap, which highlights the key steps of an engineering project, guiding the reader from ideation (Concept) to the store shelf (Product). A good place to start with project management is by defining the key steps of a project. In Digi-Key’s Maker Roadmap, every step of a typical project is described with accompanying videos from Lady Ada describing the design process of the Adafruit Circuit Playground. 29

ONLINE TOOLS

This provides a real-life example of an actual product to students. The platform also has additional tools and resources that makers might find useful, like Digi-Key’s free Scheme-It block diagram builder (https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/de sign-tools/schemeit). For a student team working on their final year projects, the first five steps (1 through 5) are the most relevant. Those steps illustrate the key stages leading up to (hopefully) completion of the prototype design.

With the Dashboard, students can create and manage projects in their online profile. Various license types are even summarized, from Apache to GNU. The information is presented in an easy to understand format. For example, here is a description of the General Public License during the project creation process: Classroom instruction may gloss over different licensing options due to time constraints. Students can actually learn from the project creation process. Every part of

Students can visually compare where they are on tasks or sub tasks of each stage and quickly coordinate their project priorities. An often-overlooked feature of the Dashboard and the project creation process is that students get to associate projects to their Maker.io profile. This helps highlight well-documented projects to future employers. A curriculum vitae only goes so far in conveying skills and capabilities; but a fully completed project, one that is well-documented and tied to updated project file repositories AND tied to a fully fleshed out Maker.io profile is extremely powerful. To employers, the ability to browse multiple projects a student has completed in a curated portfolio is incredibly powerful. Many repositories online now allow sharing and publication of projects. Project write-ups and full tutorials are published on GitHub. Here is one such example: https://github.com/ microchip-pic-avr-solutions/microchip-iotdeveloper-guides-for-aws

For the more adventurous ones, the next five steps (6 through 10) take you through the stages of bringing the design from prototype to the store shelf. Be sure to pay extra attention to marketing, something many engineers underappreciate! Now that you’re armed with knowledge, how can you map to an actual project? This is where the Roadmap Dashboard (quick walkthrough: https://www.digikey.com /en/maker/dashboard-demo) comes in play. The Dashboard is a web-based interface and tool that performs project tracking capabilities. Each stage of the roadmap is illustrated and tracked with a progress bar. 30

the dashboard is designed to guide students through the project process. Students will be put through the paces of defining a project from the very beginning and this structures their thought processes. Check-lists of necessary tasks accompany every step and are critical in moving the progress bar associated with each of the 10 project stages identified. As the name implies, the Dashboard provides an “all-in-one” view of the entire project. Each stage features a description, breakdown of the steps, useful resources, and even helpful videos. This is a great way to keep track of projects.

GitHub also allows project tracking and management via the Project Boards which in many ways rival other commercial or enterprise level tools. While powerful and flexible, there is a learning curve and again, the need to define accurate project stages or steps will be challenging for a student working on their final year project. This can be overwhelming, especially when there is a strict timeline and they are exposed to real-world processes and methodologies for the first time. A tool like the Dashboard on Digi-Key can be integrated into GitHub’s Project Boards where steps for the projects are already defined. The GitHub Project Board can then be used to track overall progression while individual Dashboards can be used to track the predefined steps for the student. Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

DESIGN SOLUTIONS » Project management

The projects featured on Maker.io can be shared among the community and serve as good basis for further development. The Project Roadmap and the Roadmap Dashboard can be leveraged and turned into a powerful way to educate, track projects, and showcase talents. This is incredibly useful for students working on a final year design project. In times like this, the ability to impress a potential employer is going to make or break a job prospect. Digi-Key Electronics www.digikey.com

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About the author: Y.C. Wang is the director of global academic programs at Digi-Key Electronics. Digi-Key Electronics, headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minn., USA, is an authorized global, full-service distributor of electronic components, and provides access to unlimited adjacent products and technologies through their online Marketplace. They offer more than 11 million components, with over 2.6 million in stock and available for immediate shipment, from over 1,300 quality name-brand manufacturers. Digi-Key also stocks over 10,000 boards and modules to assist in any student’s design or project. The company’s best-in-class website features a wide variety of online resources including Product Training Modules (PTMs), conversion calculators, how-to articles and videos, datasheets, multimedia libraries, and much more. Additional tools and access to Digi-Key’s broad product offering can be found at www.digikey.com. Information about scholarships, internships, and more can be accessed online on the Digi-Key website. 31

PRODUCT NEWS

Maxim Integrated’s Health Sensor Platform 3.0 Reduces Development Time of Healthcare Wearables by At Least Six Months MAXREFDES104# is a wrist form factor reference design ready to collect blood oxygen, ECG, heart rate, body temperature and activity data

Save at least six months of development time using the Health Sensor Platform 3.0 (HSP 3.0) from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. Also known as MAXREFDES104#, this ready-to-wear wrist form factor reference design monitors blood oxygen saturation (SPO2), electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate (HR), body temperature and motion. Included algorithms provide HR, heartrate variability (HRV), respiration rate (RR), SPO2 , body temperature, sleep quality and stress level information at clinicalgrade levels. It allows wearable designers to start collecting data immediately, saving at least six months over building these devices from scratch. Designed for wristbased form factors, HSP 3.0 can be adapted for other dry electrode form factors such as chest patches and smart rings. Compared to its industry-leading predecessor, Health Sensor Platform 2.0 (HSP 2.0), the HSP 3.0 adds optical SPO2 measurement and dry-electrode capability to the ECG. As a result, it can enable end solutions to monitor cardiac heart and respiratory issues for management of ailments 32

like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), infectious diseases (e.g. COVID-19), sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation (AFib). Compared to its predecessor, the narrower form factor and enhanced optical architecture of HSP 3.0 improves signal acquisition quality and uses upgraded microcontroller, power, security and sensing ICs. The reference design includes complete optical and electrode designs, along with algorithms to meet clinical requirements. Maxim Integrated is at the forefront of the wearable healthcare and remote patient monitoring revolution, enabling personalized healthcare as well as better predictive and preventive healthcare solutions. Medical professionals and end-users are using the wealth of health insights from these wearables. They can more proactively manage chronic conditions, diagnose acute conditions like COVID-19, and also improve preventive care and overall well-being. As more sensing modalities are included in wearables, device developers can take advantage of multiple

measurements to improve accuracy of the actionable insights that are being provided to users. HSP 3.0 or MAXREFDES104# includes the following sensor, power management, microcontroller and algorithm products: MAX86176: Lowest-noise optical photoplethysmography (PPG) and electrical ECG analog front end (AFE), which offers 110dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to add SPO2 saturation capability and over 110dB common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) for dry electrode ECG applications. The device enables synchronous acquisition of PPG and ECG measurements, even with independent sample rates, providing pulse transit time for cardiac health use cases. MAX20360: Highly integrated power and battery management power management IC (PMIC) optimized for advanced bodyworn health sensing devices. It includes Maxim Integrated’s high-accuracy Model Gauge™ m5 EZ fuel gauge, a sophisticated Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

haptic driver, and a unique low-noise buckboost converter that maximizes SNR and minimizes power used for optical bio-sensing. MAX32666: Bluetooth (BLE)-enabled, ultra-low power microcontroller with two Arm® Cortex®-M4F cores and an additional SmartDMA which permits running the BLE stack independently, leaving the two main cores available for major tasks. Moreover, the microcontroller integrates an entire security suite and error correcting code (ECC) on the memories to significantly increase the system’s robustness. MAX32670: Ultra-low-power microcontroller dedicated to Maxim Integrated’s world-class PPG algorithms of pulse rate, SPO2, HRV, RR, sleep quality monitoring and stress monitoring. It can be configured either as a sensor hub to support firmware and algorithms or as an algorithm hub to

support multiple algorithms. The MAX32670 seamlessly enables customer-desired sensor functionality, including managing the MAX86176 PPG and ECG sensor AFE as well as delivering either raw or calculated data to the outside world. MAX30208: The low-power, high-accuracy digital temperature sensor comes in a small package size of 2mm × 2mm. It has 33 percent lower operating current compared to the closest competitive solution. It reads the temperature on the top of the package and can be mounted on a flex cable or PCB, making it easier to design into wearables. With accuracy of 0.1degrees Celsius, the MAX30208 meets clinical temperature requirements. Key Advantages • Faster Time to Market: Saves at least six months in development time

• Clinical-Grade: Accuracy meets regulatory requirements for SPO2 and ambulatory ECG (IEC 60601-2-47) • Covers Key Vital Signs: Addresses the needs of advanced health wearables with SPO2, ECG, HR, HRV, RR, body temperature and motion • Complete Reference Design: Empowers designers to innovate with complete access to source code and design files - For details about Maxim Integrated’s healthcare sensor ICs, visit: https://maxim.click/Maxim _Healthcare _Sensor_ICs - To order MAXREFDES104# or learn more, visit https://maxim.click/MAXREFDES104_ Reference_Design Maxim Integrated https://www.maximintegrated.com

Industry’s Smallest Quad-Output SIMO Power Management IC by Maxim Integrated Achieves 85 Percent Higher Power Density The breakthrough MAX77655 singleinductor multiple output (SIMO) power management IC (PMIC) from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. provides the highest-density power solution for

looking to increase computing capability, memory and sensor resources in their feature-rich devices – all in an ever more compact form factor. The MAX77655 SIMO PMIC addresses this space-constraint

500mA, Maxim Integrated also introduced two new configurable PMICs – the MAX77643 and MAX77642. These ICs offer the industry’s highest efficiency at 93 percent from a single inductor and a 3-output buck-boost regulator with a 150mA LDO/Loadswitch. Key Advantages • Highest Density: Offers 85 percent higher power density; provides up to 700mA total current from just 17mm2 PCB space to support higher current loads for adding computational and sensor resources to next-generation designs • Smallest Size: Cuts power management board size by 70 percent by integrating four supplies, while using only a single inductor • High Efficiency: Provides up to 90 percent efficiency at 3.7 VIN and 1.8 VOUT

extremely compact next-generation devices. This PMIC delivers a 70 percent reduction in solution size compared to the nearest competition, with 700mA across four buck-boost channels and only one inductor required for a total solution size of 17mm2. Designers of ultra-small portable devices such as wearables, internet of things (IoT) sensor nodes and health monitors are https://international.electronica-azi.ro

issue by sharing one inductor among all four supplies in a single 3.95mm2 IC. In addition, ultra-high efficiency helps to extend battery life by providing 90 percent regulator efficiency during moderate to heavy load conditions, while consuming only 6.9μA of quiescent current during light load conditions. For additional power management platforms regarding systems requiring less than

Availability and Pricing - The MAX77655 is available at Maxim Integrated’s website for $1.50 (1000-up, FOB USA); also available from authorized distributors The MAX77655EVKIT# evaluation kit is available for $135 To order MAX77655 or learn more, visit https://maxim.click/MAX77655_ Product Maxim Integrated https://www.maximintegrated.com 33

PRODUCT NEWS

Successfully Miniaturizing Radio Applications Würth Elektronik offers matching service for its WE-MCA chip antennas Würth Elektronik now offers developers wanting to use WE-MCA series chip antennas a free matching service. WEMCA are compact SMT-mountable multilayer ceramic chip antennas available in numerous single and dual band versions.

Würth Elektronik advises on the layout and selection of suitable inductors and capacitors to eliminate disturbing influences from the surrounding environment. The trend towards miniaturization of wireless communication devices is reduc-

WE-MCA: compact SMT-mountable multilayer LTCC chip antennas Image source: Würth Elektronik

The antennas therefore provide a space-saving solution for GSM900, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS/GNSS, ZigBee or 4G/LTE enabled devices and facilitate compact designs for IoT and smart home applications. The challenge here: The performance of the applications also depends on the placement of the antenna on the PCB and effective impedance matching.

Antenna radiation pattern Image source: Würth Elektronik

ing PCB size and increasing component density. The demands placed on RF frontend design are growing, as an antenna is a function of it’s surroundings and gets influenced by almost everything e.g rubber, plastic, metal, human body etc. ... Developing companies, without access to their own high-frequency specialists, can now benefit from the free consulting services offered by Würth Elektronik. Inquiries are accepted around the clock at antenna.matching@we-online.com. Detailed information on the right use of chip antennas can also be found in the Application Note “WE-MCA Multilayer Chip Antenna Placement and Matching”. Würth Elektronik keeps the components needed to develop an antenna matching circuit available in the stock—also as part of the free sample service. These include WE-BAL Multilayer Chip Balun, WCAPCSRF MLCCs, WE-KI ceramic inductors, as well as low-pass and bandpass filters. Würth Elektronik eiSos https://www.we-online.com

Infineon introduces Connected Home evaluation kit: prototyping platform supports Zigbee Alliance’s new Connected Home over IP standards Infineon Technologies AG simplifies the design and implementation of secured smart home devices with a new evaluation kit based on an OPTIGA™ Trust M security solution for Raspberry Pi. Using this kit, device manufacturers can experience the strong security of Infineon’s security hardware in combination with the new Connected Home over IP standards that are being developed by the

Zigbee Alliance. Basing the new kit on the familiar Raspberry Pi platform accelerates quick prototyping which is particularly key for IoT device manufacturers. The OPTIGA Trust M supports many features that are highly valuable for the Connected Home over IP standards: • Common Criteria Certified EAL6+ (high) hardware security controller

• Infineon true Zero Touch Provisioning and Secured & Certified Chain of Trust • Secured data storage and full X.509 certificate handling • Cryptographic support for AES, ECC NIST and Brainpool P256/384/512, RSA, TLS • TRNG/DRNG random number generators • I2C interface with Shielded Connection (AES encrypted and Authenticated communication) • Hibernating mode for zero power consumption The new “Connected home security evaluation kit with OPTIGA™ Trust M for Raspberry Pi” enables these features to be easily employed. All that is required for the integration is the OPTIGA Trust M and support software from Infineon, a Raspberry Pi board supplied by the customer and Zigbee Alliance’s open source reference software implementation of the Connect Home over IP standards. Infineon Technologies https://www.infineon.com

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PRODUCT NEWS

Avnet Silica’s HoriZone RA ‘proof-of-concept’ development solution brings real-time IoT sensor data securely into the Microsoft® Azure cloud The fully integrated kit combines cloud-ready Renesas RA EK-RA6M3 board with multi-sensor Arduino Shield and Secure Element Avnet Silica, an Avnet company, launched the HoriZone RA development kit, which is designed to enable ‘proof-of-concept’ for edge-to-cloud Internet of Things (IoT) applications requiring secure communications. Powered by Renesas Advanced (RA)

microcontrollers for secure IoT endpoints and edge devices, the easy-to-use kit delivers superior security features for Resource Constrained Embedded Systems (RCES) connected to Avnet´s IoTConnect® Cloud Platform based on Microsoft® Azure cloud. The Avnet Silica turnkey multi-sensor solution is highly scalable, providing a seamless path from proof-of-concept to project through to deployment, including all the

required building blocks. The kit includes sensors for humidity, temperatures, ambient light, air quality and air pressure, plus microphone, digital accelerometer, digital gyroscope, and inductive proximity sensor for positioning information.

The board integrates several components from Renesas, including the RA RA6M3 microcontroller, which is suitable for IoT applications that require TFT, Ethernet, security, large embedded RAM, and USB High Speed (HS). Also included are the ISL88014 voltage supervisor and ISL80102 synchronous boost converter for power management. Out of the box, engineers will quickly start developing IoT endpoint

and edge devices for a broad range of applications, including industrial and building automation, metering, healthcare, and home appliances. “Our RA Family of microcontrollers delivers on performance with all the advanced security capabilities and features needed for IoT applications,” said Roger Wendelken, Senior Vice President of Renesas’ IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit. “These include our Secure Crypto Engine IP with NIST’s Cryptographic Algorithm Validation Program certifications, Arm TrustZone® for Armv8-M, and tamper detection.” “IoT growth has increased embedded design complexity exponentially,” said Juerg Siegenthaler, Manager 3rd Party Management Avnet Silica. “IoT devices are complex, and with shortening project timelines, the HoriZone cloud-ready platform has all the necessary building blocks that offers designers a ready-made and highly scalable solution for developing new IoT use cases quickly.” The HoriZone RA development kit is shipping now from Avnet Silica in all EMEA markets. Avnet Silica https://www.avnet.com/wps/portal/silica

Analog Devices Announces UL 217 Tested and Verified Smoke Detector Reference Design and Algorithm Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) introduced a reference design and algorithm that enables small form factor, low power, smoke detector designs to be rapidly prototyped and brought to market faster at a

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reduced cost. The new CN0537 reduces design risk and has been tested and verified to pass the UL 217 Standard for Smoke Alarms, 8th edition. The reference design uses Analog Devices’ ADPD188BI high performance optical sensor core combined with precision smoke chamber for reduced nuisance alarms. • Download circuit note, order algorithm, UL-217 certified datasets, source code and reference platform hardware: analog.com/CN0537 • Watch the CN0537 webcast: www.analog. com/en/education/education-library/ webcasts/saving-more-lives-how-designbetter-smoke-detectors.html • Learn more about ADI’s Smoke Detection Solutions

CN0537 Reference Design Key Features: • UL 217 8th edition tested and verified smoke and fire algorithm • Data package for algorithm development including more than 1,000 smoke datasets taken at UL-217 certified facilities • Software providing data pre-processing, initialization, calibration and environmental compensation source code • Arduino form factor smoke detector reference design for rapid prototyping and development • Low power hardware design and low computational algorithm extending battery life and reducing battery size and cost Analog Devices https://www.analog.com 35

PRODUCT NEWS

Infineon launches industry’s first authentication solution OPTIGA™ Trust Charge for secured wireless charging

Infineon Technologies AG extends its OPTIGA™ Trust product family with a dedicated solution for secured inductive charging. The new OPTIGA Trust Charge is the industry’s first embedded security solution that is usable for the Qi 1.3 wireless charging standard. It addresses chargers for small personal electronic devices like smartphones, earbuds, tablets, wearables or health tech devices with a charging power of up to 15 W. While wireless charging is convenient and hence increasingly in demand, an inaccurate power supply can be harmful to the handheld’s battery lifetime and, in the worst case, the user as well. Device authentication with OPTIGA Trust Charge helps to prevent damaging consumer devices with dangerous, fake chargers and protects consumer brands from reputation issues. The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) issues the Qi standard and tests and certifies devices accordingly. Over the last few years Qi growth has been steady with 465 million Qi devices shipped in 2019 and a year on year growth of 27 percent 36

(Strategy Analytics, Global Wireless Charging Tracker, Sept. 2020). Although the lion’s share is driven by smartphones, the number of wearables with inductive charging capability is growing continuously. The new 1.3 version of this standard mandates strong cryptographic authentication for wireless charging devices. The wireless charger can authenticate itself to the charging device and prove that it is Qi 1.3 certified. Only then will the device be charged with maximum power. Infineon recommends at least EAL4+ certification on the hardware that stores keys and certificates. For that the protection profiles PP0035 and PP0084 could be used as part of the evaluation. Infineon’s OPTIGA Trust Charge is a turnkey solution with full system integration support including embedded software, host software, a development board, a reference board and documentation for fast and easy design in. Furthermore, Infineon is able to inject the certificates and keys mandated by WPC into the security chips at its secured pro-

duction facilities. As such, security hardware prevents manufacturers from additional invest for security infrastructure.

Availability OPTIGA Trust Charge comes in a USON102 package (3×3 mm2) that is optimized for small devices and fits into any charging platform. It is ideal for a wide range of consumer and industrial applications with an extended temperature range of -40° to +105°C. Samples are available now. In addition, a special version for automotive applications will be launched early 2021. Further information is available at: www.infineon.com/optiga-trust-charge www.infineon.com/optiga-trust-charge-kit Infineon Technologies https://www.infineon.com Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

Brand protection is buyer protection: SECORA™ Blockchain makes the origin and history of a product visible

Infineon Technologies AG has developed a customized security solution for blockchain applications that improves brand and consumer protection. The new SECORA™ Blockchain security solution is integrated into the branded product and connects to the blockchain via NFC technology – thus linking the real with the digital world. By storing information in the blockchain the manufacturer can document the authenticity of the product, feature a limited edition or demonstrate the sustainability of the production like e.g. its compliance with environmental standards. Consumers in turn can access the information stored in the Blockchain via a mobile device and an app. SECORA™ Blockchain can be used for a wide range of products, from fashion and footwear to electronics or healthcare. At the virtual trade fair electronica 2020, Infineon presented the functionality and use cases of the innovative solution in cooperation with the block chain company block42. The information about manufacturer and https://international.electronica-azi.ro

product can be stored in the blockchain as individual data blocks that build on each other. This can allow anyone to access the decentralized data register from anywhere. Besides origin, changes to the products, use of original spare parts or changes of ownership of limited collector’s items can be continuously documented. However, it is also important here that access to the blockchain is protected to prevent data manipulation. In this way, the brand and reputation of manufacturers can be protected and the sale of counterfeits be prevented. About SECORA Blockchain SECORA Blockchain combines a tiny cryptochip with a radio antenna in a flat housing with a total thickness of max. 300 μm. It can be attached barely visible behind a label or on the product itself and is hence easy to integrate. As a hardware-based solution SECORA Blockchain has a decisive advantage over other blockchain access options: It is protected against both hardware- and software-based attacks.

Another essential advantage: SECORA Blockchain can encrypt data and signatures with a private key. The product with integrated chip can thus directly and easily establish a connection to the corresponding blockchain entry with an NFCenabled mobile device. The signature key, which authenticates the identity of the product, is not generated on the mobile device, but in the cryptochip and is securely stored therein, unlike other solutions on the market. This further increases the security of the application. Availability SECORA Blockchain with SPA Package is now available in volume quantities. It supports cryptoschemes like Etherium, Bitcoin, ETR ERC-20. Additionally, Infineon’s Blockchain Security2Go starter kit enables blockchain designers to quickly develop easy-to-use access solutions for blockchain applications. Infineon Technologies https://www.infineon.com 37

PRODUCT NEWS

State-of-the-art photography results and immersive AR experiences: Infineon and pmd offer 3D-imager with longest range in the market Gaming, virtual e-Commerce, 3D online education: Augmented Reality (AR) applications with three-dimensional depth sensors link the real with the digital world and are strongly demanded. Infineon Technologies AG and pmdtechnologies developed a 3D depth sensor based on the Time of Flight (ToF)-technology which outperforms other solutions in the market and aims for target applications that offer a wider spectrum of innovative consumer usability. The 3D sensor market in smartphones for rear side cameras is expected to grow up to more than 500 million units per year until 2024. “The latest 3D image sensor from Infineon and pmdtechnologies enables a new generation of applications”, says Philipp von Schierstaedt, Senior Vice President Infineon Technologies AG. “It aims to create most immersive and smarter AR experiences as well as better photography results with a faster autofocus in low-light conditions or more beautiful night mode portraits based on picture segmentation. This latest chip development is truly setting standards when it comes to improvements of the imager, the driver and processing as well as unprecedented ten meters long range capabilities at lowest power.” The new chip allows the integration into miniaturized camera modules, accurately measuring depth in short and long range

for AR while meeting low power consumption requirements with more than 40 percent power saving on the imager. Extended photography features and AR usability on long range Due to its flexible configurability the new REAL3™ ToF sensor enables differentiated camera performance in a wide variety of ranges, light conditions and use cases while saving battery’s life in mobile devices. For various applications, the new sensor provides techniques like real-time

augmented reality, long range scanning, small object reconstruction, fast low power autofocus and picture segmentation. Effects such as background blur in videos and pictures from moving scenes are easily enabled without the need for post-photography processing and regardless of ambient light conditions. Furthermore seamless augmented reality sensing experiences are being achieved, allowing for high quality 3D depth data capture up to a distance of ten meters, without losing resolution in the shorter range. Always-on applications such as mobile AR gaming can greatly benefit from the small power budget required by the new sensor, and provide users with longer playtime than ever. For applications such as the 3D scanning for room and object reconstruction or 3D mapping for furniture planning and other design applications the sensor allows to double the measuring range beyond the current solution in the market. The volume delivery for this chip starts in Q2 2021, demo kits are already available. pmdtechnologies ag https://www.pmdtec.com Infineon Technologies https://www.infineon.com

Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

PRODUCT NEWS

Record-breaking drone show enabled by u-blox positioning technology Real-time kinematic support enables centimeter-level accuracy. u-blox, a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies, has announced that it supplied the high-accuracy technology that made it possible to fly the world’s largest swarm of drones. The record-breaking simultaneous flight of 2198 miniature UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) was launched into the night sky over Saint Petersburg, Russia, on September 3.

across, were designed exclusively for use in group flights and drone shows. The drones use u-blox NEO-M8P high precision GNSS modules to provide the positioning data necessary to ensure that they can be placed in the sky with a high degree of accuracy. This makes them less likely to collide with each other and enables them to be moved more quickly and efficiently.

broadcast from a positioning satellite with that of the same signal that has been received and re-broadcast from a fixed base station.

The ten-minute long drone show included a flying dove with a wingspan of 600 meters, which was visible from three kilometers away.

The end result is a more fluid drone show, in which the improved positional accuracy of each drone contributes to a better overall display and contiguous figure forms. Salute drones can also return to their base stations automatically at the end of a show.

Geoscan has been producing drone displays for the past two years, starting with just 40 drones flying at once. Semen Lapko, Head of Drone Show Project, Geoscan, said: “The u-blox modules in our Geoscan Salute drones have improved our drones’ positioning accuracies to about one centimeter, and have helped reduce pre-launch preparation time. Drones now move more quickly and accurately, while also operating more efficiently.”

Geoscan, which built and programmed the drones and ran the display, chose u-blox positioning technology for its combination of accuracy, reliability, performance, and ability to access positional data from both the GLONASS and GPS satellite navigation constellations. The Geoscan Salute drones, which are just ten centimeters https://international.electronica-azi.ro

The NEO-M8P high precision GNSS module used in the Salute drones implements a real-time kinematic (RTK) approach, that improves positional accuracy by comparing the phase of a signal being

The accuracy gained in this way enables drones to calculate their relative positions to within millimeters, and their absolute positions to within one centimeter of the intended position.

u‑blox https://www.u-blox.com/en 39

INDUSTRY NEWS

Renex assembly and disassembly equipment It is no secret that building an efficient small and medium sized electronics production is not an easy process. This is not only because of the need to select the right engineers, R&D departments and production models, but especially because of the need to make the right decisions about tools and equipment. When making these choices, you need to have a perspective on the company's development. The compatibility of tools is of great importance here. Choosing the right equipment can have an almost strategic importance for a company. The right decisions can help to avoid a situation where at a certain stage of development we are forced to replace most of the equipment just because it is incompatible with the further development of the company. This type of planning error entails obvious losses associated with the replacement of equipment, but also those that are perhaps less obvious - downtime, logistics and training. By replacing equipment, you also lose an acquired element of employee experience in the acquired intuitive operation. The need to make the right decisions about the equipment becomes clear. At such a moment, it is worth to listen to a professional. Looking at the issue from the point of view of a potential customer - it is worth to asking the right questions.

I want to start my business in the electronics industry. I am thinking about providing services and I would like to equip myself with basic equipment. Where should I start? The base is an industrial table and a soldering iron. A suitable workstation is something that cannot be ignored. Renex offers REECO antistatic modular furniture. When buying a table, we can modify it freely, creating a workstation precisely adapted to our needs. Ergonomics, efficiency and proper lighting is what counts. What's important is that we don't need to know right away what we will need in the future. The tables and later the workstations can be expanded and modified as our business grows and our needs change.

In this case, representatives of RENEX answer frequent questions and problems of customers in the field of building technological facilities.

It should also be borne in mind that the place of activity, especially the one that wants to develop, does not end at the desk. The anticipating entrepreneur should take into account the need to designate and properly secure the EPA zone. Going back to the second basis - the soldering iron. It is known that a workstation for simple repairs and simple soldering will be equipped with soldering stations. For 40

such purposes we recommend the most popular PACE stations - models ST50 and WJS-100. This is due to a very wide range of soldering tips available for PACE soldering stations. As it is known, for each type of component on the electronics board it is necessary to choose the right tip, which is possible by choosing PACE.

Our station should develop together with our company, and not only in the sphere of the selecting the soldering tips. The next step is the selection of the solder wire feeder. For this task we suggest the RE-TD 1 model. It feeds the solder wire to the soldering tip at a set speed and time, releasing one hand of the operator. If I would like to expand my business to more advanced maintenance services, what equipment should I have at the beginning and how should I develop in this direction? In such activities, the basis is the possibility of proper disassembly and assembly of Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

INDUSTRY NEWS

SMD and THT components, allowing for their safe removal from the electronic package. Renex has in its offer a number of devices, including the renowned DENON model SC-7000Z. The most popular device on the market and the most effective. It allows for quick disassembly of components assembled in the THT technology. For more advanced companies we offer PACE MBT-350 soldering station with heads and tips. It is a three-channel station, so we can have many complementary functions in one device. The next step that a growing company should take is to acquire equipment allowing for efficient and professional assembly and disassembly of BGA systems. Our proposed device in this area is RS300Q - a device connecting the heater, hot air station with a built-in 7-inch touch screen display. The device is equipped with a tripod, which allows positioning the system in the X and Y axis and holding the device in the Z axis. The device, which will allow for additional development of production and service can also be a RE-QPH-A3 PCB heater, which heats up the PCB or its parts to the appropriate temperature during the small volume production or service. Ultimately, I would like to deal with the provision of electronic manufacturing services (EMS). What devices should I buy in order to be able to develop without problems later? First of all, it is necessary to choose the right SMT printer - printing the soldering paste. The choice in this area is very wide - at Renex we offer manual, semi-auto-

matic, automatic and large production equipment for in-line and off-line use. For start-ups, we suggest the APS SPR-40 semi-automatic printer, equipped with a double rake with automatically adjustable angle and controlled pressure. For companies that look even further ahead, we suggest a selection of products working in the production line and offering a large print area. Renex offers the YAMAHA YSP20 in this category. The device allows for very precise application of soldering paste on the boards up to 510×460 mm. Moreover, it can be set up in a technological line allowing for almost full automation of the process. The next stage in production in SMT technology, and thus the next device to choose is an automatic machine for mounting components on the board – pick & place. Renex also offers a full range of off-line equipment in this category - such as NeoDen4 and GRP - as well as in-line equipment. The machine we suggest in this category is the YAMAHA YSM 20. The machine can also produce 810×490 mm inserts and has a capacity of up to 90,000 inserts per hour. The next stage is the AOI optical inspection. In this category we also suggest equipping the company with a device operating in line. The leading product here is the AOI YSi-V 3D device, which allows for an optical inspection of the assembled circuit board and automatic detection of possible printing or component placement errors. The final stage in the manufacture of SMT systems is the appropriate soldering of the manufactured system in a reflow oven. With a view to the greatest possible compatibility of components and automation of production in this category, we should also suggest the selection of an in-line furnace. In this category, RENEX offers furnaces from the world's most renowned manufacturer - HELLER. In particular, the HELLER 1826 Mark 5 furnace is equipped with as many as 8 heating zones with top and bottom heaters." In addition to the above-mentioned equipment, the production line should be extended and complemented by projectspecific loading and unloading stations and inter-machine conveyors. In addition to the SMT technology discussed above, it should also be remembered that the

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company should be able to assemble the elements in the THT technology. For these purposes Renex has developed and offers advanced soldering robots. The RE-1100 allows you to handle 350×420 mm applications. Importantly, this device also works in-line and is the only such device on the market. The second category of equipment that allows production using chronic technology are wave soldering machines.

The best choice in this area is Spartan 8. The device works in line and has a crucible capacity of up to 90 kg. At this point we would also like to emphasize that Renex offer allows for comprehensive equipment of both service and production plants. The offer includes a full range of tools from the simplest ones such as soldering irons to the most advanced ones such as X-ray inspection equipment. We always help you to choose the right equipment for your business. TO SUMMARISE Choosing the right equipment for your business is extremely important. Before making key decisions, it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself with the possibilities of expanding selected systems. Talking to a sales and technical advisor can make this task much easier. RENEX https://www.renex.pl/ro/contactcific.co m

INDUSTRY NEWS

Industry Survey 2020:

ASM publishes results Making electronics factories more resilient ASM surveyed roughly 450 companies from mid-September through early October on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic for businesses and the ways in which electronics manufacturers all over the world are planning to respond to the crisis over the short to medium term. The results of the ASMPT Industry Survey 2020 with all essential findings and many charts are available for downloading. Although other industries have been hit much harder by the pandemic, electronics factories around the world are facing great challenges. Accordingly, 55 percent of the companies surveyed registered a negative impact on their production, and 42 percent reported concrete declines in productivity.

One lesson from the pandemic: Become more resilient

The results of ASMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global survey of almost 450 electronics manufacturers regarding the Covid-10 crisis and ways to become more resilient are available at no charge. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Source: ASM 42

Asked about their intermediate-term plans, companies stated that they are beginning to make their manufacturing operations more resilient. To be more crisis-proof in the future, 75 percent of the respondents are banking on more automation. Two of three companies plan to advance the digital transformation of their production and business processes. They also want to invest more heavily into the use of remote services. Another interesting finding: one-third of the surveyed electronics manufacturers plan to assess the Covid-19 preventative measures of their suppliers and technology partners. Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

INDUSTRY NEWS

Suppliers are expected to have online and remote skills As far as communication and services are concerned, electronics manufacturers expect more than just videoconferencing capabilities from their suppliers and partners. The majority of respondents sees a need for online training and powerful remote services in order to receive more efficient support and be better prepared for future crises.

The survey results in detail The results of the study have been compiled in our “Industry Survey Report – Learning from Covid-19”. Interested parties can download this report at no charge via the following link: https://www.asm-smt.com/en/be-resilient

The pandemic is accelerating major trends such as automation and the digital transformation. Three of four companies (four of five in China!) are planning to make their production processes more flexible and crisis-proof by increasing their level of automation. – Source: ASM

ASM https://www.asm-smt.com ASM Pacific Technology https://www.asmpacific.com

More than just videoconferencing: the majority of the companies surveyed demands from their suppliers to provide more online services in the future, also for training and support. – Source: ASM

Only one-fifth of the companies surveyed will receive visitors to the extent they did before the crisis. This means that partners and suppliers must enhance their communication capabilities. Staying close to the customer requires new solutions. – Source: ASM https://international.electronica-azi.ro

PRODUCT NEWS

Altus Announces the Release of a New Digital Brochure for Winter 2020 Altus is pleased to announce the release of a new 2020 product brochure. The latest edition includes details on long-standing pre-eminent suppliers, together with new partnerships all serving the electronics manufacturing industry.

Richard Booth, Altus CEO said: “We have not only welcomed new suppliers to the Altus fold including LPKF Laser & Electronics, but we have updated our product offering to include a wider and more extensive range of highly-advanced equipment from our longstanding partners. Altus has a core product group of outstanding tier one suppliers that continue to make large development efforts. We always ensure that we have the latest technology available for our customers together with an unsurpassable customer service.” The new product brochure features the latest equipment advancements including Promation’s PANDA Series of inline robotic soldering solutions and Koh Young’s Neptune T, the industry’s first 3D light measurement instrument for transparent materials. The YJ Link YLM series laser marking solution, and the improved Y series board handling equipment are also new additions to the product offering, together with Quins range of inspection equipment to help electronics’ manufacturers to maintain a high level of quality assurance. Altus Group https://www.altusgroup.co.uk

Unique Prototyping Platform from X-FAB Brings Together the Distinct Worlds of Microelectronics and Fluid Handling X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE has taken further steps to establish itself as the go-to foundry for silicon-based microfluidics. The company is now able to offer a series of solutions that support the implementation of microfluidic structures directly on to CMOS dies. Through these, customers will be better able to address commercial opportunities arising that relate to lab-ona-chip, DNA sequencing and synthesis, rare cell sorting, medical implants, pharmaceutical research, drug administering, food safety testing and many other applications.

Customers will have access to all the key elements required for developing chip-based microfluidic subsystems – allowing them to move through the prototyping phase of their projects much quicker and get to a point where they can start considering fullscale production. By having numerous elements bundled together, it will no longer be necessary for customers to work with many different vendors. This means that the integration issues that generally come with complex multi-vendor projects can be avoided. Leveraging X-FAB’s XH035 350nm high-voltage analog/mixedsignal CMOS process, which is optimized for applications requiring high signal-to-noise ratios, the company can carry out numerous microfluidic post-processing activities. These can be 44

undertaken at its state-of-the-art MEMS manufacturing sites in Germany, with use of multi-level mask (MLM) techniques to keep down the overall prototyping costs. Customers will be able to benefit from the various standard process blocks that have been developed at X-FAB and are proven in silicon. Available process options include: • Initial preparation of the CMOS wafer for microfluidic integration, through planarized passivation along with through passivation vias. • The attaching of noble metal electrodes (either gold or platinum based) to act as interfaces for the fluidic samples. • The adding of a dry film resist top layer (into which microfluidic channels can be scored) with an optional glass cap wafer To provide further assistance, the design house, testing operations and full turnkey suppliers in the X-Chain partner network can also be engaged with. This means that customers with limited prior expertise of creating a custom chip can always gain access to the services they need. “Microfluidics represents a highly challenging application-specific market, requiring fully optimized custom solutions and considerable investment,” Oliver Foellmer, Product Marketing Manager at XFAB explains. “It is clear from our discussions with customers involved in this sector that they need to be able to get comprehensive prototyping support from a single source. Thanks to our new microfluidics prototyping platform, we are helping to accelerate development cycles and lower the financial thresholds, so that customers can embark on innovative silicon-based microfluidic projects regardless of their size or capabilities,” he concludes. X-FAB https://www.xfab.com Electronica Azi International | 5/2020

LTHD Corporation S.R.L. Head Office: Timișoara - ROMÂNIA, 300153, 70 Ardealul Str., lthd@lthd.com, www.lthd.com Tel.: +40 256 201273, +40 356 401266, Fax: +40 256 490813

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