EP&Dee no 6

EP&DeeDESIGN & MANUFACTURING JULY, 2015 ISSUE NO. 6, VOL. 13

E L E C T R O N I C S P R O D U C T S & D E S I G N E A S T E R N E U R O P E

THE EAST EUROPEAN RESOURCEFOR EMBEDDED APPLICATIONS

EP&Dee | July, 2015 | www.epd-ee.eu2

Table of Contents

JULY 2015

EUROSTANDARD PRESS 2000

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Contributing editorsRadu Andrei Ross Bannatyne

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DESIGN FEATURES

4 Atmel WIFI & BLE ModulesThese are already certified modules with the focus on low power IoT applications. This makes it possible for almost any design to be integrated quite easily into the IoT network, and to do it the developer does not need any know-how with regard to Wifi, RF, or the Internet.

10 Performance, security and power core to the new era of Internet of Things devicesIn the accelerating consumer and industrial Internet of Things marketplace, the need for enhanced performance, security and power management has never been more prevalent. With an increasing number of power hungry, graphically intense devices entering the market daily, it’s clear the process for system developers is becoming more and more complex – and this is just the beginning.

12 How wireless modules bring the Internet of Things to lifeDramatic growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) has been widely reported in recent times. While many media reports have focused on rather trivial consumer applications – the toothbrush connected to your smartphone being one example – those discussed here relate to the “Internet of Things that Really Matter”.

16 Finding the rangeHow to use an ultrasonic device for range detection.

20 Employing SoCs for analytics

21 Mouser Sponsors Student Solar Car Team in Upcoming Challenge

22 Motors & MCUs - The hidden heroes of the modern home

24 Migrating to Advanced DisplaysNo doubt Steve Jobs did a great job at Apple, some might say he even changed the world! Today a simple 7-segment display is not enough for even the simplest of applications. Marketing teams are increasingly asking the engineering department for bigger displays with more impressive graphics on their next generation of products.

28 Functional Safety for Electronically Controlled DevicesElectronic control mechanisms are increasingly taking control – be it in cars, production, households, or even in the human body.

34 Leuze packaging sensorsFoil, cardboard, glass - coloured, glossy or transparent? Of course we can detect them!

42 MTCS-C3 Colorimeter: Test system for LED quality control, color measurement and moreThe new MTCS-C3 product family enables users to implement their own True Color Colorimeter into lighting, backlight, LED tests, color selection or other applications. The MTCS-C3 is ideal to measure color coordinates (XYZ), CCT or brightness levels.

44 The Sirius ActDiscover what you can do with Siemens SIRIUS ACT, the newest generation of pushbuttons and signalling devices. This device offers you unique features for your machines, like: elegantly designed, indicator lights for Push Buttons and switches with a perfect embodiment of intelligence, style and physical toughness.

PRODUCT NEWS

Embedded Systems(p 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 21)Sensors (32, 33, 34, 36, 37)Active Components(p 38 - 41)Lighting Solutions/Display(p 42, 43)

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38

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4340

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Now new from ATMEL - Wifi and BLE modules as well. These are already certifiedmodules with the focus on low power IoT applications. This makes it possible foralmost any design to be integrated quite easily into the IoT network, and to do itthe developer does not need any know-how with regard to Wifi, RF, or theInternet. The module works entirely independently and is easily addressed via aserial interface. Target applications are in the wide field of battery-powereddevices, industrial applications, and medical situations. The modules from ATMEL have been optimized for battery applications, operatingwith an input voltage of 1.8V to 3.6V, and requiring only 4μA in stand-by mode. Thismeans that IoT nodes provided with ATMEL modules and powered by batteries cansend data to an SSI server for a very long time.If you already have a high-performing controller in your application with an Internet-capable operating system, then you also have the possibility of using what is known asa link controller. This form is available from ATMEL as well. A link module consistsessentially of the entire RF functional performance capacity in the form of one mod-ule. In this situation, however, the individual network protocol and the applicationneed to be processed in the main processor of the application in hand.

The Wifi link module has been given the designa-tion ATWILC1000. This involves an IEEE 802.11b/g/n IOT link controller, which is addressed viaan SDIO interface. The ATWILC3000 is a com-

bined Wifi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n andBluetooth 4.0 IOT link module,addressed via the UART or SDIOinterface. Most customers, however,are interested in a more completesolution with which the entire pro-tocol processing is carried out inthe module. In this situation, on theone hand ATMEL can offer theATWINC1500 module, an IEEE802.11 b/g/n IOT network con-troller which is addressed via UARTor SPI. On the other, there is alsothe ATWINC3400 module, whichoffers IEEE 802.11 b/g/n and BT 4.0IOT. As the interface, use can alsobe made here of UART, SPI, I2C orSDIO. All the modules and starterkits are available from CODICO foreasy evaluation.

Contact us if you have any further questions, or just ask for additional documentation.

Johannes [email protected] CODICO+43 1 86305 149 www.codico.com

Atmel WIFI & BLE ModulesAltera FPGA-Based StorageReference Design Doubles

Life of NAND FlashAltera Corporation has developed a storagereference design, based on its Arria® 10 SoCs,that doubles the life of NAND flash and canincrease the number of program-erase cyclesby up to 7X compared to current NAND flashimplementations. The reference designincludes an Arria 10 SoC with an integrateddual-core ARM® Cortex®A9 processor, in anoptimized, cost-effective, single-chip solution,

leveraging a solid-state disk (SSD) controllerfrom Mobiveil and NAND optimization soft-ware from NVMdurance. This referencedesign provides improved performance andflexibility in NAND utilization while reducingthe cost of the NAND array by increasing thelifetime of data center equipment.Using FPGAs with integrated hard processorsystems, designers can quickly take advan-tage of the cost savings offered by next-gen-eration NAND devices while retaining theflexibility to customize a solution that maxi-mizes the performance, durability and stor-age capacity of their system. This storagesolution implements Mobiveil’s UniversalNVM Express Controller (UNEX), a config-urable controller for PCIe-based SSDs, andNVMdurance’s NAND flash optimizationsoftware in an Arria 10 SoC, enabling datacenters to leverage the most advanced 3DNAND technology without the long designcycles required with ASIC designs. In this ref-erence design, Mobiveil’s controller supportsmulti-core architectures, enabling threads torun on each core with their own queue andinterrupt without any locks required.NVMdurance’s NAND flash optimizationsoftware constantly monitors the condition ofthe NAND flash and automatically adjusts thecontrol parameters in real time, greatlyextending the flash system’s endurance.

ALTERA www.altera.com

INDUSTRY NEWS EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

www.epd-ee.eu | July, 2015 | EP&Dee 5

Microchip announces a new addition to its Human Interface Solutionsportfolio with the MTCH6303, an innovative, turnkey projected-capaci-tive touch controller for touch pads and screens. Touch sensors with upto 1000 nodes and diagonals of up to 10” are supported. TheMTCH6303 provides multi-touch coordinates as well as a ready-mademulti-finger surface gesture suite that brings modern user interface (UI)elements, such as pinch and zoom, multi-finger scrolling, and swipes, toany embedded design, with minimal host requirements.The MTCH6303’s advanced signal processing provides noise-avoidancetechniques and predictive tracking for 10 fingers, at scan rates of up to250 Hz with a minimum of 100 Hz each for five touches. It also combineswith Microchip’s MTCH652 high-voltage line driver to achieve a superiorsignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for outstanding touch performance in noisyenvironments.When combined with the MGC3130, the MTCH6303 solution is capableof supporting 3D air gestures up to 20 cm distance from the touch panel.Microchip’s MGC3130 E-field-based 3D tracking and gesture controllerincludes Microchip’s patented GestIC® technology, allowing user input vianatural hand and finger movements in free space. This unique combinationempowers designers to create interface-control possibilities in two andthree dimensions that differentiate their products from the competition.The advanced capabilities of the MTCH6303 create robust, ready-to-gotouch and gesture solutions for the rapid growth of human-interfaceapplications and requirements in: industrial equipment such as machinecontrol panels, HVAC controls, metering and test equipment; in home-automation products including security control panels, thermostat andlighting controls; and in office equipment such as printers, copiers and faxmachines; among other applications.The MTCH6303 is supported by Microchip’s new Multi-Touch ProjectedCapacitive Touch Screen Development Kit (DV102013) which is priced at$149.00 and available to order today with free, downloadable software.The DV102013 incorporates the MTCH6303 projected-capacitive touchcontroller and the MTCH652 high-voltage driver on a controller board,and includes a transparent, 8” ITO touch panel for easy demonstration ofthe MTCH6303’s touch-controller capabilities and supporting graphicaluser interface (GUI) functionality.

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/MTCH6303-062915a

Microchip announces projected-capacitivetouch screen controller with noise-robust,advanced multi-touch and gesture performance


Win a Microchip dsPICDEM™ MCSM DevelopmentBoard (DV330021) from EP&Dee. The development board is targeted to control both unipo-lar and bipolar stepper motors in open-loop or closed-loop(current control) mode. The hardware is designed in such away that no hardware changes are necessary for 8-, 6- or 4-wire stepper motors in either bipolar or unipolar configura-tions. Software to run motors in open-loop or closed-loopwith full or variable micro-stepping is provided.

A GUI for controlling step commands, motor parameterinput, and operation modes is included. This flexible andcost-effective board can be configured in different waysfor use with Microchip’s specialized dsPIC33F MotorControl Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs). The dsPICDEMMCSM Development Board offers a mounting option toconnect either a 28-pin SOIC device or a generic 100-pinPlug-In Module (PIM). A dsPIC33FJ32MC204 DSC PIM(MA330017) is included. The dsPIC DSC devices feature an 8-channel, high-speedPWM with Complementary mode output, a programma-ble ADC trigger on the PWM reload cycle, digital deadtime control, internal shoot-through protection and hard-ware fault shutdown. These features make the dsPIC DSCan ideal solution for high-performance stepper motorcontrol applications where control of the full-bridgeinverter is required.

Win a MicrochipdsPICDEM™ MCSM

DevelopmentBoard!

For the chance to win a dsPICDEM™ MCSMDevelopment Board, from Microchip, please visit:

www.microchip-comps.com/epdee-mcsmand enter your details in the entry form.



Renesas Electronics announced a new wireless solution that sup-ports the Bluetooth® Smart near field wireless communicationstandard. The new RL78/G1D Group of microcontrollers (MCUs)has been developed by combining the low-power RFTransceiver Technology for Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), whichthe company presented at the International Solid-State CircuitsConference (ISSCC) held in February, 2015, with Renesas’ expert-ise on consumer and industrial MCUs, and on-chip peripheraldevices necessary for wireless communication. By employing anevaluation kit and Bluetooth-SIG qualified protocol stack, the newMCUs enable system designers to conduct evaluation of wirelesscharacteristics and initial evaluation of communication behaviors.The new MCUs are also provided with PC GUI tool for easymanipulation of these components. These will enable customersto easily develop Bluetooth Smart applications and reduce thetime required for development while making effective use ofdevelopment environment and software resources.

BLE is a near field wireless communication technology that holdsgreat potential for connecting smartphones and a variety ofother devices. In addition to smartphones, it is also suitable foruse in devices linked by serial communication technologies suchas UARTs and for implementing communication between unitswithin a single piece of equipment. Eliminating the need forwired connections between such units provides greater designfreedom and simplifies maintenance. This technology thereforehas the potential to bring about major changes in embeddeddevices. The Bluetooth Smart compliant RL78/G1D MCUs havebeen developed by combining the ultra-low-power RL78 MCU,which has achieved widespread adoption in the consumer andindustrial fields, with the highly regarded low-current-consump-tion Bluetooth® low energy transceiver technology announced atthe ISSCC in February 2015. The current consumption of theRL78/G1D is among the lowest in the industry (3.5 milliamperes(mA) during reception and 4.3 mA during transmission), deliver-ing substantially reduced power consumption that is a key con-sideration for wireless devices. RENESAS ELECTRONICS EUROPE www.renesas.eu

Renesas Electronics Delivers Bluetooth®Smart Wireless Solution to Accelerate

Use of Embedded Devices in IoTApplications

Intersil Corporation announced the ISL9120, a buck-boost switchingregulator that enables efficient power management of system powersupplies and peripherals such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, memory cards orLCD modules. Its adaptive current limit PFM architecture deliversindustry-leading efficiency up to 98%, while providing smooth transi-tions from buck-to-boost to prevent glitches in applications wherelight load efficiency and fast transient response are critical. An ultra-small form factor makes the ISL9120 ideal for the connected devicesmaking up the Internet of Things (IoT) including wearables, smart-phones, smart thermostats and point-of-sale devices that run on sin-gle-cell Li-ion or Li-polymer batteries, or 2-cell alkaline, NiCd orNiMH batteries.

With the pervasiveness of mobile devices and growing popularity ofwearables, power designers are challenged to balance cost, form fac-tor and power efficiency. Typical power solutions for wearables usethree DC-DC regulators and 3-5 LDOs, which takes up valuableboard space. LDOs also lack the high efficiency and reliability of abuck-boost regulator, sacrificing performance as well. For example,when LDOs are used to power peripherals in a system running on aLi-ion battery with the Vout near 3.3V, a large burst current from theapplications processor can cause the Vin to droop below the LDOregulation voltage, causing a memory reset or application shutdown.The ISL9120 buck-boost switching regulator eliminates this problemby addressing a wider Vin range and providing boost to avoid lowvoltage glitches that can cause a battery brownout when the Vindroops below the output voltage. Requiring only a single inductorand available in a small 1.41mm × 1.41mm package, designers nolonger have to compromise efficiency or form factor.

The ISL9120 offers designers the flexibility to cover a variety ofdesign needs by operating from a Vin of 1.8V to 5.5V and anadjustable output voltage from 1V to 5.2V. Its adaptive PFM opera-tion with forced bypass mode and 2A switches support both lowload and high load currents with high efficiency, ensuring longer bat-tery life and less heat buildup. The regulator also delivers 800mA cur-rent with 2.5V input and 3.3V output. During system stay alive condi-tions when regulation is not required, the ISL9120 goes into forcedbypass mode, which reduces power consumption to a miniscule qui-escent current of less than 0.5uA.

INTERSIL www.intersil.com/products/isl9120

Intersil Announces Industry’s HighestEfficiency Buck-Boost Regulator forWearables and Other Mobile Devices



Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcon-troller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, todayannounced that designers using the Automotive Open SystemArchitecture (AUTOSAR) to develop and reuse their in-vehi-cle software can now connect their systems to not only net-working technologies such as CAN and LIN, but also to theMOST® Cooperation’s automotive-proven MOST networkingtechnology. This means that Microchip’s MOST IntelligentNetwork Interface Controllers (INICs) can be used for cross-domain communication in an AUTOSAR system, such asAdvanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which simplifiesautomotive networking and diagnostics.AUTOSAR has developed a standardized, open softwarearchitecture for automotive electronic control units, which isincreasingly being applied in traditional vehicle electronicdomains. For example, after the major German vehicle OEMssuccessfully utilized AUTOSAR in the central areas of theirelectrical/electronics architectures, they are now extending itsuse into additional domains. With the introduction of theAUTOSAR 4.x standard, most other OEMs are now also inves-tigating or actively migrating to AUTOSAR. Therefore, it isincreasingly important that the infotainment domain of a vehi-cle is able to support AUTOSAR, at least where an interactionwith other domains is necessary.To date, more than 170 million MOST interface controllershave been installed in 184 car models since 2001. All majorcarmakers have for many years successfully implementedMOST technology in their multi-node infotainment network-ing systems, as it provides a field-proven, low-risk, whole-sys-tem solution. The MOST150 standard also meets designers’Internet-connectivity requirements. This latest version ofMOST technology continues to predictably and efficientlytransport video, audio, packet and control data throughout thevehicle without time-synchronization protocols, using dedicat-ed channels for minimal processor overhead in the main info-tainment control unit processors.MOST150 also provides 150 Mbps performance and provenelectromagnetic-compatibility (EMC) behavior.

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/Homepage-070715a

AUTOSAR Integrated With MOST®Infotainment and Advanced DriverAssistance Networking TechnologySilicon Labs introduced its highly anticipated Thread networking

solution, delivering a software stack built upon years of mesh net-working expertise and the industry’s most advanced mesh network-ing software development tools. Silicon Labs’ Thread solution offersdevelopers the fastest path to developing Thread-compliant prod-ucts for the IoT including thermostats, wireless sensor networks,smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, connected lighting devices,control panels, wireless access points and gateways.

Thread technology fills a critical gap in the IoT ecosystem by provid-ing the industry’s first standards-based, low-power mesh networkingsolution based on Internet Protocol (IP), enabling reliable, secureand scalable Internet connectivity for battery-powered devices inthe connected home. As a founding member of the Thread Groupand the chair of the Group’s technical committee, Silicon Labs hasbeen instrumental in defining and developing the Thread specifica-tion introduced today.Silicon Labs’ Thread solution offers a simple, secure and scalable wayto wirelessly interconnect hundreds of connected home devices andto seamlessly bridge those devices to the Internet. Thread softwareprovides a self-healing, IPv6-based mesh network capable of scalingto 250+ nodes with no single point of failure. The protocol providesextensive support for “sleepy” end nodes to enable years of low-energy operation using a single battery as well as simplified commis-sioning. Users can easily add nodes to a network using a smartphoneor browser. Silicon Labs’ Thread stack uses banking-class, end-to-end security to join nodes to the network and proven AES-128cryptography to secure all networking transactions.

Silicon Labs offers a comprehensive suite of development anddebugging tools to accelerate the introduction of Thread-compliantproducts. Silicon Labs’ AppBuilder tool simplifies and acceleratesthe development of IP-based mesh networking applications.AppBuilder enables developers to easily configure mesh network-ing applications for Thread protocol using Silicon Labs’ applicationframework, which isolates application code with a set of easy-to-usecall backs and plugins, making the customer’s software portable andreusable across supported wireless SoCs in Silicon Labs’ portfolio.Silicon Labs also offers a powerful Desktop Network Analyzer toolthat, unlike traditional wireless sniffers, provides complete visibilityof all wireless networking activity by using the unique packet traceport available in Silicon Labs’ mesh networking SoCs.

SILICON LABS www.silabs.com/thread

Silicon Labs Simplifies IoT Connectivitywith Best-in-Class Thread Solution

Bosch Subsidiary ETAS DemonstratesAutomotive Industry Standard AUTOSARSolution for Connecting With a MOSTNetwork Using Microchip’s Devices


congatec AG, a leading technology company for embedded computer modules, singleboard computers (SBCs) and embedded design and manufacturing (EDM) services,announced the latest addition to its COM Express Basic portfolio: the new conga-TS97computer module with either Intel® Core™ or Intel® Xeon® processors (codenameBroadwell) manufactured in 14nm technology. The new conga-TS97 COM ExpressBasic module in the Intel® Xeon® version delivers server-grade performance for the firsttime and, compared to its predecessors, excels not only with its overall performance butparticularly in terms of graphics due to the featured Intel® Iris™ Pro technology. Intel'smost powerful processor-integrated graphics and media engine offers an immersiveuser experience with fast 3D rendering and realistic shading at high frame rates.The new conga-TS97 high-end module is designed for any industry sector whereapplications with customized I/O and IoT interface configurations must meet the high-est performance standards in the smallest space. While the Intel® Core™ processor-based modules are well suited for applications ranging from industrial automation tomedical, retail and gaming, the Intel® Xeon® processor-based modules are designed fori n d u s t r y - s t a n d a r dserver platforms. Areasof application includecarrier-grade edgenode servers as well asindustrial cloud serverswith high packing den-sity and/or minimumfootprint. The highgraphics performanceof the integrated Intel®Iris™ Pro technology,useful in carrier-gradeapplications for con-tent delivery platformswith real time video transcoding and network functions virtualization (NFV), will alsowork well in industrial applications to fulfill important situational awareness tasks - forexample in autonomous vehicles. GPGPU-based applications can also be found in par-allel deep packet inspection or content encryption and decryption. For server-basedapplications, the graphics engine delivers distributed clients rich and responsive 3Dperformance for CAD, 3D modeling and video rendering.Since the new processors are manufactured at the 14nm node of the new microarchi-tecture, performance upgrades are quick and efficient to implement. Existing productlines can be enhanced with new performance classes and optimized TDP, while theimmediate availability of evaluation boards speeds up the evaluation process for newapplications.

The feature set in detailThe conga-TS97 modules are equipped with the latest 14nm quad-core Intel® Core™and Xeon® processors and offer 6MB of L2 cache with a TDP of 47 watts. The follow-ing Intel® processors are supported: Core i7-5700EQ, Core i7-5850EQ, Xeon E3-1258L v4 and E3-1278L v4. Thanks to super-fast 32 GB 1600 DDR3L memory support,the modules meet server-grade requirements and are specifically designed for use indata-intensive applications. With support for AVX 2.0, SSE 4.2 and OpenCL 2.0, thenew modules are also capable of processing high-parallel tasks quickly and efficiently.The integrated Intel® Gen 8 HD Graphics scales to Intel® Iris™ Pro P6300 with 48 exe-cution units. This allows operation at 60 Hz of up to 3 independent 4K displays (3840× 1260) via HDMI 1.4, DVI and DisplayPort 1.2. An additional dual-channel LVDS out-put is provided while OpenGL 4.3 and DirectX11.2 ensure high-quality images andthe latest 3D features. The integrated video transcoder relieves the CPU by providingH265, H264, MPEG2 and VC1 video streams in real time.

CONGATEC AG www.congatec.com

congatec launches COM Express Basic module with14nm Intel Xeon processors and Intel Iris Pro graphics

Altera Brings the Value ofFPGAs to Network Function

Virtualization

Altera Joins Open Platform for NFV(OPNFV) ProjectAltera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) todayannounced the company has joined theOpen Platform for NFV (OPNFV), a commu-nity-led, industry-supported, open-sourcereference platform for network function vir-tualization (NFV). NPV uses IT virtualizationtechnologies to virtualize entire classes ofnetwork node functions into building blocksthat may be connected, or chained, to createcommunication services. Altera will joinworking groups inside the OPNFV to enableexpand the use of FPGA accelerators in virtu-al machines running different software andprocesses on top of industry-standard, high-volume servers, storage and cloud comput-ing infrastructure.

FPGAs act as accelerators by offloading com-pute workloads, using less power than gen-eral-purpose graphics processing units(GPGPUs) and central processor units (CPUs)—which helps data centers run cooler.FPGA- and SoC-based solutions are alreadyaccelerating servers in the data center insearch and convolutional neural networksapplications.The OPNFV’s Work Benefits Service ProvidersInitial interest in working with the OPNFV hascome from the network service provider com-munity, including OPNFV founding membersAT&T, China Mobile, NTT DOCOMO,Telecom Italia and Vodafone, among others. Inaddition, other industries such as the financialservices industry, large enterprises and cloudservice providers are showing interest as theirneeds for NFV.

ALTERA www.altera.comOPEN PLATFORM FOR NFV (OPNFV) www.opnfv.org


Intersil Corporation introduced the ISL71840SEH and ISL71841SEH, newradiation hardened (rad hard) multiplexers that offer best-in-class elec-trostatic discharge (ESD) protection, and the industry’s highest signalchain accuracy and timing performance. The ISL71840SEH 30V 16-chan-nel multiplexer is a drop-in replacement for Intersil’s widely adoptedHS9-1840ARH, which has been aboard nearly every satellite and spaceexploration mission, including NASA’s recent Orion spacecraft flight test.For applications with form factor constraints, the new ISL71841SEH 30V32-channel multiplexer offers high performance and 41% reduced boardspace compared with an ISL71840SEH two-chip solution.

The ISL71840SEH and ISL71841SEH rad hard multiplexers deliver ultra-high performance in the most demanding environments by leveragingIntersil’s proprietary silicon on insulator process, which provides singleevent latch-up (SEL) robustness in heavy ion environments. The enhanced8kV ESD protection feature of these devices eliminates the need for costlyexternal protection diodes on the input pins. And their reduced RON of500 Ohms at ±5V and propagation delays of less than 800ns increase theoverall performance and accuracy of telemetry signals processed and mul-tiplexed into an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) input.The ISL71840SEH and ISL71841SEH offer over-voltage protection on aper-switch basis to maintain the continuous processing of telemetry testpoints. If any input channel experiences an over-voltage condition, theremaining channels continue sending data to the ADC. Both multiplexersprovide a “cold spare” redundant capability, allowing the connection of2-3 additional unpowered multiplexers to a common data bus. This is anespecially important feature for mission-critical space flights lasting up to20 years. If required for any reason, a redundant multiplexer is immedi-ately activated. Both multiplexers provide a wide supply range with split-rail operation from ±10.8V to 16.5V and an absolute maximum of ±20V,providing designers with plenty of de-rating headroom.

“The ISL71840SEH and ISL71841SEH multiplexers build upon the perform-ance and reliability of the HS9-1840ARH, while providing additional fea-tures to support the latest needs of data acquisition systems,” said PhilipChesley, senior vice president of Precision Products at Intersil. “The 16-channel and 32-channel devices are ideally suited to meet the mission assur-ance needs of next-generation satellites and manned spacecraft for deepspace exploration.”

INTERSIL www.intersil.com/products/isl71840seh

Intersil Unveils New Radiation HardenedMultiplexers for Space Flight DataAcquisition Systems

RUTRONIK EMBEDDED: ProgressiveIoT Computing from Advantech

with RISC Technology Distributor Rutronik presents the new palm-sized UBC-220, an ARM-based compact box computer poweredby a Freescale ARM® Cortex™-A9 i.MX6 Dual Lite high-performance processor. Designed with compact size,high capability, and superior connectivity, UBC-220 isan ideal indoor computing gateway suitable for smartbuildings, parking lots, and public spaces.

Advantech’s UBC-220 is equipped with a FreescaleARM® Cortex™-A9 i.MX6 Dual Lite 1GHz processor,1GB of onboard memory, and 4GB of eMMC flashmemory storage. Featuring dual display support for FullHD 1080P HDMI and single-channel LVDS, UBC-220 isan ideal solution for HMI and instant signage. In addi-tion, with USB 2.0 and OTG expansion compatibility, aswell as Gigabyte Ethernet and dual mini-PCIe slots foroptional Wi-Fi and 3G modules, the box computer hasthe connectivity to bridge multiple devices in the samenetwork and efficiently acquires raw data for the nextgeneration of cloud-based services. Furthermore, thepalm-sized UBC-220 supports various mounting meth-ods including VESA, DIN rail, and flexible wall mount-ing. With the specially designed VESA bracket, UBC-220 can be integrated with Advantech openframe mon-itors to provide a fanless standalone system with richI/O capabilities that supports device management forcomplex IoT infrastructures.As the default operating system, UBC-220 is equippedwith embedded Linux. For experienced Yocto Linuxdevelopers, Advantech also provides a Yocto Linuxboard support package as an optional design-in serv-ice. Advantech also provides a complete software tool-chain, Linux source code package, and software sup-port service for SW developers, intending to develop anew-generation IoT gateway based on UBC-220. Itoffers not only a stable H/W platform, but also the soft-ware package and service enable customers to moreeasily and quickly develop their own apps. In additionto Linux support, an Android OS image and BSP sourcecode for application development are offered, AndroidApps can also be integrated.

RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com




Performance, security and powercore to the new era of Internet ofThings devices

These newest additions to our i.MX 6 seriesrepresent the most versatile platform formultimedia and display applications to date,providing newfound performance to theseamless next generation user experience ofan evolving and highly dynamic Internet ofThings. With this expansion, system devel-opers can now leverage Freescale’s powermanagement integrated circuits (PMIC)along with pin compatibility and scalabilityacross the i.MX 6 series.

Visually Stunning Solutions for High-end, Multi-market ApplicationsThe i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus arebased on the ARM® Cortex®-A9 core andbuild upon the solid foundation of i.MX6Dual and i.MX 6Quad processors by morethan doubling the graphics performanceand improving memory utilization by morethan 50%.i.MX 6DualPlus and i.MX 6QuadPlus arepart of our growing line of multimedia anddisplay focused products that offer high-performance processing with a great degreeof functional integration for intense, feature-rich graphics that can handle additionalpower requirements.

Key Features of the i.MX 6DualPlus andi.MX 6QuadPlus• Each processor provides a newly optimized

64-bit DDR3/LVDDR3/LPDDR2-1066 memory interface to increase bus bandwidth.

• Embedded SRAM has been increased, while pre-fetch and resolve engines have

been added to increase efficiency.• These processors come equipped with

hardware enabled security features ideal for secure e-commerce, digital rights management, information encryption and secure software downloads.

• TrustZone® architecture – including security extensions in the Cortex-A9

In the accelerating consumer and industrial Internet of Things marketplace, the need forenhanced performance, security and power management has never been more prevalent.With an increasing number of power hungry, graphically intense devices entering the marketdaily, it’s clear the process for system developers is becoming more and more complex – andthis is just the beginning.In response to these growing complexities and demand from developers, we’ve introducedour newest family of applications processors – the i.MX 6DualPlus, i.MX 6QuadPlus and i.MX6UltraLite – to deliver the highest levels of performance, power management and security forboth high and low-end applications.

DESIGN IoT

By Freescale Staff


cores as well as generic interrupt controller, on-chip RAM and a TrustZone Address Space Controller – help prevent malicious security access.

• Enhanced power management enables a rich suite of multimedia features and peripherals to conserve power in both active and low power modes. The Freescale PF0100 PMIC satisfies the power required for the i.MX 6QuadPlus and i.MX 6DualPlus.

The Coolest, Smallest Cortex-A7Microprocessor on Market

Leveraging the most energy-efficientARM Cortex-A7 core in 14x14mmand 9x9mm BGA packages, the i.MX6UltraLite is designed to provide richperformance in low-power for space con-strained embedded applications such asfinancial payments, industrial Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and building control.• Advanced power management

architecture features multiple energy saving modes and dynamic voltage and frequency scaling as well as integrated power switch for flexible power gating in low power modes.

• Robust security supporting high assurance (secure) boot, hardware cryptographic cipher engines and random number generation allows peripheral and memory access requests to be hardware-verified, providing secure isolation and system resources tainting prevention. Hardware tamper detection and an integrated on-the-fly DRAM encryption/decryption engine make the i.MX 6UltraLite among the most secure ARM Cortex-A7

microprocessor solutions available.• The i.MX 6UltraLite is designed for

streamlined integration and connectivity and is optimized for ease-of-use and faster time to market. It offers great functionality at a competitive BOM.

• The i.MX 6UltraLite is supported by Freescale’s recently announced PF3000 PMIC and other low cost power supply solutions including discrete circuits are ideally suited for the lower end Cortex-A9and Cortex-A7 based i.MX 6 series of

applications processors.

The current developer requires efficient,power performing tools that work withinthe constraints of their devices. The i.MX6DualPlus, i.MX 6QuadPlus and i.MX6UltraLite were designed with Internet ofThings developers in mind to deliver thehighest levels of performance, power man-agement and security possible. With this lat-est announcement, our i.MX family ofprocessors continues its legacy of innovation– a testament to Freescale’s foresight in solv-ing the design challenges of tomorrow byempowering engineers to build our worldof a dynamic Internet of Things today ￭

Freescale Semiconductorwww.freescale.com

DESIGN IoT


How wireless modules bring theInternet of Things to life

Dramatic growth in the Internet of Things(IoT) has been widely reported in recenttimes. While many media reports havefocused on rather trivial consumer applica-tions – the toothbrush connected to yoursmartphone being one example – those dis-cussed here relate to the “Internet of Thingsthat Really Matter”. In other words, the arti-cle highlights just a few examples of thoseapplications that improve our lives throughgreater security, productivity or conven-ience, or a combination of these factors.

Short range wireless connectivity is theenabling technology for the IoT

The IoT means different things to differentpeople but there are common fundamentalelements to most applications: one or moresensors, an application processor, a connec-

tion to the Internet - usually via one or morewireless protocols - and data analysis incomputers in the cloud. In fact, one distinc-tion between M2M and IoT is that IoTincludes data analytics that may sometimesbe based on data coming from different sys-tems owned by different companies.

When the “things” are mobile, for examplein a truck or car, there may also be a need todetermine their location in using satelliteglobal positioning (GNSS) receivers or, forgreater accuracy, a combination of datafrom GNSS, cellular networks, Wi-Fihotspots and perhaps even wheel tick sen-sors on the vehicle.(Wheel tick sensors are used for DeadReckoning to track a vehicle’s position whenit is out of GNSS range – in a tunnel, forexample.)

Where large volumes of data are aggregat-ed from many sensor nodes, powerful com-puters in the cloud can host complex data-bases and analysis tools then deliver infor-mation services to customers. Figure 1 givesan overview of IoT connectivity.

Because Bluetooth is now ubiquitous insmartphones, tablet computers and note-books, it often forms the first link in a chainof connectivity from sensors to the Internet.The subsequent link can be via a wired net-work, Wi-Fi gateway or cellular radio con-nection.

Bluetooth low energy, popularly known asBluetooth Smart, has been a key enabler formany IoT applications thanks to its muchlower energy consumption (in some appli-cations 100x lower) and lower latency thanClassic Bluetooth.

Tony Milbourn is responsible for Strategy at u-blox AG.u-blox is a Swiss supplier of location and communications modules and chips focused onindustrial, automotive and consumer applications, particularly in the Internet of Things.Tony has 30 years’ experience in the mobile communications industry. He was a founderand for almost 20 years CEO of TTP Communications plc, a major licensing business incellular protocol stacks, chips and application software, that IPO’d in London in 2000 andwas acquired in 2006 by Motorola. He was also a founder of ip.access, the leading femtocellbusiness, and more recently led the spin-out of a soft modem start-up, Cognovo, fromARM Holdings. u-blox acquired Cognovo in 2012, since then Tony has helped direct thegrowth of u-blox and set the agenda for the future of the business. He is interested increating new opportunities at the point where communications and computing converge.

DESIGN IoT

By Tony MilbournVice President Corporate Strategyu-blox AG


This comes at some penalty in terms of max-imum data rates. Many sensors don’t pro-duce much data so the 100 kbps applicationthroughput of Bluetooth Smart versus the2.1 Mbps gross throughput rate (1.5 Mbpsnet) of Classic Bluetooth v2.1 with EnhancedData Rate (EDR), is perfectly adequate. For example, utility meters or heart ratemonitors require only minimal bandwidth todeliver data as they perform their respec-tive tasks. Another advantage of BluetoothSmart over Classic Bluetooth is its improveddata security. It uses AES-128 encryption –sometimes described as bank level security– an important factor if wireless links aregoing to be carrying sensitive informationthat could be intercepted, such as a person’smedical data.

The next link in the Internet connectivitychain will usually be via Classic Bluetooth,Wi-Fi or cellular radio. Wi-Fi offers muchgreater bandwidth than Bluetooth, up to atheoretical maximum of 600 Mbps using802.11n and the latest cellular radio net-works allow up to 150 Mbps download and50 Mbps upload speeds.

Standards for cellular radio networks haveevolved rapidly. Although data rates forsome applications may be modest, and 2Gradios are cheaper than their 4G counter-

parts, for many designs it makes sense todesign with some degree of future-proofingin mind. This can mean implementing a 4Gconnection now – particularly if it featuresautomatic “fallback” to 3G or 2G when a 4Gnetwork is not accessible. Incidentally, u-blox has been helping its customers throughthe 2G-3G-4G transition by using a nesteddesign philosophy for its GNSS and wirelessmodules. This means maintaining form fac-tor and software continuity. Customers sim-ply drop the upgraded version of eachmodule onto an unchanged printed circuitboard and start testing. The principle is illus-trated in Figure 2.

Wireless connectivity is the glue that bindsthe IoT together. An important decision forproduct designers is which wireless technol-ogy to adopt for which task. Sometimes choices are limited by availableinfrastructure, or answers are very obviousfor other reasons. At other times, there is anopportunity for choice, or to adopt a multi-radio strategy and allow the end customerto choose.

DESIGN IoT

Figure 1: IoT connectivity is heavily dependent upon wireless technologies: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular networks from 2G to 4G, and GPS/GNSS being the most prevalent.

Figure 2: A “nested’ design philosophy for cellular radio modems makes it easier to upgrade as standards evolve (2G-3G-4G) and product improvements are implemented.


While some companies will opt to createproprietary wireless designs around one ormore chips or chipsets, maybe even writingtheir own Bluetooth stacks, many are turningto ready-certified modules to simplify andaccelerate product development, reduceengineering risk, guarantee quality andlower both non-recurring engineering(NRE) costs and unit costs. Furthermore, many modules now integratemore than one wireless technology, whichpromises further space and cost savings inthe end product. Development time isreduced, the potential interference issuesassociated with co-located radios operatingwithin the same frequency band havealready been addressed, and the technicalrisks of implementation are minimised byusing these multiradio modules.

While there will always be some applica-tions where it is more economical to createwireless designs based around a chip, wire-less modules are now manufactured in suchhigh volume that there is rarely a cost penal-ty for the many benefits they offer. Here area few examples of how they are being usedtoday and how they may be used tomorrow.

A medical infusion pump that communi-cates over Bluetooth Smart and Wi-Fi

Bluetooth Smart may be used with a hand-held scanner to make sure that a medicalinfusion pump is connected to the rightpatient and that the right medication isbeing given. The Bluetooth connection car-ries very little data but within the samepump a higher bandwidth Wi-Fi link sendscontinuous monitoring data over the hospi-tal network, as shown in Figure 3.The u-blox ODIN-W262 multiradio wirelessmodule, shown in Figure 4, is designed for

exactly this kind of application. It measures14.8 x 22.3 x 4.5 mm and supports multiple,concurrent Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz),Classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth Smart links.This gives great design flexibility and themodule is simply configured for the applica-tion using AT-commands. Radio typeapproved in countries throughout the world,it even has a built-in antenna to make addingmulti-protocol wireless connectivity to anyproduct as quick and easy as possible.

This flexible module may also be used inpoint-of-sale retail applications. Here,Bluetooth Smart can be used as a proximitybeacon so that a hand-held payment deviceknows which receipt printer is nearest to it.Data can then be transferred to that printerover Classic Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

In-car connectivity streams HD video and more

There’s growing demand for in-car wirelessconnectivity, not just for hands-free phonesbut also for rear-seat streaming of HD videoand audio entertainment, rear view cameracommunications and even graphical userinterface mirroring so that your car’s touchscreen can look exactly like exactly like yoursmartphone screen, when you want it to.

Once again, because so many wireless tech-nologies are involved, multiradio modulesmake a lot of sense. The u-blox EMMY-W1automotive-grade module is designed forjust such applications. It combines dual-band Wi-Fi with IEEE 802.11 ac with dual-mode Bluetooth Smart Ready v4.1 and near

DESIGN IoT

Figure 3: Using a multiradio module in an infusion pump is a compact, cost-effective way to integrate a variety of configurable wireless standards.

Figure 4:The ODIN-W262 module supports

multiple, concurrent Wi-Fi (2.4 GHzand 5 GHz), Classic Bluetooth and

Bluetooth Smart links.


field communications (NFC) for keylessentry. In addition, it has an integrated LTEco-location filter so that both Wi-Fi and cel-lular antennas can be located in close prox-imity to each other, for example in a shark-fin antenna on the car’s roof.4G LTE cellular radio modem modules likethose in the u-blox TOBY-L200 family arenow capable of up to 150 Mbps download

speeds - sufficient to stream 8 simultaneousHD video feeds. These modules feature the HSPA+ andGSM/GPRS fallback function mentioned ear-lier to ensure that they still function, albeit atreduced performance, when a 4G networkis not available. Of course, GNSS modules are already usedextensively in vehicle navigation systems.When real-time GNSS data is combinedwith cellular base station and Wi-Fi hotspotinformation, the accuracy of mapping andnavigation systems is enhanced, particularlywhere satellite visibility is compromised, forexample in tunnels or underground carparks. Wireless connectivity in cars will also be afacilitating technology for vehicle to vehicle(V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2X)communications. Making driving safer is theprime motivation for the implementation ofadvanced driver assistance systems (ADSAS)that are enabled through this.

Fleet management costs are reduced

Many of the wireless technologies used incars are equally valuable in commercial vehi-cles, as shown in Figure 5.Using GNSS, fleet operators can know theprecise location of every vehicle in a fleetand track vehicle performance at the indi-vidual and fleet level.

They can monitor fuel usage, idle time andvehicle diagnostic codes. They can optimizescheduling and routing, improve customerresponse times all while reducing fleetadministrative overhead. This monitoringalso helps reduce speeding violations andother and deters vehicle theft and unautho-rized use. In addition, by integrating cellulardata from a suitable module, real-time trafficinformation can be received.

Modules such as the u-blox CAM-M8C offersimultaneous GNSS operation forGPS/GLONASS, GPS/BeiDou, or GLONASS/BeiDou to deliver accurate, jamming-resist-ant and reliable positioning anywhere in theworld. It has a built-in antenna and inte-grates a u-blox M8 satellite receiver, crystaloscillator, SAW filter and low-noise amplifierto minimize implementation time and effort.

Short-range radio modules, perhapsemploying Wi-Fi and Bluetooth links, can be

used to communicate engine data, to con-nect to hand-held terminals, includingmobile phones, or to alert drivers to opendoors or other vehicle problems.

Cellular radio modules (like the TOBY-L200devices) then transmit data back to the fleetoperator, perhaps enhancing it along theway using a cloud-based service.

Summary

These are just a few of examples of “Internetof Things that Really Matter” applicationswe see today. The growth in LTE networks inparticular, will encourage product designersto include Internet connectivity in devicesthat have never before used it.

This will improve the user experience ofthese products, provide manufacturers withinformation that will help them make betterproducts, and enable service providers todeliver new services to consumers, creatingnew business models and profit opportuni-ties along the way. In all of these applica-tions, wireless modules make it as easy aspossible for designers, even those withoutwireless experience, to make their innova-tions part of our connected world – the IoT.￭

u-bloxwww.u-blox.com

DESIGN IoT

Figure 5: There’s now a place for GNSS, cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity in commercial vehicles.


DESIGN ULTRASONIC DEVICES

Finding the range

Ultrasonic range detection can be accomplished with an ultrasonicdevice added to just an op amp and a microcontroller with fouravailable I/O pins, including an internal integrated comparator. To see how this works, take an ultrasonic transmitter that broadcastsa 40kHz pulse or several oscillations at that frequency. A squarewave of one to several wavelengths can be driven from the micro-controller to the ultrasonic device to create the pulse. The pulse isreflected by any object of greater density than air, and part of theemitted pulse returns to the receiver. The round trip travel time canbe measured and converted to distance via the speed of sound.Sound requires a medium to travel through, such as air, water orsteel. In general, the denser the medium, the faster sound propa-gates. The speed of sound in air varies based on temperature,humidity and altitude. At room temperature it can be assumed tobe constant at about 343m/s. This is an ideal speed to use microcon-trollers to time the round trip duration of an emitted pulse over afew meters.The type of reflection surface is not critical; at 40kHz almost all surfacesreflect the oncoming sound wave. Perpendicular contact with a surfaceis preferable as the deflected pulses are directed back towards thereceiver. As the angle of incidence with the surface increases, the pro-portion of the pulse reflected back to the receiver decreases.An ultrasonic transducer operates similar to a piezo buzzer, but at ahigher, inaudible frequency. When an electrical current is passedthrough the piezoelectric device, it deforms or bends and returns toits original shape when the current is removed. When a 40kHzsquare wave is applied to the pins of the device, a 40kHz sound

pulse is radiated. An ultrasonic receiver works in the opposite fash-ion, producing a voltage, but at a much lower amplitude fromincoming ultrasonic sound.

Figure 1: Equivalent circuit of an ultrasonic device.

How to use an ultrasonicdevice for rangedetection

Author: Keith Curtis, Microchip Technology Inc.



An ultrasonic device can be a transmitter, receiver or both, and bein an open or closed waterproof cover. This demonstration usesseparate receive and transmit open type devices. This type is theeasiest to use as a larger drive voltage is required to use waterprooftransmitters.Figure 1 shows the equivalent circuit of an ultrasonic device. It acts asa capacitive load, but because of inductive and capacitive aspects, itis tuned to a 40kHz resonant frequency. The transmitter is tuned formaximum output while the receiver is tuned for maximum voltageoutput at an incoming 40kHz signal. This has an attenuating filteringeffect on all other frequencies and is useful in eliminating noisewhen amplifying the received signal. Typical values for the devicesused in the demonstration are listed at the bottom of Figure 1.

Driving an ultrasonic deviceDriving the capacitive ultrasonic transmitter with a differential signalgives the greatest transmit strength while maintaining a 0.0V offsetacross the device. Driving the pins differentially also eliminates theneed for a negative supply to drive the device.One problem with ultrasonic transducers is they will continue tooscillate or ring after the removal of the drive signal. This ringing isdue to the resonant mechanical behaviour of the transducer. Thetransducer is tuned to ring like a bell at its specified ultrasonic fre-quency when driven, and it takes a short period of time for the ringto dampen out after the drive is removed. While the transmitter isringing, the signal will couple through the PCB or travel through theair between the transmitter and receiver, and look like a receivedsignal. Therefore, a delay before the receiver is turned on is need-ed to ensure the ringing has damped out, and any signal received isthat of a reflected pulse. The amount of time required for the ring-ing to dampen out determines the minimum detectable distance ofthe receiver, see Figure 2.

Ultrasonic devices should be driven as close as possible to theirspecified frequency to increase the output power. The 8MHz inter-nal oscillator of the Microchip PIC16F690 microcontroller, for exam-

ple, can easily be divided down to create a 40kHz drive signal. TwoI/O pins of a PIC microcontroller can be used to generate the differ-ential 40kHz signal that drives the ultrasonic transmitter. Thisdemonstration is using Timer0 interrupt-on-overflow to create thetime basis for the output.An alternative, more automated method of driving an ultrasonicdevice would be to use the ECCP module offered on many PICMCUs. The module can be set up to output a PWM of a selectedfrequency on two pins, P1A and P1B, in half-bridge mode, with oneoutput inverted. The ECCP module uses Timer2 to establish a timebase for PWM. Enabling the Timer2 post-scaler lets the user set thenumber of pulses generated before setting the interrupt flag. Thisallows an ultrasonic pulse to be sent with a single interrupt.Once an ultrasonic signal is created and output from the ultrasonictransmitter, the next task is to detect and time a returning reflectedpulse. The returning sound wave is significantly attenuated andamplification is necessary before the signal can be detected by acomparator. This amplification can be a single op amp in a differ-ence amplifier configuration.

Difference amplifierAn example circuit for a difference amplifier is shown in Figure 3.This op amp circuit amplifies the voltage across the ultrasonicreceiver connected between the two input pins. The commonmode noise at the output is reduced by matching the input bias cur-rent through resistors R2 and R4 and resistors R1 and R3.

The ultrasonic receiver acts like a tuned high Q filter. The differenceop amp amplifies the filtering effect of that receiver. The first opamp amplifies and filters the incoming signal versus common modenoise. All subsequent op amp stages will amplify any noise andrequire additional filters. Selecting the proper op amp for the firstgain stage of the ultrasonic receiver can eliminate the need for morethan one op amp and filters.

This demonstration uses the Microchip MCP6022 op amp becauseit has a unity gain bandwidth (UGBW) of 10MHz. A higher UGBWmeans the gain of the op amp is higher at a specified frequency,such as 40kHz. The demonstration circuit has a gain of 250 to 300 at40kHz because the gain is limited by the UGBW and is notdescribed by R1/R2.

Figure 2: Ultrasonic device.

Figure 3: Circuit for a difference amplifier.



A data slicer is a circuit common to many communications applica-tions. A threshold voltage, V_th, is compared with the amplifiedinput to detect the signal. V_th in Figure 4 is set slightly below theaverage value of the amplified ultrasonic signal, V_US. Any time an ultrasonic pulse is amplified, the value at the C2IN- pinwill fall below the value of C2IN+, causing the value of the compara-tor to switch. The value of R2 should be much larger than the valueof R1, but not so large it causes the comparator to switch because ofnoise on the amplified signal. Ideally, R1 is set so the value of thethreshold voltage is just above the noise of the received ultrasonicsignal. The closer the threshold voltage to the received signal, thegreater the detectable distance of the receiver.The C2OUT pin of the PIC microcontroller can be used to debugthis stage of the ultrasonic receiver. A common problem is that thethreshold voltage is set incorrectly. If it is too low, the detectablerange of the receiver will be limited. If it is too high, the comparatorwill switch from noise spikes on the line making it impossible to tellwhen a signal is present.

The Timer1 gate function provides an enable signal for the clock sig-nal to the 16bit Timer1 counter. The output of the comparator,C2OUT, can be selected as an internal source to the Timer1 gate.Counting is enabled while the C2OUT signal is low. Once an ultra-sonic signal is detected and the C2OUT value changes, countingstops. The value stored in the Timer1 registers is the round trip timein the form of counts of the ultrasonic signal. Depending on the oscil-lator speed of the device, these counts will have a specific time value.After detecting the returning ultrasonic pulse, Timer1 stores a countvalue corresponding to the travel time of the ultrasonic pulse. Thesecounts can be converted to distance by dividing by two and multi-plying by the speed of sound. The divide by two is because it is around trip measurement and can be accomplished by shifting thecount value right one bit.The wavelength of the carrier frequency determines the resolutionof the system. A frequency of 40kHz has a wavelength of about0.85cm. Going to a higher carrier frequency increases resolution butnarrows directivity and reduces range. Resolution can also be affect-ed by the accuracy of the oscillator used to time the returning pulse,

and delays in the signal propagating through a more involved filter.All considered, the resolution for an ultrasonic system operating at40kHz can be about 1cm and does not depend on range, only thereturning pulse being detected.There are two ways of increasing the maximum detectable distance inthis application: increased transmission power and increased receiversensitivity. This demonstration uses I/O pins to drive the transmitter ata maximum of 20mA and 5V; MOSFET drivers could be used to boostthe drive current and voltage. The gain of the receiver at 40kHzdetermines what can be detected by the comparator. The demonstration uses only one op amp as a difference amplifier.Because there is only one gain stage, no filtering is needed. A multi-stage receiver would need to do some filtering between the firstgain stage and the comparator to reduce noise. Carefully controllingthe threshold voltage to the comparator will also ensure that thesmallest return pulse is positively detected.If a separate transmitter and receiver are used, they should both bealigned in the same direction. The transmitted signal and any subse-

quent ringing will leak through the PCB to the receiver circuitry.Placing more space or a cut-out between the devices on the boardwill help to reduce this leakage. Ultrasonic transducers are oftenmounted using rubber or silicon to limit the amount of leaked ultra-sonic signal to and from the surrounding material.

ConclusionUltrasonic range detection can be accomplished using a PIC16F690,MCP6022 op amp and MuRata MA40S4R/S ultrasonic device. Twoport pins of the PIC microcontroller provide enough drive strengthto transmit an ultrasonic pulse. Timer0 and Timer1 were used tocreate a 40kHz signal and time the returning pulse. The MCP6022amplified the signal at the receiver, and the PIC16F690 internal ana-logue comparator was used to detect the presence of the returningpulse in the signal ￭

Microchip Technologywww.microchip.com

Figure 4: Data slicer.


As the amount of data continues to grow, itis becoming increasingly apparent that thetraditional, compute-centric data centerarchitecture may not be the best configura-tion for many computing applications -especially analytics. Traditional servers arevery energy- and space-intensive, not tomention pricey. On top of that, the majorityof the energy cost in a traditional serverenvironment comes from moving data frompoint A to point B, rather than from process-ing the raw data into value-add information(i.e., analytics). What is needed in this era ofanalyzing “big data” is a trusted architecturethat combines the data with the high-per-formance compute.Creating compute-dense processing nodesor appliances that are hyper-efficient - withultra-low power, small form factor and highperformance compute nodes - are built byintegrating a system-on-a-chip (SoC) proces-sor with DRAM (Dynamic random-accessmemory), flash memory, and the power con-version logic using open standards interfacesand software. These appliances are emerg-ing as a new option for more efficient dataprocessing per dollar spent.By localizing the data with the compute,these powerful appliances first and fore-most provide lower energy consumption,which significantly decreases the operatingcosts. How much performance for thepower consumption can they provide? AnExabyte*-class machine utilizing these nodesand appliances is currently being built byIBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland. Thechallenges being addressed are daunting:analyzing 14 Exabytes of data per day in asystem deployed in the desert, with limitedpower and networking infrastructure on alimited budget. This appliance will provide1,536 processing cores with 3,072 threads,and up to 6 Terabytes, all on a 2U shelf.Each compute node in the appliance con-sists of a 12-core, 24-thread SoC, 48GBDRAM, 2 SATA*, 4 10Gb Ethernet, SD andUSB2 interfaces - yet is only 139 mm wideby 55 mm high and uses an inexpensiveDIMM (dual in-line memory module) con-

nector. 128 of these nodes are providedwithin each appliance which consumesabout 6 kW. It runs standard Fedora 20Linux and the IBM DB2 database. IBMresearcher Ronald Luijten calls their creationthe “datacenter in a box.” Ronald and hisFreescale co-authors, Dac Pham, MihirPandya, and Huy Nguyen, presented theresults of this work to date at the2015 ISSCCconference.

Complex systemson a chip arebecoming more indemand as theinternet of thingsand machine tomachine (M2M) aregrowing. The sys-tems are becomingmore complex by adding cores and featuresas shown by the T4240 from Freescale.

*Exabyte: A unit of information equals one bil-lion gigabytes.*SATA: An integrated drive electronics (IDE)device, which means the controller is in thedrive, and only a simple circuit is required onthe motherboard.In another example, System Fabric Worksdemonstrated another implementation atSuper Computing 2013 using the exactsame SoC, which they called the “strongest

candidate for low power exascale*.” Thesetwo examples demonstrate that combiningpowerful, low-power compute with theintegration of networking infrastructure on asingle SoC can enable an appliance platformto scale efficiently to Exabyte levels of per-formance.*Exascale: A computing system capable of abillion billion calculations per second.

What are some of the use cases that compute-dense appliances are uniquely suited for?• In developing regions, the power and

communications infrastructure is limited. Carrying physical currency can also be dangerous. Therefore, mobile payments have emerged as a safer way to conduct business, including transactions as basic as buying groceries. Unfortunately, the infrastructure doesn’t exist to support that, but kiosks supported by low-power, compute-dense appliances - powered by cheap diesel engines or another inexpen-sive energy source - are considered a viable option to support the need for mobile transactions, without requiring a full mobile infrastructure build-out.

• In the Netherlands, ASTRON (The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy) is collaborating with the aforementioned IBM researcher on a

DESIGN SoCs

Employing SoCs for analyticsThis post was originally published in Machine Design by Toby Foster, DigitalNetworking Group of Freescale.

2121www.epd-ee.eu | July, 2015 | EP&Dee

DESIGN MCUs

project called DOME, in which researchers are utilizing a very large array of radio antennas to listen in on the Big Bang from 13 billion years ago. These antennas generate 14 Exabytes of data per day They are deployed in remote locations, such as in a desert, where the power and network infrastructure is fairly limited. Where did IBM look when they needed to work with a partner to devel-op a prototype for such challenges?Freescale and the QorIQ T4240 SoC. To further address energy efficiency, the prototype is fan-less, as it utilizes hot-water cooling.

• Autonomous vehicles will generate huge amounts of data, which will need to be processed locally rather than in a remote data center in order to maintain the safe and efficient operation of the car. Some OEMs are estimating that to be truly autonomous, these self-driving cars will require 2-3 server class machines to analyze and process the data in real time. These need to be low-power, small-form factor machines that can locally process and analyze the large amounts of data that the car will generate. Once again, these compute-dense analytic appliances perfectly fit that need.

Low-power, compute-dense analytic appli-ances have not yet fully come into theirown. Right now, it is common to rely on theestablished data center technology. As bigdata continues to grow, and the businessvalue of getting to the answers quickly andefficiently becomes the demand, rather thanpaying for the movement of data, a para-digm shift will take place. As this shift occurs,high-performance multicore processors willbe needed to help address many challengesto optimize the system architecture for theirspecific application requirements.Projects like DOME, work being done withdeployments in developing regions, andother uses will pave the way for a new gen-eration of compute-dense appliances tomeet our local, low power, higher efficiencycompute needs.With this latest announcement, our i.MXfamily of processors continues its legacy ofinnovation – a testament to Freescale’s fore-sight in solving the design challenges oftomorrow by empowering engineers tobuild our world of a dynamic Internet ofThings today ￭Iain Davidson also contributed to this post.www.freescale.com

Mouser Electronics, Inc. is pleased to announce that for the fourth straight year it issponsoring the Ben Barber High School solar racing team of Mansfield, Texas, as itcompetes in the 2015 Solar Car Challenge. The event will be July 18-23 at TexasMotor Speedway. The Solar Car Challenge was established in 1993 to help motivate students in scienceand engineering and to increase alternative energy awareness. The Challenge teach-es high school students around the world how to build roadworthy solar cars.

“Supporting and encouraging the engineers of tomorrow is a large part of our mission atMouser,” said Kevin Hess, Mouser’s Vice President of Technical Marketing. “We arevery proud to again support our local Ben Barber solar racing team. It is exciting for us tohave a role in supporting this important team project that encourages STEM education.” The Mouser-sponsored team at Ben Barber Career Tech Academy will be compet-ing against 29 teams from across the nation. Most are from Texas, but others comefrom as far away as Pennsylvania, Michigan, South Carolina, Florida and California. The Ben Barber Career Tech Academy solar racing team, sponsored by MouserElectronics last year as well, finished 4th overall in 2014 in a race from Fort Worth toAustin. The team - the Shine Runners - also won the Michael Foree Award, present-ed to the solar car team best utilizing computer technology in the design, produc-tion, and racing of their solar car.On alternating years, the teams race at the world-famous Texas Motor Speedway ordrive cross-country to share their projects with millions of people. In 2013, the ShineRunners won the State Energy Conservation Award from the State of Texas. TheConservation Award is presented to the solar car team displaying outstanding engi-neering excellence. The team also received a special proclamation from the TexasState Senate. Mouser’s sponsorship of the Ben Barber program has included finan-cial support, as well as providing parts for the car and giving recommendations ondevelopment of the vehicle. To learn more about the Solar Car Challenge, visithttp://www.mouser.com/solarcarchallenge/.

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser caters todesign engineers and buyers by delivering What’s Next in advanced technologies.Mouser offers customers 21 global support locations and stocks the world’s widestselection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newestdesign projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is updated many times per day andsearches more than 10 million products to locate over 4 million orderable part num-bers available for easy online purchase. Mouser.com also houses an industry-firstinteractive catalog, data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, applicationnotes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

MOUSER ELECTRONICS www.mouser.com/solarcarchallenge

Mouser Sponsors Student Solar Car Team inUpcoming Challenge



DESIGN MCUs

Within such applications, the MCU per-forms several functions. Its timers generateup to 6 channel PWMs which drive, via aninverter stage, the AC motor’s 3-phases thatessentially make the motor spin. Analogueto Digital (ADC) module(s) are used tomeasure the various phase currents to trackthe speed and/or position of the motor as itrotates, known as sensor-less feedback con-trol.Several household applications also use 2motors: washing machine (big drum andpump), dishwasher (sprays the water anddrains), fridge/freezer (compressors, air-flowto stop frost), and HVAC/air conditioner(compressors and air flow). Many MCUs con-tain two sets of 6 channel PWMs allowingthem to drive two inverter stages and in turnspin two motors. Generally, the sensor-lessmonitoring of speed and position is com-pleted using one or two ADC modules.Sensor-less speed algorithms work with lesserrors if they can simultaneously acquire twoof the phase currents at specific times of thePWM period, but error adjustments can be

made if only one ADC module exists, and thetwo phase currents are measured back toback. For driving a dual motor control appli-cation with two ADC modules, the applica-tion can assign one ADC per motor andinclude some error correction in the speedcalculation. Alternatively, the dual motordrives can be synchronized by having oneset of PWMs 180 degrees out of phase fromthe other, and making use of both ADCs forboth motors by assigning different inputchannels. An MCU with four ADC modulesallows true, independent dual 3-phasemotor control which helps simplify applica-tion code and minimizes acquisition errors.The trade-off that often arises in such inte-grated solutions is the cost of having fourADC modules, versus the level of powerefficiency savings that will impact the endconsumer.The latest member of Freescale’s fast emerg-ing Kinetis V series of ARM® Cortex®-M classMCUs – the Kinetis KV5x MCU family – iswell equipped to handle the demands ofmulti-motor applications. With multiple

timers, four high-speed ADCs (sampling atup to 5 Msps), and a 240MHz capableCortex-M7 core, fully independent sensor-less control of two 3-phase motors can beaccomplished with ease. With CPU MIPS tospare, the KV5x MCU can also performother functions including adding secureinternet connectivity via its on-chip Ethernet, multiple CAN and UARTs, and Encryptionmodules. With the embedded market cur-rently ablaze with IoT (Internet of Things)concepts, the opportunity to remotely mon-itor and manage countless motorized appli-ances in the home and beyond can now berealized from the comfort of our armchairs,workplaces or further afield. So you can resteasy, thanks to the humble MCU it shouldbe some time yet before we need to searchfor that elusive ice cave ￭

To learn more about Freescale’s motor con-trol solutions, Kinetis V series MCUs,visit:freescale.com/Kinetis/Vseries#KinetisConnectswww.freescale.com

By Dugald Campbell Dugald Campbell is an MCU systems architecture engineer for Kinetis MCUs

Motors & MCUsThe hidden heroes of the modern home

Without motor control, our homes and lives wouldbe far less convenient than they are today – we’d stillbe washing our clothes by hand, cooking over openfires and desperately searching for the nearest icecave in which to chill our beers. Outside of thekitchen the effect would be equally troublesome –HVACs replaced by hand fans, garage door/gateopening would require manual labor (shriek withhorror!), and filtering the pool/jacuzzi would takemonths with only that lukewarm beer in hand to dullthe pain. Jokes aside, motors are a BIG deal and rep-resent a huge area of opportunity for electronic con-trol using microcontrollers (MCUs), which bringincreased automation and energy efficiency benefitsto the appliance.

DESIGN DISPLAYs

Migrating to Advanced Displays

No doubt Steve Jobs did a great job at Apple, some might say he even changedthe world! Today a simple 7-segment display is not enough for even the simplestof applications. Marketing teams are increasingly asking the engineering depart-ment for bigger displays with more impressive graphics on their next generationof products. This is true for many applications, such as coffee machines, ovens,factory automation and household boilers, and is naturally presenting a new andinteresting challenge for engineering teams.



So the simple question is: How to adda display into your application?Let us first have a look at what differentoptions you have in selecting a display.There are lots of TLA’s (Three LetterAcronyms) used in the industry which areactually very simple but can lead to a bit ofconfusion.

Everyone in the engineering community isfamiliar with the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)concept; even if they have subsequentlymoved to the dark side and are now workingin “sales” they will likely remember the calcu-lator that they once had to use for real work,that had an LCD screen on it. The basic con-cept is very simple. A layer of liquid crystalsis arranged between two polarised layers (at90 degrees to each other) such that, withoutthe liquid crystal, no light would passthrough at all. However, the crystal isarranged in a kind of helix pattern whichrotates the polarisation of the light betweenthe two polarised screens, meaning all thelight can pass though. When an electriccharge is applied to the liquid crystals, theyunroll or straighten out, thus no longer rotat-ing the light and will appear black.

This “twisted” orientation is the most com-mon configuration inside and LCD, and thisis where the TN-LCD (Twisted NematicLiquid Crystal Display) comes from.“Nematic” is just a way of describing thephysical state of the liquid crystal.

A colour display can be built using threeseparate LCD cells per pixel and applying ared, green or blue filter to each one. Thepixels are then lined up in columns androws, and by applying a voltage to the col-umn and grounding the row, a specific pixelcan be turned on or off. The problem withthis approach is, however, that for largerscreens, when several pixels in one columnand in another row are switched concurrent-ly, there is a long delay as the charge propa-gates through the matrix, as well as a poorcontrast as the charge is distributed acrossthis matrix. This problem is somewhat over-come by using the STN-LCD module. TheSTN in this case stands for Super TwistedNematic screen. In an STN screen, the 90degree rotated liquid crystal is replaced bya “super-twisted” – or typically 270 degreetwisted - liquid crystal.

This is, however, still building up a matrix ofcharged columns and grounded rows, alsoknown as a passive, which has inherent limitsas described before. Moving to an activecontrol gives a much better contrast and amuch faster response time. In an active LCDsystem, there is a dedicated transistor forevery single LCD cell, and as such, the tran-sistor controls the switching of that cell orpixel. This gives rise to the phrase “TFT-LCD” which is then an LCD screen controlledby a Thin Film Transistor, and is the mostcommon screen used in graphical displayapplications today.

The alternative, though not as popular a dis-play technology in this market, is the OLEDdisplay. This is essentially a matrix of LEDs,with one OLED per pixel. They are lowerpower, lighter and can be put on flexiblesurfaces when compared to their LCD-based counterparts, however, the expensivemanufacturing process and the somewhatlimited lifetime of the blue component inthe displays has delayed their full-scaleintroduction into the market.

Of course, there are a few other alternativesthat are less popular but should nonethelessbe understood, and these are listed below:

• EPD – the so-called e-paper used in e-readers and in some watches, but not yet suitable for the embedded, non-consumer space.

• LCOS – Liquid Crystal on Silicon, used for “near eye” or projectors but have not taken off in the industrial market as yet.

• PDP or plasma – used in older, larger screens but are quickly being replaced by LCD or LED screens.

Driving the displayNow that we know how the picture is actual-ly displayed on the screen and what thetechnology looks like, let us have a look athow the screens are actually driven.

DESIGN DISPLAYs

DESIGN DISPLAYs

For smaller screens, often using a passivecontrol system, it is common to see newCOG (Chip on Glass) technology comingthrough, where the driver IC for the LCD isactually integrated onto the glass of thepanel. This can provide a good cost reduc-tion for smaller screens but is yet to makethe breakthrough into larger colour screens,the likes of which the aforementioned SteveJobs would have put onto his smartphonesor other gadgets. These screens for themost part include an additional PCB, whichcontains the control mechanism for thescreen and can additionally contain a con-troller for the touch interface.

There are then two further options availablein terms of displays. There are so-called dis-play modules, and there are standard dis-plays. A module is just as you‘d expect – acomplete module with all the memoryrequired to save the picture data which isbeing displayed on the screen and normallya simple SPI interface. We will not go intothese in much more detail, but suffice to saythat they are slightly more expensive than astandard display but offer a much simplersolution for the novice user.

There are two standard interfaces to astandard display – RGB signals or LVDSsignals. It tends to be that displays over acertain size (about WVGA) will offer anLVDS interface and smaller ones will offer anRGB interface. There is of course no hardand fast rule here but the bigger the screenthe more likely it will be to have only anLVDS interface.RGB is essentially a parallel interface where-by each colour (Red, Green and Blue) is rep-resented by a parallel bus. Thus for a 24-bit

colour display there will be 24 “data” bits.This is the most simple of interfaces as thereis a standard one to one transfer of everypixel data on the bus to the way it is storedin RAM. There are several different nota-tions of RGB standards, such as RGB565 ofRGB666, which simply denotes the numberof bits taken for each colour. In RGB666,there are 6bits reserved for each colour, andit is therefore an 18bpp colour. In additionto these data signals there are also the clocksignals to synchronise the panel.

A panel clock (or pixel clock) sets the pacefor the whole interface and subsequently

the data transfer occurs. There is then anHsync clock, or horizontal synchronisationclock, which indicates after a number ofpixel clocks when to jump to the next line.Then at an even slower frequency, there isthe Vsync signal (vertical synchronisation)which in turn indicates when all the rowshave been written to, and it is possible tothen start the next picture or frame.

Of course, the bigger the display, the higherthe speed required for the pixel clock inorder to meet the refresh rate of the screen.As external signal frequencies get higher, therisk of signal corruption also increases. Forthis reason, larger screens now tend to use anLVDS interface instead of the standard paral-lel RGB. LVDS stands for Low VoltageDifferential Signal.

LVDS technology is used in many applica-tions where signal integrity is very important,especially at high frequencies. The LVDS sig-nal uses a two-wire interface (per channel)and has a common voltage (normally 1.2 V).

Then to create a “high” signal, the voltage onone line is raised by 100 mV and the signalon the second line is lowered by 100 mV.This allows for low power, high frequency,high-reliability signals to be transmitted. In adisplay, there are typically four LVDS chan-nels. These channels are used for the red,green, blue and clock signals in turn, andthen the data is transferred serially ratherthan in parallel.

Managing contentNow we know how the screens are set up,let us move to the other side of the applica-tion and see how the graphical content is

created. Let’s look first at how the imagesare stored in memory. We are all now famil-iar with our holiday photos being stored asa JPEG on our PCs at home. Sadly, this is notthe format that is used; the image is saved asa raster image or a bitmap. This is, of course,significantly larger than the JPEG that youuse for your holiday photos, so let’s have alook at the way that these images are actual-ly saved in RAM and how much of it youactually need.

As we said, the basic picture is stored as abitmap, whereby every pixel in the picture isstored and represented by unique data.There is no data compression, like in otherformats. It could be a 16-bit or 24-bit colourdepth; for a 24-bit colour, that each pixelwould be represented by 3 bytes. You canthen immediately see that this means a lot ofmemory will be used. For example, a VGAscreen of 640 by 480 pixels would have307K pixels, and as such need about 900 KBof data per image on the screen. Sadly, how-ever, the RAM usage story is not over yet.


A typical GUI application will be made up ofseveral picture layers. These layers wouldbe then displayed on top of each other. Forexample, one layer could be the corporatebackground image, and the next layer mightbe a frame around the outside of the pic-ture with some data displayed on it, such asthe temperature and the time. A third layercould then be a graph showing real-timemeasured data in your application. The rea-son that you store these pictures in differentlayers, and therefore in different areas of theRAM, is so that you only need to changeone small picture rather than re-calculatethe whole image. If you needed to re-workthe entire GUI every time that the graph wasupdated or the temperature changed, itwould just take too much CPU power.

These layers are then combined together,either by hardware acceleration or by soft-ware, using a number of different mecha-nisms. The two key concepts here are alphablending and chroma keying. Alpha blend-ing defines what is known as an alpha chan-nel, which is an additional 8-bit value addedto the 24-bit colour signal for every pixel.This alpha value defines the transparency ofeach pixel such that the layers can be placedas semi-transparent on top of the back-ground layers. Chroma keying is slightly lessmemory intensive, and is again very usefulfor combining pictures.

Chroma keying is the special effect which weare all familiar with from the movies, which isalso known as “green-screen” whereby theactor stands in front of a green curtain andthe green is replaced by a film showing theangry dinosaurs that are chasing him. In themovies, green or blue is used most often asthe human skin tones are not affected, butactually, you could use red as well. Thiseffect is really useful for creating differentshaped objects, as you can simply use asquare and then colour the area around theobject with the colour to be removed.

In the previous example, we used a 24-bitcolour depth VGA screen and needed 900kB for the image. Now let us suppose thatthis image is just the background of theimage and that there are two other picturesto be displayed on top of it. There is a graphand the frame that will be the other layers.These don’t have to be a full screen so in thiscase we could just use a smaller size image,perhaps QVGA size, needing then 225 KBeach, and now the total RAM needed now

comes in at about 1.3 MB.Therefore, you have your 1.3 MB of data forthe current data that you are showing on thescreen, but sadly, you still need a bit morethan just 1.3 MB. The problem here is quitesimple. If you change a picture, for example,because the background in one screen isdifferent to the one on the next screen, youwould have to get the CPU to change thedata in the RAM whilst it is still being writtento the screen. This causes a visible flicker onthe screen and can cause a situation wherethe screen shows half of one image and halfof the next one. This clearly looks poor;especially when we consider that the screenis being added to create a higher valueproposition for the end customer.

This issue can be overcome very simply byusing a concept such as double buffering. Indouble buffering, you actually double-up allof the RAM in the system so that the nextpicture can be set up in the back buffer andthen you simply switch from one area ofRAM to the next once the picture is ready.This doubles the RAM use and now we endup with a RAM requirement of 2.6 MB.

Now we have RAM filled with 2.6 MB of pic-ture data for our VGA screen with 24-bitcolour depth. There are, of course, ways toboth scale this up and scale this down. It ispossible to take a smaller screen and this willreduce your memory requirement. Forevery less pixel wide your screen is, you savethe 480 other pixels in the column, but thesame is true in the other direction too. TheXGA screen, which is 720 × 1024 pixels,needs 2.1 MB of RAM for the backgroundimage using 24bpp colour depth, ratherthan the 900 KB of the VGA screen.

The other thing that can been changed ishow many bits need to be used for thecolour of each pixel. We have used 24-bitsper pixel in this example, as it is the mostpopular choice at the moment. It gives themost flexibility and ensures that the displaydoes actually show what the graphical teamwould like to be on there. It is, of course,possible to use an 8-bit colour set up, how-ever this brings with it some other issues.With only 255 colours, there are many issuesthat will be encountered.

For example, something as simple as display-ing text is difficult. Modern fonts are notsimply made up of white background andblack letters with a width of an exact num-

ber of pixels. Even simple letters are madeup of an array of blacks and greys so theyare easily recognizable to the human eye. Itis then possible to use a small screen and an8-bit colour to display some data, but it isquestionable as to whether Steve Jobswould have put the Apple name on yourend product! With this in mind, there are anumber of options in terms of processor orcontroller to drive the screen.

The general rule of thumb is that a micro-controller is a good low cost option to drivesmaller screens with a lower colour depth;this makes sense up to about QVGA (320 x240) size, which needs only about 150 KB(using 16bpp) of RAM for the backgroundimage. However, above this, very often thebandwidth of the MCU and the perform-ance of the core in the MCU is insufficient tocreate a truly rich user experience. Thus,above the QVGA size, the standard choicetends to be either an MPU, or a new embed-ded-MPU, now available from a number ofsuppliers and is essentially an MPU with thememory embedded in the device already.

In conclusionSo in summary, the embedded electronicsworld is being swept along by the consumertrend of adding a screen to many systems.This simple step allows OEM’s to differenti-ate and add value to their end products, butcreates a new challenge for design engineerstaking their first step into this world.

There are many different options of screenin terms of technology, colour and size. It isalso an area where there are many newchanges happening on a near daily basis, asthe mobile and consumer world continuesto drive the display technology in new andinteresting directions.

For the engineer newly moving into thearena, the key design criteria to be fixedearly in the process is what the screen sizewill be (measured in pixels), and from theremost of the other decisions are relativelysimple. If the screen is going to be large,then you will need a lot of RAM and you willneed a controller/processor that supportsthat much RAM, supports that interface andalso has sufficient performance to drive it ￭www.renesas.com

DESIGN DISPLAYs



DESIGN MCUs

Microcontrollers

To protect human lives and their health,program-based electronics must be able todemonstrably and reliably detect errors inreal time and, in the event of a fault, estab-lish a safe state within a prescribed time.This is required by the standards based onIEC 61508. Typical safety-related applica-tions include elevators, heating burner con-

trol mechanisms, airbags, X-by-wire etc.Depending on the applicable standard, suchapplications are classified into various riskgroups based on the potential damage orinjury in the event of an error, known asSafety Integrity Levels (SIL) or PerformanceLevels, for example.In order to meet their requirements, all of

the standards require the implementation ofa safety function capable of reliably detect-ing errors and a strategy that restores thesystem to a safe condition in the event of anerror within the prescribed time. A mathe-matical reliability model must also be creat-ed that enables the calculation of the prob-ability of the system failing and the reliabili-

Electronic control mechanisms are increasingly takingcontrol – be it in cars, production, households, oreven in the human body. What used to be connect-ed by a mechanical link is handled today by sensors,control devices, signal buses, wireless signals and elec-trical actuators. Functional safety used to be ensuredthrough mechanical design and dimensioning. But what about today?

Functional Safety forElectronically Controlled Devices

Ralf Hickl, Product Sales Manager Microcontroller,Ileana Keges, Product Sales Manager Microcontroller,Martin Motz, Product Sales Manager Microcontroller,

Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH


DESIGN MCUs

ty of the safety function. Relevant standards,such as IEC 61508 or industry-specific deriv-atives of it such as ISO 13849, require cer-tain minimum values for the safety functionto be deemed reliable. Adherence to thesevalues must also be demonstrated to a certi-fication body such as the TÜV.In the mathematical reliability model, valuesfor the failure rates of the system compo-nents (FIT – failure in time) and the test cov-erage of the self-diagnostics are requiredfor failures to actually be detected in thefirst place. Empirical data for failure rates isspecified, for example, in the standard SN29500 from Siemens, and is provided bycomponent manufacturers. On this basis,the system's mathematical reliability modelprovides the data that can be used to docu-ment the safety aspects required by thestandards for the certification bodies.Developers face the challenge of acquiringreliable figures for FIT rates and the diag-nostics coverage rate. For example, there areplenty of memory tests – but which share ofall possible memory faults can they detect?And how can this be proven? Some micro-controller manufacturers have addressedsuch needs and offer support:

Renesas Safety EcosystemRenesas has developed a self-testing librarycertified by TÜV Rheinland in accordancewith IEC 61508 for the RX631/N 32-bitmicrocontroller range. This self-diagnosticfunction covers random, persistent errors inthe CPU core, including floating point units

and DSP extension, in user RAM and in flashmemory. The diagnostic coverage providedby such functional units is more than 90%.The tests can be performed cyclically as ablock or in time segments during runtime.SIL2 is achieved with a RX631/N, while atwo-chip system is required for SIL3.Renesas also supplies a safety manual andsafety software manual with the library. Afree-of-charge evaluation license enablesusers to see the library for themselvesbefore buying it. The safety ecosystem for the RX series alsoincludes an IEC 61508-certified compilerfrom IAR, the EWRXFS. Renesas used this todevelop its self-testing library. Drive systemspecialist Wittenstein also offers a certifiedreal-time operating system for Renesas' RXseries microcontrollers in the form ofSAFERTOS.

The use of such pre-certified software mod-ules provides a good basis for the certifica-tion of the end devices and shortens thedevelopment time. The safety manual statesthe FIT rates and breaks them down into thechip's individual functional units, whichenables the reliability model to be fine-tuned. Also, previously approved compo-nents reduce the number of issues to be dis-cussed with the certification body. All thiscontributes towards reducing the time tomarket-readiness.Instead of using the CPU method of soft-ware self-testing, Renesas' V850E/P andRH850/P series use dual cores that process

the same code in lockstep. The processingresults are compared, with differences rec-ognized as errors. The target applicationsV850/RH850 are in the automotive industry.

Infineon PRO-SILTM: Safety Solutions for Automotive andIndustrial ApplicationsInfineon offers an entire product range ofmicrocontrollers, power supply ICs, sensors,three-phase drivers and associated softwareand documentation (FMEDA safety manual= Failure Mode, Effects and DiagnosticsAnalysis) under the PRO-SILTM brand. Thedevelopment organization and processes,both at hardware and software level, areaudited on the basis of ISO 26262.The latest addition to the PRO-SIL™ productfamily is the AURIX™ range, including safetysoftware and the appropriate TLF35584power supply. It enables the establishmentof a system solution that users can use tosimplify the creation and certification ofsafety-critical applications. The scope withinwhich it can be used ranges from traditionalautomotive applications to transport sys-tems such as trains, buses or utility vehiclesused in agriculture or construction to safety-critical industrial applications. The AURIX™ range is highly scalable in termsof memory, processing performance andpackaging, consumes little power and has anoptimized safety concept. In order to detectpossible errors early, the CPU cores have abackup core running in the background thatconcurrently performs the same calculationprocesses with an offset of two cyclesbefore calculating the results. As a greatmany safety functions are implemented inhardware, this enabled Infineon to greatlyreduce the software load for the user.

A safety certification process is currentlybeing conducted by TÜV SÜD on the basisof ISO 26262. Further certifications areplanned, among them more generalizedstandards such as IEC 61508 as well as spe-cific standards such as ISO 25119 for agricul-tural vehicles.

STMicroelectronics: Dual-Core Microcontrollers for ASILD ApplicationsSpecially for functional safety applications inautomotive electronics, STMicroelectronicshas developed and certified the SPC56 Ldual-core microcontroller family on thebasis of the IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 safe-ty standards.


DESIGN MCUs

It has two high-performance cores with upto 2 MB flash memory, 192 KB internal RAM,three CAN interfaces and optimizedperipheral features for safety and motorcontrol applications. Thanks to the dual-core architecture, fewer components needto be duplicated, which reduces the cost ofthe systems. The architecture also providesthe user with a great deal of flexibility,because they can switch between lockstepand parallel processing mode. The simulta-neous processing of identical code in bothcores (lockstep) provides maximum safety,while processing using different code (paral-lel processing) provides the best perform-ance possible.

Not only are the functions of the CPU dupli-cated, but additional redundant systems areprovided on the chip, enabling the safetyconcept of the SPC56 L line to offer morethan the usual approaches. In addition toautomated hardware diagnostics, there areother safety functions available, amongthem a CRC unit, memory with ECC, a tem-perature sensor, a central error detectionand control unit, voltage and cycle failuredetection. The SPC56 L line therefore meetsthe requirements of the most sophisticatedASIL level ASIL D – something already certi-fied by an independent certification body.The 32-bit automotive microcontrollerSPC56 L line is part of the SPC56 range,used in automotive drive trains, bodywork,chassis work and safety. All products arebased on e200 cores with 32-bit PowerArchitecture technology, embedded flashand application-optimized peripherals.

Microchip Safety Software LibraryMicrochip offers the Class B Safety SoftwareLibrary for 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit micro-controllers. They include a number of "APIs",whose purpose is to detect malfunctions,increase the safety of the application andthereby help the development to imple-

ment their application in accordance withthe IEC 60730 standard. Depending on thesafety requirements of the application,there is a whole range of tests available forimplementation: CPU register tests, pro-gram counter tests, variable memory tests,invariable memory (Flash/EEPROM) tests,interrupt tests and clock tests.

Such pre-certified solution modules fromvarious manufacturers shorten the develop-ment and certification phase. Their purpose is to achieve a certain rate ofdiagnostic coverage for the microcontrollerwith the help of software libraries or mutual

monitoring of the CPUs. Documentationprovides the relevant parameters for thereliability model. However, the safetyrequirements that apply to the system mustbe specified. It is always advisable to clarifybeforehand whether the package from themanufacturer optimally meets your ownrequirements.

A distributor like Rutronik may assist hiscustomers with independent andcomprehensive support ￭

Rutronikwww.rutronik.com

Cost-effective safeguarding withSafetinex Type 2 from Contrinex

The active optoelectronic protective device (AOPD), mounteddirectly in front of each bench-mounted heat-press, prevents thepress-head from descending if it detects any intrusion in the work-ing area, halting the operating cycle immediately.

Customer value• Cost-effective, active safeguarding• Improved workplace ergonomics• Increased productivity arising from unimpeded loading and

unloading• Industry-standard interface requires minimal modification to

control systems

Advantages of Type 2 light curtain YBB-30S/R2-0800-G012• Permanent autocontrol not usually found on Type 2 safety devices• IP65 and IP67 protection

• Non-contact operating principles• Excellent safety rating to EN/ISO 13849-1 Cat. 2 PL c and

IEC 61508 SIL 1• AOPD (active optoelectronic protective device) with aluminum

housing and M12 cable connector


PRODUCT NEWS AUTOMATION

During semi-automated heat staking of assemblies for domestic white goods, manufacturers use light curtains to preserve operatorsafety without compromising production throughput.

Tel. +40 256-201346 • [email protected] • www.oboyle.ro

The Customer has the opportunityto choose between two differentactivation modes of the safety out-puts: active with guard closed andlocked (Mode 1) for machines withinertia, or active with guard closedand unlocked (Mode 2) formachines without inertia.Some of the new models are provid-ed with EDM (External DeviceMonitoring): the switch automatical-ly checks the correct functioning ofexternal devices connected to the

safety outputs such as relays or con-tactors, providing a feedback signalat the EDM input and verifying thecoherence between EDM signal andstate of the safety outputs.Pizzato Elettrica also introducesnon-reprogrammable versions:suitable for applications where cus-tomers require a device preventingthe reprogramming of the associat-ed actuator and switch.The main news of the NG safetyswitches are:

• Two different activation modes of the safety outputs

• EDM function• Non-reprogrammable version• TÜV SÜD approval for

applications up to SIL 3, PL e and cat.4

NG Series RFID safety switches with guard locking keep on developing: during the SPS IPC Drives Italia 2015 Pizzato Elettrica pre-sented new versions that guarantee a higher versatility and increase the possibilities of application.

New models available for Pizzato NGSafety Switches

• Tel. +40 256-201346• [email protected]• www.oboyle.ro

AUTOMATION


n Optical sensorsn Sensors for logistic applicationsn Safety at work

n Optical Sensorsn Inductive Sensors

n Color Sensorsn True Color Sensors, Spectrometersn Gloss Sensors

Leuze

Contrinex

Sensor Instruments

n Linear Sensorsn Angle Sensorsn Tilt Sensors

n PLCsn Temperature Controllern Timer

n Flowmetersn Level Indicators and Switchesn Pressure Sensors and Switches

ASM

Selec

Kobold

n IP69K

GMW

Industrial connectors

Special Approvals

n Circular connectors M8; M12; M23n Cable and Connectors for Sensorsn Valve Connectorsn Distribution Blocks

n Digital panel metersn Panel indicatorsn Bus bar isolatorsn Current transformers

AUTOMATION

RFID read/write modules with USBBuilders of low frequency RFIDsystems can now enjoy the practi-cal advantages offered byread/write modules with USB

connection, which were previous-ly only available with high fre-quency systems. Advantagesinclude the possibility of direct

connection to a PC, without theneed for an adaptor.All Contrinex USB read/writemodules, whether for low or highfrequency, are fully compatiblewith ConID LF/HF DEMO soft-ware. This software is the idealprofessional tool for RFID pro-gram development, demonstra-tion and training. With its user-friendly screen and intuitive con-trol, it ensures access to individualcomponents and detailed analy-sis of frames. It is downloadable

free-of-charge. Like the high fre-quency types, the new low fre-quency USB read/write modulesare available in M18 and M30sizes, non-embeddable. All devices have a stainless steelhousing with plastic sensing faceand status LED.

PRODUCT NEWS SENSORS


Tel. +40256 [email protected]



Tel. +40 256-201346 • [email protected] • www.oboyle.ro

Leuze packaging sensorsFoil, cardboard, glass - coloured, glossy or transparent?Of course we can detect them!

There exists a near endless variety of packaging and packaging materials. Whether foil, cardboard, glass, paper or metal, glossy or struc-tured, opaque or transparent, we have proven sensor solutions for nearly every application. We place great value on usability during ourproduct development. This also includes the greatest possible flexibility for adapting the devices to rapidly growing requirements withoutany additional adjustment work.When it comes to matters related to packaging, you've come to the right place:￭ Extensive product portfolio especially for the packaging industry￭ Decades of application know-how in the entire packaging process for a wide range of industries￭ Competent specialists are always available to answer your questions

Regardless of what you package – we are sure to have the right sensor!

Reliably detect even transparent mediaThe detection of transparent media is oneof the supreme disciplines in sensor tech-nology. With the 3B, 55 and 18B series, wehave a whole range of devices in our prod-uct line specifically for this purpose.

PRK 18BRetro-reflective photoelectric sensor

• Calibrated aBEAM optics completely replace time-consuming alignment

• Integrated threads make mounting particularly simple

• Precise repeatability thanks to a jitter time of just 40 μs

• Nickel-plated metal housing is extremely robust and is also ideally suited for hygiene applications

Quickly detect self-adhesive labelsRegardless of shape, regardless of material,regardless of whether matte or glossy sur-faces. With our forked sensors of the 61,63 and 14 series, we offer a perfect prod-uct line for every conceivable application.

NEW: GSU 14DUltrasonic forked sensor

• Easy Teach function for very simple set up of the sensors

• Large mouth width of 4 mm also enables the detection of booklets or foldouts

• ALC (Auto Level Control) automatically readjusts the sensitivity and ensures maximum function reserves

Reliably detect arbitrary print marksArbitrary colors of backgrounds and printmarks and, in some cases, very small printmarks place special demands on the con-trast scanners used, such as KRT 3B, KRT55 and KRT 21.

NEW: KRT 21Contrast scanner

• High-strength plastic housing with metal threaded sockets

• Scanning range 9 mm• RGB LED light source• Response time 33 μs• Switching frequency 15 kHz• Changeable optics for adapting to the

installation conditions



One sensor for 20V to 250V – The new 49c series from LeuzeGreat emphasis was placed on flexibility and reliability during thedevelopment of the SR 49C. An innovative housing design with ter-minal compartment at the front as well as a number of technicaldetails make mounting, alignment and operation simple and standfor our claim of easyhandling for all devices.

Does your sensor need to function reliably to -40°C?The new plastic housing and the optional optics heating also facili-tate use in extreme temperatures, e.g., outdoors.

Does your sensor need to be easy to wire from the front?With the innovative terminal compartment on the front of the sensor,mounting is no problem, even in constricted spaces or in corners.Does your sensor need to detect reliably even in the event of soiling?Automatic sensitivity adjustment (ALC) automatically readjusts thesensor and prompts for cleaning before the system fails.Do you want to use your sensors flexibly, even over long cable lengths?The sensor operates in a voltage range from 20V to 250V withrange-independent performance adaptation and can, thus, even beused over long distances to the PLC.

49c series from LeuzeHigh performance means functional reliabilityEven in times of constant increases in efficiency, the old rule "the more the better" holds true. Especially when it comes to, e.g., a reduc-tion in system failures with increasing soiling, large operating ranges or the reliable detection of special materials, more power alsoalways means more performance reserve and, thus, more reliability. For these areas of application in particular, we have a range ofsolutions on hand that use more power to help provide more success.

PRK 49C Retro-reflective photoelectric sensor

The new AC/DC 49C series with a voltagerange from 20V to 250V for distances ofup to 24m and front terminal compartmentfor lower space requirements.

IS 212 Inductive switch

Cylindrical AC/DC sensor with an operatingrange of 10mm for the reliable detection ofmetal objects that cannot, or can only withdifficulty, be detected using optical means.

SR 49C Photoelectric sensor

Transmitter/receiver device models with anoperating range of up to 120m for specialareas of application.

Applications of BLDC are e.g. drives for fansand household appliances and compressors,model airplanes, electric actuator in the formof servo motors to drive systems for machine

tools. In addition, theBLDC motor meetsthe ErP guidelines. Itis used for establish-ing requirements forthe eco-design ofenergy related prod-ucts (ERP). This is what

brings the efficiency of energy of motors, withregard to the environment and soaring energy

costs, more and more into focus. The energyefficiency of engines can be improved by:• The use of dynamo sheet with improved

magnetic properties• Improving the cooling in the engine• Reduction of production tolerances• Reduction of losses in the pole windings by• Optimization of winding structure /

winding executionWith regard to the last point, the windingtask, HAHN can rely on over 45 years ofexperience in production of coiled products.From the beginning, HAHN relies on highproduct quality, innovation and progressive,

solid expansion of production.HAHN is distributing more than 100,000pieces per day worldwide.Due to our supportive development activi-ty, we have experience in the coil construc-tion, which is of significant importance fornew developments. Together with our cus-tomers we bring this experience into theirnew projects in the field of coil design forBLDC motors.

The BLDC motor (brushless DC motor) is constructed as a three-phase synchronous machine whose efficiencyexceeds 85%. It is characterized by its long life and smooth running.


ELECTRONICS

Pole coil winding goods for BLDC motor from HAHN


The force measurement utilisesthe hydraulic principle: The force applied to a piston

generates a hydraulic pressure,which is displayed with amanometer. tecsis offers a vari-

ety of hydraulic force transduc-ers with nominal forces rangefrom 100 N up to 3000 kN,which enable easy force meas-urement even under rough envi-ronmental conditions.

For their hydraulic force trans-ducers tecsis now prolonged itsleakproofness guarantee to fiveyears. In the unlikely event of aleakage the transducers will berepaired free of charge. The company demonstrateshow much it trusts in the qualityof its own products.

Applications for the hydraulicforce transducers can be foundin apparatus engineering, min-ing, test and measurementequipment and special mechan-ical engineering.

PRODUCT NEWS AUTOMATION

Leakproofness Guaranteed for Five Years Hydraulic force measurement is an easy possibility to measure and display forces in avariety of applications.

Tecsis pressure switches S2400, S2410,S2420, with Display and Analog Output

Hydraulic Force Transducers from TECSIS

It is easy to configure the switch-ing point and reset point with-out pressurising or to changethe type of contact (NO / NC),damping, delay and n - / p -switching. In addition, autho-

rised personnel can quickly andeasily access the user menu toalter the switching points. Theanalogue signal of S2410 andS2420 can be scaled from 20 %... 100 % of the range. Switchingcurrents from a few μA up to500 mA can be switched by theoutput transistors. By use of long - term testedceramic or thin film sensors, thispressure switch features a highrepeatability and durability,even in the case of a large num-ber of pressure cycles. The turn-able display and the turnableprocess connection (optional)allows the usage of this pressureswitch even under difficultinstallation conditions. The high - quality stainless steel

housing qualifies the SC400 /SC410 / SC420 also for theusage under adverse conditions.For the higher pressure rangesall wetted parts are made ofstainless steel, therefore workingwith almost every media. TheTecsis SC400 / SC410 / SC420are multifunctional applicablefor measurement tasks withinhydraulic and pneumatic appli-cations.

Features• Sensing element ceramic or

thin - film • Repeatability 0.2 % • Switching points, reset points

and switching function (NO / NC) and switching output (pnp / npn) configurable

• Configurable analogue output

• Integrated password protection

• Adjustable attenuation of the output signal and delay of the switching outputs

• Min - / Max - memory

Adjustment range:• 1 ... 700 bar



The pressure switches SC400 / SC410 / SC420 with display provide continuous pressure monitoring and configuration of the setpoints without pressurising.

AUTOMATION

Panasonic Automotive &Industrial Systems has intro-duced a broad range of high-precision, miniature semicon-ductor pressure sensors thatcan handle pressure. They areavailable with built-in amplifica-tion and temperature compen-sation cicuitry (PS-A units).

Precision sensors withoutamplifier and open wheatstonemeasurement bridge are alsoavailable and in ultra-minia-turised sizes (PS). There are alsoversions with chamfered pinsfor improved ease of DIP pininsertion into PCBs.

The PS-A units come in threetypes. The standard type with aglass base can handle pressuresfrom ±100kPa to -1000kPa witha total accuracy of ±1.25%. Theeconomy type without a glassbase is for 40kPa pressures and±4% accuracy and the low-pres-sure version is for 6kPa and±2.5% accuracy. Footprint is 7.0by 7.2mm (10.4 by 10.4mm forthe low-pressure type).

“The PS-A units can be used inpressure switches and pneumaticdevices in industrial applications,”said Alexander Hoch, TeamLeader Product MarketingDepartment at Panasonic: “Theyalso have medical uses in blood-pressure monitors, compressedair pressure measurement and air

beds as well as in other pneumat-ically operated pressure devices.And the low-pressure types canbe used for water level detectionin household washing machiensand dishwashers, air pressurecontrol in clean rooms and med-ical respiratory pressure measur-ing instruments.”

The PS and PF sensors come intwo versions. The standardtype with a glass base is forpressures from 4.9 to 980.7kPaand the economy type withouta glass base for 40kPa. The PSmodels have a footprint of 7.2by 7.2mm.

“In the PS version, a high degreeof precision and linear detectorresponse has been achieved byapplying the semiconductorstrain gauge system,” saidAlexander Hoch. “This makesthem high reproducible basedon repeated pressure.”

Taking their place alongside thestandard 5kΩ bridge resistancemodels are PS units with a3.3kΩ resistance, which is opti-mally suited to 5V drive circuits.Applications for the PS unitsinclude industrial pressureswitches and pneumatic devicesand medical blood pressuremeasurement.

PAISEU http://eu.industrial.panasonic.com

Semiconductor sensors from Panasonic canhandle pressures from very low to very high

ON Semiconductor is expandingits highly-regarded 1/3-inch 1megapixel (MP) image sensorportfolio with early sampling ofthe company’s first backside illu-minated (BSI) sensor tech-nology for the automo-tive imaging market. Theinnovative new sensortechnology delivers 4xbetter low light signal-to-noise ratio, a 40 percentincrease in visible lightsensitivity, and greaterthan 60 percent improve-ment in near infrared(NIR) performance than the cur-rent market leading AR0132ATCMOS image sensor foradvanced driver assistance sys-tems (ADAS). The first productto incorporate this new technol-ogy will be the AR0136AT 1/3-inch optical format CMOS digitalimage sensor with 1280 × 960

resolution, and 3.75 micron BSIpixels (p). The AR0136AT sup-ports linear and high dynamicrange (HDR) modes, in a singlechip HDR solution, with a 120

decibel (dB) dynamic range inHDR mode. It has an output pixelrate of 74.25 MP/second (maxi-mum), which results in a framerate of 45 frames per second(fps) at 960p resolution and 60fps at 720p resolution. ON SEMICONDUCTORwww.onsemi.com

Sensirion presents two new ver-sions of the SGM70xx mass flowmeter modules for G4 and G6gas meters. These microthermalgas meter modules enable real-time gas flow monitoring andcome with the additionaladvantages of high-level relia-bility and long-term stability.Onboard software in the massflow meters guarantees precisegas quality compensation.As a result, the Swiss com-pany Sensirion has fur-ther consolidated itsexpertise in the smartenergy sector.Until now, microthermalgas flow modules fromSensirion were availablefor G1.6 and G2.5 gas meters.Like the other versions of theSGM70xx series, the latest mod-ules for the G4 and G6 gasmeters stand out with high-levelreliability, long-term stability andresistance to dust and dirt. Apart

from this, they feature a standardconnection and an I2C interface.The compact design permitseasy integration into gas meters. The mass flow meters are digi-tal, temperature compensated,pressure corrected and com-pletely calibrated for gas andnatural gas. Finally, theSGM70xx comes with softwareand hardware approved by the

GWI (Gas and Heating Institute)to compensate for differenttypes of gas mix. If required, thegas meter module is also sup-plied with European NMI com-ponent certification.SENSIRION www.sensirion.com

Sensirion’s microthermal mass flow meters for G4and G6 smart gas meters

ON Semiconductor’s latest BSI technology deliversbest-in-class performance for automotive ADASand viewing cameras




Digi-Key Partners with ARMUniversity Program to Offer 'Lab-in-a-Box' for ParticipatingUniversities Worldwide

PRODUCT NEWS ACTIVE COMPONENTS

A new white paper from MaximIntegrated Products, Inc. examineshow a new generation of flexible, easy-to-use power modules simplifiespower design. Ready-made powermodules enable system designers toshorten time to market and solvespace constraints on their printed cir-cuit board (PCB). The white paper, “Next GenerationPower Modules Further SimplifyPower Design,” explains how thesehighly efficient powermodules integrate all thekey components neededfor a smaller system-in-package (SiP) power solu-tion. Using Maxim’s newDC-DC power modules,customers can now com-bine the passive compen-sation components need-ed with the voltage regulator for a sin-gle, small, power-supply solution in an

IC package.• Register for the white paper to

learn about the benefits of smaller, simpler, and more flexible power modules: http://goo.gl/S9aiy0

• For a list of Maxim’s new power modules, visit: http://goo.gl/AaT93e

• For more information, visit: http://goo.gl/XvYUqI

All trademarks are the property oftheir respective owners.

MAXIM INTEGRATEDwww.maximintegrated.com

New White Paper: How Next-Generation PowerModules Simplify Power Design

XP Power today announced theEPL225 series of high efficiency openframe AC-DC power suppliesapproved for industrial, IT and medicalapplications. The series comprisesseven single-output models that offera range of standard output voltagesfrom +12 VDC to +48 VDC. A second-ary 12 VDC / 0.5 A fan output is pro-vided across the range. Packaged in anextremely compact low profile 2 × 4inch industry standard ‘1U’ footprint(50.8 × 101.6 × 32.3 mm) the series hasa convection cooled output power rat-ing of 150 Watts which is believed tobe “best in the industry” for a powersupply of this footprint. Output powerof up to 225 Watts is available withonly 10 CFM of forced airflow.The EPL225 series offers a minimumaverage efficiency of 93% and a maxi-mum efficiency of 95% resulting in lessheat to dissipate and a cooler runningunit, the later contributing to a morereliable longer-life power supply. Theseries complies with the universal safe-ty standard EN 60950-1 for IT equip-ment in addition to the medical safetystandards ANSI/AAME/ 60601-1 and

IEC/EN60601-1 3rd edition. With lowconducted and radiated noise the unitsmeet the standards EN55011 &EN55022 for Class B conducted and

Class A radiated EMI specifications.The EPL225 suits use in a broad rangeof operating environments with anextended temperature range from -20to +70°C and no derating until +50 °C.XP POWER www.xppower.com

XP Power leads the industry with 95% efficient 225Watt AC-DC supply in a 2” × 4” package

Global electronic components distributor Digi-KeyElectronics, announced their partnership with theARM University Program (www.arm.com/sup-port/university) to distribute the innovative 'Lab-in-a-Box' (LiB) to higher educational institutionsaround the globe. The LiB contains ARM-basedtechnology and high quality, rigorous trainingmaterials that support electronics and computerengineering courses. Since its launch in February2014, ARM LiBs have been successfully deployedin hundreds of universities worldwide, enabling aneasy migration path for academics wanting toupgrade their existing curricula to state-of-the-arttechnologies from the vast ARM eco-system.

The Lab-in-a-Box package includes hardwaredevelopment boards, professional software licens-es from ARM, and complete teaching materialsfrom the ARM University Program ready to bedeployed in classes. These include lecture noteslides, demonstration codes, lab manuals and proj-ects with solutions in source.“Digi-Key is an excellent partner for distributing thefull bill of materials of our education kits to a largercustomer base worldwide," said Khaled Benkrid,Manager, Worldwide University Program, ARM."This is an important initiative for the ARM UniversityProgram as it offers convenient access to the hard-ware components that go hand in hand with ourteaching materials. This is integral to our mission ofequipping tomorrow's engineers with the necessarytools to drive the creation of exciting and intelligentproducts that transform society."The Program provides a variety of teaching mate-rials, hardware platforms, software developmenttools, IP, and other resources for many academiccourses including efficient embedded systemsdesign and programming, SoC design, operatingsystem design, and digital signal processing . OtherProgram initiatives include Professor Workshops,online teaching/training videos, design contestsponsorships and research support.

DIGI-KEY ELECTRONICS www.digikey.com

Renesas Electronics ADAS Starter KitAccelerates Vision-Based ADAS ApplicationDevelopment



Rochester Electronics adds End-Of-LifeSupport for Freescale MC68040 MPUs

Rochester Electronics has been licensed by Freescale to providea continuing manufacturing solution for the Freescale MC6804032bit microprocessor product family. Freescale announced thediscontinuation of the 68040 devices and will be shipping thelast products they will produce until November 2015. Theagreement between Freescale and Rochester provides cus-tomers of the popular legacy MPUs with access to a secure andreliable source of parts for continued product supply.

Rochester Electronics is fully stocked with original Freescalepackaged parts and silicon die from which it will manufacture avariety of device options. The company’s experience as theworld’s largest continuing manufacturer and long-term aftermar-ket support solution for end-of-life, obsolete and discontinuedsemiconductors places it in the ideal position to guarantee sup-ply of these parts. Freescale has also provided access to fulldesign and test IP, making it possible for Rochester to continuemanufacturing products even if all existing wafer stocks areexhausted.In addition to the 68040 family, Rochester legacy supportincludes 68020, 68030, 68060 and the 68882 floating pointcoprocessor. Freescale will also be supporting Rochester on thesupply of the MC68360 QUICC communications processor,which went EOL at the end of April.The MC680x0 family has been widely adopted in sectors includ-ing military, aerospace, transportation, medical, industrial andcommunications, all of which are characterized by long installedproduct lifetimes and the need for extended availability of com-ponent parts. Rigorous qualification and standards approvalprocesses can make redesign of systems in these areas either dif-ficult or prohibitively expensive.Discussing the cooperation with Freescale, Chris Gerrish,President, Rochester Electronics said: “The MC680x0 family ofproducts has been and will continue to be critical to many systemswith long product life cycles. Rochester’s capability to continue pro-duction of a Freescale licensed and authorized solution will savecustomers immeasurable redesign costs, time and effort. Our in-house design, assembly and test operations allow for smooth con-tinuous indefinite production and supply”.

ROCHESTER ELECTRONICS www.rocelec.com

Renesas Electronics introduced the smallest R-Car-based develop-ment kit to date – the ADAS Starter Kit – based on Renesas’ high-end R-Car H2 System on Chip (SoC) and developed to help sim-plify and speed up the development of advanced driver assis-tance systems (ADAS) applications. Complementing Renesas’ cur-rent R-Car V2H-based ADAS development boards, the new ADASStarter Kit will enable users and partner companies to experiencethe enhanced computer vision performance of Renesas SoCs andaccelerate the development of dedicated hardware and softwaresolutions for future ADAS applications.The ADAS Starter Kit provides cutting-edge computer vision per-formance with OpenCV and high-performance graphics powerbased on OpenGLES, allowing customers and partners to developtheir ADAS applica-tions on a robust andhigh-performanceplatform. The newkit is powered byLinux, based on theYocto distributionthat is also used forother R-Car evalua-tion boards.The new starter kit is the smallest Renesas R-Car development kitto date, measuring only 10x10cm, and features pre-implementedinterfaces and peripherals, which eliminates the need for any addi-tional hardware. The core board comes with 2 GB of DDR3 RAM,64 MB of QSPI flash and a Micro SD card slot. This small form fac-tor board also includes Ethernet, an HDMI output and a connec-tor for a camera module. With the integrated extension connector,it is designed for easy customization. Users can easily design add-on boards that enable new use cases with little effort. The exten-sion connector supports interfaces like PCI Express (PCIe), furtherdisplay outputs, and four channels for cameras as needed for sur-round view applications.

About Renesas R-Car H2 SoC The new ADAS Starter Kit features Renesas’ successful R-Car H2SoC, which is capable of delivering more than 25,000 DMIPS andprovides state-of-the-art 3D graphics capabilities and powerfulvision processing cores. The R-Car H2 is powered by the ARM®Cortex™A-15 quad-core configuration running an additionalARM® Cortex™A-7 quad-core. It also features the ImaginationTechnologies PowerVR Series6 G6400 Graphics Processing Unit(GPU). This GPU supports open technologies, such as OpenGL ES2.0 and the OpenGL ES 3.0 standards. Renesas' IMP-X4 core pro-vides real-time image processing that enables system manufactur-ers to support computing intensive vision operations. OpenCVsupport for IMP-X4 will also be offered. The R-Car H2 also sup-ports up to four independent input camera channels, allowingeasy implementations of 360° camera views and object recogni-tion – to cite just one example of the possible driver assistancefunctions. With these features, the R-Car H2 offers the highestlevel of integration of advanced safety concepts and enablesdevelopers to implement high performance ADAS features. RENESAS ELECTRONICS EUROPE www.renesas.eu

Extension-of-Life® Inventory and Continuing Production forMC680x0 Family Derivatives including 68020, 68030, 68040and the 68060. Plus ability to support 68882 floating pointco-processor and 68360 companion chip.


Murata shrinks 1 W DC/DC convert-er footprint by 34%


Lattice Semiconductor Corporationannounced its new iCE40 LM FPGA isintegrated in the new Huawei P8 flag-ship smartphone to enable optimal 4Greception. Huawei will continue touse Lattice’s low latency, tunableantenna controller in otherdevices using its Kirin 930 chipset.The Signal+ technology inHuawei’s P8 uses the iCE40 LMFPGA to automatically optimize4G reception for multiple RF con-ditions. The resulting antennasolution is 80 times faster thanother options, providing recep-tion quality that is 40 percent bet-ter than Huawei’s competitors inthe poorly covered or congested RFenvironments frequently found inboth high-density cities and rural areaswith limited reception.Huawei put considerable effort intodesigning the P8’s attractive one-piecealuminum body, and the Lattice tun-

able antenna controller helps itachieve optimal RF performance andovercome the inherent RF qualityissues of metal casings. The iCE40 LM

device performs as the bridgebetween the Kirin 930 applicationprocessor and tuner integrated circuitto minimize latency during an antennaswitch, also saving system power.LATTICE SEMICONDUCTORwww.latticesemi.com

Huawei Boosts Smartphone 4G Reliability andPerformance with Lattice Semiconductor TunableAntenna Solution

Mouser Electronics, Inc. is now ship-ping the 9FGL PCI Express (PCIe)Clock Generators from IntegratedDevice Technology (IDT). The 9FGLfamily of clock generators are mem-bers of IDT's 3.3V low-power PCIeseries and support both CommonClock (CC) with or without spreadspectrum and Separate Reference no-Spread (SRnS) PCIe clocking architec-tures. Operating at 120mW and130mW power consumption respec-tively, the 9FGL06 and 9FGL08 gener-ators are the lowest power 3.3V PCIeclock generators available, eliminatingthermal concerns in high-performanceconsumer devices. The IDT 9FGL PCIe Clock Generators,available from Mouser Electronics, arelow-power clock generators that gener-ate low-power HCSL differential clockoutputs in either 6-output (9FGL06) or8-output (9FGL08) forms. All 9FGLclock generators feature support fortwo different spread spectrum levelsplus an off function (0% spread). Directconnections to transmission lines andsmall 40-pin, 5mm × 5mm (9DFGL06)

or 48-pin, 6mm × 6mm (9FGL08)VFQFPN packages reduce requiredboard space and BOM costs. The9FGL0641 and 9FGL0651 devices con-tain default configuration, and the9FGL06P1 and 9FGL08P1 devices canbe programmed with a user-definedpower up default SMBus configuration.These SMBus-selectable features allowoptimization options including controlinput polarity, control input pullup/downs, slew rate for each output,differential output amplitude, 33 , 85 ,or 100 ohm output impedance for eachoutput, and spread spectrum amount.

MOUSER ELECTRONICS www.mouser.com

Industry’s Lowest Power 3.3V PCIe Clock Generatorsfrom IDT Now Shipping from Mouser

Murata announced the MTC1 series of 1 Watt reg-ulated single output DC/DC converters manufac-tured by Murata Power Solutions. These miniatureisolated devices are available with nominal inputvoltages of 12 or 24 VDC and accommodate a 2:1input range around the selected nominal. Havingsuch a wide input range allows for use in designswith different nominal input voltages or in situa-tions where wide voltage deviations might occur.

The range comprises six single output models pro-viding 3.3, 5 or 12 VDC for both the 12 and 24VDC nominal inputs. No additional regulationcomponents are required since the MTC1 outputis fully regulated to within ± 0.5% of stated output.A voltage trim pin allows adjustment of the outputvoltage by ± 10% to suit any special voltagerequirements. A remote on/off pin provides the ability to disablethe output for application power saving.

Input to output isolation conforms to the interna-tional safety insulation standard UL60950(Pending). With its certification to the medicalsafety standard ANSI/AAMI ES60601-1 for 2MOOPs the converter is suitable for use in a widerange of medical and healthcare applications.Occupying 34% less PCB area that competingparts the MTC1 can operate up to 105 degrees Cwith derating.

Ann-Marie Bayliss, product marketing manager ofMurata Power Solutions comments, “The MTC1with its 34% smaller footprint, UL60950 reinforcedinsulation and 3rd edition medical safety standardcompliance offers enhanced product features in aminiature package.”

MURATA www.murata.com

Melexis Launches QVGA ToF ImagingEvaluation Kit


Mouser Now Shipping STMicroelectronics STE-VAL-ISA162V1 Evaluation BoardMouser Electronics, Inc. is now stocking the STEVAL-ISA162V1Evaluation Board from STMicroelectronics. This new evaluationboard implements an isolated flyback (12V/0.84A) 10W wide-range mains developed for general-purpose applications. Thecore of the application is the VIPer25HD, an off-line, high-volt-age converter from the ST’s VIPerPlus family.

The ST STEVAL-ISA162V1 Evaluation Board, available fromMouser Electronics, includes an onboard VIPer25HD IC with a cus-tom-designed, 800V rugged power MOSFET, current-modePWM logic, and a zero current detection (ZCD) block for quasi-resonant operation. The power MOSFET also integrates a high-voltage startup generator, allowing the IC to connect directly withinput mains without requiring a resistor to reduce the voltage.

The VIPer25HD IC operates in quasi-resonant mode with valleyswitching, enabling low electromagnetic interference (EMI) emis-sion and safe behavior in case of short circuit. The IC featureshigh-level protection including dual-level overcurrent protec-tion, overvoltage and overload protections, hysteretic thermalprotection, soft-start, and safe auto-restart after any fault-condi-tion removal.

The STEVAL-ISA162V1 Evaluation Board can help reduce BOMcosts and time-to-market when creating solutions such as poweradapters for mobile devices, industrial power, and switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) for household appliances.With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service,Mouser caters to design engineers and buyers by deliveringWhat’s Next in advanced technologies. Mouser offers customers21 global support locations and stocks the world’s widest selectionof the latest semiconductors and electronic components for thenewest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is updateddaily and searches more than 10 million products to locate over 4million orderable part numbers available for easy online purchase.Mouser.com also houses an industry-first interactive catalog, datasheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes,technical design information, and engineering tools.

MOUSER ELECTRONICS www.mouser.com

Melexis, a global microelectronics engineering company, hasstrengthened the support offered for its ground-breaking time-of-flight (ToF) sensing technology. The EVK75023 evaluation kitaccompanies its MLX75023 QVGA (320x240pixels) resolution ToFsensor with high dynamic range DepthSenseTM pixels. This newhardware platform enables implementation of more advancedhuman machine interfaces (HMIs).

Co-developed in association with Melexis technology partnerBlueTechnix, the EVK75023 is a compact (130mm x 105mm x60mm) board for assessment of ToF sensing capabilities undereven the most challenging of application conditions, where thedetrimental influence of ambient light variations must beaddressed. Thanks to the constituent MLX75023 imaging device,it can deal with up to 120klux of background light.

The EVK75023 has a high bandwidth Gigabit Ethernet interface,through which real-time 3D images are output at frame rates of upto 60fps. These can be used to recognize complex gestures. Via aC-based API or via the Matlab SDK, users can easily develop theirown communication interface.

The platform consists four main elements: • A pair of illuminating units - each with a set of 6 LEDs capable

of producing a peak optical output of 10W.• A sensor board - incorporating the MLX75023 sensor, a

standard M12 lens mount plus objective with a field of view up to 60°, a quad-channel data converter and programmable logic (through which both the sensor and the LEDs are controlled).

• An ARM-based processing board - featuring an i.MX6x Freescale microprocessor, which is responsible for compiling the acquired ToF data then subsequently communicating this to a laptop, via the Gigabit Ethernet connection, for analysis.

• An interface board - on to which all of these different subsystems are placed.

MELEXIS www.melexis.com/EVK75023



PRODUCT NEWS Lighting Solutions / Display

CIE1931 XYZ Colorimeter board forcolor testing applicationsThe sensor system is based on the JENCOL-OR® standard components MTCSiCF (TrueColor sensor) and MCDC04 (Signal convert-er). The sensor is based on the CIE1931XYZ color standard, while the signal con-verter allows an output at 16/20 bit at adynamic range of 1-to-1,000,000. TheEvaluation Kit is prepared for specific cus-tomer calibrations.The JENCOLOR® True Color sensors andsignal ICs are an ideal solution for stabiliza-tion of LED light in regards of aging, binningand temperature shifts. Additionally used inindustrial color measurement tasks, medialapplications and for metrology solutions.

True Color measurement made simpleThe sensor system is based on the JENCOL-OR® standard components MTCSiCF (TrueColor sensor) and MCDC04 (Signal convert-er). Therefore displays can be measured atvery low brightness levels and at high accu-

racy - even dimmable high brightness powerLEDs at high temperatures (>100°C) andbrightness levels can be measured close to

the target. The colorimeter has a micro USBinterface and can be directly controlled viaWindows software.

The software includes ADC parameters suchas gain, integration time, offset correction,and divider options. The values can be indi-vidually calibrated to the application andhave several output options (color spaces,export functions, etc.) The MTCS-C3 is anideal solution for LED tests in manufacturingor incoming goods inspection and is a cost-efficient solution to be utilized at multiplemeasurement points. A simple user calibra-tion can be performed to the existing LEDselection and as soon as color or brightnessdeviations occur, actions can be taken.

Even special features like flicker detection fordisplays are implemented. For customer-applications, an adaptation of the software isoffered or they can use the DLL libraries todevelop and integrate their own softwaresolution. The MTCS-C3 is available in 4 ver-sions. As OEM-Board with and without metalcasing or as Development Kit including soft-ware with or without metal casing. Only one software license is required to use itfor multiple sensors.MAZeT www.mazet.de

MTCS-C3 Colorimeter: Test system for LED qualitycontrol, color measurement and moreThe new MTCS-C3 product family enables users to implement their own True Color Colorimeterinto lighting, backlight, LED tests, color selection or other applications. The MTCS-C3 is ideal tomeasure color coordinates (XYZ), CCT or brightness levels.

OEM Sensor Baord MTCS-C3 The OEM Sensor Baord MTCS-C3 with USB interface for colormeasurements based on CIE1931 can be used as stand-alone USB color sensor. Customerscan simply place it into their own environment and casing to implement the system as customer-specific colorimeter. The system is prepared for customer calibration and can bedelivered directly with specific presets from MAZeT.

Set DK MTCS-C3 test softwareSample Image of the Set DKMTCS-C3 test software.

Zytronic’s Projected Capacitive Technologyenables @TABLETM from Videofonika

PRODUCT NEWS Lighting Solutions / Display

Rutronik presents Duris S 10 for SolidState Lighting from OsramDuris S 10 is the latest addition to the Chip Array SMD family(CAS) from Osram Opto Semiconductors. This new LED is char-acterized by high efficiency, high light output and uniform colorappearance. It is available at distributor Rutronik as of now.The new LED’s efficient SMD technology makes assembly simple,leading to significant cost savings in system and optic design. TheDuris S 10 is available in two output classes with typ. 1050lm or1400lm at 3000K. Bothhave a CRI of 80 and aCCT of 2700K up to6500K. The forward volt-age is 28V or 37V respec-tively. Both Duris S 10 CASLEDs are binned accordingto the familiar MacAdamsellipses, resulting in a moreuniform color appearance.The LED’s light-emitting surface of only 7.7mm in diameter formsthe basis for compact optics and extremely narrow beam anglesof 120°. Thanks to this small size, the design of the optics is alsosimpler, making it easier to integrate standard accessories such aslenses and reflectors. The lumen packages are specifically forstandard applications such as MR16 retrofits, and enable lampand luminaire designs to be created on the basis of a single DurisS 10. Therefore, the LED is ideal for use in spotlights, downlights,and directional and omnidirectional retrofits. In view of the sur-face-mounted design of the LED, a pc board has to be incorpo-rated in the luminaire.RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com

ICOP Technology introduces 933 MHz Panel PCsICOP Technology introduces with the industrial-grade PPC series anew 933 MHz Panel PC family developed to be deployed as lean,low-power HMIs (Human Machine Interfaces). The compact andfully x86 compatible, rugged Panel PC series in metal housing fol-lows the trend towards client/server architectures with central pro-cessing clouds and slim, distributed control terminals as well asindustrial-grade thin clientinstallations. Application areasare to be found where low-power designs need industrialrobustness and versatileindustrial-grade connectivityoptions at an attractive pricepoint. Target markets are, forexample, retail, industrial automation, digital signage and facilitymanagement applications, where more complex x86 processorswould create greater overhead and costs.The new fanless Panel PC series with 9 or 15 inch touch screens,metal housing and front IP65 protection is equipped with energy-saving low power DM&P Vortex86 processors and is available invarious industrial-grade I/O configurations including support ofvarious serial interfaces. Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity isprovided by either one or two Ethernet ports or optional Wi-Fi.The Panel PCs support extended operating temperature rangesfrom 0°C to 50°C or optional -20°C to 60°C. ICOP TECHNOLOGY www.icoptech.eu

Leading developer and manufacturer of advanced projectedcapacitive touch screen solutions, Zytronic, has supportedVideofonika in the creation of their latest touchscreen solution, the@TABLE™. Working with Polish distribution partner, Elatec GmbH,this new interactive multimedia touch table delivers a sleek, con-temporary and lightweight device which is ideally suited for inno-vative showrooms, modern museums and applications in the retailand entertainment industries.Zytronic’s Projected Capacitive Technology (PCT™) was selectedby Videofonika after a careful study of other competing touchscreen technologies. Key to this decision was the responsiveness ofZytronic’s multi-touch sensor and controller and the robust andwater resistant nature of the touchscreen.The @TABLE uses a 42” multi-touch sensor which is fitted withantiglare glass and a printed black border with special icons forrotation and NFC sensors. The custom glass includes sealed jointswithin the metal chassis which makes the table waterproof. Thisfeature adds to the ruggedness of the device, allowing it to besafely installed in high footfall public spaces, such as restaurants,hotel lobbies or even shopping malls.

Videofonika provide a selection of software application templateswhich enable @TABLE to be applied to different settings and envi-ronments such as trade shows, digital signage, e-banking, and as ahelp aid for medical applications. A dedicated browser interfaceenables multiple users to browse the Internet simultaneously onthe same touch table.

Sales and marketing manager at Videofonika, Jakub Boni com-mented on working with Zytronic’s touchscreen technology for@TABLE: “We examined a number of different touchscreen solutionsbefore going with Zytronic. What attracted us was the reliable multi-touch performance of their PCT technology and the customised anti-glare glass which ideally suited our requirements for the @TABLE”.

ZYTRONIC www.zytronic.co.uk



INDUSTRY PRODUCT NEWS

Discover what you can do with Siemens SIRIUS ACT, the newest generation of pushbuttons andsignalling devices.This device offers you unique features for your machines, like: elegantly designed, indicator lights forPush Buttons and switches with a perfect embodiment of intelligence, style and physical toughness.

The new Push Buttons, switches and indicator lights have been tested to ensure reliability for yourcritical operations. The Sirius ACT were constructed with genuine metal and high-grade plasticsand were engineered with smart functions and communication capabilities.

The Sirius Act

Push Buttons Switches Indicators

• Push Buttons• Twin Push Buttons• Mushroom Push Buttons• Sensor Switches• Emergency Stops

• Selector Switches• Coordinate Switches• Toggle Switches• Potentiometer• Key-Operated Switches• ID Key Operated Switches

• Indicator lights (Single/Duo LED)• Acoustic signaling devices

Modern design Easy to use Extremely rugged

• Elegant product design and high quality material – as a distinguishing system design feature.

Flexible Communication

• Communication solutions for the field and the control panel.

• From configuration to installation: SIRIUS ACT takes the concept of simplicity to the next level.

• Reliable. Especially when things get rough. SIRIUS ACT devices ensure reliability for critical operations.

Source:http://w3.siemens.com/mcms/industrial-controls/en/commanding-devices-signaling/sirius-act/pages/default.aspx



Sirius ACT is a union of modern design, strength, easy installation and malleable communication.

SIRIUS ACT - the latest generation of pushbuttons and signalling devices

Several example of Sirius ACT that you can buy from ro.rsdelivers.com

Features for Sirius ACT:- Design - four design lines with variants tastes and budgets

• plastic• plastic with metal front ring• metal, shiny• metal, matte, flat

- Installation - standardized and self-explanatory one-man installation

- Ruggedness - high-level safety even under extreme conditions• highest degree of protection• reliable installation• design stability

- Communication - direct connection to AS-Interface, IO-Link or shortly PROFINET

22 MM PUSH BUTTONS - PLASTIC WITH METAL RING

SpecificationsBody Material PlasticContact Configuration NOCutout Diameter 22mmIP Rating IP20, IP66, IP67, IP69Maximum AC Voltage 500VMaximum Current 10AMaximum DC Voltage 500VMaximum Operating Temperature +70°CMinimum Operating Temperature -25°CMounting Type PanelPush Button Actuation MomentaryPush Button Diameter 29.45mmPush Button Material PlasticPush Button Shape RoundPush Button Style FlatTerminal Type Screw

RS Stock No. Mfr. Part No. Push Button Colour874-2099 3SU1130-0AB20-1BA0 Red874-1709 3SU1130-0AB50-1BA0 Blue874-1702 3SU1130-0AB60-1BA0 White874-2080 3SU1130-0AB10-1CA0 Black874-2096 3SU1130-0AB30-1BA0 Yellow874-2106 3SU1130-0AB40-1BA0 Green



22 MM PUSH BUTTONS - PLASTICSpecificationsBody Material PlasticContact Configuration NOCutout Diameter 22mmIP Rating IP20, IP66, IP67, IP69Maximum AC Voltage 500VMaximum Current 10AMaximum DC Voltage 500VMaximum Operating Temperature +70°CMinimum Operating Temperature -25°CMounting Type PanelPush Button Actuation MomentaryPush Button Diameter 29.45mmPush Button Material PlasticPush Button Shape RoundPush Button Style FlatTerminal Type Screw

RS Stock No. Mfr. Part No. Push Button Colour874-2024 3SU1100-0AB20-1CA0 Red874-1932 3SU1100-0AB50-1BA0 Blue874-2020 3SU1100-0AB10-1BA0 Black874-2033 3SU1100-0AB40-1BA0 Green

22 MM PUSH BUTTONS – METALSpecificationsBody Material MetalContact Configuration NOCutout Diameter 22mmIP Rating IP20, IP66, IP67, IP69Maximum AC Voltage 500VMaximum Current 10AMaximum DC Voltage 500VMaximum Operating Temperature +70°CMinimum Operating Temperature -25°CMounting Type PanelPush Button Actuation MomentaryPush Button Diameter 29.45mmPush Button Material PlasticPush Button Shape RoundPush Button Style FlatTerminal Type Screw

RS Stock No. Mfr. Part No. Push Button Colour874-2125 3SU1150-0AB20-1CA0 Red874-2121 3SU1150-0AB10-1BA0 Black874-2131 3SU1150-0AB40-1BA0 Green

30 MM PUSHBUTTON HEADS

SpecificationsBody/Fixing Collar Included YesCutout Diameter 30mmIP Rating IP66, IP67, IP69KPush Button Actuation MomentaryPush Button Diameter 38mmPush Button Material PlasticPush Button Shape RoundPush Button Style Flat

RS Stock No. Mfr. Part No. Push Button Colour874-1667 3SU1060-0JB20-0AA0 Red874-2018 3SU1060-0JB50-0AA0 Blue874-1655 3SU1060-0JA60-0AA0 White874-1664 3SU1060-0JB10-0AA0 Black874-1661 3SU1060-0JB30-0AA0 Yellow874-2014 3SU1060-0JA40-0AA0 Green


How can you install?

The unit installation can be done withouteffort, with only one hand, saving your time.Visible installation indicators and markups oncomponents reduce the risk of incorrectinstallation. In the image bellow you canobserve how simple and efficient the installa-tion of Sirius Act can be.

For more information about the products please accessro.rsdelivers.com or contact us by email: [email protected]: +40 (0) 213 046 233 / fax: +40 (0) 213 046 234.

Author: Mihaela SârbuAurocon Compec

EP&Dee no 6

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