Bisinfotech Magazine December Issue 2021 by Bis Infotech

DECEMBER 2021 80.00

R.N.I. No: DELENG/2019/77352 l VOL 3 l ISSUE 12 l TOTAL PAGES 64 l PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH l WWW.BISINFOTECH.COM

Utilizing IoT & Drones for Smart Agriculture Data Center – Empowering the Digital Future

Round off With Mark Burr-Lonnon, Mouser Electronics

Threat Detection & Response in Azure Environments

Convection and Conduction Cooling – What's Next?

Technical Guide To USB – C Charging

Optimizing Mobile Robot Performance

Charging Low-Voltage Rechargeable Batteries

Building a Strong OT Cybersecurity Foundation

Editorial BETA 2021 Celebrates Innovation The BETA Awards 2021 for Excellence & Technovation categories is established to honor the Innovators in both component and innovative product manufacturing, and designed to encourage vitality throughout the region. The awards cover a broad range of categories reflecting diverse technological environment and vibrant innovations throughout the spectrum. The BETA Awards has already set a valuable benchmark for the industry, As BETA Awards not only acknowledge success; it recognise many other qualities: ability, struggle, effort and, above all, excellence. We were honored to have Ms. Abhilasha Gaur, COO - ESSCI & Mr. R.P. Singh, CEO PSSC as the chief guest for the award show. Also Sponsorship is key to ensuring the Award's growth, BETA has been fortunate in receiving strong support from its platinum sponsor Mouser Electronics & Innovation Sponsors Vishay Intertechnology and MOXA this year. As the Awards have grown, so too has the interest from corporations, and next year, we look again to the generosity of sponsors to help us deliver the best Awards we can for the industry. Our work is far from over, but what we've accomplished has made us roll up our sleeves and continue this journey with more dedication than ever. Finally I would like to congratulate all the winners in this edition and thank the entire industry for coming together and celebrate the evening full of Innovations. Thank You!

ManasNandi

MANAS NANDI EDITOR manas@bisinfotech.com CONSULTANT EDITOR & EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION NILOY BANERJEE niloy@bisinfotech.com SENIOR SUB-EDITOR NITISHA DUBEY nitisha@bisinfotech.com CORRESPONDENT AISHWARYA SAXENA editorial@bisinfotech.com WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JITENDER KUMAR

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04 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

Bisinfotech is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, Sant Nagar,East of Kailash, New Delhi- 110065 (INDIA), Printed at Swastika Creation 19 DSIDC Shed, Scheme No. 3, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi- 110020 Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and accuracy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement published in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. BisInfotech holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of the information provided herein. Any unauthorised reproduction of Bisinfotech magazine content is strictly forbidden. Subject to Delhi Jurisdiction.

EDLC Series : 225 EDLC-R (2,7V) and 235 EDLC-HVR (3,0V)

Ruggedized Electrolytic Double Layer Capacitor with AEC-Q200 and UL 810A Approval

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Contents 08

BIG PICTURE ROUND OFF WITH MARK BURR-LONNON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL SERVICE & EMEA AND APAC BUSINESS, MOUSER ELECTRONICS

12 KNOW-HOW

A SIMPLE WAY OF MEASURING SOIL MOISTURE AND PH WITH TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION

20 BIG PICTURE CASPIAN DEBT PROVIDES NON-DILUTIVE DEBT CAPITAL TO START-UPS WHICH ARE IN CLEAN ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SPACE

TECH-COLUMN USB-C CHARGING THE UNIVERSAL DEMAND AND ITS TECHNICAL GUIDE

Mark Burr-Lonnon

Senior Vice President of Global Service & EMEA and APAC Business, Mouser Electronics

Avishek Gupta Investment Director Caspian Debt

26 T&M-COLUMN

THREAT DETECTION & RESPONSE IN AZURE ENVIRONMENTS

28 MUST READS

BUILDING A STRONG OT CYBERSECURITY FOUNDATION: FIRST ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

SMART-AGRICULTURE UTILIZING IOT & DRONES ON THE FRONTLINE OF SMART AGRICULTURE

BIG PICTURE WE FOCUS ON DELIVERING PATH-BREAKING TECHNOLOGY

POWER EXCLUSIVE ROHM BATTERY CHARGER IC: CHARGING LOW-VOLTAGE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES

Benoit Foret

Senior Product Marketing Engineer, STMicroelectronics

Greg Copeland

Director Technical Alliances, Keysight Technologies

WHITE PAPER HIGH-DENSITY, MODULAR POWER DELIVERY NETWORKS OPTIMIZE MOBILE ROBOT PERFORMANCE

BIG PICTURE AI & ROBOTICS TRANSFORMING THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

BIG PICTURE AN EXCEPTIONAL START TO SELECTRA INDIA- ASTOUNDS INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY!

TECHNOVATORS CONNECT & CONTROL THE GADGETS WITH AURA SMART

Piyush Jain

Global Delivery Head - Software & Digital Services, QuEST Global

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2021 BETA AWARDS 2021 WINNERS

BIG PICTURE

Round off with Mark Burr-Lonnon, Senior Vice President of Global Service & EMEA and APAC Business, Mouser Electronics Just alongside our annual award show - BETA AWARDS, we got a chance to have an exclusive chit - chat with Mark Burr-Lonnon, Senior Vice President of Global Service & EMEA and APAC Business, Mouser Electronics. As the electronic component distribution biz is witnessing critical transformations, Mouser has been acquiring quite a market alone in India and the APAC region at large. Niloy from BISinfotech was quite fancy to apprehend the strategies of Mouser in the post-pandemic era. Hence Mark deciphers on tapping the trend of online customers, extending one-stop buying experience, propping up the inventory and lastly their pertinent leadership in the semi-distribution business. All wrapped up in the below-edited excerpts.

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Is coping with the new demand a critical challenge for electronic component distributors as delivery lead times and shortages seems to be nimble across this industry? What is Mouser Electronics’ key strategy to stay viable whereas meeting customers demand during this post-pandemic time? Mouser Electronics has always focused on our core value proposition of specializing in the rapid introduction of new products and technologies, helping customers gain the edge they need to reduce their time-to-market. With over one million unique part numbers in stock or available to order, our inventory position is designed to ensure customers get what they need fast, and that accessibility to the widest selection of new products benefits our customers. We make this possible by maintaining a sufficiently wide selection of products in stock from over 1,100 manufacturer brands, assisting customers in finding alternate products if the need should arise. Engineers and buyers certainly appreciate this high level of service throughout the design and buying process. Even with our strong inventory position, we are not immune to extended lead times and allocation on some products during this challenging time of supply chain instability. We are closely monitoring part numbers that are out of stock and are working with manufacturers to replenish those part numbers as quickly as possible.

Being one of the top global distributors, according to you how important is to understand the market needs to help online customers’ get a one-stop buying experience? It is absolutely critical to know the pulse of the market. In our line of business, our customers are eager to know about the latest parts and components, how new technologies are evolving,

and how all of this comes together for the next generation of applications and solutions. By making the newest products available quickly and providing relevant information and tools to help make the right buying decisions, all in a single place on mouser.in, we can help enable customers to innovate and build better solutions. Engineers can find detailed technical information on our Newest Products page and Technical Resource Centre, for example, to help speed design. Mouser also leads in delivering support for our customers with a suite of online tools through our new Customer Resource Centre, a central hub containing Mouser's online purchasing services and tools that help customers optimize the purchasing process. The Customer Resource Centre houses a full suite of productivity tools from Mouser, including the FORTE intelligent BOM tool and Price and Availability Assistant, as well as information on creating a My Mouser account for even easier online ordering.

According to you, which segments and technologies are shaping the future of the semi biz. Being a leading distributor, the challenge it pertains to managing the inventory keeping the demand and supply at par. Automotive, factory and home automation will continue to be emerging markets as more technologies are introduced to make buildings, homes and vehicles smarter and safer. We will also see an increased need for components for wireless-, mobile- and telecommunications-related devices, especially with the rising adoption of 5G and IoT applications. Over the last two years, we have also seen an increase in buying from medical device manufacturers.

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BIG PICTURE

Reports globally states the unavoidable market fluctuations over the next decade will be catching up and keeping due to chip shortage stranding down most industries that up. Since a lot of electronics components manufacturing

depend on electronic components, ranging from basic home appliances like microwaves and refrigerators to the automotive sector. How is Mouser addressing these shortage issues? As I stated, we are not immune to these supply chain challenges. Component shortages are likely to impact the market for some time, and we will continue to work with our manufacturer partners to make the products available as soon as possible. In the short term, we are working diligently to keep the shelves stocked with new inventory. Over the long term, we must continue to anticipate customer needs to stay prepared for this type of surge in demand. Mouser’s strategy has always been to maintain a sufficient inventory to ensure that our buyers’ needs are met despite fluctuations in global supply levels. This has served us very well and we are working to fulfil orders from existing and new customers, offering them alternative choices, etc. Whether a customer is buying online or through one of our customer service representatives, we have the professionals, products and procedures in place to serve them. Customers appreciate this level of service from an authorized, wellresourced distributor like Mouser.

is concentrated in a few countries, disruptions caused by lockdowns, geopolitics, natural disasters, environmental concerns and the like, can adversely affect the global supply chain. It will be necessary for the industry to find solutions to meet the supply/demand challenges as the digital revolution accelerates. Fortunately for Mouser, we made the decision early in the pandemic to continue to invest in inventory and that decision was the right move.

Insights on recent innovations in Mouser's distribution model, and how have these led to better customer service? Mouser leads the industry in state-of-the-art distribution advancements. Case in point: Our implementation of 102 with forthcoming 18 more state-of-the-art Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs) at our global distribution centre in Texas, United States. This is the largest installation of VLMs in the world. VLMs — essentially giant vertical filing cabinets, complete with shelves and an automated elevator — each store tens of thousands of electronic components. When activated by the employee, the VLMs deliver the components directly to the workstation, vastly increasing efficiency and floor space. The automated machines can reduce an employee’s walking time by 45 per cent or higher. This added capacity allows us to pull and ship orders faster with higher levels of accuracy, which customers greatly appreciate. We continue to add new manufacturers to expand our product offerings, increase inventory levels and SKUs to give customers a vast selection of options.

Communication and providing customers with every bit of information from product status to delivery seems pivotal. How is Mouser offering best-in-class customer service? Mouser’s global logistic partners — such as DHL, FedEx and UPS — have been integral to keeping our worldwide business going. We work with them closely to handle delivery logistics and they’ve done a great job for us, even throughout the pandemic, where we were able to keep delivering orders Lastly, not to miss out specifically talking about India, despite country-wide lockdowns and weather problems in Mouser India’s key focus and strategies for the indigenous several regions. As part of our processes, all our deliveries can market and specific trends shaping India’s electronic be tracked end-to-end, and each part can even be traced components market? back to the manufacturing facility where it was produced. The current market for electronic components in India is This gives our buyers the confidence that every part is 100% benefitting from increased local manufacturing of electronic genuine. products. The ongoing rollout of 5G networks and the increase in IoT applications is also fuelling demand. Policies According to you what are the critical electronics supply and incentives from the government, including initiatives chain management challenges faced by the electronics such as Make in India, Digital India, Smart Cities, and wider broadband connectivity, e-governance, and economic industry in 2021? The pandemic forced the slowdown of the supply chain stimulus packages, are making a positive impact. With an and the industry continues to feel the ripple effects. The chip office in Bangalore, Mouser’s India team is available to assist shortage is leading governments to pass legislation to subsidize with customer needs, offering service and tech support in the and boost the fabrication industry. Yet, such multi-billion-dollar local language, time zone and currency. investments cannot happen overnight. The biggest challenge

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KNOW-HOW

A Simple Way of Measuring Soil Moisture and pH with Temperature Compensation Thomas Brand Analog Devices, Inc.

This arictle explains how you can measure soil moisture and pH measurement, and how to use it, for example, to achieve effective plant growth. The circuit shown in Figure 1 is a single-supply, low power, high precision complete solution for soil moisture and pH measurements, including temperature compensation. The measured values of each of the analog sensors from the three independent measurement sections are fed to an analog-todigital converter (ADC), which then forwards them in digital form to a microcontroller for further signal processing. A good example of a suitable ADC is the 24-bit Σ-Δ ADC AD7124 from Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a fully integrated, low noise analog front end for high precision measurement applications. Its inputs can be configured as differential or single-ended/ pseudo-differential inputs. In addition, the AD7124 has a programmable amplifier stage to ensure that signals of small amplitude can be interfaced directly.

Figure 1. Simplified circuit for soil moisture, pH, and temperature measurement.

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Measurement of pH

Because a pH sensor usually has a high impedance output (approximately 1 GΩ) and thus cannot drive the ADC inputs, a high precision operational amplifier is also needed to buffer the sensor output. Due to the sensor’s high output impedance, a low op amp input bias current is important for minimizing offset errors. In this circuit design, the ADA4661-2 rail-to-rail op amp is used. The output from the pH sensor is bipolar and delivers a maximum signal of ±414 mV. The internal offset generator of the AD7124 can be used to set the common– mode voltage of its inputs to AVDD/2, thereby yielding AVDD/2 ± 414 mV at the sensor output. The noise behavior of the components also has an effect on the resolution of the measuring system. The effective noise of the AD7124 (full power mode, gain = 1, output data rate = 25 SPS) is VNOISE, EFF = 570 nV, which results in a peak-to-peak value of VNOISE, PP = 3.76 μV (6.6 × VNOISE, EFF). The ADA4661-2’s noise component, VNOISE, PP = 3 μV, is added to that, yielding total noise of VNOISE, PP, TOTAL = 4.8 μV. For the ADC’s maximum input voltage range of 6.6 V this results in a noise-free resolution of:

Figure 2. The RTD temperature measurement circuit.

Conclusion

Measurement of Soil Moisture

Soil moisture sensors commonly used today are often capacitive and measure the water content via the dielectric constant. Because water has a much higher dielectric constant than other elements in the soil, a change in water content can be detected by the sensor via a capacitance change. The circuit shown in Figure 1 uses a 3-wire sensor (supply, ground, and voltage output). For minimized power consumption, the sensor is in sleep mode most of the time and only activated via VSENSOR if a measurement is required. Regarding the noise behavior, a somewhat higher noisefree resolution is yielded compared to the pH measurement because the sensor is directly connected to the ADC:

Temperature Measurement

Due to the electrode coating and aging processes, the behavior of a pH sensor changes with time. To maintain a maximum accuracy, regular calibration is essential. For this, known liquids are often measured and compared with the pH values given in the NIST reference tables for the corresponding temperatures, which should be included in the software. The temperature measurement is performed with a 3-wire resistance temperature detector (RTD), as shown in Figure 2. Due to the programmable excitation current source of the AD7124, the RTD can be connected directly to the ADC (IOUT1, IOUT2).

With the circuits shown, soil moisture and pH can be measured relatively easily. Due to the strong temperature dependence of the pH sensor, temperature compensation via an additional temperature measurement is required.

About the Author

Thomas Brand began his career at Analog Devices in Munich in October 2015 as part of his master’s thesis. From May 2016 to January 2017, he was part of a trainee program for field applications engineers at Analog Devices. In February 2017, he moved into the role of field applications engineer. Within this role, he is mainly responsible for large industrial customers. Furthermore, he specializes in the subject area of industrial Ethernet and supports appropriate matters in central Europe. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Cooperative Education in Mosbach before completing his postgraduate studies in international sales with a master’s degree from the University of Applied Sciences in Constance. He can be reached at thomas.brand@analog.com.

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NOVEMBER 2020

•Vol - 02 / 11

Platinum Sponsor Innovation Sponsor

NOVEMBER 2020

CEO, PSSC

CHIEF GUEST OF HONOUR

Abhilasha Gaur COO, ESSCI

BISinfotech proudly concluded the 2nd Edition of BETA AWARDS. The BETA AWARDS premiere was decorated to be one of the biggest awards bringing innovators from all walks, whose product-driven technology and solutions did revolutionize the existing and newer market. From the developers to OEMs audience and attendees met all TIER companies together raising the curtains and centre-staging during this award show. Here is a glimpse of all the award winners who celebrates innovations and determine a new road for the Tech industry.

•Vol - 02 / 11

RP Singh

DECEMBER 2021

EXCELLENCE CATEGORY

Global Electronic Components Distributor of the Year

Global Excellence in Sustainability Efforts

Passive Components Leader of the Year

Leading Innovator in Embedded Technology

Global Leader in T&M

Innovation in EV Control Motor Drive

Innovation Leader in Secure Identity 16 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

Excellence In SiC Technology

Global Leader in Solder and Materials

Innovation in Electronic design automation

Global Innovation in GaN Transistors

Global Leader in Power Semiconductors

Global Excellence in Power Inverters

Global Excellence in Embedded Technology

Indian Innovation in BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (BMS) for EVs 17 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

DECEMBER 2021

TECHNOVATION CATEGORY

Global Technovation Award Under Automation Category

Global Technovation Award Under Smart City Category

Global Technovation Award Under AI & ML Category

Global Technovation Award Under Robotics Category

Global Technovation Award Under Automation Category 18 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

Global Technovation Award Under MEDICAL & Healthcare Category

Global Technovation Award Under Mobility Category

Global Technovation Award Under Agri - Tech Category

Global Technovation Award Under IOT Category

Global Technovation Award Under MEDICAL & Healthcare Category

Global Technovation Award Under Security category

Global Technovation Award Under Renewables Category 19 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

BIG PICTURE

Caspian Debt Provides Non-Dilutive Debt Capital to Start-Ups Which Are in Clean Energy & Sustainability Space At Caspian Debt, our mission is to enable the growth of professionally managed companies that can achieve in a responsible, sustainable, and transparent manner positive social & environmental impact. We provide customized collateral-free debt to companies set up by first-generation entrepreneurs in highly impactful sectors such as Food and Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, WASH, Financial inclusion, Microfinance, Affordable Housing, Clean energy states Avishek Gupta | Investment Director | Caspian Debt to Niloy from BISinfotech. During this candid chat, Avishek also shares about their lending process, criteria, and how they’re vitally looking into lending money and expanding its strategic focus across newer sectors. Edited Excerpts Below.

How did Caspian Debt deal with the lockdown maintaining the demand and facing the heat of supply chain slowdown? Even before the lockdowns started, we asked the employees to start working from home and reorganized our processes to enable that. On the disbursals front, while we stopped new client onboarding at the end of the previous financial year, we continued disbursing loans in cases where clients had credit limits from us. Immediately after lockdowns were imposed and for the entire period after that, we remained in close touch with our SME and financial institutions clients to gauge impact on their businesses. In parallel, we transitioned our entire credit evaluation process into a virtual due-diligence based process. We also developed an in-house COVID risk framework and evaluated each of our company basis the framework. Using that framework, we were successfully able to implement the RBI and Govt directives around giving relief to customers through repayment moratoriums on a selective and objective basis. We also participated in the govt supported ECLGS programme via which we funded existing clients that met the govt specified criteria. Most of our portfolio companies had to shut operations during the initial period of lockdown but immediately after that, the companies dealing with agricultural commodities and health care services started

growing rapidly. We re-started onboarding new clients towards the end of June 2021. In the process of making new loans, we considered the covid risk framework to assess the immediate risk due to covid in addition to the normal evaluation that we do. We managed to stay financially strong and liquid to ensure continued support to our clients and were able to raise funding from both existing and new partners.

What is your lending process and what are the criteria and portfolios do you look into before choosing companies for financing? At Caspian Debt, our mission is to enable the growth of professionally managed companies that can achieve in a responsible, sustainable, and transparent manner positive social & environmental impact. We provide customized collateral-free debt to companies set up by first-generation entrepreneurs in highly impactful sectors such as Food and Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, WASH, Financial inclusion, Microfinance, Affordable Housing, Clean energy. We look for companies that have attracted VC funding with a proven business model and path to profitability or profitable bootstrapped companies We evaluate companies on their Governance and Management, Processes and Systems, Business and Operational Risk and Financial performance. Our lending process includes inviting applications on our digital platform from the companies which go through initial evaluation for impact, governance and financial performance. Once the companies clear the initial evaluation or pre-due diligence phase it receives an indicative term sheet within 10 days of receiving the application. Once the terms are accepted, the companies go through the in-depth due diligence of business model, operating processes, review of customers, suppliers and management depth. In normal times, due diligence involves a physical visit to the company’s premises. The investment team puts up a credit note after satisfactory

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Avishek Gupta Investment Director Caspian Debt

due diligence, which is approved by our credit committee which sanctions the loan. Legal documentation is carried out after the sanction. On completion of legal documentation, the loan is disbursed. The entire process from application to disbursement is completed in about 60 days.

A lot of startup companies are dominating sustainable and green technology and energy space. Bidding investments can always be a risk hence, how Caspian Debt is playing a pivotal role in pioneering investments while making sure to create brands that deliver global quality and results in profitability? Caspian debt provides non-dilutive debt capital to start-ups that are in clean energy and sustainability space. Debt investments help in saving precious equity for long term investments such as research and development of new products, investing in brand building marketing and business development. Debt capital can be used by companies for their working capital needs and it helps in bringing discipline in managing cashflows, tracking collections from the revenues and expenses. This helps them on their road to profitability. While large scale solar projects are the most commonly recognised and financed aspects, Clean/green technologies are also about a number of other technologies like energyefficient products, biodegradable chemical replacers for industrial processes, water conservation equipment, waste to energy conversion, energy storage, electric vehicles and pollution controllers, etc. We have funded companies across all these areas, each of whom are innovating either on the product side or on the delivery side and need debt financing for scaling up. Availability of debt enables them to use their equity mostly for R&D purposes or for building teams while the working capital requirement is met by debt. This enables fast-tracking their product or delivery process development and enables them to reach scale and profitability faster.

How do you foresee sustainability as an overall movement? We see a strong consumer switch towards sustainability - in organic food, beverages, packaging, clothes and household products. Given the international focus on Net Zero targets across corporate supply chains, it is expected that Indian small and medium firms that we work with will either have to transition themselves or will be the suppliers/service providers for products that enable the transition to net-zero. We also think that sustainability requires a wide variety of solutions and hence our focus on funding a variety of products and services.

Your strategies and views as emerging sectors like EVs, HEVs and electric charging infrastructure already dominating the market and bringing new market models? • We have been evaluating EV business for some time but transaction flow has only recently gone up. Our first deal was Ampere. The only exit in this space. • For a long time, most of the companies were quite in an early stage and without debt ready business models. That is slowly changing. • There is customer acceptance for 2W and 3W vehicles evidenced by OEM sales. However, the financing end is still not fully addressed. However, we have seen many lenders getting interested in financing electric vehicles in recent times. With an improved resale market, financing for EVs will become easier for lenders. • It is not just the vehicle manufacturers but we have seen rapid growth of even the component manufactures who are helping reduce dependence on imports. • There is strong interest among equity investors for this segment. • Other eco-system players such as Incubators - especially those in the IITs - are creating a strong pipeline of companies • Over the past few years, we have been seeing a lot of companies using EV to develop a logistics business like last

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BIG PICTURE mile deliveries or last mile connectivity. However, we think that the business viability is still unclear. It will take more time to be sure that these models work. • The charging infrastructure has attracted recent interest amongst investors and even large corporates. While significant investments are required to create charging infra and network, it also requires some level of regulatory nudge like mandating or incentivising housing societies, commercial buildings or petrol pumps to have charging points and it also requires coordination between market players like agreeing on a battery swapping code or interoperability that serves all players.

Caspian Debt believes that SMEs are a growth engine for our economy and is encouraged by the resilience shown by them during the Pandemic. We expect to double down on our focus on climate and sustainability. We expect to raise targeted funding that enables SMEs across sectors (beginning with agriculture) to transition into a more sustainable/green supply chain. Given that our portfolio already has companies that are helping other supply chains transition, we see the possibility of encouraging our other portfolio companies to work together to help each other. Caspian Debt will continue to lend to SMEs in impact focused sectors like Education, Healthcare, Clean energy, Caspian Debt recently announced the opening of its Food and Agriculture, WASH, and women led enterprises. regional office in Delhi/NCR. What will be the key focus and Lastly how do you see the impact of digitalization in the how vital has the national capital become for the company? lending biz? According to a report published by TiE Delhi Chapter and Zinnov in 2019, Delhi/NCR has the largest number of active Digitalization which was gaining ground slowly has been start-ups in India. The number of startups founded from 2009 hastened during the COVID period. Rapid digitalization in to 2019 in Delhi NCR is 7,039, while Bangalore is 5,234 and both loan disbursements and collections are a welcome step Mumbai is 3,829. Delhi has become very prominent in the forward. Digitalisation in lending has also been made possible start-up ecosystem in terms of the number of start-ups being as SMEs are undertaking their own digitalization journey at the registered and the funding received in recent years. Caspian back of rapidly developing mobile payment solutions and Debt would like to play an important role in the start-up increasing the influence of social media and communication ecosystem of not only NCR but also in the North of India. apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Having a digital There has been significant growth in the number of clients financial footprint will help businesses access debt capital and from the Delhi/NCR region from FY19 to FY21 and we see a bring in ease of evaluation for lending companies. This will also huge potential in this region’s start-up ecosystem. Currently, give rise to the use of related analytical tools such as bank we have 32 clients in the Northern region that will be handled statements and GST analysis in deepening the assessment of by our Delhi office. To serve our existing clients better and the repayment capacity of SMEs. The account aggregators further expand our presence in the Delhi-NCR region we are expected to dramatically improve the availability of have also partnered with startup ecosystem players like IAN debt for MSMEs because the cost of evaluation for lenders is expected to go down. However digital lenders will need to and TiE Delhi NCR. find ways of engaging with the borrower and will need more In the coming year, where would Caspian debt vitally support from the judicial eco-system to help in recoveries for look into lending money and expanding its strategic stresses cases or willful defaults. focus (sectors) and why?

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TECH-COLUMN

Benoit Foret

Senior Product Marketing Engineer, STMicroelectronics

USB-C Charging

The Universal Demand and its Technical Guide With the growing adoption of USB-C, temptation to upgrade micro-B port with USB-C by simple connector replacement and schematics inherited from legacy devices is high. Some companies are sadly experiencing quick implementation hurdles which is finally making companies to re-design their device.

Addressing the Problem and Identifying its Solution

Legacy USB used to be hot sockets (5V always available on VBUS power pin), while clean USB-C implementation require cold socket implementation (VBUS line not powered until a sink is detected by the source). This means that direct access to the battery charger is impossible until the interface IC makes the decision to do so. Somehow, this is the right way to proceed, as USB-C connector is the same for SINK and SOURCE. Taking into account that charging power is scalable (from 2.5W to 100W) and can be also bidirectional, we’d better rely on dedicated controllers to ensure that connected devices are compatible together (ie. an AC adapter and a smartphone for instance), and working as expected (AC adapter delivering 5V by default, and not 20V). To do so, controllers must implement protocol features but also application

features. Protocol could be even implemented by software, reporting the power management issues and interoperability ownership at system level, which is the most appropriate. Indeed, what really makes the value of a controller are the application features, which guarantee effective and certified implementation in the system and appropriate behavior when devices are operating in normal conditions of course, but especially when unwanted situation occurs.

The Need of USB-C Charging Globally

Smartphone manufacturers are officially under pressure from the European Parliament to adopt USB-C universal charging as reported by the BBC. As Brussels is adopting USB-C in EU regulation, users will benefit a lot from this technological and political push: the possibility to charge everywhere, and at anytime, any kind of portable devices, making everyone’s life easier. Whereas the need for reducing electronic waste gained painfully people’s mind in the last 10 years, it has recently transformed into an everyone’s duty to limit overall men’s environmental impact. This is one of the Covid-19 lesson’s learns.

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Creating Newer Innovation of Opportunities for Companies INTEROPERABILTY Some companies have understood it, and can see also in this realization an opportunity to stick with society’s mood, without engaging extra cost induced by a new regulation. Cost penalty for transforming once a charger into a universal one is balanced by the cost savings of making regularly proprietary chargers: no need to design, manufacture, package, transport and sell a charger for every device. Chargers are compulsory accessories to make devices work, but add extra cost, extra time, extra weight that never make anyone preferring a device to a competition one: no value in the act of purchasing, just extra wastes for the seller. Some famous companies started to sell their device on the market without including any AC adapter, but just a cable. A good example is Fatboy with its successful Edison the Petit portable lamp, having embraced the “no charger included” policy as a contribution to its sustainability program. More and more articles regularly report that both Apple and Samsung might be adopting such a philosophy starting from 2021.

People Ready To Buy Their Universal Charger

Not only smartphones makers are concerned by universal charging. This is how USB-C becomes a game changer: any kind of small portable device is eligible to 15W USB-C charging: computer and smartphones accessories of course, but also Bluetooth speakers and audio headsets, hearing aids and other medical devices, payment terminals or Wi-Fi access points, wearable devices such as smartwatches, healthcare devices such as shavers, or battery powered outdoor LED lights etc… All these devices can be simply and universally charged by an affordable home charger, or even a USB outlet durably integrated into the wall.

Technical Challenge

As a matter of fact, USB-C is the solution to address universal charging for small portable devices. But universality has 2 corollaries in engineers’ mind: what about INTEROPERABILITY (guaranteeing customer experience) and what about SAFETY (on which no compromise can be done)?

SAFETY

Benefit of a clean, cold socket implementation, is that the switch is open by default, meaning that at connection time, charging path is fully isolated from the connector. Switch is closed only by STUSB4500L decision, guarantying a safe VBUS at 5V (so called Vsafe 5V). Compared to discrete implementation with protection switch, MOS opening time does not have to be considered, limiting the risk of destructive power at the connection. Being a standalone interface IC, it does not need any connection to local MCU or application processor. Therefore, it does not only preserve MCU hardware resources (such as GPIO or ADC etc…), but it also guarantees a full electrical isolation between the port and the heart of the system, which is always safer.

Handling faults is a must, but managing clean re-start after a fault occurred is a major concern for interoperability. This is what STUSB4500L does by having a tight interaction between native protection features and embedded USB-C state machine. For instance, an overshoot on VBUS will be detected by the STUSB4500L. As an immediate action, the VBUS switch will be opened and VBUS discharge be managed. CC pin terminations are removed until VBUS voltage turns back to safe conditions. Electrical disconnection / connection can be then emulated without having to detach / attach the cable mechanically. In best case conditions, fault protection and re-start processes can be so fast that not even visible to endusers, allowing the charging process to continue automatically without manual action from the user. In order to guarantee interoperability, the IC has been certified (TID #1455) as “Power sinking device” according as USB-C rev 1.4 standard.

APPLICATION BENEFITS

Once a SOURCE is identified and verified to deliver the expected 5V, protection switch is closed to initiate charging. Benefits of having a standalone controller is that this process is immediate, and does not need the application processor to wake-up or boot, which might be pretty long especially when waking-up from dead battery. Maximum charging current is also guaranteed from the beginning as the information is reported by the STUSB4500L controller and can be used to set the maximum charging current input from the battery charger. Overall, it makes the overall process (from the connection to the charging): y SAFE (safety first, always), y FAST (customer experience matters), y SIMPLE (designer’s time matters as well,) y and OPTIMIZED (when effectiveness is achieved with simplicity, this is called ROBUSTNESS).

ZERO POWER

Another key issue to address, especially for portable device, is the preservation of the battery autonomy. Designers are naturally tracking any leakage current in the system, and a USB interface, especially when it is not in use (maybe 90% of the time) should not be a detractor of the autonomy. Being powered directly from VBUS, STUSB4500L removes the need from any discrete or external LDO support. Power is taken directly from the SOURCE, when it is correctly identified and the connection established. In all other cases (no connection, or connection to another sink), STUSB4500L is not powered as it simply does not need to.

CONCLUSION

For fast migration to 5V USB-C charging using STUSB4500L, just try our mini-Dongle following this link or download the full Altium library for quick implementation into your design.

24 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ? With media manipulation leaving readers confused about even the basic facts, BIS Infotech keeps it real. Whether in print, online, on mobile or video, people trust it to be expertly researched, written and fact-checked. No wonder BIS Infotech readers are more engaged and more likely to recommend advertised products. Being real matters. That's a fact. WWW.BISINFOTECH.COM

T&M-COLUMN

Threat Detection & Response in Azure Environments For years now, Network Detection and Response (NDR) has been in use for on-premise enterprise environments, and many consider NDR the gold standard for detecting anomalies and security threats. NDR uses network packets (sometimes called wire data) as an essential source of data to analyze since they provide the most complete information of any data source, far beyond what flows, logs, polling, and APIs do.

In recent years, many enterprises have begun to move some (or all) of their applications to the cloud. When doing so, they have encountered gaps in their ability to gather wire data for analysis by NDR (more on this in a minute). Many vendors of cloud security analytics have focused on metadata-based

analytics solutions, partly because metadata is more accessible to collect than wire data in the cloud. Consequently, organizations that have come to depend on the detail offered by analyzing packets have discovered they lost the more detailed detections they have come to rely on in the past.

Greg Copeland

Director Technical Alliances, The cloud providers have begun to respond to this concern, with some Keysight Technologies offering packet mirror capabilities as part of their service.

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However, these offerings have caveats and vary significantly in the completeness and features of their offerings compared with packet collection techniques used by on-premise enterprises. For example, Microsoft Azure currently offers no packet mirroring service. Several years ago, Azure did have a beta trial of a virtual tapping service, but it was discontinued, and Microsoft hasn’t yet announced plans for an alternative. Fortunately, enterprises moving applications to Azure have an alternative to collect wire data and deliver it to NDR for analysis. Keysight CloudLens offers a complete packet collection service, which can deliver copies of packets from Azure environments to cloud based NDR analysis tools (e.g. Vectra Cognito). CloudLens includes features which onpremise enterprises have come to depend on, such as packet replication, aggregation, filtering, and more, ensuring NDR tools get all the data they need, but not using resources where they aren’t required. Furthermore, CloudLens works independently of the Cloud provider’s network configuration, and as such,

is shielded from network service changes implemented by the cloud provider. It works in Azure even though they have no virtual tapping service in the network. And as an added benefit, CloudLens also works consistently in a multi-cloud environment (e.g. Azure/AWS/GCP). Customers of NDR tools like CloudLens because it offers them the data they need to continue the rich and detailed anomaly detection and security threat detection that packets provide. “The Vectra Cognito Platform is an AI-driven threat detection and response solution that can leverage the raw packet data that Keysight CloudLens provides to alert and stop ransomware and nation-state attacks,” Says Sachin Saranathan, Head of Technology Alliances and Ecosystems at Vectra. “Together with Keysight, we accelerate security investigations with high fidelity and security-enriched data, helping SOC teams to resolve security incidents rapidly and comprehensively, with zero compromises.”

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MUST READS

Building a Strong OT Cybersecurity Foundation: First Ask the Right Questions Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pace of digital transformation has accelerated tremendously. Meanwhile, companies have also become increasingly aware that the next leaders in this new digital arena will be those who control and manage their onsite OT data. Thus, companies that want to stay ahead in the game first need to achieve successful collaboration between their IT and OT departments to gain better control of their OT data. Inevitably, IT/OT integration has become one of the key indicators of a company's potential future growth. However, despite its importance, IT/ OT integration remains inconceivable to many companies due to one main obstacle: cybersecurity. According to a survey by International Data Information (IDC), companies tread very lightly around IT/OT integration because they are wary about its impact on cybersecurity. For starters, talking about the importance of cybersecurity may sound by now like a broken record. However, upon further inspection, one realizes that while cybersecurity has been prioritized by IT, the same cannot be said of OT. In recent years, industrial digital transformation (Industrial DX) has pushed OT out of their small ponds of individual intranets into the wider ocean of the Internet. With the abundance of

threats lurking behind Internet connections, cybersecurity has suddenly become a matter of urgency in the OT world—one that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. Nevertheless, to safely navigate through this sea of predators, Moxa and YNY Technology, an industrial digital solution provider based in Malaysia and Moxa’s partner in numerous IIoT projects, have identified the fundamental issues you need to address when strengthening your control systems for cybersecurity purposes. In this article, we address these issues through three frequently asked questions (FAQ) that we pit against counter-questions, which we like to call a question behind the question (QBQ), to help you bolster your cybersecurity strategy.

FAQ 1 vs. QBQ 1

"Who’s responsible for this cybersecurity project?" vs. "Where is the weakest link in my cybersecurity strategy?" From an organizational standpoint, it is easy to get distracted by the question of who should take charge of a project that now falls under OT but involves a traditionally IT-centric task. While OT staff may argue that they do not have the proper training and experience to deal with cybersecurity, IT staff may argue along the same line that their inexperience with OT equipment may affect overall operation. In this case, both

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have a point since neither departments have full knowledge of both cybersecurity and OT operations, hence the dilemma. Trying to delineate responsibility by experience alone seems like a dead end. Thus, we advise clients to employ the “locate the issue first” approach instead. So rather than asking “who has the experiences to be responsible?”, the conversation now starts with a risk and vulnerability assessment. This assessment identifies potential risks from an objective viewpoint, such as unlisted or high-risk OT equipment, outdated software or services, management loopholes posed by human errors, etc. These objective evaluations are a good starting point to set a clear list of goals for both OT and IT departments to better collaborate and resolve the problems at hand.

FAQ 2 vs. QBQ 2

"What is the return on Investment (ROI)?" vs. "What is the cost of Inaction (COI)?" In OT, ROI is the key indicator when considering investment in new equipment. However, if ROI is used to measure the cost and benefits of cybersecurity, the outcome (i.e., investment from higher ups) is often disappointing. This is due to the nature of cybersecurity. Its main concern is to reduce risk, so it should not be measured as a growth-centric “investment.” Hence, the real question should be: "If we don't do it now, what is the worst that can happen?", also known as COI. The risk of inaction when it comes to cybersecurity is often much larger than foreseen[1]. Therefore, COI can help businesses evaluate the impact of potential cybersecurity risks from a more practical perspective and, furthermore, speed up the decision-making process regarding a project through prioritization.

FAQ 3 vs. QBQ 3

"What is the safest solution?" vs. "What is the most suitable solution?" After dealing with the abovementioned questions, which not only identify and prioritize cybersecurity vulnerabilities, you will have to evaluate your plan, process, system, or tools. As most of the existing cybersecurity methods, tools, or services are designed from an IT perspective, they may not be necessarily suitable for OT implementation. For example, a customer of ours in Southeast Asia has received suggestions from its IT department to enable a screen protection lock function on both computers and onsite human machine interfaces (HMI) to prevent equipment from being hacked. However, while this is a suitable solution for IT environments, it does not consider the need for a machine to immediately respond to anomalies in an OT environment. For example, if an abnormality occurs at a site, the response time to regain control of the system may need to be within milliseconds or it could cause huge losses. If too much time is spent on waiting for the operator to enter the correct password, the delay could have colossal financial or life consequences. Therefore, when choosing a cybersecurity solution, it is not the most expensive or the most acknowledged solution that is the best. Choosing the right solution for your specific needs is what counts. "Cybersecurity is not only a technical issue, but a business one as well." As evidenced by the numerous cybersecurity attacks in the industrial environment lately, it’s not hard to see why cybersecurity is a prime concern for many business owners. By transforming the regular FAQs to QBQs, a stronger foundation can be built to establish the right cybersecurity strategy for you. (The article is an original piece written by moxa.)

24 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

SMART-AGRICULTURE

Utilizing IoT

& Drones on the Frontline of Smart Agriculture

Using Smart Agriculture to Solve Issues

Agriculture × advanced technology = smart agriculture: Japanese agriculture is now attempting to open up a new model of agriculture with this equation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the number of self-employed farmers, decreased from approximately 4 million in 2000 to approximately 2.5 million in 2010. This number further decreased to 1.36 million in 2020. Those aged 65 years and older account for 950,000, or approximately 70%, of that group, with an average age of. Their average age is 67.8 years old. Given the significant decrease in this working population, In the face of this issue of aging with a significant decrease in the agricultural working population, there is an urgent need to make agriculture smart. MAFF started a smart agriculture project in 2019. The ministry has been conducting technology demonstration experiments in 148 regions throughout Japan. It has been using robots, AI, IoT, and other advanced technologies at production sites to ascertain the management effect in an integrated experiment from production to shipping. The ministry is hoping for this to lead to social implementation. Let's have a look at some examples of smart agriculture.

Utilizing the IoT to Speed Up the Conversion to Selfdriving Tractors

A leading agricultural machinery manufacturer in Japan launched self-driving tractors and robot tractors. Introduced in 2018, both use satellites and fixed base stations. This manufacturer adopted a system in which these auto tractors

verify their position with satellites to improve accuracy by adding corrected information from fixed base stations. These auto tractors realize self-driving (self-driving level 1) by automating some steering-wheel operations while the user is on board. This enables high-precision work regardless of the user’s skill level. Meanwhile, the robot tractors run autonomously (selfdriving level 2) under the supervision of the user, enabling unmanned independent work. It is possible to realize collaborative work in which one person can handle the work of two people by combining this IoTequipped robot tractor (unmanned) with a manned tractor. Moreover, it is possible to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. It is also more efficient since work is not affected by the weather. The unmanned work area when this product was first released was 69% of a field area (range for crop cultivation), specifically 122 × 76 meters. However, this was raised to 72% by expanding the headland (space in which rice planters turn). Furthermore, an outer circumference process was added to boost this percentage to 88%. The manufacturer is striving to reach as close to 100% as possible. The company has enabled self-driving at low speed by equipping a multi-frequency antenna to the robot tractor to stabilize positional information. It is also working on the development of technology to improve the accuracy of simultaneous sowing work. In addition, the manufacturer has commercialized an auto rice planter that turns automatically. The aim of this is to reduce driver fatigue. The company is proceeding with the development and commercialization

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under its goal of converting things with steering wheels to smart pilot systems to make them all unmanned in the future.

Size. The survey sites that the farmland ratio accounted for by management entities of 10 hectares or more has risen from 34% in 2005 to 56% in 2020. Various challenges remain to fully leverage smart agricultural machinery to solve pressing agriculture issues.

Utilizing Drones to Spray Agricultural Chemicals and Acquire Data

Another manufacturer that specializes in agricultural machinery is applying belt pinching and transporting technology to commercialize harvesters that automatically farm carrots, radishes, sweet corn, cabbages, and napa cabbages without damaging them. This is expanding the range of automation in agriculture. The company is using a camera, GPS antenna, automatic steering devices, and control devices to realize the development of an unmanned self-driving harvester and automatic carrier in a cabbage harvester project. A major telecommunications company and multiple drone manufacturers established a new company in January of this year. This new organization promotes and advocates for smart agriculture (e.g. using drones in agricultural chemical spraying, fertilization and crop growth inspections), inspection and maintenance services, and various data collection (by drones) solutions. It is also possible to see the movement to embark on the automatization of work, information-sharing, and data utilization through the conversion to IoT using drones. In response to this, the business drone market in Japan (total of services, peripheral services and aircraft) almost doubled from 50.3 billion yen in FY2017 to 93.1 billion yen in FY2018. It has continued to grow significantly since, doubling to 193.2 billion yen in FY2020. The market is forecast to reach 408.6 billion yen in FY2023 and 642.7 billion yen in FY2025. (According to the Drone Business Survey Report 2020 by Impress Corporation) Looking at trends that are driving the drone market, agriculture was solidly in the top place until FY2020. It will give up its position to the inspection industry in FY2021, but the gap between the two sectors will only be slight. There will also be a large gap with the sectors in third place and below, including civil engineering and construction, crime prevention, and aerial photography. It is expected that logistics will grow significantly by FY2025 and that agriculture will claim the second place with approximately 20% of the overall market. However, expected to become a 100-billion-yen market. Agricultural leaders are focusing their efforts on management improvements in response to these market trends. These include the expansion of fields, farmland consolidation, measures against devasted farmland and abandoned fields, and twiceyearly crops. At the same time, the effects of labour- and manpower-saving with the introduction of smart agricultural machinery using IoT are also appearing. For example, the managed area per management entity is increasing year by year according to Trends by Managed Cultivated Area

To learn more on the new technologies and solutions in Smart Agriculture that can enhance the entire food value chain for higher yield and maximum returns, check out our On-Demand webinar https://www.murata.com/en-sg/ webinars/murataspeaks/Sep21-Agritech/download

About This Article:

This article is provided by Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. https://article.murata.com/en-us/article/forefront-of-smartagriculture-using-iot-and-drones

31 12 | 2021 BISinfotech

BIG PICTURE

We Focus on Delivering Path-Breaking Technology A product engineering company in the Aero Engines, Aerospace & Defense, Hi-Tech & Industrial, Medical Devices, Oil & Gas, Power, and Transportation verticals, Quest Global has spread across 73 locations in 15 countries including US, Canada, Singapore, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Sweden, Romania, Japan, and India. Quest Global believes in providing best services to its customers, during an email interaction with Nitisha from BISinfotech; Piyush Jain, Global Delivery Head - Software & Digital Services, QuEST Global elaborates that how company is focused on customers’ demands. He says, our deep domain experience and strong execution capabilities stand us in good stead in helping customers navigate the upcoming challenges in both making their business resilient to pandemic impact and adopting digital technologies to make it efficient and sustainable for future growth.

What are the challenges that organizations will need to overcome in their journey to become truly next-gen digital? The biggest challenge organizations need to overcome is to have a clear strategy and a strong execution plan for bringing Digital Transformation into their businesses. The technology piece is now understood and proven. However, its application to truly solve business problems needs better focus and planning. Organizations should be wary of any rapid-fix syndrome. The adoption of digital technologies needs to be well thought through, carefully planned, and then implemented. They need to be integrated seamlessly so that the impact on continual business is minimized. Organizations should also give due consideration to talent requirements for their digital needs. It takes time to build experience working on digital technologies and so they will need to show flexibility and patience with the talent to be able to get the desired results

Piyush Jain

Global Delivery Head - Software & Digital Services, QuEST Global

How do pure play engineering services companies have an edge in solving such challenges? Engineering service companies have traditionally been working in developing products and solutions for customers and so it gives them good exposure and experience in their core domains. This comes in handy in understanding problems and issues that may come up when digital technologies are

adopted in product and solution engineering going forward. Definition of appropriate use cases with a proper application of relevant technologies is key to solving real business problems for the customer and engineering service companies are better placed to do the same. Also, by being in the engineering space, there is an inherent discipline to problem-solving that engineering service companies are great at. This gives them an edge in understanding and solving the problems that may arise due to the application of digital technologies

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How companies utilize the local-global business model in this endeavor is significantly benefiting the talent pool in India? Global delivery models have been perfected by most service companies over many years in providing the best-cost solutions to customers. Going forward you may see a more hybrid model of engagement with a focus on both localization and globalization to get the best benefit of talent across locations. In the future, there won’t be a one-size-fits-all model. Companies that have invested in flexible engagement models, with a flexible workforce will be best placed to provide suitable solutions to customers. This is where the local-global business model of QuEST is going to help our customers globally.

continuity challenges caused by the Covid19 pandemic. Going forward the focus would be on how to come out with effective hybrid working models that allow the most efficient use of the talented workforce in getting the best business outcomes

Kindly share your marketing strategy plans for the future growth. To fuel growth for our Hi-Tech business, we have adopted an Omni-channel marketing strategy that ensures accurate visualization of how we solve customer challenges. Ours is an integrated approach with focused storytelling spread across multiple touchpoints of our customers. For instance, we have accorded just the right amount of focus on premium tradeshowKindly explain the potential for the engineering workforce in based campaigns like CES. The interactive communications India to leverage deep tech for solving global challenges and digital strategy are helping us enhancing our social media faced by the Hi-Tech industry. presence. Our association with industry bodies like NASSCOM India has always been at the forefront of engineering talent is allowing us to leverage the engineering ecosystem. We also and its adaptability to new technology changes rapidly. We ensure partnerships with deep-tech companies to have early have always been quick to ride the technology wave and access to trends and platforms. Our clients want engineering get our workforce aligned to emerging trends and needs. experts with deep domain knowledge to solve some of However, the pace of development needs to factor in the their most critical challenges. Thus, we continue to focus on aspect that experience and expertise take time to become delivering path-breaking technology accelerators augmented proficient and both customers and suppliers will need to be with exponential technologies for different industries. patient at the same time supportive of talent development Upcoming growth and plans for the growth of the company. to truly benefit in solving their global challenges. At the same At QuEST Global, our focus continues to understand time, service companies will need to plan and invest in talent development initiatives that can help upgrade and multi-skill customer business problems and come out with appropriate talent for emerging technology needs in the Hi-Tech industry. solutions for them. We are focused on changing customer Problems being faced by the Hi-Tech industry are complex needs considering accelerated digital transformation initiatives and it would require multi-dimensional skills to solve them. and building the right capable capacity to help our customers Hence, the engineering workforce in India will need to be in their digital journeys. Our deep domain experience and adept at the versatility of skills, rapid learning, and flexibility strong execution capabilities stand us in good stead in helping of operations to solve these problems and truly benefit the customers navigate the upcoming challenges in both making their business resilient to pandemic impact and adopting customers. digital technologies to make it efficient and sustainable for What kind of challenges industry is facing due to COVID-19 future growth. pandemic? I think the industry has done very well in handling the business

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POWER EXCLUSIVE

ROHM Battery Charger IC:

Charging Low-Voltage Rechargeable Batteries ROHM developed a battery charger IC, BD71631QWZ, designed to provide low-voltage charging of wearables like wireless ear buds and thin, compact IoT devices such as smart displays powered by rechargeable batteries.

In recent years the need for safer, higher density rechargeable batteries has led to the development of new battery types. This includes all-solid/semi-solid types models using novel materials for the electrode part and batteries that adopt different terminal compositions. However, many of the latest rechargeable batteries are small and thin, requiring low voltage charging in the 2V to 3V range. Moreover, there are currently no battery charger ICs that can handle a wide voltage range. Based on this market demand, ROHM developed a battery charger IC that supports low voltage charging of not only li-ion, but also new types of rechargeable batteries such as all-solid and semi-solid state. The BD71631QWZ achieves low voltage charging over a wide range from 2.0V to 4.7V by improving the stability of the internal circuit. Unlike general battery charger ICs that provide a fixed voltage, ROHM’s new product allows the charge voltage to be easily set by simply changing the external resistor, reducing design load when changing batteries. Additionally, original package technology results in a compact package just 0.4mm thickness, which is 60% lower than conventional products in market. This is contributing to smaller, thinner devices. In addition, each charging characteristic like charge/termination current can be set for CCCV charging, providing an optimal charging

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environment for thin, compact IoT and wearable devices utilizing the latest rechargeable batteries. Going forward, ROHM will continue to contribute to providing greater application convenience by supplying more efficient charging solutions.

3. Achieves optimal CCCV charging according to the characteristics of the rechargeable battery The BD71631QWZ enables the charge characteristics to be independently set, like charge current/voltage, termination current, recharge voltage for CCCV using an external resistor to achieve optimal charging based on the characteristics of rechargeable batteries. In addition, even if the battery needs to be changed during application design, it can be designed without reselecting components, reducing the number of workload required. Moreover, reducing the battery standby current down to 0μA in the standby state and incorporating various protection functions contributes to longer operating times in devices equipped with rechargeable batteries and improved safety during charging.

Key Features

1. Compatible with new all-solid/semi-solid state rechargeable batteries requiring low voltage charging The BD71631QWZ allows the charging voltage to be easily set from 2.0V to 4.7V by simply changing the external resistor, ensuring compatibility with not only single-cell li-ion batteries, but also all-solid/semi-solid and other new rechargeable battery types that demand low voltage charging. 2. Package size optimized for applications equipped with thin rechargeable batteries ROHM’s new product utilizes original package technology to achieve a thin, compact 1.8mm × 2.4mm × 0.4mm form factor. As a result, mounting height has been reduced by 60% and footprint by 50% compared to standard products in a 3.0mm × 3.0mm × 1.0mm package. Ensuring that the height is the same as peripheral components contributes to smaller, thinner devices. This makes it particularly suitable for wearables and compact IoT devices equipped with ultra-thin sheet-like rechargeable batteries.

Product Lineup

Application Examples • Devices equipped with low voltage and single-cell li-ion rechargeable batteries • Wearables such as wireless ear buds, electronic pens, e-cigarettes, etc. • Smart displays/tags and other compact IoT devices Availability: In mass production Pricing: $0.93/unit (samples, excluding tax)

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POWER EXCLUSIVE

Evaluation Board

Sales Launch Date: July 2021 Online Distributors: Digi-Key, MOUSER, and Farnell Evaluation Board Part No: BD71631QWZ-EVK-001 User Guide:https://www.rohm.com/products/powermanagement/battery-management/battery-chargemanagement-ics/bd71631qwz-product#evaluationBoard

Terminology

New Rechargeable Batteries: Compact rechargeable batteries (i.e. all solid-state, semi-solid state) equipped with new materials for the electrolyte and electrodes to achieve higher safety and density. CCCV Charging: A charging method that switches between CC charging, which charges with a constant current to prevent overcurrent charging, and CV that charges with a constant voltage to prevent overcharging, depending on the voltage of the rechargeable battery. (The article is an original written by ROHM Semiconductor.)

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T&M NEWS

Anritsu Launches Rubidium Signal Generator Family

Rohde & Schwarz & Allion Labs Collaborate

Anritsu Company has released the Rubidium signal generator family that delivers outstanding signal purity and frequency stability, even at high output power levels, across a broad frequency range of 9 kHz to 43.5 GHz. Coupled with built-in, easy-to-use, at-location frequency and power calibration capability, Rubidium offers exceptional overall utility and long-term value in a broad range of commercial and military/aerospace measurement applications. Signal purity is critical to a wide range of measurement applications ranging from radar testing to testing of ADCs and DACs. The Rubidium signal generator offers ground-breaking low single sideband (SSB) phase noise of -136 dBc/Hz (typical) and -140 dBc/Hz (measured) at 10 GHz and 10 kHz offset that is unmatched in the industry. Coupled with best-in-class harmonic and spurious performance, the Rubidium™ signal generator enables customers to make measurements with better accuracy. The Rubidium offers an order of magnitude with better frequency stability compared to other signal generators that use an OCXO based reference. This exceptional frequency stability is achieved either by an optional internal Rubidium reference or by locking the signal generator’s time base to a 1 PPS reference from an optional internal GNSS/GPS atomic clock receiver. The Rubidium signal generator features built-in, on-site frequency, and level calibration that is easily accessible with the touch of a button on the GUI interface. This feature ensures customer level, accurate frequency desired, timesaving, enhancing convenience, and increasing instrument availability. An Anritsu CW USB power sensor is required for onsite level calibration. An internal GNSS/GPS atomic clock receiver or ultra-stability rubidium timebase option is required for onsite frequency calibration. The Rubidium’s AM, FM/PM, and pulse modulation capabilities enable a wide range of complex analog modulated signals. An internal low-frequency generator can generate seven different waveform types to modulate the carrier. Additionally, simultaneous modulation of AM/FM, AM/PM, or FM/Pulse is possible to generate complex modulation waveforms such as chirps. Broad signal simulation capabilities are built into the signal generator for pulsed radar testing. The Rubidium signal generator can be used in a variety of applications. It is ideal for applications that require low phase noise such as testing radar subsystems, up/down converters, or high-speed ADCs/DACs.

Rohde & Schwarz Taiwan and Allion Labs have jointly developed test capabilities for Automotive Ethernet Shielded & Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP & STP) in compliance with the OPEN Alliance TC9 standards. Developments in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and infotainment are driving up automotive data rates. As they grow, it becomes increasingly important to ensure the quality and performance of the cables and components of the communication channel. Automotive Ethernet is a key enabler for high data rate applications, as well as for data backbone, connecting different domain controllers. OPEN Alliance, the global standard-setter for Automotive Ethernet, specifies the electrical requirements and test procedures for cables and connectors through the technical committee TC9. These standards ensure compliance with link segment requirements of the IEEE 802.3 Automotive Ethernet at various speed levels up to 10GBASE-T1 and they describe a mandatory test procedure for all cables & connector manufacturers producing products for Automotive Ethernet.

Keysight, Proventia Upgrades EV Battery Test Solutions Keysight Technologies and Proventia Oy have collaborated to improve electric vehicle (EV) battery test solutions. Automotive manufacturers, suppliers and test facilities need to increase the driving range of an EV, its performance and safety while reducing costs. When developing and testing high-voltage EV batteries, time becomes critical in a competitive market. The collaboration between Keysight and Proventia delivers a location-independent and safe test lab with rapid implementation time. The test lab incorporates the following key solutions: • Keysight's Scienlab battery test solutions, including the SL1700A series Scienlab Battery test system – pack level test high-voltage batteries with up to 1500 V. It addresses safety concerns with features including redundant measurement and utilizes new high-voltage silicon carbide (SiC) technology allowing an energy recovery capability of 96%. • Keysight's Scienlab energy storage discover software, which controls and monitors test systems and lab components from the device under test (DUT), including the battery management system and climatic chambers. • Keysight's software PathWave lab operations for battery test helps manage the entire lab and optimize workflow, data acquisition and handling.

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WHITE PAPER

High-Density, Modular Power Delivery Networks Optimize Mobile Robot Performance Anna Giasson Applications Engineer Vicor Corp

Stavros Dokopoulos Field Applications Engineer Vicor Corp

Fixed-ratio and high-efficiency buck and buck-boost Two approaches to consider: converters enable more range, duration and payload ■ The use of buck and buck-boost regulators with wide input The range, productivity, and flexibility of a mobile robot can be enhanced by the optimal design of its power delivery network (PDN). There are complex power system design and architecture considerations in such PDNs due to the variation in the battery power source voltage plus the broad variety of loads that may be part of a typical system, such as high-power AI computing systems, motor drives, sensors, communication systems, logic boards and processors. There are also EMI considerations that naturally arise from developing closelypacked and dense systems that use high-power switching regulators. The result is that robotics power systems face many unique challenges and require new approaches to address them. A modular PDN design approach, using Vicor high-density, high-performance power modules can tackle these challenges. Understanding the fundamental engineering principles and experiences from supercomputing applications to explore how the performance and design flexibility of advanced robotic power systems can be enhanced by leveraging Vicor fixed ratio power converters and high-efficiency wide-input-range Zero-Voltage Switching (ZVS) buck or buck-boost regulators.

voltage ranges in power delivery networks up to 75V, within the 110VDC SELV (Safety Extra-Low Voltage) limits per IEC. This allows low-voltage robotic power conversion stages to be smaller than their isolated DC-DC counterparts, and/or be adaptable to higher or lower battery voltages used on larger or smaller platforms. ■ The use of fixed-ratio converters to scale the voltage of sources efficiently up or down as well as enhancing their dynamic response capabilities within the same PDN, or to adapt it to a much higher voltage source. The various power delivery network architectures from these two power topologies provide the designer with multiple options to achieve a mobile system that meets their design goals.

Size, weight, performance advantages of a modular approach

When designing a power system for advanced robots, it is tempting to simply reuse a trusted DC-DC converter for each required load voltage as the need appears in form of new payloads, regardless of whether it is powering LIDAR, a GPU, a servo-drive or even constant-current loads like LED floodlights. While convenient, the evolving complexity of systems shows the

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need for a more holistic look at the power requirements and architecture. There are significant size, weight, performance and cost advantages to designing power systems with the latest in power converter technologies. These benefits only increase with wide-ranging load tolerances, narrow battery voltage ranges, a smaller number of isolation barriers, and in systems with short durations of maximum power and long idle times. Using newer and higher-efficiency non-isolated buck or buck-boost converters, even with input voltages above 24V, can improve overall system performance. Fixed-ratio converters have a low-impedance path and fast transient response. The smart placement of these allows loads such as motor drives to draw current quickly without the response delay inherent in regulated DC-DC converters or the voltage droop from long low-voltage cable runs. Both approaches enable new architectural solutions that will be explored here.

Exploring typical robotic system requirements

Consider two robotics platforms, their battery sources and various high-power loads as outlined in Figure 1. For the sake of simplicity, the battery is of the first comprises a 15-S LiFePO4 with a 57V float voltage, such as is used on an all-terrain last-mile delivery bot with a manipulator or other servodrive; 57V increases energy density compared with 24V- or 48V-based systems. Imagine also being asked to mount the same or more powerful “brains and brawns” on a much larger platform, such as a self-driving truck or harvester bot with a 200-S battery featuring a 770V float voltage, or designing the latter from scratch. The load requirements include the following: ■ 48V and/or 24V servo-drives with regeneration capability ■ 12V GPU & CPU board(s), > 50A ■ 5V and 3.3V rails at several tens of amps ■ Any lower-power auxiliary voltage needed for additional peripherals

Figure 2: Power delivery network of a lower voltage supply powered by a 110VDC SELV (Safety Extra-Low Voltage) battery or a larger vehicle’s 770V battery transformed down to ~48V.

By working backwards from the load requirements, a power tree can be constructed to showing how to produce each of the needed voltages (Figure 2). This methodology enables a designer to optimize the number of regulation stages, isolation stages and transformation stages in the design. This can result in a reduction of associated losses of a needlessly complex architecture, noise, stability issues and undesirable voltage drops yielding a scalable and versatile, yet simple and efficient power solution.

Low-voltage sources: higher-efficiency wide-input-range buck and buck-boost converters

When powered from an extra-low voltage source such as a 24 or 57V battery (Figure 2), all loads are often tied to the battery negative, making isolated DC-DC converters unnecessary. A much better design would employ a modern high-voltage buck converter offering 96 – 97% efficiency with low standby power, enhancing battery life. If the input-to-output voltage ratio were to allow the buck converter to operate close to its “sweet spot” in terms of the duty cycle, there would be very little common-mode EMI noise. For this example, optimal buck operation would require stepping the ~57V battery voltage down to ~12V. Many hard-switching MOSFET-based buck converters overheat when powered from >24V as opposed to the lower VIN at which their “97% efficiency” is specified due to switching losses. The switching losses scale exponentially proportionally to VIN generating significantly more heat when upgrading from a 24V platform to a 48 or 57V platform for example. Reducing switching frequency reduces losses and minimum on-time issues; however, this increases the size of output inductors and capacitors.

Figure 1: The two robotics platforms are vastly different sizes, but their power delivery networks have much in common. A modular approach offers flexibility in the initial designs and typically faster delivery of subsequent power systems design.

Here, the rapid adoption of 48V backplanes in other highpower computing and automotive applications provides a model for similarly improving robotic systems. As a result, some manufacturers have improved buck converter efficiencies to a true 96 – 97% for >48-to-12V outputs, and with similar results for outputs as low as 2.5V.

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WHITE PAPER For perspective on available choices, Figure 3 shows typical efficiencies, losses and sizes for several 600W, 12V converters using a 40 – 60V input measured under the same conditions at 80% load: ■ Solution A: a ZVS isolated flyback converter, a common first choice for many designers during development ■ Solution B: another ZVS isolated flyback converter but with higher-voltage transistors for wider input voltage range. This can be useful for covering multiple input voltage platforms ■ Solution C: a synchronous ZVS buck converter with low switching losses and no transformer losses ■ Solution D: a Sine Amplitude Converter (SAC™) (a type of fixed-ratio DC-DC converter) stepping VIN down by a factor of ¼. This solution requires very few storage elements due to its high bandwidth and no regulation ■ Solution E: a SAC as in Solution D co-packaged with a buckboost converter adding in losses of a regulator but still rivaling a quarter-brick DC-DC in efficiency with 1/16th the size albeit at a narrower 40 – 60V input Figure 3: 600W, 48-to12V solutions to scale, including required external components. (A) 36 – 75V, 320W isolated, regulated modules x2. (B) 43 – 154V, 240W wide-range isolated, regulated modules x3. (C) 30 – 60V, 216W, 18A buck converter x4. (D) 40 – 60V, 750W fixedratio converter x1. (E) 40 – 60V, 750W buck-boost + fixed-ratio x1. Power dissipation measured using production units.

For larger voltage steps than what typical buck converters can handle without lowering their switching frequency, increasing their size or compromising performance too much, a modular two-step DC-DC approach that is commonly used in data center applications (Factorized Power) can be used (Figure 4). A 36 – 75V buck-boost regulator sets an accurate 48V at 96 – 98% efficiency at the input of a 97.8% 4:1 current multiplier (fixed-ratio converter discussed below), achieving smaller space and high dynamic performance, reliability, and efficiency. For improved voltage regulation, the regulator’s feedback can be taken from the output of the current multiplier. The 75V rating was chosen over 60V as the source voltage may see peaks above 60V in motor drive environments as discussed below.

Figure 4: Diagram of a 720W (1kW peak) 48-to-12V buck converter, consisting of two conversion stages.

Fixed-ratio converters: higher-performance voltage transformation/isolation

Fixed-ratio converters such as the Sine Amplitude Converter (SAC™) (Figure 3D) represent the best efficiency performance compared to either buck converters or isolated DC-DC. As the name implies, they convert an input voltage (VIN) to an output voltage (VOUT) at a fixed ratio of K = VOUT/VIN without regulating it. Any fluctuation in the input voltage results in a fluctuation in the output scaled by K without delay of any control loop.

Conceptually, the internal operation of the SAC converter has three stages: ■ An input-side switching stage that converts the DC input into a sinusoid. ■ An ideal transformer stage that scales the ac voltage/current by the ratio of the turns between the input and output side. ■ An output-side synchronous rectifier that converts the sinusoidal transformer output back to DC. Efficiencies up to 98% in fixed-ratio converters are possible through the use of zero-current, zero-voltage switching (ZCS/ ZVS) in the switching stages, minimizing the switching losses and allowing much higher switching frequencies, commonly in the few MHz range, than hard switching converters. The subsequent proportional reduction of reactive components and EMI filters results in a small footprint and much higher power density. Fixed-ratio converters are analogous to AC transformers which themselves are basically fixed-ratio converters for grid power distribution. Transformers are instrumental to the practical distribution of power throughout the world. Transmitting power over distance at many multiples of the source and load voltage results in much lower current to be transmitted at these high voltages, resulting in lightweight low-cost transmission lines and only short runs of low-voltage cable near the point(s)-of-load. The analogy spans multiple points since fixed-ratio converters are also capable of bidirectional operation/ regeneration of step up the battery voltage efficiently to power much highervoltage loads, essentially creating a virtual higher-voltage

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battery and/or transmission line. It also allows applications to regenerate braking energy into the high-voltage battery or bus. Fixed-ratio converters can be easily paralleled and inherently share current based on a voltage droop-share method, with current-sharing accuracy based on the impedance of each parallel branch. Isolated fixed-ratio converters like many DC-DC converters can be connected with outputs in series (Figure 5) to produce multiple isolated outputs from a battery, eliminating the need for auxiliary batteries in the vehicle and reducing the number of converters and system weight, all while simplifying the design of the robotic frame. For example, assume a 400V system needing low-impedance 12V and 24V rails. Two isolated 1:32 converters with outputs in series may create both buses by tapping the series connection or their midpoint. The possibilities are endless.

input capacitance, by a factor of 256 as illustrated in Figure 6. The physical size of such an input capacitor would be a small fraction of the size of an equivalent output capacitor, considering the RESR, voltage rating, longevity and performance, while the equivalent output capacitor rivals the size of the converter itself. With regulated DC-DC converters, this is possible to an extent. The regulation loops of these converters have a much lower bandwidth when compared with a fixed-ratio converter. These associated delays in addition to delays related to the discontinuous conduction mode of many converters effectively increase their impedance, limiting the effect.

Figure 6: Impedance reflection can reduce the effective source impedance—and therefore the needed capacitance—by a factor of K2.

For highly dynamic powerful loads like these, the reduction in resistive and inductive impedances can improve dynamic as well as static performance. Because motors are typically driven using high-frequency pulses with large instantaneous changes in current, significant source impedance will distort the voltage and current present at their terminals. Similarly, parasitic inductances within an extensive PDN can limit the current available to the motor windings, limiting torque. Figure 5: Input parallel, series output connection of isolated, fixedratio converters which can sum their output voltages.

Application considerations in robotics Lightweight low-impedance harnessing, stability of power

Impedance reflection can reduce the effective source distribution network impedance The above bring us to applying simple principles for power Fixed-ratio converters reflect impedance from primary to secondary, resembling grid-tied AC transformers. This is beneficial in robotic applications since when impedances are reflected across the transformer their magnitudes are scaled by the square of their conversion ratio.

The impedance reflection effect can be leveraged to maximize the utility of storage elements such as bulk bypass capacitors, EMI filters, and other circuit parameters even in lower-voltage systems like the two mobile robots in the initial example. Consider the 770V self-driving vehicle system that distributes the high voltage across a large robotic frame before converting it to a low voltage for highly dynamic loads such as servo-drives or AI processors: from the perspective of the load looking back toward the source, the impedance of the battery, in addition to all distribution impedances, would appear to be significantly lower than the actual impedance. When the 770V battery voltage is converted to ~48V using a K = 1/16 fixed-ratio converter (BCM4414), the result is a reduction of the source impedance, and therefore of the

distribution routing and harnesses as power needs increase, exploring higher voltage distribution converting to the load voltage near the load with discussed converters so lower currents reduce distribution losses, (dynamic) voltage drops and EMI interference. In addition low inductance layout and wiring utilizing field-cancellation with tight loops, twisted wires or routing on adjacent PCB planes may also help. Converters generally need their source’s AC impedance 10x smaller than the load impedance up to the bandwidth of their control loop, particularly with dynamic loads to limit voltage drops as shown in the example with Figure 8, in line with the Middlebrook Criterion of stability analysis. So while optimizing wire gauge for ampacity, its AC impedance can be reduced with appropriately sized capacitors at the input of the converters, also reducing ac current losses and interference in longer wire runs.

Efficiency and battery life

The losses of DC-DC converters may seem negligible in regards to battery life as they tend to be an order of magnitude lower than their loads, but they can deceptively add up in form of

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WHITE PAPER no-load losses when the associated payload is in sleep mode. As any data sheet review reveals, transformer-based DC‑DC converters tend to draw substantial power when enabled to operate their controls and magnetize/demagnetize the main switching transformer; they can easily add up to 0.5 – 1% of their full power capability. Some regulated converters consume even more power at no-load, requiring or building in a pre-load of a few percent of the maximum load to stabilize output. Disabling these converters along with their loads when not needed may be a good option, but even disabled, power dissipation can be substantial. Choosing as few transformerbased converters as possible, ideally one per isolation barrier needed, followed by buck or buck-boost converters for additional outputs to the same return can reduce idle-losses proportionally. The quiescent current of many buck or buck-boost converters is in milli-amperes due to the utilization of techniques such as pulse-skipping, or more advanced techniques.

Fixed-ratio or regulated conversion?

If the input voltage range of the load is equal to or wider than that of the source, a fixed-ratio converter may be the best option due to its size, efficiency and performance.

Highly dynamic loads

When powering a motor drive directly from a battery, voltage drops occur due to both battery and cable impedances, and these impedances also limit current. Both voltage drops and current limits are a function of wire gauges and the load’s distance from the source. Using a fixed-ratio converter lowers the effective source impedance seen by the load, but this also increases the peak currents seen by the converter and ultimately by the source. Protections built into the converter to protect against overcurrent and short-circuit faults may be triggered by highly dynamic loads and should be considered during the design. See Figure 8 for example, the 770V input voltage and current supplying four 35A, K = 1/16 fixed-ratio converters (like the ones in Figure 7) are shown. Using Figure 6 as a block diagram, ROUT = 3.5mΩ and ZPDN = 10Ω (including a negligible battery impedance) to power a 48V motor drive. Placing the converter near the motor-drive makes it see the 10Ω source as only 10/256 = ~40mΩ, for a total 43.5mΩ including ROUT with no 48V cable. The peak current sourced is 14.7A, as the low-impedance converter provides the PWM current peaks in addition to the average current, necessitating it to be specified at the 4 – 5A higher peak-current capability.

A 770-to-48V 1.5kW fixed-ratio converter (Figure 7) has about 1/2 – 1/3 of the losses of a regulated DC-DC forward converter as the latter has additional losses in the transformer and due to the regulation stage. A less fair but practical comparison is to the AC-DC converter that previously fed the same drive from the vehicle’s AC generator with additional losses generated by the rectifier and typical PFC boost stage. It further illustrates the advantages of utilizing DC grids, whether in buildings, large equipment or robotic vehicles. While for the latter two recent developments may achieve respectively 94% and 91% under comparable conditions, the fixed-ratio converter does

not have the same regulation function or the associated losses. Figure 7: (from top to bottom) K = 1/16 fixed-ratio converter with heat sink, a commercially available regulated DC-DC converter array with heat sink, and a generator-driven AC-DC converter (fan-cooled).

Figure 8: (top) Oscilloscope image at 20ms/div of the 770V input [red] at 100V/div and current [yellow] at 2A/div accelerating a 48V motor through a 6kW [8kW peak] fixed-ratio converter showing acceleration steps and PWM pulses, (bottom) peak detail at 100μs/div.

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Figure 9 shows impedance reflection in action. A 10μF, 30mΩ RESR input capacitor is used instead of a bulky 10mF, 3mΩ RESR capacitor at the output. This reduced input ripple current on the source cable from 11 to 1AP-P, greatly reducing losses due to the reduction in ac impedance from 10 to ~1Ω. The peak current dropped to 9.75A with a small output LC filter — above the converter’s 8.75A continuous current limit but well within the 14A short-term current limit.

Power regeneration and input voltage considerations

During dynamic operation or braking, a motor drive may act as a generator. In our 57V example, the regenerating primary motor drive’s reversing current will charge the battery through the connecting harness, raising its voltage along the path proportionally to the associated impedances, possibly to above 60V. Any DC-DC converter powered by it would then have to be rated not at the commonly available 60V but to a higher voltage. The schematic in Figure 6 also applies to power distribution networks where a motor drive such is powered by a bidirectional converter, such as our example in Figure 8. Regenerating energy can raise the voltage on both the low voltage and high voltage terminals proportional to ZOUT through the converter. If the converter is unidirectional this regenerative energy is blocked and only the output capacitor COUT is charged. So the regenerative energy and its resulting voltage rises should be limited if possible to stay within the maximum output voltage specification of the converters and COUT, or a brake-circuit can be implemented to absorb the energy.

Summary

To optimize performance and increase range, productivity and flexibility, robotic system designers are encouraged to map out the power tree of their application and weigh different types of converter combinations and PDN design strategies. It is advantageous to distribute a higher voltage across a platform and transform it close to point-of-load to the required voltage.

Figure 9: Converter output of 180APK (yellow) at 40A/div, input current (blue) at 2A/div. Ripple is reduced by capacitance placed a the input. (left) 20ms/div (bottom) 0.1ms/div

Capacitive loads

At start up, motor drives and computing boards act as large capacitive loads. Computing cards may have a large array of onboard buck converters, each equipped with bulk input capacitors, and/or additional LC filters. The DC-DC converter powering them needs to have either a generously specified allowable external load capacitance or to be followed by a form of pre-charge circuit to work with large capacitive loads as is often the case powering motor drives with fixedratio converters. This is an often-overlooked item until late in the design. Some regulators, particularly buck-boosts, are also designed for battery charging and allow for a separate current- control loop and/or adjustable soft-start time, allowing for them to be used with massive load capacitances.

Creative use of Vicor high-density, high-performance fixed-ratio converters modules and buck and/ or buck-boost regulator modules likely will achieve optimal performance for each load with efficient and lightweight power delivery. Combining these makes it possible to standardize on highly-efficient, nonisolated end power stages that have a moderately wide input range. These can be connected to higher-voltage battery architectures through fixed-ratio converters deployed with appropriate transfer ratios.

About the Authors

Anna Giasson is an Applications Engineer at Vicor Corp., Andover, MA. She has designed switchedmode AC-DC power supplies with active PFC. She is obtaining her Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2015. Stavros “Steve” Dokopoulos is a field applications engineer at Vicor Corp, Richmond, Virginia. He obtained his Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1989 and has worked in the power electronics industry since.

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BIG PICTURE

AI & Robotics Transforming the Healthcare Industry

By adoption of artificial intelligence and robotics, healthcare industry can be transformed drastically. Numerous companies have already started investing in the same industry. Tata Elxsi is amongst the world’s leading providers of design and technology services across industries including Automotive, Broadcast, Communications, Healthcare and Transportation. Tata Elxsi is helping customers reimagine their products and services through design thinking and application of digital technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), Cloud, Mobility, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence. In an email interaction with Nitisha from BISinfotech; Biswajit Biswas, Chief Data Scientist, Tata Elxsi explains the transformation of healthcare in India through the usages of AI and robotics.

Biswajit Biswas

Chief Data Scientist, Tata Elxsi

permanently reimbursable. The other marker that shows increased activity in this space is investments in digital health. For example, 2020 saw 3-times more venture-capital led investments compared to 2017. In conclusion, telehealth is here to stay for good, and Covid-19 pandemic gave a boost to telemedicine and many medical specialties will immensely benefit from it. telehealth as people were indoors. What are your takes on it? Tata Elxsi has been working on building telehealth solutions for You are right. Covid-19 took the entire world by storm. There was more than 10-years. We have established ourselves as a preferred hardly any time to prepare for what was to come. Countries design, engineering, and regulatory compliance service provider around the world reacted with stringent actions and guidelines to healthcare businesses. Our end-to-end capabilities have to tackle the spread. While some countries contained the allowed us to successfully commercialize solutions ranging from proliferation of covid-19 to a large extent, most of them bore a connected medical devices, mHealth applications, Software as high social and economic burden. However, a common theme a Medical Device (SaMD) to a complete telehealth platform for between all the countries was the unprecedented stress that video consultations. Last year, we launched our HIPAA and GDPR overwhelmed healthcare systems. The covid-19 outbreak has compliant customizable digital health platform that virtualizes major exposed how inadequate our global healthcare systems are to touchpoints across the patient journey leading to improved patient deal with the rising healthcare demand. We saw elective surgeries experience. Since its launch, we have witnessed high interest not getting deferred to a later date and hospitalizations only for life- only from the healthcare providers but also from the medical threatening conditions. device and pharmaceutical drug manufacturers. It indicates that Telehealth became a necessity for people and healthcare healthcare businesses are more open to transitioning to digital providers to continue regular consultations and care for chronic platforms for healthcare services and patient engagement. In conditions. In the US, telehealth services have been used 78 conclusion, telehealth is here to stay for good, and many medical times higher for outpatient care and consultation compared specialties will immensely benefit from it. with February 2020, according to public reports. Apart from the What are your points on the increasing popularity of Remote willingness of patients and providers to use telehealth services, diagnosis and efficient health monitoring measures using AI? government backing also contributed immensely to the upsurge in telehealth adoption. The government realized the need and Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is establishing itself as an effective waived off regulatory requirements. Likewise, they also brought tool for chronic condition management and longitudinal care. As providers aim to replace a considerable number of in-patient it under the purview of reimbursable services. The demand for telehealth has since stabilized following the first monitoring with RPM in the coming years, we expect further increase last year. It is, nevertheless, considerably higher than growth in this field. Moreover, traditional technology businesses like before the pandemic. We have noted improvement in the Apple, Google, and others have started investing in healthcare attitude of public and healthcare businesses towards telehealth. and wellness devices and solutions, expanding their product and The government has also made certain telehealth services services ecosystem.

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The volume of patient health data has expanded significantly with the massive influx of wearable devices. While RPM devices generate valuable patient health data but collecting the data is not the end goal. To integrate these RPM-derived data streams into clinical workflows, data analytics and clinical AI are essential to produce accurate predictions for preventive measures. For instance, the combination of AI and RPM can help providers generate a holistic view of a patient or population for actionable insights and timely intervention leading to better clinical and financial outcomes. AI is now considered a vital piece of all remote monitoring and diagnosis programs. On the upstream, AI can help providers recruit patients likely to respond to RPM interventions by analyzing their clinical, socioeconomic, and experiential data. Further downstream, it enables proactive care such as early diagnosis of chronic conditions, anticipating adverse events, and mitigating disease progression. Moreover, the combination of remote monitoring and AI also promotes self-management of chronic conditions. We are developing digital health solutions that ingest patient health data and leverage AI to help patients with chronic conditions to gain more insights into their health and improve their self-management practices with personalized insights. AI can also influence the design of RPM devices. Although RPM has significant benefits such as reducing hospitalization days, chances of re-admissions, and improving the quality of diagnosis and treatment, the challenge is the reluctance of patients to accept the technology that restricts their mobility and various social and cultural issues. While the technology has improved significantly over the past few years, for example, the smaller form factor of the wearable device, longer battery life, there is a lot of scope for further improvement using AI. Using advanced AI algorithms, manufacturers can reduce the number of sensors in the wearable device and still maintain the device's efficacy. AI algorithms can identify complex conditions using minimal data points. We are seeing many RPM products are already using state-of-the-art AI-based diagnostics and doing a lot of heavy lifting in the cloud, making the device side thin and non-intrusive to the patient. AI-driven RPM will have a relatively lesser learning curve which will further propel its adoption. The government of India initiated digital health IDs for all Indian citizens. This initiative will enable data aggregation at the individual and macro levels to leverage digital services using AI. So all these indicate the steps in the right direction for AI and data-driven services.

How technology is changing the role of doctors as well as the role of patients? Technologies are disrupting the care delivery landscape. We are seeing the shift in the locus of control from physician to patient. The patients are becoming more aware, involved, and empowered with this shift. For example, digitization has moved a lot of traditional medical knowledge, which was exclusive to medical doctors, to the public or digital sphere. Additionally, technologies such as IoT, sensors, telecommunications, AI, etc., are enabling "care anywhere" for patients. Doctors, on the other hand, are the new-age system architects and managers. AI is bringing one more layer to augment the decision process and reducing the workload on doctors and caregivers.

Also, when healthcare is shifting to outcome-based reimbursements, doctors and clinicians have more incentive to upskill themselves for technologies. As it is evident from the current scenario, technology will eventually become widespread in the clinical environment. Medical practitioners must design care pathways that harness technology capabilities to deliver optimal clinical outcomes and financial outcomes.

Has AI reduced the healthcare costs? Explain. Perhaps the most common incentive to leverage AI in healthcare is to reduce the cost of service when the burden for outcomes is on the providers. Providers tend to incur highcost due to wasted medical expenditure. One of the common reasons for high medical spending is treatment variability or misallocated treatments with little to no therapeutic value. AI can tap into patient data such as EHR and RPM data to identify optimal care pathways personalized to the clinical need of the patients. Moreover, providers can enable preventive services for patients with chronic conditions to lower the likelihood of hospital re-admission resulting in optimal utilization of healthcare resources, including hospital staff. Artificial intelligence or machine learning is also anticipated to play a key role in cost modelling by revealing prospects for cost reduction in specific diseases and treatments. Researchers have shown that 75% of all healthcare expenditure can be attributed to high-cost patients who make up less than 20% of all patients. Addressing high-cost patients could result in an immediate impact on the overall healthcare expenditure. Such machine learningbased cost prediction models can also be applied to specific disease treatment and cost estimation. For example, adopting AI in radiology diagnostics has already started reducing the cost of diagnosis, early detection is helping to reduce the cost of recovery and prognostics. AI-enabled automation has been reducing the overall time for the overall process and thereby reducing the cost of treatment. As more and more AI applications such as virtual nurse assistants, administrative workflow assistants, fraud detection, connected machines, image analysis, cybersecurity, etc. are getting adopted, it improves the prospects of maximizing their savings.

What are the challenges of AI in healthcare? While its role is valuable in healthcare, AI has key obstacles to deploy and use in the actual world. The key challenge is to transition doctors from traditional decision-making to AI-supported decisionmaking. Healthcare software vendors need to collaborate with medical practitioners throughout the AI-based solution lifecycle to ensure the clinical validity of the solutions. Healthcare solution providers can also establish a feedback loop with the users to optimize their AI models for better efficiency and accuracy. Apart from improved accuracy of the model, it will also ensure easy integration in the clinical workflow. Additionally, medical practitioners will feel involved and empowered to use AI-based solutions. We must also understand that the AI models are as good as the data they are trained on. AI-based solution providers need to be transparent about the data used in building the algorithm allowing practitioners to make educated AI-supported clinical decisions instead of AI-biased decisions.

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BIG PICTURE

Arvind Patil

Business Head of Selectra India

An Exceptional Start To Selectra India- Astounds Indian Telecom Industry! An unorthodox company, Selectra is all set to enter the Indian market. In an exclusive interview with Arvind Patil, Business Head of Selectra India states his plans and goals to empower customers to make meaningful telecom decisions. BIS in this edited exceprts below try to unveil this new innovative approach which is set to bring a new course of time for the Indian telecom industry.

Selectra India Entrance in India and Strategies to Astound Customers with you Cutting-Edge Services? Selectra India is all set to create waves of difference in the conventional method of presenting services. Aimed at being the best solutions provider in the telecom industry, we are bent upon unveiling innovative ideas that help telecom subscribers

make sound decisions. The major players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Vodafone Idea have created a network of plans and packages for their subscribers. Internet and mobile subscribers are increasing day by day in the country. With several service providers offering numerous options, Indian users find themselves deep down in a sea of confusion. Selectra India comes to their rescue by giving them proper and accurate guidance. The comprehensive comparisons between mobile - internet plans, OTT service providers and DTH providers will not be found elsewhere. You click on our pages and get the most updated information on the telecom industry.

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What’s different about Selectra India and your unusual approach to content presentation? What’s different about Selectra India? We do not just give out information. We collect, curate, verify and evaluate every piece of data that goes on our website. You get only the best and most reliable information regarding mobile and internet plans. For those of you who are looking to find updates on the Entertainment and sports industry, look no further. Selectra India has a collection of blogs and guides that prove useful in gaining knowledge on a wide variety of telecom-related topics. Are you a business owner? Then we have the best business plans for you. Are you a homemaker- We have affordable and cost-saving packs for you? Each customer will find customised plans according to his/her need. Delivering quality content with the best interests of the customer at heart is what we do and what we will continue to be doing. We eliminate the need for tiring searches on the internet to get comprehensive data on plans and offers. One website -complete information.

Strategies to become a transcontinental force? Selectra saw its beginnings in 2007 when the founders Aurian and Xavier decided to start a service aimed at being the best source of reliable guidance about gas and electricity deals. Saving bills for ordinary people became the motto of the company. With the dedication and hard work pouring in from each employee, Selectra extended services into various arenas including the telecom industry. Today Selectra stands at the 653rd rank amongst the fastest-growing companies in Europe. Our brilliant presence is seen in 17 countries across the globe. Customers in all these countries are exceedingly happy with the services we provide. You can spot us in the following countries: - India, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany,

Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Bulgaria, Ireland, Turkey, Australia, Texas (USA), and Japan. y Our biggest strength -An ever-increasing loyal customer base y Our Constant Focus- Customer Satisfaction and empowerment

Key Message you want to convey on behalf of the company? Within 4 months of launch we started getting traction and there are about 2500 visitors daily, which represents the audience's need and that they are consuming the required information. It's our pleasure that we are managing to fulfil their expectations and helping them to save their bills. During this pandemic, we have seen the Digital transformation and development of telecom base. We are keener towards helping homes and businesses make the right choice of investment and save bills to support a better India!

How do you see the rapid augmentation in the growth of the indian telecom industry? India is witnessing exponential growth in the telecom subscriber base. Currently, India ranks at the second position with a customer base of 1.17 billion. According to our sources, there are 765.1 million broadband customers as of February 2021. Take a look at the outstanding figures in the Indian telecom industry.

Highlights

y A huge digital economy of $1 tn is predicted by the year 2025 y The number of internet users (active) in India is predicted to be 900 mn by the year 2025 y It is expected that there will be 410 mn more smartphone users in India by the year 2025 y In terms of FDI inflows, the Indian telecom sector is now at the third position with 7.1 % of the total FDI inflow y The telecom sector contributes to 2.2 Mn jobs directly and 1.8 Mn jobs indirectly. y Currently, the telecom sector contributes 6.5 per cent to the country's GDP y It is expected that the sector will contribute 8 per cent to the GDP in 2022. We are witnessing a telecom revolution in the country and can very proudly say that Selectra India plays a significant role in the development of an active and well-informed telecom subscriber base.

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WHITE PAPER

Convection and conduction cooling – what’s next? Ever since their introduction, keeping the temperature of a power supply down to a level that guarantees the highest levels of performance and safety has been a major concern for power designers. Considering the amazing increase in power densities that we have witnessed during the last 20 years, thermal management has become a preponderant part of the design process. Layout and mechanical design are now as important as efficiency topologies, and how to evacuate the calories out of modules has become an art!

The race to get greater power density!

Efficient thermal management has been one of the challenges that I faced in the early nineties when working for the microelectronics company Micro-Gisco. I took part in the design of a 100W DC/DC converter in a package size equivalent to what is today called a quarter-brick, for an application where the environmental temperature flirted with the junction temperature. At that time, the only technology available was to use thick film technology and chips bounding on a ceramic substrate. In such types of applications the only way to guarantee efficient cooling was through a base plate attached to a fluid refrigerant exchanger. There’s no need to explain the importance of conduction cooling and efficient thermal management, that remains in every power designer’s mind. At the same time, with the development of mobile telecommunications the increased demand for integrated power solutions contributed to the emergence of the so called ‘bricks’, and a race to package more power into smaller sizes began. The increases of power have been really impressive. One example is the increase in power density of the so called ‘quarter-brick’. In March 2000, the power modules division of ERICSSON (EPM) launched a state of the art 100W quarter brick DC/DC converter, the PKM 4000 series. 20 years later FLEX Power Module (which acquired EPM in 2017) launched a 1300W quarter brick, the BMR480 (Figure 01).

Increasing the output power by a factor of more than 10 in less than 20 years is the result of a combination of more efficient topologies, digital control, new components, heavy-copper multilayer PCBs, integrated magnetics and outstanding layouts - but not only! - to guarantee full performance of such products, efficient cooling is a Must!

Keeping Fourier’s Law in mind

Over the last 20 years power electronics engineers have improved products’ efficiency to a high level, and we are all aiming to reach the magical figure of 99.99%. But until then we have to manage the heat generated by the power losses. A 1000W DC/DC converter with a typical efficiency of 97% will have to dissipate 31W [Pd = Pout x ((1-Ƞ) / Ƞ)]. Considering an average ambient temperature in a telecom or industrial equipment of 55 degrees Celsius, efficient cooling will be required to guarantee the internal temperature of the module does not exceed the safety limit specified by the manufacturer e.g., +105 degrees C at specified test point.

Picture 02 - in 1822 the French Physician Joseph Fourier demonstrated that the time rate of heat transfer through a material is proportional to the negative gradient in the temperature and to the area. (credit: PRBX)

As we all remember from school, in 1822 the French Physician Joseph Fourier (Figure 02) demonstrated that the time rate of heat transfer through a material is proportional to the negative gradient in the temperature and to the area. Fourier’s laws (Figure 03) of thermal conduction governs the principle of heat exchange from the lowest level e.g., the semiconductor junction to ambient. Thermal resistance is the reciprocal of thermal conductance. Just as an electrical resistance is associated with the conduction of electricity, a thermal resistance may be associated with the conduction of heat. Making the thermal resistance as low as possible is a challenge for all power designers and that’s where electronics meets thermodynamics.

Picture 01 - In 20 years the quarter-brick output power increased by an average factor of more than 10x. (Credits: PRBX/FLEX Power Modules)

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Picture 03 – Fourier’s Law formula of thermal conduction (Credit: PRBX)

The building practices of AC/DC and DC/DC power modules are optimized to evacuate the heat through a conduction cooling mechanism from silicon to an exchanger surface e.g., aluminum baseplate. In most common applications a heatsink is attached to the baseplate and cooled by a flow of air, thus evacuating heat from the module (Figure 04). In telecom/datacom applications a 400 LFM (2 m/s) airflow circulating inside the rack to cool the overall system is very common, but some very high power density systems may require up to the double that (800 LFM (4 m/s), which is very noisy and reduces the life time of fans and cooling turbines. Air forced cooling is the most common method to keep the temperature within safe limits though there are a number of applications where such cooling methods are not possible, and there are a growing number of concerns about reliability and sustainability related to that. Usually the air ventilated through datacenters and other high power equipment is exhausted outside the building, the calories are not converted into any usable resource, and in addition to that most of the datacenters requiring air-conditioning systems consume a lot of energy, which is a major concern.

Picture 04 – Illustration of a typical Power Module being cooled by an attached heatsink. Just as an electrical resistance is associated with the conduction of electricity, a thermal resistance may be associated with the conduction of heat. (Credit: PRBX)

When forced air cooling is not an option

There are a number of applications where it is not possible or even allowed to use active ventilation. In harsh environments or in applications where the required reliability level imposes the need to remove all possible risks of failure, fans and blowers are not allowed. Here are a few examples. Industrial machinery such as laser cutting equipment that generates burnt particles, smoke, and steam have their monitoring and control boxes sealed to avoid contamination and the risk of damage as a result of the cutting process.

Picture 05 – Example of a thermal conduction platform, optimized for conduction cooling, with all dissipating components attached to the baseplate. (Credit: PRBX)

In order to power the control system the power supply is enclosed in a sealed box, requiring the dissipated heat to be extracted by conduction from the chassis, or the need for it to be attached to a cold-wall. To make the cooling as efficient as possible the power supply is designed with a large base-plate to which all dissipating components are attached (Figure 05). In some equipment a liquid cooling is required to cool vital parts, e.g., a laser or plasma torch during operation. In such applications the power supply benefits from the fluid circulation and the baseplate attached to a cooling element (Figure 06).

Picture 06 – In demanding applications, a liquid cooling element can be added to PSU baseplate to facilitate the evacuation of calories (Credit: PRBX/SUNON)

Industrial surveillance and safety equipment may be installed in remote places where exposure to extreme weather conditions is common, and where maintenance can become complicated. In such installations reliability is extremely important, and system designers need to exclude all possible causes of failure. Despite significant improvements in quality, fans and blowers are subject to mechanical failure and are not suitable for such applications. Again, as in the previous example, cooling can only be achieved through conduction to the outside of the sealed box and a passive heat exchanger.

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WHITE PAPER When silence is golden

There is also a growing demand for equipment that is installed in supervisory rooms or even offices, that for the comfort and health of the employees, generated noise is simply not produced or very much limited. One example is open-landscape offices where in some cases noise levels can be as high as 60 to 65 decibels. This may seem minor compared to say a busy highway that generates 85 decibels, but it can make cognitively demanding work difficult to undertake, with subsequent effects on health and safety. In fact a number of companies now require noise levels in open-landscape offices to be below 55 decibels and local regulations taking place.

For more information

Visit www.prbx.com Please contact Patrick Le Fèvre, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer +46 (0)158 703 00 Reference: PRBXA-037-EN

About the author:

Such situations include equipment installed in the room, and from computers to large displays e.g. as used in road or air traffic control office, noise levels must be reduced to the lowest level possible, and noisy forced air cooling is banned. In such conditions the power supply must be designed to be able to operate without ventilation, using a conduction cooling solution.

In conclusion:

Designing a power supply for conduction cooling requires power designers to work in very different ways compared to when designing a power supply that benefits from a high airflow and extensive cooling. Conduction cooled power supplies used to be considered as an anecdotic segment, though new environmental regulations may soon require a number of forced-air cooled applications to move to more environmentally friendly solutions and conduction cooling.

References:

Powerbox (PRBX): https://www.prbx.com/ Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur par M. FOURRIER - 1822 https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1045508v.texteImage# FLEX Power Modules : https://flexpowermodules.com/

Patrick Le Fèvre

Powerbox Chief Marketing & Communication Officer Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Powerbox, Patrick Le Fèvre is an experienced, senior marketer and degreequalified engineer with a 35-year track record of success in power electronics. He has pioneered the marketing of new technologies such as digital power and technical initiatives to reduce energy consumption. Le Fèvre has written and presented numerous white papers and articles at the world’s leading international power electronics conferences. These have been published over 350 times in media throughout the world. He is also involved in several environmental forums, sharing his expertise and knowledge of clean energy.

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INDUSTRY KART

Mouser’s Wide Range of Technical eBooks for Design Engineers

Mouser Electronics has been continuously supporting engineers by offering new technical resources. This year, the global distributor has released more eBooks than ever before, collaborating with top manufacturers to provide practical guides that offer design engineers the information to solve new engineering challenges. For the latest eBooks, Mouser collaborated with Amphenol

Corporation, Bourns and Maxim Integrated (now part of Analog Devices): • Enabling the Industrial IoT Revolution from Amphenol In Enabling the Industrial IoT Revolution, subject matter experts from Mouser and Amphenol offer detailed insights into topics including industrial data centers; heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) systems; and indoor air quality systems as well as smart manufacturing, intelligent automation, construction, and mining. • How to Choose the Right Surge Protection Technology from Bourns Increasing complexity in electronic designs has led to a matching increase in PCB density. As a result, these denser board layouts are at a greater risk of damage from transients like lightning and voltage surges. In How to Choose the Right Surge Protection Technology from Bourns and Mouser, engineers receive a step-by-step guide on how to choose the right surge protection technology for a given application.

Digi-Key & Make Unveil 2021 Boards Guide and AR App

element14 Releases Final Episode of its Podcast Series

Digi-Key Electronics and Make have launched the 2021 Boards Guide and companion Digi-Key AR augmented reality app available in both the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play store for Android-based mobile devices. Divided into sections for the microcontroller (MCU), singleboard controller (SBC) and field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based boards, the guide helps students, makers and professional engineers identify the latest technology available to help bring innovation to life. As a companion to this year’s guide, Digi-Key is proud to announce an augmented reality app leveraging cameras, displays and sensors in today’s mobile devices. With over 50 boards available in AR, the app is the best way to virtually interact with these leading platforms. The Digi-Key AR app is designed to work in conjunction with the guide or as a standalone experience. With detailed comparisons of over 150 boards, there is no better way to find the right solution for rapid prototyping and embedded design from leading vendors including Adafruit, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, SparkFun, BeagleBone, Micro:bit, Seeed Studio, STMicroelectronics, Microchip, Cypress and more. New to this year’s guide is a highlighted case study on the recently introduced Raspberry Pi 2040 MCU-based solutions. Within its first year, there have been over 60 boards developed from various suppliers cementing the new microcontroller architecture’s place in the embedded design world. Another exclusive available only from within the app includes a video from industry visionaries on what the future will bring to embedded boards.

element14 has launched the sixth and final episode in the first season of its global podcast series, The Innovation Experts. This brand-new episode highlights how portable test and measurement tools have disrupted the industry status quo, regarding a series of ground-breaking application stories. Justin Sheard, a Senior Engineer and Industrial Imaging Specialist at Fluke, joins element14’s Cliff Ortmeyer to provide an overview of rugged, safe and easy-to-use handheld instruments which meet the portability requirements of the modern engineer. Justin shares insights on some interesting new technologies that can improve system reliability and greatly reduce costs, such as using acoustic imaging to locate difficult-to-find leaks in industrial compressed air systems. All previous podcast episodes are available now on element14’s new Technical Resources Hub including: • Episode 1: Test equipment drives hybrid working and remote learning – The debut episode of the series focuses on how Pico Technology’s PC-based oscilloscopes and RF testing products have enabled hybrid working and new ways of remote learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mike Purday, Business Development Manager from Pico Technology, discusses the capabilities and impact of using low-cost PCbased scopes. • Episode 2: Fast-tracking innovation: Emerging trends and techniques – As Tektronix and Keithley celebrate their 75th anniversary, the second episode of podcast provides a brief historical perspective about how both companies have helped drive innovation in some of the world’s leading industries.

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INDUSTRY UPDATES

ST Modifies its Executive Committee

Infineon Acquires Syntronixs Asia

STMicroelectronics (ST) has recently approved the following changes to the Executive Committee, entrusted with the management of the Company and led by ST’s President & CEO Jean-Marc Chery as its Chairman on whose proposal the Supervisory Board made the certain changes. These changes will be effective January 1st, 2022. Marco Cassis will be appointed President, Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group. In addition to his Product Group role, Cassis will retain many corporate responsibilities, namely Strategy Development, System Research and Applications and the Innovation Office. Remi El-Ouazzane will be appointed President of the Microcontroller and Digital ICs Group, following Claude Dardanne’s decision to retire at the end of the year from this position. El-Ouazzane is joining ST from Intel, where he has been Chief Operating Officer of Intel’s Artificial Intelligence Products Group and, more recently, Chief Strategy Officer of the Datacenter Platform Group. Lorenzo Grandi is confirmed in his Chief Financial Officer role and will be appointed President of Finance, Purchasing, ERM and Resilience. Jerome Roux, currently Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific Region, will be appointed President, Sales & Marketing. His responsibilities will include ST Regions (EMEA, Americas, Asia Pacific and China), on top of the Global Key Account and Demand Planning organizations. The following Presidents are confirmed in their current roles: Orio Bellezza, President, Technology, Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain; Rajita D’Souza, Chief Human Resources Officer, President, Human Resources & Corporate Social Responsibility; Marco Monti, President, Automotive and Discrete Group; Steven Rose, President, Legal Counsel.

Infineon Technologies (Malaysia) has acquired Syntronixs Asia Sdn. Bhd., a Melaka-based electroplating company.Founded in 2006, Syntronixs Asia has a workforce of more than 500 people and has been a major service provider for Infineon since 2009. “Infineon is committed to taking the necessary steps to continuously enhance our global manufacturing footprint,” said Alexander Gorski, Executive Vice President, who is responsible for Infineon’s global Backend Operations. Thomas Kaufmann, Executive Vice President and COO of Infineon’s Automotive Division, said: “Through this acquisition, we have made another important step to strengthen the resilience of our supply chain”. The company specializes in precision electroplating, a key process in the assembly process of semiconductors, which is required to ensure the high quality and long-term reliability of Infineon’s products.

ROHM Broadens its SBDs Portfolio ROHM has recently expanded its portfolio of Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) by 24 new compact high-efficiency models (12 RBR series and 12 RBQ series). These devices – 178 in total are ideal for protection and rectification circuits in automotive, industrial equipment, and consumer applications. Diodes are commonly used in a variety of circuits for rectification and protection. Moreover, as lower power consumption is required in most applications, the adoption of SBDs – which are more efficient than other diodes – is on the rise. However, if VF is lowered to improve efficiency, IR which is inversely related to VF will become higher. This increases the risk of thermal runaway, so it is important to balance both VF and IR when selecting SBDs for circuit design. In response, ROHM strengthened its lineup of SBDs that balances small size with low VF and IR– characteristics demanded by the automotive sector. The market-proven RBR and RBQ series has been further expanded to include a lineup of compact high current, high voltage products that enable rectification and protection in a wider range of applications. Introducing a new process allows ROHM to improve the chip performance of both SBDs series by 25% (VF of RBR series in particular) over ROHM’s conventional products. Furthermore, the RBR series features excellent low VF characteristics – key to improving efficiency and reducing loss.

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Vishay Capacitors Named as 2021 Elektra Awards Finalist

Renesas Enters into FPGA Market

Vishay Intertechnology has declared that its Vishay BCcomponents SMDY1 series of surface-mount ceramic disc safety capacitors for EMI filtering has been chosen as a finalist for the 2021 Elektra Awards in the category of "Passive and Electromechanical Product of the Year." Presented by an Electronics magazine, the Elektra Awards recognize individuals and companies for their excellent performance, innovation, and contributions to the global electronics industry, with winners selected in 21 categories by an independent panel of expert judges. Finalists in the "Passive and Electromechanical Product of the Year" category were chosen based on demonstrated technical capabilities that differentiate them from competing products. SMDY1 series ceramic disc safety capacitors are the industry's first such devices to offer a Y1 rating of 500 VAC and 1500 VDC. Designed to withstand harsh, high humidity environments, the components also offer industry-high capacitance to 4.7 nF. The capacitors are ideal for EMI filtering and suppression in power supplies, solar inverters, smart meters, and LED drivers. The closest competing devices only offer capacitance up to 1.5 nF and Y1 ratings to 300 VAC, with no DC rating. In addition, the SMDY1 series offers higher humidity robustness with a Class IIB humidity grade (under IEC60384-14 annex I) and a moisture sensitivity level of 2a. Allowing for surface-mount assembly with a reflow soldering process, SMDY1 series capacitors reduce production costs. Compared to through-hole devices, they offer a lower profile and eliminate the need for clearance space on the backside of the PCB. RoHS-compliant and halogen-free, the components consist of a copper-plated ceramic disc and feature encapsulation made of flame-resistant epoxy resin under UL 94 V-0. Award winners will be announced at the Elektra Awards Dinner, taking place in London on Dec. 1 at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

Renesas Electronics has made its entry in the FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) market with a new line of very low-cost, very low-power devices. The ForgeFPGA Family will address the underserved market need for relatively small amounts of programmable logic that can be quickly and efficiently designed into cost-sensitive applications. The ForgeFPGA devices will provide dramatic cost savings versus other alternatives, including non-FPGA designs. By providing a high level of integration, they reduce overall board and system costs. Their projected price in the volume of well under US$ 0.50, opens up applications that previously couldn’t use FPGAs due to cost constraints, including highvolume consumer and IoT applications. The ForgeFPGA Family will serve applications that require less than 5,000 gates of logic, with initial device sizes of 1K and 2K Look Up Tables (LUTs).

Micron & MediaTek First to Validate LPDDR5X DRAM Micron Technology has reported that MediaTek Inc. has validated Micron’s low-power double data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM for MediaTek’s new Dimensity 9000 5G flagship chipset

for smartphones. Micron is the first semiconductor company to sample and validate this fastest, most advanced mobile memory in the industry and has shipped the first batch of samples of LPDDR5X built on its first-to-market 1α (1-alpha) node. Designed for high-end and flagship smartphones, Micron’s LPDDR5X allows the smartphone ecosystem to unlock the next wave of data-intensive applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G innovation. The market delivery and validation of Micron’s industryleading 1α-based LPDDR5X solidifies its product innovation and leadership in the mobile ecosystem, following industry-first launches for LPDDR5, 1α-based LPDDR4X, 176-layer NANDbased UFS 3.1 and uMCP5 solutions. Micron has validated samples supporting data rates up to 7.5 Gb/s, with samples supporting data rates up to 8.533 Gb/s to follow. Peak LPDDR5X speeds of 8.533 Gb/s deliver up to 33% faster performance1 than previous-generation LPDDR5. Micron is collaborating with the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers and chipset vendors to enable ecosystem innovation with LPDDR5X.

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NO VA TO R

Connect & Control the Gadgets with Aura Smart

TECHNOVATORS

The ‘smart home’ or ‘connected home’ has contributed to the growth of the Internet of Things. The numerous applications are coming and it can be operated by using IoT. Making your home “smart” transforms a bunch of wires and walls into a personal refuge. Until recently the prospect of a truly smart home was merely fiction, but in the last few years the number of “smart devices” has grown steadily and adoption is becoming widely accepted. It is now time for a truly smart home. Aura Smart is making this dream true, as it connect and control any “smart” gadget from any location to serve a variety of applications such as security, facility management, and entertainment. During an interaction with Nitisha from BISinfotech, Abrar Ahmed, Co-founder, Aura Smart elaborated the value of smart machines and its upcoming growth.

Kindly explain Aura Smart and its special offerings. Aura-Smart is an "AI-based central control system” for homes and other spaces. It was born with a vision to eliminate interoperability issues while allowing customers to leverage AI to build custom experiences. Aura is designed to connect and control any “smart” gadget from any location to serve a variety of applications such as security, facility management, and entertainment. The platform's goal is to make the consumer's life easier and more productive. Aura's key importance lies in its intelligence layer, which sits on top of a customer's existing investments. It does not compete with current market leaders, but rather complements them by adding a layer that allows users to do much more, such as build bespoke applications, perform space analytics, and so on. Aura aspires to be the operating system that enables people to connect their gadgets with ease so that they are always prepared and informed. Aura is compatible with over 3500 devices, including many well-known brands, making it easier for users as Aura will communicate effectively with all of their devices, resulting in

Abrar Ahmed

Co-founder, Aura Smart a seamless and pleasant automation experience. Customers have the option of using touch, speech, or a standard Android/ iOS application. Aura is compatible with a wide range of home systems and devices, including hardware from manufacturers like Panasonic, Philips, Bosch, Samsung, LG, and others.

How Aura Smart uses AI in its products and what makes it different from other companies? For the longest time, smart homes have simply been about just control. It has always been up to the user to decide the action of a smart home. Aura is flipping this model by enabling the system to adapt to a user based on their moods and activities before deciding what needs to be done. This radical approach eliminates the need for a user to decide, and instead shifts the onus onto the system itself. Aura's software design makes it simple to add and integrate multiple devices. Traditional vendors do not have an onboarding architecture, which necessitates multiple integrations for each project. This is where Aura is at the top of the game. Aura can

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permanently onboard vendors and devices because of the platform's safe, cloud-native, modular, and scalable design. Aura Smart links to a variety of devices (of any sort, brand, or technology) and decides what needs to be done depending on a variety of inputs, such as the time of day, weather, location, content (music, movie), and the users themselves. The key point here is that the devices involved don’t have to necessarily work on just one technology (say wifi, bluetooth, and more), or belong to any one brand (say control4, fibaro, and more). The user has complete democracy and freedom with regards to his smart ecosystem.

Some key USPs of Aura Smart are –

● Intelligent real estate which caters to the needs (mental and physical) of users without the need for user intervention ● Easy-to-Use (Interact using Touch, Voice or Mobile Application) ● Vendor-agnostic (any vendor support) and does not lock in consumers ● Current solutions are wi-fi/internet-dependent and unreliable, while Aura utilizes a combination of alternate technologies ● Allows users to remotely monitor and control their real-estate ● Scalable platform allows users to start small and upgrade eventually

Aura Smart daily life use-cases –

● Curtains open up during the day to let in natural light, while staying closed at night for privacy ● Prayer room lights up at appropriate times during the day ● Trigger security alarms when unusual activity is detected during unusual hours (say between 1am and 6am)

as well to onboard vendors. Though integrations have traditionally been associated with APIs, the depth of integration is usually limited. Our modular architecture also enables us to be very adaptable when it comes to developing use-cases for various target groups, decreasing our time-to-market. One of the reasons so few companies are able to create similar platforms is due to the sheer number of vendors and customizations required which makes it quite unrealistic and immense. What differentiates us and puts us ahead of them is our architecture that allows us to onboard and integrate them quite efficiently.

What are future plans and how is your company going to attract more clients from all over the world? Our objective is for intelligent and proactive spaces that respond to the requirements of customers rather than relying on them to make every decision. Aura envisions a future in which environments adapt and react to the requirements of the user, rather than the way people now begin activities. We are currently focusing on the GCC and India. In addition, there are plans in place to make initial inroads in SEA. Aura plans on expanding to SEA and Europe next year after having established a foothold in regions with existing footprint. Our product is currently available through our extensive partner and distributor network we’ve built across our active territories.

Challenges and scopes in the industry and India as a market? Through the years, the IoT and smart home industry especially has grown by leaps and bounds. However, the market (especially India) still lacks maturity due to the lack of consumer understanding of the possibilities and potential value they stand How technology is revolutionising the modern home? to gain. Given that consumer experiences are at the heart of Technology and the Internet of Things are transforming the product success, success largely depends on after-sales service. way we live. In terms of IoT adoption, India has experienced This has led to the demise of products that portrayed themselves significant growth (42 percent YoY), particularly for home, as DIY. Solutions in the industry have certainly become more workplace, as well as hybrid (work from home) use-cases. We're economical, but products which deliver on desired experiences seeing an exponential increase in the number of gadgets having are still largely out of reach for most customers in the smart home an interface (app, internet, and so on). Using digital and cloud- space. There’s a clear discrepancy and lack of awareness within based solutions not only increases security and overall access, the market when it comes to the products being offered, with but it can also provide effective care for people who need it several vendors entering the market via the white-labeling route by providing real-time updates. without really innovating. Though this does create choice for consumers, this does create a lot of confusion too. The industry will Kindly explain the growing need and demand for smart certainly continue to mature, but an added focus on consumer spaces. experiences rather than just control, is necessary. What makes smart spaces unique? Because they improve Any expectations from the government? Explain. efficiency, increase safety, and improve the user's over all The government needs to increase support for hardware and experience. The use of integrated devices is not restricted to households; smart environments may also be used in work spaces, electronics based startups by creating a conducive environment hospitals, schools, and for the care of the aged. Technology can starting with the establishment of a semiconductor fabrication help optimize schedules, organize staffing, and more based facility. The government needs to encourage the growth of on new insights. IoT enables the combination of physical and proptech by allowing aligned industries such as real estate to digital world data to detect and address pain points in a timely flourish. The government has certainly done its part by extending manner. Smart spaces also aid in the effective management of end-to-end support for startups from various angles including opportunities and mentorship and should continue doing so. The energy, creating sustainable spaces for the future. electronics industry is largely dependent on manufacturers from How Aura’s software architecture has made it easier to abroad such as China and Vietnam. This is mainly due to the onboard and integrate different devices and vendors? all round ecosystem available in those countries. Hence, local Aura’s integrations are not just API-based integrations, our access to such an ecosystem would certainly drive up innovation, architecture utilizes alternate technologies and open standards subsequent adoption, and exponential growth of the industry.

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T&M-COLUMN

Accelerating Telco Cloud

Telco cloud is gaining traction, as telcos invest in cloud-native networks in order to bring down the cost of running networks and services and avoid vendor lock-in. To gain consistency between their data centers and the edge in their private clouds, network providers are evolving from virtual network functions (VNFs) on virtual machines (VMs) to Containerized Network Functions (CNFs). Cloud-native networks offer greater agility, faster release time, shorter time-to-market and lower costs. However, this transformation highlights unknown challenges; such as moving network operators’ infrastructure towards multi-site cloud-based data centers, future-proofed to handle microservices architectures, cloud-native applications – all on top of commodity hardware.

Building Telco Clouds

The Industry Specification Group (ISG) within ETSI organization has defined architecture for developing virtualized network infrastructure and adapting network functions to the specific cloud environment. This will help traditional network operators move from monolithic hardware appliances towards cloudbased distributed infrastructures, whether it be NFV or 5G rollouts.

To help accelerate this process, there are solutions designed to benchmark and validate performance, allowing service providers to confidently rollout NFV deployments and reap the benefits of service flexibility and agility, without sacrificing performance. All it takes is to validate the system for a few use Director of Business Development, APAC SOUTH, cases like; evaluate cloud Spirent Communications infrastructure performance as per ETSI TST-001 standard using methodologies measuring performance in terms of networking, compute storage and validate MANO-readiness. Customized test scenarios further addresses key cloud performance use cases, such as comparing cloud performance, cloud workload migration, and infrastructure capacity planning.

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C P Manoharan

Accelerating Cloud Migration

NFV is a complex and difficult set of technologies to navigate, with deployment of network functions virtualization infrastructure (NFVi) and the functionality of virtual network functions (VNFs) presenting many challenges. 5G is incorporating virtualization concepts and virtualization deployments are being accelerated by 5G’s outsized market opportunity. While NFV has threatened to break through for years, the emerging 5G network architecture has finally set the stage for broad deployment. Evolving cloud strategies are also driving uptake. Traditional reactive and predominantly manual service assurance and passive test methods that worked well for static networks may not be practical or cost-effective in a rapidly changing virtualized environment. Especially one, where the focus has shifted from assurance of equipment to assurance of service performance and quality in a distributed network.

The 5G Telco Cloud

The success of 5G’s business case is contingent on the efficiencies enabled by the 5G Telco cloud. Compared to public cloud, the Telco cloud has stringent, carrier-grade requirements like; high availability, scalability and performance: • Moving radio baseband processing to the cloud presents challenges to time-sensitive networking and availability. Proactive RAN service assurance and continuous test will be critical to meeting network performance expectations. • Separation of the control and user planes supports virtualization and network slicing, but since each slice will have its own performance requirements, end-to-end testing of slices will require automation. • Cloud-native virtual network functions comprise reusable microservices that are optimized for a cloud environment. Thorough testing of these new microservices and their bundles will be required.

• Rapid turn up of new services using automated workflows that seamlessly integrate back office systems and test functions and network elements; • Proactive monitoring of the health and performance of the network, functions and services and verify SLA compliance; • Intelligent, end-to-end automation of continuous processes across development and operational domains, such as testing and validation, lab management, and launching and assuring networks and services; and • Zero-touch, automated troubleshooting and problem resolution. As operator’s NFVi / 5G Cloud requirements are unique and different, it is important for an operator to validate their NFVi / 5G Cloud for telco grade performance to guarantee multivendor VNF/CNF/NS performance demands which runs on them. There are solutions to validate the NFVi, VIM & cloud native 5G Cloud in an automated framework which needs very less or no user intervention from lab-to-production.

Testing and Assurance

The agile, automated testing and assurance solutions help operators accelerate the design, development, and deployment of cloud and virtualized networks. Automating the testing and on-boarding of new VNFs from lab-to-live production leads to 75% reduction in time-to-deployment and almost 90% reduction in errors. Security infrastructure is hardened as security issues are tracked and remediated proactively, reducing both time-to-fault visibility and time-to-fault remediation. The easy to integrate, automated test coverage enables rapid deployment and configuration, in the dynamic virtualized environment, offering agility, scalability, and reduced TCO. Operators can validate NFV environments including SD-WAN or VNF services to ensure performance and SLAs with proven test methodologies, and deliver applications and services from any Cloud – private, public, or hybrid, with confidence.

Cloud complexity has grown by leaps and bounds and the performance requirements have become more stringent. Put simply, traditional passive test and assurance do not offer the response time necessary to ensure the performance needed.

Automation Key to Assure Quality

In this cloud-based, virtualized 5G world of dynamic services, network changes happen faster than humans can process. This means automation will be essential to service orchestration and service assurance. It must be intelligent, actionable, real-time, and driven by analytics and machine learning. Continuous integration, continuous testing, and continuous delivery (CI/CT/CD) methods enable the agility that is a key ingredient for success. Active test and automated service assurance simplify the testing, verification and delivery of 5G, they can power:

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TECH-COLUMN

Data Centre

Securing the Powerhouses of the Digital World The pandemic has catalysed India's digital transformation. As the economy reopens in a phased manner, enterprises are adopting a more tech driven approach to commence operations. With cloud and cloud-based applications being

Sandesh Kaup

Country Manager, Milestone Systems, India and SAARC

leveraged more than ever before, there is an increasing dependence on data centers for supporting the applications and servers required to run these services, thereby unlocking new opportunities to store and utilize this data.

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According to a NASSCOM report, the nation’s growing internet penetration, increased adoption of cloud, IoT, AR/VR, AI/ML, big data analytics, and edge computing coupled with the Government of India’s push towards digitisation are some of the key factors driving the growth of India’s data economy. The ever-increasing usage of data coupled with the focus on data protection and data localisation policies is increasing the demand for datacentres in the country which is expected to touch 5 billion by 2025 growing 2X the CAGR compared to the global market over 2019 – 2025. With data being touted as the 'new oil' and/or the 'new currency', data centres have emerged as prime targets for criminals looking to disrupt business operations or stealing data for profit. Against this backdrop, the protection of data centers has assumed greater importance, and one of the strategies to enhance its security is by deploying an efficient IP access control, IP audio, software, and video analytics solution.

Protecting the data centre

Running a data centre in today’s world is an increasingly complex task. New technology, changing regulations, and new demands calls for developing tailored solutions that ensure the safety of these repository of valuable data. Video technology is a critical aspect in most security solutions to detect potential threats. Technological advancements have allowed for more responsive video surveillance wherein activities can be analysed in real time. For securing the perimeter, thermal cameras with long detection ranges and high-contrast images are ideal to ensure security as they perform well even in low-visibility conditions such as light rain, fog, smoke, or total darkness. Ground-based radar can also be used to track people and objects moving across open spaces and is less sensitive to things that trigger false alarms in other motion detection cameras like small animals and moving shadows. Video content analysis can identify objects left behind, count people, and employ other intelligent tactics to quickly identify threats. For example, who enters the facility, the duration of stay inside, and the exact area being accessed. An open Video Management Software (VMS) solution coupled with access control can be used to monitor the relevant access points after verifying authorization. CCTV cameras integrated with analytics can be installed to scan all areas that need tight control. An intelligent video solution can be utilized to detect the exact number of people present and can trigger an alert when the maximum number allowed is breached. VMS solutions can also provide insights into the average occupancy periods. For instance, these solutions can be customized to raise an alarm if someone overstays the specified time limit.

Managing data

The data center comprises several network devices in a complex arrangement. These include switches, routers, firewalls, servers, storage systems, application delivery controllers, and video cameras. All these components manage and store business-critical applications and data.

Any state-of-the-art data center must manage data from across multiple devices, and its storage for a stipulated time. With increased number of people socializing online, people working remotely, surge in the e-commerce and gaming industries, the amount of data that is generated daily has reached staggering amounts, bringing the data center industry at the fore of continuing India’s momentous transition into a data economy. Companies are increasingly looking to derive actionable insights from the data repository generated from high quality video. Therefore, to accommodate this unprecedented data growth, an ideal video technology platform is required that can ensure seamless data management through a single pane of glass while simultaneously optimizing investment costs.

Enhancing Efficiency

A data centre is a goldmine of information. The networked devices and servers that process, store, and distribute critical data are the precious components of an enterprise's digital infrastructure. Securing a data centre involves processes, policies, technologies, and procedures that ensure its physical and virtual protection. As risks evolve every day, data centres can benefit greatly from a seamlessly integrated security system that track threats even before a mishap occurs. For example, IoT (Internet of Things) sensors can be utilized to detect intrusion or emergencies like fire flood, earthquakes or even pre-empt equipment failure.

Data centres as a safe zone

To secure a critical facility such as a data center, there is a strong need for better performing hardware with greater storage capabilities, which are integrated with the right VMS architecture to best optimize the high volume of data generated. A powerful open platform IP VMS designed for large-scale and high-security deployments could be one such solution that technology leaders can opt for. It consolidates disparate storage silos to a single petabyte-scalable storage platform to meet retention time requirements, reduce technical complexity and performance bottlenecks. Besides capturing important attributes with rich metadata tagging; recording information such as scene content, or audio transcripts, the solution supports future growth needs with multiple deployment and configuration options, including tiering to AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. Emerging technologies like AI, Predictive Analytics, IoT, Intelligent Data Collection and Big Data infrastructures have successfully broadened the horizon in terms of the development, deployment, and operation of intelligent video management systems. The recent advancements of these infrastructures have also made it possible for a seamless data collection process to provide richer information for more accurate and credible analysis. Since the pandemic hit, we have seen a massive proliferation of connectivity, user distribution, and a greater focus on the systems that keep everything running - data centers. Therefore, keeping it safe is of utmost importance and aligning with the best-of-breed video technology solution providers is something decision makers cannot neglect.

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LAUNCH

ST Unveils STM32Cube Software & MCUs STMicroelectronics has released new STM32Cube software evaluation boards. Features: • Accelerate development with the latest STM32U5 microcontrollers (MCUs). • Combine security and power-saving innovations. • With up to 2MB of Flash memory on-chip. • First STM32 MCUs to leverage advanced 40nm process technology. • Delivers superior feature integration, memory density, dynamic power consumption, and standby power compared to alternative products in the market.

packs and tools, as well as Applications: Smart, connected consumer products such as activity trackers and smartwatches, as well as smart-home equipment, utility meters, equipment for industrial sensing and signaling, mobile point-of-sale (POS) terminals, insulin pumps, and glucose meters.

Availability: Now ready for mass-market applications with stock at authorized distributors.

Renesas & Panthronics Brings New Design for mPoS Terminals

Panthronics and Renesas Electronics have released a new design that provides manufacturers of secure mobile point-of-sale (mPoS) contactless payment terminals with a new way to reduce the size and the bill-of-materials cost of their products without compromising performance or security. Features: Availability: Applications: • The design is based on Panthronics’ PTX100R NFC Reader IC for contactless mPoS terminals. Available communication. Now • Renesas RA6M4 general-purpose secure microcontroller (MCU). • The RA6M4 MCU, which has an Arm Cortex-M33 CPU with TrustZone technology and integrated security IP. • EMVCo Level 1-compliant software runs in the PTX100R.

TE Connectivity’s SNACompact Terminal Blocks

TE Connectivity has unveiled the new SNACompact terminal blocks range from ENTRELEC. Made in India, the new terminal blocks feature a compact design that delivers powerful performance, improving the panel building process for installers who must meet the demands of miniaturization.

Features: • Durability engineered for harsh environments. • Streamlined installation. • Reduced overall maintenance. • Certification and rating for a variety of applications. • Flexible size range.

Applications: The new SNACompact terminal blocks can be used for a variety of functions, including feed-through, ground, disconnect, multi-deck, fuse, test and measurement, sensor-actuator, mini blocks, thermocouple and more.

Availability: Available Now

ROHM’s New Battery Charger IC ROHM has developed a battery charger IC, BD71631QWZ, designed to provide low-voltage charging of wearables. Features: • All-solid/semi-solid types models using novel materials for the electrode part and batteries that adopt different terminal compositions. • However, many of the latest rechargeable batteries are small and thin, requiring low voltage charging in the 2V to 3V range. • Moreover, there are currently no battery charger ICs that can handle a wide voltage range. • Supports low voltage charging of not only li-ion but also new types of rechargeable batteries such as the all-solid and semi-solid state.

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Applications: Wireless earbuds and thin, c omp a ct I oT devices such as smart displays powered by rechargeable batteries.

Availability: Available Now

Infineon to Unveil SECORA ID with FIDO Infineon Technologies has declared to introduce the SECORA ID with FIDO for secured authentication to online portals with user-friendly tokens. Features: • The leading security solution actively protects from tampering and fraud. • Enhances the security of digital identities. • Utilizes the open industry standard and provides a simple, reliable and secured method for online authentication. Applications: • In combination with an electronic identity document (eID), FIDO can also be used by Payment citizens to authenticate themselves to government portals and access their services. wearables • The solution is implemented on an EAL6+ certified security controller and a Java and smart Card™ operating system. IoT devices.

Availability: Available Now

MediaTek’s New Filogic 130 & Filogic 130A SoCs

MediaTek has released the new MediaTek Filogic 130 and Filogic 130A system-on-chips (SoCs) which both integrate a microprocessor (MCU), AI engine, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 subsystems and a power management unit (PMU) into a single chip.

Features: • Integrates an audio digital signal processor to allow device makers to easily add voice assistants and other services into their products. • Support 1T1R Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz, along with advanced Wi-Fi features such as target wake time (TWT), MU-MIMO, MU-OFDMA, quality of service (QoS) and WPA3 Wi-Fi security. • Integrated HiFi4 DSP for more accurate far-field voice processing, always-on microphone capability with voice activity detection and trigger word support.

Applications: Wide range of IoT devices..

Availability: Available Now

Infineon’s OptiMOS 6 100 V with MOSFET Tech Infineon Technologies has rolled out the OptiMOS 6 100 V with a new power MOSFET technology. Features: • The OptiMOS 6 100 V family of MOSFETs comes with improved R DS(on) and the industry’s best figures-of-merit (FOMs). • The devices help to reduce the energy consumption by one million Euros over a time of ten years. • Allow for easier thermal design and less paralleling, leading to excellent efficiency, improved power density, system cost reduction, and prolonged lifetime.

Applications: Optimized for high switching frequency applications such as telecom and solar. Also ideal for battery-powered applications (BPA) and battery management systems (BMS).

Availability: Available Now

Vishay’s vPolyTan Polymer Tantalum Chip Capacitors Vishay Intertechnology has released a new series of vPolyTan surface-mount polymer tantalum molded chip capacitors designed to deliver reliable performance in high temperature, high humidity operating conditions. Features: • A robust design with improved hermeticity for increased protection in harsh environments. • The devices offer high-temperature operation to +125 °C and withstand temperature humidity bias (THB) testing of 85 °C, 85 % relative humidity for 500 hours. • These specifications make the capacitors ideal for decoupling, smoothing, and filtering in the harsh environments. • Offered in the D case (EIA 7343-30) size, the T50 series features ultra-low ESR down to 25 mΩ and ripple current to 3.0 A.

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Applications: Industrial, military, aerospace, and edge computing applications.

Availability: Available Now

5G NEWS

IDTechEx Explains 5G & its Deployment

Adaptiv Networks & iTelecom Forge Channel Partnership

5G technology is the most updated and improved version of mobile communication technologies having new characteristics. 5G is positioned as a technology that will redefine and accelerate numerous industries and will ultimately change the way people work and live. According to IDTechEx latest 5G research market report, “5G Technology, Market and Forecasts 2022-2032”, IDTechEx specifically looks into the deployment strategy of 5 key regions: the US, China, Europe, Japan, and South Korea. For each region, IDTechEx focuses on two aspects: government strategy and telecom operator strategy for the 5G rollout. What is the global 5G deployment status in 2021? 5G is recognized as an important infrastructure for both developed and developing countries. By the end of 2021, 79 nations have either commercialized 5G or are conducting 5G trials. Digging further into what frequency is most used – based on IDTechEx study – it is sub-6 GHz. This frequency band is used in over half of 5G commercial deployments and trails, with just a tiny percentage using mmWave. So far, only 9 countries have commercialized 5G mmWave. However, this is not surprising given that, the main restriction of mmWave transmissions is their low propagation range. Telecom companies would not employ the mmWave frequency band for national coverage. Looking at telecom operators' deployment strategies, we can see that low-frequency bands (for example, 700 MHz) are used for national coverage, whereas sub-6 GHz bands are utilized for city coverage, and mmWave is used for megacity hotspots. What is the important technical development/trend in 5G now? Though 5G is commercialized, there are still a lot of technical developments going on. In this article, IDTechEx discussed the 4 key points: • The race for lighter Massive MIMO sub-6 GHz radio: One crucial part of deploying a large-scale 5G network employing massive MIMO gear is that the radio must be lightweight and have a compact footprint, as these characteristics will help operators save significant money on overall deployment. This is where silicon comes in. Si's performance will have a huge influence on a radio's essential aspects, such as connection, capacity, power consumption, product size, and weight, and, ultimately, cost. In the 5G system sector, all of these are critical. In IDTechEx’s “5G Technology, Market and Forecasts 20222032“ report, a comprehensive analysis of the Si industry and its impact on 5G development is provided. • Small cell deployment Small cells are proposed to address the challenge of short signal propagation range caused by high frequency. Creating an ultra-dense network by deploying more small cells plays a key role in 5G as it allows to complement the macro network and therefore boosts data capacity.

Adaptiv Networks has formed a channel partnership with iTelecom, a top master agency and managed service provider. iTelecom agents will now be able to offer award-winning, affordable SD-WAN products for small businesses throughout North America. Adaptiv's SD-WAN solutions enhance the quality and reliability of any UCaaS solution and provide an industry best, seamless failover. Agents can now offer managed connectivity as a simple add-on service with all the benefits of SD-WAN. Adaptiv's SD-WAN solution is available through iTelecom with an innovative per-seat pricing model that aligns with how agents sell other business cloud-based services, such as VoIP. Adaptiv offers cloud-managed business connectivity solutions backed by the largest patent portfolio in the SD-WAN industry. The company operates in a 100% channel go-to-market strategy and provides training and marketing content to help its resellers communicate the value of SD-WAN to their customers.

Ericsson to Acquire Vonage

Ericsson has decided to acquire Vonage Holdings Corp. for USD 21 per share. This represents a total acquisition price of approximately USD 6.2 billion (Enterprise Value). The merger agreement was approved unanimously by the Board of Vonage. For Ericsson, the acquisition builds on the success of the integration of Cradlepoint in September 2020. Cradlepoint has continued to develop strongly under Ericsson’s ownership. Vonage’s presence in the Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) segment will provide Ericsson with an opportunity to access a complimentary, substantial and high growth segment. With increasing investments in 4G and 5G - and a flourishing ecosystem of new applications and use cases leveraging the power of modern networks - demand from enterprises for programmable networks has been accelerating.

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Bisinfotech Magazine December Issue 2021

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