EEWeb Pulse 123: April, 2014 by EEWeb Magazines

SONIC EMOTION Absolute 3D Sound

Interview with Renato Pellegrini, Co-founder and CTO of Sonic Emotion

Fixing Equipment Oddities Radio Core for IoT Devices

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CONTENTS

PULSE

Featured Products

This week’s latest products from EEWeb.

Components of Total Jitter

This installment of the series takes a look at the various categories that comprise total jitter.

“The nerd trigger was going to take forever to complete, but I figured we could create very similar functionality using the scope’s mask test infrastructure,” Genther said. “We could qualify acquisitions with mask testing and use that feature to push the button for him.” Mask testing shows all the waveforms that fail or exceed the limits of the mask. Genther’s brainstorm was to ignore all the waveforms that fail and just display the ones that do meet the mask limits. This process could happen behind the scenes, using digital technology to accomplish what the customer was doing manually.

CHAMPIONING THE IDEA “Our product offers with the idea aComing soundupquality thattoisuse a reverse mask test to achieve an easier version of the simply above the current trigger was just the first step in the process of bringing it to market. Next, Genther had to state-of-the-art convince his boss and teammates the project technology of our was worth pursuing. competitors.”

UNRISE 10

of timbre and sound scene perception. Sonic Emotion is now partnering with Cadence® ® for the first licensable DSP IP core Tensilica king the Potential of the on their HiFi 2 processor. With this software implementation, customers will be able to have premium audio in TVs, sound bars ccording to IHS Research,laptops, more than 49and billion myriad mobile devices.

RNET OF THINGS

Internet of Things (IoT) devices will ship between 2014 and 2020—this means all those devices will need to be connected to the Internet either directly or hrough gateway devices. Recognizing this opportunity, ech. companies are scurrying to develop interoperable devices for IoT adoption. Although companies are ocusing on developing unique IoT technologies, what becomes apparent, is that, at the heart of every IoT device is a radio core capable of communicating with other devices in the ecosystem. In this market, the areas of true differentiation will come in the form of unique application specific features built around these extremely low power radio cores that provide the efficient connection mechanism for the IoT ecosystem.

The new sub-volt radio core IP from Sunrise Micro Devices allows for stronger interconnectivity that will unlock the true potential of the IoT.

Fixing Equipment Oddities

Robert Swink shares some of the odd designs he’s encountered over the years and what it took to repair them.

Renato Pellegrini

Co-founder & CTO of Sonic Emotion A conversation about Sonic Emotion’s revolutionary 3D sound technology and where this technology will be implemented in the future.

Absolute 3D Sound

Sonic Emotion’s Absolute 3D technology is moving way beyond conventional surround sound set-ups.

Figure 2: Example of placing multiple subfigures with simulation results.

RO DEVICES:

Unlocking the Potential of the Internet of Things

"Sonic Emotion’s Absolute 3D™ sound technology relies on advanced sound field One of the biggest challenges in developing this sound technology was bringing the control including number of enclosed loudspeakers down to spatial analysis of a reasonable number. After much research, Sonic Emotion created an ASIC chip solution input signals and signal Figure 1:stereo Example of a hard-to-capture anomaly which later evolved into offering their latest with infinite persistence turned onThe Absolute 3D software wave field synthesis." software solution.

RTZ

Return to Zero Comic

10 14 24 26 32 40

solution was launched at CES earlier this year with Samsung where the technology is being implemented in their lineup of sound bars

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PULSE 8500 MHz High Linearity Mixer The AK1223 is high linearity mixer RF and Low frequency range coverage is from 3000 to 8500 MHz and IF coverage is from 20 to 3000 MHz. The RF input provides single-ended 50 Ω interface. Low ports are 50 Ω matched and complementary input should be decoupled to the ground. IF output ports are different open collector outputs. The linearity and power consumption performances can be optimized by the resistance connected to the BIAS pin...Read More

Differential Digital Gear Tooth Sensor The ATS685LSH is an optimized Hall-effect sensing integrated circuit and rare-earth pellet combination that provides a user-friendly solution for true zero-speed digital gear-tooth sensing in two-wire applications. The sensor IC consists of a single-shot molded plastic package that includes a samarium cobalt pellet, a pole piece, and a Hall Effect IC that has been optimized to the magnetic circuit. This small package can be easily assembled and used in conjunction with a wide variety of gear shapes and sizes...Read More

Extremely Efficient Cortex-A53 Processor The Cortex®-A53 processor is an extremely power efficient ARMv8 processor capable of supporting 32-bit and 64-bit code seamlessly. It makes use of a highly efficient 8-stage in-order pipeline balanced with advanced fetch and data access techniques for performance. It fits in a power and area footprint suitable for entry level smartphones, at the same time, capable of delivering high aggregate performance in scalable enterprise systems via high core density. It delivers significantly higher performance than the highly successful Cortex-A7...Read More

U-Channel Switching Power Supply The PMK225S-48U is a 225 Watt, U-Channel Switching Power Supply with Power Factor Correction that guarantees an output voltage of 48 V. This device has an output current of 4.7 A and operates at a frequency range of 47-63 Hz. It also has 0.84 efficiency and operates at temperature range of -25 to +85 degrees Celscius. For safety purposes, the device is equipped with an auto recovery short circuit protection...Read More

Dual Rate Ethernet SFP+ Transceiver The Avago AFBR-709DMZ transceiver is part of a family of SFP+ products. This transceiver utilizes Avago’s 850nm VCSEL and PIN Detector technology to provide an IEEE 10Gb Ethernet design compliant with the 10GBASE-SR, 10GBASE-SW, and 1GBASESX standards. The AFBR-709DMZ transceiver is designed to enable 10 Gb Ethernet equipment designs with very high port density based on the new electrical and mechanical specification enhancements to the well known SFP specifications developed by the SFF Committee...Read More

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FEATURED PRODUCTS Low-Cost, Low-Noise 24-bit ADC The CS5530 offers users of the popular CS5531/32/33/34 family of integrated DeltaSigma A/D Converters a lower-cost option – while offering the same low-noise performance and output word-rate flexibility – but with a reduced feature set. With a single differential input channel and a fixed gain of 64x in the high-performance chopper-stabilized instrumentation amplifier, noise performance is a very low 12 nV/√Hz at 0.01 Hz. Digital scaling is also available, which can provide additional effective gain of up to 40...Read More

Common Mode Choke Coilcraft’s 0603USB Series Common Mode Chokes virtually eliminate common mode noise in high-speed, differential mode signal transmission applications such as USB 3.0, HDMI, SATA, IEEE1394 and LVDS, supporting data rates up to 4.8 Gbit/s. These miniature chokes feature an EIA 0603 footprint and measure just 1.07 mm tall. Most values provide greater than 15 dB common mode attenuation and greater than 100 ohms impedance. The 0603USB Series is RoHS compliant and offers a maximum reflow temperature of 260°C...Read More

Wide and Reliable Microwave and Milimeterwave Portfolio Digi-Key Corporation has announced the signing of a global distribution agreement with M/A-COM Technology Solutions (MACOM), a market innovator offering one of the widest and most reliable RF, microwave and millimeterwave offerings in the industry. Recognized for its broad catalog portfolio of technologies and products, MACOM serves diverse markets, including satellite, radar, wired and wireless networks, CATV, automotive, industrial, medical, and mobile devices...Read More

Integrated SPS Module with High Power Density High efficiency and power density are critical factors that designers are challenged to provide within the shrinking available board space in next-generation server and telecom system power delivery applications. To meet this challenge, Fairchild Semiconductor developed the smart power stage (SPS) module family – a next-generation, ultra-compact, integrated MOSFET plus driver power stage solution. This family leverages Fairchild’s DrMOS expertise to deliver high efficiency...Read More

0.18µm CMOS Technology Fujitsu’s CE81 is a series of high performance, 0.18µm (0.13µm Leff) CMOS embedded arrays that include full support of diffused high-speed RAMs, ROMs, analog, mixed-signal macros, and a variety of embedded functions. The CE81 series offers density and performance similar to those of standard-cell implementation, yet has the time-to-market advantage of gate arrays. The CE81 series devices include 44µm, 66µm, or 70µm pad pitch for a cost-effective solution for both pad-limited and corelimited designs...Read More

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PULSE High Quality Analog Video Decoder M The TW9966 includes four high quality NTSC/PAL/SECAM video decoders that convert analog composite video signal to digital component YCbCr data for automotive applications. Each channel contains a 10-bit ADC and proprietary clamp and gain controllers and utilizes a 4H comb filter for separating luminance and chrominance to reduce cross noise artifacts. The TW9966 adopts the image enhancement techniques, such as IF compensation filter, CTI and programmable peaking. TW9966 also includes one NTSC/PAL video encoder with two 10-bit DACs to support CVBS and YC output...Read More

8-bit Single Chip CMOS Microcontroller The S3F8S28/S3F8S24 single-chip CMOS micro-controller is fabricated using a highly advanced CMOS process and is based on Samsung’s newest CPU architecture. Its design is based on the powerful SAM8RC CPU core. Stop and idle (power-down) modes were implemented to reduce power consumption. The S3F8S28/S3F8S24 microcontroller is ideal for use in a wide range of electronic applications requiring simple timer/counter, PWM, ADC. S3F8S28/S3F8S24 is available in a 24/20-pin SOP Package and a 24-pin TSSOP package and a 20-pin DIP package...Read More

Adhesive Meets NASA Low Outgassing Specs The Master Bond EP21ND-LO is a two component, room temperature curing epoxy system for bonding, sealing and coating featuring outstanding physical properties. EP21ND-LO has a convenient one to one mix ratio by weight. It has a paste-like viscosity after mixing. EP21ND-LO can be applied without sagging or dripping even on vertical surfaces. EP21ND-LO produces high strength, durable bonds which hold up well to thermal cycling and resist many chemicals including water, oils, fuels, acids, bases and salts...Read More

Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) Chipsets Engineers can now design high-resolution automotive infotainment applications with either traditional STP or lighter, less expensive coax cables using new 3.12Gbps Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link (GMSL) SerDes chipsets from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. Current vehicle designs use STP cables to drive data to automotive infotainment displays. However, OEMs are beginning to turn to coax cabling instead, as it lowers cable cost and weight by up to 50%. With Maxim’s SerDes chipsets, OEMs can continue using STP cables in their designs, and seamlessly transition to coax cabling in future models using the same chipset...Read More

FSK/ASK Transmitter with Clock Output The TH72016 FSK/ASK transmitter IC is designed for applications in the European 433 MHz industrial-scientific-medial (ISM) band, according to the EN 300 220 telecommunications standard; but it can also be used in other countries with similar standards, e.g. FCC part 15.231. The transmitter’s carrier frequency fc is determined by the frequency of the reference crystal fref. The integrated PLL synthesizer ensures that carrier frequencies ranging from 380 MHz to 450 MHz, can be achieved...Read More

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FEATURED PRODUCTS 4-kbit Serial Presence Detect EEPROM Microchip Technology Inc. announced a new 4Kb I2C™ Serial Presence Detect (SPD) EEPROM device—the 34AA04. This device is specifically designed to work with the next generation of Double Data Rate 4 (DDR4) SDRAM modules used in high-speed PCs and laptops, while also supporting older DDR2/3 platforms. This new device is designed for the price-competitive consumer products market and is capable of operating across a broad voltage range (1.7V to 3.6V). This device is JEDEC JC42.4 (EE1004-v) Serial Presence Detect (SPD) compliant and is designed to be compatible with DDR4 SDRAM modules...Read More

Wide Input Switching POL Regulator The SR7805 Low Cost, Non-isolated, Wide Input, Single Output POL switching regulator series has an input voltage range of 4.75 ~ 32.0 Vdc and an output voltage range of 1.5 ~ 15.0 Vdc, with an output current accuracy of ±2.0 %. The device’s line regulation is at ±0.2 % and its load regulation is at ±0.4 %. The SR7805 Series’ operating temperature range is at -40 ~ +85 degrees Celsius...Read More

68 MHz I2C Programmable Oscillator The I2C-OSC board is an 8-pin CMOS 1 kHz – 68 MHz Programmable Oscillator device using I2C bus. There are no external components required. Only two signal lines SDA and SCL plus supply voltage and ground are required to be connected. This makes it perfect for embedded systems that require programmable oscillator. This board features innovations that set it apart from other programmable oscillator module. Innovations feature like on board I2C address jumpers, pull-up resistors, and power LED...Read More

Small Footprint Surface-Mount Inductors The 2200RM series of bobbin wound inductors from Murata Power Solutions provides a surface mount alternative to the company’s well established through-hole 2200R series. Suitable for use in a wide range of low to medium current applications, compact 2200RM inductors have a small footprint making them ideal for use in high density designs where a chip inductor is unable to cope with the power requirement. The 2200RM series provides engineers with a wide choice of inductance values ranging from 10µH to 68mH and DC current ratings up to 2.52A...Read More

High Speed 9-Input Priority Encoder The 74HC/HCT147 are high-speed Si-gate CMOS devices and are pin compatible with low power Schottky TTL (LSTTL). They are specified in compliance with JEDEC standard no. 7A. The 74HC/HCT147 9-input priority encoders accept data from nine active LOW inputs (A0 to A8) and provide a binary representation on the four active LOW outputs (Y0 to Y3). A priority is assigned to each input so that when two or more inputs are simultaneously active, the input with the highest priority is represented in the output...Read More

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PULSE Low Voltage Low Power Comparator The NCX2200 provides a single low voltage, low power comparator. This device has a very low supply current of 6 μA and is guaranteed to operate at a low voltage of 1.3 V and is fully operational up to 5.5 V which makes this device convenient for use in both 3.0 V and 5.0 V systems. The device has a wide supply voltage range from 1.3 V to 5.5 V (functional operating range) and rail-to-rail input/output performance...Read More

6-Channel Plug-and-Play Driver The 6SD312EI compact, plug-and-play, six-channel SCALE-1 IGBT drivers suit all EconoPACK™+ and compatible modules. These drivers are based on CONCEPT’s proprietary SCALE-1 chipset, a proven technology that enables the reliable driving and safe operation of IGBTs. The drivers are fully equipped with protection functions including Vcemonitoring for short-circuit protection, operation inhibit after fault, and supply-undervoltage shut down. The driver supplies a gate current of +12 A / -6 A. Operating the gates with a bipolar control voltage (typically ±15 V) allows the modules to be driven reliably and with a high level of immunity to interference...Read More

MELCHER Cassette DC-DC & AC-DC Converters Power-One, a member of the ABB group and global manufacturer of renewable energy and energy-efficient power conversion and management solutions proudly announces that its Melcher cassette power converters for railway applications have successfully passed all tests and requirements according to the material fire safety of DC-DC and AC-DC converters according to EN 45545-1, EN 45545-2 (2013) for hazard levels HL1 to HL3. In addition, the above product series also comply with national versions of fire&smoke standards, in particular DIN 5510-2 and NFF 16-101 (1988) classification I3/F2...Read More

DAC Channel with Output Buffer Op-Amp The M62384 is a CMOS-structure semiconductor integrated circuit incorporating four 8-bit D-A converter channels with output buffer op-amps. Serial data transfer type input can easily be used through a combination of three lines: DI, CLK, and LD. Outputs incorporate buffer op-amps that have a drive capacity of 1 mA or above for both sink and source, and can operate over the entire voltage range from almost ground to VCC (0 to 5 V), making peripheral elements unnecessary and enabling configuration of a system with few component parts. Support of power supply voltages of 3 V to 5 V enables the M62384 to be used in a wide range of applications...Read More

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FEATURED PRODUCTS Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrophotometer Ultra-3400 uv-vis spectrophotometer utilizes high quality grating, which dramatically reduces straylight level, and improves test accuracy & linear range. The instrumentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wavelength calibration excuted by deuterium lamp, mecuray lamp and Ho2O3 Solution provides excellent wavelength accuracy. The built-in methods can meet different requirements from customers. Designs of TFT color screen and water-proofing keyboard secure its friendly usability...Read More

Ultra-Low-Ohmic Shunt Resistors ROHM has recently announced the development of high power ultralow-ohmic shunt resistors ideal for current detection in applications with increased power requirements, such as automotive systems and industrial equipment. The new PSR series includes PSR400, which is rated at 4W, and PSR500, guaranteed up to 5W. Resistors in current detection applications are typically used to detect overcurrent conditions or remaining battery level. And although current sense resistors have been widely adopted in the automotive and industrial sectors, the recent trend towards greater sophistication and computerization has increased current requirements...Read More

Secure Low Power Wireless IPv6 Module The ZWIR4512 enables secure low-power wireless IPv6 communication for sensors and small devices. ZMDI provides a user-programmable, royaltyfree 6LoWPAN stack with mesh routing capability with the ZWIR4512. 6LoWPAN is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard to build wireless, low-power IP-based sensor and device networks. These networks can easily be integrated into existing information technology infrastructure or can operate autonomously. The module is powered by an ARMâ&#x201E;˘ Cortex M3 microcontroller and provides a rich set of GPIO and peripheral interfaces...Read More

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BACK TO BASICS:

The Components of Total Jitter David Maliniak Technical Marketing Communication Specialist Teledyne LeCroy

In an earlier post, we began looking at the topic of jitter, a topic of keen interest to anyone working with highspeed serial communications or the components of such a system, including transmitters, receivers, and data channels. To gain an understanding of jitter, an important first step is getting to know a little about the various categories that comprise total jitter. Referring to Figure 1, total jitter (Tj) is composed of two broad categories of jitter: random and deterministic. Random jitter (Rj) is what it sounds like: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s timing variation, or noise, that cannot be predicted because it has no discernible pattern to it. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also termed Gaussian jitter, because it typically follows a Gaussian (or normal) distribution. A good example of random noise is the static you hear when your radio is tuned between stations. Most random jitter is the product of thermal noise, which itself has a Gaussian distribution. The other broad category of jitter is deterministic jitter (Dj). The main difference between random and deterministic jitter is that the former is unbounded

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while the latter has determinable bounds or limits. Deterministic jitter, unlike random jitter, is predictable and reproducible. It has a peakto-peak value that is bounded and observable. Deterministic jitter can either be correlated to the data stream (data-dependent jitter) or uncorrelated to the data stream (bounded uncorrelated jitter). Bounded uncorrelated jitter breaks down further into periodic jitter (Pj) and other bounded uncorrelated jitter (OBUj). Periodic jitter is also called sinusoidal jitter in that it takes on a sinelike shape. Its source is most typically interference from signals related to the data pattern, ground bounce, or power-supply variations. These external sources of deterministic jitter couple into the datatransmission system from adjacent circuitry. OBUj is jitter that is neither Gaussian or periodic, stemming from sources such as crosstalk from non-repeating data (live traffic), high rate frequency modulation of the Pj component, power-supply switching noise, EMI, and simultaneous switching noise.

TECH ARTICLE Data-dependent jitter consists of intersymbol interference (ISI) and duty-cycle distortion (DCD). All three subcategories are timing errors that vary with the data pattern. Their primary sources are component and system bandwidth limitations. Higher frequency signals have less time to settle than lower frequency ones. This leads to changes in the start conditions for transitions at different frequencies and produces timing errors dependent on the data pattern being applied.

Intersymbol interference is the most common form of DDj. It is usually caused by bandwidth limitations of transmission lines. It affects single bits surrounded by the bit of the opposite state. Duty-cycle distortion jitter is caused when certain bit states have different durations; i.e. a logical one is always longer than a logical zero or vice versa. DCD jitter is caused by bias setting and by an insufficient VCC supply of a component. There’s a brief rundown of the broad categories of jitter. In later posts, we’ll look at some of the ways to perform measurement and characterization of jitter.

Total (Tj)

Random (Rj)

Deterministic (Dj)

Bounded, uncorrelated

Periodic (Pj)

Other bounded, uncorrelated

Data Dependent (DDj)

Duty Cycle Distortion (DCD)

Inter-symbol Interference (ISI)

Figure 1: An overview of the jitter hierarchy, or “jitter tree,” showing the various elements that make up total jitter

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SUNRISE

MICRO DEVICES: Unlocking the Potential of the

INTERNET OF THINGS

ccording to IHS Research, more than 49 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices will ship between 2014 and 2020â&#x20AC;&#x201D;this means all those devices will need to be connected to the Internet either directly or through gateway devices. Recognizing this opportunity, tech. companies are scurrying to develop interoperable devices for IoT adoption. Although companies are focusing on developing unique IoT technologies, what becomes apparent, is that, at the heart of every IoT device is a radio core capable of communicating with other devices in the ecosystem. In this market, the areas of true differentiation will come in the form of unique application specific features built around these extremely low power radio cores that provide the efficient connection mechanism for the IoT ecosystem.

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TECH ARTICLE

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INTRODUCTION Sunrise Micro Devices, a privately held, wireless semiconductor tech company located in South Florida, is poised and ready to provide their groundbreaking smart radio IP to companies looking to truly differentiate their IoT devices. EEWeb spoke with Co-founder &CEO of Sunrise Devices, Fred Martin, along with VP of Sales and Marketing, Bob Morris, about their sub-volt CORDIO™ BT4 radio core IP, and why the time is now to start enabling

Bluetooth Smart Market Potential

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semiconductor vendors with smart radio capabilities to unlock the true potential in the Internet of Things. According to Martin, what Sunrise Micro is doing is, “moving radios from an art form to mass enablement.” In order to achieve this ambitious task, the team had to tackle three things that had previously plagued pervasive adoption of radio core IP: improve battery life, lower the cost of development, and improve the ease of integration.

TECH ARTICLE

IMPROVED BATTERY With devices becoming increasingly smaller and thinner, the ability to create an equally thin and powerful battery is becoming more and more difficult. For Sunrise Micro, the solution for increased battery life came from their sub-volt radio operation. At the low end of operation, the radio goes down to 1.0 volt, which allows the use of an alkaline battery

to a much lower voltage. At the high end of operation, the radio operates up to 3.6 volts, allowing for the use of a lithium battery. “Our native sub-volt capability allows us to get more life out of the battery” Martin explains. Ultimately, this means the radio can use any type of battery as a power source and achieve the maximum life out of them—up to 60% better than traditional 1.2 V radios.

More life from a battery

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LOW COST OF DEVELOPMENT It takes an experienced and skilled team to design and build a radio—usually taking two or three passes at it before you have a product that is built to a standard. At the end of the day, the radio will not offer key differentiation. “What will differentiate you is what you put around that radio,” Morris explained. “A standards-based radio product makes a lot more sense to buy as

Make vs. buy

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IP rather than go through the arduous process of creating it yourself.” By licensing radio IP, product developers will save radio development money by implementing an already-standardized radio core. Another key advantage is the time saved from licensing IP will allow for a significant increase in time to market, which is a huge advantage in this market.

TECH ARTICLE

EASE OF INTEGRATION While the radio IP is merely one aspect of an end product, it helps to have assured performance to speed up the process of integrating the IP in your design. The CORDIO™ solution is a self-contained block including transceiver, baseband, link-layer controller, and necessary firmware up to

the Host Controller Interface, allowing for quicker radio integration at all levels of the products’ development. The CORDIO™ solution is implemented as a Hard Marco at the IC level, and offers pass-through Bluetooth qualification for the end product incorporating it, which reduces a lot of the risk and time involved with integrating IP.

Ease of intergration

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THE CORDIO™ BT4 SOLUTION The CORDIO™ BT4 Solution is a 2.4 GHz Bluetooth smart radio, with integrated power management for 1V or 3V battery applications. “The interesting thing about this is the way it is architected,” Martin explains. “If you look at the Bluetooth stack, you’ll see that it’s constructed with a natural boundary layer called the host controller interface (HCI). Typically, when IP vendors partition the microcomputer from the hardware, they will draw their boundaries down in the stack, but we actually have our natural boundaries

CORDIO™ BT4 – Bluetooth Smart IP solution

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up to the HCI, making it easy for software development.” At the chip level, designers will find that the CORDIO™ BT4 has an extremely small footprint. For implementation, the designer will take the CORDIO™ BT4, add an application processor system—which, could be an ARM Cortex M-Series—and add memory and peripherals. The bill of materials for external components is relatively small, and the area of the BT4 is around 4mm2—offering a simple template for easy integration.

TECH ARTICLE

Sunrise Micro Devices’ offering is a complete stack solution. Together with a San Diegobased company, WiCentric, the team developed the Link Layer controller software, which is available in the ROM of the BT4 core itself. “The IP block that we have is all selfcontained,” Morris explains. “This means that a software developer that needs to make a system work doesn’t have to worry about all the code that runs inside—they can write the software for the upper part of this stack and only communicate at the HCI level and not worry about timing.”

With software integration in the Bluetoothqualified subsystem, Sunrise Micro eliminates the headache that developers have by offering a fully qualified and interoperable radio solution. As products become more dependent on communicating with each other for IoT integration, hardware and software developers will seek the most power- efficient, and easy-to-integrate solution to get these products to market—which is why the CORDIO™ BT4 Solution will unlock the true potential of the Internet of Things.

Chip-Level Design

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EQUIPMENT ODDITIES MAKE REPAIR A CHALLENGE By Robert Swink, Lab Manager at Axiom Test Equipment

I’ve dealt with a lot of different types of test equipment over the years, but I’m still amazed sometimes at what lands on my bench. The only way to explain this is it’s just plain odd. As if dealing with all the sophisticated circuitry in modern test equipment isn’t tough enough, I’ve had to deal with odd modifications, strange setups, and confusing control panels.

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TECH ARTICLE

ODD MODIFICATIONS I cringe when I open up equipment and find odd modifications. Sometimes there are components missing from boards, circuit board traces that have been cut, or wires soldered to components on the board and or control knobs. Many times these modifications are not documented on the schematics that I have. Manufacturers tell me that these are just engineering changes, but these mods make it very difficult for the service technician, especially when these changes have been applied in a sloppy way. It’s hard to tell what’s going on, and you begin to doubt what you’re really troubleshooting.

needed to have the proper buttons pushed on the front panel prior to turning on the power. The manual stated that, should the proper buttons not be pushed in and or pushed out, the equipment will fail and may even enter a complete inoperative state. How odd is that? CONFUSING CONTROL PANELS Often, a manual will warn you not to turn off a piece of equipment until the internal calibration is complete. They never tell you what happens if the power goes out or if the power gets turned off inadvertently. When I see that kind of instruction I wonder if anyone has actually done this and what happened when they did? If that’s you, what happened?

For example, I recently worked on some equipment that was blowing fuses. When I opened the box, I saw so many modifications that I was distracted away from my basic troubleshooting approach of using your senses when troubleshooting test equipment that I just shared with you all last posting! I was so focused on these modifications, that I forgot to do a smell check and missed the fact that one of the boards had a burnt component. I finally got past all the mods and did find the bad component, but it took a lot longer than if the boards had been clean.

Some control panels are so unusual that they’re almost impossible to use, and the manuals are often not much help. I’ve had customers call me and say, “I’ve read the manual several times, and I still can’t figure out how to do it.”

STRANGE SETUPS

Well, that’s my tale of woe. Now it’s your turn, what equipment oddities have you come across? Share your experiences here so we can all learn.

Setups can be odd, too. For example, some of the older travelling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) require that you load their inputs and outputs before operating the amplifier. Failure to do this can damage the TWTA.

Other panels are so bizarre that I find myself wasting hours just figuring out how to use it, let alone determining if the equipment works. I wonder what the engineers were thinking when they designed this unusual interface? Don’t they realize that the harder something is to use, the less inclined people will be to use it?

Click here to comment

Some equipment requires even stranger setups. One piece of equipment that I worked on

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SONIC EMOTION

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INTERVIEW

Absolute 3D Sound An interview with Renato Pellegrini

onic Emotion is a 3D sound technology that will eliminate the idea of surround sound systems. Back in 2010, the Sonic Emotion team was able to overcome the classic problem of waveform synthesis, allowing the speaker to be in one spot, but fill the room with full 3D sound. Since then, the company has developed singlesource sound bars that give the effect of surround sound, without the need for strategic speaker placement. After rave reviews of their speaker system, the company developed a proprietary app for mobile devices, the Headquake Pro, that enables smartphones and tablets with 3D sound. We spoke with Renato Pellegrini, Co-founder and CTO of Sonic Emotion, about the development of their revolutionary sound devices, some surprising new applications with the technology, and where he sees this technology being implemented in the future.

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PULSE Could you give us a little background on the company and how it got started? Mattias Rosenthal and myself started the company about 11 years ago. The company was based off the foundation of a European research project at the time. I was working for a large audio mixing console company here in Switzerland and was in the research part of the company doing research in wave field synthesis. At the time, that technology had proven to be far beyond what you could expect from any stereo system. We had an idea that this could actually lead to a new generation of sound reproduction devices. At that time, we didn’t actually believe there would be a lot of consumer electronics, because wave field synthesis requires a lot of speakers surrounding the listening area. That’s pretty much in direct contrast to what we can do today. The original wave field synthesis—where we came from—actually required a lot of speakers. However, we still felt that there was enough meat on the bone to actually create a company around that. We took the initiative and closed the research project from our former company and started our own company and got the lucky first project in the threshold field of aerospace technology, so we actually were working on flight simulators as our

Traditional

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first official project. From there, we moved on to more artistic installations. The name Sonic Emotion already implies that we are already interested in entertaining people at combining 3D sound with the emotional aspect that sound can give you.

So you went from flight simulator audio to museum installations— what’s the next step for Sonic Emotion? Back in 2010, the big step for us was that we were able to invert the classic problem of wave field synthesis into something where all speakers could be in one spot, rather than surrounding you all over the place. We used a similar technology to feed a sound field into a room from one device. Obviously that has a lot more applications on the consumer end, because now you can have just one sound bar or sounding device in front of you and it will fill the whole room, and wherever you are in that room, with sounds from all around. We took some initial investment money to cover the costs of this consumer application. From there, we built the first chip-based product to allow us to actually sell technology to manufacturers and OEMs in Asia so they can embed our technology into their products.

INTERVIEW “The big difference from the consumer end is that in stereo or surround sound recordings, you need to sit still to gain the full effect. In our environments you can actually explore a sound field.” Nowadays, we have moved one step further from just chip manufacturing to software-based products. We have software offerings for any kind of consumer electronic audio product, be it sound bars, docking stations, compact 2 speaker devices, Bluetooth devices, laptops, TVs and even headphone products. Following rave reviews of our own app, Headquake Pro, we also are white labeling mobile applications that enable 3D sound for music and video players on tablets and smartphones. Most recently, Samsung became the first to adapt our Absolute 3D sound software technology to the marketplace – now offering it to their customers in their 2014 sound bar lineup of products.

How do you create 3D sound with just one device? A Dutch physicist named Christiaan Huygens initially proposed the wave field synthesis concept back in the 1600s. He showed that you can create any real source by creating a number of secondary sources by just adding signals together. At that time Huygens could not

actually demonstrate because all he had was a pencil and paper. Today, signal processing allows us to simulate what he was thinking in real time by creating signals for each speaker in place. By adding the signals correctly and in phase with each other, we allow ourselves to recreate wave fronts that represent a specific sound source. Our technology involves an important analysis because we obviously don’t want to change the whole production line of music or movie content. We want to keep using the standard stereo or surround sound material at the input, analyze that sound so we can learn what is localizable and diffuse, and take those parts and analyze where they should be coming from. Once we learn that from the incoming signal, we produce a wave front for a signal that comes from that very spot. In that way, it’s totally different from stereo reproduction where one speaker is supposed to create one channel of incoming sound. In our view, every speaker will do a portion of every incoming signal. All together, they add up to create the entire sound field.

Absolute 3D™

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PULSE The big difference from the consumer end is that in stereo or surround sound recordings, you need to sit still to gain the full effect. In our environments you can actually explore a sound field—you can walk about the sound field and hear the sound field change accordingly like in a real or natural environment.

How do you conduct your sound testing? That’s a very good question. With us, sound testing occurs on three levels. The first level is strictly a physical measure. We want to learn early on about the radiation of speakers inside the box. We want to define the air volumes and the device itself and take measures and create a mock-up that allow us to understand the directivity of each and every speaker. We are able to recreate the sound field from the device early on. The next step includes some polar voicing together with whatever brand we are working with. The clients will work with our audio engineers to get the best possible sound out of the device that is similar to the end customer’s expectation. The third step is to go into blind contests. We will compare our product with other popular devices on the market in a blind psychoacoustic test with real subjects.

Your software does sound wave analysis, but does the room where the speakers are play into the result? That’s one of the benefits we bring to the marketplace. With our new customizable Absolute 3D sound software, we don’t need to calibrate our system in any given room. That said, it means the natural wave field that we create will not rely on any specific reflections that would bounce off walls.

Who do you see as your main competitor in the industry? A lot of the stereo providers out there simply provide surround sound with the potential of add-ons to provide an idea of the speaker position. However, from a technology perspective, our offering is entirely different. We are the only ones that actually recreate those sound fields in a way that you, the listener, can really move around in a much larger scale and area around the room. Whenever you experience an SRS or DTS system, if you are outside of the “sweet spot,” you will lose the full effect. We believe that today’s customers are not sitting in a chair to experience music for an hour, they are out walking or in the kitchen or answering e-mails in the office. Our product offers a sound quality that is simply above the current state-of-the-art technology of our competitors.

“If you create that 3D sound field properly, you can easily distinguish between the sounds in your room and the sound that should be in front of you.”

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INTERVIEW

A lot of technology trends in the consumer space are focused more towards HD TVs and displays—do you see people still interested in the latest audio equipment as much? I would put it two ways. I do see a strong link to video and the latest TVs, but the link has not been a healthy one. TVs have been getting thinner and flatter over the years and so has the sound. TVs have gotten so slim that it has become very difficult to provide the proper audio to go with it within the frame of the TV. Because of this, there has been a growth in the marketplace for audio accessories and a lot of our partner customers come to us looking for the proper 3D sound technology to solve this problem. but also because we can increase speech intelligibility. There are a number of benefits in adding the proper sound to your state-of-the-art TV and Sonic Emotion can provide this solution using its new Absolute 3D sound software which is applied across the entire spectrum of consumer electronics. If you create that 3D sound field properly, you can easily distinguish between the sounds in your room and the sound that should be in front of you. We have used the human possibilities of the listen to dialogue properly because it is clearly coming from in front of you.

“Our product offers a sound quality that is simply above the current state-of-the-art technology of our competitors.”

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PULSE

ABSOLUTE 3D™ from Sonic Emotion:

MOVING BEYOND SURROUND SOUND

ccording to the Consumer Electronics Association, nearly 40% of consumers surveyed stated they would be willing to pay more for better quality sound equipment. Clearly, consumers crave entertainment and a quality sound experience. Yet,the technology industry is oversaturated with companies that claim to produce 3D sound leading to confusion on how best to achieve it and a preponderance of mind-numbing options. As devices – from televisions to mobile smartphones and tablets—grow ever thinner, the market is crying out for a simpler way. We are at a true inflection point. Sonic Emotion has worked to tackle this challenge as well as fulfil this burgeoning demand by creating Absolute 3D ™ which moves beyond conventional surround sound set-ups.

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