EP&Dee no 4

APRIL, 2014 足 ISSUE NO. 4, VOL. 12

DESIGN & MANUFACTURING

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APRIL 2014 Table of Contents DESIGN FEATURES 8 Digital Power Makes Complexity Simple The number of mobile broadband subscriptions has grown by around 45% year-on-year reaching 1.7 billion in 2012, according to data released in the latest Ericsson Mobility Report. Additionally, there also is steady progress in the amount of data usage per subscription.

14 Aurocon COMPEC always offers new products 16 Should I Make The Switch? The 8 vs 32-bit Migration Decision At element14 we’ve been supporting design engineers through the element 14 Community for 8 years.

During this time we’ve witnessed first hand the shift in the microcontroller market, as advances in technology and the launch of 32-bit architecture offers engineers the power to take their designs further than ever before.

20 Balancing the tradeoffs in 3-Phase BLDC motor-control designs

Win a Low Pin Count USB Dev kit from Microchip EP&Dee is offering you the chance to win a Low Pin Count USB Dev kit (#DM164127). The Low Pin Count USB Development Kit provides an easy, low cost way to evaluate the functionality of Microchip’s PIC18F14K50 and PIC18F13K50 20-pin USB microcontrollers.

Brian Chu of Microchip Technology Inc., compares the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to BLDC motor control.

22 45 seconds to drive your own AC Brushless motor The dream of any engineer designing a 3-phase inverter for an AC Brushless motor is to quickly get a running solution, tuned to his specific motor. But it is a painful experience to extract the intrinsic parameters of a new custom AC Brushless motor.

26 How Software Enhanced Piezo (SEP) promises more attractive, reliable and effective user interfaces This article gives an overview of the main factors that need to be considered in selecting a touch solution and highlights some of the most recent technical developments, including the growing interest in how haptic feedback can be incorporated into touch controls

30 Multirate techniques fuel advances in digital power conversion For decades, analogue technology has formed the cornerstone of power converter topologies. Although most converters use switching techniques and pulsewidth modulation, the implementation circuitry has been predominantly analogue for compatibility at a process level for power semiconductors as well as cost-effectiveness.

32 Expanded dynamic range current measurement

The all-inclusive kit contains the hardware, software, and code examples necessary to bring a USB design from concept to prototype. Created with the USB novice in mind, the kit includes “Getting Started with Microchip’s Low Pin Count USB Solutions”, a self-directed course and lab material designed to ease the learning curve associated with adding USB connectivity to embedded systems.

36 Leuze BPS 348i - Bar code positioning system for positioning with millimeter accuracy over distances of up to 10 km.

PRODUCT NEWS 25 Embedded Systems (p 4 - 7) (p 13, 19, 25, 29) (p 34, 35) Lighting Solutins / Display (p 38, 39)

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The kit contains one fully populated low pin count USB Development Board, one unpopulated spare development board, one PIC18F14K50 Debug Header, and a CD containing the user guide, course materials, and product documentation.

For your chance to win one of the two Low Pin Count USB Dev kits, please visit: http://www.microchip-comps.com/epdee-lowpin and enter your details in the entry form.

Active Components (p 40 - 43)

Group Publishing Director Gabriel Neagu Managing Director Ionela Ganea Accounting Ioana Paraschiv Advertisement Irina Ganea WEB Eugen Vărzaru © 2014 by Eurostandard Press 2000

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Contributing editors Radu Andrei Ross Bannatyne Consulting Marian Blejan Bogdan Grămescu Mihai Savu Asian Reprezentative Taiwan Charles Yang Tel: +886­4­3223633 charles@medianet.com.tw

EP&Dee Web page: www.epd­ee.eu EP&Dee Subscriptions: office@epd­ee.eu

EUROSTANDARD PRESS 2000 Tel.: +40 31 805 9955 Tel: +40 31 805 9887 office@esp2000.ro www.esp2000.ro VAT Registration: RO3998003 Company number: J03/1371/1993

EP&Dee (Electronics Products & Design ­ Eastern Europe) is published 11 times per year in 2014 by Euro Standard Press 2000 s.r.l.

It is a free to qualified electronics engineers and managers involved in engineering decisions. Starting on 2010, this magazine is published only in digital format.

Copyright 2014 by Euro Standard Press 2000 s.r.l. All rights reserved.

INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Harmonic Chooses Altera Solution for H.265 4Kp60 Video Encoding Altera's H.265 Enhanced Motion Estimation Engine Paired with Server Software Enables 4Kp60 Performance with Up To 60% Efficiency Gain vs. x.264 Altera Corporation announced that Harmonic, the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure, has chosen Altera's new 4Kp60-capable H.265 enhanced motion estimation engine (EME), a server co-processing solution based on the company's Stratix® V FPGAs to dramatically improve efficiency and performance of Harmonic's PURE Compression Engine for the delivery of 4Kp60 content.

Altera's Stratix V FPGAs, optimized with IP from Altera and its partners, enable Harmonic's market-leading encoding technology to deliver 4Kp60 real-time performance, while requiring substantially less power, rack space and CPU processing power than other solutions prevalent in the industry today. Altera's EME saves precious CPU cycles by offloading Server-class CPUs, reserving more processing power to deliver industry-leading efficiency and video quality today, with spare capacity for even more improvements tomorrow.

A demonstration of the products delivering 4Kp60 real-time performance has been featured in the Harmonic booth # SU1210 and Altera booth # SU11110 during the 2014 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 7-10. The offering utilizes Altera's Advanced System Development Kit, built for demanding 4K and even 8K video transport and processing needs.

ALTERA

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Freescale Kinetis V series MCUs streamline next-generation motor control and digital power conversion applications Continuing to expand one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of ARM-based microcontrollers (MCUs), Freescale Semiconductor introduces the lead families of the new Kinetis V series, optimized for motor control and digital power conversion applications. To complement the Kinetis V series, Freescale also introduces the Kinetis Motor Suite, a bundled enablement tool that helps to maximize motor efficiency while reducing development cost and time to market.

The Kinetis V series’ fast signal acquisition and processing capabilities, combined with the intuitive Kinetis Motor Suite, provide a unified hardware and software platform for developing scalable, costeffective motor control systems. With the Kinetis V series, designers of products ranging from low-end pool pumps to advanced robotics can now leverage the increased efficiency, quieter operation, and improved reliability benefits of the latest motor technologies.

Kinetis KV4x, KV3x and KV1x MCUs The KV4x family is the flagship of the existing V series, targeting digital power conversion designs, as well as PMSM and ACIM applications requiring high dynamic control.

Engineered for optimal performance, KV4x MCUs incorporate a 150 MHz ARM CortexM4 processor with floating-point unit executing from up to 256 KB of Flash memory via a 128-bit wide interface that minimizes CPU wait states. With up to 30 timer channels – twelve provided by the highly flexible eFlexPWM – KV4x family devices provide multiple three-phase motor drive capabilities supporting dead time insertion, complementary pairing of PWMs, half cycle reload and fault detection. For sensorless motor control speed/position detection, two 12-bit ADCs support sample rates of up to 1.9 Msps and can be triggered by any module connected to the MCU’s internal peripheral crossbar, including timers, analog comparators or GPIO. For switched mode power supply applications, an eFlexPWM module provides 300 picosecond resolution, while the ADCs sample at 4.1Msps. This improves real-time control, ensuring that critical timing windows for data gathering and system updates are met. In addition, the KV4x family’s high degree of feature integration enables up to 30 PWM outputs, 38 ADC channel inputs, as well as CAN, UART and SPI interfaces to be housed in a 100-pin LQFP package.

The KV3x family, also Cortex-M4 based, tar-

gets intermediate PMSM applications with CPU frequencies of 100-120 MHz, up to 512/96 KB of Flash/SRAM and an optional external bus interface for off-chip system expansion.

The KV1x family represents the entry-level of the series and integrates the industry’s fastest Cortex-M0+ MCU core. With a CPU frequency of 75 MHz, plus hardware divide and square root block, KV1x devices offer a performance increase of more than 25 per-

cent in math-intensive applications compared to other MCUs in the family’s class.

Packing this high processing efficiency into a small, 32 KB solution positions KV1x MCUs as cost-effective options for BLDC and PMSM designs that currently rely on larger, more expensive 32-bit MCUs. Kinetis Motor Suite and additional motor control enablement Traditionally, PID loop tuning is trial and error based, requires in-depth motor control expertise and results in non-optimal system performance that can degrade over time.

Kinetis Motor Suite addresses these issues, simplifying the development cycle, delivering more predictable system response and reducing time to market.

The Kinetis Motor Suite consists of three software components for tuning, observing and managing motor control system operation: the Kinetis Motor Tuner, a GUI for motor parameter configuration that enables fast, precise PID loop tuning in minutes rather than months; Kinetis Motor Observer, advanced software pre-programmed into the MCU that enables tuning of control loops and estimation blocks to regulate motor and inverter efficiency, power factor, current/ torque ripple and noise, and; the Kinetis Motor Manager, which provides a real-time, non-intrusive display of system variables and the MCU memory map. The motor manager includes a software oscilloscope with debugging and data logging capability.

FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR www.freescale.com/Kinetis/vseries

INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Motor Driver from Microchip is automotive AECQ100 qualified, highly integrated and compact; provides high performance and high current Key Facts: • Cost-effective MCP8063 is world’s first 1.5A, three-phase brushless DC, sinusoidal motor driver in a 4×4 mm package with the AEC-Q100 quality certification • Complete single-chip solution for three-phase, brushless DC applications • High efficiency, low acoustic noise and low mechanical vibration offer energy savings and quiet operation • Safety features include thermal shutdown, over-current limiting and lock-up protection

increasing regulatory and consumer demands for continued reductions in cost, space, noise and power consumption, with better performance and safety. The integrated features of the MCP8063 motor driver solve these problems cost-effectively, while providing a wide operating temperature range of -40 to +125°Celsius. Additionally, it supports the sensorless driving of BLDC motors, which eliminates the cost and space of a Hall sensor.

The compact MCP8063 is a highperformance motor driver which

Microchip announces the MCP8063 - a highly integrated, cost-effective, automotive AECQ100-qualified motor driver that delivers superior performance in a small, 8-pin, 4×4 mm DFN package.

It is also the world’s first to combine all of those features with 1.5A peak phase current for the 180-degree sinusoidal drive of a variety of three-phase brushless DC motor and fan applications. This integration reduces cost and PCB area, and the high sinusoidal-drive performance provides high efficiency, low acoustic noise and low mechanical vibration for energy savings and quiet operation.

Additionally, the MCP8063 includes safety features such as thermal shutdown, over-current limiting and lock-up protection.

The designers of a broad range of motor applications in markets such as the automotive, IT, industrial and home-appliances are faced with

offers high current and a wide temperature range to provide a complete single-chip solution for a wide variety of three-phase, brushless DC applications at attractive price points.

The MCP8063 motor driver works stand-alone or in conjunction with Microchip’s large portfolio of PIC® microcontrollers and dsPIC® digital signal controllers. This offers a high degree of flexibility for everything from simple voltage control to closed-loop motor speed control using high-performance algorithms, such as sinusoidal sensorless drive.

To enable development with the new MCP8063 motor driver, Microchip also announced the MCP8063 12V 3-Phase BLDC Sensorless Fan Controller Demo Kit (ADM00575), which is available today, priced at $49.99 each.

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/get/JMXV

Silicon Labs Streamlines iOS Accessory Designs with Comprehensive 32-bit Development Kit Silicon Labs introduced a new 32-bit hardware and firmware development kit designed to accelerate the design of Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad (MFi) accessories and help product manufacturers get to market quickly. Leveraging Silicon Labs’ ARM® Cortex®M3-based SiM3U microcontroller (MCU), the MFI-SIM3U1XX-DK development kit supports the all-digital Lightning connector and protocol stack. The new development kit targets a wide range of accessories for iOS devices including entertainment accessories, device-powered dongles, game controllers and docking stations.

Silicon Labs designed the MFI-SIM3U1XX-DK kit as a turnkey solution to help developers simplify their Lightning-based accessory development projects and speed time to market while meeting the MFi program requirements with ease.

Silicon Labs’ 32-bit development kit provides an exceptionally cost-effective and comprehensive solution for accessory developers. The kit includes everything engineers need to begin developing Lightning-based accessories right away, including a hardware development board, firmware libraries and an example iOS App, which supports Appcessory-style communication between the iOS device and development board. By simplifying the development process, the new 32-bit kit enables MFi licensees to focus on what matters most – the accessory application itself.

The MFI-SIM3U1XX-DK kit enables developers to reduce the cost, complexity and power consumption of accessories designed for iOS devices. The SiM3U MCU features fully-specified analog peripherals, an integrated capacitive touch sense controller, an internal 5V regulator and crystal-less USB support, which eliminates the need for discrete crystal oscillators and reduces bill of materials (BOM) cost, component count and board space. Device-powered accessory applications benefit from the SiM3U MCU’s best-in-class power efficiency. The SiM3U MCU offers ultra-low power consumption with full analog operation down to 1.8 V, achieving a 33 percent lower active current than in-class competitors and a 5-100x lower sleep current, while a low-current USB idle mode ensures the viability of device-powered accessories.

SILICON LABS

www.silabs.com/mcu

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INDUSTRY NEWS Reduce Cost and Weight of Cabling in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems with Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) Chipsets Engineers can now design high-resolution advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) with either traditional STP or lighter, less expensive coax cables using new 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 and cameras. 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. The chipsets drive 15 meters of coax or STP cabling, providing the margin required for robust and versatile designs. The spreadspectrum capability built into each serializer and deserializer improves EMI performance in the link, without the need for an external spread-spectrum clock. Each serializer can operate with any deserializer in the family, allowing the use of dif ferent interfaces at each end of the link. In addition to driving ADAS applications, these chipsets can also be used in high-resolution central- and rear-seat displays.

Key Advantages • Reduced cable cost and weight: each SerDes chipset allows the use of coax cables, which reduce cable cost and weight each by up to 50%.

• High-resolution displays: drive 1920×720 pixel displays with 24-bit color, enhancing visuals in both safety and entertainment applications.

• Longer cable lengths: the robust chipsets drive 15 meters of cable, up to 50% longer than competitive solutions.

• Minimized EMI: the serializer has spreadspectrum capability, reducing EMI without additional components.

MAXIM INTEGRATED

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EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Expose Temperatures Wirelessly with the Maxim Novato Reference Design from Mouser Mouser Electronics, Inc. is now shipping the new MAXREFDES16 Novato Reference Design board from Maxim Integrated. This reference design provides a complete signal chain solution for wirelessly transmitting remote temperature information.

The new maxim MAXREFDES16 Novato Reference Design board available from Mouser Electronics is a highly accurate 16-bit temperature transducer system that wirelessly transmits remote temperature information to a central control unit over a 4 to 20mA current loop. Data is transmitted by a loop powered HART® (Highway Addressable Remote Transducer) enabled smart transmitter. The Novato reference design uses the Maxim MAX11213 16-bit ADC to measure the resistance of the 2-, 3-, or 4-wire Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) sensor. The current loop transmitter is built on the MAX5216 14-/16 bit DAC and the Maxim MAX9620 High-Efficiency 1.5MHz Op Amp. Calibration is easy by using the free Novato calibration software and the included USBto-UART programming adapter.

The Maxim DS8500 HART modem chip meets HART Protocol Compatible physical layer requirements by providing the board's digital interface to the HART protocol with a 4-20mA current loop. The

Maxim MAX15006 40V Ultra-Low Quiescent-Current Linear Regulator and Maxim MAX6133 3ppm/°C, Low-Dropout Voltage Reference provide power and ref-

erence voltage to the entire circuitry.

The Novato reference design board provides a low-power, easy-to-use, reliable temperature measurement solution with a measured temperature range of -200°C to +850°C. Accuracy is better than 0.1% or 1.0°C, whichever is more accurate, over the entire operating range.

MOUSER ELECTRONICS www.mouser.com MAXIM INTEGRATED www.maximintegrated.com

Atollic appointed by Freescale as a founding partner of new Kinetis featured IDE initiative Atollic® announced that its award-winning IDE, Atollic TrueSTUDIO®, has been selected by Freescale as one of only 4 professional embedded development tools designated as a featured IDE for Kinetis MCUs. By virtue of being based on Eclipse and using the GNU collection of development tools, Atollic TrueSTUDIO is believed to offer the easiest migration path for customers who wish to upgrade from their legacy Eclipse/GNU tools such as CodeWarrior Developer Studio for Microcontrollers to something more powerful and modern. Also, Processor Expert software, Freescale’s software configuration tool, is an Eclipse plug-in that will easily install and run within Atollic TrueSTUDIO. Providing the widest feature set of any professional embedded integrated development environment (IDE) available on the market, Atollic TrueSTUDIO has many powerful features such as parallel compila-

tion, RTOS aware debugger with a built-in crash analyzer, and support for multicore and multiprocessor debugging. Event, data and instruction tracing, real-time variable

watch view, MISRA-C checking, code complexity analysis and source code review features are also included as standard. Target support is provided for Freescale’s comprehensive portfolio of ARM-based solutions including Kinetis MCUs based on ARM Cortex®-M cores, Vybrid controller solutions built on Cortex-M and Cortex-A cores and i.MX applications processors based on Cortex-A cores.

ATOLLIC www.atollic.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

New Ericsson power module integrates ultra-wide voltage input for telecom and Power-over-Ethernet applications • Enhanced 50W ultra-wide-input power module in sixteenth-brick footprint simplifies Power-overEthernet (PoE) applications • Ultra-wide input voltage from 18V to 75V means new module accommodates 24V and 48V systems, reduces inventories and is also suitable for remote power feed applications • Enhanced thermal layout improves power-dissipation in low-airflow applications • 2250Vdc isolation matches Power-over-Ethernet specifications

Ericsson has introduced a new 50W DC/DC converter module that targets Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) applications. Very importantly, the new Ericsson PKU5510E converter features an ultra-wide input range of 18V to 75V, which means that the device is also suitable for 24V or 48V telecom systems. The module is the latest evolution of Ericsson’s PKU family and combines the thermal enhancements integrated in the recently announced PKU4116C module together with an optimized flyforward topology, which was first introduced by Ericsson in 2008.

The PKU5510E delivers an output current of 15A at 3.3V output and has a built-in functional isolation of 2250Vdc that meets the requirements specified by the IEEE802.3 Ethernet networking standard, and also meets Basic Insulation requirements according to IEC/EN/UL60950.

“The growing market for Powerover-Ethernet based applications is a highly demanding one,” said Patrick Le Fèvre, Marketing and Communication Director, Ericsson Power Modules. “It requires costefficient and high-efficiency power products such as the PKU5510E, which benefits from Ericsson advanced R&D and integrates a best-in-class thermal layout with an advanced power topology to deliver industry-leading performance.”

The PKU5510E has been designed for applications that have to accom-

modate both telecom system bus voltages of 24V and 48V, while also being a best-in-class product to supply voltages to Power-overEthernet based applications such as remote antennas, WIFI repeaters, basestation microcells, CCTV/camera monitoring systems and a variety of different sensors.

Due to its ultra-wide input and high efficiency, the PKU5510E is also an ideal solution to power industrial applications and many others that use remote power feeds, where a module is required to operate irrespective where it is connected or indeed of the length of the line cable. In addition, the wide input range of PKU5510E offers another benefit for applications that require a hold-up capacitor to prevent the loss of vital data in the case of line disruption.

ERICSSON POWER MODULES www.ericsson.com/powermodules

Kontron's first SMARC Computer-on-Modules with an x86 processor Kontron introduced its brand new, ultra low-power SMARC Computer-on-Modules with Intel Atom processor E3800 series - the world's first x86 SoC processor to become available on this low-profile mini-computer form factor (82 mm x 50 mm). The new Kontron SMARC-sXBTi Computer-on-Modules offer excellent graphics, high processor performance and x86 compatibility on the smallest SMARC footprint combined with very low power consumption (5 to 10 watts). Both the flat profile of the module and its mobile feature set are tailored for smallest portable handheld devices. The modules can, however, be deployed in any application where power consumption has to be kept at just a few watts but high-level computing and graphics performance are required.

For the SMARC Computer-on-Module standard, which was primarily developed for performance and interfaces of the new tablet PC processors, to date only ARM processors could be made available, so this launch opens up completely new perspectives for developers in terms of the form factor's scalability as well as in terms of software re-use and compatibility.

The Kontron SMARC-sXBTi The new Kontron SMARC-sXBTi Computer-on-Modules have been developed to comply with the SGET specification and are equipped with Intel Atom processor E3800 series and up to 8 GB RAM, optional with ECC. They support the extended temperature range of -40°C to +85°C, measure only 82mm x 50mm and have an especially low-profile design thanks to the use of edge card connectors. Nevertheless, there is still enough space for up a 64GB on-board SSD to store OS and application data. A highlight of the pin-out is the mobile feature set with 3 UARTs with complete function range also for, e.g., GPS as well as support of the MIPI-compliant serial camera interface (MIPI CSI = Mobile Industry Processor Interface Camera Serial Interface). The powerful Intel Gen 7 Graphics are carried out via HDMI 1.4 and LVDS (optional eDP) with up to 2560x1600 and 60 Hz to the display.

Further interfaces include 1x GbE LAN via Intel Ethernet Controller I210, 1x USB 3.0 and 2x USB 2.0, amongst others.

Customer-specific extensions can be implemented via 2 SDIO and 3 PCIe x1 lanes with 5GT/s. For further features and interface details as well as information on availability see the Kontron SMARC-sXBTi product website.

KONTRON

www.kontron.com

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Digital Power Makes Complexity Simple The number of mobile broadband subscriptions has grown by around 45% year-onyear reaching 1.7 billion in 2012, according to data released in the latest Ericsson Mobility Report1). Additionally, there also is steady progress in the amount of data usage per subscription. This increase in mobile data combined with the growing deployment of the high-speed internet infrastructure via fiber-to-home means that manufacturers in ICT applications are being required to develop ever higher performing and higher capacity equipment in a shorter time-to-market, while also implementing the latest hardware and software technologies to ensure low energy consumption.

This is a challenging situation, but it does generate many opportunities to develop new ways of managing board power. For example, moving from passive ‘Board Mounted Power Sources’ (BMPS) that only supply power to loads, to very advanced combinations of hardware and software that make a contribution towards the full integration of board power within the digital chain.

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Ericsson Mobility Report: www.ericsson.com/ericsson-mobility-report

Author: Patrick Le Fèvre,

Pushing the limits The challenge for the board power system designer is to predict what will be required in terms of increasing power, decreasing board-space, higher flexibility and lower power consumption by the final end-application network data processor. Leadingedge equipment designed to handle high levels of data traffic is often based on multiple cores or processors that are not always fully available at the time of system development. And this equipment requires highly sophisticated power management with power sequencing, monitoring and the capability to dynamically modify an element of the power scheme to adjust to traffic conditions and thereby enable a reduction in 8

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Marketing and Communication Director at Ericsson Power Modules

energy consumption. An example of this type of complex equipment – an Ericsson high-end subscriber management and routing board – is shown in Figure 1.

In the high-end data processing world, the divergence in terms of power demand and flexibility is reaching an unprecedented level. The time-to-market to support network expansion is becoming ever shorter, while the increase of computing power per network controller is running at a similar rate. Board system architects therefore often find ‘moving goalposts’ when estimating power demand via simulation to match the power required by the actual end application when the system processors reach production maturity.

Complex sequencing is fun Because network-processors are very complex – and each new evolution integrates more functionality – the current required by the processor could increase by up to 60% from the preliminary specification of the processor to the mature version. Clearly, an evolving processor makes it difficult for board power designers to define the most efficient power architecture for the application. In addition to the increase of power required by the processor, revision after revision, the voltage sequencing is crucial and also has to evolve in step with the development of the processor. This means that designers will have to reset the voltagesequencing scheme with each new revision.

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Figure 1: Ericsson’s high-end subscriber management and routing board.

Furthermore, as well as the power and sequencing plan, when the board is finally released, during the lifetime of the equipment, network processors will be subject to firmware upgrades that may require different sequencing values to optimize operation and reduce energy consumption. In this type of application it is problematic in the extreme to use conventional power architectures, such as implementing analog point-ofload (POL) regulators with a sequencing setup via physical resistors, which will require hardware modifications and make lifetime upgrades almost impossible.

To solve the complex equation of setting the power architecture in parallel with the application development, and to guarantee full lifetime optimization, board power designers are increasingly implementing digitally controlled power architectures that combine digital POL regulators. These can be paralleled to achieve the level of power required by the processor (see figure 2), in conjunction with the flexibility offered by programming the setup sequencing using software such as Ericsson Power Designer (see figure 3), which makes it possible to cre-

ate specific configurations for power rails and to modify configuration at any time without requiring hardware changes.

Because varying type of processors and other strategic components such as memories require different types of sequencing on the same board, power architects have often to set up different sequencing schemes, such as Time Based, Event Based, Group Communication Bus Based and Voltage Tracking. As shown in figure 3, setting parameters for any type of sequencing is very simple and can be achieved via software. The example presented in figure 4 shows time-based sequencing in which delays, rise-time and fall-time are based on processor specifications.

In this configuration, the 1.0V core voltage must ramp slowly over 30 milliseconds, while the auxiliary voltages ramp up earlier – within 10 milliseconds – to power supervisory functions, ensuring they are operating before the core turns on. During the shutdown, all voltages are switched off at the same time, within 10 milliseconds; however, the fall-time is adjusted to guarantee

smooth transition until all functions are switched off.

As shown in figure 5, systems using digital power architecture are extremely flexible and the site manager can access any part of the board, down to a single POL through the digital interface.

Powering the core while saving energy Over many years the semiconductor industry has drastically optimized energy usage with built-in processor energy management that has significantly improved performance and reduced energy consumption. The high-end processors used in data networking have a greater number of cores per processor and more power requires evershrinking process technologies, resulting in lower voltages and higher currents.

Core voltage is now in the range of 1V and below, with current up to 90A per processor operating at full capacity, but at 10A and below, when operating in a lower utilization mode. To power processors efficiently, power designers are exploiting another benefit offered by digital power, which is to connect a number of digital POLs in parallel. www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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Figure 2: A digital POL regulator in single in-line packaging saving board space and improving cooling.

Figure 3: Ericsson Power Designer sequencing.

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Figure 4: Time-based sequencing – Rise-time and fall-time.

For example, implementing three 40A POLs to guarantee 100A across all conditions and using the benefits of phase spreading to decrease ripple and noise at full power and phase shading to reduce the number of POLs in operation when not required. Although

usually complex to manage, the implementation of this type of functionality with digital POLs makes it very simple in practice.

Figure 6 shows how phases can be adjusted when using Ericsson Power Designer. As for the sequencing shown previously, phase

spreading and phase shading can be simply programmed. In addition, systems architect can develop multiple configuration files to meet certain profiles that can be called up by the board power manager from local storage.

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Figure 6: Phase spreading.

In some applications, the processor directly communicates with the board power manager to set the number of phases required for optimized performances and how those phases should be shifted or synchronized.

This simple example provides an idea of the huge potential offered by digital POLs directly communicating with the master processor.

Monitoring and energy reporting Energy regulations and the growing importance for network operators to reduce energy consumption are adding to the demands upon board power designers to report the power consumption of each board, which requires additional current sensing and other circuitry. Systems architects working on Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) applications are implementing Power Interface Modules (PIMs) with a built-in PMBus controller that is able to monitor current consumption at any time of operation and to report accurate power measurement.

Current monitoring via the PMBus is available via any digital power module, isolated or non-isolated, simplifying energy monitoring and offering the possibility to supervise the overall system. Digital power modules also include a large number of alarms that can be programmed to report deviation from any default, in addition to temperature monitor12

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ing. While it is a clear advantage to know the temperature of the Advanced Bus Converter or POL regulator, the real benefit is to help systems managers to diagnose any abnormal deviation before reaching alarm level.

Abnormal deviation from calibrated configuration could easily be the sign of forthcoming failure, trigging a request for preventive maintenance and therefore avoiding traffic disruption and loss of revenues.

Board space saving and temperature mapping In addition to reducing time-to-market and energy consumption, saving board space to accommodate additional data processing capability is another challenge faced by systems designers. This often comes with another challenge: that of limiting the airflow bottleneck and optimizing cooling to achieve the highest performance from the network processor without overheating.

Saving board space is often achieved by implementing vertically mounted single inline POLs. In addition to highly efficient power conversion, additional monitoring features built into digital POLs, such as current, voltage, temperature, alarms, parameter settings and many others that are therefore no longer required as separate functions, represent a significant board saving, thereby free-

ing space for additional computing power.

Gathering temperature information from a large number of points within a board can also be used by systems managers to create a thermal picture of the complete board, which besides detecting early failure is also used to adjust cooling to what is required by the system. In previous generation of systems, thermal mapping relied upon a network of thermocouples requiring additional circuitry, calibration and complexity, which can highly be simplified when implementing digital POLs with this built-in functionality. Thermal data collected by each POL represents valuable information for systems architects looking to optimize overall board cooling.

Conclusion This article briefly reviewed a few possibilities of digital power technology and how power systems architects are implementing this technology. It also looked at how applications such as dynamic bus voltage technology can adjust the intermediate bus to meet the required load, or how fragmented distributed power combining multiple Advanced Bus Converters can on request become master, slave or sleep devices. To conclude, digital power is fun and also makes complexity simple. n www.ericsson.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

IPEmotion 2014 R1 includes several new features for CAN traffic analysis, A2L import, map database management and audio playback The IPETRONIK business division IPEmotion – Software presents a new version of its high-performance configuration and data acquisition software: IPEmotion 2014 R1.

This software version presents new features like CAN traffic analyzer, graphical filling level indication at A2L file import, new table display instrument and audio playback in analysis.

Among all new features, the CAN traffic analyzer is a highlight.

The new table display element supports CAN message display as traffic data (hexadecimal and decimal) besides common signal measurements. In traffic measurement, users can online view and analyze CAN messages (data frames), as well as related CAN bus information like status frames, remote frames, error frames, statistic frames and transmit frames. Relevant information is displayed in a clearly arranged table in the columns relative time (beginning at measurement start), CAN ID, name of message, message type, data length code (DLC), data content. CAN traffic data acquisition is supported by the CAN Acquisition PlugIn V1.05 or the Logger PlugIn V03.52.

Import of A2L files – graphical filling level indication This function relates to the import of description files at ECU signal measurements. Electronic control units can contain several 10,000 signals. Depending on device performance and design only a defined number of DAQ lists are available for data acquisition. The graphical filling level indication allows users to clearly recognize how much capacity has been used up. Further, IPEmotion features an

optimization algorithm filling DAQ lists in an optimal way so that the most possible amount of signals can be collected from the ECU. Map – database management The database management function allows users to efficiently manage custom map data (tiles) of particular regions. Instead of having to store map tiles in one large file, users now can store relevant map sections, reload them and share them with colleagues. In this way, data are more easy to handle.

Further, information on covered regions and resolution of map tiles in the database are available.

Table display of several channels The new table display instrument compactly presents many measurement channels in a table.

Compared with alphanumeric instruments, the table instrument allows compact display of many clearly arranged channels. The table view is particularly beneficial for test bench systems or climate applications.

Audio playback The new audio playback function supports integration of data acquisition from vehicle can bus and measuring modules in combination with acoustic measurements.

Acoustic signals, i.e. vehicle sounds, are recorded using a microphone either in combination with a data logger or with IPEmotion and the Sound PlugIn on a PC. Recordings are stored as WAV file.

These WAV files can be played back by IPEmotion and users can correlate sounds with other measured signals in order to determine the causes. The major advantage of this solution is that acoustic investigations can now be incorporated into the early phases of vehicle development and manufacturers can analyze noise problems much earlier.

IPETRONIK www.ipetronik.com

Microchip introduces cost-effective 8-bit PIC® microcontroller family with intelligent analogue and core independent peripherals Microchip announces, from EE Live! and the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, the PIC16(L)F170X and PIC16(L)F171X family of 8-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), which combines a rich set of intelligent analogue and core independent peripherals, with cost-effective pricing and eXtreme Low Power (XLP) technology. Available in 14-, 20-, 28-, and 40/44-pin packages, the 11-member PIC16F170X/171X family of MCUs integrates two Op Amps to drive analogue control loops, sensor amplification and basic signal conditioning, whilst reducing system cost and board space. These new devices also offer built-in Zero Cross Detect (ZCD) to simplify TRIAC control and minimise the EMI caused by switching transients. Additionally, these are the first PIC16 MCUs with Peripheral Pin Select, a pin-mapping feature that gives designers the flexibility to designate the pin-out of many peripheral functions. The PIC16F170X/171X are generalpurpose MCUs that are ideal for a broad range of applications, such as consumer home appliances, power tools and electric razors; portable medical products including blood-pressure meters, blood-glucose meters and pedometers; as well as LED lighting; battery charging; power supplies and motor control.

The PIC16F170X/171X family features Core Independent Peripherals (CIP), such as the Configurable Logic Cell (CLC), Complementary Output Generator (COG) and Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO). These “self-sustaining” peripherals take 8-bit PIC® MCU performance to a new level, as they are designed to handle tasks with no code or supervision from the CPU to maintain operation. As a result, they simplify the implementation of complex control systems and give designers the flexibility to innovate.

The CLC peripheral allows designers to create custom logic and interconnections specific to their application, thereby reducing external components, saving code space and adding functionality. The COG peripheral is a powerful waveform generator that can generate complementary waveforms with fine control of key parameters, such as phase, dead-band, blanking, emergency shut-down states and error-recovery strategies. It provides a cost-effective solution saving both board space and component cost when, for example, driving FETs in half- and full-bridge drivers for control and power-conversion applications.

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/get/H4FJ www.microchip.com/get/4FJP www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Aurocon COMPEC always offers new products DELTA VFD-EL 230V 1 PHASE 11A 2.2kW INVERTERS The inverter VFD-EL series is a multiple function new generation micro type AC drive. It has built in EMI filter, RFI switch, easy DC bus sharing for side-by-side installation, high precision current detection, overload protection, and a built In keypad.

• • • • •

Single phase input Output frequency 0.1 to 600 Hz 3 points adjustable V / f curve Built-in PID feedback control Use RS-485 communication interface (RJ-45) with Modbus protocol

RS code: 785-8534

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS CC3000 BOOSTERPACK The CC3000 BoosterPack showcases the SimpleLink™ Wi-Fi CC3000 module, a self-contained wireless network processor that simplifies the process of implementing Internet connectivity.

SimpleLink Wi-Fi minimises host microcontroller (MCU) software requirements making it the ideal solution for embedded applications using any low-cost and low-power MCU.

ory storage, text, data, graphic, animation display and a wide viewing angle of 70° horizontally and vertically.

• • • •

65536 colors, LED backlight Graphical resolution is 480 × 272 pixels RS232/RS485 serial port MTP6/50: USB 2.0 port for programming • MTP8/50: Ethernet port for programming and communication STM32 MICROCONTROLLERS, F4 SERIES The STM32 F4 family of 32 bit Flash microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex™ M processor is designed to offer new degrees of freedom to MCU users. It offers a 32 bit product range that combines high performance, real-time capabilities, digital signal processing, and low power, low voltage operation, while maintaining full integration and ease of development.

RS code: 786-5750

RS code: 789-2815

• IEEE 802.11 b/g • Embedded IPv4 TCP/IP Stack • Tx Power: +18 dBm at 11Mbps, CCK • Rx sensitivity: -86 dBm, RS code: 789-2809 8% PER, 11 Mbps

• • • • •

LUXEON UV LEDS LUXEON UV is 1/5 the size of other ultraviolet and viole LEDs and is the industry’s smallest footprint, high-power emitter. LUXEON UV LEDs can be assembled in tight arrays with spacing of only 200 microns, which enables highest power density (W / cm²) systems.

RS code: 779-7079 The product delivers superior efficiency, undomed for precise optical control and a portfolio covering ultraviolet (380- 400 nm) and violet (400-430 nm) light.

ARDUINO ROBOT The Arduino Robot is the first official Arduino on wheels. The Robot has two processors, one on each of its two boards.

The Motor Board controls the motors, and the Control Board reads the sensors and decides how to operate.

Each of the boards is a full Arduino board programmable using the Arduino IDE.

• • • • •

2.2 mm² micro footprint for industry’s highest array W / cm² 1 A max drive current for more flux per LED AIN substrate with Rth as low as 3.5 K / W Less heat to manage with up to 45+ % wall plug efficiency Precise optical control from an undomed emitter

CROUZET MTP8/50 PROGRAMMABLE TOUCH PANELS Programmable touch panel series MTP for the Millenium 3 microPLC. Features include a fan-less cooling system, 128 MB flash mem14

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225 DMIPS/608 CoreMark at 180 MHz from Flash Up to 2-Mbyte dual-bank Flash, 256-Kbyte SRAM TFT LCD Controller with ST Chrom-ART Accelerator™ Longer battery life: 100 μA typical in Stop mode STM32F429 discovery kit with free STemWin professional graphical library

• Microcontroller ATmega32u4 • Operating voltage 5V • Clock Speed 16 MHz • Full colour LCD • SD card reader

Aurocon Compec www.compec.ro www.designspark.com

RS code: 782-4581

DESIGN

MCUs

Should I Make The Switch?

The 8 vs 32-bit Migration Decision Authors: Ankur Tomar, Farnell element14 Anthony Huereca, Freescale Semiconductor

With every new project, there are ever growing questions: What am I missing out on by staying with 8-bit? What does a 32-bit architecture really give me? And with 32-bit devices now taking the lead in embedded MCU sales, is it time to make the move before I get left behind?

Fortunately, the exciting thing about our industry is that we never stop innovating. And with cores like the ARM® Cortex®-

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M0+, which can be found in devices from Freescale®, Atmel®, NXP®, and others, 32-bit processors have arrived at the point where they can match the legacy 8/16-bit MCU strengths, plus provide a multitude of advantages that make upgrading very compelling. The Cortex-M0+ core was designed specifically to make the switch more attractive than ever before, letting you take your projects to the next level with 32-bits of power.

At element14 we’ve been supporting design engineers through the element 14 Community for 8 years.

During this time we’ve witnessed first hand the shift in the microcontroller market, as advances in technology and the launch of 32-bit architecture offers engineers the power to take their designs further than ever before.

Of the billions of embedded devices the world uses every day, a large number of them are powered by legacy 8 and 16 bit microcontrollers. Many embedded engineers grew up with these older architectures and their low cost, low power, and simple architecture has kept them popular even as 32-bit devices have taken off. As popularity for 32-bit devices grows, so does the need for education about the differences, benefits and opportunities newer architectures can offer.

DESIGN

MCUs

Why 32-bit?

If you asked a new engineering student why migrate from 8-bit to 32-bit, you might get the obvious answer: There are 4 times as many bits, and more is always better! In reality it’s not quite that simple, but there’s a lot of compelling reasons why 32-bit MCUs make sense, even for “traditional” 8 and 16bit projects.

• Higher Performance: Moving to a 32-bit core can provide from 2 to 40 times the performance per MHz of the 8 and 16-bit architectures in use today.

You’ll get much faster 32-bit math processing, and single cycle 32-bit multiplication. And there’s single cycle IO for bit banging and software protocol emulation.

The result is that code density can be significantly improved by moving to a 32-bit architecture using Thumb-2.

All that power opens up a new world of possibilities with software stacks (USB, Bluetooth, etc), RTOSs, advanced UI’s, and much more, with ample processing power leftover for the defining features of your application.

• Cost: With devices starting at only $0.49 cents, 32-bit MCUs can make sense in previously cost prohibitive applications.

And because of higher code density, less flash memory may be needed.

• More energy efficient: The Cortex-M0+ core is also incredibly efficient, getting almost 2x the Coremark®/mA of other 16-bit competitors. Combined with that more powerful Cortex-M0+ core, your embedded system can use less energy by finishing its tasks much quicker and getting back into sleep mode.

Even sleep modes have impressive low power credentials, down to <500nA when in the deepest of the 9 power modes found on the Freescale Kinetis® L family.

And thanks to intelligently designed peripheral modules as found on the Kinetis families, you can now do far more without waking the core, saving even more power.

• Increased Code Density: It might seem counter-intuitive that using a 32-bit processor would lead to smaller code size. However the Cortex-M0+ core uses Thumb-2 instructions, many of which only take up 16 bits in Flash. And keep in mind that many instructions on 8-bit processors are actually longer than 8-bits. Also depending on the application, several bytes of 8-bit instructions can be replaced by a single instruction on a 32-bit MCU, as in the case of the 16-bit multiplication below.

• Size: With sizes as small as 1.6×2.0mm, as found on the Freescale Kinetis KL03 family making it the world’s smallest ARM MCU, 32-bit performance can be found in some very small places.

• Scalable: No longer will assembly, tied to one specific architecture from one specific manufacturer in the 8-bit world, hold you back as project and performance needs change. The emphasis on C code for 32-bit devices instead of assembly reduces development and debug time, and makes porting code to new devices ever easier. And with all the 32-bit ARM MCUs spreading across the world, the software ecosystem is huge and growing.

But… This all sounds great you think, but I need the small size, low price, and ease of use that 8/16 bits MCUs give me for my application.

Luckily it’s a whole new world for 32-bit MCUs these days:

• Complexity: Surprisingly 32-bit architecture can actually be simpler in some aspects.

With 32-bits of address space, there’s no need for paging and memory locations can be accessed directly. The CortexM0+ core architecture has a full-featured interrupt controller, simplifying interrupt handling. Throw in a trace buffer for easier debugging, and only 56 instructions for those who want to keep using assembly, the “leap” to 32-bit complexity is more like a small hop.

Developing with 32-bits One the major advantages of using a 32-bit ARM core is the staggering amount of software and hardware enablement that’s available for it, which includes a plethora of compatible compilers and debuggers. Hardware and software re-use becomes easier as projects scale between cores like the CortexM0+ and the more powerful Cortex-M4.

And with the Freescale Kinetis MCU pin and module compatibility, with hundreds of devices across the families, moving up and down the performance/flash curve becomes much easier. www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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DESIGN

MCUs

Freescale takes 32-bit enablement even further with Processor Expert® software modeling tool and MQX™-Lite Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) to get you up and going quickly with new 32-bit projects. The Processor Expert software modeling tool is a complementary GUI tool that for code generation, creating customized drivers and significantly shortens development time.

MQX-Lite RTOS is a simplified version of the popular MQX RTOS and was specifically designed for microcontrollers with under 4KB of memory. The RTOS drivers come from the Processor Expert software modeling tool, and it’s a subset of MQX RTOS, making future upgrades to more powerful devices easy. It comes complementary with Processor Expert software modeling tool, and for those devices with USB, there’s a complementary USB stack available as well.

The Next Step Now that you want to try out what 32-bit has to offer, where do you start?

Fortunately there are a number of boards out there that provide a great 32-bit evaluation platform, and you can get them for less 18

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than the cost of a pizza. The FRDM-KL05Z is perfect for dipping your toe into the 32-bit world and is pin-compatible with Freescale’s 8-bit S08 devices. The FRDM-KL26Z adds USB and more advanced peripheral modules, and the FRDM-KL46Z takes it even further with both USB and segment LCD support. Or if 5V IO and electrical robustness are critical to your application, the FRDMKE02 will be exactly what you’re looking for.

All 4 of these mint tin sized boards feature Cortex-M0+ cores and are enabled with the Processor Expert software modeling tool, MQX-Lite RTOS, complimentary USB stacks, and more. And with a debug circuit called OpenSDA built right into the board, a simple USB cable provides all the debugging, serial communication and flash programming capabilities you’ll need.

Plus all of those boards, along with the entire Freescale Freedom development platform lineup, are Arduino™ shield compatible and provide easy access to digital and analog IO pins. The MEMS Sensors Evaluation Kit is a good example of the possibilities this enables, as it pairs a FRDM-KL25Z Freescale Freedom development platform with a

MEMS Sensor Evaluation shield on top, giving the Kinetis L MCU access to an array of cutting edge sensors to explore the world around it. All the way through the learning experience it’s important to keep in touch with other engineers and that’s where the element14 Community can provide support.

There’s often another engineer who has already found a solution to the problem you’re facing, and that’s where online communities can be an excellent resource.

A 32-bit Future Technology never stops moving forward, and the trend of seeing 32-bit MCUs in more and more embedded applications will only accelerate. At element14 we’re supporting engineers through each stage of the design process, from development kits to prototype and manufacture, to ensure that engineers feel confident when choosing to migrate to a newer 32-bit architecture. With their higher performance, impressive power efficiency, and better code density, now is the time to make that first step to a better and brighter 32-bit future. n www.freescale.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Achieve High Performance and Low Power with Highly Integrated 11.3Gbps Ethernet Optical Transceiver IC for Data Centers Engineers can now achieve high performance in optical modules with low power consumption using the highly integrated MAX3956 10GBASE-LR SFP+ optical transceiver IC from Maxim

and save bill-of-material (BOM) cost. By integrating analog monitors and a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC), the MAX3956 enables the use of a low-cost, “alldigital” external microcontroller.

Integrated Products, Inc. Optical module designers must typically trade high performance for power consumption in their applications. The MAX3956 SFP+ laser transceiver IC solves that problem. It delivers better than 50% transmit mask margin performance (1k waveforms, zero mask hits) with < 0.8 W total SFP+ module power dissipation. This reduced power dissipation lowers operational expenditures (OPEX) and improves thermal reliability in data centers. Additionally, the device integrates highly accurate analog monitors for digital diagnostics monitoring (DDM), including temperature, VCC, and RSSI sensors, to ensure a compact design

Key Advantages • High integration: integrates programmable transmit input equalization, receive output deemphasis, DDM, and highly accurate analog monitors (including temperature, VCC, and RSSI sensors) to reduce cost of external components • Low power: the device’s proprietary DC-coupled laser interface enables < 0.8 W total SFP+ module power dissipation and 380 mW IC power dissipation at 3.3V (typ) • High performance: the MAX3956 results in 4.6psP-P deterministic jitter (receiver) and 5psP-P deterministic jitter (transmitter) MAXIM INTEGRATED www.maximintegrated.com

RUTRONIK EMBEDDED presents efus, the new COM form factor by F&S The new form factor for Cortex-A CPUs by F&S Elektronik Systeme, efus, measures only 47 × 62mm. efus stands for easy, functional, universal, small: It comes with various interfaces, is expandable with wireless modules and suitable for universal use, e.g. for visualization, communication, control in industrial and medical applications. The first module of this new product family, efusA9, is available for development at distributor Rutronik by April 2014, mass production starts by the end of quarter 2/14. Further modules will follow within 2014.

The latest form factor from F&S, the efus product family, uses a common 230 pin MXM2 edge connector. The signals on the base board leading to the plug connector were routed by EasyLayout standard, the concept of no crossing lines or avoidable through holes. A 4-layer circuit board is already sufficient for a base board; the schematic data for developing a base board under EAGLE is available for free. For the mechanical attachment of efus on the base board, the locking mechanism EASYMOUNT is used. No screws are needed to attach efus safely and reliably on the base board. An easy, inexpensive and lowrisk redesign offers further functions on the module. Expansions for WLAN (with chip antenna or socket), ZigBee, Z-Wave or EnOcean are available.

The first module of this new product family, efusA9, comes with a Freescale i.MX6 CortexA9 CPU. This high-performance CPU offers 3D graphics (100MTri/s, 1000Mpx/s), Hardware Decoder / Encoder with a resolution up to 1080p, H.264 HP, HDMI v1.4., ARMv7(TM), NEON and VFPv3 for multimedia applications. Other important features are the long-time availability of up to 15 years and the temperature range of -40°C - +85°C. The memory is up to 1GByte RAM and 32GByte Flash. The 230 pin finger-type contact hosts interfaces like Gigabit-Ethernet, USB Host, USB Device, 2 CAN, 2 I2C, 2 SPI, 4 Serial, GPIOs, 1+1 uSD-Card, I2S, SATA, PCIe and camera. Display connections in digital RGB and 1 + 2 channel LVDS (up to FullHD, JILI30 compatible), as well as DVI are available simultaneously.

RUTRONIK

www.rutronik.com

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DESIGN

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Balancing the tradeoffs in 3-Phase BLDC motor-control designs Brian Chu of Microchip Technology Inc., compares the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to BLDC motor control.

Author: Brian Chu, Product Line Marketing Manager, Analog and Interface Products Division

Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are gaining increased market share over other motor technologies, particularly in the automotive and medical markets, and this has prompted the development of new approaches to motor-control design. Now, designers have to decide which approach is best for each application.

The traditional approach is to develop the motor-control circuit from discrete components, but more recent developments offer single-chip solutions, based on a System on Chip (SoC) or an Application-Specific Standard Product (ASSP), as well as a two-chip approach. Whilst all of the more recent oneand two-chip solutions offer a reduction in the number of components and in design complexity, each approach has specific advantages and disadvantages. It is these that the designer must understand so that it is possible to make the best possible trade-off between flexibility and space-saving integration.

Regardless of which approach is used, a typical motor system is comprised of three main elements: the power supply section, the motor driver, and the control unit. A traditional, discrete-based circuit, as shown in Figure 1, uses a simple RISC processor with on-chip Flash to control the gate drivers which, in turn, drive the external MOSFETs. An alternative method is to drive the motor directly from a processor, with integrated MOSFETs and a voltage regulator to power the processor and the driver.

All of these elements are typically integrated into a SoC motor driver. In addition, a SoC offers the benefit of programmability, which enables it to be used across different applications. As a single-chip approach, a SoC is also 20

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suitable for applications which have limited board-space. The drawback of using a SoCbased design is that its lower processing performance and limited internal memory mean that it cannot meet the demands of applications which need advanced motor control. A further drawback is that, compared to the broad development toolsets provided by microcontroller manufacturers, there is significantly less support for firmware development in SoC motor drivers. The alternative singlechip approach is to use an ApplicationSpecific Standard Product (ASSP) motor driver, designed specifically for each application.

The advantages of using an ASSP are that they occupy minimum space on the board which makes them ideal for space-constrained applications. A 10-pin DFN standalone fan motordriver is shown Figure 2. ASSPs also eliminate the need for software tuning whilst offering an excellent price-performance ratio in high-volume applications and performance which can match that of a high-end microcontroller. An ASSP motor driver can, for example, be used to drive a BLDC motor using sensorless and sinusoidal algorithms. Despite these advantages, ASSPs lack the programmability which would enable them to be scaled up to higher

Figure 1: Block diagram of a traditional, discrete-based BLDC motor.

DESIGN

drive strengths and the flexibility to adapt to future changes in the market.

Whilst the design strategies based on a SoC or an ASSP can help designers to meet the

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

allows the designer to choose from a broad range of microcontrollers optimised for sensor or sensorless commutation using trapezoidal or sinusoidal drive techniques.

Figure 2: Block diagram of a standalone fan motor driver.

Figure 3: Two-chip BLDC design with external MOSFETs. continual trend towards miniaturisation, other applications are using the two-chip approach combining a microcontroller optimised for intelligent analogue in conjunction with an external driver. This approach

Programmability Flash Memory PCB Space Pin Count Controller Selection Reusability Across Power Ratings Firmware Development Tools

When choosing the companion driver chip for the microcontroller, it is essential that the driver should do more than provide suitable power-ratings for the MOSFET or BLDC motor. It should also integrate a high-effi-

SoC Limited 32 KB or less Medium Medium None Medium Limited

ciency, adjustable voltage regulator capable of minimising power dissipation whilst powering a wide range of microcontrollers.

Monitoring and housekeeping blocks are also essential to ensure the safe operation of the motor and to enable bi-directional communication between the host and the driver.

Selectable parameters will enable the performance of the driver to be optimised without any additional programming.

A typical two-chip solution is shown in Figure 3. This approach combines a feature-rich, 3phase motor driver, such as Microchipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MCP8024, with a high-performance dsPIC 33EP MC digital signal controller (DSC) to drive six N-channel MOSFETs for the fieldoriented control of a Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM). A lower-cost, baseline 8-bit microcontroller can be used in place of the DSC when using a simple, sixstep control architecture.

The change from a DSC to an 8-bit microcontroller can be implemented without altering the drive circuit if a BLDC motor with a similar power rating is used.

The relative advantages of single-chip BLDC motor-control designs, based on a SoC or ASSP, and the two-chip approach using a microcontroller or DSC and a companion driver, are shown in Table 1. This shows that, whilst a SoC or ASSP will meet the needs of a space-constrained application, their fixed feature-sets combined with limited memory and processing power significantly reduce the flexibility and scalability of the design.

The emergence of single-chip and two-chip approaches to BLDC motor control enable designers to reduce component cost and board-space compared to traditional discrete-based circuits. The hardware and firmware reference designs and libraries, supplied by manufacturers such as Microchip, also significantly reduce the development time for bringing an advanced motor-control and drive designs to market. n www.microchip.com

ASSP No No Small Low None Small Not Required

Two-Chip Solution Yes 16 KB to 256 KB Medium High Broad High Standard from Supplier

Table 1: Comparison of single-chip and two-chip BLDC motor-control designs www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

45 seconds to drive your own AC Brushless motor The dream of any engineer designing a 3-phase inverter for an AC Brushless motor is to quickly get a running solution, tuned to his specific motor.

But it is a painful experience to extract the intrinsic parameters of a new custom AC Brushless motor. Furthermore, the calibration of the coefficients embedded in the software requires expertise and efforts to reach the expected system behaviour. Each motor and equipment have their own specifications in terms of speed, torque, reaction time and efficiency, nowadays engineers have to struggle to incorporate new motors and electronics in their equipment.

Author: Vincent Mignard, Renesas

Renesas are now offering such a dream tool as an enhancement to their existing RX62T Motor Control Reference Kit (part-name: YROTATE-IT-RX62T) and recently offer it on the latest RX220 Motor Control Reference Kit (part-name: YROTATE-ITRX220). Both kits are designed to drive any AC Permanent Magnet motors using sensorless Field Oriented Control algorithm. The software running on the RX62T is using float arithmetic and on the RX220, it is using fixed-point arithmetic.

Each kit is based on a single printed circuit using a 32-bit MCU (RX62T or RX220), a power stage using MOSFETs and sensing shunts used to manage sensorless control.

The embedded software is royalty free and uses a small flash footprint and minimum CPU resources.

Interfacing to the hardware and developing with a motor is made easy using the highly featured PC Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Finally, the PC GUI enables automatic measurement of the Brushless motor parameters, calibrate the coefficients of the Proportional/ Integral current regulation block and guarantee a safe and reliable start-up process.

However, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s try to understand why the kits and the associated PC GUI may fulfil the dream of any engineer developing new inverter electronics. In the embedded control software and the PC User Interface have two key benefits in mind: 22

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1) Current Proportional-Integral (PI) Coefficients Tuning: Tuning the current PI controls normally requires the use of an oscilloscope and the system performing a current step in order to analyse the step response. Such a feature was designed a few years ago for the Renesas kits, but it a manual and time-consuming process. Renesasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; motor design tool allows PI controls to be

Figure 1: PC GUI Auto-tuning screens.

tuned easily and quickly, using simply the inverter board connected to the motor together with the PC. Firstly, automatic detection of the correct PI gain values is provided. This delivers the user working values for the proportional and the integral constants for the current. Secondly, the user can refine the tuning by imposing a desired current step and then analyse the step

DESIGN

response directly in the User Interface without the need for any expensive oscilloscope, trace debugger and insulation transformer.

2) Motor Parameters Auto-detection: By default, mathematical model parameters of the motor need to be defined in order to start and run the sinusoidal sensorless algorithm. The most important parameters are: the stator resistance; the synchronous inductance and the permanent magnet flux linkages (e.g. the back Electromotive Force constant). The measurement of these parameters is complex and usually requires a fully equipped laboratory with specific instrumentation. Using the new Renesas motor design tool the values of these parameters are automatically identified by the 3-phase inverter itself. The PC User Interface displays the measured values in a few mouse clicks.

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

The first one is the auto-tuning of the current PI, the second is the Motor parameters identification and the third one is the Oscilloscope window as shown on the Figure 2. The five parameters extracted during the process can be stored in EEPROM by a simple mouse-click.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now dive into the technical mechanisms designed to discover the five main parameters. The blocks structure shown on the Figure 3 is made with an external speed loop that produces the torque reference.

Two internal current loops produce the voltage references, which are applied by the 3phase inverter.

A large part of the algorithm consists of the reference systems transformations. In particular the transformation between the twodimensional system reference linked to the stator and the two-dimensional system linked to the rotor. The first is standing, the second is usually rotating, the transformation is called PARK transform and it requires the angular position of the rotor as regards the stator. This position is the position of the permanent magnets flux vector.

To calculate it in a sensorless system, several calculations are performed using the motor model equations. The control loops are performed using standard Proportional Integral

Note: In the case of non-isotropic motors, the medium value of the two axes Ld and Lq inductance is provided.

The RX62T and RX220 reference platforms provide a fully isolated USB connection to the PC, so at this point no isolation transformer is needed. The PC Graphical User Interface is able to display all the internal values of the algorithm and it is possible to visualize the step response of the current PI, the phase of the system and the sinusoidal current waveforms as shown on the Figure 1.

The PC GUI offers three main functions enabling the full calibration with 45 seconds.

Figure 3: Sensorless vector control algorithm blocks diagram.

Using reference systems transformations, the torque and flux controls are decoupled.

Figure 2: Three auto-tuning buttons of the PC GUI.

(PI) control, which regulates the currents. It is a fundamental part of the motor control algorithm used to control the current delivered to the motor phase. The PI controller is designed to produce a composite output to compensate the error. The two terms of the controllers depends on the Proportional coefficients Kp and Integral coefficients Ki. The PI is creating a voltage waveform in such a way that the resulting current is following the desired waveform. This is obtained comparing the actual system output with the desired one, and building an opportune system input based on the error itself. The input to feed the system is composed by two terms, one proportional to the error, and the second proportional to the integral of the error.

To tune any AC Brushless motors, Kp and Ki need to be extracted. In this case, the controlled system can be seen as an RL circuit.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why, the motor model of the Figure 4 made with v(t) generated by the PI controller, an inductance and a resistance enable the indirect measurements of the mysterious coefficients. www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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DESIGN

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

The step response of the circuit is the represented on the left hand side.

The two quotients “L/R” and “1/R” need to be measured in order to find out the Kp and Ki coefficients.

permanent magnets flux amplitude Lm. The Figure 6 displays the motor equations used in the embedded software in the flux estimation block. The model used here is referred to the stator. After several simplifi-

Figure 4: Motor model of a single phase.

tities in the equation are known, except the three mysterious coefficients.

So the procedure implemented is stimulating the motor phases with different voltage waveforms and measuring the corresponding currents. The final step is to solve an algebraic system of three equations of three unknowns as shown on the Figure 7.

Thanks to the powerful PC GUI, the process takes 45 seconds to extract the five parameters: Kp, Ki, Rs, Ls and Lm and finally run an unknown 3-phase AC Brushless motor. Such procedure needs no specific equipment or expensive tools. No specific insulation transformer is required and such auto-tuning is working for low and high voltage motors.

It becomes easy to evaluate different motors in a few minutes for each equipment requirements. There is no fear to have when starting a design of a 3-phase inverter as such tool enable any engineer to drive his own motor in less than a minute and he can spend time on application development.

No deep know-how is anymore needed

The expected step response of the system is well known. So, it becomes possible to get from the closed loop system the two coefficients: Kp and Ki by measuring: the steady state gain and the time constant of the RL equivalent circuit.

Figure 5 is showing the steps used to measures the two quotients and calculate the unknown PI coefficients.

Such approach is fast and implemented on both microcontroller families: RX62T and RX220. It avoids any time consuming manual work and try and error process.

The second benefits of the newest embedded software are the automatic identification of the Brushless motor parameters. In

Figure 6: Equations used in the Flux estimation block.

Figure 5: Three steps to automatically measure the PI coefficients. the control algorithm block scheme, the Phase Estimation Block is using the motor model parameters to run properly. The three parameters are: the stator resistance Rs, the synchronous inductance Ls, and the 24

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cations, in the final vector equation, it appears the unknown parameters.

If the embedded software delivers a sinusoidal voltage at a certain frequency, and measure the obtained current, all the quan-

which shorten the overall learning curve and time to market for the first prototype.

Finally, the procedure is done off-line and requires only a few MIPS from the MCU and little memory footprint.

Up to thirty AC Brushless motors were tuned using the powerful auto-tuning off the shelf solution running either on RX220 or RX62T microcontroller families. Both reference platforms are able to drive 24VDC motors and can control several Kilowatts motors using an external power stage.

Now, it is your opportunity to try the latest Renesas solution by ordering the kits: • For the RX62T embedding Floating point Unit: YROTATE-IT-RX62T • For the RX220 using fixed-point arithmetic: YROTATE-IT-RX220

DESIGN

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Figure 7: Three steps to automatically identify the motor parameters.

Both kits delivered by Renesas are offered at a cost below €200 per kit and answer the need of a reference design able to drive very quickly a Brushless motors. n Keywords: auto-calibration, auto-tuning, easy, simple, fast, quick, PC GUI, mouseclicks, Brushless motors, Permanent Magnet Motors, custom motors, sensorless, parameters identifications, royalty-free FOC software, FOC, vector control, intuitive PC GUI, RX220, RX62T, stator resistance, synchronous inductance, permanent magnet flux. www.renesas.com

URLs related to the article: RX62T/63T Motor control Reference Kit: www.renesas.eu/applications/key_technology/motor_control/reference/rx/index.jsp Renesas RX MCU Family: http://www.rxmcu.com/ RX62T Group: http://www.renesas.eu/products/mpumcu/rx/rx600/rx62t/index.jsp RX63T Group: http://www.renesas.eu/products/mpumcu/rx/rx600/rx63t/index.jsp RX220 Group: http://www.renesas.eu/products/mpumcu/rx/rx200/rx220/index.jsp

BMSKTOPASM369BT development kit simplifies implementation of the PAN1026 Bluetooth module MSC Technologies presented the BMSKTOPASM369BT development kit from Toshiba at its Booth 2 130 in Hall 2 at embedded world 2014, February 25 27, 2014 in Nuremberg, Germany.

The BMSKTOPASM369BT is a completely new development platform for Panasonic’s PAN1026 embedded Bluetooth Smart Ready module that recently turned into series production.

Panasonic’s PAN1026 module,

which is based on Toshiba’s TC35661 Chiron Bluetooth LSI, features include an output power of +4 dBm and a high receiver sensitivity of -87 dBm. In addition to the Serial Port Profile (SPP) functions and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) GATT profiles already available in the Flash of the PAN1026, a wide variety of additional soft-

ware packets, which run on a TMPM396 CortexM3 MCU equipped with 512 KB Flash and support interfaces such as Ethernet, CAN, USB, serial and UART, are offered with the BMSKTOPASM369BT starter kit.

Instead of Toshiba Control Unit (TCU) commands supported on the PAN1026 module, a complete high-level SPP API with very easy-to-use instruction sets is available to developers for simple Bluetooth integration, for example, for SPP applications. In addition, a complete Bluetooth Low Energy API based on the GATT profile was implemented for fast BLE profile and application integration. Numerous proposed solutions such as, e.g. a heart-rate demo, enable a significant reduction in development time. Furthermore, developers have access to a large number of BLE profiles via this API. The development of individual BLE profiles is also possible.

MSC TECHNOLOGIES www.msc-technologies.eu

STMicroelectronics Nucleo development boards from Mouser Get to the Heart of Development Mouser Electronics, Inc. is now stocking and shipping the new Nucleo Development Boards from STMicroelectronics. These development boards target anyone that wants to get started using ST's STM32 product families featuring ARM Cortex M0, Cortex M3, and Cortex M4 microcontrollers, and are compatible with a wide range of expansion boards. The new STMicroelectronics Nucleo development boards available from Mouser Electronics support development and evaluation of ST's 32-bit STM32 microcontrollers. These new boards provide many advanced features not found in other microcontroller development ecosystems.

Besides the usual assortment of push buttons, LEDs, and a USB debug interface, Nucleo boards feature two unique sets of expansion headers. The first set of expansion headers sit on the outside edges of the board, and are standard headers on all Nucleo boards. These headers allow for easy access to all peripherals of the target microcontroller during test and development. The second set of expansion headers are nestled inside the first set and are Arduino™ shield compatible.

These headers support the use of Arduino Uno v3 expansion boards, called "Arduino shields", allowing ST's Nucleo boards expanded access to dozens of Arduino compatible expansion boards. Arduino shields support a wide variety of applications, including Ethernet, LCD displays, GSM voice and data communications, ZigBee communications,

WiFi networking, motor control, music and sound synthesizers, and more. Nucleo development boards are compatible with several development tool vendors, including C compilers from IAR Systems and Keil Tools. Free GNU-based IDEs are also supported. The free mbed IDE is also supported, allowing quick and easy drag n drop programming of the target microcontroller.

MOUSER ELECTRONICS www.mouser.com

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SEP TECHNOLOGY

How Software Enhanced Piezo (SEP) promises more attractive, reliable and effective user interfaces In recent years, we've all become familiar with touch buttons, particularly on consumer electronic devices such as cellphones and tablet computers. Most of these adopt capacitive touch technologies. However, resistive and piezoelectric touch technologies can be better options in many applications. Furthermore, recent developments in software enhanced piezoelectric (SEP) touch will see this flexible, low-cost approach to designing rugged touch controls gain more widespread adoption. This article gives an overview of the main factors that need to be considered in selecting a touch solution and highlights some of the most recent technical developments, including the growing interest in how haptic feedback can be incorporated into touch controls.

Why touch?

The main reasons for adapting any kind of touch technology for a man-machine interface (MMI) are design freedom, to improve the user experience, and to achieve costs savings.

Conventional electromechanical switches are a poor option in every respect. There are thousands of different types but combining them in an attractive way in an MMI is difficult and time consuming. Once designed, it’s then difficult to create control panel variants, or to change the design.

They often prove to be the most unreliable component of electronic/electrical systems, particularly where such systems operate in less than benign environments. And electromechanical switches are an expensive and inelegant solution to switching an electrical circuit. Holes need to be drilled, manual assembly is often required, and there are significant design challenges in sealing panels against the ingress of moisture or other contaminants.

An early low-cost alternative: resistive membrane switches Resistive touch switches comprise two layers of conductive tracks separated by an insulating spacer. Individual switches are defined by 26

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holes in the spacer, which allow the conductive layers to come into contact when a finger or stylus pushes them together. Because a mechanical movement of between 0.1mm and 0.5mm is required to make a contact, the graphical panel overlay for the switches has to be quite flexible, limiting the choice of materials. Plastic or metal domes may be used to provide tactile feedback but this can increase the required movement up to 1mm, further adding to the problems of mechanical wear that causes the ‘feel’ of these switches to change over time.

Capacitive touch: no mechanical movement but other limitations In recent years, cellphones and tablet computers have created a revolution in MMIs, with various forms of capacitive touch underpinning the operation of touchscreens and panels. Switch positions are defined either by a custom pattern or an X-Y matrix of conducting traces on the inner surface of the panel. In the case of a glass-fronted display, transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) is used. Touch is detected when the user’s finger disturbs the electrostatic field generated by a drive signal, creating a capacitive coupling to the receive electrodes or to ground. Sensitivity, speed, accuracy and res-

olution in registering the intended touch are the trade-offs in design and operation.

These factors are affected by moisture or other contaminants on the touch surface and operation can be impaired or prevented if a user is wearing gloves. Metallic overlays can’t be used, so really rugged touch panels are not possible, while inconsistent responsiveness can make it difficult to provide timely visual or audio feedback to the user.

Piezoelectric buttons bring design flexibility and ruggedness to touch panels Discovered by Pierre and Jacques Curie in the early 1880s, the piezoelectric (meaning pressure electric) effect can be used to overcome the limitations of both resistive and capacitive touch technologies. Equally important, the technology can be implemented at lower cost than capacitive touch.

Natural crystals of quartz, Rochelle salt, tourmaline and manufactured ceramics such as Barium Titanate and Lead Zirconate Titanates (PZT) produce electricity when mechanical pressure is applied by a finger or stylus. There is some mechanical movement but it’s less than 1μm – orders of magnitude less than that of resistive touch panels.

DESIGN

The layered construction of a piezo touch switch is shown in figure 1. Pressure applied to the panel overlay is transmitted through to the piezoelectric disc, or ‘pill’, which sits between a conductive foil and the copper contacts on the PCB.

SEP TECHNOLOGY

The top overlay – the part that the user sees – is printed, stamped or embossed with the required information and the RoHS-compliant, piezoelectric pills slot into holes in an insulating spacer. The layer stack, which is usually just added on top of a PCB, can be as

little as 0.3mm in depth. In early implementations, piezoelectric buttons suffered from inconsistent operation caused by variations in applied pressure, variations in the composition of piezoelectric materials and temperature-related changes.

Figure 1: The piezoelectric material is sandwiched between conducting layers in the construction of a piezo touch switch allowing it to flex when pressure is applied.

Figure 2: The Aito Chip provides a complete interface between a piezo touch switch panel with its indicators and other feedback devices and the host system.

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SEP TECHNOLOGY

Using devices such as the Aito Chip compensates for these variables to enable the creation of piezoelectric touch panels that are stable and reliable, even in demanding environments where other touch technologies may not function at all.

One of the principle advantages of piezoelectric switches is freedom for product designers to use virtually any material, whether an electrical conductor or an insulator, as the panel overlay. Switch assemblies can be flat or curved, and of varying thick-

demonstrate hardware prototypes before designing their own embedded hardware.

Summary Every touch technology has its sweet spot – applications for which it provides the most

Figure 3: The overlay of a piezoelectric touch panel can be any material, including stainless steel, as used for the ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ waterproof controls on this mixer tap.

The controller chip, shown in figure 2, performs the following functions: 1. Captures the analogue signal generated by pressure on piezoelectric pill, with sensitivity adjustment achieved by varying the input switching point.

2. Communicates with a host processor via an I2C or SPI interface.

3. Produces a number of outputs to create user feedback, which can be sound (a buzzer), visual (LED indicator) or haptic (a physical sensation).

By detecting both the push and release actions, touch duration can also be measured. This means that each button can perform two distinct functions because ‘touch and hold’ enables a different response.

Note also that haptic feedback is localised to the individual button on the control panel and the vibration experience can be tailored to one of several distinct responses.

This Aito technology has been dubbed ‘Software Enhanced Piezo’ (SEP) and a consortium of companies has established a web site at www.sep-touch.org to promote it.

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nesses. This design flexibility enables engineers and designers to create panels that are not only technically suited to the application but which also add user appeal to the end product. The choice of overlay material can be optimized for the operating environment, perhaps providing protection from moisture, chemicals or even radiation. Figure 3 shows an application example.

suitable solution at the lowest cost. Recent advances in piezoelectric touch buttons, particularly SEP with the additional benefit of haptic feedback, are likely to see this technology adopted much more widely due to the freedom it offers designers to differentiate their products through creative aesthetics, the robustness achievable, and the cost-savings that can be realised. n

Piezoelectric switches are also easily designed to cope with electrostatic discharge (ESD) and to operate reliably in the presence of radio frequency interference, both of which can cause significant problems with capacitive touch panels. Piezo is also an energy efficient solution; capacitive panels have to continually generate an electrostatic field whereas piezo switches generate their own signal when activated, with the chip powered down until an input is received.

Links:

SEP development tools, which enable the sensitivity and user-feedback to be tailored for individual touch buttons, include hardware demonstration and evaluation kits, a PC software design suite and software library, and comprehensive documentation.

The software library supports the Arduino computer platform, enabling developers to

This video demonstrates the robustness of a piezoelectric control panel with Aito’s SEP technology.

http://aito-touch.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Rutronik offers M2M SIM cards and chips from Telit m2mAIR As of now, customers can acquire Telit m2mAIR M2M SIM cards and chips through Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH. With extensive roaming options even within the host country, SIM management, security features as well as technical support and a troubleshooting service, these SIMs provide a complete, secure and cost-effective solution for all types of M2M applications while maintaining absolute control over costs. In addition to the standard SIM cards, models with larger temperature ranges as well as soldered SIM chips are also available through Rutronik.

cisely under which circumstances which billing mode should apply ("test ready" or "active"). Over-theair services enable module properties and services to be modified after installation (post-production).

Active remote troubleshooting ensures that the SIM cards work free of errors and interruptions thanks to remote monitoring, realtime alarms, remote diagnostics and remote error fixing as well as support for remote AT commands.

Among the features provided by the module management system are network diagnostics, remote resets, and IP and hardware tests.

The integrated, multi-layered secu-

The M2M SIM cards from Telit m2mAIR offer a whole range of options and services that are specifically designed for M2M applications and all types of solutions. The real-time management of usage policies, the definition of alarms, customisable limits for network traffic and cost warnings allow for absolute control over costs incurred by end users. All SIM cards can be managed with ease via a web-based portal. The SIM management system covers the entire SIM card life cycle, from the procurement of the SIM card, troubleshooting and diagnostics, management of consumption and user profiles as well as network-based usage policies with many flexible roaming profiles and extensive API functionality. The lifecycle management system lets you establish pre-

rity structure is made up of numerous solutions aimed at ensuring identity protection as well as providing protection against communications interception and data theft. The unique roaming options also provide security against network failures, even when within the host country – if a network fails, the SIM card will seamlessly switch to another network.

Thanks to a partnership with Telefónica, the user has a choice of attractive rates around the world; even medium-sized and smaller projects can benefit from rates that would otherwise normally be reserved for larger projects.

These SIM cards are available as a standard model with a temperature range of -25°C to 85°C and also as an industrial-grade model with an expanded temperature range of -40°C to 105°C. They are also ETSI TS 102.671-compliant.

SIM chips, which are soldered directly onto the board, also offer significantly higher resistance to vibrations and shock.

RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com

Microchip announces industry’s lowest power projected-capacitive touch controllers Microchip announces a new family of projected-capacitive touch controllers, the MTCH6102 with industry-leading lowpower performance. These turnkey projected-capacitive controllers make it easy for designers to add contemporary touch and gesture interface designs to cost-sensitive applications.

This MTCH6102 facilitates design integration of capacitive scanning for touchscreens and touchpads including 11 singlefinger gestures to swipe, scroll or double tap. The MTCH6102 enables flexible, scalable solutions to support PCB, ITO or FPC sensors up to 15 channels. It supports cover lenses up to 3 mm plastic and 5 mm glass and configurable sleep/idle frame rates to optimise for most power budgets with active mode as low as 12 μA. Microchip offers its free Configuration Utility to allow designers to make fast customisations. Microchip also provides designers with the firmware library for further optimisation and control if needed.

The MTCH6102 provides developers with a flexible touchsensing solution for smaller touch areas to optimise common constraints of size, power and cost.

The MTCH6102 family serves a wide range of applications in the consumer electronic market, such as remote controls, gaming devices, wearable devices including headphones, watches, fitness wristbands, and track pads; and in the automotive market for automotive interior controls and control panels; as well as other applications.

Key Facts: • MTCH6102 enables fast, cost-effective, low-power designs for modern human interface • Turnkey projected-capacitive controllers for cost-sensitive applications • Simplifies the addition of contemporary touch and gesture interface designs • Flexible, scalable solutions can be optimised for most power budgets • Supported by free Configuration Utility, firmware library and low-cost development kit MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY

www.microchip.com/get/TU7M

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DIGITAL POWER CONVERSION

Multirate techniques fuel advances in digital power conversion For decades, analogue technology has formed the cornerstone of power converter topologies. Although most converters use switching techniques and pulsewidth modulation, the implementation circuitry has been predominantly analogue for compatibility at a process level for power semiconductors as well as cost-effectiveness. But the situation is changing.

The drive for greater efficiency in data centres and telecommunication systems is exposing the shortcomings of analogue technology and its derivatives.

Digital power management and control provide real-time intelligence that enables system developers to build power systems that automatically adapt to their environment and provide optimised efficiency for each specific use-case. The use of intelligent digital power ICs allows automatic compensation for changes in load and system temperature and enables energy savings through the use of adaptive dead-time control, dynamic voltage scaling, frequency shifting, phase dropping and discontinuous switching modes.

One obstacle to the rapid adoption of digital power has been its perceived expense, but any differential between analogue and digital control is fast disappearing with the introduction of the latest components, such as Intersilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ZL8800. Digital power efficiency and cost is now equalling or bettering comparable analogue power-conversion solutions, while providing more advanced features.

Most importantly, the pulse width modulation (PWM), loop control and feedback are implemented digitally. Analogue signals are converted to digital using analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) and once the signals are digital, 30

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microcontrollers, digital-signal processors or computational state machines control the digital PWM and the feedback loop.

This has important advantages in terms of maintaining stability without the compromises on responsiveness from which analogue control often suffers.

Although digital control offers advantages, many manufacturers are not taking full advantage of what the technology offers and have, in many cases, simply implemented in digital form the core analogue PWM techniques.

Digital control makes it possible to build far more flexible control loops and take advantage of multirate control in which individual algorithms are tuned to handle events that happen at different speeds.

Traditional digital PWM controllers are uniformly sampled.

The controller samples the error in output voltage and from that computes the required duty cycle for the next switching cycle.

The downside of uniformly sampled controller is the latency or group delay from sampling the error to when the PWM controller is able to switch the power-supply circuitry appropriately. The group delay translates to phase lag, which increases with

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frequency and places an upper bound on the achievable closedloop bandwidth.

Multirate control makes it possible to provide stable power but react almost instantaneously to sudden changes in voltage, providing an appropriate response within a single PWM switching cycle. The only way to achieve with this conventional architectures is to employ variable-frequency switching techniques, using higher frequency sampling and control when the voltage is changing rapidly. But this is not a useful approach for many systems. Modern telecommunications equipment and other applications with stringent electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) demands require fixedfrequency operation so that

they can maintain tight control of the noise spectrum.

Another approach is to apply a proportionate gain that is linear to the error voltage deviation.

Using only a proportionate gain it is possible to achieve single cycle reaction using fixed-frequency switching but a fastresponse loop gain can lead to instability.

The ChargeMode technology developed by Intersil and used in the ZL8800 dual-channel/ dual-phase DC/DC controller uses a mixture of uniform and multi-rate sampling techniques, which samples the error and computes the modulation signal multiple times during a switching period. This technique significantly reduces group delay and therefore supports very high

Figure 1: ZL8800 Digital PWM Modulation.

DESIGN

bandwidth operation. The phase lag is significantly reduced due to the reduction of group delay.

The ZL8800 also uses a dualedge modulator, which outperforms competitive and so-called ‘leading-edge’ modulators in terms of total group delay.

Figure 1 shows ZL8800’s dualsampling technique. The total delay (tdelay) is the sum of ADC conversion delay and computation delay (including pipeline/ filter delays) using either of the sample rates. By using the higherfrequency NxFsw clock in Figure 1, the ZL8800 clearly demonstrates a reduction of tdelay compared to a conventional, uniformly sampled PWM modulator.

DIGITAL POWER CONVERSION

lel paths for processing the quantised error voltage. One is called the ‘fast path,’ which samples error voltage more frequently than the ‘slow path.’

Using this novel compensator structure, the duty-cycle command is fed back to determine the effect of the fast path and to nullify the fast path effect in the following cycles.

The ZL8800 compensator structure has reduced delays between the error sampling instant and the duty-cycle decision. This translates to a natural phase boost at high frequencies, which provides stability and makes it possible for high-bandwidth designs, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 2: ASCR Digital Compensator.

Armed with an error signal from high-frequency sampling, the ChargeMode controller uses a novel strategy to overcome the instability of using just high loop gain. This is performed by localising the effect of a change to one or a few cycles. If the duty-cycle effect propagates to the next few cycles, then it may lead to the point of instability. Using digital control it is possible to ensure that what is done to the duty cycle to cope with a sudden voltage deviation in one switching cycle is undone within the next switching cycle or next few cycles. This technique is known as “a single-cycle response” (ASCR) digital compensation.

The compensator block diagram, shown in Figure 2, has many similarities to a traditional digital proportional-integralderivative (PID) controller architecture used in conventional PWM control strategies. But it has significant differences. The diagram indicates how the multirate sampling technique is integrated within the compensator.

The compensator has two paral-

A potential drawback of conventional multi-rate sampling technique is the injection of switching frequency harmonics into the feedback loop due to oversampling of the error. The ZL8800 overcomes this problem through the use of a low-latency ripple filter in the fast path – all repetitive elements of ripple are totally rejected. All that remains are the non-periodic elements in the waveform including transient steps with little or no delay, resulting in more than 20dB of ripple reduction without a significant time delay allowing high gains and higher bandwidths.

PWM control is only part of the overall solution. Having the digital controller in a highly integrated mixed-signal silicon technology process allows the integration of power management with power conversion.

The advanced power systems found in the latest generation of base-stations, routers and other data-communications infrastruc-

Figure 3: Phase boost at high frequencies.

Through the use of multi-rate sampling and control, the ASCR compensator can achieve an inherently stable control loop, which only needs to be tuned for bandwidth specification. In a wide range of output filter configurations, only ASCR gain needs to be varied to reach the desired closed-loop bandwidth operation. To allow higher performance, there is a second parameter that can be user controlled: the residual. This is a dampening factor, essentially setting the response rate of the loop.

ture designs use digital signalling over the serial Power Management Bus (PMBus). The PMbus has become the standard protocol for communicating with power conversion systems using a digital communications bus.

Using PMBus and PMBusenabled devices for power conversion provides flexibility and control that is not possible with traditional analogue power systems. Even adding a new power is simplified using the PMBus. The digital power IC for the new rail is provided with its own

SMBus address and is added to the system and there is no need to reprogram or add more standalone power-management ICs because of the additional voltage rail. As it is supported by PMBus, the new rail is automatically integrated into the standard monitoring, sequencing, margining and fault detection schemes.

Digital control can go further. For example, Intersil’s single-wire Digital-DC (DDC) serial bus allows power ICs to communicate with each other, supporting complex distributed functions such as inter-IC phase-current balancing, sequencing and fault spreading, eliminating the requirement for complicated power supply managers that are often accompanied by numerous external discrete components.

The use of software also provides the ability to program device behavior even after PCB assembly, allowing easier prototyping as well as system tuning for semicustom subsystems.

Although some advanced power systems may require extensive programming and coding experience from users to set up the commands and functionality required to access the capabilities of digital power management devices, the Power Navigator software written by Intersil for the ChargeModetechnology devices enables the simple configuration and monitoring of multiple DDC devices via the USB interface. The tool makes it easy to change all features and functions of a digital power supply design using a simple graphical user interface.

Through simple drag-and-drop graphics users can simplify and create an entire power management environment without having to write a single line of code.

As a result, through the combination of more advanced digital processing, communications and software control, digital power can provide higher efficiency power delivery with lower design cycle times. n www.intersil.com

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CURRENT TRANSDUCERS

Expanded dynamic range current measurement

by Erik Lange, Marketing & Applications Engineer, LEM USA, Inc.

Introduction Electrical current measurement in power electronics applications involves more than just the transducer selection. The path from the transducer to the micro-controller could involve several stages. Each of these stages has an impact on the accuracy of the measurement.

• Offset and gain uncertainties may be added by an intermediate scaling and level shifting stage • The use of a burden resistor in closed loop applications injects accuracy modifiers • The final stage of converting the analog current information into a digital format involves the effective number of bits and a final resolution of the current measured

Many power electronic applications require an expanded range for the current measuring device. This expanded range covers the normal operating range (80%-125% nominal current) and coverage for protection (300%). This can have a limiting effect on the dynamic range available control operation.

Over Current Detection With the advent of ASIC based current detection, options to include other features became available. The ASIC is placed in the gap of the core (see Figure 1). In addition to offset lowering technologies such as Hall cell spinning (see Figure 2.) or programmable sensitivity, the option to include over current detection (OCD) as a separate, pro-

grammable output became possible. The OCD changes states, perhaps as an opencollector style output when a trip threshold is exceeded. With an externalized OCD pin, the measuring range of the transducer no longer must include the protection peaks.

The entire measuring range can be focused on the dynamic operating range of the application.

The OCD can be programmed for different trip thresholds. This allows for thresholds to be set at 250% or 300%. In the case of the LEM HO series, the programmability extends to 570% nominal rating of the transducer. The over current being detected is beyond the rated measuring range of the transducer.

Figure 1 ASIC Based Current Transducer.

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DESIGN

An 8 amp rated transducer can be programmed for a 45.6A OCD threshold.

The OCD allows for the elimination of a dedicated over current detection crowbar circuit or similar requirement. This frees up board space and reduces the component count. A crowbar circuit may consist of a comparator and several resistors; perhaps 5 discrete components could be eliminated.

CURRENT TRANSDUCERS

Focused Dynamic Range With the protection function covered by the OCD output, the measuring range is left to focus on the dynamic control range. The transducer is fundamentally going to interact with a 5V or 3.3V device for the analog to digital conversion. If the current magnitude information can be delivered in the 5V or 3.3V range, less intermediate circuitry

NP/SP4 for example) allows for 300% reading (30A or 4.375V output) for protection.

The Volts/Amps are 0.625V/10A or 62.5mV/Amp. Magnetic Multiplication The method of multiple wraps of conductor in serial through a transducer is a known technique and is often referred to as

Figure 2 Hall Cell Spinning Concept.

Figure 3 Over Current Detection Pin.

such as level shifters and scaling will be needed. Most ASIC based transducers are 5V, with 3.3V becoming more available.

Historically, the dynamic range has been defined as 0.625V/nominal current for the 5V devices.

This allows for a bidirectional device (AC measurement) to have a zero current point defined as 2.5V out. Current in either direction of flow increases or decreases the output voltage of the transducer from the 2.5V start point (zero primary current).

For example, in the case of a 10A application (10A equals 100% load), the transducer would have a nominal rating of 10A with a 30A peak rating to provide for protection.

The sensitivity of 0.625V/10A (LEM HXS 10-

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Magnetic Multiplicationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. This is useful when a current transducers rating is above that of the applications primary current. It is important to utilize as much of the transducers dynamic range as possible to minimize offset and linearity errors. The conductors magnetic fields sum to a multiple defined by the number of wraps in serial. This will be shown in the following AC & DC application examples.

AC Application With the OCD monitoring for protection, the entire dynamic range can be utilized for control. The above 10A example application can be applied to a 15A transducer (LEM HO 15-NP).

Figure 4 Example of Transducer with Multiple Bus Bars for Magnetic Multiplication and OCD Pin. www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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DESIGN

CURRENT TRANSDUCERS

The current is wrapped through three times in serial on the three separate bus bars. With 125% of the nominal rating of the application as the upper range, the current will appear to be as high as 37.5A for a maximum. At 100% duty (10A), the transducer sees 30A. An original sensitivity of 53.33 mV/A (HO 15-NP) will correspond to a resulting sensitivity of 160mV/A. This compares to the 62.5mV/A of a standard 10A nominal transducer by a factor of 2.56.

The lower currents are lifted higher out of the noise floor and the available dynamic range is more utilized. That is an example of an AC application where both sides of the 2.5V zero current point need to be utilized by the application.

Unidirectional DC Application In a DC example that is unidirectional in nature, the Vref can be utilized to dramatically expand the dynamic measuring range.

Starting with a LEM HO 8-NP and wrapping the primary current three times in serial, a maximum (125%) current of the application is achieved of 37.5A. With the Vref pulled or programmed to 0.5V representing 0A, the 100mV/A sensitivity of the transducer can be fully realized. The peak voltage output at 37.5A is 4.250V, a breadth of 3.75V for a change of 12.5A or 300mV/A. A DC application that in the past would operate at 62.5mV/A can now operate at 300mV/A. In a 5V/12bit application, a bit represents 1.22mV. The output voltage would range

between 0.50V and 4.250V representing a current of 0A to 12.5A and a range of 3072 bits. In a traditional 10A application without Vref shifting and no OCD, the 0 to 12.5A operating range would be represented by a voltage of 2.5V to 3.28V. This range of 0.781V represents 640 bits.

The bit resolution is 4.1mA for the Vref shifted/OCD method or 19.5mA without the ASIC based features.

The Vref shifted/OCD combination will give much finer control of the current.

Not all ASIC based transducers allow for the maximum range of currents. The LEM HO 8NP allows for the increased dynamic range.

However, the LEM HO 25-NP does not allow for such a broad multiple of measuring range when the Vref is pulled to 0.50V. Typically the lower current range transducers in a series will have a broader range available than the higher current members of a transducer family.

Heat Dissipation In smaller transducers, when the dynamic range is fully exploited, the conductors will generate heat in the single digit Watt range.

Integral bus bars will have sub milli-Ohm resistance. But with currents in the 150A range, even the 200μOhms of the LEM HLSR 50-P will begin to generate 4.5 watts.

Modern ASIC based transducers will typically allow operation in the 105°C to 125°C range. In the case of ASIC based transducers with bus bars there may be maximum bus

bar temperature limitations (120°C being a typical value). Thus higher heat generation will not be an issue if heat dissipation is taken into account. PCB traces and copper surrounding the transducer pins should be maximized, not minimized, to assist in heat dissipation. Air movement will play an important role. A challenge is sizing the traces to the transducer to the minimum dictated by the design current. Minimally sized traces will not sufficiently wick away heat and even a high ambient (85°C) could possibly result in de-soldering of the transducer.

A thorough check of the final designs operating temperatures should include core, solder joint and bus bar temperatures.

Conclusion The implementation of an expanded dynamic range through use of ASIC based transducers with OCD capability has several benefits: • Reduced component count and increased reliability as the number of discrete components decreases • Better resolution from the analog to digital converter • Increased sensitivity being the best gain overall as the amount of volts per amps increases • Improved signal to noise ratio An ASIC based current transducer with OCD capability takes current measurement a leap forward in resolution, sensitivity, reliability and noise immunity. n

Micrium’s New µC/Probe v3.2 Brings Debug and Test into the 21st Century Micrium and Embedded Office offer new monitoring tool for embedded systems Micrium, represented in Germany by Embedded Office GmbH & Co. KG, Wangen, announces the release of μC/Probe, Graphical Live Watch™ v3.2. μC/Probe is a Windows-based application that allows engineers to graphically visualize and change the behavior of embedded systems at run-time. μC/Probe can read from and write to the memory (or I/O) of just about any embedded processor during runtime, and represent those values as a graphical objects: gauges, meters, numeric indicators, LEDs, sliders, graphs, and many more.

“We added exciting new features, including a Microsoft Excel interface allowing additional computation to be performed on live data and to further display the data graphically using Excel’s built-in charting tool, the ability to 34

EP&Dee | April, 2014

| www.epd-ee.eu

write scripts to configure your target, and a terminal window that can use a wide range of communication interfaces including the recent

addition of USB”, said Jean Labrosse, Micrium founder, president and CEO. “µC/Probe should be thought of as your go-to tool that replaces 'printf()' and brings your debug/test environment into the twenty first century.” μC/Probe is a tool that a great number of embedded developers have and use on a daily basis. You can now select the licensing model and features that best fit your needs and budget through the following licensing models: Educational/Evaluation (free), Basic, and Professional. The paid versions are available in several convenient licensing levels allowing customers to pay monthly, yearly or, move all the way up to a perpetual license.

MICRIUM EMBEDDED OFFICE

www.micrium.com www.embedded-office.de

INDUSTRY NEWS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

IAR Systems adds multicore debugging and automatic NEON vectorization to world-leading development tools for ARM IAR Systems® released a major enhanced version of its complete and high-performance development toolchain IAR Embedded Workbench® for ARM®. Highlights are multicore debugging function-

ality and support for automatic NEON™ vectorization which significantly strengthens development of complex applications.

Multicore applications often interact in complex ways and are therefore challenging to debug. With support for multicore debugging in the comprehensive C-SPY® Debugger in IAR Embedded Workbench for ARM, developers

are able to simultaneously debug two or more identical cores, symmetric multicore processing (SMP), or two cores with different architectures, asymmetric multicore processing (AMP), in one single development environment. This makes it considerably easier to find program errors during development. For developers working with applications based on ARM Cortex®-A processors, especially with multimedia and signal processing applications, the support for NEON vectorization is crucial for top performance.

ARM NEON is a Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) architecture extension developed by ARM and is implemented as part of the ARM processor, but has its own execution pipelines and a register bank that is distinct from the ARM register bank.

IAR SYSTEMS www.iar.com

Mouser Stocking Intel Galileo Arduino Certified Development Board For Same-Day Shipping Mouser Electronics, Inc. now has stock available to ship of Intel's popular Galileo Arduino® Certified Development Board, powered by the newest Intel® Quark X1000 SoC.

The Intel® Galileo Development Board available from Mouser Electronics is designed around the 32 bit Intel Quark X1000, a Pentium-class system on a chip (SoC) and is the first product in a new family of Arduino Certified boards based on an Intel processor.

Galileo is hardware and software compatible with most Arduino

shields designed for the Uno R3.

Shields are accessory boards that plug into an Arduino board to extend its capabilities.

The Intel Galileo has several PC industry standard I/O ports and features that expand its capabilities beyond the Arduino ecosystem. A mini-PCI Express slot, 100Mb Ethernet port, microSD™ slot, RS-232 serial port, USB Host port, USB Client Port, and 8 MByte NOR flash memory are also available on the board. Galileo uses the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) interface to create programs for the Galileo called “sketches.” To run a sketch on the board, first connect a power supply, then connect Galileo's USB Client port to a PC, and then upload the sketch from the IDE interface.

MOUSER ELECTRONICS www.mouser.com

ASICs Make a Major Contribution to Safety SWINDON will be showcasing its automotive product range at Sensor + Test, Hall 12, Stand No 12-529. As part of Schrader International, SWINDON has a long history in Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) and you’ll be able to see for yourself SWINDON’s latest developments in this field on their stand. Automobile tyre pressure is critical to safety - a recent NHTSA study found that tyres under-inflated by more than 25% are three times more likely to be involved in an accident related to tyre problems. In addition, an under-inflated tyre increases fuel cost by up to 4% and reduces tyre life by 30% by comparison with correctly inflated tyres.

Driver safety is of paramount importance and ASICs are now core to motorist aids, monitoring variables such as coolant and oil levels, vehicle speed, light outages and crank and throttle positions. By giving real time accurate information SWINDON ASICs are a major contributor to safety, enabling the driver to be fully aware of all aspects of the vehicle’s performance.

But it’s not just the automotive sector that can improve safety with SWINDON ASICs. Industrial control applications where safety critical (IEC 61508) standards are required, is very much part of the SWINDON portfolio.

These ASICs operate in the most challenging of environments and along with offering a high level of reliability, the performance and flexibility of the devices offer our customers an unprecedented market advantage. With the ability to have embedded processors alongside the advanced analogue circuitry, SWINDON’s mixed signal ASICs are proving a market leading cost effective solution across a variety of industries. They are used in such diverse applications as monitoring vital signs in healthcare, optimising process operating conditions in real time and controlling precision manufacturing plant. In fact any application that requires sensor interfaces with the additional safety and security that only ASICs can bring.

SWINDON SILICON SYSTEMS (SWINDON)

www.swindonsilicon.co.uk

www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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DESIGN

SENSORS

Leuze BPS 348i - Bar code positioning system for positioning with millimeter accuracy over distances of up to 10 km.

BAR CODE POSITIONING WAS NEVER THIS GOOD! Ten years of practical experience has been incorporated in the second generation of our bar code positioning systems. The result is a product that sets standards both in performance characteristics as well as in ease of handling. Mounting and operation are now even simpler, faster and more reliable.

THE WHOLE IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS. Your benefit lies in the combination of the many advantages offered by the BPS 300i systems. What they all have in common is focus on simple usability with maximum possible performance reserves for fault-free function of the devices. Highly resistant bar code tape, available in lengths of up to 10 km, facilitates precise and continuous position determination, even over extremely long paths.

Integrated connectivity • Completely configurable from the control, data transmission to the control.

• Diagnosis with Profinet or web browser (webConfig).

• Low installation costs with integrated switch.

• Parameter memory in the connection hood.

Large working range • Working range 50-170 mm, 200% larger than competitors.

• Tolerant at distance fluctuations.

• Flexible mechanical installation of BPS348i allows easy installation in different designs.

Benefit: increased system availability

Barcode tape - kilometers long and accurate to the millimeter • Film setting printing with surface protection.

• Ambient temperature: -40°C to +120°C. • Highest chemical and environmental resistance.

• Repair kits available for download online.

Benefit: simple to clean , low maintenance costs Aplications Crane

Benefit: time savings during configuration, diagnosis

Diagnosis: Availability control • Monitoring of availability via Profinet, webConfig, display or binary output.

• Data monitored: quality, distance to tape, speed.

• Simultaneously to the Profinet-Host communication the measurement and diagnostic values can be monitored by a Service-PC.

Benefit : diagnostic for optimal plant productivity 36

EP&Dee | April, 2014

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Galvanic

DESIGN

SENSORS Monorail

Skids

SMARTER PRODUCT USABILITY SMARTER APPLICATION KNOW-HOW

High-bay storage

Leuze n n n

Optical sensors Sensors for logistic applications Safety at work

Contrinex n n

Optical Sensors Inductive Sensors

ASM n n n

Linear Sensors Angle Sensors Tilt Sensors

Selec n n n

PLCs Temperature Controller Timer

Harting n n

n n n

Color Sensors True Color Sensors, Spectrometers Gloss Sensors

Kobold n n n

Flowmeters Level Indicators and Switches Pressure Sensors and Switches

Heavy Duty Industrial Connectors Power and Data Transmission Connectors

HTP n n n n

Sensor Instruments

• Tel. +40 256-201346 • office@oboyle.ro • www.oboyle.ro

SMARTER CUSTOMER SERVICE

Circular connectors M8; M12; M23 Cable and Connectors for Sensors Valve Connectors Distribution Blocks

Visit our online shop www.oboyle.ro

Intertec n n

Linear Solenoids Permanent Electromagnets

AUTOMATION www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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PRODUCT NEWS

Lighting Solutins / Display

RUTRONIK EMBEDDED: New QFHD LCD Monitor connects High Resolution and Energy Efficiency

XLamp XQ-E LEDs Deliver Big Performance in a Tiny Package

The new QFHD LCD monitor from Sharp forms an entirely new generation of displays thanks to the cutting edge IGZO (IndiumGallium-Zinc-Oxide) technology that provides very high resolution and energy efficiency. The LCD monitor is available at distributor Rutronik as of now.

At 3,840 × 2,160 pixels, this 80.1cm diagonal (32") class monitor boasts four times the resolution of 1080p full HD. It allows the landscape and portrait installation.

The content of four HD screens can be viewed on a single, seamless display. Thanks to the very good resolution, the monitor is ideal for a wide range of professional applications in settings where detailed information needs to be displayed with tremendous precision.

The monitor comes with an Edge LED backlight technology and a multi-stream transport (MST). It provides a contrast ratio of 800:1 at a brightness of

The new XLamp XQ-E LED family of Cree combines the excellent performance of the XP-E2 in a smaller form factor by 78 percent and is now available from MSC Technologies.

It opens up new design possibilities for a wide spectrum of lighting applications, such as portable, indoor directional, architectural and vehicle lighting.

The new XQ-E LEDs have a tiny 1.6-mm × 1.6-mm footprint and are available in both white and color configurations. The XQ-E’s combination of optical symmetry, consistent design across all configurations and its small size enables improved color mixing and optical control compared to the larger XP-E2 LED. Built on Cree’s revolutionary SC3 Technology™ Platform and characterized at 85°C, the XQ-E White LED is available in 2700-K

350cd/m². Concerning the connectivity, it offers one DisplayPort, one Audio 3.5mm Jack and one

RS232C IN. A Plug and Play Computer input and built in speakers with 2× 2W are also in stock. With a power consumption of 93W (operating MAX), the QFHD LCD monitor is very energy efficient.

RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com/news+M5b7fc9184f0.html

High-quality 6.5-inch (16.5 cm) WVGA Rugged+ display for use in harsh environments MSC Technologies is presenting a particularly high-quality 6.5 inch (16.5 cm) WVGA Rugged+ display from KOE Europe. The new 6.5 inch display (part name TX17D200VM0BAA) is designed to function reliably under rigorous operating conditions found, for example, in industrial, marine, aerospace and medical applications with demanding optical and mechanical requirements.

The TX17D200VM0BAA, which is based on KOE’s innovative inplane-switching (IPS) technology, has a 16:9 wide aspect ratio and is the newest member of KOE’s Rugged+ display lineup. Its features include wide viewing angles of 85 degrees in all directions (up, down, left, right). A WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) resolution, a 700 cd/m² brightness and a contrast ratio of

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EP&Dee | April, 2014

600:1 ensure that display images are bright, clear and uniform.

As with all members of the Rugged+ display lineup the

TX17D200VM0BAA is, to a large extent, resistant to extreme mechanical shock and intensive vibration. The 6.5-inch display module has mechanical outline dimensions of 154.8 mm (w) × 92.7 mm (h) × 10.2 mm (d) and the operating temperature range is from -30°C to +80°C. MSC TECHNOLOGIES www.msc-technologies.eu

| www.epd-ee.eu

to 6200-K color temperatures and offers minimum CRI options of 70 and 80. The XQ-E White LED delivers up to 287 lumens at

3W, 85°C. XQ-E Color LEDs are available in red, green and blue.

With the XQ-E LEDs it is possible to make smaller and cheaper lighting without sacrificing light yield, efficiency, and lifetime. It is therefore ideally suited for use in lighting applications such as flashlights, building and vehicle interior lighting and spotlights in the interior.

MSC TECHNOLOGIES www.msc-technologies.eu

LMH2 module of Cree simulated sunset The LMH2 modules from Cree now succeeded to simulate the atmospheric light of a sunset using a new technology which is called “Sunset Dimming”.The new module enables a natural dimming profile that was previously unachievable with any other energy-saving technology. "Sunset Dimmimg" is ideal for use in homes, hotels and restaurants.

Cree’s sunset dimming technology dims smoothly from 2700K to 1800K, delivering rich, warm light for applications requiring a traditional style of dimming, such as hospitality and residential settings, while still achieving over 80-percent energy reduction compared to energy-inefficient incandescent.

Available in a range of lumens (850 to 3000) at 2700K and multiple driver options, LMH2 modules

with sunset-dimming technology can plug in seamlessly to existing LMH2 module drivers and reflectors, and are also compatible with TRIAC dimmers - meaning the high-performance module can be easily retrofitted in any room with traditional dimming technologies or used in new installations with

0–10V or digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) dimming technologies.

MSC TECHNOLOGIES www.msc-technologies.eu

PRODUCT NEWS

Lighting Solutins / Display

Developing and testing displays in the blink of an eye The new EA 9780-3USB test board allows a rapid start to be made on development projects involving displays of the EA DOG and EA eLABEL20 lines from Gilching manufacturer Electronic Assembly. The PCB drives all display modules of these product lines and, when combined with the free PC software StartDog.exe, enables all displays and illumination schemes of the DOG series to be tested rapidly.

Commissioning does not require any proprietary hardware or software development at all, which means that highlevel decisions can be reached extremely quickly and at minimum expense.

The board comes with an arrangement of plug contacts to suit all the above display modules. The PCB also contains the driver circuit for the LED backlighting of the display as well as two banks of DIP switches that allow even multicolor backlighting right through to full-color

RGB illumination to be realized. No other hardware components – such as adapters, driver boards, power supplies or the like – are required. Connection to the master PC is by means of a supplied USB cable. Once the test board is connected to the PC, the displays immediately show the screen content developed with StartDog.exe.

This software is available free of charge on the home page and can be used even without a test board, which means that text and bitmap graphics for the display modules can be displayed directly. This screen content is loaded onto the test board and displayed.

ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY www.lcd-module.com

NLT Technologies projective capacitive (PCAP) touch panel displays now available in more than 30 different versions MSC Technologies presented the innovative projective capacitive (PCAP) touch panel technology from NLT Technologies at embedded world 2014, February 25 27, 2014 in Nuremberg, Germany.

More than 30 different display versions with NLT’s PCAP touch panel technology are already available.

In addition to inexpensive standard versions, different versions with ultra-wide viewing angle, extreme brightness and extended temperature range as well as versions with optical bonded touchscreens are available for demanding applications.

The displays range from 6.5-inch to 15.6-inch in size and are, without exception, long-term available and subject to strict quality criteria.

NLT’s advanced PCAP touch panel technology is also used in applications where the use of

touchscreens was previously precluded, for example due to safety reasons. Among others, an important feature is that the touch surface is flush with the outer edges of the display. In many cases, this simplifies installation into the finished equipment.

MSC TECHNOLOGIES www.msc-technologies.eu

Now at Rutronik: Super small and highly versatile Infrared LED from Osram The Oslon Compact SFH 4710 infrared light-emitting diode (IRED) from Osram Opto Semiconductors closes the gap between high- and low-power IREDs. Despite the very small package it offers highly versatile output thanks to state-of-the-art thinfilm chip technology. It is available at distributor Rutronik as of now.

As a mid-power LED with a typical output of 270mW from an operating current of 500mA, it occupies the output range between Power TopLED and Oslon Black. The SFH 4710 accommodates a small powerful chip with an edge length of 750μm and half the footprint of standard chips in the Oslon Black. With package dimensions of 1.6mm x 1.2mm x 0.8mm, the Oslon Compact is hardly larger than the chip itself and is therefore one of the smallest in its output class. The high output combined with the small package, opens up new applications, particularly where there is little available

space but performance demands are high. If required, components can be packed very close together, to increase the optical output.

The SFH 4710 has an emission angle of +/-65° and does not need

internal optics or reflectors. But the light can be injected into narrow-angle external optics. With external optics it is ideal for illumination in surveillance applications and for machine vision tasks such as pattern recognition and 3D measurement. This is because the wavelength of 850nm is barely perceptible to the human eye but can be easily detected by camera systems.

RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com/8aa0104b.l

MSC Technologies announces Avalue AID-173 Series of Medical PCs for everyday medical practice MSC Technologies, an Avnet Company, announced the availability of Avalue’s AID-173 series of medical PCs that combines a medical monitoring and diagnostic solution with infotainment for patients. It enables authorised medical staff to view electronic patient records and retrieve medical information, X-rays or other documents. It also incorporates infotainment functions, allowing the patient to use a wide range of multimedia such as entertainment, telephone, games and the internet. As it comes with a camera and a handset, the AID-173 series can also be used to alert medical staff, ask for medical advice or call for assistance. This series is designed for flexibility of expansion and includes multiple interfaces, such as Mini PCI, COM and USB. To facilitate visualisation, the AID-173 series has a 17.3” wide panel with

full HD 1920 × 1080 resolution and an LED backlight. It also features a smart card reader, RFID, MSR and barcode scanner to facilitate data capture, user identification and security. The AID-173

series incorporates an audio interface, various display ports and web access to provide patients with a wide range of entertainment options.

MSC TECHNOLOGIES www.msc-technologies.eu

www.epd-ee.eu | April, 2014

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39

PRODUCT NEWS

ACTIVE COMPONENTS

KEMET’s extended component portfolio available from Avnet Abacus boosts passive and electromechanical product options for customers in Europe

Avnet Abacus, one of Europe’s leading interconnect, passive, electro-mechanical and power distributors and a business unit of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA, a business region of Avnet, Inc., is carrying a substantially augmented range of passive and electro-mechanical devices from leading global electronic component vendor, KEMET. The KEMET product line, which previously focused on capacitor technologies, now includes a broad selection of supercapacitors, miniature signal relays, AC line filters and metal composite inductors, gained through the company’s joint venture with Japanese component manufacturer NEC TOKIN, announced last year. The ability to source this vastly extended KEMET portfolio from Avnet Abacus means that Europe-based electronics design engineers can benefit from a

much broader selection of devices for their projects, with the additional bonus of local technical support from the distributor’s skilled and experienced product specialists.

These products target a wide variety of applications including small cell supercapacitors designed for board-mounted applications such as RAM backup and small motor assist. The introduction of supercapacitors and inductors in particular to the range provides designers with a comprehensive assortment of board-level passive components.

The complete extended KEMET product portfolio is available to purchase from Avnet Abacus with short lead times. Technical support is offered via the distributor’s 40 offices located across Europe.

AVNET ABACUS www.avnet-abacus.eu

Rutronik presents new High-Speed Logic IC Coupler with Low-Power Consumption from Toshiba Distributor Rutronik offers the two new photocouplers TLP2361 and TLP2161 that combine highspeed communication with transfer rates up to 15Mbps and low power consumption. They find application in factory networking, high-speed digital interfacing for instrumentation and control devices, as well as in I/O interface boards.

By employing Toshiba's high-output GaAIAs (MQW) infrared LEDs, operation is ensured from -40° up to +125°C. The LED's high output and reliability enables low threshold input current of just 1.6mA (max.), a reduction of 54% in comparison with equivalent products.

As the supply current per channel is reduced to 1mA, the TLP2361 and TLP2161 have a lower charg-

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EP&Dee | April, 2014

ing rate of up to 66% compared to conventional products.

Thanks to the lower input current rating, the photocouplers can be driven directly by the microprocessor without requiring a buffer, contributing to lower

power consumption, lower component count and reduced costs.

The receiver IC characteristics are guaranteed over a power voltage range from 2.7 to 5.5V. RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com/8951100c.l

| www.epd-ee.eu

Murata 2 Watt DC-DC converter shrinks footprint by 50% of industry norm Murata announced the MTU2 series of ultra miniature surface mounted 2 W DC-DC converters from Murata Power Solutions.

Believed to be the industry’s smallest 2W converter and measuring just 8.2 × 8.4 × 8.5 mm with a 0.69 cm2 footprint, it is 50% smaller than the current 1.67 cm2 industry standard. With a typical conversion efficiency of 85% across the full load range and a power density of 3.403 Watts/cm3, the MTU2 series is available with either a single or dual output voltage. Input voltages cover the popular nominal inputs from 3.3 to 24 VDC. Output voltage options include 5, 12, or 24 VDC. Dual output models provide ±5 or ±12 VDC. Load regulation is typically 5% better than other

products available on the market, reducing the need for any additional regulation components.

The MTU2 has a 1kVDC

input/output galvanic isolation that helps to reduce switching noise and allows the converter to be configured to provide an isolated negative rail in systems where only positive rails exist.

The MTU2 can operate over the full industrial temperature range from -40 to +85°C. MURATA www.murata.eu

Murata adds I2C interface to MAGICSTRAP® RFID device Murata announced that it has commenced mass production of the LXMS2HACNF-165 RFID device that features a wired I2C interface.

Conforming to the RFID standards ISO/IEC 18000-6C, EPC global C1G2 and operating in the 900 MHz frequency band, this device is the latest addition to the surface mount MAGICSTRAP® RFID family of devices.

The addition of an I2C interface to the UHF RFID device means that the data of an IC mounted on the customer’s equipment and connected to it can be read using an UHF RFID-Reader/Writer. Likewise the data in the RFID device can be read by an IC. Using an I2C MAGICSTRAP® device makes it possible to achieve lower power consumption compared to other RF-technologies since power necessary for the communication is supplied by the reader/writer. Access to the RFID device is even possible when

the power of the device equipped with the MAGICSTRAP® is turned off. In addition, with the I2C MAGICSTRAP® a wireless interface can be implemented at a lower cost than Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi®, and ZigBee® as use of UHF RFID does not require certification on tag side. The I2C interface extends the

possible applications far beyond the use of previous MAGICSTRAP® RFID tags which have been in the areas of process management, commodity management or traceability.

MURATA www.murata.eu

PRODUCT NEWS

ACTIVE COMPONENTS

New HIP2103/04 devices are a highly integrated and simple-to-use power management solution for 5V to 50V motor-driven applications Intersil Corporation announced the industry’s first small form factor half-/full-bridge drivers that significantly extend power usage and overall product life of multicell lithium ion (Li) battery devices operating from 5V to 50V. The new HIP2103 and HIP2104 bridge drivers have a configurable topology to enable half-bridge, full-bridge and three phase motor-driven applications. They provide an innovative safety feature that prevents voltage kickback, which is the leading cause of damage and deterioration of Li batteries. The HIP2103/04 bridge drivers extend battery life through a unique power management method enabling the industry’s lowest sleep mode current to minimize power consumption when the device is not in use or in standby mode. In addition, the

HIP2104 includes integrated Linear Regulator LDOs to enable direct bias from the battery and an integrated bootstrap FET, which eliminates the need for

external diodes. From portable medical equipment to hand-held power tools to home automation products, end users demand products that have a long battery life, are reliable and last a long time. The new HIP2103/04 bridge drivers were specifically designed for these types of battery powered applications in which battery life, longevity and high reliability are required.

INTERSIL www.intersil.com

Embedded NAND Flash Memory Modules with 19nm Process Technology from Toshiba The new embedded NAND flash memory modules from Toshiba integrate NAND chips fabricated with 19nm second generation process technology. They are fully compliant with the latest e.MMC(TM) standard and are designed for applications in a wide range of digital consumer products, including smartphones, tablet PCs and digital video cameras. The NAND flash memory modules are available at distributor Rutronik as of now.

The memory modules are available in a 16GB-version (THGBMBG7D2KBAIL), housed in a 153Ball FBGA 11.5 x 13 x 0.8mm package, and a 32GB-version (THGBMBG8D4KBAIR), housed in a 11.5 x 13 x 1.0mm package. Modules with storage capacities of 4GB, 8GB, 64GB and 128GB will follow.

All memories integrate a controller to manage basic control functions for NAND applications.

The 32GB embedded device contains four 64Gbit (equal to 8GB)

NAND chips. The memory modules are compliant with JEDEC e.MCC(TM) Version 5.0. The corresponding interface handles essential functions, including writing block management, error cor-

rection and driver software. It simplifies the system development, allowing manufacturers to minimize development costs and speed up time to market for new upgraded products. By applying the new HS400 high speed interface standard, a high read/write performance (270MB/s / 90MB/s at 32GB, 270MB/s / 50MB/s at 16GB) is achieved. The operating temperature ranges between -25° and +85°C. RUTRONIK http://www.rutronik.com/d9901115.l

Intersil Introduces Digital Power Modules That Speed Intersil’s New High Efficiency Buck-Boost/Boost Switching Time to Market and Eliminate Need for Complex Regulators Increase Battery Life in Mobile Devices Power Circuit Design Intersil announced the industry’s first high-current buck-boost and boost switching regulator family in a tiny, integrated CSP package, enabling improved efficiency for high current designs in a small form factor. Intersil is extending its leadership in DC/DC switching regulator technology for battery-powered mobile devices and consumer electronics with the introduction of the ISL91110, ISL91108 and ISL91117 power management solutions. The ISL911xx switching regulators’ innovative architecture offers up to 96 percent efficiency to extend

battery life and reduce overheating in high-current handheld devices. The proprietary architec-

ture allows for smooth transitions from buck to boost to prevent glitches and noise in smartphones, tablets and other single-cell lithium ion (Li) battery-based systems.

INTERSIL www.intersil.com

Intersil Corporation announced the ISL8270M/71M family of digital power modules that dramatically reduce customer design complexity and accelerate time to market. Designed for 25/33 Amp applications, the ISL8270M/71M product family is based on Intersil’s fourth generation digital power controller, reflecting the company’s continued leadership and expertise in advanced digital power technology.

Experts estimate that for every dollar spent on data center hardware, another $0.66 is spent on electricity to power and cool these systems. Advanced power management can have a signifi-

cant impact on these costs, enabling greater power density and reduced power dissipation for improved efficiency. In addition, equipment makers have his-

torically had to design discrete power management solutions that require expensive heat sinks and fans and take up valuable board space while adding risk to the system.

INTERSIL www.intersil.com

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PRODUCT NEWS

ACTIVE COMPONENTS

New GPS advanced OCXO module from IQD designed for LTE & 4G base stations IQD’s new IQCM-100 GPS advanced OCXO module for use in LTE and 4G base stations achieves a holdover specification of 1.5 microseconds over a period of 24 hours when locked to a 1PPS (Pulse Per Second) input from an external GPS receiver, easily meeting industry standard holdover requirements.

Incorporating an adaptive algorithm which has the ability to ‘learn’ from a stable GPS signal over a period of 2 days, the algorithm can be adjusted to allow for errors. Frequency is accurate to within ±1E-12 when locked to a 1PPS GPS signal and can compete with the performance of many atomic clock references.

Housed in a 65 × 65mm hermetically sealed thru-hole package, the IQCM100 offers an HCMOS output, operating temperature range of –10 to 60 degrees C, 5V supply voltage and a current input of 2mA during warm up.

The module incorporates a low drop

out voltage regulator coupled to a highly stable internal OCXO which is conditioned by a digital-to-analogue converter which in turn is fed from an ARM microcontroller. This controls an FPGA which provides the 1PPS output and is fed from the accurate GPS signal. An interesting feature of this product is the

availability to the user of some 21 internal algorithm parameters.

IQD www.iqdfrequencyproducts.com

Digi-Key Debuts Innovative Mobile App for Freescale Freescale customers can now access valuable product news and resources, as well as easily place orders for Freescale product, all in one easy-to-use mobile app Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, the industry leader in electronic component selection, availability and delivery, has collaborated with Freescale® Semiconductor, a global leader in embedded processing solutions, to create the electronic component industry’s first distributor/supplier collaborative mobile application. In response to the everincreasing adoption of mobile devices, Digi-Key designed this new app to enhance the user experience for Freescale customers by giving them access to all relevant product information and online ordering resources in an easy-to-use mobile format.

A recent report by Forrester research entitled “Online and Mobile are Transforming B2B Commerce” makes the strongest case possible for B2B e-commerce. The study reveals that 52 percent of B2B customers are using smartphones and/or tablets to buy products and 62 percent are using tablets to do their research before buying. According to Forrester, both procurement and design engineers are accessing ecommerce websites via a variety of mediums, anticipating responsive design and expanded mobile device functionality.

The Freescale & Digi-Key ON-THE-GO!℠ application is available free of charge via the Apple iTunes store, and features valuable content, easy access to component availability information, and ecommerce functionality for all Freescale products available from Digi-Key. Key features of the application include: • An Interactive and touch environment • Detailed device and development tool information • Links to myriad resources including block diagrams and training videos, as well as Digi-Key’s eewiki online community and 24/7 technical support • A direct link to www.digikey.com to purchase Freescale product right from the app “As one of the first to create a mobile app, Digi-Key is continually working to innovate within the mobile space,” said Tony Harris, Digi-Key CMO. “As customers shift toward doing more business on their mobile phones, tablets and other devices, demand for mobile apps is increasing. This new app literally breaks new ground as a distributor and supplier collaboration that seamlessly allows interested customers to research, compare, and purchase Freescale products, all in one place.”

The Freescale App is available today via the Apple iTunes store, or visit www.digikey.com/freescaleapp to download.

DIGI-KEY CORPORATION www.digikey.com

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PRODUCT NEWS

ACTIVE COMPONENTS

XP Power launches 6 Watt DC/DC converter in ultra compact SIP-8 package

Rutronik: Dual Phase Buck Controller from Diodes for High Current Applications

XP Power announced the ITX series of 6 Watt DC/DC converters encapsulated in an industry standard SIP 8-pin package measuring just 21.85 × 11.1 × 9.2 mm (0.86 × 0.44 × 0.36 inches). Believed to be one of the highest power ratings available in a SIP format and delivering a power density of up to 46 Watts per cubic inch, the ITX series occupies much less board space than competing devices.

The converter also is highly efficient, typically 86%, and meets the design requirements for modern energy efficient and space constrained applications. No forced air flow or additional heatsinking is required.

The single and dual regulated output ITX series comprises four 2:1 input voltage ranges of 4.5-9 VDC, 9-18 VDC, 18-36 VDC and 36-75 VDC. Single output models provide +3.3, +5, +12, +15 or +24 VDC and duals ±5, ±12 or ±15 VDC. Standard input/output isolation is rated at 1.5 kVDC but a 3 kVDC isolation option is available to order by quoting model suffix –H. Another option (-R) provides a remote on/off input for external

The dual phase synchronous rectified buck controller AP3595 from Diodes is designed to provide a high integrity supply for distributed high power architectures. The AP3595, ideally suited for high current applications like desktop graphic cards, IPC, MB and workstations, is available at distributor Rutronik as of now.

With an operating frequency adjustable over the range of 50Hz to 1MHz per phase, the buck controller can deliver an output current of up to 60A and suits the power needs of high end GPU and memory cores.

The AP3595, available in the standard QFN4x4-24 package, integrates 12V +12V bootstrapped MOSFET drivers to ensure highest efficiency power conversion. In addition, the bootstrap diode is itself built into the device, simplifying circuit design and reducing the external

control of the converter such as for sequencing start up or automatic on/off switching.

The ITX series can be used in most environments and has an extended operating temperature range from -40 to +90°C. Full output power can be delivered up to +65°C without derating.

The ITX series is available from Farnell, element14, Digi-Key, approved regional distributors, or direct from XP Power and come with a 3 year warranty.

XP POWER www.xppower.com

Go Wireless with the STMicroelectronics M24SR Dynamic RFID/NFC Tag from Mouser Mouser Electronics, Inc. is now shipping the new M24SR Dynamic RFID Tags from STMicroelectronics with enhanced security features for RFID and NFC applications, and up to 8KBytes of internal EEPROM. The STMicroelectronics M24SR Dynamic RFID Tag available from Mouser Electronics is NFC Forum Type 4 Tag compatible and supports tag functions for both RFID and NFC applications, operating in any of three modes. In I2C Mode, configuration data is transferred to the device by the I2C interface. In Tag Mode, the I2C interface is disconnected and RFID or NFC data is transferred over the external RF field. In Dual Interface Mode, both the I2C interface and the RF interface are functional. In all three modes the M24SR acts as a

slave on both the I2C interface and the RF channel. Up to 8KBytes of internal EEPROM is available for storing system configuration data with data retention of up to 200 years. To enhance system security, a dedicated pin is available to disable

all RF communications. A CRC module automatically calculates the CRC of received transmissions and verifies data accuracy.

MOUSER ELECTRONICS www.mouser.com

part count and PCB size. To optimize system performance, the AP3595's gate drive voltage is fully configurable, regulated via a reference input set using external voltage divider.

By tuning the duty cycle of each channel in response to internal MOSFET on-resistance sensing, the controller ensures phase currents are always balanced. With a

power saving interface (PSI), the controller can switch between single and dual mode to help reduce losses.

RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com/86d70fea.l

Power Integrations Announces ‘Ultimate in Standby Performance’ Power Integrations announced a new reference design for an 8 W, universal-input auxiliary power supply that achieves zero standby power consumption** for appliance applications. Based on a member of Power Integrations’ LinkZero™LP family of ICs, DER417 describes a universal-input, 5 V, 1600 mA flyback power supply that consumes less than 4 mW at 230 VAC and provides 1 mW of power in standby mode. Products such as TVs, appliances, security and monitoring systems and HVAC equipment use power while waiting to be used or while monitoring sensor inputs prior to executing their proper functions. This wasted power amounts to both an environmental cost and an economic cost to households and business-

es; in fact, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has estimated that standby power accounts for 5-10% of residential electricity use in developed countries, and is

responsible for approximately 400 million tons of global CO2 emissions each year. DER-417 is downloadable for free from the Power Integrations website at www.powerint.com/sites/default/f iles/PDFFiles/der417.pdf. **IEC 62301 Clause 4.5 describes zero standby as ‘power dissipation below 5 mW’.

POWER INTEGRATIONS www.powerint.com

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