EPDee no 8 - December, 2011

DECEMBER, 2011 ‐ ISSUE NO. 8, VOL. 9

DESIGN & MANUFACTURING

EP&Dee E L E C T R O N I C S

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D E S I G N

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element14 and Texas Instruments launch the LM3S9D96 Stellaris® development kit element14, has announced availability of the DK-LM3S9D96 development kit, a low cost, high performance platform for developing systems around the advanced capabilities of the 32-bit Stellaris ARM® Cortex™M3-based microcontroller. For development, the DK-LM3S9D96 board comes with features commonly used in networking, industrial controls and human machine interface designs. The board is CAN (Controller Area Network) enabled and also comes with an External Peripheral Interface (EPI) with Audio I2S (Integrated Interchip sound).

For communications, the board supports USB, a host of serial IO and Ethernet features. The DK-LM3S9D96 development kit includes a 3.5” TFT LCD display along with the supporting graphics libraries and software. The DK-LM3S9D96 board features the 32-bit ARM® Cortex™M3-based microcontroller to deliver flexibility for applications that require high-performance processing. element14

www.element14.com

element14 and Atmel launch the SAM9 development kit element14, has announced availability of the SAM9 development kit, a full-featured evaluation board centred on Atmel’s ARM based AT91SAM9G45 processor. The kit provides developers with a featurerich, development platform for ARM926 based embedded microprocessor design enabling shorter development cycles and significantly reducing time-to-market. The board, available via element14 at a promotional price while supplies last, provides a wide range of peripherals, including a high-speed USB host/device port, an Ethernet 10/100 interface, two high-speed SD/MMC slots and a QVGA 320x240 LCD panel with Resistive touch screen. In addition, the board supports Linux, WinCE and Android OS and offers plenty of example applications under these three OS, enabling engineers to develop their project based on this AT91SAM9G45 processor. The processor is supported by a broad ecosystem of compilers, debuggers and RTOS tools and a large variety of third party IP. element14

www.element14.com

THE EAST EUROPEAN JOURNAL FOR EMBEDDED APPLICATIONS

DECEMBER 2011 CONTENTS COMMENTS INDUSTRY NEWS 3

Heliatek achieves new world record for organic solar cells with certified 9.8 % cell efficiency

INDUSTRY NEWS COMPANIES DESIGN TEST 8

LeCroy osciloscopes in TME’s range of products The majority of users of brand-name measuring equipment probably think that top-class instruments are purchased by means of manufacturer’s trade representatives.

DESIGN MCUs 10

Going into Deep Sleep New techniques are pushing embedded power management beyond Sleep mode, as Jason Tollefson of Microchip Technology Inc., explains.

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MCU application development platform based on Cloud Computing Cloud Computing is a new super calculation mode based on the internet and the development of Distributed Computing, Parallel Computing and Grid Computing. Cloud Computing provides software & hardware sharing resources, allowing anyone unfamiliar with technology and equipment operation to obtain services through the Internet.

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LeCroy osciloscopes in TME’s range of products Page 8

From the hospital to the living room and the gym Highly integrated single-chip solution for medical and healthcare applications.

DESIGN EMBEDDED 22

AMD makes high-end PCI Express® capable graphics available long-term The level of performance called for in medical imaging and simulation is often so high that even the latest multicore processors find it difficult to keep up.

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Simplifying Embedded System Development with Cost-Effective Bootloading Using I2C/SMBus Interfaces Adding bootloading capabilities to embedded applications provides the framework to update firmware running on a microcontroller (MCU) at any time.

Going into Deep Sleep

Page 10

INDUSTRY NEWS EMBEDDED SYSTEMS DESIGN ANALOG 30

Throw those bits away!

INDUSTRY NEWS ACTIVE COMPONENTS INDUSTRY NEWS LIGHTING INDUSTRY NEWS PASSIVE COMPONENTS INDUSTRY NEWS SMT INDUSTRY NEWS PV 42

Relays for photovoltaic power solutions from Panasonic

INDUSTRY NEWS SENSORS INDUSTRY NEWS CONNECTORS 45

ODU MINI-SNAP Products for Your Success

INDUSTRY NEWS OSCILLATORS 2

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

AMD makes high­end PCI Express® capable Page 22 graphics available long­term

COMMENTS INDUSTRY NEWS

Heliatek achieves new world record for organic solar cells with certified 9.8 % cell efficiency Heliatek GmbH, a global leader in high-end solar PV technology, has once again set a new world record for organic solar cells after Fraunhofer ISE CalLab certified a cell efficiency of 9.8 % for a 1.1 cm² tandem cell manufactured with a low temperature deposition process. This new record makes the third time in a row that Heliatek has set a world record for efficiency in the field of organic photovoltaic and demonstrates its continuous technology leadership in organic solar.

Solid State Lighting Comes of Age Generating white light from electricity with maximum efficacy has been a long quest since the first incandescent lamp was invented by Edison at the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, semiconductors are making reality the holy grail of converting electrons into photons with close to 100% efficiency and with colors that can be mixed for white light illumination. The revolution in solid-state lighting (SSL) dates to 1994 when Nakamura reported the first high-brightness blue LED based on GaN semiconductors. Then, white light was produced by simply combining a blue dye with a yellow phosphor. After more than a decade of intensive research the performance of white LEDs is quite impressive, beating by far the luminous efficacy of compact fluorescent lamps.

We are likely close to replacing our current lighting devices by SSL lamps. However, there are still technological and fabrication cost issues that could delay large market penetration of white LEDs. Interestingly, SSL may create novel ways of using light that could potentially limit electricity saving. Whatever the impact of SSL, it will be significant on our daily life.

Artificial lighting keeps us safe, lights our homes and streets, and extends our productive hours past sunset. Most of us are so accustomed to nighttime lighting that we barely register its presence. But when it disappears, in a blackout for example, we suddenly realize that we are bathed in light from dusk to dawn. The degree to which we light up our communities demands we do it right.

There are currently several barriers to the widespread installation of LED lighting in commercial settings. These include high costs (LED tubes range from $50 to $120, compared to the $5 cost of a standard fluorescent tube), exaggerated performance claims from manufacturers, and continuing uncertainty about the life of LED lighting due to the relative youth of the technology.

Nevertheless, you may hold your breath ….. n Radu Andrei

One year ago, Heliatek GmbH set a world record for efficiency of 8.3 % for an active surface of 1.1 cm². Thanks to its most recent developments, Heliatek has now been able to make a remarkable 1.5 % leap in cell efficiency, to 9.8 %. This new record was measured and certified by the independent Fraunhofer ISE CalLab Two Heliatek (Freiburg, Germany) under standard test conditions. record cells Dr. Martin Pfeiffer, cowith 9.8% effifounder and CTO of ciency on an Heliatek, explains: “Heliatek active area of is the only solar company in 1.1cm² each. the world focused on the deposition of small mole­ cules with low temperature © Heliatek GmbH processes, a method that has already been widely adopted by the market for use with organic LEDs (OLEDs). Heliatek develops and synthesizes in­house the molecules responsible for capturing light in solar cells and converting this light into electricity. The new world record is a clear indication that Heliatek is headed in the right direc­ tion. Organic solar cells from Heliatek have now reached the level of efficiency of conventional solar cells made from amorphous silicon.”

Heliatek has both its own chemistry research department as well as a physics research department. This unique combination creates efficient synergies, enabling simultaneous work on material quality and cell design. Heliatek was able to optimize the absorber layer system of the record-breaking cells through synthetizing the right materials. Furthermore, by improving the deposition process, cell morphology was significantly improved, leading to an increase in power output and in fill factor. The record-breaking cell construction will gradually be integrated Semiinto Heliatek’s manufacturing transparent process after the scheduled start organic solar of production in the second half of module 2012. Heliatek’s in-house measbetween glass urements have shown that scaling made by up the record-breaking cells to a panel with a size factor >120 Heliatek. results in an efficiency over 9 % © Heliatek for the active module area.

GmbH Thibaud Le Séguillon, CEO of Heliatek, concludes: “I am delighted by this new result which confirms our technology leadership in this field. The next step on our way to 15 % will be a cell with over 10 % efficiency sometime next year. This latest record validates once again the decision taken at the outset by our investors and our team to commit ourselves to the production of organic solar based on small molecules using low temperature processes. Our flexible, thin and light panels open up new fields of applications that were so far impossible to address with conven­ tional PV technologies. After our third investment round scheduled for 2012 ­ during which we plan to raise some €50 million in new capital from current and new investors ­ we plan to expand our production capacity with additional manufacturing lines. This will allow us to market our high­performance panels into new areas, such as windows and facades for BIPV. This technology has really the potential to revolutionize the solar industry.” www.heliatek.com www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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COMPANIES INDUSTRY NEWS

Avnet Abacus signs Pan-Euro deal with Murata for Components

Rutronik receives Panasonic Award again for most innovative project work

Murata has announced it has signed a Pan-European franchise agreement with Avnet Abacus, one of Europe’s leading interconnect, passive, electromechanical and power distributors. Covering Murata’s range of innovative passive products, the agreement builds on a 20-year relationship between the two companies. Previously, Avnet Abacus has covered selected European territories for Murata passives and has held a Pan-European agreement for the company’s power solutions products. This extended agreement further enhances Avnet Abacus’ position as a leading distributor of Murata

For the second consecutive year, Panasonic has presented Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH with the award for most innovative project work. Rutronik represents the entire range of Panasonic single cells, which comprises all technologies (alkaline, NiMH, lead, lithium and lithium ion).

The focus is on primary lithium cells in cylindrical form and as button cells. The distributor also markets passive components for Panasonic such as switches and fuses. “Batteries can only be distributed success­ fully with expert advice. The design­in proportion is well in excess of 50 percent,” explains Oliver Sonnemann, Sales Manager, Distribution Battery, Industry & Devices Department at Panasonic. “We are very proud of this award because it shows that our strategy of link­ ing product and market expert­

products. Avnet Abacus is particularly enthusiastic about introducing Murata’s innova-

Left: Graham McBeth, President of Avnet­Abacus EMEA Right: Glenn Palmer, Managing Director European Distribution, Murata Europe

tive ceramic-based components to a wider European design engineering audience.

MURATA www.murata.eu

Kontron’s new Application Ready Industrial Automation Platforms reduce OEM cost and R&D time Kontron introduced two Application Ready Computing Platforms for Industrial Automation at SPS/IPC/Drives 2011. Third party hardware and software components from Softing, 3S, Altera, Microsoft, Wind River, RealTime Systems and Linux are implemented as function validated building blocks that are ready for use with these industrial computing platforms.

The pre-integrated industrial demonstration platforms combine visualization and realtime control onto a single virtualized hardware. The platforms are characterized by their extensive software support and flexible FPGA inter-

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faces that are deployed for example, in Industrial Ethernet, field buses and GPIOs. OEMs receive first and second level support for such platforms from Kontron.

“Kontron’s demonstration sys­ tems show a high degree of application specific maturity.

This is very attractive to many OEMs, because the components installed are those required in many industrial applications However, up to now, these com­ ponents were not available with validated com­ patibility from a single source.

Kontron’s experi­ ence in software integration and our R&D capacity for the interac­ tion of these standard compo­ nents enables OEMs to save valuable time when implement­ ing their specific systems”, explains Werner Ressle, Director of Software & Software Services at Kontron.

KONTRON A.G. www.kontron.com

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

ise is really paying off,” says Martin Unsöld, Senior Marketing Manager Electromechanics at Rutronik. “But this success has only been possible thanks to the first­class cooperation with

Martin Unsöld, Senior Marketing Manager Electromechanics at Rutronik (left), and Robert Buchtal, Regional Business Development Manager Electromechanics at Rutronik (right).

Panasonic and the broad linecard featuring innovative and high­quality products.“ RUTRONIK ELEKTRONISCHE BAUELEMENTE GmbH www.rutronik.com

Farnell strengthens its multi-channel distribution model by launching print and online catalogues focusing on maintenance and production products Farnell has launched an all new dedicated maintenance and production catalogue, featuring products from over 300 of the world’s leading manufacturers. Comprising over 500 pages, the new catalogue brings together many products ranging from connectors, cables, and batteries to test and measurement equipment, soldering products and relays.

As a part of its multi-channel offering, Farnell has responded to the demands of customers who expressed interest in receiving digital and print versions of the catalogue. The latest version features 17,000 carefully selected products and so provides a valuable reference

manual for designers and engineering professionals throughout Europe.

The online, interactive version of the catalogue will be enhanced with dynamic pricing and will soon be available across Europe.

Following the successful launch of Farnell’s iPad compatible catalogue in April this year, the maintenance and production catalogue will also be launched with iPad, iPhone and Android compatible versions, giving customers easy access via their mobile and tablet devices.

FARNELL www.farnell.com

COMPANIES INDUSTRY NEWS

element14 reaches new heights in innovation with the launch of ‘The Drawer’– a new customisable storage tool for online content element14, Premier Farnell’s online community for design engineers, today announced the launch of The Drawer, an innovative content storage tool for users to capture and collect information as they navigate through the element14 community. The Drawer functionality also extends to the Knode on element14, enabling design engineers to collect and save technical information, parts data and content references from the entire community. This will help to speed up design research and pull together comprehensive solutions to hardware and software design challenges.

The recent independent study conducted by element14 and Technology Forecasters, Inc. (TFI) to determine critical "pain points" for global electronics engineers during the four stages of design – concept, design, prototyping, and

pre-production - revealed several design challenges, including increasing time pressures, incomplete or inaccurate information from relevant

sources, and difficulty comparing options and alternatives.

Many respondents cited a lack of consolidated online tools and databases hinder their ability to make accurate comparisons.

This is where The Drawer can be used to store information when engineers are researching a design, or when they are comparing alternative technology solutions. element14 www.element14.com

Amplicon launch new division – Engineering Services Amplicon has announced the introduction of a new division, Engineering Services. This new venture, as well as creating new employment opportunities, is to provide the market place with a trusted partner who can be viewed as an extension of the customers own team creating value that can be delivered straight to the bottom line.

Whilst Amplicon is already renowned for supplying high quality complex systems, the new Amplicon Engineering Services division combines the best engineering practice over a range of disciplines such as mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering as well as a custom integration and build facility.; bringing together and capitalising on all of the skill sets that have become the hallmark of Amplicon over the past years.

With the inexorable drive to reduce overheads many companies are looking for a partner who can demonstrate not only engineering competence

but one that fully understands the importance of producing a high quality, reliable and repeatable service. The Amplicon engineering team have many years experience in the design, build and testing of complex hardware solutions.

This new service allows for

entire projects to be expertly managed without compromising hard won reputations and standards. By simplifying the supply chain to a single order, this new service gives the potential for substantial savings in both labour costs and cash flow management.

AMPLICON www.amplicon.com

Ducati three­phase chokes for reactive power compensation The Transfer Multisort Elektronik range of products has been extended with chokes manufactured by Italian company – Ducati for capacitive reactive power compensation. These components are used in industrial power supply networks in which there are multiple disturbances in the harmonic form (usually generated by non-linear loads, such as rectifiers and welding equipment).

While selecting the reactive Model

power compensation devices, special attention should be paid to possible resonance effects. Capacities in the network together with transformer’s winding may create resonance effect operating at the frequency equal to one of the harmonic ones, which leads to excessive loads, and even damage of capacitive elements.

In order to prevent this, proper inductance connected serially with capacities that help

Reactive Current power [A] [kVAR]

Inductance Dimensions [mH] [mm]

reduce resonant frequency and dampen any resonances at the higher harmonics.

Reactive power compensation is also necessary because the transfer in the low voltage network causes active power losses, that is additional load of generators and all elements of the system and increasing the amount of emitted heat.

Available anti-disturbance chokes manufactured by Ducati, depending on the Weight [kg]

Price 1+ [PLN]

Price 5+ [PLN]

model, are designed for reactive powers from 10 to 50 kilovars, offer inductance from 3,84 to 0,77 mH and operate with the current from 16,3 to 81,5 A.

Accurate parameters as well as the prices of all models are presented in the table below.

315.99.1005

10

16,3

3,84

180 × 180 × 110

9,5

563,00

488,00

315.99.1010

12,5

20,4

3,07

180 × 180 × 120

11

608,00

527,00

315.99.1012

15

26,8

2,55

240 × 166 × 118

13

728,00

631,00

More information available at:

315.99.1015

20

32,7

1,91

240 × 165 × 118

13

758,00

657,00

315.99.1020

25

40,8

1,53

240 × 165 × 128

15

818,00

709,00

Transfer Multisort Elektronik Tel.: +48 42 645 54 44 Fax: +48 42 645 54 70

315.99.1025

40

65,2

0,96

240 × 205 × 128

21

1110,00 962,00

315.99.1030

50

81,5

0,77

240 × 220 × 143

25

1290,00 1120,00

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EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

export@tme.eu www.tme.eu

TEST DESIGN

LeCroy osciloscopes in TME’s range of products The majority of users of brand­name measuring equipment probably think that top­class instruments are purchased by means of manufacturer’s trade representatives. Evolution of sales forms has also reached this group of products.

Nowadays, to become an owner of a top class oscilloscope it is enough to click few times on a Website.

At present LeCroy appliances can be purchased in TME online shop (www.tme.eu).

The offer comprises of models belonging to several families differing by functional features, technical parameters, screen size and price. This simple form of a purchase does not deprive customers of technical support. Engineers dealing exclusively with measuring devices are always willing to help.

WaveAce The first group comprises of WaveAce oscilloscopes that is exemplified by the WaveAce 224 model (TME symbol: LCACE224). WaveAce oscilloscopes represent a popular class, however, they are characterized by performance quality and multiple measuring functions. They are

designed to perform basic measurements in construction laboratories and service stations. The maximum length of the record is equal to 20 kpoints/channel helps intercept in one release 2 or even 3 times more data than in cheaper oscilloscopes. The WaveAce 224A model is equipped with a coloured LCD display with a 320 x 240 pixel matrix. This is a 4channel oscilloscope with the analogue band of 200 MHz and sampling speed of 2 GSa/s (1 GSa/s for all channel, 50 GSa/s in the equivalent mode).

The display of oscillograms is a basic but not the only function of digital oscilloscopes. Every such device, regardless of the class, has also the possibility of making automatic measurements. WaveAce 224A measures simultaneously, in the real

time, 32 parameters. Measuring functions are supplemented by cursor measurements and mathematical calculations, such as: sum, difference, product, quotient and FFT spectroanalysis with four types of windows. If necessary, input functions are filtered by one of the four types of digital filters available for each channel. These are the following types of filters: low-pass, high-pass, mid-pass and middle-pass. In each channel, a filter limiting the band to up to 20 MHz can be switched on independently.

Pass/Fail Test available in the WaveAce 224A oscilloscope is used in manufacturing lines, commissioning and service work stations. Useful connection with the environment is provided by two USB interfaces (1×Device, 2×Host) and Ethernet.

WaveJet The second type of LeCroy oscilloscopes available in TME are WaveJet appliances.

In comparison to the WaveAce family, these are oscilloscopes offering higher measuring capabilities, but for a higher price. The WaveJet family can be represented by the WaveJet 324A model (TME symbol: LC-JET324A). The first visual element that is distinctive for these appliances is a bigger display equipped with a coloured TFT LCD 640×480 pixel matrix (VGA). Parameters that should attract attention of users are: analogue band (in case of WaveJet 324A equal to 200 MHz) and sampling frequency of - 2 GSa/s (1 GSa/s for all channels and 100 GSa/s in the equivalent mode). However, in case of

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EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

TEST DESIGN

WaveJet family, a very characteristic parameter is the length of the record reaching as much as 500 kpoints for each channel. Such a long record enables interception in one acquisition of up to 250μs of the function for the highest sampling frequency. When compared to the WaveAce family, WaveJet oscilloscopes perform less automatic measurements.

Furthermore, some of 26 parameters are defined in a slightly different manner.

Technical data of devices provide more details. In WaveJet oscilloscopes, it is possible to use cursor measurements and mathematical calculations including the FFT analysis. Also, a 6-digit counter used to measure frequency of analysed functions operates independently. Special measuring mode (Replay Mode) facilitates detection of short-duration disturbances of glitch and runts types. They can be searched in the history of stored frames.

The oscilloscope records them with the speed of 3600 frames per second.

Peak Detect acquisition facilitates trapping of even 1-nanosecond pins. Time base scopes provided for the Roll Mode 50 ms/div...50 s/div (max. 100 kSa/s), on the contrary, help observe very slow functions.

The most commonly used mode of triggering present in all digital oscilloscopes is edge triggering. WaveJet 324A also makes impulse, impulse width, impulse counter and TV signal triggering available.

At present, a standard communication interface in digital oscilloscopes is USB. In WaveJet 324A, this is one device type port and one Host type port. Those ports are used to connect e.g. mass storage devices, PC’s and printers. Ethernet and GPIB interfaces are available as an option.

Oscilloscope handling is very simple. It is

WaveSurfer The third group of LeCroy oscilloscopes which is the strongest in TME’s range of products is the WaveSurfer family which is here represented by 24Xs. This oscilloscope is available under the TME symbol: WAVESURFER 24XS-A. The WaveSurfer family comprises of top tier appliances which are used for the most sophisticated measurements, but due to high price, are available to a narrow group of users.

loscope’s equipment. The 10,4” display with TFT LCD 800×600 pixel matrix (SVGA) which not only makes a visual impression, but also, in many cases, turns out to be essential during operation.

The WaveSurfer 24Xs oscilloscope as well as other models from this family, due to the implementation of special measuring functions, is particularly fit for analysis of signals on lines of many popular communication interfaces. The possibilities of the oscilloscope in this area can be proved by the richness of recognized protocols: SPI, I2C UART, RS232, USB, Audiobus (I2S, LJ, RJ, TDM), MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, MIPI D-PHY, DigRF, CAN and LIN. The moment of release can be set for particular events existing on interface lines, and their efficient analysis is ensured by the WaveScan Search and Find function. Data search is conducted by means of 20 methods. Finding a specific event is finished with the execution of a specific action.

High record (5 Mpoints/channel) makes it possible to analyse a long period of time around the release point, even with the maximum sampling speed which for that oscilloscope is 2,5 GSa/s. The operation in WaveStream mode ensures a 256-level oscillograms brightness modulation, which makes an impression of watching them just like on an analogue oscilloscope.

The WaveSurfer oscilloscopes cooperate with high-impedance ZS series active probes ensuring correct observation of high-frequency functions, even up to 1 GHz. Probes are equipped with a number of various tips and also accessories ensuring proper grounding.

Just like in all digital oscilloscopes, WaveSurfer oscilloscope offers mathematical calculations, automatic and cursor measurements.

On the front panel there are separate handwheels to operate cursors. The oscilloscope’s advantage is its ability to operate under Windows system control.

A kind of surprise might be very economically designed front control panel, which is somehow in contradiction to declared measuring possibilities of the appliance. It results from the fact that mechanical elements constitute only a part of all control elements. It is because user’s interface uses also a touch screen constituting oscil-

LeCroy is a brand recognized as a leading manufacturer of measuring instruments, including digital oscilloscopes. The appliances made by this manufacturer comprise of multiple, unique, own solutions that improve operation comfort of those complex devices. n www.tme.eu

achieved by: multi-language menu, ergonomic location of control elements, handwheels coupled with press-buttons.

Appliance is ready for operation only after 3 seconds after its switching on. The selection of optimum operation parameters can be done manually or by entering settings recorded previously in a mass memory. The final solution is an AUTO SETUP button which starts automatic selection of the settings.

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

9

MCUs DESIGN

Going into Deep Sleep New techniques are pushing embedded power management beyond Sleep mode, as Jason Tollefson of Microchip Technology Inc., explains With sleep modes no longer able to deliver the energy economies which can support a new generation of products with decadelong battery life-times, or keep pace with the surge in ‘green’ demands, microcontroller manufacturers are turning to new techniques to take embedded power management beyond the conventional Sleep mode.

Recently, for example, microcontroller (MCU) manufacturers have begun to use electronic ‘switches’ to completely remove power from some parts of the chip when they are not in use; voltage supervisory circuits have also advanced so that they can deliver continuous control whilst drawing the most minimal amount of battery power. By exploring these emerging technologies, some insight can be gained into how they can be implemented for maximum effect.

Sleep shows its age Traditionally, the MCU’s Sleep mode has been the embedded designer’s most useful powermanagement tool. But Sleep mode has been around for many years and its age is beginning to show: It can no longer be relied on to reach the continuously moving benchmark for power minimisation which is fundamental to new generations of embedded products.

One of the reasons for this is that, over the years, microcontrollers have become more complex with the integration of more features and peripherals. With each increase in complexity, the microcontroller gains additional process nodes, all of which can contribute to energy leakage within the system. Add to this the emergence of products which require battery lifetimes of ten years or more, in applica-

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tions such as smart utility meters, smoke detectors, as well as increasing legislation to control power consumption and it becomes clear that the traditional Sleep mode simply cannot deliver sufficient power savings.

Deeper than sleep To offset the effects of increasing complexity and smaller process geometries, MCU manufacturers have introduced new modes for

cuits in Figure 2 will continue to draw power, whilst the other circuits will have their power removed.

Not all manufacturers achieve the same level of power-savings from Deep Sleep. Typically most achieve an 80% reduction in sleep current, but some MCUs now achieve Deep Sleep currents as low as 20 nA. The combination of low currents in Deep Sleep mode, with batteries which

Figure 1: The PIC24F16KA XLP uses Deep Sleep to reduce power consumption driving down the power draw.

Although the names may vary, such as Standby, STOP2, LPM5, or Deep Sleep, their purpose is the same: They are intended to drive down the microcontroller’s need for power beyond the efficiencies achieved by Sleep mode.

All Deep Sleep techniques work by using embedded softwarecontrolled switches to remove power from significant areas of the microcontroller. Powering off the transistors in areas of the chip removes transistor leakage and therefore significantly extends battery life. In Deep Sleep mode, the green cir-

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

Figure 2: Deep Sleep enables some circuits and removes power from others

achieve low self-discharge rates, can add years to the battery-life of an application.

The Deep Sleep trade­off Of course, every new advance brings a new trade-off and, for Deep Sleep mode, this trade-off is a slower start-up time.

Typically, it takes between 1-10 µs for an MCU to wake from standard Sleep mode but, depending on the manufacturer, an MCU can take 300 µs-3 ms when waking from Deep Sleep.

The longer start-up is needed for the power-up sequences to terminate and the on-chip regulators to stabilise. Waking from a Deep Sleep mode is very similar to a full Power-on Reset.

Another significant difference is that most implementations of Deep Sleep remove power from the RAM, peripheral registers and I/O, whilst in standard Sleep mode, execution starts exactly from where it stopped. Deep Sleep modes need the programme context to be restored from a non-volatile memory source, such as Flash or EEPROM, or from small areas of back-up RAM that are not powered down in Deep Sleep. Since current is needed for code to be executed to restore the MCU to its pre-Deep Sleep state, there is a power penalty for waking from Deep Sleep.

Wake­up call Waking a MCU from Deep Sleep is different to waking it from Sleep mode. Traditional Sleep mode has a number of ways to wake the MCU, such as interrupts, timers, communication reception, end of ADC conversion and supply-voltage changes.

Some, but not all, of these wakeup sources have been included

by MCU manufacturers in their Deep Sleep modes.

MCUs DESIGN Sources of wake-up available in Deep Sleep mode can include interrupts, reset pins, power-on reset, real-time clock alarms, watchdog timers and brownout detection. What is missing here is wake-up from communication reception and end of ADC conversion. Since these portions of the device do not have power, those wake-up features cannot be supported in Deep

button and consumes no additional current. Pressing the button, wakes the application from Deep Sleep, restores its state and the product is ready to go. This works for applications such as thermometers and handheld devices and can also be used to lengthen the shelf-life of batterypowered products, because they can be shipped them in the Deep Sleep state.

Despite these trade-offs there are many applications that can benefit from Deep Sleep. The difficulty, of course, is in determining which applications should implement Deep Sleep and which should not. The following simple equation can answer this question: Tbe = ((Tinit*Idd)+(Tpor*Ipor))/(Ipdslp-Ipdds) Where: Tbe = Breakeven Time where charge in Sleep equals charge in Deep Sleep Tinit = Initialisation time to resume full-power operation Idd = Current consumed during run mode Tpor = Time required for Power-on Reset Ipor = Power-on Reset Current (including regulator stabilisation capacitor current, if present) Ipdslp = Static Current in Sleep Mode Ipdds = Static Current in Deep Sleep Mode (Equation courtesy of Microchip: Application Note AN1267) The above equation models the charge in Sleep and Deep Sleep.

The break-even time, Tbe, is the point at which the charge in each mode is equal. Deep Sleep provides the maximum benefit beyond Tbe, as shown in the following example.

Assume that the MCU with Deep Sleep mode has the following characteristics: Initialisation execution time (Tinit) Current during execution (Idd) Power-on Reset Time (Tpor) Current in POR (Ipor) Current in Sleep mode (Ipdslp) Current in Deep Sleep mode (Ipdds)

= = = = = =

200 µs 400 µA 600 µs 30 mA* 3.5 µA 28 nA

*30 mA includes current for regulator stabilisation capacitor Therefore: Tbe = Tpd = ((Tinit*Idd)+(Tpor*Ipor))/(Ipdslp-Ipdds) = ((200µs * 400µA)+(600µs * 30mA))/(3.5µA – 28nA) = 5.2 s So, with Tbe equal to 5.2 seconds, an application that remains in Deep Sleep for longer than 5.2 seconds will benefit.

Sleep mode. As different manufacturers may choose to use different implementations for wake-up, it is important to review the wake-up capabilities provided by different microcontroller families.

Some vendors, for example, only exit Deep Sleep by the assertion of the RESET pin. This works for applications that have an “on”

12

Other vendors use a more complete system implementation and have included more flexibility by adding real-time clock and calendar functions. These allow the application to be autonomous and may add as little as 500 nA to the Deep Sleep current. Rather than waiting for a button to be pressed, the clock’s alarm wakes the device. This is important for

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

applications such as smoke detectors which must wake two or three times per minute to sample the air quality, or for a battery-powered sensor that wakes a few times per day to transmit data.

Dramatically longer battery lifetimes can be achieved by matching each application to specific Deep Sleep wake-up features, End­of­life Even though Deep Sleep increases battery lifetime there will undoubtedly still be a time when the battery reaches its end-of-life and the risk of improper operation increases.

Typically, supervisory circuits such as Brownout Reset (BOR) circuits and Watchdog Timers (WDTs) are used to protect against this. Brownout circuits can detect if the battery output is too low for safe operation and force the application into a safe state. Watchdog timers offer similar protection against errant code execution, if the MCU attempts to execute in unsafe voltage or frequency conditions.

The main problem with these circuits is their current consumption, which can typically be as high as 5-50 µA. In a MCU which aims for benchmark energy-consumption by using Deep Sleep mode, the power consumed by these traditional solutions is unacceptable.

The latest MCUs overcome this by introducing a number of lower-current BOR and WDT circuits, specifically designed for Deep Sleep mode.

Known as Deep Sleep BOR (DSBOR) or Zero-Power BOR, these brownout circuits tradeoff accuracy in return for current consumption which can be as low as 45 nA. This not only protects the product at the end of battery life, but also protects against momentary power loss due to battery holder flex, which is common in battery-powered systems. The way in which low-current BOR is implemented varies between vendors: some may be turned off whilst other are permanently on. As not all MCU manufacturers provide a BOR for Deep Sleep it is important to check the MCU for its compati-

bility with each application.

A few vendors have also reduced watchdog-timer currents in MCUs with Deep Sleep achieving a current draw which can be as low as 400 nA. These improvements in current consumption mean that both supervisor circuits can now remain powered while in Deep Sleep, with a combined current consumption as low as 445 nA. This achieves a 99% lower current consumption than in the previous generation of MCUs. By using the equation shown above, the break-even time (Tbe) with both supervisor circuits is shown to be only 5.9 seconds. The current consumption of these new supervisory circuits, therefore, enables safer operation for a whole range of applications that sleep for longer than 6 seconds.

Deep Sleep Whilst shrinking process geometries in new MCUs deliver increased integration and functionality, traditional Sleep modes can no longer offset the higher current leakage from greatly increased transistor counts.

Microcontroller vendors, therefore are turning to new Deep Sleep modes, in which parts of the circuit can be completely powered down when not in operation.

This, in combination with more power-efficient wake-up circuits, can achieve Deep Sleep currents which are 80% lower than the previous power-management techniques.

Whilst Deep Sleep mode can dramatically increase battery life in MCU-based applications, it is important to consider the power break-even point, where the power saved is greater than the power required to wake the circuit from its powered-down sleep. The simple equation shown above allows embedded designers to make this judgement call and to create a new generation of battery-powered products with incredibly long battery-life. n www.microchip.com

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS INDUSTRY NEWS

Microchip unveils lowest-cost development tool for 16- and 32-bit PIC® MCUs, 16-bit dsPIC® DSCs Key Facts: • Microstick II development tool with integrated pro­ grammer and debugger • Use standalone or with a prototyping board • Supports easier, more flexible and lower cost development Microchip announces the lowest-cost development tool supporting 3.3V 16-bit and 32-bit PIC® microcontrollers (MCUs), as well as 16-bit dsPIC® Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) in 28-pin SPDIP packages.

The flexible Microstick II tool features everything designers need to start development with these MCUs and DSCs, including an integrated debugger and programmer, user LED, reset button, and DUT socket for easy device swapping. The USB-powered tool

can be used standalone, or plugged into a prototyping board for extremely flexible development, and is supported by the MPLAB® Integrated Development Environment (IDE). This tool makes it easy to evaluate and develop with Microchip’s broad range of 16- and 32-bit products,

enabling developers to find the best MCU or DSC for their applications.

The Microstick II tool (DM330013-2) is priced at $34.95 and includes a USB cable, two 1x14 header pins for proto-board use, sample MCUs, and sample DSCs. MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/get/1JJH

element14 launches DM3730 ARM® element14, Premier Farnell’s global online eCommunity for electronic design engineers announced availability of the DM3730 ARM® based development kit, a complete embedded development system that accelerates time to market for media-rich, portable applications. The kit provides developers with an ARM based TI DaVinci™ digital media processor tailored for digital audio, video, imaging, and vision applications. The DM3730 device includes a general purpose processor, video accelerators, and C64 DSP, and is tailored for a range of applications like Portable Data Terminals, Navigation, Auto Infotainment, Gaming, Medical Imaging, Home Automation, Human Interface, Test and Measurement and Industrial Control. The kit, available via

Farnell at a promotional price while supplies last, provides easy access to ARM® Cortex™A8 Core based MCU design, enabling engineers to design their applications with high quality graphics and video apps

with low power consumption.

The kit is supported by multiple hardware peripherals including LCD touch screen interface and works with Android™, Microsoft® Windows® CE and Linux® operating systems. element14 www.element14.com

LIN slave MLX80105 enables easy Local Interconnect Network communication of switch modules and IO-Extensions Melexis extends its family of smart LIN slave IC's with a new Generation of reconfigurable LIN switch slave. The LIN bus standard, and it’s SAE version, J2602 experience rapid growth in automotive networking due to the cost effective and robust nature of the protocol and its compatibility to CAN bus. The MLX80105 connects any door, roof, seat, steer­ ing wheel, dashboard, HVAC, light control or similar switch module requiring easy access via LIN. The integration of LIN physical layer, voltage regulator and integrated application IO’s result in a reduction in component cost.

The integration of LIN controller and approved LIN driver make switch modules speak LIN in no time.

Incorporating the Melexis LIN transceiver physical layer, Melexis LIN ASSPs (Application Specific Standard Products) guarantee world leading integrated ESD protection results. The LIN protocol handler meets all LIN standards like LIN2.0, LIN2.1 as well as SAE J2602.

The MLX80105 is a fully integrated LIN slave on a single chip.

All of the necessary components; physical layer LIN transceiver, LIN controller, voltage regulator, application controller are integrated along with the supporting functions ADC, PWM generation and high voltage capable IOs. This high integration level reduces the BOM dramatically and enables the development of very compact and small LIN slave modules.

Application software tasks are taken up by a 16-bit RISC microcontroller.

The MLX80105 draws less than 50uA of current in sleep mode and it is wake-up capable via the LIN Bus as well as via connected switches or other wake-up sources. The LIN slave supports switches in matrix as well as single switch configurations connected to the 18 available IOs. All IOs are high voltage resistant for safely supporting remote off module connections. Via eight interrupt capable IOs rotary encoder are supported.

Position monitoring and control for control dials and

knobs, motors or actuators is dramatically simplified with added appeal to have direct physical input or software control and signal sharing

among different systems.

Analog inputs can convert any analog signal, like resistive encoders and resistive switches, to BUS messages for use by network connected devices. An internal battery monitor enables supply voltage dependent functions.

To illuminate the switch module panel, 8 open drain PWM outputs are available with configurable PWM base frequency from 45Hz to 45kHz. With a message from the LIN master the LED output intensity can be adjusted according to OEM specific requirements.

All the above functions are implemented on one piece of silicon in an very small 5x5mm QFN package.

MELEXIS ICROELECTRONIC INTEGRATED SYSTEMS N.V. www.melexis.com

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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MCUs DESIGN

MCU application development platform based on Cloud Computing Cloud Computing is a new super calculation mode based on the internet and the development of Distributed Computing, Parallel Computing and Grid Computing.

Cloud Computing provides software & hardware sharing resources, allowing anyone unfamiliar with technology and equipment operation to obtain services through the Internet.1 2

by Ning Li, Wuhan University of Technology, China The defects of traditional MCU application develop­ ment tools The use of traditional MCU application development tools usually meets with the following problems: A. Too much time spent on collating and screening information Before the application development of MCU, engineers select the products and resources for MCUs, peripheral IC, development tools and technical support, etc. MCU application development usually requires a lot of the relevant information: data manuals, circuit diagrams, routines and application notes, etc. The information usually comes from viable IC vendors' web sites or other specialized technical web sites, but the engineer still needs to find the relevant part pulled from a pool

of information. The data collecting, editing and screening usually takes a lot of work, and the traditional MCU application development tools aren't able to offer related help for engineers.

B. Isolated engineer In most cases only a few engineers (or sometimes only one) work on the software and hardware design. Thus, when there is a problem, it is difficult to seek help on the solution. Forums or mail groups are often used, however this communication is often not timely.

C. Limited focus on applica­ tion layer development MCU application development usually contains hardware and software design. Software design includes driver design, operating system porting, algorithms porting & optimization and application layer

Traditional MCU development has used a professional integrated development environment which usually has little relation to the Internet. However in recent years the speed of IC vendors releasing new MCU has become faster and the need to obtain relevant information and data through the Internet for application development is more urgent. If Cloud Computing can be introduced into the MCU development tools and voluntarily push different kinds of knowledge out, the process of MCU application development will be expedited more quick­ ly. This article will introduce the MCU application development platform based on the Cloud Computing ­ Coocox Tools developed by my team, on the basis of the analysis of traditional MCU development tools defects.

14 EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

design. Engineers spend a bulk of their time working on the driver design, operation system and algorithms transplant, leaving less time to focus on the application layer of software development and optimization.

As the products lifecycle becomes shorter, engineers using traditional tools face a challenge on turn around time, development and quality of products.

The change of the informa­ tion organization mode in the era of the internet The Internet has brought about a new information distribution method. With access to abundant information, ways in which to extract valuable user content and achieve the required format becomes an important research area in the data mining field. Information organization modes on the Internet can be classified as the following categories: • Directory Search: The web edits information through manual review and stores it in the database. Users search the required information through the web directory, for example yahoo. Its classification is clear, but difficult to narrow down specific information.

• Full text search engine: can search information in all the web sites and then set up a large online database following rules for users to query. Query is possible in the established

index database using key words, for example Google.

This way, we can gain information related to key words, but also separate out irrelevant information.

• Wiki: everyone can create, edit, modify or discuss the entry of interest by editing pages, like the whiteboard on the Internet. Information in the Wiki is usually very professional and accurate.

• Community driven Q&A: many users share questions and offer solutions based on their experience and expertise to aid in finding a satisfactory answer in Q & A discussions.

A typical example is element14 community (www.element14.com). You can ask questions personally and often gain timely and professional help in this way.

The pursuit of how to organize effective knowledge has been a concern in the internet development process. The advent of the Cloud Computing age and the concept of software as a service (SaaS) has allowed Cloud Software to break the monopoly of big manufacturers. This allows everyone to freely exercise their creative purpose and gain access to all sorts of software services. Cloud Computing will allow us to forego information organization modes and create more effective information through collective wisdom. www.self.com.

MCUs DESIGN If introduced in embedded development tools, Cloud Computing may create a new experience and overcome the defects of traditional development tools.

The MCU development based on cloud computing The MCU development tool based on Cloud Computing is Cloud Software, and can use the effective information in the network at any time.

As shown in Figure 1, compiling, editing, storage, project management and information management are all finished in the clouds.

A rapid prototyping tool, mbed, released by ARM®, is a platform, as shown in Figure 2, equipped with a summary testing hardware platform.

You can access embed.org in the browser to finish editing, compiling and with project management and communica-

Coocox tools The overall framework of Coocox Tools is shown in Figure 3. Coocox Tools contain CoIDE, CoFlash, CoAssistant, CoLinkEx, CoOS and CoCenter.

Coocox tools can be downloaded for free at www.coocox.org.

D. CoIDE CoIDE is the core of Coocox Tools, unlike the traditional embedded development IDE, its programming approach is based on components, routines and help.

All of these could be automatically updated via internet.

The editing interface of CoIDE is shown in Figure 4. It has four different windows from other IDE: components window, components tree window, example window and help window.

and rate the components uploaded by other users.

Components Window will rank them by these scores.

Components Tree Window The checked components will be organized in the form of a tree in the Components Tree Window. The Components Tree directly corresponds to the Project Tree. When checking one component, the corresponding files in the Project Tree will be highlighted and the example will automatically display in the Examples Window.

Examples Window When you check one component in the Components Tree Window, all its examples will be listed in Examples Window. You can refer to these examples or add them to your project.

Figure 4.

When a MCU has been selected, the related knowledge (data manuals, routines, circuit diagrams and algorithms) should be presented to you. In the meantime, you can also share your related knowledge with other developers. The ideal MCU development tools based on Cloud Computing only needs one browser.

tion with other users.

However, at present mbed is only a rapid prototype confirmation platform without complete function of embedded development tools chain. We extended the idea of mbed, by developing a free MCU development tool chain based on Cloud Computing, which is Coocox Tools.

Components Window Relatively independent code, peripheral driver programs, some algorithms and operating system can all be components. When you have selected a processor, its available components will all be listed in the components window. You can add the appropriate code to your project by checking components. If the components are enough, you only need to check the corresponding components to complete all of the software development work (besides the application layer).

The components window is actually a browser window.

Any registered users can upload their own components to the server following Coocox component standards and share them with other users.

Developers can give comments

Like the Components Window, the Examples Window is also a browser. Any registered user can add their own examples to share with others or give comments and rate those provided by other users.

Help Window The Help Window provides a variety of related information according to the changes of your focus.

When you select a processor, the Help Window will provide its basic information, data sheet and technical manuals.

When you check a component, the Help Window will provide its API information. When you view examples, the Help Window will provide its schematic and evaluation board information.

In the future, CoIDE will be based on the web.

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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MCUs DESIGN As shown in Figure 5, CoIDE is not only an IDE, but also a networking platform for developers to communicate and share embedded development information and knowledge.

E. CoFlash CoFlash is a free Flash programming tool, providing both GUI and command line modes.

Unlike the other Flash programming tools, CoFlash supports user defined Flash programming algorithm. Simply complete Init, EraseSector, EraseChip, ProgramPage and UnInit to finish your user defined Flash programming algorithm according to the template by CoFlash. The same as the components and examples of CoIDE, you also could share your programming algorithm with others, and give comments to the algorithm that others provided.

F. CoAssistant CoAssistant is a free and online embedded programming aid available at www.coocox.com:8080/coas-

sistant_en/rap. It automatically presents the register details after selecting a certain processor, as shown in Figure 6.

Developers can easily configure the related peripheral registers without reading data manuals. You could also share your experiences about peripheral or registers with other users by adding comments to the registers used.

In the future, CoAssistant will be integrated in CoIDE. It can automatically generate a code according to the user’s source code by graphical configuration.

G. CoLinkEx CoLinkEx is a free and open ICE solution, supporting JTAG and SW debugging interface, and is available for a variety of Cortex M0 and Cortex™ M3 processors. In addition to debugging and programming in CoIDE and CoFlash, it also can be used in MDK and IAR. Anyone can download ColinkEx’s SCH, PCB, BOMList and Firmware on www.coocox.org to do a CoLinkEx by themselves.

The solution is also free for business users.

H. CoOS CoOS is a free and open RTOS, designed

specifically for Cortex™ M processor. It supports preemptive priority and round robin, Semaphores, Mutex, Flags, Mailbox and Queue for communication & synchronization. It is highly scalable and has a minimum system kernel — only 974Bytes. It also supports interruption while task switching, stack overflow detection, and the platforms of ICCARM, ARMCC, GCC. The time specifications of CoOS are shown is table 1 and space specifications of CoOS are shown is table 2 (The data in table 1 & 2 is measured for STM32F103RB CPU with the system clock setting to 72 MHz, code execution from

Figure 6.

and trying the CoOS examples shown in Example Window, everyone can easily achieve the application programming of CoOS. I. CoCenter CoCenter is a center for Coocox users, providing user registration, software downloads and updates and other functions. In the future, Coocox will also provide a dedicated instant messaging tool.

Developers who use the same MCU will automatically be assigned to the same group, so as to communicate online in real time.

Conclusion With the above introduction of Coocox Tools, we can conclude that the goal of Coocox tools is to create a social network platform for embedded system development. The embedded development platform based on Cloud Computing can significantly reduce development time by offering relevant resource and information, online communications to solve problems, sharing and collaboration with peers, manufacturers for effective information exchange. n References 1

internal flash, with Flash Latency 2 wait states and the Prefetch Buffer enabled).

In CoIDE, CoOS is also a component. You can add CoOS source code to your project simply by checking CoOS components and modifying its task number, stack, system clock frequency and other corresponding configurations in the file of OS_Config.h according to your project. By viewing

Cloud Computing: Clash of the clouds. The Economist. 2009 10 15. www.economist.com/displaysto­ ry.cfm?story_ id=14637206.

Retrieved 2010 11 03.

2 Cloud Computing Defined. www.cloudcomputingdefined.com.

17 July 2010. Retrieved 2010 11 03.

3 A. Acquisti and R. Gross.

Imagined communities: Awareness, information sharing, and privacy on the Facebook. In Privacy Enhancing Technologies Workshop, 2006.

CadSoft EAGLE provides seamless design integration with quickturn PCB prototyping service from Eurocircuits Farnell has announced that the upcoming version 6.0 of its award winning CadSoft EAGLE PCB design software will integrate functionality that provides a direct connection between board layout and the Eurocircuits PCB prototyping service.

Identifying PCB service providers, generating customised quotations and ordering of prototype PCBs is a time consuming and error prone process. Now it all can be driven by the engineer from the CadSoft EAGLE user interface.

The update, which will smooth and speed board level design and PCB prototyping, can also be applied to existing 5.10 and 5.11

16 EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

versions of the software via an User Language Program (ULP) download via www.cadsoftusa.com/cadsoft-downloads/.

Customers operating versions of EAGLE that are older than 5.10 can upgrade their license to benefit not only from the integrated direct link to Eurocircuits, but also the current ‘Buy now get your upgrade for free’ campaign that will allow them to secure their copy of version 6.0.

Farnell Ltd. www.farnell.com

MCUs DESIGN

From the hospital to the living room and the gym Highly integrated single­chip solution for medical and healthcare applications

By Carsten Steiner, Field Application Engineer and Member of the Vertical Market Team Medical Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente

Medical devices are 'on the move': Blood sugar, blood pressure and heart monitors are increasingly being used away from their normal locations at hospitals and doctors' surgeries, in patients' homes. And fitness fans are also increasingly monitoring their physical condition themselves, with equipment traditionally reserved for use by medical specialists. This is made possible by more compact and cost­effective devices, featuring highly integrated design. This trend presents developers with new challenges however: The devices have to be portable and user­friendly, and new methods of transferring and storing the sensitive data obtained need to be found. At the same time, the development of new technologies and expanding functionality means equipment needs to incorporate ever more componentry. Those demands can now be met with just one chip.

When using medical devices in the home, the data recorded must be transferred from the measuring device concerned to a local collection point where it can be stored. To enable users to retrieve, view and make an initial evaluation of their data from their home PC or from a mobile device such as a BlackBerry or iPhone, the

devices need to be equipped with a simple, open interface. Many already provide USB ports, and some also feature Bluetooth, Zigbee or WiFi interfaces. This enables users to transmit data from their PC or mobile device to healthcare platforms such as GoogleHealth (www.google.com/health) and make it available to designated person-

Figure 1: Typical medical network (Personal Healthcare Ecosystem) 18 EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

nel, such as their doctor or fitness trainer.

In order to establish global standards for such a so-called 'Personal Healthcare Ecosystem', the Continua Health Alliance (www.continuaalliance.org) was created.

The Alliance already counts more than 200 leading companies among its members, and the first set of standards has been drawn up.

For all the relevant applications distributor Rutronik, working with Infineon, has now exclusively developed a single-chip solution featuring what is currently the highest level of integration in the medical IC field. The chip is designed especially for sports activity and healthcare and consumer medical devices. Potential applications range from simple heart-rate indicators in the gym, bike-mounted computer readouts or speed and step monitoring on blood sugar and blood pressure monitors, through to blood oxygen measurement and insulin pumps.

One for all: Single­chip solution The single-chip medical device MD8710 conforms to Continua standards, enabling terminal devices to be very easily integrated into a standard 'Personal Healthcare Ecosystem'. It also dramatically reduces the number of components required: For example, a conventional portable blood sugar monitor at present comprises about

MCUs DESIGN 12 integrated QFP component devices and a further 30 to 50 discrete components.

That not only means development lead times are long, it also entails great effort and expense in achieving a compact design. Constructing the device with identical functionality using the MD8710 reduces the number of QFP components to between three and five and cuts the number of discrete components to about 15 to 30 – at lower cost, because the market price of the MD8710 is less than half that of the ICs otherwise needed. The platform concept underlying the MD8710 offers further savings. Thanks to flexible chip configuration, multiple devices can be implemented on one platform. The easy interchangeability of sensors and minimal software customization required means devices can be used in a wide variety of applications.

This saves on expensive development time and significantly cuts the time to market for new devices.

MD8710 components The central component unit of the MD8710 is a powerful ARM Cortex R4 processor, combined with a comprehensive memory protection unit, an interrupt controller, a DMA controller and a watchdog timer. The module's analog front end allows for applications entailing high analog signal processing demands. It features two independent 16-bit ADCs and two 16bit DACs. The DAC channels can be fed with data from a integrated 'wavetable', so no additional DSPs are needed. Two configurable OPs per ADC provide an analog preprocessing facility, such as transimpedance amplifiers for current inputs. Providing further system integration, the MD8710 features a 12-bit ADC with four external auxiliary multiplex inputs and a temperature sensor. The facility for synchronous sampling of the ADCs also permits complex measurements, such as impedance spectroscopy for blood analysis. For data exchange, there is a USB 2.0 port and an on-chip Bluetooth module, as well as I2C, SPI and UART interfaces. The power management unit (PMU) generates all the required voltages and at the same time monitors all internal supplies using just a few external components. It can handle a variety of power-saving and wake-up scenarios, and manages charging of a LiIo or LiPo battery. For security purposes (such as battery authentication), there is an integrated interface for an externally connectable Infineon ORIGA chip. The MD8710 also features a display controller which supports Matrix LDCs. Audio functionality is provided by a class-D output stage. As a result, the MD8710 provides all the key functionality for portable, batterypowered devices in the 'Personal Healthcare Ecosystem'.

Application example – Pulse oximetry The example provided by the pulse oximetry application case illustrates the difference between discrete and integrated design. Pulse oximetry is a method for measuring the oxygen saturation of the blood. A pulse oximeter measures the light absorption when the skin on the finger is scanned. This is done with two different light wavelengths: The first is in the infrared range at 940 nm, as that is the location of maximum absorption of the oxygen-saturated hemoglobin (HbO2).

component. The AC signal component is caused by the pulsating blood.

The exact AC and DC components respectively depend heavily on the light intensity and the tissue absorption. Owing to the variable blood flow through the tissue, there may be dramatic fluctuation of the AC component, which may be between 0.01% and 10% of the DC component.

Maximum DC compensation is essential in order to determine the relative hemoglobin content. In the first step, the pulse oximetry signal is a current signal through the

Figure 2: Block diagram – Infineon MD8710

Figure 3: Discrete configuration of pulse oximetry The second wavelength is at 660 nm, where the non-oxygen-saturated hemoglobin (Hb) absorbs the most light. The oxygen saturation of the blood is determined from the ratio between the two measured values. Because of the constant absorption rate of the tissue, there is a high DC signal

photodiode (measurement of the light absorption).

For further processing, a transimpedance amplifier converts this into the required voltage signal. This is followed by the aforementioned DC compensation, by way of an additional OP stage. www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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MCUs DESIGN Applying the measurement technique to the MD8710, almost all discrete components become superfluous. The chip is able to handle all the essential pulse oximetry functions. The dynamism of the absorption is in the range between 50 and 20,000 val-

devices can be integrated seamlessly into a 'Personal Healthcare Ecosystem'. The cost saving on components usually also justifies the redesign of existing discrete solutions.

And new market opportunities are opened up to the device. n

16-bit MCUs with up to 28 analog inputs, 12-bit A/D converter and only 66µA/MHz current consumption in active mode MSC now offers the new RL78/G1A 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) from Renesas Electronics. The new devices are ideally suited for use in demanding sensor applications and are available in 3mm × 3mm land grid array (LGA) and 4mm × 4mm ball grid array (BGA) packages.

Figure 4: Integrated pulse oximetry with the MD8710 ues (14 to 15 bits). For detailed analysis only a limited range is required however.

As the delta-sigma converters of the MD8710 are specified with 16-bit resolution, error-free conversion is guaranteed and pulse oximetry can be carried out without problem. A noise analysis confirms this result.

As in the case of pulse oximetry, virtually any application in the sports activity and healthcare or consumer medical sphere can be implemented by the integrated solution offered by the MD8710, and the

For more on the module visit the web page: www.rutronik.com/elwis

Author: Carsten Steiner, Field Application Engineer and Member of the Vertical Market Team Medical at Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH.

Bibliography: n Konzeption eines Systems zur präzisen Sensorsignalaufbereitung für die

n n

n n

Medizintechnik (Conception of a system for precise sensor signal processing for medical technology) - Jakob Bauser – August 2010 Continua: An Interoperable Personal Healthcare Ecosystem – Randy Carroll, Rick Cnossen, Mark Schnell, and David Simons – October – December 2007 Databeans - 2007 Medical Semiconductors - Industrial Semiconductor Markets – Worldwide - Susie Inouye -Myson Robles-Bruce - Publication Number: 07INDMedical - July 2007 Paracelsus - Medical and Industrial Device Controller – Product Brief – Infineon – January 2010 Medizinproduktegesetzgebung und Regelwerk (Medical product legislation and regulations), volume 1 - Armin Gärtner - TÜV Media GmbH, 2008

20 EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

In addition to an accurate 12-bit A/D converter and up to 28 analog inputs, the RL78/G1A MCUs have an independent power supply for internal analog parts that significantly reduces or completely eliminates noise influence from digital peripheral lines.

At the same time, extensive measures were taken to lower system power consumption with these new members of the RL78 Family. In addition to only 66µA/MHz current consumption in active mode and 0.57µA with RTC + LVD active, the RL78/G1A MCUs support a new low-power mode called the “snooze mode”.

The snooze mode supports A/D conversion and serial communication while the CPU is in standby mode. This can significantly extend the operating time of battery-powered devices.

Built-in safety mechanisms - such as a flash memory cyclic redundancy check (CRC) function, RAM parity error checking, clock fail and frequency detection circuit, A/D test function and illegal memory access detection support compliance with safety standards such as the IEC60730.

Renesas Electronics' low-cost E1 onchip debugging emulator and the IECUBE full-spec emulator are available as hardware development tools.

For flash programming, Renesas Electronics offers the PG-FP5 programmer or factory programming.

Powerful support for system designers of application software is provided by the IAR Embedded Workbench integrated development environment (IDE) and optimized C++ compiler.

MSC VERTRIEBS GmbH www.msc­ge.com

EMBEDDED DESIGN

Powerful GPGPU solution for medical imaging

AMD makes high-end PCI ® Express capable graphics available long-term The level of performance called for in medical imaging and simulation is often so high that even the latest multicore processors find it difficult to keep up. An efficient alternative to the supercomputers otherwise needed to meet the kind of requirements presented by medical di­agnostics and therapy can be found in today’s extremely high­ performing general purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) technology and tools with which the massive parallel com­puting power of modern graphics cards is easily channeled. AMD now makes this technology available long­term for the embedded market in the form of the ATI Radeon™ HD 5770 and the new AMD Radeon E6760 GPGPU. The thirst for more performance has been driving processor developments from one extreme to the next — faster clocking, more bit width and ever smaller fabrication volumes are meant to further optimize the performance rewards. The next step in the x86 market was the introduction of multicore technology, consuming about the same power but multiplying performance.

Nevertheless, even the new multicore processors are often no match for applications in which you want to process large quantities of data as fast as possible.

Because in imaging diagnostics such as MRT and CT, for in-stance, using solutions

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EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

set up on multicore technology may still mean having to wait several minutes, if not hours, until the final image data appear, depending on the volume of data involved and the complexity of processing.

This is contrary to the need to process medical image data as speedily as possible for purposes of diagnosis and treatment, yet still visualize them with extremely high resolution — in applications enabling diagnosis of breast cancer, for instance, where you want fast readout of images in high detail. Other applications that make extremely high performance demands on the supporting hardware include rebuild-

ing images for high-speed 3D X-ray computer tomography. This calls for conversion of X-ray projection data into nonoverlapping, three-dimensional slices of an object of interest using image reconstruction algorithms, which needs to be done as fast as possible, of course.

Simulation is one of the most ambitious medical uses for CPUs besides diagnostic applications — take virtual microscopy, used in pharmaceutical research, for example: uniting chemical, physical and mathematical formulae in simulation software, this employs complex algorithms to simulate molecules and the way in which

EMBEDDED DESIGN

they react with one another.

What is common to all these applications is that performance demands on the processor cores are extremely high, and even the latest multicores seldom fully live up to them. Of course it is possible to combine a number of multicore processors in a single high-performance cluster for such compute-intensive and time-critical applications, but the cost of purchasing and operating that kind of super-computer plus its infrastructure is huge.

GPU technology is developing parallel But parallel to CPU technology there has also been fast development of graphics processing unit (GPU) technology, driven in particular by the consumer market. More frames per second, higher reso-lution and uniform programming interfaces have created a broad basis for use of this technology in data processing too. Because getting down to the data level, there is not really much difference be-tween computing and displaying virtual worlds in games and visualization of raw data from a variety of sources, such as an ultrasound or coronary examination. GPUs are sometimes even better able to handle parallel and dataintensive tasks, for instance. Being restricted to specific problems without excessive management enables them to be designed so that most of the transistors are devoted to computing operations and not needed for control and caching, as is the case with CPUs. Computer scientists at universities led the way in using the huge parallel computing power of modern graphics cards.

Such a degree of parallelism made the algorithms extremely complex, though, so this initially only really appealed to idealists and specialists.

With the introduction of IDEs such as the AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing SDK and program-ming environments like OpenCL™ as an accompaniment to OpenGL, all developers are now able to tap the performance of modern graphics processors. Diagnostic speed can be multiplied simply by the parallel computing power of modern graphics units.

Combined with high-resolution and lossfree imaging, this high performance can produce incredible visualization results.

Such GPGPU-enabled high-performance systems have cost benefits as well. And not just because it is less expensive to set up on a standard embedded platform with powerful graphics units as coprocessors instead of a cost-intensive supercomputer.

A system like this requires less floor space and cooling infrastructure, mak-ing it highly cost-effective overall.

1)

2)

The ATI Radeon™ HD 5770 graphics card offers a long­term planned availability of 3 years.

The AMD Radeon™ E6760 ASIC planned life is 5 years.

Long­term available ATI Radeon™ HD 5770 PCI Express capable graphics card The ATI Radeon™ HD 5770 PCI Express capable graphics card adds long-term availability to graph-ics for embedded systems. With a GPU clock of 850 MHz and 1 GB of GDDR5 RAM with 1200 MHz, this PCI Express capable card helps accelerate Open GL 3.2 and DirectX®11 applications with its AMD Stream technology plus it supports OpenCL™ 1.0 and DirectCompute 11. For really high-end 3D rendering applications — in medical imaging and simulation, for example — as many as four graphics cards can be coupled with the help of AMD CrossFireX™ technology3. Two displays can be driven independently on the two dual-link DVI-i interfaces with a resolution of up to 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Displays can also be tied by CRT, HDMI and DisplayPort. AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology4 allows simultaneous operation of three monitors with different resolutions, frame rates, color models and video overlays as well as combining several monitors to create a single large display. Fitted with the AMD unified video decoder (UVD 2.0), the graphics card has a sustained impact in taking load off the CPU during reproduction of H.264, MPEG-2 and VC-1 full-HD videos, showing the way to energy-efficient and thermally attractive system designs.

3) 4)

ATI CrossFireX™ ready motherboard required.

AMD Eyefinity technology can support up to 6 displays using a single enabled ATI Radeon™ graphics card with Windows Vista® or Windows® 7 operating systems ­ the number of displays may vary by board design and you should confirm exact specifications with the applicable manufacturer before purchase. AMD Eyefinity technology works with games that support non­standard aspect ratios, which is required for panning across multiple displays. To enable more than two displays, additional panels with native DisplayPort™ connectors, and/or certified DisplayPort™ adapters to convert your monitor’s native input to your cards DisplayPort™ or Mini­DisplayPort™ connector(s), are required. SLS (“Single Large Surface”) functionality requires an identical display resolution on all configured displays.

New Embedded GPU Offering Support for OpenCL™ and Six Independent Displays The AMD Radeon™ E6760 GPU is the first of its kind to offer embedded system designers the combination of OpenCL™ support along with support for six independent displays. An advanced 3D graphics engine and programmable shader architecture supports Microsoft® DirectX® 11 technology for superior graphics rendering. With an integrated frame buffer, high reliability and small footprint thermal solution, the AMD Radeon E6760 GPU enables designers of medical imaging systems to quickly deliver products with a compelling competitive edge. Support for OpenCL™ provides an industry standard interface to access the exceptional compute performance per watt for GPGPU applications such as ultrasound, MRT and CT. With 480 shader units it offers a floating single point performance of up to 576 GFlops. Featuring multi-display support with AMD Eyefinity technology6, the AMD Radeon E6760 GPU supports up to six independent output displays, HDMI 1.4 stereoscopic video and DisplayPort 1.2 for maximum link speeds and simplified display connectivity. Furthermore, the AMD Radeon E6760 GPU can be paired with the upcoming high-performance AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) codenamed “Llano” for additional graphics capability and additional parallel computing power. www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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EMBEDDED DESIGN

Nevertheless, graphics card technology has had one downside, until now, that can sometimes detract from all the advantages of using GPUs in highperformance embedded computing (HPEC) applica-tions — it has a short life.

The problem facing producers of embedded systems was, therefore, the lack of high-end embedded graphics with long-term availability.

High­end graphics for the embedded market with long­term availability AMD offers a high-end PCI Express® capable graphics card for the embedded market with long-term availability1— the new ATI Radeon™ HD 5770 PCI Express capable graphics card as well as the new AMD Radeon E67602 embedded discrete GPU. This novel development helps provide medical appa-ratus OEMs the sustained design security they want for their graphics hardware too. In addition to long-term availability, OEMs can benefit from simple integration of the graphics processing unit: A PCI Express capable x16 (PEG) graphics card can easily be used in a variety of embedded platforms, from a standard server board to a highend PICMG 1.3 backplane configuration.

The new AMD Radeon E6760 embedded discrete GPU is also available in a compact MXM form factor according to the MXM 3.0 specification. But not only graphicsintensive applications can benefit from this extremely high processing capability, because the stream processors of the graphics unit can take a huge workload off the multicore CPUs in the parallel processing of different data streams.

Combining these processor units in shader units enables vector processing in addition to scalar operations. This potential is easily accessed through standard programming platforms and APIs such as OpenCL™ or DirectCompute, thus simpli-

fying and speeding up the development of an application. Turning to total cost of ownership, this type of GPGPU solution is designed to be cost efficient because systems enhanced by modular GPUs do not require multicore processors distributed over a number of server boards to produce measurable savings. Exchanging a GPU is also less complicated than replacing an entire board, be it for maintenance or to upgrade performance. Furthermore a GPU can be easily replaced long-term by a compatible and more powerful model without significantly altering the overall configuration of a system.

There are consequently numerous reasons in favor of high-end graphics hardware in medical embed-ded systems. The long-term availability of AMD solutions such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770 PCI Express capable graphics card or the new AMD Radeon E6760 GPU does away with the short-term availability obstacle. AMD has launched more embedded graphics products in 2011, such as the inte-grated advanced processing unit (APU) solutions enabled by AMDs Fusion technology, which unites the CPU and GPU for energy efficiency on a single chip and ushers in the next generation of ultramo-bile and powerful medical applications. With the widespread introduction of GPGPU technology, the hope is that it will increasingly become mainstream, cutting down the time to develop new applica-tions.

To secure the advantages in the offing, it is well worth thinking today about implementing the technology. n www.amd.com Author: Aurelius Wosylus is Regional Sales Manager Europe at the AMD Embedded Business Unit

MXM V3.0: The modular solution for embedded graphics Contrary to the case with PEG cards, MMX modules are mounted parallel to the carrier board, so that the height of the embedded design is effectively flat. MXM basically builds on the same advantages that have led to the success of computer on modules: They offer a standardized footprint, a standard pinout and assembly concept and are also suitable as add-on components, in particular for custom designs. With its product range both in the PEG and MXM form factors, AMD covers the complete requirements spectrum for embedded modules and board-level segments. This ranges from compact, mobile devices right up to rack-mount servers, while meeting the ultimate requirement of long-term availability.

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EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

New Generation of LIN Transceiver Targets Europe Platforms LIN nodes continue exponential growth rate in Europe. To address this growing need for LIN transceivers Melexis introduces its next Generation LIN transceiver IC for LIN Bus systems according to the LIN 2.x standard. The MLX80020BA extends Melexis’ existing product line of LIN transceivers and System Basis Chips as well as fully integrated LIN solutions.

The MLX80020BA is a standalone LIN transceiver with outstanding performance. Designed and fabricated in 0.35 micron HV-CMOS technology enables lower system costs for our customers LIN implementations. This transceiver has built in safety functions including TxD dominant time out as well as high impedance bus pin in case of loss of ground and under-voltage condition.

The pin configuration of this new LIN transceiver is compatible to the defined standard pin out of the OEMs. The MLX80020BA design exhibits remarkable robustness when subjected to the injection of high frequency disturbances. The IC has also achieved very low electromagnetic emission to further simplify the design challenges of networked communication in hostile automotive environments. The timing parameters are optimized for the data transmission according LIN 2.x to obtain excellent EMC behavior.

The MLX80020BA meets the automotive temperature range of -40°C to 125°C and has on chip protection against over-temperature, 40V load dump and LIN short to ground resulting in a lower system component count and cost. The integrated standby management assures that the MLX80020BA can “wake up” from the LIN bus itself or directly from a connected microcontroller or an additional external source.

Typical current consumption in sleep mode is lower than 9µA. MELEXIS MICROELECTRONIC www.melexis.com

EMBEDDED DESIGN

Simplifying Embedded System Development with Cost­Effective Bootloading 2 Using I C/SMBus Interfaces

By Evan Schulz, Applications Engineer, Embedded Mixed­Signal Products, Silicon Labs

Adding bootloading capabilities to embedded applications provides the frame­ work to update firmware running on a microcontroller (MCU) at any time.

This capability is beneficial if the final firmware image contains a bug, if the firmware image needs to be programmed into an MCU after the final product is assembled, or if an application’s firmware needs to be updated in the field.

Any communication protocol can be used for bootloading as long as the MCU has a means of communicating using the chosen protocol and enough free code space to store the bootloader firmware.

The Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) or System Management Bus (SMBus) protocols are commonly used by MCUs, require only two wires for communication, and can be implemented in a small amount of firmware, making these protocols ideal candidates to use in a bootloader. Updated bootloader-ready firmware images can be sent to the target device by a separate MCU or a fixed-function communication bridge connected to a PC.

(which will result in the external resistor pulling the signal high). I2C devices are “hot-swappable,” which means that devices can be added and removed freely from the bus. This can be particularly useful if the I2C bus is being shared between the bootloader and other integrated circuits within a system. For example, if two devices in an

Let’s examine general bootloader design considerations, as well as I2C/SMBus-specific implementation techniques for embedded MCU applications. First, we will cover some basic information of the I2C protocol, including hardware and firmware considerations.

The I2C protocol requires two signals – serial data (SDA) and serial clock (SCL) -for communication with other integrated circuits in a system. Both bidirectional lines require a pull-up resistor, typically in the 1k-ohm to 4.7k-ohm range and are configured in open-drain mode. In this configuration, the device driving the line can pull the line low or release the line

26

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

Figure 1: Example of bootloader traffic.

embedded system are communicating on the I2C bus, an external bootloading device can be attached to the bus to communicate with the MCU at the same time.

One drawback of implementing a shared bus is that traffic on the bus (as shown in Figure 1) can increase the amount of time necessary to bootload a device. Additional

EMBEDDED DESIGN

items that can affect the time required to bootload a device include the duration of a flash page erase, flash byte program and communication protocol speed. The flash page erase and byte program time are set parameters that cannot be changed. The clock frequency of the bootloader’s communication protocol should be considered, as it will directly affect the amount of time required to send a new firmware image to the target MCU. The majority of I2C devices support up to 400 KHz clock frequencies (fast-mode), although some devices support up to 2 MHz clock frequencies (highspeed mode).

Another benefit of the I2C protocol is that devices with different I/O voltages can communicate with each other, provided that all of the pins on the I2C bus are tolerant of the voltage the bus is being pulled up to. This enables a wide variety of devices to communicate on the same bus. Each device on the bus is preconfigured with a unique slave address that supports communication with “master” devices. The master device initiates all data transfers on the bus, and multiple masters can exist on the same bus.

The protocol employs an arbitration scheme that provides a deterministic way to resolve two or more masters transmitting at the same time, as well as a method of flow control to allow devices with slower system clock frequencies to communicate with devices operating at faster system clock frequencies. Using two pins on a device and requiring two passive external components make the I2C bus inexpensive from a hardware perspective.

From a firmware perspective, adding I2C bootloading capabilities to an MCU will increase the overall application’s code size.

Firmware tasks that need to be completed include: • Flash erase routines • Flash write routines • Polled­mode communication interface implementation • Interrupt vector redirection • Bootloading communication protocol • Bootload enable pin • CRC calculation to verify the update code image.

A flash erase routine is necessary to erase the application’s code during the bootload process and a write routine is necessary to write bytes that are received by the target MCU during the bootload process. To reduce the chance of any sort of flash corruption in the bootloader application space, both routines should have boundary checks to insure that locations of flash outside the application space are not erased or written. This is very important to the system because the communication inter-

face implementation will reside in the protected bootload area of code.

Firmware on the device manages the protection of the bootload area of code by preventing erases or writes in that area of code space. Although an interrupt-driven I2C communication interface is a valid option, a polled-mode I2C communication interface is sufficient for the system and is much simpler. If the bootloader code resides in the lowest page(s) of flash memory, the interrupts need to be redirected to the application firmware space. Compilers for 8051-compatible MCUs will generate assembly code that places interrupt vectors starting at address 0×0003, but can be configured to instead locate LJMP instructions in place of the interrupt vector table starting at location 0×0003. This enables the interrupt vectors in the application firmware space to be updated when the MCU firmware is bootloaded.

A bootloader communication protocol is needed to define the structure of bytes sent between the target MCU and the bootloader device. For example, the protocol should specify a write command that the bootloader device can send to the target MCU to initiate a firmware update. Figure 2 shows an example of a packet of bytes sent

bootloader MCU should stop sending data.

In Figure 2, the flash keys are sent by the bootloader device to the target MCU. Although this method requires additional communication overhead, it is safer than having the flash keys hard-coded in firmware running on the target MCU. If flash keys are hard-coded on the target MCU, the chance of flash corruption on the target MCU increases. After the flash write completes on the target MCU, the target MCU should send a predefined packet back to the bootloader MCU to indicate that more bytes can be sent. The bootloader communication protocol and I2C firmware also will need to handle I2C error conditions, such as arbitration lost errors or negative-acknowledgments (NAKs). If SCL low timeouts are enabled (which is an SMBusspecific timeout condition), it will need to be handled by the protocol and firmware as well. The bootloader communication protocol and firmware will handle any sort of communication error, but will not handle manually entering bootload mode or invalid firmware images.

A bootload pin should be created to provide a fail-safe method of entering bootload mode. This can be implemented with a general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pin. For

Figure 2: Packet of bytes sent to target MCU from a bootloader device. to a target MCU from a bootloader device.

The first byte transmitted on the bus is the I2C address of the target MCU. After the target MCU acknowledges its own I2C address, a bootload write command is transmitted to inform the target MCU what data to expect from the bootloader device. Next, the starting location to write the updated code is sent on the bus, followed by the flash keys (if required by the MCU) and the updated code image. The target MCU will need a buffer in data or external data (xdata) space to store incoming bytes. As the target MCU receives a byte on the I2C bus, the target MCU will send an acknowledgement on the bus, which allows the bootloader device to send another byte.

This sequence will continue as long as there is room in the target MCU’s buffer.

Finally, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is sent to validate the updated firmware image. After the target MCU’s buffer is full and the data in the target MCU’s buffer is validated using the CRC, the target MCU can begin writing the buffer to flash, and the

example, when the target MCU is reset, the first condition that should be checked is the state of the bootload enable pin. Depending on that state of the pin, the firmware will enter bootload mode or enter application mode. This provides a fail-safe way to enter bootload mode and can be used to recover from firmware errors. A CRC or signature check also should be checked after reset to validate the entire application image before running the application firmware in case of any sort of corruption. Before entering application mode, it is important to verify that the application image is valid. If the application image is not valid, the firmware running on the device could be harmful to the system. The image can be verified by running a CRC on the application space or by checking a signature byte located at a specific location in code space. It is recommended to use both methods to reduce the risk of any invalid firmware being executed.

The last aspect of the bootload process is determining how to send the updated firmware to the target MCU.

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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EMBEDDED DESIGN If an I2C bootloader is selected, a generalpurpose MCU or a fixed-function communication bridge can be used as the bootloader device. With the general-purpose MCU, firmware will need to be developed to han-

be necessary to communicate with the bridge to send updated firmware to the target MCU. Figure 3 shows an example of a system using a fixed-function communication bridge.

Figure 3: Fixed­function communication bridge example. dle communicating with the target MCU. In addition, the developer will need a way to pass the updated firmware from a computer to the MCU, which will require more code development. This option provides the most flexibility, but also requires the most development time. A fixed-function communication bridge can be used in place of an MCU and will not require any firmware development. For example, if an HID-to-I2C or HID-to-SMBus communication bridge is used, firmware development and driver installation would not be required. A host-side HID application would

Summary In any embedded system, having the ability to update firmware on an MCU provides flexibility to the developer. If an application image contains a bug, if the firmware needs to be programmed into an MCU after the final product is assembled or if an application’s firmware needs to be updated in the field, a bootloader will provide a convenient development tool.

I2C or SMBus bootloaders are excellent, cost-effective options for developers. The I2C and SMBus protocols require two signals and two passive external components

(resistors) and can be implemented in a small amount of firmware. Updated bootloader-ready firmware images can be sent to the target device by a separate MCU or a fixed-function communication bridge connected to a computer. I2C and SMBus communication interfaces are economical, ubiquitous peripherals that are commonly used on MCUs, making them ideal candidates for use as a bootloader communication interface. n Evan Schulz, Applications Engineer, Embedded Mixed­Signal Products Silicon Laboratories Inc. Evan Schulz serves as an applications engineer for Silicon Laboratories’ Embedded-Mixed Signal group, focusing on the company’s microcontroller products and technologies.

Mr. Schulz joined Silicon Laboratories in 2008 as an associate application engineer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. www.silabs.com

Silicon Labs MCUs Extend Battery Life in Wireless Embedded Systems by 65 Percent Silicon Laboratories Inc. introduced the industry’s most energy-efficient microcontroller (MCU) and wireless MCU solutions for power-sensitive embedded applications. The new C8051F96× MCU and Si102× and Si103× wireless MCU families are based on patented low-power technology that enables 40 percent less system current draw and up to 65 percent longer battery life than competing MCU solutions.

Designed to address the unique power requirements of battery-operated embedded systems, Silicon Labs’ ultra-lowerpower MCU families are ideal for smart metering (water, gas and heat meters), inhome utility monitoring, wireless security, home and building automation, portable medical and asset tracking products.

Embedded developers designing batterypowered systems, particularly those using wireless data links, require power optimization strategies that are tailored to their application needs. Silicon Labs has designed

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the new F96× 8-bit MCUs with these ultralow power and wireless connectivity requirements in mind. The Si102×/3× wireless MCUs combine the power-saving features of the F96× MCUs with the company’s EZRadioPRO® sub-GHz transceiver into a single-chip solution that is ideal for batteryoperated embedded systems requiring both energy efficiency and industry-leading RF performance.

To achieve best-in-class low-power and wireless optimizations, Silicon Labs’ F96x and Si102×/3× families offer three major system-level innovations: • Superior energy transfer efficiency for battery-operated systems. Greater efficiency in transferring energy from the battery results in less energy lost as heat dissipation, which reduces system-level power consumption and extends battery life. The F96× and Si102×/3× families’ on-chip dc-dc buck converter enables significantly higher efficiency in voltage conversion compared to a linear regulator, resulting in energy transfer efficiencies of up to 85 percent.

The on-chip buck converter can supply up to 250mW of power, providing energy not only for the MCU but also for other circuits in the system such as an RF transceiver.

Silicon Labs is the first semiconductor company to integrate a power-saving dc-dc buck converter on an MCU, resulting in not only superior energy efficiency but also lower component count and BOM cost.

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

• Reduced time in active mode. Since MCUs use maximum power in active mode, the F96× and Si102×/3× devices incorporate several innovations to reduce the time spent in active mode. An on-chip Dedicated Packet Processing Engine (DPPE) with hardware acceleration blocks enables more than a fivefold increase in RF message processing speed and allows the CPU to remain idle during transactions, thereby reducing active time and the current load on the battery. The MCUs also include a low-power pulse counter that operates autonomously in sleep mode without CPU intervention.

The on-chip pulse counter is especially useful in reducing power in utility metering applications that use pulse trains or switch closures while monitoring fluid flow.

• Reduced power in sleep mode. The new MCUs integrate the lowest power real-time clock (RTC) in the industry, enabling 40 percent lower power in sleep mode than competing MCUs. The MCUs achieve 400nA sleep current with the RTC running and 70nA sleep current (without the RTC) at 3V. An ultra-low 10nA sleep current mode is additionally available at minimum voltage.

The MCUs also offer the industry’s fastest wakeup time from sleep mode at 2 microseconds. As a result of these state-of-the-art lowpower design techniques, systems based on the F96× and Si102×/3× families can support battery life greater than 20 years. www.silabs.com/UDP www.silabs.com/WDS

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS INDUSTRY NEWS

Slot CPU with Intel® Q67 chipset for second generation Intel® Core™ processors

Flexible FPGA and I/O designs with Kontron’s extended VITA 57 offering

DSM Computer is expanding its broad portfolio of slot CPUs in the upper performance class with the 96M4361o PICMG 1.3 industrial SBC. The plug-in unit, making its debut appearance at the SPS/IPC/DRIVES in Hall 7, Stand 150, incorporates the powerful Intel® Q67 chip set designed for second generation Intel® Core™ processors. The highend version of the 96M4361o plugin card can be featured with the powerful Intel® Core™ i7-2600 (3.4GHz) incorporating four cores and 8 MB Cache. The industrial SBC can also be equipped with the high-performance Intel® Core™ i5-2400 (3.1GHz, 6MB Cache) with four CPU cores or Intel® Core™ i3-2120 (two cores, 3.3GHz, 3MB Cache) processors. The budget version is available with an Intel® Pentium® G850 processor and two kernels and 3MB Cache.

The Intel® HD 3000 (i7 CPU) or HD 2000 (i5, i3) graphics

Kontron announced the introduction of two new products, the Kontron FPGA Mezzanine Card FMC-SER0 and the Kontron VITA 57 Development Kit KIT-FMC-DEV, rounding off a robust portfolio of VITA 57 building blocks. Customers benefit from a high level of I/O flexibility when using Kontron’s VITA 57 building blocks by allowing upgrades and/or modifications without having to change the overall system design.

Kontron FPGA Mezzanine Card FMC­SER0 The Kontron FPGA Mezzanine Card FMC-SER0 is a multichannel interface card for buffering up to 16 IEA-232 or 8 EIA-422 serial lines. With a standard air cooled build, it provides up to 24 General Purpose I/Os at the front via 50 pin Tyco front connector for direct connection of peripherals. The rugged conduction cooled build complies to VITA 47-Class CC4 and is suitable for the extended temperature range -40 °C to +85°C. Kontron VITA 57 Development Kit KIT­FMC­DEV The Kontron VITA 57 Development Kit KIT-FMCDEV enables designers to use the Kontron FMC-SER0 as a reference design, providing a practical approach to VITA 57.

For an immediate start into VITA 57 based designs, the FPGA Development Kit contains the Kontron FMC-SER0, a simple FPGA design, a Linux rpm with drivers, utilities for FPGA and FMC management and a FPGA demo program complete with a FPGA image for GPIO implementations. The software is available for x86 and Power PC architectures and customers also receive the source code, allowing for easy modification to the software for individual demands.

Kontron 6U VME SBC VM6250 With power consumption as low as 27W, which is typical

functionality is integrated within the processor and offers a high processing speed. The slot CPU comes with two DIMM slots for DDR3 1333/1066 memory modules, with a total maximum capacity of 8GB.

In accordance with the PICMG standard, the slot CPU features 4 × PCI, 1 × PCI Express™ x16 und 4 × PCI Express™ x1 or 1 × PCI Express™ x4 bus interfaces. There is an internal DVI-D and 24 bit dual channel LVDS for graphics integration.

There are two fast Dual GigaBit LAN interfaces for 10/100/ 1000 Base-T/TX support located directly on the I/O front slot cover.

DSM COMPUTER GmbH www.dsm­computer.com

MSC presents Qseven 1.20 Baseboard for ARM Modules At SPS/IPC/DRIVES, MSC Vertriebs GmbH presented its new embedded platform MSC Q7-MB-EP4 ideal for fast development of embedded systems with the ARM® processor based MSC Q7-NT2 Qseven™ module. The powerful baseboard is ready-touse for small and medium production quantities and can save the customer in-house design effort. The embedded platform MSC Q7-MB-EP4 has been designed to follow the latest version (1.20) of the Qseven™ specification and offers a CAN interface.

It is designed for the industrial temperature range of -40 to +85°C and is therefore the ideal platform for the MSC Q7-NT2 Qseven™ module which is also available for this temperature

range. The new Qseven™ baseboard Q7-MB-EP4 offers a broad range of important interfaces for embedded applications like dual Gbit Ethernet, five USB 2.0 ports (four external), RS232 (pin header), AC97 audio

and SATA. The CAN signals are available via a special pin header. An ARM RS-232 Debug port for a console output simplifies Linux software development.

MSC VERTRIEBS GmbH www.msc­ge.com

with Freescale MPC8640 1.00 GHz, the Kontron 6U VME SBC VM6250 reaches a new per-

formance level while staying within a tight power envelope.

The Kontron VM6250 combines high processing power with exceptional memory bandwidth with a choice of Freescale MPC8640 1.00 or 1.25GHz single- or dual-core processors or Freescale MPC8641 1.33GHz single- or dual-core processors. Prepared to host a customer-specific FPGA, it also offers a mezzanine extension slot for FMCs. Kontron 6U VME SBC VM6050 The Kontron 6U VME SBC VM6050, with an Intel Core i7 processor, combines extremely high x86 computing and graphics performance with flexible and modular expansion possibilities in four different ruggedization levels. OEMs can tailor the Kontron VM6050 to the individual requirements of new and existing applications and benefit from a reduced time-to-market. Featuring a FPGA site, it can be expanded via two mezzanine sockets for up to two XMC/PMC or one FMC (VITA 57 FPGA I/O) cards.

Kontron 3U FMC carrier board VX3830 With the Kontron 3U VPX FMC carrier board VX3830 OEMs can easily expand the I/O flexibility of their dedicated VPX systems. The Kontron 3U FMC carrier board VX3830 is based on a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA and offers enhanced I/O capabilities with high integrated performance logic. A Virtex-6 version is also under development.

KONTRON A.G. www.kontron.com

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

29

ANALOG DESIGN

Throw those bits away!

By Bonnie C. Baker, Texas Instruments A high quality load cell may have a 2mV/V output transfer function. This means that for each volt of excitation you will get ±2mV of the full-scale output signal. With an excitation of 4.096 V and a full sensor deflection, the maximum output is ±8.192mV. In a 12-bit application, half of full-scale might represent zero to 250 lbs for a bathroom scale. If we want one-fourth-pound resolution, you need 1000 points of measurement output.

To look at something that is 1000th of the full-scale range, you need to distin-

tem must have an analog filter. The low-pass analog filter’s (OPA333) primary function is to remove the high-frequency signal components at the input of the A/D converter (Reference 2). Since the load cell in our circuit operates near DC, we’ll limit the bandwidth to 10Hz. The components in Figure 1 cost under $6.00 (USD).

Now let’s look at load cell measurement with a 24bit system. In Figure 2 we can simply take the load cell signal through a first order low-pass filter, and into the delta-sigma (ΔΣ

3.7µVp-p of noise (with a crest factor of 4.4). This is well below the sensors LSB size. Additionally, the full-scale range of the ΔΣ converter is 4.096V where the sensor full-scale output range is ±8.192mV. As you can guess, we will be “throwing away” most of the output bits of the ΔΣ converter. The components in Figure 2 cost under $4.00 (USD).

You may find that the 12bit converter system ends up costing you more $$, real-estate, and headaches than the alternative 24-bit system. n

Atollic achieves full Energy Micro EFM32 family support with addition of Giant Gecko and Leopard Gecko targets in Atollic TrueSTUDIO Atollic® announced its award-winning Atollic TrueSTUDIO® for ARM® C/C++ development tool now supports the Giant Gecko and Leopard Gecko series of ARM-based microcontroller devices from Energy Micro.

Atollic TrueSTUDIO now supports all currently available Energy Micro EFM®32 Cortex™-M3 families, including 160 devices in the Tiny Gecko, Gecko, Giant Gecko and Leopard Gecko families.

The Atollic TrueSTUDIO project wizard can auto-generate example projects for Energy Micro EFM32 evaluation boards, providing a true “out-of-the-box” experience that enables developers to quickly get up-and-running with new C/C++ projects on Energy Micro EFM32 boards.

Figure 1 12­bit load cell system that achieves accuracy to one­fourth of a pound.

guish a change of the sensor output of 8.192µV. You can do this by keeping the peak-to-peak sensor noise to be less than 8.192µV for 99.999% of the time (using a crest factor of 4.4, Reference 1). With this definition, let’s call the LSB size at the sensor equal to 8.192µV or 931nV (rms).

In Figure 1, the load cell bridge has an excitation voltage of 4.096V. The INA326 (instrumentation amplifier) follows the load cell with a gain of 250V/V. The system full-scale voltage (250 × ±8.192mV) produces a ±2.048V fullscale signal. The 12-bit ADS7822 digitizes the analog signal.

This 12-bit converter sys-

30

Figure 2 24­bit load cell system that surpasses accuracy of one­fourth pound.

analog-to-digital converter.

The first order filter in this circuit eliminates high-frequency noise around the converter’s sampling frequency (Reference 3). Our sensor provides the resistor for the filter R|C pair.

If we look at the errors for the 24-bit ΔΣ system in Figure 2, notice that the ADS1232 produces

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

References 1. “RMS and peak­to­peak noise trade­off”, Baker, Bonnie, EDN May 15, 2008 2. “What’s in your SAR­ADC application?” Baker, Bonnie, EDN Dec 15, 2008 3. “Analog filter eases delta­sigma­converter design”, Baker, Bonnie, EDN June 12, 2008 www.ti.com

With the extended EFM32 target support, engineers that are developing embedded systems based on Energy Micro devices can now benefit from the uniquely powerful feature-set and integration advantages of the Atollic TrueSTUDIO development tool, which was recently given the EDN Hot 100 products of 2011 award.

Atollic TrueSTUDIO is a world-class development and debugging tool that offers a state-of-the-art editor, an optimizing C/C++ compiler and a multiprocessor-aware debugger with realtime tracing. The tool suite delivers a leap in software development team collaboration and developer productivity, and offers advanced features including ARM build and debug tools, system analysis and real-time tracing using Serial Wire Viewer (SWV) technology, and graphical-UML diagram editors for model-based design and architecture.

Additionally, Atollic TrueSTUDIO includes an integrated client for accessing popular bug databases like Trac and Bugzilla, and it includes integrated features for performing source code reviews and code review meetings too.

ATOLLIC AB www.atollic.com

ACTIVE COMPONENTS INDUSTRY NEWS

New AMD Opteron Processor Delivers the Ultimate in Performance, Scalability and Efficiency

Microchip integrates sub-GHz wireless transmitter with 8-bit PIC® MCU

AMD has launched the Opteron 6200 and 4200 Series Embedded processors. These new embedded server processors are designed for high-end embedded systems such as storage, telecommunications and networking infrastructure. Select models are planned to be available for embedded market's longevity need of seven years.

The AMD Opteron 6200 Series Embedded processor is the world's first 16-core x86 embedded processor, delivering a rich mix of performance, scalability and efficiency for today's highly threaded embedded environments such as embedded servers, networking, and storage systems.

These high performance scalable applications benefit from the modular design that features up to 33% more cores

Microchip announces the PIC12LF1840T48A which is the first in a family of singlechip devices that integrate an eXtreme Low Power (XLP), 8bit PIC® microcontroller with a sub-GHz RF transmitter. The PIC12LF1840T48A’s combination of features in a single, 14pin TSSOP package makes it ideal for space-, power- and cost-constrained applications, such as remote keyless entry fobs for automobiles, garage doors and home security systems, as well as a broad range of other home and building automation systems. The device is also optimised to run Microchip’s royalty-free KEELOQ® advanced code-hopping technology, a proven security technology used worldwide by leading manufacturers. In addition to secure wireless communication, the PIC12LF1840T48A is designed to maximise battery life via an

and up to 35% greater performance in a smaller silicon footprint than AMD's current products.

The new AMD Opteron 4200 Series Embedded processor— the world's lowest power serv-

er processor, at fewer than 5 watts per core - while designed for challenging embedded enterprise workloads still delivers a performance punch in a given system power budget and provides robust configurations in a platform that leverages previous versions of AMD Opteron 4000 Series Embedded processors.

AMD www.amd.com

World’s fastest stand-alone 14-bit sample-andhold amplifier acquires in 35ns to 0.003% accuracy DATEL announced the availability of the SHM-14 14-bit ultra high speed linear sample-andhold amplifier designed for extremely fast data acquisition applications. With a 70MHz full power bandwidth, and a 250MHz small signal bandwidth the SHM14 achieves 12- and 14-bit acquisitions within 25ns (± 0.012%) and 35ns (± 0.003%) respectively. This highly accurate low power device has an aperture jitter within 1ps and a very low output noise of 65uV rms. Output linearity is within ±0.0012%. Digital sample / hold inputs are differential and compatible with all logic families including TTL, CMOS and ECL. Constructed in a hermetically sealed 16-pin ceramic LCC package measuring 10.67 ×

10.67 × 1.65mm, the SHM-14 is guaranteed to operate across the military temperature range of - 55 to + 125°C. Both RoHS and non-RoHS compliant ver-

sions of the SHM-14 are available. The SHM-14 is powered from ± 5 VDC and consumes only 275mW. DATEL www.datel.com

extremely low operating voltage of 1.8V. Furthermore, the XLP microcontroller has extremely low sleep current consumption, and is efficiently integrated with the transmitter to enable fast wake-up and send functionality that takes full advantage of the MCU’s 8 MIPS operation. Application note AN1393 ‘Using the PIC12LF1840T48A Microcontroller with integrated

sub-GHz Transmitter’ is available for download today, to assist engineers in developing remote-control designs.

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/get/K4KF

Silicon Labs Automotive Tuners Drive Future of Car Radio Technology Silicon Laboratories Inc. introduced the industry’s most advanced automotive tuner IC family designed to deliver the highest RF performance coupled with advanced signal processing while reducing the cost and complexity of car radio systems. Offering superior price/performance for the global car radio market, the new Si476x tuner family provides a best-in-class multiband receiver solution for automotive infotainment head-units and AM/FM car radios from all classes of providers ranging from Tier 1 suppliers to aftermarket car radio makers.

Silicon Labs developed the Si476x receiver family to address these major automotive industry trends. The Si476x receivers leverage Silicon Labs’ patented digital low-IF technology and combine most of the traditional

external bill of materials into a highly integrated, single-chip CMOS solution. The Si476x supports all worldwide broadcast radio bands including AM/FM, college FM, longwave (LW), shortwave (SW), NOAA weather band, unparalleled FM RDS decoding and AM/FM HD Radio reception. iBiquity Digital Corporation, the developer of HD Radio technology,

has certified the Si476x family to provide AM/FM HD Radio tuner outputs and reception with compatible HD Radio demodulator ICs. SILICON LABORATORIES Inc. www.silabs.com

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

31

LIGHTING INDUSTRY NEWS

New LED Flat Panel downlight from GLT offers efficient, economical, high performance replacement for 2×2 FT. fluorescent troffer ceiling lights Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) Inc. is offering a 2×2 ft. square LED flat panel downlight assembly that provides a brighter, lighter weight and more efficient replacement for 2×2 ft. fluorescent lay-in troffers used in recessed ceiling lights. The new OL2 Series ceiling light is ULcertified for use in the U.S. and Canada.

The new downlight employs GLT’s edge lighting technology, with 100 LEDs spaced along two sides of the light guide for optimal light dispersion. Four models are available, with color temperatures ranging from warm white to cool white (3000K, 4000K, 5000K and 6000K). Brightness (luminous flux) ranges from 2050Lm to 2840Lm, with efficiencies from 45.5Lm/W (at 3000K) to 62.8Lm/W (at 6000K).

CRI (color rendering index) is > 75%. Power consumption is 45W. Lifetime is 30,000 hours.

The OL2 Series troffer downlight assembly is 0.44 inches thick (excluding 110-240V power supply), with dimen-

sions of 23.6 inches square.

It weighs only 8.8 lbs.

Pricing for OL2 Series troffer downlight assemblies begins at $122.79 each in volumes of 100 pieces.

For additional pricing information, contact GLT. GLOBAL LIGHTING TECHNOLOGIES www.glthome.com

Power Integrations’ LinkSwitch™-PH LED Driver ICs Now Available in Low-Profile Package for Fluorescent Tube Replacements Power Integrations, the world leader in high-efficiency, highreliability LED driver ICs, announced the availability of LinkSwitch-PH LED driver ICs in a low-profile eSIP™-L package that measures just 2 mm high. The new package targets LEDbased replacements for fluorescent tubes, where very low-profile packages are required to fit into the small space available behind the LED circuit board, as well as other applications where board height is constrained.

LinkSwitch-PH devices in the 2-mm eSIP-L package have the same thermal and electrical performance as previously released ICs in the 10 mm high eSIP-E package. The new eSIP-

L package features a heat transfer tab on top of the device which is electrically quiet (source potential) so any

additional heatsink does not contribute to electrical noise propagation. Power Integrations’ LinkSwitch-PH single-stage, primary-side controlled, LED driver ICs feature >90% efficiency and >0.9 power factor.

POWER INTEGRATIONS www.powerint.com

32 EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

IR’s High-voltage IRS2980 LEDrivIR™ IC for Non-isolated LED Driver applications International Rectifier has introduced the IRS2980 highvoltage buck regulator control IC for LED light bulb replacement, LED tube lighting and other non-isolated LED driver applications.

Rated at 600V, the IRS2980 is the first in a family of high-voltage LEDrivIR™ ICs, and utilizes hysteretic average current mode control for precise current regulation. The LED buck driver features low-side MOSFET drive with high-voltage internal regulator and high-side current sensing. The converter is compatible with electronic PWM dimming allowing for 0%-100% current control. Available in an SO-8

package, the IRS2980 utilizes IR’s advanced high-voltage IC process which incorporates latest-generation high-voltage level-shifting and termination technology to deliver superior

electrical over-stress protection and higher field reliability, in addition to other new features and enhancements.

INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER www.irf.com

OPTREX AMERICA introduces new super HIGH BRIGHT TFT LCDs for industrial applications Leading LCD manufacturer Optrex America has introduced three Super High Bright TFT LCDs, including a new 19” diagonal panel, with 1500 nits (cd/m2) brightness, low power consumption, wide operating temperature ranges, and white LED backlights with 100K hour lifetimes. These displays are ideal for use in outdoor environments, including direct sunlight and other highambient-light environments, such as a brightly lit factory floor, where the display has to be readable at all times in any environment over a wide temperature range. The new TFT-LCDs complement Optrex’s industryleading line of Low Power Consumption and Super High Bright panels that are available in a wide range of sizes from 8.4” to 19.0” diagonal. The new

19” diagonal Super High Bright TFT LCD (P/N T-55699D190JLW-A-AAN) features 1280 × 1024 resolution, 1500cd/m2 brightness, 33.2W power consumption, a contrast ratio of 800:1, and wide viewing angles of -80°~80°, horizontal and vertical. It also features a wide operating temperature range of

-20° to 70°C, a white LED backlight with 100K hour lifetime, and includes a standard LVDS interface.

OPTREX www.optrex.com

LIGHTING INDUSTRY NEWS

IR’s IRS2526DS ‘Mini8’ Ballast Control IC reduces component count, and simplifies circuit design

One Graphic Display, Three Variants: The T120-5 from Electronic Assembly

International Rectifier, a world leader in power management technology, introduced the IRS2526DS ‘Mini8’ compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) ballast control IC that offers full programmability, and a high degree of accuracy and control for all lamp types. Available in an 8-pin SO-8 package, the new feature-rich IC reduces component count, simplifies circuit design and increases efficiency in a compact footprint.

The IRS2526DS features a 600 V half-bridge control circuit working at 50 percent dutycycle and variable frequency for driving the resonant mode lamp output circuit. The high accuracy oscillator is controlled by a single analog-tofrequency input pin used to set the different operating frequencies of the ballast.

The T120-5 line of graphic displays from Electronic Assembly is characterized by its versatility.

Three variants are available that cater to a wide variety of applications – from ultra-low energy consumption through to radiant clarity in blue-and-white design. The 120 × 32pixel module is therefore the ideal display unit for battery-powered and mobile devices as well as for use in industrial environments and consumer electronics. An optional touch panel allows the graphic display to function as the control center of its companion device. The three variants of the T120-5 differ in their background illumination. The EA T120L-53 is a reflective, non-illuminated display that offers perfect readability, even in direct sunlight, while consuming very little energy for optimal performance in mobile, battery-powered devices. The EA T120A-54LED comes with yellow-green LED background

Complete fault protection circuitry is also included for protection against such conditions as mains interrupt or brownout, lamp non-strike, lamp filament failure and end-of-life.

The new device also incorporates an internal frequency dither to reduce conducted EMI, ignition control to reduce inductor size, and end-of-life detection. The new IRS2526DS is targeted at applications that do not require PFC or utilize an external PFC controller.

INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER www.irf.com

Evaluation board speeds up display development Starter packs for graphics display designers are available from Electronic Assembly. The packs contain an extensive development toolkit for users of displays supplied by this manufacturer, providing a userfriendly path to production-ready products.

Besides the display, which may be selected by the user, the packs contain everything required for development and test.

Other than the starter pack, the only thing needed for complete the development of the display including the software is a PC. The main item in the starter pack is the evaluation board, which holds the display and contains the peripheral circuitry. A number of pushbuttons, LEDs and potentiometers are mounted on the board to connect the inputs and outputs and simulate input signals. An USB cable is also included to connect the board

to the PC. Besides providing data connectivity, the cable also supplies power to the board. No separate power supply is needed.

A number of LEDs are mounted on the evaluation board to display and monitor data traffic and

voltage levels. The evaluation boards are tailored to the specific display. The displays are supplied as well along with a touch pad for finger-tip control. A buzzer is included on the evaluation boards so that the user can monitor touch pad functions during the development phase.

ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY GmbH www.lcd­module.com

illumination and its positive, transflective display in STN technology is very easy to read under all lighting conditions, including total darkness and direct sunlight. With a service life of 100,000 hours, it can also be operated continuously.

The EA T120B-54LW, a negative-transmissive display with bright white LED background illumination, shows information in a radiant blueand-white color scheme and is the right choice for applications that do not require permanent backlighting.

ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY GmbH www.lcd­module.com

Everlight Electronics Offers 'Smart Binning' for Shuen and Shwo High Power LED Series Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. is now offering its customers a 3step MacAdam Ellipse binning of all warm white color temperatures -- 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, and 4000K CCT -- for the Shuen (C06) and Shwo (C19) high power lighting LED series.

Everlight's 'Smart Binning' initiative is aimed at reducing the variation in chromaticity in lighting applications.

In lighting applications, color consistency is a key determinant of a product's quality and appeal.

This consistency is not only determined by the control of chromaticity from LED to LED inside a product but from one completed product to the next.

Before, two solutions were possible to obtain color consistency.

One way was to mix different color bins of an LED onto a single board to achieve a certain CCT. However, this solution

requires complex mathematical algorithms to ensure a balanced CCT and relies heavily on secondary optics to diffuse and assist in mixing colors. This is a valid solution but very time consuming on the manufacturing level. Another solution is to negotiate extremely narrow

binning from an LED manufacturer. This is not cost effective and may affect availability and lead times, due to yield distribution on the LED manufacturing level. Everlight's 'Smart Binning' allows for an easier, alternative solution to maintaining color consistency in lighting applications.

EVERLIGHT ELECTRONICS www.everlight.com

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

33

PASSIVE COMPONENTS INDUSTRY NEWS

Miniature ultra-broadband capacitors from AVX deliver low insertion and excellent return losses

Murata Power Solutions launches compact 3-phase AC digital ammeter with built-in current transformers

AVX Corporation, a leading manufacturer of advanced passive components and interconnect solutions, has expanded on its miniature ultra-broadband capacitors, GX Series, to include the GX01 ultra-broadband capacitor that addresses DC blocking issues from 160kHz (3dB roll-off) to 40GHz. The GX01 capacitor provides a low insertion loss value of <0.5dB through at least 40GHz. Designed utilizing AVX’s patented precision termination process, the GX01 ultra-broadband capacitor features a standard EIA 0201 footprint to minimize board space requirements, and is available with X5R or X7S dielectric characteristics.

The GX01 ultra-broadband capacitor is ideal for applications such as semiconductor data communications, optical receiver subassemblies, transimpedance amplifiers and test equipment.

“AVX’s patented termination process allows the GX01 ultra­ broadband capacitor to provide customers with ultra­low inser­

Murata Power Solutions announced the ACM3P series of low profile 3-phase AC digital ammeters suitable for front panel mounting. Capable of high precision measurement to within 0.1A and display of true-rms values of 2- or 3phase mains current up to a maximum of 100A per phase, the ammeter has three built-in current transformers. Line and phase currents from 480VAC can be measured, with peak capability of 150A. Unlike many digital ammeters available on the market that measure average values, the ACM3P series can accurately display truerms values of triangle, square and other irregularly shaped AC current waveforms.

Measurement accuracy is ±1% of full scale. Accepting a universal 85 - 264VAC 47 – 63Hz

tion and excellent return loss values,” said Larry Eisenberger, senior marketing applications engineer at AVX. “We are work­ ing to further expand the GX Series product offering to include additional case sizes.”

The GX Series is available in 100% tin terminations. All GX01 parts are RoHS compliant. Lead time for the GX01 ultra-broadband capacitor is stock to six weeks.

choice of red, blue or green.

The large and bright LEDs makes it easy to read the display from as far as 5 meters.

MURATA POWER SOLUTIONS www.murata­ps.com

AVX CORPORATION www.avx.com

AVX’S AEC-Q200 qualified 0402 CAN BUS varistor delivers lowest specified leakage current on the market AVX Corporation has expanded its automotive CAN BUS varistor product offering to include a miniature 0402 device that provides sub-1nS response to ESD strikes. The AEC-Q200 qualified CAN0005 varistor delivers the lowest specified leakage current available on the market. The bi-directional CAN0005 also provides excellent current and energy handling capabilities as well as EMI/RFI attenuation.

The CAN0005 provides an ESD rating of 25kV. The low profile 0402 varistor features a fast response time to ESD and can withstand successive 1k strikes at 8kV (IEC 61000–4-2).

Typical pricing ranges from $0.03 - $0.09 depending on volume and package. AVX’s

supply input the ACM3P series is suitable for 3-phase current monitoring requirements worldwide. Accommodated in a single vibration resistant polycarbonate housing measuring just 53.3 × 36.3 × 28.2mm, the ammeter is ideal for mounting in vertical ‘0U’ or horizontal ‘1U’ rack spaces. The ACM3P uses a 9.2mm low power LED display that is available in a

Production part approval process (PPAP) is available upon request.

AVX CORPORATION www.avx.com

34 EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

MEE3 series of DC/DC converters achieves 50% power output increase within the same package Murata Power Solutions announced the MEE3 series of single output 3 Watt ultra compact DC/DC converters suitable for a wide range of industrial and telecommunications applications. These single-in-line 4 pin packages (SIP4) provide 50% more power than previous 2 W devices using the same industry standard package. In addition, compared to other 3W converters that traditionally use a dual-in-line 24 pin package (DIP24), the MEE3 series is much smaller resulting in a 200% increase in power density from 0.9 to 2.68Watts per cubic cm. Within the series two modules are available

offering either 5VDC or 12VDC inputs. The popular nominal outputs of 5, 9, 12 or 15VDC are available across the full MEE3 range. Typical converter efficiency is from 83% to 89% and is model dependent. No additional forced air cooling or

heatsinks are required. The series offers exceptional load regulation, typically in the range 2.7 to 6.3%.

MURATA POWER SOLUTIONS www.murata­ps.com

PASSIVE COMPONENTS INDUSTRY NEWS

Vishay Intertechnology introduces new Dual-inLine thin film resistor networks

Vishay Intertechnology launches new SurfaceMount RF capacitors with industry's highest SRF

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a new series of dual-in-line thin film resistor networks offering a wide operating temperature range of 55°C to + 215°C. Providing nearly a 100°C extension in operating temperature range over traditional thin film chip resistors, the HTRN series features low absolute TCR of ±25ppm/°C, TCR tracking of 5 ppm/°C, and tight ratio tolerances to ±0.05%.

Featuring a rugged, molded 50 mil pitch construction with no internal solder, the HTRN series of resistor networks offers four isolated resistors with a wide resistance range of 1kΩ to 100kΩ per resistor, with divider ratios from 2:1 to 100:1. The devices feature very low noise of < - 35dB, low voltage coefficients of 0.1ppm/V, and a power rating of 100mW per element

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. announced a surface-mount thin film RF capacitor with the industry's highest self- resonance frequency (SRF), which ranges from 8.5GHz to upwards of 20GHz depending on capacitance. The Vishay RFCS series of capacitors replaces the previous-generation HPC product line. The RFCS devices have a Q of 260 to 70,500 at 100MHz, and 10 to 3,190 at 1GHz. The capacitors measure only 0.040in. × 0.020in. × 0.015in. The devices are rated for a working voltage of up to 50V, and feature a capacitance range of 0.2pF to 27pF with a tight tolerance of ± 5%.

With a thin film capacitor-onsilicon construction, the RFCS series devices are designed for RF circuits that require exceptional performance at frequencies up to 20GHz. The unique structure of the RFCS capacitors

(400mW per package).

With stable film and performance characteristics of 500ppm with 25% rated power at + 215°C for 2,000 hours, the resistors released today are optimized for the low-noise,

single-signal processing required to compensate for low offset and temperature drift in high-temperature environments, including down-hole applications, automotive under-the-hood applications, high-precision oil and gas exploration, aerospace engine control, and telecommunications and industrial equipment.

ing, lumped element filters, and other circuit applications requiring ultra-thin components, such as smart credit cards and SIM cards.

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY www.vishay.com

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY www.vishay.com ®

®

Vishay introduces new HI-TMP TANTAMOUNT Surface -Mount solid molded tantalum chip capacitors Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a new series of HITMP® TANTAMOUNT® surface-mount solid tantalum molded chip capacitors with high-temperature capabilities from – 55°C to + 175°C with 50% voltage derating. By operating at much higher temperatures than the industry standard, the AECQ200-qualified TH4 capacitors provide designers with a robust and more reliable option for automotive and industrial applications. Devices in the TH4 series are optimized for a wide variety of high-temperature automotive systems, such as oil quality sensors and transmission, EAGR, throttle, and power train controls. In addition, the devices are ideal for industrial applications related to the control of high-temperature mate-

is based on thin-film electrodes deposited on a highly conductive silicon substrate. This patented structure is characterized by ultra-low parasitic inductance, which allows the component to self-resonate at significantly higher frequencies than alternative technologies.

The RFCS capacitors will be used for impedance matching circuits, decoupling, DC block-

rials; safety-critical industrial tools and products; and sensing tools for oil drilling. TH4 capacitors are offered in a molded package in three standard EIA535BAAC case codes: B, C, and D. The devices offer a capaci-

tance range from 10µF to 47µF over voltage ratings from 6.3VDC to 16VDC, with capacitance tolerances of ± 10% and ± 20%. The devices are available with RoHS-compliant tin or gold terminations.

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY www.vishay.com

Vishay Intertechnology announces industry's first wraparound thick film chip resistor Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a new high-temperature, surface-mount, wraparound thick film chip resistor.

For down-hole drilling applications, the CHPHT is the industry's first such device to offer an operating temperature range from – 55°C to + 230°C and a storage temperature range of – 55°C to + 245°C. Optimized for multi-chip modules (MCM) in down-hole drilling instrumentation, the high-temperature capabilities of the CHPHT resistor allow for the extraction of petroleum at deeper depths. Offered in 0603, 0805, 1206, and 2010 case sizes (with other sizes available upon request), the resistor offers a wide resistance range

from 0.1Ω to 100MΩ; tolerances of 1%, 2%, and 5%; and power dissipation of 12.5mW to 100mW at + 230°C. The Vishay Sfernice resistor released today is available with gold terminations for compatibility with high melting point (HMP) processes

(< 1μm thick) for temperatures up to + 245°C and with tin/silver terminations for operating temperatures up to + 200°C. VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY www.vishay.com

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

35

PASSIVE COMPONENTS INDUSTRY NEWS

Vishay Intertechnology released a new 4-line ESD-protection array

World’s smallest and low-profile high pressure air pump with piezoelectric technology

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. released a new 4-line ESD-protection array in the new ultracompact LLP2510 package.

Featuring a compact 2.5mm by 1.0mm footprint and ultra-low profile of 0.55mm, the VBUS54ED-FBL offers low capacitance and leakage current for the protection of high-speed data lines against transient voltage signals. In addition to saving board space, the 4-line VBUS54ED-FBL features a “flow through” design that supports the surge resistance requirements for high-speed data lines in applications such as USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort, eSATA, and 1394/Firewire in mobile electronics including notebook computers, cell phones, MP3 players, and portable gaming systems. The new device features a low load capacitance of 0.6pF and a low

Murata announced the MZB1001 microblower, a miniature piezoelectric air pump designed for a wide range of household consumer products. Measuring just 20 x 20 x 1.85 mm (excluding nozzle), the MZB1001 microblower is believed to be the smallest air pump in the market. Using a piezoelectric diaphragm, which vibrates up and down when a sine wave voltage is applied, the vibrations force air into the microblower and out through a nozzle on the top of the device. The microblower can produce typical airflow rates of up to 0.8 litres per minute and typical air pressure up to 1.5 kPa when driven by a 15 Vp-p 25 kHz signal. The piezoelectric diaphragm has been optimized for operation above the normal audible range and is typically driven by a 24 – 25 kHz signal. Used as an air pump and capable of creating a high air pressure flow, the

maximum leakage current of < 0.1μA at the working voltage of 5.5V. The array offers a breakdown voltage of typical 7.9V at 1mA and a maximum clamping voltage of 12.5V at 2A. The VBUS54ED-FBL provides transient protection for data lines as per IEC 61000 4 2 (ESD) at 15kV (air and contact

discharge). The lead (Pb)-free device is compliant with RoHS 2002/95/EC and WEEE 2002/96/EC, and its soldering can be checked by standard vision inspection without X-rays.

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY www.vishay.com

Vishay Siliconix PowerPAIR® dual asymmetric power MOSFET family expands to three size Options, Including 3 mm × 3 mm Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. is expanding its PowerPAIR® family of dual asymmetric power MOSFETs for low-voltage DC/DC converter applications with new devices that expand the series' voltage and package footprint options. The new devices make Vishay the only supplier to offer 3mm by 3mm, 6mm by 3.7mm, and 6mm by 5mm PowerPAIR form factors. Expanding the portfolio with new footprint options are the 30 V SiZ300DT in the PowerPAIR 3 × 3 and the SiZ910DT in the PowerPAIR 6 × 5. The SiZ300DT targets DC/DC applications handling currents of 10A and under, while the SiZ910DT is suitable for applications above 20A. The PowerPAIR 3 × 3 has approximately one third the

36

area of the PowerPAIR 6 × 5.

Three new devices in the PowerPAIR 6 × 3.7 are all industry firsts, and with the

previously released SiZ710DT expand the voltage range in this form factor from 20V up to 30V. The new SiZ728DT is the first 25V PowerPAIR 6 × 3.7 device, while the SiZ790DT is the first device in this form factor with an on-board Schottky diode.

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY www.vishay.com

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

micro-blower is ideally suited to short duration high-pressure airflow applications. The piezo-

electric diaphragm typically consumes only 0.2 W. Typical applications for the MZB1001 include aromatic atomizers, air fresheners and other similar household fragrance products.

MURATA www.murata.eu

Vishay Siliconix introduces JAN-Qualified 60V and 90V N-Channel Power MOSFETs for military, space, and avionics applications Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced the first of its new Vishay Siliconix military-grade n-channel power MOSFETs: the JAN-qualified 60V 2N6660JANTX/JANTXV and 90V 2N6661JANTX/JANTXV. For military, space, and avionics applications, the devices combine low on-resistance and fast switching speeds in the sealed TO205AD (TO-39) package. The Vishay Siliconix facility in Santa Clara, Calif., has been re-qualified by DSCC to manufacture MOSFETs with screening to MIL-PRF-19500.

The MIL-PRF-19500 specification is a standard that establishes the performance, quality, and reliability requirements for discrete components used in systems being built for military

and critical avionic applications.

The new released devices are optimized for TTL/CMOS direct logic level interfaces; drivers for relays, solenoids, lamps, hammers, displays, memories, and transistors; battery-operated systems; and solid-state relays.

The MOSFETs' sealed TO-

205AD package is designed to withstand the higher temperatures of military and aerospace applications.

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY www.vishay.com

BKD Electronic offers design and manufacturing services, with the following reference activities: PCB Design, software application design for microcontrollers, Hardware and Software systems design for industrial processes automation, top and bottom PCB assembly with SMT and THT technologies, Optical and functional testing, electromagnetic compatibility tests, equipments for industrial and residential environments, prototype manufacturing and testing.

We have undergoing contracts with the most important electronic components manufacturers, such as: Vishay, Samsung, Royal OHM, Taiwan Semiconductor, NXP, ON Semiconductor, NEC, Sanyio, Osram, Microchip, Toshiba, Atmel, Ninigi, Tyco, Molex, AVX, Yageo, Bourns, Talema, TDK, Epcos, Toko, Fujitsu, Keystone, Kemet, ECE, Schurter, C&K, Hartu, Degson, Everlight, Texas Instruments, National Semiconductor, Omron and we develop strong relationships with collaborators that supply packing units, therefore we own an impressive stock of electronic components.

Through our subcontracting activity, BKD Electronic constitutes as important part of the economic infrastructure, our customers being able to benefit of our services with full confidence, as we can provide: SMT technological operations, THT components assembly, manufacturing coiled electrical wirings, toroidal cores, mechanical assembly, final product testing with testing stand, electromagnetic compatibility testing, with our own laboratory, supplying with SMD and THT components, cables for insulated wirings, PCBs, electro-mechanical components.

We benefit of a stock of electronic components - active and passive components, microcontrollers, that are found in our storage facilities, as excess. For this reason, our company makes available for sale the components, with immediate dispatch, process accompanied by various advantages: we sell our excess stock without trade markup and each component is accompanied by the supplier's conformity declaration.

We guarantee de quality and conformity of products with the European Union's directives and regulations.

We can therefore become your main components supplier for various electronic applications used in various industrial domains: telecommunications, safety and surveillance systems, household applications and other industrial domains.

For a complete list with our excess components stock, you can visit the webpage: http://www.bkdelectronic.ro/excesscomponents.php

technology in motion

332005 Anghel Saligny Nr. 3, Petroşani, România Tel.: +40 254 542 964 | Fax: +40 254 548 964 www.elpm.ro | www.bkdelectronic.ro www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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SMT INDUSTRY NEWS

KVM4S/EUROPE-SMT Receives First Order for GPD MAX High-Speed Glue Dispenser

ViTrox Technologies’ V810 Selected as Finalist for 2012 Best in Test Awards

KVM4S/EUROPE-SMT, a leading global supplier of SMT production solutions, recently received its first order for the GPD MAX High-Speed Glue Dispenser. The system will be installed before the end of the year at one of Germany’s most recognized SMT assembly companies.

Details of the contract have not been disclosed, but Jasper van Meerten, President of KVM4S/EUROPE-SMT, comments, “This first installation of the award­winning GPD MAX High­Speed Glue Dispenser, at this particular major customer in Germany, is an important step in intro­ ducing the latest GPD tech­ nology into Europe.”

KVM4S has been the importer of GPD Global systems into Europe for more than a decade now. Continues van Meerten, “GPD Global is a technology leader, concentrating on dispense technology only. We believe it is miles ahead of the competition.

ViTrox Technologies, a solutions provider of innovative, advanced and cost-effective automated vision inspection system and equipment for the semiconductor and electronics packaging industries, announces that its V810 Automated 3-D In-Line X-ray Inspection System has been selected as a finalist for the 2012 Best in Test Awards.

The fastest and best test coverage AXI system in the world, V810 Advanced Xray Inspection System is the latest revolution in X-ray technology, inspecting double-sided panels with high defect coverage, high inspection speed and low false call rates. The V810 is capable of detecting many defects including shorts, opens, missing components, non-wetting, billboards, tombstones, lifted leads, solder balls, voiding, insufficient solder, reversed tantalum capacitor and excess solder.

Expectations for 2012 are that a minimum of 10 more systems will find new owners.”

GPD Global’s Sales Manager Christian Vega added, “Jasper and GPD have worked together since the late 1980s. We are

excited about this opportunity to bring GPD technology into Europe and we believe the MAX platform has a bright future ahead of it.”

KVM4S/EUROPE­SMT www.kvms.be

Nordson DAGE Announces New Materials Test Capability Nordson DAGE, a division of Nordson Corporation, announced its new Materials testing capability on the 4000Plus at the Productronica exhibition.

Designed to support the materials testing needs of the microelectronics market, from static testing to fatigue, the 4000Plus has the flexibility required to characterize the mechanical properties of individual bonds, devices and circuit boards. The user interface is preconfigured for each type of test, providing ease of setup and flexibility of test. A wide range of measurement data is collected for each cycle of the test that can be analyzed or exported later using the comprehensive set of tools available in Nordson

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DAGE’s Paragon™ software.

Paragon’s fatigue software covers bend testing of boards and devices to simulate strains experienced in thermal fatigue, through to lifetime testing of connectors. With high load capability and well-proven accurate positioning and

measurement, this makes the 4000Plus the ideal choice for today’s more demanding users.

Nordson DAGE also provides bespoke test solutions that cater for unique properties and designs in order to aid end product testing.

NORDSON DAGE www.nordsondage.com

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

Additionally, it has the ability to inspect the toughest hidden joint defects commonly found on the production line such as head-in-pillow, package-onpackage, PTH and various types of connector joint defects to a standard far beyond other AXI machines on the market.

Established in 1991, Test &

Measurement World’s Best in Test Awards are presented annually by the editors of Test & Measurement World. The awards honor important and innovative new products and services in the electronics test and measurement industry.

VITROX TECHNOLOGIES www.vitrox.com

FCT Assembly Offers Holiday Savings on NC676 No-Clean Solder Paste FCT Assembly announces holiday savings at its new online store, located at www.fctassembly.net.

For a limited time, receive a 50 percent discount on FCT Assembly’s NC676 No-Clean Solder Paste. The next-generation halide-free solder paste provides unseen levels of repeatability and consistency for the printing process.

NC676 features best-in-class solder spread and wetting, print volume consistency down to 12 mm circles and IPC 7095 Class III resistance to voiding using both straight ramp and soak reflow profiles.

The no-clean, halogen-free paste leaves a colorless residue that is penetrable, maximizing pin testability.

For more information or to shop online now at www.fctassembly.net, enter promo code fct676d at check-

out to take advantage of holiday savings on FCT’s NC676 Solder Paste.

FCT ASSEMBLY www.fctassembly.com

SMT INDUSTRY NEWS

ACD Purchases a VisionMaster 150 for Fast, Accurate Paste Analysis ACD, a leading supplier to the electronics industry, announces the purchase of a VisionMaster 150 solder paste inspection (SPI) system. The VM150 will enable ACD to obtain 3-D color profiles for fast, accurate paste analysis. VM150 is an exceptional value and will enable ACD to improve its production yields. “ACD’s product offering includes part­on­part and large boards with a significant number of fine­pitch SMT and BGA devices. ASC International’s VisionPro Series enables our engineering staff to monitor paste and stencil performance, which allows us to maximize our throughput and yields,” commented ACD President W. Scott Fillebrown about the purchase. Additionally, the SPI system features sophisticated, 3-D technology coupled with an intuitive Windows® XP/7 interface and packaged in a rugged, bench-top system designed for the electronics

production floor. With only a few minutes of training, an operator can perform accurate 3-D measurements of solder paste pads, BGAs and many other PCB features. The completely automatic measure-

ment process eliminates operator errors and offers excellent measurement repeatability.

VisionPro is the latest in ASC International’s line of classleading 3-D SPI systems.

VisionPro incorporates the most advanced, rapid 3-D inspection technology into a new vibration-free platform engineered for performance.

ACD www.ACDUSA.com

VJ Electronix, Inc. and BB Electronics A/S Announce Implementation of Advanced Scavenger Technology in Denmark BB Electronics, a full service EMS company, announces that it has completed the installation and integration of the new VJ Electronix 400 Scavenger system into its Horsens, Denmark facility. BB Electronics will use the noncontact solder removal system to enhance the reliability of its rework operations of highly complex circuit boards.

BB Electronics produces a wide portfolio of very complex printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) for world-leading customers.

The company’s portfolio ranges from prototypes and series production of satellite communication boards, video processing and measurement systems a. o. characterized by heavy BGA population and advanced multilayer PCBs. The VJ Electronix 400S is a

standalone, noncontact scavenging system for the automatic removal of residual solder from a rework site. With its automated X-Y motion, the 400S is preprogrammed to traverse the component site in the fastest and most efficient fashion, resulting in the optimum heat

transfer to reflow the solder while minimizing thermal exposure. Dynamic Height Sensing (DHS) ensures optimum solderability for the replacement of a new component.

BB ELECTRONICS A/S www.bbelectronics.dk

Zollner and ERSA Partner at New Northern CA facility ERSA, a leading supplier of soldering equipment, announces that it has been selected by Zollner Electronics, a leading global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, to be the exclusive wave and selective soldering supplier for its new facility in the Silicon Valley region. Zollner Electronics’ new facility, located in Milpitas, CA, is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art equipment and is capable of performing RoHS compliant lead-free and conventional leaded assembly. Zollner has experienced the benefits of ERSA’s products, being one of ERSA’s top selective soldering customers worldwide. In addition to ERSA’s selective soldering, Zollner will take advantage of its Full Nitrogen Tunnel Wave Solder

technology. ERSA’s Full Nitrogen Tunnel Wave Solder machine will allow Zollner to achieve a competitive edge over competition when it comes to thermally challenging, hard-to-solder RoHS compliant and lead-free boards. The Full Nitrogen

Tunnel technology expands the process window by allowing more preheat to the board without worrying about flux volatilization and re-oxidization.

ERSA www.ersa.com

Get a Free ERSA Mobile Scope with Purchase of ERSA Rework System ERSA is pleased to offer a free ERSA Mobile Scope with the purchase of an ERSA rework system. The ERSA Mobile Scope is a new portable video microscope designed to inspect hidden solder joints of ball grid arrays (BGAs), μBGAs, chip scale packages (CSPs) and flip chips. The ERSA Mobile Scope has been designed for optical inspection and digital image recording, including measurements of solder joints on BGA, μBGA, CSP and flip chip packages. Further applications are top-view inspection of PCB lands, solder paste prints or the optical inspection of components on printed circuit boards (PCBs) in Surface Mount Technology (SMT) or in (THT). The device can be used

in quality control, production, laboratories or R&D departments. The compact ERSA Mobile Scope connects with a

PC or any portable computer via a USB interface and is ready for operation within minutes in any location.

ERSA www.ersa.com

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

39

SMT INDUSTRY NEWS

Viscom Holds Successful Open House at New Silicon Valley Facility

Learn About Computrol’s Contract Manufacturing Services at DMC 2011

Viscom co-hosted an open house at its new applications center in Silicon Valley on Thursday, December 1, 2011.

The move into Zero Defects International’s (ZDI) newly acquired sales and service office will enable Viscom to continue to serve its customers in Silicon Valley and Northern California as well as the entire Western United States.

“The open house attract­ ed a turnout that exceed­ ed not only all previous events, but surpassed expectations as well.

Featured equipment included Viscom’s PCBA X­ray and automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment. Flying­probe test systems by Seica USA also were highlighted at the open house,” commented Paul Benke, Zero Defects International.

Viscom will continue to offer Xray application services out of the new office and will support Zollner, its newest customer with a new state-of-the-art pro-

Computrol, Inc. announces that it exhibited at the Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC), at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Technology services offered by Computrol are varied and expansive: turnkey electronics contract manufacturing; complete electronics assembly; single- and doublesided PCB assembly; cable assembly; wireless harness assembly; supply chain management; SMT, throughhole and mixed PCA; BGA assembly; press-fit and backplane assembly; electro-mechanical and subassembly builds; complete box builds; flying probe test, in-circuit test and functional test; and RoHS compliant/lead-free procurement and assembly.

Additionally, electronics manufacturing services include combined quantity purchasing; raw materials procurement

duction facility only a few blocks away. Viscom, as well as representatives of other ZDI partners, provided continuous demonstrations for the many attendees from the PCB and PCBA industries who attended the open house from Northern California and beyond.

All products shown at the open house including Viscom’s AOI and X-ray systems permanently remain in the ZDI showroom in San Jose within the scenic River’s Edge business park.

VISCOM Inc. www.viscom.com

SEHO PowerSelective: New Software Feature Ensures Highest Process Reliability SEHO Systems GmbH introduces a new software function for its best-selling selective soldering system – the Power Selective. The new function ensures even higher process reliability by compensating product or production-related warpage of the assemblies to be processed. Assemblies to be handled in a selective soldering process often do not show the necessary planarity.

This warpage may be due to many reasons such as unsymmetrical loaded components, scoring or tensions resulting from previous thermal and mechanical processes. Any deformation, however, directly affects the z-coordinates in the subsequent selective soldering process, thus negatively impacting the soldering results.

To achieve a reliable and reproducible process, particularly critical assemblies require

40

careful consideration on a per board basis to compensate for any distortion. The new software feature available for the Power Selective guarantees an

automated and reliable procedure. During program generation for the mini-wave soldering process, the operator specifies all board areas that are mechanically supported and gives a correct z-level.

SEHO SYSTEMS GmbH www.seho.de

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

and management; finished goods inventory management; JIT delivery; ERP controls; and personalized account management. Computrol maintains an environment of continuous improvement in every element of business and empowers employees to achieve their best in individual performance and teamwork.

The company also is certified in ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485, IPC class II and III and J-STD certified as well as being ITAR registered and lead-free RoHS compliant.

COMPUTROL, Inc. www.computrol.com

Computrol Is Now AS9100C:2009 Certified Computrol, Inc., a world-class provider of mid- to low-volume, high-mix electronic manufacturing services to OEMs, announces that it has received its registration for AS9100C:2009. To successfully achieve certification for AS9100C:2009, Computrol demonstrated its ability to consistently provide products that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements while maintaining a consistent level of quality throughout its operations. The AS9100 standard includes the generic ISO 9001 elements as well as nearly 100 additional requirements specifically designed to

address the stringent, complex and unique demands of the defense and commercial aerospace industry. Successful applicants must demonstrate

to an objective third party that they have an effective QMS to consistently satisfy these unforgiving requirements.

COMPUTROL, Inc. www.computrol.com

SMT INDUSTRY NEWS

Zollner expands in U.S. with SIPLACE placement solutions

S-TEC electronics AG increases its production capacity five-fold with its new SIPLACE SX line

Zollner Elektronik AG, which is headquartered in Zandt, Germany, is a leading electronics producer with plants in China, Germany, Hungary, Romania and Tunisia. Starting this month, Zollner also produces in the United States in order to satisfy the demand for highquality electronics products in North and South America more quickly and in even closer cooperation with its customers. Like all the company's other facilities all over the world, the new, state-of-the-art plant in Milpitas, California operates with SIPLACE placement equipment. Beginning with phase one of Zollnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expansion, the four SIPLACE SX machines, which are equipped with SIPLACE MultiStar placement heads, are ideal for meeting the needs of a company like Zollner, a full-service provider who specializes in new product introductions and the volume

With its new SIPLACE SX line, Switzerland-based company STEC electronics AG is upgrading its SMT production capacity from 10,000 to 50,000 units per product and year. The producer of industrial electronics, whose name has stood for innovative developments in the areas of hardware and software engineering since 1989, develops and manufactures controllers and panels for industrial applications. To increase its production capacity, the company decided to invest in a SIPLACE line because of its flexibility, constant throughput capacity and placement quality. During the acceptance procedure, the team from S-TEC electronics was impressed by the quality and the service features of SIPLACE placement solutions. The customer was also very positive

production of PCBs, modules and complete systems in small to medium-sized production runs. In connection with its new investment in California, Zollner Electronics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Zollner Elektronik AG, is expanding its range of services and offers

OEMs in the U.S. the opportunity to benefit from the more than 45 years of experience and the above-average service portfolio of a global leader in electronics production.

ASM ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS www.siplace.com

about the SIPLACE Applications Center, its unrestricted access to the SIPLACE factory and the individual customer support provided by the SIPLACE team.

The sale, planning and implementation of the new SMT line

were handled by Erich Harlacher of Swiss SIPLACE partner Hilpert electronics AG. S-TEC electronics AG in the Swiss town of Unterägeri started to operate its state-of-theart SIPLACE line in September of this year.

ASM ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS www.siplace.com

PV INDUSTRY NEWS

Relays for photovoltaic power solutions from Panasonic

Solar power for private households The ALFG series offers optimal solutions for modern AC/DC inverters. Switching elements for this relay, which meet the requirements for the VDE0126 standard, are at the developer's disposal. With a power output of up to 7kW, these relays are especially suited for AC/DC inverters for private households.

Solar power for office buildings For office buildings, the high performance HE relay series is available. This series is suited for AC/DC inverters with a power output of up to 11kW.

Solar parks In solar parks with CPV (Concentrated PhotoVoltaic) and solar trackers, power output is remarkable. EP series relays meet the demanding requirements and performance of these facilities and can be used for a power output of up to 100kW per unit.

Solar power plants In solar power plants, which use movable mirrors to create a CSP (Concentrated Solar Power System), the GS2 sensor can be implemented. This sensor detects the position and angle of each mirror segment and can regulate them as well.

O’BOYLE s.r.l.

Tel.: +40 (0) 256-201346 office@oboyle.ro m.mihai@oboyle.ro www.oboyle.ro

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EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

SENSORS INDUSTRY NEWS

New Position Sensor with Protection against Combustible Dust The WS12EX series was designed for numerous industries where combustible dust is present: saw mills (saw dust), food processing (flour dust) and other harsh application (carbon dust).

dust. If there is a risk of dust accumulation, further considerations such as the smoldering point of the dust and additional temperature safety distances must be evaluated. The WS12EX series was developed to meet these safety requirements related to combustible dust.

The position sensor housing is rated IP67 and is available with the industry standard analog outputs: 0-10VDC and 420mA. The linearity is ±0.10 % of full scale with an optional ±0.05 % full scale.

A precision potentiometer is utilized for the rotary sensing element. The WS12EX series achieves the requirements of EX Dust Explosion-Proof Category 3, Zone 22 for non-conductive dust.

O’BOYLE s.r.l.

Tel.: +40 (0) 256-201346 office@oboyle.ro m.mihai@oboyle.ro www.oboyle.ro

ASM GmbH ASM is a worldwide leading manufacturer of innovative sensor solutions.

Based on over 30 years of experience in the development and manufacturing of position sensors, the company offers superior quality solutions for industrial applications and research using the latest technologies.

In locations where combustible dust is present, the maximum allowable surface temperature of installed devices is limited to only 2/3 of the minimum ignition temperature of the surrounding combustible

• POSIWIRE® Cable Extension Position Sensors WS • POSITAPE® Tape Extension Position Sensors WB • POSICHRON® Magnetostrictive Position Sensors • POSIMAG® Magnetic Scale Position Sensors • POSIROT® Magnetic Angular Sensors • POSITILT® Inclinometers

Aventyn Uses Plessey Semiconductors ECG Sensor for Mobile Health Applications Aventyn Inc., an innovative provider of remote patient monitoring and chronic disease management solutions, announced the collaboration agreement at the 2011 mHealth Summit. The summit is organized by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health in partnership with mHIMSS, the mHealth Alliance and the National Institutes of Health.

Aventyn will use the EPIC sensor integrated in a mobile platform to capture non-intrusive ECG measurements personalized to individual heart failure patients. The measured ECG data is displayed on the patient smartphone device and integrated with Vitalbeat™, a software application for remote monitoring and chronic disease management of patients diagnosed with heart failure and related comorbidities.

“Plessey has an innovative solution

with the EPIC sensor designed to non­intrusively capture patient vital signs and activity levels integrated with Vitalbeat mobile health solu­ tions. Emergency responders, cardi­ ologists and general practitioners will have an easy to use ECG remote monitoring tool for heart failure patients at their convenience of location,” said Navin Govind, Aventyn’s founder and CEO. “Vitalbeat’s use of the EPIC sensor in ongoing and future clinical stud­ ies will enable patients and cardiol­ ogists to assess new ways of using diverse mobile devices and technolo­ gy to share critical health informa­ tion, resulting in more efficient and lower healthcare costs globally.”

“Plessey is delighted that Aventyn has chosen to use Plessey’s EPIC sensor in their smartphone ECG application,” said Dr Paul James, EPIC Program Director at Plessey Semiconductors. “We value Aventyn’s expertise in the area of mobile health and look forward to continuing to work with them.”

AVENTYN Inc. www.aventyn.com PLESSEY SEMICONDUCTORS Ltd. www.plesseysemi.com

Farnell first with Schneider Electric’s new range of energy management products Expansion of product range to include all Schneider Electric’s enhanced market leading products Farnell, announced that it is to stock Schneider Electric’s enhanced range of automation and process control products that includes: switches and

ing the total range to over 2,000 parts available for next day delivery from stock. The products are designed for use in the automation and control,

relays, enclosures, racks, cabinets and circuit protection devices.

Farnell is adding over 1,000 new parts from Schneider Electric to its product portfolio expand-

oil, gas, water and energy management markets.

FARNELL Ltd. www.farnell.com

www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

43

CONNECTORS INDUSTRY NEWS

New EZ-Cable Clips from Harwin handle more cables and help reduce interference

High-density PHD38999 connectors and termini from ITT ICS pass harsh qualification test

Harwin has expanded its range of EZ-BoardWare surface mount cable clips which can now also be used to help reduce interference when using coax cables. Harwin’s EZ-BoardWare family of surface mount PCB boardware products replace traditional components that usually require a secondary assembly process. Harwin’s EZCable Originally offered in four sizes covering 1-3mm cable diameters, the range now includes devices that can manage two 0.9mm diameter wires side by side, or – intriguingly – one 1.32mm diameter mini coaxial cable. When used with

ITT Interconnect Solutions has announced that its PHD38999 connector which utilises its tunable size 22 fibre-optic termini have passed a series of harsh environment tests included in industry-standard M38999 specifications. These connections systems are used in demanding defence and aerospace applications, including vision systems, flight connectors and control systems.

ITT’s PHD38999 connector, utilising its unique size 22 termini, successfully passed comprehensive Design Verification Testing (DVT), including meeting stringent specifications for mating repeatability, temperature cycling, vibration, mechanical shock, humidity and mating durability. ITT ICS PHD38999 connectors offer

coaxial cables, if the outer cover is stripped back to reveal the screening braid, EZ-Cable Clips can provide a direct path to a

ground lane, significantly improving EMC performance of the system.

HARWIN www.harwin.com

Harwin adds new low cost SMT board sockets to EZ-BoardWare range Harwin has expanded its EZBoardWare range of surface mount PCB hardware products with the introduction of a new SMT Board Socket which enables considerable cost savings. Harwin’s innovative EZBoardWare family of surface mount products improve manufacturing flexibility, reduce manufacturing costs save space and improve in-field maintenance.

EZ-SMT Board Sockets are a much cheaper alternative to turned contact PCB sockets for less demanding applications, and in common with all EZ-

BoardWare products, are designed for automated production processes, so they with-

stand surface mount assembly and come in standard tape and reel packaging.

HARWIN www.harwin.com

Harwin expands EZ-BoardWare range as industry switches to SMT solutions Harwin has expanded its EZBoardWare range of surface mount PCB hardware products as industry continues to move away from traditional ‘fixes’ associated with cable management, EMC, test and batteries which are often bulky and usually require costly secondary assembly operations.

Harwin’s innovative EZBoardWare family of surface mount products improve manufacturing flexibility, reduce manufacturing costs, save space and improve in-field maintenance. They are designed as elegantly simple solutions to overcome frustrat-

44

ing challenges concerning functions. Replacing throughhole or bolt-down compromis-

es, EZ-BoardWare components can all be surface mounted along with other components, saving space as well as reducing time and costs.

HARWIN www.harwin.com

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

high density of up to 50 channels per square inch. Further innovative benefits of PHD38999 interconnects include removable sleeve inserts which allow direct end face access for terminus cleaning and inspection. As PHD terminus retention is via ITT’s patented Little Caesar contact

retention clip technology, there is unparalleled flexibility for installing, servicing, cleaning and repairing single optical channels.

ITT INTERCONNECT SOLUTIONS www.ittcannon.com

APD connectors from ITT ICS are sealed to IP69K and vibration proof to overcome transportation challenges APD series transportation connectors from leading global connector manufacturer and supplier ITT Interconnect Solutions are specifically designed to overcome the harsh environments commonly found in heavy transportation applications. Sealed to IP67/IP69K (with individual wire sealing) and vibration resistant, ITT ICS’s APD transportation interconnects include a wide range of 1- and 2- way high power and 4-way high voltage interconnects up to 51way interface connectors, plus special sensors and PCB-type versions. A broad variety of layouts extends the range of possible end applications.

Electrical specifications cover requirements up to 48VDC and up to 240A power. APD transportation connectors also provide a flexible platform for

customised solutions.

Manufactured from materials which are resistant to diesel, oil and brake fluids commonly found in heavy vehicles and agricultural equipment, APD

connectors feature a proven bayonet locking system to cope with high vibration encountered in such applications.

ITT INTERCONNECT SOLUTIONS www.ittcannon.com

CONNECTORS INDUSTRY NEWS

ODU MINI-SNAP Products for Your Success ODU MINI­ SNAP Connectors ODU offers five different series of cylindrical miniature connectors.

ODU develops reliable solutions in the connector area for many well­known companies.

The result? High quality innovative products for the global market. These connector systems offer clear benefits: • Very large number of mating cycles for profitable demands • Absolute contact stability for reliable action • Easy condition for quick action • Unmistakable connector position for reliable work

* Series L and F are compatible with the connectors produced by companies with the same field of application.

• High visibility for faultless handling.

Cable assembly using ODU MINI­SNAP Two of the options of connecting the strands to the contacts/ terminals are soldering and crimping. The cable manufacturer carries out every single workstep required for the final product.

Briefly, final product requires cutting, multiple wire preparation, soldering, potting (for water tightness), overmolding, testing and packaging. ODU could offer turnkey connector assembly solutions entirely processed within our facility.

This is the optimal solution by custom specific developments

For further details please visit the company website - online catalog. If you cannot find in the catalog solution that meets your specifications, we notify you that are possible modifications of the standard version.

Together we can find the perfect solution!

Contact: Eng. Alina Cibu E-mail: alina.cibu@odu-rom.ro www.odu­rom.ro

ODU ROM Manufacturing - Str. Fundătura Lânii nr. 22, 550019 Sibiu, Romania Tel: +40 (0) 269 206345; Fax: +40 (0) 269 221006 For general information visit: www.odu.de www.epd‐ee.eu ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ EP&Dee

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OSCILLATORS INDUSTRY NEWS

Premier Farnell and Fox Electronics sign global franchise distribution agreement for new range of crystals, oscillators, TCXOs and VCXOs

Murata launches combined SAW filter, power amplifier and magnetic stabilizer module for mobile phone applications

Premier Farnell plc, the multichannel electronics distributor announces a global franchise distribution agreement with Fox Electronics, a leading specialist in the design and supply of frequency controllers.

Customers of Premier Farnell’s operating businesses of Farnell, Newark/element14 and element14 will now have global access to Fox Electronics’ full line of crystals, oscillators, TCXOs, VCXOs and Fox’s XpressO Crystal Oscillator, which has been classed as a breakthrough in configurable Frequency Control Solutions. XpressO utilises a family of proprietary ASICs,

Murata announced the HFQPRAPCA series of RF wireless modules designed specifically for mobile phone applications and comprising a SAW filter, power amplifier and magnetic stabilizer. Believed to be the world’s first module to combine the three components as a single package, it measures just 6.6 × 3.8 × 1.0mm and aids cellular phone engineers achieve a more integrated and compact design. The magnetic stabilizer, that provides the same function as an isolator, aids the modules ability to be very stable under fluctuating load conditions. Its load-resistant element is a mag-

designed and developed with a key focus on noise reduction technologies. XpressOs XOs &

VCXOs come in various packages and voltages and are configurable with custom frequencies from 0.75MHz to 1350 MHz with extremely low jitter.

PREMIER FARNELL plc. www.premierfarnell.com

New 3750-3800 MHz VCO from Crystek Corporation Crystek's CVCO55CC-37503800 VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) operates from 3750 MHz to 3800 MHz with a control voltage range of 0.5V~16V. This VCO features a typical phase noise of -105 dBc/Hz @ 10KHz offset and has excellent linearity. Output power is typically +2 dBm. Engineered and manufactured in the USA, the model CVCO55CC-3750-3800 is packaged in the industry-standard 0.5-in. x 0.5-in. SMD package.

Input voltage is 5V, with a max. current consumption of 30 mA. Pulling and Pushing are minimized to 1.0 MHz and 2.5 MHz/V, respectively.

Second harmonic suppression

is -15 dBc typical.

The CVCO55CC-3750-3800 is ideal for use in applications such as digital radio equipment, fixed wireless access,

satellite communications systems, and base stations.

For pricing details, contact Crystek Corporation.

CRYSTEK CORPORATION www.crystek.com

Group Publisher Director Gabriel Neagu Managing Director Ionela Ganea Accounting Ioana Paraschiv Advertisement Irina Ganea WEB Eugen Vărzaru © 2011 by Eurostandard Press 2000

46

EP&Dee ⏐ December, 2011 ⏐ www.epd‐ee.eu

net used as an isolator. It controls the characteristics of load fluctuation caused by changes in impedance that can occur when

the user’s hand, metal object or other materials come close to the antenna.

MURATA www.murata.eu

Highly reliable 32.768kHz quartz crystal with an accuracy of ±10ppm and a package height of just 0.65mm MSC now offers Micro Crystal’s 32.768 kHz quartz crystal, the CM7V-T1A. This quartz crystal features a high accuracy of ±10 ppm at 25°C and a package height of just 0.65 mm. The CM7V-T1A has a highperformance ceramic package and a footprint of 3.2 mm × 1.5 mm.

The CM7V-T1A is specifically designed for use in space-sensitive healthcare, industrial, telecommunications and navigation products and offers a wide temperature range from -55°C to +125°C. The device is fully compliant with the stringent AEC-Q200 quality standard for automotive applications. With a low aging first year of ±3 ppm maximum and a high 5,000 g

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

EP&Dee Web page: www.epd-ee.eu EP&Dee Subscriptions: office@epd-ee.eu

shock and vibration resistance, the CM7V-T1A also meets the highest expectations in terms of reliability. The device is RoHS compliant and 100% lead free. In addition to the standard

frequency of 32.768 kHz, Micro Crystal offers other frequency options upon request.

MSC VERTRIEBS GmbH www.msc­ge.com

EUROSTANDARD PRESS 2000 Tel.: +40 31 805 9955 Fax: +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 8 times per year in 2011 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 2011 by Euro Standard Press 2000 s.r.l. All rights reserved.