Electronics ...uly 2014 by Hiba Dweib

EFY Survey: pCB Industry of India

Wearable Electronics

Manufacturing Flexible Electronics

` 100 july 2014

Vol. 3 No. 3 | ISSN 0013-516X | Pages: 152+8 | UK #5; US $10

For You

Agilent’s Electronic Measurement Group, including its 9,500 employees and 12,000 products, is becoming Keysight Technologies. Learn more at www.keysight.com

Wearable Electronics

EFY Survey: pCB Industry of India

Manufacturing Flexible Electronics

` 100 july 2014

For You

Raspberry pi The DIY Board That’s Changing Electronics

• Raspberry Pi: A Tinkerer’s Dream • Innovative Products Powered by Raspberry Pi • Interfacing Dot Matrix LED with Raspberry Pi

oscilloscopes

Top 5 Do-IT YoURSELF

Vol. 3 No. 3 ISSN 0013-516X

Pages: 152+8

UK #5; US $10

• Web-Based Device Controller With Arduino Board • Arduino-Based FM Receiver • USB LED Light cum Battery Charger • Telephone Tapping Using FM • Designing Dual-Priority Encoder Using LabView Plus, many more make your own projects inside

Special

Oscilloscopes: What’s New? Buyers’ Guide:

Budget Friendly Oscilloscopes

contents

electronics for you Plus | July 2014 | Vol. 3 No. 3

Buyers’ Guide Budget-Friendly Oscilloscopes

Technology Focus Mind-Reading Pets and Hijacking Planes: RPi Innovations Go Into Overdrive

eStyle Buyers’ Guide

Editor : Ramesh Chopra

Hands-On

Android KitKat Smartphones: A Treat For All

22 Wearable Electronics 26 Technology Focus

dIy: Project

Manufacture

dIy: Circuit

42 46

Telecom Technology

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Wear Your Future

Raspberry Pi: A Tinkerer’s Dream Come True

New Frontiers of UAV Civilian Applications

Information Technology Software Defined Networking

Test & Measurement

Embedded Design Analogue Components for IoT Applications

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77 Innovation 79 Career

Data Analytics will be the Next Big Thing for Engineers

113 Industry Focus 126 Interview

PCB Industry in India: Marching Ahead

121 New Products 123 Letters 124 Qs&As 129 Business Pages

next issue

• Security 2.0

“There is no ‘starting point’ for IoT devices”—

141 Electronics Mart 146 Product Categories Index 147 Advertisers’ Index

July 2014 | Electronics For You plus

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8 First Look 16 Technology News 112 Websites 118 Industry News

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“There exists a phenomenal growth opportunity in the voice and music arena”—

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Drishti: For Airport Visibility Measurement

From 50MHz to 100GHz, Bench-Top to Wristwatch Oscilloscopes Have Come a Long Way

Part 4 of 4: Defence Lasers and Optronic Systems: Gas Laser Electronics

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• Designing Dual-Priority Encoder Using LabView • C++ Implementation of Digital FIR Filters Using Blackman Window

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• USB LED Light Cum Battery Charger • Telephone Tapping Using FM • Efficient 5V Relay Driver • Difference Counter for In and Out Gates

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Part 1 of 2: Flexible Electronics: The Next Ubiquitous Platform

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First Look!

The Latest Home And Office Products

3G Wi-Fi Router Astrum’s NFC Enabled Portable Speaker With Bluetooth for those who love to enjoy music on the go from Lapcare With built-in power bank for small offices, smartphone users and travellers

apcare has launched wireless 3G router Smart 3G Wi-Fi, a multi-functional router with power bank for small offices, smartphone users and travellers. It provides 150Mbps connectivity on the move. The router can support up to 32 Wi-Fi-enabled devices simultaneously, once set up as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Its built-in power bank has a 4400mAh battery to easily charge smartphones, iPhones and tablets. It weighs 124 gms and supports a built-in USB card reader, allowing users in the network to directly access data from the card reader. The router complies with 802.11b/g/n standards and has a connection range of 30m indoors and 50m outdoors. For on-thego users, the router has wireless network-attached cloud storage. Price: ` 1899

July 2014 | Electronics For You

strum Holdings has introduced near field communication (NFC) enabled portable Bluetooth speaker Symphony BT-027N for those who love to enjoy music on-the-go. It also has a built-in noise-filtering microphone for conferencing. The speaker’s rechargeable battery allows up to 10 hours of play time. Some other features of the speaker are: 6W RMS output, Bluetooth version 3.0, one-touch NFC support, 2 + 2 drivers with passive 360-degree sound, rechargeable lithium-ion battery (3.7V/1300mAh), aux and TF, and anti-skid surface. It is available with a carry-in one-year warranty.

Price: ` 3200

Lenovo Introduces All-In-One PC With eco-friendly technology through its Cisco EnergyWise certified Desktop Power Manager

C maker Lenovo has unveiled the new ThinkCentre E73z All-In-One (AIO) with eco-friendly technology through its Cisco EnergyWise certified Desktop Power Manager. The E73z is designed to optimise space. To make it more reliable, it has ThinkVantage software, PC auto lock utility, hardware password manager, rescue and recovery, and USB port disable option in BIOS. The desktop is available with various operating systems such as Windows 8/ 8 Pro/ 8 Single Language/ 7 Home Basic 32/ 7 Home Premium 32/ 7 Home Premium 64/ 7 Professional 32/ 7 Professional 64/ 7 Ultimate 32/ 7 Ultimate 64. Likewise, there are various processor options: Intel Core i7-4770S 65W/ Intel Core i5-4670

S/ 4670 S 65W/ Intel Core i5-4440s/ 4430S 65W/ Intel Core i3-4340/ 4330 / 41303/ Intel Pentium G3430/ G3420/ G32203. The graphics are supported by Integrated 2013 Intel HD. The PC has 1600x900 (16:9), 50.8cm (20-inch) wide LED display and Integrated HD audio/ 2x2W speakers. It can support up to 16GB DDR3 memory and up to 2TB storage. There are several options available for keyboard and mouse. Price: Starting ` 40,000 plus taxes

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First Look!

GizMo ByTes Kindle Cloud Reader Now Available In India Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader, a free Kindle reading app, that enables customers to read Kindle books instantly, with only their web browser, is now available to customers in India. Kindle Cloud Reader enables you to read your books online or offline, with no download or installation required. As with all Kindle apps, Kindle Cloud Reader automatically synchronises your Kindle library, as well as your last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights for all of your Kindle books, no matter how you choose to read them.

Nokia Brings Z Launcher To Android Devices Nokia has just introduced Z Launcher, currently in its pre-beta phase, which aims to make it easier for Android users to navigate around their devices. According to a blog post by Nokia, “As soon as you install and start using Z Launcher, it starts learning what you use throughout the day and automatically surfaces whatever you’re most likely to need at the right moment.” There is a Scribble feature in the Z launcher, which allows users to draw the first letter of whatever they are looking for on their phone’s apps or contacts. The launcher will show the results accordingly. In addition, users can add extra letters to further refine the results.

Apple iOS 8 Will Let You Find Your Parked Car Apple’s new iOS 8 operating system will reportedly let you find your car using your smartphone. The new OS, which was introduced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference recently, will add the feature to iOSbased devices like the iPhone and iPad. It is worth noting that Apple’s competitor Google had added the feature to its Google Now smart assistant a month ago.

July 2014 | Electronics For You

The Latest Home And Office Products

Intex Launches Low-Cost Quad-Core Phone One of the cheapest quad-core smartphones in market

ome grown manufacturer, Intex, has launched its budget offering in the quad-core segment with new Aqua i5 Mini smartphone. The Intex Aqua i5 Mini smartphone features an 11.4cm (4.5inch) FWVGA IPS display with a 480x854 pixel resolution. The phone is powered by a 1.3GHz quadcore MediaTek MT6582 processor and has 1GB RAM. It sports an 8MP autofocus rear

camera with LED flash and a 2MP front-facing camera. The dual-SIM device runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. It comes with 4GB inbuilt storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. Connectivity options include 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, GPS/ A-GPS, Wi-Fi with hotspot functionality, MicroUSB, Bluetooth and FM radio with recording. It decks in a 1500mAh battery to deliver a talk time of up to five hours, and a standby time of up to 180 hours. Price: ` 6850

Xolo Launches First Windows Tablet The tablet PC is powered by an AMD Temash A4-1200 processor

olo has become the first Indian manufacturer to launch a Windows-powered tablet in the Indian market. Dubbed the Xolo Win, the tablet is available on Flipkart along with an exchange offer where users can get a minimum of ` 3000 off on the device. The offer allows users to trade in their old smartphone, tablet or laptop for the Xolo Win device. The tablet has a 25.7cm (10.1-inch) display with 1366x768 pixel resolution. It has dimensions of 266x167.8x12 mm and weighs 750 grams. In addition, the device is powered by an AMD Temash A4-1200 processor along with the Radeon HD 8180 graphics chip. It has 2GB RAM and 32GB internal memory. It runs on a 3550mAh Li-Ion battery, which gives it six hours of battery life.

The tablet PC device comes preloaded with Microsoft Office suite and has 2-megapixel rear camera and 1-megapixel HD front camera. Besides, the Windows 8.1 operating system is available in the tablet, which also has Wi-Fi, micro-HDMI and micro-USB capabilities. The device does not support 3G connectivity though. Price: ` 19,999

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Buyers’ Guide

Android KitKat Smartphones: A Treat For All Buying a phone has a lot to do with its OS, but it is not the only criteria. A powerful processor, high-definition screen and a powerful camera are equally important. If they were not, Motorola would have easily become the market leader in the last six months prasid banerjee

hen the Android operating system was introduced, it was meant to provide advanced functionality with cheaper phones. But no manufacturer, except Motorola, seems to have paid heed to this. With the KitKat (Android 4.4) update, now Google promises a lot, including the fact that KitKat would work well in any phone with 512MB or more RAM. It means you should be able to buy a cheaper phone with the latest OS (cue Moto E). So, when it comes to buying a KitKat phone, it really is a matter of value for money. In other words, the best KitKat phone for you should depend on the money you are willing to spend. The KitKat OS may work well even in cheaper phones, but a faster processor and other features could make the phone much better.

High-end smartphones Flagships like the HTC One (M8), Sony Xperia Z2, LG Google Nexus 5 and the market leader (in terms of units sold)

addition, it has a powerful 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and the pure un-layered version of the KitKat OS. This was the phone that Google had launched with KitKat and till date it remains one of the best KitKat devices to buy. It is also available at a very affordable price (for this range of smartphones) of ` 33,000. The down side with Nexus 5 though is that, with Google’s Android Silver project, this phone is rumoured to have gone out of production. Besides, Nexus 5 lacks a high-end camera. While KitKat makes it attractive, its 8-megapixel camera would not be

Samsung Galaxy S5 cost at a hefty sum of ` 45,000 or more (with the exception of Nexus 5). But to see their value for money, you have to take their features into consideration. Almost all the phones in this range have heavily layered versions of the OS. HTC gives you its Sense user interface (UI), which in our opinion is the best OEM-provided UI in the market. Samsung offers Touchwiz, and then there are others. But if it’s the pure Android experience you want, you should be looking at only Nexus 5, which sports a full-HD 12.6cm (4.95-inch) screen. In

Android KitKat Smartphones to choose from HTC One (M8)

Samsung Galaxy S5

Sony Xperia Z2

Moto G

Moto E

Price: ` 49,900

Price: ` 51,500

Price: ` 49,990

Price: ` 13,999

Price: ` 6999

hh Camera: 4-Ultrapixel hh OS: Sense UI on Android 4.4.2 hh Display: Full HD hh Processor: 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801

hh Camera: 16-megapixel hh OS: Touchwiz on Android 4.4.2 hh Display: Super AMOLED, 16 million colours hh Processor: Exynos 6 octa-core

hh Camera: 20.7-megapixel with 4k video hh OS: Android 4.4.2 hh Display: Full HD Triluminous display hh Processor: 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801

hh Camera: 5-megapixel hh OS: Pure Android 4.4.2 hh Display: 720-pixel HD display hh Processor: 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

hh Camera: 5-megapixel hh OS: Pure Android 4.4.2 hh Display: qHD display hh Processor: 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200

July 2014 | Electronics For You

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Buyers’ Guide good enough for most buyers. Moreover, it doesn’t compare well to the likes of Xperia Z2, Galaxy S5 and One (M8). This leaves us with the layered versions of high-end Android smartphones. Let us start with the one that is selling the most, the Samsung Galaxy S5. It has a 16-megapixel camera, which shoots amazing pictures, albeit a little oversaturated on the colours. The Galaxy S5 also has one of the best screens in the market. Its Super AMOLED display is a treat for any user, and its screen is slightly bigger than of Nexus 5 at 13cm (5.1-inch), which makes it not so tough to use with one hand either. The problem with the S5 though is in its UI and design. The S5 looks and feels too plastic, even with its fauxleather dotted back cover. Samsung has wasted too much space on the screen and the UI just doesn’t give you a highend feel. Why is it a big deal? Because you’ll be spending ` 51,000 to buy it. Xperia Z2 and HTC One (M8) on the other hand have hit the jackpot when it comes to the design and pricing. Both these devices are priced at ` 49,900, which is a very strategic pricing in this range, and they both have pretty good camera. The Xperia Z2 has a 20.7-megapixel EXMOR RS camera, while the M8 uses HTC’s Ultrapixel technology. Our choice is the M8, which has HTC’s new dual-lens technology along with the 4-Ultrapixel camera. Xperia Z2 seems to make the pictures a bit dull, compared to the M8 and S5. All the three are flagships from the respective companies and lack nothing in terms of processor power. While M8 and Z2 have the 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, Galaxy S5 sports Samsung’s Exynos 6 octa-core processor. But for us, HTC gains a big plus because of the Sense 6.0 UI that comes with M8. HTC’s custom UI, while being as far away from pure Android as possible, is arguably the best of all the UIs. Sony’s UI, though pretty simplistic, doesn’t really add much to the device.

Mid-range smartphones If you are looking to spend under ` 25,000, you have options like Moto G, Micromax Canvas Knight, Karbonn Ti14

July 2014 | Electronics For You

tanium Octane, Octane Plus, Titanium Hexa and some others. Selection in this range is quite tricky actually, because while the prices in the low-end and high-end smartphones remain quite close, the mid-range is pretty vast. For example, while Moto G is priced at around ` 14,000, the Canvas Knight and some others are priced nearer to or above ` 20,000. So, while the choices are more, the price difference is also bigger. The best value for money in this segment is definitely given by Moto G, which has a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor along with 1GB of RAM and the KitKat OS. Canvas Knight and others sport octa-core processors. So, if you want to spend less than ` 15,000, Moto G could be the best choice for you. Above ` 14,000, the competition is really between Canvas Knight and Karbonn’s devices, for now. But Canvas Knight doesn’t seem to do well in terms of battery life. With the exception of Titanium Hexa, the others are all octa-core units, while the Hexa has a hexa-core processor. Karbonn Titanium Octane though is the cheapest octa-core device available in the market, at ` 14,490.

Low-end smartphones In the under ` 10,000 range, you can find good devices priced at around ` 8000 or less. But there seems to be only Moto E smartphone in this range that sports the KitKat OS. The device is priced at ` 6999 and gives you a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM and a pure Android experience. Moto E right now is the best smartphone to buy in this range. We don’t see a better device coming up in this range anytime soon. Even though KitKat is perfect for such devices, with the additional layering that OEMs do, it is going to be hard to match the performance that the Moto E delivers. Motorola has made a masterstroke with this device and it is no surprise that it went out of stock less than 24 hours after it was launched.  The author is a correspondent at efy www.efymag.com

technology nEWS Most happening, fact-filled current affairs from around the world

World’s smallest nanomotor that runs the longest

Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin, USA have developed world’s smallest nanomotor which they claim to be the fastest-ever developed. The Nanomotor, as they call it, is 1/500th the size of a grain of salt! It is the fastest with ultra-high speed and is able to run the longest. The Nanomotor is seen as a significant step towards manufacturing miniature machines. It can be used in firstof-its-kind devices, which can be fitted in applications that require unprecedented precision, such as controlled biochemical drug delivery to live cells and cell-to-cell communication. One of the unique features of it is its large driving power. It is able to deliver 15 continuous hours of rotating speed at 18,000 rpm, equivalent to the speed of a motor in a jet airplane engine. The other nanomotors available today are able to run at speeds up to just 500 rpm and can last only for a few minutes. The Nanomotor is capable of reaching and staying in places which were beyond imagination earlier. Courtesy its size of one micrometer, it can easily fit inside a human cell. One amazing aspect of the nanomotor is its field of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). With this, the machine is able to push forward the frontiers of cheaper and more energy-efficient systems.

Coming soon: holographic projections from cell phones Holographic projections from your very own smartphone could be a reality soon, suggests a new report by the Wall Street Journal. California-based start-up Ostendo Technologies has reportedly built the world’s first-ever hologram projector chip that could emit videos and 3D images from smartphones and other screens. 16

July 2014 | Electronics For You

World’d smallest and fastest Nanomotor (Courtesy: www.crazyengineers.com)

A chipset when fitted into a smartphone will help project video on a surface with 122cm (48-inch) diagonal view. Several of these chipsets together will be able to beam larger, more complex images. “The first iteration of the chip will only project 2D videos but the next version, expected to follow soon after, will feature holographic capability,” Hussein S. El-Ghoroury, founder of Ostendo was quoted as saying. The chip essentially consists of an image processor with a wafer made up of miniaturised light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The system so formed can control the colour, brightness and angle of over a million individual beams of light, says the report.

These batteries can charge your phone in ten minutes Researchers at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering simply replaced standard graphite-based anodes in Li-Ion batteries with silicon, and the results were simply outstanding. Li-Ion batteries so obtained can charge a device like your powerhungry smartphone in just ten minutes! Researchers Mihri and Cengiz Ozkan observed that, silicon with its

10x bigger charge capacity compared to regular graphite-based anodes allowed 63 per cent increase in the total cell capacity and makes the battery about 40 per cent lighter at the same time. Based on their observations, they built prototype batteries (using silicon as anode) that could be charged 16x faster compared to standard Li-Ion batteries. Earlier, an Israeli startup called StoreDot came out with a prototype charger that can replenish your smartphone battery in half a minute. StoreDot recently demonstrated their prototype charger at Microsoft’s Think Next Conference successfully charging a Samsung Galaxy S4’s battery (2600mAh) in under half a minute. The catch is the charger works only with the Galaxy S4 for now.

Laser tech that can sense objects from ten metres A new laser technology has been developed which can sense objects from as far as ten metres (approx. 30 feet). The technology, developed by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley can sense objects from 10 times farther than any other www.efymag.com

technology nEWS laser system available today. It can add a lot to smartphones, 3D video games and self-driving cars. According to the researchers, the technology can let a self-driving car spot a roadblock from half a block away or allow you to answer your phone from across a room. It is a 3D imaging technology based on LIDAR (Light RADAR) system, which sends a feedback using a light-emitting laser. It is actually quite good, since the system isn’t bulky or huge at all. A class of lasers known as MEMS tunable VCSELs have been used to create the technology. The laser could be what Google needs in order to perfect its self-driving cars and could also add a lot to the existing smartphone technologies that we have.

This 3D printer creates fruits in custom taste, texture, size Now we have a 3D fruit printer that can print the real edible fruits. Cambridge, UK-based design studio cum innovation lab, Dovetailed, has made this revolutionary 3D printer. The makers of the printer have worked on crafting physical and digital experiences, which change the behaviour. The innovators have used the technique of molecular-gastronomy, called spherification, 3D fruits (Courtesy: www.crazyengineers.com) to make the 3D printing machine combine individual liquid droplets with different flavours into a desired shape of the fruit, only in a few seconds. The team behind the 3D printer opines that this 3D printer could be a great help for the chefs and foodies. No prerequisites are required in using this 3D printer. So anyone can use it, even with no knowledge of the moleculargastronomy technique or cooking. The printer prints fresh and organic 3D fruits. The printer lets you have the liberty of creating your own custom-designed fruits. It means that you can make your own fruits that haven’t existed before, in shapes, sizes, tastes and textures!

This augmented reality helmet is truly a guardian A new Android-powered helmet for motorcyclists was unveiled by a company called Fusar Technologies at the Augmented World Expo 2014. The helmet, known as Guardian, is fitted with an Android board and two wide-angle cameras. In addition, it also holds part of the Epson Moverio Android-powered head-mounted display. “It is a fully integrated and connected device that motorcyclists can wear, that allows them to have a full cognitive awareness of what’s going on around them,” says Ryan Shearman, founder and CEO of Fusar Technologies. The 18

July 2014 | Electronics For You

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technology nEWS

Guardian GA-1 motorcycle helmet (Courtesy: www.augmentedrealitytrends.com)

helmet provides the rider with a detailed heads-up display through the Epson Moverio. It consists of a rear-view camera, which also shows what is behind them on the display. Lastly, their speed and navigation information is also shown on the display. The helmet has video recording capabilities as well. The device records everything passively, but the footage is locked into hard memory if an accident is detected. So basically, the helmet has its own Black Box feature built into it. The developers are currently working on the program, which may eventually even inform a rider about a dangerous situation before it materialises.

This self-learning humanoid could pose threat to the BPO industry Millions of college graduates looking for jobs in the BPO industry, as well as the hundreds and thousands of engineering graduates looking forward to being employed by the IT industry, are in for a shock. Amelia, a humanoid program designed by New York-based IPSoft, could well be a viable alternative to humans in jobs like office accounting and finance to tech support voice calls. IPsoft’s software platform, designed by Chetan Dube, a former New York University mathematics professor, could give the Indian US$ 70-billion and the entire global US$ 400-billion export-oriented IT services The world of self-learning Bots has finally arrived cum BPO industry with IPsoft’s Amelia (Courtesy: www. zdnet.com) a serious run for the money. How, you ask? Amelia with a software algorithm that efficiently mimics the human brain can carry out natural language conversations in a fraction of the time that humans take today, much to their dismay. However, Amelia’s importance grows when subjected to more complex questions as the humanoid can answer the same in mere minutes, thanks to its self-learning algorithm. www.efymag.com

Electronics For You | July 2014

technology nEWS According to IPsoft, Amelia has the ability to function at one-fourth the billing rates for human engineers and could challenge even the most innovative of human resources departments while handling tasks.

Here comes a 3D-printed robot At the inaugural Code Conference, organised at Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif, a cute, 60cm tall figure, called Jimmy, walked on to the stage, introduced itself and waved its arms. Jimmy is a 3Dprinted robot from the house of Intel. Although Jimmy is just a research robot so far, the company has plans to sell the fully-customisable, 3Dprintable robot kit in the market by the year end. The consumer version of Jimmy will be priced starting around US$ 1600 (about ` 95,000) and will be sold via 21stcenturyrobot. com. The kit will have all the parts that cannot be 3D printed, including the motors, batteries, processor and wires. The hardware design will be freely available so anyone with a 3D printer can print it. The consumer model of Jimmy robot runs on Intel Edison platform, which is a low-cost computer on a chip, much like Arduino but with much wider functionality. Jimmy can perform a range of tasks including singing, dancing, tweeting, translating and, most importantly, delivering cold beers. It is an open source robot and allows the developers to create their own apps and users to download them so that they can run whatever they want on their machines. Intel will also make a marketplace for such apps and designs. Here’s a video (please scan the QR code) showing how Jimmy works!

New 2D transistors pave way for faster electronics Researchers have now come up with world’s first two-dimensional fieldeffect transistor (FET) which will enable the development of faster electronics. 20

July 2014 | Electronics For You

These 2D FETs do not have the issue o f p e r fo r m a nc e drop-off under high voltages and can provide high electron mobility, even if they are scaled to a monolayer in thickness. Fabrication of Artist’s view of one of the Google’s 180 satellites (Courtesy: www.rt.com) the 2D heterostruceasier. Additionally, cadmium arsenide tures was done by the layers of a trancould be a good candidate for everysition metal dichalcogenide, hexagonal day use, claim the researchers. boron nitride and graphene arranged Graphene is increasingly being up by relatively weak electric forces used in a plethora of applications in or van der Waals that attract neutral electrical industry. It could be used to molecules to one another in gases. develop better batteries as also in creThe bonding of the interfaces via ating super-strong yet flexible screens. van der Waals and the usage of a However, major drawbacks do deter multi-step transfer process prepares a its use on a large scale. platform for making complex devices based on crystalline layers. It removes the constraints of lattice parameters that tend to restrict the performance and growth of conventional heterojunction materials. The study was pubLooks like Google’s fascination with lished in journal ACS Nano. bringing the Internet access to inhospitable areas around the world knows no bounds. A recent report by the Wall Street Journal has revealed that Google is looking to build a total of 180 small, Graphene is undoubtedly no less than high-capacity satellites and set them a wonder material that could transout into low orbit so as to aid in proform our lives in the days to come. viding the Internet connections. However, cadmium arsenide is even These satellites could reportedly better. Here’s how... entail a cost of a $1-$3 billion. But once Graphene has a major drawback in orbit these are more likely to pay for that, it is functional only in two dimenthemselves. Further, if all goes well, sions. This means building complex Google could double its satellite count, pieces of hardware out of the material so that more and more areas could be is not such an easy task. Taking note, covered. This would be an extension to researchers from Oxford, Stanford and Google’s Project Loon through which the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboit aims to substantially increase its ad ratory decided to continue looking and revenue by bringing more and more found cadmium arsenide, an unlikely people online. saviour that could very well prove to Google earlier acquired Titan be a viable alternative to graphene. Aerospace, a company that makes For starters, it can transmit electricsolar-powered drones, which was in ity at tremendous speeds, much like acquisition talks with Facebook just graphene. However, unlike the latter, a few months ago. Google is eying to cadmium arsenide can also work in all use the technology provided by Titan three dimensions. This means buildto assist its Project Loon, which aims ing transistors and sensors out of this to connect people to the Internet in far material in all probability will be much flung areas. Check efytimes.com for more news, daily

Google’s 180 satellites to bring Internet access across the world

A new wonder material to replace graphene

www.efymag.com

WEARABLE ELECTRONICS

Wear Your Future “During a Formula 1 race, a driver experiences wrenching forces of more than 4.5G. His heart rate may exceed 180 beats per minute and his blood pressure could rise by half. With soaring temperatures inside the cramped cockpit he will also dehydrate, typically losing 2-3 litres of water during the race. Yet the driver must concentrate well enough to achieve lap times that might vary by just a tenth of a second. This is tough, on both mind and body. Hence it is not just the performance of the car itself which an array of sensors keeps an eye on, wirelessly transmitting data about the engine, suspension and so on to the pit crews. The drivers’ own vital signs are constantly monitored, too.” —Economist DEEPAK HALAN

What are wearable computers all about Way back in 1961 two mathematicians, Edward O. Thorp and Claude Shannon, developed miniature computerised timing devices to help them cheat at the game of roulette. Later, The Eudaemonic Pie - a book written by American author Thomas A. Bass in 1985 tells the story about a few University of California, physics graduate students. They develop very-small-size computers which are clandestinely worn on modified platform soled shoes, to predict casino roulette games. In the early 1980s, Steve Mann, one of the forerunners of wearable technology, produced a backpack-mounted computer to control photographic equipment. Later in 1994 he developed a headset that was able to send images to the Internet. A few years later IBM carried out some trials on wearable computing on the ThinkPad, and by 2001 it presented the first model of a wristwatch computer known then as the WatchPad. Thereafter several interesting developments took place in the field of wearable computing. Wearable computers, or body-borne computers, are small electronic devices which are worn by the user under, with or on top of clothing. This type of wearable technology is especially useful for applications that demand advanced computational support, that is, more than hardware-coded logic. Since there is continuous communication between the 22

July 2014 | Electronics For You

IBM Linux Watch (IBM Linux Watch, 2000) & IBM watch pad 1.5 (IBM WatchPad 1.5, 2001) (Source: http://www.itworld.co.kr/)

Anaesthesiologist keeps his attention on the patient while viewing vital signs via Google Glass (Source: http://www.medical.philips.com/ main/about/future-of-healthcare/)

wearable device and user, it is ‘always on’ so that there is no botheration of switching off. Wearable-computer-based devices seamlessly merge with our daily lives in the sense that we don’t need to stop doing something to operate the device. Rather the wearable devices act more as an extension of our mind and body and sometimes also in a way like an artificial body part.

War with wearable technology Since the mid-1990s, the US military has been refining prototype soldier

A US Army Land Warrior soldier (Source: http:// www.army-technology.com/projects/land_warrior/)

Wearable electronic sensors on a finger (Source: http://jasminepark182.com/)

systems under its Land Warrior programme. A computer manages a daylight video electro-optic sight, a thermal sight mounted on the soldier’s M-4 carbine, a multichannel wireless communications system, a helmet-mounted display system and lightweight body armour. From the helmet-mounted display, a soldier can view his environment through the sensors mounted on his rifle. Using GUI, he can switch to a zoom-able map, where he can plot his own position, determine the locations of his squad members and locate suspected and confirmed enemy positions. www.efymag.com

WEARABLE ELECTRONICS These positions are funnelled into the squad leader’s maps from intelligence sources like the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle. The computer also ties into the soldier’s communications system, from which he can read and send real-time text messages via a voice interface to other squad members and view still images from his rifle camera. As a result, Land Warrior-equipped soldiers are able to cover more ground with fewer men, see farther, shoot with greater accuracy and communicate more covertly. DARPA has also developed lightweight, low-cost electronic yarns that can be woven into a network of sensors, actuators, logic algorithms and power sources, and can be twisted and crumpled as any other clothing. These smart uniforms are an example of how the newest technologies are improving the efficiency, safety and power of the oldest weapons platform of all—the foot soldier. It can also relay GPS information, and the design includes Interceptor body armour, designed to stop small fragmentation munitions.

Transforming healthcare Wearable technology will enable surgeons to monitor a patient’s vital parameters and react to variations at the same time—without ever having to lose sight of the procedure or the patient. Hence, doctors will have all the key information and facts, handsfree, in split seconds, when they need it most, say in the operation theatre. Google Glass is a wearable technology device that has a tiny prism on the right side to display information by means of a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection to the MyGlass app on Android and even iOS devices. Researchers from Philips, in collaboration with Accenture Technology, have been experimenting to discover the possible uses of Google Glass in healthcare since it allows doctors to ‘virtually’ be in two places simultaneously, thus making patient care so much more efficient. Imagine a surgeon or nurse attending to a patient and carrying out a procedure that needs both hands. Suddenly 24

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Rewalk exoskeleton: Wearable robotic legs (Source: http://www.glorysurgery.com/)

The MindMesh, an EEG-based ‘thinking cap’ (Source: http://www.interaction-design.org/)

an alarm is sounded in the next room, but the doctor does not have to immediately abandon the current procedure. He communicates with the patient monitoring data system that has sent the alert and then takes a call if what’s happening in the adjoining room can wait or needs immediate action. The other area where wearable computing is transforming healthcare is sensors-based tools. These are generally made up of gold conductive lines and ultra-thin sheets of silicon, and can transmit electric signals to the skin. Sensor-based tools enable doctors to feel the pulse rate, pressure and other vital signs more accurately, resulting in a more precise surgery. This novel tool is based on three basic ideas: 1. Using a special process, thinner flexible silicon can be developed which is more elastic 2. Semiconductor devices and arrays of the micro materials can be printed instead of being forged 3. Good flexibility can be provided by stretchable interconnects that connect arrays about 200 micrometres apart. This results in ‘flexible electronics’ and is behind monitoring devices that include LED and photo sensors as well as components. These sensors are so powerful that they can identify if there is a disease or not, and the intensity,

from samples of blood, urine, etc itself, without the requirement of any lab equipment. These sensors can be put on catheters to sense heart conditions in real-time basis, sewn into gloves so that surgeons can use their fingers as sensing instruments during surgery and even be placed on body parts, such as arms, like a bandage. This new technology could yield surgical robots that can network with their environs via touch. Hence we are moving towards incorporation of multifunctional silicon semiconductor device technologies in the shape of soft, 3D, form-fitting skins, apt for wearing not only on the fingertips but also other body parts as well. For example, a device could encase the complete 3D surface of the heart to facilitate different sensing and stimulating functions, thus allowing advanced surgical and diagnostic possibilities.

The powerful powered exoskeleton In the movie Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 2, Batman puts on a powered exoskeleton for his combat with Superman. This enables him to lift the Batmobile easily with one hand and fight on equal terms with Superman. A powered exoskeleton is a mobile machine and also goes by the name of powered armour, exoframe, www.efymag.com

WEARABLE ELECTRONICS or exosuit. It basically consists of an outer framework which is put on like a dress, and a powered system of motors or hydraulics contribute some or complete energy for limb movement. Since it very much resembles the external skeleton that supports and protects bodies of insects and other animals, it has earned the name exoskeleton. The main purpose of a powered exoskeleton is to impart more strength and fortitude to the wearer. These machines are mostly used in Defence to aid soldiers lug heavy items and sometimes more than that. The US Army is in process of creating an Iron Man-like suit that imparts superhuman strength to the user. This exoskeleton is called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) and will have strata of smart materials built-in with sensors as well as a wearable computer very much like Google Glass. It can keep an eye on soldiers’ critical parameters and multiply the available strength using hydraulics. Powered exoskeletons also enable firemen and other rescue workers endure hazardous conditions. In the healthcare sector their application ranges from carrying out very accurate surgeries to enabling nurses to shift bulky patients. And then there are several other very important uses for people with disabilities and special needs. ReWalk is a commercial exoskeleton and a bionic walking assistance device that uses powered leg attachments to enable paraplegics to stand straight, walk and climb steps. The system is power-driven by a backpack battery and controlled by a simple wrist-mounted remote which detects and enhances the user’s movement. There are several challenges that need to be overcome before powered exoskeletons can become popular. One of the most potent issues is creation of a high yet compact power supply that is large enough to enable an exoskeleton to function for long periods without any external power source. Right now multiple industries have pooled in their expertise and are working in close collaboration with R&D www.efymag.com

organisations, government labs as well as academia to overcome the hurdles.

‘Wear’ do we go from here Today, we use corneal transplants to mend defective eyes. In the future, we may simply be able to insert artificial eyes with zoom capabilities, infrared sensors and night vision. We already have The MindMesh, an EEG (electro encephalo gram)-based ‘thinking cap’ that allows the user to hook different gadgets to their brain. For example, a blind person can plug in a camera and use it as an ‘eye.’ In time to come, wearable will evolve into ‘embeddable,’ which could be sensors placed under the skin or swallowed. Today, the Proteus smart pill is capable of communicating a text to a doctor or some well-wisher from within the body to convey that the medicine has been consumed. Some years from now, we are likely to have reached a stage wherein ingestible devices will be transmitting images from inside the human gastrointestinal tract to help doctors diagnose the cause and bring down the need for surgery and other invasive procedures. The market potential for wearable computing stems from its diversity— from watches and fitness trackers to sensor-filled clothes and Google Glass. In December 2013, Google Glass informed us via its Google+ social network page that users of its Internet-linked eyewear will now be able to click photos merely by winking. Now there are speculations that soon you and I will be able to pay the taxi driver simply by winking at the cab meter, and what not. As per Credit Suisse, a leading financial services company, the market for wearable technology will rise tenfold to as high as 50 billion US dollars by 2016 or 2018. The next big revolution in information technology will not reside in your pocket or on your office table; you will be wearing it!  The author is currently associate professor at School of Management Sciences, Apeejay Stya University Electronics For You | July 2014

Technology Focus

Raspberry Pi: A Tinkerer’s Dream Come True The Raspberry Pi has spurred so much interest in last one year that we decided to uncover what makes it such a great catalyst for innovation sd card reader Write your OS to SD Card 1336744

camera expansion Using the CSI Connector

tft touch screen Using the DSI connector

hdmi-dvi-d adaptor 1428271 hdmi cable 1841275

micro usb power 5V from mains

hdmi/dvi TV or Monitor

sd card Class 2, 4, 6, 10* > 2 GB linux os Debian Squeeze Arch Linux Fedora ARM gpio It’s up to you

10/100 ethernet Connect the Raspberry Pi to the Internet

stereo audio 3.5 mm jack 3712242

jtag Test/Debug

usb peripherals Mouse / keyboard / 1826382 powered usb hub Expand your ports 8704341

tv Composite video to older TVs

These endless possibilities with a Raspberry Pi, is how every Tinkerer’s dream comes true!

Dilin Anand and Sneha Ambastha

he Raspberry Pi board, lovingly called ‘the Pi,’ is not just a developer board but also a small easy-to-work with computer at a rockbottom price. You can use it to connect peripheral devices, or even to control entire systems. It gives you the power to convert an idea into reality in a snap. The thought behind the creation of the Pi was to replace expensive computers from schools’ science labs. What happened, however, was that it evolved into a board now used by hobbyists, startups and researchers, and even in industrial applications! P. Chow Reddy, managing director, Interleaved Technologies informs that the Raspberry Pi initially faced a problem in its entry into industrial applications because of the ‘Made for 26

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Kids’ caption it carried. This later turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The fact that this board is so simple that even kids can work on it has led to it becoming the numero uno choice for rapidly prototyping ideas that keep popping up in innovators’ heads all over the world. P. Chow Reddy adds, “At the EFY launch of Raspberry Pi during the first Electronics Rocks session by Eben Upton through video conference, a few demos on applications were mind boggling. The most interesting demo over there was controlling of Raspberry Pi with wrist watch ez430 from Texas Instruments.”

Lets you squeeze out every bit of CPU power The Pi comes with a CPU that performs similarly to the Pentium II which was introduced in 1997. Its GPU performance is comparable to a XBOX

gaming console of 2001. One little hack that users of the Pi have been doing is to overclock the device from its normal 700MHz clock speed to speeds of 800MHz or, in some cases, even 1000MHz. This lets you run applications faster, by making use of the higher compute power now available on tap from the board. There have been users who have clocked the Pi at such high speeds that they needed to use an additional heat-sink and cooling to keep the CPU (a Broadcom system-on-chip used in mobile phones) from burning up.

Connect electronics lying around to your Pi This little ` 3500 computer can do a lot of the things your desktop PC can do for just a fraction of the price. Some of its hottest features include being able to work with peripherals that were previously the sole property of a traditional computer. USB keyboards, mice, HDMI monitors and projectors, music systems, memory cards—everything fits in. It even supports an RCA connector to be able to output video to your older TVs. It means you can use your Pi with most IT and consumer electronics devices without having to seriously re-engineer the board.

Some exciting enhancements From interfacing through inter-integrated circuit and display serial interface buses to slapping on IR receivers, sensors and camera boards, the Pi is built to handle a lot of additional hardware without breaking a sweat. Some of the things you can do with it are: Move your Pi. Lift things, open www.efymag.com

Technology Focus tion from Star Trek! See the Pi. The possibilities available for a Raspberry Pi that can observe visual images are amazing. While previous tinkerers and hackers used webcams to give the power of sight to their Pi, the Raspberry Engineer’s Choice (Courtesy: Poll conducted by EFY at different social networking sites) Pi Foundation decided to empower its board’s users with their in-house camera board. doors and windows, mess around with Thus the Rpi Camera module was robotics and sense temperature using born. With a 5-megapixel sensor on a the Gertboard (a board that plugs into board, the module is a much-awaited the Raspberry Pi and enables you to accessory that connects to the Pi via interface your Pi with other devices). a ribbon cable. While there are many If you want something more serious, other webcams available that can be check out the DoodleBorg—a threeconnected to the Raspberry Pi via USB, horse-power robot made available from the module launched by the foundaPiBorg. They have a lot of other addtion has the benefit of delivering excelon boards available for the Pi, mostly lent video and imaging quality. targeting robotic applications. Their Another interesting module is collection includes motion and direction the Pi NoIR version, which comes in sensors, motor controllers and an LED a black PCB and has the IR filter reboard that they call LEDBorg. Apart moved from the camera system. What from these cool accessories, PiBorg gets this means is that your Pi can now see brownie points from us, as their name is near-IR wavelengths, enabling it to an offshoot of the amazing Borg civilisa-

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mimic features of a security camera at a much lower cost. Hear the Pi. Raspberry Pi has certain limitations when it comes to audio. It has an audio peripheral connection which is limited in a number of ways, resulting in the problem that there is no way to capture audio using a Pi alone. Audio output is limited to two parts—analogue via on-board 3.5mm stereo output jack and digital only via on-board HDMI output. While HDMI provides the potential for high-quality audio rendering, it cannot be used to capture voice. The analogue option gives an output quality that is only decent at best, which cannot be compared with digital quality output. This creates a necessity for Audio Pi, which has many audio features. It extends the audio output analysis of a Raspberry Pi beyond the HDMI output through its on-board HD codex and processor. It has on-board 24-bit voice processor that users can use with their PC to record the audio events, or to build some kind of a karaoke system with the

Electronics For You | July 2014

Technology Focus built-in powerful audio codex engine. That is why many people now immediately think of using their Wolfson/ Raspberry Pi setup as a more flexible, lower-cost wireless media streaming system. Pi on Air. Low-power RF module is an addition to its existing wireless protocols. A member from DesignSpark. com—an online community sponsored by RS Components—says, “The RF module is a USB device to provide bidirectional link to any device supporting serial communications, like another Raspberry Pi. Frequency, bandwidth, power output and data rates can be configured to allow multiple devices to communicate with each other and to other RF devices without any interference. “The RF technology employed in Pi board enables significantly greater range (up to 300m depending on the terrain) and lower power consumption than other wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The host device can send and receive up to 180 bytes of data per packet to other hosts within range, making it particularly useful for ‘sense and control’ applications.”

What is the Raspberry Pi Foundation up to? The foundation recently announced Compute module designed for engineers so they can harness the complete power of the Raspberry Pi for embedded applications. It is quite small and comes in a 3.5cm×6.5cm size. The module is compact enough to be mounted on a SO-DIMM socket, which is found in most motherboards these days. Once this module is plugged into a motherboard it would act as a stand-alone system and could be used as an add-on card for any particular application that customers might be developing. A member from DesignSpark.com— an online community sponsored by RS Components—says, “Most of the times in final applications a designer may not need a complete Pi (complete Raspberry Pi board with all its connectors and interfaces), he may only need a slice of it. Compute module may be that slice, with 28

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Abhishek Rao, says, “One competitor, the RIoT board, mainly focuses on markets like mobile and tablet whereas BeagleBone is looked up to for more of industrial applications due to its ability to provide more number of Abhishek R. Rao P. Chow Reddy Pallab Maji I/O (input or output) functechnical marketing managing director, senior research fellow, manager, element14 Interleaved Technologies NIT Rourkela tionalities required for such applications. If we look at a very small form factor of SO-DIMM. the Raspberry Pi, its compatibility with “The good thing about the ComArduino enables more than 300 add-on pute module is that it retains the proshields which can be used to give this cessing power of BCM2885 SOC with board an edge over all the other boards 512MB RAM and on-board Flash storin terms of cost, and in terms of applicaage but outsources all its peripherals tions that can be realised.” to companion I/O board. This makes it A report by Mouser Electronics very easy for many Raspberry Pi users suggests that the Galileo, a product of to switch to Compute module for their Intel’s effort with Arduino, does not alfinal applications. low us deeper control of the processor. “The Compute module lets designThis report also suggests that ARM is ers explore full flexibility of BCM2885 the most popular processor with multiSOC because of the availability of more ple tools and licensed by many, which is GPIOs and interfaces. And the comnot the case with Intel’s products. panion I/O board provides access to But Michael Leonard in one of his processor interface in much better manreports at Makezine suggests that despite ner, giving liberty to designers to make built-in graphic support, BeagleBone custom systems with ease. Besides, the Black is not powerful enough to support compute module will encourage many 1080p. However, if we look at the facts designers to come up with a variety of and features of Raspberry Pi, it has an incompanion I/O boards having different tegrated graphical Video core processor, interfaces, peripherals and applicacomposite video output and a full-size tions.” HDMI connector. Its capability of HDMI Pallab Maji, senior research fellow, audio output and addition of Arduino NIT Rourkela says, “While we were compatible shields and components working on a robot project based on Pi, leaves no options for Michael Leonard we found that certain gesture-controlled but to support Raspberry Pi over others applications were required for which in a report by him. we had to connect an Arduino board to Pallab says, “I have an old monitor, Raspberry Pi for a better performance. and when I connect that monitor to BeaI think the Compute module is going gleBone, certain things need to be taken to bring many different in-built capacare of. Whenever I connect the Beagle bilities for the designing aspect, like the board to a VGA converter for a display increased number of interfacing options on the monitor, I do not meet with along with a better processing speed.” much success. Since Beagle board does not provide the necessary +5V power to Is Raspberry Pi the only the device connected to the HDMI port, one capable of fueling I have to provide an external power innovation? to the converter. Second, special cable needs to be considered as Beagle board There is great competition between the has a micro HDMI port whereas my different development boards available monitor has an HDMI port.”  today, and this forces us to question ourselves: Which development board Sneha Ambastha is a technical journalist at EFY and should be used and why? Dilin Anand is a senior assistant editor at EFY

Major contributors to this report

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Technology Focus

Mind-Reading Pets and Hijacking Planes: RPi Innovations Go Into Overdrive In the two years since its release, the Raspberry Pi has literally gone places—from reaching near-space in a balloon to crossing the Atlantic. Let us take a look at the latest slew of crazy innovations powered by this little board Dilin Anand

board designed to be used by students, the Raspberry Pi (RPi) ended up being the love affair for an entire hacker community—nerds and geeks with a penchant for tinkering with technology. While the previous article in this section looked at what the Pi itself has evolved into, this article looks to see if there is any similar maturity in the applications that it powers. Almost every project powered by the RPi has one thing in common. It very rarely uses high-tech components, yet the applications that come out of the lab are mind-boggling! Here are some examples: Your dog can talk. Imagine if your dog could talk to you, like we saw in the movie UP. Well, now dogs actually can. Aptly named, ‘No More Woof’ is a headset built by the research lab Nordic Society for Invention and Discovery. Perhaps one of the best examples of using existing technology in newer fields, this headset reads the dog’s mind using electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors. This product taps the minor fluctuations in brain waves as your dog thinks of you, love, food, squirrels and you again. The device comes with an EEG reader, a processing unit and brain-computer interface, all built into the headset, with its aim to further strengthen the connection between man and man’s best friend. 30

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A drone that can hijack drones

Your home can hear. Since your dog can already talk to you, getting your home to understand English should be easier than before. The numerous voice-recognition homeautomation systems currently in the market lack the soul with which Apple’s Siri responds. That is where the RPi comes in with Siri’s mind, in the form of SiriProxy. This is a combination of Siri’s soul in the body of an RPi—getting us that much closer to Hal 9000. Once your dog learns to speak, this could be the easiest way to take care of things around the house. Want to take out garbage? Ask your dog and he will pick up the bag, pass the voice-recognition security lock, ask your RPi to disable the garden’s sprinkler system and get rid of that garbage in the neighbour’s lawn.

Your drone can hijack drones. What could be worse than a drone that has the capability to hijack other drones? Well, one that could do it autonomously, without a human to control it. And that is exactly what the SkyJack does. Running on a Parrot AR.Drone quadcopter with the RPi on board, it can easily hack other Parrot drones nearby, hijacking their wireless connections and even taking over their flight pattern. If your Mumbai pizzeria drone did not deliver their pizza in 30 minutes, look to the sky and you might possibly see it flying behind a SkyJack.

Raspberry Pi gets professional Apart from all these wonderful hobbyist creations, did you know that the RPi also has its share of cool inwww.efymag.com

Technology Focus dustrial applications? Have a look at some of them: Test labs for electronics engineers. A web-enabled RPi and a programmable test and measurement device called the Red Pitaya have come together to create this awesome utility. The Red Pitaya is a portable, programmable, multifunctional test and measurement device. It serves as an oscilloscope, a function generator and a frequency and spectrum analyser, all in one go! The Red Pitaya is connected to a network as a web server, and users can connect to it by simply entering its IP address in the web browser. Interfacing with the RPi allows access to the Red Pitaya console. This application was started at KickStarter and is now shared in a step-by-step approach on DesignSpark.com community by one of their community members. Command and control microbrewery. The microbrewery business just got a whole lot easier and productive with the RPi-powered brew environment control. It does away with the fancy and expensive equipment that you traditionally need, and instead allows you to brew your first batch of beer with a couple of sensors and a web-enabled RPi. This little set-up allows the brewer to connect to his brewing room from anywhere in the world through the Internet and monitor the temperature and humidity, both of which are very essential to ensure that the beer is drinkable. Pi joins the Army. There seem to be an increasing number of RPi’s featuring in military applications. Reddy explains, “The developer has taken proper care in the PCB design and could not observe any emissions from the traces too. This suggests that the devices and components used on this board are of industrial grade, can sustain extreme conditions and thus can be used for defense applications. The catch here is that boards other than the Raspberry Pi do not pass this test, and so engineers can start using the Raspberry Pi in their applications confidently. ” One person from LiveATC has 32

July 2014 | Electronics For You

built an RPi-powered military mode-S logger that automatically decodes mode-S messages through an RTL-SDR dongle using a RPi. Since there are hundreds of messages every second, the RPi takes the brunt of the computing power needed to sift through those messages and log only the new ones to the database. A lot more serious industrial applications can BrewPi brewing beer be expected soon with the launch of the modular RPi Compute innovation is definitely a catch. Named Module, which specifically targets inthe FishPi, it communicates through dustrial applications. satellite and is able to make navigational and environmental measureRPi projects breaking ments and observations. Sitting within R&D ground an unmanned marine surface vessel is the RPi built to cross the Atlantic The RPi’s biggest achievement is Ocean while taking scientific measureconnected to its roots. Being a board ments. Additionally, a drone project primarily designed for kids to learn uses the RPi as its sole navigational with, it inherently becomes the number computer to ensure that the mission is one choice for interdisciplinary engisuccessful. neers who have very little idea about Seeking crabs. David Soriano, an electronics. What does this mean? It associate professor of chemistry at the means, scientists and researchers opt University of Pittsburgh-Bradford, has for the RPi whenever they need to been using an RPi-controlled webcam tinker with electronics. to monitor fiddler crabs. As part of Going Pi high. The AirPi is an the research project, these are being automatic air-quality and weatheroffered thermal polypeptides, rich monitoring device capable of monitorin the amino-acid tyrosine. Tyrosine ing information about temperature, starts the pathway to melanin pigment humidity, air pressure, light levels, production in the crab, and David is UV levels, carbon monoxide, nitrogen watching for colour changes that result dioxide and smoke level through the from it. Internet. Chasing high-altitude balPi for social sciences. In the Aixloons is a sport for those sending RPi Marseille Université in France, SebasGPS-enabled gear to the outer limits of tiaan Mathôt, from the Laboratoire de the Earth’s atmosphere. Dave Akerman Psychologie Cognitive, has been runoutfitted his balloon’s payload with ning his graphical experiment builder, a custom RPi computer that sported OpenSesame, on RPi. OpenSesame a GPS radio, a webcam and various is a graphical, open-source experisensors and trackers. His latest set of ment builder for the social sciences, flights was done at St Alban’s School which allows you to build complex in Ireland on the 7th of June 2014. It experiments with minimum effort. The flew high with trackers ALBANFLOAT plug-in framework and Python scriptwith live image downloads from the ing allow you to incorporate external sky, and ALBANDATA with a number devices, such as eye trackers, response of environmental trackers. boxes and parallel port devices, into Life of Pi. A floating research your experiment.  station that is based on top of an autonomous vehicle for long-term dataThe author is a senior assistant editor at EFY logging operations, this RPi-powered www.efymag.com

MANUFACTURE

Part 1 of 2

Flexible Electronics: The Next Ubiquitous Platform Just as the IC replaced discrete circuit board electronics, flexible electronics will almost inevitably, by virtue of the ever-demanding end-user, supersede solid-state ICs. So let us find out a bit more about flexible electronics, the materials required for their fabrication, the fabrication processes and the applications K. MOHAN KUMAR

lexible electronics is lightweight, rugged, bendable, roll-able, portable and potentially foldable. Ever-evolving advances in thin-film materials and devices have fuelled many of the developments in the field of flexible electronics. These advances have been complemented with the development of new integration processes, enabling wafer-scale processes to be combined with flexible substrates. Diodes and transistors are two of the most common active thin-film devices used in digital and analogue circuits. While they have been successfully used in flexible platforms, their performance and applicability is limited by requirement of exotic device architectures and novel materials. In order to achieve the goal of full-system integration in next-generation flexible systems, a paradigm shift in design and fabrication is necessary. There are many potential applications of flexible electronics in healthcare, automotive, human–machine interfaces, mobile communications and computing platforms, and embedded systems in both living and hostile environments. Besides, there are marketspecific applications, such as humanmachine interactivity, energy storage and generation, mobile communications and networking, touching the application of flexible electronics on ubiquitous computing platforms throughout. Flexibility in electronic materials is very attractive for medical and bio34

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engineering. Living organisms are intrinsically flexible and malleable. Thus, flexibility is a necessity for successful integration of electronics in biological systems. Further, in order to carry out daily tasks, flexibility is less likely to hinder over stiffness.

Materials The fundamental properties of thinfilm materials, as well as the quality of various device interfaces, give rise to inherent limitations in device performance. Each element of the flex circuit must be able to consistently meet the demands placed upon it for the life of the product. In addition, the material must work reliably in concert with the Single-sided flex Back-bared flex

Double-sided flex

Multilayer flex

Rigid flex

Sculptured flex Polymer film Adhesive

Copper Laminate

Fig. 1: Examples of basic and selected flexible circuit construction COVERLAY

BASE MATERIAL

other elements of the circuit to assure ease of manufacture and reliability. The materials and technologies behind flexible substrates are an important consideration for flexible electronics. Perhaps two of the main flexible substrate candidates are plastic and stainless steel. Although stainless steel is incompatible with standard deposition temperatures, it results in a substantially heavier system due to its higher mass density—a critical consideration for portable flexible technologies. Also, stainless steel is not particularly deformable, and is thus unsuitable, in particular, for wearable electronics. Plastic substrates are lighter and deformable alternatives. Substrates need to be solventresistant, so that standard optical photolithography process can be used. Additional substrate requirements include low cost (allowing large area, mass production) and moisture resistance. Table I compares some of the more critical properties of some key plastic substrates. One of the main challenges facing plastic as a next-generation substrate is the substantially reduced processing temperature window. The maximum fabrication temperature is related to the glass-transition temperature above which inelastic deformation takes place and the substrate no longer retains its POLYIMIDE ADHESIVE COPPER ADHESIVE POLYIMIDE

Fig. 2: Single-sided flex circuit www.efymag.com

MANUFACTURE original dimension, which is essential for photolithography. As an example, polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) satisfies all requirements and tolerates temperatures as high as 160oC. More recently, a number of electronic devices and circuits have been demonstrated, utilising paper as a substrate and/or as a gate dielectric. Such approaches lead to electronic devices with the potential for en masse integration at low cost, which are also disposable and fully recyclable.

Base material A polymer film provides the foundation as a base material for flexible electronics. Under normal circumstances, the flex circuit base material provides most primary physical and electrical properties of the flexible circuit. In the case of adhesive-less circuit constructions, the base material provides all of the characteristic properties. While a wide range of thickness is possible, most flexible films are provided in a narrow range of relatively thin dimensions from 12µm to 125µm (1/2 mil to 5 mils). But thinner and thicker materials are possible. Thinner materials are, of course, more flexible. For most materials, stiffness increase is proportional to the cube of thickness. This means that, if the thickness is doubled, the material becomes eight times stiffer and will only deflect 1/8 as much under the same load. There are a number of materials used as base films, including polyester (PET), polyimide (PI), polyethylene naphthalene (PEN) and polyetherimide (PEI). These, along with various fluropolymers (FEPs) and copolymers polyimide films, are most prevalent owing to their advantageous electrical, mechanical, chemical and thermal properties.

Bonding adhesive Adhesives are used as the bonding medium for creating a laminate. When it comes to temperature resistance, the adhesive is also typically a performance-limiting element of a laminate, especially when polyimide is the base 36

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ness selection is typically a function of the application.

Metal foil Coverlay

Adhesive

Contact

Coverlay

Fig. 3: Sculptured flex circuit

A metal foil is most commonly used as the conductive element of a flexible laminate. A metal foil is the material from which the circuit paths are normally etched. Copper’s excellent balance of cost and physical and electrical performance attributes make it an excellent choice. POLYIMIDE ADHESIVE PLATED COPPER COPPER PAD ADHESIVE POLYIMIDE ADHESIVE COPPER PAD PLATED COPPER ADHESIVE POLYIMIDE

COVERLAY

BASE MATERIAL

COVERLAY

Fig. 4: Double-sided flex circuits Coverlay Adhesive Copper Adhesive Polyimide Base Adhesive Copper Adhesive Coverlay Adhesive Copper Adhesive Polyimide Base Adhesive Copper Adhesive Coverlay

Fig. 5: Multilayer flex circuits

Solder mask Copper Pre-preg FR-4 Pre-preg Polyimide Coverlay Adhesive Copper Adhesive Polyimide Base Adhesive Copper Adhesive Polyimide Coverlay Pre-preg FR-4 Pre-preg Copper Solder mask

}

} }

Rigid

Flex

Rigid

Fig. 6: Standard stack-up of a 4-layer rigid-flex circuit

material. Because of the earlier difficulties associated with polyimide adhesives, many polyimide flex circuits presently employ adhesive systems of different polymer families. However, some newer thermoplastic polyimide adhesives are making important inroads. As with the base films, adhesives come in different thicknesses. Thick-

There are actually many different types of copper foil. In certain nonstandard cases, the circuit manufacturer may be called upon to create a specialty laminate by using a specified alternative metal foil, such as a special copper alloy or other metal foil in the construction.

Types of flexible circuits There are a few basic constructions of www.efymag.com

MANUFACTURE

Start with PET film

Step 1: Print Conductor

Some important features of singlesided flex are: 1. Very thin construction, under 0.1mm-0.2mm (0.004-0.008 inch) 2. One conductor layer 3. Reverse-bared or back-bared pads 4. Supported and unsupported finger areas

Back-bared flex circuits Step 2: Print dielectric

Step 3: Print additional multilayers

Fig. 7: Construction of polymer thick-film flex circuit

flexible circuits, but there is significant variation between the different types in terms of their construction. Following is a review of the most common types of flexible circuit constructions. Flexible circuits have a rich history and are extremely diverse in their nature. This diversity opens them to use in a wide range of applications, with new applications being developed on a regular basis. It is hard to predict where the technology will go next. However, roll-toroll processing is likely to play an important part. Flexible electronics opens the door to foldaway smartphone displays, solar cells on a roll of plastic and advanced medical devices—if we can figure out how to make them.

Single-sided flex circuits A single-layer flex circuit is the most basic and consists of a flexible polyimide film laminated to a thin sheet of copper. The copper layer is then chemically etched to produce a circuit pattern specific to your design requirements. A polyimide cover lay is then added for insulation and environmental protection of the circuit. A single-sided flex is used for: 1. Dynamic flexing applications 2. Unusual folding and forming applications 3. Installation/service applications/repair 4. When there are limitations on space/thickness 38

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Double access flex, also known as back-bared flex, are flexible circuits having a single conductor layer but they allow access to selected features of the conductor pattern from both sides. While this type of circuit has certain benefits, the specialised processing requirements for accessing the features limit its use. A dual-access flex circuit is simply a single-sided flex circuit that is manufactured such that its conductive material can be accessed from both sides of the circuit. Flexible Circuit is a front runner in this technology, which utilises specialised lasers and processing to skive open the polyimide layer of the base material to allow dual access to the single copper layer. While this type of circuit has certain benefits, the specialised processing requirements for accessing the features limit its use. These flex circuits find application in such fields as: 1. Medical 2. Environmental 3. Test and Measurement 4. Automotive and other general electronic devices

Sculptured flex circuits Sculptured flex circuits are a novel subset of normal flexible circuit structures. Their manufacturing process involves a special flex circuit multi-step etching method to produce a flexible circuit having finished copper conductors whose thickness differs at various places along their length. The conductors are generally thin in flexible areas and thick at interconnection points. Sculptured circuit technology enables the thickness of the copper conductors to vary at any point on the circuit. In addition, selective ap-

plication of the supporting dielectric enables integral exposed fingers to be produced. All holes are etched, providing the flexibility to create preciselylocated apertures of any shape or size at any position on the circuit. Sculptured circuits are in use across a wide spectrum of applications from motor sports to missiles. Sculptured circuits, when combined with flexible or rigid circuits, provide an extremely cost-effective solution to complex interconnect problems by reducing cost, simplifying assembly and increasing reliability. Sculptured flex circuits offer many benefits, including robust contact areas, nil or low tooling cost, reliability and cost-effectiveness. Their applications include power circuits and custom-built circuits.

Double-sided flex circuits Double-sided flex circuits are flex circuits having two conductor layers. These can be fabricated with or without plated-through holes, though the plated-through-hole variation is much more common. When constructed without plated-through holes, the connection features are accessed from one side only, and the circuit is called Type V (5), according to military specifications. It is not a common practice but it is an option. Because of the plated-through hole, terminations for electronic components are provided for on both sides of the circuit, thus allowing components to be placed on either side. Depending on design requirements, double-sided flex circuits can be fabricated with protective cover layers on one, both or neither side of the completed circuit. Generally, these are produced with the protective layer on both sides. One major advantage of this type of substrate is that, it allows crossover connections to be made very easily. Many single-sided circuits are built on a double-sided substrate, just because they have one or two crossover connections. An example of this use is the circuit connecting a mouse pad to the motherboard of a laptop. All connecwww.efymag.com

MANUFACTURE tions on that circuit are located on only one side of the substrate, except a very small crossover connection which uses the second side of the substrate. Some situations where double-sided flex is used are: 1. When circuit density and layout cannot be routed on a single layer 2. Ground and power plane applications 3. For shielding applications 4. For dense surface-mount assembly Salient features of the doublesided flex are: 1. Component assembly available on both sides 2. Two conductive layers 3. Fingers are an integral part of the conductor patterns

Multilayer flex circuits

(a) Mask etching

(a) Pre-pattern creation

Resist

Substrate Resist

Substrate (b) Polymer spin-coating

Substrate (b) Line creation

Polymer

Resist

Polymer lines

Substrate (c) Plasma etching and dissolve resist

Substrate (d) Lift-off

(d) Lift-off

Substrate (e) TFT fabrication Gate Dielectric Semiconductor

(e) TFT fabrication Gate

Source Drain Substrate (I)

(II)

aerospace, medical, and test and measurement.

Rigid-flex circuits Rigid-flex circuits are a hybrid construction with rigid and flexible substrates which are laminated together into a single structure. Rigid-flex circuits should not be confused with rigidised flex constructions that are simply flex circuits to which a stiffener is attached to support the weight of the electronic components locally. A rigidised or stiffened flex circuit can have one or more conductor layers. Thus, while the two terms may sound similar, they represent products that are quite different. The layers of a rigid flex are also normally electrically interconnected by means of plated-through holes. Over the years, rigid-flex circuits have enjoyed tremendous popularity among military product designers. However, the technology has found increased use in commercial products. While often considered a specialty product for low-volume applications because of the challenges, rigid-flex boards are normally multilayer structures, but two-metal-layer constructions are also sometimes used. Benefits of rigid-flex circuits include: 1. Use of third dimension creates an optimal solution for applications with extreme space limitations 2. Replace bulky wire harnesses with a compact, yet robust design 3. Flexible assemblies reduce connectors as well as labour, yield, transmission and reliability issues 4. These hybrid circuits can have up to sixteen layers

8: Fabrication of short-channel transistors using spinFlex circuits having three or more Fig. coating-induced edge effect (I, side view) and the specific layers of conductors are known as process used for TFT fabrication (II, top view) multilayer flex circuits. Commonly, the layers are interconnected (a) Imprint the polymer resist Stamp by means of plated-through holes, Imprinting resist though this is not a requirement Buffer resist Conductor by definition; it is possible to Substrate provide openings to access lower (b) Dry and wet etching circuit level features. The layers of a multilayer flex circuit may or may not be (c) Dry etching Source Drain continuously laminated together Bank throughout the construction, with the obvious exception of the areas (d) Semiconductor printing Semiconductor occupied by plated-through holes. The practice of discontinuous lamination is common in cases where (e) Insulator coating and gate printing maximum flexibility is required. Gate Dielectrics This is accomplished by leaving unbounded the areas where flexing (f) Via definition by dry etching or bending is to occur. Via Multilayer flex circuits are used when circuit density and layout cannot be routed on a sin- Fig. 9: TFT fabrication process by self-aligned, one-step, Polymer thick-film multilayered patterning gle layer, and for: flex circuits 1. Ground and power plane 6. Controlled impedance with applications Polymer thick-film (PTF) flex circuits shielding 2. Shielding applications are true printed circuits wherein the Multilayer flex circuits are used in 3. Dense surface-mount assembly conductors are printed onto a polymer high-density SMT electronic applica4. Increased circuit density base film. They are typically singletions, and such sectors as automotive, 5. EMI/RFI shielding conductor-layer structures. However, www.efymag.com

Electronics For You | July 2014

MANUFACTURE two or more metal layers can be printed sequentially, with insulating layers printed between printed conductor layers. While lower in conductivity, PTF circuits have successfully served in a wide range of low-power applications at slightly higher voltages. Keyboards are a common application, but there is a wide range of potential uses for this cost-effective approach to flex circuit manufacture. PTF technology consists of a simple set of basic building block materials, such as substrate, conductive inks, dielectrics, conductive adhesives and nonconductive adhesives/encapsulants. Underfills, required for flip chips, are commonly classified as packaging materials, but they are polymer-based systems that are a close kind of PTF. Key capabilities of polymer thickfilm flex circuits are: 1. Single-layer or double-layer screen through-hole circuitry 2. Low-cost, high-volume, roll-toroll fabrication technology 3. Low-cost, screen-printed ink surface dielectrics 4. Economical choice for cost-sensitive applications

Integration process Fabrication methods have an important effect on the characteristics, cost and stability. For example, instead of using a high-mobility material to achieve high device transconductance, it is possible to adjust the architecture. Employing short channel lengths is one way to achieve this. In conventional planar TFTs, the channel length is ultimately limited by the diffraction limit in the photolithography process. Vertical transistors, where the channel length is set by the thickness of the semiconductor, have been demonstrated to achieve submicrometer channel lengths, paving the way for high-transconductance devices using conventional materials such as a-Si. Alternative approaches have also been developed to fabricate organic submicrometer TFTs uniformly over 40

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large areas. One such Comparison of Plastic Substrates for approach is based Thin-Film Deposition on a novel edge efProperties fect that is induced Max Dep. Material by spin-coating a Temp. °C Polymide (Kapton) Orange colour; high thermal expanpolymer onto a pre- 250 sion coefficient; good chemical patterned structure, resistance; expensive; high moisture as shown in Fig. 8. absorption Polymer TFTs, with 240 Polyetheretherktone Amber; good chemical resistance; channel widths as (PEEK) expensive; low moisture absorption narrow as 400nm, can 190 Polyethersulphone Clear; good dimensional stabilbe fabricated by this (PES) ity; expensive; moderate moisture method. absorption One key advan- 180 Polyetherimide (PEI) Strong; brittle; hazy colour; expensive tage of this method 160 Polyethylene Clear; moderate CTE; good chemiis that, it facilitates Napthalate (PEN) cal resistance; inexpensive; moderate moisture absorption the use of low-resolution patterning 120 Polyethylene Clear; moderate CTE; good chemiterephthalate (PET) cal resistance; inexpensive; modertechniques, such as ate moisture absorption shadow masking, to create highly repro- Note: CTE denotes the coefficient of thermal expansion. TMax denotes ducible submicrom- a maximum deposition temperature eter features, thereby obviating more conventional, timepatterning and mask alignment, as consuming lithographic processes. shown in Fig. 9. Both p- and n-type This, combined with inkjet printing, organic TFTs have been demonstrated provides an exciting opportunity to using this method. apply on-demand material deposition In the case of n-type TFTs, Li et al and desktop-programmable wiring of reported that 20 transistors were fabad hoc patterns. The latter has already ricated without process optimisation, been demonstrated for CNT and with a yield of 100% and a variation in graphene-based inks.Though rather mobility and on/off current ratio of a exotic, such innovative fabrication factor of 3 and 5, respectively. All the techniques will facilitate the technoloused techniques (imprinting, wet/dry gies’ widespread usage for fabrication etching and inkjet printing) are already of TFT with high transconductance. available in roll-to-roll processes. The Any manufacturable device has foldemonstrated high-resolution features, lowing essential characteristics: mask-alignment-free process and 1. Superior and prespecified perforcompatibility to roll-to-roll fabrication mance, with reproducibility, uniformshow that these and similar techniques ity and reliability are commercially attractive, inexpen2. High yield to acceptable tolersive and ready to use. It is expected ance that these methods can be extended to 3. Simulations exist for both reverse the level of integrated complementary engineering during development and metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) right-first-time design circuit fabrication. Some novel processes have been Part 2 of the article, in next isdeveloped to fabricate solution-prosue, will cover some very interesting cessable TFTs with one-step selfaspects of the application of flexible aligned dimensions in all functional electronics in various sectors. layers. The TFT-channel, semiconductTo be concluded next month ing materials and effective gate dimenThe author is a final year student of KMIT afsion were controlled by a one-step imflicted to JNTUH. This article is based on a paper print process and subsequent pattern he prepared for a technical seminar on flexible transfer, without the need for multiple electronics www.efymag.com

Telecom Technology

New Frontiers of UAV Civilian Applications Applications for unmanned aerial vehicles continue to grow by leaps and bounds, especially when they involve difficult tasks or dangerous situations B.S. SASTRY AND B. RAMANA

s part of the push to increase uses of civilian drones, nearly 50 companies are developing some 150 different systems, ranging from miniature models to those with wingspans comparable to airliners. Some of the manufacturers are offering do-it-yourself unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like kit planes.

Present applications Civilian uses ranging from disaster rescue missions, wildlife monitoring and firefighting are some of the many applications. The idea of drones quickly transporting life-saving parcels such as blood samples and medicines even in the areas where roads and infrastructure are poor should be especially attractive to Indian conditions. Forest surveys conducted by a camera-equipped drone provide researchers with extensive landscape information in the form of 3D interactive maps. Ultimately, such maps will be publicly accessible via open-source computer vision software. For nuclear decommissioning or radio contamination cleanup, UAVs with radiation detection and mapping software are being used.

Configuration of different types of UAVs

fan for propulsion, vertical lift/landing and control. High aspect ratio (narrow) wings allow for 10 hours endurance like sail-plane flight efficiency.

Flying Elephant UAV The Flying Elephant will take off from any place carrying up to a ton of cargo, fly silently and deposit the cargo wherever required. It will then independently take-off and fly to the next satisfied unit. The Jumbo UAVs can be used for military and civilian applications. Miniature wireless sensors of the

(Courtesy: Boeing)

above UAV are under evaluation in the laboratory.

Propulsion systems The propulsion systems for UAVs depend on their payload, endurance and mission. Also, UAVs require reliable propulsion systems in order to achieve extended flight times with minimal quantities of fuel. Some of the propulsion systems are briefly described below. Diesel and petrol engines. Both diesel and petrol engines are available of different cubic centimetres for compact systems. These are equipped with electronic controller, the sensors for the crankshaft position and inlet and cylinder head temperature, an ignition module, injector, fuel pressure accumulator and a fuel pump. Electronic fuel injection system, delivers an optimum fuel mix at all stages of flight, even for miniature aircraft. Wankel engines. Because of the small size, weight, very low vibration and high power-to-weight ratio, Wankel engines are increasingly being used in UAV aircraft. The engine is approximately one third of the size and weight of a piston engine of equivalent

The first picture on column two shows vertical take-off and landing UAV that combines the ability to hover with high-speed horizontal flight. Testing will result in fully autonomous operations. Originally designed for commercial mapping operations, the slim vehicle uses a shrouded ducted 42

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Telecom Technology

power output, which offers significant advantages for UAV aircraft. Additionally, the engine rotors cannot seize, since rotor casings expand more than the rotors; the engine is not susceptible to shock-cooling during descent of the UAV. Electric and fuel cells. Solar-electric UAVs hold potential for unlimited flight and many of the small UAVs are equipped with these propulsion systems. Electric UAVs kept aloft indefinitely by laser power beaming technology represent another proposed propulsion solution for endurance. The electric fuel cell propulsion system for UAV applications has low noise and signature, while taking advantage of hydrogen, a high-energy fuel. Fuel cells create an electrical current when they convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and heat. The fuel cell has about four times the efficiency of a comparable internal combustion engine and the system provides seven times the energy in the equivalent weight of batteries.

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sive and less susceptible to losing power compared to conventional satellites. Hydrogen-fuelled drones that can stay aloft for up to four or more days at a time, are currently being tested as a platform for telecommunications payloads. It is expected that telecom-equipped drones could revolutionise the wireless market.

Control and guidance of UAVs The control and guidance of these small unmanned aircraft are certainly impressive. Wireless miniature sensors are being used extensively. A variety of electronic subsystems have been specially developed for UAVs such as the radios that communicate video and data signals back to a base camp. An operator on the ground, with only a laptop computer and tactical radio, could command what was described as a ‘swarm’ of UAVs without using a ground-control station. Artificial intelligence is advancing to the point where the aircraft are easily capable of taking off, landing and flying themselves. Then they simply have to be instructed as to their mission. Common-airborne sense and avoid technology is being incorporated into UAVs that are used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Future applications

Conclusion

The UAV market, whether for commercial, industrial or military customers, is growing rapidly and is expected to expand for several years to come. These are examples of the development of matternet where computerpowered drones carry objects much like Internet carries data. In future, drones will power cell phones and television services. Functioning as pseudo-satellites, UAVs could be deployed to a specific location and ‘stay there for days.’ The benefits of these satellites are they are less expen-

Taking advantage of improvements in materials, structures, batteries and electric motors, as well as microprocessor advances, many companies are coming up with innovative configurations of UAVs. The knowledge and skill levels of system integration of multidisciplinary technologies are available indigenously. It is time for the Indian industry to take advantage of these skills.  B.S. Sastry is retired project director LCA, ex-consultant to IT firms for automotive and aerospace division and B. Ramana is an aerospace engineer www.efymag.com

information Technology

Software Defined Networking Movement of distributed data centres to clouds has been the major driver towards the software-defined networks. The cloud service providers want their networks to be flexible and extensible Ahzam Ali

oftware defined networking (SDN) is an innovative approach to network design and implementing functionality in the network. It is based on the ability to dynamically modify the behaviour of network components. SDN uses software components that can be customised and configured in a deployment, independent of the hardware, to enable networked systems to expand data flow control. SDN is targeted towards creating an abstraction to the low-level network and presenting a unifiedservice-facing view of the network. It makes networks more flexible, dynamic and cost-efficient, yet simplifies operational complexity. SDN is next-generation networking that provides benefits like network and service customisability, configurability, improved operations, with increased performance. There are several different approaches to SDN and its practical implementation.

What’s driving SDN A fast change in the way the Internet is used, and the way large industry players want to use the network and data, has led to the larger and powerful data centres. The network capacity of traditional networking equipment has grown many folds, and there is a strong push towards keeping everything in the cloud and processing as much as possible within the cloud. This is driving the demand for modern-day high-performance data centres. Here are some of the changes in the usage of networks and how 46

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and auditing requirements. Business reorganisation, consolidation and mergers require IT Switches Switches L2 Switches for the business changes overnight. Providing self-service provisioning, Switches whether in a private or public cloud, requires elastic scaling of computing, storage and network Fig. 1: Physical topology resources. ‘Big data’ means more bandwidth. Handling today’s ‘big data’ or mega datasets requires Tenant LB Internet FW Network massive parallel proA cessing on thousands of servers, all of which need direct connections Fig. 2: Service chaining to each other. The rise of mega datasets is fuelling constant demand for additional they demand the creation of highnetwork capacity in the data centres. performing, scalable and adaptable Operators of hyper-scale data-centre data centres: networks face the daunting task of Changing traffic patterns. Today’s scaling the network to unimaginable applications access different databases size, maintaining any-to-any connecand servers, creating a flood of mativity and still keeping the cost of the chine-to-machine traffic before the data implementation low. is returned back to end user. Users are Movement of distributed data moving towards accessing content centres to clouds has been the major from different kinds of devices and the driver towards the software-defined expectation is that the network would networks. The cloud service providers adapt to the device specifications and want their networks to be flexible and capabilities. extensible. The application of SDN lies Rise of cloud services. The large in a data-centre environment, where enterprises have adopted the cloud the network services are fluid and are services, both private and public, able to move from one hardware to resulting in an exponential growth of another in the network. There is a need the service. Businesses are looking for to create an instance of service dynamithe agility to access applications, incally and then destroy the instance frastructure and other IT resources on when not in use. demand, and as and what they need. SDN also solves the use case for The services rendered by cloud demulti-tenancy environment. That mand enhanced security, compliance Edge router

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information Technology is, if I am a data centre serOpenStack vice provider, and I provide orchestrator distributed data centre soluOpenflow tion to multiple customers, I should be able to connect the SDN controller Virtual machines different data centres securely for my customers. And I should be able to do this dynamically in case of changes required in the service or configuration. In each of these use cases multiple tenants in Network forwarding components a data centre share the same physical resources (physical Hypervisors servers, physical storage and physical network). Each ten- Fig. 3: Network forwarding components ant is assigned its own logical resources (virtual machines, virtual every vendor has a different approach storage and virtual networks). These towards it. Some organisations are logical resources are isolated from trying to build standards around the each other. SDN. SDN primarily helps us in the folOne of the important aspects of lowing two ways: SDN is to keep different components 1. Cloud networking. Helps generin the network physically separate ate private clouds for enterprises or and yet make them work together in service providers, builds and provides cohesion. For example, if we take a network infrastructure as a service high-performance integrated-service (IaaS) and helps build virtual private gateway, it is likely to have a firewall, clouds (VPCs) for cloud service proIDP/IDS, routing and switching sysviders (also known as MSP). tem, all built into one box. When we 2. Network function virtualisation take all these services to an SDN, we (NFV) in service-provider networks. have different software components This provides value-added services doing the firewall, IDP routing and (VAS) for service-provider edge switching. Also, in SDN only the networks, such as business-edge netforwarding of the actual connectivworks, broadband-subscriber-manageity has to be provided by a dedicated ment edge networks and mobile-edge physical hardware. All these differnetworks. ent components are controlled by a SDN also helps in moving a nummaster component called the SDN ber of network services to generalcontroller. purpose hardware, eliminating the This brings in a challenge to need for dedicated hardware for these making sure that all these different applications. Examples of such applicacomponents work together and are tions are intrusion detection or prevencontrollable by a controller in the tions systems (IDS/IPS), deep packet network. This requires a protocol to inspection (DPI), caching and wide be developed for the communication area network (WAN) optimisation in among the different components in an virtual machines instead of on physical SDN network. hardware appliances. To understand the very-high-level architecture of the SDN network please Implementation see Fig. 3. Open Network Foundation (ONF) In its present state the structure of (https://www.opennetworking.org) is SDN is not very well defined. It looks a non-profit industry consortium that like every vender understands the is leading the advancement of SDN problem they are trying to solve, but 48

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Hypervisors

and standardising critical elements of the SDN architecture, such as the OpenFlow protocol which structures communication between the control and data planes of supported network devices. OpenFlow is the first standard interface designed specifically for SDN, providing high-performance, granular traffic control across multiple vendors’ network devices.

Network management

One of the most important aspects of SDN is seamless network management. The SDN aims at delivering an application as a whole, rather than each network service. The high-level network applications are formed with well-orchestrated configuration of different network services. This demands an implementation of a very powerful and open network management system (NMS). An NMS which translates a high-level business policy into a configuration of each of the different service layers, including routing, switching, security and virtual machine provisioning, is the core of an SDN network. Along with providing easy configurability it should also provide a clear visibility in the network and highlight problems, if any.

Standards ONF is the main organisation driving the standardisation effort of the SDN. It mainly deals with defining the protocols and standardising the way services should be provided in a network. The main idea is to keep the network components and services interoperable, so that healthy competition is maintained, and customers can choose the best components from different vendors.

Strengths of SDN There is a complete transition of the network architecture in SDN. In www.efymag.com

information Technology SDN the control and data planes are decoupled, network intelligence and state are logically centralised and the underlying network infrastructure is abstracted from the applications. As a result, a network administrator gains unprecedented programmability, automation and network control, enabling him to build highly scalable, flexible networks that readily adapt to changing business needs. OpenFlow-based SDN is currently being rolled out in a variety of networking devices and software, delivering substantial benefits to both enterprises and carriers, including: 1. Centralised management of networking equipment from multiple vendors 2. Improved automation so that network administrators deal just with the business policies and abstracting the underlying complication of provisioning individual components 3. Possibility of rapidly deploying newer services, without being blocked by any network device or a vendor to

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release an update 4. Opening avenues for all parities to generate revenue by enabling programmability of the network through open API, creating vendor independence 5. Centralised and automated management to increase the reliability of the network and, because the network is flexible, enhancing the reliability by automatically reprogramming in the event of failure 6. Granular network control with the ability to apply comprehensive and wide-ranging policies at the session, user, device and application levels 7. Enhance end users’ experience as the network adapts, the network is centralised and changes in the network appear seamless to the end-user

Conclusion The strength of SDN lies in building a scalable and adaptable network which can be changed to adapt to the need of the environment. SDN banks on building the network with basic individual

components, all separated out but controlled in unison using powerful software. The SDN technology is still shaping up and different vendors are implementing the solution to differentiate themselves from the others, along with a strong standardisation effort being made by various organisations. It is difficult for each of these vendors to ignore the standardisation, but they are free to build in hooks such that their solutions work better with their own components than with a competitor’s components. The main effect of the SDN will be seen by the service provider and the larger enterprises. The end users will experience the virtue of SDN in the form of enhanced services from the cloud, seamless usage of the network and security of their data.  The author has a masters degree in Communication and 14 years of work experience in telecommunications software. He is working at Juniper Networks, on their next generation network management solution

Electronics For You | July 2014

the Internetof

things

IoT

News, views and development on the Internet of Things

“Cool Tech for ‘Kool’ IoT Products” The Internet of Things (IoT) is top-most on most electronics companies’ agenda today. Texas Instruments (TI) is no different. Their wide connectivity portfolio is powering several interesting IoT products and platforms across the globe, such as the ‘Internet of KoolThings’ platform created by DeviceLab Inc. and KoolTechs Inc. Praveen Ganapathy, director, business development, Texas Instruments (India), speaks to Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram about what’s trending in this space Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram Which is the most exciting ‘TI-powered’ IoT product according to you? What does it do and what value does TI add to it? One of the most exciting products that TI is powering is the Bluetooth low energy based ‘Internet of KoolThings’ platform. This platform involves an expandable multi-sensor, multi-function system that packs features found in many different consumer product categories into a user-friendly ‘iWanditAll’ KoolThings platform. iWanditAll KoolThings includes KoolWand (a wearable key fob-like device) and KoolBridge (a small portable wireless hub/media player), and is expandable with optional KoolSensors and KoolAccessories. TI’s SimpleLink CC254x Bluetooth low energy wireless MCUs and TI’s power, battery management solutions presently power the KoolWand. Additionally, the KoolBridge employs an optional RF range extender chip from TI (CC2591) to improve the covered range. In this manner, TI’s versatile connectivity portfolio is helping customers connect more to the IoT. In addition to the embedded wireless connectivity technologies, customers can benefit from the industry’s leading portfolio

of microcontrollers, processors and analogue solutions for their complete application. What do you think is the topmost security concern when it comes to IoT products, and how do you address it in your chips, firmware and platform? One of the biggest security concerns for the IoT ecosystem is the breach of personal data. As the IoT involves several devices, security is vital at all layers. To avoid these circumstances, several players in the IoT are opting for hardware with security technology. As part of our embedded and connectivity technology portfolio we have security solutions to prevent, detect and respond to unintended or malicious behaviour. They address the hardware, software and connectivity spaces in the IoT through symmetric cryptography, authentication and anti-cloning, IP protection and tamper protection. As a tech provider, can you tell us which wireless technologies are most product makers seeking to imbibe in their products? What could be the reason? We are seeing the popularity of all low-power radio technologies being imbibed into IoT products. These are a critical aspect of the IoT because all the devices must continuously or periodically be connected. One size does

Praveen Ganapathy

director, business development, Texas Instruments (India)

not fit all low-power radio technologies. So, depending on the product, engineers can adopt a suitable lowpower radio technology based on their capabilities. At TI, we are delivering solutions that are compatible with ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Sub-1GHz, EtherCAT, Prime Alliance, G3-PLC Alliance and others. As mentioned, based on the end application at hand, IoT players can incorporate the best suited connectivity solution for their design, whether it is Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or EtherCAT, etc. Anything new and exciting that TI is working on for its IoT customers? One of our most exciting product lines, already available in the market, is TI’s SimpleLink solution. This range includes smart RF transceivers, wireless networking solutions, wireless MCUs and range extenders. Each product is supported with its own design ecosystem starting with evaluation and development tools to reference designs, training and extensive online support tools. This enables you to create your wireless solution with TI helping you from start to finish. 

Read more about the Internet of Things at internetofthings.electronicsforu.com

July 2014 | Electronics For You

www.efymag.com

embedded design

Analogue Components for IoT Applications Numerous analogue components and chips are introduced to the market every year, but what is influencing their evolution? Read on to find out the latest technologies in this field, the influence of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm on analogue world and some interesting applications powered by analogue components Anagha P.

hirty years ago, almost all the technology surrounding us was analogue. However, in the past decade we have witnessed a massive shift from analogue to digital electronics. The digital platform offers amazing opportunities for innovation, and is thus promptly taking over several aspects of modern life. Will the digital world be able to completely take over analogue technologies and devices? Don’t think so. What we found is that analogue is still well-established, and innovative technologies and products are continuing to emerge in this sector. What is driving this ‘old’ technology?

Influence of IoT The IoT is perhaps one of the most discussed technology topics these days. It provides a huge opportunity for us to leverage the Internet infrastructure to put technology to better use. Its biggest enabler is the ability to connect the real world with the digital world, thus enabling people and machines to know the status of hundreds of thousands of objects simultaneously. Analogue components are the key to deliver this connection between the real and digital worlds. While back-end of the IoT is communication and connectivity forming the digital side, the front-end generally consists of sensors (temperature, pressure, motion, tilt, acceleration, shock, proximity, gas, sound, pH, infrared, etc), actuators, power management modules (linear regulator, converter, 52

July 2014 | Electronics For You

STC3115 battery monitoring IC by STMicroelectronics

battery charger), signal acquisition modules, amplifiers, signal processors, microcontrollers and integrated chips; this is where analogue comes into play.

New component design elements Form factor and power are major considerations for smart products, and the industry is getting geared up for making analogue devices suitable for IoT segment. However, there are some cases where the size and/or power are not of high relevance, like for the smart-grid applications. Some of the trends driving the analogue industry are discussed in detail below. Wearable medical devices and low-power components. Many devices, particularly portable and wearable electronics, cannot afford battery-hungry processors and components—even those previously considered as lowpower.

This has led to the development of low and ultra-low power devices that can operate for days and months on a single battery, or without the need for recharging. For example, OPA2652 operational amplifiers (op-amps) by Texas Instruments (TI) work at an input current as low as 300nA. On a coin cell it operates for several months together. Consider a patient-monitoring system. If the instrument is easily drained of all power and has to be charged every few hours, proper monitoring cannot be attained. Moreover, the whole charging process is troubling for the user too. Benefits of digital in analogue world. The major trick to reduce power is to use low voltage. We want a technology that can be used in analogue devices, operates in low voltages, and also integrates to high voltages. This is where digital was merged with analogue. www.efymag.com

embedded design Fill-level sensors and connected garbage! A Finnish start-up named Enevo Oy came up with an IoT-enabled waste-container monitoring service called Enevo ONe Collect. It uses low-power autonomous fill level and event sensors that use ultrasonic sensing and techniques to identify the status of the container it is monitoring. It also features temperature sensing, and comes in an IP67class enclosure to endure extreme conditions. These sensors are wirelessly connected to a local network to send data. The fill levels of waste bins and recycling containers are continuously monitored in real time using dedicated wireless sensors. The readings are sent to a server, which identifies the container location and analyses when and how the container is to be emptied. This information is sent to the waste management firm’s logistic system. The ONe Collect method has saved 40% cost on waste collection and reduced environmental footprints. For example, filtering is typically done in analogue domain using active filters. But the problem is that, these filters are not tuneable individually and they consume high power. By transferring the signal to the digital domain and performing the filtering there, the filters become individually tuneable and can be switched off when not in use, which reduces power. Harvesting ambient light. The integrated boost regulator ADP5090 by Analog Devices Inc. is one example where firms have come up with devices that can store energy from indoor ambient light and use the devices to power the sensors. The ambient light is something that is freely and abundantly available in India throughout the year. Exploiting this natural resource as a viable power source has become a growing trend in wireless sensor network applications worldwide. It eliminates the need of power sources like batteries. In addition, it opens up huge possibilities of enabling IoT and connecting even remote/rural areas to the grid without the need for connected power or batteries. Size and weight. No surprise that, just like lower power, size and weight of the gadget can also be an important consideration in the portable and wearable electronic space. There is a huge demand in market for smaller and lighter instruments. Size reduction is being achieved by merging circuit topology (whether the same block can be reused in multiple places) and different process technologies. Integrating different sensors for higher scalability. Sometimes the same 54

July 2014 | Electronics For You

application may require low-speed and high-speed sensing. Depending on the condition the application may switch back and forth between low-speed sensing and high-speed sensing. The typical approach would be using two separate ADCs, one for low speed and the other for high speed, and keep one powered off when the other is being used. However, when you use a device with wider range you can save space and money, the designing is easier, failure rate is reduced with fewer devices, and the power required is almost the same. Highly scalable devices also become useful in low-power applications. In IoT the power has to be locally derived through photocell or thermoelectric voltage generator. The supply voltages generated by these are subjected to large variations. One need not worry about regulation in it, if they have an op-amp that can work over such large range; it avoids any intermediate stage of regulation. Expandable platforms. It is very important to be able to incorporate new hardware and software solutions to a system in order to produce a better end product. As a result, it is very critical to have a flexible and expandable design platform that is compatible to and can incorporate both new hardware and software solutions, whenever necessary. Microchip’s PIC16(L) F170X and PIC16(L)F171X family of 8-bit microcontrollers offers intelligent analogue and core-independent peripherals (configurable logic cell, complementary output generator and zero crossing detector), providing increased

flexibility for designers. Somsubhro Pal Choudhury of Analog Devices believes that, the wide range of different types and sizes of data, bandwidth availability, reliability and cost considerations will not make a ‘one size fits all’ model. “Customisations and optimisations for each market vertical and sub-vertical would be the key with the industry severely fragmented, at least in this decade,” he adds. Dedicated processors. There has been a lot of talk about dedicated microcontrollers. Many original equipment manufacturers and fabrication plants are working on process technologies that could create processors optimised for and committed specifically to the analogue implementation in IoT applications. In-built battery monitoring. As wearable devices are run by small batteries, it is necessary to optimise the use of these power sources. An accurate battery monitoring allows the user to know the exact state of charge of battery and adds intelligence to its usage. For example, STC3115 battery monitoring IC by STMicroelectronics could give timely alert to the user for turning off the power-consuming blocks when battery is lower than the user-programmed threshold levels.

Innovative technologies driving cutting-edge analogue components Shrinking the size and increasing performance has always been the challenge in semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry has been witnessing the lowering of cost and size in the last couple of decades. Process nodes have been going from 45nm down to 28nm to 20nm, and will further go down to 16nm and 10nm in the next decade. But the manufacturers’ challenge was to achieve spatial, monetary or power efficiencies. Hence, as the limit of Moore’s law reached 28 nm, they had to migrate from planar CMOS to a new process technology. That is when devices using FinFET technology were www.efymag.com

embedded design Brand

Component

Takeaway according to manufacturer

Freescale

Kinetis E series MCUs

Electromagnetic noise immunity for systems that traditionally use 8- and 16-bit MCUs while providing high efficiency and optimal code density.

Freescale

Kinetis miniature (mini) MCUs

World’s smallest ARM powered MCU; ideal for small and smart applications.

Freescale

Kinetis KW2x wireless MCUs

Best-in-class 802.15.4/ZigBee wireless solutions. Integrates ARM Cortex-M4 processor, and a 802.15.4 standardcompliant RF transceiver, and provides a reliable, secure, low-power 2.4GHz platform.

Freescale

QorIQ T2080 processor

Dual-threaded, 64-bit Power Architecture-based device engineered for optimal network performance and energy efficiency.

Freescale

Freescale Kinetis M series Designed for single-chip 1, 2 and 3-phase electricity meters and other precision measurement applications. Multiple 24-bit MCU Sigma Delta ADCs, programmable gain amplifiers, voltage reference with low drift over temperature, phase-shift compensator. Security features including a memory protection unit, external tamper detection pins, iRTC with tamper detect and a random number generator provide protection of supplier/user data within the MCU and from the MCU to the power grid.

Freescale

Kinetis L series MCUs

32-bit devices help enable ultra-low-power designs for handheld appliances, portable medical products and consumer electronics applications.

Microchip Digitally enhanced power analogue controller

Range of intelligent DC/DC power-conversion solutions grows to include controllers supporting flyback, boost and SEPIC topologies. Introduced a step-up PWM controller and low-side MOSFET driver architecture, with a midvoltage LDO and fully-functional MCU - all integrated into a small, high-density power package.

Microchip Motor driver

Cost-effective, world’s first 1.5A, three-phase brushless DC, sinusoidal motor driver in a 4x4mm package with the AEC-Q100 quality certification.

Microchip 8-bit PIC MCU

Rich set of intelligent analogue and core-independent peripherals (offload timing-critical and core-intensive tasks from the CPU), along with cost-effective pricing and eXtreme low power (XLP) technology.

Microchip Projected-capacitive touch controllers

Industry’s lowest-power, integrates capacitive scanning for touch-screens and touch-pads including 11 single-finger gestures to swipe, scroll or double tap.

Microchip Energy-measurement analogue front ends (AFE)

Integrate six and eight 24-bit, delta-sigma ADCs, respectively, with 94.5dB SINAD, -106.5dB THD and 112dB SFDR for high-accuracy signal acquisition and higher-performing end products. Two extra ADCs enable the monitoring of more sensors with one chip, lowering cost and size.

Microchip Sensor hub

Low-power, flexible sensor hub that makes implementing sensor fusion easy and provides an extremely large selection of supported sensors, for Windows 8-based PCs, 2-in-1 convertibles, tablets and gaming applications.

Microchip 50-ohm matched WLAN front Small package and footprint, for high data rate mobile device applications. end Module Microchip PIC32MZ 32-bit MCUs

Integrate 2MB Flash, 512kb RAM, 28Msps ADC, crypto engine, hi-speed USB, 10/100 Ethernet, CAN and many serial channels. High performance, high memory and peripheral integration.

Microchip Power monitoring IC

Highly integrated, single-phase power-monitoring IC designed for real-time measurement of AC power.

Microchip PIC24FJ128GC010 MCU family

Analogue SoC that integrates a full analogue signal chain, including Microchip’s first ever on-chip precision 16-bit ADC and 10Msps 12-bit ADC, plus a DAC and dual op-amps, along with eXtreme low power (XLP) technology for extended battery life in portable medical and industrial applications.

Lattice

ECP5 FPGA

Combines 40% lower-cost, 30% lower power and 2x functional density in the smallest package to meet the unique needs of fast-growing high-volume small-cell, micro server, broadband access and video applications.

Lattice

MachXO3 FPGAs

World’s smallest, lowest-cost-per I/O programmable platform aimed at expanding system capabilities and bridging emerging connectivity interfaces using both parallel and serial I/O.

Lattice

iCE40 FPGA family

Flexible, single-chip sensor solutions for making a new generation of context-aware, ultra-low-power mobile devices possible. Enables always-on sensor solutions.

Lattice

Automotive grade ECP3 FPGAs Smallest automotive-qualified FPGA with SERDES. Improve fuel efficiency, safety and access to entertainment.

Atmel

ATPL230A PLC modem

Seamless and cost-efficient solution for smart metering platforms, providing best-in-class modem features.

Atmel

Smar tConnect Wi-Fi connectivity

Integrates Atmel’s ultra-low-power MCUs and wireless connectivity solutions into an easy, turnkey IoT solution.

Atmel

SAM D Cortex M0+ based Entry-level, low-power MCUs packed with high-end features including Atmel’s patented Event System, SERCOM module, MCU portfolio peripheral touch controller, along with a full-speed USB interface. Additional connectivity and communication options.

Atmel

LIN System Basis Chip (SBC)

Lower power consumption, improved LDO works down to 2.3v, MLC blocking capacitors for lower overall system cost - industry’s first device that complies with the new OEM hardware recommendations.

Atmel

Cortex-A5 processor-based MPUs

Smaller packaging, extended temperature support, and an alternative peripheral mix while maintaining high performance and low-power operation along with an expanded ecosystem to include new software and hardware solutions.

Atmel

Smart RF receiver IC family

Lower power consumption, high sensitivity and excellent out-of-band blocking performance.

www.efymag.com

Electronics For You | July 2014

embedded design demonstrated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Multiple fin-height FinFETs. The most advanced semiconductor technology used today can produce around 10 million transistor elements in a chip of size one square centimetre. A new multiple fin-height FinFET process technology has been developed at National Nano Device Laboratories (NDL), National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs). It allows up to 20 million transistors in the same place, which is twice the number possible today! Unlike the traditional field-effect transistors (FETs), where gate controls source-drain current only on one side, the fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) has three-dimensional fork-shaped gate similar to a fish’s fin (hence the name). It can control the source-drain current in the transistor from three sides—left, right and top. In multiple fin-height FinFET, like the name suggests, the fins will have different heights allowing different amount of currents corresponding to associated channel height. This concept lets further reduction in chip area by 20%. Compared to a normal FinFET, the multiple-height FinFET has 20% higher storage capacity and 20% less manufacturing cost. FD-SOI. STMicroelectronics, along with its partners, introduced a technology known as Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator (FD-SOI). It is a planar process technology where an ultrathin layer of insulator (buried oxide or BOX) is positioned on top of the base silicon and then a very thin silicon film implements the transistor channel. IC etched on graphene. Several manufacturing units have been working on moving from silicon to other alternatives, to get better performance

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Major contributors to this story

Bhaskar Rajiv Mantri Dhandapani analog applications country sales manager, manager, Texas Freescale Semiconductor Instruments (India) India Pvt Ltd

Sanjeev Sharma director (IP - sales & marketing), Terminus Circuits

in terms of power, size and cost. These alternates could be based on graphene, nanotubes or various tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs). There is on-going research on these and other devices based on electron spin as opposed to electron charge. Researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara, have come up with the concept and demonstration of an integrated circuit design scheme where the transistors and interconnects are monolithically patterned seamlessly (without obvious joints or seams) on a two-dimensional atomically flat sheet of graphene. The model of etching offers possibilities for extremely energy-efficient, transparent and flexible next-generation green electronics. Photonic IC that can manipulate atoms. A group of scientists from California State University, Pasadena, claim to have developed an optical circuit that uses light to manipulate individual atoms in small, self-contained units. According to them, the photonic integrated circuit is an integrated optical circuit with a photonic crystal that can both localise and interface atoms with guided photons in the device. The optical properties of photonic crystals are determined by factors like their physical geometry and size of the

Somsubhra Pal Choudhury managing director, Analog Devices India

Vishal Goyal senior technical marketing manager, STMicroelectronics

waveguide. This feature allowed the scientists to make a photonic crystal of silicon nitride that acts as waveguide for laser light tuned to certain atomic transitions in caesium. The caesium atom absorbs and scatters these wavelengths, generating forces that could trap and manipulate the atom. The photonic crystal is integrated into a small, self-contained system that has a readily available supply of caesium atoms. These units are relatively cheap to make and easy to operate. This interesting technology could serve as high-quality building block for quantum computation and communication. It also opens door for several experimental opportunities.

Analogue standing tall Over the last few years, we have witnessed the shifting of electronics world from analogue to more sophisticated and efficient digital substitutes. But all analogue components cannot be completely substituted by digital devices; they would coexist and complement each other. With the extensive developments in the IoT segment, we see it driving many new technologies and products in analogue components and chips.  The author is a technical correspondent at EFY

www.efymag.com

test & Measurement

From 50MHz to 100GHz, Bench-Top to Wristwatch

Oscilloscopes Have Come a Long Way

In this story, we explore the latest features and kinds of oscilloscopes that play an integral role in effectively testing designs today. We also learn how new technologies in oscilloscopes are enabling test and embedded engineers to design better ABHISHEK A. MUTHA

s an engineer, if you want to improve your design overall, effective testing is an integral part. However, it means possessing tools you can rely on and that can provide consistent results as per requirements. Today, oscilloscopes come in numerous shapes and sizes—from as small as a wristwatch to pocket-sized and bench-top ones. They even have diverse bandwidths—from the entrylevel 50MHz to the massive 100GHz! Let us explore the new technologies, innovations and breakthroughs in the oscilloscopes domain that help our engineers design better.

From analogue to digital From simple signal capture to complex time-domain signal analysis, oscilloscopes come with salient and contrasting functionalities. Oscilloscope manufacturers have augmented the automated capabilities and portability factor so that designers can accomplish swiftly and get more authentic measurements for increased productivity. The invention of cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in the late 19th century was an important milestone for the birth of analogue oscilloscopes, and has changed the way of waveform representation, believes Srinivasa Appalla, managerproduct support & application, Rohde & Schwarz. However, he says, “The technological advancements in electronic designs have put new requirements on signal analysis which are not met by analogue scopes. Digital oscilloscopes, introduced in the 80s, are dominating the market now because of the ability of 58

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Exciting innovations in the last one year iMSO-204 and iMSO-204L are mixed-signal  Oscium’s oscilloscopes designed specifically for the iPhone, iPad and

iPod. Highlights: 2 analogue + 4 digital channels, 50MSPS sample rate, 5MHz bandwidth, 200ns/div-10s/div Price: $399.97

Gabotronics’ Xminilab Portable is a small mixed-signal oscilloscope with an arbitrary waveform generator and protocol sniffer. Highlights: 2 analogue inputs, maximum sampling rate of 2MSPS, 200kHz analogue bandwidth, 8-bit resolution, 1MΩ 15pF input impedance, 256 buffer size per channel and input voltage range of -14V to +20V Price: $118



SmartScope is a 100MS/s open source  LabNation’s oscilloscope for iPad, Android and PC. A must-have for every

Arduino and Raspberry Pi developer. Highlights: 2x100MS/s 45MHz oscilloscope, 50MS/s arbitrary waveform generator, digital logic analyser at 100MS/s, digital waveform generator at 100MS/s, 200 waveforms/second data updates Price: $179

Gabotronics’ Oscilloscope Watch Highlights: 2 analogue inputs, 4MSPS maximum sampling rate, 200kHz analogue bandwidth, 8-bit resolution Price: $150

digital signal processing, and respective analysis and documentation.” Sumit Sharma, marketing manager-India, Good Will Instrument Co. Ltd. too believes, that with the rapid advancement of technology, the oscilloscope market has also been shifting from conventional analogue oscilloscopes towards digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs). He says, “In contrast to analogue oscilloscopes, the major function of a DSO is to not only convert signals from analogue to digital but also store testing data, allow remote control and transmission of data through various interfaces.” But, he also believes, “Despite the strengths of DSOs, analogue oscilloscopes still play



an important role of providing realtime signals and waveform display.”

Mixed-signal and mixed-domain “As oscilloscopes have evolved from analogue to digital and from mixedsignal oscilloscopes to mixed-domain oscilloscopes, they have become even more valuable tools for analysing system performance or troubleshooting problems,” says Pamela Aparo, marketing manager-electronic test & measurement, Analog Devices Inc. Embedded system designers require advanced testing capabilities to resolve their design issues, so mixed-signal oscilloscopes (MSOs) emerged in the www.efymag.com

test & Measurement Are engineers ready to make the jump from knobs to a smartphone/tablet interface where they use their fingers to zoom in on a part of a waveform?  “Manipulating the image on an oscilloscope by using touch-screen technology is a relatively easy jump for most engineers to make. A more difficult transition would be to use this kind of interface as the main screen to configure all the available functions in an oscilloscope with additional functions integrated.”—Pamela Aparo, marketing manager-electronic test & measurement, Analog Devices Inc.  “The new generation of engineers is smartphone savvy and enjoys working with the scope like an electronic gadget. Hence the user interface of the scopes is moving towards touch-screen operations.”—Srinivasa Appalla, manager-product support & application, Rohde & Schwarz  “The proliferation of consumer electronics with capacitive touch-screens and intuitive operation is creating a new set of user expectations that, as a test and measurement vendor, we are continuing to track and evaluate.”—David Farrell, general manager-mainstream oscilloscopes, Tektronix  “Yes. If a common man can zoom his images and watch closely on smartphones then engineers would surely appreciate and use it with warm welcome.”—Vivek Mantri, country manager-industrial segment, Scientech Technologies Pvt Ltd

beginning of 2000, informs Sharma. He says, “There has been a growing need for detecting digital signals which are usually presented by two discrete voltage levels.” A logic analyser, which is the best fit for such digitalsignal measurements, has the benefit of multiple-channel input measurements, usually limited to two or four channels in oscilloscopes. He adds, “Nowadays, some system designers not only need an MSO but also an instrument which can afford to do frequency- and timedomain analysis simultaneously. So, a mixed-domain oscilloscope (MDO) is the latest trend.” The continuously-evolving integration level of embedded designs drives further feature integration into oscilloscopes. Appala says, “Additional digital channels, as part of mixed-signal options, protocol-specific trigger and decode options are a few examples. The key requirement is a synchronised operation of such features for true system-level debugging.” In the analogue to digital era, a significant number of digital designs came onto the analogue board, thus MSOs came to light about ten years ago. “The trend has evolved since, and mixeddomain oscilloscopes came into existence with Tektronix leading the charge. Today, mixed domain has moved to another level with the inclusion of wireless RF signals,” says David Farrell, general manager-mainstream oscillo60

July 2014 | Electronics For You

scopes, Tektronix. He adds, “Analogue, digital and now RF signals are coming together to the embedded domain and creating significant changes on how work is done in designs houses and research centres, specifically with respect to analysing those signals in as short a time as possible.” On a similar note, Aparo says, “Mixed-domain oscilloscopes offer similar benefits as mixed-signal oscilloscopes when an engineer needs to analyse signals in both the time domain and frequency domain—and these are useful in looking for problems that are caused by phase instability or phase offsets.” Not everyone is into MDOs though. On the contrary, Sanchit Bhatia, digital applications specialist, Agilent Technologies India believes, MDOs are an attempt to add spectrum analyser capability to oscilloscopes. He says, “MSOs have not evolved to MDOs as yet due to lower specifications. In fact, in MDOs, the oscilloscope and spectrum analyser capabilities have gone backwards. Any general oscilloscope and any entry-level spectrum analyser have better specifications than today’s MDOs.” Supporting his view, he adds, “A stand-alone spectrum analyser and a stand-alone oscilloscope are a better solution than an MDO, as they offer full instrument capabilities and can be synchronised using external trigger, if the application so demands.”

Our fast-moving world needs to analyse data fast, and also on the move, informs Vivek Mantri, country manager-industrial segment, Scientech Technologies. He says, “Trending technology in telecom and RF segments needs data analysis to be extremely accurate in time to display waveforms, and in frequency to display signal spectra, where MDOs are a perfect choice.” However, he adds, “For most of the general-purpose requirements, analogue oscilloscopes are sufficient.”

Handheld, PC-based, phone and even a wristwatch scope Oscilloscopes have evolved from the typical bench-top instruments to as small as a wristwatch, providing flexibility and an array of choices. Mantri defines today’s generation as tech-savy, that is more comfortable with touch screens and USB data transfers. He says, “They want their oscilloscopes to be handheld, with an easy interface, and prefer data transfers through SD cards. Different user segments will find analogue, MSO or PC-based instruments useful, depending on their usage.” Although, he maintains, no single technology can be suitable for all kinds of applications. Today’s handheld oscilloscopes range from 20MHz to 500MHz in bandwidth, with sampling rates from 500Msa/s to 5GSa/s, and mostly come with LCD displays. Typically, with two channels, these are ideally suited for use by hobbyists, students, technicians and anyone else looking for an easyto-use, affordable, single-channel PC oscilloscope. PC-based oscilloscopes, complemented with software, provide bandwidth signal analysis anywhere between few tens of MHz to as high as 20GHz. These USB, modular devices typically have one, two, four or even eight channels with USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 interface, depending on the model. Some of them are even loaded with memory capacity. The software provided with these instruments is used to transfer instrument set ups, measwww.efymag.com

test & Measurement urement data and images, and mostly favours the Windows operating system. But some oscilloscope makers are providing support for Linux, Mac OS X and even for Raspberry Pi. Interestingly, apart from these, engineers can now perform analysis on their iPhones and on small devices such as a wristwatch scope (see the box titled ‘Exciting innovations in the last one year.’) There are various other pocketfriendly oscilloscope devices available in the market for engineers. At the end of the day, it all depends on the engineer’s preference, purpose and understanding of the devices’ limitations. People will either love it or remain nonchalant with these innovations.

Knobs vs smart touch Today, smart touch interfaces can be used to define areas where you want the oscilloscope to trigger. These interfaces are fully configurable. Traditional analogue scopes were designed for operation using dedicated knobs and buttons. However, the latest digital scopes incorporate touch-screen displays, enabling new operating concepts and enhancing ease of use, informs Appalla. He says, “As the model acceptance heavily depends on the user’s taste and experience, it is advantageous if instruments support multiple ways of operation—dedicated knobs, USB keyboard/mouse and touch-screen interface. An intuitive operating interface helps users to navigate faster and reduces time in setting up, executing and documenting measurements.” Oscilloscope makers keep adding features to their instruments based on user demand for more signal analysis. “Good touch-screen implementations support drag-and-drop functionality for organising the display with multiple waveform diagrams and for selection of predefined operations. Other innovative user-interface concepts include colour-coding of buttons and knobs for guiding the user,” adds Appalla. In future, more touch-screen functionality, which is popular in consumer devices, will follow. www.efymag.com

second that it can read. For error-free results, most engineers know that the samples  USB 3.0 in PC-based oscilloscopes  per second figure should be  Integration of multiple instruments in one oscilloscope  at least three to five times  Smart touch-screen interface  higher than the bandwidth.  Support for operating systems like Linux and Mac Engineers, typically, prefer Sharing her personal experience, entry-level and mid-level oscilloscopes. Aparo notes, “Although knobs and But almost a year back, Teledyne buttons are somewhat comforting LeCroy had demonstrated a 100GHz when I start working with a new osreal-time oscilloscope targeting applicacilloscope, I have to say that moving tions such as CEI-25/28, CEI-56, optical away from traditional knobs has made coherent modulation communication it easier to automate certain tests, and systems, defense and radar applicait has made it possible to save common tions, emerging 10-32Gb/s serial data configurations. The learning curve for technologies, 100GBASE-R Ethernet, using a new oscilloscope with multiSAS12, PCI Express Gen4, Thunderple menu levels is higher than when bolt and next-generation USB. Agilent purely analogue oscilloscopes were the Technologies had also introduced only option—but this is also because real-time oscilloscopes with 63GHz true the new oscilloscopes can do so much analogue bandwidth in 2012. So, what’s more.” She adds, “Obviously, having the significance of such extremely-highUSB interfaces on oscilloscopes makes bandwidth oscilloscopes? it easier to store test results and import High-speed serial standards, such them into other programs for writing as PCIe Gen4, MIPI MPHY and Fibre reports or presentations.” Channel, work at speeds beyond Although oscilloscope screens are 10Gbps, and require high bandwidth evolving to capacitive touch interfaces to capture the signal content, informs with multi-touch capabilities that proBhatia. He says, “With the adoption vide zoom capability and analysis of high-speed serial standards, bandcapability with great ease, Bhatia bewidth demands on oscilloscope keep lieves that common traditional knobs increasing.” On a similar note, Aparo like channel scaling, offset and trigsays, “Higher-bandwidth oscilloscopes ger modes, to name a few, are being are important in measuring the perforretained as the engineers are used to mance of higher-speed data links like operating scopes with these knobs. USB 3.0 and JESD204B interfaces. They As the touch has been successare also needed in the development of fully implemented in mobile systems, new high-speed digital interfaces and more electronic devices will feature fibre optics.” this technology. Sharma says, “In this Major significance for this kind of fashion, a traditional hand-held oscilbreakthrough is due to trends right loscope is being upgraded to the full from Telecom, RF, space technolotouch-screen hand-held scope as a gies, to high-end medical electronics next-generation transition. This may gadgets used in telemedicine, informs minimise the gap between high-end Mantri. However, he says, “Generaland low-end scopes and bring the purpose, lower-frequency oscilloscopes whole new experience of using oscilwill continue to lead the market for loscopes to engineers.” their ease of use, lower cost and versatility. They are easy to service and From 50MHz to 100GHz find wide applications in production, service, testing and troubleshooting.” An apparent factor when choosing an oscilloscope is bandwidth. And, Trends and tools that help incidentally, the biggest impact on the price of a scope is its bandwidth and Continuous integration at design the number of analogue samples per level raises new challenges for test and

Notable changes in oscilloscopes in last one year

Electronics For You | July 2014

test & Measurement debugging. Embedded design is the buzz word today, informs Appalla. He says, “Former truly-isolated functional blocks and circuit components now get closely integrated on circuit board or even multi-chip level. For system debugging, a time-correlated analysis of analogue signals, such as switched mode power supplies or D/A converters, as well as digital signals of various communication and programming interfaces is required. Additional complexity is given by protocol-based interfaces or integrated RF components.” The user requirements, as mentioned above, are drivers for standard oscilloscopes. “Debugging of protocolbased interfaces, such as I2C, SPI or CAN, is supported with trigger and decoded options. Often a bandwidth of 1GHz is required, not only because of faster digital signals but also driven by fast edges of clock signals or power supply switching. A suitable sample rate of 5Gsample/s and a minimum acquisition memory of 10Msample enable a signal acquisition with high resolution over a long observation period,” adds Appalla. In general, the trends in oscilloscopes are focused on helping engineers answer their questions faster. In addition to integrating logic analyser and spectrum analyser functions in the MSO and MDO classes of instruments, another trend is the integration of signal sources in the oscilloscope, informs Aparo. She says, “This function can range from a simple sine-wave or square-wave generator to something as complex as a multichannel arbitrary waveform generator that allows users to create modulated signals. This trend of integrating more features and functions into the oscilloscope helps engineers get answers more quickly, because it provides all the needed tools in a single platform.” An example of this kind of integration can be witnessed in Tektronix’s MDO that boasts of six instruments built in one, namely, oscilloscope, spectrum analyser, logic analyser, arbitrary/function generator, protocol analyser and a digital voltmeter. 62

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Major contributors to this article

David Farrell general managermainstream oscilloscopes, Tektronix

Pamela Aparo marketing managerelectronic test & measurement, Analog Devices Inc.

Sanchit Bhatia digital applications specialist, Agilent Technologies India Pvt Ltd

Oscilloscopes also increasingly offer better bandwidth, more analysis capabilities and better hardware specifications, informs Bhatia. He says, “Analysis capabilities offered today include variety of protocol analysis tools, compliance applications and more mathematical functions. Tools such as AC calibration of probes, deembedding and equalisation offer better reproduction of the signals on the scopes.” New and still not so common with oscilloscopes is the operation in the frequency domain. But users request this functionality, informs Appalla. He says, “They want, for example, to debug EMI problems caused by power supplies, fast edges or touch-screen emission.”

Technologies for tomorrow One of the new technologies developed for high-bandwidth scopes is indium phosphide (InP) semiconductors, informs Bhatia. He says, “New technologies are developed by Agilent labs (a research organisation within Agilent), which focuses on higher integration, low-noise front ends and high-speed designs.” He adds, “InP semiconductors have very low noise and high transistor-breakdown voltage at high frequencies. Thus, they can handle higher voltages at high bandwidths. This helps design engineers make high-bandwidth measurements very accurately and with great confidence.” Targeting embedded design engineers, Tektronix delivered advanced 802.11 WLAN test solutions to its mixed-domain and performance oscilloscopes. Engineers can use tools for inte-

Srinivasa Appalla Sumit Sharma manager-product marketing managersupport & application, India, Good Will Rohde & Schwarz Instrument Co. Ltd

Vivek Mantri country managerindustrial segment, Scientech Technologies Pvt Ltd

grating 802.11 a/b/g/j/n/p/ac WLAN connectivity into their product designs. The new WLAN solutions address the growing demand toward integrating Wi-Fi in everything from home appliances to industrial equipment. Many of the new technologies being developed are also software improvements that make it easier for engineers to test or simulate their systems more quickly. Aparo says, “This is often found in larger markets like wireless communications or automotive radar, where there is a large pool of engineers who are working on these applications around the world and their needs converge on common requirements or published standards.” Talking about how it would help a design engineer, she adds, “Improving software for oscilloscopes can reduce the time it takes a design engineer to understand what is not working, or verify the performance of a new platform. By pre-loading common tests or waveforms into the software, engineers know there is consistency in the information they are gathering, and this makes it easier to collaborate with other team members.” High-end test and measurement requires high-end semiconductors to make them work efficiently. Mantri says, “So, support on making the semiconductors application-specific from respective vendors can create a big wave in this market. Compact USB digital oscilloscope will be a dream come into reality for service engineers on field at an affordable cost.”  The author is a senior technical correspondent at EFY www.efymag.com

buyers’ guide

Budget-Friendly Oscilloscopes Digital oscilloscopes, being expensive, have always been out of reach for many. But this doesn’t make them less desirable. Fortunately, test and measurement companies have sensed this situation and started developing low-priced oscilloscopes with reasonable quality and features. So we now have several wonderful low-budget options. Let us take a look at some of them

Ankit Gupta

good oscilloscope is an indispensable tool for you if you are seriously into electronics. The oscilloscope helps you check the functioning of electronic circuits better. With advancements in technology, electronics designing, testing and even repairing has become much more challenging than before. Engineers thus require advanced tools to solve measurement challenges quickly and accurately, and a digital storage oscilloscope helps them do just that. But, due to its high price, this equipment has always been out of reach for most individuals. The strong desire of the engineers to possess a good oscilloscope has led companies such as Tektronix, Agilent 64

July 2014 | Electronics For You

and Teledyne LeCroy to introduce low-priced oscilloscopes that promise reasonable acquisition quality and performance. Generally, these look like a standard oscilloscope with integrated display for viewing the acquired signal as shown in Fig. 1. Another low-cost solution comes from companies such as Digilent, Virtins Technology, Link Instruments, Parallax Inc. and Velleman Inc., which uses processing power of a computer

Fig. 1: An oscilloscope with integrated display

and its monitor to display the acquired signal. These solutions are becoming more popular as they are compact yet show the signal on a larger display of a computer for better analysis. Some of these are even multifunctional, with additional functions of waveform generator, logic analyser, DC supply and multimeter. Fig. 2 shows such a system. Next are the small pocket-size oscilloscopes that can be highly useful for field engineers. Most of these are low-priced. Though their accuracy is not as good as the previous options but these are good enough for basic analysis. Fig. 3 shows a pocket-size oscilloscope. There are also various open source do it yourself (DIY) oscilloscope designs available on the Internet. You can build these systems yourself and use for basic test and measurement. Such systems are very useful for students as they learn a lot while building their own oscilloscope and then use it with better confidence. Fig. 4 shows such a system. There are so many options avail-

Fig. 2: An oscilloscope that shows signal on a computer’s screen www.efymag.com

buyers’ guide Table I

Some Low-Budget Oscilloscope Options Specifications

Tektronix TBS1052B-EDU

Agilent DSO1052B

Gwinstek GDS-1052-U

Rigol DS1074Z

Teledyne LeCroy 940-WAVEACE1001

Bandwidth Sample rate

50MHz

70MHz

40MHz

1.0GS/s

2.0GS/s 250MS/s half channel maximum interleaved, 1 GS/s all channels

1GS/s

1GS/s (interleaved)

External trigger

Yes

Number of channels

Automated waveform measurement

Yes

Waveform math

Yes, FFT

I/O interfaces

USB, GBIP (optional)

USB

Display size

17.8cm (7 inches)

14.7cm (5.7 inches)

14.7cm (5.7 17.8cm inches) (7 inches)

17.8cm (7 inches)

Overall dimensions

326mm x 158mm x 124mm (approx.)

324.6mm x 157.8mm x 129.2mm

310mm x 142mm x 140mm

163mm x 313mm x 115.8mm

Yes

313.1mm × 160.8 mm ×122.4mm

Fig. 3: A pocket-size oscilloscope

able for each type of oscilloscope. But before looking at these options to evaluate which one suits your requirement, you need to understand their specifications. You can have correct measurements only when your oscilloscope’s specifications support the range of the signals you are trying to measure. Some of the important specifications are: Bandwidth. It determines the maximum frequency signal that the oscilloscope can accurately measure. The accuracy decreases with increase in signals’ frequency. The bandwidth mentioned in the datasheet (say, 100MHz) is actually the frequency at 66

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Fig. 4: A DIY-type oscilloscope

which a sinusoidal input is attenuated to 70.7% of its true amplitude. Beyond this frequency the oscilloscope cannot support reasonable accuracy. To decide how much bandwidth you need, find out what would be the range of frequencies you would need to measure. Once you know the frequency range, just use the ‘five times’ rule, that is, multiply the maximum frequency by five and you have the bandwidth that you need to accurately measure those signals. Rise time. Rise time is the time taken by a signal to change from

a specified low value to a specified high value. Typically, these values are 10% and 90% of the step height. As a thumb rule, similar to bandwidth, the rise time of the oscilloscope should be less that 1/5 of the fastest rise time of the signal to accurately measure it. Sample rate. Sample rate refers to how frequently a digital oscilloscope takes a sample of the signal. The faster an oscilloscope samples, lesser the details lost while reconstructing the signal. In order to accurately reconstruct a signal and avoid aliasing, the Nyquist theorem states that the signal must be sampled at least twice as fast as its highest frequency component. This theorem assumes an infinite record length and a continuous signal, but no oscilloscope can offer infinite record length. Therefore sampling at only twice the rate of the highest frequency component will not be sufficient. The sampling rate that you might require to accurately read your signal will majorly depend on the method used for reconstructing the signal, also called interpolation. For accurate reconstruction using sin(x)/x interpolation, sample rate should be at least 2.5 times the highest frequency component of your signal. Using linear interpolation, the sample rate should be at least 10 times the highest frequency signal component. Record length. The oscilloscope cannot store infinite number of samples as assumed by Nyquist equation. Record length determines the time that can be captured by each channel of the oscilloscope. Time captured = Record length/ Sample rate Normally, an entry-level oscilloscope comes with 2k to 2.5k points, which is more than enough. In general, greater record length is better. www.efymag.com

buyers’ guide Table II

Some PC-Based Oscilloscopes Manufacturer

Model

Bandwidth

Sample rate

Dynoninstruments

ELAB-080

60MHz

80MS/s

Multifunction Yes

Bitscope

BS50

70MHz

40MS/s

Yes

Virtins Technology

VT DSO-2820R

80MHz

Link Instruments

MSO-19

60MHz

Jyetech

DSO 094 (Dual channel)

10MHz

Parallax

PropScope USB Oscilloscope

Picotech

PicoScope 2104

Dynoninstruments

Yes Repetitive mode: 1GS/s

Yes

Single shot: 200MS/s

advanced features of expensive oscilloscopes, such as math functions and USB storage, also with these oscilloscopes. Being mostly compact in size, these can be used as bench-top oscilloscopes and also moved easily, if required. Their display size ranges from 12.7cm to 17.8cm (5 to 7 inches), which is enough for proper viewing. But some vendors boast of utilising the same space more efficiently with advanced features like auto-hide menu panel and sectional zooming.

50MS/s

25MS/s

Yes

10MHz

Repetitive mode: 1GS/s; Single shot: 50MS/s

Yes

S2X100

50MHz

100MS/s

Yes

PC-based oscilloscopes

Easysync

DS1M12

250kHz

Repetitive mode: 20MS/s

Yes

Synchrotech

USB-SCOPE50

75MHz

1GS/s

A PC-based oscilloscope is normally a small piece of hardware that is attached to a computer to acquire the signal and show it on the computer’s display. In most cases the power supply too is derived from the computer’s USB port, which makes them very handy and easy to carry along. A lot of multifunction options are also available, such as additional signal generator, logic analyser, multimeter, 5V DC supply, digital I/Os and spectrum analyser. The multifunction oscilloscopes are perfect for students and hobbyists, who do not require higher accuracy but need all the tools at one place. Availability of the signals on a bigger display is also a treat for the eyes. The window software for these oscilloscopes provide analysis and storage tools. Table II shows some of the PC-based systems available in the market.

waveform, but waveform capture rate refers to how quickly Some Pocket-Size Oscilloscopes an oscilloscope captures a waveform. The oscilloscopes Manufacturer Model Bandwidth Sample rate with better waveform capture Jyetech DSO 094 10MHz 50MS/s rate capture fast transients (Dual channel) better. Velleman APS230 2 x 30MHz 240MS/s P robe s pe c ific at ions . Velleman HPS10 2MHz 10MHz Probes’ specifications are as important as that of oscilloVelleman HPS50 12MHz 40MHz scope. The probe’s bandwidth Velleman PPS10 2MHz 10MS/s should match the bandwidth uni-trend UT81B 8MHz 40MS/s of the oscilloscope. Here also the five time thumb rule Seeedstudio DSO Nano v2 0-200kHz 1MS/s works perfectly. Seeedstudio DSO Nano v3 0-200kHz 1MS/s The probe will be in direct contact with the circuit and should not overload it. Otherwise, the To capture and debug serial bus you measurements will not be correct. Rewill need record length as high as sistive loading greater than 10M-ohms 1M points. and capacitive loading less than 10pF External trigger. External trigis acceptable for a probe. gers allow you to stabilise repetitive waveforms and make them appear Integrated display type static on the display by continuously oscilloscope displaying the same section of the input signal. Generally, oscilloscopes Table I show some low-budget are available with edge and pulseintegrated-display oscilloscopes width trigger. But advanced triggeravailable from different manufacturing options like A and B sequence, ers, including their brief specificavideo, communication (CAN, SPI, tions. The bandwidth you can get in etc) and logic triggering can help you this budget will mostly be less than debug faster. 100MHz, which is more than enough Waveform capture rate. Sample for basic analysis and testing, if you rate indicates how fast the oscilloscope go by ‘five times’ thumb rule dissamples the input signal within one cussed earlier. And you get a lot of

Table III

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Pocket-size oscilloscopes Pocket-size oscilloscopes are easy to carry along and normally work on battery. The frequency range that you get in these oscilloscopes is limited. Some expensive ones do support signals in megahertz range but the low-budget ones are normally for kilohertz range only. So these cannot be used for debugging highfrequency signals; they only support basic testing and are very handy in field work. www.efymag.com

buyers’ guide Some of these also come with wireless connectivity, such as Bluetooth. Using them you can view the signals remotely within a defined distance. There are a few that you can connect to you Android device and view the signals wirelessly. Table III shows some of the pocket-size oscilloscopes from different vendors.

DIY-type oscilloscopes Lot of designs are available on the Internet to build oscilloscopes yourself and use them for basic testing. In most cases, complete designs including schematic, layout and source code are available. Their performance, however, will depend on the quality and proper assembly of the components. DIY-type oscilloscopes are mainly microcontroller based. The most popular microcontrollers for oscilloscopes belong to AVR and PIC series. Their frequency range also is not very high. Some of them display the

www.efymag.com

Table IV

Some DIY-Type Oscilloscopes Model

Bandwidth

Sample rate Website link

AVR DSO

10MHz

50MS/s

http://www.ulrichradig.de/home/index.php/avr/avr-dso

DSOA Mk3

5MHz

20MS/s

http://alternatezone.com/electronics/dsoamk3.htm

eOscope

20MHz

40MS/s

http://www.eosystems.ro/index.php/projects/eoscope

06201P

1MHz

5MS/s

http://www.jyetech.com/Products/LcdScope/eDSO062.html

PIC12F675 Oscilloscope PPMScope SX28

http://www.semifluid.com/2006/01/31/pic12f675-oscilloscope/ 500kHz

1MHz

http://jonw0224.tripod.com/ppmscope.html http://www.sxlist.com/techref/ubicom/sxoscope/index.htm

signals on a computer monitor while others have integrated LCD displays. Those using computer monitor for display are more comfortable than those with integrated displays. Table IV shows some of the DIY-type oscilloscopes. From all the above types and options, choose the one that suites your taste and requirements. All the

oscilloscopes offer reasonable quality, including the DIY ones. However, one from a reputed manufacturer is more likely to give accurate measurements and performance. It is only the beginning; we are likely to see a lot of better and cheaper options in future.  The author is a technical editor at EFY

Electronics For You | July 2014

defence electronics

Part 4 of 4

Defence Lasers and Optronic Systems: Gas Laser Electronics Carbon dioxide and helium-neon lasers are the two commonly used gas lasers used in tactical military applications. High-power lasers, such as carbon dioxide gas dynamic lasers, hydrogen fluoride/deuterium fluoride lasers and chemical oxy-iodine lasers, which can generate mega-watts of CW power for directed-energy weapon applications, are also broadly classified as gas lasers. These lasers are pumped by gas dynamics or by chemical reactions. Focus in this concluding part of the article is on gas laser electronics with emphasis on the role of electronics in gas lasers having potential for tactical military applications Dr Anil K. Maini and Nakul Maini

arbon dioxide laser-based range finders and laser radar and helium-neon laser-cavitybased ring-laser gyroscope inertial navigation sensors are among the common military applications exploiting use of gas lasers. In addition, such gas lasers as gas dynamic carbon dioxide lasers, chemical oxy-iodine lasers, all gas-phase iodine lasers, hydrogen fluoride and deuterium fluoride lasers, though not electrically or optically pumped, these are largely exploited to build high-power directed-energy weapons. We shall, however, confine our discussion in this article to electrically-excited gas lasers having military applications. In both carbon dioxide and heliumneon lasers, the power supply used to initiate and subsequently sustain electrical discharge through the gas mixture contained in a sealed envelope constitutes the primary and essential component of electronics. The active medium is usually excited either by passing an electric discharge current along the length of the tube known as longitudinal excitation in both types of gas lasers (Fig. 1), or by an electric discharge perpendicular to the length of the laser tube known as transverse excitation which is common in carbon dioxide lasers only (Fig. 2). Frequencystabilisation electronics used in the case of actively-stabilised Doppler 70

July 2014 | Electronics For You

+ HR mirror

Brewster window

Power Supply

– Brewster window

Gas mixture

Output coupler

Laser Output

Fig. 1: Longitudinally-excited gas laser

HR mirror

Brewster window

– Power Supply +

Electrode

Brewster window

Output coupler

Laser Output

Gas flow Electrode

Fig. 2: Transversely-excited gas laser

broadened gas lasers, such as heliumneon and carbon dioxide, is another area that relates to gas laser electronics.

Negative resistance characteristics Gas-discharge characteristics, when excited electrically, are the key to design of power supplies for gas lasers. Typical gas-discharge characteristics, as applicable to carbon dioxide and helium-neon lasers, exhibit negative resistance in their current-voltage relationship. The current is zero initially, which may rise to a few nano amperes after the applied voltage exceeds a certain threshold causing some ionisation of the gas mixture. This current increases slowly till it reaches the

breakdown point. At the breakdown point, large number of molecules in the gas mixture are ionised and conductivity increases significantly. Increase in discharge current causes further reduction in discharge resistance with the result that the voltage required to sustain the discharge actually decreases with increase in current. This gives rise to what is called negative resistance region in the gas-discharge current-voltage characteristics.

Helium-neon power supplies The generalised form of a gas-laser power supply essentially comprises a high-voltage generation circuit that provides the starting voltage, either www.efymag.com

defence electronics the breakdown voltage of the gas mixture in question. The current-limiting feature is provided by a resistance called ballast resistance, which limits the discharge current to desired value. There are three commonly-used circuit topologies for designing helium-neon laser power supplies. In one of the topologies, an AC-DC or DC-DC (in case of portable systems) power supply producing an output voltage slightly higher than Fig. 3: Generalised block diagram of helium-neon laser power supply the voltage required in the form of a high-voltage trigger pulse or a DC voltage level, to initiate the gas discharge, and a power supply with current-limiting feature to deliver the steady-state current to sustain the discharge. Amplitude of high-voltage trigger pulse needs to be greater than

Fig. 4: High-voltage multiplier chain for odd multiplication factor

to sustain the discharge plasma is cascaded to a voltage multiplier chain of diodes and capacitors to produce the starting voltage. The voltage at the output of multiplier chain drops to almost the voltage level present at the output of DC power supply due to inherently poor regulation of the multiplier chain. In the second commonly used circuit topology, the DC power supply is connected directly to the plasma tube through the ballast resistance. A high-voltage trigger pulse of 10-15kV is applied to the tube to initiate the discharge. Once gas mixture is ionised, the DC power supply takes over to sustain the discharge. In the third topology, constant power output fly-back converter is used. The DC to DC converter is designed to produce an open circuit output voltage of 10-15kV and a power output delivery rating equal to product of a little more than the required magnitude of DC voltage and desired discharge current. As a consequence, the converter output voltage rapidly drops to the desired value after the discharge is initiated.

Diode-capacitor multiplier chain There are two common voltage multiplier configurations, one for the odd multiplication factors (Fig. 4) and the other for even multiplication factors (Fig. 5). The output voltage in case of multiplier configuration shown in Fig. 4 is given by: VO= Fig. 5: High-voltage multiplier chain with even multiplication factor

nVm 2

1+[n(n –1)/12ƒCRL]

In the case of multiplier chain with even multiplication factor, the output voltage is given by: VO=

Fig. 6: Voltage multiplier chain with unequal capacitors www.efymag.com

nVm 2

1+[n(n /2+1)/6ƒCRL]

In both cases, C1=C2=C3=C4=C5=C6= C7=C8=C, n is the multiplication factor, f is frequency of operation equal to power-line frequency for AC-DC power supply and the switching frequency in case of a switched mode power supply. VP is the peak ampliElectronics For You | July 2014

defence electronics tude of the voltage applied to the input of multiplier chain. Also, in both cases, multiplied output voltage is equal to nVP, provided the bracketed term in the denominator is zero or negligible.

This is possible for large value of capacitance C. Another voltage multiplier circuit that offers a superior performance is the one that uses unequal capacitors.

Fig. 7: Push-pull converter with cascaded multiplier chain

capacitor type voltage multiplier chain, as shown in Fig. 7. The push-pull circuit generates a high-frequency square waveform across transformer secondary, which is then multiplied to generate the starting high voltage for the discharge tube. The push-pull circuit here is configured around a switching control IC type LM3524. It may be mentioned here that, a large number of control ICs intended for switching power supply design are commercially available. Some of the other popular type numbers include TL497, TL594 and TDA8130. Their data sheets contain typical application circuits for switching supply design. When discharge occurs, the voltage falls to a lower value to supply the sustaining discharge current through the ballast resistance. The rest of the voltage is dropped across the multiplier chain components. In some cases, the

Fig. 8: Fly-back converter with high-voltage trigger circuit

Fig. 6 shows the circuit configuration.

Helium-neon power supply circuits

Fig. 9: Constant power output fly-back converter

July 2014 | Electronics For You

The most commonly used helium-neon laser power supply circuit is a push-pull type high-frequency switched mode DC-to-AC power supply cascaded to a diode-

sustaining voltage may be tapped from an earlier point in the chain for better overall performance. In that case, the output of the multiplier chain feeds the discharge tube through a relatively high resistance of the order of tens of megaohms and the sustaining voltage feeds the tube through the ballast resistance. The other common circuit topology is the one where the power supply generates the voltage required to sustain the discharge and a high-voltage trigger circuit generates the starting www.efymag.com

defence electronics Power supplies for ring laser gyroscope sensors

Fig. 10: Commercial helium-neon laser power supplies

Fig. 11: Helium-neon laser with inbuilt power supply

Fig. 12: Helium-neon power supply for ring laser gyro cavity

voltage to initiate the discharge. Fig. 8 shows a typical circuit. The power supply is configured around an exterwww.efymag.com

nally driven fly-back type DC-to-DC converter. The ballast resistance is split into two resistances. Initially, when there is no discharge, the voltage appearing after RSENSE is equal to open circuit voltage. A fraction of this voltage is compared with VREF and the comparator drives the high-voltage trigger circuit configured around SCR, R-C components and trigger transformer. As soon as discharge is struck, voltage appearing after RSENSE drops and the drive pulses are withdrawn from SCR gate. The power supply provides the discharge current through series connection of resistors constituting ballast resistance. In the third circuit topology, the converter circuit is designed to deliver an output power equal to the product of the required sustaining voltage at the power supply output and the discharge current. Since it is a constant-output-power converter, the output voltage would increase without limit in the ideal case in the event of zero current drawn from the power supply. When the output voltage exceeds the required initiating voltage, the plasma current drawn from the power supply forces the output voltage to fall to the sustaining voltage governed by the output power capability of the converter. Compact helium-neon laser power supplies are commercially available both as AC-operated bench-top versions as well as DCoperated supplies for OEM market (Fig. 10). Helium-neon lasers with an integrated power supply are also available (Fig. 11).

A ring laser gyroscope comprises a helium-neon ring laser cavity with two counter-propagating laser beams. A ring laser gyroscope, which is the heart of the inertial navigation systems of modern aircraft, missiles etc, makes use of a ring helium-neon laser in a closed cavity. Without going into details of its operational principle, it would suffice to mention here that stability of discharge current in each arm of the ring laser cavity is very crucial for proper functioning of the device. Also, it is important to have a stable value of difference between the currents in the two arms. A power supply configuration that achieves this is shown in Fig. 12. As shown in the figure, there are two current-sense loops controlled by the same reference voltage. Another possible approach could be to use a precision reference for one arm and then use the actual controlled current flowing through that arm as the reference for controlling current in the other arm. The preferred circuit topology for the power supply is an externally-driven PWM-controlled fly-back converter generating a regulated output voltage equal to the sustaining voltage at the required plasma current.

Carbon dioxide laser power supplies Carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers are operated in both CW and pulsed-output modes. CW lasers are either DCexcited or RF-excited. Pulsed-output lasers are mainly transversely-excited atmospheric-pressure (TEA) lasers. Power supply circuits for DC-excited lasers are similar to the ones described in earlier paragraphs in the case of helium-neon lasers. Different power supply circuits discussed in the case of helium-neon lasers are equally valid for carbon dioxide lasers. Present-day TEA CO2 lasers use Marx bank capacitor systems. In this system, the arrangement of individual capacitors is such that they are in parallel during the charging process and in series during the discharge operaElectronics For You | July 2014

defence electronics

Fig. 13: Marx bank power supply arrangement

Fig. 14: Power supply for RF-excited carbon dioxide laser

Fig. 15: Carbon dioxide laser power supplies

tion. This means, if each capacitor in the bank were charged to a voltage V, then the total voltage available across the tube for discharge operation would be nV, n being the number of capacitors. Fig. 13 shows the Marx bank power supply arrangement where the switches are open during the charging. They are triggered simultaneously to the closed position to initiate discharge. Though the Marx bank shown here uses four stages, Marx bank systems with higher number of stages are also used. Marx banks are particularly suitable for producing fast-rising pulses. Power supply of an RF-excited CO2 laser comprises an RF source and an impedance-matching network (Fig. 14). The RF source may further be split up into an RF oscillator and a cascade arrangement of RF amplifiers, depending upon the output power 74

July 2014 | Electronics For You

delivering capability. Frequency of operation is in the range of 50MHz to 150MHz. RF power is fed to the laser cavity through impedancematching network. The laser cavity’s mechanical structure combined with RF discharge can be considered as an electrical load comprising complex impedance. Power transfer efficiency from the RF source to the discharge is a key operational feature of the laser that is made more complicated by the fact that the discharge impedance is power dependent. CO2 laser power supplies too are commercially available both as benchtop laboratory systems as well as compact versions for OEM market (Fig. 15).

Frequency stabilisation of lasers Carbon dioxide and helium-neon lasers have Doppler broadened gain

versus frequency curves, which is 60MHz in the case of carbon dioxide laser and 1400MHz for helium-neon laser emitting at 632.8nm. With active stabilisation techniques, such as dither stabilisation, optogalvanic stabilisation and stark cell stabilisation, these lasers can be frequency stabilised up to an accuracy of ±1MHz. Fig. 16 shows block diagram of dither stabilisation scheme. The grating allows selection of various lines within the laser tuning curve. The output of the low-frequency oscillator, when applied to the PZT, moves the grating along the axis and hence varies the output. The other input to the frequency synchronous detector is the error signal, which corresponds to the deviation in the laser output frequency from the line centre. In fact, the magnitude and phase of the error signal determine the location of operational point with respect to the centre of the Doppler broadened gain curve. While the amplitude decides how far or close to the line centre the operational point is, the phase decides which side of the line centre it is located. Though Dither stabilisation is simple to implement, the disadvantage of this technique is the presence of frequency modulation in the output as a result of laser dithering. Optogalvanic stabilisation technique is particularly suitable for carbon dioxide lasers. It makes use of variation in discharge impedance due to alteration in internal radiation field intensity. Fig. 17 shows a typical optogalvanic frequency stabilisation set up. An AC signal is applied to the cavity length transducer resulting in frequency modulation of the laser and therefore modulation of the plasma-tube impedance. The impedance variation, which is proportional to the slope of the output power versus frequency curve of the laser, is measured by exciting the plasma-tube by a high-speed current-regulated power supply and measuring the resulting variation in voltage-drop across the plasma-tube. This voltage is applied www.efymag.com

defence electronics

Fig. 16: Dither frequency stabilisation

Fig. 17: Optogalvanic stabilisation schematic

Fig. 18: Stark cell stabilisation block diagram

to the synchronous detector. The other input to the synchronous detector is the reference signal used to modulate the laser cavity length with the help of PZT. The error signal produced at the output of synchronous detector is used to stabilise the laser frequency. Stark cell stabilisation technique allows dither-free frequency stabilisation. It also allows stabilising frequency anywhere on the Doppler broadened gain versus frequency curve of the lasers. Fig. 18 shows the block diagram of stark cell stabilisation. A part of the output laser beam is made to pass through the stark cell. An appropriate value of DC voltage is applied to one of the stark plates to make the stark-shifted molecular transition of the gas contained in the cell precisely coincide with the carbon dioxide laser output line of interest. A slowly varying linear voltage www.efymag.com

ramp may be applied instead. Also superimposed on this is a relatively high-frequency sinusoidal or square waveform. The frequency is 5kHz, typically. The beam at the output of the stark cell is thus modulated in both amplitude and frequency by the applied high-frequency signal around the line of interest. The laser beam is phase-sensitively detected with high-frequency signal applied to the stark cell as reference. The output of phase-sensitive detector is the frequency-discriminant error signal. The error signal is amplified and then fed back to the PZT through a suitable interface. One of the end elements of the cavity is mounted on the PZT. The error signal adjusts the length of the cavity in the feedback mode to lock the laser frequency to the centre of the Doppler profile of the line of interest. With this article, the four-part series focussing on the role of electron-

ics in military lasers and optoelectronics is completed. While introduction to role of electronics, solid state laser electronics and semiconductor diode laser electronics were discussed in the earlier parts, important building blocks of electronics used in common gas lasers are discussed in this concluding part. Different circuit topologies in use for design of power supplies for carbon dioxide and helium neon lasers have been discussed at length, highlighting important design-related issues with reference to gas lasers for military applications. Different techniques of frequency stabilisation of gas lasers, which is of paramount importance in applications such as laser radar, have also been covered.  Concluded Dr Anil Kumar Maini is a senior scientist, currently director of Laser Science and Technology Centre, DRDO, Ministry of Defence, while Nakul Maini is technical editor with Wiley India Pvt Ltd Electronics For You | July 2014

EFY Plus DVD

This Month’s DVD Contents This month’s DVD brings you circuit modelling along with PCB EDA tools for students and small businesses. Also included are a neural network simulator and a machine learning tool for enthusiasts. Have fun! pankaj V.

SpiderPCB

LTspice IV

The latest version of FidoCADJ included in the DVD is an-easy-to use graphical editor with a library of electrical symbols and footprints (traditional and SMD). It is not a simulation tool but an agile EDA tool with graphical flexibility for hobbyists. FidoCadJ is available for multiple platforms like MacOSX, Linux and Windows. This makes it a perfect choice for exchanging sketches in forums and newsgroup discussions with just a few clicks. Supported OS: Windows, Linux, MacOS. Size: Windows - 840kB, MacOSX - 10MB, Linux - 574kB

Spider PCB brings the hierarchical layout to the PCB industry, providing not only a hierarchical schematic but also a layout tool for the PCB designers. It is an easy-to-use PCB EDA tool for students and small businesses. Using Spider PCB, you can easily follow the classic top-down design, bottom-up implementation. You can draw the schematics on the way down, starting with block-diagram form in the top-most hierarchical level and adding more and more detail while going towards the component level. Supported OS: Windows. Size: 1.5MB

LTspiceIV is a high performance Spice simulator, schematic capture and waveform viewer with enhancements and models for easing the simulation of switching regulators. New enhancements to Spice have made simulating switching regulators extremely fast compared to normal Spice simulators, allowing the user to view waveforms for most switching regulators in just a few minutes. Supported OS: Mac OS, Windows. Size: Windows (14.5MB), Mac OSx (48.9MB)

JMCAD

SimCAS

If you are looking for a suitable program for modeling and simulation of complex dynamic systems, here is a small and effective Java-based program for you. With JMCAD you can create virtual prototypes on your desktop and make sure your design works properly before committing to prototype. It combines the simplicity and clarity of a block-diagram interface with a high-performance mathematical engine, providing fast and accurate solutions for linear, non-linear, continuous time, discrete time, multi-rate and hybrid systems. Supported OS: Windows, MacOSX, Linux (with Java). Size: 2.3kB

SimCAS is a free, open source, very simple and flexible analogue simulator. This simple tool can run on Windows and Linux. It is not as powerful as Spice or Qucs but provides a handy GUI-based analogue simulation environment. It uses symbolic equations to define various components and solves the net system by using a Computer Algebra System (CAS) algorithm without using a matrix. Supported OS: Windows, Linux. Size: Windows - 2.4MB, Linux - 525kB

FidoCADJ

GPUTILS GPUTILS is a collection of open source replacements for the Microchip PIC microcontroller utilities comprising an assembler, dis-assembler, linker and object file viewer. GPUTILS can be used to develop code for over 250 PIC processor types involving standard configure make, and make install steps. Supported OS: Windows. Size: 928kB 76

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Weka Weka is a machine learning tool which helps in analysing large data and extract the most relevant information. This DVD brings you the latest version of Weka, which is written in Java and can be run on any platform. It provides you with a collection of machine learning algorithms for solving real-world data mining problems. Supported OS: Windows, MacOSX, Linux (with Java). Size: 32-bit Windows - 51.1MB, 64-bit Windows - 52.5MB), MacOSX - 81.6MB, Linux - 23.1MB

AIM-Spice Developed at the University of California, with its first release in 1972, Automatic Integrated Circuit Modelling Spice, or AIM-Spice, uses the Spice format for describing analogue circuits. Unlike Spice, which uses control records, AIM-Spice uses point-and-click type controls. This DVD includes AIM-Spice for Windows, while you can also get the Linux version by sending an email to trond@aimspice.com. Supported OS: Windows, Linux. Size: Windows - 3.66MB

Qucs Qucs is a circuit simulator with well advanced Graphical User Interface (GUI) which allows setting up of schematics and presenting simulation results in various types of diagrams. It supports various circuit simulation types along with the availability of mathematical equations and use of a subcircuit hierarchy (with parameterised subcircuits). Supported OS: Windows, MacOSx. Size: Windows (53.783 MB), MacOSx(67.7MB), Ubuntu (411.5 MB)  The author is a technical journalist at EFY www.efymag.com

EFY Plus DVD

FidoCADJ: Vector Drawing Software FidoCADJ is a simple, intuitive application that helps users create vector drawings for schematics as well as printed circuit boards. You can select from a wide range of preset components and print or export your designs to various file formats Pankaj V.

idoCADJ is a Java-based multiplatform editor for more than just electronics. It offers a very clean and intuitive environment to help users design their electronics with ease. FidoCADJ is not a simulator, but it offers an agile and effective environment for hobbyists. While there is no netlist concept, it comes with a library that includes electrical symbols and footprints (traditional and SMD) to assist you in your drawings. FidoCADJ generates electronic circuit outputs with a very compact textual description in various file formats. This makes it very easy to include these drawings in text messages and exchange your sketches in forums and newsgroup discussions. Some regard FidoCADJ as a Java-based modification of FidoCAD software, which can only be run on Windows. However, it is actually a completely re-written program that offers full compatibility with FidoCAD files, and allows for showing and modifying a file using FidoCAD format. It is not just an adaptation or extension for FidoCAD. If you are familiar with FidoCAD, getting used to FidoCadJ will not be a problem. In fact, many commands and procedures are quite similar to the original application including some extensions as well.

Compact and efficient A major advantage of working with FidoCADJ is its simple text format. With no header description required, a simple coordinate system for drawing and various drawing elements, it offers a compact and efficient storage format for the drawings. From the latest version included in this DVD, it uses only the www.efymag.com

FIdoCADJ

UTF-8 encoding on all formats. Unlike other CAD tools and its predecessor FidoCAD, FidoCadJ includes an interpreter that can recognise and correctly interpret any file with or without standard header. Moreover, it can also correctly interpret commands containing text, as long as the number of incorrect lines does not exceed a value set internally in the program (approx. 100). This ensures a fast and efficient functionality, wasting no time, for example, in trying to open a very large binary file. A simple coordinates system in FidoCADJ identifies a very large area only by whole and positive coordinates. The fixed unit length of in x and y axes at 127μm allows to obtain a good resolution (about 200 dots per inch) for even the smallest SMD packages, without being too fine for everyday use.

Intuitive environment FidoCADJ offers graphical flexibility and several intuitive drawing features. In the toolbar situated on the top of the window, you will find the most used and common features for creating and

Advisory note There are no separate modes of operation for PCB and schematic in FidoCADJ. These appear only at the moment of printing the drawing. Hence it is advised to set the program to resize a schematic according to the size of the page, otherwise the print may have the size of a postage stamp.

editing a drawing. Some of the features and functionalities in FidoCADJ, which account for ease of use of this intuitive tool, are discussed below. The vacuum-tube radios and switches of old times inspire the elements of ease of use in this tool. When you press a button, it remains in that position until another function from the toolbar is selected. So you don’t need to press again and again for the same element in your circuit. Also, you can easily edit or modify the parameters like coordinates or rotation of any drawing element just by double-clicking on it in selection mode. Intuitive ruler. Drawing a PCB requires measuring distances in the working area. This tool offers an intuitive ruler feature that allows you to easily check any track width, the clearance Electronics For You Plus | July 2014

EFY Plus DVD between two tracks or the total size of a card. You can just right click and drag to open a ruler in green for your help. Keyboard shortcuts. From selecting multiple graphic elements to drawing a PCB pad, there are various drawing commands available in FidoCADJ. These allow you to rapidly select various features that let you design faster (as shown in the table), without having to manipulate your mouse. Flexible graphics. It also offers three different zoom settings for graphical flexibility with the buttons like Fit, Show Grid and Snap to Grid. You can automatically select the most suitable zoom settings in order to show the whole drawing on the screen by pressing Fit button. Show Grid makes it easy to toggle between visible and invisible grids. Finally, the elements added will stick to the nearest step of the grid utilising the Snap to Grid button. (Note: To carefully align various elements, Alt key should be kept pressed while using the other cursor keys.) Partial customisation of command bar. FidoCADJ also allows you to partially customise the command bar. In particular, you can either choose to see the icon on each button or both the icon and its text description. These two selectable formats for the icons can be changed from the menu File → Options. Any change in the settings will be applied at the restart of the application. Easy search and navigation. The libraries include all the standard symbols used in electrical schematics and a wide selection of footprints for drawing PCBs. A quick search text field allows for the quick searching inside the included libraries and the results appear in the form of a tree, allowing you to easily navigate through by typing up and down arrow keys. Macros. The FidoCADJ application offers you a quick access to all the electrical components, lets you preview them in a dedicated pane, and insert them into the working environment with the help of just a few clicks. The tool includes these electrical components in the form of various macros or symbols in the libraries. A tree list at the right side of the window enables easy II

July 2014 | Electronics For You Plus

Installing FidoCADJ Installation file can be found in EFY Plus DVD that came with this magazine. FidoCADJ is a Javabased tool, so Java is a pre-requisite to run this tool on any platform. The application is distributed as an executable .jar file, which is a Java archive. For many operating systems, you can just double click on the file to run the application, provided that a recent version of Java is installed on the system. The minimum Java version needed to run FidoCadJ is the version1.5, which has been around for a few years now. But, in some cases it might be useful to run the application from a command line (for example, the terminal in the Unix systems, or the MS-DOS Prompt in Windows). To do so, you can use the following command lines: 1. java -jar fidocadj . Jar 2. java -jar fidocadj . jar ~/ FidoCadJ / test . Fcd (To open a specific file with the application, include it in the command line) Supported OS: Windows, Linux, MacOS (with Java) HDD space required: Max 10MB

selection of any preset element in the drawing. Keyboard Export with effects. Fishortcuts doCADJ allows you to export your drawings through A or Spacebar R several file formats, so you S can create simple scheL matics for use. The genT erated electronic circuits B can be printed or exported P to PNG, JPG, SVG, EPS, K PGF, PDF, or to a script file format. Also, you can E apply anti-aliasing and G black-and-white effects to C the drawings. To export the I current drawing, select File Z → Export. With Black&White Esc option, you can print any visible layer in solid black. For the bitmap file formats, it may be useful to enable the option Anti aliasing. While exporting to any vectorial format, it will be beneficial to specify the scaling factor. Anti aliasing reduces the annoying effect of the quantisation that is visible especially on diagonal lines. Customised libraries. As mentioned above, FidoCADJ includes a collection of libraries of symbols and footprints (traditional and SMD) for assistance in your drawings. It allows you to customise and manage these by defining new symbols and libraries with the luxury of modifying the existing ones. In some specific cases you can also replace the existing libraries with the external ones.

An effective 2D design tool Summarising, we can regard FidoCAD as an effective tool for designing elec-

Keyboard Shortcuts Command Select Rotate Mirror Line Text Bezier Polyline Curve Ellipse Rectangle Junction PCB Track PCB Pad Terminate

Description For selection of different elements To rotate selected elements To mirror the selected elements For inserting a line For inserting a test-string For drawing a Bezier curve For drawing a polyline For drawing an open or closed natural cubic spline curve For drawing an ellipse For drawing a rectangle To insert an electrical junction To draw a PCB track To draw a PCB pad To terminate new insertions

tronics. Its intuitiveness and handy set of features make it an easy-to-use and learning tool for hobbyists. Moreover, being free, Java-based and multi-platform, it can be of great use. But it need not be considered uniquely for electronics design as customisation of its libraries can prepare it for any type of 2D drawing and for many other situations, provided those specific libraries can be made available. FidoCadJ is the official drawing tool of ElectroYou, an Italian social network for electronics. It is a free GPL Licensed software tool that can be downloaded for free at http://fidocadj.sourceforge. net/. You can participate in the forums and blogs related to this tool at http:// sourceforge.net/p/fidocadj/discussion/997486  The author is a technical journalist at EFY www.efymag.com

EFY Plus DVD

Simulate Your Circuits Using Qucs In this article we explore the features and functions of Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (Qucs) and go through a step-by-step analysis. Qucs is available for Windows, Mac and Ubuntu (open source) in the DVD accompanying this month’s issue of EFY Plus ABHISHEK A. MUTHA

n open source electronics circuit simulator software released under GPL, Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (Qucs) provides the user with capabilities to set up a circuit with a graphical user interface. It can simulate circuit behaviour, and supports pure digital simulations using VHDL and/or Verilog languages. Qucs is much simpler to use and handle than other circuit simulators like gEDA or PSpice. It also supports a growing list of analogue and digital components as well as Spice sub-circuits, which makes it easier to work with.

Fig. 1: Combined schematic and data visualisation

What is Qucs all about Qucs is an integrated circuit simulator that enables you to set up a circuit with its intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) and simulate the small-signal, large-signal and noise behaviour of the circuit. Post simulation, you can view the simulation results on a presentation page or window.

Fig. 2: Data display with 3D diagram

Qucsator and GUI The GUI is based on Qt by Digia. The software aims to support most kinds of circuit simulation like DC, AC, Sparameter, harmonic balance analysis and noise analysis to name a few. The

Top three functions of Qucs 1. Schematic capture 2. Analogue and digital simulations 3. Data visualisation www.efymag.com

Qucs GUI is well advanced and allows setting up schematics and presenting simulation results in various types of diagrams. Apart from representation in DC, AC, S-parameter, noise and transient analysis, mathematical equations and use of a sub-circuit hierarchy (with parameterised sub-circuits) are also available. Qucs can also import existing Spice models for use in your simulations. Qucsator, the simulation back-end, is a command-line circuit simulator. It takes a network list in a certain format as input and outputs a Qucs dataset. It has been programmed for usage in the Qucs project but may also be used by other applications. Qucs comes with a huge array of components and models including HICUM, BSIM2, BSIM3 and BSIM6 to list a few. It also provides semiconductorbased components and models such as PMOSFETs, MOSFETs, op-amps, diodes and many more. While some examples have been included in this story to demonstrate some of the abilities of Qucs, many more are available within the program in the DVD.

Features and their functions Fig. 3: Data display with different kinds of data representations (diagrams) and data markers

Qucs consists of several standalone programs interacting Electronics For You Plus | July 2014

III

EFY Plus DVD with each other through the GUI, such as: GUI. It is used to create schematics, set up simulations, display simulation results and to write VHDL code. Back-end analogue simulator. The analogue simulator is a command line program which is run by the GUI in order to simulate the schematic that you previously setup. It takes a netlist, checks it for errors, performs the required simulation actions and finally produces a dataset. Simple text editor. This is used to display netlists and simulation logging information, and also to edit files included by certain components (like Spice netlists or Touchstone files). Filter synthesis application. The program can be used to design various types of filters. Transmission line calculator. This can be used to design and analyse different types of transmission lines (examples: micro-strips, coaxial cables). Component library. The component library manager holds models for real-life devices, such as transistors, diodes, bridges and op-amps. The user can extend it with additional components. Attenuator synthesis application. The program can be used to design various types of passive attenuators. Command line conversion program. The conversion tool is used by the GUI to import and export datasets, netlists and schematics from and to other CAD/EDA software. The supported file formats as well as usage information can be found on the home page of Qucs. Additionally, the GUI steers other EDA tools. For digital simulations (via VHDL) the program FreeHDL (see http://www.freehdl.seul.org) is used. And for circuit optimisations ASCO (see http://asco.sourceforge.net) is configured and run.

your start menu or desktop. Qucs is a multi-lingual program. Therefore, depending on your system’s language settings, the Qucs GUI appears in dif-

Fig. 4: Qucs has been started

Setting up schematics Fig. 5: Application Setting Dialog Box

Fig. 6: New Project Dialog

Fig. 7: New empty project has been created

Getting started Once the software has been successfully installed on your system you can start it by issuing the # qucs command, or by clicking the appropriate icon on IV

July 2014 | Electronics For You Plus

ferent languages. On the left hand side you will find the Projects folder opened, as shown in Fig. 1. Usually, the projects folder will be empty if you are using Qucs for the first time. The large area on the right hand side is the schematic area. Right above it you can find the menu bar and the toolbars. Go to File → Application Settings menu to configure the language and appearance of Qucs. For the language and font settings to take effect, the application (as seen in Fig. 2) must be closed either via the Ctrl + Q shortcut or the File → Exit menu entry. Then re-start Qucs.

Fig. 8: Components tab

The following sections will enable the user to set up some simple schematics. For this, first create a new project named ‘WorkBook.’ Either press the New button above the projects folder or use the menu entry Project → New Project, and enter the new project name as shown in Fig. 3. Confirm the dialogue by pressing the Create button. When done, the project is opened and Qucs switches to the Content tab. In the Content tab, as seen in Fig. 4, you will find all the data related to the project. It contains your schematics, the VHDL files, data display pages, datasets as well as any other data (like datasheets). On the right hand side, an untitled and empty schematic window is displayed. Now you can start to edit the schematic. The available components can be found in the Components tab. The window in Fig. 5 is displayed on clicking the Components tab. There are lumped components (such as resistors and capacitors), sources (such as DC and AC www.efymag.com

EFY Plus DVD

Fig. 9: Components of the voltage divider appropriately wired

Fig. 12: Data display with tabular graph

Fig. 10: Ground symbol as well as DC simulation in place

Fig. 13: Simple filter in qucs-qt4

Fig. 11: Final voltage divider schematic

Fig. 14: Simple schematic area

sources), transmission lines (like microstrip, coaxial cable, twisted pair), nonlinear components (like ideal opamp, transistors), digital components (like flip-flops), file components (like Touchstone files, Spice files), simulations (AC or DC analysis), diagrams (like Cartesian or polar plot) and paintings (such as texts, arrows, circles). Each of the components can be placed on the schematic by clicking it once. Then move the cursor onto the schematic and click again to put it on its final position. You can right click to rotate the component into its final www.efymag.com

position. You can even drag-and-drop the components.

DC simulation of a voltage divider DC analysis is a steady-state analysis. It computes the node voltage as well as branch currents of the complete circuit. The circuit in Fig. 6 is for dividing the voltage of a DC voltage source according to the resistor ratio. Wiring components. Connect the components appropriately using the wiring tool. Enable the wiring mode either by clicking the wire icon or by pressing the Ctrl + E shortcut.

Left clicking on the components’ ports (small red circles) starts a wire and clicking on a second port finishes the wire. In order to change the orientation of the wire, right click it. You can leave the wiring mode by pressing Esc key. For any analogue simulation (including the DC simulation), there is a reference potential required (for the nodal analysis). The ground symbol can be found in the Components tab in the lumped components category. The user can also choose the ground symbol icon or simply press the Ctrl + G shortcut. In the circuit in Fig. 7, the ground symbol is placed at the negative terminal of the DC voltage source. Placing simulation blocks. The type of simulation that is to be performed must also be placed on the schematic. You can do this by choosing the ‘DC simulation’ block, which is found in the Components tab in the simulations category. Labelling wires. If you want voltage between the two resistors (the divided voltage) be output in the dataset after simulation, you need to label the wire. This is done by double clicking the wire and giving it an appropriate name. Wire labelling can also be done using the icon in the toolbar, by pressing the Ctrl + L shortcut or by choosing the Insert → Wire Label menu entry. Electronics For You Plus | July 2014

EFY Plus DVD Additional details

Operating system support for Qucs

Software: Qucs (Quite Universal Circuit Simulator) Supported OS: Windows, Mac, Ubuntu Size: Windows - 54MB, Mac - 106MB, Ubuntu - 247.3MB Last stable release: 0.0.17 on June 23, 2013

Qucs is currently developed on GNU/Linux systems using the GNU auto tools (and CMake experimentally). For this reason it is very likely that Qucs runs on all kinds of Unix systems supporting an appropriate system interface and an installed Qt environment. It has been verified that Qucs can be installed on GNU/Linux, Solaris 2.9, MacOS 10.5, NetBSD, FreeBSD and Cygwin (Unix emulation layer for Windows). Qucs is also available natively on x86 Windows (XP/Vista/7/8) systems and experimentally on x86_64 versions of these.

The dialogue is closed by pressing the Enter key or pressing the Ok button. Now the complete schematic for the voltage divider is ready and can be saved. This can by done by choosing the File → Save menu entry, clicking the Single Disk icon or by pressing the Ctrl + S shortcut. The final DC voltage divider is shown in Fig. 8. Issuing a simulation. The schematic can now be simulated. This is started by choosing the Simulation → Simulate menu entry, clicking the simulation button (the gearwheel) or by pressing the F2 shortcut. After the simulation has been done, the related data display is shown. Also, the Components tab changes its category to ‘diagrams.’ Placing diagrams. Choose the tabular (list of values) diagram and place it on the data display page. By double clicking ‘divided.V’, the graph (values in a tabular plot) is added to the diagram. Besides the node voltage ‘divided.V’ the current through the DC voltage source V1.I is available. Only items listed in the dataset list can be put into the graph.

Available dataset items Depending on the type of simulation the user performed you find the following types of items in the dataset: # node.V - DC voltage at node node # name.I - DC current through component name # node.v - AC voltage at node node # name.i - AC current through component name # node.vn - AC noise voltage at node node # name.in - AC noise current through component name # node.Vt - Transient voltage at node

July 2014 | Electronics For You Plus

Some other simulation tools 1. EasyEDA, online schematic capture, ngspice simulation and PCB design 2. Falstad Circuit Simulator Applet, Paul Falstad’s online java circuit simulator 3. GeckoCIRCUITS GPL software, online applet version (Java) 4. GNU Circuit Analysis Package (Gnucap) 5. Ngspice, including Online Spice

What users have to say about Qucs “Qucs is a very powerful circuit simulator program and has features I have yet to understand. It is also very user friendly. It is a great piece of software for anyone wanting to learn electronics and the price is right. Zero.” “This is probably the most useful open source circuit simulator I ever found. It is accurate and (once you learn a bit) really easy to use.” “Very nice product. I am a DSP guy, so I do not use circuit simulators often. I have some experience with Spice and OrCAD, but I have a very strong preference for Qucs. Easier to use and richer in features. For example, the basic ‘OpAmp’ is just what you need when you want to make some examples in class without drowning in the complexities of a ‘real’ OpAmp.” “Very nice program which I use mostly to simulate and display S-parameters files and circuits. ” —Courtesy: http://sourceforge.net/projects/qucs/ node # name.It - Transient current through component name # S[1,1] - S-parameter value

Please note that all voltages and currents are peak values and all noise voltages are RMS values at 1Hz bandwidth. Depending on the type of graph, you have various options to choose for the graph. For a tabular graph, there is the number precision as well as type of number notation (important for complex values). Press the Ok button to close the dialogue. In the tabular graph, as seen in <image 9>, the value of the node voltage ‘divided.V’ is 0.5V. That is expected since the resistors are of equal values and the DC voltage source produces 1V. Congratulations! You made your

first successful simulation using Qucs.

License Qucs is a free software released under the General Public License (GPL). It comes with complete source code. Every user of the program is allowed and called upon (on a voluntary basis of course) to modify it for their applications, as long as the changes are made public. The screenshots show the main schematic and data display area of the Qucs GUI on the lower right corner, the menus and icons at the upper part and the project/contents/component/action/diagram selection on the left-hand side.  The author is a senior technical correspondent at EFY. This article has inputs from Qucs’ recently released documentation www.efymag.com

EFY Plus DVD

LTSpice IV: Ideal for SMPS Simulations LTSpice IV is a free, high-performance Spice tool to virtually model, simulate and analyse electronic circuits, particularly switching regulators, before actually building them using electronic components Anagha P.

TSpice, formerly known as SwitcherCAD, is the fourthgeneration free Spice simulation, schematic-capture and waveformviewer software solution with enhancements and models offered by the semiconductor manufacturer Linear Technology Corporation (LTC). This software features built-in component models to help obtain accurate results for non-linear designs. It also comes with various advanced and full-fledged capabilities that let you precisely test circuit functionalities. Exceptionally good simulation of switched mode power supply (SMPS) controllers and regulators is said to be one of the key features of this product. Its speed of simulation has greatly improved as compared to the previous Spice programs, without compromising on the accuracy of simulation, due to the introduction of mixed-mode simulation capability and many other enhancements. In a few minutes it can perform detailed cycle-by-cycle SMPS simulations and analyse them. It is to be noted that LTSpice is not SMPS-specific Spice. It has all the features of any other typical analogue and mixed-signal simulation program, with an added benefit that it is fast enough to simulate a SMPS interactively. This improved performance is an advantage for simulating general analogue circuits and would aid all electronics engineers.

www.efymag.com

PLL

Meant for whom? LTSpice IV can be used to design simple and complex switching regulators and run simulations for these circuits. The ease to learn, simplicity of usage and extensive help files make it a good choice for students. The advanced simulation and analysis capabilities make it a great tool for creating professionalgrade circuits by electronics engineers. Many students, novice engineers and experienced professionals in Simulation such fields as radio-frequency elecStable and feature-rich tronics, power electronics, digital electronics and other disciplines use The software is highly stable, and the LTSpice IV. Those users who want to number of nodes you can create using create their own schemes of integrated LTSpice is unlimited. The application circuits and test them can also use this comes with a library that has a varied Spice circuit simulator. While it cannot collection of predefined components generate printed circuit board (PCB) like resistors, capacitors, inductors, layouts, netlists can still be imported diodes, wires, BUS taps, text boxes, into layout programs. labels etc that can be added to the cirElectronics For You Plus | July 2014

VII

EFY Plus DVD cuit. You can simulate a large number of analogue components from LTC as well as other discrete passive devices contained in the library. Third-party models, like MOSFET components, can be imported to the workspace and integrated in your schematic; their configuration can be displayed without using internal nodes and without affecting the switching waveforms. It is possible to configure each component in the schematic individually by right-clicking on it. This way the user can modify the functions and parameters. For example, the resistance, tolerance level and power rating of a resistor, parasitic properties and the amplitude of a voltage source can be changed. Further, the general-purpose schematic and symbol-capture and editing tools can help the user insert all kinds of geometrical figures and shapes found in complex output designs. It supports unlimited schematic size and hierarchy. You can also generate netlists and cross probe simulation data.

Advanced options The enhancements to Spice makes the simulation of SMPS very fast and easy compared to typical Spice simulators. This allows you to view and evaluate waveforms for most switching regulators in a few minutes compared to hours required by other similar Spice simulators. Once the schematic is created, you can evaluate the validity of the scheme with the help of built-in compiler and simulator. LTSpice provides you with advanced simulation and analyses options that can outperform some paid Spice simulators. It has features like steady-state detection, step response computation and Fourier analysis. You can also plot circuit simulations

VIII

July 2014 | Electronics For You Plus

based on transient, AC, noise and DC analysis. LTSpice is capable of computing bill of materials (for certain circuits), heat dissipation of components and generate complete efficiency reports of the SMPS circuits you have drafted. This lets you determine the points with higher energy dissipation and thereby take measures to minimise the energy wastage in the circuit.

Easy to use A user with no previous knowledge about the device, Spice or schematic capture can get a detailed simulation of power systems with just a few mouse clicks. A good collection of pre-drafted and verified demo circuits can be used to start building the custom circuit, and the parameters can be suitably modified to fit different power supply requirements. All these features make LTSpice easy to understand and operate.

Installation and getting started This download includes fully-functional LTSpice IV, help files, over 1100 macro models for 80% of LT’s power products, numerous operational amplifiers, resistors, transistors and MOSFETs. The installation file LTSpiceIV. exe is a self-extracting gzip compressed file. Double clicking on it installs LTSpice IV in the computer as it extracts. Windows Vista users should right click on file and select ‘Run as administrator’ option. Hundreds of demo circuits are available for download at Linear Technology website, all of which were designed and reviewed by the firm’s factory applications group. The pre-drafted test fixtures (JIG) are used for testing models during

LTSpice IV Facts License type

Freeware

Developer

Mike Engelhardt, Linear Technology Corporation

Latest version

4.21x

Operating systems hh Windows and requirements Version: Windows 2000 and later (Runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit operating system) Processor: Pentium 4 hh Linux Via Wine Windows simulator hh OS X Via Crossover, Parallels, or DARWINE

development and provide a good starting point for draft. You can also create your own design using the schematic editor with the help of a large number of macro models of power devices provided in the software package.

Support The software is updated often. You can check for updates and install them by built-in menu command Tools > Sync Release. You have to close all other windows and establish an Internet connection before the update can be made. Comments about the software and bug report can be directly mailed to LTSpice@linear.com. By registering with MyLinear account at www.linear. com, you would be able to receive free samples, literature, product updates and so on. Blogposts and video tutorials for different functions that can be done using this tool are available in the website (Design Support > Design Simulation Page > LTSpice IV > LTSpice Blog). For additional support you could also join the Yahoo group LTSpice IV and LTSpice wiki www. ltwiki.org, which are not affiliated to Linear Technology.  The author is a technical correspondent at EFY

www.efymag.com

innovation

Drishti: For Airport Visibility Measurement This highly-precise and cost-effective transmissometer developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial ResearchNational Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) is a significant contribution to the field of electronics and airport instrumentation in India

Drishti at New Delhi Airport

Anagha P.

isibility on the runway is extremely important for safe landing and take-off of an aircraft. Hence visual-range accessors are mandatory for all airport runways. Till now the transmissometers used in Indian airports were imported. The requirement of a highly-accurate, cost-effective, low-maintenance, indigenous, state-of-the-art system on par with more-expensive imported systems prompted development of the Drishti transmissometer at CSIR-NAL.

Indigenous, economical and rugged Drishti is the only indigenouslydeveloped transmissometer of its kind available today. It costs just one-third www.efymag.com

the price of an imported system, yet gives more precise readings than it. The device is rugged, has high mean time between failures and is nearly maintenance-free. In fact, the Drishti system installed in New Delhi airport in 2011 has never had a failure or maintenance issue to date! Virtual instrumentation concept with a combination of modular hardware and software design has made serviceability easier, while weatherproof enclosures (IP65) for the electronics hardware make the system

rugged. The availability of complete knowledge base to the component level allows cost-effective servicing and maintenance.

Modern design Built on an industry-standard FPGA design platform, Drishti makes good use of virtual instrumentation concept. Miniaturised, highly-precise, modular optics with provision for manual and automatic alignment has been used in its design. The use of electronic modulation technique for modulating lamp intensity and synchronous demodulation technique for improving signal-tonoise ratio make Drishti highly efficient. It is provided with landline and Wi-Fi communication from runway to air traffic control (ATC) room. It also features web-enabled remote accessibility for data and health monitoring of the system from anywhere in the country. The system facilitates automated measurement of RVR (50-2000 metres) and MOR (10-10,000 metres).

The system Drishti, developed by CSIR-NAL for Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), meets the specifications for visibility measurement instruments set forth by ICAO and WMO. It has a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-embedded hardware and webenabled data acquisition software built in LabView environment. It basically comprises of a transmitter (a lamp with spectral characteristics similar to runway lights) that sends collimated beam of light and a receiver

What is a transmissometer? Visual range depends on several environmental factors like fog, snow, rain and storm. It is commonly measured as meteorological optical range (MOR) or runway visibility range (RVR). A transmissometer, also referred to as transmittance meter, is an instrument used to measure the transmission coefficient of the light passing through the atmosphere and thereby determine the MOR and/or RVR. Electronics For You | July 2014

innovation Installed systems

Features Transmitter

Lamp with spectral characters similar to runway lights

Receiver

Photo diode and suitable electronics. Photopically corrected to match the human-eye response

Background • 2 to 40,000 candela per square metre (cd/m2) covering the range luminance monitor of night, twilight, normal day and bright day (BLM) • Measurement accuracy of ±10% Software

Suitable Windows-based software in LabView environment

Communication to Through Wi-Fi and landline control tower and Wi-Fi. A multi-disciplinary June 2011: Concept and design field product, the sucSeptember 2011: Developed prototype cess of which is attribDecember 2011: Field installation at IGI Airport, New Delhi uted to the effective and December 15, 2011: Two Drishti systems started functioning efficient use of phys at IGI Airport Runways 29 and 11 ics, material science December 26, 2011: Drishti received International Class I and several engineering Certification streams, such as electronics, computer science, communicaThe team behind Drishti tion, civil, environmental, structural, Dr Shubha V.—Chief Scientist electrical and mechanical engineering. Dr T.G. Ramesh—Honorary Consultant G. Sivakumar—Software Engineer Challenges Arul Paligan—Mechanical Engineer There were several technical conR. Krishna Murthy—Mechanic straints the team had to overcome V. Jithuraj—Assistant during the development of this product. Since Drishti is a field equipment, (an optical detector and associated it should be capable of withstanding electronics photopically-corrected to harsh environment conditions like rain, match the human-eye response) that fog, lightning and climatic variations is set up at a characteristic distance to (extreme heat of about 55°C during collect the transmitted beam. summer and snow in winter). As safety Drishti is a 30-metre baseline sysof aircraft cannot be compromised, a tem covering low and high visibility real-time operating system that works ranging from less than 25 metres to round the clock was necessary. Also, about 10,000 metres. It is suitable for the system should be rugged with high installation in all categories of airmean time between failures. port—CAT I, CAT II, CAT III A and The Drishti team was able to meet CAT III B. It also has provision for varall these challenges successfully using ying the baseline anywhere between 15 virtual instrumentation concept. With metres to 75 metres as per international a highly customisable application standards. development software and modular The instrument is set up parallel electronics hardware, a user-defined to airport runway. A detector collects system was developed. Increased relithe transmitted light beam and measability was achieved by reducing the ures the attenuation of light intensity part count to minimum. Eco-friendly, caused while traversing through the miniaturised, high-precision optics atmosphere. It works on the principle were used. The effects of weather and that, higher the attenuation factor, climate were offset by housing the eleclower will be the visibility of the runtronics, mechanical hardware and the way. Data from field site is transmitted precision optics in environmentallyto ATC room, which is usually located controlled enclosures. 4 to 5 kilometres away, through cable

From Inception to Fruition—6 months

July 2014 | Electronics For You

After evaluating the performance of Drishti system in the critical fog season of December 2011 to February 2012, Indian Meteorological Department requested CSIR-NAL to install three more systems at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, which is the most stringent and crucial airport of India to cover the requirement of 2012-13 fog season. In a record time of three weeks, the team developed the systems, installed them and received the International Class I certification. Currently there are seven Drishti systems operating in three Indian international Airports—Indira Gandhi International Airport of New Delhi (five systems), Lucknow International Airport (one system) and NSCBI Airport of Kolkata (one system). A partnership agreement is signed with Indian Meteorological Department, who are the sole buyers, users and certifying agency for civilian airports, on 20th May 2014 and soon all the civilian airports of the country will have Drishti systems.

Copyrights, patents, awards and recognition The Drishti system holds 14 copyrights. There are four patents and a trademark filed for Drishti under Intellectual Property Management Division (IPMD)—CSIR. Drishti has also been certified with International Class I NOTAM (Notice to Air Man). The system has been recognised by various organisations and has won several prestigious awards like the Aeronautical Society of India Award for Indigenisation of Aeronautical Equipment, best innovation award of 2012 and 2013 by CSIR-NAL and IETE Diamond Jubilee Corporate Award for performance in Electronic Instruments & Instrumentation in 2013. It has also received NRDC Meritorious Invention 2012 award and IESA Technovation 2013 award for Most Innovative Product.  The author is a technical correspondent at EFY www.efymag.com

Career

Data Analytics will be the Next Big Thing for Engineers There is a growing demand for engineers in the data analytics (DA) field, with some companies particularly looking for electronics engineers with a penchant for programming and mathematics. Of course, jobs in DA pay really well too! So let us find out the skills, salary and what lies ahead for a career in DA Abhishek A. Mutha

oday, most of the jobs available in data analytics (DA) are for computer science graduates, but there are some companies that particularly look for electronics engineers. An engineering degree with a knack for programming, statistics and mathematics is the latest choice for employers hiring in the DA domain. Anand Sankaran, senior principal architect, Verizon Data Services, India informs that many universities in the US, Europe and India have started specialised courses both at graduate and undergraduate levels to cater to the increasing demand for DA professionals. The exponential growth in DA is catalysed by an unprecedented availability of data, thanks to a steep fall of storage cost and the ubiquitous need to extract valuable insights from a volume of data to solve business problems. He says, “A recent article in the Harvard Business Review predicts

IT-software Manufacturing and engineering BFSI CRM/BPO/ITeS Consulting services Others

Fig. 1: Top five industries for data analytics (Data courtesy: TimesJobs.com) www.efymag.com

that DA will be one of the coolest and the fastest growing career paths in the coming decade, and we have seen studies that highlight a shortfall of qualified candidates to meet the job requirements in this space.”

Why engineers Basically, engineers have a good blend of learning in technology, mathematics and data science. Sudeshna Datta, EVP and co-founder, Absolutdata says, “Engineers have been critical to the growth of the analytics market in India and are very apt to make a career in DA. To add, now there are institutions who help engineers learn the basics of machine learning and big data in the curriculum.” However, Ashish Soni, chief analytics officer, Costarch believes that engineering graduates fit into the area of DA only if they have an inclination towards number crunching. Their quantitative and computer skills give them the competitive edge

Up to ` 500,000 (entry level) ` 500,000 to ` 1,000,000 (junior level) ` 1,000,000 to ` 1,500,000 (mid level) Over ` 1,500,000 (senior level)

Fig. 2: Salary breakup of data analysts (Data courtesy: TimesJobs.com)

that graduates from other streams do not have. In short, he says, “If an engineering graduate is looking for a career in data analytics, he/ she should focus on improving his/ her numerical computation skills, learn some numerical programming language and explore the area of statistics.” Engineering graduates with a good knowledge of programming and business can have a well-defined career path in this sector. Harvard Business School predicts that there is a serious dearth of data scientists in the US alone. “With open data movements gathering steam across the world, scope for engineering graduates to

Four Major Categories Hiring Data Analysts 1. IT companies 2. KPOs (knowledge process outsourcing) 3. Captive analytics units 4. Niche analytics firms

Bengaluru Mumbai Delhi NCR Chennai Hyderabad Others

Fig. 3: Top five locations for data analytics (Data courtesy: TimesJobs.com) Electronics For You | July 2014

Career Demand areas

If you are someone who is good at discovering and communicating meaningful patterns in data and are looking for a career in data analytics, target IT software companies, and be prepared to relocate to the south”—Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com Notable Organisations Hiring in this Domain 1. Tata Communications 2. Ericsson 3. Amazon 4. GE 5. IBM 6. Honeywell 7. Shell 8. NTT Data make a career in data analytics is huge,” says Kaushank Nalin Khandwala, manager, Data Centre and Analytics Lab, IIM Bangalore.

Current opportunities for engineers In the coming decade, social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) are the strategic focus areas for many technology companies. The entry-level roles in analytics are in the areas of data modelling, data visualisation, business analysis and reporting. Apart from their core field, engineers are now hired by IT companies, KPOs, captive analytics units and niche analytics organisations across various entry-level roles, such as management trainees, analysts and assistant managers in the risk, marketing and analytics consulting roles. Over the last 14 months, the spike in big data roles has also added to the mix. There are a lot of opportunities for fresh engineering graduates who have the right kind of skill set. The entrylevel roles generally involve a profile where the graduates are required to aggregate, compile and screen the data and also prepare a datasheet for further analysis. In addition, they may also be asked to explore the data to find some insights before applying any data analysis technique. 80

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Typical Entry-Level Job Profiles in Analytics 1. Business analyst 2. Data analyst/data scientist analyst 3. Data manager 4. Data engineer For engineers, roles will also be of programmers, specifically for Java, Python and R. Freshers with good knowledge of Hadoop and cloud computing will have a distinct advantage. For experienced graduates, roles range from business intelligence specialists, programmers, open source experts to Hadoop engineers, cloud computing experts, Java, Python, text mining specialists and domain specialists.

Pay package At PayScale.com, the average salary indicated for an entry-level data analyst is ` 257,383 per year. The skills that increase pay for this job the most are SAS, SPSS and quality improvement/QA. A mid-career data analyst earns an average salary of ` 400,236 per year. The highest paying skills associated with this job are database, SAS, Microsoft SQL server and SQL (refer charts). Some industry experts preferred to keep the pay packages confidential and the others gave us a basic idea. At Costarch, Soni informs, “We do recruit engineers to work in this domain with our company but we do not have any fixed pay package for our recruits and it depends very much on their skill sets. But to give you an idea, the entry-level package varies between ` 240,000 and ` 450,000 and for experienced professionals, it varies between ` 500,000 to ` 1,000,000.”

Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs. com explained, “DA is a high-demand profession that is going to continue to attract the best and brightest technological minds for a long time to come—many CIOs today started out as DA specialists. DA is the job of finding business insights in figures and facts—at a junior-to-mid-level career this comprises extracting information from raw data. At a mid-to-senior-level position, this information is processed into knowledge that is leveraged for business growth.” He further adds, “If you are someone who is good at discovering and communicating meaningful patterns in data and are looking for a career in DA, target IT software companies and be prepared to relocate to the south— as Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad account for almost half of the jobs available in this sector.” According to the data provided by TimesJobs.com, the top industries hiring DA professionals is the IT industry with about 42 per cent share of jobs followed by the manufacturing and engineering industry with a share of 10 per cent. Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and ITES-BPO (information technology-enabled service-business process outsourcing) have 9 per cent and 4 per cent of the jobs, respectively (refer pie charts). Apart from Bangalore and Mumbai that feature in the list of top locations for jobs in the DA field with 25 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, Delhi shares 19 per cent of the jobs and, Chennai and Hyderabad with 10 per cent of the jobs each. Remaining jobs are scattered in other locations (refer pie charts).

Skills expected Both freshers and experienced graduates should have a balanced mix of left brain and right brain skills, informs Anand. They need to be able to both count and connect the dots, be curious enough to question everything they see and sceptical enough not to acwww.efymag.com

Career Expert Advice for a Career in Data Analytics “I see two distinct paths for a career in DA. One could choose to focus on a career that is about extracting information from data or go further and choose a career that is about distilling business wisdom from data. The latter is harder, riskier but challenging and in the long run, more rewarding. Do not choose a career just because it has a buzz around it; choose a career that creates a buzz within you. You could be twice lucky, if the career you are interested in is also the one the market is interested in.” —Anand Sankaran, senior principal architect, Verizon Data Services India “There are a lot of resources available on the Internet. All I can advise is that keep improving your skills in this area because there is a big shortage for right kind of talent in this area. Explore the platforms that deliver massive open online courses to develop your skills and knowledge about the area.” —Ashish Soni, chief analytics officer, Costarch “Get your skin in the game. Learn as much as you can. Take up courses from free online resources such as Coursera, EDX, Amazon web services. Play with open data sets. There is a lot of scope for entrepreneurship with Cloud computing, analytics, big data and open data movements gathering momentum. Time to think big and make a good impact.” —Kaushank Nalin Khandwala, manager, Data Centre and Analytics Lab, IIM Bangalore

cept every answer they hear, be both Major contributors to this report an analyst and an artist. Key skills include logical thinking, analytical bent of mind, strong Sankaran Ashish Soni Kaushank Nalin Sudeshna Datta grip on mathemat- Anand senior principal chief analytics officer, Khandwala EVP and co-founder, ics, statistics and architect, Verizon Data Costarch manager, Data Centre Absolutdata Services India and Analytics Lab, IIM concepts of probBangalore ability. Madhukar says, “Those who are comfortable playing with numbers making, surely the trend is changing. complemented with data visualisation, Eventually data-based analytics is gogood business understanding and ing to be the space to watch out for!” communication skills will do very With encouraging career proswell.” pects and amongst the most well-paid Talking about AbsolutData, Datta careers, DA jobs surely seem to be says, “The major areas that we expect the next big thing for engineers to people to be strong are quantitative consider. It is already beginning to ability, problem-solving skills, good revamp businesses and their abilaptitude and lateral thinking.” On the ity to compete by helping them make other hand, Soni notes, “The skill sets smarter decisions. Analytics is the new required to excel in this area include, career choice for those who want to interest in number crunching, good stay ahead. logic reasoning, knowledge and expeAnalytics is not too much into rience with some statistical package, tools or technologies, it is a method of programming knowledge and should thinking that permits the use of knowlbe able to think out of the box.” edge, tools and technologies to extract valuable insights from data. Analytics Future jobs and careers exist in most large companies in almost every industry DA is a 23 billion dollar industry, invertical.  forms Datta. She says, “Over the last decade, India has witnessed a change in even top tier strategy consulting The author is a senior technical correspondent at EFY companies using data-based decision 82

July 2014 | Electronics For You

www.efymag.com

dIy: project

Quiz Game Controller

sani the

tion is asked by the quiz master, any of the participating teams can press the button and give the answer within the allotted time. A buzzer sounds and a big 12.7cm (5-inch) 7-segment display shows the number of the team that presses their pushbutton switch first. Author’s prototype is shown in Fig. 1.

Dr D.K. Kaushik and Ashok Sharma

his PIC16F877A microcontroller-based quiz controller, designed for up to six players or teams, is suitable for school and college quiz competitions. It is similar to a fastest-finger-first system in which the player who presses the button first gets the first chance to answer the quiz. Here, each team is assigned a unique number and provided with a pushbutton switch. As soon as a ques-

Fig. 1: Author’s prototype TP1

TP2

BR1=1A 230V AC, 50Hz MAINS

R4 680E

R3 1K

PZ1 PIEZO BUZZER

LED5 11 1

MCLR

RA0

RA1

4 5

RA2

10K

RA4

7 8

RA5

RE1

RNW1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

RE0

RE2 RD0

RD1

RD2

RD3

VDD

RA3

VDD

IC1 PIC16F877A

RD4 RD5 Vss 31

Vss 12

RB7 RB6 RB5 RB4 RB3 RB2 RB1 RB0 RC0 RC1 RC2 RC3 RC4 RC5 RC6 RC7 RD7 RD6

40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 15 16 17 18 23 24 25 26 30 29

OSC1 OSC2 13

XTAL1 20MHz

S5 C5 33p

S6 S1−S6 = PLAYER1−PLAYER6 GND

C6 33p

LED4 LED3

LED2

LED1

RNW2 100E

BC547

RESET

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

R2 1.2K

C3 0.1u

LED6

TP3

LED7 POWER

R1 10K

TP0

SECONDARY TRANSFORMER

IC4 7805

C2 0.1u

X1=230V AC PRIMARY TO 15V, 500mA

C4 10u , 16V

C1 470u 35V

IC3 7812

BR1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

IN1

COMMON

IN2

OUT1

IN3

OUT2

IN4

IC2

OUT3

ULN2003 IN5

OUT4

IN6

OUT5

IN7

OUT6

GND

OUT7

9 16

13 12 11 10

R8 R9 R10 R11

8 7 6 5 2 1 10 9 4

a b c d e f g dp

DIS1

CM 3

R5−R11 = 1K LED1−LED6 = PLAYER1−PLAYER6

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of the quiz controller

July 2014 | Electronics For You

www.efymag.com

dIy: project

Test Points Test point

Details

TP0 0V TP1 12V TP2 5V TP3

Low when S7 is pressed

Fig. 3: Code compilation in Proton IDE

Circuit and working As shown in Fig. 2, the quiz game controller circuit is built around the popular PIC16F877A microcontroller (IC1), driver ULN2003 (IC2), transistor BC547 (T1), 7-segment display (DIS1), some LEDs and switches. PIC16F877A. This microcontroller,

which forms the heart of the circuit, has 8-bit processor with 8kB Flash memory, 368-byte data memory and 256-byte EEPROM. In addition, it has three timers. A 7-segment (common-anode) display is connected to the PIC controller through buffer ULN2003 on port C (RC0-RC6). Six pushbutton switches are connected to port D (RD0-RD5) of the microcontroller. This port is used as the input port. The logic values of these switches are scanned by the program through this port at a very fast rate of about 6 microseconds. The microcontroller keeps scanning the positions of the switches and, when a switch shows logic 1, it sends a signal to port B (RB7) and the buzzer sounds. Port B of the microcontroller acts as output port for the LEDs also. Six LEDs (LED1 through LED6) connected to port pins RB0 through RB5 of IC1 are used as visual indications. For example, if the third team presses the switch first, LED3 will glow along with sounding of the buzzer, and at the same time digit ‘3’ will be displayed on DIS1. Switch S7 is connected to pin 1 of microcontroller for manual reset. Resistors R1 and R2 and capacitor C4 form the power-on reset circuitry. ULN2003. The 7-segment display DIS1 (SUNR400CA or its equivalent) is driven by ULN2003 driver IC2. Pins RC0 through RC6 of microcontroller are connected to input pins IN1 through IN7 of IC2. Its output pins OUT1 through OUT7 are connected to the segments ‘a’ through ‘g’ of DIS1. Power supply. The power supply is derived from 230V AC mains primary to 15V, 500mA secondary transformer X1. Bridge rectifier module BR1 rectifies secondary output of the transformer, capacitor C1 filters it and sends to input of 7812 regulator IC3. The 12V regulated DC output from IC3 is sent to input of 7805 regulator IC4 to power buzzer and DIS1. The 5V DC from 7805 powers the microcontroller.

Software

Fig. 4: Actual-size PCB layout for the quiz controller www.efymag.com

The program for microcontroller is written in Basic and compiled using Proton IDE v2.0. After compilation of the code Electronics For You | July 2014

dIy: project Parts List Semiconductors: - PIC16F877A microcontroller IC1 IC2 - ULN2003 driver IC3 - 7812, 12V regulator IC4 - 7805, 5V regulator T1 - BC547 npn transistor - 1A bridge rectifier BR1 DIS1 - 12.7cm (5-inch) 7-segment display (common anode) LED1-LED6 - 5mm white LED (high intensity) - 5mm red LED LED7 Resistors (all ¼-watt, ±5% carbon): R1 - 10-kilo-ohm - 1.2-kilo-ohm R2 R3, R5-R11 - 1-kilo-ohm - 680-ohm R4 - 10-kilo-ohm resistor network RNW1 RNW2 - 200-ohm resistor network Capacitors: C1 C2, C3 C4 C5, C6

- 470µF, 35V electrolytic - 0.1µF ceramic - 10µF, 16V electrolytic - 33pF ceramic

Miscellaneous: - 20MHz crystal oscillator XTAL1 X1 - 230V AC primary to 15V, 500mA secondary transformer S1-S6 - Pushbutton switch - Tactile switch S7 PZ1 - Piezobuzzer

efy Note Fig. 5: Component layout for the PCB

(quiz_mm.bas), if everything’s fine, you will see ‘Compilation Success for Target Device 16F877A (20MHz)’ message at the bottom of the screen, as shown in Fig. 3. The hex code generated by Proton IDE is used to burn into the PIC16F877A using PICSTART Plus programmer.

Construction and testing An actual-size, single-side PCB layout for the circuit is shown in Fig. 4 and

July 2014 | Electronics For You

its component layout in Fig. 5. All the components are easily available in electronics components shops. After assembling of the components properly on the PCB, power supply connections should be checked. Install the 7-segment display DIS1 suitably so that it is visible to the quiz master and the audience. It requires at least eight wires to connect to the PCB. Connection detail for each segment (‘a’ through ‘g’) is provided in Fig. 5 at DISP1. Next, install all six switches (S1 through S6) at different locations where the six contesting teams can reach them. House each switch and its corresponding LED in a transparent enclosure, so that when you press the switch and LED glows, it is visible to the quiz master. Switch on the power supply to start the quiz. On pressing any switch (S1 through S6), the corresponding number (1 through 6) should appear

The source code of this project is included in this month’s EFY DVD and is also available for free download at source.efymag.com on DIS1 and the buzzer should ring. Simultaneously, the corresponding LED near the switch should glow. The LED and display switch off after six seconds while the buzzer stops ringing after two seconds. When a question is asked by the quiz master, any team can respond by pressing their switch. The switch first pressed is recognised by the microcontroller. Any other switches pressed thereafter do not get registered. So the team who pressed the button first can be allowed to give the answer. For any problem in the display you can press reset switch S7 momentarily and check again. For further troubleshooting, you can also verify the voltages at various points given in the test points table.  Dr D.K. Kaushik is principal and Ashok Sharma is technical assistant at Manohar Memorial (P.G.) College, Fatehabad (Haryana) www.efymag.com

dIy: project

Arduino-Based FM Receiver

Abhijeet

Rai

S1 10K FREQUENCY UP

S2 R1

10K

FREQUENCY DOWN R2

TP4 TP3

D7 D6

13 12

D5 D4

11 10

D3 D2

9 8

D1 D0

R/W EN

16X2 LCD A/VEE

7 6 5 4 3 2 TX 1 RX 0

DIGITAL

ATMEGA328

ANALOG

July 2014 | Electronics For You

ANT.

1 DATA

TP5 9 MPXO

10 ANT

CLOCK

3 BUSMODE L−OUT

TP2

LS1 = 8−OHM, 0.5W SPEAKER

VR2 10K

FM1 3

C3 100u, 25V

LS1

C2 10u 25V

C1 22u 25V

IC1

LM386 2

GND

R−OUT

GND TP0

TEA 5767

Vcc

R/W

BATT.1 9V

A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5

RST 3.3V 5V GND GND Vin

TP1 R4 10E

Fig. 1: Author’s prototype

BOARD1

GND 13 12 11 10 9 8

ARDUINO

DRIVER

USB POWER INPUT

330E

SCL SDA AREF

K 16

2 VDD

Circuit and working The circuit of the Arduino-based FM receiver, shown in Fig. 2, is built around Arduino UNO board (board1), TEA5767 radio receiver module (FM1), LM386 low-power amplifier (IC1), 16×2 LCD (LCD1) and 8-ohm speaker (LS1). Arduino UNO board. Arduino is an open source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It is intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Arduino UNO is a board based on ATmega328 microcontroller. It has 14 digital input/output pins, six analogue inputs, a USB connection for programming the on-board microcontroller, power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button. It is operated with a 16MHz crystal oscillator and contains everything needed to support the microcontroller. It is easy to use as the user simply needs to connect it to a computer with a USB cable, or power it with an AC-toDC adaptor or battery, to get started. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using Arduino programming language and Arduino development environment.

Vss

LCD1

his project is of an FM radio based on Philips TEA5767 digital radio-receiver module. The radio receiver uses I2C interface with Arduino UNO development board. The TEA5767 module offers such features as stereo or mono outputs, radio station scanning and signal strength indication. The author’s prototype on a breadboard is shown in Fig. 1.

VR1 10K

Madhuram Mishra

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of the Arduino-based FM receiver www.efymag.com

dIy: project Pins A4 and A5 of the Arduino board are connected to DATA and CLOCK pins of the FM module (FM1), respectively. Pins 10 through 12 of the Arduino board are connected to EN, R/W and RS pins of LCD1 while pins 2 through 5 are connected to data pins of the LCD. Pins 7 and 8 of the Arduino board are connected to tactile switches S1 and S2 to increase and decrease FM frequency, respectively. TEA5767 receiver module. The TEA5767 is a single-chip electronicallytuned FM stereo radio module for low-voltage applications with fullyintegrated intermediate frequency (IF) selectivity and demodulation. The TEA5767 module is shown in Fig. 3. Its operating power supply can range from 2.5V to 5V (maximum). The radio module is completely adjustment-free and requires a minimum of small and low-cost external components. The oscillator in TEA5767 operates with a 32.768kHz or 13MHz external crystal. The module can be configured to operate either in I2C

Test Points Test point

Details

TP0 0V TP1 5V

mode or 3-wire bus mode, selectable via BUSMODE pin. In this project, the module is operated in I2C mode by grounding the BUSMODE pin. The module also provides 4-bit level information via the bus. There is autonomous search tuning function inbuilt in the module along with many more features. Pins 3 and 6 of TEA5767 module (FM1) are connected to ground. Pins 7 and 8 of FM1 provide outputs for right and left channel, respectively. LM386 amplifier. The output signals from the module are very low and inaudible, so we need to use an audio-amplifier circuit. Here, for testing purpose, we use low-voltage power amplifier LM386 at the left channel output. Use VR2 to adjust the volume in the speaker. If you want stereo output, you should use another LM386 with the same configuration at the right channel output of the module.

Software program The software of this project is written in Arduino programming language. The Arduino UNO is programmed using Arduino IDE software. ATmega328 on Arduino UNO comes with a boot loader that allows you to upload new code to it without the use of external

TP2 9V TP3

Low when S1 is pressed

TP4

Low when S2 is pressed

TP5

Output of FM1

Fig. 3: TEA5767 digital radio receiver module

DATA BYTE 1

DATA BYTE 2

WRITE MODE Fig. 4: Write mode data sequence www.efymag.com

Parts List Semiconductors: FM1 - TEA5767 digital radio receiver module LCD1 - 16×2 LCD BOARD1 - Arduino UNO board IC1 - LM386 low-power amplifier Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): R1, R2 - 10-kilo-ohm R3 - 330-ohm R4 - 10-ohm VR1, VR2 - 10-kilo-ohm preset Capacitors: - 22µF, 25V electrolytic C1 C2 - 10µF, 25V electrolytic C3 - 100µF, 25V electrolytic Miscellaneous: S1, S2 - Tactile switch BATT.1 - 9V battery LS1 - 8-ohm, 0.5W speaker ANT. - 75cm hookup wire antenna

DATA BYTE 3

DATA BYTE 4

DATA BYTE 5

hardware programmer. It communicates using the STK500 protocol. You can also bypass the boot loader and program the microcontroller through ICSP (in circuit serial programming) header, but using boot loader programming is quick and easy. Select the correct board from ‘Tools → Board’ menu in Arduino IDE and burn the program (sketch) through standard USB port in the computer. The source code for the same is provided with auto-scan function as well as without auto-scan function. Programming steps. The program for this circuit performs the following functions: 1. Initialising the TEA5767 module 2. Writing the data to TEA5767 module 3. Reading the TEA5767 module values 4. Displaying information on the LCD screen 5. Scanning available FM channels 6. Increasing or decreasing the frequency by a unit defined value of particular MHz. The source program is well commented, which can be seen by opening the file in Arduino software. Writing data to TEA5767. The useful details about writing the byte and reading the byte can be obtained from page numbers 13 through 16 of the datasheet (Rev.5). Wire.BeginTransmission(0x60); This is used to start I2C communication with the TEA5767 module The address of TEA5767 is 0x60 during writing The address of TEA5767 is 0x61 during reading Wire.write(0x00); This is used to send data to the I2C device byte by byte The significance of various bytes in TEA5767 is also mentioned on page numbers 13 through16 of its datasheet. The data byte sequence for the write mode is shown in Fig. 4; the remaining detail can be found in the datasheet. Bitwise operators used for programming the first two bytes of TEA5767 are explained below: Electronics For You | July 2014

dIy: project efy Note The source code of this project is included in this month’s EFY DVD and is also available for free download on source.efymag.com operation is for search-up or searchdown operation. The implementation of these operations has been included in the code. R1 and R2 are pull-up resistors connected at digital pins 7 and 8 of Arduino board, respectively.

Construction and testing Fig. 5: Actual-size PCB layout for the Arduino FM receiver

Fig. 6: Component layout for the PCB

Bitwise operators & (bitwise and) | (bitwise or) ^ (bitwise xor) ~ (bitwise not) << (bitshift left) >> (bitshift right) Since structures of the first and the second bytes are different, different bitwise operators are used. Read mode. In read mode, we have to note the following changes: 1. When a station is found in search mode, as instructed during write operation, the ready flag (RF) in first byte is set to 1. That is, RF=1 2. The values of signal strength level in 4th byte 3. Stereo or mono reception in 3rd byte For reading the values from TEA5767, the following method is used in the code by creating a buffer as follows:

Buffer [i]= Wire.read (); Wire.read (); is used to read the values of all the five bytes in Read mode. Displaying values on LCD screen. The task of displaying values is performed by reading the values of bytes of the TEA5767 in read mode. 1. The available frequency is displayed on LCD screen by reading first byte stored in buffer(0); this value is stored in buffer during read operation 2. If search mode is high, a scan is displayed on the screen 3. The signal strength is stored in the 4th byte which can be obtained by reading the buffer(3) 4. The reception type is displayed on screen by reading the buffer(3). Searching/changing the frequency. Switches S1 and S2 are used to change the station/channel search or switch to auto-scan mode. Search-up or searchdown operation depends on the switch pressed. The 7th bit of 3rd byte in write

July 2014 | Electronics For You

An actual-size (Arduino shield type), single-side PCB for Arduino FM receiver is shown in Fig. 5 and its component layout in Fig. 6. Assemble the components on the recommended PCB to avoid assembly errors. Double check for any overlooked error. TEA5767 is to be mounted on solder-side of the PCB. A 75cm (wavelength/4) hookup wire antenna should be connected at pin 10 of the TEA5767 module. Switch on the circuit and use switch S1 or S2 to change frequency. Pressing S1 momentarily increases the frequency and S2 decreases the frequency. Long pressing of any of the two switches will enable auto scanning. LCD1 shows the selected frequency, signal strength and whether the sound is mono or stereo. To test the circuit for proper functioning, first verify the correct voltages at various points as given in the test points table.  The author is a final-year student of B.Tech (ECE) from Truba Institute of Engineering & IT, Bhopal (MP)

www.efymag.com

dIy: project

Web-Based Device Controller With Arduino Board Priyanka Kumari

rduino board can also be used to control electrical devices and appliances over the Internet. Just by clicking a few buttons on a webpage, the devices can be operated from a remote location. For this the board needs to be Ethernet-enabled using Ethernet shield. This project illustrates the point by using Wiznet W5100 Ethernet shield to control a servo motor and an LED.

Circuit and working Fig. 1 shows circuit of the web-based device controller. The circuit is built around Arduino UNO board (board1), Arduino Ethernet shield (shield1) and servo motor (M1). Servo motor. A servo motor mainly consists of a DC motor, gear system, position sensor (generally a potentiometer) and control electronics as shown in Fig. 2. The DC motor is connected to a gear mechanism, which provides feedback to a position sensor. The potentiometer allows the control circuit to monitor the current angle of the servo motor. If the shaft is at correct angle, the motor shuts off. If the circuit finds that the angle is incorrect, it will keep the motor on until the angle is correct. A normal servo is used to control the angular motion up to 180 degrees. Angle of rotation. The angle of servo motor rotation is determined by the duration of a pulse that is applied to the control wire. The servo expects a pulse every 20 milliseconds (0.02 seconds). The length of the pulse will determine how far the motor rotates. A 1.5-millisecond pulse, for example, makes the motor turn to the 90-degree position (often called the neutral position). If the pulse is shorter than 1.5ms, the motor turns the shaft lesser than www.efymag.com

t Rai

Abhijee

hardware and software. It is intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Arduino UNO is a board based on ATmega328 microcontroller. It consists of 14 digital input/ output pins, six analogue inputs, a USB connection for TP1 M1 = 5V, SERVO programming MOTOR the on-board microcontroller, power jack, an ICSP header TP2 and a reset butM1 ton. It is opTP0 erated with a 16MHz crystal LED1 oscillator and contains everyR1 680E thing needed SHIELD1 GND to support the microcontroller. Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of the web-based controller It is very easy to use as the user simply needs to Potentiometer connect it to a computer with a USB Control Electronics Gear system cable or power it with an AC-to-DC adaptor or battery to get started. The microcontroller on the board is DC Motor programmed using Arduino programming language and Arduino development environment. Arduino Ethernet shield. The Servo Horn/Arm Arduino Ethernet shield allows an Arduino board to connect to the Fig. 2: Servo motor components Internet. It is based on the Wiznet W5100 Ethernet chip, which provides 0 a network (IP) stack capable of both 1ms 1ms TCP and UDP. It supports up to four 90 simultaneous socket connections. Use 1.5ms 1.5ms the Ethernet library to write sketches which connect to the Internet using 180 2ms 2ms the shield. The Ethernet shield connects to Fig. 3: Servo positions

90 degrees. If the pulse is longer than 1.5ms, the shaft turns closer to180 degrees as shown in Fig. 3. Arduino UNO board. Arduino is an open source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use

Electronics For You | July 2014

dIy: project

Test Points Test point

Details

TP0 0V TP1 5V TP2

PWM signals for servo motor (M1)

Parts List Semiconductors: Board1 - Arduino Uno board Shield1 - Arduino Ethernet shield LED1 - 5mm LED Resistor (1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): R1 - 680-ohm Miscellaneous: - 5V servo motor M1

efy Note The source code of this project is included in this month’s EFY DVD and is also available for free download at source.efymag.com an Arduino board using long-lead stackable headers (refer Fig. 4). This keeps the pin layout intact and allows another shield to be stacked on top, if needed. The Ethernet shield has a standard RJ-45 connection, with an integrated line transformer and Power over Ethernet (PoE) enabled. There is an onboard microSD card slot, which can be used to store files for serving over the network. It is compatible with the Arduino UNO and Arduino Mega (using the Ethernet library). The onboard microSD card reader is accessible through the SD Library. When working with this library, digital pin 4 of the Arduino cannot be used. The shield also includes a reset controller, to ensure that the W5100 Ethernet module is properly reset on power-up. Previous revisions of the shield are not compatible with the Mega board and need to be manually reset after power-up. Arduino communicates with both the W5100 and SD card using the SPI bus (through the ICSP header). They are connected to digital pins 10, 11, 12 and 13 on the UNO and pins 50, 51 and 52 on the Mega. On both the boards, pin 10 (slave select or SS pin) is used to select the W5100 and pin 4 for the 92

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Fig. 5: An actual-size PCB for the controller

Fig. 6: Component layout for the PCB

Fig. 4: Ethernet shield on top of Arduino

SD card. On the Mega, the hardware SS pin (pin 53) is not used to select either W5100 or SD card, but it must be kept as an output, otherwise SPI interface won’t work. Note that, because the W5100 and SD card share the SPI bus, only one can be made active at a time. If you are using both peripherals in your program, this should be taken care of by the corresponding libraries. If you are not using one of the peripherals in your program, however, you will need to explicitly deselect it. To do this with the SD card, set pin 4 as an output and write a ‘high’ to it. For the W5100, set digital pin 10 as a high output. The reset button on the shield resets both the W5100 and the Arduino board. Digital pins 4 and 7 of the shield (Shield1) are connected to LED1 and control pin of servo motor (M1), respectively.

Software The software for this project is written in Arduino programming language. The Arduino UNO is programmed using Arduino IDE software. ATmega328 on Arduino UNO comes with a boot loader that allows you to upload new code to it without the use of external hardware programmer. It communicates using the STK500 protocol. You can also bypass the boot loader and program the microcontroller through ICSP (in-circuit serial programming) header, but using boot loader programming is quick and easy. Select the correct board from ‘Tools -> Board’ menu in Arduino IDE and

burn the program (sketch) through standard USB port in the computer.

Construction and testing An actual-size, single-side PCB for the web-based device controller using Arduino is shown in Fig. 5 and its component layout in Fig. 6. Assemble the components on the recommended PCB to minimize assembly errors. Carefully assemble the components and doublecheck for any overlooked error. To check working of the project, follow the steps below: 1. Connect the servo as shown in the circuit diagram (Fig. 1) 2. Power up the Arduino board through power adaptor 3. Connect Ethernet shield on top of the Arduino board 4. Connect the Ethernet shield with LAN cable through your router 5. Ping the IP address 192.168.0.160, or change the IP address as per your router setting. You need to change the IP address in the source code, recompile and burn into the microcontroller Now you can access the servo (M1) and LED1 using this IP address on your browser. If the connection is successful, you can see following user-interface controls on your browser: 1. Turn on LED, Turn off LED 2. Rotate Left, Rotate Right You can switch on/off LED1 and also control the servo motor M1 by clicking the appropriate button. To test the circuit for proper functioning, verify correct 5V supply for the circuit at TP1 with respect to TP0.  The author is a final-year B.Tech (ECE) student of Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon www.efymag.com

dIy: circuit

USB LED Light Cum Battery Charger T.K. Hareendran

owadays, many devices with rechargeable batteries use USB power to recharge them while they are connected. The USB interface has the ability to power devices, which can be used to charge a battery. Here is an interesting yet simple circuit of a compact USB LED flashlight with built-in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery and a dedicated battery-charger circuit. It charges the battery in a clever manner whenever the device is

Fig. 1: Author’s prototype

TP1

docked to USB. The light source is a standard 1W white LED. Fig. 1 shows the author’s prototype.

Circuit and working Fig. 2 shows the circuit diagram of USB LED flashlight cum charger whose front end (charger) is wired around the advanced Li-ion linear charge-management chip MCP73831 (IC1). The 8-pin IC has features like high-accuracy current and voltage regulation, battery conditioning, charge termination and charge status indication. IC1 is followed by a commonlyavailable 3.7V/3.9Wh mobile phone Li-ion battery and the 1W white LED (LED3) with a simple MOSFET-based driver (T1). The charging power supply is derived from the USB and the battery charging is fully controlled by MCP73831. Glowing of LED1 indicates that the battery is TP2

C1 10u 16V

USB1 USB B TYPE

LED1 CHARGING 1

LED2 CHARGED R2 1K

S1 FLASH LIGHT

S1 = ON/OFF SWITCH

R1 1K

VBAT 3

VDD

IC1 MCP73831

STAT

PROG

LED3 1W LED D

BATT.1 3.7V

C2 10u 16V

Vss 2

R3 2.2K

VR1 10K POT

R4 10K

G T1 S IRFZ820A MOSFET

TP0

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram of USB LED flashlight cum battery charger

Fig. 3: PCB layout for the circuit www.efymag.com

Fig. 4: Component layout for the PCB

edi

s.c. dwiv

Parts List Semiconductors: IC1 - MCP73831 Li-ion charger T1 - IRFZ820A MOSFET LED1, LED2 - 5mm LED LED3 - 1W white LED Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): - 1-kilo-ohm R1, R2 R3 - 2.2-kilo-ohm R4 - 10-kilo-ohm VR1 - 10-kilo-ohm linear potmeter Capacitors: - 10µF, 16V electrolytic C1, C2 Miscellaneous: S1 - On/off switch BATT.1 - 3.7V/3.9Wh Li-ion battery USB1 - USB B type connector - 2-pin terminal connector

Test Points Test point

Details

TP0

TP1 5V TP2

Battery voltage

charging and glowing of LED2 indicates that the battery is fully charged. Switch S1 is used to turn flashlight LED3 on or off. Here, a potentiometer (VR1) is added deliberately to adjust the intensity of the light output from near 0% to 100% in a smooth manner. Note that, in this circuit configuration/ application, a current-limiting resistor is not very crucial for the white LED3.

Construction and testing An actual-size, single-side PCB for the circuit is shown in Fig. 3 and its component layout in Fig. 4. After assembling the circuit on a PCB, enclose it in a suitable plastic box. Use heat sink for LED3 or buy the IC with an embedded heat sink and connect it to the PCB using external wires. Before using the circuit, verify the test point voltages given in the table.  The author is a freelance technical writer and circuits designer Electronics For You | July 2014

dIy: circuit

Telephone Tapping Using FM Karunesh Shukla

his is an interesting circuit which you can connect to a telephone line to listen to the conversations through any FM radio receiver. Power for the circuit is drawn from the telephone line itself, so it does not require a power supply of its own. The telephone wires act as the antenna for the audio signal.

Circuit and working Fig. 1 shows the circuit diagram of telephone tapping circuit using FM. The circuit is built around transistors T1 and T2 and bridge diodes D1 through D4. Coils L1 through L3 are made of

R3 10K

R4 47K

C1 22p

VC1 50p

R1 220E L3 6T+4T

C2 100n

C4 1n

C7 47p

R5 390E

TP2

Construction and testing An actual-size, single-side PCB for

R2 33K C6 47p

C5 10p

T1 BC547 C3 22p

24SWG enamelled copper wire wound over 5mm air core. L1 is made of 8 turns, L2 of 6 turns and L3 of 10 turns with a tapping at fourth turn. Variable capacitor VC1 is used for tuning the transmitted frequency. Diodes D1 through D4 rectify the telephone line voltage which drives the circuit. Working of the circuit is simple. Connect the circuit in parallel to the telephone line to listen to the conversation between the calling and the called parties. Keep switch S1 on and tune your FM radio until you hear the conversation.

GND

T2 BC547

L2 6T

L1 8T

TP3 D2 1N4148

D1 1N4148

TP1

TP0

C8 100u 25V

D3 1N4148

CON1

D4 1N4148

CON1 = TELEPHONE LINE

Fig. 1: The telephone tapping circuit

Fig. 2: An actual-size PCB layout for the circuit

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Fig. 3: Component layout for the PCB

edi

s.c. dwiv

Parts List Semiconductors: D1-D4 - 1N4148 diode - BC547 npn transistor T1, T2 Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): R1 - 220-ohm R2 - 33-kilo-ohm R3 - 10-kilo-ohm R4 - 47-kilo-ohm R5 - 390-ohm Capacitors: C1, C3 - 22pF ceramic disk - 100nF ceramic disk C2 C4 - 1nF ceramic disk C5 - 10pF ceramic disk - 47pF ceramic disk C6, C7 C8 - 100µF, 25V electrolytic VC1 - 50pF variable capacitor Miscellaneous: CON1 - 2-pin connector S1 - On/off switch L1 - 8 turns, 5mm dia, 24SWG air core L2 - 6 turns, 5mm dia, 24SWG air core L3 - 6 turns + 4 turns, 5mm dia, 24SWG air core

Test Points Test point

Details

Across TP0 and TP1

9V-12V, provided S1 is switched on during conversations

Across TP2 and TP3

6V (approx.)

tapping a telephone line using FM is shown in Fig. 2 and its component layout in Fig. 3. After assembling the circuit on PCB, enclose it in a suitable plastic box. Fix 2-pin connector CON1 for connecting the telephone line. Fix switch S1 on front panel of the box. Before using the circuit, verify the test point voltages mentioned in the table.  The author is a B.Tech (ECE) from Prasad Institute of Technology, Jaunpur, UP. He is currently working as a senior hardware R&D engineer at ESP Safety Pvt Ltd, Delhi

www.efymag.com

dIy: circuit

Efficient 5V Relay Driver of 5V. Note that the voltage required to turn a relay on (picki d up voltage) is greater than that his design idea outlines e s.c. dwiv required to keep it on (dropout a method to use an anavoltage). The relay normally logue switch and discrete has a 3.5V pick-up voltage and components to reduce the power a 1.5V dropout voltage, yet the circuit dissipated in relay actuation. We introallows it to operate from an intermeduced a power-saving relay-driver circuit diate supply voltage of 2.5V. Table I for a 12V relay in May issue. Presented compares the relay’s power dissipation here is an MAX4624-based circuit to with fixed operating voltages across it, drive a 5V relay in a more efficient way. and with the Fig. 1 circuit in place. Relays are often used as electricallyWhen you close switch S1, current controlled switches. Unlike transistors, flows in the relay coil and capacitors their switch contacts are electrically C1 and C2 begin to charge. The relay isolated from the control input. On the remains inactive because the supply other hand, the power dissipation in a voltage is less than its pick-up voltage. relay coil may be too much for batteryThe RC time constants are such that operated applications. You can lower C1 charges almost completely before this dissipation by adding an analogue the voltage across C2 reaches the logic switch that allows the relay to operate at threshold of the analogue switch. When a lower voltage. C2 reaches that threshold, IC1 connects Circuit and working C1 in series with the 2.5V supply and relay coil. This action turns on the relay Fig. 1 shows circuit diagram of the effiby boosting the voltage across its coil to cient 5V relay driver. The circuit is built around 5V (twice the supply voltage). around 1Ω, low-voltage, single-supply As C1 discharges through the coil, SPDT (single-pole, double-throw) anathe coil voltage drops back to 2.5V logue switch MAX4624 (IC1). minus the drop across D1, but the Power consumed by the relay coil relay remains on because that voltage equals V2/RCOIL. The circuit lowers this is above the relay’s dropout voltage dissipation (after actuation) by applying (1.5V). Component values for this cirless than the normal operating voltage cuit depend on the relay characTP2 R2 C1 D1 1N4007 27K 100u teristics and the S1 16V 1 6 N/O TP1 IN NO supply voltage. IC1 COM 5 2 V+ D2 The value of R1, MAX4624 N/C 1N4007 3 4 GND NC CON2 which protects CON1 RL1 C2 FOR LOAD R1 2.5V 5V 1C/O the analogue 0.15u 4.7E RELAY TP0 switch from the GND S1 = ON / OFF SWITCH initial current Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of the efficient 5V relay driver surge through EFY LAB

Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB for the circuit www.efymag.com

Fig. 3: Component layout for the PCB

Parts List Semiconductors: IC1 - MAX4624 analogue switch D1, D2 - 1N4007 rectifier diode Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): R1 - 4.7-ohm R2 - 27-kilo-ohm Capacitors: C1 - 100µF,16V electrolytic C2 - 0.15µF ceramic disk Miscellaneous: S1 - On/off switch RL1 - 5V, 1 c/o relay CON1 - 2-pin terminal connector - 3-pin connector CON2

Table I

Relay Power Voltage Power 5V normal operating voltage

Around 450mW

2.5V with circuit shown in Fig. 1 Around 112mW

Table II

Test Points Test point

Details

TP0

TP1 2.5V TP2

Between 4V and 5V without connecting relay

C1, should be sufficiently small to allow C1 to charge rapidly, but large enough to prevent the surge current from exceeding the peak current specified for the analogue switch. The value of C1 depends on the relay characteristics and on the difference between input voltage and the relay’s pick-up voltage. Relays that need more turn-on energy require larger C1 values. The values for R2 and C2 are selected to allow C1 to charge almost completely before C2’s voltage reaches the logic threshold of the analogue switch.

Construction and testing An actual-size, single-side PCB for efficient 5V relay-driver is shown in Fig. 2 and its component layout in Fig. 3. After assembling the circuit on PCB, enclose it in a suitable plastic box. Before connecting the load, verify that the voltages at various points are as per Table II. The circuit is based on Maxim application notes.  Electronics For You | July 2014

dIy: circuit

Difference Counter for In and Out Gates Also, resetting occurs through capacitor C7 whenever power is switched on. The outputs of IC1 are decoded by CD4511 (IC2), which has internal 4-bit latch, decoder and output drivers. The internal latch is always enabled because pin 5 (LE) is connected to ground permanently. The outputs of IC2 drive common-cathode 7-segment display LTS543 (DIS1). Since pin configurations may be different for the other displays, always check their datasheets

release S1, its pole returns to its original position at terminal 1. a ometimes, we need to chabhaiy Thus, for every action of pressvivek pan ing and releasing switch S1, know whether someone there is an increment in display is still inside a building DIS1 till 9. Pressing switch S3 before it is locked. And if so, momentarily resets the counter to 0. how many persons are still inside? Switch S2 is also an SPDT switch There can be many other similar situthat works exactly like switch S1, but ations for which the circuit presented it is used for decrementing the count here can come handy. But it needs in DIS1. Switch S2, together with gates separate in and out gates to work and N3 and N4 of IC4 generates a pulse for can count up to nine persons (inside) decrementing the counter in IC1. only. Though, it can be extended to The counter can be expanded to count more. display more digits through the output Circuit and working pins 12 and 13 of IC1, if needed. Highlevel signal on pin 14 (reset) clears all Fig. 1 shows circuit of the difference internal triggers. That is, when switch counter, built around four ICs, for use S3 is pressed momentarily, IC1 is reset. between entrance and exit doors. Switch S1, which is an SPDT switch, together with gates N1 and N2 of CD4011 (IC4) Test Points generates a pulse for incrementing Test point Details counter CD40192 (IC1). CD40192 is a TP0 0V BCD pre-settable up/down (bidirecTP1 5V tional) counter. The counter moves up TP2 Low to high signal when S2 is or down with the positive clock edges pressed and released applied to its corresponding pin 5 (clock Low to high signal when S1 is TP3 up) or pin 4 (clock down). pressed and released When you press S1, its pole comes TP4-TP7 Binary values (0 or 1) equivalent to the in contact with its terminal 3, which is respective displays shown on DIS1 connected to pin 5 of IC4. When you Petre Tzv Petrov

S1 − S2 = SPDT SWITCH

R4 10K

S3 = TACTILE SWITCH

R3 10K

GND

S2 EXIT

S3 RESET

9 N3

12 N4

Vcc 14

7 GND

3 S1 2

Vcc

1 J2

PRESET

10 J3

IC1 CD40192

C4 47u 16V

TP4

TP5

Vcc

1 B

2 C

TP6

TP7

6 D

IC2 CD4511

5 LE

4 CLK DOWN

Q4 7

4 BL

3 LT

8 GND

BORROW 13

8 GND

R2 10K

5 CLK UP

14 RESET

ENTRANCE 1 R1 10K

9 J4

N1 3

TP3

TP1

R13 1K

CARRY

R12 22K

TP0

C5 0.33u CON1 9−15V

C6 470u 25V

LED1

9 15

R10 R11

GND

D1 1N4001

IC3 7805

C7 15

IC4 CD4011

Semiconductors: IC1 - CD40192 up/down decade counter - CD4511 BCD to 7-segment IC2 driver IC3 - 7805, 5V voltage regulator IC4 - CD4011 quad NAND gate - 1N4001 rectifier diode D1 LED1 - 5mm LED Resistors (all 1/4-watt, ±5% carbon): R1-R4 - 10-kilo-ohm R5-R11 - 330-ohm R12 - 22-kilo-ohm - 1-kilo-ohm R13 Capacitors: C1-C3, C5, C7 - 0.33µF ceramic disc C4 - 47µF, 16V electrolytic - 470µF, 25V electrolytic C6 Miscellaneous: S1-S2 - SPDT foot switch S3 - Tactile switch CON1 - 2-pin terminal connector - LTS543 7-segment display DIS1

C1 − C3, C5, C7 = 0.33u

TP2

Parts List

f 9

e 1

d 2

c 4

DIS1 LTS543

R5 − R11 = 330E

Fig. 1: Circuit diagram of the difference counter

July 2014 | Electronics For You

www.efymag.com

dIy: circuit CON1 and can be AC or DC in the range 9-15V.

Construction and testing An actual-size, single-side PCB for the difference counter is shown in Fig. 2 and its component layout in Fig. 3. Mount the components on the PCB to save time and avoid assembly errors. Carefully assemble the components and double check for any overlooked error. Check/verify the voltages at various points as per the table. You may use any type of SPDT switches (S1 and S2) to check the increment and decrement in DIS1 display. But for practical application, S1 and S2 should be SPDT foot switches, which could be fitted in level with the floor at the entrance and exit doors, respectively. 

Fig. 2: Actual-size PCB layout for the counter

Fig. 3: Component layout for the PCB

before use. Resistors R5 through R11 are usually in the range of 120 to 470 ohms, depending on the type of DIS1. Here,

www.efymag.com

we have used 330-ohm resistors. Power supply of the circuit is built around linear regulator 7805 (IC3). The input voltage is applied to connector

The author was a researcher and assistant professor in Technical University of Sofia (Bulgaria) and expert-lecturer in OFPPT (Casablanca), Kingdom of Morocco. Now he is working as an electronics engineer in the private sector in Bulgaria

Electronics For You | July 2014

diy: tips & technique

Interfacing Dot Matrix LED with Raspberry Pi Somnath Bera

ou will find in this article projects for interfacing an 8×8 and a 5×7 dot-matrix display with Raspberry Pi. Since Raspberry Pi does not have enough GPIOs, we have used its I2C bus to connect to MCP23017 IO expander to have 16 additional GPIOs for connecting to LED dot-matrix display such as 8×8 or 5×7. Pin 3 (SDA) and pin 5 (SCL) are I2C pins on Raspberry Pi board. Some libraries in the form of a GPL Python script, taken from Adfruit.com, are used in this project to manage the extended GPIOs. First, you will see how a single 8x8 LED matrix is interfaced with GPIOs through MCP23017. Then you can expand the project to interface more dot-matrix displays.

to manipulate the I2C bus using following commands (also refer Fig. 4): $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get install python-smbus i2c-tools

To use I C on Raspberry Pi, you need to enable a few things in Raspbian Wheezy operating system as these are not enabled by default. This is a fairly easy process. First you edit the modules file using the command:

python python-dev

Fig. 1: Adding the lines in /etc/modules

Fig. 2: Editing the raspi-blacklist.conf file

Fig. 4: Install the Python-smbus and I2C tools

i2c-dev

Fig. 5: Installing Python packages

The command will install Raspberry Pi GPIO library into Python. Now reboot the Raspberry Pi using command:

$ sudo reboot

$ sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/ raspi-blacklist.conf

Fig. 6: Extracting the tar file

#blacklist spi-bcm2708 #blacklist i2c-bcm2708

www.efymag.com

Now change directory to the RPi.GPIO-0.5.5 and write the following command (also refer Fig. 7):

install

i2c-bcm2708

Now install the necessary software

0.5.5.tar.gz

$ sudo python setup.py

and add the following two lines (also refer Fig. 1):

Comment out the code by putting # symbol at the beginning of the two lines as given below (also refer Fig. 3) and then save and exit.

For interacting with the GPIO through Python, you have to install the GPIO Python libraries. The latest library available is RPi.GPIO0.5.5.tar.gz. Download the same from the link below: http://raspberrygpio-python.googlecode. com/files/ Unzip or extract the tar file by using command (also refer Fig. 6):

tar zxvf RPi.GPIOFig. 3: Commenting the code

$ sudo nano /etc/modules

Save the file and exit nano. Next, open the raspi-blacklist.conf file by writing the command (also refer Fig. 2):

Once the software is installed, reboot your Raspberry Pi so that these effects take place permanently. Also install Python and python-dev on Raspberry Pi using following commands (also refer Fig. 5): $ sudo apt-get install

System set up 2

habhaiya

vivek panc

Fig. 7: Installing the setup.py

Project 1: Multiplexing of 8x8 dot-matrix display In this project, you will use two separate files— one to create a template Electronics For You | July 2014

diy: tips & technique up the microprocessor and damage it. Also ensure the reset pin 18 of MCP23017 is connected with +5V rail.

Circuit and working To test the I2C connection on Raspberry Pi, open the terminal and issue the following command: Fig. 8: Multiplexing with GPIOs using 8x8 dot-matrix display

$ sudo i2cdetect -y 0

$ sudo i2cdetect -y 1

R1 − R8 = 470E 1

GPB0

GPA7

GPB1

GPA6

GPB2

GPA5

GPB3

GPA4

GPA3

GPA2

5 6

RASPBERRY PI

PIN2

GPB4

IC1

GPB5

MCP23017GPA1

GPB6

GPB7

GPA0

VDD

INTA

PIN6 PIN5 PIN3

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 13 3 4 10 6 11 15 16 9

10 12 13 14

INTB

Vss

SCL

SDA

RESET

2 5 DIS1 8X8 CC DOT MATRIX DISPLAY

Fig. 9: Circuit of 8x8 dot-matrix display

Fig. 10: Testing I2C connection

Fig. 11: Running the Python code

of figures on the 8x8 dot- matrix (using ‘1’s) and the other to control the GPIOs for drawing figures on the LED matrix. So whatever letter or character you want to display, make 100

July 2014 | Electronics For You

the changes in letter.py code and the same will be drawn on the LED matrix. Make the connections as per the circuit shown in Fig. 9. MCP23017 (28-pin DIP) is used here as it has 16 GPIOs—8 for rows and 8 for columns of 8x8 LED matrix. Remember to use current-limiting resistors, whose values can be between 470 ohms and 1-kilo-ohm, in series with the LEDs. Four wires are connected to the Raspberry Pi—two for I2C and two for 5V supply and ground connections. Before testing, make sure that 5V supply is going to the correct pin in Raspberry Pi board, else it will heat

If your Raspberry Pi is version 1 then use 0, else 1, and watch the screen shown in Fig. 10 appear at the terminal prompt. Congratulations! Your Raspberry Pi has successfully detected the hardware at 0x20 address. The address is 0×20 because all the three address pins (A0, A1, A2) of MCP23017 are set low. If you had set only A0 high (connected to +5V) the address would have become 0×21. This signifies one fundamental issue with I2C communications: You can connect any number of devices on the I2C bus (pin 3 and pin 5) but all devices should have unique addresses. So, setting A0, A1 and A2 pins will define different addresses for different devices. You can also control the device by issuing appropriate command. You may try this as explained below to gain more confidence. There is another way of testing the I2C connection on Raspberry Pi. Connect an LED on A0 pin and issue the following commands: $ sudo i2cset 0x20 0x00 0x00 # this will switch on the LED on A0 $ sudo i2cset 0x20 0x00 0x01 # this will switch off the LED on A0

The command line program is easy, provided you understand the binary and hex conversion. Adafruit.com has an excellent library using which we can manipulate these GPIOs in a far more lucid way. The files include Adafruit_I2C.py, Adafruit_MCP230xx.py, letter.py and mcplight9.py Now open the terminal and write the command given below (also refer Fig. 11): www.efymag.com

diy: tips & technique efy Note The source codes of this project are included in this month’s EFY DVD and are also available for free download at source.efymag.com

R1 − R5 = 470E

$ sudo python mcplight9.py

Now you will see different characters visible on your dot-matrix display as shown in Fig. 8. Each character will be displayed on the LED matrix one after another.

Similarly, by using Adafruit libraries, as you did in the first project, you can do the multiplexing of 5X7 dot-matrix display. The libraries include Adafruit_I2C.py, Adafruit_MCP230xx.py, efy.py and mcplight9.py. First make the connections as shown in Fig. 12. Then open the nano editor by writing the command: $sudo nano efy.py

Now write the efy.py code. This python script will create the word EFY

www.efymag.com

GPB1

GPA6

GPB2

GPA5

GPB3

GPA4

GPA3

GPA2

5 6 7

PIN2

GPB4 GPB5

IC1

MCP23017GPA1

GPB6

GPB7

GPA0

VDD

INTA

INTB

Vss

SCL

SDA

PIN6 PIN5 PIN3

GPA7

RASPBERRY PI

Project 2: Multiplexing of 5x7 dot-matrix display

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5

GPB0

10 12 13 14

RESET

3 11 10

9 14

7 2 DIS1 5X7 CA DOT MATRIX DISPLAY

Fig. 12: Circuit diagram of 5X7 dot-matrix display

on the 5x7 LED matrix. Save and exit the nano editor. Now run the code by using the command: $sudo python efy.py

It will display E, F and Y characters

sequentially, one by one, on the 5x7 dot-matrix display.  The author is an avid user of open source software. Professionally, he is a thermal power expert working as an additional general manager at NTPC Limited

Electronics For You | July 2014

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diy: tips & technique

Modify Servo Motor for Continuous Movement Pooja Juyal

ervo motors are widely used in precise control applications, but most of them can rotate up to 180 degrees only. Presented here is a process for modifying servo motors so that these can rotate up to 360 degrees in either direction (clockwise and anticlockwise). This would permit the motors’ use for wider applications without using additional controllers. The modification of a servo motor can be done using the following components and tools: 1. Two 2.2k , ±1%, 0805 resistors 2. Soldering iron 3. Multimeter 4. Wire cutter 5. Precision screwdriver

De-assembling the servo motor

in Fig. 2. 3. There are two sets of wires; one coming out of the motor and one coming out of the potentiometer. Cut the wires coming out of the potentiometer and do not damage the wires coming out of the motor, as shown in Fig. 3. 4. Open the top cover of motor to take out the potentiometer, as shown in Fig. 4. 5. Pay attention to the gear configuration (better take a photograph of it) as this will be needed during reassembly, as shown in Fig. 5. 6. The knob shown in Fig. 6 helps limit the servo’s movement. 7. Slowly pull the gear arrangement and potentiometer out of the casing. Try to minimise the movement between the gear arrangements. Cut the wires hanging from potentiometer, as shown in Fig. 7.

habhaiya

vivek panc

Breaking the motionhindering points 8. To break the motion-hindering points, the rim of the rivet needs to be removed. For doing so choose a drill bit which is a little bigger than the inner hole of the tiny rivet, as shown in Fig. 8. 9. While drilling, do not press hard and try not to get any grease on contact. Stop drilling as soon as doughnutshaped rim of the rivet drills out, as shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 5: Assembly of top part of the motor

1. Remove any tags or stickers from the body of motor and open its front cover by removing the screws holding the motor together, as shown in Fig. 1. 2. Slowly open the front cover. There is circuit board, potentiometer and motor inside the casing, as shown Fig. 6: Knob of the motor

Fig. 1: Removing the front cover

Fig. 3: Cutting the wires of potentiometer

Fig. 2: Circuit inside the casing

Fig. 4: Opening top cover of the motor

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Fig. 7: Removing the gear arrangement of motor www.efymag.com

diy: tips & technique

Fig. 11: Removing the limiter

Fig. 8: Removing the rim of the rivet

Fig. 15: Soldering the rivet back

Fig. 12: Removing the limiter

Fig. 13: Removing the knob

Fig. 16: De-soldering the wires from driver board

Fig. 9: Drilling the rim

Fig. 14: Placing the shaft and end-stop back

Fig. 10: Removing the end stop www.efymag.com

10. Now remove the end-stop and put it aside, as shown in Fig. 10. 11. The bumps on the potentiometer also help in preventing a continuous rotation, but breaking these will damage the motor. So follow the technique mentioned below: The limiter and foil contact are pressed close together. Remove the limiter using pliers or cutter, as shown in Fig. 11. 12. Detach the limiter completely without affecting the shaft. The foil contacts will come off easily. Remove

Fig. 17: Soldering the two 2.2k resistor on board

the limiter by snipping it, as shown in Fig. 12. 13. Now remove the knob (mentioned in step 6), as shown in Fig. 13. Electronics For You | July 2014

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diy: tips & technique 14. Put the shaft and its end-stop back to original position (apply some petroleum jelly on shaft inner side), as shown in Fig. 14.

Modification 15. For modification, solder the rivet back in its position, as shown in Fig. 15. Spin the shaft to ensure it rotates easily. 16. De-solder the wires from the driver board, as shown in Fig. 16. 17. Mount two resistors to make the driver sense that the potentiometer is always on its centre position. The resistors should be of 1% tolerance to ensure the precision required. The value of the resistors should be 2.2-kilo-ohm each, and 0805 package, as shown in Fig. 17.

Re-assembly 18. Re-assemble all the parts of gear assembly in their correct order (refer to the previously-clicked pictures of the gear assembly), as shown in Fig. 18. 19. Push potentiometer back into

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Fig. 18: Re-assembling the gears

Fig. 20: Modified servo motor Fig. 19: Assembling the potentiometer inside case

the case, as shown in Fig. 19. Do not try to rotate the gear assembly at this time. 20. Put back the PCB inside the case. Ensure that all the wires properly

fit inside the housing and none of them is getting pinched. Put the screws back and the servo motor is ready, as shown in Fig. 20.  The author is working as an assistant manager at Samtel Avionics Ltd

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dIy: software

Designing Dual-Priority Encoder Using LabView

sani the

Paluru Sunitha and Naga Sunil Manohar Bole

n priority encoder, if two or more inputs are equal to 1 at the same time, the input having the highest priority will take precedence. In case of dual-priority encoder, the circuit identifies both the highest-priority and the second-highest-priority asserted signal among a set of input signals. Presented here is an eight-input dual-priority encoder designed using LabView versions 12. In LabView, Front Panel serves as the user interface and Block Diagram contains the graphical source code that defines the functionality of the virtual instrument (VI). Following are the steps required to design dualpriority encoder using NI’s LabView: Step 1. Open LabView and press Ctrl+N followed by Ctrl+T keys to open the tiling Front Panel and Block Diagram. Step 2. Go to Front Panel and from the menu bar select View->Controls ->Modern->Push Button (this is where we give input), drag and drop it on to Front Panel and label it as input I0. Similarly, select seven such inputs and label them as I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6 and I7. Arrange them in sequential order as shown in Fig. 1. Here, input I7 has the highest priority. Step 3. Select View->Controls-> Modern->Boolean-> Vertical Toggle switch and label it as En’, place it above the inputs. This is an active low enable input. Step 4. Select Modern-> Decorations-> Flat Frame and adjust its size such that all the inputs are positioned on its left side for neat appearance. Double left click on the Front Panel and type ‘dual priority encoder’ and drag it inside the frame. Step 5. Select Modern-> Boolean-> 106

July 2014 | Electronics For You

Round LED (this is where we see the output) and drop it on to Front Panel and label it as output A2. Similarly, select other three such outputs and label them as A1, A0 and AVALID. These will be used for the first-highest-priority encoder output. Following the same steps as above, label them as B2, B1, B0 and BVALID for the second-highestpriority encoder output. Arrange them in sequential order as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Front Panel

Fig. 2: Block Diagram

Step 6. Select Modern -> Decorations -> Recessed Frame and adjust its size such that the outputs (A2, A1, A0 and AVALID) are positioned inside the frame for neat appearance. Similarly, arrange the remaining outputs (B2, B1, B0 and BVALID) in another recessed frame. Step 7. Use A[2:0] and AVALID to identify the highest-priority request, where AVALID is asserted only if at least one request input is asserted. Use B[2:0] and BVALID to identify the second-highest-priority request, where BVALID is asserted only if at least two request inputs are asserted. Right click on the Front Panel, select Modern>Decoration->Thin Line with Arrow option and drag and drop on the Front Panel and place the arrow to each input line as shown in Fig. 1. Step 8. Go to Block Diagram workspace (refer Fig. 2) and select View-> Functions -> Programming-> Structures-> Case Structure and drop it on to Block Diagram. (Note. Three Case Structures are www.efymag.com

dIy: software

Fig. 3: Block Diagram after clean up

Fig. 4: All Tunnels closed

used in this project; this will be considered as main Case Structure.) The labels in the menu at the top of the Case Structure will appear as True and False. First consider the True condition. Step 9. Select Programming-> Boolean-> NOT gate and drop it on to Block Diagram. Place the cursor at output of vertical toggle switch (En’). You will see a hot spot. From there pull a wire and give it as input to NOT gate. The output of NOT gate is connected to the selector terminal ‘?’ of the Case Structure. Step 10. Again, select Programming-> Boolean-> Bool to (0, 1) function and drop it on to Block Diagram. Connect the output of I7 to input of Bool to (0, 1) function. Step 11. Select Programming-> Comparison-> Equal ? function and www.efymag.com

drop it on to Block Diagram. Give the output of ‘Bool to (0, 1)’ to one of the inputs of ‘Equal ?’. Place cursor on the second input of ‘Equal ?’ and right click on it. Select Create>Constant and put value 1. Step 12. Select Programming-> Comparison-> Select function and drop it on to Block Diagram. It has three input lines, namely, true (t), select (s) and false (f). Connect the output of ‘Equal ?’ to ‘s’ input of Select function. Step 13. Repeat steps 10, 11 and 12 for remaining inputs (I6, I5…I1), except for I0. Step 14. Place cursor on the true (t) input of Select function, right click on it and create a constant of value 7 for input I7. Similarly, do it for all inputs with constant value decreased by 1 for each input of Select function, which are arranged in descending order as shown in Fig. 2. Step 15. Connect the output of Select function corresponding to I1 to false (f) input of Select function corresponding to I2. Similarly, connect the remaining outputs of Select function to false (f) input of the Select function, except for I7. Create a constant 0 for the false (f) input of Select function of input I1. Step 16. Add two Case Structures as explained below. Select Programming-> Structures-> Case Structure, drag and drop it on to Block Diagram

inside the main Case Structure. If labels in the menu appear as True and False, modify them to 0 and 1, respectively. Right click on case selector or menu, select ‘Add Case After’ option and label it as 2. Similarly, do the same for the other five cases and label them as 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Step 17. Connect the output of the Select function of I7 to selector terminal ‘?’ of the inner upper Case Structure. Step 18. Select case 0 and then select Programming->Boolean-> False Constant and connect the output of False Constant (labeled as F) to the Round LED A2, which is placed outside the Case Structures. An open box called Tunnel will be created on both main and upper Case Structure boundaries. Step 19. Place the curser on the output wire of F. You will find a hot spot. Click on it and draw two more wires to connect to A1 and A0, respectively. Thus we have connected F to A2, A1 and A0 to represent the binary number for the case 0. That is, the binary number for decimal number zero for [A2 A1 A0] is [0 0 0]. Now, if case 1 is selected, the binary representation of outputs A2 A1 A0 will be 0 0 1. Here, F should be connected to A2 and A1 for the 0s. For 1 we will consider the True (T) Constant by selecting Programming->Boolean-> True Constant option. That is, connect T to A0. For case 2, the binary output of [A2 A1 A0] is [0 1 0] and for case 3 the output is [0 1 1], and so on. Step 20. Similarly, connect False (F) and True (T) constants to outputs (A2, A1, A0) for remaining cases to represent the corresponding binary number. We can follow the same technique for the inner lower Case Structure. Step 21. Select another Select function and place in the main Case Structure. Connect output of ‘Equal ?’ correspond to input I7 to the ‘s’ input of Select function. These are used to select the second-highest-priority request. Similarly, do it for the remaining inputs, except for I0. Step 22. Connect ‘t’ inputs of Select functions from the output of previous Electronics For You | July 2014

107

dIy: software second Select function of I7 to selector terminal ‘?’ of the inner lower Case Structure. And then repeat steps 18 and 19 for outputs B2, B1 and B0. Step 26. Select Programming-> Numeric-> Compound Arithmetic and drop it on to Block Diagram. Extend it so that it has eight inputs. Now, connect the Fig. 5: Output with both first and second-highest priority eight outputs from Boolean (0, 1) functions to the eight inputs of Compound Arithmetic. Change the mode of Compound Arithmetic to ‘Add’ by right clicking on it and select Change Mode-> Add option. This will add a ‘+’ sign to it to make it an adder function. Step 27. Select Programming-> ComparisonFig. 6: Output with only first-highest priority >Greater ? and drop it on to Block Diagram inside the main Case Structure. Select functions as shown in Fig. 2, exGive the output of Compound Arithcept first Select function of I7. metic adder to the first input ‘x’ of Step 23. Connect output of Select Greater ?. Place cursor on the second function corresponding to I1 to the input ‘y’ and right clicking on it create ‘f’ input of the Select function correa constant of value 1. sponding to I2. Similarly, repeat the Step 28. Connect the output of same connection at the Select funcGreater ? to Round LED BVALID tions corresponding to I3 through I6 and draw another wire from output inputs, except for I7. And then create a of Compound Arithmetic adder to constant 0 at ‘f’ input of Select function input of another comparison function corresponding to input I0. ‘Greater Than 0?’ Give the output of it Step 24. Select another Case Structo another Round LED AVALID. ture and drop it on to Block Diagram Step 29. Press Ctrl+b keys to reinside the main Case Structure. If lamove broken wires and press Ctrl+u bels appear as True and False, modify keys to clean up the diagram on the them to 0 and 1, respectively and then Block Diagram as shown in Fig. 3. add six more cases and label them as 2, Step 30. Change the case to False 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. condition in main Case Structure and Step 25. Connect the output of the 108

July 2014 | Electronics For You

efy Note The source code of this project is included in this month’s EFY DVD and is also available for free download at source.efymag.com connect all the Tunnels on right side of Case Structure to False (F) constant. Then all the Tunnels will be closed as shown in Fig. 4. Step 31. Return to Front Panel. Save the VI and press the Run Continuously button to check for the operation of dual-priority encoder. Give different inputs and check the outputs for identifying the first-highest and secondhighest priority request.

Checking the output Fig. 5 shows the result for dual-priority encoder operations for first-highest and second-highest priority requests when the inputs I7, I5, I3 and I0 are asserted. Here, I7 has the highest priority, after that the next-highest priority will be given to I5. Hence, all the output LEDs A2, A1 and A0 glow, which is equivalent to 111 (also a binary representation of 7) in the highest-priority box. In the secondhighest-priority box, B2 and B0 are on and B1 is off, which is equivalent to 101 (also a binary representation of 5). The output LEDs both AVALID and BVALID are asserted, because more than one input is asserted. Fig. 6 shows the result when only one input I2 is asserted. Here, output LEDs A2, A1 and A0 show the highestpriority request 2 as 010 (binary representation of 2) and the output LEDs B2, B1 and B0 are turned off. The output LED AVALID only is asserted, because we asserted only single input and there is no second-highest-priority request. Here, note that the circuit will be on only when the enable input (En’) is in off condition, because it is an active low enable input.  The authors Paluru Sunitha and Naga Sunil Manohar Bole were third-year B.Tech (electronics and communication) students from Maharaj Vijayaram Gajapathi Raj College of Engineering, Vizianagaram when they sent this project, under the guidance of Associate Professor M. Satyanarayana, last year www.efymag.com

dIy: software

C++ Implementation of Digital FIR Filters Using Blackman Window

his utility program can be a handy tool for anyone working in the field of signal processing with interest in implementation of the project through C++ programming. Although this work can be easily implemented in Matlab using simple inbuilt functions, the real challenge of designing and understanding the concept of filter design will be missed out. In order to understand the depth of designing an FIR filter using window functions, coding in C++ is a must. Described here is a C++ implementation of finite impulse response (FIR) filters using Blackman window method.

FIR filters The term filter is often used to denote systems that process the input in a specified way. In this context, filtering describes a signal-processing operation that allows signal enhancement, noise reduction or increased signal-to-noise ratio. Systems for the processing of discrete time signals are also called digital filters. Depending on the requirement and application, the analysis of a digital filter may be carried out in time domain, z-domain or frequency domain. A common application of digital filters is to modify the frequency response is some specified way. An ideal low-pass filter is one of the common examples of digital filters which passes the frequencies up to a specified value and blocks other frequencies. One way to approximate the ideal low-pass response is to do truncation of the impulse response by multiplication with the window functions. Mathematically, it can be expressed as follows h(n)=

hd(n)w(n)

0≤n≤N–1

otherwise

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where hd(n) is an infinite-duration impulse response and w(n) is the window function. There are various windows available in signal processing literature. However, in this article we specifically discuss Blackman window. In the case of Blackman window, w(n) is given as: 2nπ 4nπ +0.08 cos N–1 N–1 where n=0,1,2......, N–1 otherwise ------ eqn(2)

w[n]=0.42–0.5 cos =0

Plot of eqn(2) can be seen graphically as shown in Fig. 1.

Software design Here, we have developed C++ based software for designing FIR filters using Blackman window to get frequency response. The resultant software has the following salient features: 1. Welcome screen of Blackman window design 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 Amplitude

Ahlad Kumar

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

30 40 50 Time (samples)

Fig. 1: Blackman window

BLACK.H

GRAPH.H

FUNC.H

MAIN.CPP ------ eqn(1) Fig. 2: Software flow

sani the

2. It prompts you to enter filter’s type 3. It prompts you to enter window length (N) from 1 to 200 4. It prompts you to enter the cutoff frequency. The software is designed to accept the values in radians between 0.2 and 2.6 5. The program outputs normalised filter response. This is a filter response which is designed to pass through a cutoff frequency of 1 radian 6. The program outputs actual filter response. This is a filter response which is designed to pass through a cutoff frequency specified by the user

Software structure The software is designed to follow the structure as shown in Fig. 2, where the details of each file are explained as given below. 1. MAIN.CPP. This file contains the menu-driven program for user inputs 2. FUNC.H. It is a header file containing code related to Blackman window coefficients calculation 3. BLACK.H. It is a header file containing code for supporting C++ graphics 4. GRAPH.H. It is a header file again to support graphic content in C++

Output responses of the filter Now, the results obtained after running the software is presented for Blackman window for a low-pass FIR filter for different window length N to Electronics For You | July 2014

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dIy: software

Blackman Lowpass filter

actual filter; normalised filter

Fig. 3: Frequency response of low-pass filter with N=49, fc=1.2

Blackman Lowpass filter

Blackman highpass filter

actual filter; normalised filter

Fig. 4: Frequency response of low-pass filter with N=99, fc=1.2

observe the effect of N on frequency response. All values of |H(jω)| are in decibels. A normalised frequency scale is used. Low-pass filter. Simulation of lowpass filter using Blackman window is done through the software. Figs 3 to 5 are the outputs of the low-pass filter for different window length of N=49, 99 and 149, respectively.

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Fig. 5: Frequency response of low-pass filter with N=149, fc=1.2

Fig. 6: Frequency response of high-pass filter with N=45, fc=1.2

From Figs 3 to 5, we have following observations when N increases from 49 to 149 at cutoff frequency (fc)=1.2: 1. The widths of the pass band and side lobes decrease 2. The slope of the transition band increases, that is, the band develops a sharper cutoff 3. As N increases, the number of ripples increase in the pass band

4. The amplitude and shape of the end-ripple remains the same but it gets shifted towards the edge and finally out of the pass band for larger values of N 5. As N increases, the ripples in the pass band get smoothed out. A key difference in the observed responses of the rectangular is the absence of the Gibbs phenomenon. This owes itself to the smoother shape of the Blackman window in the timedomain, with the notable absence of a discontinuity that would lead to the Gibbs phenomenon. 6. As N increases the widths of the lobes decrease in the stop band

Other frequencies In the next section we present the outputs of high-pass, band-reject and band-pass filters. Frequency response of high-pass filter with N=45, fc=1.2 is shown in Fig. 6. Frequency response of band-reject filter with N=67, with lower cutoff frequency (fl)=1.2 and upper cutoff

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dIy: software ing. Its impact on consumer electronics is evident by the advent of high-definition televisions and digital imaging. Its application in the field of biomedical and signal processing includes Blackman bandreject filter Blackman bandpass filter enhancement of the actual filter; normalised filter actual filter; normalised filter quality of signals Fig. 7: Frequency response of band-reject filter with N=67, Fig. 8: Frequency response of band-pass filter with N=91, under interest usfl=1.2 and fu=2.0 fl=1.2 and fu=2.0 ing various digital filters. These filters can also be used in dows XP, 32-bit PC using Turbo C++ efy Note applications like noise removal. The version 3. For running Turbo C++ on The source code of this project is filter routines can be easily coded to 64-bit PC with Windows 7 or Windows included in this month’s EFY DVD hardware description language like 8, a separate Turbo C ++ IDE is availand is also available for free downVerilog or VHDL and can turn out able for download. You need to copy load on source.efymag.com to be a good project for students or the source code and relevant header designers working in real-time image files into bin folder before running the and video processing.  program. frequency (fu)=2.0, is shown in Fig. 7. Frequency response of band-pass filter The author is an M.Tech from ABV-Indian Institute Applications with N=91, fl=1.2 and fu=2.0 is shown of Information Technology and Management, in Fig. 8. Digital signal processing finds applicaGwalior, and B.Tech from Jamia Millia Islamia in The program was tested on Wintion in almost every field of engineerNew Delhi

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useful websites

Raspberry Pi: Getting Started Raspberry Pi has always been a favourite for engineers and hobbyists. Here are some of the websites that will help you understand and start using your Raspberry Pi niraj sahay

raspberrypi.org

The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. This computer can be used in electronics projects, and for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. The website is the home for this little wonder and is updated with all the information that you would need to get started. The forum on the site is very active and has approximately 95,000 members discussing nearly 75,000 topics. http://www.raspberrypi.org/

elinux.org The purpose of this website is to preserve and present information about the development and use of Linux in embedded systems as well as open source projects and tools for general embedded development. The website has pages related to different embedded hardware. Each page has lots of information on the boards that you want to try out. The site can prove to be a good resource for learning Rasberry Pi.

http://elinux.org/RPi_Hub

adafruit.com

Adafruit was founded in 2005 by MIT engineer Limor ‘Ladyada’ Fried. Her goal was to create the best place online for learning electronics and making the best designed products for makers of all ages and skill levels. The site has 503 tutorials on different topics and is growing daily. Apart from shopping, blogs and forum the site has a dedicated section for understanding different electronics hardware. The tutorial on Raspberry Pi in the learning section of the website is divided into different parts and caters to all your learning requirements on the subject. https://learn.adafruit.com/category/raspberry-pi

wiringpi.com The Raspberry Pi has a 26-pin general-purpose input/output (GPIO) connector which carries a set of signals and buses. There are eight general-purpose digital I/O pins that can be programmed as either digital outputs or inputs. The website is a good resource for developers designing with Rsapberry Pi. WiringPi is a GPIO interface library for the Raspberry Pi and includes a command-line utility gpio which can be used to program and set up the GPIO pins.

http://wiringpi.com/

suntimebox.com If you are a beginner and do not have any knowledge about this little computer, this is the right place to start. The site has good tutorial on Rapberry Pi and Android programming. The site teaches you how to use, program and understand the Raspberry Pi in simple-to-understand language. The complete tutorial is divided into different courses. These courses use practical examples, visual images, videos and audio clips to explain many of the concepts used for learning the Raspberry Pi. http://www.suntimebox.com/raspberry-pi-tutorial-course/

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industry FOCUS

PCB Industry in India: Marching Ahead Poor government policies and increased imports have always been major threats to PCB manufacturers and suppliers in India, but the industry is growing and expanding to other verticals, and still harbours huge potential. Let us see how Anagha P. and Dilin Anand

of approximately 35% year over year,” says Viral Bhulani, president, Indian Printed Circuit Association (IPCA). He adds, “Furthermore, with the Internet of Things coming into play in the electronics arena, manufacturing units are now getting orders for PCBs that

ndia has become a strong and attractive global destination for PCB manufacturers over the past few years. The global PCB manufacturing market is expected to increase from $62.3bn in 2013 to $74.31bn in 2018, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6%, according to a Research and Markets report published this year. By regional growth rates, Asia Pacific (APAC) is likely to be the leader of the industry over the next five years. Industry growth is anticipated to be driven by expanding demand for high-end products om clpcb.c esy: s from consumers in India are highly Court and China. customised and specially processed.” What’s driving the For small batches of PCBs, domesIndian market? tic products turn out to be cheaper, while still providing better quality According to an Indian Electronics than imports. This has enabled domesand Semiconductor Association (IESA) tic manufacturers to grow by taking report, supported by the Department over business from foreign competiof Electronics and Information Techtors. nology (DeitY), PCBs feature among The local PCB industry not only the top four components contributing serves the domestic market but also to the bill of material (BoM) across serves the export market; around 24 major electronic products consumed, per cent of the total PCBs manufacparticularly in products such as power tured annually is exported. Indian PCB supplies, set-top boxes, car radios and manufacturers have also enhanced many other digital instruments. their capabilities from single- and “Regardless of the issues dis2-layered PCBs to 16- or even 24-laycussed, we foresee many opportunities ered PCBs. The PCBs export has grown in the Indian industry. The demand for by nearly 26%. PCBs in this market has only increased The stability of prices is usually over recent years, and there is a CAGR www.efymag.com

very good in this sector. In spite of the dramatic devaluation of rupee in the previous year, the suppliers of PCBs in India were generally able to maintain the prices. The customers have also become more value-conscious; more than ever they now demand reliable and high-grade PCBs. These two factors coming together help drive local PCB manufacturing. Besides, with the Internet of Things coming into play in the electronics arena, manufacturing units are now getting orders for PCBs that are highly customised and specially processed for specific purposes, for which Indian PCB industry has strengths in. The ability of Indian PCB firms to closely work with the customers, and the excellent technical services they provide, have led many designers to choose domestically-manufactured PCBs over imported ones. Availability of flexible payment schemes, ability to handle sudden demand for increase in production, or demand for slowing down a little, makes Indian PCBs a better option for domestic electronics manufacturers. Krishna Rao, chairman, Sulakshana Circuits Ltd, is confident that, in the next 10 years, plants that manufacture raw materials for PCBs will come up in India, and that this would enhance the industry. The presence of supporting organisations is also somewhat of a boon to industry growth, though not all deciElectronics For You | July 2014

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industry FOCUS SWOT analysis for the Indian PCB industry Helpful

Harmful

Internal

Strengths hhFlexibility in terms of handling high-mix, low-volume batches hhAbility to face frequent ‘pull and push’ from customers hhReadiness to adopt design changes hhFlexible payment terms hhInfrastructure to effectively handle the production of low- and mid-range PCBs in low and medium quantities hhHigh quality of products, unlike the PCBs imported from China hhGood customer services and technical support hhAbility to customise products and offer specialised processes for the customer

Weaknesses hhLack of automation and technological upgrades hhInability to produce mass volumes hhInherent absence of infrastructure and ecosystem for creating PCBs in large quantities and of high complexities hhInsufficient go-to-market expertise hhLack of educated, skilled and trained manpower hhLack of strong investments and affordable finance hhHigh cost of production hhLow export incentives compared to competitors like China

External

Opportunities hhIncreasing demand for PCBs in India hhPopularity for domestically manufactured PCBs in low-end and mid-range applications hhImport not feasible for low- technology boards in small batches hhPositive and responsive approach of Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) hhModified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) by government of India hhValue consciousness of customers hhRequests for highly customised, highquality boards for specific applications

Threats hhTaxation and excise issues with raw materials hhDependency on import of raw materials, and production and testing equipment hhHigh cost and insufficient availability of power hhEnvironmental measures and lag in implementing them hhDuty-free PCB imports being dumped in the market hhBureaucratic hurdle: lengthy and timeconsuming processes for approvals and clearances of new projects

sion makers believe that they have been instrumental enough. DeitY has set electronic hardware production target of US$ 400 billion by year 2020 which, if it materialises, will create huge demand for PCBs. “The department is positive, responsive and very keen in promoting electronic manufacturing in India,” says Satish Athavale, managing director, Shogini Technoarts Pvt Ltd. Indian Printed Circuit Association (IPCA) is a non-profit, voluntary, professional organisation formed in 1985 with a mission to promote the PCB industry in India and represent their interests. The members of this organisation include PCB manufacturers, designers, electronic manufacturing services (EMS) companies and suppliers of PCB machines and raw materials.

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the ecosystem or infrastructure for large-scale and most advanced manufacturing techniques. Most importantly, the lack of investment incentives to bear the risk in India hampers growth of the PCB industry here. Indian PCB manufacturers can, generally, handle small and medium batches effectively. They are flexible enough to accommodate design changes at lower tool cost and can work with smaller panel sizes to produce small to mid-size quantities. However, high-end and large batches of PCBs are still imported in most cases. Automation and adaption of the latest technologies is slow in the industry. One of the reasons is the lack of good investment. Though PCB industry has lot of potential, convincing potential investors has been a challenge. The electronics manufacturing in the country drives demand for PCBs. As manufacturing has remained low the demand for PCBs has also remained low. Another issue is the changes and

Which industry shows the highest PCB demand? Most of the PCB demand in India comes from mobile phones, consumer electronics, automotive, power electronics and industrial automation segments. Energy meters and telecommunication industry come next. It is expected that in the next five years, demand for PCBs would considerably increase from LED lighting and solar sectors. Currently two million mobile phones are being imported into India. Indian PCB manufacturers are gearing up to this demand while some claim to already have the capability to meet the demand.

Reasons for low manufacturing base in India and lack of competitiveness hh Large capital investments required for setting up PCB manufacturing units is inhibiting manufacturers to set up new units, especially for multilayered PCBs, whose demand is expected to grow at a significant rate. hh High investment required in pollution control equipment due to stringent pollution standards and polluting nature of industry. hh Inverted duty structure, as inputs for manufacture of PCBs are subject to 5% to 10% customs duty while PCBs attract nil duty under the ITA-1. hh Lack of availability of skilled labour. hh Lack of availability of raw materials like pure-grade silicon and copper laminates required for fabrication of the printed circuit boards. hh Lack of availability of raw materials at competitive prices. hh Lack of access to new technology and state-of-the-art capital equipment. — Rajoo Goel, secretary general, ELCINA Electronic Industries Association of India

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industry FOCUS History of PCB industry in India hh The making of PCBs in India was started by scientists and research institutes in the late 1950s. hh Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) established the first commercial PCB manufacturing facility in India in 1968, for in-house requirements. This was followed by Indian Telephone Industries and some other defence and space research institutes. hh The first private sector firm that manufactured professionalgrade PCBs came up in 1970s. hh The first boom in PCBs manufacture was between 1985 and 1990. It did not last long due to low domestic demand, lack of infrastructure, high cost of capital, low investments and lack of skilled manpower. hh The Indian Printed Circuit Board Association was set up in 1985 when a few leading PCB technocrats met in Mumbai (then known as Bombay). hh The entrance of multinational companies (MNCs) and foreign firms into the Indian market led to the second boom that started in 2001. Exports started picking up and quality reached world-class standards. advances in technology and Indian manufacturers’ inability to keep pace with them and stay ahead in R&D. This is again a function of scale and profitability. The high cost of electricity and frequent load-shedding make it difficult to run advanced machines. Almost the entire raw material required for PCB manufacturing is imported, out of which 90% is from China. It is believed that India’s entire demand of PCBs can be met by just one major PCB plant in China. We cannot get raw materials at competitive prices due to the lack of volumes. Since there are no manufacturers in India for copperclad laminates, solder mask inks, photopolymer film and chemicals used in plated-through-hole (PTH) process, the manufacturing companies have to keep huge inventory of imported raw material, which blocks their working capital. Low taxes on imported PCBs has led to flooding of cheap, low-quality PCBs in the market, which is a threat to Indian manufacturers. There are virtually no technical institutes in India to give training in various aspects of PCB manufacture. Hence we greatly lack the skilled manpower or specialised personnel in the field. Foreign challenge. In India, Japanese companies like Suzuki prefer to source their PCBs from Japanese firms while Korean companies like Samsung source theirs from Korea. This results in very little business going to the Indian manufacturers. Anyway, the local players are unable to compete with Chinese exporters who get 17% export incentive. It would be incorrect to say that the market for PCBs is not growing. The problem is that almost 75% of domestic demand for PCBs is met by imports and, in adwww.efymag.com

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industry FOCUS dition, a large number of PCBs are being imported as fully-assembled boards. These go straight into finished products assembled in India as part of the low-value-added manufacturing model followed by most companies in India.

Government policies and their impact The industry feels that the Indian government does not take a proactive approach to encourage PCB manufacturing in India. The current government policies benefit only the large industries. The bureaucratic hurdles are too much for the small-scale industry to handle. The processes to get approvals and clearances for projects are lengthy, complicated and consume a lot of time, energy and money. The Central and state governments can play a major role in establishing PCB industry in India, which is a highvalue-added manufacturing activity requiring high capital investment. The industry needs government support for access to technology, low-cost finance and infrastructure to establish PCB manufacturing clusters where the entire value chain can flourish in a supportive environment. According to Amit Agrawal, director, Advance Technologies, corruption is a major curse on our system. He mentions that two Indian firms, that had started manufacturing PCB laminates, closed down recently due to the poor policies and ‘torture’ from the government. Moreover, duty-free import for PCBs has encouraged dumping of cheap, Chinese PCBs in India, reducing the demand for Indian PCBs. But some policies introduced by the government of India in last two years hold a ray of hope for the Indian PCB industry. Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS). M-SIPS is an investment-based scheme that is aimed to offset disability and attract investment in almost all verticals of electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) sector. According to Rajneesh Garg, 116

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Major contributors to the story

Amit Agrawal, director, Advance Technologies

Satish Viral Bhulani, Krishna Rao, Rajneesh Garg, Rajoo Goel, managing director, secretary general, Athavale, president, Indian chairman, Garg Electronics ELCINA Electronic managing director, Printed Circuit Sulakshana Industries Shogini Technoarts Association (IPCA) Circuits Ltd Association of India Pvt Ltd

managing director, Garg Electronics, “This would be of value only to large industries.” However, some say that there are provisions for smaller industries, and that it is a wrong perception that M-SIPS can be of value to only large industries. Preferential Market Access (PMA). The revised PMA policy mandates local sourcing of electronics for government departments, except the Ministry of Defence, for a period of 10 years. While the revised policy mandates sourcing of sensitive telecom and electronic equipment (and technology) from domestic equipment makers, it has exempted the private sector from the changed rules. However, it will cover the schemes and grants made by the Central government. This will give impetus to the demand of PCBs in India and eventually boost the indigenous manufacturing in the country.

Looking towards the future India has a good number of PCB manufacturers in the country. However, the local capability is restricted to producing single-, dual- and multilayered PCBs of up to 12 layers, and to 16 to 24 layered PCBs in some cases. The PCBs needed in products with high demand, like telecom, consumer and automotive applications, require complex multi-layered PCBs that are not available locally, thus necessitating imports. Building on the existing capability, special initiatives need to be offered to encourage indigenous design and manufacturing of multi-layered PCBs of up to 64 layers and beyond. This

Some solutions that the government can implement to support this industry are: hh Elimination of inverted duty structure hh Sorting out excise and customs duty procedural issues hh High import tariff on PCB imports. Nil duty on raw material imports. hh Imposing anti-dumping duty or safeguard duty hh Interest subsidies or low-interest loans for PCB manufacturers hh Quicker, easier reimbursement of CENVAT will ensure local sourcing of PCBs by product manufacturers, thus contributing to higher value addition. This shall also meet the requirements of the local EMS players who source PCBs in bulk. This would go well with DeitY strategy of PMA, which enlists PCB and its contribution to bill of materials in its notifications. India possesses a good chance of elevating itself as a global supplier of PCBs. The country is already exporting 20 to 30 per cent of the total production of PCBs. However, the volumes and the subsequent price points in comparison with China is a major hindrance as is the ability of Indian PCB makers to handle complex products that require more than 24 layers. Government support in the form of lower excise duties and rebates for upgradation of capital equipment could make a positive impact.  Anagha P. is a technical correspondent and Dilin Anand is a senior assistant editor at EFY www.efymag.com

industry nEWS 

corporate news  new ventures  calendar  new appointments

Incubation centre for electronics start-ups gets DeiTY nod The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has given a go ahead to the setting up of an incubation centre to provide physical as well as technology infrastructure to electronics start-ups from across the country. After incentivising and nurturing the IT services industry during its initial years, the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is looking to do the same for product companies, specifically in the electronics sector, with the now approved ‘Electropreneur Park’ to be set up in the national capital. The same will boost domestic manufacturing of electronics and encourage entrepreneurship across India. Under the project, the government plans to set up an incubation centre for electronics start-ups in Delhi. This centre aims to incentivise ten companies every year over the next five years. These companies will be short-listed by a board comprising stakeholders from the government as well as the industry and academia. The proposal has been sought by STPI in association with the Delhi University and India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA). Once up and running, the incubation centre will give electronics start-ups unrestricted access to experts within their domain as well as mentors, shared consultants and services. Further, these start-ups will be able to seek investment from foreign investors and venture capitalists, among others, to boost their growth and potential.

In Focus

Piyush Goyal is new energy minister

Piyush Goyal has been appointed as the Central government’s new minister for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy. He is expected to pay special attention to solar energy. The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) currently oversees the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is responsible for directing the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

Sanjay Kapoor joins Micromax as chairman Micromax has hired ex-Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor as the new chairman. Prior to this appointment, Kapoor was the CEO for India and South Asia of Airtel (March 2010 through May 2013), though he was with the company in other positions since July 1998.

Vineet Taneja joins Micromax as CEO Micromax has hired Vineet Taneja, the ex-Samsung India chief, as the new CEO. Taneja was the country head for IT and mobile businesses of Samsung India till recently.

Vimal Kapur appointed president of Honeywell Process Solutions Vimal Kapur has been named president of Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS). HPS is a Honeywell business that supplies automation control, instrumentation, etc.

Deshpande, ex-president ELCINA, passes away Ram G. Deshpande’s untimely and sudden demise on 31st May has shocked the industry. Originally from Philips, he rose to become managing director of Vishay Components. After retiring a few years ago he set up his own company to work in education sector. He was president of ELCINA for two years (2003-2005).

non-conventional sources of energy, plans are now underway to build two state-owned joint ventures (JVs) to oversee the construction of renewable energy projects across the country. Currently, the oil and renewable energy ministries are drafting a proposal for the setting up of the two JVs.

The proposed JVs will be between state-owned oil sector firms such as Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC), Oil India Ltd and Solar Energy Corp. of India and the Indian Renewable Energy Devel-

JVs to oversee construction of renewable energy projects In line with the BJP-led NDA government’s plan to come out with a comprehensive National Energy Policy to balance power generation in the country through conventional and 118

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Renewable energy project www.efymag.com

industry nEWS Calendar of Forthcoming Electronics Fairs/Exhibitions/Seminars/Events Name, Date and Venue

Topics to be covered

Elasia 2014 July 25-28, 2014 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

An international exhibition on Manish, Triune Exhibitors Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru power, electrical and lighting Phone: +91-9310492923, +91-80-43307474/ +91-80-22352770, E-mail: info@triuneexhibitors.com

Defence and Aerospace SES 2014 5th Strategic Electronics Summit July 30-31, 2014 Bangalore International Exhibition Centre

Exhibition showcasing Indian defence electronics sector, buyer-seller meetings and industry study on strategic electronics sector opportunities

IPCA-EFY Expo 2014 August 6-8, 2014 Auto Cluster Exhibition Centre Pune

Exhibition for all OEM Indian Printed Circuit Association, Bengaluru manufacturers, LED, solar, Phone: (080) 25210109, 25210309 automobile, medical, defence E-mail: ipca@ipcaindia.org and R&D material suppliers and end-users

NEPCON South China 2014 sourcing platforms for August 26-28, 2014 South China’s electronics Shenzhen Convention & manufacturing industry Exhibition Center, China

Contact address for details

ELCINA Electronic Industries Association of India, New Delhi Phone: (011) 26924597, 26928053; +91-9911445890 E-mail: info@elcina.com; rajesh@elcina.com Web: www.elcina.com

Tim Wang Phone: +86-21-2231-7016 E-mail: tim.wang@reedexpo.com.cn Web: http://www.nepconchina.com/ehome/

IFA 2014 A global trade show for Messe Berlin GmbH, Messedamm 22 September 5-10, 2014 consumer electronics and Phone: +49-30-3038-2217 IFA Exhibition Grounds, Berlin home appliances, presents E-mail: vonderropp@messe-berlin.de the latest products and Web: http://b2b.ifa-berlin.com/ innovations ELCINA-EFY Awards September 12, 2014 India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

Awards for excellence in EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd electronics hardware Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213 manufacturing and services E-mail: efyexpo@efyindia.com

Electronica India 2014 and Productronica India 2014 September 23-25, 2014 BIEC, Bengaluru

Covers the whole spectrum of the electronics industry from electronics production to electronic components

MMI India Pvt Ltd Phone: +91-9819418496; Fax: +91-22-42554719 E-mail: kavita.chhatani@mmi-india.in Web: www.electronica-productronica-india.com

3rd Electronics Rocks 2014 October 10-11, 2014 Nimhans Convention & Exhibition Centre, Bengaluru

A platform for design engineers, R&D engineers, entrepreneurs, academicians, hackers and hobbyists including talks, workshops, discussions, product launches and design challenges

EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213 E-mail: electronicsrocks@efyindia.com Web: www.electronicsrocks.com/

OSI Days 2014 November 7-8, 2014 NIMHANS Convention Center Bengaluru

Open Source conference in EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd Asia that aims to nurture Phone: +91-088000 94211 and promote the open source E-mail: atul.goel@efyindia.com ecosystem in the sub-continent

Electronica/Productronica 2014 November 11-14, 2014 Munich, Germany

Electronic components, production equipment, systems and applications

Intersolar India November 18-20, 2014 Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai

Exhibition and conference for MMI India Pvt Ltd the solar industry featuring Phone: (022) 42554700 photovoltaics, PV production E-mail: brijesh.nair@mmi-india.in technologies, energy storage and solar thermal technologies

2nd EFY Expo- Western India Edition 2014 November 26-28, 2014 Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, Mumbai

For manufacturers, EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd engineers and traders to Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213 source electronics components, E-mail: efyexpo@efyindia.com products and services and to Web: www.west.efyexpo.com find latest offerings and dealers and distributors for products

LED Expo 2014 December 5-7, 2014 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Exhibition and summit on LED lighting products and technology

2015 International CES January 6-7, 2015 Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, USA

A mega consumer electronics Consumer Electronics Association event where new innovations Phone: +1 703-907-7605 and technologies are Web: www.cesweb.org showcased

Electronics For You Expo 2015 February 26-28, 2015 Hall 7 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Covering complete electronics ecosystem, including innovation, manufacturing, design and sales

EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd Phone: 26810601/2/3, E-mail: efyenq@efyindia.com Web: www.efyexpo.com

EFY Awards March 13, 2015 Bengaluru

To give recognition to the leading enterprises and individuals in the Indian electronics field

EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd Phone: 26810601/2/3, +91-8800094213 E-mail: efyawards@efyindia.com Web: www.efyawards.com

MMI India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai Phone: (022) 42554700, 42554723 E-mail: Andrea.dsouza@mmi-india.in

MEX Exhibitions Pvt Ltd Phone: +91-9312285142 E-mail: info@themediaexpo.com

Look up under ‘Events’ section in www.electronicsforu.com for a comprehensive list

Since this information is subject to change, all those interested are advised to ascertain the details from the organisers before making any commitment.

www.efymag.com

opment Agency. One of the JVs will be intended to oversee large-scale, grid-integrated projects while the other will target off-grid projects. While one of the JVs will be led by ONGC, the other will be spearheaded by IOC. The JV partners will initially fund the new firms as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions. By judiciously mixing conventional and non-conventional sources, the government plans to substantially augment power generation capacity in the country. Meanwhile, the government is looking to use cleaner fuels to address the problem of growing pollution.

India’s domestic solar manufacturing in problem The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD) has recommended to the Finance Ministry that India should impose anti-dumping duty on international solar panels imported from the US, China, Malaysia and Taiwan, and awaits an approval for the same. Meanwhile, Tata Power Solar insists that the Finance Ministry should step up and approve the same as soon as possible since India’s domestic solar manufacturing sector could collapse by the end of the year without anti-dumping duties. “The reality is that in the last three years there has been so much overcapacity and so much dumping that if we do not take dramatic action now, then within six months the Indian manufacturing industry will be dead. They are already in fairly bad shape. People have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment and facilities and that are now just sitting idle. It’s a shame.” Ajay K. Goel, CEO of Tata Power Solar was quoted as saying. Domestic manufacturers claim they are bearing the brunt, losing out on business to the tune of ` 10,000 million as more and more project developers prefer buying international panels at lower costs rather than going for inhouse products. “(Anti-)dumping is a short-term solution. The government has to provide a level playing field and allow the Indian manufacturers to grow. Anti-dumping (measures are) a Electronics For You | July 2014

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Snippets

E-waste market to grow at 30 per cent

A recently published report by TechSci Research titled, ‘India E-Waste Management Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019’ revealed that the country’s e-waste market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 30.6 per cent during 2014-19. The report stated that the southern and western regions are the largest contributors to the country’s e-waste market.

Renewable Energy installed capacity stands at 12.95% The India Renewable Energy Status Report 2014 released at the Green Summit 2014 in Bengaluru has revealed that the total installed capacity of green/renewable energy stands at 32,269.6 MW, or is approximately 12.95 per cent of the potential available in the country as on 31st March. The overall renewable energy potential from various sources in India is approximately 249,188 MW.

Karnataka’s revised solar policy approved The Karnataka government has cleared the revised solar energy policy for the state. Under the policy, farmers will be encouraged to set up solar power plants to produce solar energy up to 3 MW and sell it to electricity companies. The solar energy will be purchased by the companies at a tariff fixed by the Karnataka Energy Regulatory Commission. The farmers will get financial support to install solar plants on their land. The farmers will also be able to rent their land to investors for solar power generation at a rate fixed by the government.

Renesas’ new subsidiary in India Renesas Electronics Singapore recently spun off its India operations into a new subsidiary, for which Sunil Dhar has been appointed as the managing director. “Since 2011, we have been operating via our branch offices in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. In the last three years, Renesas has gained significant traction in the Indian market. Setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary will allow us to expand our footprint to accelerate business growth.” says Dhar.

CeramTec opens office in India CeramTec, the manufacturer of technical high-performance ceramics for electronics and many other applications, has opened an office in Panaji, Goa. The company deals in a variety of highly-specialised ceramic materials where other materials, such as plastic or metal, cannot withstand the extremely high loads.

means to an end, after a while once the industry gets on its own two feet and reaches a certain scale, then those duties can be scaled back.” Goel added.

Tablet market in India drops The tablet market may be growing all over the word, but India does not seem to play a big role in it. According to a recent report released by the IDC, the Indian tablet market has fallen by 32.8 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014. The report said that only 780,000 tablet shipments were seen in the quarter. Further, the IDC reports that a lack of new buyers and the norms for compliance with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) are responsible for the drop in the sales of tablets. The lack of a decent budget is also the reason for the drop in the sales of Android tablets in the country. The IDC report also noted that Samsung is the top tablet vendor in India, followed by Apple and Micro120

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max. Surprisingly, the three companies were followed by Datawind in the fourth place. This is perhaps because of the absence of many tablet sellers in the country. This rating is of course in terms of the shipments received by each company and not in terms of the actual number of tablets sold.

Setting up of Electronics Commission proposed Electronics industry representatives and semiconductor associations have urged newly appointed Minister for Communications and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad, to set up an independent Electronics Commission, much like the Telecom Commission, to address all matters pertaining to the electronic design and manufacturing sector. The first of its kind Commission will play a key role in tackling all problems the industry is facing, insisted the representatives. Check efytimes.com for more news, daily

“The commission will include representatives from the industry as well. The ministry is very positive towards this proposal,” M.N. Vidyashankar, president of the Indian Electronic and Semiconductor Association (IESA), was quoted as saying. The proposed commission would also oversee hastening of the progress of electronic clusters being set up in different parts of the country. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, the electronic design and manufacturing sector in India is expected to grow at 9.9 per cent (CAGR) to touch US$ 94.2 billion by the year 2015. This is twice the growth rate of the global ESDM market. But, at present, nearly 65 per cent of the demand for electronic products is met by imports. Sadly, even the 35 per cent balance that is made in India is primarily low-valueadded manufacturing.

Philips re-entering mobile handset market Philips could not stay away from the charm of Indian mobile handset market for long and has made a re-entry in the market. The new range of mobile phones from Philips include both smartphones and feature phones. According to a company spokesperson, the Philips brand of feature phones and smartphones have been launched in India by Sang Fei Consumer Communications Co., a joint venture between Royal Dutch Philips Electronics and Shenzhen SED Industry Co. Sang Fei has launched these phones about seven years after China Electronics Corporation (CEC), the parent group of Sang Fei, acquired the global mobile phone business of Philips. The acquisition happened in February 2007. According to the company’s website, Sang Fei has come up with a new series of Philips mobile phones. The India business of these phones will be headed by SS Bassi, Sang Fei’s head of SAARC operations, who has worked with Lenovo India and Reliance Communications in the past. Philips had a range for feature phones in India, till the time of acquisition. The company slowly disappeared and the space was filled by the home-grown manufacturers. www.efymag.com

new products Recently introduced in India, From near and far

TEST & MEASUREMENT All-in-One Instrument

National Instruments (NI) has launched VirtualBench, which has five essential instruments needed by any designer/engineer—mixed signal oscilloscope, digital input/output, programmable power supply, digital multimeter and function generator—incorporated into a single benchtop instrument with software interface. VirtualBench reduces the number of instruments, space requirement and cost for the users. The features that make it revolutionary are the mixed signal oscilloscope, high integration with today’s technologies, and very low price compared to the equivalent devices of other leading brands. The instrument can be connected to PC using the standard USB port, or connected to PC and tablet using Wi-Fi. The user interface is very simple with all functionalities and controls integrated into a single window, and much similar to the UI of existing modular instruments. National Instruments, Bengaluru Phone: 080-4119 0000 Website: http://ni.com

Digital oscilloscopes

Rohde & Schwarz has introduced RTE digital oscilloscopes that offer fast and reliable solutions for everyday test and measurement tasks such as embedded design development, power electronics analysis and general debugging. These are available with bandwidths of 200 MHz to 1 GHz. The scopes’ highly accurate digital trigger system with virtually no trigger jitter delivers precise results. The single-core A/D converter with more www.efymag.com

than seven effective bits almost completely eliminates signal distortion. With a sampling rate of 5 GS/s and a maximum memory depth of 50M samples per channel, the oscilloscopes can accurately record the long signal sequences required when analysing the data content of serial protocols such as I2C and CAN. Rohde & Schwarz, New Delhi Phone: 011-42535400 E-mail: sales.rsindia@rohde-schwarz.com Website: www.rohde-schwarz.co

Insulation testers

The new MI 3200 TeraOhm 10 kV is a digital diagnostic insulation tester manufactured by Metrel and marketed by Rishabh Instruments. MI 3200 enables high insulation resistance measurements up to 10 TΩ, step voltage test, PI, DD and DAR calculation, capacitance measurement and withstanding voltage test. The large LCD screen enables real-time graph to be displayed. Results can be stored and downloaded to a computer via USB or RS232 connection with the help of optional software. Major applications include testing insulation resistance of rotating machinery, cables, transformers, HV generators, surge arresters and effective measurements in high noise environments, such as charged substations and switchyards. Rishabh Instruments Pvt Ltd, Nashik Phone: 0253-2202202/028 E-mail: tmi@rishabh.co.in Website: www.rishabh.co.in

COMPONENTS Wire-to-board and wire-towire connectors

FCI has launched Minitek Pwr 3.0 and Minitek Pwr 4.2 wire-to-board and wire-to-wire connectors. Minitek Pwr 3.0 is designed for power applications with current rat-

ings up to 5A per contact. Engineered for wire-to-wire and wire-to-board applications, its crimp and snap-in receptacles are used to terminate AWG 20 to 30 wires. Header assemblies for wire-toboard interconnections include vertical and right-angle variants. Minitek Pwr 4.2 is manufactured for high-current and high-density applications, and supports up to 9A per contact. Both the products are designed for dual-row and 2 to 24 circuits, but feature greater versatility due to their diverse wire-to-wire, wire-to-board and wire-topanel mount capabilities. Its crimp and snap-in receptacle is used to terminate AWG 16 to 28 wires. FCI Electronics, Bengaluru Phone: 080-25597149, 25550852 E-mail: communications@fci.com Website: www.fci.com

LDO line-up

ROHM’s new 16-model line-up of LDOs is optimised for microcontroller power supplies in automotive body and power train systems. The new power supplies in the BD4xxMx series, together with the BDxxC0A series, have been designed for application in car infotainment systems, bringing the total number of automotive-grade LDO offers to 43. The BD4xxMx series utilises stateof-the-art power system 0.35µm BiCDMOS processes and takes advantage of ROHM’s renowned analogue design technology to achieve less than half the no-load current consumption of standard products, contributing to significant energy savings. In addition, a novel circuit design enables support for ceramic capacitors, eliminating Electronics For You | July 2014

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new products the need for electrolytic capacitors to prevent oscillation, reducing both the mounting area and costs. ROHM Semiconductor, Chennai E-mail: niranjan@rohm.com.sg Website: www.rohm.com

Automotive accelerometer

STMicroelectronics has launched AIS3624DQ, a 3-axis accelerometer with digital output. It is the first to provide a full-scale range of ±24g (acceleration of gravity) while meeting the automotive industry’s demanding AEC-Q100 reliability stress tests. The AIS3624DQ claims to bring all the benefits of ST’s market-proven stacked-chip technology to the automotive market. This solution is based on company’s 20.3cm (8-inch) wafer manufacturing of MEMS products and offers a more competitive solution than the others who produce on 15.2cm (6-inch). The product offers selectable fullscale range including 6g/12g/24g. Other features of the automotive accelerometer include 16-bit data output, two digital output lines (interrupt generators), nine user-selectable output data rates (ODR), power down, low power and normal power modes, SPI and I2C digital output protocols, embedded self-test and up to 10,000g shock survivability. Housed in a QFN 24L (4x4x1.8 mm3) package, the AIS3624DQ is currently available as engineering samples. STMIcroelectronics, Noida Phone: (0120) 2352999 Website: www.st.com

POWER SUPPLIES Home UPS system

Luminous Power Technologies introduced Zelio in April, a pure sine-wave, state-of-the-art home UPS system, designed to work with the most sensitive home appliances. Zelio has a unique feature that displays the power back-up in hours and minutes, which allows consumers to plan their day and manage 122

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their appliances during a power outage. The UPS can be used to provide power backup for all domestic appliances and is equipped with various inbuilt protection features. This system with next-generation architecture has a digital signal processing core that yields a high performance. Luminous India, Hosur E-mail: mktg@lumnousindia.com Website: www.luminousindia.com

Power converter

Mornsun recently launched a higher power Din-Rail AC-DC power supply—the LI120, following the LI24 (24W) / LI72 (72W). It acts as the power supply for the industrial bus in the control cabinet, can provide all units with 24V supply, and can be used in industrial control/electric and other distributed power systems. The LI120 adopts a new circuit design and embeds power factor correction, which takes its efficiency up to 92 per cent, while pushing its standby power consumption down to 0.75W. With 35mm installation width, it saves considerable space for users. In addition, the Din-Rail mounting protects a circuit from the damages caused by over voltage, overload or continuous short circuits. Mornsun – India Phone: +91 9820194705 E-mail: sunil@mornsun.cn Website: www.mornsun-power.com

SOFTWARE 3D PCB Design Tool

Altium has announced the latest update to its signature PCB design software, Altium Designer 14.3. The software has been updated to provide improved support and new features that facilitate design reuse

and more efficient electronics design. Previously, MCAD designers had to model rigid-flex boards as sheet-metal parts, which limited the accuracy of the design. With this update, designers can open the folded model of a flexible PCB in mechanical design tools to ensure form and fit are correct. In addition, they can run detailed analysis on the PCB, checking on connections and heat flow. Altium Designer 14.3 delivers improvements to schematic wire dragging, with development focused on maintaining connectivity while improving productivity. This includes improvements to the handling of overlapping wires, net labels and junctions. Altium Limited E-mail: sreekanth.tammana@altium.com Phone: +91 95915 91919 / +91 90366 04755 Website: www.altium.com

LEDs & LED LIGHTING LEDs for headlights

Everlight’s high-power Argus series of LED headlight modules feature low thermal resistance and a high heat dissipation rate. The overall package size is reduced to allow flexible space for the component manufacturers to design their headlight products. This is a line of high-performance headlight LED modules based on ceramic substrates featuring high heat dissipation rate up to 170W/ mK, far better than those provided by conventional ceramic substrates. A single chip running at 1A provides up to 1200lm. With a properly designed heat dissipating mechanism, a single chip provides highly stable performance even at 1.2A. The single-chip Tj design that has passed the 150°C high-temperature test is perfect for the harsh, extremely hot environment in a headlight assembly. Everlight Electronics India Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru Phone: 080-41633111, 080-41623111 E-mail: salesindia@everlight.com Website: www.everlight.com www.efymag.com

LETTERS Live Telecasting on Your Web I saw ‘Live Telecasting on Your Web’ DIY article published in May issue. This is an informative and interesting project. My son has done this project and successfully telecast a birthday party on the Internet. I thank you for publishing this type of do-it-yourself article! Sanak Kumar Electrical Manager BHEL, Bhopal EFY: Thanks for the feedback!

Article for EFY I want to write an article for EFY on Digital Image Processing with topics ranging from basic imaging algorithms like Sepia, Grayscale, Negative, etc to a bit advanced image processing like kernel filters and fractals. The language can be either Java or Python, as per your choice. Abdul Fatir IIT, Roorkee EFY: Please see the guidelines for contributing articles at http:// efymag.com/Guidelines_for_EFY_ authors.doc and email your articles to editsec@efy.in

Remote Control Tester The ‘Remote Control Tester’ circuit published in May is interesting. But easier method is to use a digital camera or camcorder. Point the remote towards the camera and press any button. You will be able to see IR LED flashing on camera screen. Krishna Murty Through e-mail

PCB Design Software I need PCB design software that does not require Internet connection during installation. Please help. J.C. Adhyaru Vadodara, Gujarat

www.efymag.com

EFY: You may refer to DIP Trace, FreePCB and Layout Editor software included in the DVDs provided with EFY Plus February and April issues. To buy the back issues contact EFY associates Kits‘n’Spares on info@kitsnspares. com

FM News Channel Using Raspberry Pi I liked ‘Personal FM News Channel Using Raspberry Pi & RSS’ DIY article published in November 2013 issue. Where can I buy one Raspberry Pi board and accessories for making this project? Karthik Hegde Through e-mail EFY: You can purchase Raspberry Pi board from Kits‘n’Spares. For details, you may visit their website at http:// kitsnspares.com/user1/buyproduct. asp?id=79

Making FM Transmitter I am a student interested in making an FM transmitter circuit. Please give me related circuits. Ram Through e-mail  I want short-range as well as longrange FM transmitter circuit diagrams. Please help. Bikram Nepal EFY: You may refer to ‘Wireless FM Microphone’ circuit published in January issue under Circuit Ideas section. This circuit is nothing but a simple FM transmitter with loudspeaker used as a microphone. You may also refer to long-range FM transmitter circuit from http://electronicsforu.com/newelectronics/lab/search_lab. asp?words=transmitter

High-Speed DWDM Technology In ‘High-Speed DWDM Technology’ article published in May issue, under

Letters

‘Spot An Error’ Award Winner In the e-Style First Look section published in June issue, specifications of the Intex Aqua I5 HD is wrongly mentioned as 1GB of RAW instead of 1GB of RAM. Madhuram Mishra Through e-mail

Errata 1. In the component layouts for the PCBs of ‘Real Time Clock with Temperature Logger’ and ‘Safety Timer for Home Appliances’ circuits published in March issue, the 0.1u value printed between XTAL2 and R2 and between IC3 7805 and LED1, respectively, is not required. 2. In the ‘Wi-Fi Embedded Webcam’ circuit published in September 2013 issue, under Software section, in second paragraph, EFY EVD should be read as EFY DVD. 3. In the ‘Humidity Indicator and Controller’ circuit published in February issue, switch S1 should be read as ‘on/off switch’ instead of ‘0n/off switch’ in component layout for the PCB. Praveen S. Javali  In the ‘Temperature-Sensing Diodes Selector’ circuit published in January issue, the IC1 (7818) and IC2 (7809) should have been included in the parts list. Akkanagamma S.M. Multiplexing techniques sub heading, in second paragraph, TDMA is wrongly mentioned as Time Division Multiplex Access instead of Time Division Multiple Access. Again, in fourth paragraph, FDMA is mentioned as Frequency Division Multiplex Access instead of Frequency Division Multiple Access. Madhuram Mishra Bhopal

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immediately return one single image frame from the video input object as shown in Fig. 1. data = getsnapshot(vid)

am trying to build a project Q.Iwith Matlab that uses colour

detection at its core. I have worked on various algorithms available on the Internet but they do not seem to work for me. Can you help me with detailed steps for colour detection using Matlab? Pooja Through e-mail Colour detection through Matlab is fairly easy with all the required functions already inbuilt. The basic algorithm is as follow: 1. Primary colours such as red, green and blue can be detected easily. The algorithm actually works in separate steps. 2. First take a snapshot from a realtime video. The function that you can use for it is mentioned below. This will

Fig. 1: Snapshot from a real-time video

Fig. 2: Gray image

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3. Convert this RGB snapshot to gray. The function used for this process is mentioned below. The output is shown in Fig. 2.

img = rgb2gray(data)

4. Extract the red/green/ blue colour components from the original RGB snapshot. Function data(:,:,1) extracts all the red colour components from the RGB image. Similarly, for green use data(:,:,2) and for blue data(:,:,3). The output is shown in Fig. 3. 5. Subtract the red-colour components from the graycolour snapshot using belowmentioned function. You will get the output image as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 3: RED component extracted from RGB image

Fig. 4: Subtracting red from gray image

diff_im = imsubtract(data(:,:,1), rgb2gray(data))

6. Now remove the noise from the image by using filter function shown below. Median filtering is a nonlinear operation which is often used in image processing to reduce ‘salt and pepper’ noise. A median filter is more effective than convolution when Fig. 5: Converting gray image to binary image the goal is to simultaneously reduce noise and preserve diff_im = im2bw(diff_im, 0.18) edges. 7. Now you can measure the parameters of that bright image and place B = medfilt2(diff_im, [3,3]) a rectangular box over it using math7. Convert the filtered imematical calculations which will show age into binary image using the the presence of red colour at that place. binary function shown below. You will get a bright image at stats = regionprops(diff_im, the place of red object. The out‘BoundingBox’,’Centroid’) put image diff_m replaces all That’s it! pixels in the input image with Answers compiled by EFY technical editor, Ankit luminance greater than level Gupta. Letters and questions for publication with the value 1 (white) and may be addressed to Editor, Electronics For You, replaces all other pixels with D-87/1, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New the value 0 (black) as shown in Delhi 110020 (E-mail: editsec@efyindia.com) and should include name and address of the sender Fig. 5. www.efymag.com

interview

There exists a phenomenal growth opportunity in the voice and music arena Designing audio devices used to be simple, but modern designs are very integrated and efficient. This interview looks at what has changed, and helps you keep on top of the changes. Joep A.J. van Beurden, chief executive officer, CSR plc speaks with Dilin Anand, senior assistant editor at EFY Joep A.J. van Beurden chief executive officer, CSR plc

What is transforming the audio electronics industry? What we see now is a single chip, a piece of silicon that has audio codec, memory, processor and power management all rolled into one. This is like a complete voice and music platform. For instance, if you open a pair of headphones, there is usually just one chip inside. This single chip takes care of the entire sound quality and music experience that you have when you listen to it. It is a very strong audio platform that also streams Bluetooth from your iPod or your phone. It goes into headsets, sound bars, speaker docks and then the next big opportunity is to have the same system streamed into the entire house using a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Why should people get into designing devices with Bluetooth Smart? With Bluetooth Smart, we talk about wearables such as the Nike+ FuelBand, and an enormous amount of verticals, that are still small. but a lot of people are very excited about it because it can grow exponentially. Voice, music and automotive might be the sectors which pay the bills today for us. However, Bluetooth Smart is very exciting but it is still more investment than revenue, although we have shown very good growth. People talk about a 100 billion connected devices in 10 years’ time, a large chunk of these are going to be connected through Bluetooth Smart.

What is the most exciting product that you have seen in audio? The excitement is all about streaming audio. Two products were launched at CES this year, which are pieces of silicon and software that allow you to access any musical source that you have. You can take it from the cloud and stream to Spotify, or you can take it from the DLNA server, iPod and Android. The stream gets into your hub, and then your hub can distribute it to your entire home with even different streams to each room. This is really exciting and there exists a phenomenal growth opportunity in the voice and music arena for the coming years.

When can we see mesh networking in Bluetooth Smart? In CES, we demonstrated which I thought was a world first, a design that functioned through Bluetooth Smart meshed. In our booth, we had 25 different lamps that you could actually address individually through what was a 126

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long hallway. At the far end of the hallway, beyond normal Bluetooth Smart range, were these lights that needed to be controlled. But because it was meshed, the control was not a problem. We could address individual lights, a group of lights, or all of them at once. What would it take to do something similar with Zigbee? What I feel is that you can go Zigbee and get the mesh capability, but now you need a Wi-Fi access point, and it becomes cumbersome starting there. For instance, in Philips products that are currently available in the market using Zigbee, there are only three lamps and you need a separate access point for it. So, if you have 21 lights you then have seven different queues on your phone, and you can see how it goes on from there. What is interesting about designing for automotive industry? Automotive market as a whole has a little bit more visibility, and the reason is that it is the very nature of that industry. Design cycles are very long and it can take you up to two years to start the design process, ending it and actually getting the chip into the car. Now, once your component is in the car, it is not easy to get it designed out. So although it takes a while to get in, the benefit is that once you are in, you stay in. Cycles are longer when compared to consumer electronics where it is mostly six months, and therefore the visibility is a little bit better. It is very competitive, just as competitive as the smartphone which is ultra competitive. How does the design process usually work in the automotive industry? We talk to the OEMs to be able to understand what it is that they want, so that we can put it on our roadmap. The actual sale is usually to so-called tier 1 companies. These are companies that are selling a complete sub-system, like a head unit or a powertrain or what have you, to the car manufacturer. For instance, if you get a win with Toyota, you are going to deal with a company called Denzel. Or there is another company called Continental, or you have Visteon, or Robert Bosch. These are the tier 1 customers that we physically ship to, where they integrate it into a larger subsystem and that subsystem gets installed into the car. In automotive infotainment we are moving from a world in which we sell individual components into a completed infotainment bundle, using SoCs for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc. 

Q Q

www.efymag.com

interview

There is no ‘starting point’ for IoT devices If you were tracking our stories, you would know how a product conforms to the IoT criteria. Now, it is time to move forward so you can actually build a product for IoT. T. Anand, managing director of Knewron, discusses with Dilin Anand from EFY some basic elements and building blocks for IoT-based products

For the uninitiated, could you describe the primary building blocks of an IoT system? The Internet of Things primarily needs three building blocks to make it functional. These are, a ‘thing’ itself, which could be a door-lock or water-tank, etc; a connecting mechanism, such as RF transmitter/receiver, NFC, Bluetooth, etc; and a stable and secure communication method or protocol. In order to make an IoT product, converting it into a useful and meaningful application is going to be the key.

What are the fundamental elements that any IoT designer should first understand? Technically, it is easier to make a product and have RF or Bluetooth connectivity built into it. However, that does not necessarily make it an IoT-enabled product. Because the application that product serves doesn’t dictate so. From a designer’s perspective, security, identity management, semantics, compatibility with multiple communication standards, lower power, lower costs and nil or least interference would be the major criterion for IoT-based products. In some very specific cases, safety will also be a significant factor to be considered. Interestingly, designers also need to answer many trivial but critical questions, such as: What would smartphones, TVs, refrigerators, cars, locks and smart clothes, and whatever else, would talk about with each other?

Should the designers wait for more suitable chip technologies? People are not waiting for technologies since there is no ‘starting point’ for IoT devices. These are being designed and developed continuously with recursive modifications as and when newer technologies become available. If we wish chip designers to integrate some critical protocol into their hardware design, developers need to start making and using it in software form for some time. On the other hand, if chip designers create some enabler for better use of technology, developers would prefer to use it rather than re-invent the wheel.

What would be the top two things on an IoT product designer’s wish-list of IP? Developers have embraced a plethora of incompatible 128

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T. Anand

managing director, Knewron

protocols for communicating with their devices. As a result of that, devices connected to the Internet often can’t speak to each other, even if they want to. Protocol therefore is a prime need to be addressed at this stage. Such protocols and mechanisms or semantics could take shape of IP in coming days. Processors, on the other hand, are delivery mechanisms for the IPs. For instance, a processor can have ubiquitous protocol built in its hardware to enable IoT-based devices and applications deliver more value at lesser cost. Built-in communication stacks could be a great advantage in designing and building IoT-based devices or systems since major time is usually spent in integration of protocol stacks with external things.

Could you share some insight into security, or the lack of it, in IoT? As I foresee, most of the security issues would be related to intercommunication between things (or devices) connected on network, where alteration of data and information might occur. This alteration or interference could further result into misrepresentation of things, disruption in interconnected systems or even some unprecedented stoppage of certain work. And the best way to address most of the issues would be to take pre-emptive actions in design phase of these applications, protocols, methods, etc. Through multilayer device design approach, threats could be contained on the outer levels, which could add to safety of the device.

Which areas are gaining in value, and which ones are on the losing side? Well, sensors are the future of distributed data. We are starting to move a sea of data, have our movements monitored and our environments measured and adjusted to our preferences, without need for direct intervention. This means new opportunities for sensor designers, active sensor mechanisms and wireless technology/protocol developers. Additionally, as general-purpose computing is becoming a thing of the past, most of the things that are based on it would start becoming smaller and then disappear. The industrial internet means that machines will no longer be constrained by the quality of their on-board intelligence.  www.efymag.com

product categories index

advertisers’ product category index Products

Page No.

Products

Page No.

Products

Page No.

Products

Page No.

Automation & Robotics

Shrey Plastic Moulders ..................................... 142

Materials (Including Chemicals &

Safety & Security Products

Dynalog (India) Ltd (D) ....................................... 29

SPM Electronics ............................................... 143

Consumables)

Matrix Comsec Pvt Ltd ......................................... 9

Indus Robotics & Automation Research Pvt Ltd.............................................................. 69

CeramTec India - Innovative Ceramic Components (Including Active & Passive) Chandsons Industries ....................................... 143

Batteries & Power Supplies Arham Electronics & Electricals (Nimra Products) ........................................... 141 Brisk Electronics ............................................... 139

Engineering Pvt. Ltd ...................................... 133

Sensors & Transducers

HK Wentworth (India) Pvt Ltd.............................. 59

Audac Transducers ........................................... 141

Digi-Key Corporation ............................................ 5 Electronic Assembly ........................................... 49

Optics & Optoelectronics

Services

Element14 India Pvt Ltd. ...................................... 1

Alfa Electronic Components ............................... 98

3B Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd. ............................ 139

Fujistsu Semiconductor Pacific Asia Limited

Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd (D) ................ 18-19

Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd (M) ....................... 141

Singapore ........................................................ 51

Buljin Elemec Pvt Ltd ........................................ 142

Solar Products

Elektro Power Systems .................................... 141

MediaTek India Technology Pvt. Ltd.................. 131

International Corporate ..................................... 143

Elektro Power Systems .................................... 141

Elnova Ltd (m) .................................................. 143

Microchip Technology Inc. .................................. 65

Exide Industries Ltd (C) ...................................... 57

Millenium semiconductors ...................................11

PCBs, Assemblies & Sub Assemblies

Shreyansh Electronics (D) ................................ 142

G-Tek Scientific Ltd ........................................... 137

Mouser Electronics (Hong Kong) Ltd .................. 13

Anamika Enterprises ........................................ 143

Systellar Innovations ........................................ 137

Guna Power Systems (B) ................................. 141

Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. ........................... 81

Mitsutek Electronics (D) .................................... 142

Integrated Batteries India P Ltd (D) .................. 141

Renesas Electronics Singapore

Pulraj Electronics Pvt Ltd .................................... 25

Telecom Products

SMD Electronics Pvt Ltd.................................... 143

u-blox Singapore Pte. Ltd. India Liaison Office..... 4

J.K. Power ........................................................ 142

Pte Ltd ........................................................... 125

Kandhari Photo Electronics P Ltd ..................... 142

ROHM Semiconductor ........................................ 33

Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology

MAPP Solar Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd. ............. 143

Sancon India Pvt. Ltd. ...................................... 129

Plugs, Sockets & Connectors

Test & Measurement Equipment (Including

Co. Ltd ............................................................111

Shavison Electronics Pvt. Ltd. ............................ 14

Miracle Electronic & Devices Pvt Ltd .................. 75

Indicators & Monitors)

Nippon India (D) ............................................... 137

ST Microelectronics Marketing Pvt. Ltd .............. 45

S.M Semiconductors (D) .................................. 142

Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd........................................ 125

Sakthi Accumulators Private Ltd ....................... 143

Agilent Technologies India Pvt Ltd........False Cover Reseller and Distributors

Agilent Technologies India Pvt Ltd.............Gate fold

Digi-Key Corporation ............................................ 5

FLIR Systems ..................................................... 47

Element14 India Pvt Ltd. ...................................... 1

Max Technology & Co. ........................................ 37

SM Electronic Technologies Pvt. Ltd. ................. 21

Consumer Electronics & Appliances

Srishti Electronics ............................................. 143

Canon India Pvt. Ltd. ........................................ 149

Embedded Systems Solutions Pvt Ltd. ............ 139

Methode Electronics India Pvt Ltd....................... 53

Stab-Brain Systems .......................................... 142

Techno Power ................................................... 141

LWI Electronics Inc. ............................................ 23

NI Systems (India) Pvt Ltd .................................... 7

Madhu Subtronic Components Cabinets, Enclosures & Accessories

IT Products

S K Metal Works ............................................... 142

Embedded Systems Solutions Pvt Ltd. ............ 139

Precision Mastech Enterprises (Hong Kong) Ltd.135

Pvt Ltd ............................................................. 41

Rohde & Schwarz ............................................... 63

Progressive Engineers (R) ............................... 140

Tektronix India Pvt Ltd. (D) ......................... 15, 152

EFY Magazine Attractions During 2014 Month

Technology Focus

EFY Report

Buyers’ Guide

t&m

January

Electronics of Things

Industrial Automation Electronics

Rework Stations

Automated Test Equipment (AOI, etc)

Handheld T&M Equipment for Field Engineers

Thermal Imaging

February

Smart Grid

Smart Grid Electronics

March

Smart & Electric Vehicles

Automotive Electronics

How to Make Your Lab Static Proof

Function & Signal Generators

April

Smart Homes

Inverters & UPS–SOHO & Industrial

Digital Multimeters

Multimeters

May

FPGA (Programmable Chips)

Connectors & Terminals

FPGA Training Kits

Data Acquisition Systems EMC Test Equipment

June

3-D Printers

Certification & Quality Labs

Desktop Manufacturing Equipment (SMT, Reflow Ovens, 3D Printers)

July

Raspberry Pi

PCB Industry in India: Suppliers & Manufacturers

Budget Friendly Oscilloscopes

Oscilloscopes

August

Security 2.0: Latest products

Aerospace & Defence Electronics

Wi-fi & RF Modules

Incircuit Test Systems

September

Smart Robos

Solar Electronics

EDA Tools for Circuit Design

Virtual Instruments

October

Open Source Electronics

Educational & training Products

Development Boards (Microcontroller based)

Analysers (Network, Protocol, Spectrum, etc)

November

Wireless Communication Technologies (Zigbee, RF to 5G & beyond)

Security & Surveillance

Soldering / Desoldering Stations

RF Devices (Wireless Devices)

December

Smart Lighting

LED Lighting

Programmable Power Source

Power Analysers/Power Meters/Supplies

146

July 2014 | Electronics For You

www.efymag.com

advertisers’ & organisation index

advertisers’ index Client name

Page No.

Client name

Page No.

Client name

Page No.

3B Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd...................................................................139

Fujistsu Semiconductor Pacific Asia Limited Singapore..........................51

Nippon India (www.nipponindia.com).....................................................137

Agilent Technologies India Pvt. Ltd........................... Gatefold / False cover

Full Page Subscription Form....................................................................83

Precision Mastech Enterprises (Hong Kong) Ltd...................................135

Alfa Electronic Components.....................................................................98

Good Will Instrument Co. Ltd.................................................................148

Progressive Engineers ...........................................................................140

Anamika Enterprises...............................................................................143

G-Tek Scientific Ltd.................................................................................137

Pulraj Electronics Pvt Ltd (www.pulraj.com).............................................25

Arham Electronics & Electricals (Nimra Products).................................141

Guna Power Systems.............................................................................141

Renesas Electronics Singapore Pte.Ltd.................................................127

Audac Transducers.................................................................................141

HK Wentworth (India) Pvt Ltd ..................................................................59

Rohde & Schwarz (www.rohde-schwarz.co.in)........................................63

Binay Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd............................................................18-19

Indus Robotics & Automation Research Pvt Ltd......................................69

ROHM Semiconductor..............................................................................33

Brisk Electronics.....................................................................................139

Integrated Batteries India P Ltd (www.integratedbatteries.com)............141

S K Metal Works (www.skmetals.com)...................................................142

Buljin Elemec Pvt Ltd..............................................................................142

International Corporate...........................................................................143

S.M Semiconductors...............................................................................142

Canon India Pvt. Ltd...............................................................................149

International Rectifier Hong Kong Ltd..........................................................

Sakthi Accumulators Private Ltd.............................................................143

CeramTec India - Innovative Ceramic Engineering Pvt. Ltd..................133

IPCA-EFY Expo........................................................................................43

Sancon India Pvt. Ltd..............................................................................129

Chandsons Industries.............................................................................143

J.K. Power ..............................................................................................142

Shavison Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (www.shavison.com)...............................14

Digi-Key Corporation (www.digikey.com)...................................................5

Kandhari Photo Electronics P Ltd...........................................................142

Shrey Plastic Moulders (www.shreyplasticmoulders.com)....................142

Digital Promoters (I) Pvt Ltd....................................................................141

Kits‘N’Spares...........................................................................................105

Shreyansh Electronics............................................................................142

Dynalog (India) Ltd (www.dynalogindia.com)...........................................29

LWI Electronics Inc. (www.livewireinfo.com)............................................23

SM Electronic Technologies Pvt. Ltd........................................................21

EFY Group: Android App........................................................................ 117

Madhu Subtronic Components Pvt Ltd....................................................41

SMD Electronics Pvt.Ltd.........................................................................143

EFY Group: E Rocks 14...........................................................................31

MAPP Solar Energy Systems Pvt Ltd (www.mappsolar.com)...............143

SPM Electronics (spmelectronics.com)..................................................143

EFY Group: EFY Expo India.....................................................................87

Matrix Comsec Pvt Ltd (www.cognitoindia.com)........................................9

Srishti Electronics (www.acedigital.co.in)...............................................143

EFY Group: EFY Expo West....................................................................67

Max Technology & Co. (www.maxtechnoloindia.com).............................37

ST Microelectronics Marketing Pvt. Ltd....................................................45

EFY Tech Center.......................................................................................17

MediaTek India Technology Pvt Ltd........................................................131

Stab-Brain Systems................................................................................142

Elcina Electronic Industries Association of India......................................35

Methode Electronics India Pvt Ltd............................................................53

Systellar Innovations (www.systellar.in)..................................................137

eleb2b.com..............................................................................................138

Microchip Technology Inc. (www.microchip.com).....................................65

Techno Power (www.technopowersystems.com)...................................141

Electronic Assembly (www.lcd-module.de)..............................................49

Millenium semiconductors (www.millenniumsemi.com)........................... 11

Tektronix India Pvt Ltd. (www.tektronix.com/2170)..........................15, 152

Elektro Power Systems...........................................................................141

Miracle Electronic & Devices Pvt Ltd (www.toroidal.com)........................75

Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd..............................................................................125

Element14 India Pvt Ltd..............................................................................1

Mitsutek Electronics................................................................................142

Towa Engineering Works........................................................................141

Elnova Ltd (m) (www.elnova.com)..........................................................143

Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology Co. Ltd............................ 111

u-blox Singapore Pte. Ltd. India Liaison Office (www.u-blox.com)............4

Embedded Systems Solutions Pvt Ltd. .................................................139

Mouser Electronics (Hong Kong) Ltd ......................................................13

Exide Industries Ltd (www.exide4u.com).................................................57

Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd..................................................................81

FLIR Systems (www.flir.com)....................................................................47

NI Systems (India) Pvt Ltd (www.ni.com)...................................................7

www.efymag.com

Page numbers subject to final dummy corrections

Electronics For You | July 2014

147

Electronics ...uly 2014

Articles inside

Industry Focus

Interview

Innovation

Embedded Design

EFY Plus DVD

Defence Electronics

Information Technology

Test & Measurement

Telecom Technology

Part 1 of 2: Flexible Electronics The Next Ubiquitous Platform

Wear Your Future