What’s New in Electronics Mar/April 2014 by Westwick-Farrow Media

WHAT'S NEW IN ELECTRONICS MARCH/APRIL 2014

COVER STORY

CONTENTS 4

The struggle for power and glory

The future of GaN technology

Wirelessly rechargeable cochlear implants

Algorithm helps make faces more memorable

ment tasks, from general debugging, embedded

Medical electronics sales to reach $50.9bn

of bench oscilloscopes. With bandwidths from

New system makes big data more accessible

everyday measurements in three key areas:

The Grumpy page

measurements, the R&SRTE offers even more

The Rohde & Schwarz RTE oscilloscopes offer quick solutions for everyday test and measuredesign development to power analysis. The digital oscilloscopes expand the R&S portfolio 200 MHz to 1 GHz, the oscilloscopes offer a complete package of features that simplifies performance, signal analysis and usability. Besides the cursor functions and automated analysis tools that help users to complete tasks quickly. At the push of a button, QuickMeas functions simultaneously display the results of multiple measurements for the signal that is currently active. A broad range of dedicated application solutions is also available, including trigger and decode options for serial buses, logic analysis capability and power analysis options. The unique hardware accelerated FFT gives greater analysis into rapidly changing spectral phenomena, with colour-graded, overlapping FFTs giving the impression of a live spectrum on the screen, which reliably detects sporadic signals. The wide variety of measurement and analysis functions is easily operated via a high-resolution 10.4â&#x20AC;ł XGA touch screen. Signal icons with real-time preview are displayed on the edge of the screen to clearly show what is currently happening. The oscilloscopes offer time domain analysis, logic analysis, protocol analysis and frequency analysis in a single box. Rohde & Schwarz (Australia) Pty Ltd www.rohde-schwarz.com

THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER AND GLORY Mike Smyth, specialist technical writer

Two names representing two different technologies stand out like beacons among the thousands of names and inventions that were such a feature of the 19th century. These two, like boxers in a ring waiting for the contest to start, sparred and weaved in bids to make their beliefs the one the world would accept. But the two were not the inventors of the technology they so passionately believed in and strangely they are better remembered today as the inventors of the gramophone and the vacuum braking system used on trains throughout the world.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

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he men were Thomas Edison in the DC corner and George Westinghouse in the AC corner. Right from the development of the first DC generator, the problem of distributing the power by cable was apparent. There were huge voltage drops over just a short cable length and the voltage that was produced by the generator was the voltage the consumer had to use because there was no way of changing it and these two factors alone prevented DC from becoming more widely distributed and used. Traditionally, the contest has been said to be between these two men. In fact, there were many other names including engineers and financiers, now largely forgotten, involved in the war, because a war it was and there were some questionable acts. One name that hasn’t been forgotten is Nikola Tesla, who was well and truly in the AC corner. Edison is credited with inventing the gramophone, a cine camera and a long-lasting light bulb. But he was also one of the first to use mass production methods, he created the first industrial research laboratory at Menlo Park, is said to be the fourth most prolific inventor in history and many of his inventions established new industries in the 19th century. In his lifetime he founded 14 companies including General Electric, which is still one of the biggest public companies worldwide. The Edison Electric Light Co was formed in 1878 and he demonstrated his incandescent light bulb the following year at the laboratory. He is reported as saying at the time: “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.” In 1890, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Co’s new steamship, Columbia, was fitted with Edison’s lighting system where it lasted for 15 years. In Europe, there was also wide interest in power generation. In 1835, Hippolyte Pixii built an alternator using a rotating magnet, but he didn’t know how to put his discovery to practical use. Twenty years later, Guillaume Duchenne used AC to contract muscles, but again this was not seen as particularly useful.

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By 1878, the Ganz company began working with single-phase AC in Budapest. In 1882, Sebastian de Ferranti, working at the Siemens plant in London, took a keen interest in AC. With Lord Kelvin and others he went on to make an early transformer. By 1891, Ferranti, already a leader in electric lighting, had installed underground cables at 10,000 V in London, confident that the transformer would look after any voltage demanded by the consumer. Later Ferranti was hired by the London Electric Supply Corporation to design a power station at Deptford on the south bank of the Thames in London. He designed the whole complex including the distribution system and when it was completed in 1891 it was the first power station to supply high-voltage AC. But the main battle between DC and AC was being fought in America where Westinghouse and Edison, with help from Tesla, were involved in a passionate struggle to have their respective technologies adopted by governments and the public. DC, the first player on the stage, was relatively easy to make. Its drawback came with the difficulty of sending it over any great distance due to huge voltage and therefore current losses. Consumers had to be within about 2.5 km of the generator. The other major drawback was the difficulty of changing the voltage. Consumers had to put up with the generated voltage because there was no way to effectively and economically change it. When Tesla joined Westinghouse, he was convinced that the cyclic nature of AC was the way forward using the polyphase principle. As a result, he developed a series of generators, motors and transformers. In today’s world, the frequency of AC varies between 50 and 60 Hz. Japan is unusual in having a mixture of frequencies. But in those days even the frequencies were not without challenges. A low frequency makes the design of motors easier and means lower impedance losses which are proportional to frequency. But the low frequency causes noticeable flickering in arc lamps and incandescent light bulbs.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

WAR OF CURRENTS

WITH ADVANCING TECHNOLOGIES IN TRANSFORMERS, DC WAS DOOMED. AC COULD BE PROVIDED AT ANY VOLTAGE TO SUIT CONSUMERS, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT COULD BE SENT FOR HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF KILOMETRES DOWN QUITE SMALL CABLES WITH VERY LITTLE LOSS.

With advancing technologies in transformers, DC was doomed. AC could be provided at any voltage to suit consumers, but more importantly, it could be sent for hundreds or thousands of kilometres down quite small cables with very little loss. Westinghouse imported several transformers from Europe and began experimenting with an AC network in Pittsburgh. By 1886, he and his assistants had built a hydroelectric generator that supplied AC to Great Barrington, Mass. Using the transformers, the transmission line voltage was stepped up to 3000 and then reduced to 100 V for electric lighting. The network was so successful that 30 more were built inside a year, along with an induction meter using a rotating magnetic field to measure the current consumed. By 1887, Edison had 121 power stations, but when their limitations were discussed, he campaigned that AC was far more dangerous to use so he arranged for some of Edison's employees to publicly execute unwanted animals using AC. The science behind this says that 60 Hz AC under adverse conditions is more likely to induce ‘cardiac fibrillation’ in humans compared with the same DC voltage. But the public smear campaign went on and in 1903 Edison workers electrocuted an elephant that had previously killed several people. Edison went further and proposed electrical executions of criminals and this idea was adopted so that in 1890 William Kemmler became the first man to be put to death in the electric chair. It was a bungled execution because the victim survived 17 seconds of the current flowing until it was increased to a fatal level by the prison

MARCH/APRIL 2014

authorities. Afterwards, Westinghouse is reported to have said: “It was a brutal affair. They could have done better with an axe.” Edison, in a further bid to disgrace and humiliate Westinghouse, then tried to make popular the term “Westinghoused” for those sentenced to death by electricity, but the word did not appeal to the public. Slowly, AC gained the upper hand. The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1891 saw Westinghouse win the contract to build an AC network to power the event. He also established the first long-range power network and distributed AC from the Niagara Falls generators to Buffalo in New York, a distance of some 40 km. Generating AC was limited to either hydro or reciprocating steam engines. Westinghouse felt that reciprocating steam engines were clumsy and inefficient. Meanwhile, in England, Charles Parsons was experimenting with steam turbines so Westinghouse bought the rights to the turbine and by 1898 he produced a 300 kW unit followed the next year by a 1.5 MW unit for the Hartford Electric Light Co. Westinghouse then went on to develop steam turbines for marine propulsion. But, as was so common with 19th-century inventors, litigation was just round the corner. Lewis Latimer brought to Edison an improved technique for making carbon to light bulbs. In the meantime, Westinghouse bought Philip Diehl’s competing induction lamp patent rights for US$25,000, which forced the holders of the Edison patent to charge less for these patent rights, effectively lowering the cost of the lamp. In 1883, the US Patent Office ruled that Edison’s patent was developed from Wil-

liam Sawyer’s invention and was invalid. For six years litigation dragged on until Edison finally won the day. However, in England, Joseph Swan had been granted a patent a year before Edison so he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to make and market bulbs in Britain. But DC still persisted despite its limitations. The Pearl Street generating station in New York was switched on in 1892 and produced 110 VDC to 59 users in lower Manhattan. In London, the first station driven by steam provided power to several private houses close to the plant while a theatre in Brno became the first public building to be lit using Edison’s light bulbs. Today, DC is still used by some sections of industry, and railway systems around the world use DC as they can position substations at convenient points along the track. One of the largest rail networks using DC is the British third rail system which, since the early part of the 20th century, has been providing a train service to southern England. Looking to the future, maybe DC will resurrect itself when electric cars come into their own. Even accepting the current range of around 80 km a charge, there will be a demand for recharging stations with energy that could be provided by solar or wind power on a scale suitable for local distribution, perhaps among the few garages in the high street or special charging bays. Innovative switching and control systems could ensure a continuous power supply. But all this could depend on the great motoring public having the imagination and the willing wallet to inspire this happening.

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EMC TESTING EMC Technologies in Auckland is now a designated test laboratory under the China-New Zealand Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), which was made possible by the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. The designation as a Conformity Assessment

SUNLIGHT-READABLE TOUCH PANEL PC

Body (CAB) means that EMC Technologies’

Axiomtek has announced availability

branch are now acceptable for product ap-

of GOT812LR-832, its heavy-duty,

proval in China where the China Compulsory

12.1″ fanless touch panel computer.

Certification (or the CCC mark) is mandatory.

EMC test reports issued by the Auckland

All EMC testing can be carried out in the

Designed to meet the challenges of outdoor operations including the

Auckland EMC test laboratories.

impact of high ambient lighting,

EMC Technologies For more info on this product wf.net.au/W249

the product offers a 1000-nits, highbrightness and low-reflective LCD touch screen for good display quality.

Adept Total Turnkey Solutions For more info on this product wf.net.au/W185

CORD RETAINING SYSTEM FOR IEC C8 APPLIANCE INLETS Schurter has expanded its range of cord retaining systems to include a clip retaining device for IEC C8 inlets and mating cord sets. The device is a further addition to the company’s cord retaining systems for IEC C14 and C20 inlets, comprising V-Lock latching cord sets, wire-bails and clamps. V-Lock, wire-bail and clamp systems have proven successful in preventing the accidental disconnection of power cords from inlets according to IEC 60320. However, these systems are only available for C14 and C20 appliance inlets. Schurter has developed a cord retention system with

DC MICROMOTORS

specially adapted retaining clips for C8 type inlets. The

The 3890 CR series from Erntec is based on the motor

clips fit the company’s series 2576 flange mount and 2578

concept of the CR DC micromotors series with graphite

snap-in mount inlets.

commutation from Faulhaber.

SCHURTER (S) PTE LTD For more info on this product wf.net.au/W156

ERNTEC Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W303

ECDIS FANLESS PANEL COMPUTER Moxa has announced the release of the MPC-2240 ECDIS panel computer. The unit is a sleek, but-

LED PANEL INDICATORS Marl has extended its industrial and defence LED panel indicator range with the 677 and 697 series of panel indicators. One of the LED indicators offers NVIS (night vision) radiance, making it suitable for use by operators wearing military NVIS goggles.

Aerospace & Defence Products For more info on this product wf.net.au/V527 8

MARCH/APRIL 2014

tonless, 24″, flat-glass, ECDIS, colour-calibrated and fanless panel computer for marine navigation applications.

MOXA Inc For more info on this product wf.net.au/W184

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Cable Assembly @ Ampec

Local manufacturing capabilities for cable assembly with a fully equipped factory

Ampec Technologies specialises in manufacturing of custom design cable assemblies at our local factory in Sydney. We also have overseas manufacturing partners to cater for high volume production. Our experienced team is at your service.

e sales@ampec.com.au w www.ampec.com.au

Production team trained to IPC/WHMA-A-620A

Fully automatic cut, strip and crimp machines

High mix low volume and quick turnaround

+61 2 8741 5000

Semiconductor manufacturer improves energy consumption

tlas Copco’s water-cooled, rotary screw compressors are providing semiconductor manufacturer Nanium SA with reliable, high-quality air, while an Atlas Copco ER900 heat recovery system enables the company to substantially reduce CO 2 emissions and achieve exceptional

energy savings. Atlas and Nanium have had a successful partnership focused on sustainable productivity for 16 years. From the beginning, Nanium chose Atlas Copco oil-free compressors combined with drying and filtering systems to obtain high-quality air. Nanium currently has five Atlas Copco oil-free, water-cooled rotary screw compressors installed at its facility - three ZR 300s, one ZR 315 VSD (with variable speed drive) and one ZR 400. The compressed air is used almost entirely within the cleanrooms, in direct contact with the products under manufacture. Therefore, each of them is combined with a heated blower purge desiccant air dryer, or BD dryer, to obtain a high-quality dewpoint (PDP <-40°C). Nanium also requires no oil and a low quantity of particles to standard ISO 8573 Class 0 to meet its strict standards. The company also chose Atlas Copco compressors to help improve energy consumption at the facility. “The selection was based on the possibility of having equipment working at full load, while the variable speed compressor allows you to adapt compressed air production to the consumption of the facilities, always ensuring high levels of energy efficiency and optimal working conditions for the compressors,” said Carlos Costa, director of infrastructure management at Nanium. In addition to the five compressors, Nanium recently acquired an Atlas Copco ER 900 unit - a heated water management system for heat recovery in oil-free, water-cooled compressors. The ER 900 recovers heat from the compressors in the form of hot water. In order to meet Nanium’s needs, Atlas Copco changed the company’s compressor to discharge its cooling water at about 80°C. This hot water is pumped to a heat exchanger, whose secondary circuit circulates return water to the boiler. As a result, primary energy gas input is dramatically reduced. “This gave us the possibility of practically stopping the use of our boilers with gas burners, which resulted in a huge reduction in CO2 emissions, as well as in the energy bill, ” Costa says. This, in turn, has reduced the consumption of natural gas at the facility by about 90%. In addition, the energy consumed by the compressors is also less expensive because of their role in the heat recovery system. The partnership between the two companies is not only based on equipment, but also includes Atlas Copco equipment maintenance services, which Costa credits with keeping his “compressors working for 15 years, 24 hours a day without major problems and with a considerable savings”. With a compressed air production capacity that exceeds current needs, Nanium does not anticipate an increase in installed capacity for the foreseeable future. However, Carlos Costa stresses the level of satisfaction Nanium has in its partnership with Atlas Copco. “Without a doubt, I would recommend using Atlas Copco equipment to others.” Atlas Copco Compressors Australia

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/W180

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FEMTO-SIZED 3 DB HYBRID COUPLER The low-profile, high-performance X3C25F103S, the latest femto-sized coupler in the Xinger III range of products from Anaren, has been miniaturised to a 3 x 5 mm footprint without sacrificing electrical performance.

Wireless Components For more info on this product wf.net.au/W002

HIGH-CURRENT FILTER Schurter has announced an extension of its FMER SOL DC filter portfolio with a series for applications using three-phase AC.

SCHURTER (S) PTE LTD For more info on this product wf.net.au/V684

OPEN-SOURCE, SINGLE-BOARD PLATFORM element14 has launched an open-source, single-board platform, the Revolutionizing the Internet of Things (RIoT) board. The RIoTboard has been designed to run Android operating systems efficiently.

element14 For more info on this product wf.net.au/W278

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ÂŠ iStockphoto.com/Shur23

GaN DEVICES

THE FUTURE OF GaN TECHNOLOGY

Rich Miron, Digi-Key Technical Content Team

With benefits such as high switching speeds with low on-resistance and, unlike the bipolar transistors that preceded it, no possibility of thermal runaway, the silicon power MOSFET is the obvious choice in many applications.

dvances in manufacturing technology, allowing the use of a vertical configuration, have delivered devices with many individual transistors in parallel, further lowering their on-resistance. Over a period of several decades, manufacturers have improved on the basic design, setting new standards in on-resistance and breakdown voltage. However, those parameters generally need to be traded off against each other in MOSFET design. The techniques that increase breakdown voltage tend to push up on-resistance. As a result, inroads have been made by competing devices such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) for applications that need higher breakdown-voltage ratings than are possible with MOSFETs. One option is to change materials. Gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide are potential alternatives to silicon that make it possible to support big increases in breakdown voltage without compromising on-resistance thanks to the higher bandgap of these materials, as shown in Figure 1. Both SiC and GaN have higher critical electric field strengths than silicon, giving them a superior relationship between on-resistance and breakdown voltage. This allows devices to be made smaller and the electrical terminals brought closer together for a given breakdownvoltage requirement. GaN is showing promise if not as a replacement for silicon, as a way of extending the reach of the power MOSFET into new and demanding applications. The GaN device is a high electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) that delivers higher electron velocity than is possible with silicon and SiC devices. The high mobility results from the way in which a two-dimensional electron gas forms at the interfaces between the component materials. The carriers in this gas move far more freely than in materials such as silicon. As a result, GaN transistors are far more suitable for high-frequency power switching

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circuits - potentially delivering higher efficiencies with less board space needed for capacitors and inductors. Furthermore, GaN devices are able to operate in high-temperature conditions that would be challenging to silicon devices. The hightemperature operation of GaN transistors allows for reductions in the size of heat sinks and cooling fans that may be needed for silicon-based power electronics, allowing for further shrinking of the volume and weight of the power electronics beyond whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible from simply moving to higher-frequency switching architectures. Because of the higher critical field strength, GaN-based devices can be made smaller for a given breakdown voltage and current rating than their silicon counterparts. The combination of device and circuit size,

Figure 1: Graph of on-resistance versus breakdown voltage for silicon, SiC and GaN, showing recently introduced GaN transistors.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

GaN DEVICES

Figure 2: Cross-section of enhancement-mode GaN transistor. together with less cooling support, leads to overall size and weight savings that are important in transport and defence applications where these are critical parameters. Originally, GaN power devices were constructed on a sapphire substrate and were primarily depletion-mode devices, which made them largely unsuitable for power applications. For safety and reliability reasons, power-switching devices should be designed such that they are normally off. GaN MOSFETs are now appearing that offer enhancement-mode, normally-off operation. At the same time, silicon is emerging as an effective substrate for GaN, with the advantage of lower cost and compatibility with the existing silicon supply chain. Vendors such as Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) have entered the market with enhancement-mode transistors. Although the number of vendors on the market with commercial GaNon-silicon transistors is low today, companies such as International Rectifier aim to launch products during 2014. Even at such an early stage in its development, GaN on silicon is already able to outperform silicon MOSFETs. Figure 1 shows not just the theoretical performance of GaN in terms of breakdown voltage versus on-resistance - both of which easily exceed the capabilities of silicon - but two GaN devices from EPC that are already beyond the silicon line in the graph. Further advantages include low gate leakage current and the materialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s large conduction band offset (3.6 eV), making the resulting transistors less susceptible to hot electrons and other factors that can degrade reliability. As enhancement-mode devices, GaN transistors behave in a similar way to silicon power MOSFETs. A positive gate-source voltage difference attracts electrons into the channel to form a bidirectional channel between the source and drain. As the electrons are pooled in a two-dimension gas, the overall resistance of the conducting channel is very low. However, if the voltage is removed from the gate, the electrons underneath it disperse, removing the conductive channel and turning the device off. To achieve high breakdown voltages, the distance between drain and gate needs to be increased. However, this does not have as much of an impact on resistance as it does in silicon devices because of the presence of the electron gas. In contrast to most silicon power MOSFETs, which employ a vertical, through-die channel structure, the GaN transistor structure is lateral, similar to that of logic MOSFET. This structure provides the transistor with a low gate charge, which contributes further to an improved figure of merit (FoM) and very high-performance switching - well into the megahertz range for conventional topologies. This leads to smaller power converters and greater performance in other circuits, such as digital audio amplifiers. A further benefit of the lateral GaN structure is that there are no minority carriers involved in a conducting device. As a result, there are no reverse recovery losses that tend to limit the switching frequency of silicon devices.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

Figure 3: Block diagram of the TI LM5113 gate driver. Although the performance of GaN devices is very good, there are considerations that designers need to bear in mind when using them. The ability to switch at high frequency provides new opportunities for power-control topologies, but to achieve high performance with low losses requires careful attention to layout and support-circuit design. GaN power devices need comparatively low voltages to operate. Full enhancement of the device channel is achieved with a voltage of 5 V between the gate and source. However, it is important to not overdrive the gate - the gate drive level should not exceed the 6 V maximum rating of a typical GaN device to avoid potential damage to its structure. This demands tighter voltage control than is usually the case with silicon devices where loosely regulated transformer-based structures can be used. Excessive inductance in the gate circuit from devices such as transformers and inductors can easily drive the voltage beyond 5 V for short periods. As the gate inductance increases, voltage ringing becomes stronger, driving up the peak voltage that could damage the gate structure. A number of techniques can be used to reduce the inductance. One is to use a regulator structure, such as a low-dropout (LDO) device to supply the power for gate drive. PCB techniques can be used to limit the inductance, such as ensuring that the driver is placed close to the device to be driven and that lead lengths are kept shorter than 1 cm. Small-outline packages on drivers intended for high-speed operation will help limit lead inductance. Gate drive and return lines can be placed on top of one another, using stripline techniques, to reduce the loop inductance. Zener diodes as voltage limiters are not recommended by manufacturers because of their considerable capacitance, which results in slower switching of the GaN transistors, removing one of the key advantages of the GaN material. However, the very fast switching characteristics of GaN introduce a further circuit impact, caused by high dV/dt swings at the drain. The high levels of dV/dt can cause high current to flow as the result of the Miller capacitance between the gate and drain. In a half-bridge topology a small driver with a relatively high on-resistance can cause the low-side device to turn on accidentally. This phenomenon will increase the risk of shoot-through current and, with that, an increase in wasted energy that will sap the potential efficiency gains that are possible with GaN switches. As a result, the selection of a driver is not only governed by the current and switching time requirement, but also by the need to provide a low impedance path for stray current generated by large dV/dt transients. Although the GaN on silicon is just beginning to enter the market, current products on the market allow engineers to take advantage of the benefits of the combination of materials using either discrete control or using dedicated support devices. Digi-Key Corporation

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32-BIT CPU CORE Renesas Electronics has announced a high-performance 32-bit RX CPU core, the RXv2, for embedded devices in the consumer, industrial and office equipment fields. The core features increased performance from 3.2 to 4.0 Coremark MHz or 2.0 DMIPS/MHz, with a maximum frequency of 300 MHz

SINGLE-BOARD COMPUTER GE Intelligent Platforms has announced the XVR16 6U VME rugged single-board computer featuring quad-core 4th generation

in 40 nm. It also features enhanced DSP and FPU capabilities.

Renesas Technology Singapore Pte Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V697

Intel Core i7 architecture. The capabilities of the product will not only allow it to address existing command/ control applications, but also to be deployed in demanding high-performance embedded computing (HPEC) signal processing applications such as ISR (intelligence, surveillance and

4K ULTRA HD LCD TV

reconnaissance), sonar and radar.

Sharpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest LCD TV, the LC-

Metromatics Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V747

70UD1X, boasts a Real Ultra High Definition (3840 x 2160) panel with high-speed LCD and a built-in, high-quality converter to upscale from Full HD to 4K Ultra HD, producing four times the detail and clarity of a full HD TV. Picture quality is further enhanced with Edge LED backlighting and AquoMotion UHD - technology to reduce motion blur and clear images even during fast-motion scenes.

Sharp Corporation of Australia For more info on this product wf.net.au/V749

For drives, softstarters and power supplies Thyristor / Diode modules High reliability 15 A - 1200 A 800 V - 2200 V

SMARC MODULE Advantech has launched the ROM5420, a RISC SMARC module powered by the Freescale ARM Cortex-A9 i.MX6 dual core processor. The device is suitable for HMI systems, gaming and infotainment, industrial tablets, medical devices, instrumentation and more.

Advantech Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W191 16

MARCH/APRIL 2014

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SECURITY LIGHT The 742 Series is a high-brightness security light using four LED light engines to provide a ruggedised, vandalresistant, IP-rated light source. A built-in day/night sensor is available as an option for the light, enhancing the ‘fit and forget’ nature of the low-maintenance, solid state device. By only illuminating as the outside light levels require, this offers additional energy-saving benefits.

Aerospace & Defence Products For more info on this product wf.net.au/V536

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FIBRE AMPLIFIER WITH IO-LINK

POWER/SIGNAL HYBRID CONNECTORS

Banner Engineering has added IO-Link commu-

Omnetics’ Micro D connectors are

nication to its DF-G1 fibre amplifier. The amplifier

available with mixed power/signal

can now achieve point-to-point communication,

contact layouts. The number of power

allowing for complete configuration and monitor-

and signal contacts may be specified

ing capabilities.

to provide flexibility in circuit design

Micromax Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W132

while ensuring that the connector is kept to the minimum necessary size.

Clarke & Severn Electronics For more info on this product wf.net.au/V908

MARCH/APRIL 2014

INSERTS Penn Engineeringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s microPEM thru-threaded brass inserts for plastics introduce suitable fastener solutions to attach components in compact electronic assemblies. These fasteners with threads

MULTISTANDARD LISN

as small as M1 install easily and permanently in

The PMM L1-150M multistandard

a wide range of plastic materials from ABS to

LISN provides line impedance sta-

polycarbonate. They promote secure and reliable

bilisation networks for conducted RFI

attachment for devices ranging from handheld

in the range of 10 kHz to 400 MHz. This is said to make

consumer electronics to medical equipment,

EMC testing simpler and less costly.

among many others.

Westek Electronics Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W073

process. The microPEM (Type MSIB) inserts will

A single mating screw completes the joining install in either straight or tapered mounting holes and their symmetrical design saves time during production by eliminating any need for insert orientation prior to installation.

Ampec Technologies Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W174

The WAT06E precision attenuator from Wavelex operates

8-LINK CENTRAL PROTOCOL STACK AND WIRELESS-CHARGING SDK

from DC to 6 GHz, with 50 ÎŠ impedance and up to 30 dB

Nordic Semiconductor has announced the S120 8-link central protocol

attenuation, and features 20 W continuous wave (CW) RF

stack and nRF51 wireless-charging software development kit (SDK)

power handling and 1.2:1 VSWR. It is suited for wideband

for wireless-charging applications based on the Rezence standard.

power attenuation, high power measurement, high power IP

Rezence is a wireless power-transfer technology and specification

measurement and RF bench test applications.

based on the principles of magnetic resonance.

Wireless Components For more info on this product wf.net.au/W003

system on chip (SoC). The nRF51 wireless-charging SDK includes

30 dB ATTENUATOR

The S120 is a Bluetooth low-energy SoftDevice for the nRF51822 services/profiles for a Rezence power transmitting unit (PTU) and power receiving unit (PRU) as well as state machine examples. The product combination provides a solution for the out-of-band (OOB) signalling part of a Rezence charge pad. With the support for 8-link concurrent link, a charge pad based on nRF51822/S120 can support simultaneous charging of up to eight devices.

Braemac Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W000

NFC EXPANSION BOARD element14 has launched the full NFC expansion board, EXPLORE-NFC, to implement external user interfaces for

8-BIT MICROCONTROLLER

industrial and consumer devices that meet NFC

The analog capabilities of the PIC16F753 microcontroller

compliance with reader mode, P2P mode and

are said to boost system performance and efficiency while

card emulation standards.

reducing system costs. With its integrated Op Amp, slope

element14 For more info on this product wf.net.au/W057

compensation and core-independent peripherals, the product enables efficient power conversion and provides a versatile platform for adding intelligent sensing and power management to embedded designs.

Microchip Technology Hong Kong For more info on this product wf.net.au/W085 18

MARCH/APRIL 2014

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MINIATURE THERMOELECTRIC MODULES Laird has announced a series of miniature thermoelectric

LNAS AND LNA BANKS

modules (TEMs) built using Laird Tlam thermally conductive circuit boards instead of traditional ceramic-based circuit

Infineon Technologies has intro-

boards. The Tlam OptoTEC series is designed for applications

duced a series of LTE low-noise

where temperature stabilisation of sensitive optical compo-

amplifiers (LNA) and Quad LNA

nents in photonics, telecom, medical and consumer

banks designed to enhance the

markets is critical. The use of the circuit

data rate in smartphones. LTE

board is claimed to improve the heat pump-

is a standard for wireless com-

ing capabilities of the device while providing

munication that allows for data

good heat spreading, improved reliability and lower

rates up to 300 Mbps. However,

cost in high volume when compared to traditional heat

meeting user expectations for high

removal systems.

data rates in LTE is challenging in

Tekdis For more info on this product wf.net.au/W225

today’s mobile devices. Infineon’s BGA7x1N6 and BGM7xxxx4L12 families provide lownoise figure, the exact gain and high linearity needed to help smartphone designers overcome various challenges. The products are based on the company’s SiGe (Silicon Germanium) chip technology and include built-in ESD protection.

Fastron Technologies Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W223

SIC PRODUCTS BROCHURE Richardson RFPD has available a silicon carbide (SiC) products brochure featuring the latest products from Cree, Microsemi, Powerex and Vincotech.

Wireless Components For more info on this product wf.net.au/W189

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MARCH/APRIL 2014

RUGGED TABLET PC Ubiqconn’s 7″ IP65 rugged tablet PC, the uTablet T70C, is designed

BUFFER MODULE The FEAS SSE2410 buffer module for 24 VDC systems is designed to help ensure a reliable and uninterrupted power supply, even during heavy network fluctuations, such as power brownouts. For maintenance-free operation, the module has been built with an onboard accumulator pack. This allows the

for field applications. The product meets the MIL-STD-810G rating for shock and vibration and can be dropped from 1.5 m onto plywood on a concrete surface.

Backplane Systems Technology Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V838

device to be used within systems which are located in areas that are difficult to access, such as offshore platforms or in applications where maintenance involves a high financial cost.

Automated Control Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V566

BATTERY CHARGER The iMCRII is an improved version of the MCRII battery charger from Magellan Power. Rugged, industrial and built for the harsh Australian climate, the MCRII can be customised to fit the requirements of a variety of projects. The iMCRII comes in a compact, modular form. The single plug-in module can be easily removed and sent back for serviceability. The product features rugged MOSFET/IGBT technology and operates at high temperatures up to 60°C. With a near-unity power factor, it is suitable for all battery types - NiCad, lead acid and lithium.

Magellan Powertronics Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W267

BUTANE-POWERED SOLDERING TOOL The WPA2 butane-powered soldering tool is for portable applications where 240 V power is either not available or convenient. The push-button piezo ignition uses its own energy to create a spark and light the torch. The product is suitable for toolkits in boats, motorcycles and recreational vehicles. The butane tank will last for 3 h of continuous soldering and the replacement Weller filtered butane gas BR200 is also available.

Apex Tool Group For more info on this product wf.net.au/V721

MARCH/APRIL 2014

NETWORK CONTROLLER ICP Electronics Australia has released ICP DAS’s I-8123W-CPS one-port CANopen slave module. As a stand-alone CAN controller, the product is suitable for CANopen applications and be a CANopen slave device on the CANopen network.

ICP Electronics Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V844

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LOW-POWER CHIPS

WIRELESSLY RECHARGEABLE COCHLEAR IMPLANTS MIT researchers have developed a new, low-power signal-processing chip that could lead to a cochlear implant that requires no external hardware. The implant would be wirelessly recharged and would run for about eight hours on each charge.

xisting cochlear implants use an external microphone to gather sound, but the new implant would instead use the natural microphone of the middle ear, which is almost always intact in cochlear-implant patients. The researchers’ design exploits the mechanism of a different type of medical device, known as a middle-ear implant. Delicate bones in the middle ear, known as ossicles, convey the vibrations of the eardrum to the cochlea, the small, spiral chamber in the inner ear that converts acoustic signals to electrical. In patients with middle-ear implants, the cochlea is functional, but one of the ossicles - the stapes - doesn’t vibrate with enough force to stimulate the auditory nerve. A middle-ear implant consists of a tiny sensor that detects the ossicles’ vibrations and an actuator that helps drive the stapes accordingly. The new device would use the same type of sensor, but the signal it generates would travel to a microchip implanted in the ear, which would convert it to an electrical signal and pass it on to an electrode in the cochlea. Lowering the power requirements of the converter chip was the key to dispensing with the skull-mounted hardware. The idea with this design is that you could use a phone, with an adaptor, to charge the cochlear implant, says Anantha Chandrakasan, the Joseph F and Nancy P Keithley Professor of Electrical Engineering and corresponding author on the new paper to be presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Confer-

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ence. The paper’s lead author - Marcus Yip, who completed his PhD at MIT last year - and his colleagues Rui Jin and Nathan Ickes, both in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will also exhibit a prototype charger that plugs into an ordinary cell phone and can recharge the signalprocessing chip in roughly two minutes. Chandrakasan’s lab at MTL specialises in low-power chips, and the new converter deploys several of the tricks that the lab has developed over the years, such as tailoring the arrangement of low-power filters and amplifiers to the precise acoustic properties of the incoming signal. Chandrakasan and his colleagues also developed a new signal-generating circuit that reduces the chip’s power consumption by an additional 20 to 30%. The key was to specify a new waveform - the basic electrical signal emitted by the chip, which is modulated to encode acoustic information - that is more power-efficient to generate but still stimulates the auditory nerve in the appropriate way. The waveform was based on prior research involving simulated nerve fibres, but the MIT researchers tailored it for cochlear implants and found a low-power way to implement it in hardware. Two of their collaborators at MEEI - Konstantina Stankovic, an ear surgeon who co-led the study with Chandrakasan, and Don Eddington - tested it on four patients who already had cochlear implants and found that it had no effect on their ability to hear.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

IMMUNITY TEST SYSTEM The Schaffner Modula-6100 Immunity Test System, available to rent from TechRentals, is a multifunction generator that enables investigation of electromagnetic field interference effects and immunity testing. The unit conforms to international, national and in-house standards, including IEC/EN standards.

TechRentals For more info on this product wf.net.au/V760

SUBRACKS Sometimes housing is required for only one or two PCBs. Ripac Compact 21HP and 42HP subracks have been designed with this situation in mind. Available in two styles with keyhole flanges for mounting onto a back plate and DIN rail bracket mounting, the subracks can also be upgraded for EMC shielding by the addition of stainless steel finger gaskets and other accessories.

Lektronics Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W114

ISOLATED DC-TO-DC CONVERTERS RS Components is stocking isolated DC-to-DC converters from Analog Devices (ADI), claimed to be the smallest in the industry. The ADuM5010, ADuM6010, ADuM521x

SMALL BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR CONTROLLER

and ADuM621x use ADI’s isoPower isolated DC-to-DC

The latest brushless DC motor controller from maxon motor has dimensions of 43 x 11 mm. The easy-to-use product features an OEM plug-in style form factor for easy integration into new equipment designs.

maxon motor Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W069

converter technology to deliver 150 mW of output power while using less board space than other module-based solutions. The ADuM521x and ADuM621x integrate two channels of ADI’s iCoupler data isolation technology to reduce board space by up to 75% compared to optocoupler-based alternatives.

RS Components Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W179

TEMPERATURE ISOLATION MODULES Weidmuller has expanded its ACT20M 6 mm temperature isolation and conversion module range. The six new models are available as thermocouple or RTD stand-alone units as well as combined RTD and thermocouple models. Users can also choose between isolated and non-isolated models.

Weidmuller Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V929

MARCH/APRIL 2014

BRUSHLESS DC SERVOMOTORS Available from Erntec are the Series 0824 … B and 1028 … B miniature brushless DC servomotors. The devices combine power, compactness and high-resolution feedback. They are suitable for speed and positioning tasks in areas such as optics and photonics, medical device technology and robotics.

ERNTEC Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W301 WWW.ELECTRONICSONLINE.NET.AU

MULTIRADIO MODULE FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS The connectBlue Multiradio Module OWL355 is a ready-to-embed module for demanding industrial, medical and the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The module offers multiradio capability across Classic Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy and

ARINC PCI INTERFACE CARD

WLAN with full dual-band support for the 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands.

Alta Data Technologies’ PCI-A429 in-

M2M Connectivity For more info on this product wf.net.au/V884

terface module offers a variety of ARINC -419/429/575/573/717 channel configurations with software-selectable RX/Tx channels, baud rates, bit encoding and word configurations (start/sync/stop length, parity, bits/word, MSB/LSB). The product can encode or decode almost any ARINC-429 physical layer signal.

Metromatics Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W246

SOLID-STATE DRIVES Intel solid-state drives (SSDs), available from Mouser Electronics, are a hard drive alternative

“Rigol offer Australia’s

Best Value DSOs”

for boosting the performance and reliability of laptop and desktop PCs. They are claimed to be 50% faster, 60% more durable and use 20% less power compared to conventional computer hard drives.

Mouser Electronics For more info on this product wf.net.au/V996

RIGOL DS-1000E Series

RIGOL DS-2000 Series

50MHz & 100MHz, 2 Ch 1GS/s Real Time Sampling USB Device, USB Host & PictBridge

70MHz, 100MHz & 200MHz, 2 Ch 2GS/s Real Time Sampling 14Mpts Standard Memory Depth

performance, enhanced security

RIGOL DS-4000 Series

RIGOL DS-6000 Series

and drop-in compatibility with

100/200/350/500MHz, 2 & 4 Ch 4GS/s Real Time Sampling 140Mpts Memory Standard

600MHz & 1GHz, 2 & 4 Ch 5GS/s Real Time Sampling 140Mpts Memory Standard

FROM $339 ex GST

NOR FLASH MEMORY SAMPLES

FROM $934 ex GST

Micron Technology has announced the availability of 45 nm Serial NOR Flash memory samples in 512 Mb, 1 Gb and 2 Gb densities with a standard SPI interface. The MT25Q SPI NOR devices offer high

legacy NOR devices, enabling high-density SPI NOR adoption in

FROM $2,236 ex GST

consumer, automotive, industrial and networking applications. In addition, the devices offer improved erase performance and 66 MBps read performance, enabling fast updates and boot performance for embedded systems.

Arrow Electronics Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W154 WWW.ELECTRONICSONLINE.NET.AU

FROM $6,145 ex GST

Buy on-line at www.emona.com.au/rigol Sydney

Melbourne

Tel 03 9889 0427 Tel 02 9519 3933 Fax 03 9889 0715 Fax 02 9550 1378 email testinst@emona.com.au

Brisbane

Tel 07 3275 2183 Fax 07 3275 2196

Adelaide

Tel 08 8363 5733 Fax 08 8363 5799

Perth

Tel 08 9361 4200 Fax 08 9361 4300

web www.emona.com.au

EMONA MARCH/APRIL 2014

MEMORABILITY ALGORITHM

ALGORITHM HELPS MAKE FACES MORE MEMORABLE

Helen Knight, MIT News correspondent

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed an algorithm which makes subtle changes to various points on the face to make it more memorable without changing a person’s overall appearance.

“W

e want to modify the extent to which people will actually remember a face,” says lead author Aditya Khosla, a graduate student in the Computer Vision group within CSAIL. “This is a very subtle quality, because we don’t want to take your face and replace it with the most memorable one in our database, we want your face to still look like you.” The system could ultimately be used in a smartphone app to allow people to modify a digital image of their face before uploading it to their social networking pages. It could also be used for job applications, to create a digital version of an applicant’s face that will more readily stick in the minds of potential employers, says Khosla, who developed the algorithm with CSAIL principal research scientist Aude Oliva, the senior author of the paper, Antonio Torralba, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and graduate student Wilma Bainbridge. Conversely, it could also be used to make faces appear less memorable, so that actors in the background of a television program or film do not distract viewers’ attention from the main actors, for example. To develop the memorability algorithm, the team first fed the software a database of more than 2000 images. Each of these images had been awarded a ‘memorability score’, based on the ability of human volunteers to remember the pictures. In this way the software was able to analyse the information to detect subtle trends in the features of these faces that made them more or less memorable to people. The researchers then programmed the algorithm with a set of objectives - to make the face as memorable as possible, but without changing the identity of the person or altering their facial attributes, such as their age, gender or overall attractiveness. Changing the width of a nose may make a face look much more distinctive, for example, but it could also completely alter how attractive the person is, and so would fail to meet the algorithm’s objectives.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

When the system has a new face to modify, it first takes the image and generates thousands of copies, known as samples. Each of these samples contains tiny modifications to different parts of the face. The algorithm then analyses how well each of these samples meets its objectives. Once the algorithm finds a sample that succeeds in making the face look more memorable without significantly altering the person’s appearance, it makes yet more copies of this new image, with each containing further alterations. It then keeps repeating this process until it finds a version that best meets its objectives. “It’s really like applying an elastic mesh onto the photograph that slightly modifies the face,” Oliva says. “So the face still looks like you, but maybe with a bit of lifting.” The team then selected photographs of 500 people and modified them to produce both a memorable and forgettable version of each. When they tested these images on a group of volunteers, they found that the algorithm succeeded in making the faces more or less memorable, as required, in around 75% of cases. Making a face appear familiar can also make it seem more likable, Oliva says. She and Bainbridge have published a complementary paper in the journal Cognitive Science and Social Psychology on the attributes that make a face memorable. The first time we see a face, we tend to “tag” it with attributes based on appearance, such as intelligence, kindness or coldness. “If we tag a person with familiarity, because we think this is a face we have seen before, we have a tendency to like it more and, for instance, to think the person is more trustworthy,” she says. The team is now investigating the possibility of adding other attributes to their model, so that it could modify faces to be both more memorable and to appear more intelligent or trustworthy, for example. “So you could imagine having a system that would be able to change the features of your face to make you whatever you would wish for, but always in a very subtle way,” Oliva says. The research was funded by grants from Xerox, Google, Facebook and the Office of Naval Research.

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EMBEDDED WIRELESS MODULES The Sierra Wireless AirPrime HL Series are small embedded wireless modules which offer complete pin compatibility and are interchangeable across 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. The modules include satellite navigation support with GNSS (GPS and GLONASS) and provide device manufacturers with the ability to serve different regions, across multiple network technologies, with one device design.

M2M Connectivity For more info on this product wf.net.au/V883

PLASTIC SUBSTRATE INTERCONNECT

22 nm MULTICORE SOC PROCESSORS

Molex’s Plastic Substrate Intercon-

ics support, targeting high-performance, low-power applications ranging from

nect (PSI) provides a low-profile

smartphones to intelligent embedded systems. The SoC processors are manufactured using Intel’s

interconnect solution for the solid-

Tri-Gate CMOS technology. They are claimed to bring improved performance and energy efficiency

state lighting industry when used

compared to competing processors using planar transistor technology.

with an integrated Pico-EZmate

Mouser Electronics For more info on this product wf.net.au/V905

header in select LED arrays. The

The Intel Atom 22 nm 64-bit multicore processors feature USB 3.0 and graph-

product delivers power while providing a simple and reliable solderless connection to LED CoB arrays for lighting applications. The Pico-EZmate harness system minimises handling of the arrays during installation, reducing the possibility of damaging the LED array. The harnesses will be offered in three wire gauge configurations and various lengths for a range of initial harness options based on application need. In addition, Molex has a wide variety of low-profile headers and receptacles that can be integrated into a custom PSI based on users’ applications.

Molex Premise Networks Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W231

INTEGRATED COMPUTERS Australian designer and manufacturer ROC-SOLID Technologies has announced the arrival of its 2014 range of integrated computers. After years of good field performance in harsh environments, the integrated range is said to be tougher, brighter and more powerful.

Entech Group For more info on this product wf.net.au/W084

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MARCH/APRIL 2014

MEZZANINE MODULES Acromagâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s XMC-6260 and XMC-6280 mezzanine modules provide a 10-gigabit ethernet (10GbE) interface solution for data-intensive, real-time embedded computing systems. High performance is achieved using a TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) ASIC connected to a PCI Express Gen2 x8 interface.

NAVIGATIONAL SWITCHES

Metromatics Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W173

Navimec from MEC Switches is a five-position navigational switch suitable for data-entry devices. The device has a select switch in the middle and four navigational switches around it. The product is available as a module as well as single parts for OEM PCB mounting. It is recommended the through-hole version is used due to increased accuracy during mounting of the switches.

Control Devices Australia For more info on this product wf.net.au/W285

MARCH/APRIL 2014

TRACKING DEVICE The Re-Placer Gold is a customised TM3000 tracking device which simulates the Trimble Placer 450/455 and Gold products.

Step Global Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V510

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MARKET ANALYSIS

MEDICAL ELECTRONICS SALES TO REACH $50.9BN

edical electronics sales will grow 8% to about $50.9 billion in 2014 after rising just 3% in 2013 to an estimated $47.3 billion, predicts IC Insights. Sales of semiconductors used in medical systems are also expected to gain strength in 2014, rising 12% to $4.9 billion after growing 7% in 2013 to about $4.4 billion, according to IC Insights’ new 2014 edition of IC Market Drivers - A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits. Worldwide growth in medical electronics is expected to regain strength in the next three years after slowing since 2010 due to the weak global economy and efforts to curb healthcare costs in the US and Europe. Between 2012 and 2017, worldwide sales of medical electronics are projected to rise by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3%, reaching $65.4 billion in the final forecast year of the 2014 IC Market Drivers report. The brand new medical electronics section in the 475-page report shows semiconductor sales for healthcare systems applications rising by a CAGR of 10.5% and reaching $6.8 billion in 2017 (Figure 1). In the years ahead, stronger growth in medical electronics will be fuelled by sales of less expensive diagnostic and imaging equipment in China and other developing country markets as well as the explosion of wireless mobile healthcare systems that monitor patients remotely and reduce the need for expensive stays in hospitals. The 2014 IC Market Drivers report forecasts wireless mobile medical systems and closely associated wearable fitness-tracking devices generating revenues of nearly $1.9 billion in 2014, which is a 53% increase from about $1.2 billion in 2013, when worldwide sales grew 27%. Development trends in medical systems for hospitals, clinics and doctor offices are heading in two different directions as equipment makers respond to growing pressures for lower costs and increased availability of health care in poor and developing countries. One trend is to make new medical diagnostic systems

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smaller and less expensive so that equipment can be used in the rooms of hospital patients, more clinics and doctor offices versus the dedicated examination rooms in hospitals and imaging centres. Advancements in semiconductor sensors - many of them built with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology - wireless ICs and system-on-chip (SoC) designs are also enabling new types of mobile medical devices that monitor patients and the elderly at home and then relay information to doctors or hospitals via wireless connections to cell phones or the internet. The other trend highlighted in the new IC Market Drivers report is the creation of more powerful and integrated systems, which are expensive but promise to lower healthcare costs by detecting cancer and diseases sooner while supporting less invasive surgery for quick recovery times and shorter stays in hospitals. Computerassisted surgery systems, surgical robots and operating-room automation are among new technologies being pursued by some hospitals in developed-country markets. Developed countries (such as the US, Europe and Japan) have about 18% of the world’s population, but account for nearly 80% of total healthcare spending - approximately $5.3 billion versus $1.4 billion in 178 developing and poor countries during 2012. The world’s ageing population in both developed and developing countries stands to greatly benefit from new wireless healthmonitoring systems and telemedicine services that are aimed at reducing cost and serving more patients. While the large established markets have struggled in recent years, medical equipment sales have been booming in China, which is pursuing an ambitious initiative to significantly upgrade primary health care, hospitals, medical infrastructure and access to medical services in the country’s vast rural regions. China’s investments in medical and healthcare infrastructure are expected to total $63.5 billion this decade. Consequently, China’s share of worldwide medical systems sales is expected to more than double in the next four years, reaching 10% in 2017 versus 4% in 2013, while the market shares of developed countries shrink, according to IC Insights’ new report.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

CHILLED MIRROR HYGROMETER Michell’s Optidew Chilled Mirror Hygrometer meets the Code of Federal Regulations for Engine Testing - an essential requirement for any instrument used for emissions testing in the US and many other regions. The code sets out the criteria that humidity measurement instruments must meet.

AMS Instrumentation & Calibration Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V904

MOBILE COMPUTER WITH POE FUNCTIONALITY FOR VEHICLE APPLICATIONS Octagon Systems’ MOBL-D4 rug-

PCB DESIGN CONTENT

ged, low-power, mobile computer

Altium Limited has released PCB design content

with PoE functionality is suitable

for Altium Designer users supporting the FTDI

in demanding applications such

FT800 family of HMI solutions.

as trucking, emergency vehicles, transit systems and other situations where the cost of failure is high. The careful circuit design, component selection, testing and heat dissipation maximise reliability and minimise downtime.

Backplane Systems Technology Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V326

COLOURED NUTS AND BOOTS FOR HARSH ENVIRONMENT CONNECTORS Coloured nuts and boots are now available for the Switchcraft EN3 Harsh Environment Connectors.The Switchcraft EN3 series of weathertight connectors have applications for any sealed data transmission, military or industrial GPS location devices, environmental monitoring, transportation, medical data carts, marine and general industrial electronic applications.

Clarke & Severn Electronics For more info on this product wf.net.au/V457

The FT800 family, with its EVE (embedded video engine) technology, combines display, audio and touch in a single chip. The optimised solution reduces board area, power and BOM requirements, making it a suitable solution for HMI. By releasing board design content to support the FTDI FT800 family, Altium eliminates the need for engineers to spend time developing and validating PCB footprints, schematic symbols and 3D component bodies for the FTDI components. The content release includes live supply chain solutions providing an accurate picture of overall project BOM cost and assisting in sourcing the components quickly.

Altium Limited For more info on this product wf.net.au/W086

FANLESS EMBEDDED SYSTEM IEI Technology’s ECW-281B-D2550 embedded computer is designed for rugged applications with limited space. The product features Intel’s Atom D2550 Dual-Core 1.86 GHz CPU, Intel NM10 Express Chipset and 2 GB DDR3 SO-DIMM system memory.

ICP Electronics Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V846

MARCH/APRIL 2014

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LED Excessive heat generation is one of the main reasons why light-emitting diodes fail. With the Oslon Square, Osram Opto Semiconductors presents an LED that withstands high ambient temperatures

WIRELESS MODULE

particularly well.

RS Components is stocking the SimpleLink WiFi

Osram Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W133

CC3000 product family from Texas Instruments (TI). The TI CC3000 module is a self-contained 802.11 wireless network processor that simplifies and accelerates the implementation of internet connectivity. The SimpleLink W-Fi solution minimises the software requirements of the host microcontroller (MCU) and is thus suitable for embedded applications using any low-cost and low-power MCU with a compact memory footprint. The self-contained module is designed to reduce development time and manufacturing costs, enabling easy addition to the PCB with minimal RF expertise and providing RF compliance across the US, Canada and Europe (FCC, IC and ETSI). The moduleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s small form factor of 16.3 x 13.5 x 2 mm saves board space and

FANLESS EMBEDDED SYSTEM

is suitable for application in home automation, home

iBase Technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s AMI311-970 Fanless Embedded System houses the

security, connected appliances, smart energy and

MI970 Mini-ITX motherboard supporting 3rd generation Intel Core processors.

M2M communication. Good radio performance ensures

Backplane Systems Technology Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V375

coverage throughout the range of the application area.

WWW.ELECTRONICSONLINE.NET.AU

RS Components Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W024

MARCH/APRIL 2014

DATA STORAGE

NEW SYSTEM MAKES BIG DATA MORE ACCESSIBLE The amount of data computers produce has grown enormously in recent years. But for this ‘big data’ to be useful it must first be analysed, meaning it needs to be stored in such a way that it can be accessed quickly when required.

reviously, any data that needed to be accessed in a hurry would be stored in a computer’s main memory, or dynamic random access memory (DRAM) - but the size of the datasets now being produced makes this impossible. So instead, information tends to be stored on multiple hard disks on a number of machines across an Ethernet network. However, this storage architecture considerably increases the time it takes to access the information, according to Sang-Woo Jun, a graduate student in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. “Storing data over a network is slow because there is a significant additional time delay in managing data access across multiple machines in both software and hardware,” Jun says. “And if the data does not fit in DRAM, you have to go to secondary storage - hard disks, possibly connected over a network - which is very slow indeed.” Now Jun, fellow CSAIL graduate student Ming Liu, and Arvind, the Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, have developed a storage system for big-data analytics that can dramatically speed up the time it takes to access information. The system is based on a network of flash storage devices. Flash storage systems perform better at tasks that involve finding random pieces of information from within a large dataset than other technologies. They can typically be randomly accessed in microseconds. This compares to the data ‘seek time’ of hard disks, which is typically four to 12 milliseconds when accessing data from unpredictable locations on demand. Flash systems also are nonvolatile, meaning they do not lose any of the information they hold if the computer is switched off. In the storage system, known as BlueDBM - or Blue Database Machine, each flash device is connected to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip to create an individual node. The FPGAs are not only used to control the flash device, but are also capable of performing processing operations on the data itself, Jun says. “This means we can do some processing close to where the data is [being stored], so we don’t always have to move all of

MARCH/APRIL 2014

the data to the machine to work on it,” he says. What’s more, FPGA chips can be linked together using a high-performance serial network, which has a very low latency, or time delay, meaning information from any of the nodes can be accessed within a few nanoseconds. “So if we connect all of our machines using this network, it means any node can access data from any other node with very little performance degradation, [and] it will feel as if the remote data were sitting here locally,” Jun says. Using multiple nodes allows the team to get the same bandwidth and performance from their storage network as far more expensive machines, he adds. The team has already built a four-node prototype network. However, this was built using 5-year-old parts and as a result is quite slow. So they are now building a much faster 16-node prototype network, in which each node will operate at 3 gigabytes per second. The network will have a capacity of 16 to 32 terabytes. Using the new hardware, Liu is also building a database system designed for use in big-data analytics. The system will use the FPGA chips to perform computation on the data as it is accessed by the host computer, to speed up the process of analysing the information, Liu says. “If we’re fast enough, if we add the right number of nodes to give us enough bandwidth, we can analyse high-volume scientific data at around 30 frames per second, allowing us to answer user queries at very low latencies, making the system seem real-time,” he says. “That would give us an interactive database.” As an example of the type of information the system could be used on, the team has been working with data from a simulation of the universe generated by researchers at the University of Washington. The simulation contains data on all the particles in the universe, across different points in time. “Scientists need to query this rather enormous dataset to track which particles are interacting with which other particles, but running those kind of queries is time-consuming,” Jun says. “We hope to provide a real-time interface that scientists can use to look at the information more easily.”

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DIGITAL MULTIMETER-OSCILLOSCOPE The DT 9989 digital multimeter-oscilloscope combo from Power Param-

INDUSTRIAL VIDEOSCOPES Olympus has introduced the IPLEX RX and IPLEX RT industrial videoscopes. The products provide good image quality and have a compact and robust design. They are suitable for inspectors looking for image reproduction in difficult applications. The PulsarPic image processor enhances image quality and increases the efficiency of de-

eters is a suitable measurement instrument for the industrial electrician dealing with power electronics including variable speed drives, UPS systems, induction heaters, phase and burst-fired power controllers.

Power Parameters Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W122

tecting tiny defects. It reduces noise and sharpens images to produce high-resolution images in low-light conditions. The LED illumination system is said to be nearly twice as bright as conventional videoscopes

HIGH-VOLTAGE PROBE

and adjusts light output to reduce halation from reflective surfaces.

The Tektronix P6015 High Voltage Probe is suitable for heavy-duty,

Olympus Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V906

high-performance testing of voltages over 2.5 kV. Designed to measure up to 20 kV RMS and with pulses up to 40 kV (peak, 100 ms duration), it is available to rent from TechRentals.

TechRentals For more info on this product wf.net.au/V950

CIRCUIT BOARDS? For all your prototyping requirements

DD11

maximum functionality minimal dimensions

from budget …

… to fully-

featured Quick Circuit allows

you to make your own prototype circuit boards and perfectly machined panels in next to no time.

Shouldn’t there be one on your bench?

Tel +61 2 9807 7081 satcam@satcam.com.au

– Inlet, fuseholder & switch in one prewired module; with / without line filter – Ideal for low profi le designs (1RU) – Current ratings up to 10A standard or medical version – Switch inrush current up to 100 A, illuminated switch available – Qualifi ed acc. IEC 60950 and IEC 60601-1

Request for FREE sample now ! email us: info@schurter.com.au

www.satcam.com.au

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MARCH/APRIL 2014

BLUETOOTH SERIAL PORT ADAPTER The rugged Bluetooth Serial Port Adapter RBS421s is an easy-to-use Bluetooth dual-mode device that supports both Classic Bluetooth v2.1+EDR and Bluetooth low-energy v4.0 and can be used as a Bluetooth Smart Ready client for any host.

M2M Connectivity For more info on this product wf.net.au/V885

CONNECTORS WITH SEAL KITS Schurter now offers two connector types - 6100 and 5707 - in a version with a sealing kit which guarantees IP54 protection to the cord connectors. The Power Entry Module 5707 contains an IEC style C14 or C18 appliance inlet, one- or two-pole fuse holders and a standard or medical line filter. Based on its existing IP65 rating, the unit protects against ingress of dust and jetting water at the panel opening, around the screws and fuse holders, as well as the connector pins and housing. The seal kit adds an IP54 rating between the inlet and cord connector,

THICK-FILM CHIP RESISTORS

preventing dust or splashing water from entering

Vishay Intertechnology has introduced a series of thick-film

between them when the equipment is plugged in.

chip resistors for high-power, surface-mount RF applica-

SCHURTER (S) PTE LTD For more info on this product wf.net.au/V914

tions. Offered in the compact 1206 case size, the Vishay Dale RCP series devices feature a power rating of 1 W at 70°C with a standard board mount and up to 11 W with active temperature control. and telecom systems, the resistors feature a stable thick-film

MEMS SENSOR EVALUATION BOARD

resistive element on an aluminium nitride (AlN) substrate and

The MEMS Sensor Evaluation

an epoxy encapsulation. Offering high thermal conductivity

Board is suitable for developing

in a small package size, the series features an operating

projects and designs on multi-

temperature range from -55 to 155°C.

ple platforms. The board con-

RS Components Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W232

tains multiple Freescale Xtrinsic

Optimised for high-power aerospace, military, industrial

sensors including the MPL3115 high-precision pressure sensor, MAG3110 low-power 3D magnetometer and MMA8491Q 3-Axis

ENCODER

digital accelerometer.

The Hengstler RF53 Motor Feedback Encoder is an

element14 For more info on this product wf.net.au/W194

incremental encoder designed to provide reliable feedback of the motor’s position to its control system. High motor speeds are easily handled with an output of up to 10,000 ppr and a maximum speed capability of 12,000 rpm.

Automated Control Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/V197

Bayswater

MARCH/APRIL 2014

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FLASHING SIGNAL LIGHTS R. Stahl is introducing a visual signalling solution that withstands extreme environmental conditions, with a wide operating temperature range of -55 to +70Â°C and an enclosure manufactured from corrosion-resistant glass-reinforced polyester that is designed to provide IP66/IP67 protection. All fixings are stainless steel. While the standard finish is natural black, painted units with epoxy coatings in red, yellow and blue are also available.

R. STAHL Australia Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W062

45 AND 50 V RECTIFIERS Vishay Intertechnology has expanded its offering of TMBS (Trench MOS Barrier Schottky) rectifiers with seven 45 and 50 V devices. For automotive and commercial applications, the high current density rectifiers offer current ratings from 3 to 8 A and low forward voltage drop in the

RF LIGHTNING PROTECTION TESTER

low-profile, surface-mount DO-221BC (SMPA) package.

Times Microwave Systems introduces

With their low forward voltage drop down to

the Times-Protect LP-SPT RF surge

0.37 V at 3 A and profile of 0.95 mm, the rectifiers reduce

protection tester to its line of surge

power loss and improve efficiency in low-voltage, high-

protection products. The product

frequency DC/DC converters, switching power supplies,

allows the user to test any lightning

freewheeling diodes and polarity protection. The three

protection device or component to en-

45 V devices are AEC-Q101 qualified for automotive

sure its proper functioning and capability to

applications, while the four 50 V rectifiers are suitable

protect critical and expensive RF equipment.

for commercial applications, especially smartphone and

Rojone Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W058

tablet chargers.

Braemac Pty Ltd For more info on this product wf.net.au/W230

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MARCH/APRIL 2014

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MANNERS MAKETH MAN Mike Smyth, specialist technical writer

e’ve all met ’em. Those blundering, inconsiderate idiots walking our pavements with heads down bent over a small handheld device while they tap and stare at little images on a little screen oblivious to the world going on around them. Forget worry beads, they are passe. The mobile phone has become the new dangerous and antisocial religion and it’s much more exciting being in colour and with sound. Not only have they killed idle chitchat over coffee, over dinner or waiting in a queue, in buses and trains we can be subjected to these devices either pinging and gonging their way through a mindless game of electronic manipulation or we are the recipient of a one-way conversation that we are forced hear but have no earthly interest in. I don’t care that John came home late and did unmentionable things in the front garden. Or that Lily has had a daughter and it was such a long labour for her fourth. These facts are not for my ears but I have no way of filtering them out. Then there is the group of people and someone’s mobile rings. Nine times out of ten, instead of switching the thing off a full-blown conversation ensues with the rest of the group reduced to silent non-background noise mode and unintentionally earwigging into a conversation while the recipient performs the usual mobile walkabout. And why is it that these defilers of my privacy find it so necessary not only to shout into the instrument but to constantly move around so that as many people as possible may be inconvenienced by the chatter? The pavement pacers are the worst. Mobile phones are designed to be carried it does not mean that the owner has to be continually mobile while making and receiving calls. Good manners used to be an accepted skill of our society, largely passed on by parents to children. Now that parents have mostly abrogated their responsibilities to school teachers that system has broken down because teachers have neither the time, or in many cases the knowledge, to instruct. Gone are the days when boys and men gave up their public transport seats to a woman; gone are the days when men wearing hats would raise them to a lady; gone are the days when men held doors open for women; gone, too, are the days when a gentleman, accompanying a lady walking on the pavement would walk on the outside, ready, in days gone by, to defend her honour with his sword. And electronics must take much of the blame for this parlous state of affairs that has allowed this ugly descent into a free-fall, free-for-all. In the beginning there were the ghetto blasters, those huge portable radio/cassette players that had to be carried on the shoulders of a singlet-wearing, athletic youth. This piece of electronic wizardry belted out music and noise at top volume largely to an audience that did not care. Then more portable devices such as the Walkman took over, to be followed by fiendish devices that held five million tunes and were about the size of a playing card, to be superseded by the ubiquitous smartphone. But the great leap forward was the adoption of tiny earphones and later ear plugs that did something to confine the sound to the perpetrator. All ages, but mostly the young, sat on trains and buses with these things at full volume and the wearers often twitching to the music or perhaps twitching to early signs of severe ear damage. To other passengers came a tinny, squeaky sound of the high notes that became increasingly annoying. There were some who adopted an ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’ attitude by wearing earplugs that were connected to nothing more than an open piece of wire concealed in a pocket. Sometimes requests to the noise generator to turn down the volume are met with sheepish compliance but increasingly, the requests are met by a raised single digit and a defiance born of not having had a bottom smacked often enough as a child. However, the old adage still holds good and the sooner our mobiles find a place in it the better we can revive that adage: ‘manners maketh man’.

MARCH/APRIL 2014

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September 2013 Total CAB Audited Circulation (Aust + NZ) 5,808 (88% personally requested) Printed and bound by Pegasus +61 2 8822 0716 Print Post Approved PP100007394 ISSN No. 0728-3873 All material published in this magazine is published in good faith and every care is taken to accurately relay information provided to us. Readers are advised by the publishers to ensure that all necessary safety devices and precautions are installed and safe working procedures adopted before the use of any equipment found or purchased through the information we provide. Further, all performance criteria was provided by the representative company concerned and any dispute should be referred to them. Information indicating that products are made in Australia or New Zealand is supplied by the source company. Westwick-Farrow Pty Ltd does not quantify the amount of local content or the accuracy of the statement made by the source.

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