EP&Dee no 3

EP&DeeDESIGN & MANUFACTURING MARCH, 2014 ISSUE NO. 3, VOL. 12

E L E C T R O N I C S P R O D U C T S & D E S I G N E A S T E R N E U R O P E

THE EAST EUROPEAN RESOURCEFOR EMBEDDED APPLICATIONS

EP&Dee | March, 2014 | www.epd-ee.eu2

Table of Contents

MARCH 2014

EUROSTANDARD PRESS 2000

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EP&Dee is offering you the chance to win a PICDEM™ LabDevelopment Kit. The PICDEM Lab Development Kit(#DM163045) is designed to provide a comprehensive devel-opment and learning platform for Microchip's FLASH-based 6-, 8-, 14-, 18- and 20-pin 8-bit PIC® microcontrollers. Gearedtoward first-time PIC microcontroller users and students, thedevelopment kit is supplied with five of our most popular 8-bitPIC microcontrollers and a host of discrete components used tocreate a number of commonly used circuits. Expansion headersprovide complete access/connectivity to all pins on the con-nected PIC microcontrollers and all mounted components.

A solderless prototyping block is included for quick explo-ration of the application examples described in the “hands-on”labs included in the user’s guide. These labs provide an intu-itive introduction to using common peripherals and includeuseful application examples, from lighting an LED to some basicmixed signal applications using the free HI-TECH C® PRO forthe PIC10/12/16 MCU Family Lite Mode Compiler.Alternately, a companion guide featuring the free version ofMatrix Multimedia’s Flowcode V3 Visual ProgrammingEnvironment (VPE) provides a flowchart-based method ofimplementing a series of introductory labs. A free version ofFlowcode V3 can be downloaded on the Microchip website.Completing the kit are Microchip’s PICkit™ 3 Programmer/Debugger, which should be used for development purposesonly, and a suite of free software tools that enable originalapplications to be developed quickly.

Win a PICDEM™ LabDevelopment Kitfrom Microchip

For your chance to win a PICDEM Lab Development Kit, please visit:

http://www.microchip-comps.com/epdee-piclabdevand enter your details in the entry form.

DESIGN FEATURES

14 4G + IPv6 = M2M - Smart-talking machinesThe combination of 4G and IPv6 will bring about a new world of smarter M2M communication, explains Ramanuja Konreddy, Senior Product Marketing Engineer MCU32 Division of Microchip Technology Inc.

18 Requirements for Realizing the Internet of Things (IoT)The Internet of Things (IoT) covers many aspects of life – from connected homes and cities to connected cars and roads to devices which track an individual’s behavior and use the data collected for “push” services. It is forecast that there will be 1 trillion Internet-connected devices by 2025 and define mobile phones as the “eyes and ears” of the applications connecting all of those connected “things.”

24 Energy Saving Network Power management (ES-NP)To meet the European CO2 - emission guidelines, the car manufacturers have investigated all systems with respect to their energy efficiency. Even the smallest load can become a factor in deciding whether a tax of EUR 95 per 1g CO2/km has to be paid or not.

28 Kinetis M - Microcontrollers for Measuring EquipmentIf you take a look around, you’ll notice that you are surrounded by a lot of metering devices at every step of your everyday life. I’m talking about all the electric, gas and water meters, and the heating meter devices in our homes, not to mention the flow meters, weighing and registration systems at petrol stations and shopping centres.

34 Enabling a New GenerationThe latest addition to Microchip’s PIC32 family increases performance, integration and connectivity.

36 RFduino much more than just a tiny computer with Bluetooth 4.0With the RFduino, the Arduino open-source platform is now able to offer a wireless alternative. The wireless-enabled microcontroller is scarcely the size of a fingertip and communicates with smartphones, tablets and laptops which have a Bluetooth SMART READY logo.

38 A new generation of voltage transducers for the challenges of today’s applicationsThe rail traction and industrial market sectors are noted as extremely challenging environments in terms of electronic systems that are created to monitor the flow of electrical power within them. They demand the highest levels of reliability and performance, and both require that systems continue to operate in very aggressive environmental conditions.

PRODUCT NEWS

Embedded Systems(p 4 - 11)(p 16, 23, 27, 33)(p 40, 41)

Active Components(p 42 - 47)

4542

41

7


Analog Devices unveils twomore software-defined

radio platform solutionsADI offers four SDR platform solu-tions that simplify rapid SDR systemprototyping and development.

Analog Devices, Inc., a global leader in high-per-formance semiconductors for signal processingapplications, announced two software-definedradio (SDR) platform solutions and ecosystems.

This brings its portfolio to four platform solu-tions that simplify rapid SDR system prototyp-ing and development in applications rangingfrom defense electronics, RF instrumentation,communications infrastructure and open-sourceSDR development projects.

The AD-FMCOMMS4-EBZ is a transceiver FMCmodule and the newest addition to AnalogDevices’ expanding portfolio of single-channelSDR solutions. It includes the AD9364 RFTransceiver IC in a cost-effective 1 × 1 SDR rapidprototyping FMC module. The AD-FMCOMMS3-EBZ is also a transceiver FMC module andwas engineered for 70 MHz to 6 GHz widebandtuning applications such as hand-held and white-space radios. It is built around the AD9361 RFtransceiver on a 2 × 2 SDR rapid prototypingmodule joining the previously announced AD-FMCCOMMS2-EBZ FMC module in the dualchannel product portfolio.

The new Analog Devices FMC modules includeall of the HDL (hardware description language)code and device drivers needed for designersto quickly get their SDR platform up and run-ning on the bench to reduce system develop-ment time and risk. For more information onADI’s SDR solutions, which include RF AgileTransceiver ICs, FMC rapid prototyping plat-forms and a variety of discrete componentsvisit SDR Revolution.ANALOG DEVICES www.analog.com

Silicon Labs introduced the industry’s mostenergy-friendly 32-bit microcontrollers(MCUs) based on the ARM® Cortex®-M0+processor. The EFM32™ Zero Gecko MCUfamily is designed to achieve the lowest sys-tem energy consumption for a wide range ofbattery-powered applications such as mobilehealth and fitness products, smart watches,activity trackers, smart meters, security sys-tems and wireless sensor nodes, as well asbattery-less systems powered byharvested energy. The new ZeroGecko family is the latest addition tothe EFM32 Gecko portfolio pio-neered by Energy Micro. The familyincludes 16 cost-effective MCUproducts designed from the groundup to enable the lowest possibleenergy consumption for connecteddevices enabling the Internet ofThings (IoT). The EFM32 ZeroGecko MCUs feature the industry’smost sophisticated energy man-agement system with five energy modesthat enable applications to remain in anenergy-optimal state, spending as little timeas possible in the energy-hungry activemode. In deep-sleep mode, Zero GeckoMCUs have an industry-leading 0.9μAstandby current consumption with a 32.768kHz RTC, RAM/CPU state retention, brown-out detector and power-on-reset circuitry

active. Active-mode power consumptionscales down to 110μA/MHz at 24MHz withreal-world code (prime number searchalgorithm) executed from flash. Currentconsumption is less than 20nA in shut-offmode. The EFM32 MCUs further reducepower consumption with a 2-microsecondwakeup time from standby mode. Like all EFM32 Gecko products, the ZeroGecko MCUs include a best-in-class energy-saving feature called the Peripheral ReflexSystem (PRS) that significantly enhances sys-tem-level energy efficiency. The PRS moni-tors complex system-level events and allows

different MCU peripherals to communicatedirectly with each other and autonomouslywithout involving the CPU. Leveraging thePRS, an EFM32 MCU can watch for a series ofspecific events to occur before waking theCPU, thereby keeping the Cortex-M0+processor core in an energy-saving standbymode as long as possible and reducing over-all system power consumption.The EFM32 Zero Gecko MCUs feature many

of the same power-saving precision analogperipherals included in Silicon Labs’ popularTiny Gecko, Giant Gecko and WonderGecko devices. These low-energy peripher-als include an analog comparator, a supplyvoltage comparator, an on-chip temperaturesensor and a 12-bit analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) with 350μA current con-sumption at a 1MHz sample rate.

The EFM32 Zero Gecko devices are the onlyCortex-M0+ MCUs on the market that inte-grate a programmable current digital-to-ana-log converter (IDAC). This on-chip preci-sion-analog IDAC generates a biasing currentfrom 0.05-64μA with only 10nA overhead.The IDAC provides an accurate bias and/orcontrol capability for companion ICs andother external circuits including amplifiers,sensors, Wheatstone bridges and resistorladders, thereby eliminating the need forexternal power amplifier components formany cost-sensitive applications.SILICON LABS www.silabs.com/zero-gecko

INDUSTRY NEWS EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Silicon Labs Launches the World’s Most Energy-FriendlyMCUs Based on the ARM Cortex-M0+ Core

www.epd-ee.eu | March, 2014 | EP&Dee 5

Microchip announces, fromEmbedded World, an expansion ofits 8-bit PIC® microcontroller(MCU) portfolio, with the periph-eral-rich, low pin-count PIC16(L)F161X family. These new MCUsexpand the offering of Microchip’sCore Independent Peripherals(CIP), which off-load timing-criticaland core-intensive tasks from the

CPU, allowing it to focus on otherapplication tasks. In addition, thisfamily integrates fault-detectinghardware features to assist engi-neers in developing safety-criticalapplications.The PIC16(L)F161X family offers avariety of key features, includingthe Windowed Watchdog Timer(WWDT), which monitors propersoftware operation within prede-fined limits, improving reliability.The Cyclic Redundancy Check withMemory Scan (CRC/SCAN) detectsand scans memory for corrupteddata. This family also includes aHardware Limit Timer (HLT), whichdetects hardware fault conditions,including stall and stop, to simplifyclosed-loop-control applications.

These peripherals make it easierfor designers to implement safetystandards such as UL & class B, orfail-safe operation. In addition to the HLT, thePIC16(L)F161X features theunique, 24-bit Signal MeasurementTimer (SMT). The SMT performshigh-resolution measurements ofany digital signal, in hardware,

resulting in more precise and accu-rate measurements. This is ideal forspeed control, range finding andRPM indicators. Both timers aredesigned to reduce design com-plexity, by eliminating the needfor additional code and externalcomponents.This high level of integrationmakes these MCUs appealing to abroad range of applications, suchas monitoring and fail-safe systemsincluding industrial machinery andpower supplies; as well as prod-ucts with variable-speed motorcontrol such as fans and homeappliances.

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/get/VDLM

Microchip expands low pin-count, general-purpose 8-bit PIC® microcontroller family forsafety-critical applications

Based on the new VITA 59 - Rugged COM Express standard andequipped with the ARM i.MX 6, the CC10C not only has a lead-ing role in terms of robust COM Express compatible modules,but is also the first standard product from MEN in the low-powerCOM area using ARM processor technology.The Freescale ARM i.MX 6 processor with a Cortex-A9 archi-tecture forms the core of the CC10C Rugged COM Express(RCE) module. You can select from the different families of thei.MX 6 series – 6Solo, 6DualLite, 6Dual and 6Quad – and findan individual solution for different demands in calculation andgraphics power.

Since the i.MX 6 not only provides scalable CPU performance,but also a wealth of on-chip controllers and interfaces – e.g.,Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0 or 5-Gigabit PCI Express, UART andCAN bus or interfaces for multimedia applications such asLVDS, DVI, audio and a camera connection –, the CC10C excelsby its nearly boundless I/O flexibility.If you need further I/O exceeding the multiple standard func-tions, the integrated FPGA with 140 available pins offers addi-tional options for customization.The selection of memory comprises up to 4 GB DDR3 RAM, asoldered eMMC and 3-Gigabit SATA for external mass storage.Due to the Rugged COM Express standard, this flexibility is nowenclosed in a robust conduction-cooled cover and frame with athermal connection to the CC10C's PCB. Apart from securingan extended temperature range of -40 to +85°C, this massiveand tightly screwed aluminum frame also makes the CC10C100% EMC tight, shock and vibration resistant and protectsagainst dust, humidity or chemicals.The CC10C complies with the basic dimensions of the COMExpress "Compact" form factor and uses a Type 6 pin-out. Bybeing embedded in the aluminum frame specified by the VITA59 standard, the module grows to 105 × 105 mm. The new mod-ule is also available without a frame and in the standard PICMGCOM.0 dimensions of 95 × 95 mm, and is then called CC10.Price starting from EUR 420 plus VAT for single units.MEN MIKRO ELEKTRONIK www.men.de

Low-Power ARM i.MX 6 on Robust Rugged COM

Express®


Tiny integrated solutionpowers RF agile radio

applications and FPGASEfficient, reliable PMU for complexintegrated power solutions requiredby advanced software-defined radioand FPGA applications.Analog Devices introduced an integrated fami-ly of efficient power management ICs (integrat-ed circuits) targeting compact, high densitypower solutions for RF agile radio andFPGA/processor-based (field-programmablegate array) applications.

The ADP505x family of power management ICswas designed as an integrated power solutionfor picocell and femtocell base stations,portable and handheld devices as well as mostapplications needing a compact, integratedpower solution. Designed to support AnalogDevices’ AD9361 RF Transceiver for software-defined radio (SDR) applications, it can also beused as an integrated power solution for manyof Altera Corp.’s and Xilinx Inc.’s FPGA platforms.For more information about ADI integratedpower management solutions and FPGAs:Integrated Power Solutions for Altera FPGAsand Integrated Power Solutions for Xilinx FPGAs. The ADP505x combines multiple buck regula-tors and LDOs (low-dropout regulators) orPower on Reset/Watchdog into a single, com-pact 48-lead LFCSP (7 mm × 7 mm) packageresulting in a power density solution of up to25W in only a 310mm2 PCB area. It is anextremely versatile multi-output regulator withfour buck switching regulators (4A, 4A, 1.2A,1.2A) and one 200-mA LDO in the ADP5051and ADP5052. The ADP5050 and ADP5051implements an I²C® interface that allows theinput voltage to the device and the die tem-perature to be monitored, increasing thepower solution’s overall reliability. Its integrat-ed design allows a single IC to be designedinto many different applications, reducingpower supply design time.ANALOG DEVICES www.analog.com



At Embedded World, Diamond Systems, aleading global developer of compact,rugged, I/O-rich embedded computingsolutions for a broad range of real-worldapplications, unveiled Quantum, a conduc-tion-cooled PCI/104-Express SBC (singleboard computer) family with interchange-able, full size QSeven COMs processorsand a highly integrated I/O baseboard.The processors available on the newQuantum SBCs include the 1GHz AMDFusion G-T40E CPU, the 1GHz AMD G-Series eKabini GX-210HA SOC and ARM A9i.MX6 single/dual/quad cores up to 1.2GHz.The new family of SBCs fully utilize the lat-est serial high speed buses available withQSeven for extended product viability aswell as the concept’s modular plug andplay function that enhances performancescalability. The new PCI/104-Express-based

family offers a wide range of on-board I/Oincluding data acquisition with A/D, digitalI/O, counter/timers and pulse width modu-lators. Standard PC I/O includes USB 2.0,RS-232/422/485, Gigabit Ethernet, SATAand digital I/O.Designed to excel in harsh environmentsincluding industrial, on-vehicle and militaryapplications, Quantum SBCs feature a bot-tom-side heat spreader that mounts direct-ly to the baseboard, relieving stress on theQseven module and enhancing durability.Most I/O is provided on latching connec-tors for increased ruggedness. The boardsalso incorporate a 6V to 34V wide voltagepower input.Quantum SBCs support I/O expansion withPCI-104, PCIe/104 and PCI/104-Express I/Omodules. A new miniature, low cost PCIeconnector supports both PCIe/104 Type 1and Type 2 modules and provides compat-

ibility with existing PCIe/104 I/O modules.The compact connector also enables theboard to accommodate more I/O featuresthan other PCI/104-Express SBCs.For additional I/O expansion, Quantum alsoprovides a dual-use PCIe MiniCard/mSATAsocket. I/O modules featuring WiFi,Ethernet, analog I/O, digital I/O and CANare now available in the PCIe MiniCardform factor, providing compact expandabil-ity, without increasing total system height.For rugged applications, wide-temperaturemSATA modules up to 64 GB are availablein SLC and MLC technologies.Quantum SBCs run Linux, WindowsEmbedded Standard 7 and Windows XPoperating systems. A Linux software devel-opment kit is available with bootableimages and drivers to facilitate the start of adesign project right out of the box.

The Quantum SBC was designed withrugged applications in mind from its extend-ed operating temperature of -40°C to +85°Con most models and the on-board DDR3SDRAM to the latching I/O connectors.An integrated bottom-mounted heatspreader simplifies the installation of I/Omodules on the top side of the board,eliminating interference from heat sinksand increasing space for I/O functions andconnectors.Several models of the Quantum PCI/104-Express single board computer are availableoffering a choice of QSeven COMs to matchyour application’s price and performanceneeds. Pricing is dependent upon processorselected. Complete development kits, soft-ware development kits and a cable kit are allavailable to accelerate development. DIAMOND SYSTEMSwww.diamondsystems.com

Rugged PCI/104-Express SBCs with InterchangeableQSeven Computer-on-Modules



The MH70I Industrial PC offers an open and flexible systemplatform based on high-performance and robust CompactPCIboards, and complete software support. It is configurable with a selection of standard hardware, soft-ware and accessories and can be used in a multitude of indus-trial applications, as well as in vehicles.

The MH70I combines flexible functions tailored to industrialapplications with robust 19" mechanics, scalable high-end com-puting and graphics performance, and reliable system manage-ment. MEN's first 19" Industrial PC owes its modularity to acombination of CompactPCI, CompactPCI Serial and PCI or PCIExpress cards. A pre-installed software package with all driversrequired for Windows Embedded Standard 7 makes theMH70I a cost-effective, reliable and long-term available plat-form with a short time-to-market. Being the first member of MEN's new system family with a pre-defined basic functionality, the MH70I is tailored to industrialapplications. It boasts a compact size of a half 19" rack, thusmaking it possible to install two systems side-by-side in a stan-dard 19" housing. It offers space for nine individually config-urable slots and can also be wall-mounted. Two PSU slots ensure a redundant, safe power supply and sup-port AC, DC or USP PSUs. Two slots are provided for bothCompactPCI and CompactPCI Serial peripheral boards. Twoadditional slots, which can either be used for PCI or PCI Expresscards, or for two CompactPCI Serial peripheral boards as wellas the CompactPCI PlusIO system slot, complete the set-up ofthe modular system.The Industrial PC is built around the F22P CompactPCI PlusIOSBC with Intel Core i7 or Celeron processor offering one VGAinterface, 2 USB and two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces at the frontas well as up to 16 GB DDR3 DRAM. Regarding the choice of the peripheral boards, there are almostno limits to your creativity. Within a pre-defined set of boardsyou can select analog or binary I/O via M-Modules, fieldbus func-tions, SATA hard disks or wireless functions, as well as Ethernetinterface boards or Ethernet switches. A SATA RAID with up tofour HDD shuttles can be built in the CompactPCI Serial slots.MEN MIKRO ELEKTRONIK www.men.de

Cost-Effective Build-to-Order Industrial PC with

Maximum FlexibilityMicrochip announces, fromEmbedded World, an expansionof its 8-bit PIC® microcontroller(MCU) portfolio with thePIC12(L)F157X family, which fea-tures multiple 16-bit PWMs withan assortment of analogue periph-erals and serial communications inan 8-pin package. These MCUsdeliver three

full-featured 16-bit PWMs withindependent timers, for applica-tions where high resolution isneeded, such as LED lighting, step-per motors, battery charging andother general-purpose applica-tions. In addition to standard andcentre-aligned PWM outputmodes, the peripheral also hasfour compare modes and canserve as an additional 16-bit timer. The Complementary WaveformGenerator (CWG), in combinationwith the 16-bit PWMs, can beused to create half-bridge andfull-bridge drive control. TheCWG is a powerful waveform gen-erator, which can generate com-plementary waveforms with finecontrol of key parameters such as

polarity, dead band and emer-gency shutdown states. It providesa cost-effective solution, savingboth board space and componentcost when driving FETs in motor-control and power-conversionapplications. The CWG and 16-bitPWMs are Core IndependentPeripherals (CIP) which are cou-pled with the 10-bit ADCs, com-

parator and 5-bit DAC AnaloguePeripherals to enable closed-loopfeedback and control. ThePIC12F157X MCUs are well suitedfor a wide range of applications,such as indoor/outdoor LED light-ing, and RGB LED colour mixing;consumer applications such aselectric razors and radio-controltoys; and automotive interior LEDlighting. The PIC12F1572 enables commu-nication with an EUSART, at thelowest price-point in the PIC MCUportfolio. The addition of theEUSART enables general-purposeserial communication and LIN forautomotive and industrial control. MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY www.microchip.com/get/G6RB

Microchip expands 8-bit PIC® microcontrollerportfolio with three high-resolution 16-bitPWMs in 8-pin packages


Analog Devices sets newstandard in mixed-signalcontrol processors revolu-tionizing industrial motorand solar inverter designs

Analog Devices, Inc. launched a mixed-signalcontrol processor that integrates the industry’sonly embedded dual 16-bit A/D converterwith up to 14 bits of accuracy together with a240-MHz floating-point ARM® Cortex™-M4processor core. Equipment manufacturersrequire highly accurate, closed-loop control inservo, motor-drive, solar photo-voltaic (PV)inverter and other embedded industrial appli-cations to improve the energy efficiency andperformance of their products. The higherprecision analog conversion of the ADSP-CM40x achieves these goals.

In addition, solar PV has become the largestsource of new generation capacity added to theglobal electricity grid - with a cumulative instal-lation base of 100 GW - and is set to becomethe fastest growing source of renewable energygeneration over the next decade. Increasedmeasurement accuracy, supported by the ADSP-CM40x’s integrated high precision converters, isdriven by ever more stringent grid compliancerequirements. This coupled with faster powercontrol loops, fueled by the emergence of GaN(gallium nitride) and SiC (silicon carbide) powerswitching technologies, are combining to enablesignificant performance and cost improvementsin the next generation of solar PV invertertopologies, all enabled with the ADSP-CM40xthrough its powerful 240-MHz floating pointprocessing capabilities and best-in-class analogconversion speed. The ADSP-CM40x series isthe first of a new generation of mixed-signalcontrol processors being developed by AnalogDevices for precision control applications. Inaddition to its analog conversion performanceand 380-ns conversion speeds, the ADSP-CM40x provides a number of other featuressuch as a full sinc filter implementation to inter-face directly to isolated sigma-delta modulators(AD7400A/AD7401A) which are used in shunt-based current sensing system architectures. ANALOG DEVICES www.analog.com

Freescale Semiconductor announces abreakthrough addition to its Kinetis miniportfolio with the introduction of the KinetisKL03 MCU, the world’s smallest and mostenergy efficient 32-bit MCU based on ARM®technology. The Kinetis KL03 MCU buildson the previous genera-tion Kinetis KL02 devicewith new features,advanced integra-tion,and greater ease-of-use –all in an even smaller 1.6 ×2.0mm2 package. The newcapabilities of the KinetisKL03 device help cus-tomers to achieve lowerpower in a smaller formfactor, saving on productdesign time and cost. Leveraging advancedwafer-level chip scalepackaging, the KinetisKL03 MCU is more than15 percent smaller thanthe previous generationFreescale KL02 device, and 35 percent small-er than competing 32-bit ARM MCUs. Thenew SoC is ideally suited for space-con-strained designs, including a wide range ofapplications in the consumer, healthcare, andindustrial markets. It is ideal for the fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) market,where edge nodes increasingly require moreintelligence in ever-smaller form factors. The Kinetis KL03 MCU combines thepower efficiency of the Kinetis L seriesbased on ARM® Cortex®- M0+ cores withenhanced low-power functionalities includ-ing register files, SRTC, low power UART,and additional low power wake up pins. Additionally, the new product offersgreater ease of use over the previous gen-eration. An added ROM-based boot loaderallows factory programming and on-linesystem firmware upgrades without addingcircuitry to the board, reducing program-

ming-related costs for customers. An inter-nal high accurate voltage reference (Vref)delivers improved analog performance bysupplying an embedded 1.2 volt referencefor the ADC, enabling several use cases forapplications requiring high ADC accuracy.

The Kinetis KL03 MCU integrates:• 48 MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ core,

1.71-3.6V operation• Bit manipulation engine for faster, more

code-efficient handling of peripheral registers

• 32 KB flash memory, 2 KB RAM• 8K ROM with on-chip boot loader• High-speed 12-bit analog-to-digital

converter• Internal voltage reference for high ADC

accuracy• High-speed analog comparator• Low power wake up• Low-power UART, SPI, I2C (high speed)• Secure real time clock • Powerful timers for a broad range of

applications including motor control• -40 °C to +85 °C operationFREESCALE SEMICONDUCTORwww.freescale.com


Freescale shrinks world’s smallest ARM-basedMCU by an additional 15 percent


The latest platforms fromAdvantech, based on the 4th gen-eration Intel® Core(TM) U proces-sors, offer high graphics and lowpower. The Computer OnModules, Single Board Computers,Industrial Motherboards andFanless Embedded Box PCs areavailable at distributor Rutronik asof now. The 4th generation Intel®Core(TM) U processors come withimprovements inCPU processing,graphics andsecurity capabili-ties. The productline, includingi7/i5/i3 processorsand Celeron, is a1-chip BGA (BallGrid Array)chipset that integrates CPU andPCH, resulting in a low ThermalDesign Power (TDP) of 15W. Thenew platform also supportsimproved GT3 graphics for 24%better 3D media and display per-formance compared to the previ-ous generation platforms. Its lowpower, low profile design structure

allows system integrators to buildcompact systems more easily with-out heat limitation problems. Tomeet such requirements,Advantech developed a series ofindustrial-grade embedded boardsand systems such as the COMExpress Compact module SOM-6894, the 3.5'' MI/O ExtensionSingle Board Computer MIO-527,the Thin Mini-ITX Motherboard

AIMB-230 and the slim fanlessEmbedded Box PC ARK-1550. Theplatforms are ideal for portable,battery-operated applications withhigh graphic requirements, such asmedical imaging, digital signage,gaming and more. RUTRONIKwww.rutronik.com/6a1180e0.l

RUTRONIK EMBEDDED: Embedded Platformspowered by 4th Generation Intel® Core(TM) UProcessors from Advantech

Kontron presented two new COM Express compact Computer-on-Module families with Intel Atom E3800 series processorsand Intel Celeron N2900 / J1900 series processors. The newmodules extend the existing Intel SoC-based COM Expressportfolio to embrace especially powerful compact variants withfull type 6 I/O support including PCI Express, LAN, USB andDigital Display interfaces. In total, Kontron now offers 16 differ-ent configuration options in this COM Express Computer-on-Module performance class. These range from particularly cost-efficient single-core modules for indoor digital signage applica-tions right up to top performance quad-core modules fordeployment in harsh outdoor environments and at tempera-tures of -40°C to +85°C. Due to this high level of scalability, cus-tomers will always find a Kontron module with the right featureset that perfectly fits their application, which in turn reducescosts to a minimum.

Regardless of which modules are selected by the customer, all themodules profit from excellent Gen7 Intel HD graphics for twoindependent monitors and the high processor performanceoffered by the new Intel Atom and Intel Celeron SoC processorswhich all boast low power consumption of 5 to 10 watts. Targetindustries include POS/POI and kiosk systems, digital signageplayers, gaming and medical PCs as well as HMIs and controllersin industrial machinery and equipment. Thanks to the COMExpress standard, developers in all these markets have access toby far the world's leading and most extensive eco-system for x86Computer-on-Modules and a seamless scalability from ultra-low-power SFF modules to high-end computing cores. Customersalso benefit from Kontron's extensive software and customizationservices, which put them in a position to realize their new SFFdesigns faster and more efficiently. The standard design of theCOM Express compact modules - Kontron COMe-cBT6 - sup-ports the entire portfolio of the Intel Atom E3800 processors(COMe-cBTi6) and Intel Celeron processors N2900 and J1900(COMe-cBTc6), whereby the E3800 variants are designed for theextended temperature range of -40°C to +85°C. KONTRON www.kontron.com

Kontron launches two COMExpress compact Computer-on-

Module families with Intel Atomprocessor E3800 and Intel

Celeron processors N2900/J1900

Silicon Labs introduced a new ver-sion of the Simplicity Studio™ devel-opment ecosystem that providesunified support for Silicon Labs’energy-friendly 32-bit EFM32™Gecko microcontrollers (MCUs)and 8-bit MCUs. This new softwarerelease inherits the best features ofthe original Simplicity Studio bysupporting more than 240 ARM®-based EFM32 MCUs shippingtoday while extending develop-ment support to Silicon Labs’8051-based MCU products. Thenew Simplicity Studio platformalso integrates an Eclipse-basedintegrated development envi-ronment (IDE) that supportsboth 32-bit and 8-bit embed-ded designs. Simplicity Studio is designed tomake the development process eas-ier, faster and more efficient by pro-viding embedded designers witheverything they need to complete

their projects, from initial conceptto final product, in a single, simple-to-use platform. The SimplicityStudio platform has built-in intelli-gence to immediately detect theconnected target MCU. Graphicalhardware configuration tools auto-matically configure the MCU, free-ing the developer from the time-consuming task of perusing techni-cal documentation. Developers can

get projects up and running in min-utes with sample demos and appli-cation code examples. SILICON LABS www.silabs.com

Silicon Labs Simplifies Embedded Developmentwith Simplicity Studio Platform



Reduce Board Space, Noise,and Power Consumption in

Automotive InstrumentClusters with HighlyIntegrated Power-

Management IC (PMIC)Engineers can now design automotive clustersthat are smaller, quieter, and more efficient,thanks to the MAX16993 PMIC from MaximIntegrated Products, Inc.

Automotive OEMs often limit instrument clustermodule consumption to less than 100μA instandby mode. Given all the functions that theinstrument cluster performs, the power supplyitself must consume only a tiny portion of thepower budget. Under no-load conditions, theMAX16993 is the only 3-channel solution on themarket that consumes just 25μA of quiescentcurrent. This makes the PMIC more efficient thantraditional DC-DC converters, which often runon several milliamps. Additionally, because theMAX16993 integrates a high-switching-frequen-cy controller and two output converters capableof 3A each, it saves over 50% board space com-pared to traditional discrete solutions. Thedevice’s 2.1MHz frequency improves AM bandnoise avoidance and keeps the external induc-tors and capacitors small. The MAX16993 isideal for automotive instrument clusters andinfotainment applications. Key Advantages• Small: integrates one high-voltage step-downcontroller and two 3A, low-voltage step-downconverters, saving over 50% board space com-pared to discrete solutions.• Efficient: consumes 25μA of quiescent currentunder no-load conditions, meeting OEM powerdemands.• Quiet: reduces AM band noise; provides aspread-spectrum enable input to minimize radi-ated EMI; includes factory-programmable syn-chronization I/O to allow better noise immunity.• The MAX16993 is available in a 5mm × 5mm× 0.75mm, 32-pin TQFN-EP and a 5mm × 5mm× 0.8mm, side-wettable QFND-EP package.• The device is AEC-Q100 qualified and oper-ates over the -40°C to +125°C automotive tem-perature range. MAXIM INTEGRATED www.maximintegrated.com

Analog Devices, Inc., unveiled a high-preci-sion, low-power meter-on-a-chip for a rangeof portable health applications such aspoint-of-care diagnostics, home/self-testhealth devices, and wearable vital signs mon-itors, including those for sports and fitness.The ADuCM350 single-chip, scalable plat-form combines a 16-bit accurate analogfront-end (AFE), which includes a config-urable multi-sensor switch matrix, hardwarewaveform generator and discrete Fouriertransform (DFT) engine, with a processingsubsystem and an industry-standard soft-ware development environment to supporta complete product development roadmap.The ADuCM350 meter-on-a-chip offerseasy connectivity to passive and active sen-sors and supports sensor fusion functionalitythat enables exceptionally accurate measure-ments of human physiological data even inthe presence of interferers. ADuCM350 Meter-on-a-chip Optimizedfor System-level PerformanceThe ADuCM350 is optimized for system-level performance and signal measurementaccuracy, including those monitoringdevices powered by a single coin-cell bat-tery, and features a precision AFE with a 16-bit accurate, 160-kSPS A/D converter, +/-0.2% accurate voltage reference, and a 12-bit D/A converter. Passive complex impedance sensing on theADuCM350 enables baseline detectionand detailed information of physiological,biological and electrochemical reactions, atlevels previously unattainable. The fusionof passive and active sensors provides anadditional level of signal measurementaccuracy, and environmentally robustcapacitance-to-digital technology on-chipsupports new use cases such as skin elec-trode detection and next-generation elec-trochemical test strip technologies. Theprecision AFE performs auto-calibrationensuring accurate, repeatable measure-ments in the field for the life of the product.

Scalable Development PlatformSupports Rapid Feature ExpansionThe ADuCM350 healthcare meter-on-a-chipis a flexible platform that supports full prod-uct development roadmaps from entry-levelto feature-rich devices. Sensor fusion func-tionality allows designers to expand productmeasurement capabilities. For example, theADuCM350 platform can support calorieburn applications by combining galvanic skinresponse for heart rate and respiration, withan ultra-low-power 3-axis MEMS accelerom-eter for altitude and motion detection. Anextensive peripheral set of communicationI/O including USB, audio, display, serial andtouch supports differentiation and rapid fea-ture expansion. The ADuCM350 AFEsequencer enables designers to develop thesoftware for a measurement procedure onlyonce and then reliably port it across an entireproduct family.

ADuCM350 Healthcare Meter-on-a-ChipKey Features • 16-bit accurate 160 kSPS A/D converter• 0.2% precision voltage reference• 12-bit no missing code D/A converter• Hardware accelerators for waveform

generation and filtering• 16-MHz ARM® Cortex™ M3 processor • 384-kB flash memory, 16-kB EEPROM

and 32-kB SRAM• Sensor fusion support• Configurable switch matrix

(amperometric, photometric, impedance, potentiometric)

• Complex impedance measurement (waveform generation and filtering)

• Robust capacitance-to-digital conversion technology

• Communication I/O support: USB, audio, display, beeper, and serial

• Extensive power management capabilities

• Operation: Coin cell battery compatible

ANALOG DEVICESwww.analog.com


Analog Devices’ Meter-on-a-Chip enablesbroad range of portable health applications


Ericsson has introduced two new3E* DC-DC regulators to its familyof BMR461 12 × 12 × 8mm digitalpoint-of-load (POL) modules. Thetwo new variants in the BMR461family offer current outputs of 6A(BMR4612001) and 18A(BMR4614001) and join the exist-ing 12A version (BMR4613001)launched toward the end of lastyear. Like the 12A BMR461 regula-

tor, these two new modules alsodeliver Dynamic Loop Compensation(DLC), advanced energy-optimiza-tion algorithms to reduce energyconsumption, low-bias currenttechnology, and a land-grid-array(LGA) footprint that guaranteesexcellent thermal, mechanical andelectrical performance.A very important feature of thetwo new modules is that they are100 percent footprint compatiblewith the existing 12A BMR4613001product. This means that customerswill now have availability of theseadvanced POL regulators that offerthree different output currents –6A, 12A and 18A – while only hav-ing to handle a single module foot-print in new systems. This signifi-cantly simplifies board design andmakes it easier for power architectsto move to higher or lower current-handling power modules withoutneeding to redesign the systemboard when upgrading to newmicroprocessors or otheradvanced logic devices such asFPGAs or ASICs.The 18A (BMR4614001) power

module should prove of particularinterest to power designers as it isoptimised to deliver 18A at 1.8V,making it ideal for processorsoperating at sub-2V core voltages.In fact, it is the first product of itskind to deliver this level of outputcurrent in a 12 ×12mm footprint,while also delivering automaticloop compensation and fullPMBus command capability.

The Dynamic Loop Compensationintegrated into the 6ABMR4612001 and 18ABMR4614001 is based on “state-space” or “model-predictive” con-trol, which guarantees stabilitywhile also achieving the optimumdynamic performance withoutrequiring any external compo-nents. The new products performan automatic compensation rou-tine based on measured parame-ters, which enables the construc-tion of an internal mathematicalmodel of the power supplyincluding external componentssuch as filtering and parasitic resis-tors. Based on the ‘state-space’mathematical model rather thantraditional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) regulation, thedevices use closed-loop poleplacement and a model based onthe resonant frequency of the out-put filter, thereby reducing thenumber of output capacitorsrequired for filtering and stability.

ERICSSON POWER MODULESwww.ericsson.com/powermodules

Ericsson power modules new footprint-compatible DC/DC deliver increased flexibilityin power system design


Kontron today announced two new embedded motherboardswith Intel Atom processor E3800 series. These particulary ener-gy-efficient SoC boards in the form factors Pico-ITX and Mini-ITX excel with their outstanding graphics and powerful proces-sor performance while consuming only a few watts. They alsooffer added value with their hardware-integrated security fea-tures for IoT applications as well as their KEAPI implementation,a platform-independent middleware, which allows access rou-tines to hardware resources to be standardized. Once pro-grammed, application code can be re-applied with identicalfunctionality without any changes. This simplifies porting,reduces development costs and shortens time-to-market.

The energy-saving, low-power design of the new embeddedmotherboards in Pico-ITX and Mini-ITX form factors can easilybe integrated into existing systems without any further designeffort, making them ready to use right out of the box.Applications can be found anywhere, where low power con-sumption and high energy efficiency are required in combina-tion with x86 performance that has not been available up untilnow. Embedded applications range from POS/POI systems andkiosk terminals with up to two independent monitors up to dig-ital signage players or professional gaming computers.Industrial applications can be found in HMIs, control systemsand automation computers as well as in medical PCs. Outdoorand in-vehicle computing applications can be covered too, asthe boards can also be deployed in extended temperatureranges of up to -25°C to +75°C (E1).The new Pico-ITX with long-term availability in the smallestembedded motherboard form factor (2.5) is equipped withIntel Atom processor E3800 SoC series and ready to use rightout of the box. Its particulary small footprint of 100 mm × 72mm boasts a rich feature set. Most notable are the bootable slotfor micro-SD cards and the mPCIe slot, which can also be usedfor mSATA drives. Another important feature to highlight is thatthe board has been consistently designed for deployment inharsh industrial environments, which, for example, the lockableDC connectors (5V) and the extended temperature range of -25°C to +75°C (E1) demonstrate. KONTRON www.kontron.com

Kontron launches two newembedded motherboardswith Intel Atom processor

E3800 series



The RepRapPro Ormerod is one of the most versatile 3D printersavailable. Its primary design goal is to offer a printer which is easy toexpand in functionality, fast to replicate, and fast to assemble andcommission. This new model builds on the already establishedRepRapPro product portfolio which has undergone brisk develop-ment and heavy testing since inception in 2004. The Ormerod uses a process known a fused filament fabrication,which it employs to build 3-dimensional objects in a range of plas-tics and in a variety of colours. This process enables the user to cre-ate almost any shape which can be modelled on a computer, includ-ing some which could not be produced by traditional manufactur-ing techniques at all. The RepRapPro Ormerod is a monochrome 3Dprinter configured to work with one type of plastic at a time.However, the RepRapPro Ormerod head is fundamentally designedto work with three deposition heads and an upgrade kit will beavailable soon for this machine.

The RepRapPro Ormerod is shipped as kit of parts containing all thecomponents required to get you printing. Full assembly is required.

Specifications:n Full open-source self-replicating RepRapn Arduino-compatible enable control via a web-browsern Wiring loom for simple plug-in connection – no solderingn Build volume: 210 × 190 × 140mmn Overall size: 500 × 460 × 410mmn Printing materials: ABS, PLA, 1.75mm diameter

thermoplasticn Build surface: PCB-heated bed to reduce complexity of

assembly and to ensure parts do not warpn Computer interface: USBn Three Z-adjustable deposition head mounts;

one head supplied.n Standard nozzle size: 0.5mmn Accuracy: 0.1mmn Resolution: 0.0125mmn Building speed: 1,800 mm/minn Moving speed: 12,000 mm/minn Deposition rate: 33 cm3 / hr

DesignSpark PCB is offered completely Free of Charge and fully fea-tured. This is not a cut down version of an expensive product or onewith a time limitation on license. (There are no intentional restric-tions on designs). There are unlimited schematic sheets per project,up to 1m squared of board size and no limits on layers, which allowyou to get your creativity flowing without restraints. DesignSparkPCB circuit design software can be used for schematic capture, PCBboard design & layout, generating impressive 3D View to visualiseyour design in real time, and generating manufacturing files.

DesignSpark PCB supports importing of Eagle CAD design files, cir-cuit diagrams and libraries In addition to extensive libraries, sophis-ticated part creation wizards make it easy to design new parts fromscratch or by amending downloaded symbols and footprints. Bill ofMaterials (BOM) report can also be generated at any time; thesegive RS Components order numbers where appropriate. Whether you are a professional designer making money from yourdesigns, an electronics education professional, a student or a hob-byist seeking an easy to use, professional standard, unrestrictedschematic capture and PCB layout tool, then DesignSpark PCB isright for you!

Aurocon Compecwww.compec.rowww.designspark.com

Ormerod RepRap 3D printeris available at3D printing is fast becoming an essential part of thedesign process for both electronics and mechanics,with the ability to create quick turn-around prototypessaving months in the design cycle. Thanks to the RepRap Project, 3D printing is now low-cost and can be used for small production runs.


The internet has already revolutionised theway in which people communicate with eachother and now it is ready to enable anotherrevolution: the proliferation of smart com-munication between machines.The technologies which will introduce smartmachine-to-machine (M2M) communicationare the high-speed 4G wireless standard andInternet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). Together,these technologies will enable designers tocreate a world in which smart devices couldoffer a new level of M2M services. The pos-

sibilities include: a smart phone which couldreceive an alert and location message whenits owner’s car is stolen; a camera which couldcommunicate with a GPS device to suggestlocal beauty spots; a fridge which could texta reminder to buy more butter; automaticuploading of data from a personal healthmonitoring device to a GP; and a machinewhich could send an alert when it needs tobe repaired. These, and so many more appli-cations, will all be enabled by smart M2Mcommunications.

Figure 1 shows the interaction between thekey elements of M2M technology. These ele-ments allow the system to receive data froman end-device and transmit that data, over acommunication network, to application soft-ware which processes and converts it intorecognisable nformation for the application.Typically, M2M networks transmit data usingGlobal System for Mobile (GSM), GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS), power-line orsatellite communications.

Designers of industrial applications havebeen quick to see the potential of M2Mcommunication. The combination of power-ful sensors, advanced embedded microcon-trollers and wireless networks has enablednew levels of control through applicationssuch as remote monitoring of industrialequipment and fleet management. Considering these two applications in moredetail reveals how M2M communicationcould transform the way in which the worldworks, in addition to saving cost, improvingefficiency and reducing manual tasks.

Remote monitoringA remote monitoring system for industrialequipment could use the combined inputsfrom sensors for detecting vibration, fluidleaks, temperature, mechanical wear andnoise, to assess the condition of the equip-ment. Figure 2a shows the position of eachsensor or node, represented by a yellowdot, and connected in a star topology to thenetwork coordinator, shown by the bluedot. Together, the nodes and network coor-

The combination of 4G and IPv6 will bring about a new world of smarter M2Mcommunication, explains Ramanuja Konreddy, Senior Product MarketingEngineer MCU32 Division of Microchip Technology Inc.

DESIGN EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

4G + IPv6 = M2MSmart-talking machines

Figure 1: The key elements in M2M communication.

dinator form a Personal Area Network(PAN). The PAN coordinator acts as a M2Mgateway between the PAN and the GPRSnetwork and transmits the data to theremote monitoring station. If a sensordetects a parameter which is outside the

normal operating threshold values, theremote monitoring station sends an alertwhich enables preventative maintenance tobe carried out. By providing advance warn-ing of potential equipment malfunctions,M2M communication can be used to reduce

the cost of unplanned downtime and toincrease the efficiency of preventative main-tenance schedules.

Sensor nodes and PAN coordinatorThe block diagrams for a sensor node and aPAN coordinator are shown in Figure 2(b)and Figure 2(c).The sensor parameters of the equipmentare transmitted via a 4mA to 20mA currentloop, which is a robust sensor signalling stan-dard for industrial process and control.These parameters are received by the MCUthrough its on-chip Analogue-to-DigitalConverter (ADC). The MCU uses a PANprotocol stack, such as MiWi™, to interfacewith an IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver whichsends the processed sensor data to the PANcoordinator.

The engine which drives communication forthe entire PAN is the embedded MCU withinthe PAN coordinator. This MCU interfaces toboth the IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver and GPRSmodule through serial ports. The MCU’s flashmemory is used to store the map of the com-plete MiWi PAN, assign network addressesand establish links to new sensor nodes. Italso translates the PAN protocol data to GPRSformat to send over the GPRS network.

The MCU controls the GPRS module usingAttention (AT) commands for data transmis-sion. The key factors for the selection of theembedded MCU should be a high through-put, sufficient memory, and a wide range ofperipherals with support for Direct MemoryAccess (DMA). A proven and robust wirelessprotocol stack, such as Microchip’s MiWi, andaccess to a GPRS library is also useful toensure a stable connection between the PANand GPRS network. Using a developmentboard, such as Microchip’s PIC32 Wi-Fi®Comm Board shown in Figure 3(a), can alsohelp to fast-track the development of a wire-less application.

Fleet management with M2MFleet management has become a popularapplication for M2M technology. Vehiclesfitted with GPS devices are tracked and theirpositions communicated back to the moni-toring system using GPRS or GSM modules.The GPS module is used to provide theposition coordinates for the vehicle, whilstthe CAN bus is used to collect data from dif-ferent modules within the vehicle, such asthe Antilock Brake System (ABS), EngineControl Unit (ECU) and airbags.



Figure 2: Remote monitoring implementation.

Figure 3: Microchip demo boards for M2M communication.



A 32-bit microcontroller provides theengine for a CAN/GPRS gateway byinterfacing to the CAN bus, as well asto the GPRS and GPS modules, andtranslating CAN data into the GPRSformat before sending it over theGPRS network to the FleetManagement Station. Microchip’s M2M PICtail™ daughterboard contains GPS and GSM/GPRSmodules which are equipped withmany AT commands in addition to thewide range of features shown inFigure 3(b).The M2M PICtail board provides all ofthe hardware information, softwarebinaries including the stack, produc-tion test bench design and test soft-ware, certification, training and docu-mentation to enable an acceleratedtime-to-market. It enables a wireless,ultra-compact, low-power communica-tions solution for easy integration intohigh-volume consumer, industrial andautomotive designs.

A smarter world of machinesThe emergence of high-speed 4Gcommunication and Internet Protocolversion 6 (IPv6) is enabling communi-cation between machines to becomeas commonplace as communicationbetween people. The proliferation ofcommunication networks and theflexibility of silicon solutions meanthat the world is approaching a tip-ping point, at which the number ofpeople connected by the Internet willbe over-taken by the number ofdevices and machines which are con-nected via the Internet. For designers,this means that there is increasedpressure to win a race to market forproducts which are equipped todeliver the full possibilities of M2Mcommunication. n

Note: The Microchip name and logoare registered trademarks of MicrochipTechnology Inc. in the U.S.A., andother countries. mTouch, PICtail andMiWi are trademarks of MicrochipTechnology Inc. in the U.S.A., andother countries. All other trademarksmentioned herein are property oftheir respective companies.www.microchip.com

The AcQ Inducom “Medusa” VPX3424is a 3U OpenVPX™ (VITA 65) SingleBoard Computer (SBC) featuring theall-new T4240 QorIQ® Processor fromFreescale Semiconductor. This 12-core,24-thread processor running at up to1.8GHz is based on the e6500 core withAltiVec® technology and offers the cut-ting edge of both performance (up to216 GFlops) and power efficiency. Withup to 12GB DDR3 RAM with ECC and arange of fast interconnects, it forms thebeating heart of this new board, bring-ing you unparalleled performance.

User-Programmable FPGAThe Medusa has a Xilinx Kintex-7, user-programmable FPGA and dozens of customizable OpenVPX™user I/O pins, allowing you to add support for application specific interfaces or offload specializedtasks to the FPGA. The user-programmable FPGA adds great flexibility to meet your design needs andopportunities for a single-board solution. Due to a fast communication interface (PCIe 4x) between theT4240 and the FPGA, the FPGA can be used for pre-processing, video/image processing or addingextra functionality.

Software SupportSupport for VxWorks®, Integrity®, PikeOS™ and Linux is planned for the Medusa, as well as an OS-lessBSP. Other Operating Systems are available on request. Each supported software environment comeswith extensive documentation, example software, compiler and IDE. Furthermore, a development kitwill be available for the on-board user-programmable FPGA with code examples and documentationto kick-start your firmware development.

Small Form Factor SystemA conduction cooled ruggedized REDI (VITA 48) variant of the Medusa is available as part of theupcoming AcQ Inducom OpenVPX™-based small form factor system (VITA 75), a highly modular andextendable platform for a range of embedded applications. This system brings together an optimizedcombination of performance and SWaP. AcQ Inducom offers a wide range of boards for this systemusing the OpenVPX™ (VITA 65) architecture. These boards include I/O, networking and audio func-tionality. A PMC/XMC carrier (VPX3001) is also available. Contact us for more details on this systemand how it can meet your application’s needs.

Features• Freescale® T4240 with 12 dual-threaded

e6500 cores up to 1.8GHz• Built-in AltiVec® technology accelerators• Up to 12GB of DDR3 RAM ECC up to

1866MT/s• 2Mbit of FRAM• Up to 64GB eMMC• 256MB Flash for programs• User-programmable Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA• Board Management Control on IPMC bus

(VITA 46.11)• Extensive on-board monitoring• Multicore-debugging over AURORA

and JTAG• Configurable data plane: 2× PCIe ×4 or 1× PCIe ×8 or 1× PCIe ×4 and 1x Serial RapidIO® ×4• Control plane: 4× 1Gb Ethernet (1000BASE-T or 1000BASE-KX)• 4× 10 Gb Ethernet (10GBase-KR)• 2× SATA 2.0 ports• 2× USB 2.0 ports• Real-time clock and elapsed time interval• Air-cooled and conduction cooled available and REDI• Compatible with many OpenVPX™ slot profiles

ACQ INDUCOM www.acq.nl/medusa

AcQ Inducom is proud to introduce the OpenVPX™ 3USingle Board Computer with Freescale QorIQ T4240


Making Things SmartSo, what does it really mean whensomething is smart, and what makes anobject smart? Today, we are seeing theelectrification of the world around us.Almost any manufactured good nowincludes an embedded processor (typ-ically a microcontroller, or MCU), alongwith user interfaces, that can add pro-grammability and deterministic “com-mand and control” functionality. Theelectrification of the world and the per-

vasiveness of embedded processingare the keys to making objects “smart.”After a device becomes smart throughthe integration of embedded process-ing, the next logical step is remote com-munication with the smart device tohelp make life easier. Communicationcapability and remote manual controlleads to the next step … how do I auto-mate things and, based on my settingsand with sophisticated cloud-basedprocessing, make things happen with-

Requirements forRealizing theInternet ofThings (IoT)

DESIGN INTERNET OF THINGS

The Internet of Things (IoT)covers many aspects of life –from connected homes andcities to connected cars androads to devices which track anindividual’s behavior and usethe data collected for “push”services. It is forecast that there will be 1 trillion Internet-connected devices by 2025 and define mobile phones asthe “eyes and ears” of the applications connecting all ofthose connected “things.”Others give examples which are less phone-centric or speakof a class of devices not in existence today.

Authors: Kaivan Karimi,Meera BalakrishnanFreescale Semiconductor



out my intervention? That’s the ultimategoal of some IoT applications and thesecapabilities can then enable a new class ofservices that makes life easier for their users.For the network, sophisticated cloud-basedprocessing requires a new generation ofcommunications processors and buildingsecure networks that keep up with demand,while simultaneously reducing energy con-sumption and cost of equipment. This willrequire all kinds of innovations, well beyondthe improvements Moore’s law can deliver.

Application CategoriesLet’s look at some categories for IOT-relatedapplications.

Category One:Category one encompasses the idea of mil-lions of heterogeneous “aware” and intercon-nected devices with unique IDs interactingwith other machines/objects, infrastructure,and the physical environment playing aremote track, command, control and route(TCC&R) role. Here, safety and security are

paramount. These applications are aboutextending the automation and machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-to-infrastructure(M2I) and machine-to-nature (M2N) commu-nications that can help simplify people’s lives.

Category Two:The second category is all about leveragingthe data that gets collected by the endnodes (smart devices with sensing and con-nectivity capability) and data mining fortrends and behaviors that can generate use-ful marketing information to create addi-tional commerce. This second category,especially, spurs discussions about privacy,security, governance and the social respon-sibility that comes along with such a “self-aware,” connected world.

This paper is focused on category one.

Internet of Things Use CasesWhen devices can sense and communicatevia the Internet, they can go beyond localembedded processing to access and takeadvantage of remote super-computing

nodes. This allows a device to run moresophisticated analyses, make complex deci-sions and respond to local needs quickly,often with no human intervention required.Below are the most common use cases forthe Internet of Things.

Pervasive Remote Tracking/Monitoringand (if needed) Command, Control andRouting (TCC&R): This refers to remotetracking/monitoring and, if needed, com-mand, control and routing functions fortasks and processes today usually donemanually, or, if done remotely, that requireadditional infrastructure.

Asset Tracking: An extension of these kindsof services is asset tracking, which today isdone via barcode and a variety of manualsteps, but in the future will leverage smarttags, near-field communication (NFC) andRFID to globally track all kinds of objects,interactively.Some telehealth-related services alsobelong in this category.


Process Control and Optimization:Various classes of sensors are used for mon-itoring and to provide data so a process canbe controlled remotely. This task can be done in real time by send-ing the data to a remote computer, analyz-ing it and bringing a command back to theline so various control actions can be takento improve the process … without anyhuman intervention.

Resource Allocation and Optimization:The smart energy market provides an idealexample of this use case – accessing informa-tion about energy consumption and react-ing to the information to optimize the allo-cation of resources (energy use).

Context-aware Automation and DecisionOptimization: This most fascinating categoryreferring to monitoring unknown factors(environmental, interaction betweenmachines and infrastructures, etc.) and havingmachines make decisions that are as “human-like” as possible … only better! For example,traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS)where a host of new technologies availabletoday and in development that could allowvehicles to communicate with each other aswell as with a central control unit.

Requirements common to all of the usecases above include:

1) Sensing and data collection capability (sensing nodes)

2) Layers of local embedded processing capability (local embedded processing nodes)

3) Wired and/or wireless communication capability (connectivity nodes)

4) Software to automate tasks and enable new classes of services

5) Remote network/cloud-based embedded processing capability (remote embedded processing nodes)

6) Full security across the signal path

Building Blocks of the IoT1. Sensing Nodes: The types of sensingnodes needed for the Internet of Thingsvary widely –e.g. a camera system for imagemonitoring; water or gas flow meters forsmart energy; radar vision for safety;

RFID readers sensing the presence of anobject or person; doors and locks withopen/close circuits for smart buildings.These nodes all will carry a unique ID andcan be controlled separately via a remotecommand and control topology. Use cases exist today in which a smartphonewith RFID and/or NFC and GPS functionalitycan approach individual RFID/NFC-enabled“things” in a building, communicate withthem and register their physical locations onthe network.

2. Layers of Local Embedded ProcessingNodes: Embedded processing is at theheart of the IoT. Local processing capabilityis most often provided by MCUs, hybridm i c r o c o n t r o l l e r s / m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s(MCUs/MPUs) or integrated MCU devices,which can provide the “real-time” embed-ded processing that is a key requirement ofmost IoT applications. Use cases vary signifi-cantly, and fully addressing the realtimeembedded processing function requires ascalable strategy (using a scalable family of



devices), as one size will not fit all. There area few requirements that make an MCU idealfor use in the Internet of Things.

• Energy efficiency

• Embedded architecture with a rich software ecosystem

• Portfolio breadth that enables software scalability

• Portfolio breadth that cost-effectively enables different levels of performance and a robust mix of I/O interfaces

• Cost-effectiveness

• Quality and reliability

• Security

3. Wired and Wireless CommunicationCapability: The role of the communicationnode is to transfer information gathered bythe sensing nodes and processed by localembedded processing nodes to the desti-nations identified by the local embeddedprocessing nodes. And, once the data is remotely processedand new commands are generated, the com-munication node brings back the new com-mands to the local embedded processingnodes to execute a task.

The IoT will encompass all aspects of one’severyday life, hence there is no limit to thedistances for which command and controlcommunication can/will be used. The IoTwill also add the concept of wireless sensorand actuator networks (WSANs), which arenetworks that contain sensing and embed-ded processing nodes that can control theirenvironment.As with any emerging market, a transitionperiod before system optimization takesplace and technologies become better-suitedfor the end IoT-related applications is likely.

Major volumes for the IoT market will likelynot happen for another 10-12 years, and, atthat time, the communications technologiesmay be completely different from thosebeing considered today, or new revisions ofexisting standards may have emerged.Alternatively, there could be brand-newtechnologies better suited for certainaspects of IoT communication that displacethe existing standards for the IoT.Or, a disruptive wireless network technolo-gy like what Weightless (http://www.weight-less.org/) is developing may take hold.

One thing about the connectivity needs ofthe future IoT market is clear – it is sodiverse, large and costconscious that a rangeof different technologies will be needed(possibly including WAN, LAN, WPAN,WBAN, etc.), and one size will not fit all.

Requirements for communication functionsare almost the same as for embedded pro-cessing nodes:

• Cost-effectiveness

• Low power

• Quality and reliability

• Security

4. Software to Automate Tasks: Getting allsegments of the IoT to communicate andwork together is key to the success of thetechnology rollout, and that means deploy-ing a lot of software (and middleware) thatwill enable various heterogeneous devicesto talk with each other and the infrastructurearound them.

5. Remote Embedded Processing Nodes(access to cloud computing): Since there arenot yet industrywide IoT best practicesagreed upon and deployed, many compo-nent providers are approaching the connec-tion between devices and the cloud as a con-nection to their niche cloud, as opposed tothe cloud. Some companies promote that alldevices will be “dumb nodes,” with all pro-

cessing and decision-making done within“their cloud.” Alternatively, some believeonly minimal access to the cloud for basicInternet-related services will be required,with most of the “thinking” done locally. Thearchitecture and building blocks of the IoTas described in this paper allow for a num-ber of different approaches, which will likelybe necessary due to the wide variety of usecases and configurations anticipated. Thatflexibility will be needed to optimize sys-tem-level performance.

6. Full Security Across the Entire SignalPath: Without a solid security mechanismfor all of the IoT building blocks mentionedabove, the IoT will not be as pervasive as it

is anticipated to become.When we say security, we really mean secu-rity of information – the information thatgets passed around by various parts of thesystem and is context- and service-depend-ent. Here’s what we mean by secure infor-mation:

• Information needs to be available when needed

• Information needs to be confidential

• The integrity of data needs to be assured

The security of the system is as good as thelast threat it was able to prevent, and, assoon as it gets broken, one needs to imple-ment new ways of making it secure again.



Device-level Security: There are differenttypes (MCU, hybrid MCU/MPU, integratedMCUs, etc.) and layers of embedded pro-cessing at various nodes of the IoT, and forany device to be considered smart so it canbe connected to the Internet, it must incor-porate an embedded processor. Embeddedprocessors are going to be pervasive in theIoT, and they’d better be very secure.

By now it should be clear that networks ofthe future will connect more objects,machines and infrastructure to a global neu-ral network of cloud-based services thanthey will connect people. At the heart of theIoT are layers of embedded processing,from the most remote satellite sensing nodeto the core of the network.

The diversity of services being planned forthe IoT means no one company can developfull solutions and supporting IoT-basedinnovations. IoT-based innovations will

require a broad, rich ecosystem of partnercompanies working together to bring IoT-based services to the market. An open (non-proprietary) platform (www.ARM.com) thatallows all partners working together to usethe same baseline technologies is key tomaking the IoT happen.

When Does the IoT Become a Reality?The pervasiveness of embedded processingis already happening everywhere around us.Home appliances like a toaster now comewith an embedded MCU that not only setsthe darkness of the piece of toast to yourpreference, but also adds functional safetyto the device.

There are energy-aware HVAC systems thatcan now generate a report on the activity inyour house and recommend ways to reduceyour energy consumption. The electrifica-tion of vehicles has already started happen-ing. The cars of the future will indeed be

able to drive themselves. Similar changes arealso happening in other aspects of our lives… in factories, transportation, school sys-tems, stadiums and other public venues.Embedded processing is everywhere.

Connecting those smart devices (nodes) tothe web has also started happening,although at a slower rate. The pieces of thetechnology puzzle are coming together toaccommodate the Internet of Things soonerthan most people expect. Just as the Internetphenomenon happened not so long agoand caught like a wildfire, the Internet ofThings will touch every aspect of our lives inless than a decade. Are you ready for it?



The explosion of smart connecteddevices and increasing volumes ofrich digital content have created aworldwide flood of mobile data,requiring OEMs and carriers todramatically boost network per-formance while controlling capitalexpenditure costs, increasingpower efficiency and supporting4G/LTE standards. While macro-cells remain essential to the world’swireless infrastructure systems,operators are increasingly lookingto metrocells to provide ubiqui-tous coverage in dense urban areasand throughout large enterprises.

To help address these challenges,Freescale Semiconductor intro-duces the next generation of itsgroundbreaking QorIQ Qonvergeportfolio of base station-on-chipSoCs. Designed to help operatorsadd capacity and deliver enhancedcoverage in user-dense environ-ments, the new B3421 base stationSoC integrates digital front-end(DFE) technology, which improvespower amplifier (PA) efficiency andsignificantly reduces base stationpower and costs. According to ABI

Research, outdoor small cells willhave a year-on-year unit growth of125 percent predicted for 2014for a value of almost $3.6 billion. The device’s embedded CPU cores,DSP cores, baseband acceleratorsand DFE technology deliver a sys-tem-on-chip solution that handlesbase station processing tasks fromthe front end all the way to thebackhaul. The integrated DFE capa-bility, coupled with industry-stan-dard antenna interfaces, allowseamless RFIC interfacing andstreamlined RF line-up optimiza-tion. Together with Power overEthernet (PoE) capabilities to meetlow power requirements, supportfor JESD204B, JESD207 and CPRIinterfaces to support various anten-na schemes, PCI Express for connec-tivity to WiFi chipsets, SATA forlocal content caching and EthernetSGMII backhaul interfaces, theQorIQ Qonverge B3421 device isthe most highly integrated metro-cell base station SoC in the industry.The B3421 device is fully opti-

mized for concurrent LTE and WiFioperation, and supports LTE-TDD,LTE-FDD and LTE-Advanced wire-less standards. Advanced 4x4MiMO algorithms and 3GPP stan-dard up to Release 11, advancedinterference cancelling schemes,eICIC and carrier aggregationadditionally improve spectral effi-ciency and provide future-proof-ing for OEMs and operators.

FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTORwww.freescale.com/qoriqqonverge

New Freescale Metrocell Base Station ProcessorDrives Next-Generation LTE Infrastructure forthe Mobile Broadband Age

RIoTboard launches community website for develop-ers based on its open source development platform. RIoTboard.org, the official community website forRIoTboard – the open source development platformbased on Freescale’s i.MX 6Solo processor waslaunched on February 26th, 2014. Designed from theground up, the RIoTboard delivers a fully-featured sin-gle-board computer that enables developers the free-dom to design open-source projects demanding theprocessing power and expandability for applicationslike HD video, high-bit transcode and encode, gamingapplications and real-time sensing.

RIoTboard.org community serves as the launching padfor innovative open-source projects to enable theInternet of Things (IoT). Designers are encouraged tojoin the RIoTboard revolution at RIoTboard.org, wherethey can buy, design and register their projects, as wellgain quick access to getting started video tutorials,technical resources such as full schematics, software onboth Linux and Android, and join the online communi-ty of passionate RIoTboarders. Priced at $74 (USD),the RIoTboard is available from Farnell element14 inEurope, Newark element14 in North America and ele-ment14 in APAC.David Shen, Chief Technology Officer at Premier Farnellsaid: “For the electronics industry, IoT is the single mostimportant trend that will globally boost the market andlead a new stage in its history. As a disruptive technolo-gy, IoT will impact almost every segment of the econo-my and society, with many analysts forecasting the IoTmarket to be worth somewhere between $14 and $33trillion in just a few years. “The RIoTboard is the latest inour ever-expanding range of solutions, offering every-thing from starter kits to complete development boards,including the newest releases and exclusive bundles.”FARNELL ELEMENT14 http://uk.farnell.com/riotboard

Begin your revolutiontoday at RIoTboard.org



DESIGN MCUs

Challenge - the CO2 taxSince 2012 everybody is talking about theEuropean CO2 tax for cars. Every car manu-facturer selling cars in the EU whose CO2

emission exceeds the regulation limits mustpay penalty taxes. The intention behind thisis make the industry and the consumersaware of the costs of climate changes andenvironmental damages caused by the CO2

emissions through a clear price adder.

The CO2 tax is being discussed in publiccontroversially. Heated debates haveensued over the CO2 tax amount, its effec-tiveness, or the question whether CO2 tax isjustified at all. Actually, the CO2 tax has triggered a long duediscussion over a problem, that is, to face theissues of limited resources and climatechanges. Besides the emotional debatethough, work is long under way to resolve the

problems. The car manufacturers haveanalysed their car models and evaluatedpotential improvements already before2012. In each construction segment like com-bustion engine, air drag, road resistance rightup to electrical loads, potential improve-ments and corresponding costs have beencalculated. From this point of view, the CO2

tax motivates innovation for economicalprocesses and efficient use of energy.

Energy Saving Network Powermanagement (ES-NP)To meet the European CO2 - emission guidelines, the car manufacturers have investi-gated all systems with respect to their energy efficiency. Even the smallest load canbecome a factor in deciding whether a tax of EUR 95 per 1g CO2/km has to be paid ornot. Control units not required constantly are now - just like in mobile phones – intend-ed to be put into current saving mode. Two competing network standards are vying forthe developer’s attention namely the Pretended Network and the Partial Network. Thisarticle analyses each standard in terms of its respective advantages and disadvantagesand offers solution approaches.

Figure 1


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Saving CO2 through control unitsThis article deals with the role of electroniccontrol units which, assisted by the micro-controllers contribute significantly towardsreduction of energy consumption in cars. Ina typical premium vehicle up to 100 controlunits - interconnected in a network - areused to help increase the efficiency.Some of which are active even when a car isparked (e.g. door control and anti-theft pro-tection). In order to assess the increase inefficiency in this segment, the completechain of factors impacting the efficiencymust be reviewed (refer to figure 1).One of the biggest loads in a control unit isthe microcontroller which is powered by avoltage regulator. The voltage regulator inthe control unit is powered by the dynamo,which in turn is driven by the combustionengine. This consumes fuel, exhaustingthereby CO2. Therefore, the more current amicrocontroller requires, the more fuel isconsumed and consequently the vehicleexhausts more CO2.A premium model with 100 control units hasup to now been emitting up to 5g CO2/kmpurely due to the current consumption ofthe control electronic, NB without a singleother electrical load e.g. the headlights or airconditioner ventilator being on. The CO2 taxenvisages levying EUR 95 tax per 1g CO2/km

per car if weight specific CO2 emission limit isexceeded. Thus, for an emission of 5gCO2/km, a car manufacturer would thereforehave to pay up to EUR 475 CO2 tax.Such assessments have increased awarenesseven for the smallest energy load. The devel-opment departments have been urged toput the control units in the current savingmode as often as possible or even to shutdown completely. This idea has been copiedfrom laptops and mobile phones where thedisplays are switched off and the CPU fre-quency is reduced if it is idle. Of course, thereduced current consumption is also always

coupled with a reduced functionality andadditionally the ramp-up time till full func-tionality is available again is long - just like incase of laptops. Whereas a trailer-light con-trol unit can be switched off completely with-out any loss of comfort if no trailer is attachedto the car; the situation is different though incase of an air conditioner ventilator.Therefore, the engineers must consider andcontrol precisely as to when a control unit isnot required in order to save energy at theexpense its functionality.

Network of control unitsSince in modern cars all control units com-municate with each other via a network, thecar manufacturers have created standardswhich define how much and at which pointin time control unit current can be saved.One such Software-Standard-Platform is forexample the AUTOSAR. Both approaches,namely the “Partial Network” and the“Pretended Network” were defined here.Common to both approaches is that 2 cur-rent saving levels each have been specified.In Pretended Network the “Level 1” and“Level 2”; in Partial Network the “Standby”and “Sleep”. The higher the current reduc-tion, the longer is the “wake-up” time of acontrol unit till it regains the full functionali-ty (refer to figure 2).

Pretended NetworkThe Pretended Network follows the so-called Best Practice approach; the currentshere - compared to the Partial Network – areeven under extremely reduced use ofresources very low, presently below 7mA(future target - below 2mA). The lower limitof the current is determined by the presentlyused standard transceiver which, with its 5mAhas the largest share in the total standby cur-rent. Especially the volume producers appre-ciate the advantage that the new PretendedNetwork control units can operate togetherwith the older units in the same network. This

reduces the development risk considerablyand also allows continual introduction of thistechnology within the next generation model.The wake-up time is considerably shorterthan in Partial Network because the micro-controller is never fully powered off and themodern current saving modes of microcon-troller can be utilized optimally.

Partial NetworkPartial Network is the more radical of thetwo and is also a more expensive approach.A new type of intelligent network transceiv-er controls the whole control unit. Hereby,standby currents below 0.5 mA are feasible,but it is not a low cost solution. A completeimplementation of this standard requiresthat all control units of a network must beequipped with the intelligent network-transceivers. Another disadvantage besidesthe additional costs is that the control unitwake-up time out of the maximum currentsaving mode is relatively long. This isbecause for the microcontroller it is almostlike a cold-start process which can take up to10 times as long as a warm-start.

Decision: Revolution or Evolution?Every car manufacturer must ask himself thequestion: Revolution or evolution - PartialNetwork or the Pretended Network - or inother words - how much money and effortsone has to spend to achieve the respectiveCO2 reduction goal.Thus, the question to be answered is -wouldn't the resources for an expensive net-work transceiver, additional efforts neededfor converting the software of all networkcontrol units, and having to live with theslow reaction of the control unit in the max-imum current saving mode – be betterspent for something different?

Solution approach: Energy Saving Technologies (EST)In parallel to the relatively recent debateover current saving due to European CO2

tax, Renesas has developed multiple tech-nologies which reduce the current con-sumption of microcontrollers. All in all 5 different solution approacheshave been realised thereby:ES-FT: “Energy Saving - Flash Technology”ES-NP: “Energy Saving - Network Power

Management” ES-LPS: “Energy Saving - Low Power

Sampler”ES-PM: “Energy Saving - Power Modes” ES-PS: “Energy Saving - Power Scaling”

Figure 2


The first two of these technologies wouldbe reviewed more closely here for imple-mentation in the “Partial Network" or the“Pretended Network".

Energy Saving Flash Technology (ES-FT)Renesas has achieved a great success in itscurrent 40 nm technology development forautomotive microcontrollers with internalFlash.

Renesas developed indigenous transistortechnology for its 32-bit microcontrollers,increasing performance while reducing thecurrent consumption by 50% at the sametime. This reduces the current consumptionin operation mode itself by half, without onehaving to consider any functional limitationof the control units. This implies an efficien-cy growth by a factor of 2, a feat which onlya few automotive construction segmentsmight be able to duplicate.

Renesas did this by optimising the smallestunit of a microcontroller - the transistor. Thetotal current consumption of a transistor isthe sum of its dynamic and the static cur-rents: The static currents are determined byleakage currents which flow as soon aspower is applied to the transistor. The dynamic current flows during switchingof transistors, that is, when it changes its log-ical state (1 or 0). These currents are determined by the inter-nal capacities of the transistors.Renesas has succeeded in reducing both bymodifying the physical structure of the tran-sistor. The internal transistor capacity wasreduced by alteration of the oxide material,and by adapting the transistor geometry,the leakage current could be reduced by afactor of 10. These changes also resulted inhigher operating frequencies.

Energy Saving Network PowerManagement (ES-NP)In addition, Renesas has optimised themicrocontroller digital structure in such away that maximum current saving modes canbe utilised (refer to figure 3), while at thesame time the microcontroller can still reactto external signals. This is totally taken careof by intelligent IPs (Peripherals) withoutany CPU interaction. Although in STOP

mode the CPU is sleeping, the CAN-IP canparticipate in the network communicationby itself in this configuration. The integratedintelligent message filters wake-up the CPUwhen a dedicated message type - which isconfigurable - is detected. Since here themicrocontroller is only in STOP mode, it isonly a matter of microseconds to execute awarm-start. After wake-up, the CPU can

retrieve the message detected by the filterfrom the CAN-IP and process it.This configuration is optimal for realising the“Pretended Network Level 2”: Renesas hastested this configuration in a real applicationand has thereby achieved an average cur-rent consumption of 1.58mA. With such a

configuration the current consumption of acontrol unit which previously constantlyconsumed 105mA, has been reduced to abare 6.5mA in current saving mode.This translates into a reduction by 94%.There are no additional costs, no other con-trol unit in network must be renewed andthe control units wake-up from their currentsaving mode in a very short time.The same configuration, with similar currentconsumption reduction can also be used toemulate the “Standby Mode” of a PartialNetwork. Though, in such case, one must livewith the disadvantages of a Partial Networkdescribed above and that e.g. all networkcontrol units which are supposed to supportthe “Standby Mode” - must be adapted.

Conclusion and OutlookThere are many ways to reduce the currentconsumption and with that to reduce theCO2 emission. Renesas is of the opinion thatan approach combining the latest microcon-troller technology with the PretendedNetwork is the most efficient and the leastrisky way to reduce the current consump-tion of control units in cars with reasonablecosts (refer to figure 4).A similar higher demand would also triggera further development of the last remaininglarge load; the CAN transceiver with its 5mAaccounts for almost 80% of the standby cur-rent. With contemporary 0.5mA, controlunits with standby currents of 2mA inPretended Network while still retaining allthe advantages would then be feasible.

Already today, Renesas automotive seriesRH850/F1x microcontrollers offer full func-tionality with 50% less current consumptionand the current saving in Pretended- orPartial Network applications is even higher,namely above 90%. nwww.renesas.com

DESIGN MCUs

Figure 3

Figure 4


Renesas Electronics Europe, a pre-mier provider of advanced semi-conductor solutions, todayannounced two motor control ref-erence platforms designed todrive any 3-phase permanentmagnet synchronous motors(PMSM), also called Brushless ACmotors. They enable engineers toreduce or even eliminate the timethey would normally take to calcu-late motor parameters and evalu-

ate the best tuning algorithm coef-ficients. As a result, they can rotatea permanent magnet AC motor inless than one minute. The two new inverter kits revolu-tionise the integration of 3-phasemotors in equipment. Both arebased on Renesas’ 32-bit RX familyof MCUs, with one kit on RX220offering 50DMIPS and the otheron RX62T offering 165DMIPS.

The RX220 inverter kit is designedfor equipment requiring mediumdynamics and a low-cost bill ofmaterial. The RX62T microcon-troller integrates six operationalamplifiers, six comparators, a float-ing point unit and two timer unitsto drive two 3-phase motors simul-taneously. This kit provides thedynamics required to drive motorswith a high level of accuracy.

Renesas has developed the twodesign tools based on RX62T andRX220 MCUs to respond to a chal-lenge encountered by engineers:tuning the embedded software to

the application requirements,especially for sensorless field ori-ented control algorithms. The inverter kits provide:• Auto-tuning of the current

proportional-integral (PI) coefficients: Kp, Ki

• Identification of intrinsic motor parameters: Rs, Ls, Λm

• Real-time visualisation of the motor phase, current and step response

Both kits include an intuitive PCgraphical user interface (GUI), pro-viding engineers with a ready touse inverter reference prototypethat enables them to drive theirown motors in a few clicks. Theyalso feature a sensorless vectorcontrol algorithm, which is used toaccurately control the speed andthe torque. This algorithm uses fluxweakening in order to achieve rota-tion speeds higher than the nomi-nal speed of the motor.Each kit contains the YROTATE-ITinverter board, a 24VDC perma-nent magnet AC motor, a CD-ROM including the embeddedsoftware source code, the PC GUI,the board schematics, the bill ofmaterials, Gerber files, user manu-al, quick start guide and the powerstage schematics/Gerber files.

A video demonstration of the kitsis available at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrMXBWFfbY0

RENESAS ELECTRONICS EUROPEwww.renesas.eu/motorcontrol

Renesas Electronics Europe Introduces NewInverter Kits that Enable Rotation of PermanentMagnet AC Motors in Under One Minute


With a total of eight Gigabit Ethernet channels, theG51 CompactPCI Serial SBC makes full use of the capa-bilities of the QorIQ processor. This makes it a univer-sal communications platform that also comes with highcomputing performance. The G51 is based on Freescale’s P3041 QorIQ quad-core processor and offers as many as eight GigabitEthernet ports. Three of these are available at the front,and five at the rear. Where needed, you can switch alleight Ethernet channels to the backplane without addi-tional hardware modifications, also due to CompactPCISerial and its specified full-mesh functionality.The G51's other I/O functions are just as flexible: Oneof a total of two rear SATA interfaces can alternativelycontrol an mSATA disk. In addition, there are four PCIeports at the rear and a total of eight USB 2.0 interfaces– six at the rear, and two at the front. The two frontUSBs can again complete the eight available channelson the backplane, as an option.

The manifold capabilities for interface configuration,paired with the calculation power of the QorIQ multi-core processor, make the G51 the perfect centerpiecein communication and data processing systems.Additionally, the G51 offers eight Gbytes DDR3SDRAM, one MicroSD card slot, a number of boardmanagement functions and Linux BSP support.The extended temperature range, the componentsbeing soldered for protection against shock and vibra-tion, and the options of conformal coating and robustM12 connectors also make the board best equippedfor use in harsh environments. EN 50155 compliantand prepared for the E-mark, the SBC is fit for applica-tions in the railway and avionics sectors, in marine com-puting or in automation and in the energy sector.MEN MIKRO ELEKTRONIK www.men.de

QorIQ™ BasedCommunications Platformfor CompactPCI® Serial


DESIGN MCUs

The accuracy of the billing data in a typical,microcontroller controlled metering applica-tion depends, above all, on the precision ofthe analogue-digital converter (A/D), on thesampling frequency and the sufficientdynamic range of the metrological calcula-tions. It also depends on the reliability of thesoftware, so plenty of attention must be paidto effect of software on the financial transac-tion. The objective of semiconductor compa-nies is, therefore, to develop a microcon-

troller that not only fulfils the basic technicalrequirements in terms of measurement preci-sion, calculation throughput and energy con-sumption, but also provides a sufficient flexi-bility and the option of separating the “legal”metrology from the other parts of the appli-cation. In October 2013, Freescale haslaunched a brand new series of microcon-trollers with the ARM® Cortex®-M0+ core,named the Kinetis® M. In addition to manyhigh-resolution analogue peripherals, digital

timers, communication interfaces, and a realtime clock with independent power sourceand temperature compensation, these micro-controllers are equipped with hardware forcontrolling access to the memories, peripher-als, and the I/O ports integrated on the chip.

CharacteristicsFigure 1 shows a block diagram of theKinetis M microcontroller.From this diagram, it is clear that in additionto the 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0+ the micro-controllers also offer four independent 24-bit A/D converters (SD ADC) with built-inprogrammable amplifiers (PGA) and con-version speed up to 100 ksps. The convert-er design, coupled with principle of theoperation (2nd order sigma delta modulator),allows measurement of bipolar analoguesignals, ranging from several microvolts toone volt, in all channels simultaneously orwith a precisely defined delay.The other analogue blocks that are includedare two high-speed analogue comparators(HSCMP) with a programmable hysteresis 5-30mV, a 16-bit SAR A/D converter with 12channels, and a precise 1.2V voltage refer-ence with a 33 ppm/°C temperature coeffi-cient. This voltage reference is designed notonly for all the analogue blocks mentioned,but buffered by an internal amplifier, it can

Kinetis MMicrocontrollers forMeasuring EquipmentIf you take a look around, you’ll notice that you are surrounded by a lot of meteringdevices at every step of your everyday life. I’m talking about all the electric, gas andwater meters, and the heating meter devices in our homes, not to mention the flowmeters, weighing and registration systems at petrol stations and shopping centres.The currently produced metering devices used for billing are electronicallycontrolled by microcontrollers.

Figure 1: Block diagram.

Author: Martin Mienkina, Freescale Semiconductor


DESIGN MCUs

also be used as the source of voltage refer-ence for other circuits on the board. If, how-ever, the parameters of the internal voltagereference were not sufficient, the analogueblocks of the microcontroller can be pow-ered by an external 1.2V reference voltage.The goal of Freescale was to design program-mable devices ideally suited to meteringapplications. For this reason, the Kinetis Mmicrocontroller series is composed not onlyof standard blocks from the Kinetis family, butalso from others typical in other product

lines. For example, the interconnecting matrixof internal signals, device inputs and outputs(XBAR) and four-channel timer (Quad Timer)are blocks traditionally used in digital-signalcontrollers (DSC). These blocks allow appli-cation developer making more sophisticatedconnections of internal peripherals, definingtime sequences between measured samplesand also providing the option of monitoringthe operation of the internal peripherals. Theconnection of on-chip peripherals and I/Opins to the XBAR block is shown in Figure 2.

These blocks can, for example, be used fortriggering phase voltage measurements(three channels of 16-bit SAR ADC) from thephase current measurements (three 24-bitSD ADC) in a typical three-phase powermeter application. Other areas of useinclude autonomously measuring the period(frequency) of an analogue signal, detectingthe communication speed of RS-485 and RS-232 links, modulated IEC 1107 and 38K IRcommunications, interfacing to external ana-logue sigma-delta modulators and the gen-eration of high-stability calibration pulses.The internal clock generation module is rep-resented by the frequency-locked loop(FLL), phase-locked loop (PLL), low frequen-cy oscillator (OSC32K), high frequencyoscillator (OSCMHZ), 32kHz and 4/2MHzinternal reference clock (IRC) blocks.Last, but not least, I have to mention alsoblocks that contribute to the applicationsafety, including “watchdog” timer whichmeets the safety standard for householdappliances (IEC 60730), the cyclic redun-dancy check accelerator (CRC), randomnumber generator (RNGA) and the unau-thorised entry detection (Tamper).Kinetis M microcontroller family offers twomemory configurations and three packages.Application developers can choose eitherdevices with 64KB or 128KB Flash in 44 LGA,64 and 100 LQFP packages. Device deriva-tives in 64 and 100 LQFP packages include astandard LCD controller handling up to 160and 288 segments, respectively. The manufacturer guarantees the function-ality of all parts at temperature range from–40°C up to +85°C, and supply voltage from1.71V up to 3.6V. The device derivatives, packages and basiccharacteristics are listed in Table 1.

Support for distinct separation oflegally relevant softwareInternational organizations such as theInternational Organization of LegalMetrology (OIML) and the EuropeanCooperation in Legal Metrology (WELMEC)provide advisory guidelines for writingapplications for software controlled measur-ing instruments, namely, rules for softwareseparation the part of the application thataffects billing data, from the other parts ofthe application. If a manufacturer developsa measuring instrument according to theseguidelines and provides evidence of com-pliance to notified Bodies during the initialapproval and verification, it can then modifythe other parts of the application withoutre-approval, gaining flexibility, and signifi-cant cost savings.

Figure 2: XBAR signals and connections.


DESIGN MCUs

At Freescale, we’re well aware of this factduring device development and hence wetook advantage of it by adding hardware for

controlling the accesses to all integratedmemories, peripherals and the I/O ports(see Figure 3).The Kinetis M platform consists of an ARM

Cortex-M0+ core and two DMA controllers.These active modules (bus masters) accessto the other, passive, modules (bus slaves) in

“User” or “Privileged” mode. An additionalmodule, so called miscellaneous controlmodule (MCM) adds an access attributeindicating a “Secure” or “Non-secure” state

based on a setting of the process identifier(PID). The result is a 3-state hardware-enforced access priority model where:Privileged (Secure) > User Secure > UserNon-secure. In the metering application, alltasks connected with “legal" metrology areconducted in the “Privileged” mode, where-as the other parts of the application run in“User” mode.Instantaneous accesses performed by ARMCortex-M0+ core and DMA controller areassessed by the memory protection unit(MPU), peripheral bridge (AIPS) and gener-al purpose input-output (GPIO) modules,which, according to user specified criteria,allow or deny access to the chip hardware,that is to memory segments, peripherals andI/O ports. If the designer enables accesscontrol and at the same time sets accessattributes according to needs of the applica-tion, the microcontroller platform willautonomously eliminate any accesses origi-nated by other parts of the application toaffect the “legal” metrology parts.

Development toolsFor new application development, Freescaleoffers the TWR-KM34Z50M developmentkit. This kit supports fast and easy develop-ment of applications using the SWD(OpenSDA) integrated debug interface withbuilt-in virtual serial port. The virtual serialport, along with the FreeMASTER driver andPC application, can be used for monitoringany static and global variables of the applica-tion running on microcontroller device.

Besides connectors for interfacing the micro-controller, the 80 × 90 mm printed circuitboard also contains the following circuits: a160-segment LCD, the MMA8491Q three-axis accelerometer, a seven-channel program-mable sine-wave generator with a USB inter-face, an NTC-type IRDA temperature sensor,and several LEDs and push-buttons.

Table 1: Device derivatives and packages.

Figure 3:Platform.

Figure 4:TWR-KM34Z50M development kit.


DESIGN MCUs

The development kit can be used separatelyor together with other I/O cards of theTowerTM modular system (see Figure 4).The microcontroller can be easily pro-grammed using development tools that sup-port the ARM Cortex-M0+ core. You can,for example, use the IAR EmbeddedWorkbench development tool for ARM 6.70. Namely, the Kickstart edition of this toolthat IAR Systems makes available free ofcharge, will enable you to create an applica-tion that is 16KB or smaller. For moredemanding applications with a code size upto 64KB, you can use the special edition ofthe CodeWarrior® IDE for MCU’s 10.5. This free tool contains a C compiler, assem-bler, linker and debugger tools accessiblefrom within an Eclipse IDE (see Figure 5). An integral part, of not only the commercial

but also the free version, of the CodeWarriordevelopment tool is the Processor Expert®software. Using this tool, you can program anapplication by simply selecting the parame-ters by mouse. The Processor Expert soft-ware modelling tool continuously checksparameter settings and generate the C code.This tool is often used for initialising micro-controllers not only by beginners, but alsoexperienced programmers. Using this tool,you can create a simple application withoutthe knowledge of the architecture and regis-ters of the given microcontroller. Additionally, the generated code does notcontain much redundant code.Obviously, using the Processor Expert soft-ware modelling tool, you can never write asefficient code as when you write the pro-gram by hand, taking advantage of the C

pre-processor. This type of programming isused mainly by those experienced userswho have mastered the microcontroller’sarchitecture and on-chip peripherals. If youbelong to this group of programmers, youwill definitely agree with me that to developan application it is enough to have a well-tested software example comprising a “start-up” module, definition table for interruptvectors, linker command file, and bare-metalsoftware drivers for on-chip peripherals. Numerous software examples are availablein the installation package called “Kinetis Mbare-metal drivers and software examples”.The current release (EAR2.2) supportsCodeWarrior IDE for MCU’s 10.5, IAREmbedded Workbench for ARM 6.70 andRowley CrossWorks for ARM 2.3 develop-ment tools.

Figure 5: CodeWarrior IDE for MCU’s 10.5 development environment.


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The on-chip peripheral software drivershave been written with the focus on fastcode execution and, together with theexamples, are available in the source codeform. The installation package also includesa simple utility for creating a new project. Alist of software examples that are part of theinstallation package is shown in Figure 6.

ConclusionFreescale’s Kinetis M microcontroller seriesis based on the 90-nm Thin Film Storage(TFS) process technology. It is controlled bythe ARM Cortex-M0+ core with clock fre-quency up to 50 MHz. The internal clockgeneration module comprises the frequen-cy-locked loop (FLL), phase-locked loop(PLL), low frequency oscillator (OSC32K),high frequency oscillator (OSCMHZ), and32 kHz and 4/2 MHz internal reference clock(IRC) blocks. In addition to the manyperipherals for processing analogue signals,digital timers, an LCD controller, communi-cation interface and a real time clock, thesedevices also include a “watchdog” timer,16/32-bit CRC accelerator, random numbergenerator and a circuit for unauthorised

entry detection. Kinetis M microcontrollerseries offers two memory configurations,64/128KB, and three types of packages, 44LGA, 64 and 100 LQFP.On-chip peripherals, package options and,above all, the hardware support for separat-ing the part of the application that affectsbilling data, from the other parts of theapplication, make these microcontrollersespecially well suited to billing meteringequipment. Freescale currently offers anumber of reference designs that demon-

strate these device capabilities in one, twoand three-phase power meter applications.Descriptions of power meter referencedesigns, manufacturing documentation andthe source codes of the applications areavailable from freescale.com.

With purchases of 300 or more, the unitprice of the device starts from 2.25 € (far-nell.com, MKM14Z128CHH5, 128 KB Flash,44 LGA). nwww.freescale.com

Figure 6: List of software examples.

Product homepage:http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/taxonomy.jsp?nodeId=01624698C9FA7D Product catalogue sheet: http://cache.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/ref_manu-al/MKMxxZxxCxx5RM.pdfMethodology of separating application parts:http://cache.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/white_paper/KINETISMWP.pdfDevelopment kit:http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=TWR-KM34Z50M Bare-metal software drivers and examples:http://cache.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/KMSWDRVAPIRM_SW.zipProgramming tool:http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=CW-SUITE-SPECIALIntroduction to a one-phase power meter:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMFH6SeYlXo


Freescale Semiconductor announcedthe addition of the MMPF0200device to its PF Series of highlyprogrammable power manage-ment ICs (PMICs). Optimized to work seamlessly insystems based on Freescale’s i.MX6Solo, i.MX 6SoloLite and i.MX6DualLite applications processors,the exceptional configurability andquick-turn programmability of theMMPF0200 makes it ideal for ahost of power-sensitive platforms

including portable medical devices,IP headphones, home security sys-tems, IPTV controllers, tablets andhome energy management solu-tions. And building on Freescale’slong history as a leader in the auto-motive electronics market, theMMPF0200 is also designed to beAuto AEC-Q100 Grade 3-compli-ant for automotive applicationssuch as infotainment systems.The MMPF0200’s quick-turn pro-grammability enables customersto quickly and easily program thedevice to support a range of sys-tem supply requirements, as wellas meet the needs of rapidlychanging, volatile and emergingmarkets. The device’s fully config-urable architecture supportsnumerous outputs with variouscurrent ratings and programmablevoltages, allowing it to work as asystem-level power solution sup-porting the core processor, mem-ory and peripherals. This reducessystem design complexity, lowersthe overall bill of materials andspeeds time to market.

The MMPF0200 is part ofFreescale’s PF Series, which alsofeatures the MMPF0100. Whilethe MMPF0100 is ideal for systemswith higher degrees of complexitysuch as feature-rich smart mobiledevices and high-end automotiveinfotainment systems, theMMPF0200 is engineered formainstream systems to comple-ment the lower power membersof the i.MX 6 product family, suchas the i.MX 6SoloLite, i.MX 6Soloand i.MX 6DualLite SoCs. TheMMPF0200 works seamlessly withi.MX 6 technology for fasterdesign cycles and optimized useof onboard resources, IP and fea-tures. Sampling now, theMMPF0200 power managementdevice is scheduled for produc-tion in March 2014, when thedevice can be ordered atwww.freescale.com/pmicSuggested resale pricing (USD)starts at $2.38 in 10,000-piecequantities. Freescale plans to offer hardwareand software to support theMMPF0200 power managementdevice, including:

• KITPF0200EPEVBE evaluation board at $118.00

• KITPFPGMEVME PF series programmer board at $99.00

• KITPF0100SKTEVBE OTP programming socket for the PF family of PMIC devices at $110.00

The majority of Freescale analogproducts meet critical industrialmarket requirements, includingoperation across extended temper-ature ranges. These products aredesigned and manufactured withrigorous process controls, and qual-ified using industry standardmethodologies designed to yielddefect rates in line with the strin-gent requirements of the automo-tive market. The PF0200 device, inaddition to most of Freescale’s ana-log products for industrial, is includ-ed in Freescale’s product longevityprogram, which provides assuranceof supply for a minimum of 10 or 15years from the time of launch. FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTORwww.freescale.com/pmic

Freescale expands family of programmablepower management ICs for power-constrainedconnected devices


Factories can now easily, and very accurately, measure andtransmit industrial temperatures with the Novato(MAXREFDES16#) reference design, a 4–20mA loop-pow-ered temperature transmitter with the HART® communica-tion protocol from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. Temperature is among the most widely measured param-eters in industrial process control and automation appli-cations. The Novato reference design transmits tempera-ture measurements from remote sensors to the centralcontrol unit over a 4–20mA current-loop using the high-way addressable remote transducer (HART) communica-tion protocol. This smart transmitter enables low-powertemperature measurement from -200 °C to +850 °C withaccuracy better than ±0.1% or ±1.0 °C. Novato’s flexibledesign supports 2-, 3-, or 4-wire resistance temperaturedetector (RTD) sensor inputs and works with any type ofRTDs, from PT100 to PT1000, making it ideal for a widevariety of industrial applications.

Key Advantages• High accuracy: measures temperature from -200°C to

+850°C with accuracy better than ±0.1% or ±1.0°C• Flexibility: supports a 2-, 3-, or 4-wire RTD sensor

input; PT100 to PT1000 RTDs• Low power: consumes less than 3.2mA• HART Communication Protocol: the HART functions set

is developed by AB Tech Solution, Westford, MA, an engineering firm specialized in product development services for industrial automation applications. The HART stack for Novato runs on the Renesas® RL78/G13 microcontroller and supports all universal and common practice commands.

MAXIM INTEGRATED www.maximintegrated.com

Achieve Very Accurate TemperatureMeasurements Throughout YourFactory Using New 4–20mA Loop-Powered Temperature Transmitter with HART Protocol


DESIGN MCUs

If there is one characteristic that all moderndevices strive to demonstrate - irrespectiveof the end-application - it is responsiveness.The ability to react ‘immediately’ is, ofcourse, an illusion, sustained by the speedwith which the microprocessor can respondto an event. Improving the response time of a micro-processor is often closely influenced by thesoftware it executes, however the underly-ing metric is the theoretical maximum num-ber of instructions that can be executed persecond, or MIPS, subsequently improvingthis figure has long been the driver formicroprocessor evolution.There are a number of recognised tech-niques for pushing performance up, asmeasured using the industry-standard unitof Dhrystone MIPS, or DMIPS. The latestmember of the PIC32 family of high per-formance microcontrollers, the PIC32MZ,harnesses the latest MIPS32 core from

Imagination Technologies, which successful-ly combines many of these techniques todeliver a device that increases performancethreefold over its predecessor. The core at the heart of the PIC32MZ is therecently announced MIPS microAptiv™core, which features DSP extensions and themicroMIPS® instruction set architecture,which allows a combination of 32- and 16-bit instructions to run from memory at near-full rate. In addition, the entire device iscapable of running at up to 200MHz, whichtogether results in a device that delivers 330DMIPS; three times the performance of thePIC32MX family. The microAptiv DSP extensions provide159 additional instructions providing sin-gle-cycle access to the microarchitecturefeatures that accelerate digital signal pro-cessing, such as multiply/accumulate. Thismeans DSP algorithms can execute in asmuch as 75% fewer instruction cycles than

The latest addition toMicrochip’s PIC32 familyincreases performance, integration and connectivity.

Author: Bill Hutchings,Senior Product Marketing Manager, MCU32 Microchip Technology

Enabling a New Generation


DESIGN MCUs

the same algorithm executing on thePIC32MX. The PIC32MZ is the first family touse the microAptiv core, which as men-tioned also introduces the microMIPS fea-ture of 16-bit instructions, resulting in signif-icantly higher code density; as much as 30%greater density than the PIC32MX. The PIC32MZ is also capable of running athigher clock rates, up to 200MHz, which isaround twice as fast as the PIC32MX.Together, these features deliver a threefoldimprovement in raw performance, allowingthe PIC32MZ to address applications thatdemand faster response times when runningever-more complex software.

Built for Embedded ConnectivityThe PIC32MZ integrates an Ethernet 10/100MAC and PHY and it also features the high-est ever number of serial channels offered ina PIC device. These features, coupled with ahigh performance core capable of runningmultiple protocol stacks simultaneously,makes it the most capable 32-bit MCU forapplications targeting embedded connec-tivity. Another first for a PIC® microcon-troller is the addition of an integrated Hi-Speed USB MAC/PHY, complemented bydual CAN ports, which further enforces thePIC32MZ’s connectivity credentials. An important aspect of any connecteddevice today is security and, here, thePIC32MZ offers a number of featuresdesigned to make embedded connectivitymore secure. A full-featured hardware cryp-to engine, with a random number generator,provides high-throughput data encryp-tion/decryption and authentication, such asAES, 3DES, SHA, MD5 and HMAC.

Beyond the high performance core andcommunications-oriented peripheral set,the PIC32MZ also features two further inno-vations never before offered in a PIC®microcontroller, both of which are intendedto address emerging real-world needs of thetarget applications; both innovations dealwith the need for more sophisticated mem-ory systems.

An increasing number of OEMs are findingthat the growing complexity of embeddedsoftware means in-field upgrades arebecoming unavoidable. Instead of dismiss-ing this trend as a development issue, manu-facturers like Microchip are addressing theneed head-on, by introducing innovativesolutions to in-field software upgrades.

The PIC32MZ is at the leading edge of thiseffort, by integrating Dual-Panel Flash mem-ory that allows a full software update to takeplace while the device is in service, execut-ing program code at full speed. It achievesthis by dividing the embedded Flash in totwo physical and logical blocks, or panels.Each panel has its own charge pump andprogramming circuit, which means onepanel is effectively ghost memory right upto the point when it becomes the mainmemory. As both panels essentially operateindependently, one panel continues tooperate at full speed while the other isupdated in the background, without inter-rupting program execution. Once the software update is installed andvalidated, the device can be reset and startexecuting memory from the newly pro-grammed panel.

This feature allows a range of software issueto be addressed in the field without a serv-ice interruption, while also retaining the lastknown good software build in one panel atall times. The benefits of this innovation arefar reaching; service calls will be minimised,service interruptions could be avoidedentirely and software glitches could beresolved in near ‘real time’.

The other innovation intended to improvememory interfacing is the addition of an SQIport. SQI, or Serial Quad Interface, is a high-speed memory interface protocol that usesup to four wires, as opposed to the morecommon SPI or I2C interfaces which use onlyone pin for data exchange. The SQI inter-face uses a multiplexed bus to access 4-bits -or nibble - of memory at a time whenaccessing SQI-compatible memory devices,while still retaining SPI-compatibility.

The microAptiv core used in the PIC32MZfeatures an MMU (Memory ManagementUnit) and instruction and data caches, and upto 2048 KB of on chip flash and up to512kbyte of SRAM, capable of supportingmultiple protocol stacks running simultane-ously, as well as buffer space to supportaudio processing, and frame buffers to sup-port displays up to WQVGA resolution with-out the need for an external graphics chip.

Design SupportAs the new PIC32MZ family is developedfor high-end communications-orientedapplications that need improved graphics,faster real-time performance and increasedsecurity, it is supported by a range of devel-opment kits that give full access to itsadvanced peripherals and crypto engine(for those family members that feature theoptional crypto engine). These are furtherenhanced by a Multimedia Expansion BoardII, Starter Kit Adapter and Plug-In Modulewhich supports the Explore 16 ModularDevelopment Board.

The latest addition to Microchip’s 32-bitMCU family drives performance, connectiv-ity and security to new levels in embeddeddevices. With a threefold increase in rawprocessor performance, the addition of 159DSP-specific instructions and innovativememory subsystem the PIC32MZ is wellplaced to enable a new generation ofembedded devices. nwww.microchip.com


The technical name for the module in SMTdesign is RFD22301. What this abbrevia-tion actually describes is a small, 15 ×15mm RISC computer module with inte-grated analogue/digital converters, a2.4GHz antenna, seven GPIOs, SPI, I²C anda UART interface. With the Arduino IDEand the RFduino operating system exten-sions, the integrated radio transceiverbecomes a dedicated Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy communications unit. An ARMCortex M0 32-bit processor, 16kB RAMand 256 kB Flash take on the execution of

wireless stack and application-specific pro-grams. Thanks to metal plates and certifica-tions for Europe, the USA and Canada, themodule is also ideal for small and mediumvolume production. As the name suggests, it is not only theArduino IDE which runs on the RFduino.The sandwich principle of the expansionboards, better known as ‘shields’, was alsoadopted, albeit in a much smaller version.The RFduino in DIP design RFD22102 isparticularly recommended for prototypesand mini-series. When this model is

launched, there will already be a large num-ber of different shields available: A USBshield facilitates programming and suppliesthe mini computer with energy. If theRFduino is already programmed or flashed,it can also be supplied via a CR2032 but-ton cell shield, an AAA battery shield or adouble AAA battery shield. Due to thehighly innovative structure comprising anefficient MCU and the latest transceiverunit with technology from NordicSemiconductor, the energy consumption ofan RFduino is so low that, as a rule, the

With the RFduino, the Arduino open-source platform is now able to offer a wirelessalternative. The wireless-enabled microcontroller is scarcely the size of a fingertipand communicates with smartphones, tablets and laptops which have a BluetoothSMART READY logo. Using RFduino, developers are able to build a system in just afew minutes which transfers data from sensors to a laptop or other Bluetooth-enableddevices. They can also use a smartphone to control the peripherals connected to theRFduino. Rutronik also offers identical modules and chips for mass production,depending on project requirements.

Author: Bernd Hantsche, Marketing Director Wireless at Rutronik

RFduinomuch more than just a tiny computer with Bluetooth 4.0

DESIGN ARDUINO

CR2032 cell lasts for several months oreven years. The energy consumption is higher if, on thefitted proto shield, other external con-sumers are connected to an RFduino. Thisincreased energy consumption can betaken into account with the two AAAshields. The input and output options ofthe RFduino can be expanded with a servoshield, a dual-relay shield, a micro-SDshield and an RGB-LED buttonshield.Consequently, the systemoffers a great deal of flexibility,enabling the components for differentprojects to be individually assembled.Development kits available in Europe exclu-sively from Rutronik and its trading part-ners include a useful selection of accessoryboards to help customers to get to knowthe RFduino. The simplest RFD90101starter kit with an RFduino and a USB shieldaccessory board is available for aroundEUR 30.

The mostcomprehen-sive kit is the 30-partRFD90105 master kit,with the gap between these two kitsfilled with other kits, all of which can beexpanded with individual shields asrequired.

Endless optionsThe RFduino offers a wide range of appli-cation options at little cost. In just a fewsimple steps, a temperature sensor hasbeen created which proved in tests to becapable of transmitting even through aclosed refrigerator door. Thanks to the but-ton cell and its tiny design, the RFduinotakes up little space between the sausageand the cheese, yet is large enough not tobe accidentally eaten!

A sensorwhich moni-

tors the humidity of the potting compost and reports to thesmartphone, for example, is also quicklycreated. Many other suggestions for othergadgets which can be built fast are to befound at www.rutronik.com/RFduino

But that’s not all. As the RFduino is essen-tially based on the nRF51822 System-on-Chip from Nordic Semiconductor, thisopens up other opportunities: Instead ofthe Arduino IDE, the various wireless stacks

from Nordic can also be flashed into theRFduino. Three different

Bluetooth low-energy versions are available for

selection: The Gazell open-source

protocolwith

startopology,proximity pair-ing and many addi-tional features, ShockBurstand special wireless desktop protocols.

This makes the RFduino an alternate low-cost development environmentfor Nordic chips.With the RFD21815, an

Arduinoshield is also

available for theoriginal Arduino, with

which the mini computer canestablish a wireless connection. It is

based on an RFD21733 module, which is inturn based on a Nordic nRF24LE1 chip andwhich contains the proprietary RFDP8 protocol from RF Digital. This means that an Arduino is compatiblewith the available hand-held remote con-trols, wireless modules and active antennaewith the protocols specified. An overviewof the RFDP8 products available can befound at www.rutronik.com/RFDP8However, Bluetooth Low Energy, and hence also control via commercially available smartphones, is not possible without further action.

The experts at the Rutronik WirelessCompetence Center offer support inassembling the modules and the planningof the prototype from medium series on amodular basis up to large series on a chipbasis, protocol-specific advice and anyquestions relating to wireless technology.n

www.rutronik.com

DESIGN ARDUINO



DESIGN VOLTAGE TRANSDUCERS

At the level of individual components, mod-ules and sub-systems, this translates as a needfor higher levels of insulation, and improvedpartial discharge ratings; and better immuni-ty against external electric, magnetic andelectromagnetic fields. Almost by definition,any component that delivers high levels ofEMI (electro-magnetic interference) immuni-ty to external disturbances (susceptibility)will likely also meet low emission constraintsand will not affect the performance of adja-cent circuitry – but it is one more area inwhich performance must be assured.

The railway sector adds special demands interms of fire and smoke performance; notonly must the materials of which compo-nents are formed deliver the appropriateelectrical performance, they must also meetstringent demands in terms of surviving fireevents, and not emitting harmful substancesshould that occur.If all of the above were not sufficient chal-lenge for suppliers of measurement prod-ucts to these sectors, both present increas-ing demands in terms of performance and

precision. In the railway arena, as well asdesigning electrical drive systems that per-form better, and with greater efficiency,there is the requirement for tighter fiscalmetering. Trains that cross international bor-ders and transition from one electrical sup-ply domain to another must generate thedata to permit accurate billing. Railwayspecifications increasingly demand funda-mental measurement accuracy significantlybetter than 1% in voltage and current.The industrial market is seeking greater effi-ciency from the drives for its electric motors.Better control always rests upon bettermeasurement; not only of levels, of voltageand current, but also in time, to preciselyidentify, for example, zero-crossing points inwaveforms, so that inverters can implementlossless switching.

A new transducer generationAgainst this background, LEM has advancedthe performance of its voltage transducerswith the introduction of the DVL series thatprovides isolated voltage measurementfrom 50 to 2000VRMS.

The demands that each sector places on atransducer – the component at the front endof the measure-and-control chain – translateinto the need for excellence in parameterssuch as immunity to common-mode interfer-ence, low thermal drift, fast response time,large bandwidth and low noise.Some of the specific situations in whichthere has been a need for increased voltagemeasurement performance include the rail-way market;

• 750VDC and 1500VDC line values in the catenary-supplied railway network.

• AC train supply lines up to 2000VRMS.• Power conversion and control functions

such as inverters, converters, rectifiers, and braking choppers.

• Power distribution substations where voltage transducers monitor DC voltages supplied to the catenaries, at the DC rectifier output.

• In inverter/drive configurations, DC link voltages up to 2000VDC, and individual motor phase voltages.

• Trackside voltage measurements.

A new generation of voltagetransducers for the challengesof today’s applicationsThe rail traction and industrial market sectors are noted as extremely challenging environ-ments in terms of electronic systems that are created to monitor the flow of electrical powerwithin them. They demand the highest levels of reliability and performance, and bothrequire that systems continue to operate in very aggressive environmental conditions. Thesesectors also need the highest levels of safety and electrical isolation, both to ensure that per-sonnel are continuously protected against any possibility of contact with dangerous poten-tials, and that sensitive instrumentation and control circuitry is protected against damage.

by Michel Ghilardi, LEM



Similarly, demand for improved voltage per-formance in the industrial and renewableenergy fields has been seen from;

• AC variable speed drives, and for the static converter for DC drives.

• Battery-supplied applications, including (but not limited to) uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs).

• Specialist power supplies for arc welding, for medical applications, and for mobile telecommunications infrastructure.

• Air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC).• High power converters and inverters in

solar (photovoltaic) and wind-turbine generators.

Despite the fact that the systems being moni-tored and controlled are often large, and aresubject to external thermal effects that dwarfthe internal power dissipation of devices suchas a measurement transducer, there is never-theless market demand for units to be small-er and to consume less power. In their physi-cal outline, LEM designed its new products tobe fully compatible with previous genera-tions of voltage transducers (such as the AV100 and LV 100 families) in terms of func-tions, performance and footprint, but with

new levels of accuracy and temperature sta-bility, thus greatly simplifying retrofits. At137.8 × 63 × 64.3 mm the DVL fits within theprofile of the LV 100 Hall effect voltage trans-ducer, occupying 271 cm3 less volume, and is30% lighter than an AV 100 model. The trans-ducers employ a direct electrical connectionto the voltage to be measured, and provideinternal (galvanic) isolation: they are basedon electronic circuit elements and are there-fore relatively insensitive to external magnet-ic fields, compared to Hall effect and Fluxgate-based (magnetic) voltage transducers. Theircircuitry has been designed for low powerconsumption and low losses and externalheatsinks are then not required keeping nev-ertheless a high level of reliability and bring-

ing some energy saving for the user.Small size and low self-heating mean that thetransducers can be used in confined spaces –within motor housings, for example – and insealed cases.As there is a direct connection between thevoltage being measured and the sensinginput of the transducer, isolation has to beprovided within the unit: this is achievedusing a special patented transformer. A greater understanding of how the trans-ducer works can be gained from Figure 1.

From the input pin, where the voltage can beup to ±2kV, the first stage is a voltage dividerthat reduces the measured potential down toa few hundred millivolts: it is designed to tol-erate very high slew rates in the measured sig-nal (high dv/dt), whilst having low thermaldrift. Immediately thereafter – at the earliestpossible stage in the transducer architecture– the signal is converted to single serial digitalform by a sigma-delta modulator. As themajority of the transducer's circuitry is thendigital, temperature drift can be held to verylow levels, and offsets and sensitivity can beadjusted in software on each individualdevice during manufacturing.The digital bit-stream is next passed throughthe isolation transformer mentioned above:

this patented design employs special coreprotection due to the high voltage environ-ment, yet can be small due to the high fre-quency of the pulse train (10MHz). On thesecondary side the bit-stream is decodedand filtered by a digital filter, yielding a stan-dard digital value that can be used in thedigital to analogue converter (DAC) withinthe microcontroller (MCU). The recoveredoutput signal is completely isolated from theprimary (high voltage), and is an exact rep-resentation of the primary voltage.

Figure 1



Having a microcontroller within the transduc-er brings all of the flexibility that comes withdigital control and software programming. Asingle device can be easily adapted for differ-ent ranges by modifying the gain pro-grammed by the MCU. The MCU cancels off-sets and adjusts the gain in software, and thenconverts the signal from digital to analogueoutput. The analogue output voltage is thenfiltered and converted into a current (±75mAfull scale) using a current generator that is pro-tected against short-circuits. A version withthe 4 to 20 mA output current range com-monly used in industrial control is available asan option. The MCU also controls a DC/DCconverter that creates internal supply voltagesfor the primary and secondary circuitries. Thisarchitecture permits the low levels of internalpower consumption and of losses exhibitedby the DVL series; the device uses only 20 to25 mA from a power supply of ±24 VDC (thecomplete specified power supply range isfrom ±13.5 to ±26.4 V), a power saving of30% relative its predecessors.

Principle featuresThis innovative design yields a measurementdevice with overall accuracy of ±0.5% ofVPN (the maximum steady-state input volt-age) at ambient temperature, and an overall

accuracy as good as ±1% of VPN over itsoperating temperature range from -40°C to85°C, with an offset drift of ±150μA, a sensi-tivity drift error of ±0.5% and an error of lin-earity of ±0.5%, all characteristics being overthe operating temperature range.The internal design that places a very highlevel of isolation in the signal path is matchedby a case construction that combines carefulchoice of moulding material with attention tophysical separation of pins and terminals, andto creepage and clearance distances. Thisresults in an insulation test voltage of 8.5kVRMS for one minute for a working voltageof 2kV, and partial discharge extinction levelof over 2.7 kVRMS at 10pC.In its intended application areas, the DVLmust exhibit a broad frequency and quickresponse, to detect rapid input voltagechanges and to help maintain waveformquality in inverter circuitry. Its response timeis less than 60sec, bandwidth (frequencyresponse) is 14 kHz at the -3dB point, and itsoutput noise is lower than 10μA between1Hz and 100 kHz. The detail designachieves low parasitic capacitance and theprimary circuitry has been configured to beperfectly symmetrical: this contributes tovery high immunity to dynamic common-mode noise.

Mechanical and standardsA modular design approach offers flexibilityin configuring connections; the primaryvoltage can be brought in by terminals orisolated cable, and a wide range of connec-tions is possible for the secondary; connec-tors, shielded cables, or terminals. DVLmodels have been designed and testedaccording to latest recognised worldwidestandards for traction and industry applica-tions, including EN 50155, EN 50178, EN50121-3-2, and EN 50124-1.

LEM’s main production centres for tractiontransducers are IRIS certified – a vital quali-fication for companies supplying the railwaymarket – and have ISO TS16949 approvalfor the industrial market. DVL transducersare CE marked as a guarantee of complianceto the European EMC directive 2004/108/EEC and low voltage directive 2006/95/EEC. Eco-design principles have beenused throughout the design and productionprocess, using less materials (30% lighter)and reducing power usage by 30%. Exhaustive testing using temperature cyclingand accelerated life-cycle principles hasbeen performed to give a high level of con-fidence in a very low estimate failure rateover long, stable in-service lifetime. n

Using the Santa Cruz (MAXREFDES23#)ambient light sensor (ALS) from MaximIntegrated Products, Inc., factories canquickly configure and monitor multiplered, green, blue (RGB) and infrared (IR)ambient light sensors with the high accu-racy required in industrial applications.To stay competitive and maintain highquality, modern factories must be agile,maximizing “uptime” while reducingcosts. The Santa Cruz ALS solutionenables connected factories. This refer-ence system provides a wide, dynamicrange of clear, RGB, and IR light, andtemperature data. Santa Cruz is tuned tothe response of the human eye for accu-rate system function relative to visiblelight. In addition, it is unsurpassed forlight sensitivity and low latency. The inte-

grated IO-Link® software and devicestack automatically configure the sensorwithout additional programming, savingvaluable time and resources. Additionally, Santa Cruz fits on a tiny6.5 mm × 25 mm printed circuit board(PCB), making it the industry’s smallestALS system.

Key Advantages• Small size: Industry’s smallest

ambient light sensing system.• High integration: Integrates six

highly accurate clear light, RGB and IR sensors; a temperature sensor; an economical and ultra-low-power microcontroller; dual integrated 3.3V and 5V linear regulators; programmable flash memory; and IO-Link software.

• High sensitivity: Sensitive over a range of 57,542 lux to 0.001 lux, at low power.

• Ease of configuration: IO-Link enabled, which allows simple identification and connection to existing industrial systems.

MAXIM INTEGRATEDwww.maximintegrated.com

Accurately Detect Clear, Red, Green, Blue and Infrared Light with Industry’s SmallestIO-Link Ambient Light SensorMaxim Integrated’s Santa Cruz ambient light sensor integrates the IO-Link protocol to simplify high-accuracy industrial sensing.



Renesas Electronics Europe, a pre-mier provider of advanced semi-conductor solutions, has added itsPlatinum partner IAR Systems, theworld-leading supplier of embed-ded development tools, to itsinnovative RX MAX software pro-gram for European customers.

The program is built around thehigh performance RX 32-bit micro-controller family and comprises freeof charge RTOS and middlewarecomponents worth up to €20,000.It allows firmware developers toquickly customise sample code toinitiate their applications faster,while reducing system functioncosts and accelerating time-to-mar-ket. IAR Systems’ complete C/C++and debugger toolchain, IAREmbedded Workbench® for RX, hasbeen selected because it signifi-

cantly enhances the program byproducing the smallest code sizeand the fastest code executionbased on EEMBC CoreMark bench-marks of 3.12. The highly sophisti-cated C-SPY® Debugger incorpo-rated in IAR EmbeddedWorkbench has excellent debug-

ging features such asKernel Awareness,which is the ability todisplay the internalRTOS data structures ina convenient series ofwindows. It providesthe user with informa-tion about each of theactive tasks in the RX

device as well as each semaphore,mutex, mailbox, queue and eventflag group along with a list of all thetasks waiting on the kernel objects.Developers can now qualify for afree-of-charge perpetual unlimitedlicense for the EmbeddedWorkbench C/C++ compiler anddebugger toolchain for RX, includ-ing one year of support, softwareupgrades and two hours of webtraining, valued at € 5,000. RENESAS ELECTRONICS EUROPEwww.renesas.eu

Renesas Electronics Europe Enhances the 'RXMaximisation Program' by adding IAREmbedded Workbench for RX

Renesas Electronics, unveiled theRX64M Group of microcontrollers(MCUs), its first product in the flag-ship RX Family of 32-bit MCUs tobe fabricated in a 40 nm process.Based on the new RXv2 CPU core,which was announced in November2013, the new MCU Group consistsof 112 products running up to 120megahertz (MHz) with zero wait

state from the high-speed embed-ded flash memory and feature boththe high-speed real-time perform-ance as well as large memory capac-

ities required by industrial applica-tions and network equipment. Thenew MCUs offer system designers apath to quickly and efficientlydevelop high-performance, low-power industrial equipment thatsupports a wide range of communi-cation functions.With the expansion of the connect-ed society and Internet of Things(IoT) markets, there has been rapidgrowth in diverse IoT-related prod-ucts such as connected networkand industrial equipment used infactory automation and buildingautomation, driving the need forgreater CPU computing perform-ance, improved real-time response,and ever lower power.RENESAS ELECTRONICS EUROPEwww.renesas.eu

Renesas Electronics Embeds the Largest Flashand SRAM Together to Date in a 32-Bit General-Purpose Microcontroller to Enable the IoT

Equipped with an Intel Core i7 processor, the CB70CCOM module offers high computing performance on asmall form factor board. Based on the new RuggedCOM Express standard, it is also well suited for use inmission-critical applications. Rugged COM Express or VITA 59 is a new standardwhich is based on the proven PICMG COM Expressstandard. Due to mechanical modifications, the mod-ules are now also able to meet the high requirementsof critical markets regarding temperature, shock andvibration, EMC compatibility and resistance againstdust and humidity.

The Intel Core i7 processor family with a core frequencyof up to 2.1 GHz and a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.1GHz makes it possible to choose between 1, 2 or 4processor cores. As many as 16 GB DDR3 DRAM are sol-dered to the board. In addition, Intel AMT, Open CL 1.1and high-end graphics are supported.The adaptable BIOS with integrated Intel AMT supportcan be flexibly adapted to the final application withoutadditional costs. The Board Management Controllersupervises the board functions and temperatures.I/O interfaces of the CB70C include PCI Express, LVDS,DDI, VGA, HD Audio, SATA, Ethernet and USB. As theCB70C is embedded in an aluminum frame for conduc-tion cooling specified according to the VITA 59 stan-dard, it can be used in the extended temperature rangeof -40 to +85°C. Due to the soldered components andthe compact frame, the module is also protected againstshock and vibration and is EMC proof.MEN MIKRO ELEKTRONIK www.men.de

Robust and Flexible –Rugged COM Express® withIntel® Core™ i7


Exar Corporation, a leading sup-plier of high performance analogmixed-signal components anddata management solutions,announced two ground breakinglow-dropout (LDO) regulatorsthat support 2A and 3A loadsfrom a single lowvoltage supply witha maximum dropoutvoltage of 140mV.The XRP6274 andXRP6275 ultra lowdropout voltageregulators can oper-ate with industrystandard low voltagerails of 1.1V to 2.5Vproviding a uniquesingle supply solu-tion for convenient point-of-loadvoltage regulation. The newLDOs are targeted at a widerange of markets including com-munications, enterprise solutions,industrial systems and space con-strained consumer devices.Exar achieves the ultra lowdropout performance of itsXRP6274 and XRP6275 regula-tors without requiring either anexternal bias voltage or an inter-

nal charge pump, which can oftengenerate unwanted noise andaffect system operation. The new ultra LDO’s use a singlesupply and reduce board layoutcomplexity by avoiding the needto route a secondary bias rail to

the LDO. The start up is guaran-teed from an input voltage as lowas 1.045V. The XRP6274/75devices provide output voltagesdown to 0.6V with an accuracy of0.5% using ceramic capacitors. Inaddition, precision enable andpower good functions allow foreasy sequencing and control ofthese LDOs.EXAR CORPORATIONwww.exar.com

Exar Releases World’s Lowest Voltage Single SupplyLDOs With 140mV Dropout

Exar Corporation announced theXR28V382 and XR28V384UARTs for the Intel Low PinCount (LPC) motherboard bus.The new LPC UARTs reducefootprint while increasing dataintegrity and throughput by pro-viding industry leading 128 byteFIFOs. These devices are target-ed towards industrial PCs, factoryautomation, process controllers,network routers, and sin-gle board embeddedcomputers. The XR28V382 is pack-aged in a small 5×5mm 32pin QFN and includestwo UART channels,while the XR28V384 hasfour UART channels in a7×7mm 48 pin TQFP. Exar’s dualand quad LPC UARTs, comparedto 128 pin super I/O devices,offer the same or more serialchannels in a significantly smallerfootprint, offering as much as 8X

reduction in board space.Both the two channel XR28V382and four channel XR28V384UARTs include Exar’s automatichalf duplex control for RS-485networks. These parts feature 128byte transmit and receive FIFOs,are rated for the industrial temprange, and operate at 3.3V. EachUART channel supports serialdata rates up to 3Mbps.

Suggested retail prices forXR28V382 and XR28V384 are$2.40 and $3.50 respectively, in1,000-unit quantities.EXAR CORPORATIONwww.exar.com

Exar’s new LPC UARTs reduce footprint in Industrial PCs Exar Corporation announced theSP335 advanced multiprotocoltransceiver supporting RS-232,RS-485, and RS-422 serial stan-dards. At 5x5mm2, the SP335 isless than half the size of a compa-rable discrete design, doublingthe number of serial interfacechannels that canbe assembled inthe same boardspace and allow-ing system design-ers to easily com-bine multiple seri-al protocols overthe same connec-tor. Programmableend-of-line termi-nation and multi-ple configuration modes allow allthree protocols to be used inter-changeably over a single cable orconnector with no additionalswitching components.The SP335’s bus pins are protect-ed against severe ESD events

exceeding ±15kV IEC 61000-4-2Air Gap Discharge, and ±8kV IEC61000-4-2 Contact Discharge, andcan tolerate direct shorts to DC orAC voltages as high as ±18V.These rugged devices are intend-ed for use in software program-mable serial ports for industrial

PCs and single board computers,process control, point-of-sale,embedded systems, HVAC con-trols, building automation net-working, and security systems. EXAR CORPORATIONwww.exar.com

Exar Corporation introduced anew high-power switching con-troller in its line of DC-DC powerconversion products. TheXRP6141 Synchronous StepDown Controller supports point-of-load (POL) sup-plies up to 35A andis designed toachieve excellenttransient responseand output accuracyusing Exar’s propri-etary emulated cur-rent mode ConstantOn-Time (COT)control loop. Thisdevice delivers corevoltage rails forASICs, FPGAs, DSPs and NetworkProcessors in communications,networking and industrial mar-kets. The XRP6141 is specifiedwith a wide input voltage range of4.5V to 22V and delivers anadjustable output voltage from0.6V to 18V. With its exceptional0.1% line regulation across theentire input voltage range and 1%output accuracy over full temper-ature range, XRP6141 providesincreased headroom to engineers

for easier design implementations.The emulated current mode COTcontrol scheme has the fast tran-sient response of conventionalCOT control loops without any ofthe compromises. Exar’s COT con-

trol loop enables operation withceramic output capacitors, elimi-nating loop compensation, whichsimplifies system design andreduces overall component count.Additionally, the XRP6141 offers ahost of supervisory and protec-tion features for proper sequenc-ing, safe operation under abnor-mal operating conditions and lightload operation. EXAR CORPORATIONwww.exar.com

Exar’s High Power COT Switching Controller Delivers1% Output Accuracy

Exar Introduces Smallest Multiprotocol Transceiver

PRODUCT NEWS ACTIVE COMPONENTS


n Optical sensorsn Sensors for logistic applicationsn Safety at work

n Optical Sensorsn Inductive Sensors

n Color Sensorsn True Color Sensors, Spectrometersn Gloss Sensors

Leuze

Contrinex

Sensor Instruments

n Linear Sensorsn Angle Sensorsn Tilt Sensors

n PLCsn Temperature Controllern Timer

n Flowmetersn Level Indicators and Switchesn Pressure Sensors and Switches

ASM

Selec

Koboldn Linear Solenoidsn Permanent Electromagnets

Harting

HTP

Intertec

Visit our online shopwww.oboyle.ro

n Circular connectors M8; M12; M23n Cable and Connectors for Sensorsn Valve Connectorsn Distribution Blocks

n Heavy Duty Industrial Connectorsn Power and Data Transmission Connectors

AUTOMATION

Murata announced that it hasdeveloped a surface-mountdevice (SMD)-type ultrasonicsensor and that the product willbe manufactured by HakuiMurata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.,with production starting insummer 2014.Constructed in an ultra low pro-file package measuring just 5.2× 5.2 mm and 1.15 mm thick,the MA40H1S-R series is capa-ble of delivering up to 100 dBsound pressure at 40 kHz.Operating voltage is 6 Vp-pand the sensor has a -6dB fullangle beam of 80 degrees.Through the use of an exclusivestructural design, including the

ceramic element, MurataManufacturing has succeededin developing what it believesto be the world’s first surface-mount device (SMD)-typeultrasonic sensor. Since it is asurface-mount device (SMD),the new sensor requires mini-mal mounting space, and itenables improved functionalityfor distance measurement andposition detection through theuse of ultrasonic waves.Typical applications include dis-tance measurement, positiondetection and 3D gesture detec-tion in portable equipment.MURATAwww.murata.eu

Murata has developed world’s first surface mount ultrasonic sensor


Microchip announces its next-generation family of energy-measurement Analogue FrontEnds (AFEs) with industry-leadingaccuracy. The MCP3913 andMCP3914 integrate six and eight24-bit, delta-sigma Analogue-to-Digital Converters(ADCs), respective-ly, with 94.5 dBSINAD, -106.5 dBTHD and 112 dBSFDR for high-accu-racy signal acquisi-tion and higher-performing end-products. TheMCP3914’s twoadditional ADCsenable the monitoring of moresensors with one chip, loweringcost and size. In addition, theprogrammable data rate of up to125 ksps with low-power modesallows designers to scale downfor better power consumption orto use higher data rates foradvanced signal analysis, such ascalculating harmonic content.These AFEs also feature a CRC-16 checksum and register-map

lock, for increased robustness.As the energy-metering infra-structure is being upgradedworldwide, designers aredemanding increased AFE accu-racy, performance and flexibilityto develop the latest generation

of smart meters. These featuresare also required by the design-ers of advanced power-monitor-ing systems for applications suchas server power supplies andpower distribution units, uninter-ruptible power supplies, smartpower strips and data-acquisitionproducts in the industrial andcommercial markets. MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGYwww.microchip.com/get/TEND

Energy-measurement Analogue Front-Ends (AFEs)offer high accuracy for 3-phase smart meters andmultiple-load power monitoring

Diodes introduces the NIS5132resettable electronic fuse. It issuitable for hot plug consumerand industrial products, includ-ing external disks, printers andservers, helping to raise powersystem reliability by protectingagainst shutdown and cat-astrophic failures. By allow-ing a product to restart,the device enables areduction in unnecessaryfield returns. The NIS5132is available at distributorRutronik as of now. Operating over a wideinput voltage range from9V up to 18V, and provided inthe small, low-profile DFN-3030-10 package, the 3.6A-ratedNIS5132 integrates a low on-resistance NMOS buffer and aninternal current limit. With thebuffer's typical RDS(ON) of only30mOhm and with no need for

an external sense resistor in theload path, the device minimizesvoltage drop and power loss. To fully safeguard downstreampower components from damageor premature aging, the fuse'sprotection features include

under-voltage lockout, turn-onramp control, current-limit andthermal shutdown circuits. Thisthermal shutdown can be eitherlatching type (NIS5132MN1) orauto-retry type (NIS5132MN2). RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com

Rutronik includes new Resettable Fuse from Diodes in its program

With capacities of up to 4 Gigabitper chip, I'M Intelligent Memory, aHong Kong based fabless DRAMmanufacturer, enters the marketfor industrial DDR2 memory com-ponents with their mission state-ment "Beyond Limits".DDR2 SDRAMtechnology is thememory standardthat most industri-al applicationshave beendesigned aroundfor years. I'Mpushes this tech-nology even fur-ther by offeringhigher capacitiesand wider temperature rangesthan other manufacturers. Themost common densities of DDR2continue to be 512Mb and 1Gb.The larger capacities, such as 2Gband 4Gb, are defined by JEDEC,

but their availability from othermanufacturers continues to bevery limited. I'M IntelligentMemory focuses on the high endof DDR2 capacities with their2Gbit monolithic, 2Gbit Dual-Die(DDP) and 4Gbit DDP compo-

nents in standard or industrialtemperature ranges. For automo-tive customers, AEC-Q100 ver-sions are also available.I'M INTELLIGENT MEMORYwww.intelligentmemory.com

MSC Technologies presented theWiBear11ac automotive-gradewireless module from Lesswire atits Booth 2 130 in Hall 2 at embed-ded world 2014, February 25 27,2014 in Nuremberg, Germany.The WiBear11ac withdimensions of only 15 mm× 20 mm × 2.5 mm com-bines for the first timeWLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac,Bluetooth 4.0 and 2.1 aswell as NFC on a singlemodule. The module isdesigned for both simulta-neous and independentoperation of the differenttechnologies. The module can be easily con-nected to a host controller bymeans of SDIO interface. In addi-tion to a Bluetooth interface, aUART interface is available forBluetooth operation. Furthermore, a two-wire serialinterface (TWSI) is included onthe module for near field commu-nication (NFC). Audio applica-tions benefit from the integratedpulse code modulation (PCM)and inter-IC sound (I2S) functions. Through the 1x1 antenna configu-

ration, PHY data transfer rates upto 433 Mbps and transfer rates upto 3 Mbps via Bluetooth are feasi-ble. The possibility of 64-bit or128-bit AES hardware encryptionand integrated security mecha-

nisms such as 64/128-bit WEP,WPA, WPA2 and WAPI ensure ahigh level of data security. With an output power up to +18dBm in 802.11b mode and +15dBm in 802.11a/g/n mode or upto +8 dBm with Bluetooth opera-tion, the wireless interfaces arealso especially powerful. Coexistence functions are sup-ported by an internal TDM unitfor WLAN and Bluetooth as wellas a 2-wire UART for LTE. MSC TECHNOLOGIES www.msc-technologies.eu

Ultra-compact multifunctional wireless module supports WLAN standard 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0

I'M Intelligent Memory announces its highcapacity DDR2 SDRAM IC's


Murata announced the UWQ240Watt quarter-brick DCDCconverter from Murata PowerSolutions designed for a wirelessbackhaul, smart grid, and a broadrange of networking and othertelecommunications applications.With a fixed 12VDC / 20 A sin-gle output thisDOSA compati-ble open-framequarter brickpackage occu-pies only 58.4 ×36.8 × 11.7 mm.This compactdevice helpsdesigners con-serve valuableboard footprint for today’sspace-constrained designs. Theconverter accepts a wide 3:1input range of voltage from 18 to60VDC around a nominal48VDC. A remote sense featureprovides the automatic adjust-ment of Vout to make up for lineand load losses while a trim func-tion allows +/-10% of Vout. Theseries has tight load and line reg-

ulation that ensures that the out-put voltage does not varybeyond ±1.25% when the loadchanges. The UWQ-12/20-T48has a typical efficiency of 92%and up to 3 units can operate inparallel in order to provide

redundancy or load sharing of ahigher power requirement.Controls include remote On/Offcontrol of either negative or posi-tive logic. In addition, the convert-er has a number of protection fea-tures including overcurrent,overtemperature, input under-voltage and output short circuit.MURATAwww.murata.eu

Murata 12 V 20 Amp DOSA compatible quarter brick DCDC converter suits wireless backhaul andsmart grid applications

Exar Corporation introduced theXRP9710 and XRP9711 multi-output, synchronous step-down,p r o g r a m m a b l epower modules thatoffer the industry’shighest power den-sity and lowest pro-file at 2.75mm with5V-22V inputs. Bothdevices providetwo fully integratedregulators withMOSFETs, induc-tors, and internalinput and outputcapacitors in a compact12×12×2.75mm package thatsupport loads up to 6Amps each.The revolutionary XRP9711 alsooffers two controller outputs thatare each capable of driving loadsup to 30Amps, making it theindustry’s first module to offer

two fully integrated channels andtwo controller outputs. TheXRP9710 and XRP9711 are com-

plete system power solutionsthat enable telemetry, reconfigu-ration and fast time to market in asmall footprint without sacrificingperformance.

EXAR CORPORATIONwww.exar.com

Exar Enters Power Module MarketWith Breakthrough Devices

Avago Technologies announcedtwo new highly-integrated smartgate drive optocoupler devices,the ACPL-336J and ACPL-337J.The ACPL-336J and ACPL-337Jhave a 2.5A and a 4A rail-to-railoutput, respectively, capable ofdriving high power MOSFET orIGBT directly. The new devicesfeature rail-to-rail output withhigh current, integrated LED driv-er, active Miller clamp, high DESATblanking current source, andUnder Voltage Lock-Out (ULVO)feedback control circuit, provid-ing a complete cost-effective gatedrive solution for motor controland power inverter applications.ACPL-336J/ACPL-337J ProductHighlights- Rail-to-rail output with highcurrent eliminating output bufferstage and improving power effi-ciency.

- Integrated LED driver, activeMiller clamp and high DESATblanking current source reducingsystem costs and board space.- Integrated short circuit protec-

tion and FAULT & UVLO feed-back control circuit improvingsystem reliability for driving andprotecting IGBT.- High reinforced insulation volt-age of VIORM=1414VPEAK forreliable fail-safe protection inhigh voltage applications.AVAGO TECHNOLOGIESwww.avagotech.com

Free2Move introduces the power-ful Bluetooth module F2M03GXA.The fully qualified Bluetooth2.0+EDR module is equipped withexceptional wireless transmissioncharacteristics for data and voice

communication. It is available atdistributor Rutronik as of now. The F2M03GXA comes with anew power amplifier that allowsan adjustable transmit power ofup to 18.4dBm and a receiversensibility of down to -89dBm. APiconet and Scatternet can be setup with up to seven slaves, thePCM interface allows up to threesimultaneous voice channels.Furthermore, the F2M03GXA iscompliant to USB v2.0 and has

extensive digital and analog I/Ointerfaces. The standard module comesalong with the SPP-firmware, otherprofiles can be implementedupon request. Ideal for most

demanding industrial applicationsis the module’s operating temper-ature between -40° and +85°C.The F2M03GXA is fully pin andsoftware compatible to the olderversion and has full modularapproval, making it easy to inte-grate a wireless solution into aproduct. The F2M03GXA moduleis certified according to CE, FCCand IC. RUTRONIK www.rutronik.com/0311d8da.l

RUTRONIK EMBEDDED: Powerful 18dBm Bluetoothmodule with extended range from Free2Move

Avago Technologies Unveils Two New HighlyIntegrated Smart Gate Drive Optocouplers for MotorDrives and Inverters





XP Power Brings Industry-LeadingPower Product Lineup to Digi-KeyGlobal electronic components distributor Digi-KeyCorporation, the industry leader in electronic compo-nent selection, availability and delivery, todayannounced a global distribution agreement with XPPower, a power-solution leader offering the widestrange of power products available from one source.XP Power is one of the world's leading developers andmanufacturers of power supply solutions for the elec-tronics industry, continuously updating their productrange to provide leading-edge power supply technolo-gy. This constant refreshing of their product line assurescustomers that they can source the newest, most cost-efficient products on the market.

“As engineers look to increase the flexibility of theirdesigns to minimize space and maximize efficiency, hav-ing access to the newest technologies is a logical need,”said Tom Busher, Vice President, Global Interconnect,Passive, and Electromechanical Product at Digi-Key. “XPPower’s commitment to innovation makes them a greatfit for our customers’ changing product requirements.We are excited at the prospect of this partnership.”In addition to maintaining the newest technology intheir product offering, XP Power also provides signifi-cant expertise with assuring that their power solutionsmeet applicable technical and legislative requirements,specifically in the Industrial, Technology, andHealthcare sectors.“We are delighted to have significantly strengthenedour distribution channel with the signing of this globalagreement with Digi-Key. Our partnership will enableus to offer the highest possible levels of service to ourcustomers through Digi-Key,” said Steve Head, XPPower Vice President of Marketing.

XP POWER www.xppower.comDIGI-KEY CORPORATION www.digikey.com

Launched at Embedded World 2014,IQD’s new IQMT-100 seriesMicrocomputer Compensated CrystalOscillator (MCXO) offers customersOCXO performance in a standard clockoscillator sized package. The designenables a frequency stability of ±50ppb(parts per billion) over the full industri-al operating temperature range of –40to 85°C whilst maintaining an extremelygood typical short term stability of 2E-10/s. The IQMT-100 is housed in anindustry standard sized ceramic pack-age measuring just 7 x 5mm with both 8and 10 pad options available over a fre-quency range from 10 to 50MHz. Awide range of standard frequencieshave already been developed including10, 12.8, 16.320,16.3840, 19.2, 19.44,20.0, 25.0, 26.0, 30.720 and 50MHz.Output compatibility can be specifiedas either Clipped Sine or HCMOS with15pF load along with 3.0, 3.3 and 5.0V

supply voltages. A voltage controloption is available to control the fre-quency pulling to compensate for crys-tal ageing and varying circuit conditionswith choices of either ±5ppm to±10ppm or ±10ppm to ±15ppm.Ageing per day is 20ppb although10ppb can be offered for some specifi-

cation combinations. Similarly standardageing over one year is 1ppm although0.5ppm can be offered for certain fre-quencies. Typical phase noise perform-ance is -145dBC/Hz @ 100kHz.IQD www.iqdfrequencyproducts.com

IQD’s new microcomputer-compensated crystal oscillatordelivers ±50ppb stability in a 7 x 5mm package

Cymbet Corporation announcedthe commercial release of theEnerChip™ RTC product familythat combines an ultra-low powerReal Time Clock with a recharge-able solid state battery and powermanagement IC in a single 5mm ×5mm plastic package. TheEnerChip RTC is the world’s small-est RTC with integrat-ed power holdover.This is accomplishedby utilizing bare dieRTC, EnerChip bat-tery and PMIC devicescombined into a singlepackage that usesSurface MountTechnology (SMT)and reflow solderprocesses. EnerChipRTCs provide from 30to over 100 hours ofRTC power back-up per chargewith thousands of recharge cycles.The EnerChip RTC is an idealreplacement for bulky and trou-blesome coin cell batteries andsupercapacitors.The first three devices in theEnerChip RTC product family are:• CBC34123 that combines anNXP RTC with the EnerChip andPMIC for 30 hours power

holdover and supports SPI-bus.• CBC34803 that that combinesan Ambiq RTC with the EnerChipand PMIC for 100 hours powerholdover and supports I2C-bus• CBC34813 that that combinesan Ambiq RTC with the EnerChipand PMIC for 100 hours powerholdover and supports SPI-bus

The various EnerChip RTC config-urations support: Alarm and timerfunctions, General PurposeOutputs, XT Oscillator, 256BRAM, Calibration/Auto-calibra-tion, RC Oscillator, Watchdog,External Interrupts, a VBAT switch,and on-chip battery charge con-trol with power management.CYMBETwww.cymbet.com

Cymbet Launches Ultra-low Power EnerChip™ RTCwith Integrated Battery

Avago Technologies announcedthe availability of a new family ofmulti-channel retimer IC devices,the AVSP-4412 and AVSP-8801,designed for modern 100GbEsystems. Withstanding up to 32dB of channel loss at 25 Gbps perchannel, these devices enablehigh-density, long-reach 4×25Gand 8×25G connections for net-work backplane interface andVSR connections up to 4×28Gfor network front port interface.The AVSP-4412 is a bidirectional4-channel retimer IC. The AVSP-8801 is a unidirectional 8-chan-nel retimer IC. Both devices fea-ture built-in test and channelanalysis capabilities such as pat-tern generation, eye capture, anderror detection. A user can con-

trol the device via MDIO, I2C, orJTAG, and the Avago-providedAPI facilitates seamless softwareintegration. Furthermore, theAVSP-4412 includes an embed-ded backchannel allowing for

automatic link training such thatthe Rx and Tx of each channel canbe optimized without simulationor system validation to deter-mine the best EQ settings.

AVAGO TECHNOLOGIESwww.avagotech.com

Avago Technologies Unveils Leading-Edge Retimer IC Solutions for 100G Network Backplane andPortside Applications

Mouser Electronics, Inc. is nowshipping the new LPC1500Motion Control Chip solutionfrom NXP Semiconductor. TheLPC1500 is a flexible controllercapable of driving a variety ofdifferent motors including brush-less DC, sensored, sensorless, andpermanent magnet motors.The new NXP SemiconductorLPC1500 Motion Control ICavailable from Mouser Electronicsis optimized for fast and easymotor control in a variety ofapplications. The LPC1500 ispowered by a 72MHz ARMCortex M3 core combined withspecialized motor controlperipherals. Two 12-bit, 12 chan-nel ADCs and a quadratureencoder interface provideenough support to drive twomotors at the same time. TheADCs sample at a fast2Msamples/sec and allow for

precision motor position sensingand speed control. PrecisionPWM generators insure accurateand efficient motor drive control,including stepper motors..

A 12 bit DAC samples at500Ksamples/sec and providesprecision voltage control of DCmotors. A on chip temperaturesensor monitors system tempera-ture to quickly correct overheatingconditions. External control isachieved via a CAN or USB bus. I²Cand SPI interfaces are also available.MOUSER ELECTRONICSwww.mouser.com

Murata today announced the UEEseries of 150 Watt isolated DC-DCconverters from Murata PowerSolutions designed for intermedi-ate bus and dis-tributed powerarchitectures.Packaged in anindustry stan-dard eighthbrick format,these DOSAcompliant con-verters measurejust 58.4 × 22.9× 10.7 mm andare availablewith either mounting pins or as asurface mount device.Accommodating a standard 2:1input voltage range around a 48VDC nominal, the UEE series com-prises three models offering thepopular output voltages of 3.3, 5,or 12VDC. These high efficiencyconverters, typically up to 92%,have a tight line regulation of±0.1% and load regulation of up to±0.25%. Basic input/output isola-tion is rated at 2250VDC and com-plies with safety standard EN/UL/

EC 60950. The converters are ableto deliver the full output powerover the industrial equipmenttemperature range of -40 to

+85°C. Safety features of the seriesinclude input undervoltage, out-put overcurrent, short circuit andovertemperature. A remote On/Off control input provides theability to sequence the startup orshutdown of the converter fromanother application. Also, aremote sense input allows correc-tion of the output voltage in orderto make up for line losses, and atrim function provides a useradjustment of the output.MURATA www.murata.eu

Murata Eighth Brick DOSA compliant 150 W DC DCconverter suits distributed power applications

NXP LPC1500 from Mouser Electronics Makes MotorControl Simple



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