Electronics trends for 2013

Electronics industry hopefully starts to glow after not so good year 2012. It’s safe to say that 2012 has been a wild ride for all of us. The global semiconductor industry has demonstrated impressive resilience in year 2012, despite operating in a challenging global macroeconomic environment. Many have already ratcheted back their expectations for 2013. Beyond 2012, the industry is expected to grow steadily and moderately across all regions, according to the WSTS forecast. So we should see moderate growth in 2013 and 2014. I hope this happens.

The non-volatile memory market is growing rapidly. Underlying technologies for non-volatile memories article tells that non-volatile memory applications can be divided into standalone and embedded system solutions. Standalone applications tend to be driven primarily by costs is dominated by NAND FLASH technology. The embedded market relies mainly on NOR Flash for critical applications and NAND for less critical data storage. Planar CT NAND and 3D NAND could fast become commercially viable this year or in few years. MRAM, PCRAM, and RRAM will need more time and new material innovation to become major technologies.

Multicore CPU architectures are a little like hybrid vehicles: Once seen as anomalies, both are now encountered on a regular basis and are widely accepted as possible solutions to challenging problems. Multi-core architectures will find their application but likely won’t force the extinction of single-core MCUs anytime soon. Within the embedded community, a few applications now seem to be almost exclusively multicore, but in many others multicore remains rare. There are concerns over the complexity and uncertainty about the benefits.

FPGAs as the vanishing foundation article tells that we are entering a new environment in which the FPGA has faded into the wallpaper – not because it is obsolete, but because it is both necessary and ubiquitous. After displacing most functions of ASICs, DSPs, and a few varieties of microcontrollers, it’s fair to ask if there is any realm of electronic products where use of the FPGA is not automatically assumed. Chances are, in the next few years, the very term “FPGA” might be replaced by “that ARM-based system on a chip” from Xilinx, Altera, Lattice, or other vendor.

Software and services have become the soul of consumer technology. Hardware has become increasingly commoditized into blank vessels that do little more than hold Facebook and Twitter and the App Store and Android and iOS.

Are products owned when bought? The trend in recent decades has been an increase in the dependence of the buyer on the seller.

More than 5 billion wireless connectivity chips will ship in 2013, according to market research firm ABI Research. This category includes standalone chips for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, satellite positioning, near-field communications and ZigBee as well as so called “combo” chips that combine multiple standards. Broadcom seen retaining lead in connectivity chips. Bluetooth Smart, WiGig and NFC are all are seeing increased adoption in fitness, automotive and retail applications. Combo chips are also a growing opportunity based on the popularity of smart phones, tablet computers and smart televisions.

Signal integrity issues are on the rise as both design complexity and speed increase all the time. The analog world is moving faster than ever. Learning curves are sharper, design cycles are shorter, and systems more complex. Add to all this the multidisciplinary, analog/digital nature of today’s designs, and your job just gets more complicated.

High-speed I/O: On the road to disintegration? article tells that increases in data rates driven by a need for higher bandwidth (10Gbps, 40Gbps, 100Gbps networking) means the demands on system-level and chip-to-chip interconnects are increasingly challenging design and manufacturing capabilities. For current and future high-performance, high-speed serial interfaces featuring equalization could well be the norm and high levels of SoC integration may no longer be the best solution.

crystalball

For a long time, the Consumer Electronics Show, which began in 1967, was the Super Bowl of new technology, but now consumer electronics show as a concept is changing and maybe fading out in some way. The social web has replaced the trade show as a platform for showcasing and distributing products and concepts and ideas.

NFC, or near-field communications, has been around for 10 years, battling its own version of the chicken-and-egg question: Which comes first, the enabled devices or the applications? Near-field communications to go far in 2013 article expects that this is the year for NFC. NFC is going to go down many different paths, not just mobile wallet.

3-D printing was hot last year and is still hot. We will be seeing much more on this technology in 2013.

Inexpensive tablets and e-readers will find their users. Sub-$100 tablets and e-readers will offer more alternatives to pricey iPads and Kindles. Also sub-$200 higher performance tablet group is selling well.

User interfaces will evolve. Capacitive sensing—Integrating multiple interfaces and Human-machine interfaces enter the third dimension. Ubiquitous sensors meet the most natural interface–speech.

Electronic systems in the automotive industry is accelerating at a furious pace. The automotive industry in the United States is steadily recovering and nowadays electronics run pretty much everything in a vehicle. Automotive electronics systems trends impact test and measurement companies Of course, with new technologies come new challenges: faster transport buses, more wireless applications, higher switching power and sheer amount and density of electronics in modern vehicles.

Next Round: GaN versus Si article tells that the wide-band gap (WBG) power devices have shown up as Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC). These devices provide low RDSON with higher breakdown voltage.

Energy harvesting was talked quite much in 2012 and I expect that it will find more and more applications this year. Four main ambient energy sources are present in our environment: mechanical energy (vibrations, deformations), thermal energy (temperature gradients or variations), radiant energy (sun, infrared, RF) and chemical energy (chemistry, biochemistry). Peel-and-stick solar cells are coming.

Wireless charging of mobile devices is get getting some popularity. Wireless charging for Qi technology is becoming the industry standard as Nokia, HTC and some other companies use that. There is a competing AW4P wireless charging standard pushed by Samsung ja Qualcomm.

crystalball

In recent years, ‘Low-carbon Green Growth’ has emerged as a very important issue in selling new products. LED lighting industry analysis and market forecast article tells that ‘Low-carbon Green Growth’ is a global trend. LED lighting is becoming the most important axis of ‘Low-carbon Green Growth’ industry. The expectations for industry productivity and job creation are very large.

A record number of dangerous electrical equipment has been pulled from market by Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency’s control. Poor equipment design have been found in a lot, especially in LED light bulbs. Almost 260 items were taken from the market and very many of them were LED lights. With high enthusiasm we went to the new technology and then forgotten the basic electrical engineering. CE marking is not in itself guarantee that the product is safe.

The “higher density,” “higher dynamic” trend also is challenging traditional power distribution technologies within systems. Some new concepts are being explored today. AC vs DC power in data center discussion is going strong. Redundant power supplies are asked for in many demanding applications.

According to IHS, global advanced meter shipments are expected to remain stable from 2012 through 2014. Smart electricity meters seen doubling by 2016 (to about 35 percent penetration). In the long term, IHS said it anticipates that the global smart meter market will depend on developing economies such as China, Brazil and India. What’s next after smart power meter? How about some power backup for the home?

Energy is going digital article claims that graphical system design changes how we manipulate, move, and store energy. What defines the transition from analog to digital and how can we tell when energy has made the jump? First, the digital control of energy, in the form of electricity, requires smart sensors. Second, digital energy systems must be networked and field reconfigurable to send data that makes continuous improvements and bug fixes possible. Third, the system must be modeled and simulated with high accuracy and speed. When an analog technology goes digital, it becomes an information technology — a software problem. The digital energy revolution is enabled by powerful software tools.

Cloud is talked a lot in both as design tool and service where connected devices connect to. The cloud means many things to many people, but irrespective of how you define it, there are opportunities for engineers to innovate. EDA companies put their hope on Accelerating embedded design with cloud-enabled development platforms. They say that The Future of Design is Cloudy. M2M companies are competing in developing solutions for easily connecting embedded devices to cloud.

Trend articles worth to check out:
13 Things That Went Obsolete In 2012
Five Technologies to Watch in 2013
Hot technologies: Looking ahead to 2013
Hot technologies: Looking ahead to 2013
Technology predictions for 2013
Prediction for 2013 – Technology
Slideshow: Top Technologies of 2013
10 hot consumer trends for 2013

Popular designer articles from last year that could give hints what to expect:
Top 10 Communications Design Articles of 2012
Top 10 smart energy articles of 2012
Slideshow: The Top 10 Industrial Control Articles of 2012
Looking at Developer’s Activities – a 2012 Retrospective

626 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Slideshow: The Role of Embedded Platforms in Next-Gen Designs
    http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1365&doc_id=257806&dfpPParams=ind_186,industry_aero,industry_medical,aid_257806&dfpLayout=blog

    Engineering companies today are coming up with some of the most creative, innovative ideas to meet tough challenges and improve everyday life. We’re in an era of distributed intelligence, where more embedded systems are appearing in all sorts of places. And whether it’s smart electrical power grids or smart coffee machines, the complexity of those systems is increasing.

    Design teams are doing their best to stay on top of the latest technologies and improve system capabilities

    As exciting as this may be, the hard reality is that doubling the number of features or capabilities doesn’t mean engineers can double the size of their teams or double the time it takes to deliver new ideas to market. This is why embedded platforms that combine flexible hardware components and an integrated software framework are becoming more important in helping design teams build complex embedded systems faster.

    Over the last decade, we’ve seen many advances

    The rising trend of using computer on modules (COMs) and system on modules (SOMs) is a great example of how the most common hardware needs of an embedded system can be served by commercially available boards yet still be customized through software and I/O electronics for specific embedded tasks. The total market for COMs and SOMs is expected to double in less than five years, making it the fastest-growing segment in embedded devices. These boards often include all the memory and support circuitry surrounding the processor, as well as standard communication interfaces and connectivity for system-level integration. With hundreds of off-the-shelf embedded processing boards and modules to choose from, design teams can decide how much of the overall system to integrate with standard pieces or customize themselves.

    As standard boards and modules help meet some of the challenges in complex hardware design, the second part of a complete embedded platform is having an integrated software framework to take full advantage of the hardware. Placing a processor and an FPGA on the same board or in the same chip is helpful only if engineers have the right tools and expertise to program them. This is the next major hurdle in the evolution of engineering design tools.

    Some technology providers have chosen to use C-to-gates tools to make it easier for software engineers to program FPGAs. As software design tools continue evolving to more easily represent hardware architectures, engineering teams can reduce the amount of time and effort they spend on component implementation and low-level design tools and spend more time on adding the most value through their core application competencies. Working at a system level, they can explore more ways to perfect application-specific algorithms or other types of secret sauce and further differentiate the products they’re designing while still getting to market faster.

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Onshoring: A Trend in Automation?
    http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=258607

    Last quarter, when Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that his company would invest $100 million in US manufacturing, Simon Grant, president and CEO of Automation GT, said the announcement provided a high-profile example of the recent onshoring trend, which is predicted by some to be at the forefront of company agendas throughout 2013.

    According to Grant, the onshoring movement of returning outsourced manufacturing back to the US began with labor issues in China.

    Companies were also prompted to reconsider the benefits of offshoring

    Automation GT’s Grant believes that operating automation abroad is no more effective than operating automation in the US, and for companies wishing to onshore production, automated robotics will play a key role. “We’ve seen a trend with companies wishing to be ‘reshored’,” Grant said in an interview. “They are not satisfied with the quality of products being produced abroad, and managing that from afar is a real challenge.”

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Enable software programmable digital pre-distortion in cellular radio infrastructure
    http://www.eetimes.com/design/communications-design/4406924/Enable-software-programmable-digital-pre-distortion-in-cellular-radio-infrastructure

    Cellular network operators require significant equipment cost reduction as they strive to increase the network capacity through the use of new air interfaces, new transmission frequencies, wider bandwidth, increasing antenna counts and a greater number of cell sites. Furthermore, these operators require increased equipment efficiency and greater network integration to reduce operating costs. To provide equipment that meets these disparate needs, manufacturers of wireless infrastructure equipment seek solutions that provide greater levels of integration with higher performance and increased flexibility, while delivering lower power and cost. In addition, the equipment providers must do this while shortening time to market.

    The key to reducing the overall equipment cost is integration, but it is down to the advanced digital algorithms that improve power amplifier efficiency to reduce operating costs. One such algorithm that is commonly used is digital pre-distortion (DPD). It’s a challenge to improve the equipment efficiency while the equipment configurations get ever more complex.

    Implementing Cellular Radio on an All Programmable SoC

    DPD improves power amplifier efficiency by extending its’ linear range. Efficiency is improved when the amplifier is driven harder to improve the output power, while static power remains relatively constant. In order to extend this linear range, DPD uses an analogue feedback path from the amplifier and a significant amount of signal processing to calculate coefficients that are used to represent the inverse of the amplifier’s non-linearity. These coefficients are then used to pre-correct the transmitted signal driving the power amplifier, resulting in the increase of the amplifier’s linear range. The DPD algorithm can be broken down into multiple functions

    DPD is a closed loop system where the previously transmitted signal is captured to determine how the amplifier behaved with the transmitted signal.

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How Nest’s Control Freaks Reinvented the Thermostat
    http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/511086/how-nests-control-freaks-reinvented-the-thermostat/

    Two men who created the iPod and iPhone founded Nest and injected new technology into the humble thermostat. Now they have their sights on the rest of your house.

    Nest’s first model, a striking stainless-steel-ringed disc with a circular display, went on sale in October 2011 to widespread acclaim. The HVAC industry, a sector as unexciting as the thermostats it sold, was astonished by the fresh ideas behind the device, which learned from its owners’ behavior and could be controlled with a polished mobile app. The company released a second, more advanced thermostat in October 2012, and says sales of the two models have been brisk.

    Now the company is preparing to release another product. Details are scarce, but it seems that Fadell’s thermostat epiphany has launched a technological campaign that will make every part of your home more intelligent.

    For half a century, the state of the art in home energy controls has been the programmable thermostat. The theory is that if people can schedule when their heating and cooling systems will kick in, they don’t have to waste energy by running the system at all times to be assured of comfortable temperatures when they wake up or return from work. But the HVAC industry has made programmable thermostats difficult to use, with unintuitive dials and sliders and cramped displays. Citing such “user interface issues,” the Environmental Protection Agency removed programmable thermostats from its Energy Star certification program in 2009.

    Nest is being watched by green-tech researchers and investors who believe it may lead a new wave of technologies that can significantly reduce power use in homes, which account for about 10 percent of U.S. energy consumption. The government allocates tens of millions of dollars per year for programs that reduce energy use in residential buildings. But many home improvements, such as insulation and storm windows, cost thousands of dollars per house and deliver energy savings comparable to what a better thermostat can generate for far less money, Whitehouse says.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    In late January, Apple announced that it would be halting sales of the venerable Mac Pro on March 1 due to incompatibility with Amendment 1 of Regulation IEC 60950-1. According to Apple, the aging desktop platform is incompatible with the revised standard’s requirement for protected fan blades.

    EN 60950-1:2006/A1:2010 includes the following significant changes from EN 60950-1:2006/A11:2009.

    Modified requirements for bridging resistors (1.5.7.1 and 1.5.7.2)
    Additional requirements for VDR (1.5.9.4)
    Modified marking requirement for equipment with multiple MAINS SUPPLY connections (1.7.1.1)
    Modified compliance criteria for LPS (2.5 c)
    Additional and modified requirements for safety interlocks (2.8.4)
    Modified requirements for minimum creepage distances (Table 2N)
    Additional requirements for rack-mounted equipment that should comply with Annex DD (4.2.1)
    Additional requirements for rotating solid media (4.2.11)
    Additional requirements for UV radiation (4.3.13.3 & 4.3.13.4)
    Modified requirement for LEDs whose compliance standard is changed to IEC 62471 (4.3.13.5)
    Additional requirements for protection against moving fan blades (4.4.5)
    Additional requirements for evaluation of IC current limiters (Annex CC)
    Additional requirements for the mounting of rack-mounted equipment (Annex DD)
    Additional requirements for household and home/office document/media shredders (Annex EE)

    Sources:
    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/02/18/mac-pro-no-longer-available-from-european-apple-online-stores
    http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/80587/what-are-the-regulatory-requirements-that-will-halt-the-sale-of-the-mac-pro-in-e

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Exactly what is your design power problem?
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/power-points/4407025/Exactly-what-is-your-design-power-problem-

    Nearly every design engineer says he or she has a “power problem.” I get that – but sometimes you have to probe further to find out what the nature of the power problem is.

    I divide the power problem into two broad categories: those who don’t have much power available – energy harvesting is the extreme example, of course – and those who can get a little more power from their source if they need to, but whose major problem is thermal and keeping their system from overheating.

    Although both groups have power problems, their approaches to dealing with are quite different

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Power supplies go digital
    http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4406937/Power-supplies-go-digital-

    Digital control inside an on-board power supply facilitates improved efficiency, reduced total cost and advanced system power management.

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Plug-and-play modular board design
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/systems-interface/4407215/Plug-and-play-modular-board-design

    Gumstix has given a new meaning to plug-and-play with its announcement of its Geppetto online design tool. Putting together a Gumstrix modular embedded computer is as easy as selecting and connecting blocks through a series of prompts and options provided by Geppetto.

    According to Gumstrix CEO Gordon Kruberg, Gumstix was the result of a decision taken about a year ago to provide customers with much the same automation technology the company’s own designers have been using for years to speed design of its modular systems.

    “Gepetto is a design front end to our logistics and engineering systems,” said Kruberg. “So anyone with rudimentary knowledge of [modular design] can sit down and spec out what they want – Gepetto has guidance to ensure that what needs to be connected gets connected.”

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Experts find there is more analog in digital power than previously thought
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/digital-power-system-design-blog/4406908/Experts-find-there-is-more-analog-in-digital-power-than-previously-thought

    The problem manifests itself in the term “Digital Power.” Can power really be digital, or is this another case where the world is really Analog? Perhaps “Digital Power,” is just poor fiction.

    In the good old days, power conversion was either an analog feedback loop around a pass transistor (LDO), or an analog feedback loop around switching devices with filters (Buck Converter). Then someone got the bright idea to control a switching converter reference point with DACs, measure output voltage and current with ADCs, throw in some comparators for faults, and add a serial communication bus.

    Then some crazy Digital Signal Processing (DSP) guys said, why not replace the feedback compensation with a math processor. The result is a market filled with different combinations of analog and digital features. We called it all “Digital Power” and have no idea what it means when we say it.

    The problem is when we use the term “Digital Power,” nobody ever agrees about what it refers to.

    The main confusion is whether “Digital Power” means a switching power conversion system with analog compensation and PMBus, or a switching power conversion system with digital compensation and PMBus. And what about the management chips full of DACs, ADCs, and servos? As soon as I say I have a “Digital Power” device, depending on which interpretation is in play, vastly different mental images appear and I spend so much time explaining what I mean, that I might as well never have said “Digital Power.”

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Temporary tattoo lets users control machines via telekinesis
    Thin, flexible sticker provides non-invasive solution to thought control
    http://www.electronicproducts.com/Sensors_and_Transducers/Sensors_and_Transducers/Temporary_tattoo_lets_users_control_machines_via_telekinesis.aspx

    Todd Coleman, electrical engineer, bioengineer, and the leader of the Neural Interactional Lab at the University of California (San Diego), has proposed the use of super-thin, super-flexible electronic tattoos as a non-invasive solution to reading brainwave activity and using the subsequent data reports to control machines.

    The device measures about the same size as the width of a human hair. It is able to stick to the user’s forehead and read electrical signals produced by the brain. A bit more specifically, the tattoo monitors the electrical rhythms of the brain and wirelessly transmits this data optically (via LEDs) or electromagnetically (via flexible antennas) to provide quantitative measurements that dictate to the machine what to do.

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Test Gets No Respect
    http://www.scopejunction.com/author.asp?section_id=2980&doc_id=258776&cid=reg-email-2-21

    Rodney Dangerfield was known to say “I don’t get no respect.” Sometimes, that’s how it feels to be a test engineer. I’m always amazed how little appreciation the test organization garners in most companies. From forgetting to invite us to design reviews, to the inevitable schedule crunch near the end of the project, the test group goes greatly unappreciated in the engineering world.

    I therefore thought it might be interesting to bring you a perspective into the wonderful world of test. Over time, I hope to touch on subjects that explain the role of testing at each stage of the product lifespan, and to spark discussions on the theories, processes, practices, concerns, and benefits that are (or at least should be) an integral part of every solid test effort.

    The four primary strains of testing are: testing for verification, for validation, for investigation, and for experimentation.

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Impact from consumer electronics: Laerdal Medical
    http://www.datarespons.com/Newsroom/News/2013/Impact-from-Consumer-Electronics-Laerdal-Medical/

    Data Respons has contributed to the development of a new platform for Laerdal Medical’s Patient Simulation System and manikins – the SimPad.

    Traditionally, embedded systems have been developed by using either computer building blocks from the PC domain or solutions tailored for specific vertical markets.

    However, in 2010 it became clear to Data Respons that the emerging consumer Smartphone market would implicate changes to the design of embedded systems.

    The driving forces behind these changes were:

    An extremely high level of integration resulting in reduced footprint
    The excellent power efficiency of the ARM architecture
    Economics of scale, amortizing NRE’s over huge volumes resulting in significant cost savings for the end product

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Busless Systems Evolve to Challenge Slot Card Approaches
    http://cotsjournalonline.com/articles/view/103135

    While traditional bus-oriented slot card systems remain a staple in the defense industry, the emergence of standard busless form factors is challenging that legacy. Coupled with the shift toward SFF solutions, the system design landscape is in a state of change.

    As military system developers struggle to get the most out of today’s embedded computing technologies, the decision to leverage a slot card bus-based approach versus a busless design is more critical than ever. A central question along those lines is what is driving an increasing number of smaller form factor (SFF) systems being used in defense applications instead of the traditional ATR-sized systems? The world of embedded defense applications is changing. Once dominated by cPCI and VME-based 3U and 6U systems with 3 to 21 slots, there is now a shift to smaller systems. In some cases these smaller system needs are being implemented by 3U CompactPCI, VME or VPX-based systems, but in more and more instances small systems are being implemented using a busless approach.

    The busless approach can be defined as any implementation that does not use a traditional motherboard slot card configuration. Before the advent of VME or CompactPCI, the busless approach would have been a full custom system with a different system for each application—with all of the inherent support and upgrade issues that a full custom system entails. A busless system can now be implemented using open standards that define processor-based mezzanines that can be used to develop the system. Some of the most popular ones are COM Express, Qseven, ETX and EPIC. With new standards being developed as well, there are several choices for developing a busless system.

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Free Compiler in the Cloud
    http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=259334&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily&dfpPParams=ind_186,aid_259334&dfpLayout=blog

    you can store your design, access tools, collaborate with others on your design team regardless of where they’re located, and so on. This time, the cloud is “housed” at Arrow, in a tool called Cloud Connect.

    Arrow has partnered with Freescale and its Freedom-developed platform on this tool chain. Now, you can more easily design a product for the “Internet of Things” applications based on Freescale’s Kinetis L series 32-bit MCUs, specifically the ARM Cortex™-M0+ architecture. Using the development platform, you can write, compile, and program code to your L series Freescale Freedom development platform, all from within the cloud using the free compiler.

    If you’re not familiar with the M0 processors, they are very low power and very inexpensive.

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Arrow Cloud Connect
    http://arrow.transim.com/arrowcloudconnect/home

    Arrow’s Cloud Connect is a free online tool chain for building Internet of Things application on ARM® Cortex™-M0+ platform. You can write, compile and program code to your Freescale Freedom Development Platform. You can also connect to iDigi cloud through a software gateway, giving you instant capability to sense and send data for various end points. Our dashboards will visualize data in a meaningful format.

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Freescale’s Insanely Tiny ARM Chip Will Put the Internet of Things Inside Your Body
    http://www.wired.com/design/2013/02/freescales-tiny-arm-chip/

    Chipmaker Freescale Semiconductor has created the world’s smallest ARM-powered chip, designed to push the world of connected devices into surprising places.

    Announced today, the Kinetis KL02 measures just 1.9 by 2 millimeters. It’s a full microcontroller unit (MCU), meaning the chip sports a processor, RAM, ROM, clock and I/O control unit — everything a body needs to be a basic tiny computer.

    The KL02 has 32k of flash memory, 4k of RAM, a 32 bit processor, and peripherals like a 12-bit analog to digital converter and a low-power UART built into the chip.

    The KL02 is part of Freescale’s push to make chips tailored to the Internet of Things. Between the onboard peripherals and a power-management system tuned to the chemistry of current generation batteries, the KL02 is intended to be at the heart of a network of connected objects, moving from shoes that wirelessly report your steps (a natural evolution of Nike+) to pipes that warn you when they are leaking.

    There are some clues we can glean about how this chip might end up inside our digestive tracts. Freescale already works with a variety of health and wellness customers.

    Though Moore’s law has become largely uninteresting at the scale of desktop and laptop computers (when all you’re doing is watching videos, writing, and surfing the web, you don’t need that much power), there is still plenty of room at the bottom.

    “We come across hundreds of [microcontrollers] embedded in the devices we use throughout the day,” says Tateosian. “For example, you may come across them when your alarm wakes you up, you brush your teeth, make your coffee, unlock your car door, open your garage, put down the car window, pay the parking meter, tell the time on your watch, measure your heart rate, distance, and pace. While running you may listen to your music player with several controllers inside, including in the ear buds themselves.”

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Why Silicon Valley Is the Next Detroit
    http://allthingsd.com/20130226/why-silicon-valley-is-the-next-detroit/

    All good things must come to an end, including Motown and many a once-noble region or hamlet. So I have history on my side when I lob the following grenade: Silicon Valley will take its turn someday, falling from the heights it has attained.

    I make this assertion because if we look closely, we can already see what will cause the decline of Silicon Valley. In fact, the valley’s residents are consciously planting the seeds of the valley’s own demise.

    My cheery assessment depends on this sleight of words: Decline is relative, and the decline that Silicon Valley faces will be less like watching Hewlett-Packard slip into irrelevance and more like proudly standing to one side as the rest of the world — eventually even the less-developed world — catches up to it.

    Digital disruption — a force that Silicon Valley gestated and nursed from its earliest days — is now global. Digital devices, the networks that connect them, and the software tools that prod human beings to hanker for more of all these things will soon be everywhere. The long-term effect of rising digital disruption will be to redistribute the benefits of the future across the planet even as it continues to improve the already futuristic valley that started it all. What does Silicon Valley have today that other places will eventually enjoy as well?

    Access to three things the valley currently has in spades:

    Knowledge. Analytics available to even the lowest YouTube channel producer now rival the most sophisticated reports CBS, NBC and ABC had available in the 1980s.

    Tools. Digital disruption depends on the distribution of tools — most of them free or nearly free — that equip anyone who wants to use knowledge to initiate and test a new concept.

    Capital. It’s not that there’s money going around. But thanks to the knowledge and digital tools available to you, you need a whole lot less of it to bring your idea to fruition.

    People fond of wine and cheese will argue that there’s more to valley life than just these three things. That’s certainly true, but when you have more knowledge, tools and capital, some of the other things the valley prizes become common elsewhere as well. A culture of achievement, for example.

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Machine Safety: Is prevention through design enough?
    http://www.controleng.com/home/single-article/machine-safety-is-prevention-through-design-enough/758a9567aeff9434330643bed7734d46.html

    U.S. consensus standards provide direction to suppliers on how to design in machine safety. Can users understand and comply with the additional requirements of ISO 13849-1?

    Prevention through design (PTD) has been a central theme of innovation for accomplishing machine safety in my view for at least the past decade. So, where does this concept reside today on the scale of idea through broad adoption?

    Ah, this is the U.S. dilemma. PTD and our domestic consensus standards provide direction to suppliers on how to design in machine safety. Great!

    However, enforcement via OSHA is accomplished only by inspecting installed machines on a user’s plant floor. Machines being designed and manufactured by an OEM are not inspected by OSHA.

    In my opinion, it’s great that we’re focusing on suppliers’ requirements to improve machine safety. But, let’s not forget about users and how they’ll use the same standards to maintain their safety compliance.

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Taking the complexity out of designing Smart-Grid devices
    http://www.controleng.com/home/single-article/taking-the-complexity-out-of-designing-smart-grid-devices/39f6852f7f8c8a9197c91b4d8651d8e8.html

    National Instruments executive says a new development platform should bring renewable energy sources to the grid much faster.

    Last August, National Instruments (NI) unveiled a product that it expects to quicken the pace at which renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power make their way onto the Smart Grid. The NI Single-Board RIO General Purpose Inverter Controller (GPIC) includes a hardware chassis that harnesses field programmable gate-array (FPGA) technology and the well-known NI LabVIEW System Design Software suite.

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    PLC vs. PAC
    http://www.controleng.com/home/single-article/plc-vs-pac/44448cf771be09bff7115c621633bd94.html

    These technologies continue to evolve, making differences harder to distinguish. Here are some thoughts on what does what, and how to choose between a PLC and a PAC for your next application.

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    ROS Industrial aims to open, unify advanced robotic programming
    http://www.controleng.com/home/single-article/ros-industrial-aims-to-open-unify-advanced-robotic-programming/21a132bff0cb73cba53d5c60f3f82c2b.html

    Video: Multiple robots can be operated within one open-source programming environment, explains Shaun M. Edwards, senior research engineer, robotics and automation engineering section, Southwest Research Institute.

    http://www.rosindustrial.org/

    The ROS-Industrial™ program, initiated by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), enables new applications and reduces project costs for industrial robotics and automation. ROS-Industrial, a free, open-source, BSD-licensed software library, extends the advanced capabilities of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software to new industrial applications. In addition to the content generated by the user community, ROS-Industrial is supported by the ROS-Industrial Consortium (RIC), which is a precompetitive commercial collaborative research organization, providing value to its members through training, technical support, and cost-shared Focused Technical Projects (FTPs).

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Understand and perform testing for MIPI M-PHY compliance
    http://www.edn.com/design/test-and-measurement/4407197/Understand-and-perform-testing-for-MIPI-M-PHY-compliance

    As MIPI Alliance standards gain increasing acceptance in the world of mobile device design, engineers need to become proficient at electrical PHY layer compliance testing for the higher speed M-PHY serial interconnects. A full set of tests spanning both the transmitter and the receiver are required to validate designs – a task that is made tougher as speeds and complexity increase. Understanding how to setup and perform critical verification and debug tests is critical to any successful M-PHY development effort.

    MIPI Technologies Overview
    MIPI provides specifications for standard hardware and software interfaces within a mobile device. MIPI specifications improve interoperability between components from different component vendors, reduce the effort of integration and speed up the time-to-market for mobile devices.
    One of the primary roles of MIPI standards is to convert legacy parallel interfaces into modern serial data interfaces for scalable, more efficient mobile device designs. As a result, all MIPI standards are serial data and follow a set of protocol stacks.

    M-PHY has different data rates depending on operating mode. In HS mode, the data rate ranges from 1,248 Mbps to 5,830.4 Mbps. In LS mode, the data rate ranges from 10 kbps to 576 Mbps.

    In an M-PHY transmitter, 8b/10b is a line code used to achieve DC-balance and bounded disparity.

    Decode software allows software, design, and test engineers to accurately decode multi-lane M-PHY traffic acquired by an oscilloscope. The software acquires up to four lanes of M-PHY data traffic at a time, and offers triggers, filters and search on the decoded traffic to help speed validation and debug efforts.

    Designers working on MIPI M-PHY technology face a number of difficult test challenges.

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Fully depleted silicon technology to underlie energy-efficient designs at 28 nm and beyond
    http://www.edn.com/design/consumer/4407369/Fully-depleted-silicon-technology-to-underlie-energy-efficient-designs-at-28-nm-and-beyond

    Technological advances in transistor scaling have had a dramatic effect on consumer electronics and their corresponding use cases.

    While it has taken 40 years to come this far, innovation has been exceptionally rapid over the course of the past 10 years, and consumer expectations have accelerated at a similar pace. What sort of features and computing capabilities will we expect of our mobile devices five years from now? How about in 10 years? Future improvements largely hinge on the industry’s ability to continue on the path of Moore’s Law by producing ever-smaller transistors with ever-greater performance. Satisfactory scaling fulfills two core requirements: the need for smaller transistors that reduce costs and a parallel need for improved performance and lower power consumption.

    To date, transistor scaling has continued in accordance with Moore’s Law down to 32 nm. Engineering challenges, however, are forcing chipmakers to compromise performance and power efficiency in order to reach smaller nodes – unless they switch to new technologies that help better solve these challenges. Today, the semiconductor industry is starting to deploy such new technologies, largely relying on “fully-depleted” transistors for continued scaling and performance gains.

    A fully depleted (FD) transistor can be planar or tri-dimensional.

    Three-dimensional FinFET architectures are in the short-term planning phases of several world-leading foundries to scale CMOS technology to 16 nm and beyond, with the most aggressive schedules aiming for high-volume production no later than 2015, despite the challenges of manufacturing this technology.

    For planar architecture, FD-SOI is currently being implemented at the 28-nm node by industry-leading companies such as ST Microelectronics and its partner ST-Ericsson. Allowing for a smooth evolution from conventional planar CMOS technology, FD-SOI is a comparatively simple technology, with its proponents arguing that both power consumption and performance figures are comparable to those of FinFET.

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Did you hear about the changes to IEC61010-1?
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/isolate-me-/4407383/Did-you-hear-about-the-changes-to-IEC61010-1-

    International standard IEC 61010-1 specifies safety requirements for a variety of electrical systems, including test and measurement, industrial process-control and laboratory equipment. The purpose of the standard is to minimize hazards to operators and the surrounding environment and equipment.

    As of October 1, 2013, all new products under the scope of IEC61010 being sold in the EU must demonstrate conformity to the 3rd edition of IEC61010. Many new elements were added in the third edition, including a complete rewrite of the section governing insulation requirements. This post discusses new requirements for thin film insulation and the impact on digital isolators utilizing this material as the isolation barrier.

    Insulation requirements are now specified based on construction, with separate sections for solid insulation, moulded and potted parts, inner layers of printed wiring boards and thin-film insulation.

    “For BASIC INSULATION, SUPPLEMENTARY INSULATION and REINFORCED INSULATION, conductors located on an interface between the same two layers moulded together shall be separated by at least 0,4 mm after the moulding is completed.”

    Clearance and creepage distance requirements for systems with mains voltages greater than 300 V are covered in Annex K. Internal clearance and creepage requirements remain, and greater distances are specified due to the larger voltages.

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Startup Devises Liquid Metal Batteries for the Electricity Grid
    http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=259497&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily

    A Boston-area startup has invented new liquid-based heavy-duty battery technology that its founders hope will be the foundation of the next-generation electricity grid in which alternative energy will play a key role. Ambri — yet another company formed out of that bastion of modern invention, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — is developing giant cells that are comprised of liquid electrodes and an electrolyte capable of storing large amounts of solar and wind power at a low cost.

    “With a giant battery, we could address the problem of intermittency that prevents wind and solar from contributing to the grid in the same way that coal and gas and nuclear do today,” Sadoway said. “The battery is the key enabling device here. With it we could draw electricity from the sun when the sun doesn’t shine.”

    He employed Bradwell — then a post-doc at MIT — to create the battery from his concept of using metals that when heated form liquids that are the basis for the battery, using a low-density liquid metal at top, a high-density liquid metal at bottom with a layer of molten salt in between as the electrolyte. The first battery created by Sadoway and Bradwell used magnesium at the top as the negative electrode and antimony at the bottom as the positive electrode.

    Eventually the cells will be stacked into modules the size of 40-ft shipping containers with “the nameplate capacity of two megawatt-hours — 2 million watt-hours,” Sadoway said. “That’s enough energy to meet the daily electrical needs of 200 American households,” he said. “So here you have it, grid-level storage: silent, emissions-free, no moving parts, remotely controlled, designed to the market price point without subsidy.”

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    16 core ARM chip aims at mobile network infrastructure
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4407541/16-core-ARM-chip-aims-at-mobile-network-infrastructure

    LSI has developed a network processor with 16 ARM Cortex-A15 processors and a range of acceleration co-processors for mobile network infrastructure applications.

    The Axxia 5500 supports up to 50 Gb/s packet processing, 20 Gb/s security processing and 160Gb/s of Ethernet switching for base stations, cell site routers and gateways in multi-radio systems and 4G/LTE capable wireless networks.

    The 28nm chip is also one of the first to use ARM’s new interconnect, the CCN504 CoreLink, to link the processors with the embedded engines.

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Delta sigma modulation: An option for isolated digital power
    http://www.eetimes.com/design/industrial-control/4407896/Delta-sigma-modulation–An-option-for-isolated-digital-power-

    There is a first order sigma-delta modulator mode built into the switch cap block.

    So why would this be useful for power designs?

    most switching power supplies have to regulate an output across a gap where no DC current flows. How can the output be regulated then? A common and pretty classical approach to this problem is to combine an error amplifier and compensation network with a biased optocoupler as shown in Figure 1 to bridge the safety gap.

    The transfer characteristics can change significantly as the part ages.

    Digital isolators have an advantage over an ordinary optocoupler; the input to output relationship is basically always one to one, and it doesn’t change. Plus information is transferred at a considerably higher rate. The technical hurdle with the digital isolator is the binary nature of the digital isolator

    The digital isolator favors passing data rather than a raw analog signal. This is where the sigma-delta modulator idea can play quite nicely.

    Fundamentally the sigma-delta modulator simply translates an analog signal bounded to a certain range into a high speed stream of bits, a density stream, which represents the analog signal.

    The sigma-delta modulator is integrated with analog compensation and programmable reference generation to form a compact, mixed digital and analog control strategy for power applications. The beauty of all of this is that the functionality is integrated on a single programmable SoC.

    Of course, it is unlikely that using the combination sigma-delta modulator and digital isolator to pass analog information is ideal for all designs

    However, the continuing proliferation of digital techniques and the constant drive for integration makes such an idea far more attractive in certain systems. This is especially true for dense and complex systems such as server power supplies and microinverters

    Every power platform I worked on was consistently driven to lower cost, increase density, and increase efficiency.

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Nokia miracle in the end – Electronics exports collapse continues

    Finnish electronics exports shrank in the last quarter.

    When Nokia’s gold rush phones and other communication devices of all Finnish exports was 20 per cent, it was the last year to less than three per cent.

    Next year the percentage drops even from this level.

    National Board of Customs last year’s export statistics show that the traditional electrical engineering industry is currently more important to Finland than electronics export sector. Electrical products were exported to almost four billion euros, compared to the electronics industry amounted to more than three billion. Communication equipment accounted for more than half.

    Electrical and electronics exports were before the start of Nokia’s collapse in 2008 of more than EUR 15 billion. Last year, it was down to 7.3 billion. Next year, communication equipment export calculates the final months of last year, the trend continues, approximately one billion euros.

    Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokian+ihmeen+loppu++elektroniikkaviennin+romahdus+jatkuu/a883138?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-01032013&

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    This Electronic Temporary Tattoo Will Soon Be Tracking Your Health
    http://www.wired.com/design/2013/02/skin-printed-electrodes/

    FitBit too bulky? Why not glue a sensor array to your skin?

    The quantified self goes nanoscale with a stick-on silicon electrode network that could not only change the way we measure health metrics, but could enable a new form of user interface. And the researchers behind it aim to have the device available in the next few weeks through a spinoff company, MC10.

    The development takes wearable technology to the extreme, designed as a non-invasive diagnostic sensor that could be used to measure hydration, activity, and even infant temperature. It bonds to the skin, somewhat like a temporary tattoo, flexing and bending in sync with your skin the way you wish a Band-Aid would. How?

    With a thickness of 0.8 micrometers at the widest — around one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair — the thin mesh of silicon actually nestles in to the grooves and creases in your skin, even the ones too small to see. Being small helps, but it’s also important that the silicon is laid out in a serpentine pattern and bonded to a soft rubber substrate, allowing the stiff material to flex, a little bit like an accordion.

    “Although electronics, over the years, has developed into an extremely sophisticated form of technology, all existing commercial devices in electronics involve silicon wafers as the supporting substrate,” says John Rogers, who led the study published this week in Advanced Materials.

    Reply
  30. Jim Reighard says:

    higreatblog thanks for helping people.

    Reply
  31. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Hey, PCIe flash makers. Look behind you – it’s Samsung
    South Korean giant fancies a wodge of NAND cache action
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/04/samsung_pcie/

    Samsung is stalking PCIe flash companies and aims to meet them head-to-head. Yes, the South Korean giant is going to enter the PCIe flash card game.

    In passing he mentioned that chip-maker Samsung’s priority for NAND memory at present is to service the mobile phone market.

    Blumstengel also said that Samsung was fabricating 28nm process DRAM and moving to 25nm.

    As far as post-NAND technologies are concerned, he thought that, generally, equipping a fab to produce ReRAM, PCM or whatever other new technology might be chosen could cost colossal sums like $10bn.

    Reply
  32. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Android, FreeRTOS top EE Times’ 2013 embedded survey
    http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4407897/Android–FreeRTOS-top-EE-Times–2013-embedded-survey

    Android has become the most popular third-party operating system for embedded applications according to a market study conducted by UBM Tech, the publisher of EE Times.

    Android has been selected for 16 percent of embedded projects according to the latest version of the annual survey, which was conducted with more than 2,000 respondents mainly located in North America and Europe

    Android was up from 13 percent of projects the year before, putting it in second place behind the most popular option, which was the use of in-house/custom operating systems, which the respondents use 28 percent of the time.

    However, despite pulling ahead of FreeRTOS and Ubuntu Linux, the news is not all good for Android in embedded applications.

    Reply
  33. Tomi Engdahl says:

    In the electronics industry, contract manufacturing has long been a strategy for reducing time to market and simplifying project oversight. With today’s complex production environment, you need to ensure the intricacies of your project are addressed — without adding extra cost. And that means doing your homework.

    Source: http://subscriber.emediausa.com/Bulletins/BulletinPreview.aspx?BF=1&BRID=46637

    Reply
  34. Tomi Engdahl says:

    A Battery That Stretches to Three Times Its Size
    http://www.technologyreview.com/news/511901/a-battery-that-stretches-to-three-times-its-size/

    Stretchable batteries that can be recharged wirelessly offer a power source for wearable electronics and health monitors.

    Flexible, stretchable electronic devices will help monitor athletes on the field, take medical monitoring away from the hospital bedside, and make portable electronics more comfortable—perhaps even wearable. But to do anything at all, they need a power source. Now researchers have demonstrated a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can be stretched by as much as 300 percent.

    The challenge is that the best performing electronic devices, including silicon transistors, aren’t stretchable. The Illinois researchers have overcome this problem for some components by making them very thin and integrating them into large, widely spaced arrays built on stretchable substrates, such as thin sheets of silicone.

    However, this approach won’t work for a battery,

    The solution devised by Rogers and Huang was to make a dense array of lithium-ion battery cells on a stretchable material, and wire them together with compact, yet highly extensible wires. These connections take up a very small area of the array

    The Illinois group demonstrated that the battery could operate an LED even while being stretched. And they demonstrated that the battery could be charged without the need to plug it into the wall—an inconvenience for electronics worn on the clothes, and an impossibility for implanted electronics—by pairing it with a similarly stretchy sheet of resonators that can be used to wirelessly recharge the battery. The Illinois group also showed that the battery can take the strain when wrapped around a person’s elbow and flexed.

    Reply
  35. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Samsung-Sharp Deal Could Reshape Tech Alliances
    http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/03/06/samsung-sharp-deal-could-reshape-tech-alliances/

    South Korea’s Samsung Electronics is in talks to invest about $107 million in struggling Japanese electronics firm Sharp Corp., a deal that not only highlights Korea’s ascendancy over Japan as a global electronics giant, but could well reshape alliances in the competitive industry.

    Samsung’s potential involvement in the Japanese company could help Sharp reduce its dependence on Apple.

    Samsung’s bid to turn Sharp, once a major competitor, into an ally, shows how serious it is in winning a global battle with Apple for dominance in the lucrative market for mobile devices.

    Reply
  36. Tomi Engdahl says:

    AC-DC Power Supplies Are Shrinking
    http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1365&doc_id=259264&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily

    Power-supply design trends are clear and dramatic: additional features, improved efficiency, and smaller size for the same power ratings, for both battery-powered portable units as well as larger, line-powered ones. For the AC-DC supplies, these changes are due to multiple factors combining to yield these more-compact designs. Some of the factors are obvious, but others are not.

    Start with the most apparent change, which is the use of smaller passive components. Vendors are shifting the basic resistor and capacitor footprint from 0805 size (2.0mm by 1.25mm) to 0603 (1.5mm by 0.8mm), and to an even-smaller 0402 size (1.0mm by 0.5mm). Diodes, as well, are also available in smaller packages. The use of larger parts was a holdover habit from previous generations of supplies.

    the change from 0805 to 0402 cuts a component’s immediate footprint to 20 percent of its previous value — and there are many such devices on a supply’s PC board.

    Changes in the supply magnetics (inductors and transformers) are also helping reduce size.

    In addition, supply designers are making better use of the available inductor volume.

    On the active component side, the power semiconductors’ packaging has shrunk, primarily for the critical MOSFETs of the output.

    Power-supply size also involves the necessary concerns for thermal loads. To address this issue, engineers are making extensive use of thermal gap pads for more efficient heat transfer. Since this thermal material can be a significant part of the bill of materials (BOM) cost, the heat-sink structure has been redesigned to use less of the gap-pad material, thus cutting both cost and size.

    Finally, by increasing the internal operating frequency for these switching supplies, designers have been able to decrease overall size or, alternatively, pack a higher power rating into the same size unit.

    Active components also are playing a major role in the shrinking of supplies in several ways.

    The most dramatic change for supplies architecture is the inclusion of digital control circuitry in the supply’s inner workings. In recent years, processors have been used in the secondary side of the supply to monitor key points and performance, to establish some operating parameters, and to manage a communications interface port. But the primary-side control loop remained analog.

    With the availability of high-performance, low-cost DSPs, digital control now extends to the primary loop, which increases the flexibility in control and operating points, including on-the-fly adaptive control and dynamic operating changes.

    Reply
  37. Tomi Engdahl says:

    XMOS takes four core microcontroller below $3
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4408332/XMOS-takes-four-core-microcontroller-below–3

    XMOS has launched a four core Microcontroller for under $3 to open up multicore designs to low quantity and distribution customers.

    The xCORE XS1-L4-64 integrates four 32bit logical processor cores with 64KB of SRAM at a price that is comparable with competing single-core devices.

    “The xCORE L4 offers 400MIPS performance at the price point of other manufacturers’ 40 or 50MIPS products,”

    Priced at just $2.95 in 100‑unit quantities through global distributors, the L4 provides an entry-level platform for designers considering multicore technology for the first time. It is pin-compatible with other members of the xCORE family, opening up the opportunity to cost reduce existing designs.

    The new device is aimed at accurate stepper motor control, industrial networking and motion control. With 64bit precision DSP capability, it is also particularly well suited for signal conditioning tasks and applications such as control that combine cost-sensitivity with high performance demands.

    Reply
  38. Tomi Engdahl says:

    IR time-of-flight proximity sensor opens up new smartphone user interactions
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4408137/IR-time-of-flight-proximity-sensor-opens-up-new-smartphone-user-interactions

    Combining three optical elements in a single compact package, the VL6180 is the first member of ST’s FlightSense family and uses a new optical-sensing technology that enables innovative new user interactions with smartphones.

    The VL6180 uses a proximity measuring technology to offer unprecedented accuracy and reliability in calculating the distance between the smartphone and the user. Instead of estimating distance by measuring the amount of light reflected back from the object, which is significantly influenced by colour and surface, the sensor precisely measures the time the light takes to travel to the nearest object and reflect back to the sensor. This “Time-of-Flight” approach ignores the amount of light reflected back and only considers the time for the light to make the return journey.

    The key to ST’s patented new solution is an infrared emitter that sends out light pulses, an ultra-fast light detector that picks up the reflected pulses, and electronic circuitry that accurately measures the time difference between the emission of a pulse and the detection of its reflection.

    Reply
  39. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Electronics without current: Finnish team to research the future of nanoelectronics
    http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/tuot-ewc091212.php

    The Academy of Finland has granted €1.6 million to a consortium based at Tampere University of Technology (TUT) under the “Programmable Materials” funding scheme.

    The key idea behind the project is the so-called quantum dot cellular automaton (QCA). In QCAs, pieces of semiconductor so small that single electronic charges can be measured and manipulated are arranged into domino like cells. Like dominos, these cells can be arranged so that the position of the charges in one cell affects the position of the charges in the next cell, which allows making logical circuits out of these “quantum dominos”. But, no charge flows from one cell to the next, i.e. no current. This, plus the extremely small size of QCAs, means that they could be used to make electronic circuits at densities and speeds not possible now. However, realisation of the dots and cells and making electrical connections to them has been a huge challenge.

    Reply
  40. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Car infotainment systems need multi-output power ICs
    http://www.eetimes.com/design/automotive-design/4408195/Car-infotainment-systems-demand-flexible–configurable-multi-output-power-ICs?Ecosystem=communications-design

    The popularity of automotive infotainment systems continues to explode. Modern technological advancements such as satellite radio, touch screens, navigation systems, Bluetooth, HDTV, integrated cell phones, media players and video game systems have enhanced the driving experience. With over 50 million cars produced each year worldwide, the majority have some type of integrated infotainment system.

    From a power supply perspective, a basic infotainment console may require several low voltage power supply rails with several Amps of total current, and a premium console may require even more. Traditionally, these voltage rails and current levels have been supplied by a multitude of discrete power regulator ICs or large overly-integrated power management integrated circuits (PMICs).

    However, these large PMICs often have more rails than are needed, require a large circuit footprint and are usually under-powered for some of the rails. As a result, there is a need for a multi-output IC that can provide a small solution footprint with a configurable number of moderately powered rails

    Reply
  41. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Finding and securing hard-to-find parts
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/supply-chain-reaction/4407863/Finding-and-securing-hard-to-find-parts-

    Adding or subtracting a link in the supply chain is never easy. A single substitution of a component, for example, affects other components on the board, pricing, delivery considerations, and even relationships. But buyers have to hedge their bets to ensure a single component doesn’t hold up production.

    Numerous considerations belong in this category of risk management. The risk of any one thing going wrong between design and production is considerable and is one of the challenges that keep supply-chain managers up at night, according to research conducted by UPS and IDC.

    There’s no shortage of options in risk management: Companies can calculate it internally; consultants are widely available; distributors consider it part of their core competency; factories hedge against not filling an order; and even logistics companies are entering the fray.

    The classic situation is the component that is hard to find or can’t be sourced at the last minute. Most OEMs develop an approved-vendor list that designates two or more sources for a particular component and can be programmed into a system and automated. But the typical forecast window of six weeks or more means that component lead times may change or that there can be rapid shifts in supply and demand

    The first line of defense in a shortage is the component supplier. In times of scarcity, however, the supplier’s largest customers will be first in line for delivery. In the semiconductor market, no matter how good forecasting is, it takes 16 weeks to manufacture a component.

    When all else fails, buyers can go to the open market or through independent channels. They face several issues in the open market, however. Parts that reach the open market may not carry the manufacturer’s warranties unless they are sourced through an authorized channel. Counterfeit parts also enter the channel through open-market deals where bogus parts are mixed in with legitimate components. Authorized channels remain skeptical of the screening procedures.

    Reply
  42. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Printed Optics
    http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/printed-optics/

    Printed Optics is a new approach to creating custom optical elements for interactive devices using 3D printing. Printed Optics enable sensing, display, and illumination elements to be directly embedded in the body of an interactive device. Using these elements, unique display surfaces, novel illumination techniques, custom optical sensors, and robust embedded components can be digitally fabricated for rapid, high fidelity, customized interactive devices.

    Printed Optics is part of our long term vision for the production of interactive devices that are 3D printed in their entirety. Future devices will be fabricated on demand with user-specific form and functionality. Printed Optics explores the possibilities for this vision afforded by today’s 3D printing technology

    Reply
  43. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Analysis: Next Intel CEO to guide new business, maybe Apple deal
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-intel-foundrybre92609r-20130307,0,636950.story

    SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Intel’s next CEO is likely to shepherd the top chipmaker into a growing contract-manufacturing business, a strategic shift that could lead to a deal with Apple Inc and give it a fighting chance to make inroads in the mobile arena.

    Manufacturing chips on behalf of other companies is a major departure for Intel, which for decades has based its business on using its manufacturing prowess to offer its own PC chips superior to rival products. As PC sales contract and Intel’s fabrication plants operate at less than full capacity, the chipmaker sees an opportunity to fill idle production lines while earning new revenue.

    Such a move may also offer a backdoor of sorts into large-scale production of chips for mobile devices

    Intel said last week it will open up its prized manufacturing technology to make chips designed by fellow chipmaker Altera — snagging its first sizeable customer in a contract manufacturing, or “foundry”, business expected to grow.

    Intel’s plan entails heavy capital spending, even as it struggles in its core market and has yet to find enough new demand to fill future fabrication plants.

    This is all happening as the board of directors at Intel looks for a candidate to replace outgoing CEO Paul Otellini, a talent search that has gone on longer than some insiders expected since it was announced in November.

    Reply
  44. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How can I use my power supply’s alarm signals?
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/power-supply-notes/4408458/How-can-I-use-my-power-supply-s-alarm-signals-

    Many power supply alarm signals, such as AC Fail, DC Good, etc., utilize optocouplers or optical isolators as a means of transferring alarm signals from the power supply to the end-users equipment without direct connections.

    The main purpose of an optocoupler is to prevent noise, ground loops, and/or high voltages from the power supply from damaging the end-equipment to which the signals connect.

    Typical power supply alarm signals may include AC Fail, DC Good, Over-Temp, and Inverter OK.

    When using open-collector alarm signals an external pull-up resistor is required.

    Reply
  45. Tomi Engdahl says:

    An introduction to offloading CPUs to FPGAs – Hardware programming for software developers
    http://www.eetimes.com/design/programmable-logic/4408512/An-introduction-to-offloading-CPUs-to-FPGAs—Hardware-programming-for-software-developers

    Several factors are disrupting the traditional monopoly of microprocessors for being the chip of choice for C algorithms. These include the cost and accessibility of cross-compilation tools, the power and speed limitations of microprocessors, and the availability of more reliable building blocks.

    In this article, three university researchers break down the problem into understandable steps that the average developer can follow to determine if FPGAs are worth the (decreasing) bother and – if the answer is “yes” – how to go about it.

    Reply
  46. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Pumping 1080p video out of an FPGA
    http://hackaday.com/2013/03/08/pumping-1080p-video-out-of-an-fpga/

    [Hamster] admits this 1080p HDMI hack for an FPGA doesn’t put a signal that’s fully up to specifications. But as you can see in the image above it does output a 1920×1080 image at 60 Hz, which is the size and frequency of full HD video. It falls just short due to some jitter, which may be just fine if this is only being used for early prototyping and will be replaced with a dedicated encoder later in the design process.

    Spartan 6 1080p
    http://hamsterworks.co.nz/mediawiki/index.php/Spartan_6_1080p

    Reply
  47. Tomi says:

    Engineers Build “Self-Healing” Chips Capable of Repairing Themselves
    http://science.slashdot.org/story/13/03/11/1159216/engineers-build-self-healing-chips-capable-of-repairing-themselves

    “A Team of researchers and engineers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has developed ‘self-healing’ chips (PDF) that can heal themselves within a few microseconds.”

    A Fully-Integrated Self-Healing Power Amplifier
    http://www.chic.caltech.edu/Publication05/Conferences/Bowers_RFIC_12.pdf

    Reply
  48. Tomi says:

    SXSW: Imagine a Practical, Low-Cost Circuit Board Assembly System (Video)
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/03/11/1731227/sxsw-imagine-a-practical-low-cost-circuit-board-assembly-system-video

    “Jeff McAlvay, creator of Board Forge, which Jeff hopes will make small-run circuit board creation as easy and accessible as small-scale 3-D printing has become in the last few years. (“Think MakerBot for electronics.”) The prototype hardware McAlvay had on hand looks — in fact, is a 3-D printer, albeit one lower-slung than the ones that make plastic doo-dads.”

    “It’s using the open-source OpenCV computer vision software and a tiny camera mounted on a movable head to accomplish the specialized task of selecting and placing components onto the boards.”

    “The brains of the operation include an Arduino-family processor for basic controls, and a Raspberry Pi for the higher-level functions like computer vision. The projected cost for one of these machines — about $2000″

    http://boardforge.com/

    Think MakerBot for electronics. Ultimately, the machine will etch traces, apply solder paste, place components, cook, and test. Version 1.0 places components.

    Reply

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