120888 BAS10 electronica 7 Um Heft 26.10.12 10:12 …files.iccmedia.com/pdf/eceelectronica12.pdf · 120888_BAS10_electronica_7_Um_Heft 26.10.12 10:13 Seite 3. electronica Nov 2012

120888_BAS10_electronica_7_Um_Heft 26.10.12 10:12 Seite 1

http://www.freescale.com


http://digikey.com/europe

3 electronica Nov 2012

VIEWPOINT

Dear Readers,Every two years in November theelectronics community meets atthe fairgrounds of Neue MesseMünchen to visit electronica - theworlds most importance elec-tronics exhibition. This year fromNovember 13 – 16, the electronicsindustry will present the entirerange of hardware and software inthe sector for embedded plat-forms - from industrial PCs andindustrial control units to soft-ware-debugging solutions andentire development tools for mi-crocontrollers. Detailed informa-tion about the embedded forumyou�ll find starting at page 17.

In addition, the first embedded platforms conference will be held on No-vember 14 and 15. Besides how to select the best embedded modules, theconference will answer fundamental questions about choosing com-ponents and system design. Together with the exhibition and the forum,the conference rounds out the three-pillar concept for the embedded sec-tor. At the embedded platforms conference system architects and de-velopers will find out all there is to know about selecting the right em-bedded modules, i.e. the processor platform, the operating system, thedrivers and the networking technology, at the new embedded platformsconference. On November 14 and 15, semiconductor and tool manu-facturers such as Atmel, Farnell, Freescale, Fujitsu, Infineon, Texas In-struments, TQ Systems and Toshiba will inform participants about theuse of multicore, multiprocessing, DSP (digital signal processing), USBs(universal serial bus), Ethernet, motor control, safety, low-power, mi-gration, freeware and open source at the Press Center East. The overviewof the conference program starts in this issue at page 32.

At this year’s electronica, Freescale will do more than present its largeportfolio of ARM processors. The company will also introduce the firstmicrocontroller to be based on the ARM Cortex-M0+, which is cur-rently the most energy-efficient processor on the market. Other high-lights include the latest solutions in the sectors for energy supply andmanagement, metrology and building management. More informationabout this topic is included in our cover story stating at page 8. Thatultra low power is a general topic in the embedded industry proves thearticle form TI starting at page 14, introducing the first ULP MCUsbased on the “Wolverine” technology

If you are interested in information about future trends in the em-bedded sector I recommend you to read our trend session starting atpage 25. In this part experts explain their opinion about what�s goingon in the embedded industry relating to microcontrollers, software, de-sign tools and embedded computers.

As you can see there is a lot going on at electronica 2012 for designersinvolved in the development of embedded systems. I would like to in-vite you to visit our booth at electronica 2012 in Hall A6 booth 463.I�m looking forward to see you there.

Yours sincerlyWolfgang Patelay(Editor)


http://www.msc-ge.com

electronica Nov 2012 4

CONTENTS

Cover PhotoFreescale

Viewpoint 3

Highlightselectronica 2012: new impetusfor embedded-system design 6

Kinetis L Series MCUs andthe energy efficiency revolution 8

“Wolverine” based MSP430 microcontrollersslash power consumption in half 14

Embedded Forum Programme 17-24

TrendsSoftware developers definethe trends in microcontrollers 25

32-bit cores are NOT the solution to all 26

The new challenges of multi-core 26

Trends for MCUs lead to better supporttools and middleware 28

More analog integration 28

The Continued Evolution of JTAG Test Solutions 30

embedded platforms conference 32-34

TrendsReaping the benefits of energy harvesting 35

Renewable energy changes the role of distributors 36

Intelligence for the Grid 36

Distributors play a key role inpromoting electro-mobility 38

Moving towards standards and services 39

Serial data transmission is major trendin rugged embedded systems 40

Customer orientation is crucial 41

Continuous growth for COMs 42

How much out-of-the-box is needed? 42

Multi-platform COM standards 43

previews & product news 44

electronica 2012: new impetusfor embedded-system design Page 6

While generally invisible to the user -although extremely important when it comesto the monitoring, control and regulation ofelectronics applications - embedded systemshave become indispensible in the electronicsindustry. electronica from November 13 – 16will demonstrate how important this sector isto the industry by giving it its own exhibitionsector, along with the embedded Forum and

the new embedded platforms conference. You can look forward tofour days full of momentum for technologies of the future!

Kinetis L Series MCUs andthe energy efficiency revolution Page 8

This article introduces the Kinetis L seriesMCUs which achieves total reduction ofthe area under the energy curve through acombination of the new, leaner 32-bitARM Cortex-M0+ processor, ultra-lowpower modes for multiple use cases, watt-saving architectural techniques and a rangeof autonomous, power-smart peripherals

“Wolverine” based MSP430 microcontrollersslash power consumption in half Page 14

In computing today, you can observe a trend away from mere per-formance maximization towards optimization around the user inter-face. In ultra-low power (ULP) design, it’s all about the power budget.

Embedded Forum at electronicain Hall A6 Page 17

During electronica, the Embedded Forum inhall A6 provides 30-minutes presentationsabout technical trends, products, applicationsand more. The Embedded Forum is free for allelectronica visitors!

The new challenges of multi-core Page

Multi-core architectures are now common in classic microproces-sors, but the era of microcontrollers with multiple cores is only justbeginning. The motivation also to deploy multi-core architecturesin microcontrollers is the increasing demand of performance ofdeeply embedded applications.

The Continued Evolution ofJTAG Test Solutions Page 30

Board test technology over the past five years is witnessing whatcould be the most dramatic changes since the introduction ofboundary-scan (a.k.a. JTAG IEEE Std. 1149.1) in 1990. While thetraditional standard, 1149.1, revolutionized the way PCBs havebeen tested and programmed, new advancements in circuit designand ICs have initiated developments and updates to both the IEEE1149.x standards and associated proprietary test techniques.

Programme Overview

e eHall A6

Tuesday, Nov 13th

Wednesday, Nov 14th

Thursday, Nov 15th

Friday, Nov 16th

10:00 Seite 17 10:00 Seite 17

10:00 Seite 17

10:00 Seite 17

margorP

weivrevOemm


26


http://www.ghs.com/s4e

n At electronica Embedded sector several do-mestic and international companies will havetheir embedded products on display – from de-velopment tools, hardware and periphery sys-tems, DDI and other network-technology com-ponents to memories, storage periphery andfinished system solutions. Exhibitors includeKontron, MathWorks, OSADL, pls Program-mierbare Logik & Systeme and TQ-Systems,among others.

When developing an electronic product –whether a smart phone or an industrial controlsystem – selecting the right embedded modulesplays a key role. The processor platform, oper-ating system, drives and networking technology:ensuring that these components interact cor-rectly and suit the application in question is es-sential. electronica has taken this challenge fordevelopers and embedded-system engineersinto account by establishing the new embeddedplatforms conference. Semiconductor and toolmanufacturers as well as service-providers willpresent concrete solutions and services for de-veloping embedded platforms – from embeddeddesign and multicore to Ethernet and low power.

The embedded sector will be rounded out bythe embedded Forum in Hall A6. This year theforum will revolve around topics such as smartmetering, embedded computing, industrialcontrol and communication, electronic lighting,

energy management and efficiency. Amongother things, presentations will deal with smart-grid security solutions and microcontrollers forintelligent LED lighting. For a list of all pre-sentations, please refer to our event database atwww.electronica.de/event-database.

One highlight awaits you on the first day of thefair. At the CEO Round Table, the CEOs of fourleading semiconductor manufacturers will dis-cuss what solutions can be used to secure thesupply of energy in the future. The speakers atthe electronica Forum event titled “Semicon-ductor Solutions for Smart Grid Challenges” areCarlo Bozotti from STMicroelectronics, RickClemmer from NXP Semiconductors, Gregg A.Lowe from Freescale Semiconductor and DrReinhard Ploss from Infineon Technologies.

As always, the electronica automotive confer-ence invites participants to two days of lecturesthat start the day before the fair. It will examinethe latest technologies and market develop-ments that pertain to “The Car in the Web”,“Energy Efficient Mobility”, “Safe Driving” and“Design to Cost”. The first day of the conferenceaddresses leading executives at automobilemanufacturers, supply companies and elec-tronics companies. The program of events in-cludes presentations including a report by Dr.Thomas Ginsberg, Director Product Engineer-ing at TE Connectivity, about “Connectivity for

Vehicle Data Highways”. Other presentationsdeal with increased networking between auto-mobiles and the internet, the LTE wireless com-munication standard, and topics such as powerelectronics, engines and charging units forelectric automobiles. The second day of theconference focuses on technologies that addresstechnical management in automobile manu-facturing, supply and electronics companies.Main topics include electromobility, powerelectronics, safety and the Internet in the auto-mobile. There will then be a panel discussion on“Concepts of Mobility”.

The Wireless Congress will allow industry ex-perts to examine the technical aspects of cur-rent and future wireless technologies and giveparticipants insights into applications, securi-ty aspects, standards and market opportunities.Topics include wireless technologies in cars, newBluetooth applications, power supplies andenergy harvesting, and there will be keynote ad-dresses by IHS iSuppli, Bluetooth SIG and Zig-Bee Alliance.

The PCB & Components Market Place is a newattraction at electronica that gives representa-tives of the PCB industry a place to meet. Aforum and a networking area will promote anintense exchange of ideas and informationabout PCBs, other circuit carriers and EMS. Therange of topics covered at the other forums(electronica, automotive and exhibitor Fo-rums) is extremely diverse and allows visitors togather information about current and future is-sues that pertain to the various application sec-tors. Planned topics include “Medical elec-tronics”, “Trends in microsystem technology”,“Efficient dynamics in mobility” and “Innova-tive lighting concepts for the automotive sector”.

On the final day of the fair, Student Day invitespotential entry-level employees to gather in-formation about career opportunities andenjoy a networking lunch with sponsors.

I look forward to your visit and wish you aninformative and successful electronica!

electronica 2012: new impetus for embedded-system designBy Nicole Schmitt, Exhibition Group Director electronica, Messe München


HIGHLIGHTS

While generally invisible to the user - although extremely important when it comes to the monitoring, control and regulation ofelectronics applications - embedded systemshave become indispensible in the electronicsindustry. electronica from November 13 – 16will demonstrate how important this sector is to the industry by giving it its own exhibitionsector, along with the embedded Forum and the new embedded platforms conference. You can look forward to four days full of

momentum for technologies of the future!



http://www.adlinktech.eu

n “Once we accept our limits, we go beyondthem”. The spirit of Albert Einstein is very muchalive nowadays in the entry-level MCU market.While traditional 8- and 16-bit MCUs have per-formed admirably for many years, the expecta-tions of end-product users continue to outpacethe capabilities of such devices and hence newapproaches are required. Of course, as with anymass migration, change must be managed care-fully if hearts and minds are to be won over.Freescale has done the math and its new 32-bitKinetis L series MCUs promise an exciting, yetfamiliar, destination for those bold enough tomove. Foremost among the many attractivequalities of this MCU family is an array of lowpower capabilities that positions it at the heartof the new energy efficiency landscape and of-fers new possibilities for power-sensitive designs.

When challenged to increase the battery life oftheir next-generation products, it’s easy for de-velopers to fall into the trap of selecting theMCU that offers the most impressive powernumbers. However, this doesn’t tell the wholestory, because to truly maximize battery life theyneed to look beyond the data sheet to under-stand the power consumption profile across allaspects of their application. Kinetis L seriesMCUs redefine energy efficiency from the in-side out by focusing on energy savings incurredacross all phases of the application: initializa-tion, control and compute. This total reduction

of the area under the energy curve is achievedthrough a combination of the new, leaner 32-bitARM Cortex-M0+ processor, ultra-low powermodes for multiple use cases, watt-saving ar-chitectural techniques and a range of au-tonomous, power-smart peripherals. Com-pared with competitive entry-level MCUs, thisrepresents a step-change in capability.

A good rule of thumb for reducing power con-sumption in your end product is to do morewith less. This is easier said than done unlessyou are equipped with the ARM Cortex-M0+processor, the most energy-efficient 32-bitprocessor on the market. Freescale was a leadpartner in its development and the first supplierto productize it in a mass market MCU family.Its superior throughput/mW, facilitated by anew 2-stage pipeline and other architecturaltweaks, brings significant gains during the ini-tialization and compute phases, where it enablesthe MCU to reduce time spent in higher powermodes and extend time spent in sleep states.Relative to its predecessor, the ARM Cortex-M0,the ARM Cortex-M0+ processor uses 30 per-cent less power while delivering 9 percentmore performance. This equates to a 56 percentincrease in energy efficiency (i.e. more workdone per unit of energy consumed). Against 8-and 16-bit processors, the results are evenmore dramatic. And the benefits don’t stop atthe core. The ARM Cortex-M0+ processor adds

a single-cycle I/O port that delivers 50 percentfaster I/O bit banging and software protocolemulation, common processing tasks for entry-level MCUs. Furthermore, the ARM Cortex-M0+ is software engineer-friendly with an on-chip micro trace buffer (MTB) that storesprogram execution change of flow informationin user-allocated system RAM. This can then beused by the debugger to reconstruct a completeexecution flow.

Traditional MCUs consist of three powermodes - run, sleep and deep sleep - howeverthis philosophy of one size fits all is not optimalin embedded products where there are differingpower profiles. Kinetis L series MCUs tackle thisproblem by expanding the three traditionalpower modes to 10 flexible modes that supportnumerous application use cases. In each modethe MCU offers unrestricted functionalityacross the full operating range of 1.71 to 3.6V.

For applications requiring maximum per-formance, the up to 48MHz run mode offers apower-to-performance ratio starting from85µA/MHz. Those with less demanding pro-cessing requirements and a stronger emphasison battery life can use the reduced frequencyvery-low-power run (VLPR) mode, whichstarts from 47µA/MHz. Run-mode power op-timization extends even further with the newcompute operation (CPO) clocking option.

Kinetis L Series MCUs and the energy efficiency revolutionBy Eduardo Montañez, Freescale

This article introduces the Kinetis L series MCUs

which achieves total reductionof the area under the energycurve through a combination

of the new, leaner 32-bitARM Cortex-M0+ processor,ultra-low power modes for

multiple use cases, watt-sav-ing architectural techniquesand a range of autonomous,

power-smart peripherals.


HIGHLIGHTS



http://www.maximintegrated.com


HIGHLIGHTS

This is suitable in use cases where only theprocessor, flash and SRAM read interfaces areactive (i.e. during a compute-only phase). Eachrun mode also has an equivalent sleep mode inthe form of wait and very-low-power wait(VLPW) during which the processor is inactive.

For the most extreme battery-powered appli-cations there are several deep sleep options.These differ in terms of their wake-up sources,level of RAM retention and peripheral func-tionality supported. The most fully functional

of these are the stop and very-low-power stop(VLPS) modes in which all I/O pins and sever-al peripherals can act as wake-up sources orfunction with an alternate clock source. Ofthese, stop mode maintains the low-voltage de-tect (LVD) circuitry and an active PLL.

At the very low end, the low leakage mode cur-rents range from 1.9µA down to 176nA with upto eight I/O pins and the real-time clock, low-power timer, analog comparator and capacitivetouch sensor interface all available as wake-up

sources. The low leakage stop (LLS) mode is thesweet spot of the deep sleep modes with fulllogic/memory retention and a 4µs wake-uptime. Finally, the very-low leakage stop (VLLSx)modes retain wake-up logic while shutting offRAM power (VLLS1/0 only). These have slight-ly longer wake-up times and are more suitablefor applications where wake-up occurs infre-quently.

A key strategy for maximizing battery life inembedded systems is to implement more low-power intelligence within the peripherals andallow them to operate autonomously in deepsleep modes with an alternate clock source.Kinetis L series MCUs take full advantage of thisnew trend. Consider the following applicationuse cases that can be implemented while the restof the embedded system remains asleep:

Energy-saving peripheralApplication use caseADCPeriodically sample an analog sensor, performcompare functions and hardware averagingUARTContinuously transmit and receive data to/froma radio IC or other MCUTimer/PWMDynamically control a motor or detect externalpulsesReal-time clockPerform time keeping and recognize alarmeventsTouch sensor interfaceDetect touch from user interaction with ca-pacitive buttons, sliders, etcSegment LCDDisplay user information to segment displayswith alternate screens and blinking mode.

Kinetis L series MCUs include an asynchronousDMA (ADMA) wake-up feature that allows cer-tain peripherals to request a DMA transfer instop and VLPS modes. The ADMA module willexecute a data transfer between the peripheraland memory without having to return to runmodes or request processor intervention. Thisallows continuous operation of the peripheralin a deep sleep state where data can be passedto/from data arrays in SRAM until enough hasbeen collected for processing. Achieving this ina conventional MCU would require the MCUto operate in higher power modes with theprocessor and other system clocks fully enabled.

The architecture of the Kinetis L series adds sev-eral low-power features that can be taken forgranted in other MCUs. To help streamline theinitialization phase of the application there is abit manipulation engine (BME) which im-proves cycle time and code size by an average of40 percent when performing bit-oriented mathoperations on peripherals. The BME encodes

Figure 1. Kinetis L series MCUs focus on energy savings incurred across all phases of the applica-tion: initialization, control and compute.

Table 1. Kinetis L series MCUs expand the three traditional power modes to 10 flexible modesthat support numerous application use cases.



http://www.ebv.com

functions like OR, AND, XOR, bit field insertand bit field extract. In contrast, a traditional32-bit processor would require several instruc-tions to execute the equivalent read-modify-write operation. To reduce power spikes duringthe boot sequence or deep sleep wake-up, a low-power boot option is included. This is particu-larly useful in systems where battery chemistrylimits the allowable peak current (e.g. those that

use lithium-ion batteries). Safe-stating condi-tions can also be achieved easily by zero leakageI/O and peripheral clock gating configurationsthat avoid excess leakage current.

Kinetis L series MCUs are meeting the low powerchallenges of embedded products nowadaysand setting new standards for energy efficiencyacross all phases of the embedded application

profile. At the Freescale Technology Forum inJune 2012, the L series went head-to-head in anenergy efficiency benchmark challenge withthree respected 16-bit low-power MCUs fromwell-known competitors. Each MCU was pow-ered by an identical charging circuit and opti-mized for low-power operation to ensure con-sistent test conditions. MCUs performed arepetitive cycle of 40 EEMBC CoreMark itera-tions followed by a five second deep sleep peri-od, continuing until the last MCU remained ac-tive. The Kinetis L series combination of superiorprocessing power with excellent low-power op-eration shone through with a measured figure of14.2 CoreMark*/mA, significantly greater thanits closest rival.

New entry-level Freescale-MCU thinking isbeing applied beyond the silicon, which, inci-dentally, is now production qualified. Theaptly named Freescale Freedom DevelopmentPlatform is another beneficiary and at just €10it is also attractive to entry-level design budg-ets. This no-fuss, highly capable developmentkit comes with a free code size limited IDE andRTOS bundle from Freescale, including a GUI-based code generation tool that cuts days fromdevelopment cycles. Broad third-party supportfrom the ARM ecosystem is also on hand ifneeded. The Kinetis L series is challenging ex-pectations for energy efficiency in the entry-level MCU arena, and in doing so offers newpossibilities for embedded systems that utilizethem. n


HIGHLIGHTS

Figure 2. The Kinetis L series combination of superior processing power with excellent low-poweroperation shone through with a measured figure of 14.2 CoreMark/mA.

Freescale MKL25

Part number: PKL25Z128VLK4

* CoreMark 1.0: 102.17/ Green Hills MULTI 6.1.4 - Compiler 2012.5 - bsp generic -Ospeed -OI -OB -Olink - Onounrollbig -Omax -no_commons - delete -cpu=cortexm0/ Code in internalFLASH, Data in internal RAM/ Processor operating frequency = 48MHz, operating voltage =3.3V

Microchip PIC24

Part number: PIC24FJ128GA310

* CoreMark 1.0: 29.41/ MPLAB IDE v8.31 -g -Wall -O3 -funroll-loops/ Code in internal FLASH,Data in internal RAM/ Processor operating frequency = 32MHz, operating voltage = 3.3V

TI MSP430

Part number: MSP430F5529

* CoreMark 1.0: 16.23/ Code Composer Studio 5.1.1 -O3--opt_for_speed=5/ Code in internalFLASH, Data in internal RAM/ Processor operating frequency = 25MHz, operating voltage = 3.3V

Renesas RL78

Part number: R5F101MGAFA

* CoreMark 1.0 : 11.04/ IAR for Renesas RL78 1.20.1 --core rl78_1 --code_model near --data_model near --no_unroll --no_inline --no_tbaa --no_crosscall --no_scheduling -DNDEBUG –I/ Code in internal FLASH, Data in internal RAM/ Processor operating frequen-cy = 32MHz, operating voltage = 3.3V

FREE SUBSCRIBTION to the ECE MagazineInformation and Know-how for Embedded Engineers

Technical Articles and Product News about:Hardware and SoftwareTools

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Technologies



http://www.embedded-know-how.com/ece-magazine


http://www.infineon.com/xmc4000

n “Specify the battery or power source first, thendesign the electronics around it”, is the name ofthe game today in ULP design. With TI’sMSP430FR59xx MCUs, however, you can do themost fancy ULP designs, no matter how low theavailable energy. MSP430 is a very successfulultra-low power MCU architecture for manyyears now with an aggregate of roughly 2B unitssold into the ultra-low power markets, like heatcost allocators, smoke detectors, industrial sensors, low power consumer electronics and ad-vanced medical devices. With the MSP430FR59xxMCU family, a new age in ULP has begun as lowest stand-by currents are combined with themost energy-efficient memory writes on a singlepiece of silicon, facilitating ULP applicationwith at least 2x lower power budgets.

The typical ultra-low power application re-mains in stand-by mode 99% of the time con-suming only very little energy. In ULP applica-tions, target consumption levels are usually a fewµA in stand-by mode and a few 100 µA/MHz inactive mode. Wake-up time should not be high-er than a few µs. Peripheral power consumptionshould be optimized as much as possible as well,above all for the analog peripherals like the ADC.In MSP430FR5969, a new power managementmodule (PMM) facilitates more flexible imple-mentations of power adjustments. Where inolder MSP430 variants clock gating was the maintool to adjust power consumption levels, in“Wolverine” based derivatives there is heavy use

of power gating. There are four power domainsfor core, RTC, FRAM and JTAG that can beswitched on and off essentially removing leakagecurrents, which become quite harmful especial-ly at high temperatures. Mere “power gating” hasbeen used before, but Texas Instruments havebrought in completely new power optimizationtechniques, like an “Adaptive LDO” for core sup-ply. The adaptive low dropout regulator (LDO)that powers the digital core of the microcon-troller (MCU) dynamically responds to chang-ing power requirements. In effect, theMSP430FR5969 automatically detects the cur-rent needs of the application and provides theclock and power as required. “Wolverine” ULPinnovations enable MCU stand-by currents of360nA including RTC and active consumptionbetween 60-100µA/MHz, while enabling ultra-fast wake-up from stand-by modes.

Let’s have a look at MSP430 ULP MCUs basedon “Wolverine” technology. First of all, these devices leverage the proven ULP features of thealready well-established and entrenched prede-cessors of the MSP430 MCU family, likeMSP430F2xx and MSP430F5xx, such as zero-power brown-out and pin leakage of a fewnano-amps. “Wolverine” based ULP MCUs withcurrently up to 64KB ULP FRAM, only consume590nAs in LPM3 stand-by with ACLK and lowfrequency peripherals running and with fullRAM retention. The now embedded ferroelectricRandom Access Memory (FRAM) makes writing

to memory quick, easy and energy-efficient, whileadditional improvements to architecture andprocess technology enable more energy savingsthroughout the application. The integratedADC12 can measure very accurately parametersof the outside world, like temperature or pressure,consuming only 75µA or 50% of the power com-pared with the closest competitor. The internalVoltage Reference (VRef) only adds 8 µA to thepower budget, resulting in a combinedADC12/VRef power consumption of 83 µA.When analyzing the measurements, active powerconsumption is roughly 80µA/MHz beatingprevious values of 160-200µA/MHz by a factor oftwo and facilitating more advanced algorithmseven in ULP applications. “Wolverine” based ULPMCUs with embedded ferroelectric randomaccess memory (FRAM) are revolutionary gamechangers for applications, such as wireless sen-sors, where lowest possible power consumptionsaves battery life and enables energy harvestingbased operation for a system’s life.

“Wolverine” builds on the very successfulMSP430 ULP DNA with power-optimizedperipherals and the superior characteristics ofembedded FRAM, that is already known fromMSP430‘s first FRAM device, theMSP430FR5739. Embedded FRAM facilitates250 times more energy efficient and 100 timesfaster writes to memory with an endurance of100 trillion cycles. At the same time, this uni-versal memory is byte accessible and has access

“Wolverine” based MSP430 microcontrollers

slash power consumption in halfBy Stefan Rank, Texas Instruments

In computing today, you can observe a trend

away from mere performancemaximization towards

optimization around the userinterface. In ultra-low power(ULP) design, it’s all about the

power budget.


HIGHLIGHTS


times practically as fast as SRAM. NewMSP430FR5969 MCUs are based on a totallyrevamped ultra-low-leakage process with atleast 10x lower leakage currents and 15% re-duced active power consumption. TheMSP430FR59xx family offers a lot of new andenhanced peripherals that come in handy inwireless harvesting nodes. The memory pro-tection unit (MPU) allows for a quick and easythree-segment memory protection, the inte-grated AES256 module facilitates secure trans-mission of data in hardware and the real-timeclock module RTC_B enables ultra-low powertime tracking. With the ultra-low power prod-uct mindset quickly migrating to an all-en-

compassing ultra-low energy world, the air onthe energy efficiency playing field is becomingthinner and thinner. Every nano-amp counts.When it comes to ultra-low power, it is essen-tial to understand that software is just as im-portant as hardware and has to be optimized inthe same way. An internal study at Texas In-struments showed that optimizing the averagenon-optimized ULP code, can save up to 75%of the required energy in a typical ULP appli-cation. With ULP AdvisorTM, designers of ULPapplications can even check the code along thelines of well proven ULP rules before compila-tion. On the hardware side, the selection of theright components and a good layout bring you

a long way. In addition, a new energy trackingtechnology will enable to physically measureimprovements in energy efficiency along thecode optimization road. MSP430 ultra-lowpower MCUs based on “Wolverine” technolo-gy bring an entirely new hardware and softwaresolution to designers of ULP systems that willrevolutionize the way ultra-low power applica-tions will be designed in the future. n

More information on “Wolverine” technologyplatform is available in Texas Instruments’ whitepaper “Ultra-low-power pioneers: TI slas-hes total MCU power by 50 percent with new“Wolverine” MCU platform”: www.ti.com/fram


HIGHLIGHTS

electronica NEWS

Microsemi introduces next-generationSmartFusion2 SoC FPGA

Microsemi has unveiled its new Smart-Fusion2 system-on-chip FPGA family. Mi-crosemi’s next-generation SmartFusion2SoC FPGAs are designed to address funda-mental requirements for advanced security,high reliability and low power in critical in-dustrial, defense, aviation, communica-tions and medical applications. SmartFu-sion2 integrates inherently reliable flash-based FPGA fabric, a 166 MHz ARM Cor-tex-M3 processor, advanced security pro-cessing accelerators, DSP blocks, SRAM,eNVM and industry-required high-per-formance communication interfaces all ona single chip. SmartFusion2 provides themost advanced design and data security capabilities starting with a robust root- of-trust device with secure key storage capa-bility using the SoC FPGA industry’s onlyphysically unclonable function key enroll-ment and regeneration capability. Smart-Fusion2 is also the only SoC FPGA pro-tected from differential power analysis attacks using technology from the Crypto-graphic Research Incorporated portfolio. News ID 16287

Kontron: digital signage kit helpsstreamline development of intelligent signage systems

Kontron announces the availability of thenext-generation Digital Signage EvaluationKit-12. The DSEK-12 offers a pre-validatedsystem that features technologies from Kon-tron, Intel and Microsoft. The kit uses themodular OPS-compliant Kontron mediaplayer KOPS800 based on 3rd generationIntel Core processors, which will also beavailable as a standalone media player inearly Q4 2012. News ID 16135


http://www.holtek.com/english/

http://www.embedded-control-europe.com/product-news/article/1-news-global/16287


JTAG: soft-and hardware developments on show

JTAG Technologies, provider of JTAG/bound-ary-scan products for electronic test and debug,will showcase amongst other new products thelatest soft-and hardware developments:

The JT 2149/DAF I/O module for digital andanalogue measurement is the first unit of itstype to offer both digital and analogue test ac-cess to PCBs via JTAG Technologies’ widely-used QuadPod signal conditioning interface.The JT 2149/DAF module has been designed toslot into JTAG Technologies’ regular QuadPodtransceiver system as used by the renownedDataBlaster series of boundary-scan/JTAG con-troller hardware. When connected to a circuitboard via edge connector or test fixture/jig testpins the module enhances standard digitalboundary-scan tests by enabling a series of ana-logue and frequency measurements to be made.

Capabilities of the JT 2149/DAF module in-clude 16 dual-purpose digital pins capable ofdigital I/O stimulus and response at voltages of1.0 to 3.6V plus frequency measurements of upto 128MHz on any pin. 12 additional analoguemeasurement channels can capture valuesfrom 0 to 33V with better than 10mV resolu-tion. One further channel is available as a clockgenerator, programmable up to 64MHz.

The latest extension to the high-performanceboundary-scan IEEE Std. 1149.1 controllers willalso be a highlight at the show. Known as theDataBlaster JT 37x7/PXIe the new unit offerssupport for the increasingly popularPXIe/Compact PCI-express slot format thatnow features in some of the latest AutomaticTest Equipment based on the PXI(e) standards.JTAG has developed the new boundary-scancontroller to satisfy the growing requirementsfor high-speed In-System Programming offlash memories, serial memories and CPLDs aswell as complex digital circuit testing. The newDataBlaster JT 37x7/PXIe offers users sus-tained test clock speeds of up to 40MHz by useof JTAG Technologies’ proprietary ETT systemand features an on-board flash image buffermemory.

JTAG Technologies is also using the electroni-ca event to present Autobuzz, a tool that learnsa connectivity signature of all boundary-scanparts within a design from only the BSDL mod-els of those parts. Autobuzz expands the „seekand discover“ mode of BuzzPlus and automat-ically gathers circuit data of a known goodboard and then performs a full connectivitycompare against the faulty circuit. Autobuzz isa useful tool for repair and rework technicians,especially when design data is missing or in-complete.News ID 16115

Swissbit: storage solutions for all Industrialapplications at electronica

Swissbit will be presenting its industrial DRAMand flash storage solutions in all common tech-nologies and formats at electronica. One of thehighlights will be its brand new X-500 Series In-dustrial SATA II SSD with up to 512 GB. The2.5”-storage solution combines a data rate of upto 260MB/sec on SATA II and an impressive15.000 IOPS with 4k random accesses and spe-cial features such as TRIM, the ATA securityprotocol, a temperature sensor and the in-fieldupdate. Additionally, the S.M.A.R.T. protocolwith lifetime monitoring and a BCH-ECC en-sures absolute reliability with the power fail pro-tected X-500 series.

The Swissbit portfolio includes DRAM modulesmanufactured using the Chip-On-Boar) andSMT methods supporting DRAM, SDRAM,DDR, DDR2 and DDR3 technologies. Its in-dustrial flash product line includes SSDs withSATA and PATA interfaces, mSATA, SLIM SATA,CFast, CompactFlash, SD & MICRO SD mem-ory cards, MMC and USB flash products. AllSwissbit storage solutions fulfill the require-ments of industrial and embedded applicationsin harsh environments: the highest level of reli-ability and robustness, long service life, extend-ed temperature range, all common industrial in-terfaces and long-term availability including afixed bill of material. The selection of materialsand the module architecture are designed in linewith the high demands, and firmware mecha-nisms, and algorithms such as intelligent wearleveling, bad block management, power fail pro-tection & recovery, ECC, and a clever read dis-turb management features are also available.Thanks to design-in support and many statusmonitoring applications, Swissbit supports testengineers during the qualification and ap-proval of new components.News ID 16122

embedded platforms conference at electronica

At the embedded platforms conference, whichbeing held in conjunction with electronica inMunich from November 14 – 15, manufactur-ers and service-providers will present con-crete solutions and services for developingembedded platforms. The conference will covera wide range of topics, from embedded designand multicore to Ethernet and low power.

The variety of the two-day conference is re-flected by the group of sponsors that each ac-company a lecture session: Atmel, Farnell,Freescale, Fujitsu, Infineon, SGET, Texas In-struments, TQ Systems and Toshiba as well astheir distribution, tool and solutions partnerswill present current and future models for de-veloping embedded platforms. In addition,independent service providers such as the Open

Source Automation Development Lab and Mi-croConsult will give participants a look at thelatest industry trends. For example, the programof events includes lectures on the use of multi-core as well as multiprocessing, DSP, USB, Eth-ernet, motor control, safety, low power, migra-tion, freeware and Open Source. Participantswill also get useful information about the capa-bilities of and differences between moderncontroller and standards as well as tracing, de-bugging and analysis solutions.

Twelve lecture series will give developers andsystem architects a chance to take new ideashome with them, compare various suppliersand get a comprehensive look at the latest so-lution approaches. Participants are also invitedto make new contacts at a networking event onthe first evening. The complete schedule is avail-able online and in the electronica event data-base. Effective immediately, participants canregister online.News ID 16265

Rutronik: development kit for XMC4000 family from Infineon

Infineon presents the Hexagon DevelopmentKit which is a versatile new tool for theXMC4000 family. At the heart of this four-board development platform is the CPU boardwith the new XMC4500 microcontroller. Satel-lite cards allow the expansion of the kit func-tionality to suit specific applications. The application kit is available at distributorRutronik as of now.News ID 16150

AAEON: rugged fanless touch panel computers

AAEON has released two new rugged panelcomputers: AHP-2122 and AHP-2153. TheAHP wide-temperature series comes in threesizes –12.1”, 15” and 17”, and the 12.1” and 15”Rugged Panel Computers have been launchedfirst. Due to the various support on panel sizeoptions, OEM and ODMs have a variety of sizeoptions to select from. Moreover, the currentAHP-2122 and AHP-2153 support panel, wall,desktop and VESA 100 for optimal displaymounts.News ID 16158

Microchip expands USB portfolio with fifteen new 8-bit PIC MCUs

Microchip announces the expansion of its cer-tified Full-Speed USB 2.0 Device PIC micro-controller portfolio with three new EnhancedMidrange 8-bit families comprising 15 scalableMCUs ranging from 14 to 100 pins with up to128 KB of Flash. All feature internal clocksources with the 0.25% clock accuracy neces-sary for USB communication, which eliminatesthe need for an external crystal. News ID 16162


HIGHLIGHTS








Programme Overview

Embedded Forum at electronicain Hall A6

Tuesday, Nov 13thSession 1: Microcontrollers & DSPsSession 2: Smart Metering

Wednesday, Nov 14thSession 3: Energy EfficiencySession 4: Small Form Factor BoardsSession 5: Tools & Software

Thursday, Nov 15thSession 6: ARM-based SystemsSession 7: IndustrialSession 8: Embeddded Computing

Friday, Nov 16thSession 9: Electronic Lighting Session 10: Software Development

visit us in Hall 4, Booth 420.


http://www.ti.com/de


EMBEDDED FORUM

Tuesday, 13th of November

Session 1: Microcontrollers & DSPs

13h00 - 13h30 Enable a Battery-free world with MSP430 and FRAMSpeaker: Jacob Borgeson, Texas Instruments

This presentation will look at the next stage of energy scavenging thanks to the lowest power MSP430microcontrollers with the world’s lowest power non-volatile memory, FRAM. As a unified memory withwrite energy 300x lower than conventional Flash, FRAM enables data logging and flexible program struc-tures to suit the unique system requirements of Energy Harvesting sensors.

13h30 - 14h00 XMC4000: one microcontroller platform - countless solutionsSpeaker: Manfred Choutka, Infineon

The 32-bit XMC4000 family based on an industry standard core the ARM® Cortex(TM) M4 marks a cor-nerstone in microcontroller design for real-time critical systems. Infineon addresses three high-level trendsfor microcontrollers in industrial drives, automation and renewable energy efficiency, the need to enhanceconnectivity between systems and the reduce of software complexity. Software complexity is one of themajor problems for embedded systems development especially for small and medium sized companies.To challenge this major issue, Infineon came up with the new DAVE™ 3 free Eclipse based software frame-work.

14h00 - 14h30 Facts about low-power and how to select the right MCUSpeaker: Christian Daniel, Texas Instruments

In the last couple of years, the number of ultra-low-power microcontroller suppliers have steadily in-creased. Everyone claims key parameters e.g. world leading active current, fastest wake up time,… thereality is that the choice of the right MCU is ambiguous if it is reduced to a single parameter. The selec-tion starts with many questions that need to be answered upfront. E.g. what energy do I have available?What is the required lifetime of the application? What are the environmental conditions (like operatingtemperature profile)? What operating conditions does the application require and what modules do I need(e.g. ADC)? How often runs a certain task and which lowest power mode can it use between the differ-ent tasks? This information’s combined with the parameters found in the datasheet will finally help toidentify the right MCU.

Session 2: Smart Metering

15h00 - 15h30 Integrated solutions for reliable and cost effective energy meteringSpeaker: Mohit Berry, Infineon

Infineon unveils a new products series which enables reliable and integrated, tamper resistant, yet costeffective energy metering solutions. Cyber security, single and poli phase electrical energy metering, lowpower flow metering will be discussed during the presentation. Adopting Infineon's solutions customerscan implement highly accurate smart meters as well as low cost sub meter and smart home devices suchas energy-aware white goods and smart plugs.

Conference Programme Embedded Forum

During electronica, the Embedded Forum in hall A6 provides 30-minutes presentations about technicaltrends, products, applications and more.

The Embedded Forum is free for all electronica visitors!

More Information:

electronica.embedded-know-how.com


http://electronica-forum2012.embedded-know-how.com/


http://www.mathworks.de/

http://www.mathworks.de/


EMBEDDED FORUM

15h30 - 16h00 Embedded Security in the Smart GridSpeaker: Kris Ardis, Maxim Integrated Products

As more and more critical infrastructure is controlled by embedded industrial equipment, it becomes crit-ical that security be a factor in any industrial application. But with a problem as big as “security” to tack-le, where to begin? This presentation will take the example of a smart meter, and walk through a threatanalysis on the meter. We will identify the potential attackers, and analyze the life cycle of the meter tohighlight the threats and the technology that can be implemented to deter those threats. While the ex-amples will focus on a smart meter, the concepts presented in our threat analysis will be highly applica-ble to the entire industrial segment.

Wednesday, 14th of November

Session 3: Energy Management & Efficiency

10h30 - 11h00 Microcontrollers enabling Greener SocietySpeaker: Mohammed Dogar, Renesas

Electronic equipment designs are being driven by customer requirements for increased intelligence, im-proved portability and higher energy efficiency. Intelligent and low-power microcontrollers are the onlyway to meet these demands. To make this a reality clever design techniques including architectural andperipheral features are required within an MCU to contribute to overall low-power performance. BecauseRenesas MCUs are specifically designed to enable smarter and greener solutions, we can achieve thesetargets easily and efficiently.

11h00 - 11h30 Total power conversion solutions using the latest technologies from Vishay SiliconixSpeaker: David Grey, Vishay Siliconix

Whether you are using power in the form of AC from the grid or DC from a battery there are usually mul-tiple voltage conversion stages that waste valuable energy. At Vishay Siliconix we are continually devel-oping new silicon and packaging technologies aimed at minimizing these losses. In this presentation wewill introduce new products including the “E Series” Super Junction High Voltage MOSFET family alongwith the latest ThunderFET Medium Voltage releases.

11h30 - 12h00 ARM Cortex-M3-based SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs for power management and high efficiency designsSpeaker: Luca Cattaneo, Microsemi

Microsemi's solutions offering for power management and efficiency has been recently extended with theintroduction of the SmartFusion2 device family. SmartFusion2 SoC FPGAs are designed to address funda-mental requirements for advanced security, high reliability and low power in critical industrial, defense, avi-ation, communications and medical applications. SmartFusion2 integrates inherently reliable flash-basedFPGA fabric, a 166 MHz ARM Cortex-M3 processor, advanced security processing accelerators, DSP blocks,SRAM, eNVM and industry-required high-performance communication interfaces all on a single chip. An ad-ditional industry unique feature “Flash*Freeze” allows further reduction in power consumption from mWdownto uW range.High efficiency within the application is achieved by leveraging the embedded micro-processor sub-system Cortex-M3 based, and the design specific flexibility introduced in the FPGA side.


Technical Articles and Product News about:Hardware and SoftwareTools

www.embedded-know-how.com/ece-magazine

Technologies



http://www.embedded-know-how-com/ece-magazine


EMBEDDED FORUM

Session 4: Small F m Factor Boards

12h30- 13h00 Standardization vs Specials for ARM based modulesSpeaker: Wolfgang Heinz-Fischer, TQ-Group

The ARM module market is broadly positioned and compli-cates the choice for the user as there are many form factorsand standards. The presentation provides an overview to findthe best fitting module.

13h30 - 14h00 The new ARM Computer-on-Modules StandardSpeaker: Peter Müller, Kontron

ULP-Computer-on-Modules are ARM SoC building blocks thatenable unique ultra low power designs with minimal time-to-market and high design security, as the processor module isa standard-based COTS component that can simply be designed-in. ULP-COM modules therefore close the gap between proprietary industrial offerings and the highly in-tegrated, full custom designs of the consumer market. Learnmore about the supported processor families and featuresand discuss the Kontron Computer-on-Modules strategywith us.

14h00 - 14h30 Rugged Small Form Factor solution for industrial control applicationsSpeaker: Hubert Baierl, Infineon

Infineon Technologies ISOFACE products enable small formfactor industrial control solutions through integration ofrugged galvanic isolation, valuable diagnostic feedback andsolid switching capabilities or flexible inputs. The innovativeISOFACE products permit highly compact printed circuit board(PCB) designs, concurrently shortening time to market and delivering superior Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) ro-bustness. At the heart of a reference design are an ISOFACE8-channel high-side driver IC and an ISOFACE 8-channel dig-ital input IC. The PCB is designed to meet the IEC 61131-2norm applicable for Programmable Logical Controllers (PLC).

Session 5: Tools & Software

15h00 - 15h30 Analog and Digital combined: Mixed-Signal Design and Verification in SimulinkSpeaker: Alexander Schreiber, Mathworks

In this presentation we will demonstrate how MATLAB andSimulink can serve as an integrative platform for the design ofmixed-signal systems. Several technical disciplines and areas ofexpertise are combined in communications systems, e.g. radiotechnology, digital communication and signal processing algorithms. In order to ensure and verify the overall system performance as early as possible, the characteristics of thesedomains need to be taken into account in system simulationand through linking the domain-specific development tools together. This can be realized using MATLAB and Simulink.

More Information:



or

http://www.eepd.de

http://www.eepd.de



EMBEDDED FORUM

15h30 - 16h00 Multi-core debugging – basics and hintsSpeaker: Heiko Rießland, pls

Debugging and test of software for deeply embedded multi-core SoC’s is a demanding task for developersand requires for efficiency powerful tools. Simple stop-and-go debugging does not more help in manyscenarios. The presentation gives an overview about state-of-the-art data acquisition and real time analy-sis of current tools. Especially the integration of on-chip test capabilities with the tool features is one maintopic. Further we will have a look at the debugging of interactions between two or more cores.

16h30 - 17h00 Multi-Board System DevelopmentSpeaker: Günther Schindler, CEO EasyLogix

Combine electronic design from multiple sources. Trace net between different PCB boards. Cross probebetween multiple schematic and boards at the same time. Verify embedded mainboard and satelliteboards with all information in one environment.

Thursday, 15th of November

Session 6: ARM-based Embedded Computers & Processors

10h30 - 11h00 Overview of the broad TI ARM-based processors portfolioSpeaker: Arnaud Van-Den-Bossche, Texas Instruments

TI offers a broad portfolio of ARM-based processors, with more than 500 devices available across the ARMCortex-M series, Cortex-R series and Cortex-A series of cores. TI’s innovative ARM solutions leverage thecompany’s system-level expertise to provide class-leading performance and power efficiency, with easy-to-use kits and reference designs speed development cycles. TI solutions are complimented by a com-prehensive ecosystem that spans software, tools and operating systems (OS) – from high-level OS to RTOSto no OS.

11h00 - 11h30 ARM-based MultiCore Qseven with single cable PCap touch panel solutionSpeaker: Markus Mahl, Data Modul

With the new ARM based multicore solutions, it´s possible to drive large TFTs with high resolutions(HD1080). This new technology step enabled Data Modul to introduce the first x86 compatible Qsevenmodule. Together with the new Displayport 1.1 interface, Data Modul created a new standard solutionto drive the whole range of available TFTs in combination with the new easyTouch (PCap solution).

11h30 - 12h00 A field report - Android in industrial applicationsSpeaker: Tim Jaacks, Garz & Fricke

Google's operating system Android has recently become a leader in the mobile phone and tablet mar-ket. Bringing a very user-friendly GUI for users and an easy-to-use SDK with a strong API for programmers,it also starts to make its way into industrial embedded systems. Since the Android framework is based ona Linux kernel, it is generally portable to any ARM based platform. This presentation gives a short overviewof the architecture and the advantages of Android and the experiences Garz & Fricke made using it in theirproducts.

Session 7: Industrial Control & Communications

12h30- 13h00 Communication infrastructure solutions for Industrial Automation 2020Speaker: Christoph Hecker, Renesas

Communication is key in Industrial Automation and there will be significant changes in the related in-frastructure as we move towards 2020. The trend starts now on the fieldbus level and will continue intothe future. Renesas has several readymade solutions available on the fieldbus level, such as Industrial Eth-ernet Components, as well as on the last meter communication with ASi or IO-Link systems. The clear strat-egy from Renesas is to support customers in a way that will allow them to concentrate on the applica-tion and simply use the communication where applicable.



EMBEDDED FORUM

13h00 - 13h30 High-side Driver IC with integrated 2.5kV Galvanic isolation for industrial control applications Speaker: Hubert Baierl, Infineon

Infineon Technologies 2nd generation ISOFACE 8-channel high-side driver IC ISO2H823V offers inte-grated 2.5kV galvanic isolation, thus meets the IEC 61131-2 requirements for reinforced isolation. Con-currently, the ISO2H823V sets a new standard for system-level diagnostics. Each of the 8 channels isequipped with 5-fold diagnostic monitoring capabilities: Open Load, Short-to-Vbb, Short-to-GND, OverCurrent, Over Temperature. With the ever increasing level of complexity and integration in industrialcontrol systems comprehensive diagnostic monitoring is highly valuable in a vast range of industrial ap-plications, both for preventive maintenance as well as to shorten costly un-scheduled down-times.

Session 8: Embedded Computing

15h00 - 15h30 From Model to Code – Fast Implementation with Automatic Code GenerationSpeaker: Dr. Stephan Myschik, Mathworks

Today, more and more technical systems like cars, airplanes and robots are relying on embedded proces-sors and control systems to provide their intended functionality. In the design process of these control sys-tems (e.g. autopilots, driver assistance systems), MATLAB and Simulink are already playing a key role inthe industry. With the system design already being performed using models, automatic code generationin the implementation phase is the next logical step. In this presentation we will present the value of au-tomatic code generation and how it helps to speed-up the implementation phase.

15h30 - 16h00 Will x86 still play a major role within the future industrial markets?Speaker: Christian Blersch, E.E.P.D.

The battle between ARM and x86 basedsystems for industrial applications hasjust started.Now also new operatingsystems such as Windows 8 and Androidare getting into the game. We will pro-vide an overview about current tech-nologies and provide an outlook wherethis journey might take us to in the nextyears. As EEPD is much more than just aboard vendor, we provide elaborate so-lutions and technological expertise toguide you into the future.

16h00 - 16h30 The right board solutions for different embedded applicationsSpeaker: Jan Felder, embedded-logic

(This paper will be presented in Germanlanguage)

The right choice of embedded boardsdepends on your requirements in termsof volume, time to market, flexibility andambient area. In addition you need toconsider the new possibilities of the nowavailable ARM-based solutions. This pres-entation provides an overview about theboards (ETX, COM Express, Q7, PC/104,3,5” and Nano-ITX) , which embedded-logic offers for various applications.

More Information:



http://www.embedded-logic.de



EMBEDDED FORUM

Friday, 16th of November

Session 9: Electronic Lighting

10h00 - 10h30 Optoelectronic measurement - the right waySpeaker: Kevin Jensen, MAZeT

The choice of optoelectronic detectors and sensors always depends on the specific application at hand.This presentation demonstrates problems and solutions of application-specific sensor systems based onthe JENCOLOR color sensors.

11h00 - 11h30 Clever microcontrollers for intelligent LED lightingSpeaker: Steve Norman, Renesas

Considering the role of the microcontroller in the anticipated explosion of the LED Lighting market andthe "clever" solutions required in order to deliver the proof of user experience that will underpin thatexplosion, including high efficiency, intelligence, communications, safety and, of course, reduced cost. Thisis set against a background of achieving these in the simplest possible manner, and with an eye on embracing some of the new opportunities in LED Lighting just around the corner.

Session 10: Software Development

12h00- 12h30 The RAM revolution: How would you use 2.5MB more RAM in your application?Speaker: Robert Kalman, Renesas and Colin Walls, Mentor Graphics

The new family of MCUs from Renesas are revolutionising the way that engineers think about system design. The 2.5MB of embedded SRAM open up a new range of different solutions and possibilities. Thissession will explore the possible use cases for different applications which can benefit from the additionof 2.5MB of SRAM, and how these different application areas can also benefit from the use of MentorGraphics solutions such as Nucleus RTOS and Inflexion.

13h00 - 13h30 DAVE 3 makes embedded software development much fasterSpeaker: Georg Huba, Infineon

Component based software development is widely used to improve development efficiency. Up to nowthis concept had limits in embedded applications. It was not easy to avoid hardware conflicts when usingvarious software components that require peripheral and I/O resources of the target microcontroller.DAVE™ 3, the free development platform from Infineon overcomes these limitations. This paper providesan overview of component based programming and outlines the innovative concept of DAVE 3. It willprove that embedded software development will be much faster when using DAVE™ 3.

13h30 - 14h00 API: a helpful tool for the analysis of electromagnetic designsSpeaker: Dr. Doug Craigen, INTEGRATED Engineering Software

An API enables the user to greatly enhance the power of an application to suit their needs including coupling with other API enabled software. Examples shown in this talk will include insulator design; testing for EMC/EMI issues, and optimizing a magnetic core shape to obtain a desired B field profile.

electronica NEWSSchroff: effective cooling for industrial applications

Pentair Technical Products has introduced the new V-series of air con-ditioners to the market under its McLean brand. In Europe theMcLean brand, which offers cooling solutions for industrial andtelecommunications applications, is marketed through Schroff and itssales partners. The new V-series air conditioners have been developedto provide effective cooling for industrial systems. This series of cabi-net wall-mounted devices offers a wide range of five different coolingcapacities: 300 W, 600 W, 1200 W, 1500 W and 2000 W. News ID 16223

Maxim: smart-meter SoC combines metrology, securityand communication

Maxim Integrated Products introduces Zeus, a complete smart-meter system-on-a-chip that offers highly accurate metrology, mul-tiple layers of security, and plenty of processing horsepower fortoday’s advanced communication protocols. Zeus provides metermanufacturers with a platform for development in multiple endmarkets, supporting a wide range of security and communicationrequirements. News ID 16254





TRENDS

Software developers define the trends in microcontrollersDr. Stephan Zizala, Senior Director, Microcontrollers,Industrial and Multimarket, Infineon

n In early 2012 Infineon introduced XMC4000,its first ARM-based microcontroller family. Whenwe made the decision to use the ARM Cortex M4processor there were some concerns, of course.Would such a product be commodity, replaceableby any other ARM Cortex M4 based microcon-troller? Would there be a price war? By now, weknow the answer. Of course one might faceprice pressure in applications which just need lit-tle computing performance, an USB interface, afew ADC channels etc. But XMC4000 is faraway from a commodity product. The family ishighly optimized for industrial drives, renewableenergy and factory automation. And optimizedadditionally means the reliability, quality, real-time performance needed for such demandingapplications that the peripherals are leadingedge and can be configured in a way which allowsthe customer to adapt them to the exact require-ments of the target application.

However, applications for a simple, low-end mi-crocontroller and a powerful, highly advanced mi-crocontroller have one thing in common: inno-vations in applications drive up software com-plexity. If one just browses through the applica-tion trends in the embedded domain – energy ef-ficiency, connectivity, safety, low power etc – all ofthem require more advanced software. Algo-rithms to fully utilize the powerful peripherals, tomake protocol stacks work together smoothly, tofulfill new safety requirements for factory au-tomation or to transit from sleep mode to activemode. And Moore’s law will accelerate the trendtowards more and more powerful affordable

microcontrollers. This means even more possi-bilities for embedded software developers tocreate innovative software for their target markets.The traditional answers of the semiconductor in-dustry to reduce software complexity have beenthe use of standard cores, hardware abstractionlayers or reference designs with sample code.Using a standard core does not relieve the soft-ware developer from considering the peripheralsor integrating several software modules to worktogether. Hardware abstraction layers are helpfulas long as the application does not require pow-erful peripherals. Reference designs with samplecode are a good proof of concept, but as soon asthe software developer tries to adapt the samplecode to the exact application requirements thingsbecome tricky. Also combining two more softwareexamples can quickly become tedious.

Infineon suggests a different approach to handlethe complexity of industrial applications nowa-days: The DAVE integrated development envi-ronment (IDE). First pre-defined software com-ponents, the so-called DAVE apps, can be con-figured and combined to high level applicationmodel in a graphical user interface. SecondDAVE maps the application model to the micro-controller with a leading edge algorithm, makingbest use of the peripherals, and generates C code.Third the C code can be modified, compiled anddebugged within DAVE. Being based on theEclipse framework the IDE is extendable to thirdparty tools, and the DAVE SDK allows modifyingthe pre-defined DAVE apps or creating newones. This innovative concept works, as the mi-crocontroller is prepared for this: XMC4000 isbased on a modular architecture with highly con-figurable peripherals, which can be intercon-nected via the central connection matrix bysoftware. Due to this structure the IDE can au-tomatically configure the microcontroller tomatch the high level application model.

By using this more abstract development method-ology based on software components, embeddedsoftware developers can create applications whichare easy to port between XMC4000 family mem-bers. They don’t have to care about peripheral im-plementation details, but still can take full ad-vantage of application-optimized peripherals.In future this approach will be further expanded,especially by offerings of third party apps. n


http://www.rtos.com


TRENDS

32-bit cores are NOT the solution to allLucio Di Jasio, Business Development Europe, Microchip Technology

n The embedded control market is experiencinga very tumultuous and interesting evolutionaryphase. The small CMOS geometries (<200nm)that propelled the mainstream computing in-dustry more than a decade ago into the “Pen-tium” era have finally reached the price point,but perhaps more importantly the robustnessand low power consumption levels, required byembedded control applications. The practicalrepercussions are significant: more flash mem-ory is available, which has boosted the use ofhigher-level programming languages, moregates are available to enrich the core of the mi-crocontroller and to increase performance,

making 32-bit, 100 MIPS solutions an increas-ingly affordable option, and lastly and pre-dictably, the die size reduction has made it pos-sible to fit even larger microcontrollers in thesmallest packages (2x2mm DFN and SOT23-6).

Claims are often made that 32-bit cores are thesolution to all embedded applications becausethey offer the utmost in functionality andpower. Some have even extended this messageto say that standardization around one, andonly one, 32-bit architecture will benefit all de-velopers and eventually the end users. Mi-crochip does not agree with this view. We be-lieve that developers and end users will benefitfrom a greater (not lesser) availability of af-fordable core choices. We feel engineers shouldbe able to choose the right core for the appli-cation. We offer a more holistic perspective,where the embedded control solution is thesum of a number of choices comprising the se-lection of the right set of peripherals, the rightpackages, the right mix of memory components(RAM, flash, EEPROM, …) with the right en-durance, retention characteristics, integration ofanalog features (amplifiers, comparators, volt-age references, supervisors …) to create the per-fect microcontroller for the application. This re-quires not just the availability of a large port-folio of devices, but a true platform where all

the above choices are available as part of a uni-form migration path, including: common pin-outs for true pin-to pin compatibility, univer-sal tools that can be used for all -he devices ina portfolio of products, and common softwarelibraries for connectivity, touch and graphicsetc. The Microchip approach promotes the ideaof core-independent peripherals to support thedesign process; any C compiler can manage thedifference between two cores, but incompatibleperipheral and pin-outs can force substantialredesign. This approach also means that pe-ripheral modules can be designed to relieve thecore from low level, processor-intensive tasksthat are not bound to the choice of an 8-, 16- or32-bit core.

Microchip use the added flexibility offered byadvanced CMOS processes to provide increasedinternal connectivity, for example by addingconfigurable logic cells, and integrating moreanalog functionality to help reduce the powerconsumption of the solution, the bill of mate-rials and ultimately the total cost of the solution.The PIC microcontroller platform offers a con-tinuum of compatible 8-, 16-and 32-bit prod-ucts, all within the same MPLAB X developmentenvironment umbrella, supported by compati-ble compilers (XCB, XC16, XC32), simulators,programming and debugging support. n

n Multi-core architectures are now commonin classic microprocessors, but the era of mi-crocontrollers with multiple cores is only justbeginning. The motivation also to deploymulti-core architectures in microcontrollers isthe increasing demand of performance ofdeeply embedded applications. This couldtheoretically also be fulfilled by increasing theclock rate. However, this leads to higher poweruptake combined with problematic heat de-velopment on the chip. High clocking fre-quencies are also difficult to keep under con-trol in many respects. Using several cores,however, permits a performance boost withoutincreasing the clock rate and the increase in

electrical power uptake is much lower thanusing a higher clock frequency. This soundsgood, and it is, but it would be wrong to thinkthat this means all problems are solved with it.Multi-core MCUs confront semiconductormanufacturers, tool suppliers and users withcompletely new challenges. Whilst classic mi-croprocessors mainly consist of symmetricalmultiprocessing on identical cores, multi-core microcontrollers for deeply embeddedapplications in the automotive or industry sectors are often designed asymmetrically.This means that several microcontroller coreswith different performance levels or special-izations are integrated into the chip.

The new challenges of multi-coreHeiko Riessland, Head of Product Marketing, PLS Programmierbare Logik & Systeme



TRENDS

The encapsulation of the cores with operatingsystem software is only standard for classic mi-croprocessors. With multi-core microcon-trollers, the operating system normally does nothelp to divide up application tasks on differentcores dynamically at run-time. The question,which part of the application is running onwhich core is currently more often decided dur-ing creation time of the application. One of thereasons for this is the often very demanding re-quirement of deterministic time responses.The ideal solution would be to adapt single-coresoftware for several cores. This is unfortunate-ly rather unrealistic.

A further challenge is testing the applicationsfor correct function and finding errors whichoccur. With the parallel processing of software,programmers are moving into new dimensionsin development and test. Multiple cores canonly be started and stopped nearly in sync withthe corresponding logic, which is integrated di-rectly on the chip. To make effective use possi-ble for the developer, the deployed debug toolsmust in turn fully exploit these on-chip com-ponents, but they should hide the concrete im-plementation as far as possible. This is, for ex-ample, made possible by the concept of runcontrol groups. Multiple cores of a complexSoC can thus be conveniently debugged usingthe PLS Universal Debug Engine (UDE) with-in one user interface. Showing and hiding andalso the specific colouring of views supportrapid navigation between the individual cores.

New rules also apply for the supreme disciplineof debugging - the tracing of multi-core mi-crocontrollers. The created amount of on-chip data is normally much too large to trans-mit it completely to the debugger with normalinterfaces. There are two basic solution ap-proaches to overcome this bottleneck. On theone hand, new interfaces with a drasticallyhigher bandwidth are used and on the otherhand, an attempt is made to reduce the quan-tity of trace data.

The first solution is the use of serial high-speedinterfaces such as the Xilinx Aurora protocolwith which data rates of several Gigabits persecond are currently possible. As regards tools,above all a corresponding trace framework is re-quired alongside the corresponding hardware,which is able to record or store such data. Thismust not only be able to process large quanti-ties of data from different cores and sources, butalso to make visualizations for profiling, codecoverage etc.

For the second solution approach, the trace datawhich accrues is already filtered on the chip.Several chip manufacturers have extended theirtrace units accordingly with a special trigger andfilter logic. Once configured by the debugger,

these extended units permit very precise selec-tion of data which should be recorded. A toolwith a superior abstraction method is needed toallow developers to intuitively program the ad-ditional trigger logic in their known terminol-ogy. One concept which has already proved it-self is the schematic configuration of the trig-ger logic, based on a state machine model suchas it is used by the PLS Universal EmulationConfigurator (UEC).

There is no doubt that multi-core microcon-trollers will establish themselves rapidly due tothe continuing constantly increasing perform-ance requirements in sophisticated deeply em-bedded applications. However, the examplesmentioned also show that chip providers, toolmanufacturers and users still have a number ofchallenges to overcome. And these challengesrequire the concerted and early collaboration ofall those involved. n

More Information:



http://www.acromag.com



TRENDS

Trends for MCUs lead to better supporttools and middlewareSteve Gaines, Senior Manager MCU Marketing, Industrial Business Group, Renesas

n The traditional market requirements, such asthe need for higher performance, more inte-gration and less power, will continue to remainas the main drivers shaping the future develop-ments for microcontrollers. However, this resultsin the applications that use MCUs becomingmore complex and challenging, so there is aneed to provide both the hardware and softwaresupport framework by market segments.

Modern microcontrollers are now well equippedwith integrated peripherals, especially those forcommunication. Integrated IIC, CAN and Eth-ernet controllers are now de facto standards inany new controller family. This has increasedtheir use in communication applications, but atthe same time has put pressure on the level ofmemory integrated, driving the need for high-er levels of data memory. This will mean futuredevices will have more on-chip RAM and ahigher ratio of RAM to ROM, or use flexiblememory technologies that will allow the user toachieve larger data storage solutions. The in-creasing growth of applications aligned togreen energy is driving the need to reduce

power. The challenge for microcontroller manufacturers, when developing products forlow power applications such as energy har-vesting, is to achieve the perfect balance be-tween performance and current consumption.Renesas, as the leading supplier of microcon-trollers, has applied significant development ex-pertise to achieving exceptional processing ca-pability whilst dissipating remarkably small

amounts of power, both at low voltage. Themain drivers for MCUs will continue to beachieved through utilising leading edge processtechnology and design. Higher performance, re-duced active current, and more integration willcome from the use of finer line width technol-ogy. At the hardware level, Renesas has alreadyintroduced its 40nm generation of microcon-trollers for automotive applications and is nowramping up products on this technology for theindustrial market, focusing on low power per-formance and integration. The Renesas 40nmMCUs will support up to 8 Mbytes flash at 120MHz single-cycle access times and provide upto 512 KBytes of on-chip SRAM.

Thirty-five per cent of embedded engineers con-sider middleware availability as the deciding fac-tor in choosing a processor, and the availability ofsoftware tools is included as a top criterion. There-fore, semiconductor vendors will continue to de-velop support tools and middleware which createa framework for customers that allows for betterhardware abstraction, and allows customers tofocus on adding value to their developments. n

n The trend in analog? – Very clearly, our viewat Maxim Integrated is that it is going towardsmore analogue integration. This is reflected inour new branding and company name –Maxim Integrated. We have the strong beliefthat higher integration can make the worldsmarter, safer, more convenient and more en-ergy-efficient. Look at your smartphone - youhave a phone, a PDA, a music player, a videocamera, a still camera, a computer that runssoftware and games. If you can put all of thesesystems into a phone that fits into your pocket,just imagine what you could do with a TV… ormedical equipment…or a car. This is what we’rethinking about at Maxim. We believe thatmore integration means more possibilities, for

our customers and for the world around us.Analog has traditionally been divided into fourdiscrete functions – amplifiers, data conversion,interface and power management. Analog inte-gration combines these functions into a singlechip, which also includes microcontrollers andsmall amounts of memory in order to solve sys-tem-level problems in a single piece of silicon.

Examples include analog front ends, whichcombine converters with amplifiers, and powerand metering systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) thatcombine power management, data conversion,and micro processing. Digital has used inte-gration for decades to give customers morefunctions in a smaller space. Analog has resis-

More analog integrationChris Neil, Senior Vice President, Industrial & Medical Solutions Group, Maxim



TRENDS

ted this trend. Our view is that it’s time for our industry to change.Analog integration is more difficult for several reasons – for example,products have been developed on different process technologies, orcrosstalk and interference problems might occur when combiningnoisy digital circuits near noise-sensitive analog circuits on one chip.However, Maxim has the process technologies and design expertise tal-ents on board to solve these technical challenges, and this gives us aunique position in the analog market.

We have developed this expertise over time - we started with our fa-mous building blocks; we then grouped those blocks to sell into so-lutions; and now, where it makes sense, we are integrating those so-lutions in a single chip in key markets like mobile, financial terminals,smart meters, motor health monitoring, factory automation, and au-tomotive. Our integration efforts include several steps. We partnerwith our customers to better understand their systems and define ourroadmaps; we collaborate and share IP within Maxim to get the bestsolution for the end application; we have developed internal tools andtechnology processes with the goal of integration in mind from theonset. Our share of integration products has been increasing 1-2%each quarter over the last 5 years. Today over one-third of our revenuecomes from highly integrated products. And the trend continues - allaround us, the world is getting smaller and design cycles are acceler-ating – and system solutions and integration enable both of thesetrends.

Integration is occurring in all markets – not just mobility. For exam-ple - we have just announced Zeus, a new highly integrated completesmart meter SoC combining power measurement, sophisticated secu-rity, and several communication functions into a single integrated IC- an important advance in integration and security protection for thesmart grid. Smart homes, smarter cars, highly efficient factories - thereare countless possibilities. Together with our customers, we open thedoors for new possibilities never thought of before. Maxim is the ana-log integration pioneer; the company who can bring complete solutionsto our customers as a technology partner for strategic silicon. n

electronica NEWS

Rutronik: innovative products for future technologies Under the motto „Meet tomorrow now!“ Rutronik will bedemonstrating its innovative electronic components and completesolutions at electronic. Visitors to the stands will be able to selectapplications from touch-screens and view the matching compo-nents with their technical specifications. Operational applicationsfor each market will demonstrate the potential benefits. With themulti-sense system illumotion, Rutronik will be exhibiting state-of-the-art presentation techniques. Many Rutronik partners willalso be showing their latest product releases, including Rutroniksubsidiary Rusol, which will be featuring high-end PV modules,inverters, mounting systems and accessories.

One of the highlights will be the updated online platformWebg@te, which visitors will have the opportunity to try outlive. Over a million products across the full spectrum of elec-tronics are available to order at up-to-the-minute, customer-specific prices. A redesign has made Webg@te even more user-friendly, while the smartphone-optimized version also allowsmobile access.News ID 16152


http://www.atpinc.com



Following the progression of the standards

The rise in the use of LVDS-type bus systems, such as PCIe and Rapid I/O, has led to a relatively recent development of a test standard.Since these buses typically use capacitive AC coupling between driver and sensors the low frequency test data rates offered via 1149.1boundary-scan are no longer tenable. Fortunately this issue was anticipated by the IEEE computer society some years ago which proposedan extension to the 1149.1 standard to address AC-coupled LVDS networks; namely IEEE Std. 1149.6. Parts complying with this standardaddendum, dubbed “dot 6”, feature additional circuitry to generate a test pulse, or train of pulses, that can propagate through the coupling(see box). At the receiver pins, edge detectors reform the pulses from the rising and falling edges.

The fact is that IEEE 1149.6 is now a mature standard, having been ratified as long ago as 2003 and is supported by all industry- leadingboundary-scan test tools such as JTAG ProVision. However, it is only in recent times that silicon vendors have produced parts that haveimplemented the ‘dot6’ features reliably and as such the value of standards may sometimes be overstated when there is an increasingurgency to fulfil pressing test needs.

Proprietary solutions using JTAG

In parallel with the developments in high-performance computing and datacomm products it is also possible to observe another industry trend;namely the increased use of high-performance yet low-cost processors featuring ARM cores (7/9/11 Cortex-M) or PPC cores. Mainstream semiconductor manufacturers such as Atmel, NXP, ST and Freescale havespearheaded their introduction and such parts can be commonly found ingrowing electronics sectors such as automotive and industrial controls; with-in applications that would have traditionally employed relatively low-tech 8-bit microcontrollers. One consequence of the introduction of budget microsis that while the parts have a JTAG port to access On-Chip Debug (OCD) func-tions they are sometimes lacking a full 1149.1 boundary-scan implementation,normally essential to create meaningful production-orientated tests.

Nevertheless, enterprising engineers can now harness the OCD functions ofthe device cores for test purposes, using easy to set-up control routines thatcan be embedded within a Python script, for example. What’s more, since thelevel of automation in using these ‘core command’ tools is relatively low sotoo is the cost of adoption. Users of JTAGLive’s CoreCommander, for ex-ample, can expect to pay $1200.00 for a set of core control routines that willallow them to develop memory tests, analog value checks (e.g. on PSUs andtemperature sensors) and flash memory programming applications.

ADVERTORIAL

The Continued Evolution of JTAG Test SolutionsBy Peter van den Eijnden – Managing Director JTAG Technologies

Board test technology over the past five years is witnessing what could be the most dramatic changes since theintroduction of boundary-scan (a.k.a. JTAG IEEE Std. 1149.1) in 1990. While the traditional standard, 1149.1,revolutionized the way PCBs have been tested and programmed, new advancements in circuit design and ICshave initiated developments and updates to both the IEEE 1149.x standards and associated proprietary testtechniques.



Leveraging OCD modes in cores - Many new microcontrollers include cores from ARM, Intel or Freescale. In such cases the host devicemay also feature a full or partial boundary-scan register. Testing via JTAG is possible using pre-defined routines that unlock the debugmodes and allow you to perform internal memory writes and reads.

A further example of proprietary (non-standard) ingenuity is the use of FPGA embedded test cores. Some years ago, principal FPGAvendors including Actel, Altera and Xilinx introduced mechanisms to provide engineers with access to gate array logic resources directlyvia the standard JTAG test access port (TAP). (Prior to that a secondary pseudo TAP had to be defined along with the TAP state machineand in the process using-up valuable pin (I/O) and gate resources unnecessarily)

This in turn gave the test engineering com-munity a free hand to define BIST coresthat could be (temporarily) loaded thenexercised via the FPGA logic during man-ufacturing test. Typical of such cores are‘at-speed’ memory test features that allowparts such as DDR2/3 memories to betruly functionally tested via JTAG ratherthan using the standard structural style testthat is possible using the relatively slowboundary-scan register. Note: Altera’smechanism, known as VJI (Virtual JTAGInterface), is mentioned in the article“JTAG Provides ‘Missing Link’ in FPGA-based BIST”, in Electronic Product Design,April 2009.

Still waiting...

Finally, readers will often read of impending or ‘coming soon’ board and device test standards, such as IEEE P1687 (iJTAG), that willfulfil the future of board test. In this case the P stands for Preliminary (or working Party stage) and this particular standard relates onlyto a proposed system to access and control so-called ‘embedded instruments’ within ICs for testing logic elements such as embeddedor external memories (i.e. MEMBIST). This idea in itself is not new and for many years silicon vendors have often added proprietaryembedded test and measurement functionality into their devices to characterize, validate and test their chip designs. However, developingsuch standards via a committee can be an inexact and drawn-out process; especially when your commitment is one of backwards com-patibility with a base standard (such as 1149.1).

What’s more, in times of economic hardship, volunteer committee members will seldom get full support and/or resources from theiremployers to pursue ‘extra-curricular’ activities. Accordingly, such developments may take many years (six years and counting for P1687)to reach a conclusion and even then with no guarantee of success or wide-scale adoption once they are ratified. Moribund standardssuch as IEEE 1149.5 abound along with those that never even reach the working party stage. Test engineers choosing a test equipmentcompany to work with over the long-term, should therefore ensure that their supplier has a solid past track record and can keep pacewith technology trends both inside and outside the framework of rigid test standards; that more often than not lag the ‘bleeding edge’work that is already in practice.

ADVERTORIAL

About the Author: Peter van den Eijnden is Co-founder and Director of JTAG Technologies in Eindhoven.

Peter graduated in 1981 from the Eindhoven University of Technology in Electrical Engineering / Di-

gital Systems. After graduation, he has worked as a scientist at this university and taught at the New

Teacher Training Group several years of research and teaching in the field of microprocessors, circuit theo-

ry and design of programmable logic and ASICs. From 1985 to 1993 he was employed by the Philips

testing equipment group. He was involved in the development of ASICs and microprocessors emulators

and logic analyzers, and he was project manager of the boundary-scan test equipment development and

later director of that group. JTAG Technologies was founded by him together with a partner in 1993.



EMBEDDED PLATFORMS CONFERENCE

e eee

E M B E D D E D P L A T F O R M S C O N F E R E N C E

N O V E M B E R 1 4 – 1 5 , 2 0 1 2

conference programembedded platforms

25th International Trade Fair for Electronic Components, Systems and ApplicationsMesse MünchenNovember 13–16, 2012www.electronica.de

1st embedded platforms conferenceThe communications forum for selecting future-proof hardware and software platforms

Morning Sessions

Session 1: Embedded Design, Multicore, Future Challenges

09:00–09:45

Where Will You Begin Your Next Embedded Design? Start with the CPU, the peripherals or further away from hardware? Jean Labrosse, Micrium Farnell

09:45–10:30

Migrating to MulticoreExample of an ecosystem and outlook on how multicore products will scale in future Jean-Christophe Bodet, Freescale Farnell

11:00–12:30

Future Challenges—Are next-generation engineers and programmers ready for next-generation design challenges? Panel-led discussion and debate Farnell

Session 2: XMC4000 Family, DAVE3

09:00–10:00

The XMC4000 MCU FamilyCountless solutions for industrial applications in one hardware platformAndreas Jansen, Infineon Infineon

10:00–10:30

Tools and Software SolutionsWide landscape of free and commercial tools and software solutions for the XCM4000 MCU familyGeorg Huba, Infineon Infineon

11:00–11:30

DAVE3: Free Development PlatformTech nical concept of code generation and resource management for embedded systems with DAVE3 Oreste Bernardi , Infineon Infineon

11:30–12:30

Life Development Session How to develop a complex embedded software project with DAVE apps in less than 1 hour Infineon

Session 3: 8, 16 and 32 Bit RISC, CISC, Singlecore, Multicore?

09:00–12:30

8, 16 and 32 Bit RISC, CISC, Singlecore, Multicore?Overview of cores, peripherals and tools- CPU subsystems- Memory interfaces- Memory management- Clock management- Power management- Interrupt and event handling- Debug support- Communication- Analog-digital peripherals- Industrial control peripherals- Input/output- Tools and RTOSDieter Volland, MicroConsult MicroConsult

embedded platforms conference 2012—Program Framework—Day 1, November 14, 2012

SponsorTitle

electronica NEWSDensitron: new bonding facility and TFT & E-paper design solutions

Densitron’s E-paper Evaluation Kit and RipDraw Display and Design Solution will be unveiled. These new offerings promise to significantlyreduce product development time and cost. Densitron will also introduce its new optical bonding facility and capability to add cover lenses orPCTs to any display using a reworkable process.

The new RipDraw introduction includes the worldwide launch of Densitron’s Cloud Computing Web Portal. The portal enhances customers’ability to rapidly prototype world class GUI designs for TFT projects. Not only does the portal include a 7 layer intuitive WYSIWYG Drawingtool, it also comes fully populated with over 8,000 copyrighted royalty-free images for customers to use with the RipDraw TFT product line. Thisremoves the barrier most mid-market customers confront if they lack the art department to fully utilize a TFT display. This coupled with therelease of the RipDraw TFT emulator and initial release of the RipDraw 7” WVGA 1024 x 600 GPU assisted TFT display greatly reduces timeto market and results in extraordinary cost effective GUI solutions for our customers.

News ID 16177


http://www.electronica.de




Afternoon Sessions

SponsorTitle

Session 4: Embedded Standardisation

13:30–17:00

The World of Embedded Technologies Standards—Status quo and future ideas for standardization within the embedded technologies ecosystem- Existing SGET standards - How they are developed- How they are created- Status quo- How they are further developed- How you can participate - Implementation examplesEngelbert Hörmannsdorfer, SGET Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies e.V. and partners SGET

Session 5: Motor Control

13:30–14:00

TOSHIBA Product Line-up for Motor Applications—Motor control from logic to power stage and optical isolationRoland Gehrmann, Toshiba Toshiba

14:00–15:00

Introduction of a TOSHIBA Cortex M370-based Motor Control Architecture Implementation of highly intelligent motor drives using field-oriented controlAndreas Kohl, Toshiba Toshiba

15:30–16:00

Tools and SW SupportIDE, kits, boards, firmware, stacks, RTOS and moreThomas Haase, Toshiba Toshiba

16:00–17:00

Practical SessionLive set-up of a brushless DC motor and tool demonstrationAndreas Kohl, ToshibaThomas Haase, Toshiba Toshiba

Session 6: The ARM Architecture on its Way to Industry

13:30–14:15The ARM Architecture on Its Way to industryFrank Walzer, Texas Instruments OSADL

14:15–15:00

How to Select the Best Suitable Processor for a Given Industrial ApplicationTest center for processor selection and how it worksCarsten Emde, OSADL OSADL

15:30–16:15

Challenges and Chances of Real-time LinuxStatus quo and future prospectsThomas Gleixner, linutronix OSADL

16:15–17:00

Current Status of the GNU/Linux SIL2 Certification Project Project background and details Nicholas Mc Guire, Opentech OSADL

Coffee breakLunch break: 12:30–13:30

2

Morning Sessions

SponsorTitle

Session 7: Power Architecture Modules, ARM Modules

09:00–10:30

The Power Architecture Module Market- Roadmap- Advantages of a modular design- How to find the right module provider- Market overview: module providersWolfgang Heinz-Fischer, TQ-Group Franck Roux, Freescale TQ Systems

11:00–12:30

The ARM Module Market- Processors for embedded modules- Freescale ARM processors- Standardization- Module providers- How to choose the right module provider- Application examplesWolfgang Heinz-Fischer, TQ-Group Jean-Louis Dolmeta, Freescale TQ Systems

Session 8: Multicore, ARM, Safety

09:00–09:45

Multicore EfficiencyHow TI enables high-performance computing, maximizing GFLOPS/WattJochen Schyma, Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments

09:45–10:30

Helping Developers Unleash the Best of ARM to the Industrial MarketWhich processor will best meet critical design requirementsYves Massé, Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments

11:00–12:30

TI‘s Microcontroller Solutions for Safety-critical Control ApplicationsExample of a safety project, from start to certificationGerhard Wenderlein, Dr. Kurt Böhringer, Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments

Session 9: FM3Connect—USB and Ethernet, ECO System for ARM Cortex

09:00–10:30

Embedded USB Solutions—Ready to UseTheory and practice of USB software development for host and device Manuel Schreiner, Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe Fujitsu

11:00–11:45

FM3Connect—The ECO System for Connectivity Application DevelopmentAvailable components, free development environment and middleware Dirk Fischer, Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe Fujitsu

11:45–12:30

FM3 TwinMAC—Single and Dual Port Ethernet MCUsEthernet in embedded applications from point-2-point, over gateway up to web servers Christoph Nolte, Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe Fujitsu

embedded platforms conference 2012—Program Framework—Day 2, November 15, 2012

13:45electronica NEWS„Obsolescence Day“ on November 14 at electronica 2012

Due to the ever decreasing product life cycles in the consumer sector many industrial electronic components are either hard to find or no longeravailable after one or two years. For manufacturers of durable goods, for example military, aerospace, railway, power plants, automation andmedical technology, both product development and cost calculation become more and more a truly high-wire act.

The aim of the non-profit-organisation COG Deutschland, founded 2004, and now with almost 90 members is to provide a manufacturer-inde-pendent platform to companies affected by the problem of obsolescence, to share insights and information on procedures and solutions and to pro-mote jointly the development of efficient obsolescence strategies. If you want to get information about the wide range of possibilities for preven-tion and minimising the risks associated with obsolescence, visit the following COG member companies at the COG Deutschland ObsolescenceDay on November 14. at electronica 2012: BMK Group, BuS Elektronik ,Cicor Electronic Solution, e2v technologies, HTV, IHS Global , KamakaElectronic Bauelemente, Municom, RD Alpha Microelectronics, Rochester Electronics, Serma, SILICA , TQ–Systems and Würth Elektronik.News ID 16293





SponsorTitle

Session 10: QorIQ, i.MX 6, AMP

13:30–17:00

Speed up Your Multicore Designs with Embedded Board Solutions Building blocks for innovation in highly integrated platforms - QorIQ communications platforms - Layerscape architecture- Software-aware networking architecture - QorIQ Qonverge platform - DSP integration- Advanced Multiprocessing (AMP) series- i.MX 6 series: scalable multicore platform Franck Roux, FreescaleJean Louis Dolmeta, Freescale Freescale

Session 11: Low-Power, IP-Reuse, Migration

13:30–17:00

Managing Project Uncertainties with the Right Development PlatformA design example for building a low-power, real-time application with a Cortex-M4 MCU- How to avoid the nightmare of project dead end- Intellectual property reuse across different

microcontroller platforms- Minimizing the challenges of 8 to 32 bit, change of toolchain, introducing RTOS, etc.

Joerg Berthold, Atmel Atmel

Session 12: Debug, Trace and Analysis

13:30–14:15

Debugging of Complex Microcontrollers Principles and hintsHeiko Riessland, PLS Programmierbare Logik & Systeme GmbH MicroConsult

14:15–15:00

Trace-StreamingNew Technology for degugging, performance tuning and quality assuranceAndrea Martin, Lauterbach MicroConsult

15:30–16:15

Analysis of Code Execution and Data Access in Modern MicrocontrollersCapabilities and limitsErol Simsek, iSystem MicroConsult

16:15–17:00

Challenges for Tools, Today and TomorrowHow to meet the requirements of multicore, power efficient code, safety critical applications, etc. Martin Gisbert , IAR MicroConsult

Afternoon Sessions

15:00–15:30

15:00–15:30

Coffee breakLunch break: 12:30–13:30

2

Published by Messe München GmbH, München; embedded platforms Programm E/9.12. Subject to chance without notice. All prices subject to VAT. As of 9/12.

Participation fees: 1-day ticket EUR 390 (Early Bird: EUR 330),Conference ticket (valid on both days) EUR 700 (Early Bird: EUR 600)

Early Bird prices apply to those who register by September 28, 2012!

All tickets entitle the holder to attend electronica 2012 on all four days of the fair.

Sponsored by:

Application at www.electronica.de/embeddedplatforms

Organizer/Information Messe München GmbHMessegelände81823 München, GermanyTel. +49 89 949-20331Fax + 49 89 949-20339www.electronica.deE-mail: [email protected]

In cooperation with:

CXXXXXX

electronica NEWSGarz & Fricke: HMI series with display sizes between 7" and 10.4“

Garz & Fricke introduces a new member of the HMI series. SANTARO, the name of the series, promises to cover the demand for high performance.The Freescale quad-core ARM module Cortex-A9 i.MX6Q and the Android operating system are particularly noteworthy. Single- and dual-corevariants will also be available. In the area of operating systems, the customers can choose between Windows CE 7 and Linux but also the latestAndroid system will be offered, the Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The series comes with display sizes between 7 and 10.4“. SANTARO may additionally have the following attributes: resistive or capacitive touch,dual-channel LVDS interface, 4GB eMMC flash, 1GB DDR3 RAM and an optional HDMI port. SANTARO will be presented at the upcomingelectronic. Furthermore there will be shown some product differentiations, such as the new mini version VINCELL LT with 4,3“ touch displayor the new SENSO GLASS series, which combines NESO LT (ARM 9), CUPID (ARM 11) and VINCELL (Cortex- A8) systems with 3 mm coverglass in one group.News ID 16322


http://www.electronica.de/embeddedplatforms



TRENDS

Reaping the benefits of energy harvestingMark Burr-Lonnon, Vice President Europe and Asia, Mouser

n There are a number of reasons why compa-nies are investing in energy harvesting. Someare looking to reduce the cost associated withpowering systems. Depending on the life ex-pectancy of the system, an upfront cost to useenergy harvesting may pay off in the long run,even if the energy generated is not substantial.One of the key applications for energy har-vesting is wireless sensors. These are already de-ployed in many areas, specifically for smart me-ters, but the applications are growing as thetechnology develops and new ways to use thepower are devised. When power is created,using whichever method is chosen, it has to bestored. Storage devices include capacitors forlow cost and spike power, supercapacitors forhigh energy output with a fast recharge time,and batteries for sustained power distribution.A battery like the Cymbet Electronics EnerChipCBC 3150 can store power to be used as the sys-tem requires in a thin-film package. This thin-film battery is rated at 50 OhmAh and featuresintegrated battery management.

The method of energy harvesting by photo-voltaic panels has been used in a number of ap-plications, the most common and basic ofwhich is the calculator. The Texas InstrumentseZ430-RF2500-SHE development tool is basedon the ultra-low power MSP430 MCU and in-

cludes a Cymbet solar panel that is optimizedfor operation from low-intensity fluorescentlighting to power a wireless sensor application.One alternative to photovoltaic panels is to con-vert RF energy into usable power. This is espe-cially useful when sunlight is not available. Thistechnology has been used for RFID systems, butit is also being explored for other applications.It is a unique way to generate energy enablingthe system to be placed anywhere that a 2.4GHzsignal can reach. And if you have a wireless net-work in your home you will realize that thismeans it can be placed nearly anywhere. Forcompanies looking to implement this type oftechnology there are development kits available,such as the Powercast Lifetime Power EnergyHarvesting Development Kit which includes anRF receiver board powered by the PowercastP2110 Powerharvester receiver, a 915 MHz RFtransmitter, and wireless sensor boards whichoperate without battery power. The energy col-lected by the kit is stored in a supercapacitor.

With thermoelectric harvesting power is gen-erated when heat is created. While the powergenerated is typically low, it can be useful tocapture the wasted energy from other powermethods. The Micropelt TE-Power PROBEThermoharvesting power source can createup to 4.5V given enough heat, which is suffi-cient to recharge capacitors or thin-film bat-teries. With a temperature difference of 75C,this kit can produce up to 10mW of energy,equivalent to 30 AA batteries. The method forgenerating microelectricty uses the change in asubstance as pressure is exerted. For example,piezoelectric power can be created by putting athin layer of material under a walkway whichcontracts and expands as people walk on top ofit. One novel idea of piezoelectric power was tooperate a remote control simply by pressing thebuttons to generate the power necessary to sendthe IR signal. Mouser Energy Harvesting Pageand its Product Knowledge Center details thelatest in micro-energy harvesting technologiesand products. n

More Information:



http://shop.segger.com

http://shop.segger.com



TRENDS

Renewable energy changes the role of distributorsJames Turner, Global Segment Manager, Alternative Energy, Premier Farnell

n As we approach electronica, a major theme(and one that has been around for some timenow), is that of renewable energy and the roleof the electronics industry. This is fast becom-ing a topic of some debate for distributors, whoneed to re-evaluate their role and what theyoffer customers. For a components distributor,it just isn’t enough to simply stock a broadrange of standard products, nor to be a nicheplayer focused solely on solar or wind-specificcomponents. With the renewables industryimproving our ability to maximise energy gen-eration from solar, wind and other sourcesevery day, we need to meet the needs of clientsand carry the complete bill of materials. Dis-tributors need to decide just how far along thesupply chain they are prepared to go, and beclear on which audiences they are targeting. Asolar system integrator and a wind turbinemanufacturer, for example, will have very dif-ferent requirements. Distributors must askthemselves if they want to focus on board levelcomponents, or compete with wholesalers bystocking the likes of complete inverters, mod-ules and racking.

Clearly it is also essential to combine this wideproduct range with an efficient dispatch system.With the cost of downtime increasing as systempower rises, there is an ever-greater requirementfor swift deliveries. Project times often end upbecoming compressed, as the pressure to deliverROI intensifies in line with ever-tighteningfeed-in tariffs. And this pressure is evidencednot only in system commissioning, but can be

traced all the way back to the R&D schedule fordesign engineers. Therefore engineers are look-ing to distributors to go beyond just the provi-sion of parts to becoming a complete one-stopshop, particularly in the form of further designresources support.

Some segment-specific manufacturers, suchas EnOcean and Cymbet, have carved suc-cessful niches for themselves through inno-vative technologies, but the traditional pow-erhouses such as Texas Instruments, Freescaleand STmicroelectronics remain popular withthe renewables design audience due to brandfamiliarity and long standing trust. An as-suredness of how components will respondfor a given scenario removes risks in an in-dustry for which reliability is critical. As themarket matures and consolidates, companiesengaged in renewable energy are increasing-ly adopting a global outlook as they pursuesales. Distributors operate in a service in-dustry and therefore need the agility, scaleand reach to effectively partner their clientsregardless of where they are based. n

n Communication is the key for expandingworldwide energy networks; intelligent SmartGrid systems and applications would be im-possible without it. Only the bidirectional ex-change of information and data, between theenergy generator at one end and the energyconsumer at the other end of the energy trans-mission chain, makes the system smart. This in-telligence is facilitated by a multitude of elec-tronic components: specific microcontrollersfor electricity meters, power line modems,high performance processors with communi-cation interfaces, efficient power supplies, pre-cise analog circuits, or high voltage semicon-ductors for transmission and conversion of

electric current. The interaction of all thesecomponents in the Smart Grid, the worldwidevarying standards and communication proto-cols, the special requirements for dealing withhigh voltage or incorporating real-time control,all require comprehensive technical expertise.The demands placed on the electronics used inenergy networks are also high: the availability ofplants – from the generator to the substationsthrough to the meter – must be close to 100percent. The energy losses from Smart Gridcomponents should be kept as low as possibleat the same time. Anything else would makenonsense of the reasons for introducing the intelligent grid – more reliable and efficient

Intelligence for the GridKarl Lehnhoff, Director Vertical Segment Renewable Energies, EMEA, EBV Elektronik


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networks and the integration of renewable energies. For this reason, many aspects have tobe considered in the development of solutionsfor the Smart Grid – expertise that one indi-vidual can hardly possess. Alongside its exten-sive semiconductor portfolio, EBV Elektronik,the leading specialist in EMEA semiconductordistribution, also offers consultancy and serv-ices in all areas. Its own “Renewable Energies”competence team looks after customers in themarket and maintains close links with allSmart Grid players. The EBV experts are there-fore always informed about innovative tech-nologies and current international standards.This ensures that they understand the needs

and requirements of the market and anticipatenew developments, thus forming the basis forcompetent support in the development of so-lutions for the Smart Grid. This support startsat the very outset of a project, as required: EBVadvises companies on the choice of the righttechnology and the most appropriate elec-tronic components, and provides assistance ontechnical questions which arise during the de-velopment or production of new devices.

Beyond technical support, EBV develops pro-prietary semiconductors that are tailored to theindividual needs of the customer. These EBVchips are specified jointly with customers and

produced by EBV semiconductor manufactur-ers, though distributed exclusively by EBV.This service is of special interest to SMEs thatcan therefore use their own chips withoutenormous order quantities. The anticipatedboom in the Smart Grid sector calls for a part-ner who can not only supply large volumes ofelectronic components quickly and reliably, butalso supports customers at the developmentstage – compressing development times and re-ducing errors. EBV has its own expertise in theSmart Grid sector and therefore understandscustomer needs. Hence the company can offerinnovative services which extend beyond pureelectronics distribution. n

electronica NEWSADI: Aaronia and Inova participate in product demonstrations at electronica

Aaronia and Inova Semiconductors will participate in product demonstrations in the Analog Devices booth at electronica 2012. Aaronia willshowcase its newest hand-held RF spectrum analyzer with a “treasure hunt” allowing show attendee s to use the Spectran V5 spectrum ana-lyzer to find RF devices. Next-generation infotainment and driver assistance systems in vehicles integrated with a smart phone will be demon-strated using Munich-based Inova’s APIX2 (Automotive PIXel Link) technology. APIX2 meets automotive requirements for EMI and cost ef-ficiency while transmitting two uncompressed high-definition video streams, multi-channel audio and 100Mbits/s Ethernet data over a single4-wire shielded twisted-pair cable. The demonstration features video conferencing and touch surfaces in remote displays via standard Ether-net protocols and the integration of real-time user interfaces and applications using HDMI connectivity to smart phones.News ID 16261


http://www.msi.com/ipc



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Distributors play a key role in promoting electro-mobilityAndreas Mangler, Director Strategic Marketing & Line Management, Rutronik

n The shift towards electromobility is provingto be one of the main drivers of new compo-nent and technology development. At the sametime, it is presenting manufacturers, OEMs andsuppliers in the automotive sector with newchallenges. Distributors can provide valuablesupport towards solving the problems thatarise. Electric and hybrid vehicles require var-ious different power electronics systems. In ad-dition to the drive unit itself, these include thebattery management system in connectionwith the inverter technology and systems tocope with the very high currents and voltagesarising under load and during recuperation.The main thrust in most development pro-grammes is aimed at increasing the efficiencyand service life of the entire system, whilst en-suring that the total costs remain as low as pos-sible. In many cases these requirements are mu-tually exclusive, for instance where higherswitching frequencies lead to higher junctiontemperatures, which in turn can reduce theservice lives of the power semiconductors.

Here, components with low switching lossesthat allow a higher power density and morecompact designs, with less stringent demandson the thermo-management system, are of ad-vantage, such as the SiC IGBTs. They have sig-nificantly lower parasitic capacitances thanconventional silicon-based technologies, re-sulting in reduced switching losses and heatgeneration, so that more current can flow overthe same area. This more robust materialmeans that higher temperatures can be handledwith lower ON resistances, allowing higherswitching frequencies with less heat generation.

Rohm is now producing the first truly series-produced SiC IGBTs together with the corre-sponding diodes. They consist exclusively of SiCpower elements and produce 85% less switch-ing losses than a silicon IGBT with a flybackdiode. The combination of low heat generationand higher power density increases the servicelife of the components and therefore also of thesystem as a whole - a decisive quality factor for

electric vehicles. For engine electronics thatneed to be replaced after ten years would not beacceptable to end customers. The fly in the oint-ment is that the market is not yet prepared topay the higher price for the SiC IGBTs. On topof this, the requirements profiles for the fasterdriver components and the passive elements aswell as the EMC requirements are completelydifferent. Until SiC IGBTs can be produced atprices that the market is willing to pay, it is es-sential to ensure that the components contin-ue to operate within the safe operating area(SOA), that high temperatures are avoided, andtherefore a long service life for the entire elec-tronic component can be guaranteed.

Electromobility also places radically new de-mands on packaging aspects. Thus for the firsttime Bosch Semiconductor has developed anIGBT in which the high current contacts can bewelded instead of screwed on. As the chip con-nections are not wire bonded, the IGBT is con-siderably more resistant to vibration. Also, thereliability is increased because no torque stress-es arise from screw connections. The weldedconnections conduct heat more efficiently viathe main connection, providing even more re-liability and a longer service life for the systemand/or higher switching frequencies. Further, amore compact design compared with screwedmodule housings is possible. An additional

plus-point: the complete system can be manu-factured more efficiently, because the contactscan be applied using industrial processing.The main objective in the development of newenergy storage units is to achieve a high degreeof packing density with optimal thermo-man-agement and low weight. An interesting alter-native to systems involving batteries or fuel cellsin isolation is to be found in their combinationwith double-layer capacitors, e.g. as supplied byMaxwell. These outperform batteries in prac-tically all relevant aspects, the only exceptionbeing the energy density. Therefore they are notsuitable as stand-alone storage units for driveenergy. However, their capabilities in respect ofrapid storage and yield of high-power energymake them the ideal complement to batteries inquasi-parallel operation. Here, the battery or acombustion motor supply a constant averagequantity of energy during travel, whilst the ca-pacitors deal with high peak demands for sup-ply or storage of energy during acceleration andbraking. This means that the battery is sub-jected to fewer charging cycles, which im-proves the service life. Also, double-layer ca-pacitors permit the construction of electric orhybrid vehicles with better total efficiency rat-ings and excellent acceleration.

The examples underline that optimised solu-tions cannot be achieved by concentrating onone part of the system alone, but only by exacttuning of all components together. That is whyit is always necessary to maintain an overviewof the entire solution package so as to be able toassess it properly, both from the technicalpoint of view as well as in respect of its cost-ef-fectiveness. In many cases passive and electro-mechanical components prove to be just as im-portant and to have just as great a share inadded value as the semiconductors. Distributorswho dispose of an exhaustive component port-folio and corresponding know-how in theareas of marketing and technology - as well asoccupying a leading position in the automotivemarket - represent highly sought-after partnersin the race towards electromobility. n





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Moving towards standards and servicesNorbert Hauser, Executive Vice President Marketing, Kontron

n While the world ofembedded comput-ing is becoming moreand more complex,our customers aresearching for reliablestandards and furtherservices to ease im-plementation of thesecomplex technologiesinto their appliances.At the upcomingelectronica, I expectmany of our visitorswill be very interestedto see what we have so

far achieved in this context within the ARM sector that differentiateswith low power designs and a long-term availability of 10 years plus.With the launch of our first ultra-low power Computer-on-Modulebased on the ULP-COM form factor specification, which is shortly tobecome an SGET standard specification, we now have three standards-based product lines.

The module which is based on Nvidia Tegra 3 processor is designed toreduce cost and energy consumption of imaging-centric, low profile ap-plications. It delivers an advanced, rugged and scalable building blockfor industrial tablet and imaging-centric applications where power con-sumption has to be extremely low as, for example, in the POS/POI, in-fotainment, digital signage, security/surveillance, medical and militarymarkets. The combination of the low power NVIDIA Tegra 3 ARMprocessor and optimized ARM/SoC pin-out of the ULP-COM defini-tion enables designers to build fanless, passively cooled systems that dra-matically reduce power consumption and costs of deployed systems.

This launch as well as the launch of our Mini-ITX and Pico-ITX boardswith ARM processors, such as Nvidia Tegra 3 and Nvidia Tegra 2, havealready created a great awareness, and are being seen as very compellingas they bring standardization to the previously proprietary approachof ARM-based solutions. And this is elementary for our customers.They need a range of interfaces that is aligned to their target applica-tions. And they need roadmaps which ensure that features remain iden-tical and are available for ten years or even longer. The reason being:OEMs require evolutionary platforms with comprehensive OS supportfrom operating system vendors, so that there is no need to carry out anysignificant changes on the software and hardware when implementingthe next hardware generation.

Putting all this in place, however, does not mean that the mission iscompleted. Without, for example, an evaluation platform, customersare not in a position to work with these modules. And even if they get


http://www.msc-ge.com

the evaluation platform, they need software andservices to test their appliances on these newtarget platforms. So in addition, Kontron is of-fering a pre-validated evaluation platform withits ULP-COM Computer-on-Modules. Thereference platform includes all the evaluationresources OEMs require to start developmentimmediately, including the Kontron Comput-er-on-Module ULP-COM-sAT30, the ULP-COM Evaluation Carrier Board, pre-loaded

Linux OS and a 10.6 inch 1280 x 768 displaywhich are mounted together on a platform forlab bench use. Once the target platform hasbeen tested, we provide our customers with theoption to use this evaluation platform as aspringboard for their custom designs.

These can be based on the module itself, in-cluding optional carrier board design servicesfor full board level design services or on full

custom designs, which are preferable for highvolume projects. Of course, Kontron also pro-vides design-in services on system level. Thus,OEM vendors can get full service and supportfor Nvidia Tegra 3 and 2 implementations – in-cluding optional OS images for their applica-tions or software integration of their appliance.So, if you view the whole picture, it’s easy to de-duce that ‘Standards & Services’ are the key tofastest and predictable time-to-market. n


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Serial data transmission is major trendin rugged embedded systemsChristian Ganninger, Product Manager for Systems, Pentair Equipment Protection

n As a manufacturer of electronics packagingsolutions, the Schroff brand of Pentair Equip-ment Protection has long been involved in de-veloping embedded systems for various differ-ent standards and application areas. Today wecan see a clear way here towards serial datatransmission. The new serial bus standardsfrom VITA and PICMG, in particular Com-pactPCI Serial, MicroTCA and AdvancedTCA,are driving the market forward. In the area ofmilitary applications in particular, VMEbus isgradually being replaced by the serial VPX stan-dard. The multi-core processors that havesince become established in the market and cor-responding chipsets are further accelerating thisdevelopment.

Today, higher data transmission speeds are notjust talked about - they have become the reali-ty. And the hunger for performance, particu-larly in AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA-basedcommunications systems, continues to ad-vance. This also affects the now higher cooling

capacities, which in the case of AdvancedTCAsystems have already reached 450W per slot.While conventional air cooling will still be suf-ficient for a little more time, solutions with sup-ported air cooling, air/water heat exchangers,etc are on the horizon. Cooling at cabinet orroom level (climatized rooms) will then bestrongly preferred to cooling at system level oncost grounds.

A further trend we are seeing is the use ofrugged systems. In the transport segments –rail, air, ships, etc – and in defense and securi-ty, higher demands are generally made forshock and vibration resistance and particular-ly high or low temperatures. We offer a productportfolio for this that consists generally of off-the-shelf products that can then be upgraded tomatch the higher demands made on it. Thegreater the demands, the higher can be the up-grade. Robust accessories such as conductioncooled assemblies (CCAs), Wedge-Loks/Card-Loks and clamshells are also available.

In the military sector, the new serial VPX stan-dard with highly robust systems and corre-sponding cooling systems (conduction cooled,liquid cooled) are in use. However, for Ad-vancedTCA, MicroTCA and CompactPCI Se-rial there are also niches in what is known as thesemi-mobile sector. Here, for example, theclassic communications technology of Mi-croTCA is made fit for purpose with theRugged MicroTCA specifications for particu-larly harsh environmental conditions and highdemands. Currently, VITA is specifying a sub-specification that integrates the AdvancedTCAshelf manager in a slimmed-down and modi-fied form in VPX. Since the new serial specifi-

cations operate on the same widely-availablesoftware, as do PCIe, Ethernet, S-ATA andRapid IO, it has become considerably simpler toexchange the best solutions between the indi-vidual specifications. The user who requires oneof the software protocols for his application isno longer tied to one standard but can ratherfreely select which specification is best suited tohis particular application. The conditions prevailing in the final location, the possiblebackplane topologies (star, dual star, full-mesh,daisy chain, etc) and the mechanics used ulti-mately determine the standard to be used. Asregards CompactPCI Serial in particular, we areassuming that this standard will become es-tablished in the coming year. A considerablenumber of backplanes are already now com-mercially available. New and exciting develop-ments are under way that will drive the marketin the coming year.

Another point not to be underestimated is thetrend towards individualization. More andmore customers do not want a system „off theshelf“ but rather one that has been preciselymatched to their demands and individuallyconfigured. For this we have developed an in-ternet-based „System Selection Tool“. This is aform of configurator that does not specify anydependencies and allows customers to createtheir individual system by themselves, based onpre-defined systems or bespoke. For example bybackplane type, number of slots, conformalcoating, power supply, cooling, mechanicalfeatures and much more. If the selected featurescannot be realized from a technical point ofview, the specialists at Pentair Equipment Protection can work together to find anothersuitable solution along with the customer. n



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Customer orientation is crucialStephan Grüniger, Product Manager Enclosures & Components, Elma

n As a solution provider of electronic packag-ing systems, Elma orientates itself very much to-wards the markets of its customers. Anoverview shows that not only technical chal-lenges are important in this process.

With its enclosure solutions, Elma Electronicserves three essential market segments. Amajor market is SMEs that manufacture test-ing and measuring instruments. These com-panies think about the packaging of theirelectronics late in the development process andoften require customer-specific enclosures.The second segment is 19“ racks, a sector thatled to the success of the company in the1990s. However, this division is decreasing; forexample, today only a few individual sectors,such as telecommunications or the military,have to process a great number of signals at ex-tremely high speeds using these systems. Thethird market segment is heavy-duty applica-tions, used, for example, in railways. These de-vices have to withstand vibrations and shocksand meet strict standards; the electronics haveto resist high temperature fluctuations andneed protection from salt and fog.

The market for medical devices is growing – ifonly due to demographic trends. The productmanager also expects an increase in building in-stallations: the compilation of data that today isstill stored on various computers is becomingmore important. Server solutions will be usedin the future in order to manage this data cen-trally. In addition, the concept of the intelligenthouse is gaining importance. The devices

themselves are becoming smaller in general andprices are also contracting. This translates intogreater cost pressure for enclosure manufac-turers. However, the number of packaging so-lutions is growing slightly, since systems areoften being decentralized. This in turn results ina decrease in units of individual enclosure types.Previously, one cabinet type could meet the demands of a large market; today customer-specific solutions are in greater demand. Whileelectronics is becoming ever more compact, itsefficiency is increasing. This means that thetemperature dissipation over the enclosure isbecoming more important. Specific solutionsare required in areas where the enclosure has tobe sealed, for example, against spray.

EMC remains an issue. As the frequencies atwhich the devices are operating will be evenhigher in future, the demands on EMC are in-creasing as well. On the one hand, the device isnot supposed to be disruptive; on the otherhand, the device itself must not be disrupted. Inaddition to the technical aspects, design is alsoplaying an important role. In order to succeedin the future, customer orientation is crucial.The trend is moving towards system solutions.This means that we provide a platform onwhich as many components as possible can bereused. However, it is possible for the customerto assemble and design enclosures individual-ly. For example, a customer-specific design forlogos, color labeling or color prints on enclo-sures is possible. Many manufacturers areworking on opening up markets and expandingtheir services, since many customers have a clearidea of how to define an enclosure and are look-ing for a specific manufacturer. At Elma, thistrend has an impact on production, which hasto be set up flexibly in order to produce smallbatches in a customer-specific and cost-effectiveway.

But there is another trend, too. In recent years,many of our customers have relocated to-wards America and Asia. This is why we havefactories in Europe, America and Asia, so thatwe can introduce developments in these mar-kets and produce and deliver on-site. As man-ufacturer it is also important for us to developsuitable strategies in order to avoid dependen-cies, since this could lead to supply shortages. n


http://www.avalue.com.tw

How much out-of-the-box is needed?Michael Mitezki, CEO, Phytec

n Customers are increasingly willing to usecommercial System on Modules for their appli-cations. The question that keeps emerging is:which System on Module is the right one for myapplication? How much out-of-the-box is need-

ed? All ARM-based microprocessor providershave one thing in common: they all use anARM-licensed processor IP. So, it is difficult forcustomers to differentiate between the providers.

Therefore the specific, target-market and des-tination application oriented interface will re-main a key differentiator among microproces-sors. We can be excited to see a wired variety ofmodern and powerful ARM derivates that dif-fer considerably in type and amount of offeredinterfaces. We have to think whether theseARM-based microprocessors fulfil the cus-tomer desire for standard-based solutions. Theembedded market already knows universalstandards for Computer on Modules, such asCOM Express, CoreExpress and Qseven. Thesestandards follow the concept of achieving me-chanical and electrical compatibility. They arenot well suited for the variety of ARM-basedmicroprocessors for two reasons. Firstly, signals

that ARM microprocessors are not able to de-liver. This is due to the fact that these standardsare based on x86 processors. ARM does notsupport SMB, LPC, LID Button, Suspend-To-RAM as well as Wake interfaces. The high num-ber of x86 relevant PCIe lanes that USB inter-faces is not supported either. Consequently theequivalent pin-positions are not usable. Sec-ondly, these standards do not support ARM-typical special interfaces, such as multiplecamera interfaces, display interfaces, analog I/O,serial inter-chip-communication, hardware-accelerated communication and Industrial Eth-ernet. Therefore, the existing standards are in-compatible with ARM-based Computer onModule applications. We need to develop newsolutions; ideally standards that combine cus-tomized off-the-shelf solutions with the desiredflexibility. Our solution with the new phyFLEXproduct family is an excellent choice for mov-ing forward with new processors. n


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Continuous growth for COMsWolfgang Heinz-Fischer, Head of Marketing & PR, TQ-Group

n Modules with ARM technology are the great-est growth area. All leading providers of x86 em-bedded modules will keep a relevant ARM mod-ule in their portfolio, allowing both worlds tomerge even on the embedded module providermarket. The variety of application options for

ARM processors as a result of the small chip sizeand low power loss means modules can also beused in mobile devices. Further miniaturizationis progressing well.

Standardization in the field of embedded ARMmodules is also still being promoted, though itremains unclear as to whether or not one indi-vidual standard will be able to establish itself onthe market. Proprietary systems will continue toplay a major role in this area, as the standardi-zation process involves too many compromis-es. It will be exciting to see how the providers ofx86 processes react to the current ARM suc-cesses and launch relevant one-chip solutionswith minimal power usage. In terms of oper-ating systems, Linux will continue to play amajor role, although Android is becoming in-creasingly popular in order to also use cell-phone and tablet-PC features in the industry. Itremains to be seen how Microsoft Windows 8establishes itself on the market. However, it is

becoming more and more important for em-bedded module providers to offer system solu-tions. Customers expect more extensive supportwith the design-in, including both hardwareand software support. System providers on thesoftware side must thus also provide appropri-ate BSPs (board support packages) and otherdrivers, while on the hardware side, the mini-mum requirement is to be able to offer designsupport, or better still, an application board. TQis perfectly equipped for this. As its core busi-ness has always been customized solutions, it isthus a matter of course that we develop andmanufacture customer-specific main boards orapplication boards for our own modules.Everything under one roof is the TQ motto.With a full range of ARM modules, fromARM 9 to Cortex-A9, and a complete line ofPowerArchitecture modules, TQ offers thewidest range of modules in this area. All mod-ules have optimized dimensions, and provide allprocessor signals on the robust plug system. n



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Multi-platform COM standardsZeljko Loncaric, Marketing Engineer, congatec

n In recent years, standardized COMs (Com-puter-on-Modules) have gained a broadfoothold in the embedded world. This is be-cause they allow users to concentrate on theircore competencies in development and manu-facturing, while buying in the latest processortechnology application-ready from elsewhere.What began more than 10 years ago with ETXand x86 architecture has long since evolved intoan open multi-platform standard with the in-troduction of COM Express and Qseven.

As technology development moves on, COM Ex-press is evolving to stay up to date. In the x86world the dominant COM Express Pin Out Type2 is losing importance for new designs. Here,COM Express Type 6 has become the market-leading Pin Out type and the first choice forpower-hungry x86-based systems. The newType 6 provides not only maximized support ofdisplays. Going one step further, Type 6 also of-fers support for up to four USB 3.0 channels andtwo additional PCIe lanes, so that a PCIe x8 con-figuration is possible on the carrier board.Overall, it’s the right time for this update whichhelps make COM Express future-proof.

Due to performance and direct support fromthe chip manufacturers, the momentum Dis-playPort is picking up is now even greater, sincefrom 2015 Intel and AMD products will nolonger support the VGA display interface.Starting in 2013, LVDS will no longer be sup-ported by Intel and will be omitted from mostAMD products. Together with Dell, Lenovo,Samsung and LG Display, Intel and AMDwant to radically accelerate the changeover toDisplayPort and HDMI digital display inter-faces. DisplayPort will be more popular than

HDMI because of licensing costs. In general,however, the current market trend goes moretowards smaller and more mobile systems. In-creasingly, industrial systems adapt their graph-ical user interfaces (GUIs) in line with the spec-ifications of phones and tablet computers from

the consumer world. Despite competition fromincreasingly small COM Express form factorsthe Qseven standard has firmly established it-self in the x86 world. What speaks for Qseven isa more modern, legacy-free design, along witha new connector concept and fanless cooling


http://www.pentairequipmentprotection.com


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specifically designed for compact and ultra-compact devices. Since Qseven was conceived asan open multi-vendor standard from the be-ginning, last year the extension of the standardto version 1.2 was the next logical step. While itspecifically addresses the needs of the increas-ingly important ARM architecture, the Qsevenstandard remains open for x86 and otherprocessor architectures. ARM silicon offerings

have become much more capable, driven by theconsumer market. Now they have all the re-quired interfaces like PCI Express, HDMI, Gi-gabit Ethernet, high resolution graphics, USBand higher performance at low power to fulfillthe market needs, for example in medicine,where applications often require passive cool-ing to prevent irritating noise for patients, ormay need a battery device. More software sup-

port and good tools for ARM-based designs willbe necessary to be successful. Increasing ARMpenetration will also change the mix of opera-tion systems used on Computer-on-Modules.Linux and Android will become more popular.With these updates the new COM standards arethe fastest growing industrial board types. Ingeneral it becomes more cost-effective to buy aCOM at very high volumes. n

previews & product NEWS

Atlantik: latest semiconductor products, solutions and developing trends

Atlantik Elektronik presents itself during elec-tronica with its motto: We love technology.During this year’s anniversary electronica, At-lantik Elektronik comes up with a firework oflatest semiconductor products and solutions aswell as developing trends in the areas embeddedmicrocontroller, wireless, connectivity, info-tainment and system solutions.

Visitors can dive into the world of wireless com-munications and explore the EmbeddedRANGER Development Kit for which AtlantikElektronik received the Innovation Award 2012.This development kit is the basis for the devel-opment of GSM/GPRS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth andZigBee. Qualified and pre-certified radio mod-ules allow an efficient design and reduce the de-velopment time significantly. Atlantik Elek-tronik focuses their app development activitiesand develops apps for specific applications. Vis-itors can get to know the world of apps on anew industrial i.MX53 Cortex-A8 based 1GHzmodule with Android. Another Atlantik app onthe iPhone 4S as well as the Motorola RAZRwill demonstrate a robot control via BluetoothLow Energy.

Furthermore Atlantik Elektronik presents an in-telligent home automation solution with inte-grated remote management and cloud services.All aspects of modern remote maintenance andcontrol systems will be demonstrated. ZigBee-based sensor networks are used for applicationsthat can be managed on mobile devices via acentral control computer or via apps. The newindustrial i.MX53 Cortex-A8, an iDigi en-abled wireless module based on the i.MX53processor from Freescale can instantly connectto the iDigi cloud. This enables customers asmooth development of wireless multimediadevices.

According to the Atlantik slogan „Innovation byexpertise“ Atlantik informs the visitors aboutthe latest TFT displays with capacitive touchtechnology. In addition, up-to-date black ma-trix TN LCD displays with high contrasts andextended viewing angle are presented. The

focus of M2M and POS applications are relia-bility, low power consumption and worldwideinteroperability of the transmission technolo-gy. Atlantik Elektronik introduces theQUECTEL GSM/GPRS modules with optimalprice/performance ratio and offers also thesmallest GSM/GPRS quad-band module inthe world.

The topic „Strong ARM with industry-leadingspecifications“ continues to enjoy highest pop-ularity. Atlantik Elektronik presents a largeportfolio of ARM Cortex-M0, which now cov-ers 159 derivatives. NuMicro ARM Cortex-M0MCUs are ideal for the cost-optimized imple-mentation of intelligent industrial control sys-tems. Atlantik Elektronik also presents thehigh-power 500W LED lighting module X10.The 500W solution allows customized lightingscenarios. For the first time, size and design oflight sources are fully configurable with inno-vative networking solutions based on theRANGER.News ID 16316

PLS: UAD2pro now enables strong electrically isolated connections to the target

PLS Programmierbare Logik & Systeme pres-ents its Universal Access Device 2pro(UAD2pro) at electronica. The UAD2pro is anespecially high-performance, versatile target ac-cess device for on-chip debugging of a widerange of 16 bit and 32 bit microcontrollers.Connection of the debug hardware to the PC isachieved via a USB 2.0 interface.

For all Windows versions, starting from Win-dows XP including the 64-bit version, easy-to-install device drivers are available by means ofplug & play. Connection to the target takesplace by means of architecture-specificadapters - available for JTAG, cJTAG, DAP,SWD, OnCE and other manufacturer-specificdebug interfaces - via a universal interface.When changing to other microcontroller ar-chitectures the user only needs a differentadapter and a corresponding license. Updatesand downloading of the firmware takes placetransparently for the user.

Apart from the universal target interface, theUAD2pro offers a D-sub connector that can op-tionally be used as serial or CAN interface.Thus, not only various bootstrap loader mech-anisms of the respective microcontroller aresupported; the UAD2pro can also be used asCAN recorder hardware in parallel to debug-ging. For debugging microcontroller boardswith high-voltage components, as is commonfor instance with motor or inverter controls,target adapters with an electrical isolation of upto 1,000 V can optionally also be used with theUAD2pro. At the same time, the full transmis-sion bandwidth of 50 MHz serial clock ismaintained.

The UAD2pro from PLS, which is offered to-gether with a software license of the UDE, isavailable for TriCore, Power Architecture(e200), XC2000/XE166, Cortex, ARM andother microcontroller architectures. The UDEalso supports multi-core debugging and specialemulation devices. Furthermore, a seamless in-tegration in an Eclipse-based developmentenvironment is possible by means of an owndebugger perspective.News ID 16151

Arrow Electronics at electronica 2012Arrow Electronics announced details of its par-ticipation at electronica 2012. As the premierfull-service provider, Arrow Electronics will bededicating its show presence to solutions forvertical technology markets and to its serviceofferings that cover every stage of the productlifecycle. Arrow will bring dedicated teams ofexperts to electronica with in-depth experiencein the automotive, LED lighting, aerospace/de-fense, industrial automation, smart energyand power solutions markets.

In addition, leading suppliers of semicon-ductors, passive and electromechanical com-ponents and connectors will team with Arrowto highlight their offerings during the show.Arrow will also present its services portfoliospanning the entire product lifecycle, from de-sign and production through to end-of-lifesolutions.News ID 16276





NEWS

demmel: intelligent 10.2-inch display on show

demmel products presents the successor of itslargest iLCD panel at this year’s electronica. Theprice has been reduced in spite of increased per-formance. As a result, the new 10.2“ iLCD is anexcellent alternative to often oversized andover-priced Panel PCs. demmel product’s „NextGeneration Intelligent LCD“ technology allowsthe user to store all graphics, animations, fonts,text templates and macros in the flash memo-ry of the iLCD. Graphics and proprietary filescan be also stored on an on-board MicroSDcard. Overall development time can be drasti-cally reduced by eliminating the pixel-basedprogramming required for conventional LCDs.Color iLCD panels are available with touchscreens in a wide range of formats from 2.8“(240 x 320 pixel) up to 10.2“ (1024 x 600 pixel).

The integrated iLCD controller offers powerfuland easy to learn high-level commands. For-matting text messages with Windows fonts, dis-playing static and animated graphics, drawingframes and lines and controlling the touchscreen can all be done quickly and simply viaEthernet, USB, RS232, I²C or SPI interfaces.News ID 16197

CREATIVE CHIPS showcases ASICs and ASSPs

In keeping with good tradition CREATIVECHIPS exhibits at electronica 2012 its latestsolutions for custom-specific ICs (ASICs)and ASSPs. Complex digital ICs as well as cir-cuits for mixed-signal applications with so-phisticated analog circuits and integratedsensors are provided in high volumes for theindustrial automation industry, consumerelectronics, automotive electronics and formedical applications.News ID 16114

Emerson: ATCA media processing blade with up to 576 DSP cores

A new AdvancedTCA media processing bladeby Emerson Network Power has the highestdensity of DSP cores of any commercially avail-able blade. With up to 576 DSP cores and run-ning sophisticated media processing software,the new ATCA-8320 will enable communica-tions equipment companies to simplify and ac-celerate the development and deployment ofvery high density IP media processing appli-cations. These applications include sessionborder controllers, media gateways and servers,media resource functions, mobile video opti-mization, video communications and confer-encing servers, and interactive voice and videoresponse systems. News ID 16156

Rohde & Schwarz: test and measurement equipment at electronica

A highlight at the Rohde & Schwarz booth isthe new R&S ESR EMI test receiver. Thanks toits broadband architecture, it performs stan-dard-compliant disturbance measurementsup to 6000 times faster than other solutions.Comprehensive diagnostic tools, such as spec-trogram display, realtime spectrum analysisand IF analysis, help developers detect andeliminate disturbance. The R&S ESR is im-pressively easy to use thanks to its intuitivetouchscreen.

In addition, Rohde & Schwarz showcases theR&S FSW43 high-end signal and spectrum an-alyzer with a frequency range from 2 Hz to 43GHz. The R&S FSW43 is the most powerful mi-crowave analyzer on the market, featuring im-pressive RF performance and measurementspeed with simple touchscreen operation. Theanalyzer significantly simplifies complex meas-urement tasks in satellite communications and

radar applications. Its integrated multi-standardradio analyzer function helps developmentengineers analyze multi-standard signals. TheMSRA mode enables users to measure spec-trum and modulation parameters of different-ly modulated signals, including their time ref-erences. This feature makes it easy to analyzewhether signals are influencing or interferingwith each other.

Rohde & Schwarz also presents the new R&SRTO-K5 software option for its R&S RTOhigh-performance oscilloscope. Developers ofmicrocontrollers, audio components or audioconsumer electronics can use this option totrigger on and decode I2S, LJ, RJ and TDMaudio signals. The graphical user interface,color coding of protocol details in the wave-form diagram and summarized protocol datahelp developers solve their T&M tasks. Thetracking function, which displays the audio sig-nal as a waveform, makes short work of clip-ping, glitches and other anomalies. News ID 16291

ADI: DC-DC switching controller family features current- and voltage-mode configuration options

Analog Devices introduced the ADP1851wide-input-range, synchronous, step-downDC-to-DC controller with voltage trackingand synchronisation capability. TheADP1851 expands ADI’s series of config-urable controllers following the recently in-troduced ADP1853. The versatileADP1851/53 can be configured to work as avoltage-mode controller with input feed-for-ward or as a current-mode controller, de-pending on the application and customerpreference. News ID 16155


http://www.congatec.com







NEWS

Microchip: 8-bit PIC MCUs combine high integration, low power and automatedtouch sensing

Microchip announces the expansion of its 8-biteXtreme low Power Enhanced Midrange CorePIC microcontrollers, with the newPIC16F1512/13 devices. These new 28-pinMCUs offer a combination of advanced digitaland analogue peripherals, combined with XLPfor the extended battery life required by manyapplications. These features make the general-purpose PIC16F1512/13 MCUs ideal for abroad range of applications in the appliance,medical, consumer, automotive and manyother markets. News ID 16201

Advantech: highly secure Micro-ATX Industrial motherboard powered by SUSIAccess

Advantech introduces AIMB-501, a new in-dustrial-grade Micro-ATX motherboard pow-ered by a 3rd generation Intel Core i processor.AIMB-501 is pre-loaded with SUSIAccess Pro2.0 providing intelligent remote device man-agement and monitoring. With SUSIAccess Pro2.0 on your device you can remotely switch ma-chines on and off, access the desktop, recover asystem and configure protection features. SU-SIAccess Pro 2.0 includes McAfee’s banking-level security for system protection. News ID 16133

Maxim: new products target factory automation and automotive

Maxim Integrated Products introduces fivehigh-integration products for the Factory Au-tomation and Automotive markets that dra-matically improve operating efficiencies and re-duce costs. These new products will be on dis-play at Maxim’s booth at electronica 2012.Maxim also announced it has collaborated withtwo firms to produce a reference design fora highly integrated telehealth fitness (“Fit”)shirt that monitors vital signs, lowers the cost ofmedical diagnosis, and represents a new era inpreventive medical care that could reducehealth care costs by up to 10x.

The MAX78638 is a turnkey solution for 3-phase motor energy measurement and diag-nostics. Unlike previous bulky and expensive so-lutions that required moving the equipmentfrom motor to motor, the fully integratedMAX78638 contains a microcontroller, computeengine, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC),and flexible and configurable sensor interfacesthat allow for the measurement of current, volt-age, speed, vibration, position, and temperature.The high-accuracy ADC enables a less than0.5% energy calculation error compared to the5% of a standard microprocessor solution. TheMAX31865 is a fully integrated RTD-to-digitalconverter, a single-chip solution that lowers costs

by up to 50% and solves the common industri-al design problem of digitizing a platinumRTD (such as a Pt100 or Pt1000) resistance. Itoffers simple and accurate measurement of tem-perature, making it ideal for industrial meas-urement and process control applications.

The MAX17823 high-voltage battery sensor formission-critical automotive and industriallithium-ion battery and fuel cell applications of-fers a full suite of proprietary integrated ISO-26262 diagnostic features, the MAX17823 max-imizes electric and hybrid electric vehicle driv-ing range, while ensuring battery and fuel cellsafety and reliability. Maxim also offers theMAX17830, a second-generation, high-voltagebattery-management solution.

The MAX9273/MAX9272 (22 bits) andMAX9271/MAX9272 (16 bits) serial-datachipsets transmit over coax cables and lowercosts for automotive camera systems by up to50%. The chipsets reduce power use, processsignals faster, and improve electromagneticemissions compared to standard solutionsusing Ethernet cables. Maxim’s new camerachipsets operate at very high data rates(1.5Gbps), which is critical for today’s fast videoand megapixel image transmissions. Usingcoax cables, the chipsets do not need to com-press data and thus process images immedi-ately—a crucial requirement for safety appli-cations like sign recognition, collision avoid-ance, and night vision.

The new “Fit” shirt that enables medical pro-fessionals to perform frequent and less costlyfitness monitoring that will lead to more effec-tive preventive medical care. The highly inte-grated shirt measures 3-lead ECG, body tem-perature, and motion. All diagnostic tools arepackaged in a shirt that is comfortable towear. The new Fit shirt integrates dry ECG sen-sor technology, complex signal processing tech-nology, a temperature sensor, motion sensor, anultra-low-power microcontroller, and wirelesselectronics.News ID 16196

Rohde & Schwarz: triggering and decodingaudio signals

I2S, LJ, RJ and TDM are serial buses that im-plement unidirectional point-to-point con-nections. They carry digital audio data betweenICs and are often used to connect analog-to-digital converters and digital-to-analog con-verters to DSP for audio processing. Develop-ers of microcontrollers, audio componentsand audio equipment can now use a new soft-ware option for the R&S RTO oscilloscope tothoroughly analyze all audio interfaces, andcontinue to reap the benefits of this high-per-formance oscilloscope from Rohde & Schwarz. News ID 16166


http://www.artila.com






NEWS

Agilent: 60-GHz remote sampling head oscilloscope module

Agilent introduced a 60-GHz remote sam-pling head oscilloscope module for engineerswho design, validate and manufacture high-speed electrical communications systems andcomponents. The Agilent N1045A 2/4-portelectrical remote sampling head module pro-vides the most economical solution for accu-rately characterizing multilane designs used intoday’s new and emerging standards such asIEEE 802.3 ba/bj/bm (40Gb/100Gb Ethernet)and Optical Internetworking Forum CEI 3.0. News ID 16179

Maxim: energy measurement and diag-nostic solution for mission-critical motorsMaxim Integrated Products announces theMAX78638 solution for 3-phase motor energymeasurement and diagnostics. Unlike previousbulky and expensive solutions that requiredmoving the equipment from motor to motor,the highly integrated MAX78638 convenientlyallows for constant and simultaneous moni-toring of multiple pumps and motors.News ID 16200

Mouser debuts power supply technologysite to charge design development

Mouser Electronics broadcasts its launch of anew Power Supply technology site. The new sitecontains technical information that refines de-sign engineers’ exploration of power supply so-lutions that best answer their unique design re-quirements. Additionally, the site highlights thenewest power supply solutions from Texas In-struments, TDK-Lambda, GE Energy, Mi-crochip Technology, Murata Power Solutionsand STMicroelectronics, to mention a few.News ID 16185

Atlantik: enhanced Cortex-M0 microcon-troller series by HoltekAtlantik Elektronik announces the release of thenew and advanced additions to Holtek’s ARMCortex-M3 32-bit device range, theHT32F1755/1765/2755 series. These new 32-bitFlash devices, include features such as a highoperating speed of up to 72 MHz (90 DMIPS),a single power supply with an operating voltagerange of 2.7V ~ 3.6V and an industrial tem-perature range of -40 ~ +85°C. With Holtek’sintegrated ISP and IAP functions, users will ex-perience the implementation of software up-grades as an easy and quick process, thus en-hancing the efficiency and flexibility of theirproducts.News ID 16193

ROHM present latest technologies and products at electronica

ROHM Semiconductor will be exhibiting itslatest technologies and products at electronica2012. Themed “Technology for you – Sense it!

Light it! Power it! The main focus will be onpower management, optoelectronics and wire-less low energy technology. ROHM’s largechoice of LED drivers include drivers with dim-mers for lower power consumption, compactunits with integrated LDO regulator, RGBdrivers that reduce the software load, andmodels with built-in Flash that contribute to setminiaturization. Its new BD18377 LED driversinclude programmable constant output, opti-mized accuracy and diagnostic features. Alongwith the industry’s thinnest high-brightnessRGB LEDs delivering optimum color unifor-mity and mixing, they provide a complete de-sign solution for indicator lights in automotive

cluster solutions. The new compact ML7105controller for Bluetooth LE enables short rangewireless communication with ultra low-powerconsumption and low-latency. This allows forsmaller form factor devices in many applica-tions such as healthcare, fitness, security andhome entertainment industries. Adopting a newstructure through improved proprietary designtechnology ROHM’s new 40V power MOSFETsfor DC/DC converters enable ultra-low ON re-sistance with ultra-low gate capacitance forultra-low loss and unmatched efficiency sup-porting high speed operation.News ID 16204


http://www.garz-fricke.com/






MathWorks: release 2012b with major updates to MATLAB and Simulink

MathWorks introduced release 2012b with major updates toMATLAB and Simulink that significantly improve use and nav-igation. The new Simulink Editor features tabbed windows,smart signal routing and simulation rewind while the MATLABDesktop now includes a toolstrip that offers quick access to fre-quently used features and a MATLAB apps gallery. In addition,Release 2012b includes a redesigned help system with improvedbrowsing, searching, filtering, and content organizationNews ID 16147

NI: single-board RIO GPIC enables new embedded system design approach

National Instruments announced the NI Single-Board RIOGPIC, which provides a standard RIO architecture for smart,grid-tied power conversion systems with a comprehensive NILabVIEW system design toolchain that significantly reducesthe cost and risk of embedded system design. This productreflects the ongoing investments by NI R&D to revolution-ize the design, testing and large-scale deployment of new dig-ital energy conversion systems. News ID 16191

Axiomtek: 3rd gen Intel Core processor Mini ITX motherboard

Axiomtek is pleased to announce MANO871 Mini ITXmotherboard, based on the Intel Q77 Express chipset and de-signed for the new 22nm 3rd generation Intel Core proces-sors in the LGA1155 socket. The high-performanceMANO871 supports Intel 3-D transistor, Intel Turbo Boost2.0 technology, Intel Hyper-Threading technology, 16 GBDDR3 1333/1600 memory, and PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot. News ID 16198


NEWS

DATA MODUL: Qseven compatible quad core ARM module

DATA MODUL presents its first in-house de-veloped Qseven module the eDM-QMX6. Itsupports the in September 2012 released Stan-dard Revision 1.2 which is optimized for ded-icated ARM-support with the I/O extensionUART and CAN. It offers all specified x86 fea-tures and more. On the reference-baseboardyou can run x86 based Qseven-modules and aswell the new ARM based module. News ID 16286

TI: Sitara ARM Cortex-A8 starter kit withLCD touch screen

Texas Instruments introduced the new SitaraAM335x ARM Cortex-A8 starter kit with a 4.3-inch LCD display supporting rotation and tiltcapabilities via the on-board accelerometerthat provides an affordable platform for smartappliances, industrial and networking applica-tions and other devices requiring a touchscreen interface. The low-cost developmentplatform, based on the Sitara AM3358 ARMCortex-A8 processor, integrates multiple com-munication options such as Dual Gigabit Eth-ernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for thecreation of highly connected devices.News ID 16205

Freescale Kinetis L series microcontrollersnow broadly available

Freescale Semiconductor’s Kinetis L series is nowbroadly available. Kinetis L series 32-bit devices arethe first to be featured on the new Freescale Free-dom development platform, a small, low-power,cost-effective evaluation and development systemfor quick application prototyping and demonstra-tion. The first member of the Kinetis L series, theKL25 MCU, and the Freescale Freedom develop-ment platform are readily available today throughglobal semiconductor and electronic componentdistributors and suppliers, including element 14,Digi-Key Corporation and Mouser Electronics.News ID 16207

Axiomtek: entry-level, slim-type networkplatform with AMD G-series processor

Axiomtek announces its new fanless, slim-type network appliance platform, the NA-110,built on AMD G-series APU T24L 1.0GHz withA50M chipset. The low-power NA-110 comesin a small package with a height of just 30mmand a weight of 2.2kg, which can easily fit intoany confined space and harsh environment. Itoffers up to 4GB of DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM,one PCI Express Mini Card expansion, four gi-gabit Ethernet ports, and dual USB 2.0 ports. News ID 16300

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NEWS

Fujitsu enhances 32-bit FM3 MCU family with release of 93 new products

Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe announces the launch of the fifth waveof products in its FM3 family of 32-bit RISC microcontrollers based onthe ARM Cortex-M3 processor core. In total, Fujitsu Semiconductor isreleasing 93 new products in its High Performance and Low PowerGroup for a vast variety of applications. The High Performance Groupwith a total of 72 new products that include the MB9B520M Series, theMB9BF524MPMC has been designed to enable simple and cost efficientinverter control, making products from the group optimal choices forhousehold appliances, office automation equipment, and industrialequipment. News ID 16219

Kontron: ETX COM extends lifecycle of PCI/ISA-based applications

Kontron has introduced a low-energy and cost-effective version of its ETX3.0 Computer-on-Module ETX-OH. The new ETX 3.0-compliant Kon-tron ETX-OH T16R incorporates the new AMD Embedded G-Series APUT16R, which features an extremely low average power consumption ofonly 2.3 Watts. While operating at the same power consumption level asthe AMD Geode-LX-based solutions, it delivers up to three times the levelof performance. The Kontron ETX-OH T16R, with its native PCI and ISAsupport, provides the ideal upgrade path for AMD Geode-based ETX de-signs and for low-power systems with discontinued ETX modules. Ad-ditionally, the new module extends the availability of the ETX standardfor at least five more years. News ID 16263

Atmel: 8-channel LED driver for LCD panel backlightingAtmel announced a new family of 8-channel LED drivers with an inte-grated boost controller to deliver a complete power management systemwith patented Efficiency Optimizer to enhance power efficiency for LCDbacklighting applications. Atmel’s MSL3080/86/88 LED drivers areideal for industrial LCD backlighting applications such as instrumenta-tion, medical, avionics, military, kiosk, automotive and rugged displays.The MSL3080/86/88 LED drivers also feature proprietary controlscheme and robust design delivering greater than 92 percent power effi-ciency for up to 20W LED backlit LCD displays.News ID 16229

Infineon: flash-based security controllers with highest security certificate

Infineon Technologies announced that its new Flash-based security con-trollers have been awarded with the highest security certificate (CommonCriteria EAL 6+) by the Federal Office for Information Security. The newSOLID FLASH security chips with “Integrity Guard” are aimed at use incontactless and contact-based applications demanding highest securitylevels such as Government IDs, contactless payment transactions or em-bedded systems. The new SOLID FLASH security ICs are based on NonVolatile Memory (Flash, EEPROM) technology and manufactured in90nm process technology. News ID 16299

Apacer: memory card to support the SATA II 3Gb/s transmission mode

Apacer has introduced a new CFast memory card to support the SATAII 3Gb/s high-speed transmission mode. Apacer has upgraded the capacityand speed of their industrial CFast memory cards. Additionally, thesecards come in MLC solutions and support extended operating temper-atures. Apacer’s latest industrial CFast card, features a peak reading speedof 160MB/s, breaking the speed limits of the CF cards currently used byindustrial enterprises. News ID 16212

FTDI: USB controller series features battery charging detectionFuture Technology Devices International has announced the release ofits FT12 series of high performance USB controller ICs. Operating at12 Mbits/s and designed to the USB 2.0 specification, the new con-trollers support direct memory access operation, while providing sys-tem interfaces for 8-bit parallel bus and SPI Slave. The FT12 series isconfigurable as a standard device class, and as such there is no need toadd USB drivers. News ID 16233

SiLabs: ARM Cortex-M3 MCUs and “power-aware” development tools

Silicon Laboratories introduced the lowest power ARM Cortex-M3processor-based microcontroller family and first-of-a-kind “power-aware”development tools. The Precision32 SiM3L1xx MCUs and developmentenvironment leverage mixed-signal innovations to enable developers toreduce power consumption to 175 µA/MHz in active mode and less than250 nA in sleep mode with the real-time clock enabled at 3.6 V. News ID 16244

TI: new Smart Meter SoC improves reliability in e-meter designsTexas Instruments is now sampling a fully integrated and optimized SmartMeter System on Chip for smart electrical meter designs. The integrationof metrology, application and communication functions in one singlechip allows developers to simplify designs, increase flexibility and reducesystem costs for smart e-metering applications. By eliminating the needfor additional discrete components and redundant interfaces, the inte-gration increases the reliability of smart e-meter designs. News ID 16266


http://www.elma.com










NEWS

Freescale: sub-gigahertz wireless MCU based on ARM Cortex-M0+ core

Freescale Semiconductor announced the KinetisKW01 wireless microcontroller, expanding itsKinetis MCU line with a device ideally suitedfor wirelessly networked smart energy applica-tions. Several protocols are emerging globallyfor outdoor and indoor smart energy networksthat require robust communication and lowpower consumption. News ID 16278

Agilent enhances connectivity software for electronic test instruments

Agilent Technologies announces the latest re-lease of its Iosuite software for use with elec-tronic test instruments. The new release con-tinues to improve the customer experience,with support for Microsoft Windows 8 andWindows Server 2012 as well as enhancedUSB connections. The suite’s PXI ResourceManager features upgraded PXI/PXIe interop-erability and support for the IVI VISA plug-inspecification, which allows for communicationto third-party PCI/PXI devices through com-pliant plug-ins.News ID 16282

Kontron: ARM-based module for imaging-centric low profile applications

Kontron launched its first ultra low power, lowprofile ARM-based Computer-on-Modulespecifically designed to extend the proven andscalable Computer-on-Modules-based usagemodel to new modules with ARM and SoCprocessors. The new Computer-on-ModuleULP-COM-sAT30, offers a low profile solutionthat measures 82 x 50mm and integratesNVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad Core ARM 1.2 GHztechnology. News ID 16224

Microchip expands low-cost dsPIC DSCs and PIC24F microcontrollers

Microchip announces a new addition to the16-bit PIC microcontroller and dsPIC DigitalSignal Controller portfolios with the cost-ef-fective dsPIC33FJ32MC104 family which of-fers up to 32 KB Flash, 16 MIPS of perform-ance, and small pin outs for cost-sensitivemotor control, consumer, medical and indus-trial applications.News ID 16303

Deutsche Telekom and Digi Internationalcollaborate on M2M market

Digi International and Deutsche Telekom an-nounce a collaboration to enable easy accessand control of remote devices used in machine-to-machine applications throughout Europe.Digi will integrate Deutsche Telekom’s indus-trial-grade SIM cards into its wireless gatewaysand routers and M2M SIM management func-tionalities into the iDigi Device Cloud.

Digi M2M solutions are used in numerous ap-plications, such as connecting and monitoringremote assets like storage tanks, vehicle fleets,solar power arrays and other remote devices.Therefore, Digi’s M2M solutions are oftenused in places where rough weather, movement,vibrations and extreme temperatures can in-terfere with the optimal functionality of inte-grated SIM cards.News ID 16288

TI: low-price kit for ARM Cortex-M4 developers

Expanding its LaunchPad portfolio to theARM ecosystem, Texas Instruments an-nounced a new low-price, easy-to-use StellarisLM4F120 LaunchPad evaluation kit. The coreof the new LaunchPad is a Stellaris LM4F120MCU with best-in-class low power, integratedanalog and floating point performance andlends itself to the highly flexible and modulardesign environment of the LaunchPad withabundant peripherals for real-time digitalsignal control. News ID 16211

Microchip: additions to the 70 MIPSdsPIC33E and PIC24E product families

Microchip announces new additions to the 70MIPS dsPIC33E and PIC24E product familieswhich build on Microchip’s motor-controland general-purpose device families which in-clude integrated op amps and a Charge TimeMeasurement Unit for temperature sensing ormTouch capacitive touch sensing. The newDigital Signal Controllers and microcontrollersfeature 70 MIPS of performance for motorcontrol, sensing, actuators and other embeddedapplications. News ID 16298

XMOS demos multicore microcontrollertechnology at electronica 2012

XMOS will use electronica 2012 to showcasenew developments in its XCORE multicore mi-crocontroller family. Demonstrations at theshow will include docking solutions for currentand next-generation smartphones and referenceplatforms for AVB and USB audio. The com-pany also plans a number of exciting productannouncements that will be revealed closer tothe time of the show.

XMOS is the de-facto standard in USB Audio2.0. Visitors to electronica will be able to dis-cover the company’s range of USB reference de-signs that deliver bit-perfect 24-bit audio andround trip latencies of less than 3ms. TheXCORE architecture allows designers to finetune each reference design with exactly the rightcombination of general control interfaces, andto implement DSP-based audio effects such asfiltering and mixing.News ID 16172

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AAEON 52

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Digi-Key 2

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Elma Electronic 49

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SEGGER 35










"innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

at ams, the future of sensors is here today.electronica. hall a5. booth 107.

www.ams.com

- steve jobs

NEWS

Freescale and INSIDE to demonstrate secure postpaid smart meter design

Freescale Semiconductor and INSIDE Secureare demonstrating a new secure postpaid elec-tricity meter with near field communicationconnectivity at the Metering Europe tradeshow in Amsterdam. The demonstrator showshow easily an electricity consumer can use anNFC-enabled smartphone or other NFC deviceto read the meter and securely transmit usageinformation to the utility company for pay-ment. News ID 16267

Fujitsu: FM3 MCU can now be deployed in SEVENSTAX architectures

The Internet Protocol Suite from SEVENSTAXis now also available for Fujitsu’s single- andtwin-Ethernet ARM Cortex-M3 microcon-trollers from the FM3 family. The FM3 Twin-MAC MCUs are high-end members of the FM3family and can be deployed for a wide range ofapplications – such as factory or home au-tomation and the intelligent control of illumi-nation and alarm systems, to name just two.With the porting to the FM3 architecture,SEVENSTAX now also supports this micro-controller family.News ID 16264

Atmel: MCU-based RF transceiver IC family for the automotive and smart RF

Atmel announces the availability of a new fam-ily of low-power, high-performance micro-controller-based RF transceivers designedspecifically for the automotive and smart RFmarkets.With lowest power consumption, highsensitivity and high output power, the threenew devices (ATA5831, ATA5832 and ATA5833)are ideal for automotive applications includingremote keyless entry, passive entry go, remotestart and tire pressure monitoring systems. News ID 16275

TI: jumpstart automotive design with Hercules safety MCUs, PMIC and motordriver

Texas Instruments announces 12 new HerculesTMS570 ARM Cortex-R4 safety microcon-trollers, complementary TPS65831-Q1 multi-rail safety power management integrated circuitand DRV3201-Q1 safety motor driver from TI.The Hercules TMS570 safety microcontrollers,along with TI’s first functional safety PMIC andthe industry’s first functional safety motordriver, form a “safety motor control chipset”and maximize failure detection and mitigationwhile minimizing software overhead. News ID 16277

Advantech: industrial touch computer powered by an Intel Atom

Advantech announces the PPC-3100 PanelPC, a new industrial touch computer with ex-cellent computing performance powered by anIntel Atom processor, providing the besthuman-machine interface applications forequipment control in the automation industry.Compared to its predecessor, PPC-3100 issmaller in size and features convenient settingswith a streamlined appearance and easier to useinterfaces. News ID 16237

Microchip: dsPIC DSCs optimized for digital power and lighting applications

Microchip announces a new family of dsPIC33GS Digital Signal Controllers optimized for dig-ital-power applications via integrated high-speed ADCs, a zero-wait-state signal processingcore, and flexible high-resolution PWMs. Theseperipherals are integrated for streamlined in-teroperation, enabling sub-microsecond digitalcontrol loops. Other key features of this fam-ily include on-chip analogue comparators withprogrammable hysteresis and rail-to-rail oper-ation, and an on-chip PMBus address selectioncurrent source to reduce external components. News ID 16231


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120888 BAS10 electronica 7 Um Heft 26.10.12 10:12 …files.iccmedia.com/pdf/eceelectronica12.pdf · 120888_BAS10_electronica_7_Um_Heft 26.10.12 10:13 Seite 3. electronica Nov 2012