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STMicroelectronics A6986I automotive 38 V, 5W Iso-Buck converter

Posted on 21 May, 2021 by mixos

The A6986I is an automotive-grade device specifically designed for the isolated buck topology

The A6986I is an automotive-grade device specifically designed for the isolated buck topology. The 100% duty cycle capability and the wide input voltage range meet the cold crank and load dump specifications for automotive systems. The primary output voltage can be accurately adjusted, whereas the isolated secondary output is derived by using a given transformer ratio. No optocoupler is required. The primary sink capability typically up to 1.9 A (even during soft-start) allows a proper energy transfer to the secondary side as well as enabling a tracked soft-start of the secondary output.

Key features

AEC-Q100 qualified
4 V to 38 V operating input voltage
Operating temperature range: – 40°C to + 135°C for TJ
8 µA IQ-SHTDWN

Additional features

AEC-Q100 qualified
Operating temperature range:
- T_j from -40 °C to 135 °C
Designed for iso-buck topology
4 V to 38 V operating input voltage
Primary output voltage regulation / no optocoupler required
1.9 A typical sink peak primary current capability
Peak current-mode architecture in forced PWM operation
300 ns blanking time
8 µA IQ-SHTDWN
Adjustable f_SW and synchronization
Embedded primary output voltage supervisor
Adjustable soft-start time
Internal primary current limiting
Overvoltage protection
R_DS(ON) HS = 180 mΩ, R_DS(ON) LS = 150 mΩ
Thermal shutdown

more information: https://www.st.com/en/power-management/a6986.html

M5Stack UnitV2 – The standalone AI Camera for Edge Computing (SSD202D)

Posted on 21 May, 202121 May, 2021 by mixos

UnitV2 is a high-efficiency AI Camera module, the first M5Stack product that runs on the Linux operating system. The standalone device adopts SigmaStar SSD202D (ARM Cortex-A7 dual-core 1.2GHz) as the core, embedded 128MB DDR3 memory, with 512MB NAND Flash, 1080P camera, 2.4G Wi-Fi and cooling fan. With rich software applications, hardware resources and easy development tools, UnitV2 is committed to bringing users a simple and efficient AI development experience out of the box.

Out Of The Box AI Applications

UnitV2 integrates multiple ready-to-use AI recognition applications developed by M5Stack (such as Face Recognition, Object Tracking, Color Tracker, Shape Detector, Barcode Detector and other popular functions), which can help users to build your own AI applications quickly.
Standalone! Plug and play! UnitV2 has a built-in USB LAN. When connecting to PC through USB-C interface, it will automatically establish a network connection with UnitV2. With highly free connectable style, it can also be connected and debugged via Wi-Fi.
UART serial port communication, all identification content is automatically output in JSON format through the serial port, which is convenient to call.

Efficient To Develop

Based on the Linux system, and the variety of peripherals, UnitV2 is compatible with different development tools.
Through SSH Access, you can fully control the hardware resources.
Easily build a custom recognition model through M5Stack’s V-Training (AI model training service).

Features

SigmaStar SSD202D
ARM Cortex-A7 Dual Core 1.2GHz with Neon and FPU
Embedded 128MB DDR3 Memory
512MB NAND Flash
GC2145 1080P Colored Sensor
Microphone, TF Card slot, UART port, USB-C
Wi-Fi 2.4GHz
Cooling Fan
OS: Linux

Specification

Resources	Parameter
Sigmstar SSD202D	ARM Cortex-A7 Dual Core 1.2GHz with Neon and FPU
Flash	512MB NAND
RAM	128MB DDR3
Camera	GC2145 1080P Colored Sensor
Lens	FOV 68° , DOF= 60cm- ∞
Power Input	5V @ 500mA
Peripherals	USB-C x1, UART x1, TF Card x1, Button x1, Microphone x1, Fan x1
Indicator LED	Red, White
Wi-Fi	150Mbps 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n
Operating Temperature	32°F to 104°F (0°C to 40°C)
Net weight	18g
Gross weight	62g
Product Size	*4818.524mm*
Package Size	*1573838mm*
Case Material	Plastic ( PC )

Software

M5Stack team will add more functions through upcoming versions of firmware. Users can easily upgrade the device through a TF Card.

Applications

Access Control
Home Automation
Occupancy Monitoring
New Retail
Industrial & Machine Vision
Warehouse Management and Logistics

M5Stack UnitV2 is available now, at USD $75 . For more information on M5Stack UnitV2, visit https://shop.m5stack.com/products/unitv2-ai-camera-gc2145

About M5Stack

M5Stack is a technology company based in Shenzhen China, specializing In the design, development and production of IoT development toolkits and solutions.

We are committed to providing fully functional, customizable and cost-effective open source IoT development toolkits and easy programming platform “UIFlow” and AIoT solutions for smart city, smart agriculture, commercial purpose, industry 4.0, robotics and STEAM education.

M5Stack is on a mission to “Quick & Easy IoT development”, with the easy-to-develop devices and solutions, we can bridge the gap between development and end product, thus, to make creative dreams a reality!

Efabless Launches chipIgnite with SkyWater to Bring Chip Creation to the Masses

Posted on 21 May, 202121 May, 2021 by mixos

Program includes a pre-designed carrier chip and automated open source design flow from Efabless
SkyWater’s open source SKY130 process is the first node to be used to fabricate chips for the program
Initiative removes access barriers by significantly reducing cost and the need for deep semiconductor experience to design chips

Efabless, a community chip creation platform, today announced the launch of its new chipIgnite program to bring chip design and fabrication to the masses and collaboration with SkyWater Technology for the first node supported in the program. The chipIgnite program expands upon the SKY130-based open-source chip manufacturing program sponsored by Google and supports private commercial designs that include non-open source IP. This initiative represents another step forward in the industry to broaden access to chip design by giving people the ability to more easily create and fabricate chips.

The chipIgnite program offers unique value to the designer which includes not only low-cost manufacturing but also a development board and firmware stack to simplify design validation and test. All projects created as part of the chipIgnite program will utilize a full chip reference design template that implements the physical IO for the chip as well as provides a common management area to support the test and evaluation of the user’s design. The program also includes an optional automated open-source design flow for implementing projects that enable users to generate layouts for their digital projects from RTL. The chipIgnite program will provide users a guaranteed reservation to ensure their project is included.

SkyWater’s open-source 130 nm CMOS platform will be used to fabricate chips for the chipIgnite program. The automotive-grade mixed-signal platform is well suited for IoT and edge computing as it is in a sweet spot for enabling a combination of both digital and analog circuit performance with embedded non-volatile memory for a wide range of SoC architectures. The program provides users 10 mm² of the total project area with fabrication for projects using the SkyWater Open Source PDK.

The chipIgnite program builds on an active community of 1500+ users for the Open PDK initiative where new designers can get support and access to resources through community messaging platforms such as Slack. In addition to using freely-available design flows based on open-source EDA tools, designers can also employ proprietary design tools for creating their designs, allowing them to address design requirements not supported by open-source tools.

The program is a good fit for users who want to create an initial prototype or proof-of-concept for an IP block or full SoC. The starting price of $9750 per project includes 100 QFN or 300 WCSP packaged parts and five evaluation boards. The chipIgnite shuttles also support users who are distributing initial boards or launching a pilot for their product. An option for 1000 WCSP parts at $20 each is available that enables the service to be used for early product builds.

The first manufacturing run in the chipIgnite program is optimized for university digital and mixed-signal chip design courses with a submission deadline for tapeout of June 18, 2021. The delivery of parts and assembled boards is planned for early October.

The first shuttle in the chipIgnite program will support the fabrication of student projects as part of the EE272B course in the Electrical Engineering department at Stanford University for senior undergraduate and graduate students.

The new program also has industry support from organizations including QuickLogic and the CHIPS Alliance.

“QuickLogic joins Efabless and SkyWater in fully supporting open source initiatives,” said Brian Faith, CEO of QuickLogic. “The new chipIgnite program is a great way for innovators to create customized devices quickly and cost effectively.”

“CHIPS Alliance is a major champion of open source hardware design and associated design automation tools. I am excited to see the chipIgnite program offered by Efabless to include many different collaborative IP developers to prove new ideas. The platform alleviates the barriers to entry into chip design and allows for ready exploration of many concepts,”

said Rob Mains, general manager of CHIPS Alliance.

For more information about the program, please visit https://efabless.com/chipignite or contact shuttle@efabless.com.

For more information about SkyWater and how its Technology as a Service (TaaS) model streamlines the concept to market journey for innovators, contact swfoundry@skywatertechnology.com or visit www.skywatertechnology.com

New Rohde & Schwarz NGA100 power supply series, stocked by Farnell

Posted on 20 May, 2021 by mixos

Easy-to-use general purpose power supply units ideal for various bench applications requiring stand-alone or system use.

Farnell, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions, is further expanding its market-leading test and measurement range with the introduction of the new NGA100 power supply series, part of the Essentials Portfolio, from Rohde & Schwarz. With intuitive manual control and simple computer-controlled operation, the NGA100 series is in stock for same day shipping and can be used as a bench supply for R&D, product test, repair and education, or in racks for manufacturing test systems.

The new generation NGA100 series is an easy-to-use entry-level power supply family which has been carefully designed for feature-rich and affordable general-purpose use. It is based on a stable output, low noise, linear topology housed in a compact footprint and is quiet in operation. The NGA100 series provides excellent readback accuracy and has a low current range with multiple sleep modes for completing demanding measurements required by Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Advanced protection functions ensure connected devices and the power supply remain safe. The channel fusion feature extends voltage and current ranges by allowing the isolated outputs to be connected in series for higher voltages or in parallel for higher output currents.

Equipped with different external control interfaces, the power supplies feature remote sensing at the load to improve the setting and measurement accuracy and are simple to integrate into automated testing. The NGA100 series also allows customers to work seamlessly and productively with modern test workbenches. This flexibility makes the instruments ideal for various bench applications including arbitrary waveform generation and data logging of voltage and current measurements over time, with simple output of data.

The NGA100 series is comprised of four models including the NGA101, a 35VDC single output rated at 40W total output; the NGA102, a 35VDC dual outputs rated up to 80W total output power; the NGA141, a single output rated up to 100V at 40W maximum, and the NGA142 which offers dual 100VDC outputs up to 80W. A channel fusion feature is available on all dual output units.

Key features of the NGA100 power supply series now available from Farnell include:

5” front panel display – The colour coded display ensures users can clearly see all operating conditions including the status of any protective functions. Voltage and current values are easy to read and built-in statistics are integrated into the display to show the minimum and maximum values for power, voltage and current. Built-in high readback measurements reduce the need for external multimeters and simplify setup.
Connectivity – The NGA series includes a USB interface for control and saving data. Ethernet with integrated web server offers easy instrument control directly via web browser, and Wireless LAN (WLAN) automatically connects the instrument to a network. Digital trigger I/O allows input triggers to automatically control the main instrument functions.
Rackmountable – The compatible rackmount kit and rear output connectors ensure easy integration of the NGA100 power supply series into test systems. Each rackmount frame can hold up to two NGA100 units.

James McGregor, Global Head of Test & Tools at Farnell, said:

“We recently introduced Rohde & Schwarz’s NGU series of source measurement units and we are delighted to be adding another innovative test equipment series to our market leading range. We are committed to providing our customers with best-in-class test and measurement products for entry-level application and education through to professional R&D, heavy duty manufacturing and IoT. The new NGA100 series of power supplies and our complete R&S portfolio is available for fast delivery from stock, ensuring customers can access the products they need, whenever they need them.”

Rohde & Schwarz is a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcast and media, aerospace, defence, security, networks and cybersecurity. The technology group’s innovative communications, information and security products help industry and government customers ensure a safer and connected world.

Farnell offers a full range of products to support electronic design and test and continues to deliver the latest in cutting edge power supply technology to customers. The new-to-market NGA100 series is available with no minimum order value and an educational discount programme. Customers also have free access to online resources, data sheets, applications notes, videos and webinars and excellent customer and technical support, available 24/5 in local language.

The NGA100 power supply series from Rohde & Schwarz is available from Farnell in EMEA, element14 in APAC and Newark in North America.

Top 10 SBCs for 2021

Posted on 20 May, 202121 May, 2021 by Tope Oluyemi

We have seen various SBCs being released since late 2020 to 2021, however, 10 of these SBCs will be summarized alphabetically below.

Arduino Yun Rev 2

The Yún rev. 2 is a reboot of its original, MIPS-based Arduino Yun, with the power of a Linux based system that enables advanced network connections and applications. It offers a WiFi-enabled, 400MHz AR9331 SoC running OpenWrt Linux with an ATmega32U MCU that runs Arduino code. The board is also equipped with a microSD slot and USB host, micro-USB, and 10/100 Ethernet ports. Connecting to your WiFi or wired network is easy thanks to the Yún Web Panel and the dedicated ”YunFirstConfig” sketch. The Web panel enables you to manage your shield preferences and upload your sketch. The Yún rev. 2 utilizes the Bridge library and so extends the board capabilities by using the Linux processor. The board is also open source.

Banana Pi BPI-F2S

This board was announced in Nov. 2019, in collaboration with SunPlus. The BPI-FS2 is built around the SunPlus SP7021 (Plus1) SoC. The 110 x 75mm BPI-F2S features a 720p HDMI port, MIPI-CSI, 2x 10/100 Ethernet, 2x USB 2.0, micro-USB, TPM, and debug I/O. Additional features include a HAT-compatible 40-pin GPIO link, and dual 50-pin connectors that support a Trenz Electronic TE0725LP-01-100-2D module equipped with an Artix-7 FPGA and 95 I/Os. Images are available for Debian Buster, Fedora 31 Mate, Ubuntu 18.04, Kail Linux, Mozilla IoT Gateway, and CentOS, all with Linux 4.19.37. The source is found on GitHub, and SinoVoip has posted schematics and other open hardware resources.

Coral Dev Board

Coral is a complete toolkit for building products with local AI. Its on-device inferencing capabilities enable you to build products that are efficient, private, fast, and offline. It runs a Debian-based Mendel Linux distro on a 48 x 40mm Coral SOM module equipped with NXP’s i.MX8M. The module features Google’s Edge TPU chip, a stripped-down, but up to 4 TOPS versions of Google’s TPU Unit for accelerating TensorFlow Lite AI models. The Coral SOM features 8GB eMMC and 1GB RAM, and also a crypto chip, and dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac with BT 4.1 BLE. The 0 to 50°C Coral Dev Board has a Pi-like size layout and features 40-pin GPIO. Its ports include GbE, USB 3.0, USB Type-C OTG, Type-C 5V power, and micro-USB console. Media I/O feature includes a 4K@60-ready HDMI 2.0a port, 4-lane MIPI-DSI and -CSI, and audio I/O.

Developer Board 4IoT

Geniatech’s Developer Board 4IoT, features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410E processor, a Quadcore ARM® Cortex™ A53 at up to 1.2GHz clock speed per core, capable of 32-bit and 64-bit operation. It supports Android, Linux and Windows 10 IoT Core and offers advanced processing power, WLAN, Bluetooth, and GPS. It supports feature-rich functionality, including multimedia, with the Adreno™ 306 GPU, integrated ISP with up to 13 MP camera support, and 1080p HD video playback and capture with H.264 (AVC). The 60 x 35mm SBC integrates the “Standard Micro” IE format’s 40-pin low-speed expansion connector, which is required on the “Extended” format, rather than the 30-pin subset used on MCU-based IE boards such as Seeed’s Carbon. The 4IoT is also equipped with a microSD slot, a micro-USB port for power, 6x LEDs, 2-lane MIPI-CSI, and -25 to 85°C support.

Firefly-RK3128

T-Firefly’s Firefly-RK3128 SBC, dual boots Android 5.1 and Ubuntu 15.04 on a quad-core -A7 Rockchip. The board device includes GbE, WiFi, BT, HDMI, MIPI-DSI, MIPI-CSI, SPDIF, analog audio, LVDS, IR, and CVBS. The 117 x 85mm SBC is further equipped with 4x USB host ports, a micro-USB OTG port, and dual 42-pin expansion connectors. It features ARM Mail-400MP2, a build-in dedicated 2D processor, supports OpenGL ES1.1/2.0, achieves 1080P H.265 hardware decoding, and 1080P H.264 video encoding.

Giant Board

The Giant Board is a super tiny single-board computer based on the Adafruit Feather form factor. The 51 x 23mm SBC from Groboards runs Debian with mainline Linux kernel 5.0 on a Microchip SAMA5D27. The SoC enables Microchip’s ATSAMA5D27C-D1 System-In-Package (SiP), which features 128MB RAM. The Giant Board can load stackable FeatherWing modules from a list of 60+, including Ethernet and LCD add-ons. I/O includes 6x ADC, 4x PWM, I2C, SPI, UART, and I2S. The SBC also features 3.7V LiPo battery support.

HummingBoard Gate

The HummingBoard Gate is designed primarily for IoT solutions, and it is based on NXP’s i.MX6 series. The SBC is almost identical to the HummingBoard Edge, and offers the same 102 x 69mm footprint, 7-36V power supply, mini-PCIe slot, and optional wireless modules and metal enclosure. It features a MikroBus socket that enables MikroElektronika’s 200-plus Click add-on I/O and sensor modules. It also offers multiple temperature ranges.

Khadas Edge / Edge-V

The Khadas Edge was announced along with a similar Edge-V model and an RK3399Pro based Edge-1S. The Edge features an MXM3 connector for deploying the board like a compute module on a cluster or carrier board such as the Captain. It also offers FPC connectors for hooking up options like the Edge IO serial debug and GPIO board. The Edge-V also features a Khadas Vim-like 40-pin RPi connector and a GbE port, microSD, and M.2 2280 with NVMe support. Additional features of the Edge-V includes MIPI-CSI and -DSI, eDP 1.3, touch support, RTC, IR, gesture sensor, and 6-axis IMU. The Edge models feature single USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, 4K-ready DP and HDMI 2.0a, and a DisplayPort via one of the two USB Type-C ports. The Basic model (2GB/16GB) features dual-band WiFi-ac and BT 4.1, while the Pro and Max feature Bluetooth 5.0, and add RSDB WiFi. They offer support for Android Oreo, Ubuntu 18.04, Debian 9.0, and more.

Libre Computer Board AML-S905X-CC (Le Potato)

Also known as Le Potato, the Raspberry Pi-like Libre Computer Board AML-S905X-CC is equipped with the quad -A53 S905X SoC, and features 4x USB host ports, fast Ethernet, and 40-pin expansion. Available also is optional eMMC, IR, and an ADC + I2S header. It also features a v2.0 with 4K HDMI port. The board comes with schematics and source code for Linux 4.14 LTS, Buildroot with Linux 4.9, Armbian Debian and Ubuntu, LibreELEC 9, and Android builds up 8.0 (Oreo).

Nitrogen8M_Mini

The 114.3 x 88.9mm Nitrogen8M_Mini board features NXP’s i.MX8M Mini, and offers a host of pre-certified WiFi-ac/BT with or without a dev kit, a 5V power supply, an 8GB microSD card with Linux, a battery, and a serial console cable. The Nitrogen8M_Mini board also enables a GbE port with optional PoE, USB 2.0 host, and a micro-USB OTG port. Available also is MIPI-DSI and -CSI. Other features include dual audio jacks, a PCIe slot, an RTC, a PMIC, and a choice of 0 to 70°C or -40 to 85°C ranges. OS support includes Linux 4.9x, Yocto, Ubuntu 18.04, Debian Buster 10, and Android 9.

Innodisk Releases CAN Bus Modules for Unmanned Smart Systems

Posted on 20 May, 202120 May, 2021 by mixos

Innodisk recently released their latest CAN Bus modules. With a complete line of form factors and strict industrial quality, these products have proven themselves indispensable in the success of unmanned systems

The demand for unmanned systems has seen marked growth since 2020, with a report from Fortune Business Insights estimating a CAGR of 12.23% for the UAV segment. Many industry verticals have felt the impact of unmanned systems, such as agriculture, logistics, transportation, and aerospace, which have all begun to leverage the benefits of unmanned vehicle technologies.

Unmanned aircraft are at the heart of all unmanned systems, but at the heart of all unmanned systems is the CAN Bus. With this continued expansion, rising complexity, and the increased efficiency requirements of new applications, it is critical that the CAN Bus module can operate in harsh conditions, like extreme temperatures and electromagnetic interference. Innodisk CAN Bus modules all support wide temperature, 2.5KV isolation protection, and the high-layer protocols SAE J1939 and CANopen needed to ensure optimal performance in extreme conditions without degrading.

Amongst the latest popular adopters are unmanned flight application, which has utilized Innodisk CAN Bus modules in the latest aircrafts. Innodisk’s USB to CAN module has successfully built into autonomous commercial drones, as well as agriculture machine, robot operating system (ROS), Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) that for all kinds of smart applications. CAN Bus is enabled to control the system, interact with the onboard computer and various CAN devices, and diagnose issues in ground stations.

“We think it’s pretty cool that Innodisk’s CAN modules are successfully supporting our customers’ projects of different smart applications,” said Johnny Wu, Senior Manager of Innodisk’s Intelligent Peripheral Application Department. He further added, “Using Innodisk products for their unmanned devices reaffirms our commitment to providing the most durable products on the market. We’re proud to have played a small but crucial part in their developments.”

CAN Bus solutions sufficiently capable of handling the strain of these harsh environments have, until now, been a major roadblock for reliable systems development. Innodisk CAN Bus modules provide complete hardware and software integration and offer different form factors to fit diverse demands. For integrators and engineers looking to introduce their products into the unmanned systems space, it is tantamount that their hardware solution will meet the rigors of these industrial environments.

Fibocom FM150-NA to be the First 5G Wireless Module Certified by T-Mobile

Posted on 20 May, 2021 by mixos

Fibocom, a leading global provider of IoT (Internet of Things) wireless solution and wireless communication modules, today announces that its 5G modules FM150-NA has successfully received the T-Mobile Technical Acceptance (TA), becoming the first 5G wireless module certified by T-Mobile.

The approval signifies that Fibocom FM150-NA 5G module can now provide wireless connection services under T-Mobile’s network, which is an important achievement of the product’s entry into the US market.

Based on Qualcomm SDX55 chipset platform, Fibocom’s FM150-NA module supports 5G NR Sub-6 band and is backward compatible with LTE and WCDMA network standards. Supporting 5G standalone network (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures, FM150-NA eliminates customers’ investment concerns in the initial stage of 5G construction and responds to the commercial demand of rapid landing.

With rich extension interfaces including USB 3.1/3.0/2.0, PCIe 3.0, GPIO, I2S, UIM, FM150-NA module seamlessly enables a wide range of IoT applications, such as 4K/8K HD livestreaming, ACPC, IIoT, C-V2X, smart grid, smart home, telemedicine, UAV, AR/VR and more. Up to now, Fibocom’s FM150-NA module has certified by RoHs/HF/FCC/IC/PTCRB.

“We are proud to announce that our FM150-NA module has achieved T-Mobile Technical Acceptance”, said the Director of Carrier Certification Dept., Fibocom. “As a forerunner developing 5G wireless module, Fibocom provides 5G modules with eMBB, URLLC and mMTC. Achieving T-Mobile certification is a significant milestone for our 5G modules.”

NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX Integrated Industry’s First Industrial AI Smart Camera

Posted on 19 May, 202119 May, 2021 by Abhishek Jadhav

If you are working on edge-AI devices then you would’ve considered buying NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX, which is a best-in-class deep learning-accelerating module claimed to be the world’s smallest supercomputer that was released last year. With the increasing implementation of AI-edge devices with this powerful SOM, we have several additional hardware coming to market to join hands with the revolution of smart industries.

A couple of days back, Taiwan-based embedded electronic device manufacturer ADLINK came up with an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX-based industrial AI smart camera for edge applications. The product is as powerful as it sounds while exploring the capabilities of the NVIDIA module to bring next-generation innovation to AI vision solutions. The NEON-2000-JNX series integrates the Jetson Xavier NX, an image sensor, an optimized OS, and broad I/O for deep learning-based recognition and classification in vision applications.

“Until now, a typical AI vision solution required complex integration of the image sensor module, cables and GPU modules. This ready-to-develop edge AI smart camera reduces the effort of software/hardware integration and reliability validation, allowing AI vision developers to focus on application development. The NEON-2000-JNX series is a hassle-free, compact, reliable and powerful product for edge AI applications, and also the best match for AI software providers,”

said Kevin Hsu, Senior Product Manager of ADLINK’s IoT Solutions and Technology business unit, ADLINK.

The invention of this product comes from the problems faced by the designer in integrating all the modules required with an appropriate OS. NEON-2000-JNX series helps to solve this problem with a compact form factor industrial smart camera that is supposed to have simplified the deployment process reducing the time to market.

The all-new series comes in six models for the product, all based on the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX module, but changes the sensor model along with the resolution size. The NEON-202A-JNX camera module comes with a resolution size of a maximum of 3840×2160 pixels with integrated SONY’s IMX334 sensor model. This high-end module is expected to be available by June 2021.

If you are interested in learning more about the product, then head to the product page. The manufacturer has not publicly announced pricing for the camera yet, however, interested buyers can request a quote on the product page.

I2S USB Microphone using STM32 and MEMS Microphone

Posted on 19 May, 202119 May, 2021 by DM

Virtual desktops are used extensively in the IT sector currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This set-up allows the employees to work remotely and is convenient. Virtual desktops are preconfigured images of operating systems and applications in which the desktop environment is separated from the physical device used to access it. Users can access their virtual desktops remotely over a network. Andy Brown found a problem while joining meetings in his company’s Citrix-hosted virtual desktop, he observed that the video was fine but the audio frequency on the VDI was mismatched to the actual frequency on the physical device. He described that he sounded like Mickey Mouse on Helium.

The solution to this mismatch in frequency is changing the frequency on the VDI that requires administrator-level access. Andy tried installing a microphone app on his phone that acts as a USB microphone when connected to a computer. But he needed a dedicated USB microphone and so he decided to build an I²S USB microphone. He came up with two possible implementation approaches. The first approach is partly analog and partly digital microphone circuits. The second method is to design with all digital components and techniques.

Source: https://andybrown.me.uk/2021/03/13/usb-microphone/

First method: Partly Analog USB microphone

In this method, an analog MEMS microphone is used as a transducer. The signal from the microphone will be then amplified and conditioned. Next, the ADC will convert them into digital signals. This stage is necessary for performing digital signal processing. In analog signal processing, a high level of accuracy can’t be achieved as the accuracy depends on the tolerances circuit components. After processing, the signal is ready to go to the USB audio output.

Second method: All-digital USB microphone

In this approach, a digital MEMS microphone is used. The microphone produces signals that can be directly processed digitally. Thus, digital signal processing is performed directly on the microphone signals and after processing, the signal is provided at the USB audio output. It can be observed that this looks like a straightforward method as compared to the first approach.

Both the methods, however, require a MEMS microphone. A MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) microphone is a pressure-sensitive diaphragm etched into a silicon wafer via MEMS processing. These microphones are widely used in mobile phones, WSNs, etc. The MEMS microphones come in a miniature metal package that houses the internal circuitry. A small hole is drilled on the metal body which allows the sound to enter. Andy used an INMP441 MEMS microphone for the project. INMP441 is an I²S based high-performance, low-power, digital-output, omnidirectional MEMS microphone with a bottom port. The I²S interface allows the INMP441 to connect directly to digital processors, such as DSPs and microcontrollers eliminating the need for audio-codec devices in the system.

The microcontroller used in this project is STM32. Andy needed one that has I²S and USB peripherals and that is capable of translating the I²S format into the USB format in real-time. So he selected STM32F446RCT7. He wrote the firmware in Ubuntu Linux using the STM32 Cube IDE. For audio processing, ST provides a suite of audio effects expansion software called X-CUBE-AUDIO. Andy mentioned in his documentation,

“This is implemented as a closed-source but freely available package that integrates easily into firmware using consistent APIs designed to be used as part of an audio-processing pipeline.”

Andy also made a PCB for the USB microphone and very thorough documentation of this project can be found at https://andybrown.me.uk/2021/03/13/usb-microphone/

GitHub link: https://github.com/andysworkshop/usb-microphone

Analog Devices LT8491 Buck-Boost Battery Charge Controller

Posted on 19 May, 2021 by mixos

Analog Devices Inc. LT8491 Buck-Boost Battery Charge Controller implements a constant-current constant voltage (CCCV) charging profile used for most battery types. This includes sealed lead-acid (SLA), flooded, gel, and lithium-ion. The device operates from input voltages above, below, or equal to the output voltage and is powered by a solar panel or DC power supply.

Typical Application

Features

V_IN Range: 6V to 80V
V_BAT Range: 1.3V to 80V
Single Inductor Allows V_IN Above, Below, or Equal to V_BAT
Automatic MPPT for Solar Powered Charging
Automatic Temperature Compensation
I²C Telemetry and Configuration
Internal EEPROM for Configuration Storage
Operation from Solar Panel or DC Supply
Four Integrated Feedback Loops
Synchronizable Fixed Frequency: 100kHz to 400kHz
64-Lead (7mm x 11mm x 0.75mm) QFN Package

more information: https://www.analog.com/en/products/lt8491.html