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Four ports Intelligent and High powered charger USB charger

Posted on 19 May, 202012 June, 2020 by Emmanuel Odunlade

The more the electronic devices to charge, the more the multiple-port USB chargers to have, especially intelligent ones!

Yes, charging multiple devices at the same time can be very tiring; from having to deal with the mess of the plenty of cables and adapters needed for the different devices to hunting for free wall sockets and then to the inconveniences faced when trying to charge on a journey. But with multi-port USB chargers, things have really become much easier and faster!! However, while it seems like some have been able to fully satisfy the needs of people, others have not.

“The main reason the idea was brought to life is that I have never been satisfied with multi-port chargers. They are built with cheap components and lack functions that I believe are prerequisites for safe and smart charging. Many of them are told to deliver high power but when they are put to the feat, many of them fail in different aspects. Throttling the power outputs is most common, overheating or having very high voltage ripple are issues often found”, says Karoly Simon, Sweden-based designer of the Four4 multiple-port USB charger.

The Four4 USB charger design offers safety functions including data integrity protection that protects devices from data intrusion and harmful spyware when used in public USB outlets. The charger also has an OLED display that shows important system information as well as charging performance for charging optimization. All the channels of the charger are independent and each optimizes charging current to be as high as possible.

The Four4 is a perfect power supply for most SBCs too; its 3.2 power supply mode can satisfy the most power demanding board without disruption. Charger Specifications include:

Input Voltage: 4.7 – 5.5V
Output voltage: 5.3V
Output current for each port: 8A
Dimension: 60 x 60 x 21 mm (2.4 x 2.4 x 0.83 inch)
Weight: 60 grams

Simon adds that measurements, specifications, and results regarding safety functions, current supply, and power are however valid only with bundled power supply.

“You can use any 5V PSU to power the Four4 but minimum 5V/4A is recommended. To utilize/deliver the full 40W, you need to connect a minimum 5V/8A PSU!!”

More details on the Four4 multiple-port USB charger are available on IndieGoGo where it was launched with a $33,000 funding goal, and shipping scheduled to start in November 2020.

Arrow Electronics, Panasonic Industry, and STMicroelectronics Join Forces to Deliver IoT Modules for Smart Applications

Posted on 19 May, 2020 by mixos

Arrow Electronics, Panasonic Industry, and STMicroelectronics (ST) have introduced a low-power wireless multi-sensor edge-intelligence solution for smart factory, smart home, and smart life applications.

The IoT Solution Module combines Arrow’s engineering and global distribution capabilities with Panasonic Industry’s IoT modules based on the ST BlueTile (STEVAL-BCN002V1B) multi-sensor development kit. This combination enables customers to test their ideas easily and bring new IoT products to the market faster.

The IoT Solution Module features ST’s latest BlueNRG Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.0 system-on-chip (SoC) paired with numerous inertial, environmental, and audio sensors. The onboard sensors enable the cost-effective delivery of a broad range of compact and valuable IoT applications for smart factory, smart home and smart life scenarios.

Comprehensive services and validation processes enable a reduced BOM that combines an accelerometer and gyroscope with Time-of-Flight, pressure, and humidity sensors in an efficient low-power design with Bluetooth communications. This combination enables OEM customers to dramatically slash time-to-market and reduce design expense and complexity using certified modules.

“Building on the outstanding features and design of the ST BlueTile sensor-node development kit, the modules now available from Panasonic Industry through Arrow Electronics are ideal for speeding creation of a wide range of edge-node sensors for all kinds of Internet-of-Things applications,” said Philip Lolies, EMEA Vice President, Marketing & Application, STMicroelectronics.

”Panasonic’s IoT Solution Modules inspired by ST BlueTile support customers by cutting down their time to market in this fast paced era”, said Dr. Sara Ghaemi, Team Leader, IoT, Panasonic Industry Europe GmbH. “Panasonic Industry is able to offer an unrivaled customer service throughout all stages of the product lifecycle ranging from design, development and validation to aftermarket. The modules support customers in reducing their development efforts and overall product costs while guaranteeing the highest quality and required certifications. This new solution will serve the customer’s needs in smart factory, smart home and smart life applications.”

“The modern embedded design requires sensors and wireless connectivity. This is accelerating based on the breadth of wireless standards being integrated into products,” said Matthias Hutter, Vice President, Product Management and Supplier Marketing, Arrow Electronics, EMEA. “However, using sensors and designing the supporting circuitry for the task would take a lot of time and resources to develop. Additional certification time is needed on top. Using pre-qualified wireless sensor modules in the system design is saving development time and budget which speeds up time to market for our customers. By working with ST and Panasonic we are bringing the fundamental sensor and wireless building blocks in a great package for accelerated design.”

Altran Improves Software Quality With Machine Learning

Posted on 19 May, 2020 by mixos

New tool, ‘Code Defect AI,’ allows earlier discovery of bugs, minimizing the cost to fix them and speeding up the development cycle.

Altran, the global leader in engineering and R&D services, today announced the release of a new tool available on GitHub that predicts the likelihood of bugs in source code created by developers early in the software development process. By applying machine learning (ML) to historical data, the tool – called “Code Defect AI” – identifies areas of the code that are potentially buggy and then suggests a set of tests to diagnose and fix the flaws, resulting in higher-quality software and faster development times.

Bugs are a fact of life in software development. The later a defect is found in the development lifecycle, the higher the cost of fixing a bug. This bug-deployment-analysis-fix process is time consuming and costly. Code Defect AI allows earlier discovery of defects, minimizing the cost of fixing them and speeding the development cycle.

“It’s well known that software developers are under constant pressure to release code fast without compromising on quality,” said Walid Negm, Group Chief Innovation Officer at Altran. “The reality however is that the software release cycle needs more than automation of assembly and delivery activities. It needs algorithms that can help make strategic judgments ‒ especially as code gets more complex. Code Defect AI does exactly that.”

Code Defect AI relies on various ML techniques including random decision forests, support vector machines, multilayer perceptron (MLP) and logistic regression. Historical data is extracted, pre-processed and labelled to train the algorithm and curate a reliable decision model. Developers are given a confidence score that predicts whether the code is compliant or presents the risk of containing bugs.

Code Defect AI supports integration with third-party analysis tools and can itself help identify bugs in a given program code. Additionally, the Code Defect AI tool allows developers to assess which features in the code have higher weightage in terms of bug prediction, i.e., if there are two features in the software that play a role in the assessment of a probable bug, which feature will take precedence.

“Microsoft and Altran have been working together to improve the software development cycle, and Code Defect AI, powered by Microsoft Azure, is an innovative tool that can help software developers through the use of machine learning,” said David Carmona, General Manager of AI Marketing at Microsoft.

Code Defect AI is a scalable solution that can be hosted on premise as well as on cloud computing platforms such as Microsoft Azure. While the solution currently supports GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, it can be integrated with other source-code management tools as needed.

The tool is also available on the Microsoft AI Lab portal so that Microsoft developers can download the solution and use it internally.

To learn more about Altran’s intelligent automation capabilities to enhance developer productivity, please visit https://northamerica.altran.com/software/intelligent-automation

AMS210 Industrial-Grade Embedded PC for 9th/8th Gen Intel® Core Processor

Posted on 19 May, 2020 by mixos

IBASE Technology Inc., a leading provider of industrial motherboard and rugged computing solutions, is pleased to announce its AMS210 high-performance embedded box PC. Designed for factory automation, machine vision, digital signage and a wide range of industrial IoT applications, the AMS210 can be outfitted with 9th/8th Gen Intel® Core™ processors, up to 32GB of DDR4 memory and two 2.5” disk drives with RAID 0/1.

The AMS210 has a straightforward design with front I/O accessibility, including four USB 3.1, four USB 2.0, three DisplayPorts, and a serial port to connect to a diverse set of peripheral devices, as well as four Gigabit LAN ports to handle high bandwidth data processing requirements. Two flexible expansion slots supporting a combination of PCI-E(x16), PCI-E(x4) and PCI interface are also conveniently located at the front for easy access. To achieve operational reliability in harsh industrial environments, it features an operating temperature range from 0°C to 55°C and vibration endurance of up to 3 Grms (with SSD).

Measuring 297.4(W) x 266.2(D) x 78.5(H) mm, the AMS210 is available in barebone or can be equipped with an Intel® Core™ i7-9700TE processor, 8GB RAM, and a 500GB SATA drive. It also supports an optional 24V power adaptor and two additional serial ports. For more information, please visit www.ibase.com.tw

AMS210 FEATURES:

9th/8th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor (35W TDP)
2x DDR4 SO-DIMM, Max. 32GB
4x Gigabit LAN
512k SRAM on board
2x expansion slots
3x DisplayPort outputs
2x 2.5” drive bays (supports RAID 0/1)

more information: www.ibase.com.tw

Small multi-band GNSS receiver with 1-cm position accuracy

Posted on 19 May, 2020 by mixos

SkyTraq announced a 12- x 16-mm size PX1122R multi-band RTK receiver for centimeter-level accuracy GNSS positioning applications.

The receiver works with all the four global navigation satellite systems using GPS L1/L2C, Galileo E1/E5b, GLONASS L1/L2, and Beidou B1I/B2I signals concurrently to maximize positioning availability even in difficult urban environments. Based on single-chip SoC design, PX1122R is currently the smallest size, lowest power, multi-band multi-GNSS RTK receiver module on the market.

The PX1122R is designed to deliver reliable, centimeter-level accuracy positioning for precision guidance of emerging autonomous unmanned ground or aerial vehicle, Internet-of-Things precise positioning, and also the traditional land surveying and precision farming applications. The PX1122R has RTK initialization time under 10 seconds and maximum update rate of 10 Hz. Its twice update rate than peer provides in-time positioning information with faster response time and improved guidance performance for fast moving applications.

Moving base RTK for GNSS precise heading is also supported. By using two PX1122R and two antennas with 1 meter separation, highly accurate 1-sigma heading accuracy of 0.13 degree can be obtained; such heading accuracy is immune to magnetic interference nor affected by receiver’s speed.

The PX1122R could serve as a key component to provide precise position and heading information for autonomous applications. PX1122R sample, datasheet, and evaluation boards are available now.

www.skytraq.com.tw

Murata’s LTE-M solution with Altair Semiconductor’s advanced cellular chipset earns Deutsche Telekom certification

Posted on 18 May, 2020 by mixos

Murata Electronics today announced that their LTE-M solution powered by Altair Semiconductor’s advanced cellular chipset has secured Deutsche Telekom certification for operating on the carrier’s German 4G LTE wireless network. Measuring just 11.1 x 11.4 x 1.4 mm, the module is the world’s smallest form factor solution and enables applications to move the market forward, such as mobile IoT. In addition to its unparalleled size, low power, and cost efficiency, the Type 1SC’s high level of integration drastically cuts time to market and reduces customers’ certification costs.

The module contains Altair’s advanced cellular IoT chipset; the ALT1250 (https://altair-semi.com/products/alt1250/). With an industry-leading low power consumption, it enables IoT devices to run for longer, providing years of operation without the need to replace batteries. Commercially available, the RoHS-compliant chipset features a hardware-based security framework and a rich set of features including integrated SIM (iSIM), an ARM Cortex M4 MCU for the user’s IoT applications and GNSS, ideal for enabling a wide-range of industrial and consumer IoT applications.

Flexible and optimized solutions are the building blocks for realizing IoT on every wireless device. The Type 1SC is the first LTE-M module to be certified by Deutsche Telekom for use on its network. Developers can now leverage the Type 1SC’s confirmed interoperability with the mobile operator’s network to introduce new products and services.

“With the Deutsche Telekom certification, mutual customers can easily tap Murata’s RF expertise and access best-in-class solutions,” said Koichi Sorada, Product Manager Connectivity Modules, Murata Europe.

“Murata is a leading provider of innovative building blocks for the Internet of Things and through our strong partnership we continue to secure superior performance and quality needed for success in mobile IoT,” said Wayne Gilbert, Head of IoT Device Integration and Validation at Deutsche Telekom.

more information: www.murata.com

SMART Wireless launches a new SoM based on Snapdragon™ 660

Posted on 18 May, 2020 by Emmanuel Odunlade

SMART Wireless Computing® (part of SMART Global Holdings), a leading provider of Snapdragon™ embedded computing platforms and solutions, today announced a compact compute module in an LGA package, Inforce 6503. Inforce 6503 enables advanced visual computing, enhanced graphics, and on-device machine learning capabilities featuring the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 660 processor.

The Inforce 6503 SoM powered by the Snapdragon 660 Octacore processor brings true-to-life colors and lifelike visuals coupled with AI-enabled user experiences. This computes module combines the heterogeneous computing capabilities of the Snapdragon™ SoCs with 2×2 802.11ac Wi-Fi with DBS, Bluetooth 5.x, haptics, a full-featured USB-C interface with UltraHD display capability and ample internal memory to make it a complete 4K encode/decode systems. With support for dual MIPI-CSI cameras, depth perception use-cases like proximity detection, semantic segmentation, autonomous driving, and facial recognition can be enabled with ease on systems built on these SoMs.

The SoM comes in an ultra-small form factor of 40mm x 35mm in an LGA package and is light-weight. It is a perfect fit for rugged applications that requires sturdy mechanical fitment and a need for low vertical profiles. Target end-uses that can benefit from these capabilities include rugged connected displays, high-end industrial IoT, wearables, portable healthcare with advanced imaging requirements, and connected cameras’ domains. Optional SKUs support extended operating temperature range and EMI shielding for better RF noise protection, while also doubling up as a medium for heat spreading and dissipation to further improve performance. SMART wireless offers a reference carrier board design with this SoM to help create and optimize your products with the shortest turnaround time.

An Android BSP releases package comes pre-loaded on these products from SMART Wireless with committed periodic upgrades supporting all available peripherals.

“Our customers are engineering the Internet of Everything. SMART Wireless is dedicated to delivering sophisticated embedded solutions and these new SoMs are a perfect fit for our product roadmap.” said Jagat Acharya, VP at SMART Wireless Computing, Inc. “Qualcomm Technologies has delivered new innovative architectures that drive machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and Immersion in the Snapdragon 660 processor. Our experience in combining these with home-grown efficient software solutions coupled with support products help product makers to rapidly access the capabilities they need to create powerful, connected solutions.”

SMART Wireless offers long-life supply commitment and lifecycle assurance, support for hardware customization, and custom software. With extensive design and manufacturing experience, SMART Wireless creates shippable products that can pass FCC Class A/Class B, CE including RED 2014/35/EU and all regulatory compliances applicable in multiple countries across the world.

More information about the new product can be found in Smart Wireless Computing’s announcement and product page.

New PasswordPump2.0 Ensures You Never Forget a Password

Posted on 18 May, 2020 by Emmanuel Odunlade

Using the same password on different platforms can be a security risk, but remembering different passwords, used for different accounts, can be quite the task too especially with the need to infuse special characters and numbers, and the fact that you may not use some of the passwords regularly enough for them to become easy to remember. To help keep track of all these, Dan Murphy has designed a USB- based device that is capable of storing up to 250 sets of credentials, that are encrypted with AES-256 encryption, which makes gaining access to the credentials nearly impossible.

The new device called, PasswordPump 2.0, removes the need to store your credentials in the cloud or on a file where an attack could easily leave you exposed.

It is based on the Adafruit ItsyBitsy M4 and includes; a pair of removable EEPROM chips, an I2C OLED display (128 x 32), and a rotary encoder, all stacked on a custom PCB. The credentials are stored on the first EEPROM chip and backed up on the secondary for added security.

The device allows users to enter their credentials using several methods, including; the rotary encoder, the keyboard, via the serial terminal, or via the PasswordPump Python-based GUI, which was explicitly developed for this purpose.

The PasswordPump 2.0 offers a myriad of features, which are as provided by Murphy:

Store up to 250 sets of credentials
Authenticate with a 15 character master password
Search for accounts
Data entry via rotary encoder or keyboard and serial monitor, or via client Python GUI running in Windows, Ubuntu, or MacOS.
Send username and password as if typed in via keyboard. Can also send URL, old password and account name.
Add account name, username, password (generated or not), URL, old password
Accounts added in alphabetical order
Edit existing username, password, URL, style (inter-username/password character, Return or Tab), old password
Automatically saves old password if it’s not already populated
Delete account
Generate 31 characters’ random password from the PasswordPump or via the client GUI.
Backup all accounts to a second encrypted external EEprom
Logout / de-authenticate via the menu, automatically locks the computer
Factory reset via menu (when authenticated) wipes out all credentials
Configurable password display on or off
Configurable failed login count factory reset (3, 5, 10 or 25)
Configurable automatic logout after a count of minutes (30, 60, 90, 120, 240, 1 or Never)
Configurable RGB LED intensity (high, medium, low or off)
All passwords (except the master password) are encrypted w/ AES-256; the master password is hashed w/ SHA-256.
All encrypted accounts and the hashed master password are salted
Change master password
Export to PasswordPump formatted CSV file
Import from PasswordPump formatted CSV file
Import credentials from Chrome export
Import credentials from KeePass export
Associate credentials with groups for better organization; search by group (Favorites, Work, Personal, Home, School, Financial, Mail or Custom)
Decoy password feature that automatically factory resets the device if entered (e.g. while the user is under duress)
Pre-auto-logout indicator/countdown via red and blue flashing RGB LED.

The device’s design is open source and a detailed guide on building the device with schematics, and code along with a complete BOM is available on Murphy’s Website. He also has the device for sale on Tindie for those who will rather just buy it. It goes for $35 plus $10 for shipping.

Dual-Axis Gyroscope and 3-Axis Accelerometer MEMS Sensor with Digital SPI Interface for Automotive Applications

Posted on 18 May, 2020 by mixos

Murata has introduced the SCC300 series components that combine high-performance angular rate and accelerometer sensor components. The SCC300 is the 3rd generation of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) 4DoF (four-degrees-of-freedom) and 5DoF (five-degrees-of-freedom) inertial sensors that realize high-performance for safety-critical automotive applications. The new device consists of versions of an X-axis, Z-axis, and XZ-axis angular rate sensor and a 3-axis accelerometer sensor.

The SCC300 series is designed, manufactured, and tested to deliver reliability, quality, and extremely stable output over a wide range of temperature, humidity, and vibration conditions. The sensor in the device is designed to meet the new shock and vibration requirements coming from integrated brake systems for more cost-effective and size effective ESC (Electronic Stability Control) functionality in modern electrified vehicle architecture.

The SCC3000 series provides a cost-effective realization of ESC product family for both standard and high-specification ESC with additional features. Pin-to-Pin Compatability combined with common SPI-interface in the components to reduce the engineering effort at the system supplier level, this strengthens the system robustness.

Features of SCC300 Components

ISO26262 compliant for systems up to ASIL-D
Excellent bias stability, low noise level, and excellent vibration robustness
±300°/s angular rate measurement range for robust sensing in harsh environment
±6g acceleration measurement range
±15g auxiliary acceleration measurement range
-40°C～+110°C operating temperature range (Contact to Murata if +125°C is needed)
User-selectable filter setting 13, 20, 46, 200, 300Hz
3.0V～3.6V supply voltage
Extensive self-diagnostics features
Qualified according to the AEC-Q100 standard

The new components are also designed with the features like extensive failsafe functions and error bits for diagnostics, they are also designed with internal reference signal monitoring, checksum techniques for verifying communication, and signal saturation/over-range detection. The continuously operating self-test function of the 3-axis accelerometer monitors the sensor during measurement. The self-test function in the device makes sure that the entire single chain from MEMS sensor movement to signal conditioning circuitry for every measurement-cycle is operating properly.

The SCC300 is suitable to be used in Electronic Stability Control (ESC) Headlight alignment, Roll Over and Roll Stability Control, Dynamic Chassis Contol, Lane Keeping Assistance (LKA), motion, and navigation measurement. To know more about the SCC3000 series X/Z-axis Gyro & 3-axis Accelerometer, visit the official website of Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd.

SSG5000X Series 6GHz RF Analog/Vector Signal Generators

Posted on 18 May, 202018 May, 2020 by mixos

With powerful functions and wide frequency range, the SSG5000X vector signal generators offer excellent performance in phase noise, spectral purity, bandwidth, EVM, and output power, and suit a wide range of application fields

Saelig Company, Inc. has introduced the Siglent SSG5000X RF Signal Generators which generate analog and vector signals over a frequency range of 9kHz to 4GHz/6GHz with a 0.001Hz frequency setting resolution. They offer excellent performance in phase noise, spectral purity, bandwidth, EVM, and output power. The internal IQ modulation generator and waveform playback function on the –V models make it easy to create even the most complex signal types. They also cover the most important RF band for digital wireless communications and include standard waveform files.

The SSG5000X’s 5” color touch screen makes controlling the instrument fast and intuitive. It produces a maximum output power +26dBm (typ.) with phase noise of -120dBc/Hz @ 1GHz, 20kHz offset (typ.) The ARB Mode can be used to play back digital communication waveform files, while the Custom Mode on the –V versions can generate IQ modulated signals, such as QAM, PSK, ASK, FSK, sample rate up to 120Msps. Frequency sweeps can be performed in linear or logarithmic steps. AM, FM, PM analog modulation can be accomplished with internal, external, or Int+Ext sources. Built-in digital communication waveform files such as 5G-NR,LTE, WCDMA, WLAN, BlueTooth, and CDMA are also available. The SSG5000X can add real-time AWGN to modulation signals when testing receiver performance, or quickly simulate noisy RF environments. It supports multi-tone signal consisting of up to 20 sine wave frequencies. This is helpful for audio measurements, amplifier and receiver non-linear distortion tests, and ground and satellite communications tests.

Flatness correction is often needed to compensate for transmission line losses or switching impedances. The SSG5000X supports flatness correction with an external power sensor (not included) and is compatible with the most popular USB power sensors on the market. Standard interfaces include USB Host, USB Device (USB TMC), LAN (VXI-11, Socket, Telnet), GPIB (opt.) and PC control is available, even remotely via a web browser.

The SSG5000X RF signal generator series provides an engineer with an output library of the most common protocol signals and the flexibility to create custom formats to test the limits of new designs. With powerful functions and wide frequency range, SSG5000X generators are helpful in a wide range of application fields, such as receiver and amplifier testing, IP3 measurement, radar, digital modulation verification, spur and harmonics measurements, ACPR tests and cable loss compensation, for R&D test & measurement, education, or manufacturing test.