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Raspberry Pi Ramps Up The Production of RP2040, Beats the Chip Shortage

Posted on by Abhishek Jadhav

Raspberry Pi RP2040

Eben Upton, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of one of the very famous and successful embedded electronic hardware manufacturers, Raspberry Pi, has published news on January 17, 2022, aiming to beat the semiconductor chip shortage by introducing a dedicated Raspberry Pi store to purchase RPi’s inhouse silicon tape out RP2040 at a very low-cost. Due to chip shortages and increased demand for the compact and powerful RP2040, Raspberry Pi Foundation saw an opportunity to play big. With this offer and introduction to increased production and purchasing power, other manufacturers can now take the benefit of RP2040 to design their own prototype and dedicated hardware for specific applications.

As an embedded electronic device manufacturer, the Raspberry Pi Foundation seems to have taken the step to increase its footprint in the embedded systems market. Even though it can be competitive with its original Raspberry Pi Pico, the integrated RP2040 still in turn benefits the manufacturer. According to the executive at Raspberry Pi, the company is claiming to be able to produce more than 20 million chips at the moment and more efforts are put in place to increase production. Built on the modern semiconductor process of TSMC under 40nm technology, the RP2040 chip is one of the most efficient chips in terms of silicon usage. The chip die is assumed to occupy only 2mm2 of the area and with a 300mm wafer, there can be around 21,000 dice.

Raspberry Pi RP2040 Block Diagram

Back in June 2021, Raspberry Pi decided to swim in the ocean of producing system-on-chips and the news broke out with the $1/single-unit headline. “This remains the best way to get your hands on the chip for prototyping, and for small- to medium-scale production,” says the CEO of Raspberry Pi Foundation. “But as RP2040 products begin to ramp to scale, and the global semiconductor shortage has transmuted most other microcontrollers into unobtainium, we’ve started to see people asking to buy tens of thousands of chips at a time.”

Raspberry Pi Direct is the go-to platform to order RP2040 chips in bulk quantity which is currently priced at $0.80 for reels of 500 chips and $0.70 for the reel of 3,400 chips.

Wappsto:bit GO – An ESP32 Based, BBC Micro:bit Compatible IoT Board

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

As IoT technology continues to find widespread applications, manufacturers continue to develop various development boards, with different capabilities and features, to make prototyping faster, and improve the time to market for IoT products. One of such boards is the Wappsto:bit GO recently launched on Crowd Supply by Denmark-based electronics manufacturer Seluxit.

The ESP32 based board, similar to BBC micro:bit in functionality and breakout feature, is the latest member of Seluxit’s Wappsto:bit family. It features an integrated NXP MKL27Z256VFM4 MCU with 256kB flash, and an ESP32-WROOM-32E with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a built-in antenna. The Wappsto:bit GO also comes with a Raytac MDBT50Q-512K Bluetooth 5.2 module based on nRF52833 with 512kB of flash memory as additional support for wireless communication.

Thanks to these communication features, the Wappsto:bit GO comes pre-configured for cloud applications with out-of-the-box connectivity to the Wappsto iOS or Android App, over WiFi, allowing users to easily connect their project to the cloud without having to set up their own cloud infrastructure, as device and data are immediately accessible on Wappsto.com, where they can configure their Dashboard or extract data for further analysis.

For sensing and actuation purposes, the board features 20 pin edge connectors that are compatible with micro:bit breakout boards, 20 fully populated GPIO pin headers for connection with DuPont jumpers, and alligator-clip connectors for easy attachment of sensors and actuators. The Wappsto:bit GO comes embedded with a number of sensors including the STLSM303AGRTR IMU accelerometer/magnetometer sensor alongside a temperature sensor, light sensor, Knowles SPU410LR5H-QB analog microphone, 25 programmable LEDs, buzzer, and two programmable reset buttons (A and B).

The board also features 5V pin headers, a USB-C power/data port operating at 4.5 – 5.5V levels, and two buttons for resetting the network and restarting the microcomputer.

Key Features and Specification of Wappsto:bit GO:

  • Wireless Connectivity:
    • ESP32-WROOM-32E module with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in antenna
    • Raytac MDBT50Q-512K Bluetooth 5.2 module based on nRF52833 with 512KB Flash
  • Microcomputer: 
    • NXP MKL27Z256VFM4 ARM Cortex-M0+ Kinetis KL2 microcontroller, with 256KB Flash
  • Sensors and Actuators:
    • 25 programmable LEDs, Temperature sensor, Light sensor
    • Sound sensor (Knowles SPU0410LR5H-QB analog MEMS microphone)
    • ST LSM303AGRTR IMU – Compass, Magnetometer, Accelerometer
  • Expansions:
    • 1x 20-pin edge connector (BBC Micro:bit compatible)
    • 5 alligator clip connectors (edge)
    • 3 paralleled 20-pin headers for GPIOs, 3.3V and GND signals respectively
    • 1x USB – USB Type-C port (for power and data)
  • Misc:
    • 2x programmable buttons (A and B),1x microcomputer reset button, 1x network reset button, buzzer, Logo with capacitive touch
  • Power Supply: 4.5V- 5.5V via USB-C port or 3.3V via edge connector and Croc-clip
  • Dimension: 70mm x 90mm

On the firmware part, the board supports programming with Visual code blocks, JavaScript or Python via Microsoft MakeCode and provides a larger library of extensions for accessories and sensors, more than that of the BBC micro:bit, via its Wappsto Extension Library. The board enables access to the Wappsto IoT platform featuring live data dashboards, distributed and encrypted cloud, and Wappsto Blocks App that allows your devices to interact with each other and the Internet. The Wappsto Block also allows you to build custom apps in line with your application. Its source code is available on the Wappsto GitHub repository.

The Wappsto:bit GO is available on Crowd Supply with a campaign reward starting at $95.00 for a Wappsto:bit GO Starter Kit that includes one board and a USB type-C to USB type-A cable. Deliveries are to commence on August 03, 2022. More information is available on CrowdSupply.

Sipeed Introduces Tang Nano 9K FPGA board, Compatible with RISC-V softcore PicoRV

Posted on by Abhishek Jadhav

Tang Nano 9K FPGA boardSipeed has surprisingly introduced yet another Tang Nano FPGA board based on the Gowin GW1NR-9 chip. This time, the manufacturer has pushed the limits to around 9K (8640) logic units (LUT4), unlike the predecessor Tang Nano 1K and Tang Nano 4K with around 1152 and 4608 LUTs respectively. Despite the hardcore Arm Cortex-M3 processor embedded inside the Tang Nano 4K, Sipeed decided not to go ahead with that design for the latest hardware release.

As mentioned above, Tang Nano 9K is built around the Gowin GW1NR-9 FPGA chip featuring 6480 flip flops and an extended DRAM of 64Mbit. Being one of the entry-level FPGA-kit for RISC-V developers, the hardware comes with tightly integrated 32Mbit of flash storage for your example code and is expandable via MicroSD card. For experimentation, RISC-V softcore PicoRV is also available for developers, which can be accessed through the official GitHub repository. Furthermore, the manufacturer has provided community access to the PicoRV projects running on the newly launched Tang Nano 9K FGPA board. Now, let us take a look at the specifications.

Specifications of Tang Nano 9K FPGA Board

  • FPGA Module: GOWIN LittleBee GW1NR-9
    • LUTs: 8640
    • Flip-flop: 6480
    • SSRAM: 17280 bits
    • BSRAM: 468 bits
    • SDRAM: 64 Mbits
    • pSRAM: 64-128 Mbits
    • PLLs: 2
  • Memory: 32Mbit SPI flash memory with MicroSD card slot
  • Display interfaces: HDMI port, RGB interface connector and SPI interface
  • USB ports: USB Type-C port for power and JTAG programming
  • Buttons: Onboard 2 user buttons
  • LEDs: Onboard 6 LEDs
  • Connectors: 2x 24-pin GPIOs, SPI and HDMI
  • Power: 5V via USB connector
  • Dimensions: Approximately 65×23 mm

Note that some of the specifications of the hardware have been taken from CNX-Software.

Tang Nano 9K Functionalities

To get started with the FPGA board, the hardware is developed using the Gowin development environment which supports general hardware description languages like Verilog and C/C++. If you plan to use RISC-V soft-core PicoRV, then the user is recommended to use Verilog HDL to write custom hardware functions and use C language for code running on the core. For this, the experience level of a senior engineer is expected. If you are a beginner as an FPGA developer, then the user can use HDL like Verilog to design simple logic circuits.

If you are interested in purchasing Tang Nano 9K FPGA board, head to the product store page on AliExpress, priced at $14.99 for the base model.

PiGear Nano – A Nano-ITX (12x12cm), Raspberry Pi CM4 Carrier Board Designed for Industrial Applications

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

Dutch Company; UUGear has announced the release of its newest product in the year; the PiGear Nano – a Nano-ITX carrier board for Raspberry Pi compute module 4, designed specifically for industrial use while still maintaining functionalities for DIY, gaming console and small computer applications.

Designed to work with all models of the Raspberry Pi CM4 including the CM4Lite, the PiGear Nano features Gigabit-Ethernet RJ45 socket, PCIe LTE/4G/GPRS interface, on-board Sim slot, 18-bit ADC input pins, several digital input and output terminals, four configurable digitals I/Os, RS232, RS485, CAN, and wire interface for networking, signal interfacing and read/write functions. It also comes with an HDMI Type-A connector, MIPI DSI, and MIPI CSI interfaces for displays and camera interfacing.

The board embeds a USB 2.0 Type-C connector for power or flashing the CM4 module, NVME SSD M.2 interface, and micro-SD card slot (for CM4Lite only) for system expansion, storage, programming, and debugging purposes.

The board also features several other integrated resources such as a real-time clock, buzzer, programmable LED indicator, 5V fan interface, and power and reset buttons.

To support a wide range of operating conditions and facilitate its deployment in industrial applications, the board runs with 7V – 30V DC supply. provided over a DC Jack or 5V DC via a USB-C connector and supports an operating temperature range between -30°C and 80°C. For better temperature management, PiGear Nano is delivered with a heatsink to protect the VL805 chip embedded on the board, to manage the heat that may be generated from processing USB Data from many devices at the same time.

Key Features and Specifications:

Key Specifications and features of the Pi Gear Nano are provided below;

SoM: Raspberry Pi CM4/CM4Lite

Storage:

  • 1x NVME SSD M.2 interface, 1x Micro SD card slot (for CM4Lite only)

Network/Signal:

  • 2x RS232, 2x RS485, 1x CAN, 1x Gigabit-Ethernet RJ45 socket, 1x mini PCIe LTE/4G/GPRS interface, 1x SIM card slot, 1x Wire interface

Expansion/Connection:

  • Input/Output – 4x 18-bit ADC input, 4x Digital input, 4x Digital output, 4x Configurable digital I/O
  • USB – 8x USB-A 3.0 connector, 1x USB-C 2.0 connector (for flashing CM4 or powering the board)
  • 5V fan interface (PH2.0 connector)

Display/Camera:

  • 1x HDMI Type-A connector, 1x MIPI CSI interface, 1x MIPI DSI interface

Power Supply:

  • Takes 7V~30V DC (with reverse polarity protection)
  • Takes 5V DC (via USB Type-C connector)

Operating Temperature: -30°C ~ 80°C

Misc:

  • 1x RTC (with supper capacitor for off-power timekeeping), Buzzer, 1x Power Indicator, Programmable LED indicator, 1x Power button, 1x Reset button

Dimension: NANO-ITX (12 x 12 cm)

The PiGear Nano is built to run Raspberry Pi OS and like with the Pi, you will need to flash the OS image into the Compute module’s eMMC or on an SD card. On bootup, install the UUGear Script in the home directory and run it with sudo. The Script will create a backup of the current config.txt and cmdline.txt file, make changes to config.txt and cmdline.txt to correctly support the hardware, then create a daemon script to initialize the hardware, when done install the PiGear Nano.sh application, along with the UUGear Web Interface (UWI) so you can access, monitor and control your PiGear Nano via mobile phones, tablets or PCs easily.

More information about the PiGear and its Setup is available in its User manual.

Alongside the PiGear Nano, UUGear announced a 15.00 EUR/17.88 USD Case Kit for PiGear Nano, while the carrier board itself retails for 169.00 EUR/201.45 USD.

ROHM’s New Ultra-High Efficiency Battery Management Solution Evaluation Board for Thin, Compact IoT Devices

Posted on by mixos

Nano Energy™ power supply IC contributes to longer operation in IoT devices

ROHM announced the availability of a new evaluation board: the REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 it facilitates the verification of the operation of ultra-efficient battery management solutions for the expanding IoT field.

Recent years have seen the proliferation of battery-driven electronic devices, including wearables, industrial IoT such as smart cards and electronic shelf labels, and portables. These devices not only need to be made smaller and thinner to improve design and functionality, but also have to support larger battery capacities and lower power consumption to improve usability and convenience.

In response, ROHM has developed a variety of low consumption analog ICs, including both power supply ICs that incorporate original Nano Energy™ ultra-low current technology as well as charge control ICs compatible with a wide range of rechargeable batteries. Providing optimized power solutions to meet market challenges allows ROHM to contribute to long-term operation of battery-powered applications. The newly released evaluation board REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 provides an ultra-high efficiency battery management solution for thin compact IoT devices by combining these technologies.

The REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 is equipped with a power supply IC (buck DC/DC converter IC) and reset IC (voltage detector IC) utilizing original Nano Energy™ ultra-low current consumption technology. In addition, it consists of a battery charger IC that supports low voltage rechargeable batteries, along with the NGK INSULATORS’s thin, large capacity EnerCera® li-ion rechargeable battery. The ultra-low current consumption of the power supply IC (quiescent current 180nA) minimizes loss. The battery charger IC is suitable for a wide range of charge voltages; it is capable of charging, monitoring, and discharging batteries making it ideally suitable for compact IoT devices. The result is a low profile, ultra-efficient battery management solution that achieves a thickness of just 0.60mm for mounted components (including the thin rechargeable battery).

Going forward, ROHM will continue to develop high-performance, power saving analog ICs such as power supply ICs that contribute to greater power efficiency in a wide range of applications.

ROHM’s Ultra-High Efficiency Battery Management Solution

This solution is made possible using ROHM’s Nano Energy™ ultra-low current consumption power supply IC that minimizes loss together with a battery charger IC that provides optimal charging for a variety of rechargeable batteries.

The evaluation board REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 consists of an EnerCera® EC382704P-C rechargeable battery featuring a thickness of 0.45mm and capacity of 27mAh, Nano Energy™ IC BD70522GUL which has a quiescent current of 180nA ensuring ultra-low power consumption, and battery charger IC BD71631QWZ for charging batteries in the voltage range of 2.0V to 4.7V which is suitable for monitoring, charging, and discharging batteries, allowing configuration of an optimized energy storage unit. In addition, reset IC BD5230NVX-2C is used for detecting abnormal voltages as standby current of 270nA, while ultra-low standby current minimizes loss as solution. This makes it possible to extend the overall standby by a factor of 60 in comparison with existing solutions, and enables proper, evaluation of an ultra-efficient battery management system. All mounted components are less than 0.60mm thick (1.60mm when including the board) – thus allowing use as a reference design for ultra-thin IoT applications such as smart cards.

Application Examples

  • Wearables such as smart watches, keyless entry
  • Compact industrial IoT devices, including electronic shelf labels, smart cards, smart meters, and alarms
  • And other IoT equipment requiring smaller, thinner form factors and longer battery life

Product Lineup

*For more information on EnerCera® battery from NGK INSULATORS, LTD., please visit: https://www.ngk-insulators.com/en/product/enercera.html

REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 Sales Information

Sales Launch Date: January 2022
Online Distributors: Digi-Key, Mouser, and Farnell
Pricing: $143/unit (evaluation board, excluding tax)

Nano Energy™ Technology – The Core of ROHM’s Ultra-Efficient Battery Management Solution

Nano Energy™ refers to ultra-low current consumption technology that achieves 10-year drive for a single coin-sized (key in the IoT field) by combining analog circuit design, layout, and processes utilizing ROHM’s vertically integrated production system.

The Nano Energy™ technology is integrated in the BD70522GUL buck DC/DC converter; it has a quiescent current of 180nA ensuring 1.4 times increased battery life compared to standard products in the market. This results in longer operating times in compact battery equipped devices used in applications such as wearables and IoT solutions.

Click on the URL below for more information

https://www.rohm.com/support/nano

*Nano Energy™ is a trademark or registered trademark of ROHM Co., Ltd.
**EnerCera® battery is a registered trademark of NGK INSULATORS, LTD.

Related Information: EnerCera® and Nano Energy™ Collaboration Page

Texas Instruments TMP114 Digital Temperature Sensor

Posted on by mixos

Texas Instruments TMP114 Digital Temperature Sensor is a high accuracy, I2C-compatible digital temperature sensor in an ultra-thin (0.15mm) 4-pin package. The small size and low height of the TMP114 optimize volume-constrained systems and enables novel placement of the sensor under other surface mount components for fast and accurate temperature measurement.

The Texas Instruments TMP114 has an accuracy of ±0.3°C and offers an on-chip 16-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that provides a temperature resolution of 0.0078°C. The TMP114 is 100% tested on a production setup that is NIST traceable. The TMP114 is designed to operate from a supply voltage range of 1.08V to 1.98 V, with a low average supply current of less than 0.7µA to maximize battery life.

Features

  • High accuracy
    • TMP114
      • ±0.3°C maximum from –10°C to 85°C
      • ±0.5°C maximum from –40°C to 125°C
    • TMP114N
      • ±1°C maximum from –40°C to 125°C
  • –40°C to 125°C operating temperature range
  • 16-bit resolution: 0.0078°C (LSB)
  • Low power consumption
    • 0.7µA average supply current
    • 0.16µA shutdown current
  • Supply range: 1.08V to 1.98V
  • 1.2V compatible logic inputs independent of supply voltage
  • I2C and SMBus compatible interface
  • 50ns spike filter to coexist on I3C mixed bus
  • Optional Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
  • 300ms response time
  • Adjustable averaging
  • Adjustable conversion time and period
  • Continuous or one-shot conversion mode
  • Temperature alert status with hysteresis
  • NIST traceability
  • Ultra-thin 4-ball PicoStar (DSBGA) package with 0.15mm height

Block Diagram

more information: https://www.ti.com/product/TMP114

Texas Instruments TMAG5231 Low-Power Hall Effect Switch

Posted on by mixos

Texas Instruments TMAG5231 Low-Power Hall Effect Switch is specifically designed to optimize the total system cost for compact, battery-operated consumer and industrial applications. The device outputs a low voltage when the applied magnetic flux density exceeds the operating point (BOP) threshold. The output stays low until the flux density decreases to less than the release point (BRP), and then the device outputs a high voltage. The omnipolar magnetic response makes the output sensitive to both north and south magnetic fields.

The TMAG5231 can operate at a very low current consumption. The device is internally power-cycled at a 20Hz rate to achieve 2µA of current consumption. The Texas Instruments TMAG5231 is available in the industry-standard package and pinout SOT-23. The device operates at a VCC range of 1.65V to 5.5V and an extended temperature range of –40°C to 125°C.

Features

  • Low power consumption
    • 20Hz versions: 2µA at 3V
  • 1.65V to 5.5V operating VCC range
  • Magnetic threshold option (typical BOP)
    • 2.85mT with 1.35mT hysteresis
  • Omnipolar response
  • Push-pull output
  • Industry-standard package and pinout
    • SOT-23 package
  • –40°C to +125°C operating temperature range

Block Diagram

more information: https://www.ti.com/product/TMAG5231

Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) MPQ811x High-Side Current-Sense Amplifiers

Posted on by mixos

Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) MPQ811x High-Side Current-Sense Amplifiers are ideal for automotive systems, industrial supplies, and systems where battery/DC monitoring is critical. High-side current monitoring is beneficial in battery-powered systems since it does not interfere with the ground path of the battery charger. The low-cost, unipolar, high-side current-sense amplifiers operate from a 2.7V to 60V supply and typically consume a 300µA current. These devices have common-mode input ranges between 0V and 60V with a 700kHz high bandwidth. Additionally, this makes the MPQ811x ideal for inside control and short-circuit protection loops.

The MPS MPQ8112 and MPQ8113 convert a differential input voltage to a voltage output with built-in internal common input resistors and load resistors. The MPQ8112 has a 50V/V gain.

The MPQ8112A and MPQ8113A convert the differential input voltage to a current output. This current is converted back to a voltage with an external load resistor. The MPQ8112A has an adjustable gain based on the external common input resistors and load resistors.

The MPQ811x High-Side Current-Sense Amplifiers are available in TSOT23-6L packages

Features

  • Low-cost, compact current-sense solution
  • 700kHz Bandwidth
  • 300µA Typical supply current
  • 2.7V to 60V Operating supply voltage range
  • 0V to 60V Common-mode input voltage range
  • 0.2µA Typical shutdown current
  • 300µV Input offset voltage
  • Available with fixed 50V/V gain (MPQ8112 and MPQ8113), or adjustable gain (MPQ8112A and MPQ8113A)
  • Adjustable maximum output voltage
  • ±1% Current-sense gain accuracy
  • High-current sensing capabilities
  • Available in a TSOT23-6L package
  • Available in AEC-Q100 Grade 1

MPQ8112/A Typical Applications

MPQ8113/A Typical Applications

more information: https://www.monolithicpower.com/en/mpq8112a-aec1.html

Toshiba TCK207AN Load Switch IC

Posted on by mixos

Toshiba TCK207AN Load Switch IC offers a 0.75V ultra-low voltage with a slew rate control driver and reverses the current blocking (SW OFF state) function. The TCK207AN is ideal for power management and portable applications that require high-density board assembly such as SSD, HDD, cellular phone.

The Toshiba TCK207AN Load Switch IC supports a switch ON resistance of only 21.5mΩ (typ.) at 0.75V, -1.5A condition, and output current is available up to 2.0A (DC).

The TCK207AN is housed in a DFN4A (1.2mm x 1.2mm, t:0.38mm) ultra-small package.

Features

  • VIN = 0.75V to 3.6V Low input voltage operation
  • IOUT (DC) = 2.0A High output current
  • Low ON resistance :
    • RON = 21.5mΩ (typ.) at VIN = 3.3V, -1.5A
    • RON = 21.5mΩ (typ.) at VIN = 1.2V, -1.5A
    • RON = 21.5mΩ (typ.) at VIN = 0.75V, -1.5A
  • Built in Slew rate control driver
  • Built in Reverse current blocking (SW OFF state)
  • Built in Auto-discharge
  • Active High and Pulldown connection between CONTROL and GND
  • DFN4A (1.2mm x 1.2mm, t: 0.38mm) Ultra-small package

Block Diagram

Spring-Loaded Connectors and Pins in stock

Posted on by mixos

Adam Tech’s spring-loaded connectors and pins are versatile to meet specific stroke lengths, heights, and electrical capabilities

Adam Tech’s spring-loaded connectors and pins consist of a pin, barrel, and steel spring with or without an insulator carrier. They are used in many industries across various applications to ensure a secure, highly reliable connection. For instance, a Nashville electronics company recently emphasized how crucial these components were after their facilities underwent a comprehensive mold removal Nashville service. The process, which ensured their production environment was contaminant-free, allowed them to confidently produce high-quality connectors. Various stroke lengths, heights, and electrical capabilities are available. High-temperature plastics compose the insulators, and unlimited molding designs allow for many different shapes and styles to be created for specific applications.

Features

  • Connector types: compression contact (female or magnetic) or piston
  • 2-20 contacts
  • 0.098” (2.50 mm) or 0.100” (2.54 mm) pitch
  • 1 or 2 rows
  • Surface mount or through-hole mounting
  • Brass or copper alloy material
  • Gold contact finish
  • Sleeve and plunger pogo pins
  • Satisfies high vibration connection requirements
  • IP-rated waterproof sealed styles are available
  • UL certified
  • RoHS compliant

more information: https://app.adam-tech.com/products/index/category:3066

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