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An Introduction: LCD Common Interfaces

Posted on by mixos

There are  a lot of different LCD display interfaces depending on the requirements of resolutions, speed, cost, stability etc.  The following outlines the common ones on the market:

Parallel vs Serial Interface

Parallel interface could transmit many data bits at the same time depending on the data bits width.

  • PROs: Simple
  • CONs: Need RAM, Speed is limited.

Serial interface could transmit just one-bit data at same time

  • PROs: less connection, hardware lower cost
  • CONs: Software is more complicated

MCU Interface

MCU interfaces include two types, 6800 and 8080. 8080 is much more popular than 6800. Generally, MCU interface consist of 4/8/9/16bits data (like DB0, DB1, , , DB7; Note: 8bits is the most popular bits width), CS (chip select), RS (data register or instruction register select), RD (read enable), WR (write enable).

Used in Mono character, graphic, small TFT (smaller than 3.5”)

Fig. 1 MCU Parallel Interface

SPI Interface

SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface Bus) includes the following 4 wires:

  • SCLK: serial clock (output from master);
  • MOSI;  master output, slave input (output from master);
  • MISO;  master input, slave output (output from slave);
  • SS: slave select

Used in Mono digit, character, graphic LCD, small TFT, some CTP

Fig. 2, 4 Wire SPI Interface

 

Fig. 3, 3 Wire SPI Interface

IIC (I²C) Interface

I²C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) includes the following 2 connections.

  • SCL (serial clock wire),
  • SDA (serial data and address wire).

Used in Mono digit, character, graphic LCD, small TFT, most CTP

Fig. 4, IIC (I²C) Interface

RGB Interface

RGB interfaces are often used to control large-scale high-resolution LCD displays. It includes 6/16/18bits data (like R0, R1,  G0, G1, ,B0, B1, , ), VSYNC (Vertical synchronization), HSYNC (Horizontal synchronization).

Advantage is that R,G,B data is written to LCD directly without GRAM, high speed. Normally used in large-scale high-resolution LCD. No initialization code needed

Disadvantage is that controlling LCD is more complex, and requires more data wires than MCU interface.

Application: Medium size TFT (3.5” to 8”)

Fig.5 RGB interface includes 24 bit, 18 bit, 16 bit

 

Fig. 6 Examples of 24 Bit and 18 Bit RGB Interface

LVDS Interface

LVDS (Low-voltage differential signaling) is an electrical digital signaling standard that can run at very high speeds over inexpensive twisted-pair copper cables.

Most used in big panels (>7”)

Fig.7 Example of LVDS Interface

MIPI DSI Interface

MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) Alliance, DSI (Display Serial Interface)

Aimed at reducing the cost of display controllers in a mobile device. It is commonly targeted at LCD and similar display technologies. It defines a serial bus and a communication protocol between the host (source of the image data) and the device (destination of the image data)

MIPI Interface is getting more and more popular.

Fig. 8 An Example of MIPI Interface

eDP interface

DisplayPort (DP) is a digital display interface developed by a consortium of PC and chip manufacturers and standardized by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). The interface is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device such as a computer monitor, and it can also carry audio, USB, and other forms of data.

DisplayPort was designed to replace VGA, DVI, and FPD-Link. The interface is backward compatible with other interfaces, such as HDMI and DVI, through the use of either active or passive adapters. It is mostly used for larger size and higher resolution displays.

The above interfaces are basic LCD interfaces. They can be changed to other more human machine friendly interfaces. The examples are listed as below,

UART Interface

A universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) is a block of circuitry responsible for implementing serial communication. Essentially, the UART acts as an intermediary between parallel and serial interfaces. On one end of the UART is a bus of eight-or-so data lines (plus some control pins), on the other is the two serial wires – RX and TX.

Fig. 10 URAT Interface

RS232

RS232 is a standard protocol used for serial communication, it is used for connecting computers and its peripheral devices to allow serial data exchange between them. As it obtains the voltage for the path used for the data exchange between the devices.

RS232 includes the following connections:

  • RX
  • VSS Signal Ground
  • Vdd +5v
Fig. 11 RS232 Interface

RS-232, when compared to later interfaces such as RS-422, RS-485 and Ethernet, has lower transmission speed, short maximum cable length, large voltage swing, large standard connectors, no multi point capability and limited multi drop capability. In modern personal computers, USB has displaced RS-232 from most of its peripheral interface roles. Few computers come equipped with RS-232 ports today, so one must use either an external USB-to-RS-232 converter or an internal expansion card with one or more serial ports to connect to RS-232 peripherals. Nevertheless, thanks to their simplicity and past ubiquity, RS-232 interfaces are still used—particularly in industrial machines, networking equipment, and scientific instruments where a short-range, point-to-point, low-speed wired data connection is fully adequate.

USB Interface

A Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a common interface that enables communication between devices and a host controller such as a personal computer (PC). It connects peripheral devices such as digital cameras, mice, keyboards, printers, scanners, media devices, external hard drives and flash drives. There have been four generations of USB specifications: USB 1.x, USB 2.0, USB 3.x and USB4.

It is widely used in capacitive touch panel connections.

Fig. 12 USB Interface

 

Some of the interfaces are interchangeable. For further information, please consult Orient Display technical support team.

Author Bio

This article is an original piece of content written by Bill Cheung, a marketing manager who has an engineering and technical support background at Orient Display. We are a LCD and display technology provider with over two decades of industry experience in delivering cutting edge display solutions. Please browse our knowledge base if you would like to learn more about LCDs!

New flexible rechargeable silver oxide-zinc battery 10 times stronger than Lithium batteries

Posted on by Tope Oluyemi

A team of researchers made up from the University of California San Diego and California-based company ZPower have developed a flexible, rechargeable silver oxide-zinc battery with a 5 to 10 times greater energy density than standard batteries. A good characteristic of the battery is that it is easier to manufacture because most flexible batteries need to be manufactured in sterile conditions, under vacuum, but this new battery can be screen printed in normal lab conditions. The device can be applied in flexible, stretchable electronics for wearable as well as soft robotics. About the battery, Lu Yin, one of the paper’s co-first authors and a Ph.D. student in the research group of UC San Diego’s nanoengineering Professor Joseph Wang says:

“Our batteries can be designed around electronics, instead of electronics needed to be designed around batteries.” He continues  “The areal capacity for this innovative battery is 50 milliamps per square centimeter at room temperature—this is 10-20 times greater than the areal capacity of a typical Lithium ion battery. So for the same surface area, the battery described in Joule can provide 5 to 10 times more power. This kind of areal capacity has never been obtained before, and our manufacturing method is affordable and scalable.”

The new battery offers higher capacity than any of the flexible batteries currently available on the market thanks to its much lower impedance—the resistance of an electric circuit or device to alternative current. The lower the impedance, the better the battery performance against high current discharge. About future usage, Jonathan Scharf the paper’s co-first author says:

“As the 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) market grows rapidly, this battery that outperforms commercial products in high current wireless devices will likely be a main contender as the next-generation power source for consumer electronics.”

In their series of test, the batteries successfully powered a flexible display system equipped with a microcontroller and Bluetooth modules, and also performed better than commercially available Li coin cells. The battery is very durable, its cells were recharged for more than 80 cycles, without showing any major signs of capacity loss. The cells also remained functional in spite of repeated bending and twisting. The battery was created via a proprietary cathode design and chemistry from ZPower.  Wang and his team combined their expertise in printable, stretchable sensors and stretchable batteries to create this battery. Meng and her colleagues also offers their expertise in advanced characterization for electrochemical energy storage systems and characterized each iteration of the battery prototype until it reached peak performance.

The battery’s exceptional energy density is as a result of its silver oxide-zinc, (AgO-Zn) chemistry. Conventional commercial flexible batteries utilize a Ag2O-Zn chemistry, as a result they usually have limited cycle life and have low capacity. This limits their use to low-power, disposable electronics. AgO is traditionally considered unstable. However, ZPower’s AgO cathode material depends on a proprietary lead oxide coating to improve AgO’s electrochemical stability and conductivity. As an added advantage, the AgO-Zn chemistry is responsible for the battery’s low impedance. The battery’s printed current collectors also offer excellent conductivity, which also enables it achieve lower impedance.

The batteries are printed onto a polymer film that is chemically stable, elastic and has a high melting point (about 200 degrees C or 400 degrees Fahrenheit) that can be heat sealed. The current collectors, the zinc anode, the AgO cathode and their corresponding separators each comprise of a stacked screen-printed layer. The team is already working on the next generation of the battery, aiming for cheaper, faster charging devices with even lower impedance that would be used in 5G devices and soft robotics that require high power and customizable and flexible form factors. You can read more about the project here.

Axiomtek’s NVIDIA® Jetson Xavier™ NX Edge AI System to Simplify Large-Scale AIoT Deployments – AIE100-903-FL-NX

Posted on by mixos

Axiomtek – a world-renowned leader relentlessly devoted in the research, development and manufacture of series of innovative and reliable industrial computer products of high efficiency – is pleased to announce the AIE100-903-FL-NX, its ultra-compact and state-of-the-art edge AI system. The high-performance AIE100-903-FL-NX is powered by the NVIDIA® Jetson Xavier™ NX module which has a powerful 6-core NVIDIA® Carmel ARM® v8.2 64-bit processor and 384-core NVIDIA® Volta™ GPU architecture with 48 Tensor cores; in addition, it integrates Allxon Device Management Solutions (Allxon DMS) to provide a cost-effective and simplified device management solution with comprehensive remote management capabilities. The AIE100-903-FL-NX is ideal for smart city, smart manufacturing, smart retail, and other intelligent edge AI applications.

“The AIE100-903-FL-NX is a waterproof, fanless NVIDIA-based AI edge inference system designed for AI computing and deep learning applications, such as behavior analytics, face recognition and vehicle analysis. Due to its rugged design, the ultra-compact edge computing device can operate in harsh environments with a wide range of temperatures from -30°C to +50°C and can withstand vibration up to 3 Grms. In addition, it offers an optional waterproof IP42-rated cover kit for enhanced protection in semi-outdoor environments,” said Annie Fu, the product manager of Product PM Division at Axiomtek. “Besides the outstanding hardware solutions, the AI-powered AIE100-903-FL-NX is integrated with cloud-based Allxon DMS to provide remote management for convenient real-time control on devices. Allxon DMS offers rapid deployment and integration on multiple operating systems, reduces system downtime and maintenance costs, and further provides a wide breadth of centralized cloud device management. This industrial edge AI system is the best choice to simplify the large-scale deployment of AIoT platforms.”

The AIE100-903-FL-NX offers support for NVIDIA® JetPack 4.4 for ease of development in AI computing and deep learning applications. It has abundant I/O connectivity, including one USB 3.1 Gen2 port, one USB 2.0 port, one Micro USB port, one GbE LAN port, one GbE PoE port and one HDMI 2.0 port supporting 4K2K. It also has one recovery switch, one reset button, one power button, one 12V DC power input and two SMA-type antenna openings. Users can use the recovery switch and Micro USB to easily flash the image without opening the chassis. The AIE100-903-FL-NX has a 16GB eMMC onboard and is equipped with one M.2 Key M 2280 SSD slot with PCIe x4 NVMe and one Micro SD slot for real-time massive workload processing at the edge. Furthermore, the AIE100-903-FL-NX has one full-size PCIe Mini Card slot supporting USB and PCIe signal and one SIM slot for 3G/4G, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.

Advanced Features:

  • NVIDIA® Jetson Xavier™ NX with Volta™ GPU architecture with 384 NVIDIA CUDA® cores
  • High AI computing performance for GPU-accelerated processing
  • Ideal for edge AI smart city applications
  • Supports one 15W GbE PoE for a camera
  • Wide operating temperature settings ranging from -30°C to +50°C
  • Supports NVIDIA® JetPack 4.4
  • Supports Allxon Device Management Solutions (Allxon DMS)

Axiomtek’s AI-powered AIE100-903-FL-NX is now available for purchase. For more product information or customization services, please visit our global website at www.axiomtek.com or contact one of our sales representatives at info@axiomtek.com.tw.

DRV8428 35 V, 1 A Bipolar Stepper Motor Driver

Posted on by mixos

Texas Instruments’ driver features integrated current sense, 1/256 microstepping, STEP/DIR interface, and smart tune technology

Texas Instruments’ DRV8428 is a stepper motor driver for industrial and consumer applications. The device is fully integrated with two N-channel power MOSFET H-bridge drivers, a microstepping indexer, and integrated current sensing. The DRV8428 can drive up to 1 A full-scale output current (dependent on PCB design).The DRV8428 uses internal current sense architecture to eliminate the need for two external power sense resistors, saving PCB area and system cost. The device uses an internal PWM current regulation scheme selectable between smart tune and mixed decay options. Smart tune automatically adjusts for optimal current regulation, compensates for motor variation and aging effects, and reduces audible noise from the motor.

The simple STEP/DIR interface allows an external controller to manage the direction and step rate of the stepper motor. The device can be configured in different step modes ranging from full-step to 1/256 microstepping. A low-power sleep mode is provided for very low standby quiescent standby current using a dedicated nSLEEP pin. Protection features are provided for supply undervoltage, overcurrent, short circuits, and overtemperature. Fault conditions are indicated by the EN/nFAULT pin.

Features
  • PWM microstepping stepper motor driver:
    • Simple STEP/DIR interface
    • Microstepping indexer: up to 1/256
  • Integrated current sense functionality:
    • No sense resistors required
    • Full-scale current accuracy: ±6%
  • Smart tune decay technology and mixed decay options
  • Operating supply voltage range: 4.2 V to 33 V
  • RDS(ON): 1,500 mΩ HS + LS at 24 V, +25°C
  • Current capacity per bridge: 1.7 A peak, 1 A full-scale, 0.7 ARMS
  • Configurable off-time PWM chopping:  7 μs, 16 μs, or 32 μs
  • Supports logic inputs: 1.8 V, 3.3 V, and 5.0 V
  • Low-current sleep mode 2 μA
  • Spread spectrum clocking for low electromagnetic interference (EMI)
  • Small package and footprint
  • Protection features:
    • VM undervoltage lockout (UVLO)
    • Overcurrent protection (OCP)
    • Thermal shutdown (OTSD)
    • Fault condition output (EN/nFAULT)

more information: https://www.ti.com/store/ti/en/p/product/?p=DRV8428PWPR

Isolated, Single-Channel RS232 transceiver (Isolated RS232 to UART)

Posted on by mixos

The project presented here provides an isolated interface between the RS-232 cable network and the connected UART systems to protect against voltage spikes and ground loops within the noisy environment and improve system reliability. The project achieves a robust data communication link in harsh industrial environment. ADM3251E chip from Analog Devices is the heart of the project, this chip is a high speed, 2.5KV fully isolated, single-channel RS-232 transceiver device that operates from a single 5 V power supply. Due to the high ESD protection on the RIN and TOUT pins, the device is ideally suited for operation in electrically harsh environments or where RS-232 cables are frequently being plugged and unplugged. Four external 0.1 μF charge pump capacitors are used for the voltage doubler/inverter, permitting operation from a single 5 V supply.  Project operates at data rates up to 460kbps. RS-232 transceiver D-Sub 9 Pin Female block provide convenient signal connections. D2 Power LEDs on respective isolation ends. The chip has inbuilt isolated DC-DC Converter thus the project can work with single supply. Apply 5V DC to CN2 and project is ready to go.

Isolated, Single-Channel RS232 transceiver (Isolated RS232 to UART) – [Link]

STM32WB Feather Development Board with STM32WB55 Bluetooth 5.0 SoC Sells for $45

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

Reclaimer Labs has launched an STM32WB Feather development board that is based on STMicro’s first wireless STM32 MCU which was announced sometime around last year.

The STM32WB Feather board like other development boards in the STM32 family of wireless MCUs is built around the STM32WB55CG SoC which includes an 64MHz Arm Cortex‐M4 running as the main processor along with a 32MHz Cortex‐M0+ as a co-processor for Bluetooth.

The STM32WB Feather board in Adafruit feather standard, has an STM32WBCGU6 Bluetooth SoC at its core alongside other wireless and ultra-low-power features. One advantage this new line of IoT SoC has over others is that of size and space. The chipset integrates everything together into a single chip, so there’s no need for separate chips for microcontroller and radio. It can also achieve lower power sleep states thus making the board efficient at low power.

The chipset has 1MB of flash memory that is shared between the main and co-processors, a USB ROM bootloader, and 256kB of SRAM, while the board itself is equipped with an on-board chip antenna that radiates high – frequency electromagnetic waves, a wide variety of I/O, including 6x analog input pins, UART, I2C, and SPI, plus 7x digital GPIO pins.

The STM32WB Feather board also possesses embedded security hardware functions like 256-bit AES hardware encryption, PCROP read/write protection, JTAG fuse, and public-key cryptography with an elliptic curve encryption engine.

Here’s a list of some of the features and specifications that the board has:

  • STMicro STM32WB55CG Bluetooth SoC with:
    • Arm Cortex-M4 application core
    • Arm Cortex-M0+ Bluetooth co-processor
    • 256 KB SRAM
    • 1 MB Flash storage (shared between main and co processors)
    • USB ROM Bootloader
  • 128 Mbit external SPI NOR Flash memory
  • On-board chip antenna
  • u.Fl connector for external antenna
  • 16-pin plus 12-pin unpopulated headers with 6x analog input pins
  • UART, I2C, SPI, plus 7x GPIO pins
  • 1x Standard SWD debug connector
  • 1x  User button and LED
  • 32.768 kHz crystal for LSE/RTC
  • 5V power supply via micro USB port
  • 2-pin battery header, and,
  • LiPo battery charger
  • Dimensions: Adafruit feather form factor

The company has made things easier for users by providing an example project using the STM32CubeIDE, since the STM32WB Feather Board can be programmed with STM32CubeProgrammer.

The board is currently available and sells on Tindle for just $45, in case you’re interested in purchasing one, but further details on it including a full schematic and a link to the code sample can be found on the Reclaimer Labs’ website.

3D Mapping improves urban GPS accuracy for your app

Posted on by Tope Oluyemi

GNSS location with standards like GPS is a key feature of smartphones and other devices. They enable you navigate around, and share your location with friends, family, and business contacts. However, sometimes we find it difficult to get an accurate location because of a number of factors like tall buildings in urban area bouncing the satellite network, etc. This can be really problematic for someone seeking for directions, delivery companies, e-hailing taxi riders etc. However, Google has come up with a solution on android devices via 3D mapping aided GPS corrections.

For reasons behind the project, they say:

“At Android, we want to make it as easy as possible for developers to create the most helpful apps for their users. That’s why we aim to provide the best location experience with our APIs like the Fused Location Provider API (FLP). However, we’ve heard from many of you that the biggest location issue is inaccuracy in dense urban areas, such as wrong-side-of-the-street and even wrong-city-block errors. This is particularly critical for the most used location apps, such as rideshare and navigation. For instance, when users request a rideshare vehicle in a city, apps cannot easily locate them because of the GPS errors. The last great unsolved GPS problem. This wrong-side-of-the-street position error is caused by reflected GPS signals in cities, and we embarked on an ambitious project to help solve this great problem in GPS.”

Picture of a pedestrian test, with Pixel 5 phone, walking along one side of the street, then the other. Yellow = Path followed, Red = without 3D mapping aided corrections, Blue = with 3D mapping aided corrections.

Explaining how the 3D mapping works, Google says:

“The 3D mapping aided corrections module, in Google Play services, includes tiles of 3D building models that Google has for more than 3850 cities around the world. Google Play services 3D mapping aided corrections currently supports pedestrian use-cases only. When you use your device’s GPS while walking, Android’s Activity Recognition API will recognize that you are a pedestrian, and if you are in one of the 3850+ cities, tiles with 3D models will be downloaded and cached on the phone for that city. Cache size is approximately 20MB, which is about the same size as 6 photographs. Inside the module, the 3D mapping aided corrections algorithms solve the chicken-and-egg problem, which is: if the GPS position is not in the right place, then how do you know which buildings are blocking or reflecting the signals? Having solved this problem, 3D mapping aided corrections provide a set of corrected positions to the FLP. A system API then provides this information to the GPS chip to help the chip improve the accuracy of the next GPS fix.”

Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections automatically works when the GPS is being used by a pedestrian in any of the 3850+ cities, on any phone that runs Android 8 or later. The best way for developers to take advantage of the improvement is to use FLP to get location information. The further 3D mapping aided corrections in the GPS chip are available to Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) today, and will be rolled out to the rest of the Android ecosystem (Android 8 or later) in the next several weeks. We will also soon support more modes including driving.

Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections cover more than 3850 cities, including:

  • North America: All major cities in USA, Canada, Mexico.
  • Europe: All major cities. (100%, except Russia & Ukraine)
  • Asia: All major cities in Japan and Taiwan.
  • Rest of the world: All major cities in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

About release, Google says:

“With this December Pixel feature drop, we are releasing version 2 of 3D mapping aided corrections on Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G). This reduces wrong-side-of-street occurrences by approximately 75%. Other Android phones, using Android 8 or later, have version 1 implemented in the FLP, which reduces wrong-side-of-street occurrences by approximately 50%. Version 2 will be available to the entire Android ecosystem (Android 8 or later) in early 2021.” You can read more about the 3D mapping here.

Himax AI Development Board Supports TFLite for Microcontrollers at just $65

Posted on by Abhishek Jadhav

Himax AI development board

If you are looking for an AI development board that supports TensorFlow Lite for microcontrollers, then Himax has something that might interest you. This board claims to be the perfect solution for your machine vision and AI/ML based applications as it has support for TFLite. There are many existing AI development boards which are in the feather form factor like QuickFeather development board or even RISC-V based EdgeX AI Kit which are interesting but quite expensive when compared to Himax AI development board for microcontrollers.

The AI development board is powered by HX6537-A SoC based on ARCv2DSP instruction set architecture that comes with a 32-bit ARC processor from Synopsys that is “optimized for sensor fusion, voice detection, speech recognition and audio processing that are common in Internet of Things (IoT) and other embedded applications.” The SoC supports embedded 2MB SRAM for code and data memory along with 2MB flash memory. It also “features a power-efficient unified 32×32 MUL/MAC unit and support for fixed-point DSP data types and vector/SIMD (single instruction multiple data) operations.”

Himax AI development board1

The company says,

“This new WE-I Plus EVB board is optimized for TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers target applications, and it integrates AoS™ VGA camera, L/R microphones, 3-axis accelerometer, and USB to SPI/I2C/UART bridge into one board with 40mmx27mm dimension. It is the best leading ultralow power and performance solution for TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers applications in this industry.”

Specifications

  • SoC: WE-I Plus Application Specific Integrated Circuit (HX6537-A)
    • ARC 32-bit EM9D DSP with FPU clocked up to 400 MHz
    • 2MB SRAM
    • 2MB Flash
  • Onboard Camera: Himax HM0360 AoS TM ultra-low power VGA camera with 1.6″ CMOS Sensor along with resolution of 640 x 480 pixels at 60 frames per second.
  • USB Bridge: FTDI USB connectivity to devices with a SPI/I2C/UART interface
  • Power supply: 3.3/2.8/1.8/1.2V
  • Expansion header
    • 1x I2C port
    • 3x GPIOs
    • Power/Ground

Himax AI development board SoC

According to the manufacturer,

“To support “Voice” applications, this board features two MEMS microphones. The latency time of the 20KB TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers “Micro speech” example is only 6ms. To support “Vibration” applications, this board features a STM LSM9DS1 IMU for 3-axis accelerometer function. The WE-I Plus features an ASIC embedded EM9D DSP Floating-Point-Unit (FPU).”

How to get started?

To get started with the development board, you will need expert coding skills that will help you code the development board. You will also need a SDK.AI, which is a collaboration with Google TFL micro & Synopsys MLI teams along with TensorFlow Lite for microcontrollers that is designed to run machine learning models on microcontrollers. For more information, you can visit the product page on Himax’s website.

For interested folks, the board is available to buy via SparkFun for just $65 which is very less compared to many existing AI development boards in the market like EdgeX AI Kit.

Foenix 21.5-Inch Smart Touch Computer Runs on Cortex-A35 based MediaTek MT8167A SoC

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

Innocomm has made an early product announcement of a 21.5-inch open-frame touch computer – Foenix iCOM1019 Touch Console – that runs Android 8.1 or higher on a 1.5 quad-core Cortex-A35 MediaTek MT8167A. This is coming after the company launched two SoM modules: SB30 and SB50, based on the quad-core, Cortex-A35 based MediaTek i300 and octa-core -A73 and -A53 MediaTek i500 SoCs, sometime around last year.

MediaTek MT8167A is a highly responsive, highly integrated quad-core is a highly responsive, highly integrated quad-core SoC built for all-day, high-speed performance and great power efficiency. It is a two-chipset package that greatly simplifies tablet design development and time to market. It provides a PowerVR GE8300 GPU as with other MediaTek 8167s, but lacks most of the extensive digital audio features of the 8167s.

Innocomm’s 21.5-inch, full HD, open frame touch-panel computer is an open frame turnkey solution designed to provide users with a high-quality experience through its richly-packed features. It is touted for its 64-bit ARM® based quad core architecture, large display size and fast wireless connectivity. It is based on MediaTek MT8167A quad-core Cortex-A35 processor and capable of Ethernet and WiFi 5, Bluetooth and ANT+ technologies. The touch console also has a touch sensitive screen with up to 1920 x 1080 high resolution for amazing and vibrant multimedia, dual 6W, 8ohm amplifier with volume buttons, dual digital microphones, 3.5mm audio I/O jack, VESA mount support, and an optional front-facing camera for face recognition and video call/conference.

The Foenix Touch Console is a perfect solution for high quality touch display in advanced fitness equipment, building and factory environment, retail and public service.

Preliminary Features and Specifications include: 

  • CPU: MediaTek MT8167A quad-core Cortex-A35 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz
  • GPU: PowerVR GE8300
  • 2GB RAM
  • 8GB storage
  • MicroSD card slot
  • 10/100M Ethernet port (RJ45)
  • 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 2×2 MIMO
  • Bluetooth 4.2 and 5.0 LE long range
  • Optional NFC and ANT+
  • 21.5″ PCAP display touchscreen with 1920×1080 resolution
  • Optional HDMI 1.4a ports
  • 2-channel 6W amplifier
  • 2x digital microphones
  • 3.5mm 4-pole audio jack
  • 2MP front-facing camera (optional)
  • 1x USB 2.0 host port
  • 1x micro USB 2.0 port
  • 3.5mm jack for serial (Tx, Rx, GND)
  • Power and volume keys
  • VESA mounts support, and,
  • 12V/4A power supply input via DC jack
  • Dimensions: 52.5 cm x 31.7 cm
  • Operating System: Android 8.1 or above.
  • Certifications: CE and FCC

The company has not said anything about the price or availability of the all-in-one Foenix Touch Console yet but hopes to release details on that soon. Further details however  may be found on the product page.

Accurate Digital Temperature Sensor? Meet the AMS AG AS6221

Posted on by Emmanuel Odunlade

Temperature sensors, alone, or on their own, have infinite applications, however, one of the challenges typically experienced with their use is the varying degree of accuracy obtainable with the sensors available in the market. Adding to the growing list of precision temperature sensors in the market, Austria based sensor manufacturer ASM AG recently introduced the AS6221 temperature sensor.

The AS6221 is a highly accurate digital temperature sensor with accuracy levels of up to 0.09 °C, which is around the usual ideal accuracy level desired for applications that require high-performance thermal information.

A complete digital sensor system, the AS6221 requires no calibration or linearization and comes in an ultra-small form factor (WLCSP 1.5 x 1.0 mm) that enables accurate body/skin temperature measurements in health and lifestyle monitoring products. Design with the current standards in mind, in addition to the high accuracy and the small form factor, the AS6221 also offers very low power consumption which makes it ideal for battery-based applications, with a current consumption of around 6μA for 4 samples per second (SPS) measurement.

AS6221 has 4 different automatic data acquisition modes and communication with connected MCU is over dedicated I2C interfaces.

AS6221 Block Diagram

Some highlight features of the sensor include:

  • High-temperature accuracy of ±0.09 °C (20…42 °C)
  • Ultra-low-power consumption: 6 µA at 4 SPS (typ.) and 0.1 μA in standby (typ.)
  • Small form factor WLCSP package: total size 1.5 × 1.0 mm
  • No calibration or linearization required
  • A fully-digital system with up to eight I²C addresses
  • Programmable Alert OUT pin:
  • No need to constantly poll the sensor
  • Best-in-class accuracy
  • Space-saving with ultra-small integration size
  • Superior power efficiency for better battery endurance
  • Easy-to-use solution for fast go-to-market
  • Enables multi-device application development
  • Easy to integrate with a standard serial bus connection
  • Alert functionality for advanced system power reduction

The application of the S6221 cuts across all fields including medical, wearables, mobile health, fitness trackers, and all sort of electronic devices.

To make working with the AS6221 easy, ASM has created an evaluation kit to give developers an opportunity to experiment with the sensor and develop firmware for use in their project. The board features the AS6221 temperature sensor, along with a decoupling capacitor, and pull-up resistors. It also comes with jumpers that make it easy to set the eight I²C addresses of the sensor. A 5×1 pin header with a 2.54 mm pitch offers all necessary interfaces to connect the adapter board to your application processor. The evaluation board is listed on ASM’s website with the order code AS6221-EK.

More information on the sensor can be found on the product page on AMS’s website.

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