we make you bloom!

Special Features

n Smart Energyn Microcontrollersn Industrial Computing

We Make YouBloom!

140200_ICC02_BAS_2_March_Um_Heft 19.03.14 10:39 Seite 1


http://www.digikey.com/europe

Dear Readers,As 25 years ago the Internet wasinvented no one could imaginewhich influence this communica-tion network would have to ourdaily life. Nowadays when I walkthrough Schwabing, a part of Mu-nich where I live, I realise thatmost people I see on the streets –especially the youth – are lookingin their smartphones and wipingthe touch screens while walking –connected to the Internet. Thisproves that the ubiquitous con-

nectivity to the Internet of people, everyone, everywhere und anytime,became reality yet. But this is only a snapshot of today�s world. Theevolution of the Internet keeps going. One new Megatrend affectingespecially the embedded industry is the Internet of things (IoT). Ac-cording to Wikipedia “The Internet of Things refers to uniquely iden-tifiable objects and their virtual representations in an Internet-likestructure. Equipping all objects in the world with minuscule identifyingdevices or machine-readable identifiers could transform daily life”and also the industry. The fourth industrial revolution called Industry4.0 and based on the possibilities enabled by the IoT is just oneexample. Additional fields of applications include: waste management,urban planning, environmental sensing, social interaction gadgets,sustainable urban environment, continuous care, emergency response,intelligent shopping, smart product management, smart meters, homeautomation and smart events

According to Gartner there will be nearly 26 billion devices on the In-ternet of Things by 2020. According to ABI Research more than 30billion devices will be wirelessly connected to the Internet of Things(Internet of Everything) by 2020. Cisco created a dynamic „connectionscounter“ to track the estimated number of connected things fromJuly 2013 until July 2020. This concept, where devices connect to theinternet/web via low-power radio, is the most active research area inIoT. A criticism is that the Internet of Things is being developedrapidly without appropriate consideration of the profound securitychallenges involved and the regulatory changes that might be necessary.In particular, as the Internet of Things spreads widely, cyber attacksare likely to become an increasingly physical (rather than simplyvirtual) threat.

But despite the problems this show: the race to enter the IoT marketand succeed with new applications is already on! Hence due to themultitude of applications the IoT and its influence for the embeddedindustry was the main topic at this years embedded world exhibitionand conference. Nearly every exhibitor launched products suited forthis emerging market whether microcontrollers, microprocessors,digital signal processors, small form factor boards like COMs, as wellas associated hardware, software and development tools. Our embeddedworld review (starting page 10) highlights some examples.

As you can see – the IoT could be able to open up a new era andbright future for the embedded industry. But the future must showwhich ones of the multitude of applications are valuable for the userand will succeed at the end.

Yours sincerelyWolfgang PatelayEditor

3 April 2014

VIEWPOINT


http://www.msc-technologies.eu

April 2014 4

CONTENTS

Cover Photo: EBV

We Make YouBloom!

Cover Story: Smart teamwork enables networkedsupport for renewable energies Page 6

Renewable energies – one term, count-less options: from smart grid communi-cation and charging infrastructures fore-cars through to energy storage.Anyone developing renewable energyapplications needs a partner who canprovide not only large volumes of elec-tronic components, but also advice andsupport through the design phase. Thatis the mission of the EBV RenewableEnergies team.

embedded world: Internet of Thingsapplications gain momentum Page 10

embedded world 2014 ended witha new record: 26,688 trade visitorsfrom all over the world (+18 %overall) and 856 internationalexhibitors from 35 countries madethe twelfth embedded world thebiggest in the history of this event.This year's main topic: applicationsfor the Internet-of-Things (IoT) andtheir impact for the embeddedindustry, were discussed all over

the show by exhibitors and visitors. This article outlines someselected product news also well suited for IoT applications

EN60601-1 third edition:a standard with many faces Page 16

This article takes a look at thethird edition of EN60601-1 gov-erning how the peripherals of amedical embedded system mustbe connected. It sheds light onthe differences from the previousversion and describes exactly howpower module manufacturershave addressed the discrepancies.

Intelligent diagnostics maximizefactory-floor up-times Page 24

This article introduces the ISO2H823V,a power management integrated circuit with built-in intelligent diag-nostic functions designed for a widerange of industrial control applica-tions, including programmable logiccontrollers (PLCs), distributed controlsystems, robotics and many more.

LynxSecure Type Zero enables ongoing hypervisor evolution Page 34

This article discusses the evolution of modern hypervisor architec-tures, from Type-2 to Type Zero, and describes the performance,reliability, and security benefits achieved through LynxSecure TypeZero architecture

Viewpoint 3

Smart EnergySmart teamwork enables networkedsupport for renewable energies 6

Embedded World Reviewembedded world: Internet of Thingsapplications gain momentum 10

Power ModulesEN60601-1 third edition:a standard with many faces 16

Computer-on-ModulesPower-optimized Computer-on-Modulesensure short design times 18

MicroprocessorsInterview about AMD's roadmapfor the embedded market 20

Power ManagementIntelligent diagnostics maximizefactory-floor up-times 24

Industrial ComputingNew perspectives in out-of-band manageability 28Rugged computer offers stunninggraphics for on-board applications 32

Real-time Operating SystemsLynxSecure Type Zero enables ongoing hypervisor evolution 34

DisplaysE-paper displays suited for a multitude of applications 36

Product News 37



http://www.ghs.com/s4e

n A system can only really be considered smartif it offers bidirectional exchange of informationand data between the energy generator at oneend of the energy-transmission chain and theend-user at the other. This intelligence is en-abled by a variety of electronic components:microcontrollers specifically designed for elec-tricity meters, powerline modems, high-per-formance processors with communication in-terfaces, efficient power supplies, precise analogcircuits or high-voltage semiconductors forthe transmission and transformation of theelectric current. As a result, the challengesfacing the Renewable Energies team are ex-tremely varied and complex, as Karl Lehnhoff,Director, Vertical Segment Renewable Energiesat EBV Elektronik, explains.

According to Lehnhoff, the target groups ofthe EBV Renewable Energies team includeany business engaged in generating energy –from photovoltaic through wind energy tobiogas. In addition there is the entire field ofenergy transport, including high-voltage net-works, substations and control technology, aswell as net automation, measuring the statusof the network, conversion of high voltageinto low voltage and adjustable local networktransformers. On top of this, the experts alsodeal with energy storage in relation to renew-able energy, including charging stations forelectric vehicles. And last but not least, an im-

portant aspect of automation throughout theentire smart grid is communication and aboveall data security. It’s not just an issue for smartmeters, but for all billing-related meters anddata concentrators.

Renewable energy has been a core area forEBV for many years now, and is integratedinto its vertical business structure under thename Renewable Energies. Market-related seg-ments include Automotive, Consumer, Renew-able Energies, Healthcare and HighRel. Tech-nology-oriented segments include EBV FPGA,RF and Wireless, LightSpeed and Identification.

Anyone working with renewable energy needsnot only dedicated experts but also a wide net-work linking to all neighbouring disciplines, inorder to provide their customers with completeand appropriate support. Support from EBVcan, if wished, start right from the beginning ofa project: the experts from the Renewable En-ergies segment advise customers on their choiceof suitable technology and the right electroniccomponents, as well as assisting in technicalmatters that arise during development or evenduring production of new appliances.

There are five dedicated specialists explicitlyassigned to deal with renewable energy. Theyare supported throughout Europe by morethan a hundred application engineers and ex-

perts from other verticals. Naturally EBV didn’twant to establish parallel sales organisationswith the verticals, but just to link up expertiseand resources. Who provides the support isdecided on a case-by-case basis. The industrialsectors are too intensively networked to besharply segregated. So the experts work togetherclosely, including on shared customer visits.After all, how EBV is organised doesn’t make adifference to the customer. What matters tothem is that they receive the right support fortheir application. In the end a customer can’tgenerally be pigeon-holed. It is routine forEBV to think outside the box.

There are many examples of the inter-discipli-nary co-operation of the EBV teams: for in-stance, when designing a smart meter the ques-tion arose about communication within thesmart home. So, the expertise of the RF &Wireless experts was also needed. The ad-justable local network transformer integratesmeasuring technology that enables status mon-itoring. In the end it is just the same as condi-tion monitoring from industrial automationand therefore projects like this have interfaceswith both the Identification vertical segmentand with colleagues from the RF & Wirelesssegment when communication or WiFi con-nection of the adjustable local network trans-former is concerned. In the case of chargingstations for electric vehicles there was of course

Smart teamwork enables networkedsupport for renewable energies

SMART ENERGY

By Karl Lehnhoff, EBV

Renewable energies – oneterm, countless options: fromsmart grid communication

and charging infrastructuresfor e-cars through to energystorage. Anyone developing

renewable energy applicationsneeds a partner who can pro-vide not only large volumes ofelectronic components, but

also advice and supportthrough the design phase.

That is the mission of the EBVRenewable Energies team.

April 2014 6



http://www.adlinktech.com

April 2014 8

SMART ENERGY

co-operation between the Renewable Energiesexperts and the Automotive specialists at EBV,who, for example, contribute their knowledgewhere automotive regulations are concerned.The customer comes to EBV, not with a productspecification but wanting a solution for theirsystem. So it’s not just about the hardware, thecompany also has to master the software tech-nique and know all the regulations and standardsrelevant to the application. And that is preciselywhere a ’can of worms’ is metaphorically openedup, because in some areas of renewable energythe problem is that there are no integrated regu-lations. For instance, in the standardisation forshort-circuits in wind power and PV, differentscenarios apply in different countries. In meteringit is even more complex. As regards security, inparticular, essentially nothing is definitely regu-

lated yet. It will take another five to ten years.The BSI discussion in Germany has also stimu-lated thinking about safety in other countries.In other words, there may, in the future also benew rules in other countries. They could, however,be less strict than the BSI protection profile.

How far can the distributor assist with theissue of security? This is a new topic for manycustomers, and they definitely need support.EBV can provide it in cooperation with thirdparty software service providers. As regards se-curity EBV yet again profits from its networkedorganisation. The support of the technologysegment, in this case Identification, comesinto play again in such issues. The relevant se-curity levels are not specifications for renewableenergies, but technical guidelines or challenges

which can also be discussed elsewhere, for in-stance, in connection with the Internet ofThings and Industry 4.0.

To tackle the issue of renewable energies EBV has also recently launched a micrositewith the same name: under http://renewableen-ergies.ebv.com/home/ visitors can, amongstother things, zoom from the application levelto the semiconductor section. This overview allows a click on the relevant product to directlyaccess detailed information such as technicalfeatures and logistical details. For more infor-mation or to request advice the visitor can senda contact request. Of course this website doesnot replace personal advice, it is just an inform-ative reference tool. The focus here is on productsfor use in renewable energy applications thathave just come onto the market. There is also asummary of manufacturers on EBV linecard,who offer dedicated components tailored tothe market, such as a special MCU for meteringor power modules for photovoltaic.

Renewable energies with all their aspects un-doubtedly bring with them great market po-tential, even though the earlier European eu-phoria about photovoltaics has long sincegiven way to disenchantment. On the onehand there is growth, but on the other there isprice erosion, thus can be summarised the de-velopment of the photovoltaic market in gen-eral. Things are just as tough for wind energyin Europe. In global terms there are only threeEuropean wind power providers still in thetop ten. One of the drivers of renewable energyis the growing degree of automation of thesmart power network. The greater the shareof renewable energy in the power network,the more automation is required. On peakdays we, in Germany, already feed in around50 per cent of the energy from renewable gen-eration. At the same time the challenge is thento keep the network stable. To handle this tasknew applications will be required and meteringis a hugely promising factor. European Unionregulations are largely responsible for this, asthey ordain that by 2020 eighty per cent ofmeters in member states should be smart me-ters. The smart meters are developed in Europeand experts also expect that the majority ofproduction will take place in Europe.

The alleged Eldorado of electric vehicles, how-ever, does remain one of the options at leastfor the present. We have to deal with a politi-cally-driven segment. When the battery systemsbecome more affordable however, this marketcould get going relatively quickly. Otherwisewe are still a long way off the planned figuresof the Federal Government of one million ve-hicles in 2020. EBV customers are well-preparedand have got to grips with the issue early on,but obviously there is still no market yet.

Figure 1. Solar energy is already delivering a significant amount of renewable energy.

Figure 2. In future wind energy will contribute a large amount of renewable energy.


SMART ENERGY

Finally there is another interesting recycling application in connectionwith electro mobility: old batteries from electric vehicles could still beused as stationary energy storage in the home. When the batteries arescrapped, 15 or 10 kW/h of the original 20 still remain. Enough, for ex-ample, to use them as stationary back-up batteries for domesticpurposes. That would be very worthwhile in any case, not least asregards environmental protection, which is important to EBV. WithEBVChips EBV has left its home territory of distribution and togetherwith manufacturers and customers developed ICs and modules for var-ious areas of use. With Hermes and Hunter, EBV has brought twoEBVChips into its range that can be used in renewable energy applications.Developed jointly with Avago, the Hunter data converter offers an inter-

esting solution for galvanic-insulated current measurement. The integralLVDS interface guarantees very good signal integrity in FPGA-based sys-tems such as servo drives or power transformers. The component fits inindustrial drive technology and also in PV inverters, as well as pitch con-trols and wing rotation for wind turbines. Hunter contains an analoginput stage with differential inputs for ±200mV, a second orderSigma/Delta modulator, an optical isolation line and the LVDS interface.So the module is equipped with every function necessary for measure-ments with a dynamic range of 78dB. The appropriate filter can belocated in the related FPGA or in a processor. Fitted in an SO-16 cabinetwith direct interface for shunts, Hunter offers high DC and AC precisionover a wide temperature range. With the Falcon Eye Hunter EBVChipscan also offer a reference design suitable for evaluating the Hunter chip.

For energy-saving M-Bus communication EBV has designed its HermesEBVChip. This was created in cooperation with On Semiconductor andis practically an upgrade of a tried-and-tested IC which has been on themarket for 20 years already. Fitted in the space-saving QFN-20 cabinetthe M-Bus slave transceiver meets the European standards EN 13757-2and EN 1434-3 and supports communication speeds of up to 38,400Baud and, depending on use, can drive up to six M-Bus loads (repeaters,meter gateways). Hermes needs very little standby current and alsoworks with low bus voltages. In addition, it has performance features op-timised for energy-saving operating modes and is therefore ideal for con-nection to wireless modules. The M-Bus slave system is also equippedwith failsafe function and can be supplied from the bus or an externalcurrent supply. Hermes has been in production since April 2013 and hasgot off to a very good start. EBV wants to build on this in the future anddevelop further EBVChips for the new energy age. n

Figure 3. Excess renewable energy can be stored in dam reservoirs.


http://www.aaeon.eu

n Freescale Semiconductor announced an ad-dition to its Kinetis mini portfolio with the in-troduction of the Kinetis KL03 MCU, theworlds smallest and most energy-efficient 32-bit MCU based on ARM technology. TheMCU builds on the previous generation KinetisKL02 device with new features, advanced inte-gration, and greater ease-of-use – all in aneven smaller 1.6x2.0mm package. The companysees the miniaturization of MCUs as a keydriver of IoT evolution. With the ground-breaking form factors of the new Kinetis KL03,systems designers for edge node products nowhave the technology they need to develop en-tirely new product categories capable, quiteliterally, of changing the world. It is ideal forthe fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) mar-ket, where edge nodes increasingly requiremore intelligence in ever-smaller form factors.The Kinetis KL03 MCU combines the powerefficiency of the Kinetis L series based onARM Cortex-M0+ cores with enhanced low-power functionalities including register files,SRTC, low power UART, and additional lowpower wake-up pins.

Additionally, the new product offers greater easeof use over the previous generation. An addedROM-based boot loader allows factory pro-gramming and on-line system firmware upgradeswithout adding circuitry to the board, reducingprogramming-related costs for customers. An

internal, highly accurate voltage reference (Vref)delivers improved analog performance by sup-plying an embedded 1.2 volt reference for theADC, enabling several use cases for applicationsrequiring high ADC accuracy. The Kinetis KL03MCU is code compatible across 900+ Cortex-M products. In addition, a FRDM-KL03ZFreescale Freedom development platform, aswell as Processor Expert development system,Solution Advisor guide, and comprehensiveFreescale and third-party enablement supportin the ARM-ecosystem will be available to support development targeting the new MCU.Customers can begin evaluation immediatelywith the FRDM-KL02Z board.

Renesas unveiled the RX64M group of micro-controllers (MCUs), its first product in theflagship RX Family of 32-bit MCUs to be fab-ricated in a 40 nm process. Based on the newRXv2 CPU core, the new MCU group consistsof 112 products running up to 120 MHz withzero wait state from the high-speed embeddedflash memory, and feature both the high-speedreal-time performance as well as large memorycapacities required by industrial applicationsand network equipment. With the expansionof the connected society and Internet of Things(IoT) markets, there has been rapid growth indiverse IoT-related products such as connectednetwork and industrial equipment used in fac-tory automation and building automation,

driving the need for greater CPU computingperformance, improved real-time response,and ever lower power. Part of the RX family,which covers a wide range of applications,from mid-range to high-end products, theRX64M MCUs provide a high-end MCU solu-tion for applications that require the higherperformance, on-chip memory and lowerpower. Since the new MCUs maintain com-patibility with the existing product line, systemdesigners working with current RX productscan migrate easily to these new MCUs. In ad-dition to a full complement of communicationsfunctions, the RX64M group of MCUs addsnew PWM timer functions. Furthermore, thedevices are highly backward compatible, asthey feature the functions included in the ex-isting Renesas RX600 series of MCUs. By in-cluding motor control timer functions and anIEEE 1588-compliant Ethernet function, whichis required by industrial applications, the newMCUs can improve inter-system synchroniza-tion performance and provide flexible supportfor all types of motor control.

In addition to the vast amount of general-pur-pose serial interfaces, these devices supporthigh-speed communications functions such astwo Ethernet MAC and two USB interfaces,supporting the device, host as well as OTGfunctions, an SD host interface, and a QSPI(quad serial peripheral interface). Furthermore,

embedded world: Internet of Thingsapplications gain momentum

EMBEDDED WORLD REVIEW

By Wolfgang Patelay, Editor

embedded world 2014 ended with anew record: 26,688 trade visitors

from all over the world (+18 % over-all) and 856 international exhibitorsfrom 35 countries made the twelfthembedded world the biggest in thehistory of this event. This year's maintopic: applications for the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and their impact for theembedded industry, were discussedall over the show by exhibitors andvisitors. This article outlines someselected product news also well

suited for IoT applications

April 2014 10



http://www.renesas.eu

April 2014 12


they include an encoding function to increasereliability and robustness of those communi-cations functions. For a quick developmentstart, the RX64M MCUs will be supported bya robust development tool environment fromboth Renesas and third-party tool vendors thatmake up the RX ecosystem, such as Micrium,Express Logic, CMX, Segger, and freeRTOS.

Silicon Labs introduced the industry’s first sin-gle-chip digital ultraviolet index sensor ICs de-signed to track UV sun exposure, heart/pulserate and blood oximetry and provide proximi-ty/gesture control for smartphone and wearablecomputing products. The Si1132 and Si114xsensor ICs are ideal for activity-tracking wristand arm bands, smart watches and smartphonehandsets. In addition to enabling UV indexsensing, the devices also provide ambient light

and infrared proximity sensing capabilities forhealth and fitness applications. ConventionalUV sensors combine UV-sensitive photodiodeswith an external microcontroller, ADC andsignal processing firmware. Silicon Labs is thefirst to combine all of this functionality into asingle-chip solution offered in an exceptionallysmall 2x2mm package that helps reduce the de-sign’s footprint and bill of material cost. Whencombined with an accelerometer, the sensorsenable developers to implement sleep trackingin wearable applications. In addition, the sensorsability to measure both infrared and visiblelight levels enhances the control of LCD back-lighting in mixed-light source environments.The result is an inexpensive yet effective meansof adjusting backlighting to ease eyestrain andreduce power without distracting the end user.

The UV index sensors ultra-low-power archi-tecture enables thinner wearable designs withsmaller batteries and extends battery life withas little as 1.2µA average current for once-per-second UV measurements. The sensors alsooffer greater sensitivity and sensing range atsignificantly lower power levels than competi-tive offerings. The high IR sensor sensitivityprovides significantly longer battery life inmotion sensing/gesture applications throughthe use of a single 25.6µs IR-LED on-timewhile enabling up to 50cm sensing range. Dy-namic adjustment of LED currents furtherminimizes power consumption.

Maxim Integrated’s Novato smart tempera-ture-transmitter reference design transmitstemperature measurement over -200 °C to+850 °C range with better than ±0.1 % accu-racy. Factories can now easily, and very accu-rately, measure and transmit industrial tem-peratures with the Novato reference design, a4–20mA loop-powered temperature transmitterwith the HART communication protocol fromMaxim Integrated Products. The Novato ref-erence design transmits temperature measure-ments from remote sensors to the central con-trol unit over a 4–20mA current-loop usingthe highway addressable remote transducer(HART) communication protocol. This smarttransmitter enables low-power temperaturemeasurement from -200 to +850 °C with ac-curacy better than ±0.1% or ±1.0 °C. Novato’sflexible design supports 2-, 3-, or 4-wire resist-ance temperature detector (RTD) sensor inputsand works with any type of RTDs, from PT100to PT1000, making it ideal for a wide varietyof industrial applications.

Toshiba Electronics Europe has launched a lowpower consumption Bluetooth IC TC35667FTGthat supports Bluetooth Low Energy commu-nications. The new IC will find application invarious wearable and healthcare-orientatedsmart devices, sensors, as well as smartphone

accessories, remote controllers and toys. Itadopts an original low-power circuit designand integrates a highly efficient DC-DC con-verter, reducing peak current consumption tobelow 6mA and deep sleep current consumptionto below 100nA. TC35667FTG also integratesan ARM processor, enabling download and ex-ecution of customer programs stored in EEP-ROM. It supports customization of applications,eliminating the need for any external micro-controller. The receiver has a sensitivity of -91dBm and transmitter output power can bevaried from 0dBm to -20dBm in 4dB steps.Housed in a 6x6mm QFN40 package with0.5mm pin pitch, the low power consumptionIC will enable the adoption of Bluetooth LEcommunications in the small devices while alsopromoting long battery life. The IC supportsserver and client functions defined by GATT(Generic Attribute Profile). Toshiba will expandthe device line-up to include support for auto-motive applications of Bluetooth Smart devices.

FTDI introduced its application-oriented mi-crocontroller families. Targeted at key taskswhere they can add value, these speed-optimisedmicrocontrollers elevate system performanceand operational efficiency while providingunique connectivity features, as well as simpli-fying system implementation and chip integra-tion processes. There are two AOC productfamilies - the 8-bit FT51, which is designed toaddress control system deployments and the32-bit FT900, which is aimed at use in high-performance systems such as video imaging,multimedia and other demanding, cost-sensitiveactivities involving large amounts of data.

Both these families employ an extensive selec-tion of IO options and incorporate powerful,efficient core processing architectures. TheFT51s 8051 CPU core has been tuned in orderto achieve 48MIPS processing capacity. ItsUSB Hub function enables sub-systems to becascaded, while a comprehensive cadre ofADC/DACs facilitate sensor interfacing. By ex-ecuting instructions from shadow RAM, ratherthan flash memory, the FT900 can operate attrue zero wait states up to 100MHz and293DMIPS performance. It has a built-in cam-era interface for attachment to CMOS imagingmodules with VGA resolution. The FT51 andFT900 AOCs join FTDI Chips already well-es-tablished 16-bit microcontroller offering - Vin-culum II - to present the electronic engineeringfraternity with a product range spanning fromlow-end 8-bit devices right through to 32-bitdevices, all with impressive performance met-rics and system interconnection assets. Thenew R&S RTE oscilloscopes from Rohde &Schwarz are available with bandwidths from200 MHz to 1 GHz. An acquisition rate ofmore than one million waveforms per secondhelps users find signal faults quickly. The

Figure 1. Smaller than a golf ball dimple, newKinetis KL03 unleashes design innovation forInternet of Things applications.

Figure 2. The RX64M MCUs combine connec-tivity and high performance with 4 MB offlash memory and 512 KB of SRAM for indus-trial equipment and other IoT applications.

Figure 3. The Novato reference design accu-rately measures and transmits industrial tem-peratures.



scopes’ highly accurate digital trigger systemwith virtually no trigger jitter delivers highlyprecise results. The single-core A/D converterwith more than seven effective bits (ENOB)almost completely eliminates signal distortion.With a sampling rate of 5 GS/s and a maximummemory depth of 50 MS/channel, the R&SRTE can accurately record the long signal se-quences required when analyzing the data con-tent of serial protocols such as I2C and CAN.Users performing complex tasks will especiallyappreciate the high measurement speed of theoscilloscopes. Mask tests, for example, quicklyreturn statistically conclusive results. The highlyresponsive, spectrum-analyzer-like FFT reliably

detects even sporadic signals, making the R&SRTE suited for EMI debugging during productdevelopment. Thanks to the high-resolution10.4“ XGA touchscreen, users can intuitivelyperform their daily T&M tasks. For instance,they only have to swipe the screen to accesssaved instrument setups. And they can simply„drag & drop“ waveforms to arrange them onthe screen. Real-time miniature views of thesignals on the edge of the screen allow users toalways see what is happening. Dialog boxesare opened as semi-transparent overlays overthe active waveforms, which maintain theirfull size. Signal flow diagrams and forwardand back buttons in the dialog boxes simplifynavigation. Innovative tools help users boosttheir productivity. The QuickMeas functionsimultaneously performs several measurementson a signal. Fingertip zoom allows users tosimply swipe a signal zoom area to quicklyview signal details. Tools are selected from aconfigurable toolbar. Rohde & Schwarz alsooffers a wide range of dedicated applicationsolutions for the R&S RTE, including triggerand decoder options for serial protocols, amixed-signal option with 16 additional digitalchannels and a power analysis option. A broadprobe portfolio rounds out the offering. AgilentTechnologies announced at embedded world

2014 a next-generation user interface for itsInfiniium real-time oscilloscopes. It is the firstoscilloscope user interface to take advantageof new display technologies and significantlyenhance the user experience by offering fasterdocumentation, personalized viewing and im-proved usability. Infiniium oscilloscopes withthe new user interface allow engineers to easilymanipulate their data across multiple monitorsand move windows, charts and measurementresults to where they want them on the screen.The new interface can be used on oscilloscopemainframes as well as offline on a PC with Ag-ilent N8900AInfiniium offline analysis software.Infiniium offline software resolves the oscillo-scope-processing bottleneck by allowing engi-neers to view, analyze, share and documenttheir results somewhere other than where theyperform the tests, or at a different time. To en-able engineers to create better documentationfaster, the new user interface displays book-marks and composite files - documentationfeatures previously unavailable in oscilloscopeuser interfaces. Because Infiniium offline soft-ware makes it possible to run the new user in-terface on a PC, engineers can more easilyshare information with design partners, ven-dors and customers using USB flash drives,email or Web conferencing.

Figure 4. The new interface can be used onoscilloscope mainframes as well as offline on aPC with Agilent N8900AInfiniium offlineanalysis software.


http://www.advantech.eu

April 2014 14


The Infiniium user interface delivers a numberof industry-firsts. First to offer separate dockablewindows for time, frequency and protocol meas-urements for user-customizable views. First tosave composite files to enable file sharing acrossmultinational companies. First to migrate afull-featured real-time oscilloscope user interfaceto the PC for rapid navigation and powerfulviewing/analysis. First to offer smart markersthat dynamically update delta values coupledwith annotated axis values for faster debugging.It is first user interface to offer transportableand server-based licensing to facilitate sharing.(Not only can users share data, they can alsolend application licenses.)

In addition, the N8900 Infiniium offline analysisapplication is the first PC-based application tosupport protocol decode for I²C; SPI; RS-232;RS-422; RS-485; UART; JTAG; CAN; CAN sym-bolic; LIN; FlexRay; USB; PCIe(r) gen 1, 2 and3; MIPI D-PHY and M-PHY; DigRF; 8B/10B;SATA/SAS; HDMI; DDR1, 2, 3 and 4; LPDDR1, 2 and 3; and 64B/66B Ethernet for faster de-bugging of designs that include serial buses.Wind River announced at embedded world2014 that it has reinvented its real-time oper-ating system (RTOS) to address the new marketopportunities created by the Internet of Things(IoT). The latest release, VxWorks 7, willfurther reinforce its leadership in traditionalmarkets such as aerospace, defense, medical,and industrial, and also enable the company

to extend its reach into emerging applicationsenabled by IoT. Recognized as the industry-leading RTOS, VxWorks has been re-architectedwith a highly modular approach leading tothe separation of the VxWorks core operatingsystem from packages such as the file systemor networking stack. As a result, individual ap-plications can now be updated at any timewithout requiring a rework or retest of the en-tire system, increasing scalability and the abilityto quickly adjust to market changes.

The latest release of VxWorks includes the fol-lowing new features and enhancements. Thenew modular approach allows customers toapply targeted, efficient upgrades to packagesand protocols without changing the systemcore which minimizes testing and recertificationefforts and allows customers to maintain theirsystems on the cutting edge of technology.The comprehensive set of built-in security fea-tures includes secure data storage, tamper-proof design, secure upgrade, root of trust,and user and policy management. Enhancedfunctionality was added to address the increas-ing need for safety applications in medical, in-dustrial, transportation, aerospace and defense.A combination of the microkernel and thestandard kernel, built on the same VxWorksplatform, allows customers to reduce develop-ment and maintenance costs by leveragingone RTOS foundation across different classesof connected devices, from small-footprintconsumer wearables to large networking equip-ment and everything in between. Support isprovided for a broad range of industry-leadingstandards and protocols such as USB, CAN,Bluetooth, FireWire, and Continua, as well asout-of-the-box, high-performance networkingcapabilities. The graphics ready platform in-cludes a new highly efficient stack based onthe published OpenVG API, hardware-assistedgraphics drivers and the Tilcon graphics designer tool.

Kontron introduced its ultra low-powerSMARC Computer-on-Modules with IntelAtom processor E3800 series. The SMARC-sXBTi Computer-on-Modules offer excellentgraphics, high processor performance and x86compatibility on the smallest SMARC footprint,combined with very low power consumption(5 to 10 watts). Both the flat profile of themodule and its mobile feature set are tailoredfor smallest portable handheld devices. Themodules can, however, be deployed in any ap-plication where power consumption has to bekept at just a few watts but high-level comput-ing and graphics performance are required.The SMARC-sXBTi Computer-on-Moduleshave been developed to comply with the SGETspecification and are equipped with Intel Atomprocessor E3800 series and up to 8 GB RAM,optional with ECC. They support the extended

temperature range of -40 to +85°C, measureonly 82 x 50mm and have an especially low-profile design thanks to the use of edge cardconnectors. Nevertheless, there is still enoughspace for up a 64GB on-board SSD to storeOS and application data. A highlight of thepin-out is the mobile feature set with 3 UARTswith complete function range also for, e.g.,GPS as well as support of the MIPI-compliantserial camera interface. The powerful IntelGen 7 Graphics are carried out via HDMI 1.4and LVDS (optional eDP) with up to2560x1600 and 60 Hz to the display. Furtherinterfaces include 1x GbE LAN via Intel Ether-net Controller I210, 1x USB 3.0 and 2x USB2.0, amongst others. Customer-specific exten-sions can be implemented via 2 SDIO and 3PCIe x1 lanes with 5GT/s.

Congatec is now using the new Yocto projectBSP for more stability for a large variety ofcustomer requirements. The Yocto project waslaunched at the end of 2010 by merging theCE Linux Forum with the Linux Foundation.Yocto project supports ARM, Intel, MIPS andpower architecture platforms on the hardwareside. Many drafts, templates, tools and methodsthat may be used with the Linux-based systemare available for the developer, regardless ofthe hardware architecture.

Congatec provides its BSP based on version1.5.1 (Dora), so users may create their ownYocto project according to the specific applica-tion involved. From now on, the Yocto projectBSP is available for the conga-QMX6 module.The Computer-On-Module (COM) isequipped with the Freescale i.MX6 ARM CortexA9 processor family, scalable from 1 to 4 ARMcores. With its modern 3D-compatible highend HD graphic interface, it is particularlysuitable for demanding multimedia applica-tions. Primary target markets are manufacturersof mobile and ultra mobile industrial devices,as well as users in the fields of medical, auto-motive and industrial automation technologies.Equipped with an Intel Core i7 processor, theCB70C COM module from MEN offers highcomputing performance on a small form factor

Figure 6. The CB70C COM module offershigh computing performance on a small formfactor board and is based on the new RuggedCOM Express standard.

Figure 7. The TQMa6x module is optimizedfor accelerated video-, graphics- and multi-media applications.

Figure 5. SMARC modules with Intel Atomprocessor E3800 series facilitate mini-com-puters with extremely low-profile and highgraphics performance.


board. Based on the new Rugged COM Expressstandard, it is also well suited for use in mis-sion-critical applications. Rugged COM Expressor VITA 59 is a new standard which is basedon the proven PICMG COM Express standard.Due to mechanical modifications, the modulesare now also able to meet the high requirementsof critical markets regarding temperature,shock and vibration, EMC compatibility andresistance against dust and humidity. The IntelCore i7 processor family with a core frequencyof up to 2.1 GHz and a Turbo Boost frequencyof 3.1 GHz makes it possible to choose between1, 2 or 4 processor cores. As many as 16 GBDDR3 DRAM are soldered to the board. Inaddition, Intel AMT, Open CL 1.1 and high-end graphics are supported. The adaptableBIOS with integrated Intel AMT support canbe flexibly adapted to the final applicationwithout additional costs. The Board Manage-ment Controller supervises the board functionsand temperatures. I/O interfaces of the CB70Cinclude PCI Express, LVDS, DDI, VGA, HDAudio,SATA, Ethernet and USB.

As the CB70C is embedded in an aluminiumframe for conduction cooling specified accord-ing to the VITA 59 standard, it can be used inthe extended temperature range of -40 to+85°C. Due to the soldered components andthe compact frame, the module is also protectedagainst shock and vibration and is EMC proof.The dimensions of the CB70C Rugged COMExpress module are a bit larger than those of astandard COM Express Basic module withpin-out type 6, as it is equipped with additionalsmall wings on the sides to ensure thermalconnection to the aluminium frame in whichit is embedded. The new module is also avail-able without these wings as a standard COMExpress module according to PICMG COM.0and then named CB70.

At embedded world, TQ-Systems demonstratedthe TQMa6x module for accelerated video-,graphics- and multimedia applications. For thefirst time, TQ will run a demo in which two dis-plays are used simultaneously. Different demon-strations will be shown on the displays. An op-erator interface based on QT that can be operatedthrough a Projected Capacitive Touch (PCT)screen will be shown on the 7“ display. A 3Ddemo will be run on the second display – a 10.4“display likewise with PCT – in order to demon-strate the capability of the CPU with the inte-grated GPUs and VPUs. The software developedtogether with Pengutronix offers a basis for ap-plications in which several displays with touchsupport are used. Even though this will entail acertain degree of adaptation work to customerprojects, this in itself provides a good basis forinnovative operating concepts with or withoutanimation. The Pengutronix kernel team suppliesa preview of the media drivers, currently running

through the quality process of the main lineKernel. GPU accelerated Qt 5.2 software stackscan be provided on demand. All externallyusable signals of the CPU are available on theTQMa6x module on three industry-compatiblepin strips (2 x 160 + 1x 40 pins) on a 0.8 mmgrid that have proven their worth at TQ for over 15 years.

Thanks to the high degree of interface integra-tion this module is suited for a variety of ap-plications where the advantages of virtualiza-tion play an important role. The ARM Cortex-A9 core, scalable in terms of performance andthe clock rate of up to 4 x 1.2 GHz ensures

that the optimal performance can be selectedfor every application. The TQ MinimoduleTQMa6x is equipped with up to 2 GByteDDR3L RAM, up to 128 MByte SPI NORflash and up to 16 GB eMMC flash for programand data. The design is enhanced by an EEP-ROM, an RTC and a real-time clock backedby battery from the main board. Whether foroperating with several displays or for applica-tions where scalable processor performance isrequired, the embedded module TQMa6x withits long-term availability and characteristicstogether with the existing software support bythe PikeOS provides a solid basis for future-oriented development. n

15 April 2014



http://www.ecrin.com

n In the last few years, the control over elec-tronic medical devices has exploded. FromGMP Annex 11, which calls for as much ascode review of a microcontroller when thecode is proprietary, all the way to the third edi-tion of EN60601-1 – a safety standard for med-ical devices and systems which governs theway that medical devices must be electricallyprotected. Much focus has been given to Annex11 and the computerized aspect of an embeddedsystem. Standards raise expectations of creatinguniform rules and transparency within theirscope of application, and in view of this global-ized world, it would not have been amiss to ex-pect the same from the third edition of theEN60601-1 standard. Even after years of prepa-ration, astonishing differences still exist thirty-five years after IEC/UL 60601 was first published.

While the USA gave itself an additional yearof grace, enforcing the new UL60601-1 onJuly 1, 2013, Europe spared no time and re-placed the outdated second version from 1995with the third version on July 1, 2012. Furthercomplicating the transition, the new standardapplies to all devices launched onto the Euro-pean market, even new products with old de-signs, while the same standard in the USA wasonly applied to newly developed products. TheCanadians took the middle road with theCAN/CSA standard by enforcing the standardon the same date as in Europe, but applying it

only to newly developed products like in theUSA. Medical devices often have product life-times of five to ten years, so this constituted acostly drawback for European manufacturers –not only because they had to retrofit new com-ponents to old designs, but also due to thehigh additional costs of certifying their newproducts. This grey zone, which will last years,is a heavy burden particularly on small compa-nies now faced with the decision to take currentproducts from the market prematurely whiletheir competitors from the USA are allowed tocontinue selling their old products.

The situation is even less clear for devices thatfall under the EN/UL 60601-1 2nd editionstandard. The third edition is only mandatoryfor these products once the second edition nolonger holds sway for 60601-1 2nd editionproducts – which may indeed come later. Somecountries will not or at least have not yet en-forced the third edition, and their products arestill certified according to the second edition.

Medical engineering products will literally besubject to double standards for years to come.

Virtually nothing has changed in technicalspecifications for insulation while risk man-agement has gained focus as a major area ofinnovation. Similar to Annex 11, in the 60601-1 3rd edition, medical device manufacturerswill be required to document their risk man-agement process as based on the ISO 14971model. Specific processes will have to be ob-served and documented, alongside compliancewith fundamental technical standards. In pre-vious versions of 60601-1, devices were allowedto break during testing as long as this did notpose a risk to patient or operator health, butthe third edition requires that the system keepsits essential functionality. This has to be docu-mented in a risk management file or RMF,which will also require far more contact be-tween the manufacturer and testing authoritythroughout the development process – espe-cially as results from the testing process have

EN60601-1 third edition: a standard with many faces

POWER MODULES

By Matthew Dauterive, Recom

This article takes a look at the third edition of

EN60601-1 governing howthe peripherals of a medicalembedded system must beconnected. It sheds light on

the differences from the previous version and describesexactly how power module

manufacturers haveaddressed the discrepancies.

April 2014 16

Figure 1. Block dia-gram of a medicaldevice for directpatient contact witha reinforced isolatedDC/DC converteras the second isola-tion barrier.


to be included in the RMF document. Deviceswith patient contact (MOPP, means of patientprotection) require two isolation barriers forelectrical safety, an important requirement inpower modules. The first barrier on the supplyside has so far been implemented in a medicalPSU, while reinforced isolated DC/DC convertersprovide the second isolation barrier betweenthe medical electronics and diagnostics tools,such as endoscopes and ECG electrodes, todouble the safety.

One new feature of the third edition is that itseparates off operator protection; in theory, clear-ance and creepage distances as defined inEN60950-1 for electronic equipment are enoughfor devices without patient contact intended forprotecting operating staff (MOOP). You mightinterpret this as a relief, but the requirement forvery low operating current also needs to be ob-served according to EN60601, so manufacturerswould be well-advised to limit their possibilitiesand use medically isolated converter modules inMOOP devices as well.

As a leading DC/DC converter manufacturer,Recom supply a broad range of medical convertermodules certified according to the third editionwith double MOPP for direct patient contactsuch as our RxxP, RxxP2, RV, REC3.5 and REC6(1, 2, 3.5 and 6 watt) lines. Transformer clearanceand creepage distances in these reinforced isolatedconverters have to be three times the size asthose used in industrial settings. So far, this hasbeen implemented with primary and secondarywindings on opposite sides of a toroidal coreseparated by a partition wall in the middle. Thatdeals with the isolation issue, but the magneticfields would not be able to overlap due to thespatial separation between the two windings.

An unpleasant side-effect would be a decreasein efficiency in the two transformers resultingin increased heat losses. Recom engineers havedeveloped a small transformer with primaryand secondary windings interlocked in such away as to ensure virtually optimal overlappingmagnetic fields despite the creepage and clearancedistances required for reinforced isolation. Thenew converters achieve fifteen to twenty percentmore output in the same casing due to quasi-resonant circuit topology, and are also approvedfor ambient temperatures of up to 85°C – around15°C more than most transformers with con-ventional toroidal-core transformers – due tothe low heat loss. Depending on type, we wereable to reduce isolation capacitance to valuesdown to 1.5pF, ensuring lower leakage currentas required in medical electronics.

A complete generation of highly isolated con-verters for medical applications has emergedfrom this new transformer design, such as inprogramming devices for pacemakers, blood gasanalysers and oxi-meters. The RxxP and RxxP2series cover the 1W and 2W classes and are avail-able in SIP7 casings. The 2W version is availableas an RV series in DIP24 casings for pin compat-ibility with legacy designs. The REC3.5 and REC6series both provide 3.5W and 6W, respectively,and also come in a DIP24 casing. The modelsquoted are available with isolation voltages up to8kV DC and 10kV DC.

Apart from the reinforced isolated convertersmentioned, there are many other product lines inthe product range approved for medical applica-tions without patient contact (MOOP) – regulatedand unregulated SMD converters with power rat-ings from 0.25W to 2W (RxS family) as well as awide variety of different converters up to 6W. n

17 April 2014

POWER MODULES

Figure 2. Visual comparison between a reinforced isolated REC3.5 (right) and a single isolationREC3 that is unsuitable for applications with patient contact (left).


http://www.rtos.com

n Continuously increasing technical capabili-ties, such as extremely high precision and testspeed, are in the foreground with conventionallarge-scale medical systems. However, at thesame time, many manufacturers have recog-nized the need for portable and/or battery-operated devices for clinics and for the massmarket. Examples of this include compactlaboratory and measurement devices, imagingsystems and handheld devices for patientmonitoring. The driving force comes fromthe end-users and goes in the direction of lowcosts, high level of comfort as well as simpleand rapid results.

User-friendly operation of the medical devicesis also an essential factor so that all patientscan carry out the doctor-prescribed tests them-selves at home without technical know-how.An important design goal for portable systemsis, for example, to avoid calibration by the user.Prerequisites for achieving this are improvedand simplified diagnostic methods, as well asinnovative electronics technologies such ashigh-performance processors and easy to usedisplays. In the United States, all medical devicesmust therefore meet the Clinical LaboratoryImprovement Amendments (CLIA) standards.

The development of medical devices can besignificantly optimized through the use ofstandardized computer-on-modules (COMs),

which are available in different versions withscalable processor performance and a selectionof interfaces. The instantly ready for useCOMs integrate the most modern standardPC functionality and are easily mounted via aproven standard connector on a baseboard.All the device manufacturer needs to do nowis implement the interface connection on thiscarrier board as well as the software, accordingto the specific application.

Most of the embedded modules offered meetform factor and performance parameters de-fined in internationally recognized standards.Today, besides the older ETX standard, espe-cially the COM Express and Qseven form fac-tors are widely used. COM Express primarilyaddresses the high-end market with powerfulmodules that, for example, integrate an IntelCore processor of the 4th or 3rd generationwith up to four cores. With the change fromtype 2 pin-out to type 6 pin-out, up to threedigital display iInterfaces (DDI) and fast USB3.0 are supported. However, the power dissi-pation of many of these COMs is often toohigh for passively cooled embedded systems.

The current Qseven Specification, which spec-ifies modules in the compact form factor of70mm x 70mm, supports both x86 andARM/RISC architectures. A number of em-bedded applications for a wide range of mar-

kets, especially mobile and battery-operatedsystems, can thus be realized. The Qsevenmodules are designed for a maximum thermaldesign power (TDP) of approximately 12W.Therefore, in particular, low-power ARM andIntel Atom processors are used here, which ofcourse are limited in their performance data.

MSC Technologies module families with thenew Intel Atom processor E3800 (formerlycodenamed Bay Trail) now fill the gap betweenhigh-end COM Express modules with IntelCore processor and the earlier Intel Atom-based Qseven modules at the lower entry-level. The processor modules optimized forperformance per watt are available in bothform factors, and are designed for interestingapplications in future markets includingportable, battery-operated systems.

In comparison with the previous generationof Intel Atom processors, the Intel Atomprocessor E3800 product family offers a rangeof important features that are required asstandard today. Besides an enhanced microar-chitecture and the introduction of out-of-order execution, in particular, a more powerfulgraphics was integrated. The Intel Gen7 graph-ics has a high-resolution 3D functionality aswell as hardware coding and decoding of HDvideos. DirectX 1.1, OpenCL 1.1 and OpenGL3.2 are supported. In addition to single- and

Power-optimized Computer-on-Modulesensure short design times

COMPUTER-ON-MODULES

By Peter Eckelmann, MSC

The Q7-BT compact Qsevenmodule family from MSC withthe latest Intel Atom proces-sor E3800 offers high per-formance with low powerconsumption, and is thus

well-suited for portable, bat-tery-operated systems. Theerror correcting code (ECC)ensures high data integrity,

reliability and system availabil-ity, enabling medical deviceswith special safety require-

ments to be realized.

Figure 1. The new MSC Q7-BT Qseven 2.0 module familyis based on the new Intel Atomprocessor E3800 product tech-nology (formerly codenamedBay Trail).

April 2014 18


19 April 2014

COMPUTER-ON-MODULES

dual-core Intel Atom CPUs, for the first timeprocessors with quad core on an x86-basedQseven platform are now also available. Theimplemented Turbo Boost technology enablesindividual processor cores and the graphicsto run faster, which considerably increasesthe peak performance. According to Intel,the computational performance of the newIntel Atom processor E3800 product familyis three times higher than the predecessorfamily. With Intel Advanced Encryption Stan-dard New Instructions (Intel AES-NI), forthe first time the Atom processors offer effec-tive data encryption. The sophisticated powermanagement ensures low current consump-tion with comparatively high computationalperformance.

The new MSC Q7-BT Qseven 2.0 modulefamily is based on the new Intel Atom proces-sor E3800 product technology and is offeredin five variants today (table 1). The mostpowerful board integrates the Intel Atom-processor E3845 with four CPU cores. Themodules with dual-core Intel Atom processorsE3827, E3826 and E3825 are pin and software

compatible. For less demanding applications,the module based on the E3815 Intel Atomprocessor with one core is available. The MSCQT-BT Qseven modules are available for boththe commercial and industrial temperaturerange.

MSC integrates into the MSC Q7-BT Qsevenmodules up to 4GB DDR3 DRAM and imple-ments an optional error correcting code (ECC)that delivers a high level of data integrity, reli-ability, and system uptime which is ideal formany intelligent systems with demanding highsecurity levels. All data read from the memoryare checked. The check algorithm is so power-ful that it is possible to determine where theerror occurred. Single-bit errors can not onlybe identified, but even corrected. Doubleerrors can at least be identified. Innovativemedical systems with particularly high safetyrequirements can thus be realized. The highreliability of the board is augmented by theintegrated Intel VTx virtualization technologyand built-in security engine.

The new Qseven module family offers abroad range of modern interfaces like USB3.0 Host and optional USB 3.0 Device, 3 xPCIe x1 Gen. 2.0, Gbit Ethernet, audio, LPC,I2C, SMBus, SPI Bus and SATA-300. DDIDisplay Interface for HDMI, DisplayPort(DP) and embedded DisplayPort (eDP) and18/24 bit dual-channel LVDS are available.Optionally, up to 64GB SATA SSD and addi-tional up to 64GB eMMC Flash Disk can beassembled. MSC Technologies offers adequatebaseboards and starter kits. The MSC Q7-BT platform integrates TCG (Trusted Com-puting Group) hardware-based security func-tionality TPM 1.2 (Trusted Platform Module)from Infineon. n

GbitLAN

I2S Audio

Ethernet 10/100/1000

3x PCI Express x1

Qse

ven™

2.0

Con

nect

or (M

XM-230)

Intel®Atom™E38xx

Solo/Dual/QuadSOC

DDI (DP++)

SATA

3x USB 2.0 host

I2C, SMBus, SPI

opt. ECC

1x USB 3.0 host

LVDS 2x 18/24

1x PCIe x1

eDP/LVDSDDR3

DRAM

SD / MMC

SSD

1x USB 2.0 host or device

SATAoption

UART

TPM

eMMCoption

1x USB 3.0 device or 2x USB 2.0 host

Figure 2. Block diagram of the MSC Q7-BT Qseven module

Intel Atom cores clock TDPprocessor frequency

E3845 four 1.91GHz 10W

E3827 two 1.75GHz 8W



E3815 one 1.46GHz 5W

Table 1. The MSC Q7-BT Qseven 2.0 modulefamily is offered in five variants.


http://www.cesys.com

n B&S / ECE Magazine: The market for em-bedded systems is gigantic and it continues togrow. Which developments can we expect inthis area?

Scott Aylor: “The embedded market consistsof various segments and forms the fundamentalbasis for the surround computing era. The seg-ment of intelligent embedded systems (thoseequipped with high-performance microproces-sors, IP connectivity and high-level operatingsystems) is poised to experience extremely fastgrowth. I believe that it will soon become themost important segment within the embeddedindustry. According to a recent study by marketresearcher VDC (VDC Research - Strategic In-sights 2012: Embedded Processing Technolo-gies) the market for CPUs for traditional andintelligent embedded systems will grow by 36percent, from around 330 million units in 2013to more than 450 million units in 2016. Deviceswith x86 and ARM architectures will accountfor 82 percent of the total addressable market.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: How well is AMD pre-pared for this market growth?

Scott Aylor: “We are very well prepared. AMDoffers developers in the embedded communitythe solutions they need to be successful in thisrapidly expanding and transforming market.We know what the market demands are andknow how we have to react. This is bestreflected in our embedded roadmap for this

year. We’ve set a strong roadmap in motion;all developers need to do is jump on board.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: What specific require-ments do customers in this market have?

Scott Aylor: “Customer demands differ signifi-cantly depending on the market segment – fromlow-power to high-performance, from Linux toWindows and from x86 to ARM. With our up-coming lineup we are in a position to cover allthese needs. We are the first vendor to announceour ability to provide both ARM and x86 proces-sor solutions for low-power and high-perfor-mance embedded computing designs. Accordingto Jim McGregor, principal analyst with TIRIASResearch, ‘The unprecedented rise of intelligentconnected solutions over the next several yearswill require a myriad of ultra low-power toultra high-performance solutions connectingdevices to the cloud.’ We plan to lead the industryin offering a set of solutions that are flexible,scalable and innovative.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: How exactly does AMDplan to satisfy all these diverse demands?

Scott Aylor: “Our near-term roadmap includestwo leading x86 APUs (accelerated processingunits) and CPUs (central processing units), ahigh-performance ARM system-on-chip (SoC)and the next-generation discrete AMD Em-bedded Radeon GPUs (graphics processingunits). This range extension offers the embed-

ded developer community a much wider choiceand, in so doing, helps them meet design requirements in a more exact way.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: With a view to these up-coming developments, where do your productsoffer advantages over existing platforms in themarket?

Scott Aylor: “With our ARM and x86 architec-tures we can realize corporate visions of devel-oping an ambidextrous ecosystem. This widesolution range for embedded design developersis supported by our embedded longevity pro-gram for supply stability assurance to fit theirevery need.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: What specific technicalareas has AMD been focused on for the newproducts?

Scott Aylor: “The upcoming roadmap has beendesigned towards improving two ratios: per-formance-per-watt and performance-per-euro.Together with the recent launch of the prize-winning AMD Embedded G-Series SoC family,which sets a new benchmark in terms of per-formance-per-watt of low-power multi-coreAPUs, our latest additions to the roadmap forembedded products represent a further signif-icant strategic push for AMD in the high-growth embedded market.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: There has been muchspeculation about AMD’s upcoming embeddedARM products. Can you give us some moreinformation?

Scott Aylor: “We are building out plans tolaunch the Hierofalcon processor family, whichis based on ARM Cortex A57 architecture. Hi-erofalcon is a real milestone, as it will beAMD’s first 64-bit ARM-based embedded plat-form which serves datacenter, communicationsinfrastructure, and industrial applications.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: Can you divulge any fur-ther details?

Scott Aylor: “The Hierofalcon platform willintegrate up to eight ARM Cortex A57 CPUswith an expected clock rate of up to 2.0GHz

Interview about AMD's roadmap for the embedded market

MICROPROCESSORS

Scott Aylor, Vice President and GeneralManager of AMD Embedded Solutions

April 2014 20

The embedded computer marketis growing rapidly while at the

same time undergoing profoundchanges. AMD is responding tothese market needs with a dual

strategy for embedded customers:the company is offering the freedom to choose between

and/or combine ARM and x86processors. As a part of this dualstrategy, AMD has announcedplans to extend its already-

successful Embedded G-Series andR-Series SOC and APU productlines and to deliver the next-generation embedded AMD

Radeon GPU family.


21 April 2014

MICROPROCESSORS

and a high-performance memory with two 64-bit DDR3/4 channelswith error-correcting code for high-availability applications. Thehighly integrated system-on-chip further offers 10GB KR Ethernetand third-generation PCI Express for high-speed network connectivity,making it ideal for control-level applications. This extension to theembedded roadmap offers developers of high-performance embeddedsystems a solution which may have significant cost savings, both interms of power consumption as well as system costs.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: Security surely plays a major role here?

Scott Aylor: “Yes, of course. The need for networked, secure systemshas really come into the forefront. With ARM TrustZone technologysupport and a dedicated cryptographic coprocessor for security tasks,the Hierofalcon will have an extremely high level of security.”

B& S / ECE Magazine: By developing platforms based on ARM architecture, will AMD be neglecting the established x86 path?

Scott Aylor: “Certainly not. AMD continues to build on its legacy as aleading supplier of x86 solutions and we expect Bald Eagle, which isan x86-based, high-performance, next-generation embedded processor,to become available in the first half of this year. It will come as anAPU or CPU and have up to four new Steamroller CPU cores withup to a 35-watt TDP. The APUs will provide the new performance-optimized GPU architecture AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next andHSA extensions for high-performance embedded applications, resultingin a superior solution for next-generation digital signage and embeddeddigital gaming applications. In addition, the Bald Eagle familyfacilitates greater design flexibility for developers. To enable this, newpower management functions such as configurable TDP will be introduced.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: And what are the plans for the low-power segment?

Scott Aylor: “We will also launch Steppe Eagle, which covers this seg-ment, in the first half of this year. It will further extend the performanceand low-power range of the current, award-winning AMD EmbeddedG-Series SoC platform with an improved Jaguar CPU core architectureand an AMD Graphics Core Next GPU architecture with newfunctions for higher CPU and GPU frequencies. The Steppe EagleSoC was designed for low-power embedded applications and, incomparison to the current AMD Embedded G-Series SoC, offers,next to a high performance-per-watt, a low TDP and increased high-end performance above 2GHz. In addition, the Steppe Eagle SoCgives embedded development engineers the flexibility to leverage thecurrent AMD Embedded G-Series SoC board design and software

Figure 1. IDC forecast for the embedded market


http://www.rutronik.com

stack into numerous applications with foot-print-compatibility.

B&S / ECE Magazine: Tell us about the newAMD Embedded Radeon GPUs.

Scott Aylor: “Adelaar is an embedded GPUbased on AMD Graphics Core Next architecture,which was developed specifically for embeddedapplications. This stands out from other prod-ucts in the market thanks to its multi-chip

module (MCM) with prequalified and inte-grated 2GB graphic memory. The Adelaar GPUfamily offers excellent 3D graphics, multi-display support and DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 4.2support and supports both Windows and Linux.Adelaar comes with a planned long-term avail-ability of seven years as an MCM, a MobilePCI Express Module (MXM) and as a standardPC graphics card (part availability is plannedfor seven years from date of announcement,subject to change without notice. Further support is available under contract).”

B&S / ECE Magazine: What other differentia-tors for AMD can you talk about?

Scott Aylor: “More than anything, it is paramountto make sure our customers get the right end-to-end solution for the job. So, with its current andfuture products, AMD is actively supplying themarket for intelligent embedded devices with acomprehensive ecosystem of software and hard-ware partners, which support multiple operatingsystems, including both Windows and Linux.”

B&S / ECE Magazine: What are your expecta-tions for 2014?

Scott Aylor:“I think, with all these new productsin the pipeline, that 2014 will be an extremelyexciting year, both for our customers and forour company. The new products will target awide range of different industries and enableour customers to develop really innovative so-lutions. We will especially be targeting the in-dustries of industrial control and automation,thin clients, medical imaging, digital signage,digital gaming and digital surveillance systems.We also look forward to seeing new applicationsin the military, aerospace and communicationsinfrastructure industries. We are definitely ex-cited to show the industry our commitment tothe embedded market and we are looking for-ward to seeing the applications that our customers develop with these products.” n

April 2014 22

MICROPROCESSORS

Figure 3. A first look at the Adelaar the first discrete AMD Embedded Radeon GPU for embeddedsystems, which is based on the AMD Graphics Core Next architecture especially developed forembedded systems.

Figure 2. AMD product roadmap for the embedded market


http://www.embedded-control-europe.com/magazine

n Mouser: get creative with EmbeddedArtists LPC800/LPC812 MAX prototypingboard

Mouser Electronics is now stocking theLPC800/LPC812 MAX ARM Cortex M0+ rapidprototyping board from Embedded Artists,combining the best development features ofLPCXpresso, mbed, and Arduino. TheLPC/LPC812 MAX rapid prototyping boardis based on the NXP Semiconductor 12MHzLPC812, a member of NXP’s LPC800 series ofmicrocontrollers (MCUs).

News ID 1275

n Toshiba: low power consumption Bluetooth ICs for smart devices

Toshiba Electronics Europe has launched alow power consumption Bluetooth IC thatsupports Bluetooth Low Energy communi-cations. The new IC, TC35667FTG, will findapplication in various wearable and health-care-orientated smart devices, sensors, aswell as smartphone accessories, remote con-trollers and toys. The new IC adopts an orig-inal low-power circuit design and integratesa highly efficient DC-DC converter, reducingpeak current consumption to below 6mAand deep sleep current consumption to below100nA.

News ID 1241

n TI: InstaSPIN-FOC motor control technology with key updatesTexas Instruments celebrates the one-yearbirthday of the TI InstaSPIN-FOC motor con-trol technology, along with announcing someexciting new updates and a special birthdayC2000 InstaSPIN-enabled tool offer. The In-staSPIN-FOC motor technology has enabledmotor control system designers to identify,tune and fully control (through variable speedsand loads) any type of three-phase - synchro-nous or asynchronous motor - in just minutes.

News ID 1308

n Sierra Wireless completes acquisition ofIn Motion Technology

Sierra Wireless has completed the acquisitionof In Motion Technology (“In Motion”). InMotion is a leader in mobile enterprise so-lutions, providing rugged in-vehicle mobilerouters tightly integrated with an advancedmobile-optimized security system and apowerful management and application plat-tform. The complete solution enables or-ganizations to connect and manage mobileoperations, vehicles, and workforces moreefficiently, reliably and securely.

News ID 1309

n Arrow Electronics signs EMEA distribution agreement with Variscite

Arrow Electronics has signed a distributionagreement with Variscite, a leading manufac-

turer of embedded solutions and system-on-modules. Under the agreement, Arrow willdistribute all products offered by Variscite inthe EMEA region.

News ID 1314

n Silicon Labs expands Ember Zigbee portfolio for IoT

Silicon Labs announces a major expansion toits ARM-based Ember ZigBee system-on-chipportfolio delivering unmatched wireless per-formance, energy efficiency and reliability forthe Internet of Things. Silicon Labs’ newEM358x SoC family provides additional flashand RAM memory options to meet the needsof larger, more complex smart energy andhome automation designs.

News ID 1217

n Renesas: inverter kits ease integration of3-phase motors in equipment

Renesas Electronics Europe announced twomotor control reference platforms designedto drive any 3-phase permanent magnet syn-chronous motors (PMSM), also called Brush-less AC motors. They enable engineers toreduce or even eliminate the time they wouldnormally take to calculate motor parametersand evaluate the best tuning algorithm coeffi-cients. As a result, they can rotate a permanentmagnet AC motor in less than one minute.

The two new inverter kits revolutionise theintegration of 3-phase motors in equipment.Both are based on Renesas’ 32-bit RX familyof MCUs, with one kit on RX220 offering50DMIPS and the other on RX62T offering165DMIPS. The RX220 inverter kit is designedfor equipment requiring medium dynamicsand a low-cost bill of material. The RX62Tmicrocontroller integrates six operational amplifiers, six comparators, a floating pointunit and two timer units to drive two 3-phasemotors simultaneously. This kit provides thedynamics required to drive motors with ahigh level of accuracy.

News ID 1219

n Freescale: Kinetis KL03 MCU in 1.6 x 2.0mm² package

Freescale Semiconductor announces a break-through addition to its Kinetis mini portfoliowith the introduction of the Kinetis KL03MCU, the world’s smallest and most energyefficient 32-bit MCU based on ARM technol-ogy. The Kinetis KL03 MCU builds on theprevious generation Kinetis KL02 device withnew features, advanced integration, and greaterease-of-use – all in an even smaller 1.6 x2.0mm2 package. The new capabilities of theKinetis KL03 device help customers to achievelower power in a smaller form factor, savingon product design time and cost.

News ID 1229

23 April 2014

PRODUCT NEWS


http://www.artila.com

http://www.embedded-control-europe.com/magazine?newsID=1275








n When technical equipment fails, more oftenthan not finding the root cause of the problemconsumes significantly more time than actuallyfixing it. In highly sophisticated factory au-tomation environments where capital intensiveequipment is in operation, or where time-cou-pled chemical processes are at work, line-downs can have substantial implications onthe commercial viability of the enterprise.Therefore, the days of machinery providingno diagnostic feedback are becoming obsolete.Solutions that can provide intelligent diagnosticfeedback as the system is beginning to fail(preventive maintenance), or when a hard failure has occurred (repair), are key to reducingexpensive unscheduled down-times.

The ISO2H823V is an 8-channel high-sidedriver IC that features integrated 2.5kVrmsgalvanic isolation, which exceeds the IEC 61131-2requirements for reinforced isolation. Concur-rently, it sets a new standard for system-leveldiagnostics. Each of the 8 channels is equippedwith five-fold diagnostic monitoring capabili-ties: open load active, open load inactive, short-to-Vbb, overcurrent and overtemperature. Additionally five types of diagnostic feedbackon the IC-level are provided. This is all inte-grated into a small 12 x 12 mm VQFN package.In the industrial control system, thanks to theintegrated galvanic isolation, the device is positioned between the 3.3V microcontroller

domain (control side) and the 24V factoryfloor domain (process side). The most frequentfailure mechanisms on the application levelinclude overload of the driver outputs or actu-ally having no load (open load) connected tothe driver outputs. Another severe deficiencyis lack of or insufficient supply of the 24Vbbon the factory side of the system. TheISO2H823V can detect either of these problemsand many more. This capability is highly valu-able for OEMs to prompt preventive mainte-nance, and in case of malfunctions to drasticallyreduce the time required for repair. The greatbenefit for the system designer rests on thefact that many powerful diagnostic capabilitiesare available in the single IC. This eliminatesthe need to develop complex and potentiallycumbersome circuit layouts based on multiplediscrete components, to be able to perform di-agnostic monitoring. In consequence, systemdesign efforts, risks and time are reduced sub-stantially, PCB area can be kept small, and thereliability of the solution is not compromised.As already mentioned there are five types ofdiagnostics for each individual channel.

Overload [OCL]: Wear-out of machinery maylead to an output overload. In its extremeform there is actually a short circuit to GNDcaused by erroneous wiring, or a short circuitduring operation, or a natural disaster whichleaves the equipment flooded, i.e. it is literally

under water. The device can detect such cases.When a channel switch is on, that channeloutput current is monitored. If the outputcurrent exceeds the threshold to activate thecurrent limitation, typically set at 1A, thenovercurrent limitation (OCL) is flagged to themicrocontroller. Unlike other products, theISO2H823V provides not only overload feed-back, but it also informs the system controllerwhich channel is subjected to the overload.This information can be instrumental in iden-tifying the root cause, which is critical togetting the system back on line within theshortest time possible.

Open load [OLA]: Mechanical strain, e.g. vi-bration or excessive bend stress of a cable, aswell as corrosion can lead to the wiring betweenthe IC switching output and the load becominghigh-ohmic or even disconnected (wire-break).The power management device can detectsuch circumstances. The IC performs outputcurrent monitoring, and not only for the pur-pose of limiting the maximum output current.The same capability is used to detect no-loadsituations. An open load active (OLA) feedbackis provided if an output is turned on and theoutput current of an individual channel is lessthan 0.5mA to 3mA. The system hardware de-sign has the freedom to set the triggeringthreshold level within this range. No otherdriver product designed for the industrial con-

Intelligent diagnostics maximize factory-floor up-times

POWER MANAGEMENT

By Hubert Baierl, Infineon Technologies

This article introduces the ISO2H823V, a powermanagement integrated

circuit with built-in intelligentdiagnostic functions designed

for a wide range of industrial control applications,

including programmable logic controllers (PLCs),

distributed control systems,robotics and many more.

April 2014 24

Figure1. The ISO2H823V is a power management integrated circuit setting anew standard for system-level diagnostics in a tiny 12 x 12 mm VQFN package


trol market provides integrated open-load de-tection that is specific to any of the individualchannels. As with the overload detection, thisgreatly helps OEMs to reduce the time to iden-tify the root cause of such a failure.

Open load when driver is still off [OLI]: Evenbefore the switch is turned on, an open load(wire-break) can be detected. This is possiblebecause in addition to monitoring the outputcurrent, the voltage at the output of the IC isalso being monitored. In case of the outputbeing in off-state a small trickle current of 25µAis passed through the load. For loads with anohmic resistance of less than 12kohm, if theoutput is disconnected from the load, the outputwill float at a voltage higher than 2V which inturn triggers the OLI diagnostic feedback.

Short to Vbb while the output is off [SCV]:The switch output could erroneously be con-nected to Vbb. Root causes may include wiringerror, a short circuit during operation, or a

natural disaster which leaves the equipmentflooded. This condition can also be detectedby the IC.

Overtemperature at an output [OTA]: Excessiveheavy duty operation of outputs may be an in-dication of gradual degradation of the ma-chinery on the factory floor. For this reasoneach of the output channels is equipped withan individual temperature sensor. When theoutput driver temperature reaches 150°C therespective output channel is automaticallyturned off to avoid material damage to the IC.

Five types of diagnostics are available on theIC level.

Vbb monitoring [UV, MV, W4P]: Of all of theIC-level diagnostics, Vbb-monitoring is prob-ably the most important one. Vbb-monitoringchecks the voltage level on the driver outputside. The possible reasons for this voltagefailing and falling below the normal operation

level could be that the power supply is not ad-equately designed for the loads, or the powersupply is simply beginning to fail. It is alsoconceivable that the electrical connection be-tween the power supply and the switching ICis gradually increasing its ohmic resistance, i.e.corrosion may be at work. In a large numberof applications the nominal supply voltage(Vbb) on the factory side is 24V +/-20%. How-ever, if that voltage drops to a level as low as 9V,the outputs are turned off while it is stillpossible to do so. This is not done without apre-warning. As a matter of fact, there are twointermittent stages: if the supply voltage dropsbelow 16V then an under-voltage warning[UV] is issued. At that voltage the performancelevel of outputs of the IC is not yet compro-mised. The UV feedback provides a pre-warning.If the supply voltage drops further, i.e. to alevel of 13V and below, then a missing voltagewarning [MV] is sent. At this supply voltagelevel, the IC outputs are still working. Howeverone may be well advised to perform a controlledsystem shut-down while it is still possible. Onlyif the supply voltage drops to 9V or less are alloutputs automatically turned off and a wait-for-power [W4P] feedback triggered. In thiscase the supply voltage has dropped to a leveltoo low for proper operation.

There are four additional IC-level feedbacksavailable.

Overtemperature on IC-level [OTP]: In additionto the temperature monitoring of each of theeight output channels, the IC has a ninth tem-perature sensor. This additional sensor providesovertemperature protection on IC-level. Thethreshold is set to 125°C in order to remainbelow the glazing temperature of standard FR4PCB materials. When this threshold is exceededall outputs are automatically shut off (OTP).

POWER MANAGEMENT

Figure 2. Many integrated diagnostic capabilities are available in the single IC. This eliminatesthe need to develop complex and space consuming circuit layouts based on multiple discrete components


http://www.lauterbach.com/1659

Incandescent lamp [LAMP]: While theISO2H823V delivers compelling benefits over pre-vious generation solutions, it must also be able toretrofit with factory automation systems whichare not yet at the end of their operational life. Thedetection of the presence of an incandescent lamp

(used for signaling purposes on the factory floor)is a requirement for many such legacy systems.The LAMP feedback permits the system controllerto distinguish between the turning-on of a coldincandescent bulb and short circuits. Integrity ofthe communication across the integrated galvanic

isolation [TE]: To attain uncompromised ro-bustness against electro-magnetic interference,communication across the integrated galvanicisolation is safeguarded by multiple proprietarymeasures. In the unlikely event of disturbance ofthat communication its occurrence would beflagged to the microcontroller by way of settingthe transmit error (TE) flag. If this error were tooccur repetitively then it would indicate a sub-stantial problem present on PCB-level.

Being sure all outputs are in fact off [ALLOFF]:To verify system status, but also for safety rea-sons, it can be of importance to be sure thatall outputs are in fact off. The IC providessuch explicit ALLOFF feedback when all out-puts are indeed off.

With this list of ten different types of diagnosticfeedbacks, the ISO2H823V clearly sets a newstandard in diagnostics for industrial controlapplications. The channel-specific diagnosticas well as the types of channel-specific diag-nostic feedbacks can be enabled and disabledon a channel-by-channel basis. This grantsthe user the maximum of flexibility and allowsthe selective use of these features to meet application-specific requirements. n

April 2014 26

POWER MANAGEMENT

Figure 3. Vbb-monitoring checks the voltage level on the driver’s output side

Product Newsn Christ-Elektronik: easy integration oftouch applications

Christ-Elektronik announces the new innovativeand easy to use Embedded System Kit Touch-itCE Pico-ITX. While you are reading this sen-tence, the Embedded System Kit Touch-it CEPico-ITX has already been taken into operationand booted. The basis is formed with Pico-ITXcarrierboard & Toradex Colibri Tegra Modulewith its ARM architecture in conjunction withthe resource saving and efficient operating sys-tem Windows Embedded Compact 7 Pro.

News ID 1333

n FTDI: 48MIPS MCU for control system implementations

FTDI Chip releases the FT51, the second of itsapplication oriented controller devices. Pos-sessing a comprehensive feature set, a vastarray of I/Os and extensive data conversioncapabilities, this 8-bit microcontroller unit in-corporates one of the highest performance8051 compatible processor cores on the market.Operating at a 48MHz clock speed, it has a48MIPS processing capacity (1clock cycle perinstruction).

News ID 1278

n Freescale: newest PF Series PMIC is optimised for i.MX 6 systems

Optimised to work seamlessly in systems basedon Freescale’s i.MX 6Solo, i.MX 6SoloLite andi.MX 6DualLite applications processors, theexceptional configurability and quick-turn pro-grammability of the MMPF0200 makes it idealfor a host of power-sensitive platforms includingportable medical devices, IP headphones, homesecurity systems, IPTV controllers, tablets andhome energy management solutions.

News ID 1273

n Atlantik: ConnectCore for i.MX6 SoMfrom Digi

Atlantik Elektronik presents Digi’s new SMTsolderable ConnectCore Wi-i.MX6 processormodule, a blend between a classic SoM moduleand discrete i.MX6 microprocessor design(with optional Wi-Fi / Bluetooth 4.0 func-tionality on the module). The ConnectCoreWi-i.MX6 is an ultra-compact and highly in-tegrated system-on-module solution in a 50 x5 x 50mm LGA (BGA) package with 2mmpitch distance based on the Freescale i.MX6Cortex-A9 processor family.

News ID 1298

n Digi expands distribution agreementglobally with Arrow

Digi International and Arrow Electronics haveannounced they have signed a global distribu-tion agreement expanding their existing suc-cessful North American distribution alliance.Arrow will offer leading Digi embedded prod-ucts and Device Cloud by Etherios, which al-lows any device to communicate with any ap-plication anywhere in the world. Previouslyavailable to Arrow customers in North America,these solutions now are available globally.

News ID 1340

n Sierra Wireless and Tech Mahindra signglobal sales agreement on M2M solutions

Sierra Wireless and Tech Mahindra have signed aformal teaming agreement to work collaborativelyto develop and deploy end-to-end M2M solutionsfor customers worldwide. The collaboration lever-ages Sierra Wireless device-to-cloud offerings andTech Mahindra’s system integration and applica-tion development expertise to offer cost-effective,turnkey solutions tailored for prospective M2Mcustomers in markets such as energy, transporta-tion, industrial, and healthcare.

News ID 1284

More information about each news is available on www.Embedded-Control-Europe.com/magazine

You just have to type in the “News ID”. —




http://www.embedded-control-europe.com/magazine?newsID=1278+





n New reference designs for industrialsensing solutions

In this talk Sean Long, Director Marketing & Ap-plications with Maxim Integrated , introducesthe new reference designs Novato, a 4-20mAtemperature sensor with HART capability, andSanta Cruz, the world’s smallest I/O link ambientlight sensor. Maxim Integrated offers a rangeof Industrial sub-system reference designs in-tended to provide design engineers with provencircuits for easy prototyping and faster time-to-market. This includes designs for analog I/O, dig-ital I/O, power management, as well as sensorinterfacing.

n How to simplify your next Internet-of-Things system design

Daniel Cooley, senior marketing director formicrocontrollers and wireless products at Sili-con Labs, explores how embedded developerscan simplify their Internet of Things (IoT) con-nected device designs by leveraging SiliconLabs’ Simplicity Studio™ development ecosys-tem. This presentation provides an overviewof Silicon Labs’ ultra-low-energy MCU optionsfor the IoT and explains how Simplicity Studiotools make the development process easierand faster.

n Motor Control: Improved speed, precision and simplicity with Kinetis Vseries MCUs

With the new Kinetis V series microcontrollers,motor control no longer needs to be inefficient,noisy or difficult. Built on the latest ARM®Cortex®-M0+ and Cortex-M4 cores, the KinetisV series consists of multiple MCU families withscalable performance, memory and feature in-tegration to address everything from entrylevel BLDC motors to advanced PMSM andACIM motors. Register for this live webinar tolearn about its high performance cores, analogand timing peripherals and best-in-class en-ablement including reference designs, softwarelibraries and motor configuration tools.

n Rugged industrial computers andEthernet-enabled products for smartenergy solutions

Smart energy is the use of computers, electronicsand advanced materials to optimize electricpower and revolutionize transportation. As ex-plained in this webinar by Roger Shyu, ProjectManager of IPC & Embedded System, Axiomtekbrings various rugged industrial computers andEthernet-enabled products to fulfill different re-quirements in energy automation. Axiomtek's rrBOX series of DIN-rail fanless embedded systemsand IPC122 which is approved by electric powersubstation automation certificate features con-venient installation and maintenance for com-munication control in power plant management,electricity distribution and control system.

n Unprecedented performance gains fornetwork appliances with the IntelAtom C2000 family

Benchmark testing from Lanner Electronics hasshown that the new Intel Atom processor C2000delivers significant performance advantagesand lower cost of ownership for entry to mid-range communications appliances. This whitepaper introduces a series of communicationsappliances based on the Intel Atom processorC2000 product family which unifies computing,networking, management, virtualization, andsecurity capabilities in an integrated hardwarearchitecture.

n Nine trends for industrial control andautomation

There are a many existing and developing trendsin industrial control and automation applicationsthat OEMs and manufacturers alike need to beconcerned with. Nine of these trends are: efficiency,sustainability, connectivity, security, usability, safety,integration, scalability, and reliability.

This webinar will dive into these trends in detailand then discuss how AMD Embedded-Based So-lutions can help address each of these trends.

n Plug-in upgrades with refreshed IntelXeon processor E5-2600 v2

The latest Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v2 familydelivers significant performance enhancements in-cluding additional processor cores within the ex-isting power budget (TDP) and are plug-in re-placements for the previous generation. The resultis a performance upgrade that requires little in-vestment beyond requalification of the system forspecific applications. In this article we are goingto explore opportunities to upgrade your solutionsto take advantage of the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v2 family without major development costs.Implementation examples are used from Associatemembers of the Intel Intelligent Systems AllianceDFI, Emerson and Hewlett-Packard.

n Enabling a new generation of entrylevel network appliances

Network appliances are key systems for small andmedium sized enterprises. The Intel Atom processorC2000 product family (formerly code named Range-ley) are enabling a new generation of entry levelnetwork appliances that deliver significantly higherperformance using fewer components. The solutionintegrates several features that have previouslyonly been available in systems using multicoreIntel Xeon processors. This article explores thebenefits that the Intel Atom processor C2000product family brings to network appliances andother communications systems and uses imple-mentation examples from Advantech and Portwell.

n Real-time Ethernet, multi-protocolswitch for PROFINET IRT

Innovasic introduced a Real-time Ethernet, Multi-protocol (REM) Switch for PROFINET IRT thatcan be embedded directly into industrial field de-vice or controller applications. Tom Weingartner,Innovasic’s Vice President of Marketing, discussesthe various features of the REM switch includingist support of multiple protocols and Ethernettopologies. He also provides a brief overview ofREM’s hardware and software support and ex-plains the demonstration of PROFINET IRT.

Embedded-Know-How.com

This is a selection of technical highlights which are available right now for free access

White Papers • Articles • Webinars & Videos


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

n Kiosks and digital signage systems are twoobvious examples of unstaffed embedded ap-plications for which remote OOB managementis a must. Whenever the operating systemcrashes, or switches off due to, say, a powercut, it should be possible to analyse, reconfigureand restart the system from elsewhere, inde-pendent of whether the OS is working or not.As a manufacturer of industrial-grade systemboards designed for continuous 24/7 operationin challenging environments such as hot orcold outdoor locations, Fujitsu Technology So-lutions have made a point of supporting allrelevant system management protocols. Thisenables users to integrate devices based on itsmain boards into the OOB management systemof their choice.

As there is no single industry-standard systemmaintenance software that caters to all thespecific needs of embedded systems, designersand administrators so far have had to makeproject-based decisions about which tools touse. Both AMD and Intel processors offer thepossibility of out-of-band manageability, butfinding a comprehensive software solution foraddressing the relevant interfaces in day-to-day practical operation is not easy.

While both of these major manufacturersuse the wide-spread DASH protocol, IntelvPro platform also offers the proprietary

iAMT (Active Management Technology).DASH, an acronym for desktop and mobilearchitecture for system hardware, is a clientmanagement standard developed by the Dis-tributed Management Task Force (DMTF),founded in 1992 by industry-leading IT hard-ware companies. Designed for web-based re-mote management, DASH is in its turn basedon DMTF Web Services for Management(WS-Management). The fact that WS-Man-agement was recently adopted as an interna-tional standard by the International Organi-zation for Standardization (ISO), and the In-ternational Electrotechnical Commission(IEC) in February 2013, underlines the im-portant place DASH occupies in the market.However, when it came to setting up DASH-based software architecture for everyday sys-tem maintenance, users have been prettymuch left to their own devices up until now.

Striving to give customers the most compre-hensive support with design-in and mainte-nance of their mainboards, Fujitsu has beensearching for an OOB manageability solutionspecially suited to embedded computing needson all relevant platforms. This has now resultedin a technology partnership with AmericanMegatrends, Inc. (AMI), a global leader inBIOS, remote management and network stor-age technology. Fujitsu have decided to rec-ommend the AMI MegaRAC XMS managea-

bility solution for both their desktop and in-dustrial mainboards. A full-functional versionof MegaRAC XMS which supports a limitednumber of up to 3 nodes is already includedon the drivers and utilities DVD which comeswith each board.

The main benefit for users is the convenienceenabled by the single-pane-of-glass philosophyof AMI which means that MegaRAC XMSprovides a centralised dashboard for remoteanalysis and configuration of systems. An es-sential prerequisite for this is that MegaRACXMS is platform- independent. It enables out-of-band management via DASH as well asiAMT. Apart from these protocols, structuressuch as asset management and host provision-ing also feed into the MegaRAC XMS software.This also means that repetitive tasks that needto be performed on a large number of machinescan be automated, thus freeing up the admin-istrator time for other tasks.

Due to the fact that MegaRAC XMS was orig-inally developed with a view to administeringservers in corporation-wide networks, the soft-ware offers a variety of functionalities whichgo beyond out-of-band manageability in anarrow sense. These include monitoring ofsystem health (with alert functions), remotecontrol with cross-views of sensors and vari-ables, and remote installation of software and

New perspectives in out-of-band manageabilityBy Peter Hoser, Fujitsu Technology Solutions

Out-of-band (OOB) manageability is a particularly

important requirement in embedded computing,

and in developing embeddedmainboards Fujitsu TechnologySolutions have placed greatemphasis on this. Their new

technology partnership with American Megatrends(AMI) creates even more

comprehensive OOB management options.

Figure 1. The main benefit for users is the convenienceenabled by AMI single-pane-of-glass philosophy whichmeans that MegaRAC XMSprovides a centralised dash-board for remote analysis andconfiguration of systems.

28April 2014

INDUSTRIAL COMPUTING



patches. Another advantage of this software isits modularity. While the Server Managementtool (SX) is used to control servers and em-bedded systems, MegaRAC XMS can be ex-tended to include plug-ins for virtual machinemanagement (VX), power management (PX),client management (CX), and in-band man-agement (HX). Thus, the tools not only openup a single pane of glass on all remote embed-ded systems, but allow companies to administerdifferent sorts of devices – kiosks, digital signs,but also servers and workstations – with oneand the same technology. This allows more ef-ficient workflows and opens up potential forsaving license costs. Partnering with AMI, theaim of Fujitsu is able to offer their customers

an additional support and benefit for workingwith their mainboards. At Embedded World2013, AMI presented, among other solutions,an example of an industrial PC based onFujitsu D3003-S mini-ITX mainboard seriesmonitored through the SX server managementplug-in of MegaRAC XMS via DASH.

Fujitsu chooses an AMD Embedded G-Serieschipset for these mini-ITX boards largely dueto their DASH capability while the Atom plat-form offered by Intel for the same price seg-ment does not support out-of-band manage-ment. By choosing AMD Embedded G-Series,Fujitsu managed to combine a good cost-per-formance ratio with the required out-of-band

manageability. Another reason for the D3003-S series being the first to be streamlined foruse within the MegaRAC XMS architecture isthat they are also available as a complete kitsolution consisting of a mainboard, Mini-ITXhousing, and a wide range of accessories. Thefact that the kit solution now also encompassessystem management software further extendsthe service philosophy.

Additionally, MegaRAC XMS is available for avariety of other mainboards. Based on variousIntel chipsets, the D3076-S (iQ67), D3161-B(iQ77), D3128-B (iC602), and D322x-B (iQ87)boards are capable of both DASH andiAMT/vPro, as are the D323x-S industrialmainboards Fujitsu is currently developing.In all of these cases, users profit from the longexperience of the company with both protocolsas they have been supporting iAMT/vPro intheir business PCs for nine generations now.This detailed experience makes a difference,because the fact that a manufacturer offersmainboards with iAMT/vPro does not neces-sarily guarantee they will work immediately.Users of embedded mainboards also profitfrom the design-in experience gained throughthis process. Likewise, AMI MegaRAC XMS isa software suited to both desktop and industrialapplications.

While the MegaRAC XMS now offers a con-venient tool for out-of-band management, Fu-jitsu are planning to offer their own managea-bility software DeskView for administeringsystems during operation of the OS. In additionto this, the company has developed a widerange of system management features of theirown that already come with their mainboards.To take an example, several special featuresguarantee the safe operation of the D3003-S1,D3003-S2, and D3003-S3 mini-ITX boards.

Figure 2. D3003-S mini-ITX mainboard series, monitored through the SX server managementplug-in of MegaRAC XMS via DASH, was used in the industrial PC which AMI presented atEmbedded World 2013.


http://www.congatec.com

April 2014 30


Based on AMD Embedded G-Series platformtechnology, these models are used for highestreliability in challenging applications, includingthose in an extended temperature range, inthe fields of kiosk, POS, and digital signageapplications as well as automation, video sur-veillance and medical engineering. The ownmanagement features include the Watchdog.It controls both the operating system and bootprocess and performs a restart or shutdown incase of problems. The System ManagementController monitors and adjusts temperaturelevels and cooling fans independent of operat-ing system or CPU. The System Guard softwaretool helps with visualising and setting the pa-rameters for the System Management Con-troller. In addition, future mainboard genera-tions will be designed from the outset for thebest possible integration into the MegaRACXMS environment. n

Figure 3. One reason for the D3003-S series being the first to be streamlined for use within theMegaRAC XMS architecture is that they are also available as a complete kit solution consisting ofa mainboard, Mini-ITX housing, and a wide range of accessories.

Product Newsn congatec: Yocto for Qseven module withFreescale i.MX6

congatec is using the new Yocto project BSPfor more stability for a large variety of customerrequirements. The Yocto project was launchedat the end of 2010 by merging the CE LinuxForum with the Linux Foundation. Yocto proj-ect supports ARM, Intel, MIPS and power ar-chitecture platforms on the hardware side.Many drafts, templates, tools and methodsthat may be used with the Linux based systemare available for the developer, regardless ofthe hardware architecture.

News ID 1231

n Axiomtek: IPSS compliant OPS digitalsignage player with 4th gen Intel Coreprocessor

Axiomtek introduce the OPS885, an IntelligentPluggable Systems Specification (IPSS) com-pliant OPS digital signage player. The OPS885adopts the 4th Generation Intel Core i5 proces-sor with the Mobile Intel QM87 Express chipsetand provides superb graphics performancewith 4K resolution.

News ID 1291

n Diamond: rugged PCI/104-Express SBCswith interchangeable QSeven COM

Diamond Systems unveiled Quantum, a con-duction-cooled PCI/104-Express SBC (singleboard computer) family with interchangeable,full size QSeven COMs processors and a highlyintegrated I/O baseboard. The processors avail-able on the new Quantum SBCs include the 1GHz AMD Fusion G-T40E CPU, the 1 GHzAMD G-Series eKabini GX-210HA SOC andARM A9 i.MX6 single/dual/quad cores up to1.2 GHz.

News ID 1246

n VadaTech: licensing agreement on Micro-TCA.4 product with DESY

VadaTech has entered into a licensing agreementwith DESY to manufacture MicroTCA.4 prod-uct. DESY is a research center of the HelmholtzAssociation, providing research and productsolutions for the Photon Science, Acceleratorand High Energy Physics communities. DESYhas developed Digital Signal Processing Mod-ules, RTM digital and analog converters, Piezodrivers, and RF Digitizers in the MicroTCA.4format.

News ID 1210

n DAVE: SOM based on Xilinx Zynq All Programmable SoCs

Smart Embedded Systems, a business unit ofAbisys, announced the availability of BORASystem-On- Module with Xilinx ZynqXC7Z010/XC7Z020). BORA is designed andmanufactured by DAVE Embedded Systemsof Italy. BORA is the high-end ARM dual-core Cortex-A9+ FPGA CPU based moduleby DAVE, designed with the recent XilinxZynq XC7Z010/XC7Z020 application processor.

News ID 1326

n VIA: Pico-ITX board with choice of Android and Linux software development packages

VIA Technologies unveiled its new VIA VAB-1000 Pico-ITX board at Embedded World2014. Powered by a 1.0GHz dual core VIAElite E1000 Cortex-A9 SoC, the VIA VAB-1000 features a high-performance graphicsand video engine optimized to deliver richermultimedia capabilities and a more immersiveuser experience in a wide variety of interactivekiosk, digital signage and HMI applications.To enable developers to leverage the capabilities

of Android for embedded applications, VIAprovides a SMART ETK (Embedded Tool Kit)and a full set of software customization servicesthat speeds up time to market and minimizesdevelopment costs.

News ID 1211

n Schroff: specified power supply unit for CompactPCI Serial

The PICMG has defined the power supplyarrangements for CompactPCI Serial as 12 Vmain voltage plus 5 V standby voltage. Aftercollaborating with the principal board manu-facturers, system customers and PSU manu-facturers, Pentair has now created a ‘quasi’standard for pluggable Schroff CompactPCISerial PSUs and developed a first AC PSUwith a wide input voltage range.

News ID 1328

n AAEON: 1U rackmount network appliance with up to eight LANs

AAEON announces the FWS-7810 and FWS-7400 1U network appliances featuring supportof 4th generation Intel Core processors atvarying clock speeds in dual & quad core de-signs. Cooled by two rear mounted fans, theFWS-7400 comes configured with six GigabitEthernet ports with an option for two pairsLAN bypass. With three rear mounted fans,the FWS-7810 is equipped with eight GigabitEthernet ports. For greater flexibility, the FWS-7400 features one Network Interface Module(NIM) expansion slot to support additionalGbE or Fiber Optical connections and up to16GB of DDR3 1600 MHz of system memoryis supported. The FWS-7810 can support upto 32GB of DDR3 1600 MHz of system mem-ory and PCIe expansion slots.

News ID 1271










n MEN: rugged COM Express with IntelCore i7

Rugged COM Express or VITA 59 is a new stan-dard which is based on the proven PICMG COMExpress standard. Due to mechanical modifica-tions, the modules are now also able to meet thehigh requirements of critical markets regardingtemperature, shock and vibration, EMC com-patibility and resistance against dust and humidity.The Intel Core i7 processor family with a corefrequency of up to 2.1 GHz and a Turbo Boostfrequency of 3.1 GHz makes it possible to choosebetween 1, 2 or 4 processor cores. As many as 16GB DDR3 DRAM are soldered to the board. Inaddition, Intel AMT, Open CL 1.1 and high-endgraphics are supported. The adaptable BIOS withintegrated Intel AMT support can be flexiblyadapted to the final application without additionalcosts. The Board Management Controller super-vises the board functions and temperatures.

News ID 1302

n DFI: ATX motherboard supports multiplePCIe configurations

DFI announces the DL631-C226 ATX industrialmotherboard based on 4th Gen Intel Xeonprocessors. It is DFI’s first ATX board that sup-ports the workstation Intel C226 express chipsetfor high computing applications. This ATXmodel comes with LGA 1150 socket for theIntel Xeon processor E3-1200 v3 series builton 22-nanometer process technology. Theseprocessors offer higher computing performance,they are more cost-effective, and they providemore energy-efficient power consumption.

News ID 1318

n ADLINK reaches Intel Intelligent SystemsAlliance Premier Level

ADLINK Technology announces its promotionby Intel to Premier Member in the Intel Intel-ligent Systems Alliance. The Intel IntelligentSystems Alliance is composed of companiesthat provide the hardware, software andfirmware that make up today’s advanced em-bedded technology solutions. As part of theAlliance, companies integrate existing toolkitswith Intel’s own software, as well as createnew tools, and offer systems integration andother services that help their customers tocreate more value in their vertical industries.

News ID 1339

n Kontron extends COM Express portfoliowith E3800 and N2900/J1900 variants

Kontron launched two new COM Expresscompact Computer-on-Module families withIntel Atom E3800 series processors and IntelCeleron N2900 / J1900 series processors. Thenew modules extend the existing Intel SoC-based COM Express portfolio to embrace es-pecially powerful compact variants with fulltype 6 I/O support including PCI Express,LAN, USB and Digital Display interfaces. In

total, Kontron now offers 16 different config-uration options in this COM Express Com-puter-on-Module performance class.

News ID 1281

n Lantiq and Würth: demo kit for “HighSpeed Connection to the World”

Lantiq and Würth Elektronik announce the avail-ability of a jointly developed demonstration kitto provide an easy and fast way for implementingEthernet in a broad range of products. The Eval-uation Kit paves the way to easily add Ethernethardware to an application or device and providesall necessary information to understand the demands of an Ethernet hardware design.

News ID 1299

n Apacer: cloud-based SSD overcomes bottleneck of big data access

Apacer has launched a high-end cloud-basedSSD - SFD (SATA Flash Drive) 25A, which sur-passes SATA 2.0 interface SSD of enterprise server.With adoption of SATA 3.0 transmission interface,SFD 25A achieves double transmission capacityand large storage capacities up to 256 GB. SFD25A is suitable for On-Line storage in cloudstorage center to save the cost of server space soas to optimize its operating conditions featuringin high-speed, stability and power savings.

News ID 1335

n Rutronik presents new COM form factorefus by F&S

The new form factor for Cortex-A CPUs byF&S Elektronik Systeme, efus, measures only47 x 62mm. efus stands for easy, functional,universal, small: It comes with various inter-faces, is expandable with wireless modules andsuitable for universal use, e.g. for visualization,communication, control in industrial and med-ical applications. The first module of this newproduct family, efusA9, is available for devel-opment at distributor Rutronik by April 2014,mass production starts by the end of quarter2/14. Further modules will follow within 2014.The efus product family, uses a common 230pin MXM2 edge connector. The signals on thebase board leading to the plug connector wererouted by EasyLayout standard, the conceptof no crossing lines or avoidable through holes.

News ID 1330

n Acrosser: video demonstration of book-sized fanless Mini PC

To illustrate the high performance of AES-HM76Z1FL, Acrosser created a short film, ex-plicating the multiple features of their ultrathin embedded system. From its exterior look,this book-sized mini PC embodies great com-puting performance within its small form fac-tor. The arrangement of the I/O slot has takenproduct design and industrial applicabilityinto consideration perfectly.

News ID 1283

31 April 2014



http://www.ekf.com









n In-vehicle computer technology is one ofthe fastest growing domains in embedded de-sign today, spanning a diverse range of appli-cations including digital signage, infotainment,mobile communication and navigation forcommercial and municipal vehicles from busesto taxis, police cars, and railways, off-road ap-plications and beyond. Whether the goal is toinform tourists about local attractions via seat-back video monitors, provide Internet accessto passengers, track and coordinate the loca-tions of maintenance or mass transit vehicles,or even remotely inspect municipal infrastruc-ture with vehicle-mounted cameras, GPS-as-sisted in-vehicle computing systems can provideusers with helpful, targeted information thatoptimizes travel experiences and/or transporta-tion operations in real time.

Designing and implementing ruggedized com-puting systems for space-constrained in-vehicleinstallations can pose many challenges for sys-tem designers, especially if they want to inte-grate higher performance on an even smallerfootprint. High-performance video and graph-ics capabilities can be especially difficult toachieve if trying to accommodate graphicscards or ad hoc disparate chipsets. These aregenerally ill-suited for in-vehicle installations,because their edge connectors take up morespace and expose it to additional shock and vi-bration that can lead to system integrity issues.

In-vehicle computers also need to be especiallysensitive to power consumption constraints.Low power draw is important if a computer isto be powered by, for example, a taxi vehiclebattery. Thus, even if high performance is re-quired, there is a certain limit of thermaldesign power (TDP) that cannot be exceeded.

The same applies to system cooling. Fan-cooledsystems are vulnerable to airborne particulatesand debris, as well as to shock, vibration and awide temperature-range – all of which arecommon environmental factors for vehicle-based systems. The consequence is that forhighest performance requirements fanless cool-ing technologies need to be implemented. Tomeet the steadily increasing design goals ofimproving performance for in-vehicle com-puting, OEMs require a tightly integrated, highperformance processing platform with ultra-compact form factor that conserves systemspace and helps reduce susceptibility to shockand vibration as well as high and low tempera-tures.

A milestone in this area has been reached withthe AMD Embedded G-Series APUs. APUscombine a low-power CPU and a discrete-level GPU into a single accelerated processingunit. Compact high-performance architectureslike these reduce the footprint of a traditionalthree-chip platform to just two chips – the

APU and the companion controller hub. Onebenefit of APUs is that they can offload dataparallel processing from the CPU to the HD-caliber GPU, including multimedia streaming.Freed from this task, the CPU can focus oncompute, memory, and I/O requests with muchlower latency, thereby improving real-timevideo and graphics processing performancevia a fully optimized data path and shared ac-cess to the memory controller. The CPU takescare of the scalar processing, including memory,networking, and storage processing, and alsoruns the operating system, applications anduser interface. The on-die GPU offloads graph-ics and multimedia processing using SingleInstruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) parallelprocessing, driving high-definition video andgraphics displays with great efficiency.

The integration of AMD Radeon HD graphicson the AMD G-Series APUs provides an addi-tional hardware acceleration boost that opti-mizes the video pipeline, ensuring smoothvideo playback. These APUs support dual in-dependent displays leveraging a combinationof display technologies including DisplayPort,DVI, VGA, and HDMI. All this is combinedon a single chip design which results in alower TPD to performance ratio compared tomulti chip implementations. The supportedTDP profiles start at 4.5 watts and extend to18 watts – with average power as low as 2.3

Rugged computer offers stunninggraphics for on-board applicationsBy Kevin Hsu, Sintrones

Sintrones VBOX-3200 is a versatile on-board computersystem for high-performancedigital signage, infotainment,mobile communication and

navigation applications in com-mercial and municipal vehicles.

This article explains whySintrones selected the AMD G-Series APU, combining

CPU and discrete level GPU in a single accelerated

processing unit.

Figure 1.Optimized in-vehicle-solution for digital signage,infotainment, mobile commu-nication and navigation appli-cations is based on the AMDG-Series APU.

32April 2014



33 April 2014


watts for the AMD G-T16R APU – enablingthese APUs to allow OEMs to keep board-level total power consumption to less than 20watts. Such low power profiles help to ensurethat in-vehicle-solutions with APUs can bepassively cooled.

Having such a highly integrated x86 processorcapable of fulfilling all the required needs forin-vehicle computing is a good thing, but it isonly one part of the solution. OEMs need sys-tem level solutions dedicated for on-boardcomputing because they do not want to spenda lot of time handling processors and chipsbut just want to obtain a solution platform.The type of platform required is one that isdesigned in such a way that it can easily be in-serted into tight spaces within vehicle cabins.It also needs to support a wide temperaturerange of -40°C to +70°C for thermally-de-manding environments, as, in vehicles, the ef-fects of sunshine or snowy weather can quicklylead to extreme temperature ranges.

In applications supporting independent dualdisplays that deliver, for example DVI+VGAand DVI-I+DVI-D, connectivity options withHD video and graphics for seat-back signageand infotainment installations are a great ben-efit. These dual-display systems can be utilizedto present multiple layers of dynamic videocontent across in-vehicle displays in HD reso-lution. If touch-enabled interactive featuresare integrated, these systems can, for example,provide passengers with Internet access, to en-able them to purchase movie or theater tickets,or to access interactive online tourism infor-mation. Systems equipped with onboard GPStransmitters can host location awareness ap-plications. Public transport companies canmarket this technology to local businesses. Ad-

vertisements can be triggered to the displaywhen the vehicles approach these companies’locations.

Sintrones is a company which has built asystem embracing all these features. The resultis the VBOX-3200, one of the most versatileon-board computer systems available today inthis product category. It has been optimizedfor high-performance digital signage, infotain-ment, mobile communication and navigationapplications for deployment in commercialand municipal vehicles. The system supportsa wide temperature range of -40ºC to approx.+70ºC for thermally-demanding environments.The system has also received EN50155-,EN50121-3-2- and CENELEC certification andmeets the Military Standard 810F and addi-tionally comes with EN61373-certification. Inother words it offers all the high shock- andvibration-resistance required for harshest en-vironments and is even suitable for deploymentin off-road vehicles. And by integrating theAMD APU into these systems, now for thefirst time both stunning dual independentgraphics and housing in a small, very compactrugged box can be achieved.

Remarkably, the system design did not needto be specially tailored to serve as an ultra-rugged appliance. Designing a system for stan-dard in-vehicles such as buses or cars wouldhave run very much along the same lines. Thismakes it one of the first designs suited to allthe different market segments at no extra costfor customers requiring ultra-rugged boxes instandard in-vehicle devices. The secret behindthis multi-purpose design lies in the low powerdesign of the APUs and the design expertisewhich results in the most efficient system TDPmanagement. n

Product Newsn Kontron: SMARC Computer-on-Moduleswith x86 processor

Kontron introduced its ultra low-powerSMARC Computer-on-Modules with IntelAtom processor E3800 series. The SMARC-sXBTi Computer-on-Modules offer excellentgraphics, high processor performance and x86compatibility on the smallest SMARC footprintcombined with very low power consumption(5 to 10 watts). Both the flat profile of themodule and its mobile feature set are tailoredfor smallest portable handheld devices.

News ID 1252

n ADL: Intel E3800 series PCIe/104 SBCADL Embedded Solutions announces itsADLE3800PC, PCIe/104 Single Board Computer.The ADLE3800PC is based on Intel’s first SoCE3800 Atom product family which is built using

Intel’s 22nm 3D Tri-gate process. It offers vastlysuperior compute performance and energy effi-ciency and has Intel’s 7th generation graphicsengine for stunning graphics performance. Im-proved power management capabilities resultin standby power measured in milliwatts andstandby time measured in days.

News ID 1234

n Rutronik: Embedded platforms poweredby 4th gen Intel Core U processors

The latest platforms from Advantech, basedon the 4th generation Intel Core U processors,offer high graphics and low power. The Com-puter On Modules, Single Board Computers,Industrial Motherboards and Fanless Embed-ded Box PCs are available at distributor Rutron-ik as of now.

News ID 1256


http://www.peak-system.com




n LynxSecure hypervisor sets a new stage inhypervisor evolution - Type Zero, offering thehighest level of performance, reliability, andsecurity capabilities in platform virtualization.Like other hypervisors, it provides the abilityto host multiple operating systems on a singlecomputing platform, including desktops, lap-tops, and servers. However, Type Zero differ-entiates itself from mainstream Type-1 andType-2 hypervisors through its unique archi-tecture and configuration tools.

Type-2 hypervisors are computer emulationapplications that run on general purpose op-erating systems. A Type-2 hypervisor allowsusers to run multiple operating systems (OSs)simultaneously on a single platform. For ex-ample, a Windows 7 user can install a hypervi-sor application like VMware Workstation, torun a Windows XP guest OS on top of theirWindows 7 host OS. As an application theType-2 hypervisor is subject to performance,security, and reliability penalties.

The hosted hypervisor incurs performancehits because it competes with other user appli-cations like web browsers and e�mail clientsfor system resources. Type�2 hypervisors areweak in reliability and security because theyinherit the vulnerabilities of the user-controlledhost operating system. Type�1 hypervisors arecomputer emulation software tightly integrated

with embedded OSs that run transparent tothe end-user. Type-1 hypervisors gain a signifi-cant performance improvement over Type�2hypervisors because they are self-hosted withembedded OSs that are optimized for virtual-ization. Type�1 hypervisors significantly reducethe attack-surface over Type-2 hypervisors bylimiting access to the hypervisor to only systemadministrators, preventing end-users and userapplications from tampering with the hypervisor.

Additionally Type-1 hypervisor vendors controlall the software that comprises the hypervisorpackage including the virtualization functionsand OS functions, like device drivers and I/Ostacks. Control over the software package pre-vents malicious software from being introduced

into the hypervisor foundation. The limitedaccess and strong control over the embeddedOS greatly increase the reliability of Type-1hypervisors.

LynuxWorks introduces LynxSecure as a newclass of hypervisor � Type Zero, based on anew architecture that allows for higher levelsof performance, reliability, and security overType�1 hypervisors. The LynxSecure TypeZero hypervisor is built from the ground upwith the minimum software components re-quired to fully virtualize guest OSs and controlinformation flow between guest OSs. TheType Zero architecture removes the need foran embedded host OS to support virtualiza-tion, allowing the hypervisor to run in an

LynxSecure Type Zero enables ongoing hypervisor evolution

REAL-TIME OPERATING SYSTEMS

By Will Keegan, LynuxWorks

This article discusses the evolution of modern hypervisor architectures, from Type-2 to Type Zero, and describes the perform-ance, reliability, and securitybenefits achieved through

LynxSecure Type Zero architecture.

April 2014 34

Figure 1. Type Zero hypervisor


un�hosted environment. This drastically differsfrom Type�1 monolithic architectures wherethe hypervisor is integrated into a host OS,or Type-1 microkernel architectures wherethe hypervisor is controlled and assisted by aroot or parent operating system. LynxSecureruns on a variety of computing platforms including servers, desktops, and laptops. Ithosts guest OSs in both headless (no-display)and local display modes to suit the needs ofseveral cloud environments and client end�userenvironments.

LynxSecure offers increased levels of perform-ance by scheduling the execution of guest OSson CPU cores with an extremely light weightscheduler. It also gives guest OSs direct controlover physical devices to achieve native I/Operformance, and gives guest OSs the abilityto intercommunicate over high speed point-to-point communication channels. LynxSecureis designed to meet the highest level of relia-bility requirements for aerospace, medical, military, and business applications. To achievehigh reliability the hypervisor runs as a statelessexecutable with minimal dynamic functionalityfor a stable foundation, uses a real-time sched-uler to precisely guarantee the availability ofall guest OSs, and provides advanced built-inauditing and health monitoring capabilities tocontinuously monitor the operation of criticalhardware and software components.

Type Zero provides greater security over Type-1 hypervisors by moving non-essentialprivileged components out of the hypervisorcore, such as device drivers and I/O stacks, toreduce the system attack surface. Additionally,it enhances security with management andconfiguration tools that run outside the hypervisor to give administrators the abilityto construct flexible security designs to explic-itly control and monitor how the virtual guestOSs access data via virtual and physical devices.The last ten years have shown a trend in hypervisor design evolution where each stageof evolution shows progress towards shrinkingand simplifying the core foundation of hyper-visors to improve performance, reliability, andsecurity.

The transition from Type�2 to Type-1 showsthe hypervisor shift from running as an appli-cation on a general purpose OS to beingtightly integrated with a minimized host OS.The transition from Type-1 to Type Zeroshows the decoupling of the integrated hyper-visor from the supporting host OS to runningstand-alone. The LynxSecure Type Zero hy-pervisor distils the trusted portions of the hy-pervisor down to the fundamental elements,and provides the development tools necessaryto build custom high-performance, safe andsecure virtualization platforms. n

Figure 2. Type�2 hypervisor

35 April 2014

REAL-TIME OPERATING SYSTEMS

Figure 3. Type�1 hypervisor

Product Newsn Cadence: verification planning and management with Incisive vManager

Cadence Design Systems introduced an all-new Incisive vManager solution, a verificationplanning and management solution enabledby client/server technology to address thegrowing verification closure challenge drivenby increasing design size and complexity. TheIncisive vManager solution, with its metric-driven verification methodology, improves ver-ification productivity by 2X or greater overtraditional methods by combining executableverification plans, coverage optimization tech-niques, collaborative management utilities,deep failure and coverage analysis, and clearvisibility to see when to shift resources.

News ID 1218

n Enea’s SoC platform consolidates ARM-based software systems

Enea is working with HP, ARM and Texas In-struments on a System-on-Chip platform fornext generation mobile infrastructure and net-working. Customers can now focus on theirdifferentiating applications rather than solvinginteroperability problems related to the frag-mentation and complexity of the underlyingheterogeneous hardware.The SoC platformwas developed with communication systemsand Software Defined Networks in mind, pro-viding excellent hard real-time and throughputcharacteristics on TI’s KeyStone II-based devicewith components tested individually and in-tegrated in one solution.

News ID 1225




n These displays come in 1.44”, 2.0”, 2.7”, 3.0”,4.41”, 7.4” and 10.2” sizes. The technology wasof course developed for eBooks but can beused in any application where power con-sumption is a major issue, as the displays onlydraw a small amount of power when they re-fresh and can retain content indefinitely with-out any power. They are also designed to beused in sunlight-readable conditions and witha very wide viewing angle. The display cantherefore form the integral part of a solutionfor shelf labelling, digital signage, security andluggage tags, energy meters, conference roomnotice boards, hotel notice boards and museuminformation boards, to name just a few of themany and varied applications that Densitronand its partners are working on. PDI has part-nered with E Ink, the industry leader in e-paper film, to produce so-named electrophoret-ic displays that are bistable in nature - they re-quire no power to maintain an image on thescreen. An electrophoretic display forms visibleimages by rearranging charged pigment parti-cles using an applied electric field.

PDI assembles e-paper modules by adding theE Ink film on top of a Chilin active-matrixTFT backplane and then covering it with aprotective sheet. This TFT backplane enablesthe E Ink film to be divided into pixels, andcontrolled to form a desired image. The panelis driven by chip on glass ICs and timing con-

trol software, which is stored and executed ona microcontroller on an attached printed circuitboard (TCON). The timing control softwareis one of the most crucial parts of the system,creating complex waveforms to ensure goodimage quality. Good image quality is ensuredby moving the charged particles to exact loca-tions in order to display a white or black pixel.Temperature sensing is also employed on theTCON to negate the effects that temperaturehas on the viscosity of the fluid inside the mi-crocapsules. When the fluid becomes moreviscous at lower temperatures, the pigmentchips move more slowly and this requires adifferent waveform to obtain the desired image.Many TCON options are available to provideUSB, Serial, or wireless interfaces to e-papermodules, and also extension boards that pro-vide interfaces to the most popular microcon-troller development kits.

The eye catcher picture shows a bus timetableapplication developed by Densitron for IBIGroup working on behalf of Centro (the WestMidlands Passenger Transport Executive andAuthority). Centro along with most transportproviders/operators have a requirement to pro-vide up-to-date and accurate timetable infor-mation on street. The system developed byIBI Group integrates with the Centro timetableand real-time information system to providethis information on the display unit, which

consists of eight 10.2” e-paper displays, all ofwhich is done from a central control centrevia GPRS communications. The system wentlive in June in the Oldbury area of the WestMidlands.

Future plans for the system include integrationof disruption and diversion information, road-work information, integration with other modesof transport, i.e. trains and light rail, and addi-tionally the system could be used to get infor-mation to the general public quickly. For ex-ample if a child goes missing then a picture ofthe child can be distributed to the displays im-mediately asking for assistance from the public.Densitron building on its experience of lowpower timing control modules is also creatinga family of products that connects the displaysto the internet. The first of this new range ofproducts will be a POE (power over ethernet)solution that allows any number of e-paperdisplays to be tiled to create a large digital sign.Current display sizes supported are 4.41”, 7.4”and 10.2” which can be tiled to create a displayto any size required with any number of displaysincorporated. A simple backend system willallow the distribution of information over allthe displays in the system.

The latest development is the creation of aDensipaper subsidiary providing WiFi-basedE-Paper display solutions. This solution will

E-paper displays suited for a multitude of applications

DISPLAYS

By Grahame Falconer, Densitron

Everyone is familiar with e-paper displays in Kindlesand Kobo devices. However

e-paper displays are suited forintegration in many industrial,

business and commercialapplications. Densitron hasthe sole rights to market

the e-paper range of displaysin the UK from Pervasive

Displays Incorporated(PDI),part of the Chi Lin Taiwan

Display organisation.

April 2014 36

Figure 1. Centro’s timetable and real-timeinformation system to provide this information on the display unit which consists of eight 10.2” E-Paper displays


be based on the 4.41”, 7.4” and 10.2” displays.This will be a packaged solution where thecustomer will purchase a number of units de-pending on their requirement and downloadthe application software from the internet.When Densitron started to market e-paperdisplays the company had a lot of interestfrom organisations just wanting a plug-and-

play solution that they could immediately im-plement. The Densipaper units based on WiFiallow just such a solution, which can beplugged in and working in a matter of hours.This solution can be used in museums to up-date information on exhibits and allow thevisitor to change the language on the displayby using a provided NFC device. The units

would be attached to the wall beside exhibits,and require no wires for power or communi-cation as they would be powered by batteryand use WiFi for communications. Anotherapplication is in conference centres, universitiesand hotel suites. Again the units would be at-tached beside the door of each room, and beupdated by a central control area to provideinformation to people using the room with awelcoming message.

Of course a major application for these deviceswould be for shelf labelling. This is a great fitfor e-paper displays. For major supermarketchains this will be implemented by their ITdepartment or system integrator. However theDensipaper units provide a plug-and-play so-lution to the smaller retailer wanting a systemthat can be implemented quickly and efficiently.The software will allow them to send labellinginformation via the in-store WiFi to all theirshelf displays. Densitron provides the e-paperdisplays and their driving boards plus of coursethe full display units with WiFi boards. n

37 April 2014

DISPLAYS

Figure 2. Principle of operation of an e-ink capsule

Product Newsn Wibu-Systems: integrated security concept for intelligent production

With a mission to develop an integrated secu-rity concept for the protection requirementsof industrial enterprises, the German compa-nies “German Research Center for ArtificialIntelligence (DFKI)” and WIBU-SYSTEMShave launched an intensive co-operation strat-egy. Together they are researching suitableprotection mechanisms against a number ofdifferent threats, and developing adequate de-fense solutions to be implemented in a systemprototype for the production line of the Smart-FactoryKL of DFKI. Industrial companies willthen be facilitated in the adoption of intelligentproduction technologies, fully embracing the“INDUSTRIE 4.0” era in a secure way.

News ID 1327

n Green Hills: Samsung KNOX hypervisorpowered by INTEGRITY

Samsung Electronics and Green Hills Softwareannounced that the INTEGRITY Multivisorhypervisor is now available as a certified se-curity option in the Samsung KNOX mobileenterprise family. Targeting government andregulated enterprise certified security require-ments, the new solution offers an industry-first in ultra-security. Informally referred toas ‘KNOX INTEGRITY,’ Samsung KNOX Hy-pervisor powered by INTEGRITY integratesSamsung’s advanced device management andAndroid hardening capabilities with INTEGRI-TY Multivisor, enabling multiple, stronglyisolated instances of Android as well as addi-tional security-critical functions that run di-

rectly on INTEGRITY Multivisor to meet themost demanding industry requirements forcertification and accreditation.

News ID 1269

n TI: customize and simulate analog designs with WEBENCH Schematic Editor

Texas Instruments unveiled WEBENCHSchematic Editor, a new editing and simulationfeature that enables engineers to customizepower management designs and simulate thecircuit created within the WEBENCH envi-ronment. TI’s cost-free WEBENCH tools havedramatically simplified and accelerated thedesign process. A complete design can bequickly created, optimized and simulated onlinewith the powerful calculation algorithms andSPICE simulator provided by WEBENCHPower Designer.

News ID 1334

n Tektronix: identical pricing for RF-capable and mixed signal oscilloscopes

Tektronix announced that its MDO4000B Se-ries of Mixed Domain Oscilloscopes are nowavailable at the same price point as MSO4000BMixed Signal Oscilloscopes. The TektronixMixed Domain Oscilloscopes include a built-in spectrum analyzer along with 4 analogchannels and 16 digital signal inputs — withthe MDO4000B Series enabling engineers tocapture synchronized analog, digital and RFsignals for a complete, time-correlated systemview, saving days or even weeks of debugtime.

News ID 1233

n ETAS: fail-safe software for networkedvehicles

The functional safety of an embedded systemdepends on reliable basic software. Over a periodof more than 20 years, the ETAS RTA real-timeoperating system has proved its worth in morethan a billion ECUs–without a single error in op-eration. What’s more, its speed and efficient useof resources has made it into one of the leadingsystems, capable of implementing AUTOSAR 4.xsafety concepts at the operating system and basicsoftware level. Clear and easy to use, ASCETmodel-based software development offers thepossibility of early validation so that errors canbe flagged very early on in development.

News ID 1272

n AdaCore releases GNAT Pro 7.2 forARM/Linux

AdaCore announced the release of its latest Adacross-development environment, GNAT Pro 7.2,for ARM processors running Linux. This GNATPro ARM product provides a complete Ada de-velopment environment oriented towards em-bedded systems that require the flexibility andextensive services provided by Linux. Developersof such systems can now exploit the softwareengineering benefits of the Ada language, in-cluding reliability, maintainability, and portability.Incorporating more than 120 new features, thislatest GNAT Pro tool suite implements the Ada2012 language standard by default, and extendsits coverage of ARM configurations to comple-ment GNAT Pro products for VxWorks 6 ARMand bare-board ARM.

News ID 1238








n R&S: RTE oscilloscopes with bandwidthsfrom 200 MHz to 1 GHz

The new R&S RTE from Rohde & Schwarz isavailable with bandwidths from 200 MHz to 1GHz. An acquisition rate of more than onemillion waveforms per second helps users findsignal faults quickly. The scope’s highly accuratedigital trigger system with virtually no triggerjitter delivers highly precise results. The single-core A/D converter with more than seven ef-fective bits (ENOB) almost completely elimi-nates signal distortion. With a sampling rate of5 Gsample per second and a maximum memorydepth of 50 Msample per channel, the R&SRTE can accurately record the long signal se-quences required when analyzing the data con-tent of serial protocols such as I2C and CAN.

News ID 1251

n KW-Software: Raspberry Pi goes PLCThe entry into automation technology does notnecessarily have to be expensive and complex.In time for this year’s SPS IPC Drives show,KW-Software presents the IEC 61131 StarterKit based on the Raspberry Pi. To use the StarterKit, users simply need a Raspberry Pi (Rev. B)with PiFace and the Linux Debian Wheezy op-erating system as hardware platform. Only basicknowledge is required for its commissioning.

News ID 1287

n SEGGER makes processor trace debugging affordable

SEGGER’s J-Link software package, whichcomes with all J-Link and J-Trace models,now includes a trace decoder. Tool-chains forembedded systems development no longerneed to create their own complex decoder.They can use the new Simple Trace API (Sim-ple-TRACE) from SEGGER. Even free GNU-based offerings will be able to add Trace capa-bilities to their tool-chain with little effort.They need to implement the display of thedata only, as the data is already analysed andneatly packaged by SEGGER.

News ID 1221

n LDRA: Compliance Management Systemenables ISO 26262 compliance

LDRA releases the LDRA Compliance Man-agement System (LCMS) to provide companieswith the proper infrastructure enabling ISO26262 compliance. LCMS for ISO 26262 walkscustomers through the fully compliant plans,document and transition checklists, standardsand other lifecycle documents, and problemreports to help customers manage softwareplanning, development, verification, and

regulatory activities of ISO 26262 Part 6, Product Development: Software Level (ISO26262-6). LCMS for ISO 26262-6 details aprocess that ensures software functional safetyat dramatically reduced project costs.

News ID 1276

n SYSGO, Esterel and CoreAVI provide jointcertified solutions for avionics

SYSGO with PikeOS, Esterel Technologies withSCADE Display, and Core Avionics & Industrialwith OpenGL ES/SC Graphics Drivers collab-orate to offer integrated and certifiable solu-tions for the design of critical embedded avion-ics display systems. These solutions benefitfrom the most recent technologies available inthe COTS avionics market, while offering capabilities for high performance embeddedOpenGL SC and OpenGL ES Human MachineInterfaces with DO-178C objectives up to levelA in the aerospace industry.

News ID 1249

n LDRA partners with Xilinx to bring codecompliance to Zynq-7000 family

To streamline standards compliance for safe-ty-critical application development, the LDRAtool suite has been integrated with the XilinxZynq-7000 All Programmable SoC and theXilinx Zynq-7000 AP SoC Development Kit.Xilinx is leveraging LDRA structural coverageand standards compliance tools to enhanceZynq-7000 boot loader code and device drivercode for key markets that require certification,compliance, and functional safety. LDRA toolsare enabling Xilinx to provide additional valuefor developers of safety- and security-criticalapplications.

News ID 1220

n Maxim: IO-link ambient light sensorUsing the Santa Cruz ambient light sensorfrom Maxim Integrated Products factories canquickly configure and monitor multiple red,green, blue and infrared ambient light sensorswith the high accuracy required in industrialapplications. To stay competitive and maintainhigh quality, modern factories must be agile,maximizing “uptime” while reducing costs.The Santa Cruz ALS solution enables connectedfactories. This reference system provides awide, dynamic range of clear, RGB, and IRlight, and temperature data. Santa Cruz istuned to the response of the human eye foraccurate system function relative to visiblelight. In addition, it is unsurpassed for lightsensitivity and low latency.

News ID 1282

n Wind River reinvents the RTOS for the Internet of Things

Wind River announced that it has reinventedthe real-time operating system to address thenew market opportunities created by the In-ternet of Things. VxWorks has been re-archi-tected with a highly modular approach leadingto the separation of the VxWorks core operatingsystem from packages such as the file systemor networking stack. As a result, individualapplications can now be updated at any timewithout requiring a rework or retest of the en-tire system, increasing scalability and the abilityto quickly adjust to market changes.

News ID 1257

n Digia announces major update to Qt Enterprise Embedded

Digia has released a major update to Qt Enterprise Embedded, the fully-integrated solution that enables users to get started im-mediately with software development for anembedded device with a tailored user experi-ence. The Qt Enterprise Embedded update introduces several new value-add features thatfurther increase developer efficiency, applica-tion and device performance and ultimatelyshortens software embedded development timeto just hours.

News ID 1248

n Cadence expands ARM-based system verification solution

Cadence Design Systems announced an expansion of its ARM-based design systemverification solution in order to drive shortertime-to-market for mobile, networking andserver applications. This expanded solutionfrom Cadence features several enhancementsand speeds system design and early softwaredevelopment for ARM Cortex-A processor series based systems.

News ID 1338

n XJTAG: XJDeveloper allows creation ofprojects for boards without netlists

XJTAG has unleashed version 3.2 of its boundaryscan development system. This major new releaseextends the concept of boundary scan testing toallow engineers to test boards where they donot have access to a netlist. The flagship featureof XJTAG’s version 3.2 release, the ‘no netlist’feature allows users to create projects withinXJDeveloper for boards without netlists, usingjust BDSL files for the JTAG devices. Connectionsbetween these devices are derived from a workingboard and automatically added to the project.

News ID 1300

April 2014 38

PRODUCT NEWS

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n PLS: model-based tests directly on thetarget platform

Tests directly on the target hardware withPikeTec‘s TPT model-based software tool arenow possible as a result of coupling with thePLS Universal Debug Engine. The UDE provides the necessary functionality such asconnection to the target system, FLASH pro-gramming, process control and reading andwriting programme data etc. via the standardComponent Object Model interface.

News ID 1329

n Deutsche Telekom: operate machinesthrough the cloud with M2M

Thanks to M2M, the operation and monitoringof machinery and equipment is becomingchild’s play for machine manufacturers andoperators. With M2M Device-to-Cloud,Deutsche Telekom is expanding its portfolioof services for M2M communication withultra-simple data and device managementthrough the cloud. The new features were pre-sented for the first time at Deutsche Telekom’sstand at the Embedded World.

News ID 1236

n Silicon Labs: new version of Simplicity Studio development ecosystem

Silicon Labs introduced a new version of theSimplicity Studio development ecosystem thatprovides unified support for Silicon Labs’ en-ergy-friendly 32-bit EFM32 Gecko microcon-trollers and 8-bit MCUs. The Simplicity Studioplatform has built-in intelligence to immedi-ately detect the connected target MCU. Graph-ical hardware configuration tools automaticallyconfigure the MCU, freeing the developer fromthe time-consuming task of perusing technicaldocumentation. Developers can get projectsup and running in minutes with sample demosand application code examples.

News ID 1254

n IAR unveils C-RUN runtime analysis product

IAR Systems announce its fully integrated andhigh-performance runtime analysis productC-RUN. C-RUN is an extension to the existingembedded development tools from IAR Sys-tems and gives developers unique possibilitiesto analyze their code at an early step and im-prove development workflow in an instant.

News ID 1227

n Altium: Tasking development tools support ON Semi’s LC87 MCU family

Altium announces support for the LC87 mi-crocontroller family from ON Semiconductorthrough a brand new TASKING compiler suitebased on its highly respected Viper ”VX” com-piler technology. Viper is a modern compilertechnology fully developed and owned by Al-tium. The use of Viper technology guaranteescompatibility to other popular Tasking toolsets,which have established a solid “proven in use”reputation with highly efficient and robustcode for a wide range of applications.

News ID 1230

n XMOS launches xCORE-Analog develop-ment kit

XMOS announces the immediate availabilityof its xCORE-Analog sliceKIT developmentboard, as well as the volume production ofits xCORE-Analog multicore microcontrollerproducts for industrial applications. xCORE-Analog combines the xCORE multicore, deterministic architecture with analog anddigital interfaces to minimize the need forexternal components in products requiringanalog functions and deterministic computingcapability.

News ID 1239

n Escatec: smart HMI stick opens up new simpler ways to wirelessly control machines

A major problem with many machines is thatthe Human Machine Interface is often a smallbasic control box with a small display and afew buttons that is hard to read and adjust.However, there is usually a USB port that en-gineers can plug into and link to a laptop fordiagnostics and controlling settings. This portcan now be used to create a much more user-friendly control interface by using a USB stickto create a short-range WiFi link to a tablet orsmartphone that runs a custom app to controlthe machine. This solution will appeal to com-panies that want to create HMIs for new andexisting machines with a more intuitive andeasier-to-use interface at a minimal cost. Ap-plications include industrial machinery, heatingsystems, air conditioning plants, productionequipment, laboratory equipment, test andmeasurement devices, home automation sys-tems, medical equipment, etc.

News ID 1222

n ARM releases MDK for InfineonXMC1000

ARM announced that Infineon has licensedthe Keil Microcontroller Development Kit Sil-icon Vendor Edition. Developers now get freeaccess to professional software tools for theInfineon XMC1000 microcontroller series, fur-ther accelerating the transition from 8 and16-bit architectures to 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0processors.

News ID 1243

n Vector Software opens additional officein GermanyVector Software announced that the companyis opening an additional office in Germany. Theoffice is located in Munich, a location chosen tobest serve key customers in southern Germany,as well as clients located in Austria and Switzer-land. The last two years have seen a rapid adop-tion of the VectorCAST embedded testing solu-tion within the automotive, industrial, and med-ical device industries in Germany, and the Mu-nich office will be a great asset in providingtechnical and sales support to these customers.

News ID 1296

n Green Hills: early access support forARMv8-A based 64-bit architecture

Green Hills announces an industry-first em-bedded software development solution builton its INTEGRITY real-time operating systemand comprehensive MULTI integrated devel-opment environment for the ARM Cortex-A50processor series. With this support, engineeringteams get a risk-reducing early start on theirnext-generation high-performance/low-powerproduct designs in automotive, mobile devices,networking infrastructure, industrial, Mil/Aeroand the Internet of Things.

News ID 1262

n IAR: enhanced version of EmbeddedWorkbench for ARM

IAR Systems releases a major enhanced versionof its complete and high-performance devel-opment toolchain IAR Embedded Workbenchfor ARM. Highlights are multicore debuggingfunctionality and support for automatic NEONvectorization which significantly strengthensdevelopment of complex applications. Multi-core applications often interact in complexways and are therefore challenging to debug.

News ID 1223

39 April 2014

PRODUCT NEWS


http://www.trinamic.com












n Agilent: next-gen user interface for Infiniium real-time oscilloscope

Agilent Technologies announced a next-gen-eration user interface for its Infiniium real-time oscilloscopes. It is the first oscilloscopeuser interface to take advantage of new displaytechnologies and significantly enhance theuser experience by offering faster documenta-tion, personalized viewing and improved us-ability. Infiniium oscilloscopes with the newuser interface allow engineers to easily manip-ulate their data across multiple monitors andmove windows, charts and measurement resultsto where they want them on the screen.

News ID 1265

n ETAS: expanded portfolio with new solutions, services and business segments

ETAS offer global services for the design,implementation, and integration of embed-ded software in the form of Real Time Ap-plication Solutions. Although geared mainlytoward ECUs for the automotive industry,ETAS also offers RTA Solutions for applica-tions in other sectors. This means ETAS canprovide premium software irrespective ofthe hardware solution–software that is tai-lored to each customer and meets requiredstandards including AUTOSAR or ISO 26262.The new DESK-LABCAR is a remarkablycompact, easily extendable, and cost-effectiveHardware-in-the-Loop testing system thatputs professional HiL technology in thehands of developers. Due to their high systemcomplexity, calibration of modern power-train ECUs requires an enormous investmentof time and money. Using models to preciselyrecreate system behavior, the new ETASASCMO tool is a powerful, universally ap-plicable solution that has been shown to re-duce the need for measurements by up to90 percent and fuel consumption by 2 to 4percent.

News ID 1267

n Data Modul: Mini-ITX baseboard forARM/x86 Qseven modules optimized todrive large panels

Data Modul presents a new Mini-ITX Base-board that fits perfectly for Digital Signageapplications. This innovative design uses theQseven Standard in order to build systemswith ARM based CPU Modules or x86 basedCPU Modules. This baseboard is optimizedand certified for ARM Qseven: eDM-QMX6(i.MX6 Quad Core), eDM-DMX6 (i.MX6 DualCore), eDM-DLMX6 (i.MX6 Dual Core lite);X86 Qseven: conga-QA3 Intel Atom E3845Quad Core; conga-QA3 Intel Atom E382xDual Core, conga-QA3 Intel Atom E3815 SingleCore. With this configuration it�s possible todevelop slim and fanless systems with enoughperformance to drive large size TFTs.

News ID 1216

n R&S: precise Ethernet interface verification with RTO oscilloscopes

Rohde & Schwarz has expanded the applicationfield of its R&S RTO oscilloscopes to includeEthernet interface testing. The new R&S RTO-K22 and R&S RTO-K23 Ethernet complianceoptions allow users to perform standard-com-pliant automated tests on 10/100/1000BASE-T and 10GBASE-T Ethernet interfaces. Allcompliance tests meet IEEE and ANSI Ethernettest specifications. Rohde & Schwarz oscillo-scopes are ideal for Ethernet compliance tests.

News ID 1313

n Xilinx: DDR4 memory solution for UltraScale devices running at 2400 Mb/s

Xilinx announced availability of the high per-formance DDR4 memory solution for All Pro-grammable UltraScale devices running at 2400Mb/s. Based on an ASIC-class architecture, theUltraScale devices support massive I/O andmemory bandwidth with dramatic power andlatency reduction. Xilinx’s robust memory so-lutions enable acceleration of design schedulesand include the DDR4 interface among others.

News ID 1332

n MEN: rugged COM Express standardmodule equipped with ARM i.MX6

The Freescale ARM i.MX 6 processor withCortex-A9 architecture forms the core of theCC10C Rugged COM Express module. Youcan select from the different families of thei.MX 6 series – 6Solo, 6DualLite, 6Dual and6Quad – and find an individual solution fordifferent demands in calculation and graphicspower. Since the i.MX 6 not only providesscalable CPU performance, but also a wealthof on-chip controllers and interfaces – e.g.,Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0 or 5-Gigabit PCIExpress, UART and CAN bus or interfaces formultimedia applications such as LVDS, DVI,audio and a camera connection –, the CC10Cexcels by its nearly boundless I/O flexibility.

News ID 1301

n Infineon: easy switch from 8-bit to 32-bitwith XMC1000 MCUs

At embedded world Infineon launched volumeproduction of its XMC1000 microcontrollersthat offer 32-bit performance at 8-bit pricesand use the ARM Cortex-M0 processor. At thesame time, Infineon presented new, highlycompact VQFN package variants for theXMC1000 family and providing informationon their new, free ARM Microcontroller De-velopment Kit. The XMC1000 microcontrollersare consistently optimized in line with theirtarget applications: sensor and actuator appli-cations, LED lighting, simple motor drives(e.g. for household appliances, pumps, fans)and digital power conversion (such as unin-terruptible power supplies).

News ID 1226

n ADI unveils two more SDR platform solutions

Analog Devices announced two software-de-fined radio platform solutions and ecosystems.The AD-FMCOMMS4-EBZ is a transceiverFMC module and the newest addition to Ana-log Devices’ expanding portfolio of single-channel SDR solutions. It includes the AD9364RF Transceiver IC in a cost-effective 1 x 1 SDRrapid prototyping FMC module. The AD-FM-COMMS3-EBZ is also a transceiver FMC mod-ule and was engineered for 70 MHz to 6 GHzwideband tuning applications such as hand-held and whitespace radios.

News ID 1280

n Mouser: NXP LPC1500 motion controllermakes motor control simple

Mouser Electronics is now shipping the newLPC1500 Motion Control Chip solution fromNXP Semiconductor. The LPC1500 is a flexiblecontroller capable of driving a variety of dif-ferent motors including brushless DC, sensored,sensorless, and permanent magnet motors.The LPC1500 is optimized for fast and easymotor control in a variety of applications.The LPC1500 is powered by a 72MHz ARMCortex M3 core combined with specializedmotor control peripherals. Two 12-bit, 12channel ADCs and a quadrature encoder in-terface provide enough support to drive twomotors at the same time.

News ID 1255

n Maxim: 4–20mA loop-powered temperature transmitter with HART protocol

Maxim Integrated’s Novato smart tempera-ture-transmitter reference design transmitstemperature measurement over -200 °C to+850 °C range with better than ±0.1 % accu-racy. Factories can now easily, and very accu-rately, measure and transmit industrial tem-peratures with the Novato reference design, a4–20mA loop-powered temperature transmitterwith the HART communication protocol fromMaxim Integrated Products.

News ID 1247

n TI: IoT-capable LaunchPad with on-boardEthernet MAC +PHY

Texas Instruments announces the latest addi-tion to its popular microcontroller LaunchPadecosystem – the Tiva C Series ConnectedLaunchPad. This Internet of Things, innovativeplatform enables engineers and makers to rap-idly prototype a wide range of cloud-enabledapplications, bringing expansive connectivityto any new or existing LaunchPad-based ap-plication. The Tiva C Series TM4C1294NCPDTMCU on-board adds advanced Ethernet tech-nology and the largest memory footprint avail-able in the LaunchPad ecosystem

News ID 1317

April 2014 40

PRODUCT NEWS













n MSC to distribute Sharp displaysMSC Technologies is now an official distribu-tion partner for the Sharp Devices EuropeLCD portfolio. The distribution agreement,which is valid for Central and Eastern Europe,the Benelux countries and Spain, concerns thewhole product range, starting from small-for-mat displays of 8.9 cm and extending to 203cm panels, some equipped with touchscreenfunctionality, achieving 2000 cd/m² brightnessand 1:5000 contrast for highly demanding e-signage applications.

News ID 1336

n Silicon Labs acquires low-power analogIC products

Silicon Labs announced the purchase of thefull product portfolio and intellectual propertyof Touchstone Semiconductor an early-stagepower management technology company andprovider of high-performance, low-power ana-log IC products. Touchstone’s low-power analogproducts and technologies complement SiliconLabs’ embedded portfolio of energy-friendlymicrocontrollers, wireless products and sensorsfor the Internet of Things market.

News ID 1307

n Toshiba: application processors integratehigh-speed WLAN and NAND Flash

Toshiba Electronics Europe has announced itwill offer a new range of application processorsthat incorporate IEEE802.11ac baseband - thestandard for high-speed wireless LAN - andNAND flash memory. The TZ5000 series isthe latest addition to Toshiba’s ApP Lite family.The series adopts an original low-power design,reducing power consumption and heat gener-ation when processing multimedia applications,such as HTML5, which usually imposes aheavy load on the CPU.

News ID 1277

n Renesas: RX64M MCUs with 4 MB Flashand 512 KB SRAM for IoT applications

Renesas Electronics unveiled the RX64M groupof microcontrollers. Part of the RX family,which covers a wide range of applications,from mid-range to high-end products, theRX64M MCUs provide a high-end MCU so-lution for applications that require the higherperformance, on-chip memory and lowerpower. Since the new MCUs maintain com-patibility with the existing product line, systemdesigners working with current RX productscan migrate easily to these new MCUs.

News ID 1264

n DFI: type 6 COM Express basic modulebased on mobile HM86 Express chipset

DFI launches a new Type 6 COM ExpressBasic module, the HM960-HM86, in its mo-bile-based Intel HM86 product line providinglow-power consumption and higher perform-

ance. This COM Express Basic module is pow-ered by the BGA 1364 packaging technologysupporting the latest 4th generation Intel Coreprocessor family. The enhancements in CPUperformance, media and graphics capabilities,security and power efficiency in the 4th gen-eration Intel Core processor family are drivinginnovation.

News ID 1244

n Digi: ConnectCore 6 module adds wireless M2M connectivity to devices

Digi International announced ConnectCore6, a surface mount multi-chip module withbuilt-in wireless connectivity. The ConnectCore6 provides access to all of the features of theFreescale i.MX 6 Quad, i.MX 6 Dual and i.MX6 Solo processors, making it the ideal solutionfor M2M applications.

News ID 1260

n Advantech: ARM-based compact box for IoT edge computing

Advantech launches the UBC-200, an ARM-based compact box computer, intended to beused as a core computing element in the grow-ing demand for IoT applications. UBC-200 isequipped with the Freescale ARM Cortex-A9i.MX6 Dual/Quad CPU, 1 GB/2 GB DDR3 ofonboard memory and 4 GB e.MMC flashmemory for storage. It supports Full HD 1080PHDMI display, 1 x USB 2.0 port, GigabyteEthernet and a mini-PCIe interface for optionalWi-Fi or 3G expansion.

News ID 1303

n Kontron: Pico-ITX and Mini-ITX embedded motherboards with E3800 series excel in graphics

Kontron announced two new embedded moth-erboards with Intel Atom processor E3800 se-ries. These particularly energy-efficient SoCboards in the form factors Pico-ITX and Mini-ITX excel with their outstanding graphics andpowerful processor performance while con-suming only a few watts. The Pico-ITX andMini-ITX form factors can easily be integratedinto existing systems without any furtherdesign effort, making them ready to use rightout of the box.

News ID 1261

n Freescale: metrocell base station SoC drives next-generation LTE

Freescale introduces the next generation of itsQorIQ Qonverge portfolio of base station-on-chip SoCs. Designed to help operators addcapacity and deliver enhanced coverage inuser-dense environments, the new B3421 basestation SoC integrates digital front-end tech-nology, which improves power amplifier effi-ciency and significantly reduces base stationpower and costs.

News ID 1266

41 April 2014

PRODUCT NEWS

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n Fujitsu: 1-Mbit FRAM product with I2C interface

Fujitsu Semiconductor releases MB85RC1MT,its new 1-Mbit FRAM product with I²C inter-face. The new product represents the highestmemory capacity of the company’s line-upfor the I2C serial interface. MB85RC1MT isoffered in an industry-standard SOP-8 packagethat is pin-compatible with EEPROM andFlash memory. Featuring high endurance andlow power consumption, the FRAM productenables frequent logging at low power, whichis a perfect fit for factory automation and in-dustrial instrument applications.

News ID 1214

n CSR brings connectivity and GPS to mbed communityCSR has joined the ARM mbed platform, anindustry venture designed to nurture the growthof the Internet of Things, as a componentpartner. The partnership provides the mbedcommunity access to CSR Bluetooth, BluetoothSmart, Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity solutionsand makes it easy for them to be integratedinto existing microcontroller projects.

News ID 1293

n Wibu-Systems select Infineon securitychips for USB tokens and memory cards

Wibu-Systems introduce USB Tokens andmemory cards with security controllers fromInfineon Technologies. CodeMeter, Wibu-Sys-tems’ solution for software protection, licensingand security, is ubiquitous throughout hard-ware devices, secure files, and the cloud alike.Over the history the company has broadenedits focus to embrace not just ISVs offeringB2B and B2C professional solutions, but alsothe industrial automation arena.

News ID 1306

n IDT: WPC 1.1 and PMA 1.1 dual-modewireless power receiver

Integrated Device Technology announced adual-mode wireless power receiver compatiblewith both the Wireless Power Consortium’s(WPC) 1.1 Qi standard, as well as the PowerMatter’s Alliance (PMA) 1.1 standard. The in-novative solution enables OEMs to use a singlewireless power receiver IC to develop mobiledevices fully compatible with the latest versionsof both Qi and PMA charging bases.

News ID 1289

n iC-Haus: speedy sine evaluation at x1000interpolation factor

For optical and magnetic length gauges fea-turing decimal gratings, iC-MQF offers a sineresolution of up to 4000 edges. The circuitincorporates a signal conditioning analogfront end, a vector-tracking converter forreal-time conversion without latency, as wellas fault-tolerant RS422 driver stages whichoutput the incremental signals. Reverse po-larity protection is also embedded and coversall cable connections. Differential or refer-enced input signals from a few millivolts up-wards can be connected up, such as thosecoming from MR bridge sensors or photosensors, for which alternatively also a lowimpedance can be selected.

News ID 1310

n Nordic BLE wireless chips expand Digi-Key’s IoT solution lineup

Digi-Key announces a global distribution agree-ment with Nordic Semiconductor. NordicSemiconductor is a fabless semiconductorcompany specializing in ultra-low power short-range wireless communication in the license-free 2.4 GHz and sub-1-GHz Industrial, Sci-entific, and Medical bands. Nordic’s ULP wire-less solutions enable customers to build wirelessconnectivity into everything from mainstreamconsumer RF remote controls through to themost advanced and innovative ‘game-changing’wireless devices – while meeting or exceedingend users’ expectations in terms of features,performance, and price.

News ID 1240

n CoreAVI announces safety criticalOpenGL drivers

Core Avionics & Industrial announced soft-ware and hardware solutions developed toenable the new AMD Radeon E8860 discretegraphics processing unit to be used by de-fense, aerospace, and other high reliabilitysystem manufacturers. CoreAVI offers tem-perature-screened versions of the AMDE8860 GPU complemented with a full suiteof OpenGL SC / ES, video decode, andOpenCL software drivers for real time op-erating systems, complete RTCA DO-178C/ EUROCAE ED-12C Level A certificationpackages and 20 year program supply management.

News ID 1237

April 2014 42

PRODUCT NEWS

Adv

ertise

rs Ind

ex

COMPANY PAGE

AAEON 9

ADLINK 7

Advantech 13

Artila 23

CESYS 19

congatec 29

Digi-Key 2

Ecrin 15

EKF Elektronik 31

Express Logic 17

Green Hills 5

Lauterbach 25

MSC 3

PEAK-System-Technik 33

Renesas 11

Rohde & Schwarz 44

Rutronik 21

SGET 43

Trinamic 39











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