Archive : 26 March 2015 год

Cypress has expanded the Traveo MCU family with the addition of a series said to provide a cost effective platform to deliver 2D and 3D graphics, as well as advanced functionality, for dashboards, head up displays and HVAC systems. 

Cypress has expanded the Traveo MCU family with the addition of a series said to provide a cost effective platform to deliver 2D and 3D graphics, as well as advanced functionality, for dashboards, head up displays and HVAC systems.

The Traveo S6J32BA and S6J32DA product family – developed by Spansion prior to its acquisition by Cypress – features the ARM Cortex-R5 processor, along with 1Mbyte of flash, 1Mbyte of video RAM, a 16bit audio D/A converter and an enhanced secure hardware extension (eSHE). Meanwhile, the HyperBus interface enables seamless connections with HyperFlash and HyperRAM memories.

Takeshi Fuse, senior vice president of Cypress' automotive business unit, said: "We will continue to deliver innovative automotive systems and an now provide a one stop resource for our customers that combines our Traevo product family, a broad line of memory products, PMICs, TrueTouch controllers and CapSense human machine interface solutions."

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Texas Instruments has launched an MCU range based on ARM's Cortex-M4F core. The MSP432 range is said to optimise performance without compromising power. According to the company, the MCUs consume 95µA/MHz in active mode and 850nA in standby.

The MSP432 MCUs are said by TI to achieve a score of 167.4 on the ULPBench test – better than any other M3 or M4F based MCU on the market.

An integrated DC/DC optimises power efficiency at high speed, while an integrated LDO reduces overall system cost and design complexity. In addition, a 14bit A/D converter consumes 375µA at 1Msample/s.

Running at up to 48MHz, MSP432 MCUs include a selectable RAM retention feature that provides power to each of the eight RAM banks needed for an operation, allowing overall system power to be reduced by 30nA per bank. The parts can operate from a supply in the range from 1.62V to 3.7V.

Two devices are available initially, with 128 and 256kbyte of dual bank flash and 32 and 64kbyte of RAM respectively. whilst an AES256 hardware encryption accelerator enables device and data to be secured.

The company has also launched support tools, including the MSP-TS432PZ100 target board and the MSP-EXP432P401R LaunchPad rapid prototyping kit, pictured.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Toshiba says it has developed a 48 layer three dimensional stacked flash memory. Called BiCS, the 2bit/cell device has a capacity of 16Gbyte and is now sampling.

BiCS is said to enhance write/erase endurance and to boost write speed. Although the technology can be used in a range of applications, Toshiba expects the parts to be used primarily in solid state drives (SSD).

Toshiba is now migrating to 3D flash memory, rolling out a product portfolio addressing large capacity applications, such as SSD.

Meanwhile, Fab2 at its Yokkaichi production site for NAND flash, is scheduled to completed in the first half of 2016.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Demand for MEMS devices grew by 5.7% in 2014, according to market researcher IHS, which identified Bosch as the leading supplier of the technology in a market driven by Apple. Claiming the market in 2014 was worth $9.45billion, IHS said Bosch held 12% of sales, worth $1.17bn.

IHS analyst Jeremie Bouchard said Apple boosted Bosch's MEMS revenue in 2014 due to its position as the sole supplier of pressure sensors in the iPhone 6 and 6+. He added that Bosch enjoyed strong growth in demand for its motion combo sensors from Sony for use in the PS4 and for handsets and tablets.

However, automotive contributes 67% of Bosch's MEMS revenue, with the company holding 30% of the market – more than three times as much as second placed automotive MEMS maker Denso.

Texas Instruments benefited from a rebound in demand for its Digital Light Processing technology in 2014 to take second place in the MEMS market. Meanwhile, STMicroelectronics saw its MEMS revenue decline by 19% to $630 million. Despite this decline, ST remains the leading MEMS manufacturer for consumer and mobile applications, holding 15% of the segment. IHS says the decline is due, in part, to ST losing iPhone sockets for accelerometers and gyroscopes, as well as for the combo motion sensors in the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Other companies in the top 10 were HP, Knowles, Avago, Canon, InvenSense, Triquint and Freescale.

Bouchard noted the recent merger between Freescale and NXP will create the leading supplier of automotive semiconductor sensors, including a 'very strong' positon in chassis and safety applications.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Arrow Electronics says it will distribute a development platform and system on modules based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 processor. According to the company, this will enable companies addressing the embedded and industrial sectors to develop applications such as security systems, robotics and motion control.

"Snapdragon processors are recognised as industry leading products designed to provide high-performance features," said David West, vice president for global marketing and engineering for Arrow's global components business. "We are excited by the opportunity to distribute development platforms based on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors globally and to provide design services to customers to accelerate commercial deployment time."

In addition to providing Snapdragon powered solutions, hardware and software, Arrow will also provide technical support for developers, accelerating deployment time for products.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Responding from a perceived demand from industry and society at large for practicable encryption solutions, researchers from the German Fraunhofer Institute have launched an open initiative intended to make end to end encryption more widely available. 

The team, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT), has developed a public encryption concept in which software automatically installs cryptographic keys in the right places on a computer. The researchers are also developing an infrastructure that will be available to all and which is compatible with existing encryption services.

The software based solution takes over what SIT said is the difficult task of allocating keys by recognising which applications – different e-mail programs, for example – can use cryptography and allocating the right key to each one automatically. The software also generates cryptographic keys that can be used to encrypt e-mails or files.

In the approach – called Volksverschlüsselung – public keys can be obtained from a central infrastructure. "It works like a phone book," says project manager Michael Herfert. "Anyone can look up and download public keys. The central infrastructure also ensures that the keys actually belong to the person requesting them and helps prevent identity fraud."

In order for many people to use the system, it would need to be handle several million keys and the current plan is to create an infrastructure on a high security server at the Fraunhofer Institute.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk