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26 May 2015

LIFE SCIENCES • SENSORS • PROGRAMMABLE PLATFORMS • DESIGN PLUS

Architecting the futureDesigning the mobile networks needed

to solve the rural ‘not-spot’ problem

COMMENT 5

IoT security must be

architected from the

beginning and not be

made an option -- but

most engineers don’t

know where to start

NEWS 7

Imagination launches

multidomain based

scalable security

system for next

generation SoCs

165 year old principle

could provide the basis

for a new approach to

non contact

measurement of high

temperature

News from last week’s

PCIM exhibition,

including Fairchild’s

new IGBT technology,

Infineon’s MOSFETs

and GaN Systems’

enhancement mode

power switch

Qualcomm gears up

for the Internet of

Everything as it

launches two IoT

specific chips

COVER STORY 14

Covering the country

With customers complaining about poor or no signal and dropped

calls, mobile network operators are rolling out new technology in

an attempt to solve the rural ‘not-spot’ problem

LIFE SCIENCES 19

An era of transformation

With the life sciences sector witnessing profound changes, what

opportunities are there for test and measurement companies to

meet the needs of this fast moving market?

SENSORS 22

Home security just got a lot smarter

We find out how sensors enable an application that brings a new

level of intelligence and simplicity to the home security market by

listening for unusual noises

EMBEDDED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT 24

Securing the system

There’s a growing awareness of the need for security in embedded

systems as they get connected to the outside world. We find out

some things to bear in mind

PROGRAMMABLE PLATFORMS 26

Building bridges

As incompatible interfaces become more of a problem, FPGAs

provide system designers with a way to fit ‘square pegs into

round holes’

DISPLAYS 29

HMI designs start to embrace video

With touch based human-machine interfaces deployed in all

manner of market sectors, attention is now turning to providing

enhanced video capabilities

DESIGN PLUS 33

Up to the mark?

Smartphone apps are part of everyday life today – with millions

available for download. But if you’re thinking of building an app,

will it need a CE mark?

Register for

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CONTENTS

VOL 48 NO 10

www.newelectronics.co.uk 26 May 2015 3

22

8

14

Photo

gra

phy:

Carl F

ox

26

“Our technologies are driving the new era of intelligent connectivity and

computing and we plan to invest heavily in these emerging

segments.” So said Qualcomm’s president, Derek Aberle, at a media event

earlier this month.

Qualcomm is determined, alongside the likes of Intel, Samsung and IBM, to

grow its presence significantly in the fast growing Internet of Things (IoT)

market.

And it’s no wonder that Qualcomm wants a piece of the action. It’s certainly

a growing market and, depending on how it is defined and who you talk to,

estimates suggest it could be worth anything up to $20billion this year alone.

But, as companies rush to get a share of the market, are they ignoring one

key issue – security? And even if security is not being overlooked, are the

security solutions being deployed fit for purpose? Horror stories already

abound of hackers breaking into devices and of vulnerabilities across the

supply chain.

Security is a top three issue for the IoT, according to ARM’s chief

technology officer Mike Muller. Speaking at a NMI sponsored IoT Security

Summit held earlier this month, Muller warned that ‘security must be

architected from the beginning and not be made an option’.

Describing vulnerable security models, compromised communication

protocols and insecure firmware updates, he warned that software complexity

and bugs in any code would lead to serious security flaws.

What has to be of more concern is the fact that most engineers don’t know

where to begin when it comes to security and the growing complexity of

designs is working against them. And who is actually responsible for

addressing security?

Muller described a possible two level approach to IoT security consisting of

a private and public state – the former built with strong security that rarely

changes and the latter, while still secure, developed with an eye to faster times

to market and quicker innovation cycles.

You can be certain of two things though. If your product is successful, it will

be hacked and, as a consumer, you’ll end up paying for enhanced levels of

security.

Neil Tyler, Editor ([email protected])

A question

of trustIoT deployments will not scale

effectively without trust

www.newelectronics.co.uk 26 May 2015

COMMENT

IoT SECURITY

www.beeas.co.uk

ARE YOUREADY?

It’s time to think about the

2015 British Engineering

Excellence Awards

ENTRIES NOW OPEN

25 May 2015 www.newelectronics.co.uk6


NEWS

SYSTEM SECURITY

Shielding the systemIMAGINATION LAUNCHES SCALABLE SECURITY SYSTEM FOR SoCS.

GRAHAM PITCHER REPORTS.

Imagination Technologies has launched OmniShield, designed to provide scalable and secure protection of

next generation SoCs. The approach is described as a scalable security technology that ensures that

applications which need to be secure are isolated from each other effectively and reliably as well as

protected from non secure applications. Multiple secure domains are created in which each secure/non

secure application/operating system can operate independently in its own separate environment.

Tony King-Smith, Imagination’s executive vp of marketing, said: “OmniShield will play a critical role in

minimising the attack surface area in next generation connected devices. PowerVR IP is already used in

secure heterogeneous environments, thanks to the virtualisation in some Series6XT GPUs. We’ll soon see

OmniShield ready systems based on our other processors. This is the start of a new era of secure SoC and

cloud based systems design.”

The multidomain separation based approach is said to not only ensure security and reliability, but also to

ease development and deployment of applications and services. It also addresses scalability; in a

heterogeneous architecture, application data and resources will be shared between the CPU and other

processors in the system.

Imagination is building OmniShield support into all of its processors. In addition, Imagination and its

partners will provide virtualised root of trust IP blocks for OmniShield, including crypto, Public Key Accelerator,

true random number generators, secure I/O for external TPMs and secure ROM.

A software platform from OneSpin Solutions allows third party companies with limited knowledge of formal technology

to develop and deliver domain specific formal based applications.

Called 360 LaunchPad, the software can be delivered as part of the app by the developer or the app can be

included in the OneSpin App Library, working with its formal products.

“We’re taking our assertion based engine and packaging it so other companies can use it inside their products,”

said Dave Kelf, vp of marketing.

To date, Agnisys and Tortuga Logic have integrated LaunchPad into their products. Tortuga has used it as part of its

Prospect hardware security product line, while Agnisys’ ARV-Formal combines LaunchPad with its Automatic Register

Verification0app to ensure register0operations in an RTL design are formally proven to match a specification.

Kelf said he expected this approach to enable more tools to be created. “We think there could be a couple of

hundred customers in the IP sector,” he concluded.

Software provides launch pad for formal based apps

Micro-camera could

revolutionise smart

sensors

Researchers at CSEM

claim their Vision-in-

Package (VIP) system

combines all necessary

elements into a volume

of less than 1cm³.

Featuring an ARM Cortex M4F,

the VIP also integrates 2Mbyte of Gash, 64Mbyte of

SDRAM and a 2.4GHz RF transceiver, while the HD

camera has a QVGA imager.

Measuring 16.5 x 16.5 x 3mm, VIP communicates

via various ports and can be integrated into existing

platforms using a software development kit.

Industrial semiconductor

sales up by 18%Worldwide industrial semiconductor revenues in 2014

grew to $40.4billion, 18% more than in the previous

year, according to market analysts IHS.

Texas Instruments was the largest industrial

semiconductor supplier, with sales of $3.5bn,

followed by STMicroelectronics and InFneon, while

Micron and ON Semiconductor entered the top 10 at

the expense of Maxim and Cree.

Among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers, nine

achieved sales growth in 2014 – seven returning

double digit growth. Only Renesas saw its revenues

decline.

IHS forecasts a 7% increase in industrial

semiconductor sales in 2015 and a compound

annual growth rate of 6% until 2019.

T: 01322 221144 F: 01322 221188

www.newelectronics.co.uk

E: [email protected]

Editor Neil Tyler

[email protected]

Online Editorial Tom Austin-Morgan

Assistant [email protected]

Group Editor Graham Pitcher

[email protected]

Contributing David Boothroyd

Editors Chris Edwards

Louise Joselyn

John Walko

[email protected]

Art Editor Martin Cherry

[email protected]

Illustrator Phil Holmes

Sales Manager Marc Young

[email protected]

Publisher Peter Ring

[email protected]

Executive Ed Tranter

Director [email protected]

Production Nicki McKenna

Controller [email protected]

New Electronics, incorporating Electronic

Equipment News and Electronics News, is

published twice monthly by

Findlay Media Ltd, Hawley Mill, Hawley Road,

Dartford, Kent, DA2 7TJ

Copyright 2015 Findlay Media.

Annual subscription (22 issues)

UK £108. Overseas £163. Airmail is £199.

ISSN 0047-9624 Online ISSN 2049-2316

Origination: CC Media, London

Printed in the UK by Pensord Press

Moving on?

If you change jobs or your company moves,

please contact [email protected] to

continue receiving your free copy of

New Electronics

Findlay Media is a member of the

Periodical Publishers’ Association

Researchers from the University of Manchester,

together with graphene manufacturer BGT

Materials, have used compressed graphene ink to

print an RF antenna measuring 14cm x 3.5mm

onto a piece of paper. According to the team, the

antenna performed well enough to make it practical

for use in RFID tags and wireless sensors.

Graphene ink is usually made by mixing

graphene flakes with a solvent, and sometimes a

binder such as ethyl cellulose. However, the team

found that when a binder free ink was printed and

dried, then compressed with a roller, graphene’s

conductivity was boosted by more than 50 times.

The tags are likely to reduce the cost of RFID

tags ‘significantly’, according to the research team.

Graphene RFID antenna

printed on paper

CAP-XX has launched the Thinline series of single cell

supercapacitors, targeted at IoT devices.

To reduce thickness and manufacturing costs, the

company has increased the power and energy density

of its electrode materials, while eliminating folded

edges and copper terminals.

Three 20mm footprints are available in

thicknesses of 0.6, 0.7 or 0.9mm. The 19.5mm wide

A series has a capacitance from 60 to 180mF and an

ESR from 45 to 200mΩ. The 28mm wide W series

has a capacitance from 100 to 300mF and an ESR of

24 to 120mΩ. The 39mm S series has a capacitance

of 180 to 540mF and an ESR from 16 to 75mΩ.

Thinline

supercaps

for IoT devices

Buck controller featuresdirect conversion

Intersil has launched a synchronous

step down PWM buck controller that

can bypass the intermediate step-

down conversion process. According

to the company, the ISL8117

enables direct conversion from 48V

to a 1V point-of-load supply.

Mark Downing, senior vp,

infrastructure and industrial power

products, said: “Customers are

trying to eliminate the intermediate

stage of a two stage conversion.

We’ve found that you can get a 2 to

3% rise in efficiency with just a

single stage conversion down to

point-of-load and this product

enables that.”

The ISL8117 uses valley current

mode modulation with adaptive

slope compensation to enable stable

operation for a range of input and

output combinations. Its input range

of 4.5V to 60V covers all standard

input rails, whilst the output is

configurable from 0.6V to 54V.

System designers can also

adjust the device’s frequency from

100kHz to 2MHz to reduce system

noise and optimise power supply

cost, size and efficiency.

2D materials cancontrol light

Researchers from MIT, IBM’s TJ

Watson Research Center, Hong Kong

Polytechnic University and the

University of Minnesota say they

have used two dimensional

materials to provide an exceptional

degree of control over light.

In its work, the team deposited

a layer of graphene on top of a layer

of hexagonal boron nitride. Although

structurally similar, the materials

interact with light differently, but the

researchers found these interactions

could be complementary.

MIT associate professor of

mechanical engineering Nicholas

Fang believes it should be possible

to use the approach to create

optical waveguides of about 20nm

in size, which could lead to chips

that combine optical and electronic

components in a single device.

BRIEFS Eddies take the heatINDUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY COULD HELP TO MEASURE HIGH TEMPERATURES.


Eddy currents could provide a new way to measure high temperatures in a range of challenging applications.

According to The Technology Partnership, its inductive technique has already been used to measure

temperature over ranges of several hundred degrees Celsius to an accuracy of 1°C.

TTP says it has exploited the fact that eddy currents are dependent on a material’s temperature. It

believes the approach could replace existing contact and non contact methods. “Inductive temperature

sensing is ideal for applications where contact methods are not reliable and where lack of line of sight

access, variable emissivity or high cost limit the use of infrared techniques,” said TTP senior consultant Dr

David Pooley.

Eddy currents were discovered by Foucault in 1851, but the technology was not used for industrial

applications until the 1930s. “It’s very exciting to take a 165 year old principle and discover completely

new applications for it,” said Dr Pooley. “We are continuing our trials to refine the process and explore new

applications and we are already getting a lot of interest from potential partners.”

26 May 2015 www.newelectronics.co.uk

NEWS

TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT

8

Tuneable hardmask technology

A new approach to patterning copper interconnects has been

developed by Applied Materials, which believes it will be applicable at

the 10nm node and beyond.

According to the company, as process technology scales, innovation

in hardmask technology is required in order to preserve the pattern

integrity of tightly packed interconnect structures. “Patterning plays a

key role here,” said Sree Kesapragada, global product manager for

metal deposition.

Interconnect alignment is currently handled by titanium nitride

(TiN) hardmasks. However, as process dimensions get smaller, film

density and stress become issues. Cirrus HTX is said to enable the TiN

hardmask to be scaled to meet future patterning needs.

“Hard masks for 10nm and beyond need tensile stress and high

film density,” said Kesapragada. “Cirrus HTX enables tuneable stress

and density. If the film density is low, alignment will be out of spec,

while compressive stress will make metallisation impossible.”

Energy friendly IGBTsFAIRCHILD LOOKS TO CUT IGBT ENERGY LOSS BY 30%.


Fairchild used PCIM to launch a technology which, it claims, will reduce energy loss in its fourth generation

650V and 1200V IGBTs by 30%. The technology is said to use a novel design approach tailored for high and

medium/speed switching applications in industrial and automotive markets.

According to the company, it is applying an advanced high density pitch, self balancing cell build using self

aligned contact technology for extremely high current densities and what it calls ‘favourable’ dynamic

switching features over temperatures ranging from -40 to 175°C. It adds this approach will enable its fourth

generation IGBTs to demonstrate a saturation voltage of approximately 1.65V and a switching loss of 5µJ/A.

“Fairchild’s new approach involves extremely high electron injection efJciency enhanced by a very Jne cell

pitch design and hole carrier injection restricted by a new buffer structure,” said Fairchild Fellow Thomas

Neyer. “These advances yield signiJcant performance advantages and will enable Fairchild to give

manufacturers new solutions for efJciently controlling large amounts of power with our IGBTs.”

Further details for Fairchild’s FS4 IGBTs will be available later in 2015.


NEWS

PCIM LAUNCHES

9

Vicor unveiled a range of high density, low proJle

integrated AC/DC front end power modules.

The VIA PFM range, which features a power

density of 8W/cm³, can supply up to 400W to an

isolated PFC regulated 24V or 48V SELV DC output

from an AC input ranging from 85 to 264V.

The 9mm thick VIA PFM can be mounted on the

sidewall of any typical 1U chassis. The modules may

also be conduction cooled to eliminate fans,

improving overall system reliability and minimising

the power system footprint.

According to Vicor, the combination of high

density, high efJciency and low thermal resistance

makes VIA PFM modules suitable for use in

applications ranging from small cell wireless base

stations to automation systems.

Front end modules

X-Fab and gallium nitride start up Exagan have

signed a development agreement to industrialise

the latter’s 650V GaN-on-silicon technology. The

deal will also see high speed power switching

devices produced on 200mm wafers and the

establishment of a European production centre.

“Our strategic partnership with X-FAB is the latest

step in establishing a robust supply chain capable of

providing customers with qualiJed GaN devices in

large volumes for demanding applications,” said

Frédéric Dupont, Exagen’s president and CEO.

The two companies have already processed the

Jrst GaN-on-silicon devices built on 200mm

substrates at X-Fab’s Dresden fab and are

developing the prototype into a process robust

enough for mass production.

Fab partnership

MOSFETs feature ‘GaN like’

performance

Infineon debuted a family of CoolMOS C7 series superjunction MOSFETs.

The 600V capable series is said to offer a 50% reduction in turn off losses

compared to CoolMOS CP, bringing what it claims is a ‘GaN like’ level of

performance in hard switching topologies.

CoolMOS C7 parts, which have an area specific on resistance

(RDS(ON)*A) of 1Ω/mm2, will be made in two 300mm fabs to ensure

security of supply. The family will have a broad range of RDS(ON) values and

package options, including the TO-247 4pin package (pictured). The fourth

pin boosts efficiency in full load by up to 0.4% by eliminating voltage drops

across the source inductance.

The MOSFETs will be available in TO-220, TO-247 and TO-247 4pin

packages with RDS(ON) ratings ranging from 40mΩ to 180mΩ. Samples for

TO-220 FP, DPAK, D2PAK and ThinPAK options, as well as the complete range

of RDS(ON) values, will be available in Q3 2015.

Simplifying

digital power

conversion

Looking to help designers to take

advantage of digital power

conversion, STMicroelectronics

has released the STNRG range of

digital controllers.

STNRG ICs contain ST’s State

Machine Event Driven (SMED)

high resolution PWM generator,

along with an STM8 based

supervisory core. The devices

integrate a 32kbyte EEPROM, a

6kbyte RAM, A/D converter, op

amp, I2C port and GPIO. BeneJts

claimed include high efJciency

under load, enhanced safety,

diagnostics and network

connectivity.

The STNRG family comprises:

the STNRG288A, with four SMED-

controlled outputs; the

STNRG328A, with Jve SMEDs;

and the STNRG388A, with six

SMEDs.

GaN part

handles 60A

GaN Systems introduced a GaN

based high power enhancement

mode device at PCIM. Called the

GS65516T, the part is said to

have a current capability of 60A.

“GaN is real and happening

right now,” claimed Girvan

Patterson, the company’s

president. “Our devices boast

industrial scale power and, since

becoming available commercially

last year, hundreds of leading

companies across the globe have

embraced our technology.”

The E-mode power switch,

which features a topside cooling

conJguration, is based on the

company’s Island Technology die

design. Supplied in a low

inductance package measuring 9

x 7.6 x 0.45mm, the part

supports reverse current

capability, integral source sense

and zero reverse recovery loss.

According to Qualcomm’s president

Derek Aberle, the company is now

looking to grow its presence in the

burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) market

significantly.

Speaking in San Francisco, Aberle said the

industry needed technology leaders with the

right scale and resources if the Internet of

Everything – as the company refers to the IoT

– is to deliver value.

Qualcomm, long associated with

smartphones, is looking to firmly establish

itself in this growing market. While it has

been working in the IoT sector for the past

few years, Aberle said he is now looking to

push much harder into the market.

“Qualcomm is well positioned to provide

advanced connectivity, computing and

interoperability for devices and machines,” he

said. “Our technologies are already driving

this new era of intelligent connectivity and

computing and we plan to invest heavily in

these emerging segments.”

Rivals Samsung and Intel have released

IoT specific chips, while IBM recently

announced a $3billion investment to create

an IoT business unit.

To emphasise the scope and range of

Qualcomm’s presence, Aberle used his

presentation to describe the companies work

in a variety of projects, including smart cities

– covering areas such as municipal Wi-Fi,

water use, recycling, lighting, transportation,

energy and infrastructure – as well as in

connected healthcare, where Qualcomm Life,

the company’s mobile health unit, now has

around 500 customers and collaborators.

The company is also heavily involved in

developing wearable devices and, according

to Aberle, ‘more than 20million connected

vehicles are currently deployed globally with

Qualcomm Snapdragon LTE and 3G modems’.

Last year, the company generated more

than $1billion from supplying the IoT market,

said Aberle.

Aberle also talked about the company’s

‘vision’ for the IoT. “We want to make devices

so smart that they do not have to be

connected to the Internet to be controlled by

individuals; instead, the device should learn

and adapt to scenarios. If the devices are

smarter, much more of the computing can be

done at the device, instead of up in the cloud.”

The size of the IoT market is open to

debate and, depending on the definition of

the market, estimates of its worth range from

$1bn to almost $20bn this year.

Aberle said that, whatever the figure, the

opportunities for companies like Qualcomm

were enormous and the importance of first

mover advantage would be significant. “We’re

determined that Qualcomm will take a big

slice of the pie for itself,” he suggested.

Qualcomm used the event to launch two

new chips – the QCA401x and QCA4531 –which

it hopes will spur development of IoT products.

The QCA401x, Qualcomm’s flagship IoT chip, is

intended to be used to power devices such light

bulbs, smart TVs and cameras. The QCA4531,

a Linux based Wi-Fi device, will act as a hub

between larger devices.

“Across the board, our technologies are

supporting the Internet of Everything, whether

through more intelligent connectivity or

computing. To ensure success, we need to not

only provide a range of solutions to what is a

very diverse market, but also better understand

how connectivity will drive a much deeper

market engagement,” Aberle concluded.

Qualcomm gears up for the Internet of EverythingLEADING US CHIP-MAKER SETS OUT ITS STALL AS IT TARGETS THIS FAST GROWING

MARKET. NEIL TYLER REPORTS FROM SAN FRANCISCO.


NEWS ANALYSIS

INTERNET OF EVERYTHING

10

“Our technologies are

already driving this new

era of intelligent

connectivity … and we plan

to invest heavily in these

emerging segments.”

Derek Aberle, Qualcomm

More than 10,000 SME manufacturing and design sites

operate within 100 miles of Newcastle and, with inward

investment from larger manufacturers such as Nissan in

Sunderland and now Hitachi in County Durham, the region’s

heartbeat is stronger than ever.

Manufacturing and Engineering North East will showcase the North

East’s strengths and provide a platform for local and national

manufacturers, engineers and their suppliers to meet, learn, solve

problems and do business.

All such companies have the same pressures as manufacturers and

engineers across the nation – too much to do in too little time. At the same

time, there is always the reality of having to keep ahead of the game.

Keeping abreast with technology, business practices, new opportunities –

this all takes time.

The event will comprise four key elements covering the full range of

design, production and manufacturing all targeted to the needs of its

visitors:

• Keynote conferences from market leading engineering and

manufacturing businesses.

• Practical, hands-on workshops sessions.

• An exhibition providing access to market-leading suppliers.

• And, most importantly, it will be entirely FREE to attend for

manufacturers and engineers within the region.

Manufacturing & Engineering North East conference and exhibition is an

event fashioned on a national blueprint and tailored to the region’s needs.

Accepting that engineers do not have hours to spare travelling from North

to South, MENE is an event on the doorstep of those involved in design,

engineering and manufacturing in the North East.

And far from being a scaled down version of a national event, more than

100 market leading suppliers will fll MENE’s sold out exhibition hall (at the

largest venue in the region) with conferences and workshops of direct –

and in many cases unique – relevance to the region.

Ed Tranter, Exhibition Director, commented: “We are tremendously

excited about this event. Since we frst started talking to agencies and

organisations in the region, it has been clear that engineering is a way of

life here – people take massive pride in being part of the sector. That pride

has translated itself to enthusiasm for this event from all its participants –

exhibitors, visitors, conference presenters and the organising team. We

can’t wait to open our doors to this thriving community in July.”

Visit www.menortheast.co.uk and register now.

A fantastic new event – the Manufacturing & Engineering North East exhibition and conference

– has been put together especially to meet the needs of the North East region.

8 – 9 July 2015

Metro Radio Arena

Newcastle

Engineered for the

Conference highlights

Each keynote session provides case studies and insights from

leading industry experts.

Programme highlights include:

• Innovate UK – hear how your company can gain funding and

support as part of Innovate UK’s remit to champion the

development of British industrial innovation

• IP Protection – Newcastle IP company McDaniel & Co will

provide engineers clear advice on how to protect their designs

• Renewable Energy – learn how to get your business designing

and supplying to the renewable sector with the Offshore

Renewable Energy Catapult

• Creative Design – IHC describes the key principles it uses to

deliver award winning engineering designs

• AMRC and the Boeing Training Centre – the Advanced

Manufacturing Research Catapult will outline the development

of the employer-led training programme and explain the benefts

it presents to other manufacturers

• Ebac – this Durham-based white goods manufacturer will

provide insight into the design process

• Pepsico – an inspiring case study in manufacturing excellence

from the Peterlee factory

• EEF – the manufacturer’s association – will provide a master

class on how to attract and retain world class employees

• Automotive – Nissan has reinvigorated the North East

automotive sector and has enjoyed huge success. The North

East Automotive Alliance explains the opportunities and growth

potential for the region’s manufacturers

• Rail Alliance – discover how your business can become part of

the emerging supply chain and take advantage of the billions

being invested in the North East rail sector

It’s free to attend, but conference spaces are limited, so don’t

miss out!

Visit www.menortheast.co.uk to reserve your place.


MENE 2015 PREVIEW

WWW.MENORTHEAST.CO.UK

North East

Practical hands-on

workshops

Across the two days of the event there will be 20

workshop sessions, each designed to drill deeper

into certain technologies so that the engineer can

get practical advice or information about new

services, functions or technologies.

Workshop topics (with presenting companies) include:

• Industrial automation solutions (Fanuc)

• Engineering thermoplastic polymers (KD

Feddersen)

• Bearings for automotive, aerospace and

industrial uses (Schaeffer)

• 3D Printing software and services (Materialise)

• Manufacturing advice (EEF)

• Funding solutions to help businesses secure

assets (Lombard)

• Improve machining processes with CNC Machine

Tool Simulation (CG Tech)

1st MTAAbssacAdvanced IndustrialProducts

Ajax Machine ToolsAmtech RapidPrototyping

ArcoArno UK BeckhoffAutomation

Brownell BTM AutomationC Dugard CG TechChester UKCNC RotaryDelcamDunkermotoren (UK)ECI SolutionsEJOTElectro MechanicalSystems

Elesa (UK) Epicor Software (UK) EPLANEuropean Springs

& Pressings Exel ComputerSystems plc

Fanuc UK FaroFibox Geo KingsburyMachine Tools

GOM UK Harmonic DriveHeasonHEIDENHAIN (GB) Henkel LoctiteHexagon Metrology HK TechnologiesHorn Cutting Tools Hurco EuropeIgusIHC EngineeringBusiness

Industrial ToolingCorporation

Informance Jauch QuartzK.D Feddersen UK K3 SysproKCS Datawright

Kyal Machine ToolsLee Spring LG MotionLohmannTechnologies

Lombard (RoyalBank of Scotland)

MACH MachineTools /TheVigilance Group

Materialise UKMatsuuraMachinery

Maxon MotorsMayr Transmissions MeasurementSolutions Limited

Metool Products Metrology SoftwareProducts

Micro EpsilonMinitecNikken KosakushoEurope

OGPPDJ VibroPerfect Bore Mfg

Q8 OilsRenishawRud ChainsRutland Plastics SchaefflerSeaward GroupSpringmasters Staytite StrainSense TDK Lambdatesa UK TFC Europe Trotec Laser TrumpfTURBEX TyrolitVargus Tooling UK Vero SoftwareWard Hi Tech WhitfordWNTWuerth IndustrieXYZ Machine ToolsYamazaki MazakYork EMC ServicesZygology

Sold out exhibitionWith more than 100 market leading suppliers flling the hall to capacity, theexhibition provides a ‘must attend’ platform for engineers or manufacturerslooking to improve and grow their businesses.

Five reasons you

need to be there

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“So the operators offered new commitments and, again,

pleaded with Government and regulators to ease the tough

planning regulations that stop us putting masts of the

necessary height so as to extend network coverage in

these areas.

“What we would dearly like from the Government is a

holistic approach; at the moment, we see a disconnect

between different departments,” Prof Sutton continued.

The compromise means, between them, carriers will be

committed to invest an additional £5billion by 2017 on

infrastructure targeting rural ‘not-spots’ so as to achieve

90% coverage for voice and SMS and 85% for 3G and 4G.

The MNOs also committed to improve the availability of

mobile broadband in rural areas, although this wasn’t

included in the revised licence arrangements.

According to statistics compiled by Ofcom in December

2014, Vodafone covered 82% of the UK land mass, while O2

and EE managed 78% coverage.

So what are these new technologies – and potentially

cost effective solutions – that network operators could

deploy to connect hard to reach subscribers?

As Prof Sutton stressed, new architectures will be

needed. Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV), the current


On holiday in Cornwall last summer, UK Prime

Minister David Cameron found himself in a ‘not-

spot’ and either could not get a signal on his

mobile or suffered constantly from dropped calls.

Subscribers in rural areas cheered; they thought this would

be a ‘something must be done’ moment and their

exasperation might, hopefully, be over.

Shortly after, regulator Ofcom proposed a ‘national

roaming’ scheme that horrified the country’s mobile network

operators (MNOs): it would have forced them to offer the

kind of competitive roaming between networks that is

common when using a mobile abroad.

“We are looking at potential solutions to cover the

capacity and dropped calls issues in rural areas, so

objected strongly to the proposals,” Professor Andy Sutton,

principal network architect at operator EE, told New

Electronics. “The technological fix suggested would not have

resulted in a seamless experience for subscribers and,

frankly, was not a viable technical solution.”

With a rare unified voice, the operators stressed the

scheme could have led to even less reliable signal

availability, reduced a phone’s battery life and posed risks to

the security of their networks. And they claimed that, as

outlined, roaming would not have impacted data

transmission, but only 2G voice calls.

Mobile network operators are rolling out new

technology to solve the rural ‘not-spot’ problem.

By John Walko.

Covering the country

Fig 1: Issues with mobile voices services in the UK

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Every day A few times a week Once a week

A few times a month Hardly ever Never

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Dro

pped c

alls

Blo

cked c

alls

Remote rural

Rural

Urban

Total

10% 16% 3% 14% 38% 20%

13% 8% 15% 29% 19%14%

5% 4% 11% 36% 35%9%

10%6% 4% 11% 36% 33%

Remote rural

Rural

Urban

Total

16%6% 6% 13% 34% 24%

10%10% 7% 19% 34% 20%

10% 6% 13% 35% 31%4%

10%5% 7% 13% 35% 30%

Ph

oto

:s C

arl F

ox

buzzword in the mobile sector, will be brought to bear, as will

software defined networking. Then there are different

flavours of dynamic mesh routing to connect and, crucially,

backhaul traffic between and from remote base stations.

“In the longer term, operators are likely to use 800MHz

spectrum and 4G in rural scenarios and this will align with

the work underway to offer Voice over LTE (VoLTE) to users

everywhere,” said Prof Sutton. He added operators are also

looking at increased use of femto and micro cells, while Wi-

Fi calling could even come into play, though the latter is

more likely to be used to improve in building coverage.

Two UK operators have started to roll out small cell

based solutions.

“We have done a thorough review of what was available

and chose a relatively new and innovative solution from

Parallel Wireless that brings together elements of metrocells

and a Distributed Antenna System approach. Although we

considered a femtocell based approach, it would also have

needed a fixed broadband line in the premises.”

The system’s cells connect to each other in a mesh

network that, in turn, connects, via microwave, to a normal

basestation up to 6km away. The in-band backhaul system

uses a 20MHz portion of EE’s 1800MHz LTE spectrum and

can work over distances of up to 12km and – in the right

circumstances – even 15 km away.

EE believes three or four such cells could cover up to

150 buildings over an area of 1.3km2. Since the gear is

small and unobtrusive, the problem of gaining planning

permission does not come into play.

The micro network supports 4G at 1.8GHz and 3G at

2.1GHz. EE says users could get average data speeds of

20Mbit/s outdoors and slightly less than this indoors.

The basic antenna units are managed by an LTE access

controller that can support both outdoor and in-vehicle cells.

Parallel Wireless suggests its set-up is an early example of

a carrier grade network system, since the orchestration of

the access points is run in software on the controller, which

supports the cellular NFV standard.

This could have important ramifications, as many in the

industry feel such a small cell system could be a catalyst for

virtualisation in the Radio Access Controller, allowing many

sites to be managed Aexibly from a central server. This has

the potential of significantly lower cost and less complex cell

site equipment.

Prof Sutton said EE is planning to deploy the system in

some 1500 rural communities by the end of 2017. The first


COVER STORY

RURAL MOBILE COVERAGE

“In the longer

term, operators

are likely to use

800MHz

spectrum and

4G in rural

scenarios and

this will align

with the work

underway to

offer VoLTE) to

users

everywhere.”

Prof Andy

Sutton

transmit voice calls in the same way as they transmit data,

by chopping up calls into packets.

“It is coming fast; faster than many people think,” said

Prof Saunders. “And since VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling can use

an IMS handling framework, both could be enabled by the

same investment.” This, he suggests, will be a powerful

business proposition as the network operators plan the full

roll-out of their 4G networks.

Because US operators have embraced 4G more quickly

than their European counterparts, this has allowed them to

‘sunset’ 2G more quickly (see box). This will make them

more cost effective, with one fewer generation of

basestations to maintain and manage and more spectrum

for faster and more lucrative data services.

Meanwhile, 5G is on the way – sometime post 2020, but

possibly much later, according to some in the industry. With

so much still to get right, how 5G could help those in rural

areas still likely to be suffering from non spots is anyone’s

guess.

But as Prof Sutton concluded: “If we get 5G right, maybe

there will not be a need for 6G.”


was installed last December in the Cumbrian village of

Sebergham. Intriguingly, there is the possibility the platform

could be integrated into BT’s rural broadband initiatives if –

or, more probably, when – its proposed acquisition of EE is

approved.

Meanwhile, Vodafone is rolling out a rural version of its

Open Sure Signal scheme (ROSS) which, initially, aims to

provide 3G coverage to 100 villages. This is based on a

larger, open access and ruggedised version of its Sure

Signal femtocell that can be fixed onto the side of buildings

and on street furniture. The first location, in the Cotswolds

village of Minchinhampton, went live in November 2014.

The operators suggest that, by using small cell options,

they can offer rural communities a better service for about

one third of the investment that would be needed were they

to go down the route of adding a macrocell and having to

provision in the cost and complexity of backhaul.

This chimes with an assertion by consultancy Real

Wireless, which noted in its 2015 ‘Manifesto’ that ‘small

cells have reached a point where they are cost effective for

MNOs to deploy them in the right context’.

“We did a piece of work recently that compared the costs

of deploying micro and macro cells in vastly differing

geographic and rural scenarios – from the UK to Africa – and

concluded that, in time, costs could be reduced to about

10% of a conventional macro cell deployment, on a per-

person basis,” Professor Simon Saunders, director of

technology at Real Wireless, and formerly founding chairman

of the Small Cell Forum told New Electronics.

He added that, while there are technical challenges, ‘the

critical issue for rural wireless has always been around the

business case’. Real Wireless suggests that ‘until the

business case becomes clear, the initiative for providing

wireless in rural areas will always be on the subscribers

themselves or government and regulators’.

If these small cell architecture based initiatives and

additional infrastructure upgrades are the short term future

– the expectation is that they will halve the number of partial

not-spots and reduce total not-spots by two thirds in most

rural areas – VoLTE could be the long term answer,

according to Prof Saunders.

VoLTE allows MNOs to use their data networks to

16

COVER STORY

RURAL MOBILE COVERAGE

3G or not 3G?

We know what happens to mobile phones – even tablets –

when deemed no longer fit for purpose. But what about the

cellular network infrastructure?

In parts of the world, for example the US and Australia,

some operators are already decommissioning their 2G

networks and, in most cases, refarming the spectrum to

newer generation offerings. But while there has been debate

and planning in Europe, there has been no action.

In the UK, there is talk that 3G networks could – even

should – be switched off before 2G.

“Why not? It is entirely sensible. 2G is the glue that holds

the mobile world together from a roaming point of view as regards voice

traffic. And 2G has been established as the preferred medium for M2M

networking, linking millions of telemetry devices on very long term contracts.”

Professor Andy Sutton, principal network architect at EE told New Electronics.

Many vending machines and credit card validating services rely on 2G and

25% of UK handsets are 2G only. “Embedded 3G device modules did not

really take off and, in any case, 3G is essentially a mobile data network. But,

technically, there is no feature of 3G that we can’t better replicate with the

rapidly deploying 4G networks,” he added.

This assessment is corroborated by a May 2015 report from market

researcher Forward Concepts, which suggests that ‘2G remains the key

foundation, comprising the majority of units shipped in 2014. Though, with

the shift toward broadband technologies, we expect 3G to grow to 40% of

mobile M2M module revenue by 2018’.

Prof Sutton stresses the basestations being deployed by EE will reduce the

spectrum that needs to be allocated for GSM, allowing it to be transferred to

4G as and when needed.

“It clearly makes sense for an operator, such as EE, to refarm a portion of

its 1800MHz spectrum towards 4G, while maintaining some for 2G. I would

foresee us decommissioning 3G networks round about 2019 to 2020,

retaining GSM for a few years longer. I can’t speak for the other operators,

who may have different plans, but it’s certainly an interesting debate within

the industry.”

care. The second is the growing

pressure on companies to reduce

development time so they can

establish an early position in what is

a very competitive market.”

The cost of developing new

devices can be prohibitive and the

risks associated huge.

“That pressure to innovate more

quickly reflects the pressures

traditionally associated with the

consumer sector. That mentality is

now forcing companies to not only

produce working prototypes more

quickly, but also to decide whether a

project is a go or no-go at an earlier

stage.”

The pressure on the domain

expert in life sciences and on the

electrical engineer is certainly

immense.

“In general, for those developing

medical devices, it’s vital that they

see increased throughput, via greater

automation, and a reduction in costs.

They also need to have confidence in

the test environment, especially if

the product under development is

portable. Reliability in the field is

paramount if the device is being

deployed in remote areas.”

A crucial new dynamic in the

design cycle has been, according to

Veeramani, the breaking down of

what he describes as the ‘wall’

between design and test.

“We’ve seen this wall crumble as

both sets of engineers access the

same code and better understand

the work of the other,” he says.

“NI has played its part in breaking

down that wall. LabVIEW, for

example, is a single platform that

can support design, prototyping and

test. A highly reconfigurable I/O (RIO)

architecture, combining Xilinx FPGAs

and PC based technologies in a

platform, it is suited for onboard

processing and real-time analysis.”

Among projects undertaken by NI

was one with Santec to increase the

imaging speed and reduce the size of

an optical coherence tomography

(OCT) imaging system.

The life sciences sector is witnessing profound changes. How can test and measurement

companies help to address the needs of this fast developing market? By Neil Tyler.

“A crucial new

dynamic in the

design cycle

has been the

breaking down

of the ‘wall’

between

design and

test.”

Arun

Veeramani


An era of transformation

19

SECTOR FOCUS

LIFE SCIENCES

With rapidly ageing

populations, the rise of

lifestyle diseases and

advances in medical

technology, the life sciences sector is

experiencing what is being described

by many as a period of signiCcant

transformation. Changes are

affecting the clinical, regulatory and

business environments, which means

that pharmaceutical, biotechnology

and medical technology companies

have to adapt the way in which they

conduct their research.

Research conducted by the

Economist Intelligence Unit suggests

that the sector will see growth

running at an annual rate of more

than 5% between now and 2018 on

the back of a strengthening global

economy.

An ageing population is expected

to generate increasing demand for

life science products to treat a range

of age related illnesses, such as

Alzheimer’s, diabetes and arthritis,

while new portable medical

technology will bring more effective

health monitoring to patients living in

some of the remotest regions of the

world.

A fast growing sector

Meanwhile, the market for medical

technology is expected to grow by 5%

per year between now and 2020, with

in vitro diagnostics, cardiac devices

and diagnostic imaging technologies

the three largest segments. But the

fastest growing sector is forecast to

be neurology devices.

There are, however, two opposing

pressures impacting the development

of medical devices, according to Arun

Veeramani, National Instruments’

senior marketing manager for

embedded systems. “The Crst is the

need to produce safe, high quality

devices that are suitable for patient


“OCT is a non invasive imaging

technique that enables the

visualisation of tissue with resolution

similar to that of some

microscopes,” explains Veeramani.

There has been increasing

interest in the use of OCT because it

provides greater resolution than

techniques such as magnetic

resonance imaging (MRI) or positron

emission tomography (PET). The

process uses a low power light

source and the corresponding light

reflections to create images – a

method similar to ultrasound, but

which uses light not sound.

In Swept Source-OCT (SS-OCT)

applications, a laser scans a sample,

a fast A/D converter acquires the

data and produces a tomographic

image.

The system needs to be capable

of high speed acquisition, complex

image processing and accurate

control of the laser scanning. The

acquisition and control portions of

the system have to be tightly

synchronised if they are to achieve a

satisfactory level of performance.

Processing power

Obtaining the Cnal image requires

signiCcant processing power,

including fast Fourier transforms,

interpolation and DC offset

calculations.

To prototype the new architecture,

Santec used NI’s FlexRIO modular

hardware programmed using the

LabVIEW FPGA Module.

“This is a graphical design

language that allows the FPGA

circuitry to be designed without

needing to know VHDL coding. “It

combines interchangeable,

customisable I/O adaptor modules

with a user programmable FPGA

module in a PXI or PXI Express form

factor.”

For the I/O, Santec used a custom

adapter module combining a

100Msample/s 12bit A/D converter

for acquisition with 50ksample/s

12bit D/A converter for the laser

scanner control.

“Prototyping the system meant a

working solution was created quickly

and it was possible to determine any

changes that were needed,”

Veeramani explains.

“We saw a signiCcant speed-up

when we moved processing to the

FPGA from the PC, which enabled

signiCcant improvement in video

display rates – from 10frame/s per

second to 40frame/s.”

In the conventional system, two

devices were needed. By contrast,

the new platform combined the

acquisition and control I/O in one

module, using the FPGA to

synchronise both functions, making

the device easier to build, cable and

conCgure.

Because of a reduction in size the

device could be made portable,

opening it up to use in a range of

applications.

Another project was with the

Healthcare Technology Innovation

Centre (HTIC) of IIT Madras; since its

formation in 2011, a leading source

of medical research and development

in India.

With a focus on developing

affordable healthcare technologies to

meet clinical needs, HTIC worked

with NI to develop an affordable and

non invasive method of measuring

arterial stiffness – cardiovascular

disease is a signiCcant killer globally

and affects 45million Indians.

HTIC developed ARTSENS –

arterial stiffness evaluation for non-

invasive screening – an image free

technology that investigates arterial

wall dynamics and performs non

invasive measurements of arterial

stiffness using a high frequency

transducer to capture the dynamics

of the arterial wall.

Miniaturised hardware

“The arterial wall’s motions can be

tracked and the user can obtain a

distension waveform, measure the

end diastolic diameter and, along

with the measurement of blood

pressure, can calculate arterial

stiffness,” explains Veeramani.

HTIC developed miniaturised

hardware modules for transducer

excitation and synchronised data

acquisition in house and integrated

them with intelligent computing

modules for real time processing and

online signal analysis to develop a

prototype. HTIC is currently

developing a handheld version of

ARTSENS.

“The use of NI hardware and

LabVIEW software allowed much

quicker experimental setup and

allowed the research team to capture

the echo signals and focus on

understanding the signal

characteristics, without getting

bogged down with the setting up of

the experiment,” said Veeramani.

While testing to meet performance

requirements can be time consuming

it needs to be carried out efCciently

and effectively. As the divide between

the designer and tester blurs, new

products can be brought to market

more quickly, on budget and,

crucially, without compromising on

safety.

A prototype of the

tablet version of

ARTSENS, which is

designed to

measure arterial

stiffness

Scantec’s optical

coherence

tomography system

was prototyped

using NI’s FlexRIO

platform

20

SECTOR FOCUS

LIFE SCIENCES

In the 12 May issue, New

Electronics talked with London

based IoT incubator Breed

Reply about the support it was

providing for companies looking to

address opportunities associated

with the Internet of Things.

One of the start ups it had

identified as a suitable investment

opportunity was Leeds based Cocoon,

which has developed a new home

security application.

Although initially based on

crowdfunding, Cocoon’s management

team has a good track record when it

comes to setting up start ups and

has concluded a number of

successful exits.

One of the founders, Dan Conlon

established cloud storage service

Humyo, which was sold for $18million

to Trend Micro in 2010 and, while still

in secondary school, started the web

hosting company Donhost and sold

that for $11m in 2005.

CEO Sanjay Parekh and the

company’s other founders – Colin

Richardson, Nick Gregory and John

Berthels – have all held various roles

at Humyo and Trend Micro.

Smart security

While there may not be a shortage of

‘smart’ security devices in the market

at the moment, such devices tend to

be relatively simple, combining

motion detection with an Internet

connected camera and supported by

a cloud-based service with

smartphone apps that alert a user

should it detect an intruder.

Cocoon has developed a single

device that uses ‘infrasound’ to

detect movement by listening to

things people can’t hear.

“With this new security device, we

have set about correcting the main

problem with existing sensors, where

there are way too many false alarms

triggered by the suburban sound

track,” explains Conlon.

“We don’t think that current sensor

technology is actually Gt for purpose.

We wanted to improve it, make the

system easier to install and make it

simpler to manage. Most people in

the UK don’t have a home alarm

system; it’s expensive and

complicated. Those that do, often

forget to set their alarm, worry about

false alarms disturbing neighbours or

having to pay the police for erroneous

call outs.

“We’d all had bad experiences with

existing home security technology and

wanted to create something that could

protect the whole household but which

could be plugged in to a wall socket in

much the same way you would a

kettle,” Conlon notes.

Cocoon’s device uses infrasound, a

subsound technology which is outside

the range of normal human hearing.

“Humans hear within the range

from 20Hz to 20kHz. Infrasound is

classiGed as sound below that of

human hearing,” says hardware

engineer Nick Gregory. “Cocoon uses a

powerful microphone to detect

infrasound and this subsound

technology combines sound wave

detection (audible and infrasound) with

digital proGling and machine learning.”

According to Gregory, subsound

technology enables Cocoon to detect

and make sense of the noises created

by activity throughout the home so it

can notify you if anything unusual

happens.

A key beneGt of subsound

technology is that it enables Cocoon

to detect and proGle activity

throughout the home without the need

for additional sensors.

“It means you only need one small

Cocoon device in order to keep the

typical home or apartment secure,

eliminating the need for expensive

wired home security systems and you

don’t have to remember to arm or

disarm it,” Conlon continues.

Infrasonic sound waves

By ‘listening’ to infrasonic sound

waves, the company claims the device

can monitor an entire home, including

detecting intruders through closed

doors and in rooms other than where

Cocoon is situated. This potentially

solves the shortcomings currently

associated with existing

camera/motion detection based

smart home security systems, which

are either limited to a single room or

require the setting up of ‘zones’ using

multiple devices.

“We believe this is a smarter, more

accessible way to deliver home

security,” suggests Conlon. “Not only

is the device a lot simpler, but

machine learning algorithms also

learn what is normal for an individual’s

home and so help to reduce false

alarms. In turn, smartphone alerts

deliver actionable information,

enabling you to take meaningful

action. I’d like to think that we’re

Gnally putting people at the heart of

home security.”

In addition to its infrasonic sound

sensor technology, the Cocoon device

A start up has developed an application that brings a new level of intelligence and simplicity to

the fast growing home security market. By Neil Tyler.

Home security just got a

22

“One small

Cocoon device

can keep the

typical home

or apartment

secure,

eliminating

the need for

expensive

wired home

security

systems and

you don’t have

to remember

to arm or

disarm it.”

Dan Conlon


also contains a traditional motion

sensor, microphone and HD camera

with night vision and wide angle lens.

“Cocoon incorporates a HD

camera, sensitive microphone and PIR

sensors. A Freescale i.MX6 SoC is at

its heart, with an Aptina image signal

processor delivering a high quality

video stream from the image sensor,”

says Gregory.

Audio fingerprints

“The i.MX6 was chosen for its

onboard H.264 encoding and AES

encryption, as well as for the ARMv7

instruction set, which allowed us to

develop its software rapidly in higher

level languages such as Golang.” H

While the Cocoon engineering team

is exploring silicon from a wider set of

vendors, Gregory explains that, as the

company began life as a crowdfunded

start-up, it meant that ‘Freescale was

one of just a few manufacturers that

was able to provide us with the

necessary support.”

Cocoon has been set up to analyse

the readings from its sensors

continually. A notable audio event can

then be processed to extract an audio

‘Gngerprint’.

“Different kinds of sounds – for

example, keys being jangled, the

shutting of a door or loud music – all

have different Gngerprints,” explains

Conlon. “In this way, Cocoon can turn

the raw stream of audio data into a

more comprehensible stream of

events, with associated data. These

events can then be analysed to

discover patterns so, as time passes,

Cocoon learns what is normal for an

individual household.”

This data is then analysed and

used to build a model of what events

are expected, tailored to an

individual’s speciGc household.H

“With this model and augmented

by information from an individual’s

mobile app about when they are home

or away, Cocoon can decide if a

sensor event is signiGcant and show it

to the user,” says Conlon.

Security is an important issue and

Cocoon uses the i.MX6, according to

Gregory, because it has features such

as secure JTAG, high assurance boot

and the ARM TrustZone.H

“We’re using a well maintained

Linux distribution and following

security best practice, including client

certiGcates for authentication and end

to end AES encryption to protect

users’ data. The software stack has

been designed with an active update

strategy to facilitate frequent Grmware

updates without the need for user

intervention,” Gregory concludes.

The Cocoon device is currently

going through engineering and

validation testing and is expected to

enter production at the end of 2015.

“Subsound

technology

combines

sound wave

detection with

digital

profiling and

machine

learning.”

Nick Gregory


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

SENSORS

whole lot smarter

Growing awareness of the

Internet of Things has

brought with it a desire

amongst those building

embedded systems to include some

form of connectivity. But, as some of

those designers have already found

out to their cost, providing

connectivity is one thing; providing

security for such a system is another.

Joe Fabbre, director of platform

solutions with Green Hills Software

(GHS), noted: “The IoT is creating a

buzz and the trend is for most

embedded devices to get some kind

of connectivity. It’s been on the way

for some time and will continue. But

there’s a link; designing in

connectivity also needs security to be

designed in.”

It’s a far cry from the embedded

systems of the past, which were

essentially self contained; unless you

could get physical access to the

system, you couldn’t ‘hack’ it. “With

internet connectivity,” Fabbre

continued, “anyone might be able to

access a system.”

He said one of the problems is

that embedded systems tend to have

a code base that was designed a

decade or more ago. “That was

obviously well before anyone thought

about connecting them up. These

systems weren’t designed with

network security – or any kind of

security – in mind.”

So companies like Green Hills are

faced with two different problems:

one is dealing with these older

systems, helping developers to add

the connectivity they desire; the

other is helping them to build new

systems from the ground up. Fabbre

observed: “Designers are asking

questions like ‘how can we build in

connectivity?’, ‘what features can we

get?’ and ‘how are we going to feed

information back and take advantage

of Big Data?’. Connecting these

systems to the internet could be

dangerous and designers should be

thinking about security.”

But what is ‘security’? Fabbre

said: “The exhibition alongside the

recent RSA Conference (April 2015)

featured hundreds of vendors selling

some kind of security product. A lot of

those were about detecting problems

after they have happened. Antivirus is

an example; it’s typically about trying

to detect failure and closing network

ports if there’s an attack.

“While these products help to

increase security a little bit,” he

continued, “it’s ?ghting a losing

battle. If you have the opportunity to

design a system from the ground up,

you can apply good security

architecture techniques.”

One major issue which Fabbre has

identi?ed is cryptography. “If you want

to communicate using protected

communications – cryptography – it

means you need keys injected into

the system.”

That, he believes, brings hardware

issues. “If you don’t have a secure

place to store the keys, then it’s

relatively easy to defeat a security

strategy.”

He gave the example of a major

car manufacturer. “Its system

featured some encrypted software

and it was possible to look for the

keys by exploring the system via the

CAN bus – and they were found.”

Automotive security is a big issue,

in Fabbre’s view. “It’s challenging

because of the complexity; there are

anywhere from 10 to more than 100

MCUs in a modern car, along with

millions of lines of code. If you can

gain control of something that sends

messages over the CAN bus, you

could wreak havoc.”

Automotive security is also an issue

simply because of the size of the

market. “There are so many cars out

there,” Fabbre noted. “If you’re a

hacker, you look for scale. Maybe you

might just want to use all these

connected computers to send spam,

but a scarier prospect is a hacker trying

to inflict damage. If a hacker could

launch a coordinated attack, it could be

massively damaging – and the same

applies to industrial control systems.”

Where do you start?

So where does a software developer

start? “By identifying the elements of

the system which are security

critical,” Fabbre said, “then working

out how to isolate a breach, should

one occur. The security critical

components of any system should not

be able to be touched by a hacker;

using a separation kernel guarantees

that and enables a security

architecture to be applied.

“In a medical device, it could be

something controlling a pump; in

industrial control, it could be

something controlling valves; in a car,

it’s making sure that whatever things

You want to add security, but where do you start?

By Graham Pitcher.

Securing the

SYSTEM

24

“Virtualisation

allows you to

take the safety

critical part of

an existing

design and put

it into a

protected

partition so it

isn’t exposed.”

Joe Fabbre


that have internet connectivity can’t

have access to the CAN bus.”

The automotive example is

particular relevant, bearing in mind

the growing interest in automated

driver assistance systems (ADAS) and

of driverless cars. “ADAS is putting

control of the car into the hands of

computers,” Fabbre pointed out.

The complexity of the automotive

business can also work against

security. “It’s not the OEM which

writes software,” Fabbre said, “it’s a

tier 1 or tier 2. The OEM has to know

where the software has come from.

“You could take an ECU and ask

the OEM what operating system is

running; they may not know. While

OEMs specify requirements,

connectivity and authentication, for

example, they pass those to the tiers.”

Once the critical components are

identi?ed, the next step is to develop

the overall system architecture.

Designers can then start to make

choices about how to provide isolation.

Ask such questions as ‘what hardware

is there?’ and ‘what is the security

strategy for the communications

channels?’. Also determine the

strategy for building the system and

where the keys are stored.”

Human factors

One of the larger issues in security is

people. “A lot of sophisticated

attackers will go after people for the

information they need. Who in your

company or supply chain can submit

?rmware images? What’s your review

process like?”

A potential way of mitigating these

issues is to adopt a device lifecycle

management (DLM, see ?g 1) system;

a way of securing cryptographic devices

during the manufacturing process.

Engineering, manufacturing and IT

departments, for example, will use

DLM to generate software signatures,

certi?cates and unique device keys.

“GHS is getting more involved in

lifecycle management,” Fabbre

pointed out, “and has established

Integrity Security Services to focus

on this area.”

Fabbre’s experience suggests that

a lot of engineers don’t know where

to start when it comes to security.

“What do I do? How can I build a

system that doesn’t have weak links?

Once you have something like DLM in

place and a secure development

process,” Fabbre continued, “Integrity

can come into play. Our focus is on

safety and security, with a lot of

prebuilt components that can give

designers a head start, rather than

working out how to do it themselves.”

Retro?tting security on an existing

system can be done, although it isn’t

an ideal approach. “For high levels of

security, you can’t retro?t,” Fabbre

cautioned. “But there are things you

can do. For example, virtualisation

allows you to take the safety critical

part of an existing design and put it

into a protected partition in Integrity

so it isn’t exposed. Regardless of

operating system, secure boot is

important.”

Fabbre admits security means

different things to different people.

“One thing is certain,” he concluded,

“it’s easy to say, but hard to do.”

A device

lifecycle

management

system is a

way of

securing

cryptographic

devices during

the

manufacturing

process.


EMBEDDED DESIGN

EMBEDDED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Fig 1: DLM offers end to end turnkey security

Operating system

Secure boot toolkit

CPU Crypto hardware

Inte

grity

secu

rity

ser

vice

s’ D

LM s

yste

m

Inte

grity

contr

ol

manage

r

Common NAND interface

Manufacturing

Enterprise keymanagementinfrastructure

Enterprise keymanagementinfrastructure

Embeddedcryptolibrary

Networksecurityproducts

Applications

Supply chainkey manager

Digital signingservice

Engineering Operations


The FPGA market is

dominated by two

companies, who battle each

other at the leading edge to

create complex devices for those

designers looking to solve the

challenges presented by advanced

communications systems.

But there are other FPGA

developers and their target markets

are, in general, different. Kambiz

Khalilian director of Lattice

Semiconductor’s industrial and

automotive segments, said: “Our

focus is not on creating the fastest,

largest FPGAs. While Altera and Xilinx

are looking at telecomms, Lattice is

looking at high volume, low cost

applications and at providing an

alternative to ASICs, which many

companies say are too expensive and

therefore are looking for another

solution.”

The strategy, put in place by CEO

Darin Billerbeck, started with the

acquisition in 2011 of SiliconBlue

and its iCE family. Recently, Lattice

acquired Silicon Image for

$600million, bringing a slightly

different range of capabilities to the

company.

The industrial market is an obvious

target for Lattice. “We’re looking at the

market segments,” Khalilian noted,

“working out where we have

strengths.” Amongst the opportunities

which have been highlighted are

interfacing displays and image sensors

to host processors. “The sectors

where we see growth opportunities

include surveillance and cameras in

general,” he continued. “But Lattice is

not an image sensor company; we use

interface technology.”

One of the issues which system

developers face when integrating

displays and image sensors is linking

them together. “Traditional image

sensors have been equipped with

parallel interfaces,” Khalilian

explained. “But the growing demand

for high deBnition has pushed the

need for serial interfaces. However,

there has been no standard for these

interfaces, which means everyone

created their own different ‘Cavours’.”

This seemingly random approach

has created a mismatch; not all

sensors support all interfaces and not

all processors support all interfaces. A

possible solution is to use FPGAs in a

way which recalls how their

predecessors were used as ‘glue

logic’. “Low cost FPGAs can be used

as a bridge between the two,” Khalilian

asserted (see Bg 1).

Lattice also sees potential in

enabling industrial customers to take

advantage of components developed

for mobile devices. “Take image

sensors as an example,” he said. “The

mobile world has standardised on the

MIPI interface and image sensors for

mobile applications use the MIPI CSI-2

interface. But some designers use

industrial sensors and mobile

processors and vice versa.”

Khalilian sees a similar thing

happening with displays. “A lot of

consumer displays are now available

at attractive prices and industrial

application designers want to take

advantage of this. These displays have

MIPI DSI interfaces or Embedded

DisplayPort and create another mix of

interfaces. Because these don’t

match, you can use an FPGA for

bridging – and maybe some additional

processing.”

A further complication comes from

growing demand for solutions with

multiple sensors. “While there may

be multiple sensor feeds into a host

processor,” Khalilian pointed out, “the

processor might only have one

interface; some may support two. But

automotive applications are using Bve

or seven cameras, whilst surveillance

is moving towards panoramic images.

Gesture recognition needs at least

two cameras. All of these

applications increase the need for

Cexible interfaces.”

FPGAs bring a bonus; besides

As incompatible interfaces become more of a problem, FPGAs provide

a way to fit ‘square pegs into round holes’. By Graham Pitcher.

Because these

[interfaces]

don’t match,

you can use an

FPGA for

bridging – and

maybe some

additional

processing.”

Kambiz

Khalilian

Building bridges

26

Fig 1: How an FPGA converts a serial output to a parallel input

Data0PAR_DOUT

4 28

Data14 28

Data24 28

Data34 28

CLK_OUT

CLK_DIV

10-16

CLK

Parallel bus(inc line, frame,

clock)

L_VALID

V_VALID

Deserialiser

Deserialiser

Deserialiser

Deserialiser

Lane aligner Framer

FPGAHost processor with

parallel interface

PLL


COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN

PROGRAMMABLE PLATFORMS

This CSI-2 to

parallel bridge

board is part of

Lattice’s reference

design portfolio

doing the necessary interface

conversion to link seemingly

incompatible parts, they can also allow

designers to include more

functionality.

“You can do more with an FPGA,”

Khalilian said, “but it depends on what

size device is selected. Simple

interfacing – for example, a MIPI CSI-2

output to a parallel input – can be

handled by an FPGA with 1200 look up

tables. However, using an FPGA with

more capacity allows additional

processing to be undertaken.

Designers can add a larger FPGA and

differentiate their product by adding

new features.”

One such feature is wide dynamic

range (WDR), something which

Khalilian said is being supported by

newer sensors.

“When you take a picture, there are

always bright and dark parts,” he said,

“so it’s always a compromise. WDR

takes multiple images – at least two –

using high and low exposures. Low

exposure shows details in bright

areas, while high exposure shows

details in dark areas. The images are

put together using tone mapping to

create a single WDR image, with all the

details visible.

“It’s a key feature in surveillance

applications,” he continued, “where

you might be looking for people hiding

in the shadows. And it’s needed in

automotive systems in order to detect

all the objects in a Beld of view.”

Processing these images requires a

lot of power and there may not be

enough horsepower available from the

host processor to create the WDR

image in real time.

“It’s a feature in the latest

iPhones,” he noted. “But the

image takes a few seconds

to appear. In a security

application, you have

to do it in real time. So it

makes sense to use an FPGA

for preprocessing and to feed the

results to the host processor.”

He also pointed to low light

enhancement. “In low light, images will

have a lot of noise. This needs to be

removed and the image enhanced. You

could use a small FPGA to do the

minimum amount of work, but some

apps will want to use more algorithms.

In this case, a larger FPGA can be

selected and a complete camera

pipeline implemented.”

USB connectivity – particularly for

the recent USB3 implementation – is

another potential application with

Lattice is looking to exploit. “Our

acquisition of Silicon Image means we

can now offer an ASSP style solution

to the problem.”

Khalilian said the same issues

applied in the connectivity sector as

were found in displays and sensors.

“USB controllers usually feature a

generic interface,” he suggested. “If

you want to convert an image and

output it over a USB3 port, the

controller can’t support all possible

formats, so an FPGA is a good

solution. We also support various

audio and video formats that can be

‘understood’ by a generic USB3

controller.”

Looking to support the time to

market issues which designers of

such systems as mentioned face,

Lattice has a range of reference

designs – not only for FPGAs, but also

at the board level. “Our strategy is to

support engineers with production

ready reference designs,” Khalilian

explained. “In the FPGA world, a

reference design is something that

goes into the FPGA. It’s effectively a

piece of code that is pushed through

the toolchain and can be used with

any part in a particular family.

“But we’re also targeting new

customers with little or no FPGA

design experience. While these

companies might be good at

designing PCBs and selecting

chipsets, they don’t usually have FPGA

designers or tools; they don’t

want to make a big

investment. With a board

level reference design, they

don’t need to program.”

Lattice is likely to be expanding

its interface offerings in the future,

building on the Silicon Image

acquisition. “We’re beginning to think

about programmable ASSPs,” Khalilian

concluded. “These parts will have an

FPGA fabric, but they will also feature

things like hard interfaces that

application developers are specifying.”

The implementation of touch

based human machine

interfaces (HMIs) has

provided users with a

considerably less cumbersome way to

interact with electronic hardware, as

well as helping to improve the design of

the equipment into which they are

being integrated.

A growing number of industry

sectors – from white goods and home

automation systems to industrial

control and security systems – have

started to employ HMIs. The

introduction of technology that can

support simultaneous detection of

multiple touch points means touch

enabled HMIs can be employed across

even more sectors. Meanwhile, HMIs

are migrating to larger format, higher

resolution displays.

Many multimedia, communication,

air conditioning, telematics and

navigation utilities are being built into

in the average car, for example. While

all these need efficient control

mechanisms, automotive OEMs have

started to place far greater importance

on highly intuitive HMIs that can handle

broader functionality, whilst ensuring

safety. As a result, interest is growing

in HMIs that can support touchless

operation – whether through the use of

image sensing or 3D imaging

technologies.

Meanwhile, OEMs are looking to

implement HMIs which can support

more detailed image content and

greater colour depth.

“There are many places where HMIs

that can play video content may prove

desirable,” says Gordon Lunn, FTDI

Chip’s global customer engineer

support manager. “In response,

semiconductor platforms are being

sought that can deliver the necessary

performance, while still allowing the

usual array of stringent design

constraints to be fully respected, such

as limited budgets, space restrictions

and tight time to market schedules.”

“It is well worth keeping an eye on

emerging technologies,” suggests

David Potts, divisional marketing

manager with Anglia Components, “and

manufacturers are delivering

continuous improvements in terms of

appearance, power consumption, size

and functionality. A close relationship

with the manufacturer or its distributor,

for that matter, will ensure the designer

is kept up to date with progress in the

latest display technology.”

Despite the growing number of

sectors embracing touchscreen

technology, the smartphone and tablet

markets will continue to set the bar for

systems designers, both in terms of

functionality and of appearance.

According to Paul Mullen, sales

director with Anders Electronics: “We

are now seeing growing interest in

higher resolution displays with in plane

switching performance similar to that of

the iPad. The trend is now for

smartphone displays to get bigger,

rather than smaller, which means that

production lines are increasingly being

turned to producing larger sizes.

“In this context, how should a

designer approach specifying a display

for their user interface? The starting

point is how is the system going to be

used. Who is using it, what for, and

where?”

Manufacturers of refrigerators and

dish washers, for example, are keen

to add enhanced features to their

products that will make them more

attractive to consumers and thus

increase their unit sales. Whereas

previously they could get away with a

fairly rudimentary HMI – perhaps a

keypad and a seven segment display

With touch based human-machine interfaces deployed in all manner

of market sectors, attention is now turning to providing enhanced

video capabilities. By Neil Tyler.

An example of an

HMI for a washing

machine


HMI designs startto embrace video

29

SYSTEM DESIGN

DISPLAYS


arrangement – customer expectations

have been raised signiCcantly by the

improved usability of their other

electronic gadgets.

There are opportunities for

integration of larger format displays

with a wide colour gamut, multitouch

operation and even audio-visual

capabilities. In the case of washing

machines, animated content could

convey to the user what stage of the

wash cycle is being carried out. For

photocopiers, next generation HMIs

could allow ofCce workers to access

brief tuition videos that will allow them

to resolve paper jams.

“Video material could be used to

show people how to operate self

service equipment; for instance coffee

machines,” suggests Lunn.

According to Lunn, more HMI

designs are starting to follow what he

describes as a ‘groundbreaking, object

centric approach’ that began to emerge

over the last two years.

“This approach requires far less

memory and less bandwidth for data

transfer,” he explains.

“Through this arrangement, HMI

system designs can be streamlined

substantially by regarding visual and

audio content as objects with

predeCned properties. Objects can

include everything from fonts, bitmap

images, templates and chirps to beeps

and overlays. The large Dash memory

that would normally be needed for

storing image data, as well as the

frame buffer and wide parallel buses

that have to support it, can be

eliminated from the system.”

As a result, component count is

lower, less board space is needed,

power consumption is reduced and

development times can be shortened

signiCcantly.

Another important aspect of this

object oriented methodology is how

well it can deal with animated content.

“With displayed images treated as

objects, rather than complex items

made up of many pixels, animation

functions can easily be accomplished,”

Lunn continues. “All that needs to be

done is to update the coordinates of

the object continuously, rather than

having to redraw the whole image again

and again to accommodate any

movements. Furthermore, a single

object may be repeated in multiple

locations, without having to create

additional content that impacts on the

system overhead.”

This object strategy has been

supported by FTDI Chip’s Embedded

Video Engine (EVE) platform, among

others. The platform ensures that

images can be rendered line by line (at

1/16th pixel resolution), rather than

pixel by pixel, which is where the

reduction in data storage and

bandwidth requirements are achieved.

“Our FT81x series represents the

latest wave of EVE devices,” explains

Lunn. “Each of these ICs can support

800 x 600pixel displays, compared to

512 x 512pixels in previous devices.

This means these ICs can offer greater

image clarity and address displays of

7in and larger. The available memory

has been expanded from 256kbyte to

1Mbyte in order to cope with all the

extra data involved.”

Thanks to algorithm enhancements,

the devices can support smoother

video playback capabilities, which

means HMI designs can now beneCt

from short animations that can grab

the user’s attention or access

instructional Clm material.

Another new feature is the screen

rotation facility. “This expedites turning

through 90°, so landscape and portrait

orientations can be rendered –

advantageous in portable and semi

portable designs. Multiple palettes are

also supported, covering 16 and 32bit

colour with transparency. Extra large

fonts have been added, so there is

greater scope when it comes to using

different text options.

“Further improvements in the

operational performance that can be

derived include the capacity to draw up

to 16 pixels during each clock cycle

(quadrupling what could be done using

the preceding EVE generation) and

JPEG loading that is 1000 times faster

than was previously practical,”

concludes Lunn.

A refrigerator HMI -

manufacturers are

keen to add

enhanced features

to their products

30

SYSTEM DESIGN

DISPLAYS

VCCIO2

B7...B0

PCLK

Fig 1: FT81X block diagram

Interruptgenerator

SPI

Touchengine

Audioengine

Graphicsengine

ROM

RAM

Registers G7...G0

R7...R0

HSYNCVSYNCDEDISP

CTP_RST_NCTP_INT_NCTP_SCL

X+,X–,Y+,Y–

Backlight

MISO/I00MOSI/I01

GP100/I02

VCCI01SCK

GP101/I03CS_NINT_N

GPI02GPI03/AIN

VOUT1V2

X1/CLKX2

VCCPD_NGND

Audio_L

Graphic controlMCU interface

Extras

Memory andprocessing

Audio control

Touch control

B

G

R

Pixel clockgenerator

PWM

Capacitiveresistivetouch

LDO

OSC/PLL

ADC

CTP_SDAPOR

QUALITY HAS

A NEW NAME

Extended Product Range- Wide range of 4:3 format panels from 3.5 inch to 15 inch

- Wide range of wide format panels from 7 inch

- High resolution 19 inch and 21 inch

New Technology

- 3D Direct View

- EVT sunlight readable option

- High bright 1200cd/m panels

- Wide operating temperature fl uid

- Extra long life LED backlights with drivers

Increased customer support

- Shorter lead-times

- New Chinese production capability

- Long production life

- 2 year notifi cation of discontinuation

T: +44 (0)1959 563345

E: [email protected]

www.review-displays.co.uk

Call our Sales Offi ce for the latest product information

NOW


Where design ideas

come together

SAVE THE DATE

21 - 22 October 2015 • Jaguar Exhibition Hall • Ricoh Arena • Coventry

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Headline sponsors

Already, more than 4m such apps are

being downloaded per day.

Seppo Vahasalo is product line

manager, medical devices, with SGS

Fimko. He said that, in many cases, a

medical device is made for a

particular use. “The distinction

between a life style device – for

example, a sports watch – and a

medical device depends upon how

the manufacturer describes that

device.

“The statement ‘track your pulse

rate to adjust your training to an

optimal level’ implies a completely

different device from one which is

said to allow you to ‘monitor your

pulse rate to get an early indication of

heart problems’. The same

distinction also applies to software.”

Developers of medical apps – but

also developers of those which

address such areas as Directives –

which might appear to give advice to

the user, need to pay close attention

to how they describe their apps.

Vahasalo gave an example of

wordings. “A manufacturer is not

always able to take cover behind the

stated intended use. As one

competent authority has observed: ‘If

it talks like a medical device, walks

like a medical device and looks like a

medical device, it does not help that

you call it a recreational device’.

“There are apps used to measure

heart rates and their variations. If the

supplier intends to provide

interpretations and diagnosis of the

results, it may not be enough to state

that ‘this application does not replace

real medical devices. All

measurements made with the help of

this application are introductory and


BEYOND THE TECHNOLOGY

Apps have rapidly become

‘front and centre’ in many

people’s lives. What

started as a consumer

oriented move has developed into

other areas and now many companies

have apps which provide their

customers with ready access to

information and more. It’s likely to be

the case that users wonder how they

ever managed to get by without them.

The Irst apps were launched

alongside the Apple iPhone 3G in

June 2008 and could be downloaded

from the App Store, which opened at

the same time. The number of apps

available for download has

mushroomed. At the beginning of

2010, the App Store listed around

140,000. By 2014, that number has

risen to more than 1.2million. In

2014, Google’s Play Store was said to

list 1.3m apps and more than

50billion downloads were said to

have been made by users of Android

phones. Windows phones, however,

are less well supported – only around

300,000 are available.

The rise of apps, however, would

not have happened without the

development of smartphones, whose

large touchscreens enabled the

interactivity required.

A range of apps has been

developed for users in the electronics

world. Examples include Electronics

Toolbox Pro, iCircuit and Circuit Lab.

Distributor RS Components has

created a ‘cut down’ version of

Electronics Toolbox Pro, which it calls

the RS Toolbox App. It features colour

codes, calculation tools, look up

tables and is free to download. Digi-

Key says its app is an engineer’s tool

which allows users to search for

components, create parts lists, place

orders and learn about new products.

On the face of it, apps are simply

software and, as such, unlikely to be

governed by any particular standard

or directive. But one area where

problems can arise is with an app

that addresses a medical issue. So

when is an app simply fun and when

does it need to be regulated as a

medical device?

Only a few years ago, joggers

would monitor their heart rate using

some kind of portable device. Today,

wearable electronics devices are

taking over, allowing their users to

keep track of their heart rate,

distance travelled and calories

burned. Often, the data is transmitted

to the user’s smartphone using

Bluetooth Low Energy, where it is

analysed by the app. Such is the

popularity of these apps, the market

is estimated by Research2Guidance

to be worth $58.8bn by 2020.

Up to the

mark?Apps are part of everyday life today,

but if you’re building an app, does it

need a CE mark? By Graham Pitcher.


should not be used for a medical

conclusion of any sort’.”

Crossing into the medical realm

Vahasalo said an example of an app

which has been classiIed as a

medical device is uChek from

Biosense Technologies. The pack

consists of test strips approved by

the US FDA, a reference colour chart

and an app for iPhone.

“People will use the test strip with

a urine sample, then take a photo of

the strip with the reference colour

chart. Software will give interpretation

of the test results,” he said.

“But, according to the FDA, ‘since

your app allows a mobile phone to

analyse the dipsticks, the phone and

device as a whole functions as an

automated strip reader’. This means

that the app is not just for fun, but is

seen to be part of a regulated medical

device.

“In Europe, a higher risk class

medical device requires a CE mark

certiIed by a notiIed body; in the US,

such a device requires presales

approval from the FDA.”

According to Vahasalo, Medical

Device Directive 93/42/EEC gives a

good deInition of what is a medical

device. “It should be noted that

standalone software will always be

classiIed as an active medical device

and, because of that, classiIcation

rules 9 to 12 in Annex IX of the

Medical Device Directive will apply.”

MEDDEV 2.1/6:2012, meanwhile,

states that standalone software is

considered to be an active medical

device and adds that standalone

software is deIned as ‘software not

incorporated in a medical device at

the time of its placing on the market

or its making available’.

Alberto Paduanelli, lead auditor for

medical health services with TüV SüD

Product Service, said: “When it

comes to apps, the question is will

the software be considered a medical

device? This document has a very

good Jow chart which guides users

through the process. It asks what the

software does and what is the

intended use. The Jow chart will tell

you whether or not you need to

comply with the Medical Directive.”

The UK’s Medicines and

Healthcare Products Regulatory

Agency (MHRA) is said by Vahasalo to

have some ‘excellent web pages on

the subject’. “Amongst the advice

from MHRA is that whenever a

manufacturer will use words such as

‘amplify’, ‘analysis’, ‘interpret’,

‘alarms’, ‘calculates’, ‘controls’,

‘converts’, ‘detects’, ‘diagnose’,

‘measures’ or ‘monitors’, it raises the

probability that the app will be

considered to be a medical device.”

Of course, doctors, as well as

members of the public, are using

apps. According to the UK’s Royal

College of Physicians, in guidance to

its members: “If you are using an app

that should have a CE mark, but it is

missing, then you are leaving yourself

open to problems and possible

litigation.”K

What about other apps?

Medical devices and software are,

understandably, subject to extensive

legislation and safety requirements.

But if you have developed an app – or

are in the process – do you need to

make sure it doesn’t fall foul of other

European Directives?

Richard Poate, senior manager at

TüV SüD, said: “If someone came up

with an app to control something like

a press, it would involve functional

safety and the software would have to

be tested rigorously. But it’s hard to

think of an app outside of the medical

world that would need to comply with

EC Directives,” he concluded.

34

BEYOND THE TECHNOLOGY

Digi-Key says its app

is an engineer’s tool

that allows them to

search for

components, create

parts lists, place

orders and learn

about new products

The RS Toolbox App,

a ‘cut down’ version

of Electronics Toolbox

Pro, offers users such

features as look up

tables and

calculation tools

Technology Update

@: [email protected]: +1 613-591-3131

BeiDou-3 M1

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Tallysman GNSS Antennas with Accutenna™technology boast market-leading performancefor today’s multi-constellation satellitenavigation world

Future-proof range works with Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, India’s IRNSS, andBeiDou as newly-launched satellites set to expand global choice

Tallysman, a leading provider of high performance, high quality RF and GNSS components, and Telematicssolutions for two way radio systems, has announced that its range of antennas featuring proprietaryAccutenna™ technology is optimised for today’s multi-constellation satellite systems, including theEuropean Space Agency’s Galileo system, China’s next-gen BeiDou, the USA’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS andIndia’s IRNSS. Additional satellites were launched by the ESA (Galileo 7 and 8) the US (GPS IIF-9) and India(IRNSS-1D) during March, and it is believed that China has also successfully launched its new generationBeiDou-3 M1. The expanding number of satellites will benefit many applications, from next-generation in-car navigation systems to coastguard search and rescue and precision agriculture.

@: [email protected]: +44 (0) 1905 453808

AWS Electronics Group wins significant Automotive business atSlovakia facility

Global Tier one car makers benefiting from cost-effective production in Europe

AWS, one of Europe’s leading specialist contract electronics manufacturers, has announced that a majorTier 1 automotive manufacturer has contracted with the company for volume manufacture of itsassemblies and systems at the companies CEE facility in Slovakia.

“We have won several significant automotive programs recently”, comments AWS CEO Paul Deehan,“which has led to very fast growth at our Namestovo facility in Slovakia. The latest deal is for LED lightingproducts that go into high end vehicles, so the business is both high volume and high quality.”

AWS has continued to invest and grow the the Namestovo plant to take advantage of such opportunitieswith Tier 1 auto suppliers benefiting from low cost manufacturing closer to their end user factories thanS.E Asia.

Major Tier 1 Contract

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@: [email protected] : +44-2392 314 532

Harwin connectors fulfil vital roleduring successful CubeSat launchinto space

University of Warwick’s student team achieve world first

Harwin, the leading hi-rel connector and SMT board hardwaremanufacturer, is delighted to congratulate Warwick Universityon the successful launch its WUSAT-2 satellite earlier this month.The student-run project, which has now built and launched asmall 10x10x10cm CubeSat satellite into space, relies on high-reliability, miniature connectors from Harwin toprovide the vital interconnect used in experimental equipment carried by the satellite.

Overseen by the European Space Agency (ESA) and launched from the Swedish Space Centre as part of thejoint German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Swedish National Space Board (SNSB) REXUS/BEXUSprogramme, the mission, according to Dr William Crofts, Director of Warwick Satellite Programmewww.warwick.ac.uk/ cubesat) at the University of Warwick, went very smoothly.

WUSAT-2 satellite

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@: [email protected] : +44-1209-215424

OMC offers to mount any fibre optic diodein any housing

New ‘mix & match’ service from fibre optic component specialist

OMC, the pioneer in optoelectronics manufacturing, has announceda new service, enabling engineers to choose exactly the right fibreoptic diode for their application and have it mounted in theirpreferred package.

Although the company offers a wide standard range of packaged transmitters and receivers, OMCrecognises that sometimes designers have specific requirements which demand a custom approach.Comments OMC’s Commercial Director, William Heath: “We regularly get approached by people who haveidentified a diode which is a perfect match for their needs, but find that it is not available in a housing, orin the specific housing that they need. As the housing itself - as well as the way the diode is mounted inthe housing - can have serious implications for system performance, we decided to offer a ‘mix andmatch’ service – you specify housing and diode, we’ll look after the mounting process.”

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ACA™ (Active Component Alignment)

Lattice Semiconductor Announces MachXO3LFDevices With On-Chip Flash Memory

The newest generation of Lattice’s non-volatile, instant-on MachXO3FPGA line provides the most advanced, low-cost-per I/O bridging and I/Oexpansion solution now shipping

• The MachXO3LF device adds on-chip Flash memory • With the MachXO3 family, customers now have multiple footprintcompatible options: the MachXO3L device, which offers low-cost reprogrammable non-volatileconfiguration memory (NVCM), and now the MachXO3LF device with Flash memory.

PORTLAND, OR May 11, 2015 Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: LSCC), the leadingprovider of customizable smart connectivity solutions, today announced the MachXO3LF™ device, thenewest member of its MachXO3™ FPGA family, which provides essential bridging and I/O expansionfunctions to meet the increasing connectivity requirements of communications, computing,consumer and industrial markets.

MachXO3LF Device

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@: [email protected]: 408-616-4017

@: [email protected]: (408) 414-8573

Power Integrations’ New Charger Designfor Smart Mobile Devices ShowcasesHigh Power Density Capability ofInnoSwitch ICs

10 W CV/CC charger easily meets DOE-6 and European CoCVersion 5, Tier 2 efficiency standards at the end of the cable

Power Integrations (Nasdaq: POWI), the leader in high-voltageintegrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, today announced RDK-420, a new referencedesign kit for a 10 W CV/CC USB charger based on the company’s revolutionary InnoSwitch™-CH family ofhighly integrated switcher ICs. InnoSwitch ICs combine the primary-side switch together with primary andsecondary controllers and feedback circuits into a single, worldwide safety-rated, surface-mount package.

Innoswitch ICs leverage accurate secondary-side regulation (SSR), using Power Integrations’ high-speeddigital FluxLink™ technology to communicate direct voltage and current measurements across the safetyisolation barrier.

RDK-420

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@: [email protected] : +49 8142 6680 – 0

Kemet’s KPS MIL series ceramic stackedcapacitors for SMPS and pulse energyapplications now available through TTI

TTI, Inc., the world’s leading specialist distributor of passive,connector, electromechanical and discrete components, nowstocks Kemet’s KPS MIL series ceramic stacked capacitors inEurope. Available in commercial, military and space grades,the components are well suited for standard and highreliability switch mode power supply (SMPS) as well as pulse energy applications.

KPS MIL Series ceramic stacked capacitors are qualified to the MIL–PRF–49470 standard and areconstructed using large chip multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), horizontally stacked and secured to alead-frame termination system using a high melting point (HMP) solder alloy. The lead frame isolates theMLCCs from the printed circuit board (PCB) while establishing a parallel circuit configuration.

KPS MIL series

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@: [email protected]: +44-1920-484838

Astute Electronics delivers Near Eye Displayminiature OLED displays from MICROOLED

Low power technology provides sharp images even in low light

Astute Electronics, the leading supplier of electronic components and valueadded services, today announced the signing of a worldwide franchiseagreement with MICROOLED of Grenoble, France, a pioneer in the field of small,high definition, low power OLED displays that target Near-Eye Display (NED) applications such as videoglasses, head-mounted sports devices, camera viewfinders, medical applications and many otherprofessional devices. MICROOLED’s low voltage device architecture features a unique sub-pixelarrangement resulting in highest pixel density and lowest power.

The design of MICROOLED’s displays provides ultra-high contrast, ensuring ‘black is black’ which isessential for high image quality. Unlike other displays, no ‘grid matrix’ is visible, further improvingresolution, and the manufacturing technology enables a wide viewing angle with no loss in contrast orchanges in colour.

NED Miniature OLED

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tCall Marc Young on 01322 221144

Download - Architecting for future

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