what’s new in electronics mar/april 2014

http://www.rohde-schwarz.com

http://www.digikey.com.au

CONTENTS

COVER STORYWHAT'S NEW IN ELECTRONICSMARCH/APRIL 2014

4 The struggle for power and glory

13 The future of GaN technology

21 Wirelessly rechargeable cochlear implants

24 Algorithm helps make faces more memorable

27 Medical electronics sales to reach $50.9bn

30 New system makes big data more accessible

34 The Grumpy page

The Rohde & Schwarz RTE oscilloscopes offer

quick solutions for everyday test and measure-

ment tasks, from general debugging, embedded

design development to power analysis. The

digital oscilloscopes expand the R&S portfolio

of bench oscilloscopes. With bandwidths from

200 MHz to 1 GHz, the oscilloscopes offer a

complete package of features that simplifies

everyday measurements in three key areas:

performance, signal analysis and usability.

Besides the cursor functions and automated

measurements, the R&SRTE offers even more

analysis tools that help users to complete tasks

quickly. At the push of a button, QuickMeas

functions simultaneously display the results

of multiple measurements for the signal that

is currently active.

A broad range of dedicated application

solutions is also available, including trigger

and decode options for serial buses, logic

analysis capability and power analysis op-

tions. The unique hardware accelerated FFT

gives greater analysis into rapidly changing

spectral phenomena, with colour-graded, over-

lapping FFTs giving the impression of a live

spectrum on the screen, which reliably detects

sporadic signals.

The wide variety of measurement and

analysis functions is easily operated via a

high-resolution 10.4″ XGA touch screen. Signal

icons with real-time preview are displayed on

the edge of the screen to clearly show what

is currently happening. The oscilloscopes offer

time domain analysis, logic analysis, protocol

analysis and frequency analysis in a single box.

Rohde & Schwarz (Australia) Pty Ltd

www.rohde-schwarz.com

http://www.comtest.com.au

4 MARCH/APRIL 2014 WWW.ELECTRONICSONLINE.NET.AU

THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER AND GLORYMike Smyth, specialist technical writer

Two names representing two different technologies stand out like beacons among the thousands of names and inventions that were such a feature of the 19th century. These two, like boxers in a ring waiting for the contest to start, sparred and weaved in bids to make their beliefs the one the world would accept. But the two were not the inventors of the technology they so passionately believed in and strangely they are better remembered today as the inventors of the gramophone and the vacuum braking system used on trains throughout the world.

WWW.ELECTRONICSONLINE.NET.AU MARCH/APRIL 2014 5

The men were Thomas Edison in the DC corner and George Westinghouse in the AC corner. Right from the development of

the first DC generator, the problem of distributing the power by cable was ap-parent. There were huge voltage drops over just a short cable length and the voltage that was produced by the genera-tor was the voltage the consumer had to use because there was no way of changing it and these two factors alone prevented DC from becoming more widely distributed and used.

Traditionally, the contest has been said to be between these two men. In fact, there were many other names including engineers and financiers, now largely forgotten, involved in the war, because a war it was and there were some questionable acts. One name that hasn’t been forgotten is Nikola Tesla, who was well and truly in the AC corner.

Edison is credited with inventing the gramophone, a cine camera and a long-lasting light bulb. But he was also one of the first to use mass production methods, he created the first industrial research laboratory at Menlo Park, is said to be the fourth most prolific inventor in history and many of his inventions established new industries in the 19th century. In his lifetime he founded 14 companies including General Electric, which is still one of the biggest public companies worldwide.

The Edison Electric Light Co was formed in 1878 and he demonstrated his incandescent light bulb the following year at the laboratory. He is reported as saying at the time: “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.”

In 1890, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Co’s new steamship, Columbia, was fitted with Edison’s lighting system where it lasted for 15 years. In Europe, there was also wide interest in power generation. In 1835, Hippolyte Pixii built an alternator using a rotating magnet, but he didn’t know how to put his discovery to practical use. Twenty years later, Guillaume Duchenne used AC to contract muscles, but again this was not seen as particularly useful.

By 1878, the Ganz company began working with single-phase AC in Bu-dapest. In 1882, Sebastian de Ferranti, working at the Siemens plant in London, took a keen interest in AC. With Lord Kelvin and others he went on to make an early transformer. By 1891, Ferranti, already a leader in electric lighting, had installed underground cables at 10,000 V in London, confident that the transformer would look after any voltage demanded by the consumer.

Later Ferranti was hired by the London Electric Supply Corporation to design a power station at Deptford on the south bank of the Thames in London. He de-signed the whole complex including the distribution system and when it was completed in 1891 it was the first power station to supply high-voltage AC.

But the main battle between DC and AC was being fought in America where Westinghouse and Edison, with help from Tesla, were involved in a passionate strug-gle to have their respective technologies adopted by governments and the public.

DC, the first player on the stage, was relatively easy to make. Its drawback came with the difficulty of sending it over any great distance due to huge voltage and therefore current losses. Consumers had to be within about 2.5 km of the generator. The other major drawback was the difficulty of changing the volt-age. Consumers had to put up with the generated voltage because there was no way to effectively and economically change it.

When Tesla joined Westinghouse, he was convinced that the cyclic nature of AC was the way forward using the polyphase principle. As a result, he de-veloped a series of generators, motors and transformers.

In today’s world, the frequency of AC varies between 50 and 60 Hz. Japan is unusual in having a mixture of frequencies. But in those days even the frequencies were not without challenges. A low frequency makes the design of motors easier and means lower imped-ance losses which are proportional to frequency. But the low frequency causes noticeable flickering in arc lamps and incandescent light bulbs.

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WAR OF CURRENTS

With advancing technologies in trans-formers, DC was doomed. AC could be provided at any voltage to suit consumers, but more importantly, it could be sent for hundreds or thousands of kilometres down quite small cables with very little loss.

Westinghouse imported several trans-formers from Europe and began experi-menting with an AC network in Pittsburgh.

By 1886, he and his assistants had built a hydroelectric generator that supplied AC to Great Barrington, Mass. Using the transformers, the transmission line voltage was stepped up to 3000 and then reduced to 100 V for electric lighting. The network was so successful that 30 more were built inside a year, along with an induction meter using a rotating magnetic field to measure the current consumed.

By 1887, Edison had 121 power stations, but when their limitations were discussed, he campaigned that AC was far more dan-gerous to use so he arranged for some of Edison's employees to publicly execute unwanted animals using AC. The science behind this says that 60 Hz AC under ad-verse conditions is more likely to induce ‘cardiac fibrillation’ in humans compared with the same DC voltage. But the public smear campaign went on and in 1903 Edison workers electrocuted an elephant that had previously killed several people.

Edison went further and proposed electrical executions of criminals and this idea was adopted so that in 1890 William Kemmler became the first man to be put to death in the electric chair. It was a bun-gled execution because the victim survived 17 seconds of the current flowing until it was increased to a fatal level by the prison

authorities. Afterwards, Westinghouse is reported to have said: “It was a brutal affair. They could have done better with an axe.”

Edison, in a further bid to disgrace and humiliate Westinghouse, then tried to make popular the term “Westinghoused” for those sentenced to death by electricity, but the word did not appeal to the public.

Slowly, AC gained the upper hand. The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1891 saw Westinghouse win the contract to build an AC network to power the event. He also established the first long-range power network and distributed AC from the Niagara Falls generators to Buffalo in New York, a distance of some 40 km.

Generating AC was limited to either hydro or reciprocating steam engines. Westing-house felt that reciprocating steam engines were clumsy and inefficient. Meanwhile, in England, Charles Parsons was experiment-ing with steam turbines so Westinghouse bought the rights to the turbine and by 1898 he produced a 300 kW unit followed the next year by a 1.5 MW unit for the Hartford Electric Light Co. Westinghouse then went on to develop steam turbines for marine propulsion.

But, as was so common with 19th-century inventors, litigation was just round the corner. Lewis Latimer brought to Edison an improved technique for making carbon to light bulbs. In the meantime, Westinghouse bought Philip Diehl’s competing induction lamp patent rights for US$25,000, which forced the holders of the Edison patent to charge less for these patent rights, effec-tively lowering the cost of the lamp.

In 1883, the US Patent Office ruled that Edison’s patent was developed from Wil-

liam Sawyer’s invention and was invalid. For six years litigation dragged on until Edison finally won the day. However, in England, Joseph Swan had been granted a patent a year before Edison so he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to make and market bulbs in Britain.

But DC still persisted despite its limita-tions. The Pearl Street generating station in New York was switched on in 1892 and produced 110 VDC to 59 users in lower Manhattan. In London, the first station driven by steam provided power to several private houses close to the plant while a theatre in Brno became the first public building to be lit using Edison’s light bulbs.

Today, DC is still used by some sections of industry, and railway systems around the world use DC as they can position substations at convenient points along the track. One of the largest rail networks using DC is the British third rail system which, since the early part of the 20th century, has been providing a train service to southern England.

Looking to the future, maybe DC will resurrect itself when electric cars come into their own. Even accepting the current range of around 80 km a charge, there will be a demand for recharging stations with energy that could be provided by solar or wind power on a scale suitable for local distribution, perhaps among the few garages in the high street or special charging bays.

Innovative switching and control systems could ensure a continuous power supply. But all this could depend on the great motoring public having the imagination and the willing wallet to inspire this happening.

WITH ADVANCING TECHNOLOGIES IN TRANSFORMERS,

DC WAS DOOMED. AC COULD BE PROVIDED AT

ANY VOLTAGE TO SUIT CONSUMERS, BUT MORE

IMPORTANTLY, IT COULD BE SENT FOR HUNDREDS

OR THOUSANDS OF KILOMETRES DOWN QUITE SMALL

CABLES WITH VERY LITTLE LOSS.

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CORD RETAINING SYSTEM FOR IEC C8 APPLIANCE INLETSSchurter has expanded its range of cord retaining systems to

include a clip retaining device for IEC C8 inlets and mating

cord sets. The device is a further addition to the company’s

cord retaining systems for IEC C14 and C20 inlets, com-

prising V-Lock latching cord sets, wire-bails and clamps.

V-Lock, wire-bail and clamp systems have proven suc-

cessful in preventing the accidental disconnection of power

cords from inlets according to IEC 60320. However, these

systems are only available for C14 and C20 appliance in-

lets. Schurter has developed a cord retention system with

specially adapted retaining clips for C8 type inlets. The

clips fit the company’s series 2576 flange mount and 2578

snap-in mount inlets.

SCHURTER (S) PTE LTDFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W156

EMC TESTINGEMC Technologies in Auckland is now a des-

ignated test laboratory under the China-New

Zealand Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA),

which was made possible by the China-New

Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

The designation as a Conformity Assessment

Body (CAB) means that EMC Technologies’

EMC test reports issued by the Auckland

branch are now acceptable for product ap-

proval in China where the China Compulsory

Certification (or the CCC mark) is mandatory.

All EMC testing can be carried out in the

Auckland EMC test laboratories.

EMC TechnologiesFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W249

DC MICROMOTORSThe 3890 CR series from Erntec is based on the motor

concept of the CR DC micromotors series with graphite

commutation from Faulhaber.

ERNTEC Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W303

LED PANEL INDICATORSMarl has extended its industrial and defence LED

panel indicator range with the 677 and 697 series

of panel indicators. One of the LED indicators offers

NVIS (night vision) radiance, making it suitable for use

by operators wearing military NVIS goggles.

Aerospace & Defence ProductsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V527

ECDIS FANLESS PANEL COMPUTERMoxa has announced the release

of the MPC-2240 ECDIS panel

computer. The unit is a sleek, but-

tonless, 24″, flat-glass, ECDIS,

colour-calibrated and fanless panel

computer for marine navigation ap-

plications.

MOXA IncFor more info on this product

wf.net.au/W184

SUNLIGHT-READABLE TOUCH PANEL PCAxiomtek has announced availability

of GOT812LR-832, its heavy-duty,

12.1″ fanless touch panel computer.

Designed to meet the challenges of

outdoor operations including the

impact of high ambient lighting,

the product offers a 1000-nits, high-

brightness and low-reflective LCD

touch screen for good display quality.

Adept Total Turnkey SolutionsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W185

e [email protected] w www.ampec.com.au

+61 2 8741 5000

Ampec Technologies specialises in manufacturing of custom design cable assemblies at our local factory in Sydney.

We also have overseas manufacturing partners to cater for high volume production.

Our experienced team is at your service.

Local manufacturing capabilities for cable assembly with a fully equipped factory

Production team trained to IPC/WHMA-A-620A

Fully automatic cut,strip and crimpmachines

High mix low volume and quick turnaround

Cable Assembly @ Ampec

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Semiconductor manufacturer improves energy consumption

Atlas Copco’s water-cooled, rotary screw compressors are providing semiconductor manufacturer

Nanium SA with reliable, high-quality air, while an Atlas Copco ER900 heat recovery

system enables the company to substantially reduce CO2 emissions and achieve exceptional

energy savings.

Atlas and Nanium have had a successful partnership focused on sustainable productivity for 16 years.

From the beginning, Nanium chose Atlas Copco oil-free compressors combined with drying and filtering

systems to obtain high-quality air.

Nanium currently has five Atlas Copco oil-free, water-cooled

rotary screw compressors installed at its facility - three ZR 300s,

one ZR 315 VSD (with variable speed drive) and one ZR 400. The

compressed air is used almost entirely within the cleanrooms, in

direct contact with the products under manufacture. Therefore,

each of them is combined with a heated blower purge desiccant

air dryer, or BD dryer, to obtain a high-quality dewpoint (PDP

<-40°C). Nanium also requires no oil and a low quantity of particles

to standard ISO 8573 Class 0 to meet its strict standards.

The company also chose Atlas Copco compressors to help

improve energy consumption at the facility. “The selection was

based on the possibility of having equipment working at full load, while the variable speed compressor

allows you to adapt compressed air production to the consumption of the facilities, always ensuring high

levels of energy efficiency and optimal working conditions for the compressors,” said Carlos Costa, director

of infrastructure management at Nanium.

In addition to the five compressors, Nanium recently acquired an Atlas Copco ER 900 unit - a heated

water management system for heat recovery in oil-free, water-cooled compressors.

The ER 900 recovers heat from the compressors in the form of hot water. In order to meet Nanium’s

needs, Atlas Copco changed the company’s compressor to discharge its cooling water at about 80°C. This

hot water is pumped to a heat exchanger, whose secondary circuit circulates return water to the boiler.

As a result, primary energy gas input is dramatically reduced.

“This gave us the possibility of practically stopping the use of our boilers with gas burners, which

resulted in a huge reduction in CO2 emissions, as well as in the energy bill, ” Costa says.

This, in turn, has reduced the consumption of natural gas at the facility by about 90%. In addition, the

energy consumed by the compressors is also less expensive because of their role in the heat recovery

system. The partnership between the two companies is not only based on equipment, but also includes

Atlas Copco equipment maintenance services, which Costa credits with keeping his “compressors working

for 15 years, 24 hours a day without major problems and with a considerable savings”.

With a compressed air production capacity that exceeds current needs, Nanium does not anticipate

an increase in installed capacity for the foreseeable future. However, Carlos Costa stresses the level of

satisfaction Nanium has in its partnership with Atlas Copco. “Without a doubt, I would recommend using

Atlas Copco equipment to others.”

Atlas Copco Compressors Australia

Contact info and more items like this at wf.net.au/W180

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HIGH-CURRENT FILTERSchurter has announced an extension

of its FMER SOL DC filter portfolio with a

series for applications using three-phase AC.

SCHURTER (S) PTE LTDFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V684

OPEN-SOURCE, SINGLE-BOARD PLATFORMelement14 has launched an open-source, single-board plat-

form, the Revolutionizing the Internet of Things (RIoT) board.

The RIoTboard has been designed to run Android operating

systems efficiently.

element14For more info on this product wf.net.au/W278

FEMTO-SIZED 3 DB HYBRID COUPLERThe low-profile, high-performance X3C25F1-

03S, the latest femto-sized coupler in the

Xinger III range of products from Anaren, has

been miniaturised to a 3 x 5 mm footprint

without sacrificing electrical performance.

Wireless ComponentsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W002

http://www.techrentals.com.au


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With benefits such as high switching speeds with low on-resistance and, unlike the bipolar transistors that preceded it, no possibility of thermal runaway, the silicon power MOSFET is the obvious choice in many applications.

THE FUTURE OF GaN TECHNOLOGY Rich Miron,

Digi-Key Technical Content Team

Advances in manufacturing technology, allowing the use of a vertical configuration, have delivered devices with many individual transistors in parallel, further lowering their on-resistance.

Over a period of several decades, manufacturers have improved on the basic design, setting new standards in on-resistance and breakdown voltage. However, those parameters generally need to be traded off against each other in MOSFET design. The techniques that increase breakdown voltage tend to push up on-resistance. As a result, inroads have been made by competing devices such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) for applications that need higher breakdown-voltage ratings than are possible with MOSFETs.

One option is to change materials. Gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide are potential alternatives to silicon that make it possible to support big increases in breakdown voltage without compromising on-resistance thanks to the higher bandgap of these materials, as shown in Figure 1.

Both SiC and GaN have higher critical electric field strengths than silicon, giving them a superior relationship between on-resistance and breakdown voltage. This allows devices to be made smaller and the electrical terminals brought closer together for a given breakdown-voltage requirement.

GaN is showing promise if not as a replacement for silicon, as a way of extending the reach of the power MOSFET into new and demanding applications. The GaN device is a high electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) that delivers higher electron velocity than is pos-sible with silicon and SiC devices. The high mobility results from the way in which a two-dimensional electron gas forms at the interfaces between the component materials. The carriers in this gas move far more freely than in materials such as silicon. As a result, GaN transistors are far more suitable for high-frequency power switching

circuits - potentially delivering higher efficiencies with less board space needed for capacitors and inductors.

Furthermore, GaN devices are able to operate in high-temperature conditions that would be challenging to silicon devices. The high-temperature operation of GaN transistors allows for reductions in the size of heat sinks and cooling fans that may be needed for silicon-based power electronics, allowing for further shrinking of the volume and weight of the power electronics beyond what’s possible from simply moving to higher-frequency switching architectures.

Because of the higher critical field strength, GaN-based devices can be made smaller for a given breakdown voltage and current rating than their silicon counterparts. The combination of device and circuit size,

Figure 1: Graph of on-resistance versus breakdown voltage for silicon, SiC and GaN, showing recently introduced GaN transistors.

GaN DEVICES


GaN DEVICES

together with less cooling support, leads to overall size and weight savings that are important in transport and defence applications where these are critical parameters.

Originally, GaN power devices were constructed on a sapphire substrate and were primarily depletion-mode devices, which made them largely unsuitable for power applications. For safety and reli-ability reasons, power-switching devices should be designed such that they are normally off. GaN MOSFETs are now appearing that offer enhancement-mode, normally-off operation.

At the same time, silicon is emerging as an effective substrate for GaN, with the advantage of lower cost and compatibility with the exist-ing silicon supply chain. Vendors such as Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) have entered the market with enhancement-mode transistors. Although the number of vendors on the market with commercial GaN-on-silicon transistors is low today, companies such as International Rectifier aim to launch products during 2014.

Even at such an early stage in its development, GaN on silicon is already able to outperform silicon MOSFETs. Figure 1 shows not just the theoretical performance of GaN in terms of breakdown voltage versus on-resistance - both of which easily exceed the capabilities of silicon - but two GaN devices from EPC that are already beyond the silicon line in the graph. Further advantages include low gate leak-age current and the material’s large conduction band offset (3.6 eV), making the resulting transistors less susceptible to hot electrons and other factors that can degrade reliability.

As enhancement-mode devices, GaN transistors behave in a simi-lar way to silicon power MOSFETs. A positive gate-source voltage difference attracts electrons into the channel to form a bidirectional channel between the source and drain. As the electrons are pooled in a two-dimension gas, the overall resistance of the conducting channel is very low. However, if the voltage is removed from the gate, the electrons underneath it disperse, removing the conductive channel and turning the device off.

To achieve high breakdown voltages, the distance between drain and gate needs to be increased. However, this does not have as much of an impact on resistance as it does in silicon devices because of the presence of the electron gas.

In contrast to most silicon power MOSFETs, which employ a vertical, through-die channel structure, the GaN transistor structure is lateral, similar to that of logic MOSFET. This structure provides the transis-tor with a low gate charge, which contributes further to an improved figure of merit (FoM) and very high-performance switching - well into the megahertz range for conventional topologies. This leads to smaller power converters and greater performance in other circuits, such as digital audio amplifiers.

A further benefit of the lateral GaN structure is that there are no minority carriers involved in a conducting device. As a result, there are no reverse recovery losses that tend to limit the switching frequency of silicon devices.

Although the performance of GaN devices is very good, there are considerations that designers need to bear in mind when using them. The ability to switch at high frequency provides new opportunities for power-control topologies, but to achieve high performance with low losses requires careful attention to layout and support-circuit design.

GaN power devices need comparatively low voltages to operate. Full enhancement of the device channel is achieved with a voltage of 5 V between the gate and source. However, it is important to not overdrive the gate - the gate drive level should not exceed the 6 V maximum rating of a typical GaN device to avoid potential damage to its structure. This demands tighter voltage control than is usually the case with silicon devices where loosely regulated transformer-based structures can be used.

Excessive inductance in the gate circuit from devices such as transformers and inductors can easily drive the voltage beyond 5 V for short periods. As the gate inductance increases, voltage ringing becomes stronger, driving up the peak voltage that could damage the gate structure.

A number of techniques can be used to reduce the inductance. One is to use a regulator structure, such as a low-dropout (LDO) device to supply the power for gate drive. PCB techniques can be used to limit the inductance, such as ensuring that the driver is placed close to the device to be driven and that lead lengths are kept shorter than 1 cm. Small-outline packages on drivers intended for high-speed operation will help limit lead inductance. Gate drive and return lines can be placed on top of one another, using stripline techniques, to reduce the loop inductance.

Zener diodes as voltage limiters are not recommended by manu-facturers because of their considerable capacitance, which results in slower switching of the GaN transistors, removing one of the key advantages of the GaN material. However, the very fast switching characteristics of GaN introduce a further circuit impact, caused by high dV/dt swings at the drain.

The high levels of dV/dt can cause high current to flow as the result of the Miller capacitance between the gate and drain. In a half-bridge topology a small driver with a relatively high on-resistance can cause the low-side device to turn on accidentally. This phenomenon will increase the risk of shoot-through current and, with that, an increase in wasted energy that will sap the potential efficiency gains that are possible with GaN switches. As a result, the selection of a driver is not only governed by the current and switching time requirement, but also by the need to provide a low impedance path for stray current generated by large dV/dt transients. Although the GaN on silicon is just beginning to enter the market, current products on the market allow engineers to take advantage of the benefits of the combination of ma-terials using either discrete control or using dedicated support devices.

Digi-Key Corporation

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Figure 2: Cross-section of enhancement-mode GaN transistor. Figure 3: Block diagram of the TI LM5113 gate driver.

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32-BIT CPU CORERenesas Electronics has announced a high-performance 32-bit

RX CPU core, the RXv2, for embedded devices in the consumer,

industrial and office equipment fields.

The core features increased performance from 3.2 to 4.0 Coremark

MHz or 2.0 DMIPS/MHz, with a maximum frequency of 300 MHz

in 40 nm. It also features enhanced DSP and FPU capabilities.

Renesas Technology Singapore Pte LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V697

SINGLE-BOARD COMPUTERGE Intelligent Platforms has announced the XVR16 6U VME rug-

ged single-board computer featuring quad-core 4th generation

Intel Core i7 architecture. The capabilities of the product

will not only allow it to address existing command/

control applications, but also to be deployed

in demanding high-performance embedded

computing (HPEC) signal processing appli-

cations such as ISR (intelligence, surveillance and

reconnaissance), sonar and radar.

Metromatics Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V747

4K ULTRA HD LCD TVSharp’s latest LCD TV, the LC-

70UD1X, boasts a Real Ultra

High Definition (3840 x 2160)

panel with high-speed LCD and

a built-in, high-quality converter

to upscale from Full HD to 4K

Ultra HD, producing four times the

detail and clarity of a full HD TV.

Picture quality is further enhanced

with Edge LED backlighting and

AquoMotion UHD - technology

to reduce motion blur and clear

images even during fast-motion

scenes.

Sharp Corporation of AustraliaFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V749

SMARC MODULEAdvantech has launched the ROM-

5420, a RISC SMARC module

powered by the Freescale ARM

Cortex-A9 i.MX6 dual core proces-

sor. The device is suitable for HMI

systems, gaming and infotainment,

industrial tablets, medical devices,

instrumentation and more.

Advantech Australia Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W191

http://www.semikron.com


SECURITY LIGHTThe 742 Series is a high-brightness security light using

four LED light engines to provide a ruggedised, vandal-

resistant, IP-rated light source.

A built-in day/night sensor is available as an option

for the light, enhancing the ‘fit and forget’ nature of the

low-maintenance, solid state device. By only illuminating

as the outside light levels require, this offers additional

energy-saving benefits.

Aerospace & Defence ProductsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V536

POWER/SIGNAL HYBRID CONNECTORSOmnetics’ Micro D connectors are

available with mixed power/signal

contact layouts. The number of power

and signal contacts may be specified

to provide flexibility in circuit design

while ensuring that the connector is

kept to the minimum necessary size.

Clarke & Severn ElectronicsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V908

FIBRE AMPLIFIER WITH IO-LINKBanner Engineering has added IO-Link commu-

nication to its DF-G1 fibre amplifier. The amplifier

can now achieve point-to-point communication,

allowing for complete configuration and monitor-

ing capabilities.

Micromax Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W132

http://www.erntec.net


30 dB ATTENUATORThe WAT06E precision attenuator from Wavelex operates

from DC to 6 GHz, with 50 Ω impedance and up to 30 dB

attenuation, and features 20 W continuous wave (CW) RF

power handling and 1.2:1 VSWR. It is suited for wideband

power attenuation, high power measurement, high power IP

measurement and RF bench test applications.


NFC EXPANSION BOARDelement14 has launched the full NFC expansion board,

EXPLORE-NFC, to implement external user interfaces for

industrial and consumer devices that meet NFC

compliance with reader mode, P2P mode and

card emulation standards.


MULTISTANDARD LISNThe PMM L1-150M multistandard

LISN provides line impedance sta-

bilisation networks for conducted RFI

in the range of 10 kHz to 400 MHz. This is said to make

EMC testing simpler and less costly.

Westek Electronics Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W073

8-BIT MICROCONTROLLERThe analog capabilities of the PIC16F753 microcontroller

are said to boost system performance and efficiency while

reducing system costs. With its integrated Op Amp, slope

compensation and core-independent peripherals, the product

enables efficient power conversion and provides a versatile

platform for adding intelligent sensing and power manage-

ment to embedded designs.

Microchip Technology Hong KongFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W085

INSERTSPenn Engineering’s microPEM thru-threaded brass

inserts for plastics introduce suitable fastener

solutions to attach components in compact elec-

tronic assemblies. These fasteners with threads

as small as M1 install easily and permanently in

a wide range of plastic materials from ABS to

polycarbonate. They promote secure and reliable

attachment for devices ranging from handheld

consumer electronics to medical equipment,

among many others.

A single mating screw completes the joining

process. The microPEM (Type MSIB) inserts will

install in either straight or tapered mounting holes

and their symmetrical design saves time during

production by eliminating any need for insert

orientation prior to installation.

Ampec Technologies Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W174

8-LINK CENTRAL PROTOCOL STACK AND WIRELESS-CHARGING SDKNordic Semiconductor has announced the S120 8-link central protocol

stack and nRF51 wireless-charging software development kit (SDK)

for wireless-charging applications based on the Rezence standard.

Rezence is a wireless power-transfer technology and specification

based on the principles of magnetic resonance.

The S120 is a Bluetooth low-energy SoftDevice for the nRF51822

system on chip (SoC). The nRF51 wireless-charging SDK includes

services/profiles for a Rezence power transmitting unit (PTU) and

power receiving unit (PRU) as well as state machine examples. The

product combination provides a solution for the out-of-band (OOB)

signalling part of a Rezence charge pad. With the support for 8-link

concurrent link, a charge pad based on nRF51822/S120 can support

simultaneous charging of up to eight devices.

Braemac Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W000


LNAS AND LNA BANKSInfineon Technologies has intro-

duced a series of LTE low-noise

amplifiers (LNA) and Quad LNA

banks designed to enhance the

data rate in smartphones. LTE

is a standard for wireless com-

munication that allows for data

rates up to 300 Mbps. However,

meeting user expectations for high

data rates in LTE is challenging in

today’s mobile devices.

Infineon’s BGA7x1N6 and BG-

M7xxxx4L12 families provide low-

noise figure, the exact gain and

high linearity needed to help

smartphone designers overcome

various challenges. The products

are based on the company’s

SiGe (Silicon Germanium) chip

technology and include built-in

ESD protection.

Fastron Technologies Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W223

MINIATURE THERMOELECTRIC MODULESLaird has announced a series of miniature thermoelectric

modules (TEMs) built using Laird Tlam thermally conductive

circuit boards instead of traditional ceramic-based circuit

boards. The Tlam OptoTEC series is designed for applications

where temperature stabilisation of sensitive optical compo-

nents in photonics, telecom, medical and consumer

markets is critical. The use of the circuit

board is claimed to improve the heat pump-

ing capabilities of the device while providing

good heat spreading, improved reliability and lower

cost in high volume when compared to traditional heat

removal systems.

TekdisFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W225

SIC PRODUCTS BROCHURERichardson RFPD has available

a silicon carbide (SiC) products

brochure featuring the latest

products from Cree, Micro-

semi, Powerex and Vincotech.


http://www.npa.com.au


BUTANE-POWERED SOLDERING TOOLThe WPA2 butane-powered soldering tool is for portable

applications where 240 V power is either not available or

convenient. The push-button piezo ignition uses its own energy

to create a spark and light the torch. The product is suitable

for toolkits in boats, motorcycles and recreational vehicles. The

butane tank will last for 3 h of continuous soldering and the

replacement Weller filtered butane gas BR200 is also available.

Apex Tool GroupFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V721

RUGGED TABLET PCUbiqconn’s 7″ IP65 rugged tablet PC, the uTablet T70C, is designed

for field applications. The product meets the MIL-STD-810G rat-

ing for shock and vibration and can be dropped from 1.5 m onto

plywood on a concrete surface.

Backplane Systems Technology Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V838

NETWORK CONTROLLERICP Electronics Australia has released ICP

DAS’s I-8123W-CPS one-port CANopen

slave module. As a stand-alone CAN

controller, the product is suitable for

CANopen applications and be a CANopen

slave device on the CANopen network.

ICP Electronics Australia Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V844

BATTERY CHARGERThe iMCRII is an improved version of the MCRII battery charger

from Magellan Power. Rugged, industrial and built for the harsh

Australian climate, the MCRII can be customised to fit the require-

ments of a variety of projects. The iMCRII comes in a compact,

modular form. The single plug-in module can be easily removed

and sent back for serviceability.

The product features rugged MOSFET/IGBT technology and oper-

ates at high temperatures up to 60°C. With a near-unity power factor,

it is suitable for all battery types - NiCad, lead acid and lithium.

Magellan Powertronics Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W267

BUFFER MODULEThe FEAS SSE2410 buffer module for 24 VDC systems is

designed to help ensure a reliable and uninterrupted power

supply, even during heavy network fluctuations, such as power

brownouts. For maintenance-free operation, the module has

been built with an onboard accumulator pack. This allows the

device to be used within systems which are located in areas

that are difficult to access, such as offshore platforms or in

applications where maintenance involves a high financial cost.

Automated Control Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V566

http://www.hammondmfg.com


MIT researchers have developed a new, low-power signal-processing chip that could lead to a cochlear implant that requires no external hardware. The implant would be wirelessly recharged and would run for about eight hours on each charge.

Existing cochlear implants use an external microphone to gather sound, but the new implant would instead use the natural microphone of the middle ear, which is almost always intact in cochlear-implant patients.

The researchers’ design exploits the mechanism of a different type of medical device, known as a middle-ear implant. Delicate bones in the middle ear, known as ossicles, convey the vibrations of the eardrum to the cochlea, the small, spiral chamber in the inner ear that converts acoustic signals to electrical. In patients with middle-ear implants, the cochlea is functional, but one of the ossicles - the stapes - doesn’t vibrate with enough force to stimulate the auditory nerve. A middle-ear implant consists of a tiny sensor that detects the ossicles’ vibrations and an actuator that helps drive the stapes accordingly.

The new device would use the same type of sensor, but the signal it generates would travel to a microchip implanted in the ear, which would convert it to an electrical signal and pass it on to an electrode in the cochlea. Lowering the power require-ments of the converter chip was the key to dispensing with the skull-mounted hardware.

The idea with this design is that you could use a phone, with an adaptor, to charge the cochlear implant, says Anantha Chandrakasan, the Joseph F and Nancy P Keithley Professor of Electrical Engineering and corresponding author on the new paper to be presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Confer-

ence. The paper’s lead author - Marcus Yip, who completed his PhD at MIT last year - and his colleagues Rui Jin and Nathan Ickes, both in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will also exhibit a prototype charger that plugs into an ordinary cell phone and can recharge the signal-processing chip in roughly two minutes.

Chandrakasan’s lab at MTL specialises in low-power chips, and the new converter deploys several of the tricks that the lab has developed over the years, such as tailoring the arrangement of low-power filters and amplifiers to the precise acoustic proper-ties of the incoming signal.

Chandrakasan and his colleagues also developed a new signal-generating circuit that reduces the chip’s power con-sumption by an additional 20 to 30%. The key was to specify a new waveform - the basic electrical signal emitted by the chip, which is modulated to encode acoustic information - that is more power-efficient to generate but still stimulates the auditory nerve in the appropriate way. The waveform was based on prior research involving simulated nerve fibres, but the MIT research-ers tailored it for cochlear implants and found a low-power way to implement it in hardware. Two of their collaborators at MEEI - Konstantina Stankovic, an ear surgeon who co-led the study with Chandrakasan, and Don Eddington - tested it on four patients who already had cochlear implants and found that it had no effect on their ability to hear.

WIRELESSLY RECHARGEABLE COCHLEAR IMPLANTS

LOW-POWER CHIPS

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IMMUNITY TEST SYSTEMThe Schaffner Modula-6100 Immunity Test System, available to rent from

TechRentals, is a multifunction generator that enables investigation of elec-

tromagnetic field interference effects and immunity testing. The unit conforms

to international, national and in-house standards, including IEC/EN standards.

TechRentalsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V760

SMALL BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR CONTROLLERThe latest brushless DC motor controller from maxon

motor has dimensions of 43 x 11 mm. The easy-to-use

product features an OEM plug-in style form factor for

easy integration into new equipment designs.

maxon motor Australia Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W069

SUBRACKSSometimes housing is required for only one or two PCBs.

Ripac Compact 21HP and 42HP subracks have been

designed with this situation in mind. Available in two

styles with keyhole flanges for mounting onto a back

plate and DIN rail bracket mounting, the subracks can

also be upgraded for EMC shielding by the addition of

stainless steel finger gaskets and other accessories.

Lektronics Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W114

BRUSHLESS DC SERVOMOTORSAvailable from Erntec are the Series 0824 … B and 1028 … B miniature

brushless DC servomotors. The devices combine power, compactness

and high-resolution feedback. They are suitable for speed and posi-

tioning tasks in areas such as optics and photonics, medical device

technology and robotics.

ERNTEC Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W301

TEMPERATURE ISOLATION MODULESWeidmuller has expanded its

ACT20M 6 mm temperature

isolation and conversion module range.

The six new models are available as thermo-

couple or RTD stand-alone units as well as combined

RTD and thermocouple models. Users can also choose between

isolated and non-isolated models.

Weidmuller Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V929

ISOLATED DC-TO-DC CONVERTERSRS Components is stocking isolated DC-to-DC converters

from Analog Devices (ADI), claimed to be the smallest

in the industry. The ADuM5010, ADuM6010, ADuM521x

and ADuM621x use ADI’s isoPower isolated DC-to-DC

converter technology to deliver 150 mW of output power

while using less board space than other module-based

solutions. The ADuM521x and ADuM621x integrate two

channels of ADI’s iCoupler data isolation technology

to reduce board space by up to 75% compared to

optocoupler-based alternatives.

RS Components Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W179


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MULTIRADIO MODULE FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS

The connectBlue Multiradio Module OWL355 is a

ready-to-embed module for demanding industrial,

medical and the Internet of Things (IoT) applica-

tions. The module offers multiradio capability

across Classic Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy and

WLAN with full dual-band support for the 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands.

M2M ConnectivityFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V884

SOLID-STATE DRIVESIntel solid-state drives (SSDs),

available from Mouser Electron-

ics, are a hard drive alternative

for boosting the performance and

reliability of laptop and desktop

PCs. They are claimed to be 50%

faster, 60% more durable and use

20% less power compared to con-

ventional computer hard drives.

Mouser ElectronicsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V996

NOR FLASH MEMORY SAMPLESMicron Technology has announced

the availability of 45 nm Serial

NOR Flash memory samples in

512 Mb, 1 Gb and 2 Gb densities

with a standard SPI interface. The

MT25Q SPI NOR devices offer high

performance, enhanced security

and drop-in compatibility with

legacy NOR devices, enabling

high-density SPI NOR adoption in

consumer, automotive, industrial

and networking applications. In ad-

dition, the devices offer improved

erase performance and 66 MBps

read performance, enabling fast

updates and boot performance

for embedded systems.

Arrow Electronics Australia Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W154

ARINC PCI INTERFACE CARDAlta Data Technologies’ PCI-A429 in-

te r face modu le o f fe rs a va r ie t y o f

ARINC-419/429/575/573/717 channel

configurations with software-selectable

RX/Tx channels, baud rates, bit encoding

and word configurations (start/sync/stop

length, parity, bits/word, MSB/LSB). The

product can encode or decode almost

any ARINC-429 physical layer signal.

Metromatics Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W246

http://www.emona.com.au


Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed an algorithm which makes subtle changes to various points on the face to make it more memorable without changing a person’s overall appearance.

“We want to modify the extent to which people will actually remember a face,” says lead author Aditya Khosla, a graduate student in the Computer Vision group within CSAIL. “This is a very subtle quality,

because we don’t want to take your face and replace it with the most memorable one in our database, we want your face to still look like you.”

The system could ultimately be used in a smartphone app to allow people to modify a digital image of their face before upload-ing it to their social networking pages. It could also be used for job applications, to create a digital version of an applicant’s face that will more readily stick in the minds of potential employers, says Khosla, who developed the algorithm with CSAIL principal research scientist Aude Oliva, the senior author of the paper, Antonio Torralba, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and graduate student Wilma Bainbridge.

Conversely, it could also be used to make faces appear less memorable, so that actors in the background of a television program or film do not distract viewers’ attention from the main actors, for example.

To develop the memorability algorithm, the team first fed the software a database of more than 2000 images. Each of these images had been awarded a ‘memorability score’, based on the ability of human volunteers to remember the pictures. In this way the software was able to analyse the information to detect subtle trends in the features of these faces that made them more or less memorable to people.

The researchers then programmed the algorithm with a set of objectives - to make the face as memorable as possible, but without changing the identity of the person or altering their facial attrib-utes, such as their age, gender or overall attractiveness. Changing the width of a nose may make a face look much more distinctive, for example, but it could also completely alter how attractive the person is, and so would fail to meet the algorithm’s objectives.

When the system has a new face to modify, it first takes the image and generates thousands of copies, known as samples. Each of these samples contains tiny modifications to different parts of the face. The algorithm then analyses how well each of these samples meets its objectives. Once the algorithm finds a sample that succeeds in making the face look more memorable without significantly altering the person’s appearance, it makes yet more copies of this new im-age, with each containing further alterations. It then keeps repeating this process until it finds a version that best meets its objectives.

“It’s really like applying an elastic mesh onto the photograph that slightly modifies the face,” Oliva says. “So the face still looks like you, but maybe with a bit of lifting.”

The team then selected photographs of 500 people and modified them to produce both a memorable and forgettable version of each. When they tested these images on a group of volunteers, they found that the algorithm succeeded in making the faces more or less memorable, as required, in around 75% of cases.

Making a face appear familiar can also make it seem more likable, Oliva says. She and Bainbridge have published a complementary paper in the journal Cognitive Science and Social Psychology on the attributes that make a face memorable. The first time we see a face, we tend to “tag” it with attributes based on appearance, such as intelligence, kindness or coldness. “If we tag a person with familiar-ity, because we think this is a face we have seen before, we have a tendency to like it more and, for instance, to think the person is more trustworthy,” she says.

The team is now investigating the possibility of adding other attributes to their model, so that it could modify faces to be both more memorable and to appear more intelligent or trustworthy, for example. “So you could imagine having a system that would be able to change the features of your face to make you whatever you would wish for, but always in a very subtle way,” Oliva says.

The research was funded by grants from Xerox, Google, Facebook and the Office of Naval Research.

MEMORABILITY ALGORITHM

ALGORITHM HELPS MAKE FACES MORE MEMORABLE Helen Knight, MIT News correspondent

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EMBEDDED WIRELESS MODULESThe Sierra Wireless AirPrime HL Series are small embedded wireless modules

which offer complete pin compatibility and are interchangeable across 2G, 3G

and 4G technologies. The modules include satellite navigation support with

GNSS (GPS and GLONASS) and provide device manufacturers with the ability to

serve different regions, across multiple network technologies, with one device design.


22 nm MULTICORE SOC PROCESSORSThe Intel Atom 22 nm 64-bit multicore processors feature USB 3.0 and graph-

ics support, targeting high-performance, low-power applications ranging from

smartphones to intelligent embedded systems. The SoC processors are manufactured using Intel’s

Tri-Gate CMOS technology. They are claimed to bring improved performance and energy efficiency

compared to competing processors using planar transistor technology.

Mouser ElectronicsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V905

PLASTIC SUBSTRATE INTERCONNECTMolex’s Plastic Substrate Intercon-

nect (PSI) provides a low-profile

interconnect solution for the solid-

state lighting industry when used

with an integrated Pico-EZmate

header in select LED arrays. The

product delivers power while provid-

ing a simple and reliable solderless

connection to LED CoB arrays for

lighting applications.

The Pico-EZmate harness system

minimises handling of the arrays

during installation, reducing the

possibility of damaging the LED

array. The harnesses will be offered

in three wire gauge configurations

and various lengths for a range of

initial harness options based on

application need. In addition, Molex

has a wide variety of low-profile

headers and receptacles that can

be integrated into a custom PSI

based on users’ applications.

Molex Premise Networks Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W231

INTEGRATED COMPUTERSAustralian designer and manu-

facturer ROC-SOLID Technolo-

gies has announced the arrival

of its 2014 range of integrated

computers. After years of good

field performance in harsh envi-

ronments, the integrated range

is said to be tougher, brighter

and more powerful.

Entech GroupFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W084

http://www.agilent.com/find/TM


TRACKING DEVICEThe Re-Placer Gold is a customised TM3000 tracking device

which simulates the Trimble Placer 450/455 and Gold products.

Step Global Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V510

NAVIGATIONAL SWITCHESNavimec from MEC Switches is a five-position navi-

gational switch suitable for data-entry devices. The

device has a select switch in the middle and four

navigational switches around it. The product is avail-

able as a module as well as single parts for OEM

PCB mounting. It is recommended the through-hole

version is used due to increased accuracy during

mounting of the switches.

Control Devices AustraliaFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W285

MEZZANINE MODULESAcromag’s XMC-6260 and XMC-6280 mezzanine modules

provide a 10-gigabit ethernet (10GbE) interface solution for

data-intensive, real-time embedded computing systems.

High performance is achieved using a TCP/IP offload engine

(TOE) ASIC connected to a PCI Express Gen2 x8 interface.

Metromatics Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W173

http://www.entechelectronics.com.au


Medical electronics sales will grow 8% to about $50.9 billion in 2014 after rising just 3% in 2013 to an estimated $47.3 billion, predicts IC Insights.

Sales of semiconductors used in medical sys-tems are also expected to gain strength in 2014, rising 12% to $4.9 billion after growing 7% in 2013 to about $4.4 billion, according to IC Insights’ new 2014 edition of IC Market Drivers - A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits.

Worldwide growth in medical electronics is expected to regain strength in the next three years after slowing since 2010 due to the weak global economy and efforts to curb healthcare costs in the US and Europe.

Between 2012 and 2017, worldwide sales of medical electronics are projected to rise by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3%, reaching $65.4 billion in the final forecast year of the 2014 IC Market Drivers report. The brand new medical electronics section in the 475-page report shows semiconductor sales for healthcare systems applications rising by a CAGR of 10.5% and reaching $6.8 billion in 2017 (Figure 1).

In the years ahead, stronger growth in medical electronics will be fuelled by sales of less expensive diagnostic and imag-ing equipment in China and other developing country markets as well as the explosion of wireless mobile healthcare systems that monitor patients remotely and reduce the need for expensive stays in hospitals. The 2014 IC Market Drivers report forecasts wireless mobile medical systems and closely associated wearable fitness-tracking devices generating revenues of nearly $1.9 billion in 2014, which is a 53% increase from about $1.2 billion in 2013, when worldwide sales grew 27%.

Development trends in medical systems for hospitals, clin-ics and doctor offices are heading in two different directions as equipment makers respond to growing pressures for lower costs and increased availability of health care in poor and developing countries. One trend is to make new medical diagnostic systems

smaller and less expensive so that equipment can be used in the rooms of hospital patients, more clinics and doctor offices versus the dedicated examination rooms in hospitals and imaging centres. Advancements in semiconductor sensors - many of them built with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology - wireless ICs and system-on-chip (SoC) designs are also enabling new types of mobile medical devices that monitor patients and the elderly at home and then relay information to doctors or hospitals via wireless connections to cell phones or the internet.

The other trend highlighted in the new IC Market Drivers report is the creation of more powerful and integrated systems, which are expensive but promise to lower healthcare costs by detecting cancer and diseases sooner while supporting less invasive surgery for quick recovery times and shorter stays in hospitals. Computer-assisted surgery systems, surgical robots and operating-room automation are among new technologies being pursued by some hospitals in developed-country markets.

Developed countries (such as the US, Europe and Japan) have about 18% of the world’s population, but account for nearly 80% of total healthcare spending - approximately $5.3 billion versus $1.4 billion in 178 developing and poor countries during 2012.

The world’s ageing population in both developed and develop-ing countries stands to greatly benefit from new wireless health-monitoring systems and telemedicine services that are aimed at reducing cost and serving more patients. While the large established markets have struggled in recent years, medical equipment sales have been booming in China, which is pursuing an ambitious initia-tive to significantly upgrade primary health care, hospitals, medical infrastructure and access to medical services in the country’s vast rural regions. China’s investments in medical and healthcare infrastructure are expected to total $63.5 billion this decade. Consequently, China’s share of worldwide medical systems sales is expected to more than double in the next four years, reaching 10% in 2017 versus 4% in 2013, while the market shares of developed countries shrink, according to IC Insights’ new report.

MEDICAL ELECTRONICS SALES TO REACH $50.9BN

MARKET ANALYSIS

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COLOURED NUTS AND BOOTS FOR HARSH ENVIRONMENT CONNECTORSColoured nuts and boots are now available

for the Switchcraft EN3 Harsh Environment

Connectors.The Switchcraft EN3 series of

weathertight connectors have applications

for any sealed data transmission, military or

industrial GPS location devices, environmental

monitoring, transportation, medical data carts,

marine and general industrial electronic ap-

plications.

Clarke & Severn ElectronicsFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V457

FANLESS EMBEDDED SYSTEMIEI Technology’s ECW-281B-D2550 embedded computer is designed

for rugged applications with limited space. The product features

Intel’s Atom D2550 Dual-Core 1.86 GHz CPU, Intel NM10 Express

Chipset and 2 GB DDR3 SO-DIMM system memory.

ICP Electronics Australia Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V846

CHILLED MIRROR HYGROMETERMichell’s Optidew Chilled Mirror

Hygrometer meets the Code of

Federal Regulations for Engine

Testing - an essential require-

ment for any instrument used

for emissions testing in the US

and many other regions. The

code sets out the criteria that

humidity measurement instru-

ments must meet.

AMS Instrumentation & Calibration Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V904

PCB DESIGN CONTENTAltium Limited has released PCB design content

for Altium Designer users supporting the FTDI

FT800 family of HMI solutions.

The FT800 family, with its EVE (embedded

video engine) technology, combines display,

audio and touch in a single chip. The optimised

solution reduces board area, power and BOM

requirements, making it a suitable solution for

HMI. By releasing board design content to sup-

port the FTDI FT800 family, Altium eliminates the

need for engineers to spend time developing and

validating PCB footprints, schematic symbols and

3D component bodies for the FTDI components.

The content release includes live supply chain

solutions providing an accurate picture of overall

project BOM cost and assisting in sourcing the

components quickly.

Altium LimitedFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W086

MOBILE COMPUTER WITH POE FUNCTIONALITY FOR VEHICLE APPLICATIONSOctagon Systems’ MOBL-D4 rug-

ged, low-power, mobile computer

with PoE functionality is suitable

in demanding applications such

as trucking, emergency vehicles,

transit systems and other situa-

tions where the cost of failure is

high. The careful circuit design,

component selection, testing

and heat dissipation maximise

reliability and minimise downtime.

Backplane Systems Tech-nology Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V326


FANLESS EMBEDDED SYSTEMiBase Technology’s AMI311-970 Fanless Embedded System houses the

MI970 Mini-ITX motherboard supporting 3rd generation Intel Core processors.

Backplane Systems Technology Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/V375

WIRELESS MODULERS Components is stocking the SimpleLink WiFi

CC3000 product family from Texas Instruments (TI). The

TI CC3000 module is a self-contained 802.11 wireless

network processor that simplifies and accelerates the

implementation of internet connectivity. The SimpleLink

W-Fi solution minimises the software requirements of

the host microcontroller (MCU) and is thus suitable

for embedded applications using any low-cost and

low-power MCU with a compact memory footprint.

The self-contained module is designed to reduce

development time and manufacturing costs, enabling

easy addition to the PCB with minimal RF expertise and

providing RF compliance across the US, Canada and

Europe (FCC, IC and ETSI). The module’s small form

factor of 16.3 x 13.5 x 2 mm saves board space and

is suitable for application in home automation, home

security, connected appliances, smart energy and

M2M communication. Good radio performance ensures

coverage throughout the range of the application area.

RS Components Pty LtdFor more info on this productwf.net.au/W024

LEDExcessive heat generation is one of the

main reasons why light-emitting diodes

fail. With the Oslon Square, Osram Opto

Semiconductors presents an LED that

withstands high ambient temperatures

particularly well.

Osram Australia Pty LtdFor more info on this product wf.net.au/W133

http://www.emlogic.com.au


DATA STORAGE

NEW SYSTEM MAKES BIG DATA MORE ACCESSIBLEThe amount of data computers produce has grown enormously in recent years. But for this ‘big data’ to be useful it must first be analysed, meaning it needs to be stored in such a way that it can be accessed quickly when required.

Previously, any data that needed to be accessed in a hurry would be stored in a computer’s main memory, or dynamic random access memory (DRAM) - but the size of the datasets now being produced makes this

impossible.So instead, information tends to be stored on multiple hard

disks on a number of machines across an Ethernet network. However, this storage architecture considerably increases the time it takes to access the information, according to Sang-Woo Jun, a graduate student in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT.

“Storing data over a network is slow because there is a significant additional time delay in managing data access across multiple machines in both software and hardware,” Jun says. “And if the data does not fit in DRAM, you have to go to secondary storage - hard disks, possibly connected over a network - which is very slow indeed.”

Now Jun, fellow CSAIL graduate student Ming Liu, and Arvind, the Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, have developed a storage system for big-data analytics that can dramatically speed up the time it takes to access information. The system is based on a network of flash storage devices.

Flash storage systems perform better at tasks that involve finding random pieces of information from within a large dataset than other technologies. They can typically be randomly accessed in microseconds. This compares to the data ‘seek time’ of hard disks, which is typically four to 12 milliseconds when accessing data from unpredictable locations on demand.

Flash systems also are nonvolatile, meaning they do not lose any of the information they hold if the computer is switched off.

In the storage system, known as BlueDBM - or Blue Database Machine, each flash device is connected to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip to create an individual node. The FPGAs are not only used to control the flash device, but are also capable of performing processing operations on the data itself, Jun says.

“This means we can do some processing close to where the data is [being stored], so we don’t always have to move all of

the data to the machine to work on it,” he says. What’s more, FPGA chips can be linked together using a high-performance serial network, which has a very low latency, or time delay, meaning information from any of the nodes can be accessed within a few nanoseconds. “So if we connect all of our machines using this network, it means any node can access data from any other node with very little performance degradation, [and] it will feel as if the remote data were sitting here locally,” Jun says.

Using multiple nodes allows the team to get the same band-width and performance from their storage network as far more expensive machines, he adds.

The team has already built a four-node prototype network. However, this was built using 5-year-old parts and as a result is quite slow.

So they are now building a much faster 16-node prototype network, in which each node will operate at 3 gigabytes per second. The network will have a capacity of 16 to 32 terabytes.

Using the new hardware, Liu is also building a database system designed for use in big-data analytics. The system will use the FPGA chips to perform computation on the data as it is accessed by the host computer, to speed up the process of analysing the information, Liu says.

“If we’re fast enough, if we add the right number of nodes to give us enough bandwidth, we can analyse high-volume scientific data at around 30 frames per second, allowing us to answer user queries at very low latencies, making the system seem real-time,” he says. “That would give us an interactive database.”

As an example of the type of information the system could be used on, the team has been working with data from a simulation of the universe generated by researchers at the University of Washington. The simulation contains data on all the particles in the universe, across different points in time.

“Scientists need to query this rather enormous dataset to track which particles are interacting with which other particles, but running those kind of queries is time-consuming,” Jun says. “We hope to provide a real-time interface that scientists can use to look at the information more easily.”

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INDUSTRIAL VIDEOSCOPESOlympus has introduced the IPLEX RX and IPLEX RT industrial

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BLUETOOTH SERIAL PORT ADAPTERThe rugged Bluetooth Serial Port Adapter RBS421s

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RF LIGHTNING PROTECTION TESTERTimes Microwave Systems introduces

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FLASHING SIGNAL LIGHTSR. Stahl is introducing a visual signalling solution

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MANNERS MAKETH MANMike Smyth, specialist technical writer

We’ve all met ’em. Those blundering, inconsiderate idiots walking our pavements with heads down bent over a small handheld device while they tap and stare at little images on a little screen oblivious to the world going on around them. Forget worry beads, they are

passe. The mobile phone has become the new dangerous and antisocial religion and it’s much more exciting being in colour and with sound.

Not only have they killed idle chitchat over coffee, over dinner or waiting in a queue, in buses and trains we can be subjected to these devices either pinging and gonging their way through a mindless game of electronic manipulation or we are the recipient of a one-way conversation that we are forced hear but have no earthly interest in.

I don’t care that John came home late and did unmentionable things in the front garden. Or that Lily has had a daughter and it was such a long labour for her fourth. These facts are not for my ears but I have no way of filtering them out.

Then there is the group of people and someone’s mobile rings. Nine times out of ten, instead of switching the thing off a full-blown conversation ensues with the rest of the group reduced to silent non-background noise mode and unintentionally earwigging into a conversation while the recipient performs the usual mobile walkabout.

And why is it that these defilers of my privacy find it so necessary not only to shout into the instrument but to constantly move around so that as many people as possible may be inconvenienced by the chatter? The pavement pacers are the worst. Mobile phones are designed to be carried - it does not mean that the owner has to be continually mobile while making and receiving calls.

Good manners used to be an accepted skill of our society, largely passed on by parents to children. Now that parents have mostly abrogated their responsibilities to school teachers that system has broken down because teachers have neither the time, or in many cases the knowledge, to instruct.

Gone are the days when boys and men gave up their public transport seats to a woman; gone are the days when men wearing hats would raise them to a lady; gone are the days when men held doors open for women; gone, too, are the days when a gentleman, accompanying a lady walking on the pavement would walk on the outside, ready, in days gone by, to defend her honour with his sword.

And electronics must take much of the blame for this parlous state of affairs that has allowed this ugly descent into a free-fall, free-for-all.

In the beginning there were the ghetto blasters, those huge portable radio/cassette players that had to be carried on the shoulders of a singlet-wearing, athletic youth. This piece of electronic wizardry belted out music and noise at top volume largely to an audience that did not care. Then more portable devices such as the Walkman took over, to be followed by fiendish devices that held five million tunes and were about the size of a playing card, to be superseded by the ubiquitous smartphone. But the great leap forward was the adoption of tiny earphones and later ear plugs that did something to confine the sound to the perpetrator. All ages, but mostly the young, sat on trains and buses with these things at full volume and the wearers often twitching to the music or perhaps twitching to early signs of severe ear damage.

To other passengers came a tinny, squeaky sound of the high notes that became increasingly annoying. There were some who adopted an ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’ attitude by wearing earplugs that were connected to nothing more than an open piece of wire concealed in a pocket. Sometimes requests to the noise generator to turn down the volume are met with sheepish com-pliance but increasingly, the requests are met by a raised single digit and a defiance born of not having had a bottom smacked often enough as a child.

However, the old adage still holds good and the sooner our mobiles find a place in it the better we can revive that adage: ‘manners maketh man’.

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