Author Archives: steve bush

Module streams music for Wi-Fi loudspeakers, adds Google Cast

Module streams music for Wi-Fi loudspeakers, adds Google Cast

Module streams music for Wi-Fi loudspeakers, adds Google Cast

Frontier Silicon has teamed up with Google and Marvell Technology to design a streaming module, with Google Cast, for audio devices.

Called Minuet, is offers:

  • Global Cast-enabled audio services (eg: Pandora, Deezer, TuneIn)
  • Spotify Connect
  • Apple AirPlay
  • Bluetooth audio input
  • Wired audio inputs
  • Frontier’s Undok remote control app for audio synchronisation and multi-room audio (Android and Apple).

“This module is the product of collaboration between Google, Marvell Technology and Frontier and will address the fast growing market for connected Wi-Fi home speakers and audio systems,” said Frontier. “This is a continuation of Frontier’s partnership with Marvell, which dates to launch of the Venice Wi-Fi module series in 2009.”

On-board is a 1.3GHz dual core processor, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Smart from Marvell.

For development, there is a customisable embedded SDK, remote control apps and APIs, qualified reference designs, and a managed certification process.

Samples will be with selected partners this month, and the module is on-show at IFA in Berlin.

See also: Google Cast for audio

See also: Hi-Fi add-on board gives Raspberry Pi HD audio

 

 

steve bush

Module streams music for Wi-Fi loudspeakers, adds Google Cast

Module streams music for Wi-Fi loudspeakers, adds Google Cast

Module streams music for Wi-Fi loudspeakers, adds Google Cast

Frontier Silicon has teamed up with Google and Marvell Technology to design a streaming module, with Google Cast, for audio devices.

Called Minuet, is offers:

  • Global Cast-enabled audio services (eg: Pandora, Deezer, TuneIn)
  • Spotify Connect
  • Apple AirPlay
  • Bluetooth audio input
  • Wired audio inputs
  • Frontier’s Undok remote control app for audio synchronisation and multi-room audio (Android and Apple).

“This module is the product of collaboration between Google, Marvell Technology and Frontier and will address the fast growing market for connected Wi-Fi home speakers and audio systems,” said Frontier. “This is a continuation of Frontier’s partnership with Marvell, which dates to launch of the Venice Wi-Fi module series in 2009.”

On-board is a 1.3GHz dual core processor, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Smart from Marvell.

For development, there is a customisable embedded SDK, remote control apps and APIs, qualified reference designs, and a managed certification process.

Samples will be with selected partners this month, and the module is on-show at IFA in Berlin.

See also: Google Cast for audio

See also: Hi-Fi add-on board gives Raspberry Pi HD audio

 

 

steve bush

DAC has 7GHz analogue bandwidth for software-defined microwave

E2V EV12DS400 DAC has 7GHz analogue bandwidth for software-defined microwave

E2V EV12DS400 DAC has 7GHz analogue bandwidth for software-defined microwave

Essex-based e2v has revealed a 12bit DAC with an analogue bandwidth that extends beyond 7GHz. The single-core device samples at up to 4.5Gsample/s without interpolation.

Called EV12DS400, it includes microwave capabilities and multi-Nyquist operation. Rise and fall times are 30ps for time domain applications.

“This DAC facilites multi-band, direct digital synthesis in the L, C and S-bands,” said the firm. “For the first time ever on a DAC, the EV12DS400 introduces mathematical simulation models to ease the work of multi-Nyquist-zone frequency planning.”

NRZ, RTZ, NRTZ and RF output coding modes are available, and the part can deliver spectral power up to and beyond the fourth Nyquist zone.

Spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is 65dBc at 2.24GHz.

>50dB noise power ratio (NPR) and high spectral purity with an

The DAC e2v will be demonstrated live at European Microwave Week (8 to 10 September).

1st Nyquist (NRTZ) NPR = 47.5dB 9.4bit equiv at 4.5Gsample/s
2nd Nyquist (NRTZ) NPR = 42dB 8.6bit equiv at 4.5Gsample/s
3rd Nyquist (RF) NPR = 39dB 8bit equiv at 4.5Gsample/s

steve bush

Lidar fits drones for surveying

SBG Systems yelloscan lidar

SBG Systems yelloscan lidar

YellowScan is a 2.2kg lidar for drones.

With a range of 75m, it is accurate to 30cm, and outputs 40,000 point/s from a ±50 degree scan.

As well as GPS, it includes an Ellipse-E inertial navigation system from SBG Systems.

“Once mounted on the drone, the user pushes the yellow button and YellowScan is ready to survey,” said SBG. “The user can launch the UAV and begins the survey. Once the task accomplished, a USB stick is used for downloading the data.”

Post flight software is available to visualise the point cloud.

The lidar works up to 150m altitude, consumes 20W, and is 20 x 17 x 15cm.

Eclipse-E weighs 12g and provides roll and pitch data accurate to 0.2°, and a 0.5° heading with from a real-time kinetic (RTK) combination of GPS (external receiver) and accelerometers data.

SBG Systems yelloscan lidar point cloudThe GPS receiver is a AsterX-m from Septentrio which uses GPS and GLONASS constellations and works with RTK reference stations.

See YellowScan and Ellipse-E, at InterGeo in Stuttgart (15-17 September).

steve bush

Quad-core 64bit MIPS processors execute ARM and x86 instructions

Loongson 3A2000 Imagination MIPSChina-based Loongson has announced two 64-bit quad core processors based around a MIPS-derived architecture and including binary translation to run x86 and ARM code.

The nine stage pipelined architecture is called GS464E, and the 4-way superscalar processors are Loongson-3A2000 and 3B2000 – and include in-order execution units, two floating-point units, a memory management unit, and crossbar interconnect.

“Thanks to a series of significant microarchitectural enhancements, performance figures for the new chips show a 2.7x improvement over the previous generation cores [3A1000 and 3B1000],” said Alexandru Voica, spokesman for Imagination Technology, owner of the MIPS processor architecture.

The 3B series includes the 1.5GHz 3B1500. “Platforms integrating an octa-core 3B1500 configuration can deliver up to 192Gflops of peak performance at only 30W,” said Voica.

GS464E executes the ‘LoongISA’ instruction set with over 1,400 instructions including:

  • MIPS64 Release 3 instructions
  • The binary translation to run x86 and ARM code – called ‘LoongBT’
  • LoongVM instructions for custom virtual machines
  • LoongSIMD instructions for 128- and 256-bit vector arithmetic operations

Loongnix is a Linux distribution optimized for the GS464E.

More processors are planned. “Loongson chief architect Hu Weiwu confirmed to Imagination that his team plans to release two chips in 2016: 3A3000 and 3B3000, built on a 28nm process and clocked closer to 2GHz,” said Voica.

steve bush

Quad-core 64bit MIPS processors execute ARM and x86 instructions

Loongson 3A2000 Imagination MIPSChina-based Loongson has announced two 64-bit quad core processors based around a MIPS-derived architecture and including binary translation to run x86 and ARM code.

The nine stage pipelined architecture is called GS464E, and the 4-way superscalar processors are Loongson-3A2000 and 3B2000 – and include in-order execution units, two floating-point units, a memory management unit, and crossbar interconnect.

“Thanks to a series of significant microarchitectural enhancements, performance figures for the new chips show a 2.7x improvement over the previous generation cores [3A1000 and 3B1000],” said Alexandru Voica, spokesman for Imagination Technology, owner of the MIPS processor architecture.

The 3B series includes the 1.5GHz 3B1500. “Platforms integrating an octa-core 3B1500 configuration can deliver up to 192Gflops of peak performance at only 30W,” said Voica.

GS464E executes the ‘LoongISA’ instruction set with over 1,400 instructions including:

  • MIPS64 Release 3 instructions
  • The binary translation to run x86 and ARM code – called ‘LoongBT’
  • LoongVM instructions for custom virtual machines
  • LoongSIMD instructions for 128- and 256-bit vector arithmetic operations

Loongnix is a Linux distribution optimized for the GS464E.

More processors are planned. “Loongson chief architect Hu Weiwu confirmed to Imagination that his team plans to release two chips in 2016: 3A3000 and 3B3000, built on a 28nm process and clocked closer to 2GHz,” said Voica.

steve bush

Quad-core 64bit MIPS processors execute ARM and x86 instructions

Loongson 3A2000 Imagination MIPSChina-based Loongson has announced two 64-bit quad core processors based around a MIPS-derived architecture and including binary translation to run x86 and ARM code.

The nine stage pipelined architecture is called GS464E, and the 4-way superscalar processors are Loongson-3A2000 and 3B2000 – and include in-order execution units, two floating-point units, a memory management unit, and crossbar interconnect.

“Thanks to a series of significant microarchitectural enhancements, performance figures for the new chips show a 2.7x improvement over the previous generation cores [3A1000 and 3B1000],” said Alexandru Voica, spokesman for Imagination Technology, owner of the MIPS processor architecture.

The 3B series includes the 1.5GHz 3B1500. “Platforms integrating an octa-core 3B1500 configuration can deliver up to 192Gflops of peak performance at only 30W,” said Voica.

GS464E executes the ‘LoongISA’ instruction set with over 1,400 instructions including:

  • MIPS64 Release 3 instructions
  • The binary translation to run x86 and ARM code – called ‘LoongBT’
  • LoongVM instructions for custom virtual machines
  • LoongSIMD instructions for 128- and 256-bit vector arithmetic operations

Loongnix is a Linux distribution optimized for the GS464E.

More processors are planned. “Loongson chief architect Hu Weiwu confirmed to Imagination that his team plans to release two chips in 2016: 3A3000 and 3B3000, built on a 28nm process and clocked closer to 2GHz,” said Voica.

steve bush

Fanless enclosure embeds Intel NUC motherboard

Fanless enclosure embeds Intel NUC motherboard

Fanless enclosure embeds Intel NUC motherboard

Pentair fanless enclosure provides IP30 protection and EMC shielding for 10x10cm NUC (Intel’s Next Unit of Computing) motherboards.

A flexible heat path connects the processor inside with heatsinking integrated with the top cover.

“Pentair has developed thermally-conductive elements in metal to transfer the heat from the processors to the case surface,” said stockist enclosures4U. “These elements are variable in height so that they can stay in constant contact with processors of different heights. Dissipated heat is transferred consistently by conduction to the heat sinks and then passed to the environment by means of convection and radiation.”

Alongside the top, the enclosure consists of a body and front panel, held together with two screws.

According to Pentair-Schroff, this is the first enclosure compliant to the embeddedNUC specification, established to expose interfaces relevant to industrial applications and include fanless cooling to increase reliability. Cooling in this case is rated up for dissipation up to 15W.

As defined by SGeT (Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies), restrictions on EmbeddedNUC enclosures are few. Width and depth of the board inside is fixed at 101.6 x 101.6mm, while the height is unrestricted. Cut out locations on the front and rear of the case are also unrestricted as these depend on the application.

Embedded NUC fixed parameters include:

  • Operating voltage: (18 to 24V ±20%) (connector type is not fixed)
  • Operating temperature: 0 to 60°C, or -40 to 85°C.
  • Type 1 minimum:   1 x LAN, 2 x USB, power connector
  • Type 2 minimum:   2 x LAN, 2 x USB, power connector, 1 x mini PCI express (and/or mSATA expansion for mini PCI, express slot), 2 x UART (or COM port).

Applications are expected in kiosks, point-of-sale, signage, vehicle infotainment, surveillance, home automation and industrial automation.

Enclosures4U is part of Essesx-based Foremost Electronics.

steve bush

Cree to champion SiC at ECCE 2015

ECCE 2015Cree co-founder Dr John Palmour is to champion silicon carbide as the most cost-effective power technology in a plenary session at the IEEE ECCE power conference in Montreal Canada in September.

In a transistor price comparison, SiC devices loose badly to silicon.

“A component-to-component comparison will never be wholly accurate because silicon carbide is vastly superior to silicon with regard to performance,” said Palmour. “SiC devices make systems less expensive through their ability to operate at much higher frequencies, shrink magnetics, and simplify designs. They can also dramatically cut conduction and thermal management costs in lower frequency applications.”

Beyond this, he argues that SiC devices can allow designers to switch from multi-level topologies to simpler two-level designs.

Palmour will present “SiC power devices: Changing the dynamics of power circuits from 1 to 30kV” between 8:00 and 10:30am on 21 September. in room 517D. The talk will include mention of devices up to 27kV.

ECCE 2015 will take place across 20-24 September  at the Montreal Palais des Congrès. It covers electrical and electromechanical energy conversion; spanning components, materials, systems, resources, applications and practices.

Cree is presenting four other papers:

  • 900V silicon carbide mosfets for breakthrough power supply design
  • Advances in SiC and GaN based devices, packaging, and systems.
  • 3.3kV SiC mosfet update for medium voltage applications.
  • 10–25kV silicon carbide power modules for medium voltage applications

steve bush

Cree to champion SiC at ECCE 2015

ECCE 2015Cree co-founder Dr John Palmour is to champion silicon carbide as the most cost-effective power technology in a plenary session at the IEEE ECCE power conference in Montreal Canada in September.

In a transistor price comparison, SiC devices loose badly to silicon.

“A component-to-component comparison will never be wholly accurate because silicon carbide is vastly superior to silicon with regard to performance,” said Palmour. “SiC devices make systems less expensive through their ability to operate at much higher frequencies, shrink magnetics, and simplify designs. They can also dramatically cut conduction and thermal management costs in lower frequency applications.”

Beyond this, he argues that SiC devices can allow designers to switch from multi-level topologies to simpler two-level designs.

Palmour will present “SiC power devices: Changing the dynamics of power circuits from 1 to 30kV” between 8:00 and 10:30am on 21 September. in room 517D. The talk will include mention of devices up to 27kV.

ECCE 2015 will take place across 20-24 September  at the Montreal Palais des Congrès. It covers electrical and electromechanical energy conversion; spanning components, materials, systems, resources, applications and practices.

Cree is presenting four other papers:

  • 900V silicon carbide mosfets for breakthrough power supply design
  • Advances in SiC and GaN based devices, packaging, and systems.
  • 3.3kV SiC mosfet update for medium voltage applications.
  • 10–25kV silicon carbide power modules for medium voltage applications

steve bush