Author Archives: steve bush

Cypress claims lowest power harvester ever

Cypress has introduced what it claims is the lowest power energy harvesting power management IC (PMIC), usable with solar cells down to 10x10mm.

Cypress energy harvester wireless sensor node Aimed at wireless sensor nodes, and called S6AE101A, it will start when 1.2uW is available and continue to function on as little as 250nA. According to the firm, 1.2μW is available at 65 lux from a 10 x 10mm solar cell.

The linear chip mediates between a solar cell, an optional non-rechargeable battery, a load and two storage capacitors (one for the load and one for internal circuits), and is built into the firm’s EZ-BLE PRoC wireless sensor node module, which also includes a Bluetooth LE radio.

The module (pictured) squeezes a lot under a 10 x 10mm PV cell: ARM Cortex-M0, Bluetooth radio, two crystals, chip antenna, metal shield and passive components.

“The most compelling wireless sensor nodes that will drive IoT growth are self-powered, can be deployed anywhere for more than 10 years, and require minimal deployment and maintenance costs,” said Kiyoe Nagaya, v-p of Cypress analogue business. “Our energy harvesting PMIC and smart module enable developers to create solar-powered wireless sensor nodes for battery-less IoT devices.”

S6AE101A came though the firm’s Spansion subsidiary, and is sampling now. It is the first of a family with at least two other chips: S6EA102A and S6EA103A, both of which add a second power gating switch for a second output at the expense of 30nA more quiescent current. Both also include a 400nA Iq linear regulator. The …103A also has two more timers and a 20nA comparator.

The second power gated output has its own storage capacitor, and a more sophisticated version of the …101A controller block implements various operating modes using the hardware resources.

Cypress offers a Solar-Powered IoT Device Kit that contains a baseboard with a solar module and a Bluetooth Low Energy-USB bridge.

PMIC software support comes through a web tool called Easy DesignSim.

Cypress S6AE101AS6AE101A at a glance

  • Min solar cell size 1cm2 ( ~100 lux min)
  • Solar cell input 2.0-5.5 V
  • Battery input 2.0-5.5 V
  • Output voltage 1.1-5.2 V
  • Quiescent 250 nA
  • Start-up 1.2 μW
  • Six power gating switches
  • Over-voltage protection
  • 3x3mm 10pin SON

 

steve bush

Cypress claims lowest power harvester ever

Cypress has introduced what it claims is the lowest power energy harvesting power management IC (PMIC), usable with solar cells down to 10x10mm.

Cypress energy harvester wireless sensor node Aimed at wireless sensor nodes, and called S6AE101A, it will start when 1.2uW is available and continue to function on as little as 250nA. According to the firm, 1.2μW is available at 65 lux from a 10 x 10mm solar cell.

The linear chip mediates between a solar cell, an optional non-rechargeable battery, a load and two storage capacitors (one for the load and one for internal circuits), and is built into the firm’s EZ-BLE PRoC wireless sensor node module, which also includes a Bluetooth LE radio.

The module (pictured) squeezes a lot under a 10 x 10mm PV cell: ARM Cortex-M0, Bluetooth radio, two crystals, chip antenna, metal shield and passive components.

“The most compelling wireless sensor nodes that will drive IoT growth are self-powered, can be deployed anywhere for more than 10 years, and require minimal deployment and maintenance costs,” said Kiyoe Nagaya, v-p of Cypress analogue business. “Our energy harvesting PMIC and smart module enable developers to create solar-powered wireless sensor nodes for battery-less IoT devices.”

S6AE101A came though the firm’s Spansion subsidiary, and is sampling now. It is the first of a family with at least two other chips: S6EA102A and S6EA103A, both of which add a second power gating switch for a second output at the expense of 30nA more quiescent current. Both also include a 400nA Iq linear regulator. The …103A also has two more timers and a 20nA comparator.

The second power gated output has its own storage capacitor, and a more sophisticated version of the …101A controller block implements various operating modes using the hardware resources.

Cypress offers a Solar-Powered IoT Device Kit that contains a baseboard with a solar module and a Bluetooth Low Energy-USB bridge.

PMIC software support comes through a web tool called Easy DesignSim.

Cypress S6AE101AS6AE101A at a glance

  • Min solar cell size 1cm2 ( ~100 lux min)
  • Solar cell input 2.0-5.5 V
  • Battery input 2.0-5.5 V
  • Output voltage 1.1-5.2 V
  • Quiescent 250 nA
  • Start-up 1.2 μW
  • Six power gating switches
  • Over-voltage protection
  • 3x3mm 10pin SON

 

steve bush

Boost converter will deliver 15V from 500mV

Linear Tech LTC3121 boost converter

Linear Tech LTC3121 boost converter

Linear Tech has introduced a boost converter that starts from 1.8V minimum, but will run with inputs from 0.5-5.5V.

It is synchronous, with 1.5A switches, delivering up to 400mA at 12V from 5V.

“Its 1.5A current limit makes it well suited for input current constrained applications such as PCI Express while minimizing the size of the required externals,” said the firm.

Called LTC3121, it has an output disconnect to prevent the battery bleeding through the chip on shut-down (with <1µA quiescent from battery), and in normal operation it stays in regulation when the input voltage exceeds the output voltage.

Pin-selectable burst mode which drops quiescent current to 25µA, or constant PWM mode keeps noise to a minimum.

For compact dc-dc converters, it comes in a 3 x 4mm DFN-12 thermally-enhanced package switches at 3MHz for small passive components, or it can run as slow as 100kHz.

Switch on-resistances of 121mΩ (n-channel) and 188mΩ (p-channel) contribute to the 95% peak efficiency.

Additional features include external synchronisation, soft start, output over-voltage protection and short-circuit protection.

The industrial-grade LTC3121IDE is guaranteed to operate over -40°C to 125°C operating junction temperature.

steve bush

Boost converter will deliver 15V from 500mV

Linear Tech LTC3121 boost converter

Linear Tech LTC3121 boost converter

Linear Tech has introduced a boost converter that starts from 1.8V minimum, but will run with inputs from 0.5-5.5V.

It is synchronous, with 1.5A switches, delivering up to 400mA at 12V from 5V.

“Its 1.5A current limit makes it well suited for input current constrained applications such as PCI Express while minimizing the size of the required externals,” said the firm.

Called LTC3121, it has an output disconnect to prevent the battery bleeding through the chip on shut-down (with <1µA quiescent from battery), and in normal operation it stays in regulation when the input voltage exceeds the output voltage.

Pin-selectable burst mode which drops quiescent current to 25µA, or constant PWM mode keeps noise to a minimum.

For compact dc-dc converters, it comes in a 3 x 4mm DFN-12 thermally-enhanced package switches at 3MHz for small passive components, or it can run as slow as 100kHz.

Switch on-resistances of 121mΩ (n-channel) and 188mΩ (p-channel) contribute to the 95% peak efficiency.

Additional features include external synchronisation, soft start, output over-voltage protection and short-circuit protection.

The industrial-grade LTC3121IDE is guaranteed to operate over -40°C to 125°C operating junction temperature.

steve bush

Boost converter will deliver 15V from 500mV

Linear Tech LTC3121 boost converter

Linear Tech LTC3121 boost converter

Linear Tech has introduced a boost converter that starts from 1.8V minimum, but will run with inputs from 0.5-5.5V.

It is synchronous, with 1.5A switches, delivering up to 400mA at 12V from 5V.

“Its 1.5A current limit makes it well suited for input current constrained applications such as PCI Express while minimizing the size of the required externals,” said the firm.

Called LTC3121, it has an output disconnect to prevent the battery bleeding through the chip on shut-down (with <1µA quiescent from battery), and in normal operation it stays in regulation when the input voltage exceeds the output voltage.

Pin-selectable burst mode which drops quiescent current to 25µA, or constant PWM mode keeps noise to a minimum.

For compact dc-dc converters, it comes in a 3 x 4mm DFN-12 thermally-enhanced package switches at 3MHz for small passive components, or it can run as slow as 100kHz.

Switch on-resistances of 121mΩ (n-channel) and 188mΩ (p-channel) contribute to the 95% peak efficiency.

Additional features include external synchronisation, soft start, output over-voltage protection and short-circuit protection.

The industrial-grade LTC3121IDE is guaranteed to operate over -40°C to 125°C operating junction temperature.

steve bush

Precision and no drift from ADI’s 55V op-amp

Analog Devices ADA4522 - a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp

Analog Devices ADA4522 – a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp

Analog Devices has introduced a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp that includes electro-magnetic interference (EMI) filtering and needs no calibration circuitry.

Called ADA4522-2, the dual channel device is the first of a series.

Operation is over ±2.25V to ±27.5V, or 4.5 to 55V single supply, with the most negative rail included in the input range. Supply current per amplifier is a creditable 830uA. Output is rail-to-rail.

The important figures are:

  • noise: 5.8nV/√Hz (typ) @ 1kHz
  • 5uV max offset @ 25ºC
  • 22nV/ºC max offset voltage drift
  • 2.7MHz gain-bandwidth product.

Chopper stabilisation accounts for some of those parameters, with chopping at 1.5MHz for wide closed-loop bandwidth and easy filtering.

Instrumentation applications include front ends for: LCR meter, megohmmeter, load cell, bridge transducers, magnetic force balance scales, current shunts, thermocouples, RTD sensors and PLC input and output amplifiers

Electronic loads, power supplies, motor control and offset correction in composite amplifiers are possible end applications.

ADI has produced an informative white paper on its chopper-stabilising technique.

Packaging is 8pin SOIC or MSOP, and a 14 pin version, probably a quad, is due out in September in TSSOP or SOIC-14.

steve bush

Precision and no drift from ADI’s 55V op-amp

Analog Devices ADA4522 - a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp

Analog Devices ADA4522 – a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp

Analog Devices has introduced a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp that includes electro-magnetic interference (EMI) filtering and needs no calibration circuitry.

Called ADA4522-2, the dual channel device is the first of a series.

Operation is over ±2.25V to ±27.5V, or 4.5 to 55V single supply, with the most negative rail included in the input range. Supply current per amplifier is a creditable 830uA. Output is rail-to-rail.

The important figures are:

  • noise: 5.8nV/√Hz (typ) @ 1kHz
  • 5uV max offset @ 25ºC
  • 22nV/ºC max offset voltage drift
  • 2.7MHz gain-bandwidth product.

Chopper stabilisation accounts for some of those parameters, with chopping at 1.5MHz for wide closed-loop bandwidth and easy filtering.

Instrumentation applications include front ends for: LCR meter, megohmmeter, load cell, bridge transducers, magnetic force balance scales, current shunts, thermocouples, RTD sensors and PLC input and output amplifiers

Electronic loads, power supplies, motor control and offset correction in composite amplifiers are possible end applications.

ADI has produced an informative white paper on its chopper-stabilising technique.

Packaging is 8pin SOIC or MSOP, and a 14 pin version, probably a quad, is due out in September in TSSOP or SOIC-14.

steve bush

Precision and no drift from ADI’s 55V op-amp

Analog Devices ADA4522 - a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp

Analog Devices ADA4522 – a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp

Analog Devices has introduced a 55V, low-noise, zero-drift, precision op-amp that includes electro-magnetic interference (EMI) filtering and needs no calibration circuitry.

Called ADA4522-2, the dual channel device is the first of a series.

Operation is over ±2.25V to ±27.5V, or 4.5 to 55V single supply, with the most negative rail included in the input range. Supply current per amplifier is a creditable 830uA. Output is rail-to-rail.

The important figures are:

  • noise: 5.8nV/√Hz (typ) @ 1kHz
  • 5uV max offset @ 25ºC
  • 22nV/ºC max offset voltage drift
  • 2.7MHz gain-bandwidth product.

Chopper stabilisation accounts for some of those parameters, with chopping at 1.5MHz for wide closed-loop bandwidth and easy filtering.

Instrumentation applications include front ends for: LCR meter, megohmmeter, load cell, bridge transducers, magnetic force balance scales, current shunts, thermocouples, RTD sensors and PLC input and output amplifiers

Electronic loads, power supplies, motor control and offset correction in composite amplifiers are possible end applications.

ADI has produced an informative white paper on its chopper-stabilising technique.

Packaging is 8pin SOIC or MSOP, and a 14 pin version, probably a quad, is due out in September in TSSOP or SOIC-14.

steve bush

Microchip expands small footprint PIC32 family

Microchip adds large flash MCUs to its 32bit MIPS M4K-based PIC32 MX1/2 MCU family.

Microchip adds large flash MCUs to its 32bit MIPS M4K-based PIC32 MX1/2 MCU family.

Microchip has added a set of small footprint large flash MCUs to its 32bit MIPS M4K-based PIC32 MX1/2 MCU family.

Called the PIC32MX230F256 series, it comes in 28 and 44 pin packages, clocks at 50MHz (83 DMIPS) and has 256kbyte flash and 16kbyte ram.

There is also Microchip’s 8bit Parallel Master Port (PMP) for graphics or external memory, a 10bit, 1Msample/s 13 channel ADC, SPI serial, I2S serial and USB (device, host or OTG (on-the-go)).

“Designers seeking to launch consumer products with capacitive touch screens, touch buttons or sliders, as well as USB device/host/OTG connectivity, can benefit from the functionality of the PIC32MX1/2 series of MCUs,” said the firm.

Suffixes B and D denote 28 and 44 pin devices respectively, and PIC32MX130F256 has been introduced for those not requiring USB OTG.

Package options are: 28pin QFN, SPDIP and SSOP, or 44pin QFN, TQFP and VTLA.

To use the firm’s Explorer 16 Development Board with the chip, the ‘PIC32MX270F256D Plug-in-Module’ (MA320014) is required.

As usual, Microchip’s MPLAB X integrated development environment (IDE) covers the devices, as does MPLAB XC32 Compiler for PIC32, and there is other development hardware. The firm’s Harmony collection of third-party middleware, drivers, libraries and real-time operating systems (RTOS) also applies, including USB stacks, graphics libraries and touch libraries.

steve bush

Photon processor tests quantum computing theory

Bristol NTT quantum optical chip

Bristol NTT quantum optical chip

Researchers from the University of Bristol and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) have built a programmable optical chip that can process photons for quantum computer research.

“A whole field of research has essentially been put onto a single optical chip that is easily controlled. Now anybody can run their own experiments with photons, much like they operate any other piece of software on a computer. They no longer need to convince a physicist to devote many months of their life to build and conduct a new experiment,” said project leader Dr Anthony Laing.

In a demonstration, the chip was re-programmed to perform a number of different experiments, each of which, said the university, would previously have taken months to build.

“Once we wrote the code for each circuit, it took seconds to re-programme the chip, and milliseconds for the chip to switch to the new experiment. We carried out a year’s worth of experiments in a matter of hours,” said Bristol post-grad Jacques Carolan.

The linear optical chip has six modes and consists of 15 cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers with 30 thermally driven phase shifters.

All the phase shifters can be set arbitrarily, up to six photons can be inserted, and they can be measured with a photon detector system.

“We programmed this system to implement heralded quantum logic and entangling gates, boson sampling with verification tests, and six-dimensional complex Hadamards,” said the University. “We implemented 100 Haar random unitaries with an average fidelity of 0.999 ± 0.001. Our system can implement any linear optical protocol.”

‘Universal linear optics‘, a paper describing the work, is published in the on-line journal Science.

steve bush