Comment: Chip firms should think outside the box on source code

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi

Processor suppliers could make a big difference in the way their chips are used and adopted by the industry if they took the plunge and made more of their source code available to designers.

Creating evaluation boards and reference designs with compliers, debuggers and other firmware is a mainstay of the embedded designer’s tool box. But what if they could get access to elements of the processor’s source code?

This is what designer Pete Warden at Jetpac did when he had access to the assembler level code of the Raspberry Pi graphics processor from Broadcom.

He wrote custom assembler programs for the Raspberry Pi, he then created a set of helper macros for programming the DMA controller and released it all as open source.

It seems that Broadcom is not afraid to make elements of its chip software IP more widely available, even as open source software.

For example, Broadcom is one of only a few chip makers to make its Bluetooth stack available to the open source community.

The Bluetooth stack became part of the Android open source project and as a result of this it became the basis of the Bluetooth subsystem in the latest Android 4.2 operating system.

Was this because the Broadcom stack was available as open source? I guess so.

So it would make sense for more chip suppliers to make elements of their source code available. It would have the advantage of proliferating the IP which would surely help with option of the silicon.

Of course no chip firm will give away all its proprietary IP. But it should be possible to give designers greater access to elements, such as wireless stack and even assembler code.

 

Boost converter goes multi-phase for less ripple

LTC3124 circuitLinear Tech has gone two phase to shrink components in a monolithic battery-powered boost converter.

Common in high-current buck (step-down) converters, multi-phase operation is uncommon in step-up converters.

“Dual-phase operation significantly reduces peak inductor and capacitor ripple currents, minimising component size while delivering lower output ripple versus an equivalent single-phase device,” said the firm.

In this case, the firm has integrated two 2.5A 18V switches, plus synchronous rectifiers, to allow outputs up to 5A and 15V.

Helped by low resistance mosfets (130mΩ n-channel, 200mΩ p-channel), efficiency peaks at 95%. Switching is from 100kHz up to 3MHz.

Called LTC3124, this is a comprehensive component.

As befits is role in battery operated equipment, it can start from as low as 1.8V, and run from 0.5-5.5V – so Li-ion, Li-polymer and 2-4 cell NiMH batteries are accommodated. 1.5A 12V can be delivered from a 5V input.

LTC3124 efficiency graphFor low loads, burst-mode operation lowers quiescent current, to 25µA minimum, although continuous-mode can be fixed through an external pin for minimum noise operation.

Compatibility in with unusual load-battery combinations when the input voltage exceeds the required load voltage is provided because the device continues to switch and regulate, although at lower efficiency and current capability.

One last battery-friendly feature is output-disconnect, to prevent forward conduction through the output p-mosfets during shut-down, allowing the output to drop to zero volts without battery drain.

A real bells-and-whistles addition is internal anti-ringing resistors, that are automatically switched in to damp low-energy parasitic ringing which develops under certain circumstances and can cause RFI.

More standard features include: start-up in-rush limiting, external synchronisation, output over-voltage protection, and short-circuit protection.

Package options are 16pin 3x5mm DFN and thermally-enhanced TSSOP.

Temperature range options are -40 to 125°C, or -40 to 150°C.

Where is such a component going to be used?

Linear Tech marketing engineer Jeff Gruetter has an example: “Many RF Transceiver amplifiers require a well regulated 12V output voltage with a load in excess of 1A, regardless if the power source is a Li-Ion battery, multiple alkaline cells or a fixed 5V rail. Similarly, high efficiency is of paramount importance as it minimises thermal design considerations while maximising battery run time.”

LTC3124 at a glance:

  • Dual-phase boost converter
  • Buck operation possible
  • 1.8-5.5Vin (500mV after start)
  • 2.5-15Vout
  • 1.5Aout (5-12Vin)
  • Output disconnect
  • Synchronous rectification
  • Up to 95% efficiency
  • In-rush limit
  • 100kHz-3MHz operation
  • External clock possible
  • Burst-mode possible
  • Output over-voltage protection
  • Soft-start
  • <1μA shutdown
  • 3x5mm DFN and TSSOP

Atmel buys WiFI and LP-Bluetooth company

Atmel is to buy WiFi and low-power Bluetooth IC specialist Newport Media for $140 million.

“This acquisition immediately adds 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to our offerings and will accelerate our introduction of low-energy Bluetooth products,” says Atmel CEO Steve Laub, “combined with our existing Wi-Fi and Zigbee solutions and industry leading microcontroller portfolio, Atmel is positioned for substantial growth in the Internet of Things marketplace.”

Last year, Newport had revenues of $43 million.

If certain financial targets are achieved, another $30 million will be added to the purchase price.

The acquisition follows the recent trend for semiconductor industry M&A. This year, RF Micro has bought Triquint, Analog Devices bought Hittite Microwave, Qualcomm bought Wilocity, EZchip bought Tilera, AMS and Dialog are talking merger and CSR has sold its Israeli imaging unit to Qualcomm.

IT sector growth creates demand for skills

There has been a growth of demand for IT and computing staff during June.

Both permanent and temporary workers saw marked rates of expansion in available job vacancies, according to latest Report on Jobs, published by KPMG and the REC.

Although down from May, the latest reading was still indicative of a strong rate of growth that was slightly above the UK average.

The IT category posted in fourth place out of nine in the demand for staff ‘league table’.

Temporary IT staff saw growth of demand for their services accelerate in June.   

“With both permanent and temporary workers seeing an expansion in available job vacancies, it seems that employers are ready to ‘splash the cash’ in what appears to be an attempt to lure skilled staff from competitors,” said Heath Jackson, partner in the CIO Advisory practice at KPMG.

“Yet despite offering starting salaries at a rate that has not been seen during the survey’s 17 year lifetime, it is clear that candidates are not easily swayed,” said Jackson.

“Employers need to bear in mind that cash is just one element of a rewards package and today’s savvy employees are looking at a broader range of benefits when they choose their employer. Businesses will have to come up with increasingly inventive rewards packages to attract and retain the best talent,” added Jackson.

M/A-COM baluns

M/A-COM has announced a family of eight new baluns for CATV MoCA applications.

“This family has been designed specifically for customers requiring a transformer balun for wired broadband applications,” says M/A-COM’s Graham Board, “the family enables customers to design a broad range of applications of different frequency ranges using a diverse range of impedances. These baluns offer high current handling in a small outline package with less than 3.8 x 3.8 mm in size on average”.

These baluns are available on Tape and Reel and can be assembled using surface mount capability. They are all RoHS compliant, lead-free, compatible with a 260°C reflow temperature and most can be used in either 75 Ω or 50 Ω systems.

Toshiba: ‘most accurate all-CMOS oscillator’

Toshiba has developed a quartz-replacing all-CMOS +/-85ppm oscillator, claiming it to be the most accurate in its class.

Presented at the VLSI Symposium in Honolulu, the 24MHz RC oscillator was implemented on 0.18µm CMOS and consumes 2.9mW.

“Smaller CMOS oscillators have been designed, but with a much lower oscillation frequency, due to large temperature dependence,” said the firm.

This is a compensated oscillator, using a digital phase-locked loop to modify the oscillator’s natural output frequency depending on measured temperature.

Instead of an external oven, an on-chip heater is used during initial test to set device junctions at multiple temperatures to extract a calibration curve. The firm claims this approach cuts test cost and improves accuracy.

The calibration data is stored on the chip and automatically applied to correct the oscillator in normal operation.

“High-order temperature coefficients are extracted by employing a carefully designed on-chip heater, so that the frequency deviation due to the temperature variation is accurately estimated, and compensated in digitally by means of the PLL,” said Toshiba.

The PLL is also used to provide adjust the outputs between 2MHz and 40MHz in 40Hz steps.

Plans are underway to shrink the chip to one third the size of a conventional crystal oscillator, and commercialise it in two to three years. It will also be used on microcontrollers and asics.

VLSI Symposium paper 22.5: ‘A 2.9mW, +/-85ppm accuracy reference clock generator based on RC oscillator with on-chip temperature calibration’.

Applied and Tokyo Electron form Eteris

Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron have named their jv Eteris.

The name is, says the two companies ‘derived from the concept of eternal innovation for society’.

The name is pronounced: “eh-TAIR-iss”.

The companies have also created a logo for Eteris.

In May, 99% of the shares voted at the Applied Materials stockholder meeting and 95% of the shares voting at the Tokyo Electron stockholder meeting voted to agree the merger.

Digitiser cards get FPGA-based signal averaging

FPGA signal averaging from SpectrumUsing FPGAs, Spectrum has created firmware packages that allow its high-speed M4i series digitiser cards to perform on-board signal averaging.

The M4i.44xx series cards offer real-time sampling rates of up to 500Msample/s with 14bit resolution and 250Msample/s with 16bit resolution.

Averaging can be applied to signals at rates of over 5,000,000 events/s, and the cards are available with two or four channels.

Thanks to the PCIe bus, acquired and averaged data can be transferred to a host PC at up to 3.4Gbyte/s.

“The averaging package, together with the M4i.44xx cards, makes this one of the most powerful averaging systems available today,” claimed Spectrum director of technology, Oliver Rovini. “With these new FPGA based processing functions we are extending the capabilities of our digitizer products by improving measurement sensitivity and throughput. Engineers and scientists who are looking for faster, more accurate measurements for repetitive signals should find this development of interest.”

Ideally, according to the firm, if the signal and noise are uncorrelated, the noise being random while the signal is repetitive, then the averaging function can improve the S/N ratio in proportion to the square root of the number of measurements (or averages). For example, averaging a signal 256 times may improve the SNR by as much as 24dB or increase measurement resolution by about 4bit.

Applications are expected in mass spectroscopy, radar, ultrasonic testing, laser ranging, medical imaging, component testing and nanotechnology.

The averaging option (-spavg) is also available the Ethernet/LXI digitiser product ‘digitizerNETBOX DN2.44x’.

Spectrum Systementwicklung Microelectronic GmbH is based near Hamburg.

Toshiba supplies UK with 1MW smart grid battery

23jul14Toshiba-Sheffield-lithium-ionToshiba is providing the UK with a 1MWh lithium-ion battery for research into power storage on a smart grid.

It will be part of the Grid Connected Energy Storage Research Demonstrator project, led by the University of Sheffield, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with support from both industrial and academic partners.

The battery is one of Toshiba’s ‘SCiB’ lithium titanate family – a fast-charging form of Li-ion, and will be connected to the 11kV grid at Western Power Distribution’s Willenhall primary substation, near Wolverhampton. It should start operating in November this year.

Renewable power generation is more unpredicable than coal, gas, or nuclear, and the more wind and solar power sources are connected to the grid, the more need there is to add storage. Once there, it can also be used for peak power buffering.

SCiB batteries are claimed to withstand over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles. The firm has supplied them to Japanese storage projects and has orders for commercial installations in Italy and Japan, said Toshiba.

UK distributors are cautious on growth

UK-mapUK component distributors are predicting only  ”modest growth” in the market later in the year, according to the Electronic Components Supply Network (ecsn), the organisation for the electronic component supply chain.

The market figures for May from the ecsn show a slight decline in the book-to-bill ratio and in overall bookings compared to April 2014 and also to May 2013.

“Anticipated growth in the second quarter does not appear to have materialised, which has led to a slight increase in inventory,” said Adam Fletcher, Chairman of the ecsn.

“Our distributor members are expecting a modest increase in growth in the second half of the year, which appears to be realistic since no significant events or increased demand drivers are currently visible,” said Fletcher.

Semiconductors increased slightly over the period, passives declined slightly, emech was flat and component assemblies declined.