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Contents Vol 45 No 3

14 February 2012 3www.newelectronics.co.uk

Got a problem? Seeif the Forum canhelp you solve it

Comment 5

Observers are

chipping away at

TSMC

News 7

Nujira goes fabless

as it launches first

power modulator

aimed at handsets

Plessey acquires

Cambridge spin out;

targets emerging

high brightness LED

market

TSMC says yields

from its 28nm

process roll out are

on track

The most popular

items from the New

Electronics website

20

16

34

Interview 14

Planning for the future

The IETs president says the institution remains as relevant

as ever as it looks to support electronic design in the UK

Cover Story 16

A touch of class

Haptics is set to transform the way in which we interface

with electronic devices

Medical Electronics 20

The power for change

Power management in battery powered medical devices

is becoming a growing challenge for developers

Electronic Design Automation 22

Design elegance

FPGA-PCB codesign: a 21st Century approach to integrating

fpgas into the pcb design process

Micros 24

Helping hands

Offloading tasks from the host microcontroller can help

designers to improve system efficiency

Exhibition Preview 27

Breeding success

A quick look at this years Embedded World exhibition and

conference, which is set to be the largest yet

RF & Microwave 31

On the right wavelength

Sub gigahertz radios can help to maximise range and

battery life in cost sensitive wireless networks

Reference Designs 34

Powering developments

A reference design addresses the issue of power

consumption in battery powered portable products

24

7

ww

w.n

ewelectron

ics.co.uk/foru

m

Readers using thedigital edition canaccess furtherinformation byclicking on theselinks

Furtherinformation

White papers

Videos

36V, 4A Sync Buck

Info and Purchase Features

Input Voltage Range: 3.9V to 36V (60V Transients)

4A of Continuous Output Current

Quiescent Current of 70A (12VIN to 3.3VOUT)

Low Output Ripple of

Comment

The debate about yields from TSMCs 28nm process continues to rumble on.Depending on who you talk to, opinions range from its a disaster to no realproblems. At one end of the scale, observers believe the process has failed to

yield many usable chips after 10 designs from seven customers have run

through the line. TSMCs response is that yields and defect densities are better

than they were at the same time during the 40nm roll out a line it has

maintained for a year or more. But TSMC is tight lipped at the best of times; it

wont spill the beans if things arent going well.

TSMCs 40nm roll out certainly wasnt without problems; yields were

seemingly bad enough that Rick Tsai, ceo at the time, paid with his job.

That was then. Altera, traditionally amongst the first to run designs on each

new TSMC process node, has issued an official testimonial via TSMC claiming

satisfaction with 28nm. Confirming this, an Altera insider says the company

isnt seeing any unusual issues. If anyone was going to experience problems, it

would probably be the process node pioneers.

Even if TSMC is struggling, should we be surprised? Making 28nm chips was

never going to be easy, but the technical hurdles will be nothing to those which lie

ahead as the industry moves to making 14nm devices on 450mm diameter wafers.

An indication of the scale of the looming problems can be seen by TSMCs

hiring policy. The foundry giant now has close to 3000 people working in

process and platform R&D. Tasks on their agenda, apart from 450mm wafers,

include getting extreme ultraviolet lithography ready for production. But the

$6billion R&D budget should help there.

Meanwhile, standing on the sidelines and probably watching with a

knowing smile on its corporate face is Intel, where volume production of Ivy

Bridge processors on a 22nm process started towards the end of 2011.

Graham Pitcher, Group Editor (gpitcher@findlay.co.uk)

www.newelectronics.co.uk

Chippingaway at TSMCMaking 28nm chips isnt easy;

who would have guessed?

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Copyright 2011. Xilinx, Inc. XILINX, the Xilinx logo, Artix, ISE, Kintex, Virtex, and other designated brands included herein are trademarks of Xilinx in the United States and other countries.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Envelope Tracking News

Pushing the envelopeNujira says modulator will save energy in mobile phones.

Graham Pitcher reports.

Envelope tracking pioneer Nujira has launched the first

device in the Coolteq.L range of power supply modulators

intended for use in mobile phones. According to the

company, the NCT-L1100 can reduce the energy wasted by

mobile phone power amplifiers (PAs) by more than 50%.

Nujira ceo Tim Haynes said: The industry consensus is that

Envelope Tracking will become the standard PA architecture for

the next generation of handsets, because it is the only power

optimisation technology which delivers high efficiency over the

entire spectrum used for 3G and 4G standards.

The NCT-L1100 is said to demonstrate power conversion efficiencies in excess of 80% and to support the

maximum 20MHz channel bandwidth of LTE. Nujira claims this is the best performance currently available

and adds the technology has been validated through system integration with two major platform chipset

vendors.

The NCT-L1100 will be manufactured for Nujira by Tower Jazz on a 180nm cmos process. The agreement

with Tower Jazz, described by Haynes as the largest speciality foundry, marks Nujiras shift to a fabless

business model to address the high volume, global smartphone and mobile device market.

Meanwhile, Nujira has launched a handset rf PA characterisation system. The NCT-T9102, pictured above,

has been developed specifically to help PA developers to characterise their products under Envelope

Tracking conditions.

Manycore processors

now shipping

Manycore processor specialist Tilera has

announced general availability of TILE-Gx36 and

TILE-Gx16 devices, as well as companion

evaluation systems.

Bob Doud, marketing director, claimed

significant customer interest. We have 20

design wins, he noted, where customers are

laying out boards and expect revenues, and 80

engagements, where companies are considering

the chip.

The TILE-Gx36 and TILE-Gx16 64bit

processors with 36 and 16 cores respectively

will compete with Intels Xeon processors in data

centre and networking applications. According to

the company, aTILE-Gx36 based server can

provide better performance than a Xeon based

system, while consuming 20% of the power.

Cambridge develops

new type of HfO

A research group at the University of Cambridges

Department of Engineering has developed a

material which may play an important role in

next generation electronic devices.

The team, led by Dr Andrew Flewitt, has created

a new form of hafnium oxide (HfO) already used

as a replacement for silicon dioxide in leading edge

transistor gate stacks. According to Dr Flewitt, the

material has an exceptionally high dielectric

constant compared with existing forms of HfO.

Until now, amorphous HfO has had a dielectric

constant of around 20. The version developed by

Dr Flewitt has a dielectric constant of more than

30, which means it can store more charge.

The material can be produced at room

temperature, making it suitable for plastic

electronics, as well as high volume

semiconductor manufacturing.

UKs most modern

test facility opens

TRaCs new Southern Labs the most modern

test facility in the UK, according to the test group

has been formally opened.

The company says the facility will bring

together all aspects of emc testing for the

aerospace and defence industries, while

improving commercial emc and safety testing in

the region. Three chambers dedicated to emc

testing to a range of military and aerospace

standards, while two further chambers will carry

out commercial testing. A sixth chamber is

equipped to carry out transient testing.

www.tracglobal.com

www.newelectronics.co.uk

Fabless rf specialist Peregrine Semiconductor says it

has now shipped 1billion cmos on sapphire rf chips

for use in mobile phones. The milestone was passed

with the SP8T RF Switch, one of several devices

developed for manufacture on its UltraCMOS STeP5

process.

Chief marketing officer Rodd Novak said the

companys next steps will be to address the power

amp (PA) and tunable filter segments. We expect to

launch a PA shortly with something that is unique. We

believe it will perform as good as GaAs based parts.

However, tunable filters will take a bit longer to

appear. The industry says tunable filters are 10 to

20years out; we have the technology to do it sooner.

Its in research and we may have results in five

years, Novak believed.

The companys long term vision is to develop

devices which integrate all rf front end components,

including switches, PAs and tunable filters. It believes

these devices will be attractive to companies

developing multiband mobile phones; the proposed

world phone needs to support more than 10 bands.

More than 1bn cmos on sapphire rf switches shipped

Interest in Engineering Design Show boomsTime is a precious commodity, particularly for design engineers.

Yet, despite the pressures on them, engineers need to take some

of that precious time out to learn about and review developing

technologies and methodologies.

And where better to do so than at the Engineering Design Show?

With its high level conference, free practical workshops and

market leading suppliers demonstrating cutting edge technology

and innovation, the Engineering Design Show is the only event

providing for the needs of the UKs design engineers.

Already, 65% of the floorspace has been booked and new

supporters include euroLED and the Institute of Engineering

Designers.

To keep up to date with developments, bookmark

www.engineeringdesignshow.co.uk

14 February 2012 7www.newelectronics.co.uk

News High Brightness LEDs

High brightness LED dealPlessey acquires GaN led technology to attack smart

lighting market. Graham Pitcher reports.

Plessey has acquired University of Cambridge spin out CamGaN in a move which will allow it to offer some of

the most cost effective high brightness (HB) leds yet developed.

The move brings together CamGaNs HB GaN technology and Plesseys 6in processing facility in

Plymouth. Dr John Ellis, Plesseys chief engineer, said: To date, the biggest technological challenge

preventing the commercialisation of HB leds grown on large area silicon substrates has been the large

lattice mismatch between GaN and silicon. Plesseys GaN on silicon process has overcome this challenge

and our expertise, combined with the intrinsic cost savings of using automated 6in

processing equipment, will position Plesseys HB led lighting products at the

forefront of the industry.

Plessey will grow HB led structures on silicon substrates, rather than the more

expensive and size limited SiC and sapphire alternatives. It says this may allow

150lumen/W leds to be made for 80% less than those grown on SiC or sapphire.

Plessey has also announced plans to release a range of products for smart

lighting concepts that incorporate existing Plessey sensing and control

technologies. These smart lighting products will enable intelligent energy

management, remote control, controlled dimming and automated response to

ambient conditions.

Scientists from the University of Southampton, in

association with Penn State University in the US,

have developed crystalline materials that may

enable high speed electronic functions to be

integrated into an optical fibre.

Rather than merge a flat chip with a round

optical fibre, the team used high pressure

chemistry techniques to deposit semiconducting

materials layer by layer directly into tiny holes in

optical fibres.

The big breakthrough is that we dont need the

whole chip as part of the finished product, said

Southampton senior research fellow Dr Pier Sazio.

We have managed to build the junction the active

boundary where all the electronic action takes

place right into the fibre.

While the main application will be in

telecommunications, the researchers believe the

approach may offer a different way of fabricating

semiconductor junctions.

Graphene goes vertical

Scientists from the University of Manchester have moved graphene research into the third dimension in abid to address the problem of the material being too conductive to be used in chips. The team, led byrecently knighted Nobel laureates, Prof Andre Geim and Prof Konstantin Novoselov, has discovered that atransistor may prove the missing link for graphene to become the next silicon.

One potential application for graphene is as a replacement for silicon. While transistors with frequenciesof up to 300GHz have been demonstrated, they cant be packed densely because of high leakage.

The University of Manchester scientists suggest using graphene not laterally as in all previous studies but in a vertical direction. The researchers used graphene as an electrode from which electrons tunnelledthrough a dielectric into another metal. They then exploited a property of graphene: an external voltage canchange the energy of the tunnelling electrons. As a result, they have developed a vertical field effecttunnelling transistor in which graphene is a critical ingredient. Meanwhile, following the Governments announcement that it will invest 50million in graphene research,the University of Manchester has been invited, on a sole supplier basis, to submit a proposal for establishingthe national graphene institute.

14 February 20128 www.newelectronics.co.uk

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In a further development of its targeted design

platform approach, Xilinx has started rolling out

kits for its 7 series of fpgas.

Giles Peckham, Xilinx marketing manager for

EMEA, said: We spent most of 2011 rolling out

Virtex-7 products, including Zynq. This year, were

taking the chips and delivering them to customers

in a way they find most productive.

Three kits are available now: base platforms for

the Kintex-7 and Virtex-7 fpgas, as well as the

Kintex-7 dsp kit, developed in association with

Avnet. These are the first of 40 such kits to be

delivered by Xilinx or its partners, Peckham

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News Analysis 28nm Manufacture

14 February 201110 www.newelectronics.co.uk

TSMC has refuted claims that it is in trouble with

yields of devices made on its 28nm process. Maria

Marced, president of TSMC Europe, said: 28nm is

doing well. We have 36 designs in production and

another 132 tape outs. The defect density is on

track and yields are better than those of our 40nm

process at the same point.

The TSMC view is confirmed by a source inside

Altera, who says the fpga developer agrees with the

TSMC position and doesnt not see any unusual

issues.

The comparison to TSMCs 40nm roll out in 2009

has not been received favourably by some

observers, who recall yield problems serious

enough that Rick Tsai, TSMCs ceo at the time, was

sacked by chairman Morris Chang.

Nevertheless, Marced accepts that developing

new process technologies and getting them ready

for production is becoming challenging. Partly,

that challenge is being met by investment in R&D.

We invested $7.3billion in R&D in 2011 and will

spend $6bn this year, she claimed. Of this, 12% is

in R&D for tools. We have created an R&D centre

with dedicated lines for teams to develop leading

edge technology.

TSMC continues to invest in r&d engineers. The

company now has close to 33,000 employees and

R&D staff represent a significant part of this. We

are determined to deploy our advanced technology

road map, she stated.

We continue to hire people to work at imec in

Belgium and we have teams working at Lund

University in Sweden on new materials for a couple

of process generations in the future.

In terms of revenue, leading edge processes are

beginning to make a contribution to TSMCs bottom

line. According to Marced, 2% of the foundrys

revenues in the last quarter of 2011 derived from

28nm products. This will increase to 5% in the first

quarter of 2012, she continued, and is likely to be

more than 10% of company revenues by the end of

2012.

Alongside this, TSMC is pushing ahead with

deployment of 20nm technology. Production will

start at the end of 2012, she asserted, and 3d

finfets will be available in 2014.

But with the move to 20nm devices and beyond,

TSMC is having to face the question of lithography

techniques, including the thorny issue of extreme

ultraviolet (euv) a technology which has yet to

emerge much beyond the lab. TSMC has taken

delivery of its first euv machine and is working to

get the approach production ready. We will

continue to use immersion lithography for 20nm,

Marced noted, but after that it will have to be euv

and we expect to have fixed the problems within

two years.

Equally important, as TSMC follows Moores Law,

is the move to manufacturing on 450mm products.

TSMC has joined the Global 450 Consortium, a

multibillion dollar US based project aiming to speed

the development of production on 450mm wafers.

Were working with Intel, Samsung and IBM to build

a pilot line, Marced explained. The companys plans

call for pilot production on 450mm wafers in

2013/14, with production planned for 2015/16 in

Fab 15.

TSMC believes 450mm is the only way forward.

If you look at our installed capacity, Marced

explained, most is at 90nm and larger. But most

revenue comes from 65nm and smaller. The market

is also moving to the leading edge, with mobile

applications needing chips with more performance

and lower power consumption.

We believe 20nm production will need to be on

450mm wafers, certainly for 14nm. Otherwise,

chips will be too expensive. Were looking for ways

to improve prices for customers and the only way

we can see is 450mm wafers.

For more on 450mm production, see New

Electronics 13 March issue.

28nm roll out doing wellDespite industry scepticism, TSMC says all is well with its

28nm roll out. Graham Pitcher reports.

Marced: We will continue

to use immersion

lithography for 20nm.

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Annual subscription (22 issues)UK 108. Overseas 163. Airmail is 199.

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iPhone 5 set for summer launch? 26/01/12The iPhone 5 is currently gearing up for production, according to

a Foxconn employee http://tinyurl.com/7kfonzy

2. Exhibition celebrates iconicCambridge innovations 24/01/12

http://tinyurl.com/752qhns

3. Nanotechnology enables newplatform for spin physics 27/01/12

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4. Tilera shipping manycoreprocessors 30/01/12

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5. ARM to deliver Embedded Worldopening keynote 03/02/12

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6. ST-Ericsson in crucial phase,warns Bozotti 24/01/12

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7. Holographic prototype enablesmid air displays 25/01/12

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450mm fab in Europe?

Leading semiconductor

manufacturers will move to using

450mm wafers within the next

five years or so ... 30/01/12

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Fundamental research that

others have abandoned

IBM continues with the good

work ... 24/01/12

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If you snooze, you lose

The pace of development in the

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Archive: New Electronics 1982

From the pages of New Electronics

30 years ago this week 27/01/12

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A comms company is taking the

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Advanced technology chips cut all

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Power saving with moreaccurate ac motor controlAccording to a 2002 report more

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Forum

Division operation in VHDLHow do I initialise and perform this

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8. Industrys lowest power serdescapable fpga? 25/01/12

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9. NanoKTN: UK must invest inthermoelectrics. 30/01/12

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Interview Dr Mike Short

Its been 140 years since the establishment of the Institution of

Electrical Engineers. Updating itself a few years ago, the body changed

its name to the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). But,

according to the IETs current president Dr Mike Short, it is more relevant

today than it has ever been.

The need for engineers is growing, but now engineers need to be

multidisciplinary. The days of focusing only on one discipline have gone, he

claimed. The benefit of the IET is that it brings cross disciplinary activity.

Short, who performs the role of IET president alongside his day job as

vp of public affairs for Telefonica, says the IET brings people together so

they can learn from each other. For instance, he continued, Ive recently

chaired lectures on smart metering and the connected car. They are just

two of more than 2000 events the IET will run in a year, allowing attendees

to upgrade their knowledge.

The IET also benefits engineers in its international

approach. This is just as relevant, Short claimed. If

companies have members working overseas, they will

often want to make sure their staff have support. An

employee may have, for example, worked in India and

China. The IET helps to support them in the area.

Despite the fact the institution is 140 years old, it

is committed to continual change. Were beginning to

plan for our 150th anniversary, Short pointed out, and we want to make

sure that we are even more relevant in 10 years time.

Alongside its educational and support interests, the IET is also

interested in preserving and improving the status of engineers: a topic

which has been in the headlines over the last couple of decades. Short

expressed his concern. In some areas, the reputation of engineers is not

strong enough. One way of countering this problem is to convince future

engineers of their important role. The IET has the biggest educational

programme aimed at inspiring tomorrows engineers and to maintain and

enhance the reputation of todays engineers, he said. The status of

engineers is important because people worry there wont be anyone to fix

things, but engineers arent plumbers.

It is here where the IET works closely with the Engineering Council in the

UK and with similar European bodies. Recognising qualifications in other

countries means thinking about portability. For example, Chartered

Engineer status is now recognised as a professional qualification in Europe.

And we still work with the Engineering Council to look at areas of

recognition in the UK.

He sees the need for a consistent approach across other UK

institutions and for more work to be done at the technician level. Our work

on apprenticeships fits clearly into the technician level, he added.

Short believes professional institutions still have an important role to

play and points to the IETs growing membership as proof. We have around

150,000 members globally, with growth in all areas. Theres great interest

in China and India, for example, where engineers want better recognition of

their status. And in the UK, we have no difficulty in recruiting at the

university level.

While IET doesnt have the overt focus on continuing professional

development that it used to, it still works to encourage its members to boost

their knowledge and to record their progress. We have a career manager,

which allows members to use web based tools to say this is who I am and

this is what I have done. Were looking to be their professional home for life

and maintaining a professional record is just as important today. This is

supported by what Short says is the biggest video

library of its type and by developing e-books.

In terms of the electronics industry, Short

recognises the UKs value on the global stage. While

the move has begun to push assembly offshore, he

noted, we have a very strong design community in

the UK. The IET is committed to supporting electronic

design in the UK and promoting its importance

through its policy initiatives.

Having said that, he admitted that the IET cannot do it alone. We need

to work more closely with bodies such as the Technology Strategy Board

(TSB) and the Knowledge Transfer Networks. The IET is already working

with TSB on the creation of Technology Innovation Centres and Short

believes TSB is doing a good job. While its still early days, the TSB is

focusing on the right things.

He also realises that TSB, in its quasi governmental role, needs to be

support focused. Governments cant choose technologies, Short believes,

but financial support can go a long way. He cited the recently launched

Space Applications Catapult Centre. The UK is strong in technology, but

this hasnt always been linked very well to applications. The Space Catapult

plays well to the UKs strengths.

Where he also sees good work being done by TSB is in the creation of

themes. Assisted living is a good example of something that wasnt

happening before, he said. ICT and health were two different sectors but

together, they have huge scope for growth. The aging population means the

NHS cant do it all, so what help will people need?

Already, the UK is spending 10% of GDP on healthcare in the US, its

16% so we have to think about ways of doing it differently and engineers

will be the people who make the difference, he concluded.

Planning for the futureThe IETs president tells Graham Pitcher the institution remains as relevant as ever.

The IET is committed to

supporting electronic design

in the UK and promoting its

importance through its

policy initiatives.

13 December 201114 www.newelectronics.co.uk14 February 2012

We are surrounded by electronic machines, many of which have

advanced at an astonishing rate. But, arguably, the way we interact

with these machines has lagged far behind. For example, decades

after speech recognition was invented, how many people do you hear talking

to their pcs? The humble keyboard and mouse remain the dominant interface.

But things are improving. For example, the latest iPhone features Siri, a natural

language user interface that answers questions and perform actions.

Smartphones and tablet computers already use the touchscreen

interface to great effect and if some of the many research projects

underway succeed, touch technology or haptics will transform the way

we use electronic devices.

One promising example of haptics is OmniTouch, a wearable projection

system developed by Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University

(CMU) in the US. It enables users to turn pads of paper, walls or even

themselves into graphical, interactive surfaces.

OmniTouch uses a depth sensing camera to track the users fingers on

everyday surfaces. This means they can control interactive applications by

tapping or dragging their fingers, much as they would with touchscreens. The

projector can superimpose keyboards, keypads and other controls onto any

surface, adjusting automatically for the surfaces shape and orientation to

minimise distortion of the projected images.

Its conceivable that anything you can do on todays mobile devices, you

will be able to do on your hand using OmniTouch, says Chris Harrison, of

CMUs Human-Computer Interaction Institute. The palm of the hand could be

used as a phone keypad, or as a tablet for jotting down brief notes. Maps

projected onto a wall could be panned and zoomed with the same finger

motions that work with a conventional multitouch screen.

Significant advance

OmniTouch is a significant haptic advance, not only because it uses a depth

camera, but also a laser picoprojector. Currently, it is mounted on the users

shoulder, but it could be reduced to the size of a matchbox, allowing it to be

wearable or to be integrated into future handheld devices.

These sorts of technologies have only been recently enabled, Harrison

says. Computationally powerful smartphones have been around for a few

years now. Mobile projectors are finally getting small and bright enough to be

practical. And finally, in the case of OmniTouch, depth cameras offer sensing

capabilities that were not possible just a few years ago, and open many new

opportunities for interfaces.

With OmniTouch, we wanted to capitalise on the tremendous surface area

the real world provides, says Hrvoje Benko, a researcher in Microsoft

Researchs Adaptive Systems and Interaction group. We see this work as an

evolutionary step to investigate the unconventional use of touch and gesture

in devices, to extend our vision of ubiquitous computing even further.

The optical sensing used in OmniTouch allows a range of interactions,

similar to the capabilities of a computer mouse or touchscreen. It can track 3d

motion on the hand or other commonplace surfaces and can sense whether

fingers are clicked or hovering. And OmniTouch does not require calibration

users can simply wear the device and use its features immediately.

Harrison previously worked with Microsoft Research on other haptic

interfaces, such as Skinput, which used bioacoustic sensors to detect finger

taps on a persons hands or forearm and hence to control smartphones or

other compact computing devices. One of his latest projects, TapSense, uses

14 February 201216 www.newelectronics.co.uk

A touchof classWill haptics transform the way in which

we interface with electronic devices?By David Boothroyd.

The surface area of the palm of a hand is often larger than that of a smartphones touchscreen

the different sounds from a users touch to enhance haptic interfaces with

surfaces it can distinguish between the finger tip, pad, nail and a knuckle.

US company Novint Technologies is a leader in haptic interfaces for

gaming, in the form of its Falcon and XIO products. Users hold onto the

Falcons grip and as it moves, the computer tracks a 3d cursor. When the

cursor touches a virtual object, the computer registers contact with that

object and updates currents to motors in the device to create an appropriate

force to the devices handle, which the user feels.

The computer updates the position of the device and the currents to the

motors a thousand times a second, providing a very realistic sense of touch,

the company says. For example, when a 3d cursor touches a virtual sphere,

there is a force perpendicular to the surface. The device reacts and pushes

away from the centre of the sphere in proportion to how hard the user pushes.

The computer keeps track of the direction of the force, based on the

position of the cursor and the amount of the force, which lets the user slide

the 3d cursor across the surface of the sphere, giving it a consistent smooth

feel. The effect is that the cursor, and therefore device, physically cannot

move through the sphere, and it is actually a virtual solid object.

Although haptic devices have been available for commercial applications

for many years, these devices have carried a large price tag. Novint says its

devices are designed as affordable consumer controllers and claims it makes

high fidelity 3d touch accessible to the consumer market for the first time.

Another US company Sensable produces haptic devices for 3d

modelling, including the Intellifit Digital Restoration System, which makes it

possible to scan, design and fabricate common dental restorations, using a 3d

Virtual Touch stylus.

The companys Phantom range caters for varying modelling needs, all

featuring haptic feedback, and it even provides an OpenHaptics Toolkit,

enabling developers to add haptics and 3d navigation to applications. The

toolkit handles complex calculations, provides low level device control for

advanced developers and supports polygonal objects, material properties,

and force effects.

It means designers can model complex, highly detailed organic shapes

faster than with traditional cad tools, create multiple design variations, clean

up, modify and stylise scan data and create detailed textures for prototyping,

evaluation and manufacturing, it claims.

Another unusual haptic interface also developed at CMU is based on

magnetic levitation. Invented by Ralph Hollis, of CMUs Robotics Institute, the

maglev haptic interface allows users to perceive textures, feel hard contacts

and notice even slight changes in position. Users are working on applications

for controlling remote robots and as a simulation technology for dental trai -

ning and biopsy needle insertion.

The maglev haptic interface has a single moving part the bowl shaped

flotor that is embedded with wire coils. Electric current flowing through

the coils interacts with permanent magnets underneath, causing the flotor

to levitate.

cover story haptics

14 February 2012 17www.newelectronics.co.uk

OmniTouch enables interactive multitouch input on everyday surfacesHarrison: There is a huge opportunity for providing haptic feedback.

Users control the device with a handle attached to the flotor, moving it

much like a computer mouse, but in three dimensions. Based on the

interaction of the virtual objects being manipulated, corresponding signals

are transmitted to the flotors electrical coils to exert forces and torques to

the handle that the user can feel. A CMU spin off, Butterfly Haptics, produces

a commercial version of the device called the Maglev 200.

Surround Haptics, a new tactile technology developed at Disney

Research, Pittsburgh (DRP), enables video game players and film viewers to

feel a variety of sensations from the smoothness of a finger being drawn

against skin to the jolt of a collision.

It has been demonstrated enhancing a driving simulator game in

collaboration with Disneys Black Rock Studio. With players seated in a chair

fitted with vibrating actuators, Surround Haptics will enable them to feel

road imperfections, sense skidding, braking and acceleration and

experience ripples of sensation when cars collide or jump and land.

Although we have only implemented Surround Haptics with a gaming

chair to date, the technology could be embedded into clothing, gloves,

sports equipment and mobile computing devices, says Ivan Poupyrev, a

senior research scientist at DRP. This technology has the capability of

enhancing the perception of flying or falling, of shrinking or growing, of

feeling bugs creeping on your skin. The possibilities are endless.

DRP researchers have designed an algorithm for controlling an array of

vibrating actuators in such a way as to create virtual actuators anywhere

within the grid of actuators. Poupyrev says a virtual actuator can be created

between any two physical actuators; the user has the illusion of feeling only

the virtual actuator.

As a result, users dont feel the buzzing or pulsing typical of most haptic

devices today, but can feel discrete, continuous motions such as a finger

tracing a pattern on skin.

The phenomenon of phantom sensations created by actuators has been

known for more than 50 years, but its use in tactile displays has been

limited because of an incomplete understanding of control mechanisms.

DRP conducted a series of psychophysical experiments to work out how to

achieve and manipulate these mechanisms.

In addition to enhancing user experiences with interactive games,

movies and music, DRP says Surround Haptics underlying technology can

potentially provide new tactile means of communication for blind people,

emergency workers, vehicle operators, athletes and others.

A host of other haptic projects are underway worldwide. Several involve

developing touch sensitive fabrics, something car makers like BMW are

considering for future models. Automotive companies are also considering

touch based navigation systems, in which devices mounted on the

steering wheel pull the skin of the drivers fingertips left or right research

suggests drivers follow such instructions more accurately than voice

commands. Meanwhile, tactile gaming vests have been developed that

turn playing a video game into a complete even painful sensory

experience!

Potential in medical applications

Many think there is huge potential for haptics in medicine: a system

developed at the University of Leeds aims to give surgeons a hands on

feeling when using keyhole techniques. Palpatronix system combines a

computer generated environment for virtual surgery and a hand held device

that applies pressure to the users hand. What the user feels will depend on

how hard they are compressing the virtual tissue.

Two similar EU funded projects give touch feedback. Robocast is a

robotic neurosurgery system, while Immersence aims to combine vision

and touch to create virtual objects that can be transmitted electronically.

Harrison believes the time is ripe for a haptic revolution. We havent yet

seen advanced haptic feedback technologies widely integrated because it

requires buy in someone needs to take the risk. Its like Apple building a

phone around a multitouch screen with no keyboard. It was a gutsy move

and now is practically the norm. If someone adds an advanced haptic

technology, others will follow.

The real world is full of rich haptic feedback: we push a door, grab a

toothbrush, grasp a bottle. So far, computing has lacked much touch input,

so were mostly clicking buttons and poking touchscreens. But there is a

huge opportunity for providing haptic feedback to the user, just as we get

from real world actions.

The last few years have seen an explosion in social media, enabling

people to communicate: maybe we are about to see yet another

way of staying in touch.

14 February 201218 www.newelectronics.co.uk

The OmniTouch approach requires sophisticated sensing hardware

cover story haptics

The projector can superimpose keyboards, keypads and other controls onto any surface

Relec Electronics Ltd

Tel: +44 1929 555700 Fax: +44 1929 555701

e-mail: sales@relec.co.uk

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DIN rail ac-dc power suppliesRelec Electronics can supply DIN rail power

supplies from 10 to 960W in output power

from stock and at extremely attractive prices.

Units are available in single phase, 3-phase and

dc input versions with output voltages of 5V,

12V, 24V and 48V as standard. Low profile

versions are available that are only 56mm

deep (AMR Series) in power ratings of

10W, 24W, 36W, 60W and 100W.

DIN rail battery chargersA range of DIN rail mounted battery

chargers for industrial applications,

available with both ac & dc inputs

for 12V, 24V, 36V & 48V systems.

These provide a low cost solution

where battery back-up is required

and have all of the features to add

external low voltage disconnect relays

and contactors to protect your battery.

DIN rail mounting RFI filtersRelec Electronics offer a range of single

phase and 3-phase EMC filters designed

for DIN rail mounting. These EMC filters

are designed specifically for mounting

on TS35 DIN rails in industrial control

systems. The FMAB (1-stage) and

FMBB (2-stage - high attenuation)

are suitable for single phase systems,

the FMAC (1-stage) for 3-phase systems

and the FMAD series (1-stage) for 3-phase

systems with a neutral conductor.

DIN rail dc-dc power suppliesA range of DIN rail brackets and accessories for

standard dc-dc converters as well as a range

of chassis mounting dc-dc converters with

a DIN rail mounting accessory bracket.

Special mounting brackets have been

developed to accept a wide range of

standard regulated dc-dc converters

with 1 or 2 isolated outputs up to 30W

for applications requiring DIN rail mounting

where a bespoke circuit board is not available.

Design solutions for design engineers

14 February 2012 19

Afundamental shift in the nature of

healthcare delivery is seeing a host

of therapeutic procedures, once

found only in hospitals, migrating to the

doctors surgery and the home. The driver

is the increased costs of treating a

growing population and the need for

greater efficiency.

As a result, patients can now manage

a wider range of conditions (improved

monitoring for blood pressure, for

example) or control the delivery of

specific drugs using combination

devices (such as the insulin pen)

designed to administer the correct dose

in the correct way.

Medical device design has always

focused on reliability and safety, but

there is now an increasing emphasis on

usability, not only to gain regulatory

approval usability is now assessed

formally but also to maximise user

acceptance and commercial success.

But defining usability can be

challenging. Many clinicians and

patients are familiar with gadgets such

as tablet computers or mobile phones

and expect the same type of

functionality from a medical device.

Although such functionality could, in

theory, deliver highly relevant benefits,

determines battery specification. In a

small device, for example, the battery

must fit between (and not impede) the

intricate components which operate

within a very confined space; for drug

delivery, batteries must power the device

for significantly longer than required to

deliver the total dosage and with a

sufficient margin of safety. Most

importantly, however, the power strategy

must ensure the device will continue to

operate, even if electronic elements are

damaged or battery power interrupted.

One solution could be to combine

mechanical and electronic functionality.

An inhaler could feature a cap which, as it

is removed, activates a shuttle

mechanism to prime the drug for delivery.

Such a belt and braces approach helps to

minimise the power requirements and is

essential if a drug is potentially life saving.

Increased electronic functionality

raises other design concerns. For

example, if a refillable device such as a

belt worn insulin pump needs an

electronic connection between the

separate parts, designers have to decide

Main image: Optyse, a low costophthalmoscope, wasdesigned anddeveloped by Team Consulting forOphthalmos. Above: In a smallmedical device, thebattery must fitbetween (and notimpede) the intricatecomponents whichoperate within a veryconfined space

www.newelectronics.co.uk

The power for changeHow power management in battery powered medical devices is becoming a growing challenge. By Chris Ferris.

there are particular constraints that

can prohibit their inclusion.

Despite the limitations, there is

significant opportunity to increase

functionality and usability. Automatic

dose counters on drug delivery devices,

for example, help patients monitor their

dosing regime; instructions on an lcd can

coach patients when using a device for

the first time; and inbuilt monitors can

make sure a device is used correctly, by

measuring air flow or breath rates, for

example. Wireless comms can relay

information to healthcare practitioners if

regular observation is required.

Power management strategies

Such functionality requires a power

management strategy which ensures the

device delivers the functions required

while remaining reliable, always ready to

use and safe when in operation. As a

result, the chief power source for most

portable medical devices remains the

primary battery. Rechargeable batteries

although commonplace in consumer

devices are not viable. They cannot

deliver the consistent levels of power

required, not just because of their

intrinsic design and discharge

characteristics, but also because they

depend on efficient recharging by the

user, something which cannot be

guaranteed.

This need for certainty and

guaranteed performance is critically

important to medical devices, especially if

they could save somebodys life. Without

guarantees and evidence that devices will

work as required, they wont make it

through the regulatory process.

Device design, not surprisingly,

14 February 201220

Sector Focus Medical Electronics

how to maintain this connection: do they

split the battery between the two

components or maintain energy flow

using electrical contacts or ultrasound.

And how should multifunctional devices

show they are broken? If it is vital that

patients are warned immediately if a

device has malfunctioned, should that

device be always on and, if so, how

should this be shown? Power

management strategies have to reflect

device design, the way the device

interacts with its user and user habits

when operating the device.

Ensuring safety critical operation

One way to ensure patient safety is to

separate essential and non essential

functionality, a strategy Team Consulting

uses when designing safety critical

devices medical devices which can

cause death or serious injury if they

malfunction. Once again, users of such

devices are demanding increasingly

sophisticated functionality, but such

functionality can also increase the risk of

malfunction or user error.

In response, Teams medical systems

architecture uses two separate power

management regimes: one to drive non

essential functionality (such as a touch

screen); the other to power essential

operations, such as a drug pump. This

mean the failure of non essential

functionality say the touch screen

freezes does not affect the devices

core operation. This split architecture also

minimises the impact of user error on

core device operation, an acknowledged

problem when functionality increases.

The recycling challenge

With an appropriate power management

strategy, current battery technology can

readily meet the needs of devices. But,

although battery development is not an

issue, recycling is of growing concern.

Originally exempted from the WEEE

Directive, medical devices are now

covered by the updated WEEE legislation

of 2006, so battery disposal is a primary

design consideration. For reasons of user

safety, removable batteries are

discouraged, yet the battery should be

removable at end of life to allow recycling.

The strategy for resolving these

conflicting requirements must be set out

early in the product design process, as it

places constraints on the electronics,

mechanical and product design teams.

Alternative power sources

Although battery disposal is a serious

issue, realistic alternatives to primary

batteries are not yet on the horizon.

Although supercapacitors may have

sufficient energy to power single or daily

use devices, they require informed

patient interaction to charge the device in

advance of drug delivery. Allowing the

device to be completely passive between

doses restricts usability and is not ideal.

In the longer term, energy harvesting

may have a role to play in medical

devices, possibly through kinetic energy

or solar power. In contrast to devices such

as mobile phones, the time of use and

energy consumed by a drug delivery

device is tiny compared to the time

available to harvest sufficient energy

before the next dose, but medical devices

rely on the right amount of energy being

available at the right time: something

which harvesting cannot guarantee.

A device used once a day, and in a non

critical context, may be able to use

harvested energy, but the challenge is to

incorporate a harvesting mechanism that

works for patients of all lifestyles and in all

home environments. Today, this is a long

winded strategy when the easiest solution

is to plug the device into the mains.

As the drive for energy conservation

improves the efficiency of alternative

power supplies, such solutions may

become more viable. But the emphasis

will remain on those developing such

technologies to supply reliable data.

Author profile:

Chris Ferris is head of electronics and

software with Team Consulting

(www.team-consulting.com).

12 February 2012 21www.newelectronics.co.uk

Fig 1: An example safety critical medical system architecture

Basic userinterface

Button

Microcontroller

Sensor Output

Heart rate

Blood pressure

Temperature

Glucose meter....

Pump

Drug delivery

Pace maker

Emergency call

Location....

ExternalSD

Keypad

Memory

Processor

Internet

PSTN

Emergency

Powermanagement

Battery

Wirelesscomms

RF

Bluetooth

Zigbee

Wi-Fi

Cellular

GPS

Internalflash

Capacitivetouch

Health 2.0web

portal

Wiredcomms

Battery

Safety critical medical functions User defined functions Export

Server

Datamining

Ethernet

Phone

Powermgt

Advanceduser

interface

Datamanagement

14 February 201222 www.newelectronics.co.uk

Integrating advanced fpgas on a pcb is

becoming increasingly challenging, with

issues including generating optimal fpga pin

assignments that do not add layers to a pcb or

increase the time required to integrate the fpga

with the pcb design.Because of this, fpga

designers, schematic engineers and pcb

designers struggle to create fpga pin

assignments that meet the goals for the entire

system.

With the increased capacity, capability and

complexity in pin assignment rules, the time

required to design in an fpga is increasing for

most projects. With the traditional approach,

designs are thrown over the wall, which only

increases the number of iterations and the level

of frustration. What makes it worse is that the

processes are manual, increasing the chances of

introducing errors that may not be discovered

until the first prototype board comes back.

Traditional manual approach

Many design teams use either the fpga vendors

tools or a home grown spreadsheet based

solution for pin assignment and both approaches

are manual (see fig 1). The fpga vendors tools

check pin assignments to ensure they comply

with design rule checks (DRCs); the home grown

spreadsheet based tool, meanwhile, needs to be

updated for each new fpga that comes on the

market. In both cases, the fpga designer or

hardware designer works with one fpga at a time.

The problem becomes more complex with

multiple fpgas. If the relative placement

(floorplan) of the fpgas on the pcb is not

considered, the result will be poor pin

assignment, which means longer routing and

increased number of layers. If end product cost

is an issue, there are likely to be multiple

iterations as the pcb design team attempts to

optimise the pin assignment for fpga timing and

for pcb routing.

However, there is a third element that is

usually not talked about: the process of

integrating fpga symbols into the schematics

that drive the pcb layout and routing. Symbols

have to be created if you are using only a

schematic capture tool for example, not using

table driven design creation tools. What is worse

is that this integration which creates multiple

split symbols for a large pin count fpga, then

connects the pins on the symbol in the

schematics to other symbols only serves one

purpose; to provide connectivity for generating a

netlist for board layout. What happens when

there is an engineering change order (ECO) from

the fpga designer or from the pcb designer? The

hardware designer has to integrate the updated

symbols and redo the connectivity all over

again! This entire traditional process is iterative,

time consuming, error prone and frustrating.

There has to be a better way!

What is needed is a fpga-pcb codesign solution

that leverages the information from fpga vendors

about pin assignment rules (fpga I/O DRCs) from

the relative placement, bga breakouts and

connectivity of the fpga subsystem. Since many

current fpgas come in large pin count packages,

users also need a way to automate the pin

assignments based on connectivity, fpga I/O

DRCs and the relative placement of components

that interface to the fpga(s).

Design eleganceFPGA-PCB codesign; a 21st Century approach to integratingfpgas into the pcb design process. By Hemant Shah.

Fig 1: The traditional fpga design process is serial, manual and iterative

Paper/spreadsheet

Spreadsheet

fpga vendor tools

Home grown tools

Schematic design tools pcb design tools

pcb designerHardware designerfpga designer

Manual pin assignment one fpga at a time

Redo pin assignment with every engineering change order

Generate (split) symbols

Place symbols, then connect them

Redo with each engineering change order

Longer time to route fpgas

Frustrating iterations with fpga designer

PAIN

TOOLS

Place and routefpga on board

Integration withschematics

Initial manual pinassignment

Shah:

Complex, high

pin count fpgas

require a 21st

Century fpga-

pcb codesign

methodology.

eda research & development

14 February 2012 23www.newelectronics.co.uk

This automatic pin assignment enables a

couple of new things. Firstly, it shortens the

optimum fpga pin assignment time, potentially

from weeks to hours. Secondly, it allows the user

to undertake architectural exploration and cost-

performance trade off analyses, with the ability

to substitute one fpga for another in hours. This

architectural exploration is not possible with

traditional methods.

It is clear that fpga-pcb codesign should

integrate very well with all three domains fpga

vendor tools, hardware design (authoring) tools

and pcb layout tools.

FPGA designers use fpga vendor tools to

ensure timing closure with initial pin

assignments or with any changes to the pin

assignment, whether they are proposed by the

fpga-pcb codesign tool or by pcb designers

looking to tweak the initial pin assignment. The

fpga-pcb codesign tool must understand the

fpgas constraints, pin assignment rules and any

additional signal integrity/power integrity rules

that are specified by the fpga vendor. The tool

must be able to optimise pin assignments based

on constraints from all three domains fpga

design, hardware design and pcb routing.

The fpga-pcb codesign tool must accept

constraints from and pass constraints back to the

fpga vendors tools. This bidirectional integration

is necessary, especially for new interface IP

such as DDR2 and DDR3 that fpga designers

use from within the fpga vendors tools. This

integration was recently improved in Cadence

Allegro FPGA System Planner.

For integrating fpga connectivity with the rest

of board schematic integration the fpga-pcb

codesign approach generates the schematic

symbols and their connectivity automatically.

This makes engineering change order (ECOs)

easy to manage. Consequently, a new schematic

generation capability was added to Allegro FPGA

System Planner in 2011

This codesign approach replaces a frustrating

manual iterative methodology with a streamlined

and efficient process (see fig 2). It provides a

correct by construction methodology that

reduces iterations, improves the routability of

fpgas on the board and, potentially, reduces

number of pcb layers. Best of all, ECOs are easy to

implement with this approach; it is a simple

matter to regenerate correct pin assignments and

to make changes to the schematics.

ECOs are a fact of life in electronic design. The

architecture could change during the

implementation or the fpga designer could decide

to swap fpgas for lower cost or to improve

performance. There are many reasons for an ECO

and an fpga-pcb codesign methodology that

makes it easier to implement ECOs can greatly

speed time to market.

Integration with the pcb layout tool should be

such that the pcb designer can propose pin

swapping that is legal and within the bounds of

the fpga designers pin assignment intent. To

accomplish this, the fpga-pcb codesign tool must

tell pcb designers what the swap candidates are

(see above). This eliminates unnecessary

iterations between pcb layout and fpga design.

With this innovative approach, the number of

iterations between pcb designers and fpga

designers is reduced significantly.

Summary

FPGAs are becoming increasingly more complex

to design and to integrate with the pcb design

process. Meanwhile, traditional approaches to

integrating todays complex fpgas are resulting in

longer design in times and an increase in the

number of iterations between pcb designers and

fpga designers. Some designers are forced to

choose between extending the project finish date

or increasing the pcb layer count. FPGAs can be

designed in more quickly, there can be fewer

iterations and routing can be easier when using

tools that understand the three domains that

fpgas impact the fpgas internal design,

integration with schematics and pcb layout and

routing.

Todays advanced, complex, high pin count

fpgas require a 21st Century fpga-pcb codesign

methodology that provides a correct by

construction, automated flow for optimised pin

assignment, automated symbol generation, easy

schematic integration to shorten the design

cycle, architectural exploration and a reduced

number of iterations.

Author profile:

Hemant Shah is product marketing

director with Cadence Design Systems

(www.cadence.com).

The tool suggests legal swap candidates

Integrated process that

eliminates manual,

iterative process

Board designer

Manages fpga

symbols/schematics

SI, PI, decoupling

caps Provides an approach

that is correct by

construction

Provides project wide

efficiency, reduction

in cost

Fig 2: 21st Century fpga-pcb codesign multiple designers, collaborative design

Layout designer

Break out fpga

bga pins

reduce number

of pcb layers

FPGA designer

Functionally

correct

Timing is King!

The single biggest concern among

microcontroller users used to be system

cost, but energy consumption has steadily

become a bigger issue.

Process migration and improved circuit design

have resulted in major power savings over the

years. However, this exposed leakage current as a

major source of energy loss, particularly in

systems that need to be powered by a single

battery charge over their entire expected lifetime.

The response from microcontroller makers was

to reduce the current consumed by the device

when it has nothing to do. The processor core and

many of the peripherals can be put to sleep and

the supply rails disabled, leaving the device

running the bare minimum of support functions

on circuits tuned for leakage.

Jason Tollefson, senior product marketing

manager at Microchip Technology, says: When we

introduced the XLP family, we drove sleep current

to such low levels that its hard to get much more

out of that. The next place for significant savings is

to do more in sleep that would have been

considered active mode operations in the past, as

well as reducing active current altogether.

We are finding there are two areas that

consume current flash accesses and ram.

Anything we can do to reduce the number of hits

on those two elements will give us an advantage.

Gordon Cooper, product marketing manager at

NXP, says: The longer the cpu remains sleeping,

the greater the potential power savings.

Intelligent peripherals can help by writing data

into memory buffers ready for processing when

the processor next wakes from sleep. However,

this does not help the cpu in systems where

latency is crucial or where long periods pass by

before any data arrives that is genuinely of

interest. Without help, the cpu still has to wake up

to process each captured sample individually to

determine whether a critical threshold has been

exceeded or whether incoming data was relevant.

Rasmus Larsen, support and training manager

at Energy Micro, says: When interfacing with a lot

of sensors, we found that processors have to be

awake quite a lot.

Capacitive touchscreens present a particularly

difficult challenge for low power mcus. Typically,

the sensor uses an excitation circuit based on an

RC oscillator to generate a periodic voltage wave.

As the users finger approaches the display, the

capacitance changes and reduces the oscillation

frequency. An mcu will normally sense this change

by comparing the output of a pulse counter with a

timer that is reset at regular intervals. The

processor could sleep for intervals and wake up to

check the frequency of the incoming signal. But

the longer the gap between these checks, the less

responsive the system will seem.

By moving the comparison logic to hardware,

the processor core need only be woken when the

sensor indicates that something has touched the

display.

Without this hardware, the processor would

have to wake up regularly, only to find there is

nothing happening. And you have to expend a lot

of energy in waking up the cpu, says Larsen.

Other peripherals can benefit from

the same approach. For example, if

address checking logic is built into their

serial ports, there is no need for all the

processors on a multidrop bus to wake up

and check whether an incoming packet is

for them, just the microcontroller that has

been addressed directly.

Some suppliers, such as Energy Micro and

NXP, have opted to develop intelligent peripheral

controllers, based on configurable state

machines, to control peripherals while the

processor sleeps. Larsen says the state machine

Helping hands Offloading tasks from the microcontroller can help to

improve power efficiency. By Chris Edwards.

14 February 201224

EventgenerationCounter(s)

Clockprocessing

Prescalar(s)

Clock

Standard timer State/event logic

Synchronised inputs

Inputs

Outputs

Statelogic

Interrupts

Controllogic

Matchlogic

Matchcapture

regs

Fig 1: The structure of NXPs state configurable timer

www.newelectronics.co.uk

The Tegra 3 embedded processor includes a slower, lower

power Cortex-A9 core that is used when the workload is light

Embedded Design Micros

approach adopted for the Lesense controller in the

EFM32 Gecko mcu family makes it possible to

control the actions of a number of different I/O

blocks.

NXPs LPC4300, meanwhile, has what the

company calls a state configurable timer; a

hardware block that switches between states

based on I/O and events created by the built in

timers. Cooper explains: For example, if the

application needs to create a pulse from a change

on a pin, the state configurable timer can create

this pulse autonomously without any help from

the core: it remains asleep.

We chose a state machine approach because

state machines are very familiar to engineers.

This is a much less complex

approach then creating a new programmable

language.

Atmel, with its SleepWalking architecture for

the AVR family, and Microchip have opted to build

intelligence directly into the peripherals

themselves.

Tollefson says: We will implement hardware

assists, but do it within specific scenarios. A touch

sensor that runs in sleep is one we wanted to

enable specifically. Encryption is something we

would like to do in hardware because its much

more energy efficient than doing it in software.

And we are also thinking of doing more

automation in wireless applications to eliminate

accesses to flash and ram as much as possible. I

dont see it being a wholesale generic approach.

Cirrus Logic has adopted a different approach

to I/O offloading, concentrating more on

development time than on power

consumption. The company has combined

a digital signal processor running code

in mask rom with sigma-delta a/d

converters to build a smart front

end for microcontrollers in energy

meters.

Ed Sarrat, Cirrus global product

marketing manager, says the idea behind the front

end is to reduce the development burden by

providing energy related measurements, such as

power factor, rather than pulses from a sensor.

There are utility meter engineers who could

write the code, but we see a trend towards home

energy management: putting these

measurements into appliances directly. That is

where they really get the benefit from a

preprogrammed device, says Sarrat.

Secondary low power processors are

appearing in high integration microcontrollers,

such as the LPC4300, which combines an ARM

Cortex-M4 with a lower power M0. The same

approach is becoming a key part of chipmakers

strategies for smartphones, as seen with the

launch of ARMs Big.Little system and nVidias

Tegra3 embedded processor, which includes a

slower but lower power, Cortex-A9 that is used

when the workload is light.

The increased use of multiple voltage domains

on microcontrollers also increases the options for

using low power logic.

Tollefson claims: You would be amazed at the

technology we are developing to try to squeeze

nanoamps out of our circuits. With our multiple

voltage islands, we are doing things to manipulate

the leakage current without having to turn them

off completely.

Similar concepts are being readied for use in

higher end processors. For example, Intel

engineers described at last years Design

Automation Conference encryption cores for

intended for future implementations of the x86

architecture that use subthreshold logic.

Operating at less than the conventional threshold

voltage, these circuits are very slow, but offer

much lower active power consumption than

conventional circuitry. The technique is already

used in devices such as the Sensium smart

plaster developed by Toumaz Technology.

Without dramatic reductions in memory and

bus power consumption, the trend to take work

away from the core processor is set to continue.

14 February 2012 25

Activity of an mcu withthreshold detection on

a/d converter

Activity of a standardmicrocontroller

Analogue input

Fig 2: Typical mcu activity with and without threshold detection on an a/d converter

www.newelectronics.co.uk

FeRAM (Ferroelectric RAM) offers high speed read/write capabilities with 10 years data retention at low power

for a wide range of applications.

Features:

Non Volatile Data Storage

High speed for writing and reading

Low operating power consumption

Retention: 10 years (no back-up current)

High endurance

IP[JVUN\YH[PVU

3.3 V power supply

Industrial temperature range -40 to +85 C

Low Power High Speed High Endurance

Lapis Semiconductor is part of the ROHM Group.

AccountingInformationPrinters, Copiers,Meters

CommunicationInformationRouter, POS Systems,TV meeting systems

StatusInformationCar Navi, Car Audio

ConfigurationInformationNetwork devices,Portable devices

serial (SPI)

serial (I2C)

serial (SPI)

parallel

32 kbit

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256 kbit

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SOP8

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MR45V032A

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FERAM THE MEMORY SOLUTION

making Technology for you www.rohm.com/eu

Embedded Design Exhibition Preview

This years embedded world exhibition and conference takes place in

Nuremberg from 28 February to 1 March. The tenth running of the event is

set to be bigger and more international than ever, according to the

organiser. Exhibition manager Alexander Mattausch noted that exhibitor

numbers are 23% up on the same time in 2011, with appreciable growth in the

number of international companies.

Because of its success, the exhibition is moving to larger halls. Mattausch

said: Embedded world will take place in new workrooms. The new location

ensures a compact layout on one level and excellent access between the

conferences and exhibition activity. The excellent figures show us that the new

rooms have been well accepted by exhibitors.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a conference focusing on topics such

as: ARM Cortex architectures; multicore; cryptography and embedded security;

managing embedded system development and life cycle; software development

and debug methods; internet technology and M2M; and low energy embedded

systems.

There will also be an electronic displays conference and, for the fourth year,

visitors will be able to find out more about M2M communications in the M2M

area.

For more information on the event and to register in advance, go to

www.embedded-world.de/en

Arrow Electronics engineering and

embedded computing integration

services will be showcased on two

stands.

One stand will show how the

company can support developers from

the identification of new applications

to the concept phase and

solution development.

Meanwhile, the

other stand will show

how Arrow can bring it

all together. These

services include supply chain

management, global logistics and post

manufacturing solutions.

Arrow: visit www.arroweurope.com

Hall 4A-206 Hall 5-405

Visitors to the Avnet Memec stand will

see new solutions for smart innovation.

There will be three key presentation

areas, including: multisupplier

technology focused demonstrations; a

focus area dedicated to products from

PLX Technology, Marvell, Intersil and

Echelon; and the Maxim Tech Lounge.

PLX Technology will show its PCI

Express silicon, as well as USB3.0 and

10Gbit Ethernet devices. Marvell will

showcase its ARM processing solutions,

including multicore devices running at

up to 2GHz, while Intersil will highlight

signal chain devices that support high

accuracy conversion, plus power

management solutions. Finally, in the

Echelon focus area, visitors will be able

to see smart building and utility focused

demonstrations.

Avnet Memec:

visit www.avnet-memec.eu

Hall 4-122

Breeding successWith exhibitor and visitor numbers booming, embedded world

moves to new halls at Nuremberg. Graham Pitcher reports.

14 February 2012 27www.newelectronics.co.uk

Embedded Design Exhibition Preview

Test products for applications ranging

from high speed serial data and

embedded systems to energy efficient

designs and rf test, will be seen at

Tektronix stand. Hands on

demonstrations will be available, along

with technical advice.

Amongst the highlights, says the

company, are the MDO4000 mixed

domain scope series, the MSO3000

bench scopes and the mid range

MSO/DPO5000 mixed signal scopes.

Tektronix: visit www.tektronix.com

Hall 4-205

Amongst the highlights to

be seen at the Fujitsu stand

will be the new 32bit risc

FM3 microcontroller. With

dual Ethernet interfaces, the

part is aimed at industrial

and embedded applications.

Visitors will also see scalable

solutions for the automotive market,

including the FCR4 product family for

hybrid clusters and the 16FX mcu

product family for demanding control

applications.

Fujitsu: visit www.emea.fujitsu.com/

semiconductor

Hall 4-228

USB solutions specialist Future

Technology Devices International is

adding to the range of I/O application

boards for its Vinco development

module. New Vinco Touch Key shield

mates, along with the Vinco

motherboard, providing full touch pad

functionality, says the company.

The shield has eight capactive

sensing touch keys, a set of four push

buttons and five GPIO controlled leds.

FTDI: visit www.ftdichip.com

Hall 4A-322

Green Hills Software has recently made

a major upgrade to its INTEGRITY real

time operating system and will be

demonstrating the performance,

communication and ease of use features

in INTEGRITY 11.

The rtos includes a new, highly

compatible solutions with a high degree

of software reusability. There are five

series within the family, differing in

terms of frequency, memory capacity,

peripheral functions and I/O count.

Visitors will also see DAVE 3, Infineons

integrated development environment.

Infineon: visit www.infineon.com

Hall 4-142

High performance USB mcus for a

variety of embedded applications will be

shown on the Silicon Laboratories

stand. Visitors will also see ultra low

power mcus and wireless mcus targeting

green energy, home automation and

security systems; automotive mcus for

body electronics; and the companys

latest development platforms and

integrated development environments.

Silicon Laboratories:

visit www.silabs.com

Hall 4A-211

Avnet Abacus will make its debut at

Embedded World, showing embedded

power solutions for a range of

applications. The comp