EEWebPULSE_Emb_2013-09-10.pdf

CONTENTS

FEATURED ENGINEER

DANIELA HALL - ALGORITHMS GROUP LEADER, MOVEA

NXP INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY

MEETING THE NEEDS OF HIGH SPEED COMPUTING

FEATURED ARTICLE

NXP’S NEW AXP

LOGIC FAMILY

NXP is a leader in low power capacitance touch sensors, which work based

on the fact that the human body can serve as one of the capacitive plates in

parallel to the second plate, connected to the input of the NXP capacitive

sensor device.

EMBEDDED WORKBENCH

HOT VIDEOS

Thanks to a patented auto-calibration technology, the capacitive sensors

can detect changes in capacitance and continually adjust to the environment.

Things such as dirt, humidity, freezing temperatures, or damage to the

electrode do not affect the device function.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT

WANDBOARD OVERVIEW

MCU WARS

32-BIT MCU

COMPARISON

The rise of touch sensors in modern electronics has become a worldwide

phenomenon, and with NXP’s low power capacitive sensors it’s never been

easier to create the future.

Learn more at: touch.interfacechips.com

ENGINEER SPOTLIGHT

the phone in the direction we were going

to but this was not viable for customer

deployment so we had to ind a way

to determine the walking direction with

unknown phone position or even a phone

position that is changing. Putting experts

from different ields in one room paved

the way toward a solution. The team’s

collective ideas were criticized, defended,

modiied and inally implemented, tested

and patented. In the end, we’re proud

to have demonstrated a pedestrian

navigation that works for unknown phone

position at the demonstration we held in

Paris and Seoul in May 2013.

In the Spotlight:

“I do believe we will move

toward more merging between

the human body and the virtual

world, as we see the move

toward wearable devices.”

Daniela Hall

Algorithms Group Leader, Movea

PhD. My task is to be the interface between the

other departments such as sales and marketing.

Together we deine the requirement speciications

for new functionalities or improvements of existing

functionalities. Once we have deined the

requirements, I deine with the team the work to

be done. This can be an algorithm optimization,

a proof of concept study of a new functionality,

incremental improvements of existing modules,

industrialization of code. My role is also to establish

links inside and outside the team in order to

grow the team competency and establish links

between projects. My team also generates most

of Movea’s IP.

What are your favorite tools?

How is data fusion going to change how

we interact with our electronic devices?

As a computer scientist, I like to program

in C++. We have developed a very

powerful signal processing design tool

called MoveaStudio that is similar to

Simulink. This tool enables us, through

a simple graphical user interface, to

drag and drop technology bricks to

quickly create robust and extendable

algorithms that can easily be deployed

into customers’ products. We also use

it as an implementation validation and

debugging tool, simplifying our customers’

veriication process, enabling them to

bring their products to market faster. I

think this is a nice platform for playing

and extending existing algorithms. For

rapid prototyping and new algorithm

conceptions, matlab is my favorite.

Data fusion techniques, such as the ability to

enable position (whether indoors or outdoors),

activity and environment detection by the

merging of data from multiple sensors, devices,

and the cloud, will make the dream of intelligent

mobile apps and services a reality. We are getting

close to the ideal user interface where the user

forgets that he/she is interacting with a device and

interacts in the most natural way— with simple,

natural motion.

How did you get into engineering?

I was always interested in technology, proposing

solutions for things that don’t exist yet. As a child I

wanted to be an inventor, and during high school,

the easiest subject for me was mathematics.

I continued with an MSc degree in computer

science and specialized in image processing for

my PhD. For a while I worked in public research. I

never regretted my choice to move to a private

company. I enjoy the dynamics of a startup

company, stimulated by the short time to bring

products to the market. Our efforts as engineers

go very quickly to the clients, and the interactions

between departments are reactive. All this is very

rewarding to engineers.

Can you tell us about your favorite project?

One of the most useful applications I worked on

is navigation in unknown areas. Unfortunately,

using GPS on a mobile device drains the battery,

putting people at risk to really get lost. In addition,

we spend most of our time inside buildings with no

GPS reception so indoor pedestrian navigation

offers a multitude of location-based services,

enhancing users’ experience on mobile. We are

currently working on an alternative navigation

method without GPS that allows accurate and

robust pedestrian location and trajectory, while

maintaining ultra low power consumption. It is very

exciting to see how much progress we have made

and how Movea is enabling the industry with this

solution. The irst prototypes we demonstrated few

months ago required that the phone be pointed

in the walking direction; today, the phone can

be placed anywhere, whether in hand, in the shirt

pocket, the backpack – as long as it is carried –

and can still accurately track the user’s location.

What are you currently working on?

Key projects include indoor pedestrian navigation,

activity monitoring and sports performance

tracking, robust and accurate inertial orientation.

What do you do when you’re not working on

electronics?

Why did you choose to focus on data

fusion and motion sensing?

Do you have any note-worthy

engineering experiences?

Grenoble is a great place for mountaineering and

I play saxophone in a jazz band. As a German

national, I also appreciate the French lifestyle and

in particular, French cuisine.

Everybody needs to interact daily with consumer

electronics devices, whether it is a computer,

a smartphone, a tablet or a smartwatch. Up to

now, most user interfaces are designed to have

good interaction from the computer/machine

side, but are not especially user friendly. Using

motion allows a computer to understand the user

in a more natural, less intrusive way. The goal is

that the computer delivers a service to the user

and the user forgets about the computer. Motion

sensing and data fusion enable this kind of magic.

In my previous company, the engineering

team built an optical inspection system

that detects 3micron dust particles on

MEMS sensors. This machine coupled to

a robot arm automatically rejects bad

MEMS parts before sealing. This system

increases the quality of the MEMS

production. This system had challenges

in optics, mechanics, algorithm and

system engineering. The team was

rather small (8 engineers), and members

transverse in engineering specialties.

Collaboration was excellent and reactive,

since every team member was aware

that he needed the competency of his

other teammates in order to make the

system work.

What do you think the next thing will be in

electronics?

I do believe we will move toward more merging

between the human body and the virtual world,

as we see the move toward wearable devices

such as activity monitoring devices like Fitbit

and Google Glass enhancing the human body

and mind with technology. Placing electronics

in clothing that connect to your smartphone in

order to make life easier and more fun sounds

promising to me. ■

What was the trickiest bug you ever ixed?

What exactly do you do for Movea?

At Movea I don’t ix the bugs myself but work with

our whole team to ind the solution together to

solve a problem that looked impossible before.

I’ll take the example of our demonstration for CES

2013 last January. At that time, we had to hold

I lead the algorithms team, which one of ive

teams that form Movea’s R&D. The team is

composed of 10 engineers, several holding a

TECH ARTICLES

Portability & Power All In One...

Debug digital designs on an iPad, iPhone, iPod.

NXP Interface Technology:

Meeting the Needs of

High Speed Computing

Can a logic analyzer be sexy? Watch the video and weigh in...

path and DisplayPort v1.2 control sig-

C onsumers’ growing demand for high deinition

video, multimedia and fast data transfers with

global access is driving the evolution in computing

and communications technology. As video and data

transfer protocols continue to advance to meet this

demand, interface technology must support higher

speeds, deliver excellent signal integrity and provide

a bridge to legacy standards. NXP Semiconductors

addresses these challenges with the fastest multiplexer/

demultiplexer switches including mux switches supporting

ThunderboltTM I/O technology, level shifters and a broad

selection of I2C peripherals and bus enablers.

One is a three-to-one mux and the other is a two-to-one

mux. The Thunderbolt MUX is a three-to-one switch that

selects between Thunderbolt data path and DisplayPort

v1.2 control signals — either DDC or AUX. The port is

backwards compatible and the DisplayPort data can

be sent out when DisplayPort is connected or Thunderbolt

data sent out when Thunderbolt signals or peripherals are

connected.

Thunderbolt is a hardware interface developed by Intel.

The Thunderbolt interface consists of two 10.3 Gbps full-

duplex data paths that enables fast transfers between

PCs, laptops or tablets and peripheral and display

devices. Thunderbolt multiplexes data (PCI Express®)

and video (DisplayPort) onto one cable. Hot-plugging

and unplugging of cables is supported by the protocol.

The two lanes can be running completely independent

at different data rates in a Thunderbolt cable. Users can

also add peripheral devices via simple daisy chaining; up

to six different Thunderbolt peripherals can be connected

on a daisy chain. Devices on this chain also can be bus-

powered. The Thunderbolt cable can provide up to ten

watts of power.

CBTL05024 also delivers advanced characteristics that

enhance signal integrity and power eficiency. It is powered

by a 3.3 V supply and available in a small 3 × 3 mm HVQFN24

package with 0.4 mm pitch.

The Thunderbolt controller acts as a junction in the daisy

chain of Thunderbolt products. Current Intel “Ivy Bridge”

platforms use “Cactus Ridge” Thunderbolt controllers,

while newly launched “Haswell” platforms use “Redwood

Ridge” Thunderbolt controllers. Both devices, CBTL05023

and CBTL05024, can be used on Cactus Ridge and

Redwood Ridge platforms. For higher integration and a

more simpliied solution, the CBTL05024 is the better solution

as it features integrated pull-up/pull-down resistors and

a LSRX (control signal for Thunderbolt channel) buffer to

optimize the BOM and improve signal integrity.

Logiscope transforms an iPhone, iPad or iPod into a 100MHz, 16 channel logic analyzer.

This kind of architecture leads to a design that needs some

sort of muxing or splitting to enable both DisplayPort and

PCIe® information to go through the same connector.

NXP offers two high-speed solutions that enable the

necessary switching: CBTL05023 and CBTL05024.

At Computex 2013 in Taipei, Intel oficially branded its

next-generation Thunderbolt as Thunderbolt 2, which will

run at 20 Gbps and support 4K video (Ultra HD). The initial

production is expected before the end of 2013 with ramp

up in 2014. As we’ve seen, NXP has a sharp focus on

this market, offering high-speed switches that meet all

Thunderbolt requirements, so without jumping the gun

on future announcements it is safe to say that designers

would do well to look to NXP for their high-speed interface

computing needs both today and going forward. NXP has

a sharp focus on this market offering high speed switch

solutions that meet all Thunderbolt system requirements

and will continue to offer high-speed interface computing

solutions going forward. ■

Not only is it the most intuitive logic analyzer available, the triggering is so powerful

you’ll be able to count the hair on your bug.

The CBTL05023 is a multiplexer/demultiplexer switch device

for DisplayPort v1.2 signals and the control signals of a

10 Gbit/s channel. The 10 Gbit/s channel does not pass

through this switch. This device also provides a BIASOUT

output control signal and DC-biasing pull-down resistors

to facilitate the external 10 Gbit/s channel.

Featuring an integrated 10Gb/s Thunderbolt signal with

no external PIN diodes, NXP’s next generation switch

CBTL05024 integrates two different muxes inside.

See why our innovation keeps getting recognized.

TECH ARTICLES

Here, the requirements made for the

speciications and functions need to be clearly

delineated. CompactPCI, AdvancedTCA

and MicroTCA for the telephony market, and

PC/104 and COM Express for the industrial

PC sector, are without a doubt a few of the

established standards.

Seductive Parallel Worlds:

What advantages do modules for ARM Cortex-A9

processors really provide?

Standards promise the user reliable access

to the technology regardless of the success

or failure of an individual supplier. If a

particular processor technology is no longer

available, scalability promises to ensure the

continued supply with corresponding modules

characterized by a superior technology.

By Wolfgang Heinz-Fischer, Head of Marketing and PR, TQ-Group

Standardized processor modules promise their users that they will

be able to change over from one manufacturer to the next.

Look Before You Leap …

In order to ensure that compliant products

really are interchangeable with one another,

there are comprehensive compatibility tests

for genuine standards, which are conducted

by leading non-proit organizations such as

the PICMG and the PC/104 consortium.

However, this also means higher costs and

thus higher prices for genuine standards due

to the increased work involved.

But the devil is in the details--no module can supply signals to the

outside world that are not processed by the CPU. As TQ points out,

what is important here is to differentiate clearly between mere

marketing and technical facts.

Successful standards are

usually found in the electronics

industry wherever special

applications are involved.

With the Cortex-A9® processor, ARM and

its licensees initially have a CPU that visibly

encroaches upon the area of application of

an x86 processor. Almost all module suppliers

have reacted to this and have included

corresponding modules amongst the products

offered by them – even those suppliers that

have hitherto concentrated exclusively on

x86 modules. As is usually the case in the x86

world, the irst standards for ARM modules

have already arisen.

However, the term standard here is excessive

and awakens false expectations amongst

users. Therefore, this article sets out to clarify

what is actually meant by a standard and

what beneits the user derives. This is because

ARM module standards do not meet all

expectations and are fraught with pitfalls.

Sometimes the chip fails to recognize a signal; sometimes the

signal is not envisaged under the standard; standards, in view of

the large variety of ARM processors, have their limits.

All standards define the mechanical

dimensions and the corresponding connector

system. Genuine, successful standards are

usually limited to a small number of interface

speciications and are thus capable of

assuring real compatibility. So, for example,

only ISA, PCI and/or PCIe are deined as

busses for the PC/104. In contrast, the COM

Express alone has ten different conigurations

for interface connectors. Here, caution should

be exercised when selecting the right version

and examining the right coniguration. For

example, 24 express lanes have been speciied

for Version 2 of the COM Express spec. 2.0.

However, the module manufactured by one

supplier, itted with an Intel® Atom N2600/

N2800/ D2550 and NM10 chipset, provides

two PCIe x1 slots whereas another module

by the same supplier, equipped with an

embedded Intel® Core i7/i5/i3 and QM67

chipset, provides ive PCIe x1 slots. In addition,

the module is equipped with a second LVDV

interface and two SATA III interfaces.

This example shows that in the case of a genuine standard

such as COM Express, 100% compatibility and thus guaranteed

interchangeability can only be guaranteed to a certain extent. If

the design has been based on and optimized for the low-end Atom

processor this means that the main board will have to be modiied

and a new design and layout will be needed if higher performance

is required and the intention is to use a more powerful module.

In any case, it is worth taking a detailed look

at the systems offered in order to be prepared

for unpleasant surprises. As so often occurs

at the time of new product presentations,

marketing slogans stand out – during which

many statements tend to over-embellish the

technical facts.

Almost certainly, it will be possible to carry over some parts of

the circuit during this step and a software adaptation will also be

relatively easy.

Standards and Their Limitations

Standards arise wherever it seems useful to

set down all speciications on paper, for one

reason, to guarantee compatibility between

different suppliers.

Two standards for ARM: Q7 and SMARC

There are two competing standards on the market in the world of

ARM modules: the Q7 Group on the one hand and the ULP-COM

Group on the other hand. Note: The working name of the ULP-COM

standard was recently redeined and presented as SMARC (“Smart

Mobility ARChitecture”)

In addition, embedded modules are also

characterized by scalability, i.e. compatibility

between different performance classes.

Successful standards are usually found in

the electronics industry wherever special

applications are involved.

Whether standard or proprietary: each has its

own speciic advantages and disadvantages.

Therefore customers must closely examine

which is best suited to their particular use.

It is clear that there is no universal, generally valid solution in the

ARM area otherwise there would not be two strong groups on the

market, each with its own particular solution, and its own standard.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: