Embedded World: product highlights

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

Embedded World, a leading international conference for embedded technology, brings together engineers and innovators with new technologies and new ideas. In its 17th year, the trade fair continues to grow, increasing the number of exhibitors (1,100) and display area by about 8%. The show is all about sharing technology expertise — at exhibition booths, forums, discussion panels, and conferences. In 2019, the show includes 10 conference clusters with 250 presentations in 42 sessions and 12 classes. One new addition this year is the Start-up Area, a platform for newcomers to the industry.

A key technology focus for 2019 is embedded intelligence. “The performance of processors and integrated circuits has improved so much, and they have become so inexpensive that new technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence are finding their way into an increasing number of applications,” according to the show organizer. “This opens up the possibility of totally new systems that perceive their environment autonomously, draw conclusions from it and then make decisions.”

A variety of application areas is included such as embedded vision, machine learning, display trends, smart systems, M2M, and safety and security. Here is a sampling of new components that were unveiled at this year’s conference.

Cypress Semiconductor is sampling two low-power, dual-mode Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) microcontrollers (MCUs) that include support for Bluetooth mesh connections. The CYW20819 and CYW20820 MCUs  each provide simultaneous Bluetooth 5.0 audio and BLE connections that enable voice and audio for battery-powered wearables such as fitness bands, health-monitoring devices, and voice remotes. Other applications include smartphones, tablets, and voice-controlled home assistants. A CYW20819-based certified Bluetooth module and two evaluation kits can be pre-ordered.

Another product unveiled by Cypress at the trade fair is the company’s new USB-C Power Delivery (PD) solution. The Cypress EZ-PD barrel connector replacement  (BCR) solution will replace barrel connectors used in power adapters and can also replace all legacy USB micro-B connectors that provide only 7.5 W. These micro-B connectors lack the power for most consumer devices and industrial uses. In comparison, USB-C connectors with USB PD provide up to 100 W and will power electronics for automobiles, smartphones, laptops and peripherals, and tablets. Ideally, as a universal power adapter standard, it will eliminate customized chargers servicing electronics such as IoT devices, smart speakers, power tools, electric shavers, drones, and other rechargeable devices. The Cypress EZ-PD BCR controller provides high integration including a Type-C USB-PD transceiver, a load switch controller with a soft start, all termination resistors necessary for a USB-C port, and system-level ESD protection. As an added benefit, Cypress said that it will reduce e-waste of 1 million tons of power adapters produced annually.

Dialog Semiconductor claims its most advanced, feature-rich, multi-core MCUs for wireless connectivity with the launch of its SmartBond DA1469x family of BLE SoCs . The family includes four variants for greater processing power, resources, range, and battery life, targeting IoT-connected consumer applications. Touted as the first wireless MCU in production with a dedicated application processor based on the Arm Cortex-M33 processor, the M33 offers greater processing power for intensive applications including high-end fitness trackers, advanced smart home devices, and virtual-reality game controllers. Samples and dev kits are available.

Marvell has partnered with ESCRYPT to build multi-layered protection around its 88Q5050 Ethernet switch  for in-vehicle networks. The integration of ESCRYPT’s CycurGATE firewall and intrusion detection system into Marvell’s secure switch facilitates comprehensive protection against unauthorized access. And that significantly enhances the end-to-end security of in-vehicle communications. In addition, Marvell’s 88Q5050 Ethernet switch itself features security features like deep packet inspection (DPI) and Trusted Boot functionality to prevent malicious attacks or compromises to the data streamed in the vehicle. The Ethernet switch is also available with ESCRYPT’s integrated intrusion detection system, an embedded security component that monitors in-vehicle communication to detect anomalies, typical intrusion signatures, and abuse of diagnostic mechanisms.

A collaboration between Murata, Cypress, and NXP delivers more than 75 combinations of pre-certified Wi-Fi IoT solutions  that leverage Murata’s modules based on Cypress’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combos and NXP’s i.MX processors. These are mix-and-match processor and connectivity solutions that offer scalable options from low-cost basic wireless connectivity to high-end applications. The platform lets IoT developers try out different types of processors and connectivity, depending on their application, from battery-powered IoT devices to subsystems for connected cars.

ON Semiconductor’s RSL10 sensor development kit  provides engineering teams with a sensor design platform built around the BLE radio for consumer and industrial IoT designs. It features 9 degrees of freedom (DoF) detection and environmental monitoring devices, including ambient light, pressure, relative humidity, and temperature sensors. Developers can connect to the sensor dev kit to monitor sensors and to evaluate features through the RSL10 sense and control mobile application. The app supports several cloud platforms for uploading the sensor data.

TDK unveiled a Micronas embedded motor controller with 64-KB flash memory and 4-KB SRAM that will meet the increased diagnostics demands for smart actuators in the automotive industry. The newest member of the company’s high-voltage controller (HVC) family — HVC 4420F  — combines an Arm 32-bit Cortex-M3 standard microcontroller core with 64-KB flash memory and a wide range of functions to achieve compact and cost-effective system designs for automotive applications including grille shutter, smart valves and pumps, and HVAC flaps. Thanks to its larger memory and built-in diagnostic features, the HVC 4420F offers both the storage capacity and processing capability to execute the diagnostics needed for smart actuators. Samples are available in March 2019, with production planned for 2020.